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Public opinion
Public opinion, an aggregate of the individual views, attitudes, and beliefs about a particular topic, expressed by a significant proportion of a community. Some scholars treat the aggregate as a synthesis of the views of all or a certain segment of society; others regard it as a collection of many differing or opposing views. Writing in 1918, the American sociologist Charles Horton Cooley emphasized public opinion as a process of interaction and mutual influence rather than a state of broad agreement. The American political scientist V.O. Key defined public opinion in 1961 as "opinions held by private persons which governments find it prudent to heed." Subsequent advances in statistical and demographic analysis led by the 1990s to an understanding of public opinion as the collective view of a defined population, such as a particular demographic or ethnic group.
The influence of public opinion is not restricted to politics and elections. It is a powerful force in many other spheres, such as culture, fashion, literature and the arts, consumer spending, and marketing and public relations.
Theoretical and practical conceptions
In his eponymous treatise on public opinion published in 1922, the American editorialist Walter Lippmann qualified his observation that democracies tend to make a mystery out of public opinion with the declaration that "there have been skilled organizers of opinion who understood the mystery well enough to create majorities on election day." Although the reality of public opinion is now almost universally accepted, there is much variation in the way it is defined, reflecting in large measure the different perspectives from which scholars have approached the subject. Contrasting understandings of public opinion have taken shape over the centuries, especially as new methods of measuring public opinion have been applied to politics, commerce, religion, and social activism.
Political scientists and some historians have tended to emphasize the role of public opinion in government and politics, paying particular attention to its influence on the development of government policy. Indeed, some political scientists have regarded public opinion as equivalent to the national will. In such a limited sense, however, there can be only one public opinion on an issue at any given time.
Sociologists, in contrast, usually conceive of public opinion as a product of social interaction and communication. According to this view, there can be no public opinion on an issue unless members of the public communicate with each other. Even if their individual opinions are quite similar to begin with, their beliefs will not constitute a public opinion until they are conveyed to others in some form, whether through print media, radio, television, the Internet, or telephone or face-to-face conversation. Sociologists also point to the possibility of there being many different public opinions on a given issue at the same time. Although one body of opinion may dominate or reflect government policy, for example, this does not preclude the existence of other organized bodies of opinion on political topics. The sociological approach also recognizes the importance of public opinion in areas that have little or nothing to do with government. The very nature of public opinion, according to the American researcher Irving Crespi, is to be interactive, multidimensional, and continuously changing. Thus, fads and fashions are appropriate subject matter for students of public opinion, as are public attitudes toward celebrities or corporations.
Nearly all scholars of public opinion, regardless of the way they may define it, agree that, in order for a phenomenon to count as public opinion, at least four conditions must be satisfied: (1) there must be an issue, (2) there must be a significant number of individuals who express opinions on the issue, (3) there must be some kind of a consensus among at least some of these opinions, and (4) this consensus must directly or indirectly exert influence.
In contrast to scholars, those who aim to influence public opinion are less concerned with theoretical issues than with the practical problem of shaping the opinions of specified "publics," such as employees, stockholders, neighbourhood associations, or any other group whose actions may affect the fortunes of a client or stakeholder. Politicians and publicists, for example, seek ways to influence voting and purchasing decisions, respectively—hence their wish to determine any attitudes and opinions that may affect the desired behaviour.
It is often the case that opinions expressed in public differ from those expressed in private. Some views—even though widely shared—may not be expressed at all. Thus, in a totalitarian state, a great many people may be opposed to the government but may fear to express their attitudes even to their families and friends. In such cases, an antigovernment public opinion necessarily fails to develop.
Historical background
Although the term public opinion was not used until the 18th century, phenomena that closely resemble public opinion seem to have occurred in many historical epochs. The ancient histories of Babylonia and Assyria, for example, contain references to popular attitudes, including the legend of a caliph who would disguise himself and mingle with the people to hear what they said about his governance. The prophets of ancient Israel sometimes justified the policies of the government to the people and sometimes appealed to the people to oppose the government. In both cases, they were concerned with swaying the opinion of the crowd. And in the classical democracy of Athens, it was commonly observed that everything depended on the people, and the people were dependent on the word. Wealth, fame, and respect—all could be given or taken away by persuading the populace. By contrast Plato found little of value in public opinion, since he believed that society should be governed by philosopher-kings whose wisdom far exceeded the knowledge and intellectual capabilities of the general population. And while Aristotle stated that "he who loses the support of the people is a king no longer," the public he had in mind was a very select group; in the Athens of his time, the voting population was limited to about one-third of free adult male citizens.
The Middle Ages to the early modern period
In the traditional rural European societies of the Middle Ages, most people's activities and attitudes were dictated by their social stations. Phenomena much like public opinion, however, could still be observed among the religious, intellectual, and political elite. Religious disputations, the struggles between popes and the Holy Roman Empire, and the dynastic ambitions of princes all involved efforts to persuade, to create a following, and to line up the opinions of those who counted. In 1191 the English statesman William Longchamp, bishop of Ely, was attacked by his political opponents for hiring troubadours to extol his merits in public places, so that "people spoke of him as though his equal did not exist on earth." The propaganda battles between emperors and popes were waged largely through sermons, but handwritten literature also played a part.
From the end of the 13th century, the ranks of those who could be drawn into controversy regarding current affairs grew steadily. The general level of education of the lay population gradually increased. The rise of humanism in Italy led to the emergence of a group of writers whose services were eagerly sought by princes striving to consolidate their domains. Some of these writers served as advisers and diplomats; others were employed as publicists because of their rhetorical skills. The 16th-century Italian writer Pietro Aretino—of whom it was said that he knew how to defame, to threaten, and to flatter better than all others—was sought by both Charles V of Spain and Francis I of France. The Italian political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli, a contemporary of Aretino, wrote that princes should not ignore popular opinion, particularly in regard to such matters as the distribution of offices.
The invention of printing from movable type in the 15th century and the Protestant Reformation in the 16th further increased the numbers of people able to hold and express informed opinions on contemporary issues. The German priest and scholar Martin Luther broke with the humanists by abandoning the use of Classical Latin, which was intelligible only to the educated, and turned directly to the masses. "I will gladly leave to others the honour of doing great things," he wrote, "and will not be ashamed of preaching and writing in German for the unschooled layman." Although Luther's Ninety-five Theses, which were distributed throughout Europe despite being printed against his will, were of a theological nature, he also wrote on such subjects as the war against the Turks, the Peasants' Revolt, and the evils of usury. His vituperative style and the criticism he received from his many opponents, both lay and clerical, contributed to the formation of larger and larger groups holding opinions on important matters of the day.
During the Thirty Years' War (1618–48), extensive attempts were made to create and influence public opinion, including the use of tracts illustrated with woodcuts. Opinions were also swayed by means of speeches, sermons, and face-to-face discussions. Not surprisingly, some civil and religious authorities attempted to control the dissemination of unwelcome ideas through increasingly strict censorship. The first Index Librorum Prohibitorum ("Index of Forbidden Books") was published during the reign of Pope Paul IV in 1559. Charles IX of France decreed in 1563 that nothing could be printed without the special permission of the king. The origin of the word propaganda is linked to the Roman Catholic Church's missionary organization Congregatio de Propaganda Fide (Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith), which was founded in 1622.
More quietly but more significantly, other means of distributing information were becoming a common part of life. Regular postal services, started in France in 1464 and in the Austrian Empire in 1490, facilitated the spread of information enormously. Rudimentary private news services had been maintained by political authorities and wealthy merchants since Classical times, but they were not available to the general public. Regularly printed newspapers first appeared about 1600 and multiplied rapidly thereafter, though they were frequently bedeviled by censorship regulations.
The great European news centres began to develop during the 17th century, especially in cities that were establishing sophisticated financial exchanges, such as Antwerp, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, London, and Lyons. With the introduction of a paid civil service and the employment of paid soldiers in the place of vassals, princes found it necessary to borrow money. The bankers, in turn, had to know a great deal about the credit of the princes, the state of their political fortunes, and their reputations with their subjects. All kinds of political and economic information flowed to the money-lending centres, and this information gave rise to generally held opinions in the banking community; the ditta di borsa ("opinion on the bourse") is often referred to in documents of the period.
The 18th century to the present
Significantly, it was another financial official who first popularized the term public opinion in modern times. Jacques Necker, the finance minister for Louis XVI on the eve of the French Revolution, noted repeatedly in his writings that public credit depended upon the opinions of holders and buyers of government securities about the viability of the royal administration. He too was vitally concerned with the ditta di borsa. But he also remarked on the power of public opinion in other areas. "This public opinion," Necker wrote, "strengthens or weakens all human institutions." As he saw it, public opinion should be taken into account in all political undertakings. Necker was not, however, concerned with the opinions of each and every Frenchman. For him, the people who collectively shaped public opinion were those who could read and write, who lived in cities, who kept up with the day's news, and who had money to buy government securities.
The final years of the 18th century showed how enormously the power of public opinion had grown. Revolutionary public opinion had transformed 13 North American British colonies into the United States of America. In France, public opinion had inspired both the middle classes and the urban masses and had ultimately taken shape as the French Revolution. Observers of the Revolution were mystified—and often terrified—by this new spectre, which seemed able to sweep aside one of the most-entrenched institutions of the time—the monarchy.
In keeping with theories of social class developed in the 19th century, some scholars of the era viewed public opinion as the domain of the upper classes. Thus, the English author William A. Mackinnon defined it as "that sentiment on any given subject which is entertained by the best informed, most intelligent, and most moral persons in the community." Mackinnon, who was one of the first authors to focus on the subject, drew a further distinction between public opinion and "popular clamour," which he described as
that sort of feeling arising from the passions of a multitude acting without consideration; or an excitement created amongst the uneducated; or amongst those who do not reflect, or do not exercise their judgment on the point in question.
There is no doubt that public opinion was on the minds of the great thinkers and writers of the era. The German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel described public opinion as containing both truth and falsehood and added that it was the task of the great man to distinguish between the two. The English jurist and historian James Bryce, writing in the late 19th and the early 20th century, maintained that a government based on popular consent would give a nation great stability and strength but did not believe that public opinion could or should determine the details of policy, since in his view most people do not have the leisure or inclination to arrive at a position on every question. Rather, the masses would set the general tone for policy, their sentiments leading them to take a stand on the side of justice, honour, and peace.
Various theories of public opinion have been developed since the early 20th century, though none has been recognized as predominant. According to a framework suggested by the Canadian communications theorist Sherry Devereux Ferguson, most of them fall into one or the other of three general categories. Some theories proposed in the first half of the 20th century treat public opinion as a welling up from the bottom levels of society to the top, ensuring a two-way flow of communication between representatives and the represented. This "populist" approach acknowledges the tendency of public opinion to shift as individuals interact with each other or respond to media influences. It has been opposed by theories of the "elitist" or social constructionist category, which emphasize the manipulative aspects of communication and recognize the multiplicity of perspectives that tend to form around any issue. Reflecting a more pessimistic outlook, theories belonging to a third category, known as critical or radical-functionalist, hold that the general public—including minority groups—has negligible influence on public opinion, which is largely controlled by those in power. This perspective, however, has been challenged by those who recognize a persistent plurality of views in democracies, evidenced most recently by the flourishing of public discourse through the Internet and other new media.
The formation and change of public opinion
No matter how collective views (those held by most members of a defined public) coalesce into public opinion, the result can be self-perpetuating. The French political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville, for example, observed that once an opinion
has taken root among a democratic people and established itself in the minds of the bulk of the community, it afterwards persists by itself and is maintained without effort, because no one attacks it.
In 1993 the German opinion researcher Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann characterized this phenomenon as a "spiral of silence," noting that people who perceive that they hold a minority view will be less inclined to express it in public.


