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New legislation threatens the home birth movement and home birth rights.
Home Birth Rights Under Siege
Last Mother's Day, a dedicated but grim assemblage of physicians, midwives, nursing mothers, and other parents gathered in Washington, D. C. And whereas most birth activist groups are upbeat educational organizations, the individuals assembled for the D. C. conference had come simply to fight . . . to protect the rights of those who want to have, or participate in, home births.
This organization, the Alternative Birth Crisis Coalition, was formed in 1981 . . . in response to what its members perceived as a recent nationwide increase in the persecution (and prosecution) of people involved in out-of-hospital delivery of babies. And anyone who attended the May ABCC gathering (and listened to the accounts of doctors who've lost their medical licenses, attendants who've been accused of infant murder, and parents who've had their newborn children taken away from them) soon realized that the birth-at-home option is being attacked by powerful societal forces . . . and that this small coalition of parents' rights advocates is going to have its hands full trying to halt the growing trend toward compulsory hospitalization in this country.
The moods of many of the day's speakers reflected that gloomy outlook. Several individuals spoke darkly of repression, civil disobedience, and even martyrdom. Yet the conference's final speaker, the executive director of ABCC, managed both to be realistic about the battle ahead and to speak, with joy, of the love of children and families that motivated every member of the group. This person, Marian Tompson, is the subject of our Plowboy Interview.
Besides heading the home birth movement's sole legal aid organization, Ms. Tompson has had a lot of personal experience with out-of-hospital births: Not only were four of her seven children born at home, but three of those offspring have returned to Marian's house to have their own babies! This home birth grandmother has also had a good bit of experience in helping people fight family-weakening social trends . . . in fact, 25 years ago she became the founder and president of La Leche League International, the women's breastfeeding education and support network that changed nursing one's own child from a dying art (in North America) to what is now the medically sanctioned and popularly accepted way to nourish the young. La Leche League began with a group of seven mothers who simply wanted to help each other deal with the sometimes difficult task of breastfeeding. Today, LLLI has 12,000 chapters in 43 countries, and Ms. Tompson herself has been flown as a nursing consultant to places as widespread as Jamaica, Switzerland, and India.
MOTHER sent staffer Pat Stone up to Washington to attend the ABCC conference and to spend a day talking with this matriarch of the breastfeeding — and now — the home birth movement. Pat reports:
"Marian Tompson's most striking quality is her remarkable purity of spirit. Whereas many home birth supporters have, understandably, become embittered by their struggle, Marian remains clear and compassionate, sustained by the same loving family bonds that led her to decide to breastfeed her children and to bear several of them at home. This special quality enables her to express even the strongest criticism with love, or to sympathize with the 'typical' obstetrician even as she opposes him. It also seems to help her maintain a warm, unpretentious way with people. Indeed, she seemed more concerned about being a good interview subject than I did about being a good questioner!
"Besides being impressed with Ms. Tompson's character and eloquence, I feel a deep sense of personal gratitude toward her . . . since the two causes she's worked publicly for have both affected my own life. (My wife and I had some initial difficulties with breastfeeding our firstborn, and with arranging a good home birth for our second.) In all, I felt myself richer for having had the chance to talk with her. "
What follows is the edited transcript of a six-hour discussion between Pat and Marian . . . held at the Jefferson, Maryland country home of Ms. Tompson's friend Patricia Victoria.
Marian, you went to a great deal of trouble to organize the Mother's Day conference of the Alternative Birth Crisis Coalition, and were even scheduled to moderate the entire day's events. Yet you were hours late to the meeting because there was a birth taking place in your own Chicago home!
Yes, my daughter Laurel and her husband Jim had decided to have their baby at my house. And as fate would have it, Laurel's labor started on the Friday before the conference. Oh, she said it'd be all right if I left for Washington as I'd planned, and I really did intend to . . . but when I got up to go at four o'clock Saturday morning, I literally could not put my body outside that door. I knew then that I was more needed at home than at the conference, so I told Laurel, "I just can't go," and she said, "Oh, Mother, I'm so glad!" That was that. I stayed to help and, at 12:53 a.m. Sunday, little Austin Scott Davies was born. [EDITOR'S NOTE: The group photo on the facing page shows Marian with Austin, Laurel, and Jim Davies on the bed where the baby was born.]
That's wonderful . . . and I guess you couldn't have a better excuse for being tardy to a home birth conference. But tell me, why did your daughter choose to have her child at your house?
Our family has a tradition of doing things at home. Many of the children my husband Tom and I had were born and married there . . . and when our first daughter to get pregnant — Debbi — was expecting, she and her husband decided to come to our house because they didn't regard their own residence as a permanent one. Then Melanie made the same decision when she became pregnant. And Laurel was the first baby that I had at home myself . . . so she was giving birth in the same room she was born in, and the doctor in attendance was the son of the doctor who attended her birth! I believe that these links of family continuity can give a person a lot of strength.
Of course, my daughters' decisions have absolutely delighted me. I've known many women who've been bothered by the very idea of becoming grandmothers. But let me tell you, if you're there when that baby's born, you're so thrilled that you want to stop people on the street and say, "Today I became a grandmother!"
Indeed, I believe that any loving friend or relative who is present at a birth goes through the same bonding process that occurs between the parents and the baby. The birth of a child just seems to glue those people together. I know that, right now, being away from that child is almost physically painful to me. I feel it right here where, I guess, my solar plexus is.
I can't think of a better way to introduce our readers to the experience of a good home birth, then, than to have you — if you're willing — tell the story of young Austin's arrival.
Well, I hope I can do it justice. It wasn't so much the location that made Laurel's delivery special, you see — the comfortable surroundings or the apple tree blooming outside — but rather the people there, what they were doing, and how the experience affected them.
First of all, my daughter handled herself beautifully. She was so relaxed and calm during the first — predelivery — stage of labor that I spent a lot of my time just gazing at her, enjoying the beauty and radiance of Laurel . . . who was finally having this baby that she wanted very, very much. Everyone there responded to her excitement and sort of fed it back to her.
And Jim, her husband, was marvelously supportive. They had taken childbirth classes together and shared a lot of preparatory reading, so he knew exactly what to do. He was with Laurel the whole time, always touching and encouraging her, helping her with her breathing and relaxation techniques, and wiping her face and neck with a cold washcloth to make her feel better.
Laurel had a long labor . . . and the transition — the intense contractions that come right before a mother can actually start to push a baby out — was really rough for her. During that time, she found that the only way she could be comfortable was to get on her hands and knees on the floor. Jim became a little apprehensive then and said to me, "Mom, do you mind staying in the room the whole time now?" So Laurel was on the floor, and Jim was on the floor, and I was on the floor.
When the doctor arrived, he got down on the floor, too, to examine her. He almost had to put the bottom half of his body under the bed to check Laurel's progress and listen to the baby's heart tones.
After Laurel made it through transition, she went into a long pushing stage but was able to doze between contractions . . . and when they came, she would just bear down and push. The doctor was a great help. He suggested a position — lying on her side with one leg up on her husband's shoulder — that would add strength to the contractions. Laurel was really having to work hard, but she never once said anything like, "Oh, when's this going to be over?" She was relaxed and happy . . . she was having her baby at last.
When Austin did come down, his head was out for minutes before the rest of him was born. The doctor could tell the child was doing fine, though, so he didn't try to rush the birth . . . he let Laurel take the time she needed. That's probably, in part, why she sustained only one tiny tear — so small that it didn't even require a stitch — during the birth. And as soon as Austin was born, Laurel got to hold him to her breasts, and touch and fondle him. Jim was right beside her, too. They were both talking and cooing to the new child, and Austin looked just darling . . . peering up and whimpering a little, but not crying loud. Even later, when the doctor moved the baby between Laurel's legs so his cord blood could drain, her hands were on him all the time.
That does sound like a wonderful experience.
It was. Yet even at the time, I couldn't help realizing how different Laurel's delivery might have been had she been in a typical hospital . . . where she and only "one significant other" would have been isolated throughout labor without anyone to support them . . . where strangers who'd simply call her "Mother" — and maybe not even smile at her — would pop in periodically to poke at my very modest daughter . . . where a physician might have forced her to go through labor on her back because he thought it "inconvenient" or "disgraceful" for a woman to give birth in any other position . . . where the doctor might well have operated to deliver the baby rather than wait through Laurel's long labor . . . and where, instead of letting that little boy be with his parents right away, the staff would whisk the newborn off to put drops in his eyes and to test, weigh, scrub, and even — this may sound unbelievable, but it happens — circumcise him.
Marian, you've just now mentioned some striking differences between the home birth your daughter had and some hospital experiences. It makes me wonder — since you've had children under both conditions — what your own birthings were like.
All I wanted, as I approached my first delivery, was to be allowed natural childbirth. It never occurred to me then that it might be possible to have the baby at home . . . remember, this was 32 years ago. But because I did experience an undrugged and unanesthetized hospital delivery, I was able to see just how unaware the staff people were of the needs of a woman in labor. For one thing, they sent my husband — the only person there who really cared for me — home.
They sent him home?
