text:
Homegrown leaders: Lakota educators bridge two worlds
ROSEBUD RESERVATION, S.D. - Sherry Red Owl's conference room in the tribal Department of Education is chaotic, but it's the kind of happy chaos that reflects its main obsession: the schoolchildren of the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in southern South Dakota.
Piles of reports, papers, pictures and boxes line the room and occupy several chairs. Wedged between kids' drawings looms a large version of the tribe's Educational Vision Statement, a document based on the Lakota concept of unkita wakanyeja, oneness, or participation by everyone in the well-being of children.
In one corner, a big, dark-complexioned doll perches on an uneven pile of papers by the coffee-maker. Students take the "infant simulator" home for a week. It cries loudly in random outbursts, requiring the frazzled caretaker to hold a key in its back to quiet it. The doll is called Baby Think It Over, and its presence is designed to help combat the tribe's extremely high teen-pregnancy rate. Fortunately, its batteries are not in at the moment.
In the midst of it all is Sherry Red Owl, a kind-faced woman wearing a turtle pendant, Lakota symbol of unity. Red Owl may sit at the top of the education food chain here, but she knows her success depends on doggedness, modesty and cooperation.
Her Department of Education is only seven years old, but already it is a model of Native American educational leadership. It is about to be the only tribal department in the country that independently certifies all reservation teachers, including those who teach in public schools in the county. Red Owl wants to ensure that all teachers are versed in the tribal Code of Education and in Lakota culture and history. If not, they can't teach here.
"We want to make the schools more responsive to the tribe and more accountable for student outcomes," says Red Owl.
Recent high school dropout rates waver between 7 and 35 percent, according to Red Owl. Only 12 percent of students seek post-high-school education. National test scores rank in the 30th and 40th percentiles. On any given day, 10 percent of the students are absent.
In a county that is the poorest in South Dakota - poverty here exceeds 46 percent - many families do not own vehicles. There's no ride to school for a child who misses the bus. Many parents are alcoholic. Of those students who make it to the local tribal college, the vast majority need to take remedial classes. Seventy-three percent of freshmen do not return for their sophomore year.
These problems are not unique to the Rosebud. The U.S. Department of Education says that among eighth graders nationally, American Indians are more at risk than any other racial or ethnic group: 42 percent belong to families in poverty; nearly a third repeat a year in school; and almost a third perform below basic proficiency levels in math and reading. They are the least likely to attend or finish college.
But Red Owl and a core group of other academic leaders, mostly female, are determined to reverse these trends. They have chosen a path between two worlds, one that they hope will help Lakota children discover pride in their traditional culture while learning the skills to compete in the larger world.
Rediscovering a lost past
Ensuring that teachers understand Lakota culture may seem a simple step, but it cuts against the grain of history. As early as 1885, tribal children were forcibly removed from their families and sent to boarding schools, which were funded by the federal government and run by missionaries who forbade the students to speak native languages and learn Lakota customs.
Beginning in the 1920s, states began to take over the education of Indians. But the resulting public school system also used a generic, Anglo-centric curriculum. It was a double disservice: To this day, most adults on the Rosebud reservation do not know the Lakota language, and most are ill-educated by national standards.
"When a tribe feels a system of education is imposed by an outside, dominant society, there's a lot of bitterness and negative feelings. Those lingering impacts are the root causes of poor student performance," says Melody McCoy of the Boulder, Colo.-based Native American Rights Fund.
The new code is a sharp break from the past. It asserts, among other things, that kids should grow up healthy and alcohol-free, respectful and knowledgeable of their heritage, confident in their abilities and academically strong.
"It's pretty innovative for a tribe to be telling a public school what to do," says McCoy, whose organization helped develop the Rosebud's code and usher it through the South Dakota system as a pilot project in 1991.
"The schools were not partners with the tribe until a few years ago, and tribal presence has a lot to do with how people behave," Red Owl says. "We're seeing a lot more parental involvement, people feeling more comfortable with the schools, kids having more pride."
These changes appear to be improving the statistics that measure educational success. According to a study funded by the Carnegie Corporation, high school drop-out rates at the tribe-run St. Francis School went from 36.5 percent in 1989-90 to 7 percent in 1997-98. The graduation rate increased from 24 percent to 69 percent over the same period.
Even so, warns Red Owl, "These figures are not stable. They bounce around. This will be a process of evolution, not revolution."
While the concept of unkita sounds promising, can it change life on the reservation, where alcoholism, depression, child abuse, low-birthweight babies and dangerously overweight adults all rank high? Cultural knowledge for kids is important, but what about solid, baseline academics and the motivation to learn them? What will make kids believe they can have meaningful jobs? Where will the jobs come from?
A little school on a vast prairie
Those questions are brought into sharper relief when I visit Todd County High School, a public-funded school in which the tribe plays a growing administrative role.
Up close, the cinderblock and steel and glass buildings, with gleaming computers upstairs and an appropriately battered Vocational Ed auto shop downstairs, could be anywhere. But from a middle distance at the edge of the town of Mission, the picture takes on a new dimension. The prairie starts just behind the mobile homes at the end of the parking lot. The reservation is vast and isolated: 4.5 million acres of sand-colored grasses, picturesque pine-covered hills and a few cow-speckled, spring-fed gullies. The main tourist trajectory through Badlands National Park lies over 100 miles to the West.
As is its habit, the wind is blowing 30 miles per hour, turning a 40-degree day into a 12-degree chill. Twenty-five miles to the south lies the Nebraska border, which might be a consolation, only there's not much there, either. Just this side of the border is the tribe's largest private employer, the Rosebud Casino, with 139 people on the payroll.
While Mission is plagued by many of the problems facing depressed rural towns everywhere - lack of stores, basic services, entertainment, even a public library - it is different in one way from most of rural South Dakota: it, along with the rest of the reservation (pop.19,000), is growing at an impressive clip. This is partly due to a high birth rate (50 percent of the population is under age 20, compared to 31 percent for the state) and partly due to a culture that raises its young to stay close to home.
Even so, the nearest place to buy goods and services is 100 miles away in Pierre. What few businesses exist tend to be run by non-Indians. The tribe leases over 600,000 acres to non-Indians, since they're the ones who can establish credit. Tribal members technically own the land, but they can't put it up as collateral because it's held in a common trust (HCN, 8/3/98).
Inside Vocational Ed, I spend some time talking to Dennis Schmaltz, a pilot and teacher who helped snare a promising grant this year to build an airplane in shop. There's supposed to be a class going on, but no one has shown up. The airplane's kevlar skeleton perches forlornly on the worktable like a patient awaiting surgery.
"We thought this would really go over well because it's so different," says Schmaltz, who is teaching a companion ground-school class. Of his seven original students, two were suspended for fighting and one is in rehab. He shrugs. "What am I getting done today?"
The Rosebud is caught in a cycle of poverty, poor school performance, and a lack of economic opportunity. Kids don't see worthwhile jobs being offered, so they don't go to school. An under-educated work force keeps employers at bay. Without a better standard of living, kids remain underfed and underachieving. For generations, family members have not held a job. According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, unemployment rates here hover between 44 and 63 percent. The per capita income is $4,803, one-half the state average. With 38 percent of the population receiving food stamps and 20 percent receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children in 1997 (not including Bureau of Indian Affairs assistance), Todd County had the highest percentage on welfare in the state.
"Our biggest challenge in improving education is dealing with poverty," says Red Owl. "That's why economic development is the tribe's number one priority."
The tribal government is currently negotiating with a large agribusiness corporation to start a hog farm on the reservation, even though pork is priced lower than it has been in 23 years. It would be the third largest pork production facility in the world, and would have questionable impacts on the local environment. The tribe would supply the land and water, the company, capital and promise.
But nobody seems terribly happy about the prospect. "We are not a pig people," one person told me.
A powerful triumvirate
I feel deflated by the time I arrive in the principal's office, but then I watch the school secretary bouncing from phone to office, handing out candy canes to straggling students and asking about their day. On her headband, she wears a rack of stuffed fabric antlers.
The principal, Nancy Keller, materializes from behind a tinsel-covered wall. She is younger than I expected. A Lakota Sioux, she exudes an easy, no-nonsense confidence even though this is only her second year on the job. She wears her hair in a long, black braid, and holds an intricately beaded pen.
"I went to school here," she says. "I know these kids. I know their families. I hope we can stay here and our children can stay here. It's a beautiful place to live. I want them to have more opportunity."
With that, Keller describes what the school has begun to do or will do soon: cluster freshmen and pay more attention to getting them caught up (most drop-outs occur before the sophomore year), institute "career academies' so students can sample a profession and learn applied skills, utilize more Internet resources, require more college preparatory classes and more Lakota culture classes, establish stricter discipline, bring in elders to address girls-only assemblies on violence and self-esteem, strengthen home-study programs, place problem kids in a tribe-run intervention center, and more.
"I'm a person who likes challenges," she says, "and I expect the students to have the same outlook."
Together, Keller and Red Owl form a strong team for educational reform on the reservation. Red Owl enjoys the support of the tribal government (it funds the Department of Education and its staff of administrators, counselors and truancy officers) and the allegiance of the reservation's largest schools. Those are public-funded Todd County, where Keller presides, and St. Francis Indian School, newly managed by another homegrown reformer, Cheryl Crazy Bull.
This powerful triumvirate, Red Owl, Keller and Crazy Bull, graduated together in 1997 from a master's degree program in educational leadership for Native Americans. The advanced degree program, funded by the Bush Foundation, enabled these three and 17 others from the state's reservations to attend South Dakota State University one summer, then follow-up with classes from the Rosebud's Sinte Gleska Tribal University and Oglalla Sioux College on the neighboring Pine Ridge Reservation.
The program wouldn't have been possible without the support of Sinte Gleska, considered one of the best tribal colleges in the country. Founded in 1971, it has grown from a two-year community college to a fully accredited four-year university, offering advanced degrees in education, human services and business administration (it is the only tribal college to do so). Seventy percent of its students are women, and the average age is 30.
In a county where unemployment hovers near 60 percent, nearly all Sinte Gleska graduates find work. "We serve students who would not go to higher education if we were not in the area," says Lionel Bordeaux, dean of academic affairs. "We probably have the best teacher-education program in the state." That major churns out four to 12 graduates per year, who are, says Bordeaux, "100 percent employable."
That the reservation now grows its own teachers, many of whom are the best and brightest minds available, gives Red Owl great hope. Many teachers are now native, many administrators are now native - including members of Todd County's school board - and the district superintendent is native. The ducks are finally lining up, she says.
Both Todd County's schools and St. Francis Indian School now require students to study the Lakota language, take culture-based curricula classes and behave according to Lakota notions of respect. Since Todd County middle school initiated a culture-influenced social-skills program three years ago - requiring troubled students to seek peer and counselor help - suspensions have dropped by nearly half.
"We used to have a tough choice here: identify with Lakota roots and be cut off from mainstream culture, or identify with the mainstream and suppress your identity. It was really bad for us," says Lydia Whirlwind Soldier, the Lakota Studies Coordinator for the school district. "Now, there is a more middle-of-the-road path."
One tribe-run demonstration school is taking Lakota studies a step further. Begun as a home school for the children of an Anglo father and Lakota mother, Grass Mountain now has two paid teachers and eight students aged 6-12. The curriculum includes the annual slaughter of a buffalo, horsemanship, tepee-building, hide-tanning and Lakota astronomy, among more conventional offerings like math and social studies. An 81-year-old resident uncici (-grandmother') teaches language, spirituality and traditional uses of plants and animal parts.
"We want our students to have mastery of both Western and traditional knowledge," says Charlie Garriott, whose home-schooled son will attend Yale next year. "What does it mean to be Lakota in the 21st century? That's what we want to enable students to think about. We have a clear bias of wanting students to leave and broaden their world view, but then to come home and rebuild the Lakota Nation."
Sherry Red Owl hopes the experimental elements of Grass Mountain can seep into the more standard school system. "I keep thinking, if every one of our troubled kids had a horse to work with, he'd be okay."
Turning a prison into a homeland
What appear to be the Rosebud's weaknesses - its remote isolation and self-containment - may end up being its greatest strength. One example of this is the fact that the Lakota language, while underused, survives intact.
"The reservation used to be like a concentration camp," Whirlwind Soldier says. "We were forced to stay here when we were used to roaming the Plains. But now, we don't feel confined anymore. It's become our homeland."
As for bringing economic opportunity to the homeland, there is no shortage of ideas: commercial bison herds, pheasant and prairie dog hunting for tourists, renewable energy development. The tribe is applying for a $40 million federal "empowerment zone" grant for rural areas.
Thanks to a grant by the Kettering and Chiesman foundations, Sinte Gleska University's Sicangu Policy Institute has begun mediating a series of local dialogues on economic growth. It is an uneasy and complicated topic here.
"There are components of capitalism that fit here and components that don't," explains the institute's Nora Antoine. "We're a self-sufficient, strong, willful, contributing, mindful people, and we don't fit into easy categories. But I'm very excited about the dialogue and about involving families and kids."
Finally, I want to hear from a more recent member of the Rosebud's education machine, so I call 20-year-old Tess Crazy Bull (Cheryl's daughter) at her dorm at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, some six hours away. A sophomore, she is an English major hoping to someday teach at the university level. Of her high school classmates, two other Lakota Sioux went away to college. One of those has dropped out. A few of her friends are studying at Sinte Gleska, some are working at the casino, some are having babies.
Despite her homesickness, the foreign off-reservation environment and the brutal murder of gay student Matthew Shepard a week into classes, Tess perseveres. Will she return to live on the Rosebud?
"Absolutely," she says, with a conviction that most small-town kids lack. "My friends here ask me, "Why do you want to go back there? It's so depressed, it's so poor," but unless you go back and do something, it will stay like that forever. A lot of people only see the poverty, but there's so much more there, and so many good people. I love it there. It's home." n
Florence Williams, a former HCN intern and staff reporter, freelances from Helena, Montana.
For a free copy of the full report, External Evaluation Final Report, Rosebud Sioux-Tribal Education Department and Tribal Code, contact Rhoda Riggs at the Native American Rights Fund, 303/447-8760.


