text:
260. It is interesting looking at the strong
pound, we look back at Germany when they had a strong deutschemark
that they never had a problemmanufacturing, in fact, went
from strength to strength. Is it not because industry does not
invest at the right time that is part of the problem we are suffering
(Mr Legg) Yes, I think you are absolutely right; because
Germany has coped with a strengthening deutschemark over a long
period of time. What happened really (and I think is what we have
described in our presentation as a "shock", if you like)
was that the weakening of the euro happened very quickly. We basically
got caught out, if you like. If it had happened over a period
of time, which is what happened with the deutschemark, during
that period (and statistics in the presentation demonstrate this)
they have continuously invested in new equipment and new technology;
and therefore maintained the strength of their companies. They
have been able, if you like, to take 3 per cent or 4 per cent
out of the cost per annum with productivity improvements and using
technology. We, on the other hand, suffered a 15-20 per cent loss
of competitiveness very, very quickly. With this history we have
had of years of under-investment we were basically caught with
our trousers downfor want of a better expression.
(Mr Davis) On investment generally, Chairman, I think
for the plastics, rubber and coatings industry there was a brief
golden age, which was in the late 1980s, early 1990s, when the
UK was seen as a kind of aircraft carrier for 1992 and the Single
European Market. Certainly our industry has benefited substantially
from a huge amount of inward investment from the US and from South
East Asian companies, particularly into the car industry, electronics
and other areas with about £10 billion of inward investment.
That was a benefit to our industries because everybody had to
pull their socks up and meet better quality, better delivery deadlines,
better everything; and it was a great thing for our particular
industrial sector at that particular time. Of course, we have
now seen firms, and the examples are well known, who came in at
that time and made big investments, Motorola, Siemens and many
others, who are now reducing their UK exposure substantially,
and this is quite a worry to us. We had correspondence with Patricia
Hewitt about this and she reassured us that there was an aftercare
programme being run by the DTI to make quite sure these firms
that came in did stay here and were not going to leave the UK.
It is a fact that many of those customer bodies that our industry
supplies into are looking for other locations abroad and we are
not as attractive for inward investment as we were in those years.
I back-up what Mike saysthe DTI are very helpful indeed,
extremely helpful. We have listed in our nine association submission
the various programmes we have for our plastics, rubber, coatings
and associated machinery sectors to help us with competitiveness
initiatives. I think we hope their eye has not been taken off
the ball by the DTI review which has been going on for a long
time now and is much delayed, and that we can get back to really
making sure there is a strong voice for manufacturing. Everything
Mike says about the Treasury is correct. I went in to see Treasury
officials with one of our member companies who, because of their
£½ million Climate Change Levy bill, is seriously thinking
of closing production and moving production to France which has
abandoned plans for such a tax; the Treasury officials tried to
be helpful but stuck rigidly to their points over which they have
points for all sorts of things, as we know. They have four points
for judging the Climate Change Levyone of which is not
the effect on competitiveness where Lord Marshall did play some
part in pushing this tax some years ago and specifically requested
that there should be a test as to whether competitiveness was
actually in this proposal or not; and that is not one of the four
tests. Although the Treasury officials were as helpful as they
could be, they could really offer no solace to the company we
brought in, who are due to make a decision very soon on where
their production goes.
261. Staying on investment, there cannot be
much of a better time to borrow money in terms of interest rates
than now, where probably at or around the bottom of the cycle
most people are saying at the latest in 2002 there will be some
kind of recovery; and yet you are still incredibly negative in
terms of investment; which in some ways gives great cause for
concern because if people are not investing at this stage of the
cycle, which would be the normal time to do so, then what is going
to happen later? You still have not really given a reason why
it is not happening. A very good reason was given in relation
to the Climate Change Levy, but are there other factors that you
think need to be addressed in order for companies to want to invest?
(Mr Legg) First of all, as far as the SMEs are concerned,
I have to repeat what I said before, which is that many of those
are finding themselves financially weak at the moment, which means
it is very difficult for them to borrow money, it does not matter
what the rate is. Traditionally, in the UK our interest rates
have been marginally higher than in Europe; but then on top of
that the risk factor that our banks add to that is very significantly
more than it is in Germany, for instance, sometimes as much as
5 per cent. The cost of borrowing is quite expensive in the UK.
As against that, why are people not investing now in readiness
for the upturn? There is a general lack of confidenceI
do not think there is any doubt about that. I am trying to be
very cautious. I do not want to create this idea of doom and gloom;
it is not beyond recovery by any means. I am trying to relate
the feelings we see from day to day amongst our customer base,
for instance, as to why they are not investing at the moment.
One is, as always, they are not getting the work, they are not
getting the business that gives them the confidence to be able
to do it. Sometimes there is a chicken and egg situation. Some
companies will invest in new technology and then go out and try
to find the work to fill it up. That used to be much more predominant
15 years agotoday it is very, very rare. The kit, basically,
is quite expensive, and it is too risky for them to do that. What
they are tending to do now is say, "We'll buy the kit if
and when we get the work". Of course, the people giving the
work are saying, "You haven't got the kit, so how do I know
you can make it?" It is a difficult situation. As against
that, there is the question of skills levels. A lack of skills
levels can sometimes limit people's intention to invest in capital.
If they are going to spend £ million on a machine tool they
want to know they are going to be able to use it with at least
85-90 per cent efficiency. Skill levels sometimes reduce that.
We would argue very much today that investment in new high technology
equipment brings with it skills training, not only directly as
far as the supplier is concerned, but inhouse it boosts confidence
tremendously if the workforce sees a company is prepared to investment
a significant sum of money in new kit; and you find people queuing
up saying, "Please can I be trained on that piece of kit,
I'm fed up of working on a two-handled lathe". I think from
that point of view it is extremely good. Coming back to your question,
people do not have the confidence; and I think that is the single
biggest reason today why people are not going out and saying to
their bank managers, "Can I borrow £ million to buy
a machine tool?" The first thing he is going to say is, "What's
your return going to be on that? Have you got the work to go on
it?" I think probably lack of work is one of the problems.
262. To take you on and talk about investments
and companies not having the resources to investdo you
believe that a Regional Venture Capital Fund will help address
the problem for SMEs?
(Mr Legg) It is a very interesting question because,
as I mentioned before, at the present time less than 1 per cent
of SME finance is coming through venture capital. There has been
a reluctance in the UK to go down this line. It has been much
more acceptable for instance, typically in Germany, for banks
to take an equity share to be involved in the management of the
company. I think, to a limited extent, culturally in this country,
especially amongst the SMEs, there is a reluctance to let an outsider
a) take equity and b) sit on a Board meeting. Therefore, it is
not just a question of making this capital availableit
is a question of a cultural change. The other thing I would question
is, my understanding of the Regional Venture Capital sources is
that it has to be an commercial rate; 50 per cent of the money
is coming from the private sector; and my question would be: is
there going to be any interest rate benefit to the end user over
the normal sources; or is there going to be a greater comfort
that the source is not going to withdraw the money in the short-term;
because that has been one of the major problems for SMEs in the
past, that the banks have been far too quick to pull the rug,
rather than to support companies through a difficult period of
time. Again, this is a cultural thing that differentiates us from
the rest of Europe. I hate to keep mentioning Germany, but it
is fact of life that they do have a much more manufacturing-friendly
environment in which people can invest than we do in the UK. I
am not sure personally whether these Funds will be successful.
I am sure it is worth trying. I think it is a good idea, but I
think there has to be a cultural change as well.
263. The availability of finance to SMEs has
been the subject of a report and the Treasury are considering
their response to that. Have you made any submission to the Treasury
in respect of that? Is there anything in particular you want to
see done in relation to banks?
(Mr Legg) We have not made a representation to Treasury
in the current run of things. The MTTA some years ago did do that.
We produced a report, in fact we commissioned Oxford Economic
Forecasting to produce a report about the difficulties of obtaining
finance for SMEs. At that time my recommendation was that the
Treasury should consider, or the DTI should consider some scheme
where they could support (and I hesitate to use the word "subsidise")
a reduction in commercial interest rates for SMEs investing over
the long-term, something like 2 per cent, in order to reduce this
differential that exists of higher interest rates being charged
to UK SMEs compared with their competitors within Europe. One
of the other things we recommended at the time was an extension
of the small firms loan guarantee scheme, which actually did come
about but has not been effective, which is one of the major problems.
I think this is perhaps indicative of a lot of these schemes that
are put forward by the DTI and Treasury; it is not just putting
the idea forward, it is how it is promoted. The small firms loan
guarantee scheme was left to the clearing banks to promote and
use as they saw fit when somebody came in to them and asked for
money. As a consequence, very few SMEs were aware of the availability
of these guarantees, or how to get them, or what they were for.
Certainly in the early stages (I do not know of late) there was
a very low uptake of small firms guaranteed loans, which I think
is a shame; because one of the major worries for a company investing
is the problem of what happens if they hit hard times. Let us
face it, there is a business cycle; all firms suffer, as we can
see at the moment. In those bad times, some sort of guarantee
to cover bank borrowings would help companies and would prevent
the banks from pulling the rug too quickly. I think there is probably
an avenue to be looking at there.
264. I would like to pursue further the issue
of cultural differences between ourselves and Europe which you
have alluded to, and maybe what the key things are you would like
to see us to do over here. When you mentioned Germany, and you
have mentioned it on several occasions, you have talked about
a willingness to accept equity stakes in manufacturing?
(Mr Legg) Yes.
265. In a couple of your comments you have linked
that fairly directly to the banks themselves being structured
regionally, and the fact that regional government in Germany has
a big role in that. Do you see any lessons for Britain in that?
How far do you think decisions being made regionally would help
or hinder the kind of processes you are talking about?
(Mr Legg) This is a huge question. The problem is
I guess that in Germany, for instance, this has been the culture
for many, many decades. We do not have that culture in the UK.
If we are looking for RDAs, for instanceparticularly the
current DTI review, which we were very concerned about, seems
to be pushing a lot more decision making and power out to the
regions; if that was at the cost of sectoral support we would
be very concerned. We think there should be national policy for
manufacturing and for sectors of manufacturing, or sectors of
anything basically; there should be national policy for sectors.
That policy should then be administered in the regions. I do not
think the policy should be made in the regions themselves as such.
I think there is a danger if you put too much power into the regions
they simply are going to be wasting their resource competing with
each other. I think that is a real possibility from what I have
266. How would you get the kind of sensitivity
at local level of the banks, government institutions and industry
unless you actually base it more regionally? As you say, Germany
have built up over many years; but do you think it has been an
important issue there? How do you do that in Britain?
(Mr Legg) I certainly believe it is very, very important
for investment in manufacturing companies in Germany. I think
it is a good example of where investment has taken place enabling
them to cope with this continuously strengthening exchange rate.
They have improved their efficiency, and they have been able to
hold their costs down, and they have invested continuously in
R&D and product, which clearly has not happened in the UK.
How much of that is related to the regional cultural thing I do
not honestly know, but I think it is an important factor. I would
again come back to what I talked about before, about our number
one request to government. The buzz word I did not use was a manufacturing
"strategy". I think there should be a manufacturing
strategy. I am not sure whether there should be a minister for
manufacturing as has been mooted around. If there was a minister
for manufacturing I am absolutely certain he should be in the
Treasury and not the DTI, which might cause some problems. I believe
a national manufacturing strategy, policy if you like, is what
is required to change the cultural attitude towards manufacturing
as a whole and investment in manufacturing; and then that would
be able to be implemented in the regions. I do not think the regions
should make their own policies.
(Mr Davis) Chairman, could I support what Mike has
just said. Our industry in the plastics and rubber industry is
a very spread out industry. There are certainly pockets in certain
parts of the UK but it is very spread out. There are a large number
of SMEs in every town and city in the country. We are concerned,
although regional development is desirable and led locally, that
in RDAs competing with each other we may lose the national picture.
That is certainly a concern of ours. On the manufacturing strategy
and manufacturing representative point, I think there is no question
that we would like to see a stronger voice from government on
the importance of the manufacturing sector. We have a lot of indigenous
strengths in this country for my industry, plastics, rubber and
coatings. We have of course our own oil and gas supplies; we have
substantial chemical facilities in this country which are great
national strengths for our industry, and a great record of innovation
as well. I think the Budget is obviously a signpost for everyone.
Conditions are very bad indeed, and we are looking to the Budget
to see some recognition, particularly from the Chancellor, that
there is a recognition of the difficulties we are in. I will not
go into it now, but EAMA and our nine associations have made a
strong point about the need to do something on capital allowances.
We have also made a strong point about the need to do something
about the burden of the unfair and poorly designed Climate Change
Levy as well. We need some signals from the Budget strongly for
the manufacturing industry; perhaps not a manufacturing minister,
but we do need recognition from the Treasury itself that their
assistance and government policy could make a lot of difference
in the particular area we are in.
267. You have made the point about losing the
national picture and over-emphasis on regionalisation. Could I
ask you your view about whether we could have similar problems
coming out from sectoralism, and how you would see, for instance,
the problems mentioned to us by one or two witnesses, and to me
anecdotally as well, of particular clusters of industries that
are not easily definable by this sector or that sectorfor
example, performance engineering, which straddles automotive,
aerospace, information technology and all sorts of things. When
you look in terms of various strategy documents it actually does
not exist as such. How would you get that network of industrial
clusters working as well as a fairly regimented sector approach?
(Mr Davis) In a sense I think it already is operating
at an industry level. For example, the component suppliers to
the car industry work very closely together. The trade associations
involved in components and car supply work extremely closely together.
The Industry Forum, which the Society of Motor Manufacturers and
Traders started some years ago, we have been heavily involved
in, and my colleagues in the rubber industry have been heavily
involved in as well. It does exist already; this clustering round
the particular marketplace that we are actually supplying into
does happen. This is where, in certain regions where there are
such strong clusters, the RDA is already trying to give some assistance.
West Midlands Advantage, for example, is already making a difference,
I think, in the car sector, component suppliers and, indeed, the
car industry themselves. Within industry itself, these networks
are well developed. We cannot afford to live in separate shell-like
structures; we have to work with each other. Certainly in the
industries that I come from, in the larger realms these are European
or even international businesses in the larger and medium-sized
companies, which may be British owned, and maybe British owned
manufacturers in Europe as well. So we are not an inward-looking
industry in the sense of the customers of the our industry; or,
indeed, in the sense of the European Community either.
268. Could I stay with this point you are making
about the forthcoming Budget. In EAMA's evidence there is reference
to the desirability of extending and making permanent capital
allowances100 per cent capital allowances. At the same
time you make the point that SMEs may not be making a great deal
of profit, the level of Corporation Tax by the SMEs is relatively
low, so allowances themselves do not necessarily give the benefit
that is sufficient to promote an investment incentive. What kind
of incentive are you looking for? Can you explain a little more
about what in practice you want to see from the Budget?
(Mr Legg) I think you are absolutely right, there
is a problem with the Capital Allowances, in that inevitably the
company has to be profitable in the first instance to take advantage
of it. Also, it does not actually get a cash advantage from this
until the Allowance is knocked off its tax bill nine months after
its year end. So there is a considerable delay factor. As against
that I would argue, one of the major benefits of the government
coming out and saying, "We believe in manufacturing, and
to prove it we are going to give 100 per cent Capital Allowance
to SMEs", is the enormous boost in confidence it would give.
It would give confidence to the companies and to the people who,
after all, are being required to invest their own money. I think
that is very important. Perhaps it would also send the right message
to those providing finance, to the bankers, the finance companies
or what-have-you, that the government is going to support manufacturing
in the long term. I might add, we have not put it in our presentation
but something actually cropped up over the weekend, one of the
problems that arises for companies making investments is putting
up the VAT at the front end. Whether they are buying machine tools,
for instance, outright themselves from retained profits, or whether
they are using bank finance, hire purchase for instance, they
invariably have to put 100 per cent of the VAT upfront which is
17.5 per cent of the investment. Okay, they get it back after
three months but you would be surprised, because we are talking
about quite high value equipment, that can be a barrier in some
instances. It may well be that the Treasury could consider some
deferment on the VAT payment on capital investment.
269. You make a reference in your memorandum
to us about the small engineering firms investment grant scheme.
Do I gather from what you are just saying that you anticipate
and wish to see changes in tax, changes to the Climate Change
Levy and Capital Allowances; but you are neither anticipating
a government grant scheme nor is it likely to be able to be introduced
by the government because of the EU State Aid rules?
(Mr Legg) Exactly. I think this is the only reason
not to be emphasising it because, as I mentioned in the presentation,
it is undoubtedly the best thing that ever happened to small engineering
firms in the UK back in 1982. Something like £200 million
was handed outone-third of the value of the investmentand
it gave companies enormous confidence, it enabled them to put
down that 20 per cent deposit they very often have to do with
the hire purchase; but the most important thing was, in those
days, there was a significant change happening in engineering
in machine tools; it was a change from manually operated machines
to computer controlled machines. The timing was good because it
enabled a lot of engineering companies to make that quantum leap
into the new technology and ensure their survival at a time when
otherwise if they had not been able to make that leap they would
have faded into obscurity. It was extremely valuable, it was well
taken up. Unfortunately, the Government commissioned some independent
advisers afterwards to do an appraisal of whether it had been
successful or not and it got at best a mixed report, if not a
damning report, saying they were not sure that it had been successful.
I think that is very disappointing because from first hand experience
at the sharp end I know very well what good that scheme did. We
are not emphasising it, I have been warned off it, if you like,
because it is highly unlikely that the Treasury would be prepared
to put cash up; secondly, it is highly unlikely that it would
come within the bounds of European aid. Having said that, I would
like to say that the European Commission has come out openly more
than five years ago to suggest to member governments that they
should support SMEs.[3]
They are the powerhouse of a lot of industries and are a sound
basis for economies. It seems to me that there are ways of offering
state support, state aid, if it is focused very much on SMEs and
particularly focused on high technology investment in manufacturing.
Certainly there seemed to be a little bit of a blind eye turned
and I think the Government can make a lot more of what the Community
allows in terms of state aid or support to SMEs than it is doing.
We could quote examples. For instance, in Italy the Tremonti law
has been re-introduced for a second time, giving substantial support
