text:
Read the full story here Web Link posted Monday, April 8, 2013, 9:54 AM
Town Square
School calendar survey: 'benefits outweigh tradeoffs'
Original post made on Apr 8, 2013
Read the full story here Web Link posted Monday, April 8, 2013, 9:54 AM
Comments (45)
a resident of Fairmeadow
on Apr 8, 2013 at 10:50 am
There are some very good things here:
1. The Board implements P-8: The 3 member majority of the board, including current members Barbara Mitchell and Dana Tom made a courageous decision to follow Project Safety Net P-8's recommendation for reducing academic stress including for finals before break. They followed the advice of experts like Denise Pope, looked to the experience of other districts adopting best practices, and did the right thing to help our students have a work-free break. While they have not been profiles in courage in other matters, they showed real independence here and deserve credit. In the PAUSD world of constant, unmerited praise, here is conduct that deserves some. Good job to Klausner, Mitchell, and Tom.
2. Making use of data: Despite the fact that the survey questions were written in a way that was likely to produce biased results against finals before break, the majority of every group surveyed wants to retain finals before break even in the face of the tradeoffs that they require. This is exactly the kind of data-driven policy that PAUSD needs to do more of.
3. District-wide rather than site-based policy: the calendar is a great example of how a Unified District works with a board setting policy and a district staff implementing it uniformly across schools in the district.
4. Stakeholder engagement: Although I did not agree with the opponents of the new calendar I think that they received every deference and every opportunity to be heard and to participate in the process. The district in general needs to do a better job with stakeholder engagement and develop an open and transparent process for selecting members of advisory committees to ensure broad-based participation and not only PTAC or insider committees. This is important so that the board hears from all voices rather than just a few repeat players. Even those with whom district staff disagrees are important community voices and deserve to be heard. This was proved in this case, in the Gunn Counseling Committee, and in the Homework Committee.
A board Administrative Regulation should be adopted specifying a clear process for selecting committees that advise the district and/or board. There should not be hand-picked members placed on committees through closed processes, nor should there be short time windows to apply or other criteria that will tend to eliminate certain groups (such as meeting during the day which makes it hard for working parents).
Hopefully everyone will now concede that the change has been beneficial and allow PAUSD to move on to considering other interventions on the P-8 list, such as making grading and evaluations consistent across classes and teachers. We have one great accomplishment here to reduce stress, another with the homework limits, and a counseling improvement process proceeding at Gunn. The calendar is a done deal. More still is to be done so, as the Superintendent likes to say, let's get after it.
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Apr 8, 2013 at 11:07 am
The survey said all responses would be anonymous.
Yet you quote "an elementary teacher".
If that quote comes from the survey results, then thankyou district for not protecting the anonymity as promised. Great way to make sure you don't get useful and HONEST comments in the future.
a resident of Gunn High School
on Apr 8, 2013 at 11:08 am
Everyone but the seniors were taken into account here. There is no way to express the disservice that was done to this class. And counting survey numbers will never reveal the problem because one class worth of kids are obviously outnumbered.
The advantage kids in our district had over kids in other districts is now gone. The year was just one big rush.
Yes we had some superstar students on the calendar committee. Do they really know what life is like for other kids - I don't think so.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Apr 8, 2013 at 11:23 am
Senior Parent --
Here's what the seniors who responded to the survey had to say: Web Link
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Apr 8, 2013 at 12:37 pm
This is fantastic news for our high school students. My older children were so relaxed during Winter Break, for the first time in all their high school years. The past years with final exams looming upon return in January prevented any joy during Winter Break.
Thank you to the elementary school parents/teachers for looking to future and seeing the benefit of a stress-free Winter Break.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Apr 8, 2013 at 1:01 pm
Please stop saying this is a done deal. It is not. It is a two year pilot and we are not through with the first year yet. We have not experienced what ending in May is going to be like for anyone. We have not experienced what the difficulties of scheduling spring sports alongside finals, Graduation and Baccalaureat scheduling, or childcare problems.
Baccalaureate has been a big problem and many families are not happy with the new arrangement.
I think it is premature to say that the calendar is a done deal, particularly as the winter break schedule with Christmas Day early in the week is going to be different when Christmas Day falls on a Friday, for example. The fact that the past Thanksgiving fell as early as it can in the month and the next year Thanksgiving will fall as late as it can in November will definitely shorted the number of school days between Thanksgiving and finals and that has not been mentioned by anyone.
This is still less than half way through a two year pilot and there are still big teething problems.
a resident of Midtown
on Apr 8, 2013 at 1:06 pm
Marie is a registered user.
Chris Kenrick,
Thanks for posting the link to the survey. Anyone who looks at the survey will realize that the vast majority of our students, Seniors and all others in high school, prefer finals before winter break. I attended two different UC's before graduating from CAL, back in the 60's when the calendars were changing. By far the most preferable for me, then, was a schedule that had finals before winter break. Almost every college has switched to this schedule either by having 3 quarters instead of semesters, or starting in August.
In future years, the school board might want to consider going to a quarter system that would match Stanford and other colleges - but it would mean 3 sets of finals. I have no opinion on this. But it is the only rational change that would satisfy those who want an August vacation.
The one question on the survey that surprised me was the one asking if students spent time on homework over winter break that was due in January. I was shocked to see that 14% of the Seniors answered yes. I thought the homework policy and calendar was designed to give students a stress-free break, especially with so many college apps due Jan. 1. I don't remember what the actual homework policy has to say about this. If it wasn't supposed to happen, someone should have a word with those teachers. If it is allowed, it should not be. This is another example of where a district-wide policy should be made and enforced.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Apr 8, 2013 at 1:07 pm
"Thirty-nine percent said December finals "somewhat negatively" (22.5 percent) or "negatively" (16.7 percent) affected their work on college applications."
Is PAUSD happy that the new calendar hurts 39% of our seniors applying to college?
Given that this year was the absolute WORST in college admissions history, at the UCs and elsewhere, can PAUSD look seniors in the eye and let them in on exactly how this calendar made their lives better? What does PAUSD say to them and all seniors who come after them - "look at the bright side, think about how much less stress you'll have after that h@llacious first semester is over"?
That relative euphoria will last until college rejection letters stack up in their mailboxes and they wonder whether a rejection might have been an acceptance if only they had used the time they devoted to finals on their college applications.
Sadly for them, there are no excuses and no re-dos in the college admissions world.
I know several exceptionally bright seniors among the 39% who did not get any of the fat envelopes they had hoped for in the mail. All I hear from them is regret that they were not born a year earlier so they could have avoided the calendar that crushed them and their friends.
And for what benefit exactly? The surveys are clear; even in a "new and improved" pre-break finals world, homework during break remained and it was not stress-free -- tons of high school students remained stressed even when finals were behind them.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Apr 8, 2013 at 1:11 pm
It seems odd to me that survey results from a mid-year survey are being used (or at least summarized as such here) as definitive feedback on the new calendar. We have yet to complete an entire academic year and I'm not sure that there won't be issues for some of our high school students who will have to deal with AP Tests, finals and maybe even some sports finals falling back-to-back. There are some great things about the new calendar, but also some negatives that have been introduced. It seems that it would make sense to survey the community once we've lived through an entire "cycle" to make sure we got it right.
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Apr 8, 2013 at 1:18 pm
There's only 7 weeks left of the current Calendar.
Though the large majority of Elementary parents still want a later start:
School starting later in August with an early June ending 49.8%
School starting earlier in August with a late May ending 36.2%
If only they could sort that out, they might be there.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Apr 8, 2013 at 1:34 pm
Thanks Anne and the other parents who reminded us all that this only reflects 1st semester feedback and not an entire school year at minimum. The sprint to the end of the year only started today(!), so I will be curious to hear feedback after one year is complete.
More importantly, the fact that there were still students doing homework over winter break is alarming. The whole reason this calendar was considered was because a group of parents wanted to guarantee a "work free break." Hello? Anybody? Even this calendar did not achieve that sacred goal.
So, mull that over while you get to choose between attending your senior's graduation or your older child's college graduation... because turning a high school calendar into a college calendar creates new conflicts.
a resident of Gunn High School
on Apr 8, 2013 at 2:17 pm
When this survey was taken, the results from the UC's and many other schools were not in yet. And it is difficult for some students to tie the rush they were in during Nov and Dec with the acceptances or rejections they are receiving now. But it is a real effect.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Apr 8, 2013 at 2:22 pm
isez is a registered user.
Agree I was surprised the survey was offered before the entire year was over. However, if seniors plan ahead and begin their applications in the summer, this should avoid stress.
It's preposterous to assume the calendar is to blame for the tough admissions year. Other schools in the area have final exams before Winter Break. Perhaps it's just been a tough year for all seniors nationwide.
a resident of Fairmeadow
on Apr 8, 2013 at 2:31 pm
The reason students do not "tie" their acceptance or rejection to the "rush they were in during Nov and Dec" is that it is totally not related. College acceptance hinges on 4 years of grades and extracurriculars, SAT or ACT scores that are generally (for PAUSD students) extensively prepped and taken at least twice, and teacher recommendations for which the groundwork is laid long long before November of senior year. The reason it seems unrelated to students is that it is in fact unrelated as a factual matter.
If you really want to do your senior a favor, PAUSD parents, have them start their UC and Common App essays in the summer. Don't let them procrastinate until the essays deadlines start to approach. if they do procrastinate then I think you have your reason as to what might lie behind that thin envelope, and it might be an accurate reading by the admissions office of a child's ability to thrive in a high-pressure environment if they tend to procrastinate, so it might not be an injustice but just an appropriate decision even if it feels unjust to you. It should be obvious but I guess for some people it needs to be stated.
There is no reason that PAUSD students should have or deserve to have an "advantage" "over kids in other districts," the end of which "senior parent" bemoaned in her post above. PAUSD students already have wealth, racial privilege, high parental educational status, and a host of other advantages over virtually everyone else ON THIS PLANET. [Portion removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Apr 8, 2013 at 3:52 pm
[Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]
a resident of Gunn High School
on Apr 8, 2013 at 4:12 pm
Thank you PA Weekly for posting the results and the summary.
The results are overwhelmingly positive (please go look at all the surveys) from all constituencies. Even teachers and parents whose oldest child is in middle or elementary school support the change. It's time to MOVE ON from grousing about the new calendar.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Apr 8, 2013 at 4:16 pm
Agree with the first two paragraphs of "We Did Better", regarding the acceptance rates and calendar. Although I disagree that all PAUSD students are entitled and have every opportunity to succeed. I know plenty of PA households who live mortgage to mortgage with no extra money for tutors or extracurriculars (I don't agree with it, but it's common). Old Palo Alto is not a good representation of the rest of Palo Alto.
I recently attended a Junior Year Night (which should have occurred in the fall) for parents and our advisor told us to "Start thinking about taking the SATs" and begin college apps in the fall. WHAT? Most Paly students (including mine) had already taken the SATs on March 9. And nothing was said about AP Tests or SAT Subject Tests. Plus, college apps should be started in the summer. Why are Advisors telling parents that it's okay to start college apps in the fall? It will increase the stress on the students if they wait till fall to start college apps. I also noticed Paly gears their talks towards acceptance into CA state schools and does not include info that might be necessary for out-of-state schools.
Bottom line: Parents, stay awake and keep on top of all this college admissions prep. Students who do not have involved parents are at a great disadvantage.
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on Apr 8, 2013 at 4:27 pm
Did anyone else notice that 14% of the students responded that they had homework assigned over Break? Sort of defeats the whole purpose of no school work over Break when teachers disregard it...
a resident of Barron Park
on Apr 8, 2013 at 7:01 pm
Regarding the 14%. There are many reasons why some students do homework over breaks. It seems unwise to assume it is all assigned homework to be completed over break. Some may in fact be, but it may also be that some kids are working to complete an incomplete, to get started on next semester, they have special accommodations that give them more time to turn in the semester's work or whatever. Without more information, we really don't know why the students were doing the homework over break.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Apr 8, 2013 at 7:11 pm
The new calendar surveys show that lots more than 14% of high schoolers had homework during the new "no more homework over Xmas break" pre-break finals calendar this year:
41% of 9th, 10th and 11th graders
Web Link Question 27
35% of seniors
Web Link Question 10
a resident of Gunn High School
on Apr 8, 2013 at 7:35 pm
Dear Feeling the pain,
I suspect that in previous years the percentage of students who did homework over the break was MUCH higher. The fact that 65% of seniors did no homework is significant. The next two brackets indicate that 19% did 1 to 2 hours of homework and 10% did 3-4 hours of homework. Since we don't know why that happened (some teachers ignoring the homework break for yearlong classes, or some students catching up) it still indicated that a huge percentage had no homework and 39% more had 1-4 hours of homework over a two week period. That's not bad for the first year of the calendar change and encompasses 93% of all the seniors. The percentages are similar for younger high school students (59% no homework, 24% 1-2 hours, 9% 3-4 hours which represents 92.7% of the students).
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Apr 8, 2013 at 8:30 pm
"we don't know why that happened (some teachers ignoring the homework break for yearlong classes, or some students catching up)"
What we do know:
The reason we got this new calendar was that many teachers ignored the old calendar's "no homework over break" policy. This calendar was designed to end the semester with a summative test so there would be no semester left for semester long classes and no mid-chapter homework for year long classes. Didn't work out that way.
The survey asked students if they got an extension which, by doing so, allowed them to turned a pre-break finals calendar for all into individual post-break finals one (i.e., what we had before). 9% did.
Subtract 9% from 40% and there still are gobs and gobs of students who had homework over break.
As for last year's calendar, I recall earlier surveys showing that students didn't have much homework over break then either - a few hours during break - at most.
So, things stayed much the same this year and last on the homework over break front. Can't call changes to homework one of the new calendar's "benefits."
a resident of Professorville
on Apr 8, 2013 at 9:53 pm
There was a Junior night at Paly in the Fall where the Guidance dept. explained a testing timeline--including subject tests and AP tests; it's posted on paly.net. And, students heard information in Advisory much sooner than the Spring parent night.
Not every junior follows the same timeline! Some are not ready to begin college apps in the summer. The College Advisors send an end-of-year email before summer recapping information from their appts with students, either how to search for colleges in earnest or about how to get started with college apps if that's where students are in the process.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Apr 8, 2013 at 11:21 pm
@Paly Parent: Why would our Advisor tell parents to "begin thinking about taking the SAT" over a week after the March SAT date?
How could Juniors not be "ready to begin college apps in the summer"? You think 1-2 months makes a difference? That they aren't ready in July or August but are suddenly ready to tackle homework and college apps simultaneously at the end of August or in October? Doesn't follow common sense.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Apr 9, 2013 at 7:01 am
More telling than counting homework hours is whether students achieved the stress-free break promised them under the new pre-break finals calendar.
It appears not:
49% of seniors were stressed over winter break
34% of students in grades 9, 10 and 11 were
Those are high during break "stress" percentages given that all students had finished finals and closed the semester before winter break began, save the 9% (who were so stressed that they could not finish the semester on time?) given extensions to get their work done.
Why no stress relief over break for so many?
Perhaps it was because of the school work that continued during break – a difficult nut to crack it seems regardless of when finals fall.