Oh, he came right back, but they still wouldn't let him in my room. Then, when I was in transition, they turned out the light and told me that, since it was night, I should go to sleep. Later, when I was in the delivery room and about to have the baby, the attendants threw the sheet over my head and started talking about their dates and dreams and all. And why not . . . they weren't accustomed to having a woman give birth while she was awake!
Still, I'll always be grateful to my obstetrician for permitting me to have a natural delivery. When my pushing stage dragged on — because the baby was in a posterior position — he said, "You know, Marian, if you were asleep, I could use forceps and have that baby out in no time." But I was awake . . . and that was my protection.
When my second child was due, I tried to arrange for my husband Tom to be with me during delivery, but the doctor said, "No, that isn't allowed . . . and besides, there won't be room."
What did he mean by that?
I didn't know . . . until I got to the hospital and a nurse said, "Oh, we've been waiting for you!" Every resident and intern and clerk around, you see, wanted to be there to observe this strange thing called natural childbirth. That's why there wasn't enough room for my husband.
For a while, though, they left me all alone in the delivery room. Every so often a doctor would come in and say, "Keep your knees together," or "Don't bear down." Well they'd already lowered the bottom section of the delivery table, so I'd answer, "Of course I won't bear down . . . if I did, the baby would fall right on the floor!"
I was starting to get uncomfortable, though, because I'd already reached the pushing stage . . . but my doctor had promised his office nurse that she could watch this delivery, too, so he was waiting until she'd rescheduled all his appointments and he could bring her over.
When the obstetrician finally arrived, he walked in like a victorious king entering a conquered city. The double doors to the room burst open and revealed a nurse, walking backwards as she put gloves on the doctor's outstretched hands. Behind him came a second nurse, who was tying up his gown. And following her were all those people who'd come to watch.
As the obstetrician approached the foot of the table, I said, "Doctor, they won't let me bear down, and I've got to bear down." And he said, "Marian, you can bear down now!" So I gave three pushes and — without any screaming or any tearing or a mussed hair on my head — out came my beautiful daughter Deborah. Then, as I reached out to touch her, a young intern rushed over to my physician and said, "Doctor, how did you do it?"
How did he do it? Oh, that's too much!
I couldn't believe my ears!
Well, I had a third baby in the hospital, but soon thereafter I was excited to hear that Dr. Gregory White was attending births at home. My husband was a little nervous about the idea at first, so I showed him statistics from the Chicago Maternity Center, which had been sending teams out to perform home deliveries for low-income women who'd had little or no prenatal care. Those teams hadn't lost a single mother during the three years in which they'd kept records . . . and they had a lower infant mortality rate than any hospital in the city. That information clinched it for Tom.
And just watching my husband's face when we had Laurel was one of the most joyous aspects of birthing at home. He was sitting by my bed, and he was all but overwhelmed by the whole experience. When she was born, he actually said, "How did you do it?" But he was speaking to me, not to the doctor.
Afterward, when telling people about Laurel's birth, I heard him say, "Why, there was nothing to it . . . I could have taken care of it myself!" I realized then that I could never go back to a hospital to have a baby. So the rest of our children — a fifth daughter and two sons — were born at home, too.
Were you ever at all nervous about delivering at home?
Oh, no. I'd had all my babies naturally, so giving birth wasn't a horrible or frightening experience to me. In addition, being on her home turf — like, say, the local football team — gives a mother a real advantage. She can make the decisions about who's there. She's more comfortable, more relaxed, and less apprehensive . . . so it's likely that the birth will go easily.
I believe there are many elements that science doesn't know how to measure which contribute to the fact that most home births — for people who want them — are safer than those in a hospital. Unless you've done it, though, you can't really understand what it means to give birth to a baby in your own bed, surrounded only by people who love and care about you, and to be in a position to celebrate a birth rather than just endure it. The effects of those unmeasurables shouldn't be underestimated.
I imagine that having a new sibling born at home was a positive experience for your other children as well.
Absolutely. They've never been in the room for the birth itself, but they've always rushed in within a few seconds to see the baby . . . and then out again to tie an appropriately colored blanket to the lamppost outside our house in order to spread the news. The older children have always been part of each experience . . . I've never deserted them.
In contrast, Dr. Herbert Ratner makes this analogy: Suppose a woman's husband goes of for a while and then comes home with this other woman and says, "Honey, I really love you, but I love her, too. She's going to live here now, and because she's new and doesn't understand things very well yet, I'm going to have to spend a lot more time with her than with you." Now the wife wouldn't want to share that man . . . and a child feels the same way about sharing his or her parents. But by not going away for her delivery, a mother can help prevent some of that sibling jealousy . . . and the children can get a very positive picture of birth itself. It becomes a normal and healthy event in their minds, not a frightening one.
Let's talk a little bit more about hospital deliveries. Why do institutions produce — for some people — less-than-optimal experiences?
I suppose one of the biggest reasons is that many hospitals seem to have a talent for turning normal, natural births into crisis situations. Now it's not that the doctors and other hospital staff want that sort of thing to happen. A lot of the drawbacks simply reflect the very nature of going into an unfamiliar environment and getting surrounded by strange people at a time when the mother really needs nurturing and support.
In fact, for a great many women, labor slows or stops as soon as they arrive at the hospital! To speed or restart contractions, a medical attendant is then likely to administer oxytocin, a stimulant that causes the uterus to tighten. However, this creates contractions that are much stronger — and closer together — than normal. As a result, the woman gets worn out very quickly.
In addition, the mother-to-be will probably be wearing an electronic fetal monitor, a device that registers and records the baby's vital signs during labor. The implements were designed to be helpful in high-risk situations, but now seem to be used almost routinely — and often during the entire labor period — simply because a hospital doesn't usually have enough staff to keep close tabs on a mother's progress. In such a case, the mother is truly laboring alone, and she's uncomfortable, to boot. That, of course, makes her more apprehensive . . . her tension has a negative effect on the baby . . . and that produces an altered graph reading. So the fetal monitor can, in itself, cause some distress in the unborn infant. Then, when the doctor sees the machine's reading, he doesn't want to put himself in the position — in case something really is wrong — -of having a graph printout that indicates he should have intervened in the natural birth process.
These factors and others — such as administering painkilling drugs and not letting the mother walk around or labor in a comfortable position — promote intervention. As a result, women who could — under supportive conditions — have wonderful, healthy deliveries are too often delivered surgically, by caesarean section.
Does that happen a lot?
Yes, and it's getting worse! According to Dr. William Matviuw, a founder and board member of ABCC, C-sections have increased 300% to 400% in the last ten years. Most hospitals now admit to performing the operation on 18% to 20% of their new mothers, and the true figures may well be higher. The dean of nursing at a prominent medical school in Chicago, for instance, told me that the caesarean rate in her hospital is 50%!
Has there been a corresponding reduction in fetal or maternal death?
Indeed not. Dr. Matviuw tells me — and he got these figures from an obstetrical/gynecological newsletter — that caesarean section surgery is now our nation's leading cause of maternal death! One woman dies out of every 1,000 who go through such an operation, compared to one of 400,000 mothers in non-interventive deliveries.
It shouldn't be that way! Why, even the dean of nursing I just mentioned admitted that her hospital's C-section rate would be lower if nurses were simply allowed to sit at the bedside of the laboring woman. Somebody should be there with the mother to comfort her, support her, help her work with her body, and be able to anticipate any problems that do come up.
So you feel that a lot of the caesarean sections being performed today are results of the way childbirth is managed in most hospitals.
I do, and many doctors don't realize what having a C-section can do to a mother. It's often seen as a way of saying, "You're not the woman you should be. You're lacking something." I used to see the same reaction with breastfeeding mothers when doctors would — incorrectly — tell them they couldn't breastfeed because they didn't have enough milk or because it wasn't "good" enough. The implication that she's not built the way she should be can deliver a real blow to any woman's self-image.
Let me put the same thing in male terms. Suppose you, Pat Stone, got married and wanted to start a family, but someone came up to you and said, "I really don't think you should be the father, Pat. You just don't have the qualities. Maybe your wife should be artificially inseminated." And suppose further — as is generally the case with women in hospitals — you had to go along with that advice. Boy, would your perception of yourself be damaged!
Another common form of hospital intervention is the administration of a wide range of drugs . . . painkillers as well as labor-inducers. Does this practice also produce negative effects?
Any medication given to the mother will pass right through the placenta and affect the baby, whose immature nervous system is much less capable of handling it. Furthermore, such drugs can disrupt the bonding between the mother and infant at delivery . . . simply because one or both may not be alert enough to respond during those important first shared moments. The medications may also set the baby's nursing back. It might be days before the child can learn to nurse well.
Most important, as Yvonne Brackbill (a graduate research professor at the University of Florida, who's considered by many to be a leading world authority on the behavioral effects of obstetrical medications) points out, many such drugs can cause long-lasting, or even permanent, damage. She estimates that maternal anesthetics and painkillers produce an average IQ loss of four points in newborns.
Remember, most of the drugs administered during childbirth have been approved by the FDA for many medical purposes but not specifically for use in deliveries. Why, even the Commission on Drugs of the American Pediatric Association has stated that "no drug has been proven safe for the fetus when taken by pregnant women".