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After appearing in the Badgers locker room following Wisconsin's Sweet 16 victory over Baylor this past Thursday, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers once again followed the team to victory this past Saturday in its Elite Eight win over Arizona to reach the Final Four. Near the end of the video from the Wisconsin athletic department, Rodgers is seen once again breaking down the post-game team huddle.
Coincidentally, the Badgers will play their Final Four game in the same environment where Rodgers experienced the biggest game of his career.
Wisconsin will take on Kentucky at 7:49 p.m. CT this Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, where the Packers won Super Bowl XLV.
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text: Just wondering how you all would like to see Mattel deal with Kobra Khan's bio in regards to which evil group he belongs/belonged to. We all know he started off as one of Skeletor's evil warriors in toy form & in the Filmation cartoon, and when the Snake Men were released, he was told by Skeletor to join them as a spy in the King of the Snake Men mini-comic. Now, in the 200X line, he was introduced as a Snake Man, and in the MYP cartoon, he did "join" Skeletor's crew for a few minutes, but that, of course, was a trick just so he can enter Snake Mountain in order to free King Hiss & company from the void. So, with the mish-mashing of canons, how would you like Mattel to handle KK's bio? Do you want to see him start off as an Evil Warrior who maybe leaves Skeletor to join the Snake Men or have him start off as a Snake Man from the get go?


text: This week's Memorable Movie Moment takes us back to 1962 and director Robert Mulligan's big screen adaptation of author Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. The story of Mockingbird goes even further back to the Depression-era South, and finds white attorney Atticus Finch defending a black man accused of beating a white woman. Atticus Finch has become a name synonymous with racial justice in twentieth-century America. The book was published in 1960 and became an instant best-seller, earning author Lee a Pulitzer Prize. It is regularly read among high school literature classes and has become one of the most famous and successful novels ever written. After publishing Mockingbird, Lee never wrote another book. She did assist author Truman Capote with research for his famous novel In Cold Blood, and the character of Dill is said to be based on Capote, who was a childhood friend of the authors. Lee's estate also published the original manuscript for Mockingbird titled Go Set a Watchman earlier this year, but the release remains somewhat controversial as Lee's health was deteriorating and questions arose regarding whether it was her idea to publish the novel or not. Continue reading


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My daughter is 26 and since moving out on her own has never had a big enough place for a Christmas tree. Since she was home for several days she asked if we were going to put up a tree. At my house it isn't as simple as finding an empty corner for a tree. There is furniture to be arranged and rearranged, chairs to be hauled upstairs, and decorations to be brought down from the attic. As long as we've been married neither my husband or I remember having a tree up in November! Because we have such a dry climate and a gas fireplace it may not have any needles left by the time Christmas comes. I'm glad we did it and the kids were able to laugh at the handmade ornaments they did as small children.
Did your kids make dixie cup covered in foil bell? I think every year they made them in Sunday School and I have several on my tree.


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April 05, 2013
Governor Corbett, Carnegie Mellon Announce Acceptance of Students into the Governor's School for the Sciences Summer 2013 Program
By Jocelyn Duffy
Harrisburg – Governor Tom Corbett and Carnegie Mellon University today announced that 56 Pennsylvania high school juniors have been selected to attend the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Sciences (PGSS) summer program.
"Pennsylvania's economic future is dependent upon today's students training in high-quality educational programs in the sciences," Corbett said. "The Governor's School for the Sciences will ensure that these students are provided with hands-on, intensive learning that will pave the way for their future success."
The accepted students, selected from 515 applicants, represent 48 high schools, with at least one student from 28 of Pennsylvania's 29 intermediate units.
Since taking office, Corbett has focused on providing the resources necessary for students to obtain the skills and knowledge that is needed for success following high school graduation.
"Whether our students continue on into postsecondary education or enter the workforce, we must remain focused on giving them access to high-quality academic programs in our public education system," Corbett said.
The Corbett administration partnered with the program's alumni to provide a five-week, summer enrichment experience in the sciences and mathematics for talented high school students, and to encourage them to pursue careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Students will receive full tuition and room and board for the duration of the program.
"The PGSS experience is unlike any other. We bring together some of the brightest young scientists from the state's high schools and give them a chance to interact with their peers, college students studying science and some of the leading science faculty from area universities. We also provide them with the exciting opportunity to conduct self-guided research," said Barry Luokkala, PGSS program director and teaching professor of physics at Carnegie Mellon. "When they leave, we hope they are even more enthusiastic about the potential for a future in science."
Students will arrive at Carnegie Mellon's Pittsburgh campus on June 30 and will stay in the university's residence halls. Students will take lecture courses in biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics and computer science; participate in a laboratory course in biology, chemistry, physics or computer science; and complete a team research project. They also will be able to take elective courses, participate in field trips and engage with distinguished guest lecturers.
"Having access to state-of-the-art equipment and some of Pennsylvania's best science experts will provide tremendous lifelong benefits for these students," said Secretary of Education Ron Tomalis. "The Corbett administration is committed to ensuring that quality educational opportunities are available to students across the state."
This marks the first year that the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Sciences was reinstated after the program ended in 2008. The return of PGSS was made possible through a $150,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education that was matched by PGSS Campaign Inc., a campaign organized by PGSS alumni. The program's alumni raised funds from individual donors and corporate sponsors, including Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., PPG Industries and AT&T.
Students accepted into the program for 2013 were notified by letter sent on April 4.
For more information about PGSS, visit: http://www.pgss.mcs.cmu.edu/