Or perhaps it was that it took most of the break for our high school students to de-stress given how exceptionally difficult it was to have finals in a December filled with college apps and holiday preparations, during the short leg of uneven semesters with fewer days to master the same amount of material, etc. This is completely plausible given that almost 100% of our high school students reported being stressed, most HIGHLY stressed, right before their winter break began.
So the benefits of a pre-break finals calendar do NOT include "no stress over winter break" and "low stress before winter break" either.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Apr 9, 2013 at 7:11 am
Good questions about homework over winter break and students feeling stressed.
Some students will feel stress regardless because it is in their makeup, or because of parental pressures.
What about spring break? It would be interesting to know whether students felt stress and did homework/schoolwork over spring break.
Of my 2 students, one felt stressed and worked on schoolwork whereas the other was more relaxed even with APs on the horizon. A lot of it was because of their personalities but some of it could also be blamed on pressures from teachers too.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Apr 9, 2013 at 8:59 am
What the students said about their levels of stress over winter break:
No stress: 50.5%
Some stress: 29.1%
Moderate stress: 10.2%
Moderately high stress: 5.6%
Very stressed: 4.6%
No stress: 66.7%
Some stress: 24.2%
Moderate stress: 6%
Moderately high stress: 1.7%
Very stressed: 1.4%
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Apr 9, 2013 at 9:10 am
And here are the high levels of stress high school students reported in December, right before winter break:
No stress: 4.7%
Some stress: 11.6%
Moderate stress: 30.2%
Moderately high stress: 33.1%
Very stressed: 20.4%
No stress: 3.9%
Some stress: 15.5%
Moderate stress: 28.5%
Moderately high stress: 32.5%
Very stressed: 19.6%
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Apr 9, 2013 at 11:06 am
I would argue that the pre-break high stress levels are due to finals and appear to be similar accross all grade levels. The calendar can't eliminate the high levels of stress that finals create. There is more work we can do to reduce academic stress in our schools. Reinstating the district focus goal to eliminate test and project stacking is one area. Policies around final exam grade weighting to reduce the impact on the final grade is another. Making December finals optional for seniors is an idea some teachers are floating.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Apr 9, 2013 at 12:31 pm
There are a number if teachers that assign homework over breaks. My senior daughter had substantial homework during both breaks. I LOVE the new schedule, but think that the teachers that assign this work, often due the Monday after, need a serious talking to, and some consequences. But, my daughter has refused to allow me to say anything due to fears of retribution, which my son also was concerned about. That teachers can assign this work over the break and not be called on it by intimidation (subtle of course) is not ok in my book.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Apr 9, 2013 at 1:00 pm
First of all, I would encourage everyone to read the comments section of all the groups surveyed. I found reading the respondents own words more enlightening than the hard to interpret questions/answers.
Yes, the leading questions and the possible answers on the survey forced respondents in one way or the other.... And a cursory glance of the results, as evidenced by the headline/gist of this article, leads to shallow conclusions. The posts on this very discussion, become glass half-full vs half-empty depending on your own personal bias, but at least people are starting to look more deeply at what the results might indicate. This all brings us full circle as to why mucking around with a calendar won't fix the most fundamental complaint that started it in the first place... a work-free break.
The people who lobbied in favor of this calendar insisted that it force a work free break for 100% of the student population. Those who lobbied against it said that there will still be students who work over break, that there is no way to force or enforce a work-free break... even though previous surveys indicated that the average amount of homework over a 17 day break was only ~4 hours. Well, we turned the school year upside down over 4 hours of homework and we still have homework happening over break. Even I am surprised by how high that percentage was.
There needs to be a better understanding of "stress" and how each individual person deals with it differently. Until that happens, mucking around with the calendar will solve nothing.
Here are some fairly recent articles that I found more informative than any of this idea that a calendar change can make a stress free/work free break.
Why Can Some Kids Handle Pressure While Others Fall Apart? -
<Web Link;
Exercise May Help Protect Children From Stress -
<Web Link;
When Exercise Stresses You Out -
Web Link
Really? Constant Stress Makes You Sick -
<Web Link;
When Daily Stress Gets in the Way of Life -
<Web Link;
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Apr 9, 2013 at 2:07 pm
[Portion removed by Palo Alto Online staff.] Of course, students will be stressed the weeks before final exams, doesn't matter if it's prior to Winter Break or after Winter Break - final exams are stressful.
Eliminating final exams for seniors in their first semester only would greatly reduce stress so students can have more time for college applications. I doubt this would be stated on the School Profile and students will have already experienced final exams in the years prior.
a resident of Menlo Park
on Apr 9, 2013 at 2:53 pm
The Senior survey results say it best. ~87% want finals before break so they can focus on college applications during the break. Read no further. Most of the winter break stress is related to College applications. Unavoidable.
Studies also prove that multi-tasking doesn't really work, results in lower quality work, and that's what competing deadlines force students to do.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Apr 9, 2013 at 3:41 pm
[Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]
a resident of Midtown
on Apr 10, 2013 at 8:35 am
In reading through the posts, beginning with We Did Better, one element is missing from the process the Board has undertaken - accountability and reporting. It appears that individual teachers may be violating the "no homework during the break" rule and there is no provision in the policy for how this will be addressed. Without accountability and reporting, site based administration leaves each school to their own devices. This is not acceptable and over time will degrade the impact of the new calendar implementation. I would also ask that the teacher's union step up to police their own.
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Apr 10, 2013 at 12:02 pm
Menlo Park mom,
Maybe you didn't notice: 1/3 of non-seniors were stressed during the new calendar's winter break and that was without college applications to do.
As for seniors, take a look at the colleges' applications – the common one and each colleges' supplement. Add up the time it would take you to complete them well. How good a job could you do with 10 days, including Christmas, to complete 10 or more common and supplemental applications and write 10-20 essays on the heels of an exhausting month of finals that followed 3 months of school without a break, except for Thanksgiving, which the survey shows was filled with homework and college application work too.
The essays are important and are often the determining factor between students with similar grades and scores. They require a lot of reflection and all require multiple drafts. Cutting and pasting one essay over and over again was a strategy that did not work well and sent lots of seniors scrambling at the last minute.
It is not responsible to tell seniors to wait until the last minute to do this work. It pretty much ensures that they will be rushed and so not present themselves in the best light. And what happens if they get sick after the months of stress building up to and through finals? Lob off 4 or 5 colleges they wanted to apply to because they ran out of time?
I'm all in for this calendar if it accomplished its noble goals (break filled with no stress and no homework) and mitigations were in place so no student was harmed by it.
But it just didn't work out that way:
There were still lots of high school students with homework and still lots of stress during winter break.
And 1 out of 3 seniors had to sacrifice something important because of it – studying for finals or not doing their best on college applications.
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Apr 10, 2013 at 2:13 pm
Over 80% of high school students in every grade like this change. Except for freshmen, they have all lived with high school with post-break finals. We can invent reasons why they are wrong, but why? Let's listen to the students for a change.
a resident of Midtown
on Apr 10, 2013 at 4:29 pm
@disappointed: Very few kids are doing their "10-20" essays in the last couple of weeks of December. First there are tons of kids who apply ED/EA in October (thereby finishing at least the common app essays), then the UCs/CSUs apps are due at the end of November.
Only private schools have RD deadlines in early January. How many kids are applying *only* to private schools for the Regular Decision round? Very few. And if they have waited till the last couple weeks of December to get started, then that's really their own self-made problem.
BTW, once they do finish their apps, at least now they have a whole week after finishing to decompress, something the old schedule didn't give them.
Reality Check is right... let's listen to the students!
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Apr 11, 2013 at 7:35 am
Reality Check and Parent,
Here's what students said about what their lives were like in a pre-break finals world (pulled from above):
On stress over break: 34% of students in grades 9, 10 and 11 were stressed out over break and 49% of seniors were
On homework over break: 41% of 9th, 10th and 11th graders had homework over break and 35% of seniors did
College Applications: 39% said December finals "somewhat negatively" (22.5 percent) or "negatively" (16.7 percent) affected their work on college applications. Elsewhere in they survey they elaborated, pointing out that they either cut time out of studying for finals or did not spend the time needed for college applications.
It would behoove the district to not stop at a popularity vote as you two suggest but drill down and understand the impact to help adults help them.
Would students have "liked" the calendar as much if they had had a clue when they got the survey that the calendar had missed its mark by such a wide margin and the "fixes" they thought the district had in place didn't work out so well for their friends?
a resident of Midtown
on Apr 11, 2013 at 8:43 am
No calendar will make everyone happy, but since the overwhelming majority of high school students preferred finals before winter break, their voices clearly should overrule the minority of parents who just can't seem to get over the fact that they can't spend 4 weeks in Europe in August. After all, you're not the ones taking finals.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Apr 11, 2013 at 8:55 am
I'm surprised this is still considered an open issue. The results of the survey are clear. Most colleges and high schools have adopted a similar schedule. I still remember returning to college for finals and papers post Winter Break. It was terrible. Give the kids a break and let's put this issue to rest.
a resident of Addison School
on Apr 11, 2013 at 1:28 pm
Am I the only one with challenges finding summer camps beginning June 3rd for an elementary school student? For those of us that teach in other districts that are not unified, there is a definite difference in what is offered for high school versus grade K-8.
The calendar may be good for high school but what about the other 9 grades that are part of the school district????
Why not have a separate schedule for high school if that is so valuable to have exams before Christmas break?
Also, is the new calendar set to help Palo Alto schools do well on the AP classes -- more teach days before the May testing? When I spoke to other teachers outside of CA, that was their first comment...
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Apr 11, 2013 at 3:32 pm
Yes Mom you are the only one, since PACCC and the YMCA and the City are all offering camps during that time window. If you are just now looking you are having trouble because you somehow missed the deadlines and sign ups which were a month ago. That's not about the calendar.
a resident of Green Acres
on Apr 11, 2013 at 4:56 pm
Didn't I hear the Time to Thrivers promise no summer camps? Right around the "you'll have blood on your hands" guy? That didn't happen either. Now I don't know who to trust...
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Apr 11, 2013 at 5:02 pm
Mom and Teacher: If the calendar weren't the same, the people with children in different schools (elementary, middle, high) would have some difficulty. Obviously, you have not experienced having a child at high school yet or you would understand how stressful PA high schools are. Not all students take AP classes; the calendar was revised so all high school students can have a relaxed Winter Break without the doom of returning to final exams after break. After all, high school grades (not elementary grade camps) determine the future for so many students and the mental stability of our high school students is of the utmost importance. When you get there, you'll have the "aha moment."
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text:
Bourn, Heyward honored to again wear No. 42
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com
Because white players made it know that African-American players were not welcome even after integration had started, Ray Bourn opted not to play baseball for Northeast Lousiana State College (now Louisiana Monroe) after arriving on campus 20 years after Robinson had broken baseball's color barrier.
While the elder Bourn was unable to pursue his personal baseball dreams, he helped his son and Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford achieve their dreams to reach the Majors. He served as father, coach and motivator to both dating back to their Little League days in the Houston area.
"I know he was in that era when it was rugged and totally different than it is now," Bourn said.
Recognizing how much easier life has been for him than it was for his father and Robinson, Bourn was proud to see every Major League player again honor Robinson by wearing No. 42 on Sunday, the 65th anniversary of Robinson breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier.
"Every year, you get to wear it; it's an honor to wear that jersey," Bourn said. "It's an honor just to be here, first of all. Then being able to wear that jersey is another honor. It's a special day. There's a reason everybody does it around baseball, and it's just because of all he had to go through -- the abuse [Robinson] went through for all of us."
Braves right fielder Jason Heyward was introduced to Robinson's journey while reading a book about him while in elementary school. Growing up 30 minutes south of Atlanta, Heyward often thought about the fact that Robinson also was raised in Georgia.
Robinson also attended UCLA, the school Heyward committed to before the Braves took him in the first round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft.
Heyward spent Sunday's game against the Brewers wearing shoes Nike made to honor Robinson. The light blue and gold cleats included the Hall of Famer's name and familiar No. 42.
"It's pretty cool to honor him that way," Heyward said. "It's a celebration for us.
Strong quadriceps key for Chipper's knee
ATLANTA -- Braves associate physician Dr. Marvin Royster has performed each of the six surgeries on Chipper Jones' knees dating back to 1994. Royster can also take some credit for being the guy who put Jones in position to return to the Braves lineup just two weeks after undergoing his most recent surgery.
Once he determined that he would be repairing a torn meniscus in Jones' left knee on March 26, Royster told the former National League MVP that it would be in his best interest to strengthen his left quadriceps muscle as much as possible before the surgery.
After learning on March 23 that surgery would be likely, Jones spent the three days before surgery lifting weights and completing exercises that focused on the quadriceps muscle. The added strength allowed him to find relief soon after the surgery.
"I bounced back and got rid of the swelling quickly," Jones said. "I was able to fire my quad within 36 hours. All of that is very important."
Jones was activated from the Braves lineup on Tuesday and helped Atlanta gain two quick wins before missing the first two games of this weekend's series against the Brewers because of fluid that had built up around the knee. He returned to play third base and bat third in Sunday's series finale.
While Jones could return quickly after having his knee drained, he learned last year the significance of making sure his quad muscles were strong before returning. After having a torn meniscus repaired in his right knee last July, he returned 16 days later and injured his right quad in his first game. That ailment primarily limited him to pinch-hit duties for the next two weeks.
"I don't want to do that this time," Jones said. "You learn your lessons."
Curveball comes through for Kimbrel
ATLANTA -- As Craig Kimbrel journeyed toward a Major League rookie record 46 saves last year, he proved that he is much more than a hard-throwing hurler who can impress with radar-gun readings. But there are still instances when he can remind opponents about how effective his curveball can truly be.
The latest occurrence was during the ninth inning of Saturday night's 2-1 win over the Brewers. After throwing three fastball strikes on the way to retiring Carlos Gomez to open the inning, Kimbrel started to struggle with his fastball. He issued a four-pitch walk to Ryan Braun and later missed the zone with four straight fastballs against Corey Hart.
But with the bases loaded and one out, Kimbrel preserved the Braves' one-run lead with the assistance of catcher Brian McCann, who began calling for more curveballs.
"I thought Craig had a better idea where his curveball was going tonight than his fastball," McCann said. "That kind of became his heater at the end."
With no room for error, Kimbrel threw a first-pitch fastball to pinch-hitter George Kottaras and then used two sliders to conclude a five-pitch strikeout. The reigning National League Rookie of the Year then finished the game with a three-pitch strikeout against Mat Gamel, who saw two curveballs and then missed a 97-mph fastball to end the game.
"If [Kimbrel has] got both of them going, the guy doesn't have much of a shot," McCann said. "It seemed like once he got bases loaded, he bared down and made some great pitches."
Kimbrel did not make an appearance as the Braves lost each of their first four games to open the season. But aided by the club's recent surge, he entered Sunday ranked second in the NL with four saves.
Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
CONCACAF announced the complete schedule of CONCACAF Champions League Semifinals on Friday afternoon.
The LA Galaxy will open their series with two-time defending CCL champion Monterrey at The Home Depot Center on April 3 at 7 p.m. PDT before the team travels to Monterrey for the second leg at Estadio Tecnológico on April 10, which kicks off at 9 p.m. CDT local time and 7 p.m. PDT.
On the other side of the bracket, Seattle Sounders FC will host Santos Laguna in the first leg on April 2 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, WA at 7 p.m. PDT before traveling to Mexico to Torreon for the the second leg on April 9 at Estadio Corona at 7 p.m. CDT local time and 5 p.m. PDT.