What about other common hospital procedures, such as performing an episiotomy — the surgical cutting of a woman's birth canal — or using forceps in a delivery? Do you feel that those practices are also overdone?
Definitely. A survey made in Chicago indicated that about 95% of the birthing women there get episiotomies. Not only are those cuts psychologically damaging — because they're yet another way of saying to the mother, "God or nature didn't make you right" — but they're also likely to get infected . . . and the straight incision doesn't even heal as well as does a natural tear. On top of all that, there's some evidence that women who have episiotomies may actually rip or tear worse than those who don't have them.
And forceps can cause cerebral palsy or other permanent neurological injuries to the baby. All too often, they're seen as just another way of hurrying up the game, of not having to stay closely in tune with nature's birth processes.
Are you saying there are no justifiable reasons for performing such interventive procedures?
No, of course not. Certainly some women, maybe 3% to 5%, will run into a situation — such as placenta preview, in which the placenta starts to come out before the child — that might require a caesarean section or some other form of medical assistance. Unfortunately, in our society we tend to take medical tools designed for dealing with emergencies and apply them more and more often to normal situations.
The same was true of bottle feeding when I first worked with La Leche League. You may not realize that infant formula was originally developed for use in the case of a mother's death, or some other calamity, when there was nobody around who could wetnurse the baby. But pretty soon more and more people were bottle feeding. It became the fashionable thing!
Still, there is a definite place for hospital births, and not necessarily just for emergencies or high-risk cases. After all, some people just wouldn't be comfortable birthing at home.
That's certainly true. When you mentioned that labor stops for some mothers when they reach the hospital, I remembered a woman I know about who intended to deliver at home . . . but found that she couldn't relax and have full contractions until she went to the hospital.
Oh, I'd never favor forcing anybody to have a baby at home. And without doubt, there are hospital workers who really try to be responsive to people's needs. The fact is, though, that the survival of the home birth option is important even for people who want to deliver in hospitals. Not only does it offer one model for what an optimal birth experience could be, but it also provides a form of competition that influences hospitals to do a better job of meeting people's needs. This has been clearly shown in Alberta, Canada. Since home birth was effectively outlawed in that province, hospitals there have been steadily eliminating such "frills" as allowing the babies to room in with their mothers and letting children visit their newborn siblings.
We've talked a lot about the risks of hospital births. Now, let's turn this discussion around and look at the hazards of home deliveries. You've said that most women who feel comfortable with out-of-hospital births are safer having their babies at home. Do any scientific studies substantiate that claim?
Well, the most thorough collection of data on relative safety has been compiled by David Stewart — ABCC board member and executive director of the International Association of Parents and Professionals for Safe Alternatives in Childbirth — in his book The Five Standards for Safe Childbearing. According to Dr. Stewart, the medical establishment itself has carried out only one honest study of the issue. That study, which tabulated data on all the births in New York City from 1930 to 1932, concluded that "the relative safety of the home should be recognized" . . . and actually recommended midwife training and home birthing programs.
The only statistically balanced study in which home birth couples have been carefully matched with hospital couples — in terms of maternal age, number of previous pregnancies, years of education, socioeconomic status, and risk factors — was carried out by Dr. Lewis Mehl in 1977. He compared 1,046 home births with 1,046 hospital births . . . and found that there were four times more newborn infections, seventeen times more instances of neonatal respiratory difficulties, six times more cases of fetal distress, three times more caesarean sections, and three times more postpartum maternal hemorrhages in hospitals than at home. There were 30 birth injuries — mostly due to forceps deliveries — in the hospital, but none at home. The episiotomy rate was 87.4% in the hospital compared to 9.8% at home. Forceps were used on 35% of the hospital group, but only 1.6% of the home babies. And whereas 75% of the hospital mothers received analgesia or anesthesia, less than 5% of the home birth women needed drugs.
That sounds pretty convincing. How, then, was the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists able to publish the claim that "out-of-hospital births pose a 2-5 times greater risk to a baby's life than hospital births"?
That statistic includes deaths resulting from spontaneous abortions after a few months' gestation, emergency deliveries in taxis and such, infanticides by unwed mothers, and involuntary home births of extremely impoverished women. And no home delivery advocate would suggest that such births are safe or desirable. The people who should be compared to those who have hospital deliveries are women who plan to have their babies at home. They'll tend to do lots of studying to become fully informed, eat well, exercise, not smoke or take drugs, make sensible prior arrangements, keep from dwelling on negative thoughts, and — in short — do everything they can to insure that the birth will go well.
Would you say, then, that one of the most important criteria for a successful home birth is to prepare as thoroughly as possible?
Absolutely. Doing so can certainly contribute to a safe, positive experience. Of course, being prepared is just as important — and may even be more so — to a woman who's planning to go to the hospital. It'll help her know what the people there may want to do and what her options will be . . . she won't go in like a lamb to the slaughter.
What basic health factors would suggest that an expectant mother should not deliver at home?
There's a lot of difference of opinion about that. Some people say a woman should be hospitalized once her labor has lasted more than 24 hours . . . but mine has gone beyond that without causing any harm. Others recommend hospitalization for anyone whose pregnancy lasts beyond nine months . . . or who is older than 35 . . . or who has had four other children. But I've known plenty of women whose perfectly normal pregnancies lasted ten months, who had children at home when they were over 40, and — like me — had fifth, sixth, and seventh children at home.
The problem is that too many medical people have restricted notions, based on what they've been taught in school, of what's normal. Many home birth practitioners are also overly cautious about births they'll attend . . . simply because they want their statistics to look as good as possible in case they ever get taken to court.
Then how does a woman decide whether she's really a high-risk case who should deliver at a hospital?
If I were in a possibly risky situation, I'd consult a doctor or midwife who'd had a lot of experience with home births.
To assure a safe home birth, is it best to arrange for hospital backup to handle any emergencies?
Yes, the parents should do all they can to make provisions, in advance, so that they can rush to the hospital if necessary.
Let's examine the worst possible case. What happens if a crisis occurs at home that's too urgent to be left untreated during a ride to the hospital?
Those opposed to home birth — including people in the medical profession — frequently cite such a "crisis case" as a scare tactic. One doctor, for instance, has said that supporting home birth is like lining up 15 people and then deciding to shoot one. Another told a woman he could never perform a home delivery for her because, as a result of the "unsterile environment", many babies born at home die from rotted navels!
People used to attack breastfeeding in much the same way. Critics would say, "You're not doing the best for your baby . . . you're doing it just for yourself." In fact, my obstetrician's partner, a woman, once said to me, "Do you know, I've heard that if you nurse too long, your baby will get thick lips?"
It's hard to believe that anyone could accept such ideas!
Yes, but similar notions are still common. So the first point I want to make in response to your question about a home birth crisis is that few people would want to live life always fearing the worst possible outcome or constantly being vulnerable to thinly veiled scare tactics. On the other hand, I won't dodge your question . . . I'll admit that some babies born at home are going to die. If a baby of mine died that way, it'd be a great sorrow . . . but there are no guarantees in life that I know of.
I should also tell you about a recent development that's increased the risk of home births . . . namely, that more and more hospitals won't provide good emergency backup. Hospitals are supposed to be the havens, the healing centers, for people . . . yet in such instances those very institutions are creating extra dangers.
What can a couple do if they find they can't count on prompt hospital help in an emergency?
Well, the parents will have to weigh all the factors and come to their own decision. They may be better off just having the baby at home anyway. Some people who live in areas where hospitals are known to be terrible, and who can't find any competent delivery help, just go ahead without any attendant at all.
To play the devil's advocate again, suppose such a couple does decide on home birth without a professional attendant . . . even though the mother has some serious physical condition — like maternal diabetes — that makes her a high-risk case. Would you, personally, support that couple's decision?
Ultimately, I do think the parents' birth decisions should be supported . . . although I can't imagine a couple's choosing to have their baby at home if they really felt that doing so might well lead to its death. Today, unfortunately, there are instances in which society makes such decisions. Consider, for example, the case in Denver in which a judge and lawyer held a hearing in a hospital labor room, and the judge ruled that an unwilling mother had to have a caesarean. And, of course, what happens if a baby is damaged during such a procedure? Will the doctor or the hospital raise it? No, the parents will have to live with the effects. They're the ones truly responsible for the child.
And you should know that there have never been any studies done that prove that hospitals are safer places for either low-risk or high-risk mothers to deliver their babies.
Marian, are home birth parents and practitioners really getting in trouble these days?
Yes, they are. Mothers have been having babies at home since time began, but all of a sudden — in the past three or four years — people who attend home births are being prosecuted on all sorts of charges. Licensure boards are charging doctors with incompetence or negligence. Midwives are being accused of practicing medicine without a license . . . or of murder! And it's happening all across the country.
Here, look at the records I brought with me to the conference. This first page is a partial listing of the doctors — it includes 22 of them — who have been prosecuted on charges related to the fact that they attend home births.
I see what you mean. There's one physician here whose troubles began in 1977 and one in 1970, but all the others were charged in 1978, '79, '80, or '81.
And here's a list of 29 threatened midwives.