and tax advantages to companies investing in new high technology
equipment. They have always had a culture of soft loans, interest
rate support, guarantees. Similarly, in Germany and France there
is an enormous amount of support for SMEs. I would agree that
this very often comes through the regions. It would almost seem
as though the regional approach is very much favoured in terms
of being able to fund support for investment. If I am critical,
we have had regional aid in the UK. I would be critical in that
it has been cumbersomely organised so that a lot of people have
become so frustrated when they are applying because the whole
process takes too long. So often in making investment decisions
people are having, particularly in this country, to make short
term quick decisions, "Yes, I have got a contract. I need
to be able to invest to be able to fulfil that contract. I cannot
afford to wait for three, four or five months to apply for a regional
grant. The opportunity will be gone." I have seen it happen
in a number of cases.
(Mr Davis) To take on a point Mike made
there about cumbersome regional aid, we all very much welcome
in the DTI review the review they are undertaking of all the different
grant mechanisms that the DTI has which are very confusing for
many companies and indeed for their trade associations. This cull
is something which we have looked forward to for a long time.
It is a fact that in an organisation called Faraday Plastics,
which is an R&D body, they found in a survey they did recently
that 31 per cent of companies they surveyed in the plastics sector
have never sought technological support from outside agencies,
and 71 per cent have never received a government grant or other
funding support. This is lack of awareness but it is also the
off-putting form-filling that goes with it. These are very small
firms in many cases with very limited management time under a
lot of stress at the present time and they just do not have the
time to get into the paperwork, even though bodies like my own
try and give them the maximum help we can. We particularly welcome
that cull. We would also like to see attached to that a bit more
oomph put behind the drive to drive out unnecessary regulation.
We have made something of this in our nine-association submission.
Patricia Hewitt has announced a new initiative only aimed at small
business which we do not think is tough enough and we give our
reasons in our submission. We do not think it is adequate at all
and a lot of legislation needs to be retrospectively visited and
culled as well. In our industry, plastics, rubber and coatings
we are facing a tidal wave of new regulation which has not reached
us yet, much of it coming from Europe. There is the Waste, Electrical
and Electronics Directive and only part of that has appeared in
the form of the fridge mountain. There is a lot more than that
on the horizon and a lot more bureaucracy and costs for the companies
to come. There is also the End of Life Vehicles Directive which
is being implemented at the present time, although extremely slowly,
by the Government, and there is a lot more bureaucracy and costs
that are going to come out of that too for our particular industry
sectors. There is a tidal wave on the horizon heading towards
us apart from what we are already having to cope with, which is
particularly tough on SMEs.
Chairman: It is not only coming in the one direction.
Let us face it: this is an active British regulation. It is conflicting
with European competitors. There will be a sharing of the suffering.
It might not make it any more acceptable but
270. I wanted to come back on the point of support
and specific capital allowances. I was very interested to read
in your submission a point that you made and I wondered if I could
invite you to expand on it, and that was the inconsistency in
terms of capital allowances on computer equipment. You pointed
in your evidence that ironically computer aided design software
is eligible but the actual machinery which could do a lot to improve
productivity is not. I wondered whether you wanted to raise some
points on that inconsistency.
(Mr Legg) It is a total anomaly basically. It is something
the Chancellor introduced in his budget a year or two ago now
whereby small companies (and it is only small companies, not even
SMEs) are allowed to write off 100 per cent of computer hardware
and software. As you say, I put in the evidence that this equipment
is being used to produce design drawings and programmes to run
the machine tool and yet the machine tool itself, where the cost
(anywhere between 20 and 30 per cent of that machine tool) is
computer and electronic based, does not enjoy this 100 per cent
write-down. We believe it would make a lot more sense to extend
the 100 per cent capital allowance to the machine tool as a whole.
There could be an argument to say that if the Treasury does not
want to go the whole hog it could at least give 100 per cent to
that percentage of the machine tool that is controlled by the
electronics. It would be difficult to apply probably because everybody
would say it was 80 per cent now. I am grateful that you raised
the subject because it is a clear anomaly.
271. BPF has asked the Government for a programme
to attract more inward investment. What would you like to see
of such a programme?
(Mr Davis) One thing we asked the Government to look
at quite a while ago was to check outand of course this
is governed by state aid rulesevidence that we have that
in certain European countries there seemed to be a very generous
grant regime for inward investments. We picked up an example of
a company,and this is interesting for the Committee to
knowone of our member companies which supplies automotive
parts which received a request for a 14 per cent price decrease.
The only way they could meet it was by closing a factory in the
UK, about 150 staff, and moving all the machinery to Spain and
setting up a new factory, which they have done, in Spain next
to a certain big car plant in Valencia. We were picking up information
on very generous grants from the Spanish Government for this and
we did refer it to the DTI and ask them if they would check that
out. We have not heard what happened on that but we do know there
are rules for governments. We do think that, looking at the assistance
that other countries within the Community offer, and indeed now
in Poland and the Czech Republic particularly, where quite a lot
of our customers are being attracted to at the present time, which
is mainly because of labour costs, of course, there may be some
assistance there which needs to be examined. The first premise
was that we felt that should be looked at by the DTI just to check
it out to make sure we were not offering less than other countries
within the guidance of the EU. We would like to see as part of
the programme of the boost for manufacturing more promotion of
the UK as an inward investment centre. It is going on and, like
many things with the DTI, there are programmes. The trouble is
that awareness of them seems to be rather slight. My British Plastics
Federation, we have DTI grants, we take British firms abroad to
trade fairs all over the world. One thing we could do there as
part of that programme is to try and aid the DTI, the local people
in the embassies, to connect in on the ground with potential investors
in the UK. There is much more that can be done. Certainly the
golden age I referred to, albeit a rather brief one, in the late
1980s and 1990s, there really was a substantial drive to attract
inward investment into the UK then, which in our case was rather
successful and we would like to see that repeated.
272. I am sorry but you do not seem to be up
to date with the figures. Britain has sustained its successful
rate of inward investment and where it has declined it has declined
internationally. Where other countries have come in is because
they have woken up to the success of the British method. I do
not recognise the pattern of inward investment you are painting
at the moment, to be perfectly frank. I do not think it is supported
by statistics. With respect, you have quoted no statistics in
anything you have said about inward investment.
(Mr Davis) There is over all our figures an increase
in inward investment and that we are well aware of. But how much
of that is going into the manufacturing industry itself? There
is a lot of inward investment but in the manufacturing industry
the figure is not that substantial. In my own industry there have
been examples of companies, US companies particularly, buying
UK companies and it has inevitably led to some closures. It has
led to some investment, of course, but it has led to some closures
as well, so it is a double-edged sword. Overall the inward investment
figures look good but one has to analyse the depth of them. I
did not say that we had suffered from inward investment. I just
said that we were not visible enough in my opinion in wanting
to show that we were attracting inward investment. I think we
could do more. We could be much more visible overseas in showing
the UK as a friendly place for manufacturing, albeit we have got
this reputation for being rather over-regulated these days which
is partially of course being part of the European Union.[4]
273. Can I talk about skill shortages? You mentioned
in your submission quite a bit about skills and the advance model
apprenticeships. You say you are about 10,000 short and you also
mention the graduate apprenticeships. What sort of support do
SMEs require to improve that situation?
(Mr Davis) It is very worrying for us, I must say.
As I mentioned earlier, our national training organisation, which
is facing some turmoil in that since they all end at the end of
March, has to decide does it become a Sector Skills Council on
its own or not. There is a big meeting in Telford today to try
and decide that, which is a risk because you could lose some of
your best trainers with this big shake-up in scrapping the NTOs
and having Sector Skills Councils. As I mentioned earlier, we
are concerned that at our national training facility bookings
for training are 20 to 30 per cent down. Much of this is due to
the pressures the industry is under. Staff have been shed. Managers
in firms have very little time themselves to do anything. An example
of this is that the DTI and the British Plastics Federation and
two other trade bodies were due next week to have an e-business
seminar aimed specifically at SMEs at a very low cost price in
The Belfry near Birmingham. We had so few registrations that it
had to be called off. We had about 21 registrations. That is something
which SMEs badly need to understand: e-business. That was a disappointment
but I think it is a reflection of the fact that in hard-pressed
companies it is difficult for the managers themselves to find
time and it is difficult for them to find time to send their workers
out, and of course funds are very tight as well. All of us in
industry do our utmost to encourage greater training because in
the plastics industry the profile is of an ageing workforceI
am thinking particularly of the shop floor herewith a reducing
level of qualification. That is obviously worrying and something
we must tackle. We hope this NTO/Sector Skills Council thing sorts
itself out quickly so that we know quite clearly where we are
going to go in the future. We shall continue to do our best to
encourage our firms to send staff for training. It is very important
indeed to upskill them and keep the workforce fresh.
274. What more can be done at the national level
to improve the situation for upskilling and filling the gaps in
shortages of skills?
(Mr Davis) Obviously one hopes the current climate
for manufacturing will improve because people are under pressure;
they have had to reduce their staff and they have had to cut back
on things like training and marketing and R&D and all these
essential long term investments for the future. The economic condition
side is one part of it. The scrapping of the NTOs at the end of
March and their replacement with Sector Skills Councils, run and
owned by employers, was for many a very substantial change. We
had expected the Government to recommend a reduction in the NTOs.
Seventy-five is rather a lot. What we had not expected was such
a substantial change that there should be only between 15 and
25 Sector Skills Councils, and the tight timetable, which of course
was affected by the timing of the general election. The Government
did not have as much time as it had hoped for because of the general
election timing. The timetable has been so severe that we are
scurrying around trying to sort out the future of our training
operations in our industry on a very tight timescale. There is
a requirement also, which is a good requirement, that the Sector
Skills Councils should be run and owned by employers and we need
to get more companies, small and large, interested in the training
of their employees and to sit on the governing councils of these
bodies. That is not easy when time is very limited for senior
managers in industry. It is not easy to find people to give the
275. What about the Learning Skills Councils?
(Mr Davis) They are a valuable initiative. Many of
our firms are taking advantage of that as a good initiative and
I think the support is good although it could be stronger.
276. You did talk about the problems, especially
for small business, with giving people time off for training and
personal development. Would you see having tax training credits
as a help or some form of learning entitlement with appropriate
compensation for employers?
(Mr Davis) It would undoubtedly assist; no question.
It would push more people into training.
277. So either of those things, claiming credits
or compensatory time off? You have mentioned an ageing workforce.
Perhaps most of us in this room might be considered part of an
ageing workforce with present trends. You are obviously concerned
about European legislation which has got to be taken on board
about equality of employment. I am just wondering whether it is
perhaps something that is being missed here, that it is easy to
worry about having to keep on elderly employees but whether there
is a case there for saying, "We have still got these people.
How about upskilling the people we have got or retraining them?"
I am sure most of us would subscribe to what I have just talked
about and would not consider that we were over the hill in what
we are doing now and it is such an easy image to say that we have
got to have opportunities for young people but you have got people
in your existing workforce that you could probably use better
or put them on other things or even higher things and perhaps
that is missed in looking at opportunities for younger people.
(Mr Davis) Yes, that is a very strong point. The older
workers are very valuable because in many cases they have been
with the firms in question for quite a while. They are very flexible,
they understand the full operations of the firm. They may have
worked in different departments of it. They are an asset that
one wants to keep. However, the years march on and eventually
they will retire and we need to bring into our industry of course
the new young employees, but they are certainly a valued asset
and all our companies would say that the older workers are a lynchpin
in the workforce, but of course many of them are heading towards
retirement. With younger workers they are much more mobile. This
of course is a trend we are very familiar with now and they move
from one job to another quite fast. I was up with a firm I mentioned
earlier who are seriously thinking of moving production to France
because of the climate change levy, which is Schmalbach-Lubeca
outside Chester. The thing they dread is that there may be a Sainsbury's
or Tesco's superstore opening not far away from them and they
are worried that their younger workers would be attracted away
to working in perhaps a slightly more pleasant environment, although
plastic factories are not an unpleasant environment at all, to
such a superstore. There is nothing wrong with that but the younger
population is a very transient workforce and the attraction of
working in a place like that is perhaps quite strong. There is
an issue of keeping younger workers and showing to them quite
clearly a career path as well. Quite a lot of work is done by
our national training organisation in showing in plastics, in
that whatever rank you go in at, managerial or at the technical
level or at the workforce level, there is a career path, but the
nature of things is that younger people do move up and on.
(Mr Legg) With regard to recruitment of young people
into our industry, we do have a problem. We have mentioned before
manufacturing has a poor image if you like through the media etc.
Therefore right at the early stages of encouraging children to
choose the right subjects to study at school we believe that very
often they are not aware of the opportunities that are offered
in engineering and manufacturing. It has got a bad image, quite
unjustifiably, because the modern-day factory is extremely hi-tech.
All the kids love dealing with computers. We can offer them very
good opportunities but unfortunately they are not aware of that.
Their careers teachers probably are not aware; they do not have
the knowledge. We would like to see more action taken to encourage
schools to offer vocational training, and I know this is happening
at the moment. There is a private sector initiative to support
the schools in technology. I absolutely welcome that. I think
it is terrific, but we need more of it. Finally, one of the problems
that we have is that because of the press saying that manufacturing
is in decline it discourages children from coming into an industry
where they are not sure there is going to be a job for them in
ten or 20 years' time. Unfortunately, because we seem to have
a more exaggerated cycle in manufacturing than elsewhere, we do
see a higher level of lay-offs and redundancies in the bad times
and then suddenly there is a skill shortage when things improve.
We need to try and smooth this out in some way so that the students
coming into the industry and all the knowledge and experience
that they have stays in the industry. In the last few years we
have seen a drain of skilled people having to be laid off and
those skills are lost to the industry for ever. In those circumstances
it gets doubly difficult to recruit new people to come in. Maybe
they have seen their father go that way before and they say, "No;
I will go up to the City. There are a lot better opportunities
up there", or there used to be.
278. Just to explore this problem on the skill
side, earlier on during the questions on capital investment and
venture funds there was a lot of emphasis on Europe and comparisons
being drawn with Germany and so on. How well do we do we do relatively
on the skills front compared with European countries, certainly
Germany? Are they better than we are regarding the model apprenticeships
or graduate schemes? I wonder if you would say a little bit about
(Mr Legg) I personally do not have first-hand experience
of the structure, for instance, in Germany but I do in my dealings
with German companies and with Scandinavia as well, where we do
business, experience shows that there is a high level of skill
on the shop floor. In particular, there are a lot more graduates
in engineering and in manufacturing than there seem to be in this
country. As I mentioned before, I think it is equally important
that we have a strong level of vocational training. Not everybody
should go through the graduate training route. There are plenty
of people that leave school at 16 who have a good training and
come through to being senior managers and directors. It is not
the be-all and end-all to go down the graduate route and sometimes
I think Government emphasises that too much. They have created
a lot more graduate places and I think there is a question mark,
certainly in our area, as to whether the quality of people that
they have been able to get to fill those places justify the expenditure
on higher education. Those people might often have been much better
off going into vocational training and coming up through that
route. From my experience, and I have to say it is limited, it
seems to me that education in technology is more structured in
Europe than it is here. There seem to be more colleges specifically
for technology training and engineering training.
(Mr Davis) I would agree with Mike.
(Mr Legg) In that case maybe we can come back to you
in due course.[5]
Dr Kumar: That would be helpful if you could
put something in writing. There is no reference to it in your
279. You have mentioned regulation and the regulatory
burdens on a couple of occasions this morning. I noticed in your
evidence you say that from discussions with fellow Europeans it
is evident that the UK Government and Civil Service have applied
the European regulations with greater vigour than any other nation.
Do you have any evidence that shows and supports your assertions
that regulations are enforced with greater vigour here?
(Mr Davis) There is one piece of evidence which straddles
the previous Government as well as the current one. The application
of the Packaging Wastes Directive in the UK was particularly complex
and onerous. I will not go into all the detail of this but the
obligation for companies to pay something towards the recovery
and recycling of packaging waste in most European countries will
fall on one part of the packaging chain, if I can call it that.
In the UK there are tortuous discussions over how it should fall
in this country and it actually falls in four parts of the chain
and the regulations that were put through to back this up were
very onerous indeed. Although the Government would argue that
the costs compared to other European countries (or some of them
anyway) are not too bad on companies, the actual bureaucracy that
is created within a firm is quite substantial. That is an area
where one day one hopes that can be reviewed and a simpler system
brought in. At the time certain of the European models did not
look too attractive at all because they were expensive. The German
system for dealing with packaging waste was very expensive and
still is, but there were other examples in other countries which
were better, France, for example. That is one good example. This
directive is currently being reviewed at a European level and
there is a big battle going on, if I can put it that way, between
industry and the Commission over new targets for the next few
years. That is one example which I am particularly well versed
on. On other things like the forthcoming tidal wave I referred
to earlier, particularly on end-of-life vehicles, the Government
have been very keen to avoid the kind of complexity that the packaging
waste regulations led to and would like as far as is possible
a kind of voluntary system to be applied, but in actual practice
in negotiations that turns out to be really difficult. If you
look at the southern states who, in the Councils of Europe, say,
"Yes, bring it in, we must have these measures immediately",
when you look at how they interpret the regulations and what they
do about them, they are extremely slow-moving, and if the Committee
wishes we can come forward with some evidence about that. They
do urge for these measures to be implemented and so on but their
action in making sure they go through in their own countries is
extremely slow. Some might argue that it is to give their countries
an element of advantage for two or three years over industries
in other countries before they have to abide by the rules and
conform to the legislation.
Note by witness: figures produced by British Trade International
show clearly the point that whilst overall investment and projects
have increased during the past 10 year period, the manufacturing
percentage of the total has declined. Back
Note by witness: see supplementary memorandum on Skills
and Training. This document compares the UK skills scenario with
European and other countries. Back