text:
S.P., L.A. & S.L. Railroad plan of Las Vegas passenger station, sheet 13
- Title
- S.P., L.A. & S.L. Railroad plan of Las Vegas passenger station, sheet 13
- Group Creator
- Description
- Pen and ink architectural drawings and text, including notations in pencil for the construction of the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad passenger station, located northwest of Clark's Las Vegas Townsite. Set of sheets includes: no. 1. Elevations (rear, front and sides) -- no. 2. Floor plans (first and second floors) -- no. 2a. Water supply-soil and roof drainage -- 3 Foundation of roof plan -- no. 4. Sections and Details -- no. 5. Section and details (roof framing) -- no. 6. Details (baggage and waiting rooms) -- no. 7. Details (part elevation of main front gable) -- no. 8. Details (door and window frames) -- no. 9. Details (full size detail of cornice) -- no. 10. Details (cove and architraves moulding) -- no. 11. Details (full size mouldings) -- no. 12. Details (gutters) -- no. 13 Cesspool for passenger depot at Las Vegas Nevada. Scales vary.
- Source
- sp la slrr plan of lv passenger station sheet 13
- Original Collection
- Original Date
- 1905-08-19
- Site
- Las Vegas Passenger Station (Las Vegas, Nev.);
- Local Subject
- City or Town
- County
- Graphic Elements (TGM)
- Collection Subject (TGM)
- City & town life;
- DC Type
- Genre (TGM)
- Language
- en
- Is Part Of
- http://digital.library.unlv.edu/u?/dig,4
- Rights
- Not to be reproduced without permission. To purchase copies of images and/or for copyright information, contact University of Nevada, Las Vegas Libraries, Special Collections at: http://www.library.unlv.edu/speccol/
- Digital Publisher
- University of Nevada, Las Vegas Libraries
- Digital Collection
- Conversion Specifications
- TIFF scanned at 300 dpi on Vidar TruScan Titan Atlas using Vidar TruScan2 v.188.8.131.52 software
- Digital ID
- snv002590
- Master File Creation Date
- 2005-02-11
- Master File Format
- image/jp2;
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text:
Chris Nachtsheim Wins Jack Youden Prize
Will also receive Lloyd S. Nelson Award at 56th Annual Fall Technical Conference
Professor Chris Nachtsheim, the Frank A. Donaldson Chair in Operations Management, has been named a recipient of the Jack Youden Prize. Nachtsheim and co-author Brad Jonesreceived the award for "Efficient Designs with Minimal Aliasing," which was published in the February 2011 issue of Technometrics.
Awarded annually, the Youden Prize honors the best expository paper appearing in the previous year's volume of Technometrics. It will be presented at the 56th Annual Fall Technical Conference (FTC) sponsored by the American Statistical Association and the American Society for Quality.
Nachtsheim and Jones will also receive the Lloyd S. Nelson Award for 2012 at FTC for "A Class of Three-Level Designs for Definitive Screening in the Presence of Second-Order Effects." The award recognizes a paper published by the Journal of Quality Technology that has the "greatest impact on practitioners" in the preceding year.