Let's see . . . 1979, 1980, 1978 . . . not one of these problems came up before 1978.
The medical community certainly seems to be making an effort to get after those who attend out-of-hospital births. And it's becoming clear that the issue is not the competence or incompetence of the practitioner, but simply the establishment's decision to get rid of that person. At ABCC we often send medical experts to testify at trials. We've seen cases where, after our witnesses have successfully refuted every charge against a doctor, the prosecution will say, "We're going to dig through that physician's records until we find something."
In fact, I can give you a single clear-cut example — out of the many I know about — of harassment. Rosalie Tarpening, a midwife and registered physical therapist in California, was put on trial for the murder of a baby delivered at home. After paying thousands of dollars in legal fees, she was finally acquitted when testimony proved that the treatment given at the hospital — to which she took the baby for emergency care — had caused the child's death. Even so, Rosalie was put on probation for two years and told not to deliver babies during that time. And that's not all. Now, the members of the medical establishment are after her again . . . they're going to examine her physical therapist's license!
As another example, just look at the difficulties my own doctor, Gregory White, has faced.
But Dr. White is widely known as the author of Emergency Childbirth, and as an expert in the home birth field. How did he get in trouble?
Without any warning, he received a letter from Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park — the week before last Christmas — that said, "You're suspended. You can't practice obstetrics in our hospital anymore." And the same thing happened to his son. The two men weren't even told what charges were being made against them.
Dr. White eventually had to demand a hearing. He found out that he and his son were accused of such things as discharging maternity patients within 48 hours after delivery, leaving orders that newborns not have the creamlike vernix coating they're born with washed off, and telling nurses not to give glucose water or formula to breastfed babies. Ironically, such practices are recommended in the medical literature. The board was finally forced to restore both men's hospital privileges on grounds of neglecting to use due process.
But aren't there cases on record where home birth practitioners actually have been negligent or incompetent?
Of course. The trouble right now, though, is that a double standard is being applied. It's being made to look as if all — and only — the people attending home deliveries are doing incompetent, negligent things. The fact of the matter is that hospitals sometimes do far worse . . . but nobody hears about it. Look at the case of midwife Rosalie Tarpening. The doctors who actually caused the baby's death — which she stood trial for — have never had any charges brought against them or (as far as we know) even been reprimanded by their hospital.
You should also consider that hospital-based physicians often don't understand home obstetrics, so they shouldn't even be asked to judge whether a home birth doctor is doing a good job or not. That's almost like asking a podiatrist to determine whether or not an opthalmologist is competent. Let me give an example. The rule in most hospitals is that, because of the possibility of infection, a mother must deliver her baby — by caesarean, if need be — within 24 hours of the time her bag of waters breaks. A good home birth practitioner, though, knows that an expectant mother can frequently go days after her waters break without infection . . . if she stays at home where she won't be exposed to the often wide variety of hospital germs.
What we have to do is to create public pressure to expose this double standard. Once the public comprehends that if home birth is wiped out, people's chances of getting the kind of birth experience they want — even in a hospital — are going to be limited or nonexistent, maybe they'll get behind this effort.
Then ultimately it's the parents and families — not the prosecuted birth practitioners — who have the most to lose.
And what's more, some parents are now being directly harassed, even though no state outlaws home birth per se. I know one couple of dedicated Mormon parents, for instance, whose first child — a toddler who'd been born at home — died of severe burns in a freak accident. They were accused of having abused their child, so the courts took custody of their second baby.
In another instance, after a veterinarian (who was at our ABCC conference) and his wife had their baby at home, his ex-wife reported the parents to the authorities . . . she claimed the infant wasn't gaining enough weight. Police then came to the house while the mother was nursing her baby, removed the child from her arms, and took it to the hospital. They even handcuffed the father — in front of his office patients — and threw him in jail.
And a couple in Texas, after the police had snatched their home birthed baby, had to fight in court for the mother's right to give pumped breast milk — for her own child! — to a welfare worker. Eventually, they got the baby back, had it taken away again, got it back again . . . and finally ran off and became fugitives just to keep their own offspring.
And all these parents are people who really care about their children. After all, that's why they're nursing and choosing home birth!
You've certainly made it clear that many home birth people are having serious difficulties. Perhaps that's why a number of the speakers at the ABCC conference used battle and combat imagery. Do you feel that the home vs. hospital birth dispute is serious enough to be called a war?
I believe it is — although I don't like to use that kind of rhetoric — because the medical establishment isn't going to back down. Those doctors have too much to lose. Home births threaten their income, their reputations, and the system they feel is right. Remember, many obstetricians — because of their training — believe very strongly that out-of-hospital births just aren't safe. And you can understand why they feel threatened. Home birth, in effect, questions their competence and puts them on the defensive. Still, out-of-hospital birth is becoming more widespread, even though in some states those who practice it have to be as careful as liquor drinkers were during Prohibition. In fact, hospital deliveries in this country have been declining ever since 1973. David Stewart now estimates that no less than 2% or 3% of the births in the U.S. today — or a total of at least 60,000 a year — take place at home. And the number of lay midwives, which was below 100 through much of the 1970's, has climbed to at least 3,000. These increases are both a reflection of people's dissatisfaction with hospital care and a natural result of women's increased confidence in their ability to function as mothers.
But as you've pointed out, resistance to home birth is increasing, too. What is the Alternative Birth Crisis Coalition doing about that?
The ABCC is trying to protect the rights of parents to choose where they'll have their babies and who will share the experience, and to protect the midwives and physicians who attend such deliveries. But because the offensive against home birth had begun before the coalition was formed, we've been forced to start out by simply reacting to the steps the medical establishment is taking against the people we represent.
We're doing this by helping both attendants and parents who've been harassed or brought to court. We review medical records, provide expert witnesses to testify at trials, and give people advice and help in raising funds for their defense . . . along with suggestions for publicizing their efforts.
But we really intend to go far beyond this. Right now, you see, prosecuted practitioners end up spending thousands and thousands of dollars and then — if they're lucky — are finally allowed to do what they were doing in the beginning. It's an enormous strain for such people just to get back to square one . . . and even then, establishment doctors and authorities can start shooting at them again, because the powers that be have got the home birthers jumping through their hoops.
We've got to turn the tables and make repressive medical professionals jump through our hoops. To that end, we want to set up consumer review committees to collect statistics on the delivery problems that occur in hospitals and to publicize instances where home births are being prosecuted. We'd like to inform the public by creating materials and information packets, and perhaps by setting up a system similar to La Leche's concept of assembling small groups to talk about breastfeeding. Such meetings could provide opportunities to talk about the problems of choosing a good birth attendant . . . to share information on preparing for delivery at home, at a birthing center, or in a hospital . . . and to discuss other aspects of the birth issue as well. They could help people — whether they plan to stay at home or go to a hospital — face the experience forewarned and forearmed.
Then do you feel that your fight should really concern people who aren't pregnant or even planning to have children?
The real issue here is not home birth . . . it's freedom of choice. If you believe people have the right to choose in their own best interests, you should be part of this struggle.
Anyone interested in helping out in this fight can get in touch with his or her local home birth practitioners or the ABCC to find out what specific aid is needed. One individual can have quite an effect by becoming informed about birth practices and passing the information informally to others. That spread of ideas can help develop a large enough power base to effect legislative changes . . . and such work has to be done at the state level because each state has different laws concerning birth attendants.
Marian, many of the speakers at your Mother's Day conference were pretty glum about the home birth movement's prospects. David Stewart, for one, predicted that some hospitals would have 100% caesarean rates before long . . . that a lot of people would — in effect — have to practice civil disobedience . . . and that more than a few would become martyrs to the cause. Do you really think the prognosis is so grim?
I'd love to say, "David's painting too black a picture," but I think he's right. No attempt to overthrow an entrenched system can succeed without having a lot of good people stick their necks out and sometimes get hurt. Some fathers have manacled themselves to their wives' hospital carts in order to get into the delivery room . . . people are being forced to act illegally, and sometimes even violently, because their primary rights are being violated or ignored.
Just how critical is the situation?
Well, I don't think it's hopeless. Right now, things look pretty bad . . . primarily because we home birth supporters don't have the money, the power base, or the political clout to stop the drive for compulsory hospitalization. But a small group can eventually make a big difference. I sometimes take inspiration from the story of Gideon's troops in the Old Testament. As you may remember, the Lord asked Gideon to take only 300 people to do battle against hordes of Midianites. Gideon kept saying, "Lord, we're not fighting people . . . and besides, how can we win with just 300 troops?" He was told that he'd win because the Lord was with him . . . and he did.
Now on the surface it may look as if the people fighting for home birth are the wrong people to do battle, because we're typically gentle and compassionate folk. But we believe that for the continued existence and safety of our families — and I don't think there's any stronger motivating force than protecting one's family — we have to fight. We know that each person is indispensable . . . that no matter how advanced our society becomes, the needs of mothers, fathers, and babies don't change . . . and that we have to do something to help the individuals who really care about other people.
I think we'll win, too, because we take our motivation and our strength from the deepest, purest love we have.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Here are a few basic birth resources recommended by Marian Tompson.
