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So says the headline of an article detailing how the new atheists are using traditional tactics to spread the word of non belief. Sadly, it's in England:
Herald Sun — This new brand of aggressive atheism has been inspired by people such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett, and its aim is to drive religion out of public life.Figures released last week revealed that a quarter of England and Wales's population identified themselves as having no religion, a figure that has doubled in the past 10 years.
The Census data also shows a significant decrease in the number of Christians, lending weight to a study conducted by the British Parliament this year that concluded that atheism could overtake Christianity within 20 years. The increasing secularisation of England has resulted in bans on prayers at council meetings and even court cases over people's right to wear a cross at work.
Well, we can always hope. But here in the US, our founding fathers were so fanatically religious they were invited to leave the realm of King Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. It's not necessarily in our genes, but it is stamped deep into our national DNA. Hard to tame that ancient superstition.


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Summaries of EU Legislation
Summaries of EU legislation: direct access to the main summaries page.
Traffic management: the creation of the single European sky
This Communication aims to optimise air traffic management and satisfy all airspace users, whether civil or military, airspace being a common asset which should be managed collectively regardless of national borders.
Communication from the Commission of 1 December 1999 to the Council and the European Parliament - The creation of the single European sky [COM(1999) 614 final - Not published in the Official Journal]
The Commission considers that urgent measures are still required to bring air traffic management into line with the Community principle of the smooth operation of the internal market, and ensure the creation of a single European sky.
Airspace congestion is one of the most obvious signs that such action is needed. The delays on many European flights are frequently due to saturated airspace and infrastructure. Measures must be taken to deal with congestion and prevent crisis situations for all users.
In this context, the Commission considers that the creation of a single European sky requires not only joint technical and operational measures, but the collective management of airspace, which should permit a substantial reorganisation of its structures and organisation.
The reorganisation will be based on specific measures:
- sectors being subdivided and routes established regardless of national borders. This will permit the airspace to be used more efficiently.
- the division of airspace between civil and military users taking account of the new geopolitical realities and forming part of a consistent and efficient framework.
In making its proposals, the Commission is aware that each action and change depends on the collaboration of all the actors concerned. In particular, Eurocontrol (which currently has 28 members, including all the Community Member States except Finland, which is negotiating accession) should continue to play a vital role in realising the measures, in view of the experience it has acquired. It cannot be excluded, however, that countries which are members of Eurocontrol but non-Member States of the European Union may not wish to be party to the reorganisation.
In this case, the Commission must make suitable proposals for meeting the objectives of the Treaty by other means.
In order to avoid any obstacles which may present themselves in the course of implementing its proposals, the Commission has set up two specific working frameworks:
- dialogue will be opened with the two sides of industry, as they will be using and operating the single sky,
- a high-level group will be set up under the chairmanship of the Member of the Commission responsible for transport. The group will bring together those responsible for air traffic management in the Member States and will take account of the proposals for action contained in the Annexes to the Communication.The actions include:- evaluating the performance of the European air traffic management system,- developing the capacity of aeronautical infrastructure,- planning capacity,- developing incentives,- carrying out research and technological development,- standardising systems.
The Commission will present a report in the next 6 months to follow up the implementation of the measures proposed in the Communication.
Last updated: 24.01.2007

subset: commoncrawl


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Miranda Zhang
August 1, 2012
Program: Translation and Localization Management
Undergrad: Sun Yat-Sen University
Fast Fact: Miranda taught Chinese culture classes at high schools in Poland.
"The TLM program combines translation, technology and management together…and that enables me to think like a manager, treat translation as a linguist, and use technology as freely as I wish."
Miranda majored in English translation and interpretation in college and worked as a teaching assistant in the Computer-Assisted Translation class, where she was introduced to translation memory tools. She said it was then that she realized the localization industry is growing at an astonishing speed and knew she wanted to become part of it.
Miranda says, "I heard of MIIS when I was in college because of its great reputation in the translation and interpretation world. The U.S. has the most mature localization market in the world, while MIIS no doubt possesses the best TLM program in the U.S. The TLM program provides students with field world experience, most-updated technology, and cutting edge concepts."
Miranda currently holds an intern position as Translation Project Manager at CETRA, Inc. She says about her experience so far, "It is amazing to see everything I learned from class turn into reality...I must say that TLM classes make me more confident and prepared to work as a translation project manager."
What excites Miranda most about the translation and localization industry is technology. Miranda believes that technology will be the fundamental element to change the industry. She says, "…[Perhaps] some day we will have machine translation that can entirely replace human translators."


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Palisades > Mount Sill > Climber's Log
Mount Sill Climber's Log
[ Sign the Climber's Log ]
|Steve Larson
|Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: July, 1981
|Climbed this with Allan Bard, John Fischer, and a couple other folks from the Palisade School of Mountaineering as a diversion from the backbreaking labor of digging out our high camp equipment cache above the Palisade Glacier. We even had some politically incorrect fun trundling rocks down the east face. This route as definitely a classic. And the peak is awesome by any route. Highly recommended.
|Posted Nov 5, 2004 9:27 pm
|Route Climbed: traverse from thunderbolt Date Climbed: sept 2004
|the last peak of one long day
august 2005... swiss arete with piotrek met on aconcagua... brought gear
didnt use....
|Posted Oct 24, 2004 5:07 pm
|Route Climbed: North Couloir Date Climbed: 8/23/2004
|Great climb. As of 8/23/2004, you can avoid all the snow in the "L" shape snow field by climbing around it on the left side. This involves easy class 3 scrambling and bypasses a lot of the scree in the gully.
I believe this route follows the approach to the Swiss Arete.
Also, you can avoid virtually all the snow and ice in the Palisade Glacier by sneaking around the left side.
|Posted Aug 24, 2004 11:04 am
|Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: July 25, 2004
By: Robert Vallera, Jochen Klinke and Jim Mason
Happy Birthday Jochen! (41)
Date: July 25-26, 2004
Route: Swiss Arete, III (5.7)
Equipment: 50 meter double rope, generous rack of TCUs and Cams, hexes #4-10, 1 set nuts, 1 pink tri-cam.
Summited at 8:00 PM after about 8 pitches. Fun climb, nice exposure, a classic, and for us - in more ways than one - an epic! Got back to our camp at the foot of the Palisade Glacier about 9:30 AM the morning of July 26th. (See trip report.)
|Posted Aug 5, 2004 5:02 pm
|Fred Bagni
|Route Climbed: North Couloir Date Climbed: June 21, 2002
|Best view. I love the palisades.
|Posted Jul 10, 2004 7:03 pm
|Scott Pierce
|Route Climbed: Southwest Slopes Date Climbed: Late may, 2004
|As part of a ski tour around the Palisades.
Originally planned to skin as far as possible toward the saddle of Sill-Polemonium, but consensus veered us onto the more interesting class 3 talus and blocks SW of the summit. Needed to angle left more than we did lower down on the climb--we got on a rib that bought us to a false summit and forced us to rap down into a notch and continue traversing left. Either way, lots of fun and a great day for talus-hopping in telemark "rock slippers".
|Posted Jun 19, 2004 3:50 pm
|Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: May 1977
|Climbed this with Sheldon Moomaw back in the day.
|Posted Jan 26, 2004 11:01 am
|Route Climbed: southwest chute Date Climbed: august 30, 2003
|did a solo overnighter. camped in the palisade basin just below the
t-bolt pass. at the base of the climb, took the second chute (that culminates in a notch prominent even from the base). stayed along the ridge defining the left (on way up) of this chute. good solid rock for most part (class 2-3). climbing up the notch at the top (towards the summit) was a bit harder than the stuff before that, but not a lot more (and virtually no exposure).
looong approach from the south lake.
|Posted Oct 12, 2003 5:50 pm
|Route Climbed: East Couloir Date Climbed: 08/05/00 and 08/09/99
|I hiked up from Elsinore Lake with some friends. We ascended up the couloir, then a scramble to the summit. I got tired of waiting for my friends at the summit, so I went did Polemonium, North Palisade, and Starlight. I new I would run out of sunlight if I went did Thunderbolt, so I headed back to Elsinore Lake.
In 1999, solo from Sam Mack up the North Couloir Route, then traverse to Polemonium.
|Posted Oct 7, 2003 9:49 pm
|Route Climbed: North Coulior Date Climbed: July 2003
|Ooooh, the North Coulior! Visions from climbing in Norway and the North Cascades came to mind of rime covered rock, and blowing spindrift.
But in the Sierra, on a summer day, there is no such thing, just some nice patches of hard snow between sections of pretty solid rock. Eyed the Swiss Arete during the approach. Mmmm, looks tasty, guess I'll be coming back.
|Posted Aug 30, 2003 4:20 am
|Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: 23 August, 2003
|FINALLY did this route (after years of wanting to)!!! Great climb, with perfect rock, stimulating exposure, & fun & sustained climbing- to the top of a 14er! Mark was a great partner, too.
Due to starting late (got on the route @ 12.02), we also ended late (I topped out @ 19.11), but that allowed us to enjoy magnificent sunset views of the Palisades- how many people getta see that??!!
Tricky class 4 routefinding in the dark (we also only had 1 headlamp!), with sections of verglas & snow, made going back down quite 'interesting!' After getting to the notch between Sill & its subpeak, I thought it was easy from there- wrong! Class 2-3 N couloir was utter crap (sometimes it felt like half the gully was sliding down with each step!). At least we got to rap' past the bottom of the snowfield, w/o having to don crampons.
Unfortunately, we then couldn't find the notch leading to the variation we took to gain the plateau, & shivered & (somehow) slept until sunrise, when we found the 'easy' way back down to the glacier. Another Sierra epic!
|Posted Aug 28, 2003 3:52 pm
|Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: August 23rd
|Great climb. Took longer than expected, though, so we had to find our way down in the dark and ended up sleeping at the Glacier Notch until dawn.
We never encountered what seemed to be the 'reach around' move, but we did encouter a 5.8 (maybe 5.9?) crack on the left side of the ridge which was the crux of the climb for us.
|Posted Aug 25, 2003 7:26 pm
|Route Climbed: North Couloir Date Climbed: 21 July 2003
|A fun snow/ice climb up the Glacier Notch, L-shaped glacier, then some loose class 4 with some exposure to the top. Amazing views from the top, then traversed to Polemonium to scope it out for a future climb. Rapped off the ridge to avoid downclimbing the loose stuff to the saddle between Apex and Sill. Base camped in a large cave in the morraine on the way down to Mack Meadows. Nice.
|Posted Aug 11, 2003 1:09 pm
|Paul Spraycar
|Route Climbed: Southwest Slope Date Climbed: July 29, 2001
|Fun climb from Lower Palisade Lake via Cirque Pass.
|Posted Jul 26, 2003 4:07 pm
|Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: August 8, 1993
|The second day of the up and down Himalaya training camp. The route was fun and I think Sill has the best views in the Sierra. The current rating of 5.8 seems very generous, more like 5.7.
|Posted May 8, 2003 2:35 pm
|Dave K
|Route Climbed: Southwest slope Date Climbed: August 2001
|On my third try I finally made it up the Southwest Slope. Fun, but a looooong approach.
|Posted Jan 22, 2003 5:31 pm
|Eric Tipton
|Route Climbed: "Dead Larry's Pillar" III 5.10 Date Climbed: July, 2001
|I climbed this route with Kenn Kenega after humping our full packs over Contact Pass, due to the threat of ice on the normal approach. Don't go this way.
The route was great, good rock, lots of ways to go. We probaly did parts of both of the "Dead Larry" routes.
|Posted Dec 16, 2002 12:31 am
|Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: July 27, 2001
|Penelope May and I climbed Swiss Arete from our camp on the Gayley moraine in july of 2001. This was one of the most delightful trips I have ever done in the Sierra. My partner was a huge part of it. We had the most beautiful time up there. The descent via North Glacier was very difficult with aluminum crampons and ice axes as two years of drought brought very early ice to Palisades. There was hard alpine ice in the gully and we had to be very careful. But the climb was really great. I will never forget this trip.
|Posted Nov 15, 2002 10:03 pm
|Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: August 25, 1996
|Climbed the Swiss Arete with Don Brosnahan in 1996. The route was the first part of our attempted traverse to Thunderbolt Peak which we aborted due to high winds on the crest.
|Posted Nov 15, 2002 9:55 pm
|Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: July 3, 1984
|In July 1984, Robert Somoano, Waren Davis and I climbed the Swiss Arete from our camp at Sam Mack Meadow. This was my first Mt.Sill experience.
|Posted Nov 15, 2002 9:52 pm


