text:
Change is so fundamental to all things in the world that it is the most important obstacle to overcome in a game of survival of the fittest. It is constant for all times. This immutable principle may have been the "raison d'être" behind the craving by many to understand change, as a phenomenon from wider and deeper perspectives. Managing change therefore requires managers to think about the organization from a new perspective.
For any organization, including the library, change can come from one of two sources: internal or external. Internal changes are changes initiated within the organization and relate to how to do things, when to do things or what new things to do. The issue of participation, manipulation and resistance become of some significance in the management of internal change. Resistance to change must be recognized as an initial first reaction of the majority of people. It is important to note that change management in the information world entails most importantly, both human and equipment. The electronic library is an important ingredient for the quality of life in future societies and libraries and librarians have the responsibility for bringing them into being.
Keywords: changes, change management, information, development, innovation, digitization, vision, organization.
* * *
Long before Johnson's 1998 celebrated story Who Moved My Cheese? a bestselling text on change was published, Charles Darwin in the Origin of Species (1859), documented compelling scientific evidence on species that became extinct because of mal-adaptation or resistance to change. It is intriguing to discover in today's business world, that most businesses that are making waves never existed beyond few decades. In the same vein, most organizations in the past, that roamed their environments like dinosaurs, are today extinct or too flaccid to make earth-breaking impact. Change has caused all these. Organizations that have realized the inevitability of change have accepted the onerous tasks of managing it. Others that believed otherwise, have unwittingly surrendered themselves to change, to tweak the way it deems fit.
Change is so fundamental to all things in the world that it is the most important obstacle to overcome in a game of survival of the fittest. It is constant for all times. This immutable principle may have been the raison d'etre behind the craving by many to understand change, as a phenomenon from wider and deeper perspectives. Consequently, this perhaps, has attracted to the field of management and indeed the entire sciences, as well as humanity, avalanche of change theories, postulations and practices.
Nowhere in the world economy has change made such unimaginable impacts as it has done in the information and communication technology (ICT) world in the past few decades, especially in the last two decades when the ICT wind has blown across every continent of the world.
Contemporary Issues in Change Management
Change by definition requires creating a new system. Managing change therefore requires managers to think about the organization from a new perspective. Duck (1998) argues that this demands from the manager, something beyond mere breaking change into small pieces – total quality management, process reengineering, employee empowerment and managing each as operating machine, akin to treating the human body of one ailment at a time. Change management appears to be influenced by three paradigms viz: deeply held, unconscious set of assumptions and values, things taken for granted, and expectations.
Zohar (1997), in his own view, identified two broad influences which managers of change are susceptible to. These are Newtonian and Quantum constructs. Under the Newtonian perspective, change management sees an organization from the perspective of atomicity, with emphasis on separate working parts. This leads to a tendency toward fragmentation. Second, the Newtonian believes that change management is determinate and thus is governed by iron laws. This is why some of their proponents are taken aback when results of change programme are way off from prediction.
The third underlying assumptions of the Newtonian construct on change management is the view that, all answers on change, must be "either, or". That is why those who subscribe to it give premium to change leaders, who 'keep their eyes on the ball' and 'see clearly a particular vision to pursue'. It is from these people that we hear frequent arguments that, there is one best way to do things or the best software package to drive information and communication technology.
The fourth is actuality, which concerns 'here and now'. This anchors on immediate results that can be touched and measured. The fifth concerns 'subject-object split'. Managers influenced by this movement divide the world into the organization and its environment, as well as the organization and its market. According to Zohar (1997), these managers believe that change programme and management, should empower them to manage that environment and to exploit the market. Quite often we hear these managers shouting to their subordinates "Customers are out there and they are to be managed. Their tastes are to be manipulated, their dissatisfactions stoked up, their expectations set".
Sixth change management, under the Newtonian influence, regards the organization, both political and corporate as existing in a constant and seemingly unresolved tension between the individual and the group. That the thrust of change management is to foster the initiative and creative qualities of the individual, while at the same time developing the co-operation and team qualities of the group. It is based on this that we have many change managers stressing the crucial importance of the individual, at the same time, being suspicious of the group. Leadership under this context cultivates own inner light and individual potential, while feeling that there is nothing or little lesson to draw from the great insight and inspiration of the unexpressed qualities of the group being led.
Seventh, Newtonian managers on change management are under the influence of 'focus, certainty, and control'. A story is told of a famous physicist, Lord Kelvin, who often advised his best students to avoid making a career in physics, because they had solved all the problems that required solutions. In other words, there was nothing exciting or new that a newcomer would discover in the subject. Change management under this influence, creates a situation that makes the leader see others and their ways of doing things, as the source of the problems of the organization, while nothing is wrong the way he administers his job.
Quantum change management on the other hand has eight fundamental assumptions: First, that the organization's change programme and management is tittered on 'both-and'. As Zohar (1997) succinctly captures this thus:
"It has both unique, particlelike individual aspect and a shared, relational, wavelike group aspect. I am me, my genes, my history, and my unique experience, but I am also all these others with who I live and work and share experience with and to whom I relate. Neither my private, individual self nor my public relational self is more important or more primary". All these must be integrated and utilized for the maximum benefit of the organization and the community it serves. And since the existing infrastructure is inadequate to support those aspirations, new ones are nourished to take care of the repositioning.
Second, that every change programme and management should be holistic and contextual. It must extend across the organization. Third, every change management must be self-organizing. It must remain at the edge, 'poised precariously... yet creatively between order and chaos'. Change programme and management within this sphere has no hard limits, nor set of definable boundaries. Although some constraints may be there, it is not allowed to determine the direction of management of such change. Though it is a character, yet this is always moulded. Change management must continue to re-invent itself and always remoulding its brain.
Fourth, change management is free. Though change may be constrained by material resources, past experience, environmental conditions, yet change managers that subscribe to the quantum theory, argue that its boundaries must be elastic and in a state of flux, subject however to a creative uncertainty. Fifth, change management must be flexible and responsible at the edge. Thus the change manager must come to terms with the fact that he is part of the organization; and the organization, part of the society. Given this fact, he must approach all issues about change from participatory stance. For the action wrongly taken could have very adverse impact on the organization.
Sixth, quantum change management assumes that the organization thrives on diversity. When an organization is used to one truth, one-way worldview or expression of reality, one best way of doing things and unambiguous choice, it drives away initiative and abort dreams. A change manager under quantum influence regards all these things as obstacles to change implementation. The belief is that, plural way of accommodating the multiplicity and diversities of societies, markets, individuals, customers, employees, make for a better change programme management than the Newtonian 'one-way' observatory. Seventh, a change programme and management should be playful. Zohar (1997) has argued that ninety-nine percent of all species (or organizations) that vanished, had tight structure that failed to respond to environmental conditions. More importantly was fear to take risks. They believe that, to live in the present is more comforting than sharing or taking the risk about the future. Often when the future comes like a hurricane, they are blown away. But when a change programme has much elements of playfulness, its new organization invariably create infrastructure that encourage play and reward structures and recognize the value of taking risks.
Eight, change management must be vision centred and value driven. Under the Newtonian influence, a change manager believes that his duties and responsibilities are to ensure that employees are made to sell products or services. And the best result of any change programme management must be to meet present demand, to manipulate demand, to manipulate the public and market taste, and to desire the organization's products or services. Marketing drive is woven around society's illusion.
Change programmes and management that are influenced by quantum preachment go beyond all these. They recognize that people seek meaning that go beyond frustrations and limitations. They see people, customers, employees and environments as living systems that obey evolutionary laws, and are always reaching beyond themselves to new possibilities. Organizations that subscribe to this, toe the philosophical line of providing their customers and employees, new possibilities, dreams and meaning. The deep vision and value of the organization drive all these.
Notwithstanding, whether one subscribes to the Newtonian or Quantum change management, one thing that must be admitted of change is that, it is never effected without some pains and discomforts. That is why some advocates have advised organizations to manage change with processes such as tinkering and kludging (Abrahamson, 2000). These in plain language means that change should be effected in piecemeal followed at appropriate interval by larger ones. Companies that can manage overall change with these processes, according to these advocates, would achieve dynamic stability. It should however, be admitted that no matter how dynamic stability is managed, it is a difficult task to handle, though it has great advantage of allowing change to be effected without fatal organizational pains.
There is no doubt that one of the compelling reasons of the new attitudes of librarians and information managers worldwide is what has been called "the recent, worldwide acceleration in the pace and impact of change". It has been said, for instance, that it took 112 years to discover and apply the technology of photography, it took 56 years to develop and disseminate the use of the telephone; 35 years for the radio, 12 years for television and only 6 years for the atomic bomb. Change is thus today a significant fact of life whose impact is not always neutral. Indeed, if anything, the impact of most changes tends to be disorientating especially if it is not anticipated, planned for and properly managed.
Change Management in Library and Information Centres
For any organization, including the library, change can come from one of two sources: internal or external. Internal changes are changes initiated within the organization and relate to how to do things, when to do things or what new things to do. The critical issues here are how to make these changes generally acceptable to or accepted by the majority within the organization. Thus, the issue of participation, manipulation and resistance become of some significance in the management of internal change. All of these issues are strategies to influence the response of individuals within the organization to the changes. They are calculated to positively affect the perception of the individual as well as his attitudinal and behavioural disposition to the changes.
Participation entails involving those to be affected by the change in its formulation and implementation. This way it is more likely to secure their commitment and general willingness to accept the consequences of the change process. However, it is recognized that participatory strategies of managing change can be time-consuming and costly and there may be need in certain circumstances to use a strategy of personal power. This may be indeed more appropriate in situations where there is formal, recognized and accepted authority or where personal power arises from the effect of charisma. In either case, power strategies are best used where commitment to the changes process is not essential for its successful implementation or where the resources available are limited or when little resistance is anticipated.
Participatory strategies, however, must not be confused with manipulation. Manipulation is the conscious structuring of an event so that others, in spite of the semblance of participation, end up behaving in the manner intended by the change agent. Manipulation could involve the use of inducements or hidden threats to secure compliance or weaken the temptation to resist change. Its long-term success is, however always in doubt.
Resistance to change must be recognized as an initial first reaction of the majority of people. Within an organization, therefore, this can best be dealt with through negotiation and the change process facilitated through counseling, enlightenment and education. The effectiveness of such negotiation can be greatly enhanced by appreciating the causes of resistance. This could include fear of losing some current advantage of benefit, a sense of inadequate arising from the challenge of acquiring new skills, new behavioural pattern, new attitude or new ways of thinking or relating to people. On the other hand, resistance or hostility to change could entail a fundamental difference of viewpoint and could be a health development to be used constructively. Those resisting a particular change often have something of value to say. For this reason, the basis of their resistance should be adequately considered and made use of as appropriate.
Nonetheless, it is external change or changes in the environment in which the organization has to function that are often the more crucial ones. Changes in the environment tend to be of tremendous import and often taxes the creative ability of the organization. Such changes at best can be anticipated but can rarely be controlled. And yet it is from such changes that threats to the very survival of the organization could and do arise. Changes in the environment of an organization tend to arise from one or more of four sources: technological, economic, social and political.
Technological changes are either process or market driven. In the former, new methods, processes or approaches of doing things while in the latter, new products might force on an organization a change of emphasis. Technology development has been the most potent factor making for dramatic changes in the information world. Changes can lead to turbulent or traumatic situations within any organization. The goal of change management is thus to modulate and contain the negative consequences of such turbulent or conflict situation whilst drawing strength and renewal from the many opportunities that change provides. Management of change thus entails accurate and insightful anticipation of such opportunities and the adoption of suitable strategies to capitalize on them.
Management may feel that it has perfectly valid reasons for introducing organizational change, for example to respond to changes in the environment – market or technological, deal with the new arrangements required following an acquisition, merge or takeover or to eliminate overlapping areas of activity. Other reasons include to cater for the introduction of new activities or the elimination of old ones, gain economies of scale by amalgamating activities, facilitate better coordination, control or communications and to decentralize operations to place decision making closer to the point of action, to reduce the size of an unwieldy head office and/or to cut down on bureaucracy, centralize operations to provide for better control from the top, accommodate management changes and to 'shake up the business a bit' – management have been known to articulate a belief that change is a stimulus in itself. There could be some truth in this in a stagnant organization, but 'change for change's sake' is a dangerous doctrine.
Librarians and Management of Change
Librarians and information specialists are approaching a decision point. They must decide whether they will create changes in libraries that parallel the changing needs for information in society, and thus thrive in the electronic age, or whether they will continue to serve their traditional role as the custodians of books and other information media. In the words of Dowlin (1984) "the library has traditionally been defined as a place for books and the librarian as a keeper of books. The librarians' ties or association with books has served as an asset. We have been able to use the romantic aura of books to colour ourselves as important. Yet, as society has developed other means for storage and transmission of information and knowledge, our ability to impress society with our importance has decreased, our ties to books may become a liability".
The need for organized access to information has increased in the electronic age. A profession that can organize millions of books brings many of the skills needed for organizing information, regardless of format. If a book is viewed as a means to an end – access to information – it then becomes possible to consider other means to the same end and to include these means into design. The role of librarians and information specialists today is to increase access to information. New skills therefore need to be learned. The process of changing libraries and information centres has started. It is time for the librarians and information specialists to tackle the task systematically.