Alternative Birth Crisis Coalition (ABCC, Dept. TMEN, Chicago, Illinois). Membership in ABCC helps support prosecuted alternative birth practitioners and enables you to receive the group's periodic newsletter. ABCC will also provide legal counsel and expert assistance to those who join. Membership costs $10 a year for parents and childbirth educators, with higher rates for birth attendants.
Five Standards for Safe Childbearing (NAPSAC International, Dept. TMEN, Marble Hill, Missouri). Along with presenting the compelling evidence that good maternal nutrition, skillful midwifery, natural childbirth, home birth, and breastfeeding are essential to healthy child rearing, David Stewart's text ($9.95 postpaid) contains an excellent 50-page section on choosing a competent birth attendant. NAPSAC also publishes the useful NAPSAC Directory of Alternative Birth Services and Consumer Guide ($5.95 postpaid).
Emergency Childbirth. Dr. Gregory White's tightly written guide to handling birth crises is available from NAPSAC (address above) for $4.00 postpaid.
Midwifery and the Law (Mothering Publications, Dept. TMEN, Albuquerque, New Mexico). Mothering magazine's updated summary of each state's legislation regarding lay midwives is available as a reprint ($2.50) or as part of the magazine's current fall issue ($3.25).
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (La Leche League International, Dept. TMEN, Franklin Park, Illinois). This $7.50 (postpaid) guide can provide invaluable assistance to anyone intending to nurse.
Methods of Childbirth (Doubleday & Co., Billing Dept. TMEN, Garden City, New York). Constance Bean's newly revised text — available for $7.95 postpaid — is a good survey introduction to the various currently popular childbirth techniques.
Unnecessary Cesareans: Ways to Avoid Them (ICEA Bookcenter, Dept. TMEN, Minneapolis, Minnesota). This well-documented guide ($2.50 postpaid) tells how to minimize chances of caesarean delivery and how to increase the potential for optimal outcome should the operation prove necessary.


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The Year 1 NQT club 2008
Discussion in 'New teachers' started by pink_tink, Jul 10, 2008.
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Week # 7 Anna Emelie Helene Svenson
and her sister Rosali Svenson
This week I have two ancestors which I wish to present.
There are cousins to my grandmother.
Anna Emelie, sometimes called Emma, was born in Naum, Skaraborg County, Jan. 10 1868 and emigrated to the U.S. in Febr. 1891.
Her sister Rosali was born in the same place April 10, 1873 and she emigrated to the U.S. in November 1898.
Their father died in 1888 and the mother died in 1890.
Their father died in 1888 and the mother died in 1890.
I have found, by Ancestry.com that Rosali was emigrated
in 1868 and it says she is going to her sister Emelie Svenson, Chicago Illinos.
That's all I know so far, but I will continue to look for their families and trying to find out if Rosali also got married and had family
.... it remains to be seen ....


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Are the non-self extracting juice machines (omega 1000, 9000, Acme 6001) able to process citrus fruits without the attachment?
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Both Softbank and NTT Docomo are fighting for dominance over the newest trend in the Japanese mobile market: edible cellphones.
Docomo started the ball off with the SH-04B model. This chocolate based flip phone comes in two flavors (chocolate and strawberry) and includes features such as GPS, custom ringtones, and choice of milk chocolate or dark chocolate center.
Softbank of course had to join this lucrative new market with their Jelly Beans 840SH line. Taking a hint from Harry Potter, these confection phones come in a wide variety of flavors and come with a soft case to keep the candy shell from making your hands too sticky while you take calls. The phone also come with an OLED eternal sub display and Adobe flash compatible browser.
There will certainly be more to come in the brave new market and it will be interesting to see how long it will take for other markets to catch on. Still, after the disaster of the Nokia Herring phone, it could be a while before other manufacturers dive into the mix.


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NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. - The Little East Conference has announced the 2013 volleyball major award winners and all-conference teams. Earning Co-Offensive Player of the Year honors was freshman Julia Murphy (Canton, Mass.), while freshman libero Elizabeth Glavan (Edina, Minn.) was named the Defensive Player of the Year. In total six Beacons were named all-conference honorees, with two earning a spot on the first team and four on the second team.
Earning First Team All-Conference honors was Murphy and junior Kirsten Morrison (North Reading, Mass.), while on the second team it was Glavan, freshman Patsy Boland (Chicago, Ill.), senior Megan Pollock (Wilton, Calif.), and senior Corrine Porter (Huntington Beach, Calif.).
For Murphy she became the first player in program history to be named Offensive Player of the Year as a freshman. The middle hitter had an impressive freshman campaign as she was named the LEC Rookie of the Week a total of three times. The conference leader in hitting percentage, the Canton native closed out the 2013 regular and LEC postseason season with a .311 hitting percentage. She scored a combined 304 kills, which was second most in the conference and played in 129 of a possible 130 games. Her 2.36 kills per game sits seventh most in the Little East, while her 3.04 points per game is sixth best in the conference. She currently leads the Beacons defense with 24 solo blocks and 75 block assists. Perhaps her biggest match of the year came in the 3-2 win over Keene State College on September 11. Against the Owls, she combined for 16 kills on 23 attempts for a .609 hitting percentage. She also had one solo block and three block assists. Over the weekend she recorded a combined 16 kills and six total blocks to lead the Beacons to their fifth straight Little East title.
Glavan also achieved a program first in being named the Defensive Player of the Year. Perhaps one of the most talented liberos in the Little East, the Minnesota native recorded a conference best 5.27 digs per game during her rookie season. In a combined 109 games played, Glavan tallied 574 digs and also finished with a total of 696 total service receptions. Over the weekend she combined for 46 digs respectively to lead UMB to a 3-0 win over Western Connecticut State and a 3-1 win over Keene State. Her best overall performance came in the 3-2 loss to Haverford College on October 12 when she put-up an incredible 39 digs to set the program record for digs in a five-game match. She would later finish with 31 digs in a back-and-forth match with Wisconsin-Oshkosh at the Vassar College Tri-Match. Not only was she dangerous in the back row, Glavan also proved to be one of the Beacons top servers as she totaled 39 aces on the year, including four in the 3-0 win over Vassar on November 2.
Morrison earned her first-ever First Team All-Conference honors on Tuesday. The 6'2" middle hitter was beyond consistent all season long for head coaches Terry Condon and Michael Houlihan. In a total of 112 games played, the North Reading native threw down 213 kills and finished the year with a .263 hitting percentage, which ranks fourth in the Little East. Her 253.0 points was third most on this year's team, while her 16 solo blocks ranked second and her 56 block assists ranked third. Her best overall match was in the five-set come-from-behind victory over Keene State College in September. Morrison totaled a season-high 12 kills in the victory and also had two solo blocks and three block assists.
Boland's freshman season has been an impressive one as she sits tied for first on the team in kills per game with 2.36. The 2013 Little East Conference Tournament Most Outstanding Player, Boland played in 122 games and started in all 36 matches for UMB. One of the Beacons most versatile players, Boland also showed tremendous skill in the back row as she totaled 182 digs, (3rd most on the team). She would go on to record a total of 18 blocks and 15 aces as well. On the year, the Chicago native recorded 10 or more kills in 14 matches including a career-high 19 against Keene State in September. In the Little East tournament she finished with a combined 26 kills and four block assists respectively to earn the tournament's Most Outstanding Player honors.
Pollock's Second Team All-Conference selection came after the senior hitter turned setter helped the Beacons to their third 7-0 record in Little East Conference play. A three-time Little East Offensive Player of the Week and one-time ECAC New England Player of the Week, Pollock put together one of the most impressive second-half of the seasons in recent memory. In the month of October the California native averaged nearly nine assists per game for the Beacons. She ended the regular and Little East postseason ranked third in assists with 728 (6.87 apg). Since taking over as the Beacons go-to setter in late September she never finished a match with less than 13 assists. In the month of October she recorded nine-straight matches with 30 or more assists including a 45 assist performance in the LEC championship match against Keene State College. Her greatest showing in a Beacons uniform came when she combined for 56 assists in the October 12 match with Haverford College.
For Porter, she earned her fourth straight All-Little East Conference selection on Tuesday. The senior hitter from Huntington Beach became all-time leader in digs this past season, while also becoming only the second player in program history to record 1,000 kills and digs in a career. This season, Porter not only made her mark as one of the Beacons clutch hitters, but they also looked to her defensive ability to help lead them to their fifth straight conference title. In a total of 114 games, Porter totaled 286 digs and 158 kills. She also finished with 48 assists and had 23 block assists and two solo blocks. In the Little East Conference tournament championship match she recorded a double-double of 13 kills and digs to lead the Beacons to a 3-1 win over Keene State College. Going into the NCAA tournament, Porter stands at 1,033 kills and 1,332 digs in her four seasons in Boston.


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Hayden graduates 31 seniors in lively ceremony
Hayden — When "Pomp and Circumstance" started, Gail Valora quickly pulled out her camera.
In the bleachers around her, more family and friends recorded the revelry with cameras and iPads.
The arrival of their student on the big stage and the ensuing cheers were moments that were too important to be able to watch only once.