text:
NEW YORK—Columbus Crew left back Gino Padula became the first field player to win the NAPA Save of the Week award in 2010 after beating out four other goalkeepers who save goals for a living.
Padula made two goal line clearances in a span of 24 seconds in the second half of the Crew's 1-0 victory over Chivas USA. The sequence started in the 58th minute when he kicked away a shot on goal by Chivas USA and U.S. World Cup hopeful Jonathan Bornstein.
Watch: Padula saves off the line
Chivas USA recovered possession and again penetrated into the box with the Goats' Blair Gavin having the next attempt on goal. Padula once again was in position to head the ball off the line.
Padula captured 36 percent of the vote to win the Week 8 honors. D.C. United rookie netminder Bill Hamid led the pack of goalkeepers with 33 percent followed by Jimmy Nielsen (KC), Stefan Frei (TFC) and Kevin Hartman (FCD).
Recent Save of the Week winners:
Week 8: Gino Padula, Columbus Crew
Week 7: Kevin Hartman, FC Dallas
Week 6: Joe Cannon, San Jose Earthquakes
Week 5: Andrew Dykstra, Chicago Fire


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Originally a fort and the bazaar of the western Khwārezm region, it became a town in 1924. The old, typically Asiatic part of the city lies north of the canal, while the new part, with its wide tree-lined streets, occupies the southern bank. The city developed particularly after the construction of the railway in the 1950s. It has a cotton gin, food-processing plants, and vehicle-repair works and is a centre of carpet making. The city lies on theChardzhou-Makat railway
rail line between Türkmenabat (Chardzhou) and western Kazakhstan. Cotton, alfalfa, grains (sorghum, barley, rice, millet), and melons are produced in the surrounding area. Silk production is also practiced. Pop. (1999
2004 est.)165


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Master Chief Petty Officer Coby (コビー曹長 Kobī Sōchō?) is a Marine together with Helmeppo under Vice Admiral Garp. He was formerly a Cabin Boy for the Alvida Pirates until he was liberated by Monkey D. Luffy, and was one of the first people Luffy befriended on his travels. His current status is unknown.
wat do u guys think about him? do you think he will ever reach the rank of vice-admiral?? or even admiral like he said??
tbh, i never really liked him, just want to see how many of youse who do


text:
Spain has a lot to answer for. The machine that is their national team has led to every other country scrutinising their approach to developing young players and, combined with the 2010 World Cup debacle, has caused much inward reflection in Italy.
Serie A clubs have come under fire from all angles for not giving youth a chance – the latest to get in on the act a certain Donato Di Campli, the agent of one Marco Verratti. He took a swipe at Italian clubs last week when it became apparent none were planning on making a move for his client. "Italian clubs are guilty of short-sightedness. It is clear that young players find it difficult to establish themselves in Italian football, whether it's Lorenzo Insigne at Napoli or Verratti."
This particular remark was made in frustration that no Italian club, quite rightly, was willing to pay the minimum €12m that Pescara are asking for the player. That's €12m for a 19-year-old who has not played a single minute of top-level football – meaning Serie A clubs would be paying for potential, for hype, taking an expensive gamble on a player that might not cut it.
The irony, of course, is that if Di Campli took the sensible option of advising Verratti to turn down PSG's offer then his client would get 38 chances to establish himself in Serie A next season. But it is more convenient to blame Italian football for the probable transfer to France, rather than admit that the primary motivation is €2m per season in wages and the large chunk of cash Di Campli himself is likely to receive from the move.
Nevertheless, he opened that age-old topic of debate as to whether Serie A is hindering the development of young players. It has not traditionally been a League awash with teenage Italians playing regularly, but those that do are generally pretty special and have gone on to prove as such with the national team.
There can be no denying that young players are not getting playing time as easily as they were 10-15 years ago, when the Italian U-21 team was dominant. The general principle, however, is the same – if you are a genuinely special player, you will rise to the top no matter what.
Think of it as a more stringent filter on mediocre youngsters. Those getting minutes nowadays are worth watching, worth talking about, whereas those who are not are either not good enough or not ready. If they are not ready they get loaned out, usually to Serie B clubs, as in the case of Insigne. Napoli now deem him ready for a chance in Serie A and look set to give him some time on the pitch this season.
Even those who are on the books of Serie A clubs as teenagers and get released still make it if they are good enough, despite the criticism said clubs receive for having not given these players a chance in the first place. Inter have become notorious for having a good youth system, but for all the wrong reasons, with numerous players having started life at the club before making it elsewhere – Leonardo Bonucci is a perfect example of this and Mattia Destro looks set to become another.
The individuals that this 'system' does hurt are those in the middle, the ones between the youngsters who will reach the top regardless of what happens and the guys who are patently not good enough. These are the youngsters that require something of a gamble that clubs do not want to take, where it is 50-50 as to whether regular game time sees them blossom into a useful club-level flower or develop into a weed. But as the entire argument for youth development is with the national team in mind, and with these players unlikely to be of ability where they can make a difference for Italy, this group falling through the cracks is not the big drama it is made out to be.
It is not conventional, it is not the way other countries operate, but it has worked for decades. And judging by Euro 2012, it is still working now, irrespective of what a frustrated agent would like to have us believe.
Keep up to date with the latest news and action from Spain's Primera Division with Football Espana - from the team behind Football Italia.