We must develop and define our role before others force their definition upon us. In order to arrive at our definition, we must become aware of the elements that impact what we do now, or will do in the future. Librarians and information specialists have crucial roles in managing and providing access to information. The electronic library is an important ingredient for the quality of life in future societies and libraries and librarians have the responsibility for bringing them into being. The process is not simple, it will require the mastery of many and varied tools by those who care to fulfill the promise.
Librarians have always served as guides to information resources. If the philosophy of service is to find the vehicle carrying the information, it needs to be expanded. If the librarian's concern is for supplying the information, regardless of the container, one has already made major progress towards the electronic library. Whereas the conventional criterion is to find the container of the information, the new criterion in the ICT era is based on finding the information. Therefore, a librarian or information specialist who is ICT literate is a valued professional also viewed as an agent of information transfer and an advocate for information accessibility.
It is important to note here that change management in the information world entails most importantly, both human and equipment. Human in the sense of managing the professional angle to change management in information provision brought about by the ICT while change management in equipment involves managing the new ICT equipment that is gradually replacing the old conventional criterion of finding the container of information by finding the information itself. Hence, the need to discuss the management of change in library information resources. This includes preservation of digitized library information resources and requirements, also the problems with digitization of library information resources.
Preservation of Digitized Information and Requirements
According to Rothenberg (1999), one of the changes of the information age is the preservation of digital information. The world as a whole now sees digitization as the solution to a wide range of problems emanating from the new information technology. This is unlike in the past when information was recorded simply on such diverse media as pebbles, papyrus parchment and plastic. In this period, most information was printed on paper. As a result of this very simple forms of information documentation the traditional and most expedient method of ensuring long term access to that information was simply to protect the integrity of the medium on which it was recorded that is to repair and rebind books.
The word digital information or document is a function of the new digital technology in the handling of information. It derives from the new informational artifact, which includes document, data, and records of all kinds in all media. Digital document according to Rothenberg (1999) include informational artifacts "some aspects of whose intended behaviour or use rely on their being encoded in digital form". The term digital in this context denotes means representing sequence of discrete symbolic values – each value having two or more unambiguously distinguishable states – so that they can, at least, in principle, be accessed, manipulated, copied, stored, and transmitted entirely by mechanical means, with high reliability.
One of the common characteristics of digital information or document is that they possess a peculiar collection of core digital attributes that must be retained. With the above characteristic it will therefore take the following conditions for the preservation of digital document to be effective: the document must possess the ability to be copied perfectly, it must be accessible without geographical constraints and to be disseminated at virtually the incremental cost, given the existence of appropriate digital infrastructure. Other conditions are that, it should be machine-readable so that they can be accessed, searched, and processed by automated mechanism that can modify them, reformat them and perform arbitrary compilation on their content in all phases of their creation and distribution and furthermore, new inherently digital document forms such a dynamic, distributed, interactive hypertext and hypermedia, must retain their unique functionality, including their ability to integrate information from disparate traditional sources, such as books, periodicals, newspapers, mail, phone messages, data, imagery and video.
Problems with Digitization
When the traditional form of library resources like books, pamphlets, journal etc. are digitalized, the digital storage media have had their lifetime unnecessary shortened. This is because with time and change in technology the new media will require new information format, which will be copied into it.
In most cases, most of these digital storage media require apparatus to make them readable. With change in technology these hardware and software become obsolete thereby shortening their useful life span. The generally visible problems with digitalization of library resources according to Rothenberg (1999) include:
Most digital documents and artifacts exist only in encoded form, requiring specific software to bring their bit stream to life and make them truly usable.
As these programme or the hardware / software environment in which they run become obsolete, the digital document that depends on them become unreadable due to their own encoding.
Apart from the technical aspect there are administrative, procedural, organizational and policy issues surrounding the management of digital materials. Digital documents are different from traditional papers documents in ways that have significant implication for the means by which they are generated, captured, transmitted, stored, maintained, accessed and managed. Paramount among these differences is the greatly reduced lifetime of digital information without some form of active preservation. This change management in library resources should be taken seriously in order to forestall the loss of vital information without any hope of their recovery.
Articulating Vision and Change
Failed change exercises in library and information centres are in most cases traceable to blurred vision. A visionless organization equally driven by a visionless manager will normally be unconscious of its environment, such organizations slip continually and consistently until they end up in the abyss. Truly great organizations understand the difference between what should never change and what should be open to change, between what is genuinely sacred and what is not. This rare ability to manage continuity and change – requiring a consciously practiced discipline – is closely linked to the ability to develop a vision.
Collins (1984) opined that vision provides about what core values and purpose to preserve and what future to stimulate progress toward. A well-conceived vision of a change in library and information centre consists of two major components – core ideology and envisioned future. The former defines what the library and information centres stand for and why it exists. The latter is what the organization aspires to become, to achieve or create – something that will require significant change and progress to attain. Vision is actually a function of the organization's environment – internal and external.
Successful change managers understand that it is more important to know what the organization is than where it is going, for where it is going will change as the world changes. Library is a part of the larger society and a creature of its immediate environment, whatever the type. Its resources, income, problems, opportunities and survival are generated and conditioned by the environment. To deal with change, library and information centre managers have two major options: react to the signs that changes are needed, thereby making piecemeal modification to deal with particular problems as they arise and develop a programme of planned change, making significant investments of time and other resources to alter the ways their organization operate. In this case the library and information centre manager anticipates and initiates the change process.
The Problems of Change
Those affected by organizational change may not perceive it the same way. They have seen it all happen before. They may call it organization by whim not by design. They will have seen fashions for centralization and decentralization come and go. And they may quote wisely amongst themselves the old saying: 'organize-re-organize-disorganize'. If they are classicists they may even be able to quote someone else who felt about re-organization as they do – Gaius Petronus Arbiter, a Roman governor of Nero's time who complained: "We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up to teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing, and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralization".
These fears and reactions may seem to library management to be unreasonable, but they exist, and they can seriously prejudice the success of a change, however carefully it has been planned and executed.
Adverse Reactions to Change
Adverse reactions to reorganization from the point of view of those affected by it are not unreasonable. It constitutes change, about which most people are wary, if not overtly hostile. The reasons for resistance to change in the library and information centres are quite clear: it is a combination of a fear of the unknown, a reluctance to change familiar and comfortable working habits, a belief in general that change is always for the worse, and a feeling in particular that the individuals affected by it are going to lose out in a number of specified ways. The most frequently expressed or felt fears about organizational change are: loss of job, reduction of career prospects, downgrading of work and possible reduction in present or future rates of pay, loss or erosion of carefully built up empires and loss of status. Others are reduction responsibility and job interest, need to learn new skills, which could be difficult, new and unknown bosses, or even new and known bosses if their bad reputations come before them, break-up of well established work groups and friendships and transfer to new, unknown (or known and disliked) locations or departments. The list is formidable but not exhaustive. There are other adverse reactions people can have to organizational change, and, whether or not they are justified, every attempt must be made to prevent them from happening before they arise or if this is impossible, at least to deal with them swiftly if they emerge.
Why Change Management Fails
Most managers conceive change as an event rather than a process. As an event, change stops at the level of restructuring; as a process, it seeks a total turnaround in the structure, the culture and the human ware of the organization. Real agility of the organization is achieved only when every function, office, strategy, goal and process, when every person is able and eager to rise to every challenge. This type and degree of fundamental change, commonly called revitalization or transformation, is what more and more organization see but all too rarely achieve. There are two basic reasons: large organizations have strong tendency and remarkable capacity to resist change of all kinds and most often, the kind of change being sought is so much more radical and uncomfortable than anything required by a shift in strategy or process or corporate structure. Revitalization as referred to here does not amount to incremental change, rather it includes shifts in strategies and involves a permanent rekindling of individual creativity as well as responsibility, a lasting transformation of the organization's internal and external relationship.
Gaining Acceptance for Change
Prevention is better than cure. Armstrong (1984) offered solutions to hostility, fears and adverse reactions that are often confronted by change managers:
Base the change on a thorough organizational analysis.
Involve those concerned in the analysis – explain why it is carried out and seek their views on what improvements are required.
If the change is forced on the organization, explain why it is happening and, if at all possible, allay fears at this stage about adverse effects.
Consult people on alternative methods of dealing with the situation. Try to get them to 'own' the solution as theirs, and not something imposed upon them by an unfeeling management.
Accentuate the positive benefits – if they exist – to those affected by change. They could include increased responsibility, more clearly defined duties, the removal of barriers to communication, new challenges and opportunities, greater security in a more effective or prosperous organization, or the chance to learn new skills.
If the changes may adversely affect individuals or groups of people, attempt to mitigate them in advance by offering, if the worst comes to the worst, generous redundancy settlements involving voluntary redundancy where possible, 'outplacement' benefits, i.e. redundancy counseling and help to find alternative work, generous relocation allowances, retraining facilities guarantees, if feasible, on loss of pay or status, and a measure of choice about relocations or transfers.
Be prepared to modify the ideal solution in response to any reasonable fears expressed by those concerned – show willingness to listen and to act accordingly.
Take particular care in defining the new organization and the responsibilities of those concerned. Involve everyone affected in drawing up job descriptions. Set up training schemes to develop new skills and communications programmes to get the message across about changes.
Get groups together with their existing or new bosses to discuss the changes and their implications and agree jointly on how they are going to be managed.
Consider the use of third parties or 'change agents' to facilitate change and get involved in discussion on what is happening, why it is happening and what everyone should do about it.
Change is no more a matter of choice, however, it is the most important obstacle to surmount by individuals and organizations that desire to survive. Change as a phenomenon, has long been studied in science, art and humanity. But the renewed interest, which the subject has attracted in recent times, appears to have come from the successful application of distilled rules in evolution to organizational management. These rules in the hands of Charles Darwin, received exquisite exposition. But credit goes to Peter Drucker, who has played invaluable role in importing this science into the service of management. In recent times, Johnson, fully aware of the power of story wrapped in anecdotes, has gone a step further in his best selling text – Who moved my Cheese fame – to drive home the need for both individuals and organizations to accept changes, to avoid being deformed by superior forces which trail change. Like it or not, change has assumed a life of its own.
It is perhaps expedient to work for change than to allow change to impose itself on the organization. Change programmes and management have been found to be influenced either by Newtonian or Quantum assumptions. While the former approaches change mechanically, the latter approaches change from the perspective of wave-like front that engulfs all things and require all resources to be integrated into a single being, in order to solve problems that come to the organization as a result of change. No matter how one stands on how to approach change, one thing so crystal clear about it is that, it never came without some form of pains and discomfort. This by the way, is recognition that changes have inherent forces of disruption, which if not properly handled could bleed the organization to death.
It should be borne in mind that the management of change in the library and information centres is always a measure of the ability of those at the helm of affairs of such organizations to plan against the uncertainties of the future. Often, we need to remember that the present situation in any organization is to a large extent the results of decisions made in the past. For this reason, it is vital that present librarians and information professionals must not allow themselves to become totally captive to past decisions. It is of the essence of managing change that the management of any organization must continue to question the basis of decisions made in the past and to effect changes that would stand the organization in good stead in the future. The imperative of innovation, of the systematic and effective abandonment of obsolete practices of yesterday is a key factor in the renewal and growth of the library and information centres.
Change management has remained with the corporate world for a long time; it will remain so for so much longer. It is obvious that change management conceived and conducted outside of the employee is bound to fail. Leadership during change management period also has to be persuasive just as much as it should be focused. Change management must be driven by a clear definition of employees' commitment to new goals in terms that everyone could understand and act on. Without such leadership, employees will remain skeptical of the vision for change and distrustful of management, and management will likewise be frustrated and stymied by employees' resistance.
Abrahamson, E. (2000). Change without Pain. Harvard Business Review.
Armstrong, M. (1988). A Handbook of Personnel Management Practice. 3rd ed. London, Kogan Page. 712 p.
Collins, E. (1984). Taking Hold of Change. Harvard Business Review. May-June.
Dowlin, K.E. (1984). The Electronic Library. Neal-Schuman Publishers, New York. 199 p.
Drucker, P.F. (1979). The Practice of Management. Pan Books Ltd.
Duck, J.D. (1998). Managing Change: The Art of Balancing. Boston, Harvard Business School Publisher.
Etim, S.O. (2002). Change Management and Intelligence Activities in the Nigerian Banking Industry. Union Digest 7(1&2):50-56, 62-63.
John, M.T., et al (1972). The Management of Change and Conflict Review. Baltimore, Penguin.
Johnson, S. (1998). Who Moved My Cheese? London, Random House.
Ogunbanjo, D. (2002). The Dynamics of Change in a Static Environment. Union Digest 7 (1&2): p. 83-84, 87-89.
Rothenberg, J. (1999). Avoiding Technological Quicksand: Finding a Viable Technical Foundation for Digital Preservation. Washington: Council on Library and Information.
Zohar, D. (1997) Rewiring the Corporate Brain. San Francisco, Berret-Koehler.
Library Philosophy and Practice 2011
Samuel Olu ADEYOYIN,
Nimbe Adedipe Library University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Nigeria;
Abayomi IMAM,
Ag. College Librarian Michael Otedola College of Primary Education, Epe;
Taofik Olatunde BELLO,
Nimbe Adedipe Library University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Nigeria