text:
HOW YOUR MONEY IS STOLEN: New Rochelle Board of Education Set to Turn Blind Eye to Rat's Nest That is Aramark Schools
UPDATED WITH UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT OF VIDEO (see below)
Despite significant evidence of corruption, malfeasance and incompetence in the Buildings & Grounds department, a unit run by John Gallagher of Aramark Schools, the New Rochelle Board of Education plans to approve a resolution extending a three-quarter million dollar contract with Aramark Management Services, Limited.
This comes despite an attempt last March by school administrators to violate the Aramark contract to pave the way for Aramark employees to qualify for a more lucrative New York State pension in the event the Aramark contract were to be terminated (video below). Schools Superintendent Richard Organisciak and Assistant Superintendent John Quinn intend to hire the three employees in the event the board terminates the Aramark contract, sources tell Talk of the Sound.
Tonight's resolution reads as follows:
RESOLVED, that the Board of Education of the City School District of the City of New Rochelle, New York, be and hereby approves the continuation of the contract with the ARAMARK Management Services Limited Partnership, 1717 Arch Street, 42nd Floor. Philadelphia, PA 19103, to provide contractual management support services of the school districts' facilities during the 2012-2013 school year; and, be it further RESOLVED, that the Board of Education authorizes payment to the ARAMARK Management Services Limited Partnership for such services at an annual fee of $744,356.00, to be paid in semi-monthly payments of $31,014.84 for the 2012·2013 school year; and, be it further RESOLVED, that this resolution shall take effect immediately.
The company, also known as Aramark Schools or ServiceMaster, has had this contract for over 25 years. The contract has not been let out for bid in more than 12 years, according to board member Deidre Polow.
The board has been provided copious amounts of information indicating that Aramark Schools sits atop a rat's nest of corruption in the Buildings & Grounds Department at the City School District of New Rochelle. During the last budget cycle, Board members, the Citizens Advisory Committee and members of the public raised numerous questions about the failure to bid out the Aramark contract. Board members have openly demanded that the Buildings & Grounds Contract be put out for bid, many have stated they want Aramark gone as soon as possible and they want the Aramark employees currently working in the district gone immediately. Under a provision of the contract, the school district can direct Aramark to immediately remove any and all Aramark employees from New Rochelle schools without prior notice.
Matters reached a breaking point last March when board members learned that Schools Superintendent Richard Organisciak, Assistant Superintendent John Quinn and attorney Jeffery Kehl conspired to bring forward a resolution designed to do an end run around the board while defrauding taxpayers, sources say. These sources tell Talk of the Sound the plan was to sneak three Aramark employees onto the school district payroll during a Special Meeting of the school board on March 27th. It was imperative for them to pass Resolution 12-266-1 that night in order to meet an April 1st deadline to qualify the three Aramark employees -- John Gallagher, James Purdie, and Anthony Rigos -- for a Tier V pension after Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law a Pension Reform bill on March 16, 2012.
The March resolution read:
RESOLYED, that the following personnel be authorized and approved to work on the one-time film project at Isaac E. Young Middle School (Resolution No. 12-263, dated 03/8/2012) during the period Saturday, March 10 and Sunday, March 11,2012, at the hourly rates below; these fees will then be charged back to the film company for reimbursement.
John Gallagher 15 $18.77
Arthur Lamber 8 $18.77
James Purdie 9 $18.77
Anthony Rigos 9 $18.77
Leon Spady 13 $21.84
Mike Umbro 16 $51.30
RESOLVED, that this resolution shall take effect immediately.
Resolution 12-266-1 was tabled after board member Jeffrey Hastie demanded to know why the school district would pay Aramark employees (John Gallagher, James Purdie, Anthony Rigos) overtime as proposed in Resolution 12-266-1.
[Video of Hastie Questioning Quinn and Organisciak Embedded Above]
As Hastie pressed, Quinn and Organisciak sputtered.
"The three Aramark employees went above and beyond" said Organisciak and he and Quinn attempted to justify paying the three Aramark employees outside the contract.
A senior school district official met with a board member after the meeting to confirm that, in fact, none of the six people named in the resolution actually worked at all that weekend. Despite this the board is now considering a resolution to pay three of the six named in Resolution 12-266-1 under Resolution 13-47.
Hastie further pressed Quinn and Organisciak to explain why the resolution had to be passed at the same meeting where it was introduced as most draft board resolutions are considered for a week and then voted on by the board. Quinn became flustered and turned bright red.
Hastie continued, asking if there was any precedent for this, whether the district had ever paid any Aramark employees directly. Quinn started to answer "It's the first time we…" and Organisicak finished for him "…first time we ever had it" in an attempt to bail our Quinn.
"Exactly," said Hastie. "That's my point".
Board President Chrisanne Petrone asked Quinn whether paying the Aramark employees would violate the terms of the Aramark contract. Failing to get a satisfactory answer from Quinn or Organisciak, Petrone recommended tabling the motion.
As the Resolution faltered, Organisciak become upset, placing his hand over his mouth, a "tell" that board watchers know means Organisciak is very angry. He tried several more times to save the resolution, attempting to enlist the support of F.U.S.E. President Marty Daly who refused to even look up from his seat when Organisciak tried to justify passing the resolution in order to pay the two F.U.S.E. members listed in the resolution. Daly did not budge and Organisciak gave up.
Petrone was right to ask whether the resolution would expose the board legally with regard to the Aramark contract. It was a clear violation of the contract.
Section 1 a (1) of the Aramark contract states that Aramark will make all payments to its employees. Section 6 is a non-compete clause that says neither side will hire the other side's employees for a period of one year. There is a provision for Aramark to waive its rights under the contract.
Talk of the Sound spoke with Steven M. Weiser, Regional Vice President for Aramark Schools based in Philadelphia, PA. Weiser is a signatory to an amendment to the contract made in 2007 and responsible within Aramark for the City School District of New Rochelle account.
"This is the first I'm hearing of it," said Weiser, when asked whether Aramark had waived their rights under the contract which prohibit the school district from making direct payment to Aramark employees.
Weiser went on to say that he was unaware of any discussions or resolutions regarding payments to John Gallagher, James Purdie, and Anthony Rigos for overtime related to a film project or any other work. Weiser became silent when informed of the implications of putting Aramark employees on the district payroll before the Tier V Pension deadline in New York State at which point he stated he would need to refer the matter to the company's communications department.
Resolution 13-47 references a different resolution as tabled: "Resolution No. 12-263, dated 3/8/12, tabled". In fact, 12-263 was approved, not tabled. Resolution 12-266-1 is the resolution that was tabled on March 27th. This is the resolution the board is considering tonight:
RESOLVED, that the following personnel be authorized and approved to work, on the one-time film project at Isaac E. Young Middle School, (Resolution No. 12-263, dated 3/8/12, tabled), during the period Saturday, March 10 and Sunday, March 11, 2012, at the hourly rates, as follows: These fees will then be charged back to the film company for reimbursement.
Arthur Lambert 8 $18.77
Leon Spady 13 $21.84
Mike Umbra 16 $51.30
Resolution 12-263 said nothing at all about authorizing and approving work or payment for work to anyone. It reads as follows:
WHEREAS, FTP Productions, LLC has requested permission to film a portion of a movie consisting of a collegiate varsity rugby competition and related locker room scenes on the field and premises of Isaac E. Young Middle School; and
WHEREAS, the City School District of New Rochelle has been furnished with a copy of a shooting script confirming that the proposed use will be appropriate and will not bring the School District into disrepute; and
WHEREAS, FTP Productions, LLC has offered a location fee in the amount of $15,000 and the restoration of any damage to the school premises resulting from the proposed use; and
WHEREAS, the City of New Rochelle has requested that the School District accommodate the film project; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the Board of Education hereby approves the grant of a special one-time use permit for the project as aforesaid, subject in all respects to the negotiation of a formal location agreement, in form and substance satisfactory to School District counsel and the Superintendent of Schools, providing for the aforesaid terms and such other provisions regarding insurance and liability as may be appropriate; and be it further
RESOLVED, that at the conclusion of the project the Board of Education and the administration shall evaluate the success of the project and determine whether any amendment to the Board of Education policies and related regulations regarding the use of school premises by outside groups should be considered for the future; and be it further
RESOLVED, that this resolution shall take effect immediately.
So, why does Resolution 13-47 say "tabled", referencing Resolution 12-263 which was approved and not Resolution 12-266-1 which was tabled.
========== ========== ======== ========== ========== ========
HASTIE: Yes, Im sorry. I feel like I am the only one asking questions tonight. Um, the first question is a general. I have several questions on this actually, the, um, first question is "What was the revenue we got from the uh…the film...
ORGANISCIAK: Fifteen thousand dollars from the movie company initially and then they had to take an extra day and I do believe that that amount came in about four thousand dollars or so, so I think the grand total was in the total of about twenty thousand dollars...
ORGANISCIAK: ...give or take.
HASTIE: OK. Great. And the money we're paying these gentleman, uh, they're all gentleman, yes, the money we're paying these gentleman will come out of that?
ORGANISCIAK: The money? Yes.
HASTIE: We're not charging them extra for this piece?
PETRONE: No, it's…
ORGANISCIAK: No, we're not...
QUINN: It's in addition to...
ORGANISCIAK: I'm sorry, No. No. John's correct.
QUINN: It's in addition to...
ORGANISCIAK: It's in addition to…right.
QUINN: The rental fee was nineteen thousand dollars...all of our variable expenses are charged on top of that.
HASTIE: On top of that…OK…perfect. Then the other question I have…is...I know John Gallagher, I guess, James Purdie, Anthony Rigos, and I guess Arthur Lambert...all four of those are the Armark employees, correct?
QUINN: Uh...No. I think only three of them.
ORGANISCIAK: Three out of the four.
HASTIE: Three of them.
QUINN: ...one of them is ours.
HASTIE: So, what is the…so...that seems...doesn't seem to make sense. If they're Aramark employees why are we…why are we paying them?
ORGANISCIAK: Because they did extra work above and beyond what it is they are paid to do.
HASTIE: And is that something that's that's in the contract…that's allowed to do...that we can pay them extra money outside of the contract that we already pay a lot of money for?
ORGANISCIAK: Um huh.
QUINN: It's above and beyond what we would normally expect them to do. It's the first time we...
ORGANISCIAK: First time we ever had it.
HASTIE (OFF-MIC): Exactly, that's my point.
QUINN: [inaudible/crosstalk] ...a movie company...so it's really above and beyond [inaudible] extra [inaudible] …above and beyond...
HASTIE: And what was the work they did?
QUINN: ...and the cost…the cost is borne by the movie company.
QUINN: …the cost….
HASTIE: What was the work they did?
QUINN: They were working with the company setting up making sure the set up would not be disruptive to the schools and also protecting the property.
ORGANISCIAK: Um huh
HASTIE: Right, and then, uh...
QUINN: …then following up…
HASTIE: ..I'm sorry...
QUINN: ...to make sure that what was said was actually done.
ORGANISCIAK: Um huh.
QUINN: …they were looking out for the school district's interests.
HASTIE: OK. And then the last question I have is...I know we have a Special Meeting afterwards…and the question…the question one I have is…I want to get back and just find out from our contract. I want…one, I want to table this until maybe next week because I don't understand why we need to vote on this tonight what's the sense of urgency for this…and I know we've got another amendment that we're voting on tonight mainly because we have a time constraint on the election piece…we need to have that done prior…uh...within the 45 days which falls between now and next week. This one however I don't know why we need to do this tonight so I would like to hear from our legal counsel just on…um... paying our contracted contractors outside…although it's not coming from us its coming from the film company I don't understand why we would have to pay contractors that we pay a good sum of money for already for additional hours and additional work. So, my recommendation is to table this until next week, at least.
PETRONE: Anyone else…coming in?
RELKIN: I just had a question about what Mr. Hastie just said. If…if it's being…um...if the fees are being charged back to the film company for reimbursement, I just…I'm missing what the issue is for you…
HASTIE: What the issue is that they're contracted…
RELKIN: No, no, no…what the issue is for you about the payment because if the charge is…if the payment is being charged back to the film company…
HASTIE: Hmmph...
RELKIN: Why does it matter? I'm sorry? It's just…
MERCHANT: it's [crosstalk]
HASTIE: No…I understand…it's a valid question My concern is that we have, we have a contract with Aramark for them to do work on our, on our facilities and then now we are passing…we as a board...are passing a resolution to have them paid. So, one, why do we have to pass a resolution if it's coming from the film company then they can just pay them…?
RELKIN: …you're saying then why isn't the film company paying directly?
HASTIE: ...why doesn't the film company pay them directly…
RELKIN: …that's your issue?
HASTIE: ...exactly so why are we doing a resolution on that. That's the first thing and why is it being subjected to our resolution. Second of all why are we just getting this resolution and have to pass it tonight as part of a Special Meeting. I don't understand the connection...why that has to be done tonight.
RELKIN: OK. Thanks.
ORGANISCIAK: Mr. Quinn did you want to say something?
QUINN: Yes, we would being pay them...charge them…so there is no charge to the board…
UNKNOWN/FEMALE: No.
QUINN: ...and they are not paying any of our staff directly so the other people on the resolution are paid directly to them...we bill them, they pay us…[inaudible] so it passes through...
PETRONE: I understand…
QUINN: …when the contract with Aramark came out it wasn't the board's policy to rent to film companies. I think it was the policy not to rent to film companies...and so this really is very much outside what the expectation would be.
HASTIE: And so what…so...still doesn't answer why do we have to approve this resolution tonight?
QUINN: We're trying to get the bills out the door.
ORGANISCIAK: To get people paid…
QUINN: But, uh…[crosstalk]
HASTIE: Yeah, but there's plenty of people that we have…you know that when we do a res...typically as you know with our resolutions we get 'em for the Committee of the Whole meetings the last week of…Tuesday…and the following week we vote on the resolution so why is this one out of all the other ones have to be done tonight why is this being pushed to be approved tonight?
QUINN: We wanted to expedite payment…
PETRONE: I have a question, more to what Jeffrey is saying. Is there anything in the Aramark contract that can get us in trouble for paying their employees as hourly employees. That's more of an issue because if that's an issue then we do have to table this for conference with our legal...
HASTIE: And I do think we should get legal...
ORGANISCIAK: It's just a few hundred dollars and…
PETRONE: It's not...It's not a matter of the amount. It's a matter of the process. If it's a dollar and it's a legal issue and it can get us in trouble, I am not willing to put the board in that position.
ORGANISCIAK: Uh huh...
BRICKELL: I agree Chrisanne.
QUINN: Then that might be something, why don't we set [crosstalk]...
PETRONE: Yeah, we may have to...
QUINN: [inaudible/crosstalk]
PETRONE: …that's my only….that's my only concern is that if people have a concern about that it…
QUINN: …[inaudible] dollars...
PETRONE: ...it doesn't come out the dollars of whose pocket it comes out to if there is a little loophole in the Aramark contract that basically says that…and granted I am not denying that whatever the work is done that they've gone above and beyond, they've done it on the weekend, we don't have them working on the weekend. I think, I don't think that is the issue here. What I am hearing in Jeffrey's statement is "Is there something in the Aramark contract that says we cannot hire them under and pay them separately?" That would concern me more because…you know…have we conferred with…has our attorney seen this resolution 'cause I haven't had a discussion with him myself…?
QUINN: Neither have I and I really…
PETRONE: …and maybe that means we have to table this and have that conversation.
ORGANISCIAK: I would only ask that you also consider that there are Board of Ed employees on this resolution. There are three people…
PETRONE: ….so then we are…
ORGANISCIAK: ...who are members of the F.U.S.E. bargaining unit. There are members who are paid hourly rates for their work. I would only ask what the board would like to do on that?
PETRONE: Well, Rich, we have a meeting next week. If we have this…we're talking about a week…
ORGANISCIAK: Fine.
PETRONE: ...difference then all we have to do we can vote on that. I can get back to the attorneys, get that answer.
ORGANISCIAK: Fine.
PETRONE: …We can put this through. We can have it amended or whatever. I think the the bigger question is making sure that…you know I don't think the question is not about whose getting paid whatever. If this means we then have to do two resolutions or resolution for for payment…
ORGANISCIAK: Fine.
PETRONE: …to Aramark for additional duties done above and beyond the call of duty and one separate for our employees…
PETRONE: …I don't have a problem with that. I think that Jeffrey's point is well taken with it does not matter whether it's a dollar or five hundred or whatever if this exposes us in any way it's our responsibly to have the quest…to ask the question and have the conversation. I'm not ready to put us out and expose us in that level.
ORELLANA: Chrisanne? Are all of these employees exempt employees?
PETRONE: I don't know.
ORGANISCIAK: What do you mean by exempt?
ORELLANA: Are they all salaried? Are they…are any of them hourly employees?
QUINN: They all are…they are…
PETRONE: For the purpose of this resolution...
ORGANISCIAK: No, they're not all our employees...
PETRONE: …they're considered hourly…
ORELLANA: I mean normally are they salaried employees?
LACHER: I mean…Gallagher…Gallagher is certainly not an hourly…
PETRONE: No.
ORGANISCIAK: …people here are regulars…on regular salary...
PETRONE: …they're regular salaried employees...
ORELLANA: …hourly...
ORGANISCIAK: Mr. Umbro is a full time custodian…
PETRONE: Right.
ORELLANA: …none of them are hourly?
ORGANISCIAK: Mr. Umbro is a full time custodian...
PETRONE: Right.
ORGANISCIAK: …so that's why he is included there at the hourly rate which is contractual.
PETRONE: Right. Do you want to touch on that? While you're...we're uh...
ORGANISCIAK: Well one of the elements we are discussing and we will be duh bringing to the board uh is the whole issue and I think the Advisory Committee touched on it actually which had to with hourly...
LACHER (ASIDE TO PETRONE): We need a motion to table it.
ORGANISCIAK: and from the perspective of looking at what can be reasonably offered for hourly-type of employment that's part of what I would suspect we're going to do going forward but that's in line with what I think I heard earlier from the Advisory Committee as well as some sense of having people having brought that up before so this is an ongoing conversation about what hourly compensation should be.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Excuse me, Can I just mention one little thing?
LACHER: No.
ORGANISCIAK: No, you can't.
LACHER: No.
PETRONE: alright, continuing on….
========== ========== ======== ========== ========== ========
In addition to the Aramark contract and the fraudulent payments for work not done on the film project at Isaac, there will be several other noteworthy resolutions considered tonight.
RESOLVED, that the salaries of the School District central administration personnel not
covered by the forgoing provisions of this resolution be set effective July 1,2012 as follows:
Superintendent of Schools Richard E. Organisciak $272,496.00
Assistant Superintendent of Schools John B. Quinn 209.171.00
Assistant Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Korostoff, Ed. D. 209.171.00
Assistant Superintendent of Schools Diane Massimo. Ph. D. 209.171.00
Assistant to the Superintendent of Schools Reza Kolahifar 145,493.00
Resolution 12-347-12 CO-CURRICULAR CLUBS/ACTIVITIES - NEW ROCHELLE HIGH SCHOOL STAFF MEMBER AUTHORIZATION
This resolution includes a list of stipends to be paid to New Rochelle staff for overseeing various clubs and activities. The Federal Equal Access Act requires equal treatment for all non-curriculum related clubs regardless of the content of speech at the club meetings. The moderators that I know do great work and go far beyond what they are paid to do. However, Board members might want to require that before being asked to pass this resolution that they get a list of the level of activity and involvement in these clubs. Perhaps they should ask for the number of members of these clubs, using some reasonable measure, and the frequency with which they meet or engage in activities. In other words, does the public have any assurances that these clubs which may have been very active at one time are still active recognizing the possibility that a stipend recipient had little motivation to to proactively inform anyone that their club is dormant or close to it.
RESOLUTION No. 12-347-1 PROBATIONARY APPOINTMENTS - PRINCIPALS COLUMBUS AND TRINITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
DiCarlo, Anthony, Tenure Area, Elementary School Principal, assigned to Trinity Elementary School, Salary Schedule EP, Step 9, $163,715, effective July 1,2012 to August 31. 2015, replacing Rolando Briceno, resigned.
Nunez, Sonia, Tenure Area, Elementary School Principal, assigned to Columbus Elementary School, Salary Schedule EP, Step 2, $141,904, effective July 1,2012 to August 31, 2015, replacing Dr. Yigal Joseph, retired.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in accordance with Article 24. Executive Law §666, which establishes a Mandate Relief Council, the City School District of the City of New Rochelle, a Small Cities school district located in the City of New Rochelle, County of Westchester, State of New York. with an enrollment of approximately 11,000 students for 2011-2012 school year, asks, by resolution of its governing body, that the Mandate Relief Council review the following mandate to determine whether the specific statute, regulation, rule or order of state government is an unfunded mandate or is otherwise unsound, unduly burdensome or costly so as to require that it be eliminated or reformed:
Last In, First Out LIFO
Seniority should not be mandated as the sole factor when reducing tenured staff. Education Law Sections 2510 and 3013 (cities). Using Last In, First Out-LIFO is not educationally sound decision-making because it prohibits a district from considering such factors as, but not limited to, expertise, skill, quality of instruction and specialized certification. For example, teachers certified in French and Spanish all fall within the same tenure area of foreign language. While the least senior member of the foreign language department may be a "French expert" teacher, and no one else in the department possesses that same expertise, the least senior member, i.e., the "French" teacher, would be the faculty member excessed in the foreign language tenure area, thus forcing the district to either retain a less qualified member of the teaching staff, i.e. a "Spanish" teacher who may lack the certification required to teach the French class(es), or eliminate the program. This example is one of many possible scenarios that can affect multiple subject areas in secondary education outside of foreign language.
There are 6 Comments
First of all, can someone get Richard a doughnut to sit on? He appears rather uncomfortable with the exchange. Can we also get Quinn a mic for for proper "evidence" gathering?"
Seriously, why does the City School District of New Rochelle have to "launder" the movie company's money in order to pay Aramark employees for work done? Why can't the movie company pay them directly and leave the school district out of it? Does the movie company have a contract with Aramark that could complicate things? Nice Job Jeffrey and Chrisanne!
I will say it again...
Get that useless BOE and throw them ALL out!
Clean out City Hall of ALL the corruption!
Come on Bob, get the Governor to have a serious state audit and investigation!
Most of them would more than likely go to jail on some charge or another!
I have never in all of my dealings with management and labor in conference or as a consultant ever read such a transcript.
My advise to Chrissane is stop being so tolerant. You could and should of ended this dialogue regarding Aramark much earlier by directing Organisciak and Quinn to act specifically on policy and financial matters and bring them before you and any board sub chairs in 48 hours.
Is Organisciak the designated District management contract negotiator with FUSE? I believe he is and I bring to your attention through this swamp of twists and turns his "reminder" to the Board that the district employees are covered under FUSE and... Good Lord, what the hell is going on in that room?
Mr Lacher, don't regress back to the days that you were an insensitive stuff shirt telling Cox and others about their clothing meaning if someone for whatever reason has a question just say no politely and offer the individual some moment afterwards.
Jeff, be clearer, firmer -- you represnt a constituent body and should not tiptoe around what you are trying to get at. Sounds like Chrisanne got it, but did she? Didn't hear from you and superised to hear Ms. Orellano direct what seemed to be a question to Ms. Petrone regarding the union status of an employee or employees.
It was enlightening and frightening and this is not being unfair. I don't know why Organisciak and his direct staff reports are on the payroll; you have people of this caliber managing Nunez, Galland and others>
You will likely not dismiss these folks, but if you have any semblence of self-preservation and community responsibility, at least replace him as the district third party negotiator.
And, I honestly do feel that this Board is moving in better directions but you could use an experienced hand to guide you in better use of policy and oversight. Having limited industry experience I can see that the management of such a huge budget along with a number of hugely incompetent direct reports who seemingly never met a scandal or problem they could solve, is perhaps too challenging. Pick someone up of integrity.
I will have nightmares over this dialogue and cannot help but feel that the tip of the iceberg is visible but not what remains below the waterline.
The blind squirrel strikes again!
You are making excellent points here.
There is a back story to this particular board meeting which I will only partially allude to here.
Hastie is the only one at the table aware, even before he asks a single question, that Organisciak, Quinn and Kehl have a trick up their sleeve. He is aware that in order for Gallagher, Rigos and Purdie to be "Eligible Hourly Workers" in the New York State Pension System they must be on the district payroll before April 1st, 2012. He knows that under Cuomo's pension reform legislation these three men are on the payroll before April 1st they will qualify for Tier V in the event they are hired as direct employees. He knows therefore that in order to thwart this he need merely get the board to agree to table the issue until next week. As far as Tier V, there is no "next week". It is all or nothing.
This is why the resolution read last night is telling: (1) Gallagher, Rigos and Purdie are not on the resolution; (2) it is three months later so what happened to the urgency that Organisciak argued for in order to pay the F.U.S.E. members and what happened to the urgency that Quinn argued for in order to expedite getting the bills out to the film company. Once the Tier V deadline had passed, there was no urgency and so they waited 3 months to bring forward the resolution to pay the other three guys.
Once you know that you can boil down the exchange and see that Hastie is really asking just two questions, both pertinent to the Tier V issue: Why are we putting them on the payroll as hourly workers in March 2012 when we have never done this before (the contract goes back 25 years) and why does it need to be done that night, March 27th, 2012 (4 days before the Tier V deadline). This is why, initially, he feels like he is the only one asking questions. He is the only one asking these rather obvious questions.
Given the number of times Organisciak and Quinn have tried to sneak resolutions through at Special Meetings you would think the Board would have learned to deny any resolutions at Special Meetings other than those absolutely required under the law (e.g. budget vote or board election resolutions).
Look at the absurd answers Quinn and Organisciak give when asked why Gallagher, Rigos and Purdie are being paid outside the Aramark contract.
"They did extra work above and beyond what it is they are paid to do."
"They were looking out for the school district's interests"
"It's above and beyond what we would normally expect them to do."
"It's the first time we ever had it."
"There are Board of Ed employees on this resolution who are members of the F.U.S.E. bargaining unit."
"It's just a few hundred dollars."
"We're trying to get the bills out the door."
"We wanted to expedite payment."
It's almost touching, right?
Even after Hastie has explained the rather obvious concern that the resolution is authorizing the district to violate the Aramark contract, Rachel Relkin, one of the two lawyers on the board, still doesn't understand why violating the contract should be an issue since the district is being reimbursed for the money paid to the three Aramark employees.
Relkin asks Hastie "Why does it matter?...Why is it an issue?"
A lawyer is asking why it is an issue to break a contract with one of the largest corporations in the world?
My personal favorite moment in this comedy show is when Quinn tried to blame the Board itself.
"When the contract with Aramark came out." offers Quinn, "it wasn't the board's policy to rent to film companies. I think it was the policy not to rent to film companies...and so this really is very much outside what the expectation would be."
I actually laughed aloud in the meeting when he said this.
Apparently for Quinn it's A-OK to violate the Aramark contract by putting three contract employees directly on the payroll because the board previously had a policy not to rent school grounds to a film production company? At this makes sense, how? Only at a Board of Education meeting would anyone even attempt to float such arrant nonsense as a justification for opening up the board to a lawsuit for tortious interference (inducing someone to break a contract with a third party). The fact is that when the contract was signed in 1987 the district did not have a policy on computer labs and smart boards and the Internet and lots of other things. The world has a changed a lot in 25 years but it has not changed so much that contracts can be broken with impunity.
There is a brief flurry towards the end with lots of crosstalk after Valerie Orellana asks a question about whether any of the six employees are exempt employees?
Chrisanne Petrone interrupts Organisciak to say that all of the people named in the resolution are hourly employees for purposes of the resolution.
And that is exactly the point.
Give Chrisanne credit. She had no idea any of this was going to be an issue before the meeting and she perfectly nailed the two key points, on the head. She recognized the significance of what it would mean to violate the Aramark contract and open up the school district to litigation and she realized that whatever their status up until that moment, if the resolution were adopted that night then all of the people on that list would be de jure hourly employees.
How would that have changed things?
What would have changed is that Gallagher, Rigos and Purdie would have been subject to tax withholding. They would need to complete a W-4 form. They would be subject to the S.A.V.E. law so this would be having their fingerprints taken and submitted for a New York State background check. They would have been pension eligible for the New York State Pension system (the real point) so they would have to file for their Tier V pension eligibility. In order to get a check, they would have been assigned an Employee ID number in the district's accounting and payroll system. This would have required filling out a job application form and related documentation.
In short, they would have become employees of the district with all that entails.
All this at the same time there was a contract expressly prohibiting the district from hiring any Aramark employees for a period of one year without a waiver. I spoke with Aramark and confirmed that the district had not sought nor received any such waiver.
Bob You Have Just Operrationalized Unbelievable
Thank you Bob, excellent reaffirmation of your earlier point plus more to ponder. It is truly Unbelievable.
How much more does the community directly affected by this madness need? I am at a loss for words. From a consultant's level generally more focused on the City Administration, it remains inconceivable that the City Council does not take a pointed, active role to protect voter interest, equity, and future student performance.
Your remarks clarify Jeff Hasties' seeming discomfort or lack of focus. You also mention Chrissane's challenges and efforts( my summarization, not necessarily yours).
I repeat she and any other board trustee REQUIRES assistance and support and you have some other community members have stepped up in the recent past. I think the history and ongoing insufferable conduct, risks will continue to raise havoc and severe financial and pedagogical consequences.
Thanks for spot-on reportabe and I urge the community to get off of their backsides and look more closely at what is and has been, happening here.
This is not a case of heroes and villians as much as a clarion call for doing the right thing. If you don't know this by now, you really should use some critical thinking and see the cause and effect on so many aspects of your economic circumstances.
BoE Blind Faith
You would think that the policy of the school board is to blindly accept any statement made by Schools Superintendent Richard Organisciak.
This is ironic considering the number of times he has been caught making false statements to the board and to the public.