text:
Read the full story here Web Link posted Tuesday, October 23, 2012, 11:45 PM
Town Square
Diverse views sought for calendar committee
Original post made on Oct 24, 2012
Read the full story here Web Link posted Tuesday, October 23, 2012, 11:45 PM
Comments (60)
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Oct 24, 2012 at 8:32 am
Perhaps it is time for us to become leaders rather than followers.
Perhaps it is time to look at the reality of changing to a trimester system. With a northern hemisphere calendar, it makes sense as there are natural breaks in December and Spring which automatically cause breaks in the school year. The natural way to do things is to follow these breaks and make 3 trimesters rather than the unnatural 2 semesters.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Oct 24, 2012 at 9:08 am
Re this statement above:
"Opponents argued that the new calendar intrudes on traditional family time in August and creates the added stress of finals for high school students in the crowded pre-holiday period."
This argument is preposterous. PAUSD is a college-prep district. Those who want their low-level academics and party time should move elsewhere. We need to lessen stress for our students. I graduated from Paly in the early 80s and the level of schoolwork has changed. The teachers expect so much from students these days that there is hardly any free time for our children to relax and hang-out. They are teaching from college textbooks now in regular lanes.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Oct 24, 2012 at 10:07 am
What day the school year starts on does not affect student stress as much as the day the semester ends and is why there has been so much push back against this new "stress-free" calendar.
Remember, the stress that the Xmas break stress is to relieve according to two years of student surveys is an average of 4 hours of school work during 2+ weeks of break. That's it.
What high school students get in exchange for a hoped for release from those 4 hours of work (I say hoped for because we won't know if teachers will still assign work or students will still work ahead until January) is:
- Thanksgiving plans cancelled so students can study for finals then instead
- For seniors, an entire December without a breather studying for finals, taking finals AND, for the multitudes who aren't just applying to CA public colleges, immediately afterward that finishing up all their college applications due a few days later, and
- 4 weeks in May that have back to back, and on top of each other, AP tests, finals, theater and music performances, athletic games, and graduation festivities.
Phew. Just reading about all the students have to push through now without time to look up is stressful.
a resident of Palo Verde
on Oct 24, 2012 at 10:16 am
I think the goal was a "stress free" winter break. The amount of work the student does is not the same as the amount of stress a student feels. With the pending finals hanging over their heads, many students feel the stress. Sure, some are lucky enough to not have the academic challenges that others face and can just take a two week break both mentally and physically from school, but others cannot if things are still left to do (finals). Some worry about forgetting, others just worry in general. I don't know which approach (finals before or finals after) is better for students but I am wanting to give it a real try and see what students think after having this schedule for at least two years. I am disappointed that they are already talking about the impact of the schedule when they haven't even experienced the full semester yet. Life for our high school students this week would be the same no matter when they started and when finals were going to be. In my opinion, there needs to be at least a year of the schedule before you can pass judgement.
a resident of Gunn High School
on Oct 24, 2012 at 10:36 am
the question is: is a work free winter break worth a doubly stressful fall semester. our family's answer is NOT AT ALL!
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Oct 24, 2012 at 11:05 am
I recall that when this committee was first envisioned by the board last year its goal was not going to be to generate surveys, but rather to look far and wide for calendar solutions that do better in addressing the big picture, not just taking stress from one spot and inserting it into another. For one, there was to be a serious consideration of trimesters, or two semesters with an intersession in January, or other creative approaches. I hope the group when it forms doesn't get bogged down in generating survey questions but takes a big step back and opens up the discussion to new ideas.
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Oct 24, 2012 at 11:14 am
The new calendar was adopted to give our high school students (freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors -- seniors are only 25% of high school students) a work free break. Districts in this area and around the country have adopted a finals-before-break calendar and have liked it. Palo Alto has a serious problem with academic stress, which is why Project Safety Net recommended finals before break. That's why the board adopted it, and that's why it is a good idea.
The Time to Thrive group has certainly grabbed the megaphone and blasted the city with the idea that the sky is falling, that the calendar is a TRAGEDY! But they haven't been active in trying to limit the use of timed math tests in elementary school (source of stress). They haven't been active in trying to improve counseling at Gunn. They haven't been active in trying to limit homework. They haven't been active in trying to address test and project stacking. They haven't had one thing to say about any of this stuff.
Those who oppose a work-free break would be a lot more persuasive if they ever cared about any of the other stressors. And to see Heidi Emberling taking this position is just sad, since she is supposed to "serve on" Project Safety Net and finals before break was a PSN goal. It is important to stand up for kids, even if it isn't the most popular. Kudos to Mitchell, Klausner, and Tom for voting the right way here.
a resident of Crescent Park
on Oct 24, 2012 at 11:24 am
To Paly Alum. You say "PAUSD is a college-prep district". No, it is a unified school district, serving students from K-12 - from age 4 to 18. The school board needs to look at the impact of a policy on the entire student body, not just the vocal few.
a resident of Gunn High School
on Oct 24, 2012 at 11:52 am
Planning transparency was reqested regarding semester courses at the high schools (English and Social Studies). The district came up with absolutely nothing in response to that request from the School Board. Most schools do not have semester long core classes which must finish a defined amount of material in a single semester.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Oct 24, 2012 at 12:24 pm
give it
[Portion removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]
As to Time to Thrive, it sure seems like it is getting things done (isn�t this calendar advisory committee its idea?) and not riding on the coattails of work that was already in progress. You might want to ping them to see what other things they are working on before accusing them of being a one issue group that does not care for kids. I suspect that they use quiet and polite diplomacy which usually is more effective than screaming.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Oct 24, 2012 at 12:30 pm
The trimester system is worth a try, and it is so much more logical.
The rest of the world has a much longer school year (and school day), with two distinct breaks. With the economy no longer based on agriculture, why do the kids need the whole summer off? Why do they need more holidays than the rest of the working society? Western Europe gives school kids August and December off--that's it. The longer school year and school day require far less homework, as a bonus, because most of the work,is done IN school, the optimal place for it.
Since we are supposed to have a highly-rated educational system, why don't we continue to lead the way with an innovative, more efficient school calendar?
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Oct 24, 2012 at 2:11 pm
@stress -- " I suspect that they use quiet and polite diplomacy which usually is more effective than screaming." are you kidding? Did you watch the board meetings when these folks were down there complaining? I'm sure you were one of them, so I don't doubt it, as your posts are drawn right from their manifesto.
I invite people who have not had the pleasure of seeing what real incivility looks like. Phil Mahoney said that the board would have "blood on their hands" because students would commit suicide over the new calendar. Then he used Barbara Klausner's daughter to slam her by saying that she would be a recruited athlete so somehow that made Barbara not care about the calendar. Then when they did not get their way, they actually yelled and stomped out of the meeting and slammed the door so hard that it is audible on the video tape.
Is that your definition of "quiet diplomacy"? Is that who presumes to lecture the community about collegiality and civility? You alienated so many potential supporters with those shenanigans that you made it impossible to do the mitigation plan because you turned the whole issue radioactive.
All of that was over 6 days in August. If Phil Mahoney ever came down to 25 Churchill street to argue for any other stress reduction measure other than those 6 days, it has not been captured in video.
How about if we move on and just try to find a way to start later and still have pre-break finals.
a resident of Barron Park
on Oct 24, 2012 at 2:23 pm
Wynn Hausser is a registered user.
@Adds stress: Where do you see any information provided by @GiveItaTry that they are affiliated with We Can Do Better Palo Alto? I don't see any. All I see is a gratuitous slap from you at parents who are trying to make changes in the community.
Regarding the Committee, all I ask is that we stop going around in circles. This discussion has been ongoing for at least 4-5 years. There is no chance of pleasing everyone. I do think surveying to see how people like the change is a good idea. But I suggest waiting for the survey until we've gone through an entire year first. Let people experience both the new winter break AND having the full month of June available for families. This year summer was shorter - it won't necessarily feel that way come next August.
I like the idea of looking at other models such as trimesters. But regardless, we should retain the same goal of reducing stress over the winter holidays.
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Oct 24, 2012 at 2:57 pm
Here's a little stroll down memory lane for Palo Alto, with some quotes from "quiet and polite" members of Time to Thrive:
Posted by Phil Mahoney, a member of the Nixon School community, on May 11, 2011 at 9:41 am
Let the RECALL begin! Our so called 'representatives' failed to listen to overwhelming parental rejection of this calendar even when given a time tested trimester approach alternative. Think there are some 'angry voters' out there, you bet! Destroy family bonding time, force working families to hire daycare in June and Jan when the real world works, and force college apps to happen during finals, nice work Board. Hopefully , you will soon be a former Board ! Your arrogance is trumped only by your lack of flexibility. Your sending K-8 kids to hot August schools is very insensitive. You threw away a chance to deal with the real causes of stress ; too much homework and not enough sleep. Now you deserve to be dismissed from class.
On November 29, Phil was back, having not yet fully threatened, yelled at, or disparaged our volunteer boardmembers. At that point, as the Weekly reported, "Three of the 20 [Time to Thrive members] who spoke even suggested the new calendar could lead students to "do the unthinkable," a reference to a string of Palo Alto teen suicides in 2009 and 2010.
"There are lives on the line here," parent Phil Mahoney said.
[Portion removed by Palo Alto Online staff.] I personally have calendar fatigue and no for your information I am not a member of We Can Do Better at all but I am sick of you calendar people and your one issue. We have stressful schools and I am for anyone who wants to do something about it. I am voting for Ken Dauber because he will keep finals before winter break but also try to act in a sane manner to move the start date back. He supports trying out trimesters or other ideas.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Oct 24, 2012 at 3:53 pm
I would hope the next calendar cycle isn't so narrowly focused on the winter holidays; my kids were very much in need of a real spring break, yet had homework assigned due the first day back. Moving finals wasn't a magic pill to fix stress, and caused more stress in certain other places of the calendar. This time let's look at the big picture.
Time to Thrive is indeed focused on how a school calendar impacts students' abilities to balance schoolwork, family time, extracurriculars, and rest. The group is very interested in and aware of what the homework committee is doing, but yes, the focus has been the calendar, because the group sees the last calendar process as being a travesty, undergone without real data, and with little consideration of the big picture. Right now, the calendar is the biggest creator of a time crunch. Counseling and many of the other issues you list are not directly related to balancing family, school, extracurriculars, etc.
a resident of Duveneck School
on Oct 24, 2012 at 4:15 pm
I have seen postings from this Time to Thrive group from time to time and I also see the same overheated language like "travesty" in the post above from Paly parent (I missed the accusations that the new calendar is literally deadly the first time around but I am not surprised). I don't understand the obsession of these parents with this few days of change. I would prefer to start later but I appreciate that our high school students need some time off without work, and my daughter is after all going to be at Paly some day. The idea that the calendar is more important than homework is laughable, since homework happens every single day. I have also noticed how negative these people are -- I have not seen them do any actual work to come up with something better.
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Oct 24, 2012 at 4:15 pm
I am all for waiting for a year to see how it goes, but unfortunately we don't have a lot of time to wait and see. The calendar for this winter break is very different from the calendar for the following year due to when Christmas falls. What may seem fine this year may not feel the same next year.
Another thing to remember is to ask how things went while they are fresh in people's (student's minds). Already August seems a long time ago and so does Labor Day. I know our Labor Day weekend was used to do some back to school shopping, hair cuts, etc. that were not done before school started. If we leave it until the end of the school year, a lot of the details of the December rush will be forgotten. So yes, we need to start thinking about how to evaluate the calendar as it happens, not when it is forgotten.
Likewise, anyone know how the choir and music performances are handling the holiday season? Do we have madrigals and holiday concerts? Also, how are the sports for December/January coping? Will the winter break be any more free or less free for basketball and other winter sports?
These are all relevant to student stress.
a resident of Palo Alto Hills
on Oct 24, 2012 at 5:03 pm
They say the new calendar is a fix for stress. All it does is make the stress move to different times of the year. So since if it isn't the fix for overall stress for high schoolers (like homework, test scheduling, group project assignments, too many AP's, palo alto parents riding their kids to get into the schools THEY attended when it wasn't as hard to get in 20 years ago), WHY IN THE WORLD aren't we focused on fixing THOSE REAL issues and leaving the calendar alone? Why make 8,000 kids suffer with horribly times summer break, winter break and school start for 4,000 kids that deserve REAL changes that involve teachers working together to manage and coordinate tests and projects for our stressed out kids??? Why should families with Kinders suffer this calendar when it doesn't even really fix the problem? I feel sorry for all the families who are suffering because of this calendar that at first glance seems like a vallient effort but really proves to just be PAUSD following along with other districts who have DIFFERENT community values than we do. Lets keep PAUSD a special district and so what is write for OUR culture and kids.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Oct 24, 2012 at 5:51 pm