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subsidia biblica—20
Synopsis of the Greek Sources for the Hasmonean Period: 1–2 Maccabees and Josephus, War 1 and Antiquities 12–14 EDITRICE PONTIFICIO ISTITUTO BIBLICO—ROMA 2001
Here is some of the preface:
This synopsis has had a long genesis. Part I (without Josephus) and Part III originated over two decades ago as a preliminary for my dissertation on Hasmonean history, at the suggestion of my adviser, the late Prof. Morton Smith. At that time, the texts were literally cut and pasted together. Daniel R. Schwartz urged me to make this material available in print. It was clear to me that one could not simply reproduce my hand copy, but that the work had to be redone using the electronic text versions. A first trial was undertaken as part of a course I taught on the Deuterocanonical Books (Apocrypha) at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in 1999. My students Dionisio Candido, Cesare Grasso, Peter Kirchschläger, and Stefano Monti each took on a section of 1 and 2 Maccabees, in order to try out several possible formats for a synopsis.
After this experiment, Grasso and Candido designed the page layout, converted all Greek text to the SPIonic font, checked accuracy against the printed versions of Rahlfs and Niese, did the rough layout of the text, based on my earlier work, and helped with other questions of formatting. Without their skillful assistance, this synopsis would never have seen the light of day.
At various stages of the project I received helpful advice from Patrick Durusau, Gary Anderson, and Guy Lasserre. Responsibility for the final layout and for any remaining inaccuracies or errors is of course my own.
The text of 1 and 2 Maccabees is that of Septuaginta, Id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interpretes ed. Alfred Rahlfs, © 1935, 1979 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, used by kind permission of the publisher. The electronic version of these texts was made available through BibleWorks, L.L.C., by kind permission.
The text of Josephus is based on the edition of Benedictus Niese, Flavii Iosephi Opera, Berlin: Weidmann, 1885–1895, vol. 3 Antiquitatum iudaicarum libri XI–XV (1892); vol. 6 De bello iudaico edd. Iustus a Destinon and Benedictus Niese (1894). The electronic version of these texts was made available by kind permission of Prof. Maria Pantelia, Director of the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae project.
I am grateful to Prof. James Swetnam, SJ, for accepting this volume for the Subsidia Biblica series and for offering advice and encouragement along the way. Last not least, my thanks go to Prof. Robert F. O'Toole, SJ, who furthered this project in his capacity both as rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute and as director of its publishing house.
Introduction: Contents, Arrangement, and Purpose of the Synopsis
Synopses have increasingly been recognized as an indispendable tool for the study of the Gospels ever since Johann J. Griesbach produced the first one in 1774. In the twentieth century, numerous synopses have been published not only of the Gospels but also of other texts. Relevant portions of Josephus' biblical paraphrase are included in Vannutelli's synopsis of the books of Kings and Chronicles. Pelletier's very thorough study of the relationship between the Letter of Aristeas and Josephus' paraphrase of it in Antiquities 12.11–118 provides a synopsis of the two texts. Yet, none of the published synopses includes 1 and 2 Maccabees or the parallel portions of the Antiquities. Furthermore, no extended sections of the Antiquities and the War have ever been printed side-by-side. Thus this synopsis is intended to break new ground and to assist scholars in studying these works together.
Sievers, J. (2001). Vol. 20: Synopsis of the Greek Sources for the Hasmonean Period: 1–2 Maccabees and Josephus, War 1 and Antiquities 12–14. Subsidia Biblica (viii). Rome: Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico.
The price is a measly $14. http://www.logos.com/product/2888/synop ... ean-period


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Lemonade Stand
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|Tuesday, November 19
Baker in line to be Cubs' first All-Star manager
Associated Press
NEW YORK -- For the first time in more than a half-century, a Chicago Cub is in line to be an All-Star manager.
New Cubs manager Dusty Baker is expected to get the honor at next year's game at Comiskey Park in Chicago as reward for leading the San Francisco Giants to the World Series last month.
The pennant-winning skipper gets to manage that league's All-Stars the next season. When a manager leaves after the season, major league baseball decides who runs the All-Star team.
That decision hasn't been finalized but Baker will almost definitely get it because he remained in the National League. Had Baker shifted leagues, St. Louis manager Tony La Russa might have gotten the honor for leading the Cardinals to the NLCS.
Baker will be the first Cubs skipper to manage in the All-Star game since 1946, when Charlie Grimm did it the year after leading the Cubs to their most recent World Series.
Grimm's NL squad lost 12-0 to the AL at Fenway Park when Ted Williams hit two homers. The only other times a Cub managed the All-Star Game was when Grimm did it in 1936 and Gabby Hartnett in 1938.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, an All-Star manager from a team that didn't win the pennant isn't unprecedented.
Dick Williams, the last manager to step down after going to the World Series, also managed the All-Star game after switching teams.
Williams briefly retired after winning the 1973 Series with Oakland. However, he took over as manager of the California Angels the following season and managed the AL All-Star team.
Pittsburgh manager Danny Murtaugh stepped down after winning the World Series in 1971. Bill Virdon took over the Pirates the next year, but Murtaugh still managed the All-Star Game.
In 1965, neither All-Star manager won the pennant the previous year. The St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Yankees in the '64 Series and neither manager returned to the team the following season. Yankees skipper Yogi Berra was fired and was replaced by Cardinals manager Johnny Keane.
The All-Star managers in 1965 came from the second-place teams: Al Lopez of the Chicago White Sox and Gene Mauch of the Philadelphia Phillies. Lopez also managed in '64, after Ralph Houk was replaced by Berra as the Yankees' GM.
The Yankees also replaced their manager after losing the Series in 1960. Houk took over for Casey Stengel the following season and Paul Richards of the second-place Orioles managed both All-Star games in '61.
In 1954, Walter Alston managed the NL after replacing Charlie Dressen, who led the Dodgers to the Series the previous year.
In one of the oddest cases, Burt Shotton took Brooklyn to the Series in 1947 when Leo Durocher was suspended for being linked to gamblers.
Durocher returned in 1948, managed the All-Star Game and stepped down to take over the rival New York Giants after one game in the second half of the season.
Twice, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner fired pennant-winning Bob Lemon before the next year's All-Star Game. In 1979, Lemon still managed the AL, but in 1982, Oakland manager Billy Martin took the honors after losing in the ALCS.
Twice, a pennant-winning manager didn't go to the All-Star Game despite staying with his team. Boston's Joe Cronin managed in 1940 instead of the Yankees' Joe McCarthy, and McCarthy managed in 1936 instead of Detroit's Mickey Cochrane.
And in the first All-Star Game, John McGraw and Connie Mack were named managers even though neither one went to the Series the previous year.