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Vari-Form Receives Quality Excellence Award From GM
Hydroforming Leader Recognized as a Top-Performing Supplier
Jan 22, 2013, 09:51 EST
TROY, Mich., Jan. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Vari-Form, the leader in Pressure-Sequence Hydroforming for the automotive industry, announced today that it has received the General Motors Supplier Quality Excellence Award for 2012. The award was presented in a ceremony at the Vari-Form Wright Street facility in Strathroy, Ontario, Canada, subject of the award.
New in 2012, this prestigious Award is given to specific top-supplier locations that have met or exceeded GM's stringent quality performance criteria.
Tom McMillen, Executive Director, Supplier Quality and Program Management at GM commented on the importance of supplier quality: "GM Quality is now considered to be among the best in the industry. Our continued progress is directly related to your progress and a shared commitment to quality."
"Our company is proud to be numbered among the very few suppliers recognized by General Motors this year," said Vari-Form President Stephen Dow. "Like General Motors, Vari-Form has a long history of striving for, and achieving, quality performance. We look forward to many more years of operational excellence together."
In presenting the award, Andre Harris, Team Leader-Structures-Stampings, noted that "General Motors and Vari-Form have a solid history of working together at the Strathroy plant – this year's launch went very smoothly, thanks to the efforts of this team."
To learn more about Pressure-Sequence Hydroforming, visit the Vari-Form web site at www.vari-form.com and click "What's New."
About Vari-Form
Headquartered in Troy, Michigan, with production facilities in Strathroy, Ontario, Canada, Reynosa, Mexico, and Liberty, Missouri, Vari-Form originated the concept and application of hydroforming body, chassis and other automotive structural parts. Vari-Form's technology is used to manufacture more than 7 million parts a year worldwide. The company began volume production using its patented, production-validated Pressure-Sequence Hydroforming (PSH) process in 1990. Vari-Form is the industry leader, and has produced over 100 million parts to date.
SOURCE Vari-Form