I would like a sincere look at the big picture as well. There are a number of students who had exams on the first day of school based on summer homework assigned at the end of the previous school year! If the end of the school year doesn't ensure a work free summer break, what makes anyone think that this calendar will magically ensure a work free winter break?
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Oct 24, 2012 at 6:42 pm
It's great to read a 'dialogue' about trimesters. Been there, done that. It works and it works well. During the last go around with this calendar drama, there was a cadre of teachers asking for this to be considered and, to me at least, the idea was ignored. Yes, it would be a difficult transition the first year and teachers would have to change up curriculum (gasp!), but it benefits the children. And, students would have the opportunity to explore perhaps six electives as opposed to four. *Please* consider this option!
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on Oct 24, 2012 at 8:28 pm
Advanced Placement tests are valued by a large number of families in Palo Alto - as evidenced by the numbers of students who take them, and the national rankings that are tied to them.
AP tests are completed around mid-May each year - and it is a common opinion that, for all intents and purposes, "class is over" once the test is taken. While student stress concerns drive many to advocate for finals before winter break, there are others who see an earlier beginning to the school year, and the earlier end, as providing what is necessary for a school system that has a lot of students taking AP courses. (More time to educate prior to the test, potentially higher scores, and less time "wasted" after the test is taken).
Might doing what's best for APs be the motivator, at least for some new calendar supporters? Might this explain PAUSD's extremely early start date (extreme even for schools who, for YEARS, have had finals before winter break)? If it were the motivator, would anyone admit to it? If it made a difference in our children's ability to score higher on APs, and increased our rankings, would parents be more supportive or less critical of the new calendar?
a resident of Palo Alto Hills
on Oct 24, 2012 at 9:49 pm
Re:ap's: This is a unified school district. This means we have kids age 5
At the mercy of this calendar. Look around the country at other high
Achieving schools and you won't see early August starts. You won't see cramming a semester in before holiday break. If AP's are the driving force that is unfair to the approximate 9,000 students (approx 4k high school students assuming approx 3/4 of them take ap')s that aren't taking ap's! Again, we can't take family time away from families in August when companies around the world slow down and allow for family time. The Stanford calendar is totally out of alligment with pausd now too which is horrible for those families as well. There are other ways to support the ap's! Our ap scores are phenomenal - we don't need to take away family time for even more attention to ap's!!!! I wish people would start thinking about the whole family in this picture , on the developmental assets our district has told is to work on with our kids.
a resident of Crescent Park
on Oct 24, 2012 at 10:42 pm
BRAVO to the district for creating a committee of well represented parents (K -12) in the PAUSD school district to look at the school calendar. I especially agree that having a "list of agreed-upon values to guide the calendar discussion" is important since it appears that the last time a calendar decision was made there was never a clear idea of the apparent value or an approach to measure it. I'm hoping that this committee can research and recommend other ideas that haven't yet been explored thoroughly and that the district will take their recommendation seriously. Looking forward to some fresh and alternative ideas with solid recommendations for implementation.
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Oct 25, 2012 at 7:12 am
This committee includes no teachers. As a teacher, I was shocked and appalled that teachers were excluded and there is no way that a group of parents alone is going to be able to propose a calendar that will have any chance of being adopted or working. How could they? Parents don't know anything about when anything happens or what the constraints are. If you think it was chaos last time just wait until this committee spends a ton of time working out their fantasy calendar only to have it summarily rejected by the teachers who weren't consulted. Melissa Caswell proposed having teachers on the committee, but then when Dr. Skelly said no, she just backed down and didn't try to argue for her view she just silently dropped it like she always does. That's not collaboration, that's being ignored. Does she think he was collaborating with her when he just told her no?
a resident of Gunn High School
on Oct 25, 2012 at 7:30 am
maybe skelly was trying to protect his staff when he said no to caswell
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Oct 25, 2012 at 9:37 am
Without teachers on the committee, they're just paying lip service to the parents who think they might have any say in the matter. In the end, I think the district will just say thank you, pat them on the head, and go on their merry way to do as they please. There are key participants who control what proposals are formulated and have a vested interest in making the alternative solutions look bad.
a resident of Esther Clark Park
on Oct 25, 2012 at 9:45 am
High school students may take up to seven classes. If the first semester offered only six classes & the second offered eight classes, could school start later in August & still end the first semester in Dec. because the number of instructional minutes would be more per class? Would having a "double class time" possibility in the Spring work really well for some classes? Could PAUSD families accept an unequal number of classes in each semester?
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Oct 25, 2012 at 10:07 am
Deb Whitson wanted to be on the committee last time and was kept out. That's how we didn't get trimesters or any other creative ideas. The board members (Caswell, Townsend) who supposedly support creative alternatives didn't try to get her on this time either. Melissa made one half-hearted suggestion, saying "I would vote to have teachers on," but then there was no vote. How would you vote? Did you make a motion? Did you have a proposal? You would vote when? Just saying "I would vote" when there is no vote is talking to yourself.
And what about the beginning of the meeting when Dr. Skelly said:
"It would be helpful if you just affirm this as opposed to if we hear 5 different various thoughts on this and then we try to cobble that together. Your help is just saying yes would be very helpful."
So this is the great governance "reform" that Camille has been bragging about -- now the staff just comes and says straight out, please rubber stamp this proposal? I don't want to hear from the Board what you think, just say yes and let's move on. Camille said in her Weekly endorsement interview that she was making improvements to governance by having staff say ahead of time what they wanted. Apparently that means that the staff will tell the board that it is to rubber stamp, not discuss, and just get it over with. Not one board member objected to being treated this way -- they giggled. [Portion removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Oct 25, 2012 at 11:57 am
Parent of a Gunn Grad,
I really like your idea. I hope that you can suggest this to the panel for deliberations. It may be one of those innovative ideas that could work and may well be copied.
Thanks for your input.
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Oct 25, 2012 at 12:18 pm
Why isn't the comment above that is disrespectful of Baten Caswell and Townsend removed?
a resident of Crescent Park
on Oct 25, 2012 at 12:19 pm
@Parent of a Gunn grad,
Unfortunately, the reason that asymmetrical semesters were rejected last time was:
Since the only way to accommodate pre-break finals and to keep the school start date no earlier
than two weeks prior to Labor Day is to have uneven semesters, the Board wanted to understand
what teachers thought about the uneven semesters and how the disparity in instructional days
might impact the instructional program. The feedback gathered from teachers during the
department meetings with District staff indicated that uneven semesters did not pose a problem for
those departments with year-long courses (e.g. world language, mathematics, science,
visual/performing arts). However, teachers in these departments were quick to mention that
although the difference in semester lengths was not an issue for them, they would not support
uneven semesters if the English and Social Studies departments felt that they compromised the
curriculum in their semester classes.
Teachers in the English and Social Studies departments articulated serious concerns about the
difference in instructional days between the two semesters in calendars that didn't move the start
date. These concerns focused on the major compromises in curriculum that would be necessary 4
when there were as many as 20 to 22 more instructional days in the second semester in some
years. With few exceptions, teachers in these departments felt strongly that the integrity of the
semester courses was at risk when whole units would need to be eliminated from the curriculum to
accommodate the fewer days in the first semesters. The teachers pointed out the difference in
semesters could also create scheduling issues as students dropped and added classes in an effort
to get certain classes in the short or long semester."
Board packet: Web Link
It would be better to do the survey earlier. We got lucky this year with a cool late August. You don't want parents taking this survey when their elementary school-aged kids are sweltering in ancient classrooms with no AC.
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Oct 25, 2012 at 12:35 pm
I do like the idea of having a different number of electives or half semester classes in each semester and it could work. Since we have block schedules where classes vary in length, the schedules would be adjusted. Instead of looking at the number of instructional days for each class, we would be looking at the number of instructional hours for each class. With less classes, the homework load would even out if there had to be a slightly shorter time for each assignment. If there were similar classroom hours rather than classroom days, the same amount of material could be covered even if the number of weeks were different.
I am not sure if this would mean that we would need more teachers and classroom space for the second semester or not? I can't get my brain round that one. But the idea does deserve more thought than immediate dismissal of the idea.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Oct 25, 2012 at 12:46 pm
Resident -- only one of the high schools has block scheduling, Gunn does not. So while we at Paly do, Gunn teachers and students don't have that advantage. With all due respect, your back of the envelope calculations are not of much use for teachers who are down in the trenches trying to get lesson plans etc to fit the bill. Uneven semesters was very unpopular with teachers, esp at Gunn last time around.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Oct 25, 2012 at 1:14 pm
Well I guess it isn't OK to mention that We Can Do Better is not the only group in town which advocates for kids' social emotional health (that gets deleted, but why?) but when "get it" posts inflammatory statements about an organized group which also cares about kids his post stays in.
With the hope that this does not get deleted too, here's a note to "get it":
Your platform is identical to We Can Do Better's from casting doubt on those who are running for school board to pushing the district to get rid of timed math tests, so you should consider joining them.
I know some of the Time to Thrive parents. Take a look at their Facebook page and you may too. I don't know the gentleman you mention and I don't see him as one of their group's Facebook members. The ones I know are quite nice and do lots to support students in our schools.
Why would you suggest that one person, who clearly was frustrated with things as it sounds like you are too, represents the 300 Time to Thrive fans? And why the accusations? From what they've told me there is no "manifesto," no incivility, not proselytizing, and to your point, many more than one issue they are concerned about.
Mr. Mahoney probably was very worried that the additional stress the calendar creates might push a child over the edge. He has his right to that view, especially in light of the fact that this calendar was passed to address student stress in an attempt to stave off student suicides.
Your colorful language dismisses 100s of people's heartfelt concerns.
I happen to be one of them. I have a student who will be a senior one day and I can tell you that no Xmas stress relief marching up to that year is worth the extraordinary pressure my friends with seniors are enduring right now. It isn't pretty. Even if you aren't empathetic because your child is not there yet, be clear that your child will be a senior someday and you'll wish you hadn't been so dismissive.
Whomever "get it" is, there are many others in town, PTAs, Site Counsels, Time to Thrives, Project Safety Nets, and even PiE who are working hard to help kids every day in many ways other than on videotape. The ones I know care, a lot.
a resident of Palo Verde
on Oct 25, 2012 at 2:16 pm
Adds Stress says " I have a student who will be a senior one day and I can tell you that no Xmas stress relief marching up to that year is worth the extraordinary pressure my friends with seniors are enduring right now. It isn't pretty. Even if you aren't empathetic because your child is not there yet, be clear that your child will be a senior someday and you'll wish you hadn't been so dismissive."
I am not sure how having finals in December and starting school 5 days earlier this year is the cause of stress right now. The bottom line is that applying to college is STRESSFUL. October will always be stressful because of the Nov 1 early application deadline. I can guarantee that seniors are not worrying about their finals and December at this point. The workload in the classes will be the same in October no matter when we start or when we end. It is important that we link the correct cause and effect together. Many applications are due Nov 1, popular standardized testing dates are in Oct and Nov, and yes, they do still have to worry about their classes. Please don't blame this on the early start and when the semester end.
a resident of Crescent Park
on Oct 25, 2012 at 2:57 pm
"I am not sure how having finals in December and starting school 5 days earlier this year is the cause of stress right now."
I can see how adding finals before the break whereas previously they were after break is adding to this stressful period. The earlier start wouldn't do it, stressing about looming finals on top of STRESSFUL college applications could easily tip someone over into not being able to cope. We'll just have to wait for the surveys to see.
a resident of Esther Clark Park
on Oct 25, 2012 at 5:15 pm
Some clarity to my thought -- semesters would be different lengths BUT the number of instructional minutes for each class would be the same in both semesters. By having six classes instead of seven, you would have more minutes in each class period the first semester, but not more than the number of minutes in the second semester; the distribution of minutes would differ in each semester, but the total number would be the same in both semesters.
And, mandated testing in the second semester eats up a lot of class time so second semester classes will have their students for fewer minutes than first semester classes, if the semesters are equal.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Oct 25, 2012 at 5:36 pm
Important correction: the change in school start this year was 12 days. School started on 8/16... the rollover calendar start date would have been 8/28.
a resident of Midtown
on Oct 26, 2012 at 7:35 am
Marie is a registered user.