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The day Cleveland's been waiting for has arrived. Art Modell is taking his soul to the great owner's box in the sky.
Curiously, whoever runs the Modell Death Watch hadn't updated the website by midday. Could they have suffered an attack of conscience?
Most Clevelanders hopefully are above celebrating a man's death. But there are always the holdouts.
"He was still public enemy No. 1," the retrospective in the Cleveland Plain Dealer said.
The paper sampled the local social media reaction. There was some sympathy, some indifference and a fair amount of glee. If the Dawg Pound can't stop gnawing at Modell's leg today, it never will.
That says more about the haters than the hated. Modell has his flaws, but any balanced look at his 87 years would see the good outweighed the bile.
Yes, Cleveland. He did move the Browns to Baltimore in 1996.
No, Cleveland. Modell did not talk LeBron into taking his talents to South Beach, draft Tim Couch or get Blondie into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
What he did was more than enough to deserve a bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Modell was one of the visionaries who made the NFL an American religion.
He shaped the TV deals that brought us Monday Night Football and established NFL Films. He helped negotiate the first collective bargaining agreement, and he paved the way for the NFL-AFL merger.
You would never find a more beloved owner among the players, whom he loved to a fault. Modell gave fans something to cheer for, with two NFL titles and 28 winning seasons in 43 years.
He made Ozzie Newsome the NFL's first African-American general manager, and donated millions of dollars to charity.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
All that, and the first thing you thought of Thursday was, "That's the guy who ripped out Cleveland's heart."
Books have been written debating the move to Baltimore, so we sure aren't going to settle things here. It's apparent both Cleveland politicians and Modell share the blame. But it's always easier and more satisfying to bash the owner.
Modell became the national caricature of the Robber Baron in the skybox. Sports Illustrated ran a cartoon cover of him hitting a Cleveland fan/Dawg in the gut.
"Art Modell sucker-punched Cleveland, but the city is fighting back," the caption read.
The city sued, its citizens vilified, the Modell Death Watch began. "November 6, 1995 Until Forever," it says.
It hasn't been updated since last October, but you can still click to read testimonials from fans vowing to urinate on Modell's grave.
Losing an NFL team hurts, but sheesh. Modell was a Cleveland pillar for 30 years. In his younger days, he'd hang out in bars with fans. At the end, he needed two armed bodyguards if he went out in public.
Modell was 15 when his father died, and he dropped out of school to work in the Brooklyn shipyard. He became a classic American success story.
He said he'd have gone bankrupt if the Browns had stayed in Cleveland. For a man raised in the Depression, leaving nothing for his family was unthinkable. Staying at decrepit Cleveland Municipal Stadium was not an option.
"The politicians and bureaucrats saw fit to cover their own rear ends by blaming it on me," Modell said in a 1999 interview.
Ohio historians can debate that for eternity. But the city came up with money to build a basketball arena, a baseball stadium and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
It found a way to finance a new football stadium after Modell left. Cleveland also got worldwide sympathy. It got to keep the Browns' nickname and colors.
It got a new team in four years. Houston, St. Louis and Baltimore could only wish they'd been shafted like that.
No matter, Modell could never set foot in Cleveland again. The locals have all but threatened anarchy whenever Modell gets nominated for a bust in Canton.
"I believe Art belongs in the Hall of Fame," former Giants owner Wellington Mara said. "I don't think I know a person who has done more for the league."
Mara was elected in 1997 and died eight year later. Modell should have lived long enough to make his own acceptance speech, but he died of natural causes early Thursday morning.
Someone please alert the Modell Death Watch that forever has arrived.
Public Enemy No. 1 will be buried next to his wife in a cemetery outside Baltimore. Surely, even the most bitter Cleveland fans will let him rest in peace.
The days of Modell wanting a new stadium are long gone. Now just a little respect would be nice.