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Easy Gourmet: 9 Classed-Up Sandwiches for Dinner
Maybe sandwiches aren't the first things that come to mind when you think of "gourmet food," but then again, we're not talking about your average PB&J. We're talking paninis with summer pesto, homemade rye piled high with artisan cured beef, ciabatta layered with local cheeses. Yes, with the right ingredients, a sandwich can be quite gourmet indeed.
• Tuscan Tuna-and-Bean Sandwiches from Gourmet - Made with pantry staples, but oh-so-classy.
• Crisp Tofu Sandwich with Peanut-Ginger Sauce from Martha Stewart - A simple sauce takes this vegetarian sandwich to another level of awesome.
• Reuban-ish Sandwich from Jamie Oliver - Deli food at home is looking really good right now.
• Merguez Ficelle Sandwich from Real Simple - This sausage and onion sandwich doesn't need much more than mustard to make it perfect.
• BLT Fried Egg and Cheese Sandwich from Food & Wine - What is it about fried eggs that makes everything so good?
• Grilled Cheese and Short Rib Sandwiches from Bon Appétit - Not that short ribs need much by way of improvement, but the caramelized onions and arugula on this sandwich sound divine.
• Pressed Italian Sandwiches from Sunset Magazine and MyRecipes - It's all about the ciabatta, folks.
• Chile-Marinated Pork on Cemita Rolls from Epicurious - The extra effort to make the pork for these sandwiches will be well worth it.
• Fromage Blanc, Banana, and Membrillo Sandwiches from Saveur - Direct from San Francisco's Tartine Bakery to our stomachs.
What's your idea of a truly gourmet sandwich?
Related: No-Knead Bread Hack: Making a Sandwich Loaf Instead
(Images: Romulo Yanes/Gourmet, Martha Stewart, David Loftus/Jamie Oliver, Quentin Bacon/Real Simple, Kana Okada/Food & Wine, Craig Cutler/Bon Appétit, Annabelle Breakley/Sunset, Romulo Yanes/Epicurious, and Todd Coleman/Saveur)


text: USPS, amid some bright signs, loses $437 million in January Published on March 04, 2013. Washington, D.C.—The U.S. Postal Service posted a net loss of $437 million for January due to dwindling first-class mail usage and higher personnel costs. Overall revenue rose, however, driven by other product categories. January volume of first-class mail, the Postal Service's most profitable product, declined by 2.0%, while expenses for compensation and benefits rose 8.7% compared to the year-earlier period. However, revenue for the month increased 4.4% to $5.6 billion, as standard mail, used most often for advertising, experienced a 4.0% increase in volume and a 2.6% rise in revenue. Periodical mail volume and revenue also rose—2.6% and 2.9%, respectively—and the service's competitive-products category, which includes Express Mail and Priority Mail products, saw a 49.6% increase in volume and a 22.1% rise in revenue. Most Popular In this article: BtoB