As far as I know, almost all colleges, including Stanford and Cal have switched to a calendar schedule with finals before the winter holidays. I attended college in the 60's when this transition began. High School and my first two years of college had finals after winter holidays and the last two years my finals were before winter holidays. The last two years were significantly less stressful.
Similarly, my kids went to colleges where finals were before winter holidays and also reported what an improvement this was over Paly's schedule. I think I read an endorsement of Ken Dauber by Paly students, which included thanks for his support for the calendar change.
Does anyone know how many high schools in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties still have finals after winter holidays? My impression is that PAUSD is one of the last local schools, private or public, to have switched to an earlier start date in August in order to have finals before winter holidays. I have one grand-niece who just started at a Bay Area elementary school on Aug. 1! So the times they are a changing. Los Altos elementary has pushed back their start date, as well, I think to be consistent with their high school district.
Does anyone know of any school anywhere that switched back to January finals after trying December finals?
In the end, I think the schedule needs to be what benefits the students most academically, not what benefits the vacation schedules of parents, teachers and students.
That being said, I think PAUSD should seriously consider a quarter system like Stanford's, which would mean finals before winter holidays and consistency in calendars for the many PA families who are affected by Stanford's calendar (although, full disclosure, I am not one of them).
a resident of Crescent Park
on Oct 26, 2012 at 8:35 am
If you want to follow the Stanford model, then the year wouldn't start until late September.
Web Link
"September 24 (Mon) First day of quarter; instruction begins"
So we would move back to a schedule where we start school after Labor day, which is what a lot of people want.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Oct 26, 2012 at 2:39 pm
To Marie's question: as of last year, PAUSD and Campbell were the only two districts left standing (with "traditional" calendars) among their San Mateo and Santa Clara County high school counterparts.
Rechecking for 2012-2013, I could not find any public high schools in these 2 counties with finals after winter break. Same was true for the well known private high schools.
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Oct 26, 2012 at 2:44 pm
Oxford Academy: 27th August
finals after break
Mission San Jose High School: 5th September
finals after break
University High School: 24th July
finals after break
The Preuss School UCSD: 20th August
finals after break
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Oct 26, 2012 at 4:26 pm
To "...",
No argument that there are schools throughout the Bay Area and US who still have finals after break. I just couldn't find any in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties (per Marie's question).
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Oct 28, 2012 at 2:41 pm
@adds stress
[Portion removed by Palo Alto Online staff due to quoting a third party without verification possible.]
We need to have teachers on the committee so that we can get to a good compromise that preserves pre-break finals and improves the implementation.
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Oct 28, 2012 at 2:56 pm
[Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Oct 28, 2012 at 3:02 pm
Time to Thrive's subtly named yahoo group: email@example.com: Web Link
Phil Mahoney's comments from October 2011 Board Meeting: Web Link
Phil Mahoney's post to notthiscalendar group 2 weeks ago asking for the positions of the candidates as to the calendar: Web Link
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Oct 29, 2012 at 10:29 am
[Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on Oct 29, 2012 at 12:45 pm
If you look at other high performing high schools with k-12 districts and a relatively similar demographic, they ALL have finals AFTER winter break. 3 of the 4 start school AFTER labor day
Wellesley - School starts 9-4, Finals 1-31
Edina - school starts 9-4, finals 1-24
Scarsdale - school starts 9-4, final 1-24
New Trier - school starts 8-22, finals 1-16
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Oct 29, 2012 at 1:11 pm
@compare - ok, that's interesting. But really we should compare to the schools around them, to figure out if this tells us something about high-performing schools, or just something about schools in those parts of the country, right?
In the Boston area, just about all schools (good and bad) start after Labor Day - the weak Boston City schools, for instance, have pretty much the same calender as outstanding Wellesley. Ditto for New York - the New York City schools start about the same day as Scarsdale.
The schools in our part of the country (the Peninsula at least) overwhelmingly start before labor day and have finals before. The schools in Florida (just to pick a for-instance), just about all start in mid-August (some earlier I believe).
I continue to believe there is no "right way" to set up the school calendar and this is a good example of a distracting mountain being made from a mole hill.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Oct 29, 2012 at 10:22 pm
Thousands and thousands of students and hundreds upon hundreds of teachers and administrators throughout San Mateo and Santa Clara counties have years of experience with a calendar that ends first semester at the Winter break.
They celebrate Christmas at the same time as PAUSD. Their seniors apply under the same deadlines - and get in - to the same colleges and universities as Paly & Gunn students. They seek local summer jobs and internships and their families need to arrange child care, summer camps and plan vacations, too.
But a presumption that PAUSD has little or nothing to learn from these other local schools and communities - and that we can only look to Wellesley, Scarsdale, New Trier and the like - has kept us from local practical wisdom, and entrenched in endless debates that could have been substantive, educational and brief. Instead, our decision-makers have been paralyzed by emotional arguments based mainly on what parents either can or cannot imagine about this calendar - when experience, insights and answers were nearby all along. Heck, a number of former PAUSD teachers, counselors, and top administrators now work in these surrounding districts.
I do understand why PAUSD compares itself to "benchmark schools" like New Trier, Edina, etc. But the attitude that we have nothing to learn from our neighbors abounds and has cost us dearly.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Oct 30, 2012 at 9:17 am
Honest Question
The difference is that PAUSD has far more students applying to colleges with application deadlines that are in late December through the first week of January than any of the schools around us which makes the December crunch really hard on our students.
The high school around us most that is most like Paly is Saratoga High, which our district said it would be studying to see how its pre-break calendar is working out for them.
Saratoga has 60% of its senior class attending state and community colleges which have simple applications to fill out with deadlines that are rolling or fall in November, weeks before finals. At Paly, only about 30% are in this boat.
Seniors who attend private colleges with lengthy applications due right after finals: 30% at Saratoga and about 60% at Paly.
And just in case you think everyone at Saratoga High is loving their new pre-break finals calendar, read the article some Saratoga students wrote for their high school newspaper right after last year's finals.
Entitled "Finals Before Break Not Worth the Stress" they wrote that "even though many teachers had been forced to cut down the material taught, there was still little time to study...The new schedule came down especially hard on seniors...the period before the break became extremely stressful and hindered the holiday plans... The schedule that was intended to bring more cheer to the holiday break ended up increasing stress and lowering spirits."
Web Link
Saratoga High's calendar has very uneven semesters -- a 14 day difference -- and a later August school start, an extra long weekend in October, and a June school year end so that students can have a few weeks off between AP exams and finals. PAUSD's new calendar has none of these stress-releasing features.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Oct 30, 2012 at 10:36 am
There are many more local schools available to learn from than just Saratoga High (especially since last year was their first year with the new calendar).
SeeSaratogaHigh's percentage data are interesting and should be put into the mix, but they are beside HQ's point that the experience of these other school communities has direct value to PAUSD. No harm in asking...:
What was the main motivation for your school district to move from a traditional calendar to one that has finals before winter break?
What was it like the first year you changed to the new calendar? For teachers, for students and their families, for athletics? What specific advantages and/or disadvantages have you experienced?
Now that you've had the calendar for "x" years, what is it like for teachers, for students, for athletics? Have the advantages and/or disadvantages changed or remained the same?
Is there anything you could have done differently in your first year to help make a smoother transition?
What have you heard from seniors and how the calendar affects their college application process? What are you doing to support them, in particular?
Are there particular segments in the student population that have been affected by the calendar more than others? Grade levels, athletes, high-achieving, under-performing, working/non-working, etc.? How can you tell?
Are there certain areas of study that have been directly affected by the calendar change? Which ones and in what way?
Our community is very worried about the crunch of holiday events and performances, family time and finals happening all at once. What has your school done to mitigate this?
If your school chose a calendar with unequal semesters, we'd be particularly interested in hearing how your teachers reconcile the difference, and how this impacts students and learning.
How have you evaluated whether moving to this type of calendar has been a success or not?
What is your overall satisfaction with this type of calendar?
Have you considered returning to a traditional calendar? Why or why not?
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Oct 30, 2012 at 11:51 am
We can study all we like and compare data points - or we can just try it out and see for ourselves. Oh wait a minute - we ARE trying it out. So we'll get a first glimpse this year about how it goes. And no matter how it goes, I expect it will be better next year. And then we can noodle on it again if we like.
Many kids have been happy and successful with both schedules, so this isn't a hand-wringing decision in my book. Let's see how things play out and in the meantime, support our kids as best we can.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Oct 30, 2012 at 1:25 pm
@Umm. It'll be worse next year, because we'll be further out of alignment with local business closings and stanford closing for the winter break, so we'll have a lot of kids on vacation without parents and vice versa.
And another correction: It was a 12-day shift, not a five day shift. Under the traditional calendar school was due to start Aug 28th this year; the calendar rolls (or used to roll) within a 7 day window, not keep marching infinitely earlier (or we'd be starting in april eventually). The fact that this was a reset year masked the true magnitude of the change, if this calendar stays for more than another year, the 12-day difference will be far more noticeable.
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Oct 30, 2012 at 2:14 pm
@Paly Parent - I think you are incorrect, it will be better. The teachers and students will have more experience with it and plan their time better, and everyone will be more comfortable.
This may come as a surprise, but both in Palo Alto and just about everywhere else families deal with school breaks that differ from parent vacation schedules. We all manage fine. I guess we'll have more experience handling that issue too ;-)
If we stop telling each other how terrible it all is (before actually going through it), we might surprise ourselves and find that it isn't so bad - heck, it might even be good.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Oct 31, 2012 at 10:48 am
@Umm. I hope you're right. But it's not about planning time better--it's having time in the right places to start with. Reasonable people can disagree about where those places are; I just would like to see the committee look at the entire school year, not just winter break, during the next calendar cycle.
a resident of Crescent Park
on Oct 31, 2012 at 11:06 am
From the look of this thread, the same mistakes are being made.
High-school students are only small number of students in the district. They can't be the sole focus for the calendar changes, which impact every student in the district. If you aren't going to even consider middle and elementary school students the effort is doomed for failure.
At least the people organizing the committee recognize this.
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Oct 31, 2012 at 3:01 pm
@Paly Parent - that makes sense to me. And I hope the outcomes is agreeable to most people.
From my perspective, I tend to think it asks a lot, too much really, of the school district to try to sort out what is "best for everyone" in terms of the calendar. Stanford vacations, ski weeks, trips to foreign lands, summer jobs, etc. - frankly, I would hope they wouldn't consider those things at all. Their job is do effectively deliver education, while meeting the statutory requirements. That's plenty. If they think they can be most effective starting in mid-August, finals in December, out by June 1 - fine. If they think starting later is better - also fine. If they genuinely think it makes no difference, then I could see the above considerations entering in. But the schools aren't designed to serve the parents; they are designed to educate the children. When they try to expand that mission, they usually make mistakes, and often compromise on their core mission.
That may be a little on the strong side, but I think that perspective is quite useful in assessing an issue that otherwise has a ton of countervailing considerations.
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Nov 4, 2012 at 5:31 am
@Umm. Well, that's one approach. Our community, however, has committed to supporting what are called "Developmental Assets," that's a buzzword (that I don't particularly like, but it is what it is) that describes things beyond the straight books and tests and classes that contribute to the student's success. It's things like family connections and connections with other adults and things like that. It is true that kids without family support of their academic efforts have a much tougher time than others. So we'd have to step away from this commitment to ignore the impact of the calendar on these kinds of ties.
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Nov 19, 2012 at 7:30 pm
I think it would be worth looking at absenteeism as part of the calendar issue.
I know of one family taking their two high schoolers out of school this week. I feel sure that they are not the only ones and I have heard anecdotally that many schools now give the whole of Thanksgiving week because of absenteeism.
Since school started on a Thursday, I wonder if there was much absenteeism - particularly in the elementary schools.
It probably will not be an issue this year as winter break starts on a Friday, but it will be interesting to see what absenteeism happens when winter break starts midweek, particularly in non finals middle and elementary schools.
Unfortunately, one year is not going to show the full picture of what will happen with broken weeks for winter break when Christmas Day falls later in the week.
Burger chain Shake Shack to open in Palo Alto
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Eat, Surf, Love
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The Cost of Service
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One-on-one time
By Cheryl Bac | 0 comments | 281 views