text:
LODI - The next time Lodi teens are allowed into Kofu Park Skate Park, it could be under the supervision of the One-Eighty Teen Center with a skate shop on site and a list of fundraisers to contribute to maintenance and staffing.
LODI - The next time Lodi teens are allowed into Kofu Park Skate Park, it could be under the supervision of the One-Eighty Teen Center with a skate shop on site and a list of fundraisers to contribute to maintenance and staffing.
Nothing is set in stone, but teen center Director Jake McGregor said he is willing to work with the city on the possibility of staffing the skate park and opening an on-site store where skaters can purchase skateboard-related items and snacks.
The skate park is more popular than ever but has been closed since Aug. 30, when city officials could no longer keep up with picking up litter, removing graffiti and policing a prominent group of 20-somethings who have been selling and using drugs on site.
Lodi police Sgt. Val Chaban said that the department has received 88 calls for service to Kofu Park this year, 84 of them at the skate park. The majority of calls are related to drug and alcohol use, Chaban said. There was one sexual assault in the bathroom in 2011.
The Lodi Parks and Recreation Commission met Tuesday night and discussed for 90 minutes options on how to resurrect the skate park as a safe, clean place for children to use.
"I don't know what the solution is, but I cannot recommend the status quo," Interim Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director Jeff Hood said.
There were 15 skateboarders and BMX bike riders and a handful of parents in attendance at the Parks & Recreation Commission meeting Tuesday, there to urge the panel to keep the park open for them.
"I was really shocked when I saw the park was closed," said Ricardo Victoria, 19. "This is more than just a hobby for me. It's like a passion. ... Now, I don't know what to with the park closed. I don't know where to go."
Victoria and other teens said the litter problem is just a by-product of teens being teens. Without supervision, they won't clean up after themselves.
That's a problem parent Leon Tryon said could be solved with more garbage cans, closer to the skate ramps. Tryon and his wife, Deanna Tryon, said they'd be happy to organize cleanup days at the park before city maintenance workers have to mow. The Tryons are invested because son Bryce Tryon, 12, is a BMX enthusiast with aspirations to compete in the ESPN X Games.
"He learned everything he knows (about BMX riding) at that park," Leon Tryon said.
The passionate pleas were well received by the commissioners, who openly said they don't want to close the park but have heard too many complaints from people using the park for baseball games and other leagues. An older group of men who use the parking lot to drink and use drugs often yell at and try to intimidate other park patrons, they said.
"I drove in to the parking lot and witnessed it myself," commission Chairman Baubie Wardrobe-Fox said. "The guys were in the parking lot drinking and smoking, taking up the spaces. They didn't want to let me in with my car, but I wasn't going to be intimidated."
The commission had hoped to hear more ideas on how to supervise the park at a minimal cost. That's where McGregor's idea to use a One-Eighty Teen Center intern with counseling experience to supervise children became the prominent idea. McGregor thought a skate shop/snack bar could help generate money to pay for the supervisors.
The details still need to be worked out, and until an agreement is reached, the park will remained locked.
Contact reporter Keith Reid at (209) 546-8257 or email@example.com. Visit his blog at recordnet.com/lodiblog.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The lost 2014 season for Browns receiver Josh Gordon continues. A season after leading the NFL in receiving yards Gordon has made more headlines for being away from the team then he has when on the field.
Gordon will miss the Browns season finale against the Ravens after he violated team rules. He has been placed on the reserve/suspended list while Phil Bates has been promoted from the practice squad.
I'm told Johnny Manziel and Josh Gordon were both absent from the Browns' walkthrough today.
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) December 27, 2014
NFL.com's Mike Silver reports that Gordon missed the Browns walk though on Saturday.
Gordon missed the first 11 weeks of the season following a league mandated suspension and looked confused and out of shape when he returned to the field.
The Browns were 7-4 with playoff hopes a month ago, now they are in danger of losing five straight to finish the season. Undrafted free agent rookie Connor Shaw is slated to start for the team on Sunday.
Gordon will finish the season with 24 receptions for 303 yards. He failed to find the endzone.