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Blog Archives
55 (Episode 19)
This week…..on 55…..
As we come down to the last few episodes of 55, it's only fitting that the end of the basketball season is near too. I just wish there was something to talk about. Oh yeah…we get uk again! So in the spirit of revenge on those we despise more than Digger Phelps (I may have went too far) here are the 55 most ridiculous things I have heard, had to debate, or just thought about this past week. This …..is….55.
1) On Thursday night we opened up our defense of the National Championship with a tough game vs the Manhattan Jaspers, coached by former Louisville asst coach Steve Masiello. I like to believe we played the basketball version of a game called chess. Rick didn't want to embarrass Mass so we played tit-for-tat (lol) and won the game when we needed to. Played smothering defense as well.
3) Well that had the opposite effect than I intended
4) Nevertheless, we move onto our next conquest which are the mighty Billikens of Saint Louis. Top 10 team at times this year, former conference foes…what could scare us about the Billikens?
6) Oh yeah..That was creepy….in more ways then one
7) I digress


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about the artist
byAlethea and Ruth
Seattle, WA
Alethea and Ruth is the creative outlet of designer Rachel Nanfelt. She is an obsessive doodler, loves a bold pattern, great type and lots of color. She is currently living in (and loving) Seattle, vi... moreVisit Alethea and Ruth's store
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Steve Wallace Joins Mentoring Minds as Educational Consultant
Brings Extensive Education Sales Experience to National Publisher's School Customers
LOS ANGELES – June 30, 2014 – Mentoring Minds, a national publisher of K-12 educational resources, announced today that Steve Wallace, a longtime education sales executive, has joined the company as an Educational Consultant. Wallace will lead the company's sales efforts in Southern California and Clark County, Nevada, which encompasses Las Vegas.
"Steve's long and successful sales tenure within the K-12 market and his mission-minded approach make him a perfect fit for Mentoring Minds," said Jessica Goodman, the company's director of sales. "He has built deep and long-standing relationships within the highly competitive Southern California market, providing clients with outstanding customer service and comprehensive needs assessments. We are excited to add Steve's level of expertise to our team."
Wallace has an extensive sales background covering both the K-12 market and major corporations, including 16 years as a sales consultant for Premier – a School Specialty Company. Prior to his time at Premier, Wallace held sales positions with Giant Bicycle, Inc., Enterprise Rent-a-Car and National Sanitary Supply Company. He began his career with Cycle Service Motorcycles before serving as a realtor associate with Coldwell Banker-Califano Realty.
A Southern California native, Wallace earned his bachelor's degree from California State University, Long Beach. He resides in San Pedro, California.
About Mentoring Minds
Founded more than a decade ago, Mentoring Minds, the Critical Thinking for Life Company, developsaffordable, effective learning tools that give students the skills to succeed, not just in the classroom, but in life. Experienced educators create K-12 print and online resources that integrate best practices for instruction, assessment, and learning for students across the nation.
For more information about Mentoring Minds and its educational resources, call 800-585-5258 or visit mentoringminds.com.
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Agenda NYC 2013 Trade Show Recap
Streetwear enthusiasts from across the world, gathered in downtown Manhattan July 6 – 7, for the annual Agenda trade show. Brands displayed all types of apparel from their upcoming seasonal releases, in hopes of drawing buyers to their products. Vibrant floral pieces seemed to be a common theme among many of the lines, showcasing garments from their Spring/Summer 2014 collections. From LRG to Kangol, all of the heavy hitters were in the building.
Grab a glimpse of all the new streetwear, before it hits stores in the photo gallery above!
Photos courtesy of: Dash Galaxy


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Birmingham Bears v Essex Eagles - NatWest T20 Blast, Essex Eagles Innings Eagles fall short in record chase
Flintoff launches NatWest T20 Blast 2015 Legend Andrew Flintoff launched this season's competition at Edgbaston
Bears still thrilled by Blast victory Skipper Varun Chopra looks back with glee at his side's great NatWest T20 Blast success on home soil at Edgbaston in 2014 - and forward to the challenge of retaining the title in 2015
Woakes 'excited' for Lord's showdown Warwickshire and England all-rounder says squad are "excited" for Lord's showdown
Porterfield ready for Finals Day Dressing room chat with Birmingham Bears opener on eve of Blast finale at Edgbaston
Essex v Birmingham - Natwest T20 Blast, Birmingham innings Birmingham reach 197/2 from their twenty overs in the quarter final of the Natwest T20 Blast at The County ground.
LV= County Catch Up - Gooch visits Essex England legend shows us around the County Ground at Chelmsford
Birmingham Bears v Notts Outlaws - NatWest T20 Blast, Bears innings Birmingham Bears lost by six runs to the Notts Outlaws in the T20 Blast at Edgbaston.
Birmingham Bears v Notts Outlaws - NatWest T20 Blast, Nottinghamshire innings Notts Outlaws beat the Birmingham Bears by six runs in T20 Blast at Edgbaston
Leicestershire Foxes v Birmingham Bears - NatWest T20 Blast, Birmingham Innings NatWest T20 Blast action from Leicester
Leicestershire Foxes v Birmingham Bears - NatWest T20 Blast, Leicestershire Innings NatWest T20 Blast action from Leicester
LV= County Catch Up Season Preview England legends Harmison, Hoggard and Jones preview the new county season
Domestic cricket 2014 - key changes The ECB has listened to the fans and made some key scheduling changes to domestic cricket
LV= County Championship - Round 14 highlights Best of the action from the 14th round of LV= County Championship matches in summer 2013
LV= County Championship - Round Ten Best of the action from the tenth round of LV= County Championship matches this summer
LV= County Championship - Round Nine Best of the action from the ninth round of the LV= County Championship
Warwickshire v Durham - Day 1 - Troughton shines for champs LV= County Championship highlights from Edgbaston
Chopra enjoys century start Varun has a tendency to start season well and ton v MCC made 2013 no exception
Goughie's LV= County Catch-Up - Final Show Darren is at Edgbaston with LV= County Champions Warwickshire
Troughton revels in title triumph Warwickshire skipper thanks his players for LV= County Championship glory
Giles savours title triumph Warwickshire supremo delighted as side seal LV= County Championship title
Bell can't wait for Lord's finale Warwickshire star looking forward to Clydesdale Bank 40 final outing
Highlights round-up - week 17 Catch up on the best action from round 17 of the LV= County Championship
Goughies_LV_County_Catch-Up_-_August Goughie is behind the scenes at Edgbaston this month - with Jim Troughton and Ashley Giles
Highlights round-up - week eight Catch up on the best action from round 8 of LV= County Championship
Highlights round-up - week three Catch up on the best action from round 3 of LV= County Championship
Barbados win for Bears Darren Maddy and Ricky Clarke see Warwickshire to glory at the Kensington Oval in the pre-season Barbados T20 Cup.
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Arizona is the sexiest state in the nation today. That's because its local lawmakers are debating House Bill 2625. The Democrats don't like it because it requires that women provide their employers with proof that they are taking contraception for reasons other than to prevent pregnancy in order to get reimbursed for their prescription. ("Here's that TPS report, Roger. Oh, by the way, I take the pill to control ovarian cysts. See you at Rachel's going-away party.") The Republicans like it because it would allow employers to opt out of covering birth control or other forms of contraception in their insurance plans if they have religious objections to it.
All this sexy bedroom talk started a couple weeks ago when every news outlet in America got all hot and bothered by the Rush Limbaugh brouhaha. You remember when AM radio's Sexiest Man Alive called Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a "slut" for testifying before Congress about why health insurance should cover birth control. Then last Friday, President Obama released his administration's new birth control mandate stating that religious organizations do not have to sponsor contraceptive services.
Notice anything missing from the birth control debate? I sure do: Men. Aren't we half of the whole birth thing? Why isn't anyone calling us names or trying to smear our reputations? And why aren't we asking Uncle Sam to contribute to our Durex fund?
It's not like men have it easy, you know. We can't ask for birth control in the privacy of a doctor's office, or have it quietly handed to us in a nondescript paper bag at the pharmacy. We have to walk to the back of a drugstore, pick up a glossy, neon-colored box, and suffer public humiliation in the checkout line. I oftentimes buy extra items so it seems like I'm a well-rounded person, not some pervert with a one-track mind. For example, I'd prefer that people look into my shopping basket and say, "Oh look, he likes green tea, uses teeth whitening strips, and has a healthy love life. What a gentleman." Instead of saying, "Oh look, that guy only cares about sex. Gross."
But here's the real reason we're not part of the debate: We're hiding from it. Heck, we're barely showing up at home, much less Capitol Hill: One out of three American children live in a home without their biological father. And we wonder why (as I discussed here) that the sperm donor stereotype persists: Mom is the tin of warm, cinnamon-y muffins; Dad is the raw powder in the Betty Crocker box. In the most fundamental, biological sense, women hold the power to decide the fate of their offspring. And because women ultimately control the birth, birth control is their topic to tackle, right?
Wrong. Men should be right up front, fighting to be slandered and insulted. If Rush Limbaugh wants to persecute the promiscuous, I know plenty of dudes who fit the bill. I lived in a fraternity house for two years. You couldn't throw an empty bag of 2 a.m. takeout without hitting a male slut. Rush Limbaugh should have broadcast live from Sigma Chi's White Trash Bash.
If you want your condoms paid for, if you want to have a rightful say, you're going to have to work for it. You'll have to take some licks, stare down the picketers, get heckled by cable news talking heads, and fight like warriors alongside the women. It's not a coincidence they're called Trojans.