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UNT, TWU campuses accommodate more than 100 students in overflow
Campus buzz is returning to Texas Woman's University and the University of North Texas this week, as students havestarted to move back on campus.
At TWU, students returned on Wednesday and Thursday. Meanwhile, at UNT, members of student organizations have started moving in early with official move-in scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday.
For both campuses, however, it is a little crowded,as both have more than 100 students in overflow — meaning more students than planned beds — caused by students who sign up for housing late.
To accommodate late enrollment, both campuses began adding students to rooms, turning them into triples instead of doubles, and have placed students with resident assistants, who typically live alone. For UNT,about 30 male students will be placed at the Comfort Suites at UNT until on-campus spaces are available, said Elisabeth Warren, senior director of housing at UNT.
"The men at the Comfort Inn could be there all semester, and we'll start tripling them back as we lose some enrollment,"Warren said. "If they're a first-time-in-college male, we are still trying toget them on campus, not in a hotel. We get a couple of cancellations every day,and we're just trying to find every space we can to get them on campus."
Some students at TWU still do not have housing assignments and won't know where they will be placed until they arrive on campus, said Richard Nicholas, vice president of student life. These were the last students to enroll.
"We give them an assignment when they actually show up. But, because of those dominoes, we try not to make assignments that will keep changing," he said. "If at the last minute we hear someone is not coming,it's like dominoes — one might come out of a triple, and then a latecomer goes in that spot."
A similar situation happened last year for UNT, and most resident assistants had another student in their room, Warren said. With the construction of a new residence hall on the board now, scheduled to open in fall 2015, she said the overflow will be alleviated.
Despite the overflow, the two largest move-in days for TWU went smoothly, Nicholas said. Faculty, staff and students volunteered to help unload cars and hand out water, and one day a lunch buffet was set up for students and parents.
"That makes it a little easier, so people aren't quite on their own so much and they know what to do," he said. "It's gone very well. We were able to balance the two days a little better instead of such a large group today. It's always hectic."
While some students have started moving in at UNT,the big move-in day is Saturday, when most of the first-time students will movein starting at 8 a.m., Warren said. They too will have water stations, about200 volunteers, as well as large bins to help transport belongings from cars to dorms.
"This is just a really fun time for our staff. Wespent a lot of time preparing for this and have trained for a few weeks. So Saturday, when we open our doors, it's truly a joyful event for my staff," she said. "It's tiring, but it's joyful."
Students will continue to move in up through Tuesday night, Warren estimated, as classes at UNT start Wednesday. At TWU, Nicholas estimated the older students would move in through the weekend, before Monday classes.
"We're just looking forward to having all of them here and getting classes started again," he said.
JENNA DUNCAN can be reached at 940-566-6889 and viaTwitter at @JennaFDuncan.