text:
Academic Programs • Non-Credit Courses • Credit Courses • Distance Learning
> Back to Main List of Credit Courses
Database Management Systems
Course ID#: MFC 312
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: MFC 101, MFC 118, and at least a one-semester course in a Programming language, or permission of instructor
Course Description:
Examines fundamental database concepts and architecture, with an emphasis on commercially available systems. Topics include critical evaluation of important implementation issues, approaches, and alternatives in a relational database environment. Projects will be completed using the university mainframe computers; however, multiple platform experimentation will be assigned to provide background in available software, such as ORACLE. Database languages include SQL, QMF, and subsequent Query languages implemented on specific systems. LEC
To Register Online, click here.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
I grew up in Lakewood, Colorado but now live up north in Thornton. I was raised
in a hunting and fishing family and have loved every aspect of both for as long
as I can remember. Whether it was deer and elk hunting in the mountains or
waterfowl hunting across the front range. It was my junior year in highschool
though when I got my first goose call and some decoys that would take my love
for waterfowl hunting to the next level. After calling that first group of geese
in all by myself I was hooked. For me there isn't anything better then hunting
geese. And have dedicated myself to waterfowl ever since.In the
off season you will still find me outdoors. My dad and I have had our own house
painting business for 12 years now. I couldn't ask for a better job that would
allow me to spend everyday with my dad. If I'm not working I'm either playing
golf or fishing and counting down the days until goose season.
Pro Staff for Foiles Migrators, Big Foot Decoys, Camo FX, and Final Approach.
I am from Lakewood, Colorado. Most of my spare time growing up was spent
in the Windsor area hunting and fishing on numerous farms owned by relatives.
My dad, Steve, has had me in the pit since I was 4 and I still can't get enough
of it. There's nothing more exciting than fooling some big Canadas or a flight
of mallards, and watching them come to the decoys and calls. I have
competed and placed in numerous waterfowl calling competitions, but calling
for judges don't even compare to calling geese. It never gets old. When I'm not
guiding waterfowl hunts for Stillwater, I can be found in the hills chasing
trophy Mule Deer or out on a lake casting for bass and walleyes. There's
nothing like being outdoors, and I'll always give 110 percent every day I'm out
there. I look forward to seeing you in the coming season!