"It was like watching a great part of a family video playing out in real time," Valora said after she finished taking pictures of her grandson, Cutter Barrett, graduate from Hayden High School.
The west Routt County town graduated 31 seniors Sunday.
They plan to study psychology, mechanical engineering, gunsmithing, pediatric nursing, dental hygiene and environmental science, among many other topics.
Together, the Class of 2013 earned $288,000 in scholarships.
One will start basic training for the U.S. Army in June.
Another will be on the Dodge City Junior College track team.
And before they leave, they'll have plenty of advice to mull over.
"This class as a whole has never really cared about what's waiting on the other side, the end result," Principal Gina Zabel said. "You have always lived in the moment, been spontaneous and enjoyed every inch of your journey, your climb."
She told the students to continue to enjoy that climb.
Hayden pastor Doug Zirkle, the speaker for the graduation ceremony, recounted the story of his recent successful kidney transplant and the man who selflessly gave him the organ so that he could overcome his sickness.
"You come from good stock," he told the students as he encouraged them all to be cheerful givers. "You, too, can give without wanting anything in return."
After the speeches and the hugs and the "Pomp and Circumstance," the seniors carried on the tradition of celebrating their new status with a chatotic silly string fight.
Black balloons fell slowly as the students celebrated.
Not too much earlier, between the hours of midnight and 2 a.m., salutatorian Paul Laliberte was putting the finishing touches on the speech he delivered to his classmates.
The extra effort was worth it, he said.
"It was breathtaking," he said about the graduation ceremony. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing."
Scholarships awarded to Hayden High School graduates
(name, college attending, accepted scholarships)
• Zane Booco
Colorado Northwestern Community College
Babson Carpenter, $250
CNCC Scholarship, $1,600
• Aaron Cramer
Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn.
Babson Carpenter, $250
Hayden Lions Club, $500
Lee University Dean's Scholarship, $7,000
Lee University Robertson Memorial Scholarship, $16,000
Stuco, $800
Noon Rotary Club, $1,200
• Mark Doolin
Colorado School of Mines
Steamboat Springs Board of Realtors, $1,000
Craig M. Weaver Memorial Scholarship, $1,000
Colorado High School Coaches Association Scholarship, $1,000
TIC Scholarship, $1,000
Doak Walker, $1,500
Stuco, $200
Noon Rotary Scholarship, $1,000
• Medora Fralick
University of Wyoming
4-H Scholarship, $1,000
Steamboat Springs Board of Realtors, $500
Doak Walker, $1,500
University of Wyoming Rocky Mountain Scholars Award, $3,000
Ski Town Rotary Scholarship, $1,000
• Meghan Jezo
Colorado Northwestern Community College
Steamboat Springs Board of Realtors, $1,000
CNCC Vice President's Scholarship, $4,000
Marie Blee Scholarship, $500
• Trevor Mazzola
Colorado Mesa University
Babson Carpenter, $250
Colorado Mesa University Academic Scholarship, $1,000
HUHS Scholarship, $300
• Cole Miller
Colorado State University
Babson Carpenter, $250
4-H Scholarships, $1,000
Rotary Student of the Month
CSU Scholarship
HUHS Scholarship, $300
Stuco, $200
• Ashley Otto
Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Notre Dame De Namur University Academic Scholarship, $44,000
Coe College Dean's Scholarship, $66,000
Albion College Presidential Scholarship, $76,000
University of Northern Colorado Provost Scholarship, $1,250
University of Denver Pioneer Scholarship, 48,000
TIC Scholarship, 1,000
• Savannah Williams
Dodge City Junior College in Dodge City, Kan.
Dodge City Athletic Scholarship, books and tuition for two years
Steamboat Springs Board of Realtors, $250
Steve Maloney Scholarship, $1,000
ColoWyo Scholarship, $500
To reach Scott Franz, call 970-871-4210 or email firstname.lastname@example.com
Craig police arrest 19-year-old on domestic violence charge: On the Record — May 23
7:00 a.m. Near the intersection of First Street and U.S. Highway 40, police in Craig responded to a property damage crash call. Officers investigated an accident between two pickup trucks.


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Nigerian law school records the poorest performance ever as 4000 students fail
The Nigerian law school released its August 4th-10th 2012 examination result on the 20th of September, 2012. This result was slated for release on the 24th of September, 2012, being 4 days earlier before the official announced date.
The result has been rated as one of the poorest in the history of the Nigerian Law school, having over 6,000 registered students, and 1625 passed the bar part 2 examination. This result has given rise to an industry of complaints and agitations, on how the Nigerian Law school result is being marked, graded and computed.
The agitation is premised on the fact that the Nigerian Law school has a standing rule, which was introduced, 5 months into the administration of the current Director General of the institution, Dr Tahir Mamman, which forecloses any form of redress a student may want to seek, whenever dissatisfied by the result of the examination of the institution.
Reports have it that during the administration of the erstwhile DG ,Dr Kole Abayomi, an aggrieved student complained and the results were reviewed. This student eventually scored a 2'1 (second class upper) as his grade, paving way to over 140 students, whose results were also reviewed.
This policy of review came to an abrupt end, when the current DG assumed office. Within 5
months, he assumed office, he put and end to this policy, which also gave rise to corruption within the circle of the institution where manipulations and error happens from time to time, without any form of redress by the students. Information has it that clerical staffs alter results, for gratification, from some students who can afford the pay.
The issue of school fees is another challenge students and prospective students battle with. The school fees of the Nigerian Law school in the just concluded session was N245,000, exclusive of N15,000 form for the application form. The fees of the incoming student has been reviewed upward, to N280,000, and the application form goes for N20,000.
In terms of infrastructure, the Kano campus of the institution suffers the most, where students are constantly exposed to snake bites, scorpion stings, poor electricity, lack of portable water, accommodation, good and functioning library, incondusive lecture halls for learning, lack of adequate medical facilities, furniture, lighting, banking facilities and lately, Boko Haram activities. In February this year, Boko Haram wrote the Kano campus an open letter and pasted it at the administrative building in Kano, in preparation of an imminent attack on the institution.
Among the staffs, the Council of Legal Education is seen as a rubber stamp of the Nigerian Law School. The Nigerian Law school is facing a downward move in fortunes. Something has to be done.


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Unplayable … Greg Inglis was in scintillating form. DEFCON-SOUTHS
MATT COOPER, Jason Nightingale and Mitch Rein started the Charity Shield but failed to finish it. Cameron King, the back-up Dragons hooker, was medicabbed off ANZ Stadium in the worst possible preparation for their premiership opener against the reigning premiers in Melbourne.
South Sydney held off a spirited second-half fightback to win the 30th edition of the pre-season fixture 28-10. The focus will be on a bulging Dragons casualty ward which already includes first-choice halfback Kyle Stanley.
Cooper suffered a calf strain while Nightingale also failed to show for the second half due to a sciatic issue in his leg. Rein was forced off with a shoulder problem while the club's other dummy-half, King, was heavily concussed after running into the shoulder of Souths forward George Burgess. At least Michael Weyman, returning from a knee reconstruction, came through unscathed.
Cooper declared himself a certain starter against the Storm, saying he may have played only 40 minutes even if he didn't pick up the niggle. And Dragons coach Steve Price was confident Nightingale and King would take their places for round one.
"Mitch Rein has got a bit of a burner there on his shoulder so we'll let it settle down over the weekend and he can get scans early in the week," he said. "Our medical staff aren't overly concerned."
Despite the body count, the joint-venture club threatened to steal the contest when two tries in the space of four minutes narrowed the gap to six. But late tries to Rabbitohs youngsters Dylan Walker and Mitchell Buckett gave them a deserved victory.
Nathan Merritt was dumped for, the official line is, "failing to meet team standards". It's believed the prolific try-scorer channelled James O'Connor and failed to respond to the alarm clock. Just like Ben Te'o the previous week, he will don the red and black of feeder team North Sydney in the ultimate wake-up call.
In his place stepped Bryson Goodwin, who took only 10 minutes to make his presence felt. The former Bulldogs winger crossed after a sweet cut-out pass from Greg Inglis. Every stakeholder in the game held their collective breath when the decision was referred upstairs on the slightest suspicion of obstruction. However, "General" Luke Patten kept his head in his first decision in the video box and pressed the green button.
Inglis was again involved in the second touchdown, chipping over the Dragons' defence, with Andrew Everingham batting the ball back to try-scorer Beau Champion.
Nathan Peats's converted try near half-time, the result of a Canterbury-esque interchange of passes from their big men, gave Souths a 16-0 advantage at the break.
Injuries aren't the only concern for Price. His right-edge defence was targeted with great success. And it was a mixed night for the makeshift halves pairing of Nathan Fien and Jamie Soward. Like all good relationships, this one will take time to blossom.
It is difficult to read too much into a trial. The winners of four of the past five Charity Shields have finished the season lower on the table than the vanquished. If anything, it raised only more questions, such as how good is Inglis? Others, such as what sort of a team will Price be able to assemble to take on the Storm, will be tougher to answer.