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– For labor updates, follow: @daldridgetnt | @AschNBA
HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS — Merry Christmas NBA fans. Our 149-day lockout nightmare, and the NBA's "Nuclear Winter" is over.
It's a little early, but most appropriate now that there is a tentative settlement agreement on lawsuits that will pave the way for a collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and its players, reached after a marathon, 15-hour Black Friday-early Saturday negotiating session in New York.
That means the shortened 2011-12 season starts on Christmas Day, a 66-game season with training camp and free agency starting simultaneously on Dec. 9 and season-opening slate of games — Boston Celtics at the New York Knicks; Miami Heat at the Dallas Mavericks; and Chicago Bulls at the Los Angeles Lakers — that should serve as a fitting return our beloved game for fans around the globe.
All that said, a multitude of issues remain. But the framework of the new deal is done — we've been telling folks for months now, this thing wasn't officially over until we had NBA Commissioner David Stern and (former) union executive director Billy Hunter sitting next to each other smiling … "Yahtzee!"
As NBA.com's Steve Aschburner reported before the sun rose over the hideout, "players are to receive a "band" share of basketball-related income ranging from 49 percent to 51 percent depending on the league's growth (with a more reasonable shot at 51 than in previous offers). A laundry list of system issues, meanwhile, are intended to make the NBA more competitive across its 30 teams."
If the immediate player reactions are any indication, the rest of the process is strictly a formality. These guys clearly want to get back to what they do best.
Opinions will vary in the coming days and weeks about winners and losers. We will leave that for others to decide (more on that below). But I think it's clear that the owners returned to the table ready to compromise in ways (the players already had) to ensure that we see NBA basketball before in time for the 2011 on that 2011-12 season to mean something.
In that respect, it's a win-win for all sides (players/owners and most importantly the fans). Now, back to the news at hand (with a special HT hat tip to the dogged Ken Berger of CBSSports.com for breaking the story) …
Howard Beck of The New York Times: As a frantic Black Friday gave way to a sleepy Saturday morning in Midtown Manhattan, the biggest deal of all was consummated in a law office tucked between FAO Schwartz and the Apple Store. With handshakes, sighs and weary smiles, the N.B.A. and its players resolved a crippling labor dispute, allowing them to reopen their $4 billion-a-year business in time for the holidays. A 66-game season will start on Christmas Day, ending the second-longest lockout in league history. The deal was reached at about 3 a.m. Saturday, on the 149th day of the lockout, after a final 15-hour bargaining session at the law offices of Weil, Gotshal and Manges. "We've reached a tentative understanding that is subject to a variety of approvals and very complex machinations," the league's commissioner, David Stern, said at 3:40 a.m., "but we're optimistic that that will all come to pass, and that the N.B.A. season will begin on Dec. 25, Christmas Day, with a tripleheader." Training camps and free agency will open, simultaneously, on Dec. 9, giving teams two weeks to prepare. The three Christmas games are likely to be the ones that were already on the schedule: Boston at the Knicks, followed by Miami at Dallas and Chicago at the Los Angeles Lakers. The rest of the schedule will be reconstructed and released in the coming days. "We're really excited," said Peter Holt, the San Antonio Spurs owner and chairman of the league's labor-relations committee. "We're excited for the fans. We're excited to start playing basketball, for players, for everybody involved."
Brian C. Mahoney of the Associated Press (via The Washington Post): After a secret meeting earlier this week that got the broken process back on track, the sides met for more than 15 hours Friday, working to save the season. Stern said the agreement was "subject to a variety of approvals and very complex machinations, but we're optimistic that will all come to pass and that the NBA season will begin Dec. 25. The league plans a 66-game season and aims to open training camps Dec. 9, with free agency opening at the same time. Stern has said it would take about 30 days from an agreement to playing the first game. "All I feel right now is 'finally,'" Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade told The Associated Press. Just 12 days after talks broke down and Stern declared the NBA could be headed to a "nuclear winter," he sat next to Hunter to announce the 10-year deal, with either side able to opt out after the sixth year. "For myself, it's great to be a part of this particular moment in terms of giving our fans what they wanted and wanted to see," said Derek Fisher, the president of the players' association. A majority on each side is needed to approve the agreement, first reported by CBSSports.com. The NBA needs votes from 15 of 29 owners. (The league owns the New Orleans Hornets.) Stern said the labor committee plans to discuss the agreement later Saturday and expects them to endorse it and recommend to the full board. The union needs a simple majority of its 430-plus members. That process is a bit more complicated after the players dissolved the union Nov. 14. Now, they must drop their antitrust lawsuit in Minnesota and reform the union before voting on the deal.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports: The owners made "significant moves" toward the players on several important system issues that long separated the two sides, a union source told Yahoo! Sports Saturday morning. "There's still some tweaking to those that needs to be done," the source said. After the tentative agreement was announced, some players privately said they would not vote for the deal, believing they had conceded too much to the owners. Still, there is not believed to be enough support to block ratification. "We're optimistic that the [agreement] will hold and we'll have ourselves an NBA season," NBA commissioner David Stern said at a brief news conference held in New York with Players Association executive director Billy Hunter and president Derek Fisher. Free agency and training camps will start on Dec. 9, Stern said. Under the current agreement, the regular season would have a 66-game schedule that begins on Christmas Day with three games: Boston Celtics at the New York Knicks; Miami Heat at the Dallas Mavericks; and Chicago Bulls at the Los Angeles Lakers. Players are not expected to be permitted to start working out at their team facilities – or with coaching staffs – until camps open on Dec. 9. "It's finally great to wake up to this kind of news," Houston Rockets guard Kevin Martin said.
Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated: • Jeffrey Kessler nearly killed the deal. Again. Sort of. Kessler, the union's outside counsel, has been a lightning rod for criticism during this process and a frequent target of Stern for what the NBA believes has been a disruptive influence in the negotiations. On Friday, Kessler nearly torpedoed the negotiations again when he, via speakerphone, asked the NBA for a 51 percent of the basketball-related income. Stern and Holt, who have been vehemently opposed to giving the players any more than 50 percent, rejected the proposal. While Kessler was merely the vessel delivering the union's message, his offer infuriated representatives from the league and, according to a source close to the NBA's Labor Relations Committee, nearly ended the negotiations. The two sides stayed at the table, however, and, according to the source, eventually agreed on a band that will give the players between 49 and 51 percent of the BRI. • The NBA is happy with this deal. The players are OK with it. Complete details of the new CBA won't be disclosed for a few days, at least, but it's clear the NBA got much of what it wanted. It reduced the players' share of BRI by at least six percent (or $240 million per season) and will ultimately put significant restrictions on player movement, through the luxury tax, that will prevent big or more attractive markets from luring top players away from their incumbent teams. "I think it will largely prevent the high-spending teams from competing in the free-agency market in the way they [have] in the past," [NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam] Silver said. "It's a compromise. It's not the system we sought out to get in terms of the harder cap, but the luxury tax is harsher than it was in the past deal and we hope it's effective. You never can be sure, but we feel, ultimately, it will give fans in every community hope that their team will be able to compete for championships and that their basis for believing in their team will be a function of management rather than how deep the owners' pockets are or how large the market is." The players? It seems they got a deal they can live with. While many players will likely be unhappy with the concessions made by the union, the majority will vote to approve the deal, in part because they believe it's the best deal they can get and in part because they are not willing to sacrifice an entire season's salary.
Henry Abbott of ESPN.com: Common sense suggests players – many of whom have not followed all that closely, and almost all of whom love playing NBA basketball – will approve the deal. But Hunter's caution is not without reason. Compared to Stern, Hunter has a bigger, less predictable group that has surprised him more than once in this process with stridence. There are more than 400 players, for one thing. For another, many of them are incredibly competitive and are sensitive to the idea Stern and the owners have walked on them. And the players not only have real power — some of them are plaintiffs in a case that must be dropped for the NBA to operate – but they also have some bitter pills to swallow, including spending cuts that will affect several free agents in the years to come, a smaller mid-level exception, and less job security for many rank-and-file players. There may be some salesmanship in how Hunter, Derek Fisher and the Players Association handle the next few days. If I were doing the selling, these are some of the points I'd make: *NBA free agency – the bedrock of every players' market value — is not everything it once was, but it's alive and well. There is no hard cap, and every team will have at least some kind of mid-level exception every year. * The Bird exception has led to some of the league's best-paid, winningest, happiest players, and is essentially untouched. *Minimum team payrolls will be climbing. The league instituted this in the name of competitive balance. But it will be in effect whether or not better players are available for stingy teams to sign, and whether or not owners know how to spend that money wisely. That's a win for free agents. The Grizzlies reportedly signed Zach Randolph in part because they had to get their salaries up to the league minimum. There will be more deals like this in the future. * The best way to really make a lot of money as a non-superstar NBA player is to touch off a free-agent bidding war. Revenue sharing will help even the most tight-fisted teams to join these once in a while. If $3 million or so sounds like a decent salary to you, right now, for the first time have as many as 30 teams that both want you and can afford you.
Chris Sheridan of Sheridanhoops.com: Here are some of the key details of those moves, according to a league source who was privy to the details of the tentative agreement and shared those details with SheridanHoops.com. _ On the financial split, the players will receive between 49 and 51 percent of revenues, depending on annual growth. The players had complained prior to Saturday that the owners' previous offer effectively limited them to 50.2 percent of revenues, but the source said 51 percent was now reasonably achievable with robust growth. _Owners dropped their insistence on what would have been known as the Carmelo Anthony rule, preventing teams from executing extend-and-trade deals similar to the one that sent Anthony from the Denver Nuggets to the New York Knicks last season. This means that if Dwight Howard, Deron Williams and Chris Paul want to leverage their way out of Orlando, New Jersey and New Orleans, they will still be eligible to sign four-year extensions with their current teams before being immediately traded elsewhere. _ Teams above the salary cap will be able to offer four-year mid-level exception contracts to free agents each season. Previously, owners were asking that teams be limited to offering a four-year deal one year, a three-year deal the next, then four, then three, etc. _ The rookie salary scale and veteran minimum salaries will stay the same as they were last season. Owners had been seeking 12 percent cuts. _ Qualifying offers to restricted free agents will become "significantly" improved. The sides had already agreed to reduce the time for a team to match an offer to a restricted free agent from 7 days to 3. _ A new $2.5 million exception will be available to teams that go blow the salary cap, then use all of their cap room to sign free agents. Once they are back above the cap, they will be able to use the new exception instead of being limited to filling out their rosters with players on minimum contracts. _ The prohibition on luxury tax-paying teams from executing sign-and-trade deals was loosened, although the freedom to execute those types of deals will still be limited.


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Bonnie's Balls > Ap-ball-tree design Mugs
An average person drinks over three cups of coffee a day. Yes, it takes a village (of highly-caffeinated villagers) to get someone through the day, and that day can be substantially improved if you don't have to make as many trips to the coffee maker.
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Highlander Combat Knuckle Gloves
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- Brand: Highlander
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Backed by a 1-Year Guarantee against faults with the materials and workmanship. During this period UKMCPro will repair or replace the item as we deem required. Normal wear and tear not covered.
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CST announces a series of customer centric workshops focusing on high frequency system design challenges.
The series investigates how new technology will benefit designers working in the high speed data, power integrity and EMC/EMI areas, as well as on optical applications. Following some recent acquisitions, CST can now offer advanced workflows to cover all major aspects of electromagnetic system design and optimization and this new technology will be explained through a series of CST and partner customer presentations.
Presenting partners include, GM, Verigy, Cisco, Agilent, Finisar and Continental Automotive.
Full details and agendas can be found at http://www.cst.com/Content/Events/Workshops.aspx.
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As its name suggests, City Arts Fest covers a lot of ground artistically. The inaugural Heineken-sponsored festival Oct. 20-23 includes music, theater, dance, readings and recitals to satisfy a wide variety of tastes and sensibilities.
Landing in the middle of the very busy fall season – and on a month often dubbed "Rocktober" for its heavy load of live music – the 2010 City Arts Festival will turn Seattle into an all-you-can-eat buffet of arts and music events.
There's just no stopping you, so dig in.
Opening night highlights include Belle & Sebastian at Benaroya Hall and Blue Scholars at the Paramount Theatre.
On Thursday, The Head and the Heart, Cat Power, The Maldives and Pat Graney's "Faith Triptych" are featured. Friday's schedule includes "Soliloquy: Timeless Language in the Present Tense" (Town Hall) and Dolls 'n' Guys (Century Ballroom), as well as James Carter and John Medeski, and The Vaselines.
Saturday's lineup features "Poetry & Hip-hop Church: Saturday Service" (Washington Hall), as well as DJ Spooky and Joshua Roman, Big Boi, and a couple of "fireside chats" at the Sorrento Hotel's Fireside Room.
Venues include Benaroya Hall, Paramount Theatre, 5th Avenue Theatre, Showbox at the Market, Showbox SoDo, Neumos, The Crocodile, Triple Door, McCaw Hall, Chop Suey, Century Ballroom, Town Hall, Intiman Theatre, SIFF Cinema, On the Boards, Sorrento Hotel and NW Film Forum.
Wristbands good for the entire festival are $60, but tickets to individual shows are also available at the festival Web site. Get all the details here.