text:
The Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership was formally created in 1991 by action of the Board of Curators of the University of Missouri system. Its roots were in the work of Cookingham Institute (now Department of Public Affairs) faculty and community leaders, particularly adjunct professor Beth Smith and Cookingham Institute director, Dr. John Thomas, and the successful campaign to create and raise funds for an endowment to support a professorship on nonprofit leadership and management. This initiative also articulated a general strategy to develop a center to build the capacity of and engage in research about nonprofit organizations, leadership and management. The center was created under the direction of the first incumbent of this professorship, Dr. Edward Weaver, in collaboration with Ms. Smith and with the support of community, school, and institute leaders. Upon the creation of the center, the nonprofit professor role was expanded to include the responsibility of directing the center. MCNL's initial programs included a pre-existing series of courses in fund raising and board development, and a community breakfast forum. A special internship to place graduate students in community nonprofit organizations, the Civic Internship, also was developed, funded, and implemented.
Soon after the creation of the center, Dr. Weaver assumed an executive position with the Kauffman Foundation. Following a national search, UMKC hired Dr. David Renz to be the next Associate Professor of Nonprofit Management and Director, Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership. He joined the center and the faculty in the fall of 1993. Renz expanded the center through the development and presentation of several additional workshops and seminars, and recruited additional resource people to help expand center programming. In 1994, the center convened an advisory council of community nonprofit and public service leaders and executives to provide programmatic advice and support, and involved them in a major strategic planning process. The result was a strategic plan, the framework and core of which has provided guidance to the center for the past seven years (it is revised and refined every 2-3 years).
Center programming has grown as additional leadership and management courses and workshops have been added, including programs in the areas of general nonprofit leadership, issues forums, board development, strategic planning and supervision. On average, two to three programs are added each year. Some are presented for general public registration, others presented under contract to specific organizations. Program faculty and presenters include a diverse mix of UMKC faculty and community resource people. Renz also has developed applied research activities associated with both the center's mission and his role as a tenured faculty member, and has joined division colleague Robert Herman in a regular program of writing on board and organizational effectiveness for academic and "serious practitioner" audiences. Some of these papers become white papers for the center, and others papers and articles for publication.
In 1995, the center engaged in dialogue with early education and care (EEC) leaders about that area's great need for leadership and management development support. These discussions grew into a formal proposal, funded by three national foundations, to serve this unique, multi-sector community. The plan for this special program, known as the Forum for Early Childhood Organization and Leadership Development (The Forum), mirrored the plan for the overall center but with the focus on current and emerging EEC leaders as a unique customer group. In 1996, with funding from the three foundations, the center began to develop the Forum as an active program. Today, the Forum operates with a full-time director and two program coordinators, plus a fully functioning advisory system involving both regional and national advisory councils.
Today, the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership is an education and research enterprise that serves over five thousand current and emerging nonprofit leaders and managers through a combination of public and contracted programs and services. It also has become a nationally-known regional center that provides a unique and essential mix of management education and support to the nonprofit community from an urban land grant university base, a center that delivers high-quality, practitioner-friendly leadership and management development programs that are grounded in the theory and knowledge base that is being developed by both academic scholars and sophisticated practitioners. Through its affiliation with and involvement in the research conducted by Department of Public Affairs faculty including center director, David Renz, the Midwest Center also is becoming well-known as a source of high quality applied research, particularly in the areas of governance, nonprofit effectiveness, and community leadership.