text:
Orange flames are so boring – here's how you can safely change up your campfire's colors!
7 Simple Camping Hacks That Might Just Save Your Life
These simple camping hacks could save your life one day!
How To Avoid Getting The Plague When Camping In The Western United States
Thinking of taking a camping trip in the Wild West? Here's what you need to know for your next mountain adventure in order to avoid getting the plague.
Make This DIY Camping Fish Smoker For Your Next Fishing Trip
If you love catching and eating fish, here are fun and cheap DIY fish smoker ideas using simple things you probably already have around the house.
How To Waterproof Your Tent With A Silicone Based Product
Silicone-based sprays work well to waterproof your tent against rain and moisture.


text:
Coming July 15
Just Announced for July 15th: The Agenda Festival is going down at the Long Beach Convention Center! This festival experience will have 2 skate contests, live music from Cam'ron, Ludacris, Tyler, The Creator, and much more! And we haven't even mentioned the food trucks or the hundreds of pop-up shops. Tickets are only $45 for the full day of shows and events. The Berrics will be there. Will you?
TYS | Odd Future


text:
A citywide efficiency overhaul: Saint Paul recommissioning, lighting, and community outreach
The City of Saint Paul understands the value of decreasing its energy load. It saves the city and taxpayers money, enhances the community by offering a healthier and safer place to live, and decreases the city's environmental impact.
With so many benefits, it's easy to understand why Saint Paul jumped at the opportunity to make substantial energy efficiency upgrades throughout the city. In 2009, the City of Saint Paul received an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) from the Department of Energy as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The purpose of the EECBG program was to create or retain jobs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce energy use.
Building Recommissioning
It made perfect sense for the city to start focusing its energy efficiency efforts right in its own backyard, so the project targeted city-owned facilities such as offices, recreation centers, police stations, libraries, parking ramps and public works buildings. Saint Paul invested a total of $825,000 of EECBG funds to conduct energy efficiency upgrades on 41 city-owned facilities. Overall, the city completed almost $2.4 million of projects. Most of these costs were covered by the EECBG funds, but the city also leveraged 35% of total project costs from individual departments and received utility rebates from Xcel Energy to cover an additional 10-20%.
Prior to the grant period, Saint Paul had already completed recommissioning studies for 13 city-owned buildings, so the city used EECBG funding to conduct 15 additional studies on other city buildings. The studies helped building managers realize the steps required to make the buildings more energy efficient. EECBG funds were used to help pay for new efficiency controls, energy management systems, lighting and HVAC upgrades, sensors, and other energy efficiency measures on the original 13 buildings that had completed recommissioning studies.
Energy Management
The city installed 24 new energy management systems, controls that help monitor and optimize a building's energy generation and use. Energy management systems are designed to help facilities staff remotely control systems such as HVAC or lighting across many different locations. This reduces staff time and allows facility managers to more easily monitor energy use at multiple sites and, with the help of this data, make better informed decisions about energy efficiency upgrades that may be effective.
The energy management systems installed at Saint Paul buildings feature energy automation controls and programmable thermostats with setback features, allowing for better control of the entire system's energy usage. The 24 new systems cost a total of $1.3 million, of which $432,000 was EECBG-funded. Xcel Energy offered a rebate of $75,000 for the project, and project staff estimate that the new systems will save the city approximately $200,000 annually, resulting in a project payback of less than four years. Project staff also estimate that over 400 tons of CO2 emissions will be prevented each year with the new controls.
St. Paul Lights the Way
The city also focused directly on lighting retrofits and worked closely with the Center for Energy and Environment's One-Stop Efficiency Shop lighting program, which is funded by Xcel Energy. Saint Paul wed the program to provide free lighting audits on an additional 28 city-owned buildings to determine cost-effective energy efficient lighting system upgrades, which were then implemented at the buildings. The total cost of the lighting retrofits at all 28 buildings was $790,000. The EECBG funding covered $252,000 of the project cost, while Xcel rebates totaled $271,000. With estimated savings of $236,000 per year, the return on investment for these lighting projects stands at just over one year. These lighting upgrades also have an estimated energy savings of 4,340,607 kWh annually.
Although lighting retrofits may only seem possible through substantial outside funding—such as the EECBG funding which Saint Paul received—project manager and energy coordinator for the city, Jim Giebel, knows this is not the case. Giebel remarked, "As you consider lighting retrofits, keep in mind that rebates and free or inexpensive lighting audits are available for some projects. Almost all utility companies and electric cooperatives in Minnesota offer lighting rebates."
Lighting rebates currently offer the most money for customers, and therefore the fastest payback on investments in retrofitting. In addition, Giebel explains, "[Organizations] such as the Center for Energy and Environment (CEE) have a third-party business relationship with utility companies where their [organization] will actually conduct a no-cost audit anywhere in Xcel's service territory."
Leveraging Improvements
Some of the projects particularly highlight Saint Paul's ability to leverage EECBG and Xcel Energy rebates to make significant and cost-effective improvements to municipal buildings. A few of the lighting and recommissioning projects that took place throughout Saint Paul are listed below:
- the city spent almost $17,000 on efficiency controls and software programming. The city received $5,940 in EECBG funds and received an additional $4,110 in Xcel rebates, and Saint Paul will now receive a return on its investment in about nine months.
- $11,940 was spent on upgrades to controls and lighting, and the project received $4,180 in EECBG dollars as well as $4,450 in Xcel rebates. This funding lowered the city's payback timeline to a mere 1.3 years.
- the installation of its new Supervisory Controller System cost $18,290, with $6,400 in EECBG funding and $3,980 in Xcel rebates. The city will see a return on investment in just over two years.
While these projects would eventually save the city on energy costs regardless of the funding, the incentives offered through the EECBG and utility rebates have motivated cities like Saint Paul to prioritize these projects, helping them realize the potential for cost savings and long-term sustainability.
Reaching Out to Community and Businesses
While Saint Paul has made tremendous strides with its municipally-owned buildings, the city's long-term goal is to reduce the energy load for the entire city, including residential, commercial and industrial properties. This is a much more challenging goal. Residents and property owners vary in their expertise about energy efficiency and may not know where to turn for technical support. Many of them are not aware of the incentives available to them from utility companies and local governments. In some cases, those incentives are simply not available to their type of property (for instance, the EECBG funding was only available to local units of government, such as cities, counties, and school districts).
To address these challenges, the City of Saint Paul used EECBG funding to support two up-and-coming programs. In 2009, the city proposed to sub grant $500,000 to the Saint Paul Port Authority's Trillion BTU Energy Efficiency Improvement Program. Recognizing that commercial and industrial properties are often unable to allocate scarce capital to energy efficiency projects with payback periods of longer than one or two years, the Port Authority and Xcel Energy partnered to create the Trillion BTU program. Its goal is to provide resources to businesses for energy audits, engineering studies, and energy efficiency projects.
The City of Saint Paul also used federal EECBG dollars to target residential properties through the Energy Smart Homes program, which offered two programs in one package. The first was targeted at Saint Paul renters by providing $200 rebates to replace old and inefficient refrigerators in apartment buildings with new ENERGY STAR models. The program gave out more than $41,000 in rebates, resulting in over 200 old refrigerators being switched out for new efficient ones.
To carry out the second program, a partnership was developed between the City of Saint Paul, the Neighborhood Energy Connection (NEC), and Xcel Energy. This program provided no-interest, deferred loans to Saint Paul homeowners to make energy efficient retrofits to their homes. The loans of up to $6,500 were used to install insulation and replace old boilers and furnaces. In total, the Energy Smart Homes program distributed 145 loans totaling $550,000, resulting in an improvement in the city's overall residential efficiency. Energy Smart Homes was so successful that that the City of Saint Paul provided a grant to NEC to continue the program.
Saint Paul's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant helped support the city in its efforts to significantly reduce its energy load and environmental impact. Saint Paul was able to substantially decrease its energy costs, primarily through recommissioning and lighting retrofits, allowing the city to use taxpayer revenues to support other costs. Also, by leveraging EECBG money into other programs, the city promoted energy efficiency in residential, commercial and industrial properties, which has also helped residents and business-owners save money and promote a more resilient and sustainable capital city.
Project Profile:
- City of Saint Paul, Ramsey County
- Energy efficiency; green buildings
- $2.4 million
- $825,000 EECBG budget, $1,500,000 funds leveraged; Xcel Energy utility rebates
- Recommissioning – 406 tons of CO2 emissions reduced annually; Lighting retrofits – 4,340,607 kWh saved annually
- These energy efficiency projects save the city money demonstrating good fiscal responsibility, and serve to model energy efficient technologies for citizens.
Other Local Government Energy Action Building Recommissioning Stories:
- Community center is Chisago City's dream come true
- Building recommissioning: Studies toward optimal energy management
About the Local Government Energy Action Series:
This year-long effort tells the stories of nearly 50 Minnesota municipalities, counties, and schools and the tangible results of their energy-saving efforts to inspire others to take their own actions. See all stories in this series >>
Local Government Energy Action is brought to you by the Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources.
Relates to the following technologies
May be of interest to the following communities
|Join the conversation:
See comments and add your own >>
Recent Stories
Bringing you news about clean energy projects and opportunities happening across the state. Tell your story.
Subscribe via RSS