text: · Helen Mirren will trade in her two-piece for a gun in The Debt, a remake of an Israeli hit about a Mossad agent who comes out of retirement to track down a war criminal. [Variety] · TNT fell for the old "Buy a Bruckheimer, Get a Wahlberg For Free" trick, not realizing it negotiated for Donnie's new Boston cop procedural Bunker Hill. Gotta read those contracts, gang. [THR] After the jump: Salma Hayek storms Fox, Jeff Zucker reassures nobody, Earl's preem crashes.· Completely over the success of Ugly Betty, executive producer Salma Hayek's budding media empire will next overtake Fox with the multiethnic family comedy The New McToms. [THR] · At an exec powwow in London on Thursday, noted NBCU economist Jeff Zucker insisted that his network's value to GE "only increases if there is less coming from the financial divisions." And the Olympics? "We measure success in ways that are far greater than the bottom line." Indeed, this man has all the answers. [THR] · And not to pile on, but last night's My Name is Earl and ER premieres were down 29% and 20%, respectively, from last year's bows. But that's OK — maybe NBC doesn't measure success that way, either. [The Live Feed] · Director Gary Fleder has reupped with ABC to helm every episode of every ABC series produced through the end of time. Or television, whichever comes first. [Variety]


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Federal Maritime Commission
Commission Releases Chairman Blust's Speech to The International Maritime Forum 2003.
Washington, D.C. 20573
Chairman Blust was in China from October 25 through November 4, 2003. The purpose of the trip was to attend The International Maritime Forum 2003, which was held in Shanghai, China, from October 31 - November 1, 2003. Chairman Blust was invited to Shanghai by the Ministry of Communications of the People's Republic of China (MOC) to deliver a speech on the on the impact of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) on the international maritime industry since its passage in 1998. In his speech to the Forum, Chairman Blust expressed the view that "Unilateral efforts on the part of any segment in the ocean shipping industry or any maritime nation will not work as effectively as what can be achieved through collaboration and cooperation among the parties involved." To that end, the Chairman lauded the opportunity the Forum and the trip to China provided for the exchange of views with so many members of the international maritime community. The Chairman's address to the Forum can be found at www.fmc.gov.
Prior to traveling to Shanghai, the Chairman visited Hong Kong, the world's busiest container port, where he met with carriers, shippers, terminals, and OTIs, and visited the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, Container Security Initiative operations. In Shanghai, the world's third busiest container port, as well as in Beijing, Chairman Blust met with members of the Ministry of Communications of the PRC, various carrier executives, and U.S. Embassy officials, including Ambassador Randt in Beijing.
This site is an official U.S. Government Website