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Shito-Ryu Kata – Shinpa
This page will help you to learn Shito-Ryu Karate Kata – Shinpa. For additional Shito-Ryu Karate katas, please visit the main Shito-Ryu Karate Katas page.
If you have a question regarding a particular movement, please check with your instructor as katas can vary between different Shito-Ryu schools and organizations. If you need help with other Karate techniques (i.e. stances, kicks and strikes), please visit the main Karate section.
For other Karate katas (i.e. Shotokan), please visit the main Katas & Forms section.
Video of Shito-Ryu Kata – Shinpa
Video of Shito-Ryu Kata – Shinpa (slow & side versions)


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Marty Biron is ready to face his pedagogue. On Wednesday night in HSBC Arena, Biron came just a second short of two minutes from recording his first shutout of the season. The Sabres scored just enough to pull off a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers and the fact that it was Biron in goal instead of Dominik Hasek didn't seem to matter. The Sabres defense, which won the Jennings Trophy as the top defense in the league last season, put a blanket around their young goalie and the Flyers could not penetrate it until very late in the game.
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Due to a family illness, this event has been cancelled. It is tentatively rescheduled for June 18th with sites to be determined. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.The Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA) will present "Methods for Digging Deeper: Examining Web Services through the Lens of Data-based Decision Making." This webinar will discuss why it's important to collect data about your website and services, and how this data can create a foundation for assessment and improvement initiatives. Specific tools to be demonstrated will include Google Analytics and Loop11.Learning Outcomes:• Understand specific principles and tools for web-based use testing• Learn methods for conducting website testing online• Have a greater awareness of the role and usefulness of web analytics and the data it provides• Understand how to apply web analytics data to discern success with website interactionsWho Should AttendLibrary managers and administrators, Web/Online services librarians, assessment librarians, and anyone interested in assessment.InstructorRebekah Kilzer, Director, Clark Memorial Library, Shawnee State University, Portsmouth, Ohio
Register by: 5/27/2014
This is a group viewing of a recorded workshop hosted through Webex. This webinar may only be viewed from the viewing locations listed above.
Categories: Electronic Resources, Technology
This event is sponsored by Reaching Across Illinois Library System.
Last day to cancel registrations is: 5/28/2014
Questions? Please contact Joe Filapek.
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2 found dead in apparent murder-suicide
SAN ANTONIO — Two men were found dead in a North Side home Saturday in what police are investigating as a murder-suicide.
Around 3 p.m., police responding to a request to check on someone's welfare went to a home in the 13400 block of Vista Del Mar. Inside, they found two bodies with gunshot wounds.
One of the men was in his 20s; the other was in his 40s, police said.
San Antonio Police Department Detective Leroy Carrion said there were no signs of forced entry, but there were signs of a struggle in the home.
Several neighbors stood outside watching the police investigation.
"They were a really nice couple," said a woman who lives across the street. "They had just moved here from the Valley."
The neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said the two men moved into the house around November, and had been redecorating.
One of the men, according to the neighbor, was a pilot for a produce company. He would give fresh produce to neighbors as gifts, she said.
"Nothing ever seemed suspicious," the neighbor said. "I would never think that this would happen. They seemed so happy together."
The neighbor said she had just spoken to one of the men Thursday as he installed lights on his garage. On Friday, she said, the garage door was open all day, which was unusual.
"People don't just leave their garage doors open around here," the neighbor said.
Police said other neighbors also noticed the open garage.
They also saw one of the couple's several dogs walking around unattended, which prompted a call to police.
Several dogs were removed from the property.
Twitter: @MDWilsonSA


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James (Jimmy) Alcorn, Jr., born March 20, 1893, was the second child of James Alcorn and Anna Eliza Corman of Jessamine County, Kentucky. The March 20 date comes from his memorial book and his Social Security registration.
On his draft registration card, Jimmy lists his birthdate as April 15, 1899 and his age as 19. (For some reason, the Alcorns in this family changed their birthdates randomly. Whether they really didn't know or they felt that it wasn't anyone else's business is a matter of conjecture.) He states that his eyes were brown; his eyes were black; and that he was of medium build.
He spent most of his life in the Handy's Bend area of Jessamine County where he farmed and fished. Although I knew him all of my life and was 16 when he died, I know very little about him. Like his brothers, he was a quiet man that kept to himself. He never married. His obituary read:
From his memorial book, we learn that the service was performed by Pastor Clyde Van Valin on Feb. 26, 1976. Pall bearers were Raymond Hasty, Allen Baker, Tim Puckett, Raymond West, Ernest Drury and Carl Puckett. He was buried in the Wilmore Cemetery, Wilmore, Jessamine County, Kentucky.


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WALTERBORO - Ken Cribb fist-bumped his quarterback, the rain falling hard on both their heads.
The Bobcats' head coach and junior signal-caller Alex Davis paid the elements no mind. They had spent the previous three hours in a driving storm Friday, doing all they could to strengthen their state playoff hopes.
Davis threw the winning touchdown pass on fourth down in the closing minutes to give Bluffton a 40-36 SCHSL Region 8-AAAA victory at Colleton County.
"That was a flat-out gut win," Cribb said, having taken shelter in the visitors' locker room. "We missed a bunch of stuff defensively, but we stood up when we had to."
That description could sum up most of Bluffton's victories this season, the Bobcats coming up with just enough stops and the critical drive to seal it.
The Bobcats improved to 6-4, 2-2 in the region, with first-place Summerville set to visit in Friday's regular-season finale. Bluffton could make the playoffs even with a loss, but an upset would ensure them of a fourth consecutive postseason appearance.
Bluffton had the lead at 33-28 after B.J. Hill rushed for a 9-yard touchdown with 8:10 to play. But Colleton County (2-8, 0-4) got a 75-yard return from Letrell Nieves on the ensuing kickoff and the two-point conversion gave the Cougars a 36-33 lead.
Colleton was ready to wrap up its first region victory after quarterback Ramon Hall hit Bruce Holmes for 66 yards to the Bluffton 7, but the Bobcats came up with an interception two plays later to take over at their 6.
Davis, who took a series of hard hits in the second half, had to leave for a play after getting shaken up on a scramble. With backup quarterback Terrance Heyward injured, senior wing back Gerald Roberson took a direct snap and rushed 42 yards to the Cougars' 35.
Roberson made the biggest play of the night on fourth-and-7 at the 32, hauling in the go-ahead touchdown from Davis on a wheel route with 2:40 to play.
The defense stopped Colleton on fourth down following the kickoff and Bluffton enters its last regular-season game with a chance to clinch a playoff spot.
"We finally got one (close region win)," senior wide receiver Vinny Boni said. "We needed this."
Boni made his season debut after breaking his collarbone the week of the Bobcats' opener. He made a key third-down catch to set up Hill's fourth-quarter touchdown.
Davis finished with 333 passing yards and four touchdowns, much of it coming in a wild first quarter. He threw scoring passes to Jack Aerni and Roberson in a period that featured five touchdowns.
Bluffton led 21-14 after the first quarter and 27-21 at halftime after a Laquan Washington touchdown catch.
The scoring slowed down in the second half, but Hall got hot for the Cougars in the fourth quarter to help them pull ahead 28-27.
But just like they did several times early this season, the Bobcats found a way to rally.
"It's just who we are," Cribb said. "We're young, but we've got a lot of fight."
What: Summerville at Bluffton
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Bobcat Stadium
Check blufftontoday.com for results after every Friday night game during the season. Follow sports editor Lawrence Conneff on Twitter for in-game updates @BlufftonSports.


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Liam Fayed
Liam Fayed is a New York based designer and co-founder of fashion label Bespoken. Fayed's line, co owned by two sets of brothers, is inspired by London's Savile Row due to his affiliation with famed British shirtmaker, Turnbull & Asser. His designs pay homage to the classical quality of shirt-making but make them contemporary with more desirable modern silhouettes and prints.
Fayed started the line after an off-chance meeting whilst looking for a bandmate to play music with. Having met the other founding brothers, Fayed quickly realised they all shared a great sense of style and interest in Savile Row tailoring, whilst there musical interests added a rock and roll edge - and so the Bespoken label was born.