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Can you rejoin eRegime? I don't expect you to post on it but on July 30 925 out of 966 users got inadvertently "pruned" by a newly-appointed admin. Yours was among them.
So I have my own forum and it's been online for 3 years and it's dedicated to forum games and we're doing a Cold War forumgame set in 1973 and for some completely unfathomable reason I recalled you like Nixon and, also, we have 20+ players and yet lack a player for RICHARD NIXON AKA USA PLAYER OH MY GOD
So yeah in the remote chance you'd be interested...
go sit on a flagpole
retired from TW 2+ yrs
Ban Staff
who u
superior drinkability
Registered User
Mother of Dragons
Yeah! Science Bitch!
zombies aren't nostalgic
a true american hero
Retired I guess


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WASHINGTON — It took years for the U.S. military to track Osama bin Laden down, finding him not in a cave in the inaccessible tribal regions of Pakistan, but in a sumptuous luxury compound built just six years ago in the same city that is home to Pakistan's most prestigious military academy.
The raid that killed him lasted just 40 minutes.
U.S. officials briefing reporters here said the raid involved a helicopter assault on a compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad by a small U.S. team.
Bin Laden resisted the U.S. team and was shot in the head, they said. Also killed were bin Laden's most trusted courier and one of bin Laden's sons, as well as a woman one of the men tried to use as a human shield, they said.
"Bin Laden was killed as our operators came into the compound," said one senior administration official, who like the others, spoke on condition they not be further identified because of the situation's sensitivity.
Only U.S. personnel were involved in the raid, and Obama's decision to launch it wasn't shared with any other country, including Pakistan, whose most powerful intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, has long been suspected by U.S. officials of maintaining links to extremist groups close to al Qaida.
One senior administration official indicated that the U.S. was pursuing with the Pakistani government the question of whether any Pakistani officials were aware of bin Laden's presence.
"We are very concerned that he was inside Pakistan," he said.
The compound was uncovered after years of effort by the CIA, which had been gathering leads on individuals in bin Laden's inner circle, including his couriers. Some of their names were provided by al Qaida members captured by the U.S.
"One courier in particular had our constant attention," said a second senior administration official, who declined to release his name, but described him as a "protege" of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged architect of the 9/11 attacks who was captured in Pakistan in March 2003 and is in U.S. custody at Guantanamo.
The CIA positively identified the courier four years ago and two years ago identified areas of Pakistan where the courier and his brother were operating. But because they employed such tight operations security, the agency was unable to pinpoint their residence until last year.
The captured al Qaida members only knew the courier's nom de guerre, but they told U.S. intelligence officers that he was "one of the few . . . trusted by bin Laden," and that the pair might be living together, he continued.
The courier and his brother were tracked to a massive, palatial compound built in 2005 at the end of a dirt road in an isolated and "affluent" suburb of Abbottabad favored by retired Pakistani military officers, said the second senior administration official, who added that it was believed that the residence was constructed specifically for bin Laden.
"We were shocked by what we saw," he said, describing the compound as being eight times larger than any of the area's other homes, surrounded by 12- to 18-foot walls topped by barbed wire. Different sections of the structure were walled off from each other.
The "extraordinary security measures" also included two electrified security gates. Trash was burned before being taken out for disposal, he said.
The compound was built at a cost of $1 million — a great deal for a residence in impoverished Pakistan — yet it had no telephone or Internet connections, and the third floor was surrounded by a "seven-foot privacy wall" for its occupants.
The courier and his brother, meanwhile, "had no explainable source of income," said the second administration official, who added that "we soon learned that more people were living at the compound" than just the two men and their families.
CIA analysts, working with the eavesdroppers of the National Security Agency and experts at the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Agency, which analyzes satellite imagery, concluded "with strong probability" that a third family — bin Laden, his youngest wife and several family members — also were living there, he said.
The compound's massive security, its isolated location and its size "was consistent with what our experts had expected bin Laden's hideout would look like," he continued. "No other candidate fit the bill as well as bin Laden did."
Months of planning went into the helicopter-borne operation, said a third senior administration official, who declined to provide many details, including how many personnel and aircraft participated. Obama met with a close circle of top national security aides five times since March 14 to review the intelligence assessment and plans for the operation before giving the final go-ahead.
The compound's high walls, security precautions, suburban location "and proximity to Islamabad made" the operation extreme risky, he said.
The third senior administration official described the operation as "a surgical raid by a small team designed to minimize collateral damage."
"Our team was in the compound for under 40 minutes," he said.
The senior administration officials said that the operation complied with U.S. and international law, and stressed that Obama had repeatedly put Pakistan on notice that the U.S. would act if it received actionable intelligence on the whereabouts of bin Laden or other terrorist threats.
A fourth senior administration official warned that "there may be a heightened threat" of terrorism against the U.S. homeland and Americans overseas as a result of bin Laden's killing.
The administration, he said, was taking "every possible effort" to detect and thwart any retaliatory terrorist strikes.
But he called bin Laden's death "the single greatest victory" in the long campaign to crush al Qaida.
As for bin Laden's body, it will "be handled in accordance with Islamic practice and tradition," which dictate that the funeral and burial be held within 24 hours of death, the fourth official said. He declined to elaborate.
U.S. officials said early Monday that bin Laden's body was buried at sea.
Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/05/02/113479/bin-laden-raid-years-in-the-making.html#ixzz1LCY07PUI


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Nutritional investigations are also uncovering the vital role vitamins and minerals play in age related illnesses. As you get older, your need for certain nutrients rise--something the current U.S. Recommended Daily Allowances don't take into account. Add to this the facts that the hydrochloric acid in your stomach, necessary for proper nutrient absorption, and skin capacity to manufacture vitamin D from sunlight both decline with age. In some cases, vitamin and mineral supplementation is the only way to overcome these problems and diminish the ravages of old age.
Slow Aging with Antioxidants
More and more ailments, including chronic diseases of old age, are being blamed on free radicals. Experts theorize that these highly reactive molecules speed up aging and promote cancer. It's the free radical's unpaired electron that makes trouble, as it scrounges for a partner--almost any molecule will do--before it will rest. This snatching up of protein and other bystanders by free radicals damages cells and tissues, the basis for aging's aches, pains and afflictions.
The first and largest source of free radicals is your own body, odd considering the harm they cause. Your body uses oxygen to burn food and create energy, not unlike blowing on a smoldering fire to increase its flame. Free radicals are the sparks that fly off this metabolic blaze. Your body stomps out these free radical sparks with its own stockpile of firefighters called antioxidants, such as glutathione and superoxide dismutase. Even melatonin, the hormone released by your pineal gland, has antioxidant capabilities says Ronald Klatz, DO, President of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine.
However, free radicals are exceedingly helpful in the right amounts. In a sense, they're part of your immune system. White blood cells harness free radicals to disarm invading germs, and the liver uses them for detoxifying hurtful toxins. It's ironic then that an aging, faltering immune system is partly due to free radical overload (1).
In today's world it's easy to push your burden of free radicals over the top with pollution, too much sun, pesticides, radiation, some drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, rancid fats, and even frequent flying or exercise. These stressors also tend to eat up antioxidants and other nutrients. When free radicals climb too high or antioxidants fall too low, chronic diseases and premature aging are more likely to ignite. Richard Cutler, PhD, investigator at the Gerontology Research Center of the National Institute on Aging, says studies suggest an almost linear relationship between life span and antioxidant levels in some animals (2).
Luckily Mother Nature has given us a shopping cart of foods that experts believe possess antioxidant abilities such as lectins in legumes, indoles in cabbage, and terpenes in citrus fruits. Many antioxidant herbs hold a special affinity for particular body parts. For example, the flavonoids in milk thistle target the liver. Those in ginkgo biloba are attracted to the central nervous system, including the brain. Pycnogenol, derived from pine trees or grape seeds, is actually the registered trademark of a flavonoid called procyanidolic oligomer or PCO. This antioxidant may prevent cancer (3), and treat high blood pressure (4) and poor vision (5).


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Cajuns Hammer Jags, Earn NO Bowl Bid
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns spotted South Alabama an early 7-0 lead, then took control late in the first half, en route to a 52-30 win over the Jaguars on Senior Day at Cajun Field.
After the game, Louisiana (7-4, 5-2 Sun Belt) accepted a bid to play in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl for the second straight season. The game will be Saturday, December 22 with a kickoff time at 11am.
"On behalf of our football team, WE ACCEPT," Coach Mark Hudspeth said after invitation from executive director Billy Ferrante.
The Cajuns led only 17-16 late in the first half, but the Cajuns got a score just before halftime on a Terrance Broadway pass to Javone Lawson, covering 27 yards and giving the Cajuns a 24-16 halftime lead.
The Cajuns then took the second half kickoff and went 82 yards in four plays, culminated by a one yard run by Effrem Reed, his second touchdown of the game and the rout was on.
South Alabama (2-10, 1-7) never got closer than 15 points the rest of the way.
The Cajuns got two more scores; a six yard run by Broadway, and a touchdown pass from Blaine Gautier to Jacob Maxwell, covering eighteen yards.
It was Gautier's first appearance since September 29th when he suffered two broken bones in his throwing hand.
Lawson caught three passes for 113 yards in his first appearance since breaking a bone in his arm back on October 23.
Broadway was 11-19 for 303 yards and two scores as Louisiana rolled up 538 yards in offense. Broadway also rushed 13 times for 65 yards and a score. Wide receiver Harry Peoples led the Cajuns in receiving with five catches for 166 yards and a 75 yard touchdown reception.
Reed led the Cajuns in rushing with 81 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns. Senior Yobes Walker capped the scoring with a one yard touchdown run with under five minutes left.
The Cajuns will meet an opponent to be named in their second straight bowl appearance at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Cajuns 32-30 win over San Diego State last December 17th set a New Orleans Bowl attendance record.