text:
This study is provided by ICPSR. ICPSR provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for a diverse and expanding social science research community.
Quebec Provincial Election Study, 1960 (ICPSR 9002)
Principal Investigator(s): Pinard, Maurice; Breton, Albert; Breton, Raymond
This telephone survey was conducted a few weeks prior to the June 22, 1960, provincial election in Quebec. Respondents were asked their opinions of Jehovah's witnesses, immorality due to American influence, economic dependence on the United States, immigration, Communists, labor unions, foreign artists in Canadian media, religion in schools, return to farms as a solution to unemployment, film censorship, compulsory health insurance, and nationalization of private companies. Respondents were also asked about their political interests, activity, and convictions, and whether they were a member of a political party. Demographic information collected on respondents includes age, marital status, educational background, religion, employment status, occupation, income, professional and social association memberships, father's country of origin, and father's social status.
Access Notes
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Data in this collection are available only to users at ICPSR member institutions. Please log in so we can determine if you are with a member institution and have access to these data files.
Study Description
Pinard, Maurice, Albert Breton, and Raymond Breton. QUEBEC PROVINCIAL ELECTION STUDY, 1960. Montreal, Quebec: Groupe de Recherches Sociale/Social Research Group [producer], 196?. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 1983. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR09002.v1
Persistent URL: https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR09002.v1
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Scope of Study
Subject Terms: acculturation, campaign issues, cultural conflict, cultural identity, cultural influences, economic conditions, international relations, political affiliation, political attitudes, political issues, political parties, provincial elections, provincial politics, public opinion, religious attitudes, self government, separtism, social integration, social issues, voter attitudes
Geographic Coverage: Canada, Quebec (province), Global
- 1960
- 1960-06
Original ICPSR Release: 1984-06-19
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text:
I've been looking over mount system after mount system and to be honest not many of them provide you with detailed info, materials list or a video to show you how the mount performs specifically on the road!
I've got the Motorola Xoom (original) and finally have a useful purpose for it. I want to mount it into my vehicle to use an app to log my mileage, simple. However, I've got a 1997 F-150 which does not have a lot of dash room, so a tablet this size would cause me to have one heck of a blind spot right in the center of my view.
Here is a picture of the exact same style dashboard I have in my truck (Warning, this is not my truck picture)
http://images.dealerrevs.com/gallery/ph ... d=39917587
One of them I saw was this mount, but this would probably have to be mounted right above the radio, right in the center of my view.
All other Xoom compatible mounts from the Mount Guys.
The problem is that its going to be winter soon and that means -50 weather and I'm not sure if a suction cup mount will withstand those temps. Then again the suction cup looks to be the kind you actually pull a lever to make it suction on, which have WAY more holding power from what I've noticed. At the same time, those suction cup style mounts don't seem to be offered with the slight swivel arm mounts, which could be put on the passenger side facing towards me...
I just don't know the best way to go while staying fairly inexpensive. 60 maybe 80 bucks total is all I'm looking to spend. Any advice for someone with a truck like that that's not quite laid out easily for modern technology?


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text:
In an exclusive interview Wednesday night, a man who dated Jodi Arias spoke about her for the first time publicly on HLN.
Abe Abdelhadi says he dated Arias several times and even spoke to her after ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander's death.
Arias' attorneys have been arguing during her murder trial that she killed Alexander in self-defense, even though Arias has given authorities several stories about Alexander's death. After Alexander's body was found in June of 2008 at his Mesa, Arizona home, Arias told police she was not involved in his killing. She later told investigators that she witnessed two intruders break in and kill him. Eventually, her lawyers said she killed Alexander in self-defense.
WATCH : I introduced Travis to Jodi Arias
Alexander's body had 29 stab wounds, his throat was slit from ear to ear and he had been shot in the face.
In this video clip, Abdelhadi tells HLN's Dr. Drew how he met Arias and what happened on their dates.
WATCH : Did Jodi Arias study witchcraft?
"When you heard that Travis died, did you for one second at all think she had anything to do with it?" Dr. Drew asked Abdelhadi.
He replied, "Absolutely … [after his death], my phone was blowing up with texts [and] I told a buddy …I know who did it."
_ Dr. Drew On Call airs Monday through Wednesday on HLN at 9 p.m. ET. Follow the show on _ _ Facebook _ _ and _ _ Twitter @DrDrewHLN __ . _


text:
The Production Company Presents World Premiere of Steve Yockey's VERY STILL AND HARD TO SEE, 6/1-7/7
Artistic Directors August Viverito and T L Kolman have announced the third offering of The Production Company's 2012 season: the world premiere of Steve Yockey's VERY STILL AND HARD TO SEE. Helmed by director Michael Matthews and an all-star production team including lighting design by Tim Swiss and sound design by Tony Award nominee Cricket S. Myers. This production will run June 1 through July 7, 2012 at The Lex Theatre, 6760 Lexington Ave., Hollywood, CA 90038.
Originally commissioned and work-shopped by American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, this darkly humorous new work inventively spins elements loosely inspired by modern ghost stories with an exploration of the Japanese folk tales "Of a Mirror & a Bell" and "Yuki-onna". Everyday situations from riding in a hotel elevator to preparing for a blind date take on supernatural qualities. The captivating characters encounter mystical forces that collapse the distance between the real and the surreal. This magical, funny, and sometimes mind-bending creation by acclaimed playwright Steve Yockey will take you on an exhilarating, visceral journey.
The cast includes an astounding array of talent in multiple roles including Tiffany Cole, Andrew Crabtree, Coleman Drew, Katie Skelton, Adeye Sahran, CB Spencer, Michael Tauzin, and James Louis Wagner. Assistant Direction and Fight Choreography is by Jen Albert, and the play is produced by Co-Artistic Directors T L Kolman and August Viverito for The Production Company.
VERY STILL AND HARD TO SEE, written by Steve Yockey and directed by Michael Matthews, opens June 1 and runs through July 7, 2012, on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 3 PM.
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at www.theprodco.com or by calling 1-800-838-3006.
For further information, visit the company's website, email at email@example.com, or call (310) 869-7546.
Director Michael Matthews served as the Artistic Director of Celebration Theatre from 2005-2008 and is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago, National Shakespeare Conservatory, NY, and an alumnus of Director's Lab West 2008. Los Angeles credits include: The Color Purple - The Musical, Nerve (LA Premiere), What's Wrong With Angry?, Take Me Out! (Ovation Nomination Best Director, NAACP Award Best Director) The Women of Brewster Place - the Musical (Ovation Nomination Best Director, NAACP Award Best Director, Ovation Award Best Musical; West Coast Premiere), The Temperamentals (West Coast Premiere), Haram! Iran! (West Coast Premiere), Three Tall Women, The Santa Land Diaries (2009, 2010, 2011), The Jazz Age (West Coast Premiere), The Prodigal Father (World Premiere), Porcelain, Stupid Kids (LA Premiere), Beautiful Thing (Ovation Nominations, Best Director and Best Play), The Bacchae (Ovation Nominations, Best Director and Best Play), Four (West Coast Premiere); Dead End (Assistant Director) Ahmanson Theatre and The Cherry Orchard (Assistant Director) Mark Taper Forum. Other career highlights include Butley (Broadway - Assistant Director), In the Blood, Porcelain and The Judas Kiss (Chicago) and The Bacchae (the Edinburgh Theatre Festival, 2010).
Playwright Steve Yockey is a roaming member of Atlanta's Out of Hand Theater. His work has been produced throughout the country and in Asia. Large Animal Games, Octopus, CARTOON and subculture (collected short plays) are published & available from Samuel French. Afterlife: a ghost story co-world premiered in the 2010-2011 season at Southern Rep in New Orleans and New Rep in Boston. Last season Heavier than... (included in Charles McNulty's "Best of 2011 in Theatre") premiered at the Boston Court in Pasadena (dir. Abigail Desser) and Bellwether premiered at Marin Theatre Company in Mill Valley, CA (dir. Ryan Rilette). Other plays include: Pluto, Wonder, Wolves, The Thrush & The Woodpecker, and Feverish. He is a member of Center Theatre Group's 2011-2012 writers group. He is the creator and co-executive producer of the Sony Pictures Television project Teeth and is currently adapting the Tama Janowitz novel Slaves of New York for Sony/Wet Dog Entertainment.


text:
Does God know anything about Mars? No, he does not. If he knew he would have told us everything about Mars to prove that 'he knows everything' and we did not have to spend more than 2 billion dollars to send rovers to Mars. The books God wrote or others wrote on behalf of God are full of lies and filth: who should fuck whom, who should be flogged or whipped, who should be stoned to death, whom he will throw into the eternal hell of fire, etc. When God in the Sky and his disciples on the Earth that was created by God 6000 years ago are busy cursing and killing humans for wrong gender or wrong fuck we crossed 567-million-kilometer to arrive on Mars.
Our Curiosity landed safely. Let's enjoy our victory.
The little six-wheeled rover Curiosity starts its 98-week mission, now exploring a crater that billions of years ago may have been filled with water. We are curious to know everything about our 14 billion years old Universe. We do not say 'we know' before we really know. We are not like God's fan club members who without knowing anything say that they know everything. The difference between them and us is they do not need any evidence to believe in something. It's true that the members of God's fan club and we share the same Earth, but there are two different worlds on the Earth, our world is a world of science and humanism, their world is a world of fairy tales and hatred.