text:
Product Description
To be a modern leader with this short cocktail dress. Elastic satin bodice coordinates with pleated chiffon skirt to create a classic and perfect A-line silhouette which would do help in extruding your height. Rhinestone details accented on the round neckline and bodice offer a stunning look. What's more, the rhinestone belt is available for you according to your needs.


text:
Otter Bar Kayak School 2018 Schedule & Prices
Advanced & Intermediate Mix
Fee: $2,290.00
Balance Due: 3/14/2018
Fee: $2,290.00
Balance Due: 3/22/2018
Fee: $2,290.00
Balance Due: 3/29/2018
Intermediate/Basic Intermediate Mix
Fee: $2,290.00
Balance Due: 4/5/2018
Fee: $2,290.00
Balance Due: 4/12/2018
Fee: $2,290.00
Balance Due: 4/19/2018
Fee: $2,290.00
Balance Due: 4/26/2018
Fee: $2,290.00
Balance Due: 5/3/2018
Basic Intermediate/Beginner Mix
Fee: $2,290.00
Balance Due: 5/10/2018
Fee: $2,290.00
Balance Due: 5/17/2018
Fee: $2,290.00
Balance Due: 5/24/2018
Fee: $2,290.00
Balance Due: 5/30/2018
Fee: $2,290.00
Balance Due: 6/7/2018
Fee: $2,290.00
Balance Due: 6/14/2018
Not Quite Grown-Ups / NQGU
(Ages 10-14)
Fee: $1000.00
Balance Due: 6/7/2018
Possiblity of having an Advanced Kids Week to be announced.
The 'mix classes' mean there will be 2 levels of students during the week. You will be put in a group with similar skills as you have. You may advance your skills depending on how fast you learn new ones.
'The last 3 weeks in August are not listed. However we can open those weeks up if there is a demand for them.
What's Included
Our price is all-inclusive. This includes all meals, lodging (shared occupancy), kayak instruction, local transportation, kayak equipment for Beginning, Basic Intermediate, and all fly-in guests, plus use of our mountain bikes. Advanced & Intermediate students should bring their own equipment but may borrow a kayak if they are flying. All guests are also welcome to try out new boats while here.
You may wish to bring money for a massage ($80/full body) as well as Otter Bar memorabilia. We serve juice and water with dinner. You should bring your own soft drinks, beer, wine, & special juices . If you are flying in, we will stop at a store on the way to the lodge for you to buy these.
Gratuities are left at your discretion and are split amongst guides, cooks, and lodge staff; tips often range from 8% to 20% of the regular course price. Please see our FAQ, What to Bring list, or contact us if you have further questions.
A $400 deposit is required to secure your reservation with us. The balance is due 45 days prior to the start of your visit. A refund of the deposit will be made 45 days prior to the start of your visit minus a $75 service fee per person. For cancellations received less than 45 days prior to your visit, no refunds of the balance or deposit will be made. TRIP INSURANCE IS NECESSARY FOR ALL EMERGENCY CANCELLATIONS. GO TO: SQUAREMOUTH.COM/TRAVEL FOR INSURANCE OPTIONS.
Group Deposits
A minimum group of 14 may book the lodge for an entire week of kayaking. Full payment must be made 90 days in advance to secure the lodge for a private group.
What to Bring
Please check our list of what to bring. This list will also be sent to you upon receipt of your deposit. Sign Up or Get More Information
Please see our Sign Up page to enroll in one of our courses or contact us for more information and answers to your questions.