text:
Outfit Details:
Jacket: Boohoo
Top: Missguided
Skirt: Missguided
Boots: Boohoo
Glasses: Specsavers
Makeup Details:
Base: Arbonne FC5 Mattifying Powder, Arbonne CC Cream, Arbonne Concealer, Arbonne Pressed Powder (Light)
Cheeks: Arbonne Blush In Blossom and Arbonne Sheer Glow Highlighter
Eyebrows: Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Rewind (Vice 2 Palette), Maybelline Brow Drama
Eyes: Urban Decay Eyeshadows in Dope, Toxic, Radar and Ambush, Arbonne It's a Long Story Mascara
Lips: Arbonne Lip Liner in Posey, Arbonne Lipstick in Guava, Arbonne Lipstick in Mimosa
Today I'm introducing a new series to The Glitter Vixen: What I Wore To Work. I've been planning to do a work wear related series of outfit posts since January 2014 when I started my real job*~ considering that the vast majority of days I get dressed it has to be office appropriate and yet somehow, I have avoided posting any "work only outfits."
Now, a few disclaimers. My office is very, very laid back and half of us turn up in jeans and hoodies - what's appropriate for my office may very well not be for yours. However, when I share a "What I Wore To Work" outfit post, I will endeavour to share outfits that I am very unlikely to wear outside of work and only ones that would work in other relatively laid back offices.
So, onto today's outfit. Despite its appearance, this lovely pink check Missguided skirt I am showing off today is in fact, not the same as the one featured in this post. In fact, rather than being a miniskirt, it's actually a midiskirt, but the fact that it's a size six (and I am definitely not any more) and that it rolls up in the day means I haven't quite managed to capture the midi length in these photos...!
As the skirt is pretty loud on its own, I opted for simple black up top. My black Missguided swing crop top is hands down one of the most used items in my wardrobe for its versatility. It's great for warmer days in the office as it isn't too fleshy, but is very light and airy. It looks great with a variety of accessories and works so well with so many different outfits, both work and none work.
You've probably noticed a distinct lack of accessorising with this outfit, besides my glasses, which I wear for work a lot because shoving contact lenses in at 7.30am isn't pleasant. Not gonna lie, the main reason I'm not wearing a necklace or other jewellery with this look is simply because I was far too lazy to pick anything out. That being said, I'm still undecided as to what kind of necklace would work well with this outfit.
How would you accessorise this look?


text:
My two youngest kids are sharing a room right now, and they probably will for quite a while longer. They have juristically different personalities but they both love cute animals and bugs so naturally I thought woodland theme for their room. Not at all because I am looking for an excuse to make some mushroom… Continue reading Woodland themed bedroom
Woodland themed bedroom


text:
Monroe County Coroner Robert M. Allen of East Stroudsburg yesterday released statistics on death investigations by his office in 1985.
The report also included comparison figures for the past eight years since he was elected coroner.
Under accidental deaths last year, automobile accidents headed the list with 11 drivers fatally injured and eight passengers killed. The highest number of highway deaths during the past eight years was in 1979, when 18 drivers and 12 passengers lost their lives on Monroe County highways.


text:
Xbox rumors
More rumors are flying around about the next-generation Xbox game console from Microsoft. A couple of these rumors are pretty cool, but one of them really sucks. The bad news first, the rumors claims that Microsoft will implement some sort of tech that will block the play of used games.
Not only will that hurt the stores like Gamestop that sell used games, but gamers on a budget that want to save some money and buy used will be foiled too. I wonder if the system would allow you to play games that you borrow from a friend or rent. The rumors also point to Microsoft finally going Blu-ray, which is no surprise.
The final rumor is that the console will also launched with a new Kinect 2 sensor. That is also no big surprise. Kinect has been huge for Microsoft and the next generation is certainly in the worlds already. We still don't know when the next Xbox might go official, previous rumors have claimed that we won't hear more this year.


text:
Best of Tanzania SafariAdd this to wishlist
Safari Highlights
- Tour Duration: 8 Days, 7 Nights
- Start: Arusha, Tanzania
- End: Arusha, Tanzania
- Destinations:
Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Lake Manyara National Park
- Accommodation:
Arusha Coffee Lodge 1 Night
Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge 1 Night
Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge 3 Nights
Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge 2 Nights
- Comfort Level: Superior Lodges
- Type of Tour: Classic Safaris
- Type of Accommodation: All-Inclusive
Enjoy top quality guiding from your friendly, knowledgeable and experienced guide
Stay at ideally located lodges near the wildlife action
Explore the Ol Duvai Gorge on an optional detour
Meet Maasai People in their authentic village
See the countries in scenic drives between the parks
Enjoy top quality service and ideal stays in our hand-picked accommodations
The Best of Tanzania Safari is a carefully designed classic safari that takes you to the top three attraction in Tanzania with ideal time in each of them to make the best of exploring the parks with optional visits to the Ol Duvai Gorge and a Maasai Village visit along your journey.
Lake Manyara National Park offers a wilderness experience in diverse habitats, from its Rift Valley soda lake to woodlands and steep mountainsides. The Serengeti National Park is one of the world's most celebrated wilderness areas, and is renowned as the site of the annual Great Migration. The Ngorongoro Crater in Northern Tanzania, once a gigantic volcano, is the largest intact caldera in the world and offers great game viewing on your crater tour in its floor.
Full Safari Itinerary
Day to Day Itinerary
DAY 1: Arusha
On arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport you will be met, assisted and transferred to the Arusha Coffee Lodge for overnight.
Stay: Arusha Coffee Lodge
DAY 2: Lake Manyara National Park
0800hrs:After breakfast your driver guide will pick you up and drive you to Lake Manyara National Park for a game viewing drive. Lunch will be taken as picnic. In the late afternoon you will proceed to Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge for freshening up, dinner and overnight.
Lake Manyara National Park is a scenic gem with compact game-viewing circuit through Manyara offers a virtual microcosm of the Tanzanian safari experience.
Stay: Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
DAY 3: Serengeti National Park
0730hrs:After breakfast depart and drive to the legendary Serengeti National Park arriving in time for lunch at the Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge. Enjoy an afternoon game drive and thereafter return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.
Stay: Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
DAY 4: Serengeti National Park
Today we explore Serengeti on two game viewing drives or leave with picnic lunch for a full day game drive depending on where the "great herds" are. The vast and dramatic Serengeti of endlessly rolling savannah plains, is Tanzania's first-established, largest and famous park wherein tens of thousands of hoofed animals roam in a constant and unremitting search for the fresh grasslands upon which their survival depends.
Stay: Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
DAY 5: Serengeti National Park
0600hrs: Enjoy your day with an early morning and late afternoon game drive in the Serengeti Park. Mid-morning spent relaxing and enjoying the lodge facilities. All meals and overnight at Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge.
Stay: Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch Dinner
DAY 6: Ngorongoro Crater
0730hrs: After breakfast depart Serengeti and drive to Ngorongoro Crater. Arrive at the Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodgein time for lunch. Afternoon will be spent at leisure enjoying the splendid sights if the Crater from its rim and enjoying available activities offered by the lodge.
Known as 'eighth wonder of the world' the Ngorongoro Crater is one of Africa's best-known wildlife arenas. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it offers a unique biosphere, which has remained virtually unchanged since the dawn of time. Deep within the Crater, enclosed by towering walls, some 25,000 large mammals wander the plains, lakes and forests of 'the land that time forgot', dominated by enormous bull elephants, rhinos and lions.
Stay: Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
DAY 7: Ngorongoro Crater
0800hrs: After breakfast descend the Ngorongoro Crater for a half day crater tour with game veiwing. Lunch will be taken as picnic. In the afternoon ascend the crater floor and head back to the lodge for freshening up, nightly themed entertainment, dinner and overnight at the Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge.
Stay: Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
DAY 8: Arusha – End of Safari
0900hrs: After a leisurely breakfast depart Ngorongoro and drive to Arusha Coffee Lodge for lunch. The afternoon will be spent leisurely with a short tour of the Arusha Town before you are transferred to Kilimanjaro International Airport with a farewell dinner at KIA Lodge before checking in and boarding your homebound flight.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Transport in a private 6 seater safari equipped 4x4 Jeep
Accommodation and all meals
Private English Speaking professional driver guide
All park fees and reserve fees
Game drives in all parks
Taxes where applicable
International Flights
Airport taxes
Tips and gratuities
Items of a personal nature
Safari Rates & Prices
All rates are quoted per person sharing unless otherwise stipulated
|Dates From
|Dates To
|2 Persons
|4 Persons
|6 Persons
|Single Suppliment
Notes about these Rates
Pricing is meant as a guide only.
Vision Adventure Safaris provides significantly lower rates below general public rack rates. Due to contract confidentiality and Safari Customization we are not able to publish our best rates for this Safari. Once you contact us we will tailor your Safari and give you accurate rates depending on your accommodation, stay duration, number of travellers and season.
All prices are subject to availability, change or increase without notice and seasonality.
Single supplements are often applicable. Options and rates vary from supplier to supplier.
Safari Maps
We are working hard to integrate Maps for all our Safaris. Maps for this Safari will be added in the coming days.
- Evie Treen, Founder
- "This is more than going on safari; it's a celebration with fun filled adventure full of African Safari experiences."