text:
Read the full story here Web Link posted Tuesday, August 14, 2012, 1:56 PM
Town Square
Teen attacked at Menlo Park skate park
Original post made on Aug 14, 2012
Read the full story here Web Link posted Tuesday, August 14, 2012, 1:56 PM
Comments (7)
a resident of East Palo Alto
on Aug 14, 2012 at 2:26 pm
Isn't there a Police Station just 500 ft from where this took place? If I were that kids parents, I'd be inside there asking WTF?!!!
a resident of Midtown
on Aug 14, 2012 at 3:29 pm
My kids love to skate in Menlo Park and Greer, and I refuse to let them go alone for this very reason. Skating isn't a crime, but it sure does attract some bad apples at times, and as a parent I'm responsible for teaching my kids to be watchful and how to keep and eye on their surrounding - to watch who is around them. All of the skate parks have developed a pretty rowdy gang of bikers who don't follow skate park etiquette, and police DO NOT RESPOND to skate park issues (enforcing city posted rules) unless you have an emergency.
I hope this young man is okay, and recovers from the trauma of being a victim of violent crime. And city officers, city councils, wake up and start enforcing posted rules! Stop ignoring what you post as rules and parents who try to take their kids to safely enjoy these parks!
a resident of Menlo Park
on Aug 14, 2012 at 3:49 pm
I've been there watching over my kids. I overheard a juvenile say that he was restrained from being there, but since the cops no longer had a camera there, he wouldn't get caught.
Pretty sure the rules ban bikes; it's for skateboards only. But, nobody enforces the rules.
A camera would act as a deterrent and allow the cops to gather evidence of crimes when necessary. The cops don't have the staff to watch over this park. The parks department should do so. It's not unlike a pool that requires lifeguards. The risk of injury is significantly greater than other sports fields and courts.
a resident of Barron Park
on Aug 15, 2012 at 10:59 am
Very sad. No wonder parks are mostly vacant and Facebook/Google Plus/twitter are full.
When I was growing up, we never had to be watched, the parks were the safest place to be. Now I have to keep an eagle eye on my kids. Parks are becoming primarily a hangout for drug dealers, homeless, thieves, and dropout.
and I do sadly think that a camera can help deter some but not all. I guess better something than nothing/
a resident of Downtown North
on Aug 15, 2012 at 11:07 am
When the park opened, I tried to take my young son there to skate. Even though it's a skate park, it's been overtaken by bikers, who are theoretically forbidden to use it.
I was so disturbed by some of the dangerous behaviors that I went across the soccer field to talk to the police. They had no interest in making even a perfunctory effort to ensure safety. They said that the rules were posted by the gate and that this posting absolved the city of all responsibility.
You see ambulances at the skate park regularly because most kids don't wear helmets and I've heard of a few serious head injuries. At least this boy chose to abide by that particular rule.
a resident of Midtown
on Aug 15, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Victum should check eBay and Craigslist for his bike. I had a friend who did just that a was able to get his bike bake and get the bad guy arrested!
On the other side... wouldn't it be nice if one of the attacker's parents noticed he had a new bike and turned in the kid?
a resident of Atherton
on Aug 15, 2012 at 4:11 pm
As the parent of this young boy, I am disgusted at what happened. We are a military family and move all around. My son bought the bike with his own money, and finally had something he enjoyed doing. It is so sad to see that a month and a half after he bought it, some thug steals it from him. I do hope the parents of the offender sees the bike and returns it!
This time we're not lying. HONEST! No, really!
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text:
Gosselin: Helping Texas A&M land Johnny Manziel was a 'no-brainer' for Mike Sherman
Mike Sherman left Texas A&M a better place than he found it.
That's because Sherman left behind Johnny Manziel.
The Aggies fired Sherman as their head coach almost a year ago at the conclusion of a disappointing 6-6 season. In his four years at A&M, Sherman managed to break even at 25-25. But the Aggies believed they needed to upgrade heading into the SEC in 2012.
So the Aggies said goodbye to Sherman last December and hello to their redshirt freshman quarterback Manziel last spring. He had big shoes to fill — first-round NFL draft pick Ryan Tannehill — but Manziel did so with the greatest season by an Aggie since 1957.
John David Crow won A&M's only Heisman Trophy that season. Manziel could be the recipient of a second Heisman this weekend — this after setting an SEC record for total offense and directing the Aggies to a 10-2 finish and a top-10 ranking. Manziel has flourished in the offense of new coach Kevin Sumlin.
"They've done a great job of getting him ready to play," acknowledged Sherman, now the offensive coordinator with the Miami Dolphins. "To get a redshirt freshman to play at the level he's been playing is really quite an accomplishment."
But then, getting Manziel to attend Texas A&M was quite an accomplishment. Sherman had to steer Manziel off an oral commitment to attend Oregon. The A&M faithful should be thankful Sherman never quit on Manziel like the Aggies would later quit on Sherman.
"I wanted to meet him in person before I offered him," Sherman said. "Stanford was on him and Oregon offered before we did. But I was able to get him to change. We sat down and visited with Johnny and his family. He has a wonderful mom and dad. We had a good talk.
"We thought this would be a great fit for him and a great fit for A&M. Leaving the state and going all the way to Oregon … he didn't need to do that. He could play right here in the state of Texas, his family could watch him play every weekend and he could continue the legend of Johnny Football."
Let's pause for a second here and imagine how the college football landscape would have changed had Manziel been wearing the metallic green and yellow of the Pac-12 Ducks this season …
It's easy to see why a perennial power such as Oregon would covet Manziel. He was a Parade All-American as a senior at Kerrville Tivy High School when he passed for 3,609 yards and 45 touchdowns and rushed for 1,674 yards and 30 more touchdowns.
"It was a no-brainer," said Sherman of Manziel's recruitment. "You could see something special watching his high school tapes. Nobody does what he does in high school. Nobody's done what he's done in high school — 75 touchdowns in one season?
"People questioned whether he was tall enough, but he played so big. You could write it off that it wasn't at that high a level — but he'd take his team of 4A kids out of Tivy and beat 5A kids out of San Antonio. He was taking teams that weren't big and weren't fast and beating teams that were big and were fast."
Sherman saw some of that same swagger on the A&M practice field in 2011 when Manziel was wearing his red shirt.
"Every Wednesday I'd have the younger guys — the guys who weren't going to play in the game — scrimmage while the older guys would go ones-vs.-ones on another field," said Sherman over the telephone last week. "I'd be with the ones and you'd hear all this yelling and screaming over on the other field. It was Johnny making plays.
"Tom Rossley [then the Aggies' quarterback coach] would come over to me and say, 'He did it again.' So it's not a surprise that he's having the success he's having. In high school, he'd put the game on his shoulders — the same stuff he's doing now."
Manziel passed for 453 yards and three touchdowns in a game against Arkansas and rushed for 181 yards and three scores against Louisiana Tech. He beat then-No. 1 Alabama with his arm and then-No. 15 Mississippi State with his legs, both times on the road.
"There's really nobody like him," Sherman said. "He's a combination of Doug Flutie and Cam Newton. His elusiveness, his strong arm … and he has big, big hands. Huge. The only other guy I've been around who had hands like his was Brett Favre."
Flutie? He was 5-9, 176 pounds. Newton? He was 6-5, 250. Manziel is a cross of the two in size (6-1, 200) but a blend in style.
"His ability to move, keep his balance, change directions and keep plays live … His elusiveness is special and his lateral quickness is impressive," Sherman said. "He can also make whatever throw you want him to make. There are just a lot of similarities between those guys."
The Aggies hope there is one more similarity. Both Flutie and Newton won Heismans.
Follow Rick Gosselin on Twitter at @rickgosselinDMN.


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Pace University's Lubin School of Business
The MBA program at the Lubin School of Business has a proven track record of training students to handle the many challenges of today's business environment. By entering the joint JD/MBA program, you benefit from a closely integrated course of study in both law and business administration. With the help of an adviser, you define your career objectives and design a course of study that meets your individual requirements.
JD/MBA Requirements
A typical candidate for the JD/MBA joint degree must complete a total of 129 credits, 80 from the Law School and 49 from the Lubin School of Business. The total number of credits required in the Lubin School varies based on the student's previous coursework.


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Kim Kardashian wore Proenza Schouler Platform High Heel Sandals in Bruciatto Brown (available from ShopBop.com) while promoting QuickTrim in Sherman Oaks on May 6th, 2010 (source).
These woven leather sandals feature a lace-up tie closure at the ankle strap. 1.25″ covered, notched platform and 5.5″ sculpted, stacked heel. Leather sole. Made in Italy.


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My 2004 R1150RS front fender (AKA shovel) broke off and flew away while I was riding on (ahem.. er..) high speed on a highway. By the time I walked back it had been crushed a few times by cars and trucks.
I need help finding a replacement. Apparently there are none in the US nor Germany. Special order only, for $400, plus paint and shipping. Say what? A carbon one (if it exists) should be cheaper than that.
Does anyone know a place that collects crashed bikes? There must be a used fender somewhere. Need a blue one, but will take any color at this time.
Thanks for any suggestion.
Pepe Lepew


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As you may have heard, Hostess, the maker of Twinkies (as well as Ding Dongs, Ho Hos, Snowballs, and Wonder Bread) has announced that it will liquidate. Yes, the Twinkie is on its deathbed. In order to prepare ourselves (psychologically, spiritually, gastronomically) for the post-Twinkie epoch, let us look at the five stages of grief that we'll all (sooner or later, but inevitably) go through:
1) Denial. This is the stage that pretty much everyone is in right now. People will tell themselves, "Twinkies aren't going anywhere"…"They last forever"…"Matter can neither be created nor destroyed," and other happy horseshit. At this stage, people might indulge more than usual, hoarding or binging on Twinkies before they are gone. People will realize how much they love Twinkies. They may begin incorporating them more into recipes, and many will gain weight as psychological "padding" between themselves and the non-Twinkie world.


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[Illinois] Beckman Graduate Seminar: Membrane Sculpting by F-BAR Domains Studied by Molecular Dynamics Simulations
18 Dec 2012 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Hang Yu
Interplay between cellular membranes and their peripheral proteins drives many processes in eukaryotic cells. Proteins of the Bin/Amphiphysin/Rvs (BAR) domain family, in particular, play a role in...