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IMLS Press Contacts
Mamie Bittner, firstname.lastname@example.com
Washington, DC—The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) announced today 235 grants serving 242 tribes and totaling $1,666,000 for the Native American Library Services Basic Grant and Basic Grant with Education/Assessment Option Program.
"This funding helps American Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages maintain their core library services," said IMLS Director Susan Hildreth. "This work is essential to ensuring the educational and cultural preservation of tribal communities."
Click here to view the list of funded projects.
Click here for more information about this funding opportunity including program guidelines and contacts.
Use the IMLS grants search tool to view our archive of grants awarded by the Institute. Search grants by grant name, institution, or program.
About the Institute of Museum and Library Services
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. Through grant making, policy development, and research, we help communities and individuals thrive through broad public access to knowledge, cultural heritage, and lifelong learning. To learn more about IMLS, please visit www.imls.gov.


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Smoltz dislocates right pinky
Hurt in collision, righty might be able to make next start
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com
Smoltz was forced to leave Monday night's game against the Nationals at RFK Stadium after dislocating his right pinky finger during a minor seventh-inning bump with Austin Kearns. X-rays were negative and because there wasn't a fracture, Braves manager Bobby Cox says there's a chance his veteran right-hander will start on Saturday against the Red Sox.
"It could have been broken, and he would have had to miss a month or two," said a somewhat relieved Cox after his team's 2-1 loss to the Nationals.
When Cox witnessed Smoltz's initial reaction, he was almost sure something had been broken. After bumping his pinky on Kearns' left elbow during a rundown in front of the plate, the Braves hurler reacted to the immediate excruciating pain. He jumped in the air, took a few steps and violently threw his glove to the ground in disgust.
"It happened so fast and the pain was so great, that I just thought it was broke," Smoltz said. "Then 35 or 40 seconds went by and I was asking [Braves head athletic trainer Jeff] Porter to pull it."
Porter put Smoltz's pinky back in place and by the time the game had finished, the swollen finger was wrapped in gauze. To get a better idea about whether he'll face the Red Sox, the Braves will have to see how the finger reacts over the next few days.
"Hopefully when the swelling goes down, we'll see what it does," Smoltz said. "Fortunately, it's my pinky, and you don't need it on any particular pitch. It's just whether or not the swelling is going to be able to subside."
If there is improvement, Smoltz plans to throw a side session on either Wednesday or Thursday. He's anxious to see how his slider and split-finger react while throwing with this injured digit.
"Those are certainly two pitches that I need against the next team that I'm facing," said Smoltz, while being able to provide a postgame smile.
Smoltz had planned to celebrate his 40th birthday on Tuesday with a round of golf with former Braves teammate Greg Olson. But those plans were altered when the Nationals' Ryan Langerhans was unable to lay down a suicide bunt attempt in the seventh inning.
As soon as the pitch missed Langerhans' bat, Kearns found himself in no-man's land and immediately got in a rundown. This prompted a throw to Smoltz, who was attempting to make a routine tag and walk back to the mound with the second out having been recorded.
"Once I had the ball secured, I was trying to get out of the way and it was too late," Smoltz said. "It was like seven feet [of separation] when I caught the ball, so I thought it was going to be an easy tag. He still was coming pretty good. So I was trying to cushion it and get out of the way and his elbow hit my pinky."
As Smoltz exited the field, he frustratingly motioned toward the Nationals dugout because he thought Kearns had extended his left arm to make contact. But via replays, the right-hander was able to see that the Nationals outfielder kept his arms close to his chest.
"In the heat of the moment, I thought he was trying to knock the ball loose," Smoltz said. "But he was just trying to get out of the way. His elbow hit my pinky and chipped my finger and I was looking at [my finger standing] straight up."
Kearns, whose seventh-inning RBI double accounted for one of the three hits Smoltz surrendered over 6 2/3 innings, said he was initially worried that the Braves hurler had suffered a severe injury.
"I didn't think I did anything wrong," Kearns said. "I felt for Smoltz. He is one of the best. I enjoyed competing against him. I was hoping he didn't think it was anything dirty about it. I sure didn't think so."
While allowing the Nationals two runs, Smoltz lost for the second time this season. Both instances have come in games when his mound opposition was Jason Bergmann, who has limited the Braves to one run and three hits over 14 innings this year.
"I feel like I'm on top of my game right now, and I don't want something flukey to take me out or miss something or alter my mechanics," Smoltz said. "I'll have to see day by day what this does. Hopefully I won't need my pinky and I can get the swelling out."
Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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He is even less efficient that DeRozan.
The only advantage I'd give Ellis is he does not have to be set up off 2 and 3 screens to get his shot.
Its Monta not Monte... atleast spell his name right lol
Haven't posted in a while since apparently work blocks me from throwing in my two cents on the boards haha. Jumping in late but if Raps go with rebuild, I'd offer the Cavs Gay and Amir for Tristan and the #1. Who the Raps take with that pick, I dunno
this question just got a lot more interesting. There are some professional tankers in the atlantic now and we're not one of them
Mad frustrating. I see another fluke good year because no one else is trying, and then back to mediocrity. Am I over reacting?
God damn boston just got 4 first rounders for their coach and two players. And gave themselves a good chance to grow on the fly while losinv and gaining ping pong balls.
We will make the playoffs get a less talented draft pick and then be surpassed by the teams that start their rebuilds this year instead of 5 years ago like we did.
That Gay trade cost us a lot more then it shows.
Eastern Conference teams that will be tanking next season:
Millwaukee (possibly)
That places us in a "heated" battle for the 6th seed...good greif.
Looking at how bad a couple of those teams are going to be (76ers are going to be hopeless! [by design]) I'd say tanking next season has huge potential for disappointment.
As I said at the time, the decision to keep Colangelo post-lockout set this team back not one year or two, but 5 or 6. Too many mistakes to fix. We keep debating what should be done with this team but the answer is not easy or simple. They are light years away from the Big 4 (or 5) in the East. I hope Masai was ready for this - it's a really, really tough, bad job right now.
This is going to be an annoying year, I can feel it.
The sole positive might be that with Boston, Philly, Detroit, Orlando, Charlotte, Atlanta (most likely), Mil (most likely), all playing the Andrew Wiggins sweepstakes, the Raps might finally get a home playoff game by default. Yeah! Although, I do think that Cleveland (I really like Bennett in that situation and think he will make them better right away) and Washington will be vastly improved if they stay healthy, so 8th place is probably the realistic expectation.
What's sadder is that we're all seeing this now, but the average joe fan will get excited when the Raps slip into the playoffs... They'll think we're crazy when we bitch about this for the next 2 seasons while all the other East teams reload. Ugh. This isn't depressing as a fan at all.
Hearing the Pistons could make serious charge, and be serious contender, for free agent swingman Andre Iguodala (Nuggets). #NBA— Sam Amico (@SamAmicoFSO) June 28, 2013
Lots of talk prior to draft they are looking for veterans to compliment youth to make playoff push. Enough losing.
Lets see what happens after FA. Everyone wrote them off last year after JJ trade and they were no worse.
On the road to nowhere but steadily improving.
I don't call them tanking anymore. They are proper rebuilding. Tanking has a stigma. I am in awe of Orlando and their GM.
We'll see.
So in the East our known tankers are: Philly, Boston.
Charlotte are just bad.
Orlando is going through the process.
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As this issue goes to press, the Travel Warning has still not appeared on the US State Department web site. You can watch for its appearance by going to: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html. If that address is too difficult to input, simply type US State Department on the search line of google and find your way forward from there. The good news is, I understand the original scary warning that was planned is being watered down. What eventually emerges may not be significantly different from what currently appears in the Zimbabwe Consular Information Sheet, which can be found at the address mentioned above. It is worth noting, however, that there may be some new names added to the list of individuals with whom Americans are not allowed to do business. If you have a safari booked to Zimbabwe, you may want to be sure your operator, or his partners, do not appear on the newly augmented banned list. For sure, I will issue an E-Mail Extra News Bulletin as soon as the Travel Warning is posted.
As for the on-the-ground situation, I believe the country remains safe. Personally, I would not hesitate to go there if I had a safari booked. The government continues to view the safari industry as an important source of foreign exchange, and is carefully protecting hunters from any trouble. Likely as not, if you go to Zimbabwe, you will not even be aware of the national tragedy that is unfolding.........(continued)