text:
Council Member
Empress Coco LaChine
New York, NY
Phone: 917-860-1180
Empress Coco LaChine has been active in the lesbian and gay community in New York and California for over two decades and is also a well-known figure in the transgendered community nationwide.
Coco LaChine served on the board of directors of the International Court Council as its 1st International Vice President, and the Imperial Court of New York for many years. Coco is one of the longest tenured Board Member of the NYC LGBT Community Services Center and has chaired their annual Garden Party for many years. She also served on the national boards of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), The Millennium March on Washington in 2000, Stonewall 25 and the Gay Games IV held in New York City in 1994.
In 1990, Coco LaChine help reorganized the Imperial Court of New York into a membership organization and served many years as its president. The New York Court recently celebrated its 21st anniversary and has raised close to a million dollars for various gay/lesbian social service and AIDS organizations from its annual Night of a Thousand Gowns. In 2003, the Imperial Court of New York renamed its student scholarship in her honor as the ICNY Empress Coco LaChine Student Scholarship. Coco is a recipient of the prestigious Jose Honors award, and was an Heir Apparent to Empress Jose, 2nd in Line of Succession. She was editor of the International court Communique for a number of years and is currently the President of the Jose Honors Board of Governors. Empress Coco was also credited for her outstanding work in producing the 40th Anniversary celebration of the International Court System in Palm Springs.
In 1993, Coco LaChine was featured in the GLAAD Images campaign with her photo appearing in educational outreach posters in over 5,000 NYC subway cars. Coco was the first drag personality to grace the cover of HX Magazine. Coco can be seen in recent hit movies such as "Flawless", "To Wong Foo...Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar", "Stonewall" the movie and "After Stonewall" the documentary. She has also been feature in countless transgender photo books, and many books on the LGBT community.
In 2001, Coco LaChine was among 20 national community leaders selected by the Gill Foundation to participate in the first ever GLBT Leadership Training Program at the Center for Creative Leadership in Colorado Springs, CO. In 1994, Coco was selected as one of OUT Magazine's first Top 100 community leader and has also been honored for her community service by the Lesbian & Gay Law Association, Asians & Friends, and All Out Arts, among others.
Coco LaChine has been involved in the direct marketing industry for over 20 years specializing in the gay market and is considered an authority. She has served as a consultant to countless Fortune 500 companies who wanted to target the gay market. She has extensive experience organizing large-scale special events, volunteer management, fundraising and development work.
In 2002, Coco's professional career took her to California and she became quickly involved with the Imperial Court de San Diego. Her many years of support for the San Diego Court was recognized when she was bestowed the title of Honorary Empress de San Diego. She has hosted many fundraising events in San Diego, writes a column for the Gay & Lesbian Times and helped produced several San Diego coronations. Empress Coco moved to Los Angeles in 2006 with her company, and is currently involved with the Imperial Court of Hollywood/ Los Angeles. Coco maintains her home in New York City as her primary residence and is a current member of the Imperial Court of New York.


text:
Inspire others
with your ideas
Here you can present the ideas you have carried out or ideas you're considering in connection to the campaign. You can make a link to your blog or website.
We're planning putting a box here, so you can type it in directly. But the box has not been made yet, so you can send the information you want to upload on this page, and then we will upload it as soon as we find the time. Send and e-mail to: firstname.lastname@example.com writing 'Ideas for the campaign' in the subject box.
Back to:


text:
Founded on January 14, 1932 by Sri B.V. Gopalakrishna Rao and the Violin Maestro Sri.T.Chowdiah, the Indian Fine Arts Society serves the cause of fine arts.
Many vocalists, Instrumentalists, Dancers and Dramatists who were/are in the forefront today had the encouragement of our society.
Our Institution which celebrated the Platinum Jubilee (75 Years) in 2007/2008 conducts annually Music Festival/Conference wherein outstanding musicians and dancers participate.The festival attracts large crowd of rasikas from all over the country.
On the inaugural day of the conference/festival a vocalist/ Instrumentalist is honored with the title "Sangeetha Kalasikhamani" along with a cash award and gold medal.
At the valedictory function held on the concluding day, a Natyacharya/ performing dancer is conferred the title "Natya Kalasikhamani" along with a cash award and gold medal.
The society also conducts annually the following programmes:
The institution was made very powerful in all respects during the Presidentship of Late. V. Emberumanar Chetty,Late. Sri V. Ranganayakalu Chetty, Hony. Treasurer, Late. Sri N. Ramachandran Hony.Secretary.
Under the present presidentship of Sri V. Sethuram, associated by Dr.R.Radhakrishnan, Hony. Secretary and Sri V.Badrinarayana Hony. Treasurer the society continues its march Enthusiastically to serve the cause of fine arts to the utmost satisfaction of Rasikas, Donors, Sponsors, Endowers, Life/patron/ Donor members of the society.
With the enthusiastic support of rasikas, artistes, and our partrons we are proudly continuing our march more vigorously to serve the cultural world to the best of our ability consistent with the resources contributed by one and all to ensure maximum satisfaction to all.
A write-up on the various activities of our society is given along side for your kind information.
Cultural Organization like ours do not earn any regular income except the paltry interest from fixed deposits invested in banks out of the funds saved/generated during the past. For defraying our annual expenses we purely depend on the munificence of Rasikas, Donors, Endowers, Philanthropists and large hearted individuals/companies who sponsor our monthly programmers and also the Annual Music Festival in December/January every year and augment our earnings to meet our expenses.
We do not have our own building to conduct our programmes but have to depend on rented accommodation, the availability of which is becoming scarce with escalating rentals.
We are therefore making this earnest appeal to you to help us out to continue our activities to the maximum rasika satisfaction, which is impossible with out funds from one and all. We also intend to build up a CORPUS fund out your generous help and contribution from other well wishers to have our own building.
We need your assistance/help through
We sincerely appeal for your contributions, which may be sent to our Registered Office at the above address for which will be eternally grateful. You can also transfer funds through ECS as detailed below
Your contributions are exempt from Income Tax U/s 80G of the Income Tax Act.
With warm personal regards.
Home :: About Us :: Up Coming Events:: Past Events :: Contact Us


text:
- Description
- Reviews
Achieve beauty from within, only with surgery free collagen supplement!
GO Healthy Go Beautiful Skin Collagen Support
Replacement of : Anti Wrinkle Collagen Support
GO Healthy Go Beautiful Skin Collagen Support is a clinically proven pure natural marine collagen for younger healthier looking skin! This special collagen formula promotes the healthy elasticity of skin by firming the skin tone and prevents wrinkles and fine lines. The result? Younger skin with youthful glow without the need for painful surgery!
Collagen is an important structural protein of most connective tissues. In fact, it is the protein of greatest abundance in the body. That is why collagen plays a critical role in the maintenance of healthy blood vessels. Collagen provides structural support to skin.
GO Healthy Go Beautiful Skin Collagen Support features Collactive, a clinically tested natural marine collagen to support the healthy stores of collagen in the body. The lack of collagen results in the appearance of wrinkles, sagging lines, as well as dull skin tone. Create the image of positively glowing skin.
GO Healthy Go Beautiful Skin Collagen Support benefits and features:
- Available in Vegicapsules
- May help restore healthy collagen stores
- Helps maintain firm skin
- Aids in the maintenance of blood vessel elasticity
Suggested Dose
Adults+: Take 1-3 Vegicaps daily. Best taken on an empty stomach, before bed. Or as directed by your Healthcare Professional.
Collactive Natural Marine Collagen
Safety Information
Not suitable for those with seafood allergies. Not suitable during pregnancy or lactation. If taking prescription medication, or if in doubt, consult your Healthcare Professional.