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Name: hermybabay82/Stacy
House: Gryffindor
Title: Dementia
Warnings: mild mental illness
Word Count: 282
A frail old man sat alone on a bench, staring down at the parcels in his hands. Passers by never noticed him as he sat there day after day, watching young lovers stroll by. On this particular day he was watching a seemingly shy set lounging on a bench nearby. The clothes they wore seemed misplaced, as if from the old mans own youth and the girl had a familiarity about her.
He watched as the vibrant man played with the soft curls of mahogany with his fingers. The man thought of how he used to do the same thing with his love; remembering such things was both painful and enjoyable for him. The last time he had seen her vivacious face alight, as the girls was now, was the day he had killed her.
Looking down once more to the parcels in his hands he thought of his love from so long ago. The letters she had lovingly wrote to him were now crinkled and warn, taking on a more clothe like feel. His greatest fear these days was to lose them forever, much like he had lost her. When he had been released from Azkaban he had been surprised that they had been left untouched for so many years and had clung to them ever since. He imagined he could still smell her scent on them, as though she had written them yesterday, but alas it was only his imagination.
His mind wandered back to the young couple after sometime, and looking up at the bench they had occupied he found it empty. Had they ever really been there, or was it just his mind playing tricks on him?


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I am pretty new to quilting, is there a muslin that is a much tighter weave to be used for backing white on white when doing an applique (white) that covers a darker color? I bought some what I thought was very nice muslin both in white and natural and the dark color still shows through both the muslin and the white on white print. (I haven't sewn anything yet, just washed; ironed and checked it out) I have seen other ideas on here but didn't actually see an answer as to if there is a muslin that is so tight as to block the darker color under. Thank you all so much.
I am truly enjoying The Quilting Board! Antylu


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Claudio Reyna
News about Claudio Reyna, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.
As Yankees' New Roommate, New York City F.C. Is Redecorating Carefully
On Friday, New York City F.C. players got their first look at their temporary home, Yankee Stadium, where the field will be converted from baseball to soccer several times during the season.
March 13, 2015, Friday
MORE ON CLAUDIO REYNA AND: Soccer , New York City Football Club (Soccer Team) , Yankee Stadium (NYC) , New York Yankees , Stadiums and Arenas , Kreis, Jason , Reyna, Claudio
Clubs Set to Discuss Timing of Frank Lampard's M.L.S. Arrival
New York City F.C. officials still expect to have Lampard, their marquee signing, leave Manchester City and join the team in time for the 2015 M.L.S. season.
December 5, 2014, Friday
MORE ON CLAUDIO REYNA AND: Soccer , Lampard, Frank , Kreis, Jason , Reyna, Claudio , Nahyan, Mansour bin Zayed al- , Pellegrini, Manuel , New York City Football Club (Soccer Team) , Manchester City (Soccer Team)
New M.L.S. Team Introduces First Employee and Tackles First Hurdle
The New York City Football Club introduced Claudio Reyna, who played for the United States national team in four World Cups, as its first director of football operations on Wednesday.
May 23, 2013, Thursday
MORE ON CLAUDIO REYNA AND: Soccer , New York City Football Club (Soccer Team) , Reyna, Claudio , Major League Soccer
Cooper Leads Red Bulls
A grieving Kenny Cooper of the Red Bulls wanted to do something special Saturday. Cooper hoped to honor the memory of the former Red Bulls captain Claudio Reyna's 13-year-old son, Jack, who died Thursday of cancer. After going nearly two month...
July 22, 2012, Sunday
When in Germany ...
U.S. Soccer Wednesday announced the roster for the men's under-23 and under-20 training camps in Germany
November 2, 2011, Wednesday
MORE ON CLAUDIO REYNA AND: Reyna, Claudio , Ramos, Tab , Klinsmann, Jurgen , Soccer , News , Germany
Recipe for Soccer Success: Let Young Talent Blossom
Everybody's trying to find the next Lionel Messi by training kids. But maybe the best thing is to just let youths play freely, as Messi did.
April 28, 2010, Wednesday
MORE ON CLAUDIO REYNA AND: Messi, Lionel , Reyna, Claudio , China , Soccer , Argentina , FC Barcelona
Reyna Has Lesson Plan for U.S.
Claudio Reyna, newly appointed youth technical director for the United States Soccer Federation, plans to improve teaching methods at the youth, elite and national levels.
April 20, 2010, Tuesday
MORE ON CLAUDIO REYNA AND: Soccer , Reyna, Claudio , United States Soccer Federation , Messi, Lionel , Children and Youth , Major League Soccer
Red Bulls' Reyna Retires
The former United States national team captain Claudio Reyna retired, less than two seasons after returning from Europe to join Major League Soccer's Red Bulls. Reyna, who will turn 35 on Sunday, had been bothered by hamstring and back injuries th...
July 17, 2008, Thursday
MORE ON CLAUDIO REYNA AND: Soccer , New York Red Bulls , Major League Soccer , Reyna, Claudio
Red Bulls' Reyna to Announce Retirement
Red Bulls midfielder Claudio Reyna is expected to announce his retirement at a news conference Wednesday afternoon in Newark. Reyna, who has often been injured, has not played in a game for the Red Bulls since May 25 as he struggled with a back in...
July 16, 2008, Wednesday
MORE ON CLAUDIO REYNA AND: Soccer , Retirement , New York Red Bulls , Major League Soccer , Reyna, Claudio
For Reyna, New Ally and New Role
Instead of helping his new team last year, Claudio Reyna, one of the Red Bulls' two designated players, was hobbled by injuries, starting only 21 games.
March 11, 2008, Tuesday
MORE ON CLAUDIO REYNA AND: New York Red Bulls , Reyna, Claudio , Soccer
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This contemporary Colonial has it all. Great neighborhood location with excellent commuter access plus all the bells and whistles: central air, alarm, hardwoods, granite, three-car garage, irrigation and a gorgeous private yard. A versatile floor plan comes filled with architectural details. Cherry and granite kitchen opens to a family room with two-sided fireplace. The master suite features a fireplace. Spacious first-floor bonus room with full bath can be used as a game room, guest suite or first-floor master.
"A sophisticated house" is how listing agent Sue Ryan describes this move-in-ready contemporary Colonial at 122 Kelleher St. in Marlborough. "It's all about the details and the versatility of the floor plan," she said.
"It has some details you don't typically see, such as a sunken living room with a vaulted ceiling, and transom windows. I love the flow of the living room to the family room. It would be a fabulous house for entertaining."
The two-sided fireplace, open to the living room and family room, is what drew the current owners, Ryan said. "They came from the South and loved the idea of a crackling wood fire in a fireplace." They also particularly liked the kitchen, with its natural cherry cabinets, granite countertops and view to the wooded backyard.
"The house is so unique and different," Ryan said. "The floor plan is open and really versatile, with rooms that can be changed to suit one's needs. What sets the house apart is the fifth bedroom with full bath on the first floor. It can be a guest suite or home office, game room or playroom: the versatility of this room could work for many buyers."
On the second floor, the master suite, with fireplace and sitting room, and in the current owner's decorating scheme, a great canopy bed, has "a grandness to it," Ryan said. In the master suite and a second bedroom bordering the skylighted foyer, transom windows bring extra light into the room. Cathedral ceilings in two of the children's bedroom add to the "wow factors," Ryan said.
Other selling points include a three-car garage, central air and vacuum and a home-security system, the listing agent said. Geographically, the neighborhood is in an ideal location, close to local businesses, with easy access to routes 20 and 9, Interstate 495 and the Mass. Turnpike, and not far from the Southborough commuter rail, she said.
"For someone looking for something special, this not your cookie-cutter Colonial," Ryan said. "It's not the same old same-old."
An open house is Sunday, Jan. 20, from 1 to 3 p.m. To arrange a showing, contact Sue Ryan, vice president and Realtor, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, 318 Main St., Northborough, 508-254-3196 (cell), 508-449-4077 (office), email@example.com.
122 Kelleher St., Marlborough
Home size: 3,286 square feet
Rooms: Five bedrooms, three baths
Lot size: 1.11 acres
Year built: 1990
Taxes: $7,236
Asking price: $509,900


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Lady Eagles wrap undefeated run to District 10-3A title
ARGYLE — Argyle coach Clark Oberle needed a second to think after Tuesday night's 25-8, 25-11, 25-12 district win against Aubrey.
Oberle tried to remember the last time his team lost a district match. After a few seconds, he recalled is was during the 2009 season.
That streak remains intact after the Lady Eagles' straight-set victory over Aubrey cemented a perfect district campaign for the No. 1 team in Class 3A, according to the Texas Girls Coaches Association.
The Lady Eagles picked up their fourth straight district championship after rolling through eight district matches without losing a set.
A year after the Lady Eagles lost in the 3A state semifinals, Argyle is ready to begin another postseason journey.
"We've been thinking about that since last Novemeber," Oberle said. "Not to take anything for granted, but we've been thinking about that in the back of our minds, and a lot of what we were doing in the offseason was to get ready for the next several weeks."
Argyle (29-9) opens the postseason with a Class 3A bi-district match against Gainesville at 7 p.m. Monday at Kitty Magee Arena.
Oberle said the Lady Eagles have not lost a set to a 3A team this season.
Aubrey, which went 2-6 in District 10-3A play and finished fourth, will face No. 4 Decatur on Tuesday at Ryan in the bi-district round of the playoffs. The time has not been determined, Aubrey coach Lisa Deaver said.
Immediately after the teams exchanged postgame pleasantries, Deaver reached into her bag to check her phone to see if the district's other results came in — results that could have forced Aubrey into a three-way tie for third place.
It will be Aubrey's first playoff appearance since 2009, when the Lady Chaparrals lost in the Class 2A state final.
Argyle was led by 11 kills apiece from senior Alyssa Bruton and sophomore Eighmy Dobbins. Junior Katy Keenan notched six kills and three blocks in the victory.
Aubrey senior Paige Bisi had a team-high four kills, while freshman Micayla Porter had 10 assists.
In Deaver's first season as head coach, the Lady Chaparrals grew stronger as district play progressed and picked up two wins in the second half of the 10-3A schedule.
"We improved steadily throughout the season," Deaver said. "They started trying to do some new things the first half of district. By the time we started the second half of district, they started firing and started winning more sets, and then matches."
Tuesday was the final home match for Argyle's five seniors. The seniors celebrated with punch, cake, a team portrait and a slideshow.
Now that another perfect district season is in the books, the top 3A team in the state aims to return to the state tournament and win its first state championship.
"We're very excited," Argyle senior Brooke Robertson said. "Everyone's really determined and focused this year, even more so than last year, because we're ranked No. 1, so we have a huge target on our backs. It's just more motivation to work harder."
BEN BABY can be reached at 940-566-6869 and via Twitter at @Ben_Baby.