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French School Map
Authentic and oversized, these one-of-a-kind pieces create interest and drama in your space. Salvaged maps that were originally used in French classrooms in the mid-1900s are mounted in a solid wood shadow-box frame. No two maps are the same; each showcases a different part of the world.See the full French School Map collection
Details of Vintage Medium Horizontal French School Map
Product Details
- Dimensions: 37"w 2"d 33"h
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- Care: wipe with damp cloth, dry immediately; clean insert with plexiglass cleaner sprayed onto cloth
- Product Origin: made in California
- Material Origin: United States and imported
- Item Number: 743629
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Material Details
- Material: paper
- Color: multicolor
- Secondary Material: wood frame
- Color: black
- Material: paper
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- Secondary Material: wood frame
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"Profit Rank continues to beat our expectations not only in revenue driven but in customer service. Our account manager is very proactive and attentive to our needs and is constantly bringing new opportunities to us."
Dave Ullmann
Director of Ecommerce
Windy City Novelties
"I started working with Profit Rank in 2010. Simply put, I cannot say enough good things about the quality of service he has provided us at ClassWatch for Affiliate Program in Pepperjam. Meeting Mike in 2010 was one of the best things to happen to us!"
Top Qualities: Great Results, Expert, High Integrity
John MacCauley III
CEO ClassWatch
"I worked with Mike through the Wholesale Costume Club CJ affiliate program. His customer service and prompt response to emails and questions is the best I have experienced with any person through CJ. My business partner and I own over 100 sites, with 50 of them being costume sites. Mike's superior customer service and willingness to work with us has made it an easy choice to keep Wholesale Costume Club as the main advertiser for our sites."
Phil Dengler
Owner, Jones-Dengler Marketing
"Profit Rank's been managing our affiliate program since June 2009. Our affiliate revenue has far exceeded our expectations and continues to grow under Profit Rank's management. Mike Gunn knows the affiliate market place and most of the top players. Mike is very professional, responsive, and understanding to our specific needs. I would highly recommend Profit Rank to any merchant looking to launch an affiliate program or increase their current affiliate channel revenue"
Phillip D'Orazio
Internet Marketing Manager
Potpourri Group
"Mike and his company Profit Rank have been managing our Affiliate Marketing program since 2008 with great results. During this rough economy, Mike has been working hard to build our business through the affiliate channel through relationship building and solid, consistent promoting of our brands. Keeping the Irv's Luggage and Executive Essentials brands top of mind for affiliates requires ongoing communication and offers. I would highly recommend Mike and his team for affiliate marketing services -- he will work hard for you and will deliver results."
Renee Silverman
Director of Ecommerce
Irv's Luggage & Executive Essentials
"Our partnership with ProfitRank has been one of the most successful affiliate marketing decisions this year. With the help of ProfitRank, our Commission Junction program has grown leaps in the first 60 days and is expected to double by the end of the year. ProfitRank is a team of experienced online marketing professionals with a firm understanding of merchant and affiliate needs."
Einaras Graurogkas
Marketing Manager
"We realized $7,826 in affiliate sales within the first 15 days of the launch of the affiliate marketing campaign managed by Profit Rank. Projected sales for the first year should exceed $500,000. Profit Rank has also proven to us that they care about our brand and not just acquiring sales through their thorough affiliate partner review process. I'd recommend Profit Rank to anyone interested in starting an affiliate marketing program."
Erik Martinez
VP Marketing
Design Toscano
"Profit Rank stepped in to manage Miles Kimball Company's affiliate programs while we searched for an in house Affiliate Manager. During the time that Profit Rank managed our affiliate programs, they identified several opportunities for improvement that saved us a significant amount of money, and increased revenue in 3 of our 5 affiliate programs that were previously in decline. Their consultants were professional, well organized, communicated well, were a pleasure to work with, and got results! I highly recommend Profit Rank's Affiliate Management Services."
Shari Fowler
Digital Marketing Director
Mike Gunn from Profit Rank has been a fantastic resource for us at Windy City Novelties throughout the years. Through a difficult time of departmental restructure I was able to easily depend on Mike to manage our affiliate channels with little to no effort on the part of my team. He is a very knowledgeable partner who is extremely proactive with making suggestions to increase sales volume and profitability, but more importantly delivers the results. I cannot say enough positive things about Mike's work!!
Marissa Dankberg
Director of E-commerce Marketing Strategy
Windy City Novelties
ProfitRank, Inc.
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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Offense took center stage in the battle for the Big West Title, as UC Santa Barbara fell short in the 10-9 extra innings thriller to Long Beach State.
UCSB finishes the regular season with the best winning percentage in program history at 34-20 (.630). The team finished the year in second place at 14-7, while Long Beach State won the league with a 15-6 record, finishing 38-17 overall.
In the circle, Wisdom pitched all nine innings for Santa Barbara and struck out three batters.
The Gauchos stormed out of the gates with six runs in the first. Wisdom started the game by forcing the 49ers into a three up, three down inning. The junior pitcher also found early success on offense when she blasted a two-run homer over the right field wall to give UCSB a 3-0 lead.
Palomares initially got the Gauchos rolling with a one-run double to left center, sending Clark across home plate. Following Wisdom's home run, three players got on base before DeJanee Moore belted a two-run double to left center, increasing UCSB's lead to 5-0. Stacy Cavazos capped off the rally with a cleanly placed sacrifice bunt to the pitcher that sent Pilpil home.
UCSB held the commanding lead until the fourth inning when the 49ers caught fire and scored eight runs to jump ahead 9-6.
Unfazed by the comeback, the Gauchos tied the game at 9-9 behind a clutch triple from Pilpil.
Palomares led off the inning with an infield single to the shortstop, while Wisdom moved her into scoring position with a double driven down the left field line. After Long Beach State forced back-to-back groundouts, Pilpil delivered one of the biggest hits of the game with a triple she crushed to deep right center. Still trailing by one, Emily Brucelas gave UCSB the game-tying run with a blooper to shallow right field, easily sending Pilpil in for the score.
After two scoreless innings, Long Beach State was able to nab the game-winning run in the top of the ninth off a single to left field.
For four Gauchos, it was their final home game of their careers. Lauren Boser, Andriana Collins, Jessica Reichner, and Kathryn Pilpil were honored after the game, as they all helped UCSB complete one its most memorable seasons in recent years.