text:
Veeda tampons and are the leading hypoallergenic 100% natural cotton tampons available in the UK. Conventional products can contain dioxins from the bleaching process, pesticide and herbicide residues, synthetic chemicals, artificial fragrances and dyes. Veeda products feature no chemicals, no synthetics and no dyes - which in turn helps to reduce the risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome, irritation and allergic reactions. Although we learn about Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) at school, it's not something we give little thought to past those first 'how to use a tampon' lessons; it's still very much a problem today (especially in developing worlds) as manufacturers are using more and more chemicals to ensure their products look, feel and smell great.
Not only do those scented towels have the potential to irritate our bits, but the fibres used within tampons can break off inside and trigger bacterial infections too. The chemicals used to create the products can be absorbed into the blood stream, meaning there's so much more to your monthly shopping choices than you may once have thought. It's estimated that 1 in every 700 women will contract TSS, with 5% of cases being fatal; although the odds are small, it's just not worth risking your health if you can help it. Using natural feminine care products is not something I've ever thought about until now, but Veeda have really opened my eyes to issues that are incredibly important. Having had my fair share of lady traumas (including advanced pre-cancerous cells that had to be removed,) I'm more wary than ever about my feminine hygiene and using products I know will only be good for my wellbeing.
The 100% natural cotton products Veeda produce are UK approved to meet all absorbancy standards, are lab-tested to be chemical free and have been designed to ensure comfort and efficiency. There's simply no compromise. On a comparative basis with my usual brand, there really is little to tell them apart; they feel slightly less smooth to the touch because of the lack of plastic, but when they're in place doing their business you wouldn't know the difference. Available in various absorbancies (with and without applicators,) as well as a range of pads and liners to meet your ever need, the Veeda range is vast. You may expect an 'organic' alternative to Tampax to be three times the price, but Veeda is actually completely comparable at £2.72 for a pack of 16 applicator tampons. There's really no excuse not to make wiser choices that are better for your feminine health and wellbeing in the long-term.
I'm making the switch to Veeda. Are you?
The Veeda range is available to buy online here, with prices starting from £1.73. They're also available from selected Boots stores nationwide.
This is a sponsored post on behalf of Veeda, but I genuinely think this is a really important issue to discuss and will be replacing my usual brand with these from hereon in.


text:
As a continuation of our efforts to improve access to education, we are welcoming a new community into our fold. We will be moving to a community called Baraka Shalom in Molo area of Kenya. We are partnering with this community to fully develop a primary school right in the community. The community's name translates into Blessing and Peace in English and therefore we hope that is foreshadowing of our endeavors.
This new development is a culmination of exploration and relationships which began mid last year. We have visited this area a number of times, interacting with the community members as well as other stakeholders involved such as local leadership and various government agencies concerned to ascertain the viability and impact of a school project in the community.
Baraka Shalom is located some five kilometers from Molo town in Nakuru County in the Central Rift region of Kenya. The community was formed as a result of resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who were dislodged during the 2007-08 Post Election Skirmishes that rocked Kenya. The community is among many found around Molo area which came about from this same situation. The community neighbors a major Roman Catholic Church educational complex and series of seminaries. It is also next to a major road and therefore more accessible than our other locations which are farther away from any other form of settlement.
The community consists of 141 households, mostly farmers and traders. The area is fertile for farming and is the main economic activity in this small community. Compared with some other locations we have schools in like Lemolo, they are slightly better of because the climate favors agricultural activities.
Currently, the community has a small school building made from iron sheets mostly which houses the primary school section. The classrooms and small office are very tiny. This current structure is a result of community contributions because they understood the need of a school in their community. The school has 171 students right now. The kindergarten section has two well-made classrooms built by the county government.
In Kenya, there's a separation of responsibilities between the national and county levels of government and thus all early childhood education is apportioned the county government while the rest falls in the jurisdiction of the national government. In this case the county government has done its job and built two classrooms for kindergarten. Where there lies a major problem is the primary school section which the national government falls behind largely and is disappointing especially for recently settled area. This is where World Teacher Aid will be coming in to help build a proper primary school with eight classrooms and administration block made from stone bricks and thus very durable.
The school has grades one through six. These are the only grades they could fit into the space currently available. Students have to move to schools outside the community to attend grades seven and eight. There's even fewer desks and some students have had to learn while sitting on the earthen floors of the current school. There are currently six government teachers and two volunteer teachers, these are adequate for the school in the meanwhile.
The project to construct Baraka Shalom Primary school is expected to begin next month to run concurrently with Safina Haji high school project. These two projects are supposed to be done by WTA annual donor trip to happen later this year in early August.
As I spoke to the community members about this new development, I have seen much excitement and enthusiasm regarding the new project. There are now going to have a proper school for all the primary school kids right in their community. Miriam Njeri, a mother of four kids said she's excited her daughters won't have to travel far out of the community when they graduate from grade six as it has been before.