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Weekend blows in respite from hot spell
AFTER a fitful night of tossing to get comfortable in temperatures that reached 34.7 degrees at midnight on Friday night, finally it came – the cool change hit Melbourne at 1.45am.
By 2am, the south-south westerly breeze dropped the temperature in Melbourne by seven degrees down to 27.4 degrees. The change took about 15 minutes to travel from the city to the outer northern suburbs.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Scott Williams said the temperature then slowly slid down to 20.2 degrees by 7am.
Temperatures in Melbourne are predicted to reach 25 degrees on Saturday and 27 degrees on Sunday before another predicted hot day of 38 degrees on Monday.
Tuesday and Wednesday will see milder temperatures of 27 and 28 degrees before another hot day on Thursday, predicted to be 38 degrees again.
"It was a hot spell, but not a heatwave," Mr Williams said.
"For Melbourne three days over 35 could be considered a heatwave but in the north that is not unusual," he said.
Mr Williams said a large, hot weather band was still affecting inland Victoria and the band stretched across South and Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales.
He said inland Victoria could not expect any relief from the high 30s and 40-degree days until Wednesday when a stronger cold front would push the hot air and temperatures away.
Mr Williams said there was no significant rain expected and the dry conditions would increase the flammable dry fuel in country Victoria, increasing the potential for widespread fires in the state.
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I have been reducing my yeast amounts from 0.35% to 0.2% in 0.05 increments.By looking at these pics can you tell if I used the right amount of IDY?Flour 100%Water 63%Salt 2%IDY 0.2%EVOO 3.5%Vital wheat gluten 2%Water was 100 FDough ball was 76.1 FPut in cooler for 25 hrs, temp 55-59F
Or you can keep the same amount of yeast and just use RT water.
Mark,Based on the fermentation temperature range and duration, I think the IDY is still too much. I would start with 0.05% IDY and work up from there in increments if needed. I would say even lower but I am not sure what effect the high amount of oil might have on the fermentation process.Peter
Jackie, I have been increasing the water temp to get the dough ball temp where it is.I have used water at 85F and the dough ball temp was 71F.Mark
Mark what is the benefit of a specific finishing dough temp?
Mark,Can you tell us what dough ball weight you are using, or the thickness factor and pizza size, and also the type/brand of flour and vital wheat gluten you are using?Peter
Mark,Peter referenced Tom Lehmanns article about final dough temperatures and friction factors to me at Reply 1592 http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,21559.msg239925.html#msg239925Norma
Do you recall the reason why one wants a specific dough temp. I assume it has to do with the fermentation equation. By looking at my ingredients etc, Peter can figure out how much IDY I should use. I assume that he has a mathematical formula based on all the variables including water temp and finished dough temp. I now know why I should have studied more math in school!Mark
Mark, from my own experimentations, I have noted that specific dough temps make little difference in the end crust and crumb especially amongst other more important variables like how the dough is made, hydration levels, fermentation length and temp, and baking temps. It is obvious that the water temp and dough temp does affect yeast performance and thus fermentation time. But you can easily adjust either yeast amount or fermentation temps to accomodate your schedule. The only advantage I see to achieving a specific end dough temp would be consistency. Whether in a commercial setting or at home, a specific finishing dough temp with a specific amount of yeast used at a specific fermentation temp will take a certain amount of time before the dough is ready to be baked. I have also noted that there is little difference in end product with a finishing dough temp of even as much as 10 F as either dough will approximate the temp of the environment fairly quickly after mixing is done. And once that happens, any advantage assumed will be minimized. I am by no means discouraging anyone from measuring dough temps, but I find it more of a mental exercise that bears little difference in the end product. The only thing I would caution folks is to not have a too high of a dough temp (>120F?) as that could kill the yeast. I could also see using higher finishing dough temps for a same day dough as the higher temps could speed up enzyme activity and produce a slightly more flavorful dough but that is subjective at best. Chau
Thank you Walter for your insight and age old wisdom. There definitely is much to be said for experience.That's why I keep cooking, to get more experience, and feed myself and my wife, of course Mark


text: The Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse collection stands quite parallel to the traditional looking Calatrava series. Inclining more on the artistic side, the Golden Ellipse collection was introduced in 1968 bringing forth the uniformity of class with simplicity. Being one of the most recognized watches in the Patek Philippe line, the watch has gained immense success under the company's flagship.


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Bank of America Gets an Upgrade on Profit Ability
Here's a change in the thinking: Bank of America has a chance to beat its peers in growing earnings.
Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Bank of America today to a buy and gave the stock an $11 price target, saying it has room to post the biggest earnings growth amid big-cap financials if the low-interest-rate and tepid-loan-growth environment continues.
"For example, our estimates project a 30% EPS growth rate in 2014 for [Bank of America] versus a median increase of less than 5%" for the rest of the sector, the analysts said.
A large part of that is Bank of America's ability to further cut costs, the investment bank notes while highlighting how the company "has rebuilt its capital ratios much faster" than Stifel expected.
Indeed, BofA CEO Brian Moynihan has taken to bragging that the bank's capital went from worst to first among its big peers after it shed assets and stockpiled capital over the past two years.


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Helping Hands: HeartChase - Victoria set for June 30
May 18, 2012 at 12:18 a.m.
Updated May 19, 2012 at 12:19 a.m.
HeartChase, an American Heart Association community event, is coming to Victoria on June 30.
The pilot program is a combination of "Amazing Race" and "Minute to Win It."
Participant teams of two to four players will race around Riverside Park to complete checkpoints, find hidden clues and earn more points
than other teams before returning to Game Central. Teams will text their achievements and receive game-related updates via the HeartChase App.
Sponsors and teams are needed. Sign up now.
9:30-11:30 a.m., June 30, check-in at 8:30 a.m.
$35 per adult participant or raise funds for the American Heart Association by sending emails to friends and family when you register a team. Register at here.
Checkpoints and Clues sponsorships only $500. Sponsor benefits: Promotional recognition at designated checkpoint, Promotional recognition in all marketing materials, A complementary team of 4 to participate in the event day, mOpportunity to interact with participants and promote your business.
Ashley Huckaby


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RLI is meeting at the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel, 621 St. Louis St., New Olreans, LA 70130
All RLI meetings are at this hotel unless otherwise indicated.
Updates to RLI events will be confirmed and added throughout the summer. Check back for updates.
Check the Conference Schedule for sessions of interest to land specialists. Choose either the By Topic or By Audience link to see which sessions might be of interest to you. More listings are in the process of being developed and will be added when they are confirmed.Dress code at these events is business casual. Meeting room locations will be added to each listing in mid-October.
Click on the Combined Schedule link on the left to view a chronological list of all published NAR Governance, Affiliate and Conference meetings.


text: I've been following the recent fan campaigning CBS for a potential ST: Titan TV series for a wee bit now. A while ago, the page admins posted on their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/StarTrekTitan) and YouTube a CGI video of the Ent-E going into warp. Amidst glowing praises by rabid fans, a YouTube user immediately revealed that A) the animation was a fan creation and B) he was the original artist and they stole the video from him. After being called out on this, as well as not giving credit to the artist, the video was pulled (or at least, made private). More recently, the Titan fan page admins posted this: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...0117786223.355752.310765186222&type=1&theater Again, no attribution or credit given to the original artist(s), and an image lookup revealed that it was cover art from an upcoming ST novel. I've bought these issues to the attention of the page admins, who have so far deleted my comments. Thoughts? Or am I making mountains out of molehills?


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Luther alumni events are open to all alumni and friends of the college, including parents and other family members of graduates and students. If you need more information or if you're interested in planning an event in your area, please call the Alumni Office at (800) 225-8664.
Sponsored by Giving
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Home of Jon Wee and Leah Vriesman
3:30 p.m. Hors d'oeuvre Reception
4:30 p.m. Program
RSVP by Friday, January 6, 2012
online at www.luther.edu/giving/orangela
Or contact Kelly Wedmann
563.387.1066, [email protected].
For the Orange County/Los Angeles event, parking information will follow.
Option of Comedy Club afterwards with Jay Leno!
Details upon confirmation.
Questions? Contact Kelly Sorenson, 563-387-1066