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Your Waste of TimeMay 15th, 2013
An other module of the EXPO 1: New York exhibition was the sculpture "Your Waste of Time" by Olafur Eliasson. He placed several massive pieces of ice that broke off from Iceland's largest glacier, Vatnajökull, in a big room that was cooled down below 0°. The oldest ice in the glacier is estimated to have originated some 800 years ago. Of course the power needed to do this, comes from solar panels that were installed especially on the roof of the MoMA PS1.
You can experience this sculpture at the MoMA PS1 in NYC till September 2nd.


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Upcoming Conferences
We hope you will join us for this year's conferences. Click the conference titles below for more detailed information (usually available approximately four months prior to each meeting). The most current information on these conferences is available through this Web site.
For information on speaking or presenting at upcoming conferences, please see Abstract Submittal Deadlines


text: A professional photographer has been hired to take pictures at the graduation ceremony. Family members are encouraged to remain in their seats. You will receive a color proof in the mail approximately one week after the ceremony. There is no obligation to purchase. Cap and gown portraits will also be taken at the Grad Finale.


text: What's the best Babolat multifilament for my spare stick? I would ideally like to use natural gut, but seeing as the racquet will probably spend most of it's time on a shelf in my room, or in a sports-bag, I'm not sure that is the best choice. Am I wrong? The racquet is different from my regular stick (I use a Wilson Steam 100) so matching is not an issue. I only use it to test strings, or to complete my session when the strings snap on my regular stick. Cost isn't an issue either as it's not my main stick. It's currently strung with Wilson Sensation 16g. I want to give Babolat a try. Maybe a 17g multi. What Babolat multies do you like? I'd prefer control/feel over power if that helps.


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The Carpathians form a natural bridge between Western and Eastern Europe, allowing for species migration and genetic exchange. They contain some of the least disturbed ecosystems such as the largest European natural beech forest complex as well as vast tracks of mountain primeval forests. They house numerous endemic species (over 480) and threatened mountain plant species and communities, while harbouring one third (3,988) of all European vascular plant species. The highest peak of the Carpathians, Gerlach culminates at 2,655m in Slovakia.
After the Alps, the Carpathians, are the second largest chain of mountains in Central Europe, and from the point of view of Central Europe, the most important. The Carpathians are a subsystem of the Alpine-Himalayan system. They are divided into three provinces: Western Carpathians, Eastern Carpathians, and Southern Carpathians. The rivers of the Carpathian mountains lead to the Danube into the Black Sea, and to the Visla into the Baltic Sea.
From a zoological point of view, the Carpathians are an important host for many animal and plant species. Many endemic and relict species of various systematic groups can be found here. Some examples: Ursus arctos, Triturus alpestris, Triturus montandoni, Tetrao urogallus, Strix uralensis, Picoides leucotos, Aquila chrysaetos, Sorex alpinus, Chionomys nivalis, Canis lupus, Rupicapra rupicapra ssp. tatrica, Marmota marmota ssp. latirostris and others.
See Carpathians satellites images, here


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The teams are set and the draw is just two days away, and now we know what the official match ball of the 2014 FIFA World Cup will look like.
On Tuesday adidas unveiled brazuca, complete with its own twitter handle - which gained 40,000 followers in less than 24 hours.
I'm @brazuca, match ball of the 2014 FIFA #WorldCup. Yes I'm a ball. Yes I'm tweeting. Join me on my journey! #ballin pic.twitter.com/KerKWgFdez
— brazuca (@brazuca) December 3, 2013
From adidas' press release: brazuca was named back in September 2012 following a public vote in Brazil involving 1 million football fans; the name "brazuca" is an informal local term which means "Brazilian", or to describe the Brazilian way of life.
brazuca went through a thorough testing process over a two and a half year period involving more than 600 of the world's top players and 30 teams in 10 countries across three continents, making it the most tested ball ever by adidas and ensuring that it is suited to all conditions. Clubs involved in testing included AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Palmeiras and Fluminese. Players involved in the process included global football stars Leo Messi, Iker Casillas, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Zinedine Zidane.
adidas has supplied the official match ball to all FIFA World Cup matches since 1970 and has released a new ball for all 12 finals since.
From 1970 to 2014! Take a look at the match balls of the FIFA World Cup! #allin or nothing. https://t.co/cY26NEeVpl
— adidas UK (@adidasUK) December 4, 2013


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Well it sounds like ya had a great night, but I'm deeply saddened how that beautiful pie sat neglected alone. I send my condolences, as I sit haunted by visions of the slow fall from piping fresh heights to the chasms of icy ruin. It was a good pizza, so light and happy with its whimsically placed cheeses and youthful spice, it clearly meant no harm to anyone. It just wanted to have a place in this world, a purpose if you will, a reason to exist. Isn't that what we all truly desire after all? I just hope you're both happy.J. RIP
Oh, so I guess you're surprised to see that I'm such a good eugoogleizer.
Sure, easy for you to say, I had to eat 96 slices! I'm paying for it today.
Saad,By any chance, did you note the bake times for the two pizzas, either actual or relative?Peter
Saad,I think there are a couple of principles that may have come into play with the two pizzas: hydration and skin density/thickness. With respect to the hydration, a dough with a higher hydration will expand more freely than one with a lower hydration. It will also bake up differently as a result because it will have more insulative properties than the dough with the lower hydration and concentrate the heat more on the bottom and produce a crispier bottom crust. Tom Lehmann discusses this difference in his "Physics 101" post at the PMQ Think Tank at http://thinktank.pmq.com/viewtopic.php?p=45476#45476.In your case, when you rolled out the dough, you compressed it and forced out a certain amount of the gas. That made the skin more dense (less gas) and thinner than if you had opened up the skin entirely by hand. As a result, the heat transfer through the skin should have been greater and faster, leading to a faster top bake. If you used the appearance of the top of the pizza to decide when to pull the pizza from the oven, as is quite common, you may have pulled the pizza sooner than you did the other pizza, which would have had a slower top bake. That could have translated into a softer, less crispy crust. Tom Lehmann sometimes suggests that one roll out or sheet a dough ball part way and then stretch the skin out to the final, desired size by hand. This approach is discussed by Tom at the PMQ Think Tank post at http://thinktank.pmq.com/viewtopic.php?p=41080#41080. I believe the same method is shown in a Lehmann (Zeak) video at http://www.pmq.com/tt2/videos/id_181/title_How-to-Make-Pizza-Dough/. There are three parts to the video. I believe the sheeting/stretching method is covered in Part 2.Peter


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The Best Treadmills for Every Need and Every Budget
The headphones deliver your favorite motivational tunes while stealthily assessing your heart rate and other metabolic measures (via the blood flow in your outer ear). The wristband displays a full range of fitness data (calories, speed, GPS, pace, and more) at the flick of a wrist, and shows incoming call and text notifications from your Bluetooth-enabled phone. Pricing not yet announced.
Wear the silicone Mio Link on your wrist and you can continuously monitor your heart rate without ever having to put on a sweaty, uncomfortable chest strap. $99, available in March 2014
From "Kerchiefs" to Kleenex Anti-Viral: 90 Years of Kleenex


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Venomous Visitors: Religious Right Leaders Had Run Of Bush White House
It is hardly a secret that the Religious Right helped elect President George W. Bush and exercised extraordinary influence with his administration. But if we need more evidence, it's just been put on the table.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Government (CREW) has just released a report tallying visits to the Bush White House by major Religious Right players. CREW filed a request for visitor records that coughed up the information.


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Russellville police responded to the 2900 block of North Arkansas Avenue at approximately 10:24 p.m. Thursday in reference to a pedestrian/motor vehicle accident.
The Russellville Police Department's investigation determined the pedestrian attempted to cross North Arkansas Avenue when he was struck by a car, a black Kia Sorento, traveling northbound in the outside lane on North Arkansas Avenue.
The pedestrian was wearing dark, non-reflective clothing when he was struck by the vehicle.
The pedestrian was transported to Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center and was later air-lifted to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. He was in the Intensive Care Unit in critical condition at the time of this release.


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Is Korbut on house arrest?132
- 6.02.2013, 11:27
The information about that has appeared on the internet this morning.
The web-site Belarusian Partisan reported that the former executive officer of Lukashenka's Mikalai Korbut was placed on house arrest. The web-site referred to its own information sources. Allegedly, having returned to the administration of Lukashenka's as the head of the executive office, Viktar Sheiman informed the dictator that state money is being stolen on the Belarusian construction projects in Sochi and the terms of delivery are being sabotaged.
Sheiman's predecessor was removed from the position after the accusations of allowing for massive violations with the building of Belarusian construction projects in Sochi
An investigatory inspection is being carried out and Miakal Korbut has been placed on house arrest until it finishes.
Moreover, his deputy allegedly attempted a suicide – he cut his veins right in his office. Fortunately, he survived and was taken to a hospital. Only the suicide attempts saved the official from being arrested.
We would remind that Mikalai Korbut replaced Mikalai Damashkevich in spring 2009 as the head of the president's administration executive office. Damashkevich left quietly but barely escaped prison for bribery. By the way, this Korbut should not be confused with a former Finance Minister, it is his full namesake, who worked in the structure of the administration's executive office as the first deputy head.
Lukashenka then set the task to put in operation all the Belarusian construction projects being built in Sochi for the 2014 Olympics: a sport and fitness center in Krasnaya Poliana, the development of the resort Belarus in Sochi, the reconstruction and building of new facilities here.