text:
Contact Us
To request an information package including brochure and DVD, please complete the following form. You are also welcome to contact us directly by email, phone or post (see below).
If you would like to meet us in person, we would be happy to come do a home visit. Please call our office at 416-225-4166 for more details or to book a visit.
Our Contact Info:
|Sept 21st - May 15th
Glen Bernard Camp
206 Lord Seaton Road
Toronto, ON, M2P 1K9
Tel: (416) 225-4166
Fax: (416) 225-6036
Email: email@example.com
|May 16th - Sept 20th
Glen Bernard Camp
2066 South Lake Bernard Road
Sundridge, ON, P0A 1Z0
Tel: (705) 384-7062
Fax: (705) 384-0155
Email: email@example.com
Summer Camps for Boys:


text:
My, it's been a while since my last post. Of course, no one knows this because apparently no one reads this (according to my site meter).
So, to catch up those of you who read it but don't register on the site meter, the big news is that my husband and are I divorcing. He moved out in September, and we will file after we fill in some blanks in the paperwork.
Am I happy? Kind of. Am I sad? Kind of. Is this weird? Probably. When I tell people, the usual reply is "oh, I'm sorry." I really want to say "don't be, because I'm not." I suppose that may sound callus and unfeeling, but it's really for the best. For everyone involved, not just me.
In the past two months, the stress level in my house has all but diminished. My girls and I get along better, and we spend more time as a family. I know that they hid in their rooms or buried themselves on the computer just to avoid interaction. Or the arguments. I don't blame them. I wished I could sometimes.
He seems to be doing better too. I found out this weekend he's been seeing someone for about a month. I say, good for him.
I guess it's hard for some people to realize that divorce isn't always a bad thing.


text:
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Relax in your king size four-poster bed and gaze outside the bedroom window at views of Big Bear Lake located across the street from the Inn. Enjoy reading a book or watching TV or a movie in the comfortable sitting area, which includes a DVD player, or snuggle up in front of the romantic stone wood-burning fireplace. The recently remodeled private bathroom is complete with double sinks and a jetted tub for a relaxing soak. Spa robes and hairdryer are provided for your comfort and convenience. The room has a private balcony to enjoy your morning coffee, or evening glass of wine and listen to the sounds of songbirds filling the air. $290.00 per night


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No, we haven't decided to talk about astronomy...but if you haven't understood the link between the Moon and Etna it probably means that you have never been to the top. In fact, the first thing that people say upon reaching 2500 metres of altitude is "it seems to be on the moon!". But is there water on Etna? This is a common question. Let's say that Etna is bordered by the Alcantara River on the North side (check the Alcantare Gorges and the Alcantara Gurne path) and by the Simeto River on the West side (look at the lavic ravines and at the Cantera gorges). The source of these two rivers is in the Nebrodi Mountains and many centuries ago they have seen their paths blocked by the Etnean Giant.
The Grottos carved by the two rivers make us think about the battle between the lava and the water for superiority, the sudden lava invasion against the slow eroding power of water. They are situated at modest heights, between 600/700 metres.
Going further up, the water on Etna becomes illusive. You can see its traces on the basalt polished over the centuries, as in the Acqua Rocca basalt wall. We have often been there, but we have never been able to see the waterfall in action, even if many people swear that in particular circumstances the water still flows.
If you want to find water on Etna, you should go towards the Gurrida Lake (outside of prolonged dry periods) , in Randazzo. This is the only wet area on Etna, at 900 metres of altitude, a common passing point for many migrating birds. The Gurrida Lake is a very particular site, but unfortunately we have found it in a unmaintained state. It is a shame because it would be worth it to get there just to take the picture of Etna mirrored on the lake (here on top right).
Another area where you can see some water flowing is the Sciambro Torrent, also named "40 hours", because of its short flowing time after rainfall. It is close to the Citelli Refuge, in Piano Provenzana direction, at more than 1600 metres of altitude. Watching the torrent in action, as shown in the picture, must be spectacular. But it is not an easy moment to capture: you have to wait for the right day and be lucky enough to be close by. We could not make it either, and this picture has been provided to us by one of our readers, Francesco, almost an honorary etnatracker by now.
And now, over to you, do you know other water flows, lakes, or torrents on Etna? Let us know, we will be happy to write about them.


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'Two And A Half Men' Ratings Plummet, Cast & Crew Respond!
In the midst of Ashton Kutcher's marriage scandal, ratings for his show 'Two and a Half Men' have diminished and sources reveal to HollywoodLife.com how the cast and crew are handling the disappointing news!
When Ashton Kutcher made his debut appearance on Two and a Half Men this season, ratings skyrockets with more than 28.7 million viewers. However, since the 33-year-old actor's marriage scandal with Demi Moore, ratings have plummeted to fewer than 16 million viewers. An on set source tells HollywoodLife.com the cast and crew's interesting reaction to the drop in viewers.
"It's funny because no one is really worried about the ratings," our insider says. "They are still huge and everyone is just happy it's not bombing. Plus, it's nice to have jobs. We're happy with the ratings so far."
The source points out Ashton's ratings are comparable to Charlie Sheen's when he starred on the show last year. That said, others are blaming Ashton's wedding scandal for the loss in viewers.
What do YOU think is to blame? Are YOU watching Two and a Half Men?
Reporting by Russ Weakland
More Ashton & Demi Stories:


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Alan Partridge movie gets Norwich premiere after campaign
Fans of comedy character Alan Partridge have won their campaign to get his forthcoming film premiered in Norwich.
The movie will receive its first public screening on 24 July at the Hollywood Cinema in Anglia Square, Norwich - the fictional broadcaster's home city.
Later that evening the film, Alpha Papa, will be screened in Leicester Square, London.
Fans had campaigned for the Norwich premiere using the slogan "Anglia Square, not Leicester Square".
'Big city fame'
The film's producers Studio Canal released a "message from Alan" on Twitter announcing the move.
In a statement, Partridge, played by Steve Coogan, said: "You can imagine how hurt and litigious I felt when people said I was planning to debut my movie in London instead of Norwich, or that I'd allowed my head to be turned by the prospect of big city fame.
"Any suggestions I've hastily cobbled together the lunchtime Norwich screening in response to a local Twitter campaign will be met with the full force of the law."
Rob Wilkes, who started the campaign with his friend Rafiq Turnbull, said: "It's fantastic news. We're blown away.
"The people of Norwich need to embrace that. The streets need to be lined, more so than for the Lord Mayor's celebrations at the weekend.
"We need to bring out the red bus, perhaps, and give him a ride from City Hall down to Anglia Square."
Trevor Wicks, owner of Hollywood Cinema in Anglia Square which will host the premiere, said: "It's definitely the biggest event at the Hollywood and probably the biggest event there's ever been in the city for many years.
"We hope Steve Coogan and the other stars of the film will be there. We're just waiting for the finer details."
Parts of the film, which goes on general release next month, were shot on location in Norfolk.