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New Car Review
2014 Toyota Tacoma: New Car Review
Why should you consider a 2014 Toyota Tacoma? Maybe because you don't need an enormous truck that could tow your residence off its foundation, that's why.
Sure, those big trucks get all the press with their incredible capabilities, but they also require sacrifices. If you want to squeeze into a tight parking space at the mall, for example, best of luck in the massive Tundra. If you want your truck to feel maneuverable and nimble on the road, the F-150 will probably leave you cold. In truth, these full-size beasts aren't designed for the cut-and-slice of congested daily driving.
Fortunately, the Tacoma is. Granted, it's not nearly as compact as it used to be, but its midsize dimensions are still tidy enough to make it a viable urban option. It's even fun to drive. Plus, the newly standard Entune audio system ensures that no Tacoma driver will lack for rush-hour entertainment.
Don't get us wrong, the Tacoma is still a proper truck. To wit, it'll tow up to 6,500 pounds and haul about 1,500 pounds with the V6. Plus, it's a champ off the beaten path with 4-wheel drive.
But it's also happy to be your errand-running companion and hang out in your apartment's parking garage at night. And that's why, for many current truck-shoppers, the Tacoma just might offer the best of all worlds.
What's New for 2014?
The Tacoma makes two changes for 2014. Toyota's Entune audio system is newly standard, while the sporty SR package is newly optional.
What We Like
Muscular V6; numerous body styles; convenient in-between size; sporty interior
What We Don't
Fuel economy isn't great; starting to show its age
How Much?
Fuel Economy
Most Tacomas offer a choice of rear- or 4-wheel drive with low-range gearing. The base engine is a 2.7-liter inline 4-cylinder rated at 159 horsepower and 180 lb-ft of torque, and it comes with either a 5-speed manual transmission or a 4-speed automatic. Despite the engine's small size, fuel economy is surprisingly unimpressive -- the maximum is 21 miles per gallon city/25 mpg hwy with the rear-wheel-drive manual, while the 4-wheel-drive manual dips to just 18 mpg city/21 mpg hwy. Automatic 4-cylinder Tacoma models return 19 mpg city/24 mpg hwy with 2-wheel drive or 18 mpg city/21 mpg hwy with 4-wheel drive.
The muscular 4.0-liter V6, which cranks out 236 hp and 266 lb-ft, is much less efficient. Four-wheel-drive versions return 16 mpg city/21 mpg hwy with the automatic, or 16 mpg city/19 mpg hwy with the manual. Two-wheel drive models reach 17 mpg city/21 mpg hwy with the automatic or 16 mpg city/21 mpg hwy with the manual.
Standard Features & Options
The Tacoma doesn't really do trim levels. Instead, buyers choose a bed length (short or long), a cab style (regular, an extended Access Cab or a 4-door Double Cab), an engine and a drivetrain.
All models come standard with Toyota's Entune audio system, though drivers can upgrade it as they see fit. At the top of the Entune line, the system includes navigation capabilities and Web-based app integration that includes services from OpenTable, iHeartRadio and MovieTickets.com, among others.
As for options, they run the gamut. Shoppers can choose among anything from a simple, cloth bench seat to leather upholstery with heated front seats. There are off-road packages and the new SR package, which adds style and suspension work. And there are the usual options, such as cruise control, remote keyless entry, a reversing camera and alloy wheels.
The Tacoma comes standard with stability control, active front headrests and front, side and side-curtain airbags.
In government crash tests, the Tacoma Double Cab received an overall score of four stars out of five, including three stars for frontal impact and five stars for side impact. The independent Insurance Institute for Highway Safety awarded the Tacoma its highest score of Good in all categories except roof strength, where it received a subpar Marginal grade.
Behind the Wheel
The 2014 Toyota Tacoma's driving character is hard to sum up because there are so many models. One issue that plagues them all is low seating position, which makes the midsize Tacoma feel like more of a hulk than it really is. Otherwise, the Tacoma feels maneuverable from behind the wheel. We found parking to be a breeze. The 4-wheel-drive models have a higher center of gravity, so handling suffers a bit. On the other hand, a 4-wheel-drive Tacoma with the special TRD Off-Road Package is a beast in the dirt, while the TRD Sport Package optimizes on-road handling. Suffice it to say that if you want a midsize truck, there's likely a Tacoma variant that drives to your liking.
In our interior evaluation, we immediately noticed the crisp black-on-white numerals in the gauge cluster, a welcome upgrade from the old orange numerals. The main controls are straightforward, and the touchscreen's virtual buttons should generally be operable with gloves on. Most of the materials seem durable enough, though we wonder how long the silver-painted plastic trim will last before it starts to degrade.
The base Tacoma regular cab features a 3-person front bench, but most Tacomas will have front bucket seats. These come in different forms; we'd look for the ones with adjustable driver lumbar support, as long-distance driving comfort will improve significantly.
Other Cars to Consider
Ford F-150 -- It's not a midsize truck, but base- and mid-level versions of the F-150 can run toe to toe with the Tacoma in terms of pricing. Same goes for other full-size pickups, but you'll get a bulkier ride than the Tacoma provides.
Honda Ridgeline -- The Ridgeline is based on the Honda Pilot's chassis, and it shares that model's 3.5-liter V6 and transmission. As a result, it isn't quite a "true" body-on-frame truck, but it offers many of the same capabilities, along with an open-air bed.
Nissan Frontier -- The Frontier is the Tacoma's main competitor now that every other midsize truck has been canceled. While the Frontier doesn't have a regular cab, it's similar to the Tacoma in nearly every other way. We recommend test-driving both.
AutoTrader's Advice
The beauty of the Tacoma is that Toyota makes one for practically every purpose, but we'd love to have the TRD Off-Road Package for ours. Like Marty McFly in "Back to the Future," we think there's something cool about a tough, trail-ready Toyota pickup.


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If you are interested in becoming a tutor, email the main office, drop off the tutor application in the main office of Coughlin Hall, Room 145, or call us at (414) 288-3270.
"Students learn from 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, 50% of what they see and hear, 70% of what is discussed with others, 80% of what they experience personally, and 95% of what they teach to someone else."
— William Glasser, an expert in the field of education


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Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009
MANHATTAN -- The dean of Colorado State University's College of Applied Human Sciences has accepted the post of provost and senior vice president at Kansas State University. April Carol Mason will join K-State early in 2010.
Mason succeeds M. Duane Nellis, who left K-State in June to become president of the University of Idaho. Associate Provost Ruth Dyer has served as interim provost.
"Dr. Mason brings a wealth of experience to Kansas State, and I am very excited to have her join our leadership team," said K-State President Kirk Schulz. "Her extensive experience at land grant universities will serve her well as she meets the challenges of maintaining K-State's student-centered experience while dealing with the impacts of the state economy on university resources."
Search committee chairman John English said the university conducted an aggressive national search, which resulted in a deep and diverse set of applicants interested in helping K-State continue to build a world class land grant university.
"The search committee is very pleased to hear that Dean Mason has agreed to become our next provost and senior vice president. From the onset of the search process, we were impressed with the breadth of her experience," said English, dean of engineering. "She has been successful in teaching, research and service. She works well with faculty, students and staff members and we believe she will be an excellent provost and senior vice president for Kansas State University."
Mason has been dean at Colorado State since August 2004. She oversees the operations of six departments and three schools with about 100 tenure track faculty, many special appointment and adjunct faculty, 4,000 undergraduates and 850 graduate students. She also is a professor in the department of food science and human nutrition. Before joining Colorado State, Mason was associate dean for extension and associate dean for discovery and engagement in the College of Consumer and Family Sciences at Purdue University. As a faculty member in foods and nutrition at Purdue, she conducted research in the area of trace mineral availability from plant foods. She also taught in the cooperative extension program at Purdue for 20 years.
"I am looking forward to joining Kansas State University." Mason said. "I feel honored to take on the responsibilities of provost and senior vice president. While interviewing for the position I was struck by the depth of talent represented in the faculty, staff, administration and students at K-State."
She is Colorado State's representative to the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities' Board on Human Sciences, where she has been on the executive committee since 2005 and board chair beginning this year.
Mason is author or co-author of 24 refereed publications, 40 published research abstracts and seven book chapters and proceedings. Her research has been supported by more than $12 million in grants in the past 10 years, and includes numerous grants from agencies within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Her current research focuses on the availability of key nutrients from plant based food products, which provide critical calories and essential nutrients to a large proportion of the world's population. She also presents lectures on food safety and food security.
She is a member of numerous academic, professional and scholarly societies including Sigma Xi; American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences; Institute of Food Technologists; American Society for Nutritional Sciences; Epsilon Sigma Phi extension fraternity; and Gamma Sigma Delta.
She attended the Overseas School of Rome in Italy before going on to earn her bachelor's degree in biology from Mount Union College, Alliance, Ohio. She holds a master's degree in plant physiology and a Ph.D. in foods and nutrition from Purdue University.


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Page One
Berkeley Suspect Accused of Pistol-Whipping Student
Berkeley police are asking for the community's help to find a man who pistol-whipped a high school student during a robbery before getting on a bus last month.
The suspect confronted the student from Berkeley Technology Academy at the intersection of Milvia and Stuart streets around 11:35 a.m. on March 13, Berkeley police said.
The student was walking a few blocks from the school when he was approached.
The suspect demanded the suspect's property and when the victim refused the suspect then hit the victim several times with a gun.
The victim was hospitalized but not seriously injured in the attack, police said.
The suspect then ran east on Stuart Street with the student's wallet.
A search immediately after the robbery prompted a brief lockdown at Berkeley Technology Academy and at King Child Development Center.
Investigators believe the suspect got on an Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District bus.
Surveillance footage from a bus shows the suspect getting onto the vehicle.
He is described as a black man in his 20s standing between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet tall with a medium build.
He was seen wearing a black or dark hooded sweatshirt, dark pants, a black beanie and was armed with a gun.
Anyone with information is asked to call Berkeley police at (510) 981-5742 or (510) 981-5900. Those wishing to remain anonymous are asked to call Bay Area Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS.