SOUTH SYDNEY 28 (B Goodwin B Champion N Peats D Walker M Buckett tries A Reynolds 2 Goodwin 2 goals) bt ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 10 (D Vidot T Merrin tries J Soward goal) at ANZ Stadium. Referees: Adam Devcich and Jared Maxwell.
This story Administrator ready to work first appeared on Nanjing Night Net.


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Crown donation to fund chairs, home for Center
Gift could produce myriad other benefits in mid-campus area
The Crown family of Chicago has made a major gift to Brandeis University that will create three new endowed faculty chairs, help to provide a permanent home for the Crown Center for Middle East Studies and potentially jump-start renovation of outdated mid-campus buildings.
"The Crown family's extraordinary generosity is matched by their vision for what a great research university can be," President Fred Lawrence said. "Their gift will further support the Crown Center as the foremost institute for scholarly examination of the Middle East and will add to the critically important endowment that supports Brandeis' research mission."
Lawrence also praised Shai Feldman, the Judith and Sidney Swartz Director of the Crown Center, as "the driving force behind a center that has produced path-breaking scholarship that expands understanding of this critically important part of the world," and Provost Steve A. N. Goldstein '78, who was instrumental in procuring the gift.
Feldman said the Crowns are ideal donors because of their deep interest in the substance of the center's work.
"Gratitude, recognition, ceremonies and names on walls don't interest them at all," Feldman said. "They are interested in the research being conducted. They are engaged. They ask interesting questions and they have never tried to micro-manage the center. They have made me the envy of many colleagues" in centers at other universities and in Washington.
Crown family support for Brandeis long predates its founding the Middle East center. In 1968, the Crowns established Brandeis' Irving and Rose Crown School of Graduate Studies in American Civilization and created the Crown Fellows program to fund its students' work. Crown Fellows have held endowed chairs at Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Graduates include Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Oshinsky, Ph.D.'71, Emmy Award-winning historian Ray Arsenault, M.A.'74, Ph.D.'81, and Stephen J. Whitfield, Brandeis' Max Richter Professor of American Civilization, Ph.D. '72.
The first of the three new chairs will be named the Charles (Corky) Goodman Chair in Middle East History. It will be occupied by Assistant Professor of Middle East History Naghmeh Sohrabi, the Crown Center's associate director for research. Sohrabi spoke today on "The Role of History in Understanding Today's Iran" to a full house of students, faculty, Crown family members and university administrators at an event in Rapaporte Treasure Hall marking the inauguration of the chair. Family patriarch Lester Crown and his family member and close colleague Charles Goodman, who is a former Brandeis trustee, also spoke. Following a brief reception, other leading Crown Center scholars participated in a forum on current conditions in the the Middle East.
The areas of study and the occupants of the other chairs to be funded by the gift will be determined based on the Crown Center's priority study areas and the availability of top scholars, according to Feldman. The study areas are Syria-Lebanon, Turkey, the politics of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, and sectarianism, tribalism and ethnicity in the Middle East, Feldman said.
All the new chairs will be located in academic departments.
The gift will help to secure a permanent home for the Crown Center, a longtime goal of the university and the Crowns. A strong possibility that is under consideration is construction of a new level in Schwartz Hall in the mid-campus area. This would enable the university to make sorely needed improvements to Schwartz and to replace the aged heating, venting and air conditioning system that serves Schwartz and neighboring Brown Hall, according to Provost Goldstein.
The new level in Schwartz would contain both the Crown Center's home and additional offices to be used by the Office of the Provost to house new programs, visiting scholars and faculty temporarily displaced by renovations elsewhere on campus. Other improvements could include renovation of the Schwartz auditorium into a high-tech venue, creation of full access to both Schwartz and Brown for individuals with handicaps and construction of two new classrooms, possibly including the university's first active-learning classroom – a room designed to allow faculty to move beyond lecture format to integrated use of media and collaborative learning.
The Schwartz-Brown renovation proposal will require further consultations with faculty and an architectural planning and organization phase that will extend halfway into spring semester before a final decision can be made, Goldstein said. If the proposal is adopted, construction would begin as soon as possible after the end of classes next spring, in an effort to get the bulk of the most-disruptive work done over the summer. The new spaces would be ready for use beginning the following summer.
Goldstein said he hopes this will serve as a model for development and redevelopment at Brandeis in the coming years because "this shows how faculty-driven, mission-based thinking can advance programs of excellence, like the Crown Center, in ways that strengthen the university overall."
"This demonstrates what our centers and interdisciplinary programs can do for us," Goldstein said, "strengthening areas of distinction and the core by bringing endowed positions to the schools, enhancing our capacity in areas where we define the cutting edge, enriching the academic milieu and renewing the campus for everyone."
He noted that repurposing of Schwartz, one of the least energy-efficient buildings on campus, would become environmentally friendly, and Schwartz and Brown also would gain an elevator and bathrooms for persons with disabilities.
Lawrence praised the provost's development of the multi-faceted proposal.
"Steve Goldstein has demonstrated great vision and leadership," Lawrence said, "working with the Crowns and the academy and attending to the bricks and mortar needs of the university as well."
Categories: General, International Affairs


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Nexon America has launched closed beta testing of Extraction, Splash Damage's upcoming multiplayer online first-person shooter. The official website is where to sign up if you are interested in participating, and here is their pitch to entice you: "Extraction's closed beta will give players the opportunity to experience the game's Objective, Stopwatch and Execution modes across several different areas of London. Players will be able to unlock a variety of Mercs, allowing them to approach Extraction's closed beta battles in different ways. In addition to testing, closed beta participants will also be able to provide feedback to the development team. ECHO, a powerful analytics and telemetry system utilized during the game's alpha period, will also be employed during the closed beta to help ensure a fair and balanced playing field."
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Best Of :: Shopping & Services
Everyone knows LAX is a nightmare, so where do you fly out of? Burbank? Ontario? How about Long Beach Airport's newly revamped terminals? They feature modern, clean design and tiny outposts of local restaurants — Sweet Jill's for sticky buns on early-morning flights, and a classy wine bar with an outdoor fire pit for afternoon waits. Yes, you read that right: an outdoor fire pit, at the airport. As JetBlue's West Coast hub, LGB can fly you directly to San Francisco, New York, Boston and Austin, Texas, to name a few. It also boasts the lowest fares in California (second lowest in the nation) and was recently awarded "Best Food and Beverage Program" in North America by the Airports Council International. The best part? Zipping through security like a VIP. —Sascha Bos
4100 E. Donald Douglas Drive, Long Beach, 90808. (562) 570-2600, lgb.org.
Vinny's Barber Shop has a sort of unofficial slogan: "It's a haircut." And indeed, it is that. In a world where a million salons try to pose as the real McCoy, you need look no further than this East Hollywood spot for an old-school barber shop with a modern, contemporary vibe. At Vinny's, the five chairs are almost always full, with good tunes playing in the background. While you're encouraged to grab a beer while you wait, or have some coffee, beverages aren't a gimmick to cover up for substandard quality. Gents chew the fat about sports, work, dogs and cars — everything but politics and religion, which are expressly forbidden. Proprietor Omar Romero just happens to be the finest rockabilly recording engineer in the world. The tattooed gentlemen on his staff take the utmost pride in their work, doing everything they can to make customers look their absolute best. It's a haircut? Sure. And a '68 Chevelle is a car. —Nicholas Pell
852 N. Virgil Ave., E. Hlywd., 90029. (323) 426-9536.
Open just a few hours a week (Wednesday through Friday, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.), this dusty, signless storefront is easy to miss. But if you glance through the window, you'll see an ancient wheelchair and crutches, old cans and bottles, and a selection of shiny silver toasters and waffle makers. Inside Metropolitan News, the mix is even more eclectic: a rocking horse, old maps, pins, plates, photos, car manuals, typewriters, wall phones, sheet music, desks, coffee cans and Edison wax cylinders. There are mysterious personal effects, too. Who is Nana Sterling, "the deep-breathing beauty"? These retro relics came largely from a crowded, chaotic amateur museum based in tiny Aguilar, Colorado, obtained by shop owner and history conservationist Jo-Ann Grace, whose office is next door. Get down there and get hunting — before the Beverly Hills antique dealers beat you to it. —James Bartlett
214 S. Spring St., dwntwn., 90012. No phone, no website.
The paucity of bookstores on the Westside can be disheartening, but Santa Monica's Angel City Books & Records has been a sanctuary for book-buying locals since 1998. Though small and narrow, the store is easily navigable and feels more cozy than cramped. Filled with a meticulously curated selection of used books, the store's range and specificity are staggering. A trove of Beat literature is just steps from a section devoted to Santa Monica history. Turn from the long shelf of poetry and plays and find yourself faced with a superb reserve of pulp fiction paperbacks. If you're looking for signed and/or first editions, see the glass case behind the counter. Angel City sells an equally excellent, albeit occasionally pricey, selection of vinyl, and whether you're looking for tomes or tunes, amiable owner Rocco Ingala is here to help. Call and he'll check the shelves for whatever you're after. Better yet, swing by and browse as he plays records over the store speakers. You may find something you didn't know you needed. —Max Bell