text:
Surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and hormone therapy, are all treatments used to cure or relieve the symptoms of different types of cancer. Surgery normally involves complete removal of the tumor. The purpose of chemotherapy is to kill or stop the growth of cancerous cells, without affecting normal cells. Radiation is also aimed at inhibiting the growth of cancer cells.
Stay organized. You are going to have many appointments to go to and have to keep track of many different dates. Get a calendar and use it to keep track of things that are important. You can even log how you have felt on different days so you can let your doctor in on your progress.
If you have been diagnosed with cancer, you should be willing to take help from wherever it may come. Help could come from family and friends, your place of worship, or even the community overall. You can find help out there; be sure to take it. You might not be able to work with cancer and the emotional toll may be too much to handle alone.
Think about how you are going to cope with the stress of your cancer diagnosis. Everyone handles things differently, but it is important to have a way to relax after a particularly difficult day. Research relaxation techniques, consider which friends and family members you can talk openly with, and keep a journal.
You might not typically have a fighting spirit, but if you have cancer you are going to need to find one quickly. If you do not realize what you're fighting for and cannot develop that all-important spirit, use the anger you're feeling to transform into motivation. Even Gandhi was able to lash out.
As a preventative measure, some women who are genetically predisposed to breast cancer, may have a mastectomy. Chemotherapy is often able to kill cancerous cells, but it also affects normal cells leading to anemia, hair loss and other side effects. Hormone therapy can sometimes cause certain types of tumors to regress. New treatments are being researched and developed on a continuous basis.


text:
Orchestral pop outfit Kan Wakan are a large band employing a multitude of instruments to create layers and layers of sound. Their full length debut, Moving On, arrives in June and sounds like the score to a movie that is yet to be created. Today's Top Tune is called "Like I Need You."
Kan Wakan


text:
All is quiet on the Yankee front these days, and it isn't one of Brian Cashman's stealth-quiet periods that turns into a surprise signing of Mark Teixeira. Rather, the Yankees are waiting to see what comes to them. They're rightly cool on C.J. Wilson but have to fill some starting pitching holes. What's a $200 million team to do?
Last year, when the Yanks found themselves in a similar situation following Cliff Lee's departure to Philadelphia and Andy Pettitte's retirement, Brian Cashman turned to the scrap heap. For a few million dollars, his coaching staff coaxed 51 starts and over 300 innings from Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon. It was the biggest surprise of the Yankee season, and now, early yet in the Hot Stove League, the Yanks' GM is, at least publicly, wondering if he can capture lightning in bottle again.
In comments yesterday to ESPN New York, both Cashman and his boss Hal Steinbrenner talked about bringing back Big Bart and Sweaty Freddy. "I have an interest in both Freddy and Bartolo," Cashman said. "Those guys all did a good job for us, a really good job." Echoed Steinbrenner, "Absolutely, that's something we'd consider. It worked out pretty well last year."
That it sure did, Hal. That it sure did.
In its coverage of these statements, ESPN New York turns this into some sort of money issue. The pair made around $2.6 million combined before incentives and both would like a raise. That's not a problem. The Yanks have rotation holes to fill and money to spend. Garcia may be itching for a multi-year deal, and that is a potential hurdle. Yet there's a larger question at play: Should the Yanks even be considering these two?
If we play the not-so-arbitrary endpoint game, it's very easy to make a case against Bartolo Colon. Through his first 78.1 innings, he had a 3.10 ERA and a K rate topping 8 per 9 IP. He wasn't walking many guys and was thriving mainly on a fastball. After suffering a hamstring injury and returning in early July, he had a 4.81 ERA over 86 innings and saw his walk rate climb while his strike outs dipped by over 1.5 per 9 innings.
As expected, his velocity fell off by year's end, and he wasn't nearly as efficient with his pitches. Colon will turn 39 in May, and no one is sure how much more his surgically repaired shoulder can take. At a low cost and with little riding on it, the Yanks could bring him back to camp, but if they're counting on him for another 164 innings, I hope they have a good back-up plan.
Meanwhile, Garcia, who didn't reach the 150-inning mark due to some mysterious cut on his finger, also struggled post-injury. In his first 20 games, he sported a 3.22 ERA and decent peripherals over 117.1 innings. Thanks to one disastrous outing vs. the Orioles and a bad start against the Angels, his post-injury numbers were ugly. He walked 11 while striking out 16 and giving up seven home runs in 29.1 innings. It's tough though to put much stock in 29.1 innings.
For Garcia, the questions concern durability. He has thrown over 300 innings since the start of 2009 but he threw just 129 over the three prior years. He did a good job keeping the ball in the park this year, and that's what fueled his success as his walk rate was higher in 2011 than in 2010. He turned 35 during the ALDS and giving him more than a season might be inviting trouble.
To me, Colon and Garcia represent the Yanks' last resorts. What they did in 2011 made from some great stories and fun games. They defied age and expectations to help lead the Yanks to a championship title. To expect them to do it again may be putting blind faith into pitchers who don't deserve, and the Yanks would be better served looking elsewhere for some upgrades.


text:
Honey Journal #17
Honey Journal Entry #17
Name: Pure Busy Bee Farm Honey
You can buy it: By calling the farm in Larkspur, CO at 303-657-5360 or by emailing them here. firstname.lastname@example.com. For a little more info go here.
Country: USA
Color: Amber
Flavor: A very pleasant nutty flavor with a strong hint of chocolate and raisins.
Consistency: Medium.
Fragrance: Chocolate honeycomb.
Notes: This honey was a gift from the Colorado Prager Group. Last month the group organized a debate between Dennis and David Sirota, a prominent progressive journalist who lives in Denver. What the Prager Group leaders pulled off frankly astonished me. They conceived, organized, staged, and
publicized the event all on their own. I don't think I can adequately describe what this entails. There are many moving parts to these kinds of events – arranging the venue, ticket sales, publicity and so on. It's a daunting task for full time professionals.
The debate was a smashing success. SRO as they say on Broadway. 1500 people attended. If it sounds corny to say that the Colorado Prager Group showed the "can-do" spirit that makes this country great, then so be it. They made believers out of me.
They even managed, among all the chaos, to send Dennis home with some honey. This one with the very unprepossessing name of Pure Honey from Busy Bee Farms in Larkspur, Colorado (half way between Denver and Colorado Springs) is a very soothing, rich, but not overwhelming honey perfect for every day consumption. How soothing? If I had a sore throat this is the first honey in my current collection that I would turn to. With winter coming on, you might want to have some around.
This is the one year anniversary of the Honey Journal. I've done 17 entries so far. I have sampled honey from 10 different countries and 7 different states. Every country in the world, every county in the USA produces honey, so there are a lot more to try. Some honeys are more complex than others, but it's not like tasting wine where one is sublime ( 90 on the Robert Parker scale) and one is mediocre. First, I only taste pure, organic, unrefined, unprocessed honey – the real stuff. No homogenized mass produced supermarket honeys for me. Second, I only review what I like. In other words, they're all good, but they're all different. The biggest kick I get out of this journal is noting how different honeys from different parts of the country and the world have their own distinct flavors, fragrances, and consistencies.
This week is also the beginning of the Jewish New Year. Last week was Rosh Hashanah, this week is Yom Kippur. It seems appropriate to note that honey is God's food. The phrase "the land of milk and honey" is a description of the Promised Land. It appears 16 times in the Bible. Honey on its own is referred to 55 times. One tradition of Rosh Hashanah is to dip a slice of apple in honey and wish each other a sweet year. On behalf of the Honey Journal, that's what I wish for all of us.


text:
How to be in a document's followers ?
In OpenERP V7, the Social Network module introduces an unified messaging system based on a subscription mechanism. What are the different ways of becoming a follower ? Are there any automatic subscription mechanism ?
Here are the different mechanisms to become a follower in OpenERP v7:
- the Follow button on documents
- you can invite partners to become followers of a document by clicking on the Invite button
- the creator of a document is automatically added in the followers
- the author of an incoming email (i.e. through the mail gateway) is automatically added as a follower of the related document, if the author is a known partner
- using the automatic creation checkbox in OpenChatter to reply to an unknown email address. For example, a lead is created because someone wrote to sales@yourdomain. The email address is not associated to a partner. When replying to the customer, there will be a checkbox asking you if you want to create a partner with this email address, that will be added as follower to the document, as shown on following figure
- in lead, opportunity, task, issue and recruitment, the responsible of the document (Salesman, Assigned To) is automatically added as follower
- following a sales team will make you follower of all lead associated with this sales team
- following a project will make you follower of all tasks or issues associated with this project
Related topics
- How to remove "Manage Databases"
- How does notifications, Inbox, To:Me, and Todo mailboxes work?
- How to define the thousands separator?
- How does karma work? (odoo v8 forum software)
- Which information is public in the messaging system on the bottom of documents?
- Odoo Apps, Modules & Licensing FAQ
- How to use custom fonts in RML reports?
- how do I set the default value for a field from the web interface?
- How to use the OpenOffice Report Designer ( base_report_designer ) on the SaaS with XML-RPC Secure
- How to use dynamic dates in my filters? e.g. deadline date = today in project tasks
- How do I create a Partner who is a Company with several Contacts or Addresses?
- How can I create a customer with several contacts?
- How do I delete a saved filter?
Need more info?
This documentation page has been extracted from the Q&A section where you can discuss it and get feedback.Related question


text:
"music has a secret and incredible power to move our hearts. When evil words are accompanied by music, they penetrate more deeply and the poison enters as wine through a funnel into a vat"So with the power of Google, it seems that this comes originally from Calvin's Preface to the Psalter, in 1543:
"But still there is more: there is scarcely in the world anything which is more able to turn or bend this way and that the morals of men, as Plato prudently considered it. And in fact, we find by experience that it has a sacred and almost incredible power to move hearts in one way or another. Therefore we ought to be even more diligent in regulating it in such a way that it shall be useful to us and in no way pernicious. For this reason the ancient doctors of the Church complain frequently of this, that the people of their times were addicted to dishonest and shameless songs, which not without cause they referred to and called mortal and Satanic poison for corrupting the world. Moreover, in speaking now of music, I understand two parts: namely the letter, or subject and matter; secondly, the song, or the melody. It is true that every bad word (as St. Paul has said) perverts good manner, but when the melody is with it, it pierces the heart much more strongly, and enters into it; in a like manner as through a funnel, the wine is poured into the vessel; so also the venom and the corruption is distilled to the depths of the heart by the melody."