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Windows 7 Gets Auto-Upgrade Switch Microsoft's Windows Anytime Upgrade program lets users migrate to a premium version of the OS with a mouse click.
Piracy Verdict Gets Student Fined $675,000 The verdict, $22,000 per track, is far less than the legal maximum the jury could have levied.
FCC Enters Google Voice Debacle, Investigating AT&T And Apple Wow. Today, the Federal Communications Commission launched a formal inquiry over Apple's removal of the Google Voice application from the iPhone Apps Store. The FCC sent letters to AT&T, Apple and Google looking for answers on the matter.
Set Top Shipments To Top 200M By 2013 Many consumers are interested in a set-top box that connects to their PC and Internet.
Google Woos Business Users With Billboard Ad Campaign The company that made Internet advertising what it is today has decided to promote Google Apps using really big display ads by the highway.
Microsoft Hosts Windows Mobile Developer Camps Microsoft will be hosting a number of developer camps for its WIndows Mobile platform in the coming weeks in at least six cities around the world. If you develop apps to sell or work on them for your enterprise, you might want to check these events out. The targeted platform is Windows Mobile 6.5.
Too Many Collaboration Platforms Chatting in the lounge of our Global CIO virtual event this week, one CIO raised his concern about having too many collaboration platforms. A wiki here, e-mail alerts there, a SharePoint group there, and pretty soon the discussion's fragmented, and IT has a bunch more platforms to support.
VoloMedia Granted Patent For Inventing Podcasting But blogging pioneer Dave Winer, among others, says there's plenty of prior art contradicting VoloMedia's claims.
Amazon Kindle E-book Deletion Prompts Lawsuit Amazon angered customers when it remotely deleted two books in from Kindle e-book readers without notifying their owners.
Apple Fixes iPhone SMS Vulnerability Moving to close a hole revealed at the Black Hat security conference on Thursday, Apple has released iPhone OS 3.0.1.
When Online Marketers Betray One day soon, some marketing company is going to go too far in its quest for short term gains, and betray our real identities to one of its customers. Or it will turn out that one of them has been doing it all along for years.
Firefox Passes One Billion Downloads The Mozilla community is celebrating Firefox's success with online and offline events.
iPhone OS 3.0 Leads To Wi-Fi Use Surge AT&T says it saw a 41% increase last quarter in iPhone connections at wireless hotspots.
Verizon Apps Store: No Bandwidth Hogs, Please A Verizon Wireless spokesperson has indicated that the company plans to block applications that draw a lot of bandwidth from its V CAST Apps store. What, you thought Verizon was going to be more "open"? This and the Great Google Voice Debacle prove that "openness" is a fallacy and the walled gardens never came down.
In Case Of Disaster, Turn To Cloud Disaster recovery is one of those eat-your-spinach topics: not glamorous, not fun, not appealing but good for you. A new report predicts that cloud computing will transform the backup, recovery, and business continuity markets and hit the sweet spot for many SMBs.
Shuttle Glides To Safe Landing Endeavour completes 16-day mission with spot on touchdown.
New Ubuntu Support Plans Built For Small-Biz Users Ubuntu wants to win over more small-business Linux users with a new set of targeted, low-cost desktop tech support packages.
HTC Lowers Revenue Forecast The smartphone maker is feeling the heat from a downward trend in handset pricing and from China's delay in rolling out its 3G network.
UK Government Tries Twittering By Committee Reading about U.K. government guidelines for participating in Twitter, I'm reminded of a joke: A woman says to her workaholic husband, "We need more spontaneity in our marriage. Surprise me!" And the man says, "Great idea, honey! Why don't you prepare a list of ways that you'd like me to surprise you spontaneously, and then we can schedule a meeting to discuss it!"
ReviewCam: Video Publishing Magnified Magnify is a hosted solution for managing and publishing video on the web. It shares many of the traits that similar, competitive solutions have, but it's got two features that caught my attention. First (and this is a small one), it auto-tweets any new video you publish; second (and this is a big one), it lets you integrate your video with video on other public web sites. We've captured some of the nuances in a ReviewCam video.
Apple To Patch iPhone Security Flaw [UPDATE] According to U.K.-based network operator O2, Apple plans to distribute a patch for the iPhone's SMS security flaw as soon as this weekend. What's not clear is if the patch will be only for O2's customers or if Apple will update all iPhones. Update: iPhone OS 3.0.1 released to fix the flaw!
Motorola Plans Low-Cost Android Phones Motorola says it will use Google's Android platform to make smartphones at feature phone prices.
SPSS Is Not the Story; IBM's Vision for Analytics Is The media and my fellow analysts have been breathlessly touting IBM's acquisition of SPSS ($1.2B) as some sort groundbreaking to a new era of analytics. I don't see it that way... If anyone thinks the acquisition of SPSS marks IBM's serious entry into analytics, they've been sleeping...
iPhone Smackdown: TechCrunch's Arrington Versus Forrester's Colony I hate to dive into the traffic-trolling antics of TechCrunch's Michael Arrington, but I will (and not just because I'm chasing clicks, too). In his post about why he's abandoning the iPhone, he's apparently coming around to the view I've espoused for years. Namely, there are better options out there. He's opting for an Android; I say Blackberry's better.
Google's Global Dominance While Google's search share of 60% in the U.S. will certainly be tough for Microsoft and Yahoo to attack, the challenge in many other major countries around the world will be even more daunting: Google's worldwide search share is 67%, according to ComScore.
Netezza Is Changing its Hardware Architecture, Slashing Prices Netezza is about to make its biggest product announcement in years, cutting prices to less than $20K/terabyte of user data, replacing its PowerPC chips with Intel-based IBM blades and making substantial changes in how data flows between the various parts of a Netezza node for a claimed 10-15X increase in price-performance...
The CentOS Shakeup A rift has opened within the ranks of the CentOS project -- a schism between the project's team and its leader that, to me, points up the differences between a "hobby" and a "professional" open source project.
Whacky Graphics at USAspending.gov I started this blog entry with the intent of appraising USAspending.gov's IT Dashboard, a new, interactive tool for evaluation of Federal Government IT spending. Unfortunately, graphical issues start on USAspending.gov's main page with one downright whacky graphic. I can't recall the last time I saw a graphic that so distorted the numbers, so I tried to recreate it (and failed). Here's how...
EDS Wins Tennessee Medicaid Deal HP tech services subsidiary will upgrade state's health information systems.
1 In 10 Internet Users Buys Virtual Goods Nearly half of buyers report visiting virtual worlds; more than a quarter said they either own an iPhone or play social network games.
Can Wal-Mart Sell The Power Of The Sun? I'm a huge fan of Wal-Mart and its passionate commitment to customers and its ability to do things at an unmatched scale and with unmatched efficiency. Even so, I'm not buying an investment advisor's frothy analysis of how Wal-Mart is looking to harness the power of the sun to become one of the country's largest producers - and sellers - of electrical power.
Yahoo's Incredible Change Of Fortune Only last year, Microsoft offered to buy the whole of Yahoo for a price of somewhere around $40 billion dollars. This week, Microsoft managed to get the part they really wanted, the search traffic from Yahoo visitors, for almost nothing. What was Yahoo thinking?
Apple Shows Google The Web Hasn't Won The Web may be the platform of the future, but at the moment, Web development technology doesn't provide Google with a way around Apple's ban on its Google Voice app.
Xbox's Project Natal Revamped For Offices? The technology behind Microsoft's Project Natal, a future Xbox technology that employs voice recognition technology and uses a camera to recognize gestures and eliminate the need for a controller, could eventually make its way into the business world.
Pirate Bay Tossed Out Of Netherlands The organizers of the Pirate Bay have 10 days to block traffic to and from the Netherlands, or face stiff fines.
Google Docs Gains E-Commerce Option Google on Thursday released the Google Checkout store gadget, software that allows any Google Docs user to create an online store and sell items using a Google spreadsheet.
Apple Doubles Time Capsule Capacity, Cuts Pricing Apple added a new model to the Time Capsule line, which combines backup storage with a Wi-Fi base station. The company also cut pricing to the existing Time Capsule.
The Potential of Virtual Desktops I've been covering desktop virtualization quite a bit lately; it's a pretty hot topic. After debugging the Matrix for the last 6 months in the InformationWeek Desktop Virtualization labs, I'm trying to free my mind and consider the potential uses of desktop virtualization beyond running MS Office, here's some pretty cool ideas. Gaming companies, listen up.
Is This Verizon's Android Phone? Well, it looks like the specs and pictures have leaked of the first Android phone to be on Verizon Wireless' network, and this Motorola smartphone looks really, really cool. Hit the jump for details and a picture.
Google Readies Its Book Business As it prepares to become a major digital book seller, Google is striking partnerships with brick-and-mortar stores and trying to dispel concerns.
SAP Demos Commitment To Business ByDesign Enhancements and testing of the software-as-a-service suite indicate that SAP intends to make the offering more broadly available next year.
Student On Trial Admits Sharing Music Online Joel Tenenbaum could face up to $4.5 million in penalties if the RIAA prevails and he is found guilty of illegally downloading 30 songs.
Microsoft CEO Says 'Nobody Gets' Yahoo Deal Steve Ballmer says he was surprised by the market's reaction to the search and advertising partnership but also characterized the deal as "a little bit complicated."
Are Mobile Devices Closing The Digital Divide? Mobile devices seem to be closing the digital divide. More and more people are getting online with cell phones, but the uptake is really strong with minorities according to a report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Carriers Respond To Bans On Texting While Driving The four major wireless operators agree that the practice is dangerous, but not all believe national legislation is the best way to solve the problem.
Memory Chip Market Recovering Rising demand and limited supply will boost prices for DDR3 DRAM chips in the second half of the year, iSuppli says.
In SPSS, IBM Gains an Open R & Python Analytics Platform I love telling folks that I ran my first SPSS programs in 1976... and that I haven't run one since. SPSS has long since reinvented itself as a predictive analytics vendor but brings other, less-visible assets to the IBM deal including the ability to patch Python and R code into SPSS routines. SPSS's Bring Your Own Analytics is a clear competitive differentiator with benefits for users and the company alike...
Microsoft Is Following Me On Twitter I'll admit to experiencing a tiny ego frisson upon reading the email notification that Microsoft News is now following me on Twitter (and since I'll be Tweeting this, I assume someone at Microsoft News will feel the cool pleasure of a python having taken the measure of its prey).
BlackHat Bombshell #2: iPhones And Other "GSM" Phones Open To SMS Hack With one bombshell already having been dropped at the BlackHat Conference (that most implementations of SSL are configured to give up everything including logins, credit cards, etc.), researchers dropped another one today when they demonstrated how the SMS infrastructures of GSM-flavored operators such as AT&T and T-Mobile are hackable to the point that cell phones can be hacked and their users can be tri