218 Pier Ave., Santa Monica, 90405. (310) 399-8767, angelcitybooks.com.
The Langham Huntington's new, 11,000-square-foot luxury spa, Chuan Spa, combines advanced skincare methods with Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM, techniques — in fact, it's the only global spa brand based on TCM. That means a focus on yin and yang, the meridian system (jing luo) and the five elements (wu xing), plus more than 20 signature treatments with the guidance of an in-house TCM doctor. Try the Chuan Yu facial — meridian points on your face are stimulated with a massage featuring real jade, known for its healing qualities. Or how about the caviar and pearl facial, which incorporates protein-rich caviar and real pearl powder? The spa has a palate of soothing earth tones, incorporating wood, water and fresh flowers, with influences that include both the Chinese architectural and Pasadena's Arts & Crafts traditions. And did we mention the water beds? After your treatment, you are taken to the Dream Room, where you can melt into a heated water bed under a silk coverlet while you are brought a cup of tea that jibes with your constitutional type (wood, earth, metal, fire or water). Top that, anywhere. —Samantha Bonar
1401 S. Oak Knoll Ave., Pasadena, 91106. (626) 585-6414, chuanspa.com/en/Pasadena/index.html.
The first thing optician Van de la Plante asks customers when they walk into his tiny eyewear boutique in Echo Park isn't about their eyesight — it's whether they'd like a glass of Scotch and a seat on one of two tattered, turn-of-the-century armchairs. The Scotch, poured from a beveled glass decanter on a wooden side table displaying biographies of Houdini and Tesla, is all part of the macho, vintage Americana lifestyle peddled by Gentlemen's Breakfast. Housed in a one-car garage off Sunset Boulevard, the anachronistic hideout specializes in original, 1960s dead-stock frames from Europe and Japan, all of which can be custom-fitted with either prescription or sunglass lenses. The glasses range in price from about $150 — for thick, nylon "prison glasses," which were distributed to prisoners in the 1960s because of their pliable and nearly indestructible frames — to upwards of $1,000 for 100-year-old Japanese welding glasses with rose-colored lenses. —Jennifer Swann
1101 Mohawk St., Echo Park, 90026. (323) 306-6766, gentsbreakfast.blogspot.com.
If you've ever dreamed of fixing your bicycle's flat tire, loose chain or squeaky brakes but don't have the slightest idea where to start, Bicycle Kitchen is here to help. The East Hollywood nonprofit offers full-service bike repair with a catch: You've got to do it yourself. For a suggested donation of $7 per hour, the "cooks," aka volunteers, will equip you with all the tools and skills you'll need to jazz up your ride or even build a new one from used parts. Monday is ladies' night, which means the shop is open only to women and transgender cyclists. Known as Bicycle Bitchen, Monday's weekly three-hour workshop is the best place to get your hands dirty while learning bike maintenance and mechanics, without any men around. At the most bitchin' bike party in town, you can crank up the tunes, turn up the good vibes and put the pedal to the metal. —Jennifer Swann
4429 Fountain Ave., E. Hlywd., 90029. (323) 662-2776, bicyclekitchen.com.
On a shaded stretch of Mission Street about two miles south of Old Town Pasadena sits Marz Boutique, a singular gift emporium with a dazzling selection of knickknacks, tchotchkes and curios — many of which you've probably never seen anywhere else. One of the best (or worst) things about this distinctive shop is that you walk in planning to buy something for a friend or niece or co-worker but seldom leave before also purchasing something special for yourself. From unique imports, handmade crafts, vintage baubles and fun housewares to artisanal bath products and unusual books, the store's selection practically compels browsing. The stuff in Marz isn't just inventory: It becomes a thoughtfully curated display of rare and remarkable objects, which manage to make the store appear welcoming and organized despite the volume of articles within. Marz also sells handmade cards, exquisite wrapping paper and eye-catching gift bags — but chances are you won't need them: The store offers gift wrapping that's just as appealing as the presents themselves. —Tanja M. Laden
1512 Mission St., South Pasadena, 91030. (626) 799-4032, marzgifts.com.
The VCA West Los Angeles Animal Hospital is the Cedars-Sinai of veterinary hospitals. The flagship of the national VCA chain and a teaching hospital to boot, this sparkling clean Sepulveda Boulevard location has animal dermatologists, endocrinologists, oncologists, dentists and acupuncturists. They've got underwater treadmills for fat cats and gimpy dogs. They do chemotherapy and behavioral therapy and stem cell therapy (yes, seriously). Here, it is not uncommon for a pet to have a team of health care professionals — a specialty orthopedic surgeon, a cardiologist and a physical therapist, say, might attend to a Pomeranian with a dislocated hip. You will marvel at the little yoga mats they pull out for your pet during exams, at the security keypads for each private exam room, at the ginormous parking structure. The place is proof that, in L.A., pampered pets get better healthcare than their humans. —Gendy Alimurung
1900 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West L.A., 90025. (310) 473-2951, vcahospitals.com/west-los-angeles.
In an age of ever-larger art superstores, Top's Art Supplies still has human scale. The compact Koreatown store features the finest hand-picked, imported supplies — brushes and scissors from Japan, paper from India — along with neatly arranged collections of sketchpads, colored pencils, painting supplies and markers. Family-owned and operated since 1987, the store is a favorite with design students and proudly carries one of the finest collections of sewing notions anywhere, while a back room is dedicated entirely to supplies for children's science projects. Top's paint is always on 25 percent discount, while canvas is at 60 to 70 percent off — not to mention the twice-annual "back-to-school" sales. Equally impressive? The warm and attentive customer service, which Top's proprietors have down to an ... art. —Adam Gropman
3447 W. Eighth St., Koreatown, 90005. (213) 382-8229, topsartsupplies.com.
Looking to expand your shopping repertoire to include local boutiques that carry independent designers? Kelly Love and Fez Phez, owners of DTLA's Haus of Love, have you covered. Their shop is a platform for emerging design talent. It stocks mostly up-and-coming L.A. brands, as well as a few labels from London and Hong Kong. This boutique is not for the basics: You won't find plain T-shirts, jeans or fast fashion; rather, you'll discover and fall in love with a curated, unique selection of one-of-a-kind, quality, avant-garde clothing and accessories, most of which are produced here in L.A. Think chic mesh hoodies and tanks by Rojas, galactic-inspired laser-cut Plexiglas earrings by Marina Fini and organza-meets-denim-meets-plaid pieces by Rose La Grua. Haus of Love also hosts pop-up shops during downtown L.A.'s monthly Art Walk to showcase new artists and designers. —Elise Montecastro
600 S. Spring St., Unit 108, dwntwn., 90014. (323)420-3007, shophausoflove.com.
Dog "life coach" Tamar Geller's kennel, the Loved Dog, isn't so much doggie daycare as an awesome house party that your dog wishes he could go to every day. Here, Geller separates dogs based on temperament — mellow dogs upstairs in the 1,800-square-foot "lounge," hyper dogs downstairs in the 2,600-square-foot "play park." Within each area, dogs sort themselves out based on a pack hierarchy, though handlers will intervene if anyone steps out of line. Geller does not believe in pain or punishment but rather in happy, loving positive reinforcement. A cage-free kennel was a revolutionary idea when Geller first came up with it, back in 1996. A former intelligence officer with Israel's elite Special Forces, she fought long and hard to get the city to approve the concept. Similar facilities now are everywhere, but the original is still the best. —Gendy Alimurung
2100 Pontius Ave., West L.A., 90025. (310) 914-3033, theloveddog.com.


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What would Philip K Dick and Stephen King's love child look like if it grew up reading 1984 and watching Saw movies? Probably a lot like Inferno by Todd Riemer. There is the decaying dystopian society with requisite brutality and opression, a demon spirit and the ghost of a dead lover caught between two worlds, and well-crafted though rather graphic scenes of torture and abuse. This book is not for the faint of heart but it does have nice, tight prose and good imagery.
The hero of our story, Blum, tells us of his experiences through flashbacks and real time narration. We first meet him in a dream (which honestly put me off a bit, because I didn't realize it was a dream at first and it seemed incomprehensible, but eventually I read past the first page and it started to make sense). We discover he has been imprisoned for years for rebellion against the oppressive regime that murdered his lover, who was at the time pregnant with his child. We follow him through escape, return, capture, resistance, and another insurrection. Along the way we discover he is being manipulated by a demon spirit called the Midnight Man who hopes to corrupt Blum completely so that he can take the Midnight Man's place as a tortured and miserable ruler of hell. The Midnight Man holds the ghost of Blum's lover hostage in the fires, where she will remain until Blum kills her murderers, thereby freeing her to be reborn into a new life.
Inferno is Riemer's first novel, and is self published. Most of the time I am leery of self published books, because they tend to have grammar and punctuation errors that drive me nuts – more so than books from major publishers with copy editors. I was pleasantly surprised that that was not an issue with Inferno, although it has a unique, almost stream-of-consciousness, style that took some getting used to. Once I adjusted to the style, I quickly got caught up in the imagery of the book. If you enjoy dark stories and don't mind graphic violence, this is a good read with redemption and a little nugget of hope at the end.
For those of you who prefer a multimedia experience, Riemer also has a website here for all things Inferno.