text:
A major source of renewable energy, massive hydropower plants generate electricity around the world. Orkot® bearings keep turbines running smoothly, allowing the machines to operate effectively.
Hydropower, the generation of power from flowing water, is one of the most efficient forms of renewable energy, now providing about 16 percent of the world's electricity.
Though today's installations are on a huge scale, the power of water to create energy has been exploited since the time of the ancient Greeks. Kinetic energy of a flowing river has for centuries been used to turn water wheels, most commonly to grind wheat into flour.
Early hydro power
It was in the late 19th century that hydro power became a source of electricity. The first hydroelectric power plant was built at Niagara Falls, Canada, in 1879 and by 1881, street lamps in the city of Niagara Falls were powered by hydro power.
A typical hydro plant is a system with three parts: a plant where the electricity is produced; a dam that can be opened or closed to control water flow; and a reservoir where water is stored. The water behind the dam flows through an intake and pushes against blades in a turbine, causing them to turn. The turbine spins a generator to produce electricity. The amount of electricity that can be generated depends on how far the water drops and how much water moves through the system. The electricity is then transported over long-distance electric lines.
Most used composite bearing material
"One of the world's largest hydro plants is the Three Gorges Dam on China's Yangtze River. The biggest hydro plant in the United States is located at the Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in northern Washington," says Tom Zozokos, Product Manager Orkot® Material. "Orkot® bearings feature in both of these installations. In fact, Orkot® is the world's most used composite bearing material by the hydropower industry."
Orkot® is an advanced composite material, which means it has significant advantages over traditional metal bearings for hydropower applications. "Orkot® bearings are 'fish friendly' as they can operate in dry running applications and do not use harmful lubricants in the manufacturing process," continues Tom. "Most metal bearings need grease to make them work properly and during operation this lubricant can enter the water. That is not very good environmentally. Orkot® material has excellent friction characteristics, meaning no grease is required. Other types of bearing materials are available, but the Orkot® product is a very cost-effective and reliable alternative."
Continued development
Orkot® material has been manufactured since 1955, but that doesn't mean that development does not continue.
"We're always looking to advance our material portfolio for the hydropower industry and work with customers to meet their changing requirements. We've just added Orkot® C417 to our range of hydro bearing materials. This was developed for the U.S. market to be used in higher load bearing applications, while still giving customers low friction capabilities," concludes Tom.
This article has been reproduced from in the groove, the Trelleborg Sealing Solutions magazine aimed at engineers. To read the full issue, click here .


text:
NYC's best weight loss program
Best ways to lose weight in NYC
- Are you a New Yorker trying to slim down a bit?
- Do you have excess fat in the belly or upper body?
- Do you need to go down a dress size or two?
- Are you a bit overweight or obese?
- Are you tired of trying fad diets?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you may want to try an evidence based best weight loss program in NYC?
What are the evidence based, clinically proven measures to lose weight in NYC?
Although there over 20,000 books written on the topic of diet and weight loss, believe it or not, there are only 4 clinically proven ways to lose weight.
The clinically proven measures to lose weight fast are listed below
Proven weight loss measure one: VLCD and LCD diets.
VLCD and LCD Weight Loss Diets
W8MD offers clinically proven 800-1200 Calorie VLCD(Very Low Calorie Diets) and Low Calorie Diet plans under careful medical supervision.
Proven weight loss measure two: FDA approved diet or weight loss medications
FDA approved weight loss medications including the new and traditional diet pills
Contrave (Bupropion and Naltrexone) - Brand new weight loss medication
The latest weight loss drug FDA approved in December of 2014, Saxenda
Phentermine and Topiramate (Qsymia) - New diet pill! (Phentermine and Topiramate is one of the most popular and most effective weight loss medications) for fast weight loss!
Lorcaserin (Belviq) - New weight loss medication FDA approved in June of 2012.
Phentermine (Adipex)
Topiramate (Topamax)
Phendimetrazine (Bontril)
Diethylpropion (Tenuate)
Xenical and others
Proven weight loss measure three:
increased physical activity works only together with LCD or VLCD diet but not alone. This is one of the commonly misunderstood topics. Most people think that exercise helps you lose weight. However, large scale population based studies have shown that the role exercise plays in weight loss is very limited. It can help and play supportive role when you do it together with a calorie restricted diet. If you just do the exercise alone and eat to what your body is hungry for, you will only maintain weight as exercise on the one hand makes you burn fat, but on the other hand makes you hungry to the same exact degree. Also, it takes a whole lot of exercise to lose a pound as it takes up to 18 miles of walking to lose a pound.
Proven weight loss measure four: Bariatric surgery, which ironically works based on the VLCD diet you are going to be forced to be both before and after surgery.
What W8MD's unique physician supervised evidenced based medical weight loss program in NYC offers?
We practice evidence based medicine and no fad diets
We accept most health insurances for weight loss physician visits
We have the lowest out of pocket cost of only $50.00 biweekly on top of insurance that covers diet medications if dispensed in office.
We offer delicious and affordable meal replacement supplements costing as little as $2.15 a meal replaced which is a bit cheaper than $3.00 average cost of home made meals.
We have many convenient locations with flexible evening and weekend hours
Our physicians have some of the best training, education and experience in the field of obesity medicine
We offer a maintenance plan once you reach your goal weight
More importantly, it is our results that make us one of the best weight loss programs in greater New York, NJ and PA area.
W8MD reviews from our actual weight loss and sleep patients that used our program
Due to popular demand, acceptance is limited in our insurance physician weight loss program at this time on a first come, first serve basis in our Philadelphia, New York City or Wayne PA weight loss locations.
W8MD weight loss program reviews
About our weight loss physicians
Prab R. Tumpati, MD
President & CEO
Our founder, Dr. Prab R. Tumpati, has been a practicing board certified internal medicine, sleep and obesity medicine physician with a fellowship training in the emerging field of Obesity Medicine. As a practicing sleep medicine physician, Dr. Tumpati sees a lot of obese patients that are struggling to lose weight.
Obesity Medicine Fellowship Training
Since Obesity is a risk factor for many sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, and sleep apnea in turn can have an effect on Leptins and Ghrelins that control appetite, food intake and weight, there is an inherent association between sleep disorders and weight. Realizing this, Dr. Tumpati got significant additional education and has passed a written board examination in Bariatric Medicine/Obesity Medicine.
Having obtained a thorough knowledge and skills in treating patients with obesity and it's more than 50 associated conditions, Dr. Tumpati successfully integrated Obesity Medicine Services in his practice and started W8MD, along with Dr. Sobo, to help other physicians get started with an affordable Medical Weight Loss Program at their location.
Dr Tumpati currently serves as the Medical Director at Poly-Tech Sleep Services in Northeast Philadelphia and King of Prussia. Dr. Tumpati is also the medical director at the Brooklyn, New York office of W8MD medical weight loss and sleep centers.
Dr. Tumpati obtained his medical degree from Osmania Medical College, India and completed his Internal Medicine Residency at Abington Memorial Hospital. Dr. Tumpati travels extensively, licensed in many states in the US and serves as the medical director of Sleep Medical Associates and W8MD Medical Weight Loss Center in New York City located at 2003, Bath Avenue, Brooklyn, New York.
In addition to Internal Medicine, Dr. Tumpati is also board certified in Sleep Medicine and has passed a written board examination in Obesity Medicine and is in the process of full certification.
Having started several successful projects and websites including www.wikimd.org, www.residentscafe.com,www.usmlesource.com, www.wikichristian.org, www.w8md.com, Dr. Tumpati is an enterpreneur. He is well versed with many computer technologies and has designed and maintains several websites including that of W8MD.
Radio interview of Dr Prab R Tumpati on Health Watch Radio


text:
Singles Dinner & Dance Cheshire
Join the Bank Holiday weekend on 26th August for singles dinner and dance in Cottons Hotel & Spa, Knutsford, Cheshire for a fabulous weekend in friendly company to dine and dance away the evenings and explore the amazing Cheshire countryside with new friends.
And just a word to the gentlemen…please don't leave it too late to book your places. The ladies always book first, so don't keep them waiting!