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Leading into the Qatar GP the talk was all about Repsol Honda, namely the blistering fast paces of Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa, who seemed to be on a different level from everyone else, even teammate Andrea Dovizioso. However after seeing Pedrosa's race performance be hampered by a lingering shoulder injury that, which was causing his arm to go numb and lose strength during the race, question marks began to develop over whether the Spaniard would be able to fight for the Championship like he did last season.
Responding to these worries, Repsol Honda has released a press release that talks more about Pedrosa's shoulder condition, which was questionable at the end of the Qatar GP. After returning from Doha, medical checks performed on Pedrosa confirmed that his shoulder was not 100%, but was only suffering from a small stretch in the plexus, which is gradually improving, but will need more time to finish healing completely.


text: Virginia Joins State Grants Program The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Ducks Unlimited to join the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies' State Grants Program. The MOA was signed at DU's Granders Society event near Richmond. "This is Virginia's inaugural participation in the state grants program, which funds North American Waterfowl Management Plan habitat projects in Canada," said DU Chief Conservation Officer Paul Schmidt, who signed the MOA on behalf of DU. "We are pleased to have them as a partner in waterfowl habitat conservation in Canada." As part of the agreement, Virginia will contribute $25,000 a year for five years to fund habitat projects in eastern Canada. The state's contribution will be matched by Ducks Unlimited and leveraged through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, resulting in at least $100,000 a year for conservation projects. This conservation work will restore and enhance breeding and staging habitats that are important to black ducks that winter in Virginia. Though much of the funding for these state grants will come from state duck stamp sales revenue, additional funds will come from Virginia's nongame fund. This is unique, as most states fund their grant contribution solely through hunting license and state duck stamp sales. "Virginians understand that the habitats that benefit waterfowl also greatly benefit many other species of nongame migratory birds," said VDGIF Executive Director Bob Duncan. "Sportsmen have long borne the majority of the financial costs of conservation. We see this arrangement as an opportunity to increase our contribution and share the responsibility of funding conservation among our stakeholders."


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Hi everyone! *waves* I'm excited for the challenge, especially since I lapsed in making bentos last semester. I got busy with work (I work full-time at a university), grad school and TAing, which left little time for bento-making! T____T
But, I'm using the challenge to get back in the habit and to make nutritious and attractive (not artsy or cute, but visually attractive enough to eat) bentos that I'll remember to eat (I sometimes get so busy at work that I forget to eat lunch).
My bentos are comprised of foods from across the spectrum, especially since I'm biracial (Filipino and Mexican) and I live in multicultural Southern California. I'm also a vegetarian, verging on vegan, so I use a lot of the recipes that Maki shares.
Anyway, I look forward to doing the challenge with everyone. Best of luck to all! ^___^
Hi, Lorena! *waves back*
It's nice to know who the vegetarians are. ^_^
I've been a vegan, twice. FAIL.
I've been a vegetarian for over fifteen years. I have recently started eating some fish, but for the most part my bentos are vegetarian (if not vegan).
Hi! Wave back! Vegetarian too!
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CLL Orange County
Intro to Photo - Part 3: Shutter Speed
- Presented by:
- Christopher Kern (Bio)
- Program:
- CLL Orange County
- Date:
- March 22, 2018
- Time:
- 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
- Fee:
- Free Seminar
- Location:
- Canon Live Learning Orange County
123 Paularino Avenue
Costa Mesa, California 92626
- Questions:
- firstname.lastname@example.com
Now that you have a stronger understanding of Exposure, Metering and the power of our control over the Aperture function of our camera's lens. We now have some creative decisions on what we can do with our shutter speed. We don't always have to stop action or freeze motion - we can perhaps introduce motion blur or even experiment with longer shutter speeds and time lapse photography. Perhaps some painting with light or night photography? Join us in this final part of the Intro to Photo series to help bring your foundation of Exposure and Metering full-circle.
What to bring:
• Camera
• Charged Batteries
• SD/CF Card
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text:
So much for Jon & Kate calling a truce for the sake of their plus 8.
TMZ is now reporting that Kate Gosselin is asking a judge to hold her ex-husband Jon Gosselin in contempt of court. The reason? The pot Kate believes Jon has been blabbing his mouth to the media. It seems while the Gosselins are allowed to blab about their issues and kids to the media, a right Kate has been exercising quite frequently in recent months, they are not allowed to talk about issues directly related to their court case.
According to TMZ, Kate had her lawyers file the Petition for Contempt of Custody Order last Thursday. Sources close to the case tell TMZ that Kate believes Jon is violating the judge's custody order, which prohibits either of them from talking about the case, by allegedly selling information about the case and tweeting his displeasure of the judge's various decisions.
This is also likely related to the recent RadarOnline report which stated Jon's displeasure at Kate taking their 8 kids to Australia for a vacation to work and earn her more money from TLC. This led to Jon not getting the kids for New Year's Eve like he was supposed to. Jon took the issue to court to try to stop the vacation but a judge ruled in Kate's favor stating the trip was okay because it was work related.
Kate is now claiming Jon is willfully disobeying the court orders, mostly to make a quick buck. She wants the judge to modify the custody agreement to protect the kids from Jon trying to make money off them. Oh the irony.
A hearing for the case has been set for later this month.


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ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) — The stepmother of an Oregon boy whose disappearance in 2010 touched off an intense search has failed to persuade a judge to let her change her name.
Terri Horman testified Monday in Roseburg that her life has been threatened and she hasn't been able to find a job since Kyron Horman vanished from his Portland school.
She told Judge Randy Garrison that the last name Horman was a stigma and kept her from winning positions, including full-time employment at the Veterans Administration hospital in Roseburg, the Roseburg News-Review (http://bit.ly/1kA5UFF) reported.
She said changing her name to Claire Stella Sullivan would allow her to start life over.
"After being divorced for six months, I decided I wanted to start my new life under a new name," she said.
Four people involved in search efforts for the boy and fundraisers objected in court, saying Terri Horman hadn't answered questions about him.
"Kyron doesn't have a voice ... I don't understand how that's fair," said Vernice Porter of Roseburg. "Why should she get to move on with her life? Everybody has a right to know who she is."
The judge rejected the request, saying it wouldn't be in the public interest because an investigation remains open.
Terri Horman told investigators she dropped off the 7-year-old for a science fair at Skyline Elementary School on June 4, 2010. There has been no trace of him since. There have been no arrests.
She and the boy's father, Kaine Horman, divorced, and she moved to Roseburg, her hometown.


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LONG BEACH -- The California State University Board of Trustees will consider a new round of fees Tuesday and Wednesday intended to improve graduation rates and free up classroom seats for 18,000 new students at its regular meeting.
Officials said the fees are meant to target super seniors who have already accumulated enough credits to graduate and deter students who frequently repeat courses or enroll in too many classes only to drop some later.
CSU officials estimate the fees could generate at least $30 million in extra revenue annually.
The fees include:
A "graduation incentive fee" that charges a per-unit supplement of $372 for super seniors who have already accumulated 160 units. More than 80 percent of majors require 120 units to graduate. The unit cap will drop to 150 units in 2014. Officials said about 9,000 students are categorized as super seniors.
A "course repeat fee" of $91 for students who choose to repeat a class. Officials said about 40,000 seats are occupied each year by students who have already taken the course. The fee is meant to encourage students to "make careful decisions" and allow access for students who have not yet taken the course.
A "third-tier tuition" fee of $182 per unit for for any course load of 18 units or more. The average student load is 12 units per semester.
Officials said the plan could free up 32,000 seats in classes each year, the equivalent of enrolling about 4,000 new students.
The 23-campus system of more than 400,000 students turns away up to 20,000 eligible students each year, according to officials.
"With massive budget cuts, we have had to deny admissions to over 20,000 students who did everything right," said Ephraim P. Smith, CSU executive vice chancellor.
"These changes are meant to provide more access for incoming freshmen and transfer students by helping current students to graduate in a more timely manner."
The plan has been met with backlash from student groups and faculty who say the new fees unfairly penalize students in a time of course reductions, overcrowded classes and fewer resources.
Students for Quality Education said the extra fees will create more obstacles for students struggling to graduate. The group plans to protest at the board meetings this week.
Cal State San Bernardino economics major Natalie Dorado said the fees will create an unfair hierarchy for the students who have more money to pay for classes.
"The CSU is overwhelmingly working students and many are first-generation college students who transferred to the CSU," she said.
"These students are not gaming the system, they are struggling to graduate. They need help."
The organization said it plans to ask the board to hold off on imposing fees in favor of other options, such as adding more course sections and mandating academic counseling for seniors.
Whitney Jenkins said she enrolled in Cal State Fresno as a freshman and planned to graduate within four years.
But six years later, Jenkins said she's struggling to finish college due to cuts to courses and overcrowded classrooms.
After taking a number of elective classes while waiting to enroll in required courses, the psychology major said she accumulated nearly enough units to earn a second major in Africana studies.
As a double major, Jenkins said she could be paying an extra $1,000 a semester under the Cal State University system's new proposal to charge an additional $372 per unit for so-called "super seniors" who have earned enough credits to graduate.
"I am one of those super seniors, and I feel like we're being unfairly penalized," she said during a telephone news conference Monday held by the CSU-wide group Students for Quality Education. "Adding extra fees will only complicate the problem. Students will be confronted with unwanted hardship."
The board's joint committees of Educational Policy and Finance are expected to vote on the issue in their meeting at 3:30 p.m. today, followed by the full board's vote Wednesday after 10 a.m. at the Chancellor's Office in Long Beach.
If approved, the fees would go into effect next fall. ___
(c)2012 the San Bernardino County Sun (San Bernardino, Calif.)
Visit the San Bernardino County Sun (San Bernardino, Calif.) at www.sbsun.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Here are the five states where the cost of a public four-year college education has seen the steepest recent increases.