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|Poet, photographer and UW Milwaukee professor, Kimberly Blaeser is the current Wisconsin Poet Laureate. Her award winning writing has been widely anthologized and has been translated into several languages. Blaeser's current work Picto-Poems brings her nature photography together with poetry to explore intersecting ideas about Native place, nature, preservation, and spiritual sustenance.
|Cathryn Cofell of Appleton is the author of Sister Satellite (Cowfeather Press) and six chapbooks. Her work has garnered the Lorine Niedecker Poetry Award and the WI People & Ideas Prize for Poetry, among others. Cofell is a fierce advocate for the arts, helping to launch the WI Poet Laureate Commission, Verse Wisconsin, the WFOP Chapbook Prize, and the Poetry Rocks Series. www.cathryncofell.com
|Ron Czerwien is the owner of Avol's Books LLC, which sells used & out-of-print books on the internet. His poems have appeared online and in print journals. He was a finalist in the Concrete Wolf Poetry Chapbook Contest and hosts the monthly "Madtown Poetry Open Mic Series" at Mother Fool's Coffeehouse, in Madison, Wisconsin.
|Nick Demske lives in Racine and works at the Racine Public Library. He is the author a self-titled collection of poetry, which was picked for the 2010 Fence Modern Poets Series prize, and a chapbook, Skeetly Deetly Deet, which was published by Strange Cage Press. His work has been taught at dozens of universities and colleges throughout the country, including Notre Dame, Columbia, Cleveland State, Marquette and many more. In 2011, Nick went on a 40+ city book tour that covered both coasts of America and back. Nick is a vegan, an urban gardener and a crappy student of sitting meditation.
|Madison poet laureate (2008-2012), advocate, columnist and educator, Fabu celebrates the artistic expressions of women, children, African American, and multicultural communities. Her in depth research into the life and work of jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams culminated in a book of poetry and a theatrical/musical production. She authored poetry books: In Our Own Tongues (University of Nairobi Press), Journey to Wisconsin:African American life in Haiku (Parallel Press) and Poems, Dreams and Roses: poetry for youth and children. She has a traveling exhibit "Poet Fabu in Wisconsin."
|John Lehman is the founder of Rosebud Magazine. For years he was literary editor of Wisconsin People & Ideas and is now editor of Lit Noir (a digital magazines) and president/CEO of Zelda Wilde Publishing. He is a nationally published writer and poet with twenty-five years experience teaching creative writing and twenty years as a creative director/senior copywriter for advertising agencies.
|Tom Montag, Fairwater, Wisconsin, is most recently the author of In This Place: Selected Poems 1982-2013 (a finalist for the Midwest Independent Publishers Association' award for books of poetry published in 2014), and other books of poetry and prose. In 2015 he was the featured poet at Atticus Review (April) and Contemporary American Voices (August). He blogs as The Middlewesterner and serves as Managing Editor of the Lorine Niedecker Monograph Series, What Region?
|Margot Peters is the award winning author of several biographies including Lorine Niedecker: A Poet's Life, Design for Living: Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, May Sarton: A Biography, The House of Barrymore, Mrs. Pat: The Biography of Mrs. Patrick Campbell, Bernard Shaw and the Actresses and Unquiet Soul: A Biography of Charlotte Brontë.
In addition to writing biographies and essays, Ms. Peters is an accomplished poet. She has published poems in a variety of publications including: Wisconsin Academy Review, Free Verse and The Deronda Review II.
|Nancy Rafal is an advocate of poetry, especially that of Lorine Niedecker. Nancy served as treasurer of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets for too many years and is a board member of Friends of Lorine Niedecker. The muse takes her to poetry readings throughout the state and Nancy's work appears in many editions of the Wisconsin Poets' Calendar. Her "if you build it, they will come" project is a 96 foot long mural celebrating Baileys Harbor and Lorine Niedecker. All she has to do is raise the funds.
|Margaret Schroeder is the founder of The Solitary Plovers, a group dedicated to the living legacy and study of the works of Lorine Niedecker. She continues to coordinate the Plovers and is the warmth behind the Poetry Cafe during the Wisconsin Poetry Festival. She writes occasional poetry and also has a psychotherapy practice in Fort Atkinson.
|Marilyn L. Taylor, former Poet Laureate of Wisconsin (2009 and 2010) and of Milwaukee (2004 and 2005), is the author of six collections of poetry. Her award-winning poems and essays have appeared in many anthologies and journals, including Poetry, The American Scholar, and Ted Kooser's "American Life in Poetry" online column. Marilyn taught poetry and poetics for fifteen years at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and currently serves as a board member for several writers' organizations.
|Lisa Vihos is the Poetry and Arts Editor at Stoneboat Literary Journal and an occasional guest blogger for The Best American Poetry. Along with two chapbooks, A Brief History of Mail (Pebblebrook Press, 2011) and The Accidental Present (Finishing Line Press, 2012), her poems have appeared in numerous journals and magazines. She has two Pushcart Prize nominations and received first place recognition in the 2015 Wisconsin People and Ideas poetry contest. She is very active in the 100 Thousand Poets for Change global movement and just returned home from the first world conference in Salerno, Italy. Visit her blog at Frying the Onion.
|Paul Wiegel lives and writes in Berlin, WI and is the founder of Fox River Poetry Company. He has has been writing poems for passersby on his 1963 Smith Corona typewriter at Flea Markets, art galleries, and storefronts for the past four years. In doing so, he hopes to bring an appreciation of poetry to a wider audience. One of his own poems was awarded the 2014 Joseph Gahagan Poetry Prize.
|David Wilk has published and distributed poetry in print and digital formats since the 1970's. He was editor of the influential literary journal TRUCK and affiliated Truck Press, devoting an entire issue to Lorine Niedecker's work. He currently publishes pop culture startup Frederator Books and the independent Prospecta Press. His podcast at writerscast.com features hundreds of interviews with writers and publishers. For more on his current projects, see booktrix.com and livewriters.com


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Finally, Terrence Malick's Tree of Life Reveals a Dinosaur
It's on the new poster.
How much are we looking forward to Terrence Malick's new film, The Tree of Life? This much! (Just so you know, we're holding our arms out very wide, and our fingers are grazing soft stalks of grass in the golden sunlight.) Still, our appetite was barely whetted by the first trailer or even that recent clutch of images from the film, because as much as we can't wait to see Brad Pitt and Sean Penn do what they do, the thing we're most excited about is Tree of Life's dinosaurs. (Yes, there are dinosaurs in the movie for some reason, and they're in IMAX.) That's why today is something of a watershed: Fox Searchlight just released a poster made up of 70 images from the film, and wouldn't you know, there's a dino cold chillin' in one of them. It's just a tiny look for now, but that's totally fine, because there's nothing cuter than a lil' baby dinosaur anyway.
Photos From The Tree of Life [IMDb]


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American Physical Society Sites|APS|Journals|PhysicsCentral|Physics
- American Physical Society Sites
- Publications
- Meetings & Events
- Programs
- Membership
- Policy & Advocacy
- Careers In Physics
- Newsroom
- About APS
- Become a Member
Greetings! My name is Soun-Ja Walters and I am 18 years old. It has always been my highest aspiration to become a physicist. I am extremely excited to begin college at New Mexico State University because I finally have a chance to make my life long dream a reality. I attended Pale Verde High School in Tucson, Arizona. I graduated with a 4.04 GPA. My hard work earned me the class rank of 6 out of 296 people. During high school, I was very active in the marching band.
As a senior, I held the position of Drum Major. Through this experience, I learned a great deal about leadership-a skill I will need through out life. I was also President of Palo Verde?s Academic Decathlon Team and the National Honor Society. These activities taught me the importance of an active, creative mind. Now that I have graduated, I will use these experiences in college to achieve my goal of becoming a physicist. Ultimately, I want to become a cosmologist so that I can study the past, present and ultimate future of the universe. The scholarship that I have received from the American Physical Society will help me do just that.


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Every child deserves a safe and loving home
Who are the kids?
- All ages and abilities
- Sibling groups and only children
- Have had or are going through traumatic experiences
- Able-bodied and not so able-bodied
- Gifted learners and challenged learners
- Shy, scared, funny, awkward, angry, talented, curious, needy, and lovable
Who are foster parents?
- Single or married
- Male or female
- All races and religions
- Over 21 years of age
- Self-supporting
What is required of me to qualify be a foster parent?
- Pass a criminal background check
- Able to meet state home safety qualifying requirements (ie having enough space)
- Attend a Caregiver Core Training (CCT) pre-service training, plus ongoing training after licensing to gain new positive parenting skills
- Complete First Aid/CPR and HIV/AIDS training
- Be attentive, understanding, consistent, and patient with youth
- Have appropriate attitudes toward safety, nurturing, discipline, expectations, and age-appropriate behavior to create a safe environment
- Have the time, energy, commitment, and emotional stability to work with youth's unique situations
- Be willing to take children to doctor, dentist, and counseling appointments
- Support children in becoming involved in school and community activities
- Able to model constructive family relationships
How can you help?
- Provide temporary respite care overnight, for a weekend, or for a few days
- Provide short term foster care for up to 60 days
- Be a foster parent that assists in reunification with biological families
- Provide long term care through foster/adopt
How does the Youthnet Foster Care Team assist foster parents?
- One to one licensing support
- Ongoing case management
- 24/7/365 on call support
- Respite as needed
- Financial compensation
- Foster care appreciation and celebration events
If you would like to explore whether fostering would be a positive choice for your family, please call for more information or click on the following link: