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Memphis City Council members approved a $10.1 million contract Tuesday, Aug. 20, for Memphis Light Gas and Water Division to buy 60,000 Smart Meters.
And the council delayed a final vote on setting a solid waste fee that is the starting point for changes over several years to the way the city collects garbage. The two-week delay in setting the fee also delays acting on a plan to provide sanitation workers with a retirement supplement of up to $1,000 a month funded with the savings from the changes in the services.
Council members indicated Tuesday, after an hour of questions about the plan in committee sessions, that they still want more discussion on the matter.
The plan was worked out by the administration of Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees local which represents city sanitation workers.
The Smart Meter contract vote came with more questions from council members for utility president Jerry Collins but relatively little in the way of debate.
Collins confirmed that the utility will not charge a fee to customers who opt out of the Smart Meters. Such a fee was in the original version of the plan but several council members moved to take it out.
Before the questions from council members, the council heard from 29 citizens on both sides of the question.
Opponents claimed the meters will be costlier than the utility is saying and said they believe the meters are unsafe and will cause health problems. The proponents of the meters including some who have the Smart Meters said they have saved money on their utility bills with them.
Council member Janis Fullilove first attempted to amend the contract resolution to call for a citywide referendum on the use of Smart Meters and then tried unsuccessfully to delay the vote for four months.
The council vote for the contract was 9-4 in favor.
The council followed up by setting time-of-use rates for the Smart Meters that will charge utility customers based on when they use energy during the day. Energy usage during peak hours comes with a higher rate while use during non-peak hours comes with a lower rate.
The council's most vocal debate of the evening was over a $501,000 state grant to the Memphis Police Department for the testing of 2,200 rape kits police investigators have taken, some dating back to the 1980s, that have never been processed.
The council approved the resoulution but delayed for two weeks a move by council member Kemp Conrad to use $2.5 million more from city reserves to process all of the rape kits.
Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong told the council he has no exact count on the number of rape kits but said it was in the thousands.
Conrad argued the situation was urgent enough to warrant immediate funding. Other council members disagreed, saying they want to hear how the use of money from the city reserves would affect the city's finances.
Fullilove delayed for two weeks a vote on her resolution to put a four-month moratorium on the demolition of any Memphis sites that are on the National Register of Historic Places. The moratorium is aimed at the 19th Century Club site in Midtown whose demolition has been delayed for now by a Chancery Court order in a lawsuit over how the property was sold by the nonprofit group.
In other action, the council approved a 2014 city referendum on a charter change that would change the city's civil service board system. Part of the proposal by Conrad is aimed at better staffing the review board that decides employee appeals to hear what is now a backlog of cases and resolve them more quickly. The other change would incorporate performance as an issue an employee could be cited for and appeal in addition to violations of policies.
The council also approved the $30 million budget for the Main Street to Main Street Connector project that outlines how the combination of state, federal and local and private funding will be spent and when it will be spent.
The council delayed votes on a gas station at Knight Arnold and Ridgeway Road as well as a new commercial building on the Kirby Gates Business Campus.
The council approved a Corrections Corporation of America residential reentry center at 3420 Old Getwell Road at Holman Road.
It also approved the Memphis Light Gas and Water Division plan to have Brookfield Infrastructure Fund II manage $20 million for the utility's retirement and pension fund.
And the council approved on third and final reading a long delayed ordinance that prohibits city employees from pension "double dipping" by continuing to collect a city pension if they go back to the work for the city or another local government.
The administration withdrew its ordinance to create the position of "revenue manager" within the city's division of finance after some on the council and council attorney Allan Wade questioned why the administration couldn't simply create the position without council approval.
"I don't think we ever saw Dick Hackett do this," Wade said, referring to former Mayor Dick Hackett.
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FRISCO – FC Dallas has waived midfielders Ricardo Villar and James Marcelin, the club announced today.
Villar, 33, saw time in nine matches last season. The attacking midfielder began the 2012 season by scoring two goals in a span of three matches before suffering an injury that kept him out for three months. After returning to the lineup, Villar played in two matches in July and two more in October. Since signing with FC Dallas on Feb. 7, 2011, Villar played in 29 matches, scoring two goals and adding two assists.
Marcelin, 26, joined FC Dallas on May 4, 2012. The defensive midfielder played in 16 games for FC Dallas last season. Born in Saint-Marc, Haiti, Marcelin joined the Portland Timbers in 2010 and was with the club for their transition to Major League Soccer in 2011. In 2007 and 2009, Marcelin joined the Haitian National Team for the Gold Cup and played the full 90 for his home country against the U.S. Virgin Islands on Sept. 2, 2011.

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AMA courses are led by senior executives, managers, authors, educators, consultants, course developers, and even CEOs! Our faculty adds value to every course, not only through their practical, action-oriented presentations—but also through the practical advice they offer and the opportunities throughout the seminar session for the one-on-one mentoring critical to effective learning.
Seminar participant feedback is relayed directly to instructors and program designers to ensure that all voices are heard and acted upon. We take pride in our seminars and continuously strive to improve the quality of our programs.


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Merrimack Valley Speaker Series
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Merrimack College and The Eagle Tribune have partnered to bring the best and the brightest minds in leadership to the North of Boston region. Come listen to speakers who are at the top of their fields in leadership, education, creativity, social media, marketing and publishing.
Michael Hyatt, New York Times best selling author and blogger at MichaelHyatt.com
9:00 AM, Cascia Hall
Michael Hyatt will begin the day speaking about building your platform, getting noticed an turning your platform into real business. Hyatt will also discuss what he refers to as your 'embassies' on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and other social media sites.
Michael Hyatt is the former chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing, the seventh-largest trade book publishing company in the U.S. He is the author of "Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World" (Thomas Nelson). It is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today best seller.
Brian Halligan, CEO & Co-Founder of Hubspot
11:00 AM, Cascia Hall
The second speaker of the day is Brian Halligan, CEO and co-founder of HubSpot, a marketing software company he co-founded six years ago to help businesses transform the way they market their products. He is a senior lecturer at MIT. For more information, see www.hubspot.com/company/management/brian-halligan/ Since its founding, HubSpot has accumulated over 7,500 customers.
Sally Falkow, Social Media and Digital PR Strategies at Meritus Media
1:30 PM, Cascia Hall
The third speaker of the day, Sally Falkow has been in public relations for 30 years and is an APR - accredited in PR by the Public Relations Society of America. She is a social media coach to PR executives, PR agencies and new PR graduates. Visit her website at https://www.proactivereport.com.
Panel discussion with all keynote speakers
2:00 PM, Cascia Hall
Merrimack College alumni, faculty, students and staff please RSVP to email@example.com.
Tickets for the public are available at www.eagletribune.com/mvleadership. Use promotional code "AlSentMe" and save $20.


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Graphene is a one-atom-thick planar sheet of sp2-bonded carbon atoms that are densely packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice. The term Graphene was coined as a combination of graphite and the suffix -ene by Hanns-Peter Boehm, who described single-layer carbon foils in 1962. Graphene is most easily visualized as an atomic-scale chicken wire made of carbon atoms and their bonds. The crystalline or "flake" form of graphite consists of many graphene sheets stacked together.
Learn more about quantum dots from the many resources on this site, listed below. More information on Graphene can be found here.
Colloquium on Graphene Physics and Devices
22 Sep 2009 | | Contributor(s):: Joerg Appenzeller, Supriyo Datta, Mark Lundstrom
This short course introduces students to graphene as a fascinating research topic as well as to develop their skill in problem solving using the tools and techniques of electronics from the bottom up.


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To understand nature in all its complexity we have to cut down the riotous variety down to size. For ease of comprehension we formalize with math, verbalize with analogies, and visualize with representations. These approximations of reality are not reality, but when we look through the glass darkly they give us filaments of essential insight. Dalton's model of the atom is false in important details (e.g., fundamental particles turn out to be divisible into quarks), but it still has conceptual utility.
Likewise, the phylogenetic trees popularized by L. L. Cavalli-Sforza in The History and Geography of Human Genes are still useful in understanding the shape of the human demographic past. But it seems that the bifurcating model of the tree must now be strongly tinted by the shades of reticulation. In a stylized sense inter-specific phylogenies, which assume the approximate truth of the biological species concept (i.e., little gene flow across lineages), mislead us when we think of the phylogeny of species on the microevolutionary scale of population genetics. On an intra-specific scale gene flow is not just a nuisance parameter in the model, it is an essential phenomenon which must be accommodated into the framework.
This is on my mind because of the emergence of packages such as TreeMix and AdmixTools. Using software such as these on the numerous public data sets allows one to perceive the reality of admixture, and overlay lateral gene flow upon the tree as a natural expectation. But perhaps a deeper result is the character of the tree itself is torn asunder. The figure above is from a new paper, Efficient moment-based inference of admixture parameters and sources of gene flow, which debuts MixMapper. The authors bring a lot of mathematical heft to their exposition, and I can't say I follow all of it (though some of the details are very similar to Pickrell et al.'s). But in short it seems that in comparison to TreeMix MixMapper allows for more powerful inference of a narrower set of populations, selected for exploring very specific questions. In contrast, TreeMix explores the whole landscape with minimal supervision. Having used the latter I can testify that that is true.
The big result from MixMapper is that it extends the result of Patterson et al., and confirms that modern Europeans seem to be an admixture between a "north Eurasian" population, and a vague "west Eurasian" population. Importantly, they find evidence of admixture in Sardinians, which implies that Patterson et al.'s original were not sensitive to admixture in putative reference populations (note that Patterson is a coauthor on this paper as well). The rub, as noted in the paper, is that it is difficult to estimate admixture when you don't have "pure" ancestral reference populations. And yet here the takeaway for me is that we may need to rethink our whole conception of pure ancestral populations, and imagine a human phylogenetic tree as a series of lattices in eternal flux, with admixed nodes periodically expanding so as to generate the artifice of a diversifying tree. The closer we look, the more likely that it seems that most of the populations which have undergone demographic expansion in the past 10,000 years are also the products of admixture. Any story of the past 10,000 years, and likely the past 100,000 years, must give space at the center of the narrative arc lateral gene flow across populations.
|arXiv:1212.2555 [q-bio.PE]


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Baltic languages, group of Indo-European languages that includes modern Latvian and Lithuanian, spoken on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, and the extinct Old Prussian, Yotvingian, Curonian, Selonian, and Semigallian languages. The Baltic languages are more closely related to Slavic, Germanic, and Indo-Iranian (in that order) than to the other branches of the family. Speakers of modern Lithuanian and Latvian (Lettish), the languages of the Balts inhabiting the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, as well as the now extinct Old Prussian language, Yotvingian (also spelled Yatvingian, Jotvingian, Jatvingian), Curonian (Kurish), Semigallian, and Selonian (Selian) are here referred to as the B-Balts. There also existed languages and dialects of the Balts (D-Balts) who lived east of the above-mentioned groups in the areas of the upper reaches of the Dnieper River.
Languages of the group
Because its dialects are more archaic in their forms than those of the other living Indo-European languages, Lithuanian is of particular importance in the study of comparative Indo-European linguistics. The language had 2,760,000 speakers in Lithuania in the early 1980s and several thousand speakers in Belorussia and Poland, and until 1945 there were several thousand Lithuanians in East Prussia as well. More than 675,000 Lithuanians live abroad, mostly in the United States. Lithuanian is sharply divided into dialects whose differences are quite marked. The two major ones are Low (or Western) Lithuanian, with three subdialects, and High (or Eastern) Lithuanian, with four subdialects. The Low dialect is spoken by the Lowlanders, who live in the west and along the Baltic Sea; High Lithuanian is spoken by the Highlanders, who live in the eastern (and greater) part of Lithuania. Standard Lithuanian, formed at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, is based on the southern subdialect of West High Lithuanian.
The language most closely related to Lithuanian is Latvian, spoken by 1,344,000 speakers in Latvia in the early 1980s and about 156,000 abroad, mostly in the United States. Latvian is divided into dialects, the major ones being the Central dialect, Livonian (also called Tahmian, or West Latvian), and High (or East) Latvian. Standard Latvian, established at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, is based on the Central dialect.
By the 16th century the Selonians, Semigallians, and Curonians (Kurs), who lived in areas of Latvia and Lithuania, had completely lost their national identities and were assimilated by the Latvians and the Lithuanians. They left no written records. Nor did the Yotvingians (or Suduvians), who lived in southwest Lithuania and farther to the south (in the territory of the present-day Poland). They became extinct around the 16th–17th century, being assimilated by the Lithuanians in the north and the Slavs in the south. Information on the extinct Baltic languages is extremely scarce (mostly place-names). Only Old Prussian, of all the extinct Baltic languages, left any written records, and they are quite poor. The Prussians lived in East Prussia (i.e., between the lower reaches of the Vistula and Neman [Lithuanian Nemunas] rivers on the Baltic coast). They became extinct (i.e., were assimilated by the Germans) at the beginning of the 18th century.
Linguistically, the Yotvingians were very closely related to the Prussians. They made up one ethnic Baltic group, commonly called the Western Balts, as opposed to the so-called Eastern Balts—the Lithuanians, Latvians, Selonians, Semigallians, and Curonians. The traditional terms Western Balts and Eastern Balts are inaccurate when used for all of the Balts—i.e., including the Balts for whose languages there are no records (the D-Balts). These Balts, who were assimilated by Slavs in the 7th–14th century, lived in the upper reaches of the Dnepr.
Historical survey
Proto-Baltic, the ancestral Baltic language from which the various known languages evolved, developed from the dialects of the northern area of Proto-Indo-European. These dialects also included the Slavic and Germanic protolanguages (and possibly also Tocharian). The quite close historic relationship of the Baltic, Slavic, and Germanic languages is shown by the fact that they alone of all the Indo-European languages have the sound m in the dative plural ending (e.g., Lithuanian vĭlká-m-s "wolf," Common Slavic *vilko-m-ŭ, Gothic wulf-am). (An asterisk [*] indicates that the following sound or word is unattested and has been reconstructed as a hypothetical linguistic form.) This relationship is suggested not only by the morphology and word formation but also by the vocabulary—e.g., Lithuanian draũgas (Latvian dràugs) "friend," Old Church Slavonic drugǔ, Gothic driugan "to fulfill military service"; Lithuanian vãškas (Latvian vasks) "wax," Russian vosk, Old High German wahs. Probably the earlier close contact of the Balts and the Slavs with the Germanic tribes broke off around the 2nd millennium bc, when the Balts moved from the south (not, however, losing contact with the Slavs) and settled a large area of the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea and the upper reaches of the Dnepr.
Relationship between Baltic and Slavic
Because contact between the Balts and Slavs from the time of Proto-Indo-European was never broken off, it is understandable that Baltic and Slavic should share more linguistic features than any of the other Indo-European languages. Thus, Indo-European *eu passed to Baltic jau and Common Slavic *jau (which became ju)—e.g., Lithuanian liáudis "people," Latvian ļáudis, Old Church Slavonic ljudije. Tonal correspondences are found between Lithuanian and Serbo-Croatian (a Slavic language of Yugoslavia), and there are also similarities in stress; e.g., Lithuanian dūmai "smoke" and Russian dym have the stress on the root, as do Lithuanian rañką "hand" (accusative singular) and Russian rúku, while both Lithuanian rankà "hand" (nominative singular) and Russian ruká are stressed on the second syllable.
Baltic and Slavic have specific morphological features in common. Among them, for example, is the genitive plural form. In Lithuanian, mū´sų "of us" (= Latvian mūsu), evolved from the older form *nūsōn, which comes from Baltic *nōsōn and corresponds to the genitive plural form in Common Slavic, *nōsōn, from which developed Old Church Slavonic nasŭ "of us." Baltic also shares some syntactic features with Slavic; e.g., the genitive case is used in place of the accusative with verbs expressing negation (Lithuanian jis nieko nežino "he does not know anything," Latvian viṇš nekā nezin, Russian on ničego ne znajet). There are also many lexical items common to Baltic and Slavic. More than 100 words are common in their form and meaning to Baltic and Slavic alone, among them Lithuanian bėgu "I run," Latvian bēgu, Old Church Slavonic běgǫ; Lithuanian líepa "linden tree," Latvian liẽpa, Old Prussian lipe, Old Church Slavonic lipa; Lithuanian rãgas "horn," Latvian rags, Old Prussian ragis, Old Church Slavonic rogŭ.
In addition to these features common to all the Baltic and Slavic languages, there are certain quite archaic features that Slavic shares with Lithuanian and Latvian but not with Old Prussian. The most striking example is the genitive singular ending in Lithuanian viĺk-o = Latvian vìlk-a "of a wolf," which comes from Baltic *-ō, historically paralleled by the genitive singular ending in Common Slavic *vǐlk-ā. Old Prussian, however, has a different ending for the same inflection (deiw-as "of God"). In some instances the Slavic languages, differing from Lithuanian and Latvian, come closer to Old Prussian; e.g., the Prussian possessive pronouns mais "my, mine," twais "your, yours," swais "one's own" are different from Lithuanian mãnas, tãvas, sâvas and from Latvian mans, tavs, savs but similar to Old Church Slavonic mojǐ, tvojǐ, svojǐ.
It is possible to conclude that there was close contact between the Baltic and Slavic protolanguages at the time when they began to develop as independent groups (i.e., from about the 2nd millennium bc) and that the Proto-Slavic area might have been a part of peripheral Proto-Baltic, although a specific part. That is, Proto-Slavic at that time was in direct contact with both the corresponding dialects of the peripheral Proto-Baltic area (e.g., with Proto-Prussian) and the corresponding dialects of the central Proto-Baltic area. All this shows that the Proto-Slavic area of that time (south of the Pripyat River) was much smaller than the Proto-Baltic area. Proto-Slavic began to develop as a separate linguistic entity in the 2nd millennium bc and was to remain quite unified for a long time to come. Proto-Baltic, however, besides developing into an independent linguistic unit in the 2nd millennium bc, also began gradually to split. Among other things, the size of the Proto-Baltic area had an influence on the development of Proto-Baltic in that it considerably reduced contact between its dialects (see also Slavic languages).
Development of the individual Baltic languages
By the middle of the 1st millennium bc, the Proto-Baltic area was already sharply split into dialects. From the middle of the 1st millennium ad, the Baltic language area began to shrink considerably; at that time the greater part of Baltic territory, the eastern part, began to be inhabited by Slavs migrating from the south. The Balts there were gradually assimilated by the Slavs; complete assimilation probably occurred around the 14th century. One of these Baltic tribes, the Galindians (Goljadĭ), is mentioned in a chronicle as late as the 12th century. The protolanguage of the so-called Eastern Balts split into Lithuanian and Latvian (Latgalian) around the 7th century. The other languages of the so-called Eastern Balts became separated probably at the same time. Selonian and Semigallian could have been transitional languages between Lithuanian and Latvian. Only Curonian, which some consider to be a transitional language between East and West Baltic, might have developed somewhat earlier. Moreover, the name of the Curonians occurs in historical sources earlier (ad 853: Latin Cori) than the names of the other tribes of the so-called Eastern Balts.
Old Prussian
In historical sources the Prussians are called Aistians from the 1st century ad (by Tacitus) until the 9th century ad (by the Anglo-Saxon seafarer Wulfstan). They are first referred to by their own name (by a Bavarian geographer using the form Bruzi, "Prussians") in the 9th century ad. About 1230 the Teutonic Order began to plunder the lands of the Prussians and finally conquered them and the Yotvingians (Suduvians) in 1283. From that time the slow extinction of the two Baltic groups began, with the Germanization of the Prussians being completed at the beginning of the 18th century.
The earliest Old Prussian (and, for that matter, Baltic) written record is a German-Prussian vocabulary—the so-called Elbing vocabulary, compiled about 1300 and extant in a copy dated around 1400. This vocabulary, consisting of 802 Old Prussian words (and the same number of German words), was written in a South Prussian dialect (in Pomesania). Somewhat poorer than the Elbing vocabulary is the vocabulary compiled by Simon Grunau, consisting of 100 Old Prussian (and German) words, written between 1517 and 1526. The most important Old Prussian written records are the three catechisms of the 16th century based on the dialects of Sambia and translated from the German; the first two catechisms, which are very short and anonymous, date from 1545, and the third catechism, or Enchiridion, dates from 1561 and was translated by Abelis Vilis (Abel Will), a pastor of the church at Pobeten (Pabec̆iai; modern Romanovo). The language of all the Old Prussian catechisms is rather poor: the translations are excessively literal, and there are many errors in language and orthography. In spite of this, it is from these Old Prussian catechisms that scholars can learn most about the Old Prussian language.
Lithuanians are first mentioned in historical sources in ad 1009. Old Russian (more precisely, an East Slavic language based mainly on Belorussian), Latin, and Polish were used in official matters in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was established in the mid-13th century and lasted until the 18th century. Lithuanian writings begin to appear in the 16th century, first in East Prussia (home to many Lithuanians) and, somewhat later, in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In East Prussia, a quite uniform written Lithuanian language, based on the West High Lithuanian dialect, had already been established by the second half of the 17th century. In Lithuania, however, a uniform written Lithuanian came into use only at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, when a standard Lithuanian language, based on the (Southern) West High Lithuanian dialect (spoken in both East Prussia and Lithuania), was established. Martynas Mažvydas (died 1563), who published the first Lithuanian book (a catechism) in Königsberg (Lithuanian Karaliaučius; modern Kaliningrad) in the year 1547, is purported to be the first person to use Lithuanian as a written language. Others, in particular Baltramiejus Vilentas, Jonas Bretkūnas, and the pastor-poet Kristijonas Donelaitis, also took part in the formation and standardization of a written Lithuanian language in the 16th–18th century in East Prussia. Great influence was exerted by the first grammars of Lithuanian, by Danielius Kleinas (1653 and 1654), and the works of Donelaitis (1714–80), the first Lithuanian writer to become well known. In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania the first to use Lithuanian as a written language is held to be Mikalojus Daukša (died 1613), who published a catechism in 1595 and a prayer book (Postilė) in 1599. Later writers who helped to standardize written Lithuanian include Konstantinas Sirvydas, who prepared the first dictionary of Lithuanian (1629), Jonas Jaknavic̆ius (1598–1668), and Saliamonas Slavoc̆inskis (17th century). The works of Daukša and Sirvydas in particular, based on the Middle and East High Lithuanian dialects, did much toward establishing the practice of drawing on the various dialects in the creation of a written Lithuanian. This tradition waned in the 18th century but was revived at the beginning of the 19th, with the formation of a standard Lithuanian. The practice became most apparent at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, during the establishment of standard Lithuanian. The mixing and levelling of the Lithuanian dialects started at the beginning of the 20th century owing to the influence of a standard language, and it was especially intensified after the creation of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1940. Both the Lithuanian S.S.R. and its successor, the Republic of Lithuania (from 1991), designated Lithuanian the nation's official language.
The Latvian (Latgalian) people achieved a separate identity around the 16th century ad, when they completely assimilated the other Balts, as well as a greater part of the Livs (also called Livonians, Livians), who are of Finnic descent and live on Latvian territory. As a result of the conquering of Latvian territory by the German Knights of the Sword by 1290, close contact between all of the so-called Eastern Balts (the Latvians with the Lithuanians as well) was considerably weakened for a long period of time. The first Latvian book was the Catechismus Catholicorum of 1585. In 1638 the first Latvian(-German) dictionary, by Georgius Mancelius, appeared; the first grammar of the Latvian language, by Johann Georg Rehehausen, was published in 1644; and a Latvian translation of the Bible was published in 1685. The Latvian writings of the 16th– 18th century are translations of religious works, as are the Lithuanian. The language of these Latvian works, however, is somewhat poorer than that of the Lithuanian writings of the same period. The works of the Latvians Juris Alunāns (1832–64) and Atis Kronvalds (1837–75) exerted a great influence on the development of a standard Latvian language, based on the Central dialect, at the beginning of the 19th century. Standard Latvian was finally established at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, and the levelling influence of this standard language on the Latvian dialects began at this time. Standard Latvian is the official language of Latvia.
Characteristics of the Baltic languages
All of the Baltic languages are inflected. Old Prussian is the most archaic of the recorded Baltic languages (although it also has innovations of its own), and it differs considerably from Lithuanian and Latvian.
Old Prussian
In contrast to Lithuanian and Latvian, Old Prussian retained the Baltic diphthong ei—Old Prussian deiws "God," Lithuanian diẽvas, Latvian dìevs; Old Prussian deinan "day" (accusative singular), Lithuanian dienà, Latvian dìena. In place of Lithuanian š and ž (from Indo-European *ḱ, *ǵ, and *ǵh), however, Old Prussian, like Latvian (as well as Curonian, Semigallian, and Selonian), has s and z—thus, Old Prussian assis "axle," Latvian ass, Lithuanian ašiˋs; Old Prussian (po)sinnat "to confess," Latvian zināt, Lithuanian žinóti "to know." The cluster s + j (and z + j) in Old Prussian, as in Latvian, passed to š (and ž): Old Prussian schan (from *sjan) "this" (accusative singular feminine), Latvian šùo "this," Lithuanian šią. In contrast to Lithuanian and Latvian, Old Prussian did not replace the clusters t + j and d + j with affricate sounds (begun with complete stoppage of the breath stream from the lungs and released with incomplete closure and friction): Old Prussian median "forest," Lithuanian medžias, Latvian mežs.
Word stress was free in Old Prussian, as it is in Lithuanian (in contrast to Latvian, in which the stress is predictable and falls on the first syllable). Old Prussian also made use of intonations (tones), the character of which is similar to that of the Latvian (i.e., more archaic than that of Lithuanian intonations). The Proto-Baltic circumflex intonation corresponds to the falling tone in Old Prussian, while the acute intonation corresponds to the rising tone.
Old Prussian, moreover, had a substantive neuter gender, lost by Lithuanian and Latvian: Old Prussian assaran "lake," Lithuanian ežeras, Latvian ezers; Old Prussian lunkan "bast," Lithuanian lùnkas, Latvian lūks. It differs in morphology from Lithuanian and Latvian in more than one instance—e.g., in the genitive singular ending, Old Prussian deiw-as "of God" (Lithuanian diev-o = Latvian diev-a) and, in the dative singular, Old Prussian tebbei "to you" (Lithuanian tavi = Latvian tev), among others. Old Prussian did not have the dual number, only the singular and plural. Nouns were declined according to seven types. There were five cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, and vocative. All verbs had three separate forms in the plural, but not in the singular. The 3rd person was the same in both the singular and the plural. There were three tenses: present, preterite, and future.
In vocabulary Old Prussian is quite similar to Lithuanian and Latvian (closer to Lithuanian than Latvian). It should be emphasized, however, that Old Prussian differs from Lithuanian and Latvian in that it retained a greater number of archaisms than either.
Comparison of Lithuanian and Latvian
The differences between Lithuanian and Latvian can be summarized in very broad terms by saying that Lithuanian is far more archaic than Latvian and that modern written Lithuanian could in many instances serve as a "protolanguage" for it. For example, Lithuanian has quite faithfully preserved the old sound combinations an, en, in, un (the same is true of Old Prussian, Curonian, Selonian, and, possibly, Semigallian), while they have passed in every case to uo, ie, ī, ū in Latvian; thus, Lithuanian rankà (Old Prussian rancko) = Latvian rùoka "hand," Lithuanian peñktas (Old Prussian penckts) = Latvian piekt(ai)s "fifth," Lithuanian pìnti = Latvian pīt "to weave, to twine," and Lithuanian jùngas = Latvian jūgs "yoke." The diphthongs ei (as well as ai) and au in final position were monophthongized and later shortened in Latvian—e.g., Lithuanian ved-eĩ (2nd person singular preterite) = Latvian *ved-ie, which became ved-i "you led"; Lithuanian med-aũs = Latvian *med-uos, which became med-us "of honey." Long vowels at the end of polysyllabic words have been shortened in Latvian, and short vowels have been dropped—e.g., Latvian sak-a "says" (which derives from *-ā) = Lithuanian sãk-o, Latvian pel-e "mouse" (from *-ē) = Lithuanian pel-ė, Latvian vìlk-u "wolf" (from *-uo) = Lithuanian viík-ą, Latvian daikts "thing" (from *-ăs) = Lithuanian dáiktas, and Latvian nakts "night" (from *-ĭs) = Lithuanian naktìs. Palatalized k and g, formed with the blade of the tongue closer to the hard palate than nonpalatalized k and g, were retained in Lithuanian (as in Old Prussian and Semigallian) but changed to c (pronounced like ts) and dz in Latvian (as in Selonian and Curonian): Lithuanian ãkys "eyes" (Old Prussian ackis) = Latvian acis, and Lithuanian gérvė "crane" (Old Prussian gerwe) = Latvian dzer̃ve. The change of the old clusters t + j and d + j progressed further in Latvian. Most Lithuanian dialects have č (as ch as in "church") and dž (as j in "jam"), whereas Latvian has š (as sh in "shore") and ž (as z in "azure")—e.g., Lithuanian trẽčias "third" = Latvian trešs; Lithuanian bríedžai "elks" = Latvian briẽži. Another difference between Lithuanian and Latvian is that, instead of Lithuanian š and ž, Latvian (like Selonian, Semigallian, Curonian, and Old Prussian) has s and z sounds—e.g., Lithuanian širdìs "heart" = Latvian sirds; Lithuanian žiemà "winter" = Latvian zìema. Proto-Latvian (and Prussian) s + j and z + j have passed to š and ž: Latvian šūt "to sew" = Lithuanian siūti; Latvian eža "of a hedgehog" (from Latvian *ezjā) = Lithuanian ežio. Lithuanian has retained the initial clusters pj and bj, which in Latvian (and similarly in Slavic) have passed to pļ and bļ—e.g., Lithuanian piáuti "to cut" (pi is pronounced as pj) = Latvian pļaũt; Lithuanian biaurùs "hideous, nasty" = Latvian bḷaũrs.
Lithuanian has a free stress in contrast to Latvian fixed stress, which occurs on the first syllable. Latvian is more archaic than Lithuanian in the intonations inherited from Proto-Baltic: the Proto-Baltic circumflex intonation has preserved its falling character in Latvian (it became rising in Lithuanian), and the Proto-Baltic acute intonation retained its rising character (it is falling in Lithuanian), although in some cases (because of stress retraction) it has been changed to the broken intonation; e.g., Latvian pìrsts "finger" = Lithuanian pir̃štas (falling in Latvian and rising in Lithuanian from the Proto-Baltic circumflex), Latvian vãrna "crow" = Lithuanian várna (the rising or extended intonation in Latvian and the falling intonation in Lithuanian from the Proto-Baltic acute intonation), Latvian zâle "grass" = Lithuanian žolė (the Latvian broken intonation from the Proto-Baltic acute intonation through stress retraction).
There are really no differences in the older morphological features between Lithuanian and Latvian if one does not take into account innovations such as the Latvian debitive verb form (man ir jāmācās "I must study" or "it is necessary for me to study") and the Lithuanian frequentative past (jie eidavo "they used to go"). Lithuanian and Latvian have two grammatical genders (masculine and feminine) and two numbers (singular and plural), while some Lithuanian dialects also have the dual number. Both Lithuanian and Latvian have seven cases—nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, locative, vocative. Standard Lithuanian has five declensions of nouns with 12 inflectional types; Latvian has six declensions with eight inflectional types. Lithuanian adjectives have three declensions, Latvian adjectives have one. The comparison of adjectives in the two languages is different. Both Lithuanian and Latvian have indefinite adjectives (Lithuanian mãžas, masculine, mažà, feminine, "a small one" = Latvian mazs, maza) and definite adjectives (Lithuanian mažàsis, mažóji "the small one" = Latvian mazais, mazā) with their own specific inflection. The verb in Lithuanian and Latvian has three conjugations (genetically different). There are three persons, the third of which is the same (apparently from the time of Proto-Indo-European) in both the singular and the plural (as well as the dual); for example:
The verb in Lithuanian and Latvian has three tenses (present, preterite [or past], future)—e.g., Lithuanian kertù, Latvian certu (present); Lithuanian kirtaũ, Latvian cirtu (preterite); Lithuanian kir̃siu, Latvian ciršu (future). In contrast to Latvian, Lithuanian also has a frequentative past tense—e.g., kir̃sdavau "I used to cut, strike." Lithuanian and Latvian have many compound tense forms, compounded from the forms of the verb būti "to be" and participles. There are several moods in both languages, although moods in Lithuanian differ from those in Latvian. The system of participles (active and passive) in Lithuanian and Latvian is quite similar, although complicated—e.g., Lithuanian kertąs, Latvian certuošs (present active); Lithuanian ker̃tamas, Latvian certams (present passive). Lithuanian and Latvian word order is quite free, and, in general, the syntax of both languages is quite similar.
Words are formed in Lithuanian and Latvian basically by means of suffixes, prefixes, and compounding. The languages are very similar in their early vocabulary, and the differences that do occur tend to be more of a semantic nature—e.g., Lithuanian móša "husband's sister" = Latvian māsa "sister"; Lithuanian žam̃bas "corner, angle (acute)" = Latvian zùobs "tooth." Some older lexical differences do occur, however (e.g., Lithuanian kraũjas "blood" = Latvian asins; Lithuanian sūnùs "son" = Latvian dēls). In the newer vocabulary, there are now many differences between Lithuanian and Latvian.
Loanwords in Baltic
The Baltic languages have loanwords from the Slavic languages (e.g., Old Prussian curtis "hunting dog," Lithuanian kùrtas, Latvian kur̃ts come from Slavic [compare Polish chart]; Lithuanian muĩlas "soap" [compare Russian mylo]; Latvian suods "punishment, penalty" [compare Russian sud]). There are in addition a few loanwords from the Germanic languages, such as Gothic (e.g., Old Prussian ylo "awl," Lithuanian ýla, Latvian īlens) and possibly Scandinavian as well. There are many loanwords directly from German; these are notable especially in Old Prussian and Latvian and are clearly a consequence of German colonization in the 13th century.
The Balts first came in close contact with their northern neighbours, the Baltic Finns, about 2000 bc. This contact left traces in both the Baltic and the Finnic languages. Baltic has very few early loanwords from Finnic, but Finnic has many early loans from Baltic. Latvian, with many loanwords from Livonian and Estonian (both Finnic languages), has been more influenced by Finnic than has any other recorded Baltic language.
The Lithuanian alphabet is based on the Roman (Latin) alphabet. It has 33 letters, several employing diacritical marks, and is phonetic. In linguistic literature an acute accent is used for falling tones and a tilde for rising tones; the grave accent is used for short, stressed vowels.
The Latvian alphabet has 33 letters, 11 with diacritical marks. A macron over a vowel indicates that it is long. In linguistic literature the following accents are used for the Latvian intonations: grave for falling, tilde for extended or rising, and circumflex for broken.
The Old Prussian orthography is almost wholly based on the German orthography of that time and is quite inconsistent. Furthermore, every Old Prussian written record has its own specific orthography.Vytautas J. Mažiulis
Learn More in these related Britannica articles:
Slavic languages: Proto-Balto-SlavicEach branch of Slavic originally developed from Proto-Slavic, the ancestral parent language of the group, which in turn developed from an earlier language that was also the antecedent of the Proto-Baltic language. Both Slavic and Baltic share with the eastern Indo-European languages (called…
Europe: Other languagesThe Baltic language family includes modern Latvian and Lithuanian. The Old Prussian language also belonged to the Baltic group but was supplanted by German through conquest and immigration. Europe's Roma speak the distinctive Romany language, which has its origins in the Indic branch of the…
Indo-European languages: Balto-SlavicThe Baltic-speaking area, however, contracted, and by the end of the 20th century Baltic languages were confined to Lithuania and Latvia.…
Baltic religion: ProblemsAlthough the study of Baltic languages is important in the study of Indo-European linguistics, the study of Baltic religion has not assumed a similar level of importance in the study of comparative religion. In 1875 it was shown that the religious concepts of the Balts, when compared with those…
Finno-Ugric languagesThe Baltic-Finnic group consists of Finnish, Estonian, Karelian (including Olonets), Ludic, Veps, Ingrian, Livonian, and Votic. The Permic group consists of Komi (Zyryan), Permyak, and Udmurt (Votyak). The three remaining…
More About Baltic languages5 references found in Britannica articles
Assorted References
- classification
- European distribution
- Slavic languages
- study of Baltic religion


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Physics and Astronomy Department
In keeping with the overall missions of both Vanderbilt University and its College of Arts and Science, the Department of English strives for three primary goals. First, we provide a superb education to all students, whether for our Graduate Students embarked on a career in the academy and beyond, for our majors and minors, or for students from other majors interested in exploring the richness and complexities of literature. Our students develop their reading, writing, and analysis skills across genres of print and visual culture. Second, through published scholarship and collaborations, we explore the diversity of literary studies and creative expression. And finally, we reach out, through local, national, and international partnerships, to introduce new knowledge to the public and to join in the conversation of public humanities. Welcoming creative writers and scholars at all levels of experience into our community, we work to enrich and understand the complex cultural legacies of literary study. Welcome to our new website; it is a work in progress, and please let us know how it could be of more use to you.
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Astrophoto Contest Caters To Stargazers
SOCORRO, N.M. October 2, 2012 – The Magdalena Ridge Observatory, New Horizons West, and the Enchanted Skies Star Party are hosting the inaugural High Altitude Astrophotography contest atop South Baldy.
To enter the contest, the contestant must be present at Magdalena Ridge Observatory on Wednesday or Thursday, October 10 or 11, to take pictures from the observatory site. Photographers have until noon Friday, October 12, to submit images.
The contest is being held in conjunction with the Enchanted Skies Star Party, the pre-eminent astronomy event in the Southwest, which is also October 10 to 12 in Socorro.
"The astrophotography contest is a continuing part of MRO's outreach activities. We welcome the opportunity to join with the Enchanted Skies Party and New Horizons to create an opportunity for amateur astronomers of all ages throughout the country to view and photograph the stars from Magdalena Ridge," said Ifan Payne, MRO Program Director.
Digital images are to be submitted online at http://www.mro.nmt.edu/news/essp2012contest/. Each contestant is allowed only one entry. Registration for the event is required. For detailed rules and registration information please visit http://www.mro.nmt.edu/news/essp2012contest/.
"We hope to bring in some really serious amateur astronomers from all over the country," said Alisa Shtromberg, an optical instrumentation engineer who is helping organize the event. "This is a good opportunity to put the Magdalena Ridge Observatory on the map and let astronomy enthusiasts know about the projects at the MRO."
The grand prize winner's photograph will be featured in Astronomy magazine, receive one week of free stay at Rancho Hidalgo for two ($1,000 value) and a $500 gift certificate to Starizona, second and third place winners will receive $250 and $100 gift certificates to Starizona, respectively.
New Horizons West (affiliated with Rancho Hidalgo) is an educational non-profit organization based in Animas, N.M. New Horizons provides academic programming in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields that increases academic achievement and college and career aspirations.
The Magdalena Ridge Observatory is about 30 miles west of Socorro atop South Baldy in the Cibola National Forest.
By Thomas Guengerich/New Mexico Tech


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Building A Web Business After Hours
Aug 14 2008
Earlier this year, I had such a great time at SXSW Interactive 2008, that I submitted a panel idea for SXSW Interactive 2009 called Building A Web Business After Hours and more people than I thought are interested in seeing it happen!
Panel Description: Many businesses are built after-hours or during odd hours of the day and night. Join us for a panel discussion by entrepreneurs who built (or are building) their Web/E-commerce/Other business while holding a day job, multiple jobs, or who are currently balancing two+ career options.
For those of you who don't know, I am attempting to build a web business (Babble Soft) after hours and lets just say it has it's ups and downs but mostly it's really hard and challenging with a big upside bejng that in my day job I get to be around other entrepreneurs.
How many of you (or people you know) are building sites and businesses in their spare time (on the side)? What kind of businesses are they? Many great businesses start with tinkering on the side…
I've started to assemble a great group of panelists including:
- One of the co-founders of BlogHer, the top female blogging site in the world that has partnerships and customer relationships with some of the top recognized brands in the world! Elisa Camahort Page, a co-founder, awesomely mentioned my panel in her Time to vote for SXSW panels post. Check out Elisa's post to see the other great panels she's recommending.
- Thom Singer is the director of business development for Austin based vcfo. Additionally he is the author of four books about the power of business relationships and is a professional speaker. With the support of his employer, he successfully manages his job and his own business, speaking to companies around the country on how to network. He blogs at Some Assembly Required.
- Karen Bantuveris, Austin founder & CEO of VolunteerSpot, knows firsthand what 'juggle' means. She's built VolunteerSpot from the ground up while running a successful management development and executive coaching business, and being active in her daughter's school PTO Board and Scout troop. She even manages to sleep, occasionally.�
- Jeremy Bencken, co-founder of ApartmentRatings.com, Tenant Market, and PR for Pirates. Jeremy and his wife, Katie, founded ApartmentRatings.com in 2000 out of their one bedroom apartment in Mountain View. They bootstrapped the site while attending business school at UT-Austin and then during full-time jobs for 4 years before selling the company to Internet Brands in 2007. Along the way they grew traffic to over 12M unique visitors per year (without an ad budget), built a base of advertisers, fought off frivolous lawsuits, and got their site featured on NPR Marketplace, and in stories in the NY Times and AP.
Gretchen Heber is CEO and co-founder of NaturallyCurly.com, a multi-dimensional company for people with curly hair she founded with business partner Michelle Breyer. She and Michelle founded NaturallyCurly while holding full time jobs as a journalist for the Austin daily newspaper. NaturallyCurly.com is an online magazine, social network and shopping boutique dedicated to curlyheads. The site came about, in part, because of Heber's having been told as a child: "It looks like you combed your hair with a stick!" among other beauties. She is married, has three boys, and resides in South Austin. She is active in her neighborhood association and not much else because she's an entrepreneur and has three young boys, and goodness, who has time!?
Please, please, please go vote for the panel by clicking on this link: Building A Web Business After Hours. I believe 30% of the weight on whether a panel is chosen is from people like you voting. The only downside is that you have to create a log in, but the upside is that you will be in the SXSW system and see all the other cool panels going on and vote for many more!
Thanks and I look forward to seeing some of you at SXSW next year. 8)Author: Aruni | Filed under: babble soft, conferences, entrepreneurship, FYI | Tags: apartment ratings, Blogher, elisa camahort page, jeremy bencken, some assembly required, sxsw, sxsw interactive, thom singer, volunteer spot | 2 Comments »


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Contrary to popular belief, not every Cavs fan burned their LeBron jersey when he left for Miami in 2010.
After four years of sadness, Cleveland fans were able to take a small victory when James announced his return today. Congratulations to you, Cavs fans who were deluded until today. You stayed loyal—or at least rational—when LeBron left, and now that jersey is no longer a waste of $80 (or more).
Was this kid even alive when LeBron played for the Cavs? Whatever, it counts:
Here's one kid struggling to fit in his old jersey. He was younger then!
One Cleveland fan did burn a piece of clothing after hearing about LeBron's return: A "Quitness" shirt.
Top photo via butch4days


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NU Online News Service, April 20, 1:42 p.m. EDT
Non-public property and casualty insurance carriers are reporting continued rate increases as direct premium written increased about 4 percent in 2011 compared to paltry growth of less than 1 percent in 2010, according to a report from SNL Financial.
In a report based on company filings with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) by non-public insurance carriers, SNL says P&C insurers' direct premium written increased 3.7 percent in 2011. This was a jump from the industry's 0.3 percent growth rate in 2010.
SNL says its analysis, based on review of management discussion and annual statutory statements filed with state insurance regulators and annual reports of select reciprocal exchanges, privately held stock companies and mutual carriers "finds more evidence of the turn in the pricing cycle previously observed by the combination of agent surveys; retail brokers; and regional, commercial lines-focused insurers."
The group led with Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., as consolidated by SNL, generating 2011 direct premiums written of close to $15 billion, up 0.7 percent from the previous year.
SNL says it was the first year-over-year increase in direct premiums written since 2007 and the company's largest since 2006.
The company says new business, customer retention and positive trends in average premiums "provided a lift."
In the carrier's management discussion, Nationwide Mutual says company operations produced direct premium written of more than $14 billion, up 0.4 from the previous year and its combined ratio rose more than 9 points to 110.7.
SNL says Farmers Insurance Group of Cos. produced growth in direct premium written in the personal and commercial lines of overall expansion of 0.7 percent including growth of 0.2 percent in personal lines and 3.2 percent in commercial lines.
In the management discussion and analysis for 2011, Farmers says net premiums written rose by more than $732 million to $14.86 billion. The company's combined ratio rose 8.6 points to 107.9.
Erie Insurance Exchange, and its affiliated P&C companies, continued to grow premium and improve its competitive positioning through the combination of careful agency selection and increasing its market penetration into existing territories of operation.
SNL says group-level direct premiums written expanded almost 6 percent to over $4 billion, Erie's fastest annual growth rate since 2004.
The company says it produced a combined ratio of 108, up 9 points from 2010.
Other companies SNL highlighted in the report include New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Co., Federated Mutual Insurance Co. and FM Global Group.


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Honolulu visitors have a new luau to consider when planning their evening entertainment in Waikiki. And it's being staged by a company with decades of experience in island entertainment.
"Te Moana Nui" -- "Tales of the Pacific" in English -- launched in late February at Pacific Beach Hotel on Kalakaua Avenue.
Through storytelling, song and dance, the show takes guests back in time to when the first Polynesian voyagers celebrated their arrival in Hawaii.
The links between Hawaiians and the natives of other Pacific lands -- such as the Cook Islands, Tahiti and Tonga -- are then shared through native dances.
The entertainment concludes as visitors learn how ancient traditions have been kept alive through dancing and music.
The luau starts at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
The standard package, which includes a buffet dinner, is $115 for adults and $82 for children ages 5-12. A cocktail package that includes two drinks and the show, but no buffet, costs $68 per adult.
Tickets are available online or by calling (808) 441-4480.
"Tales of the Pacific" is the latest creation from Tihati Productions, which operates 11 dinner shows on four islands. The company has been offering Polynesian entertainment in Hawaii since 1969.
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Home > News & Events > Wayland Press Release Archives > 2006 News Releases > August 2006 > Wall among honorees for SIFE Women in Business event
Wall among honorees for SIFE Women in Business event
PLAINVIEW – Women are not normally associated with concrete, but Plainview resident Peggy Wall's name is directly connected to it since she and husband T.C. purchased High Plains Concrete in 1969.
Wall will be one of three honored during the Women in Business event hosted by Wayland Baptist University's Students in Free Enterprise team. The honors will be presented at an after-hours reception on Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Nunn Business Building, featuring refreshments and guest speaker Sandra Aven, publisher of the Plainview Daily Herald. There is no cost and all women are encouraged to attend.
The day will begin with a noon luncheon at the Plainview Country Club for interested women, featuring a round-table discussion of topics of interest to women in the business world. Information from the Small Business Administration on entrepreneurship will be available as well. A $5 donation is suggested to offset the cost of the meal, and an RSVP is encouraged by Aug. 21.
Working alongside her husband at their business, Wall was secretary and treasurer for many years while T.C. served as president. Their sons, Clinton and Bert, were vice presidents and today run the business, purchased in December 2004. Mrs. Wall still helps out occasionally in the business.
Wall was named Plainview's Woman of the Year in 1998 by the Chamber of Commerce and is active in Soroptimist International of Plainview, helping found its Happy Feet project to provide new schools to needy school children. She serves on the board of the American Cancer Society and the Salvation Army currently.
She has been active in several other organizations as well, including the Chamber of Commerce, United Way, Wee Care Child Center, Meals on Wheels, Crisis Pregnancy Services, Senior Citizens Center, Fair Theater renovation, Summer Baseball Program and mentoring programs in the local school system and at Wayland. She and her husband, T.C., have been strong supporters of Wayland in the past years, and she now serves on its Board of Trustees.
SIFE will also honor Evalene McDonald and Nell Hardage during the after-hours event. To RSVP for the Women in Business luncheon, contact Van Hoose at 291-1029 or Clements at 296-7760.


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Update: Scotty McCreery Wins American Idol
After a record-setting 122.4 million votes, it was country crooner Scotty McCreery who was named the winner of'American Idol' season 10.
The 17-year-old from Garner, NC, beat out 16-year-oldLauren Alaina to become the youngest 'American Idol' winner ever. He's also the fourth-consecutive male to win the reality-competition series, following David Cook, Kris Allen and Lee DeWyze. (The last female to win 'American Idol' was Jordin Sparks, in 2007.)
Though McCreery was a heavy favorite leading into Wednesday night's results, the judges gave the slight edge to Alaina on Tuesday, especially after her emotional final performance of her original single, 'Like My Mother Does.' In the end, though, America couldn't resist McCreery's deep vocals and indelible country charm.
Beyond the results, the 'Idol' finale featured a number of epic moments, from star-studded performances to the return of the Top 13. Among the A-listers who took the stage tonight were Beyonce (who performed her epic new song, '1+1′), Lady Gaga, Judas Priest (who performed with fourth-place finisher James Durbin), Jack Black (who performed with Casey Abrams) and, of all groups, TLC.
And keeping in form with season 10′s all-country finale, McCreery got to perform with Tim McGraw, while Alaina sang a duet with her own American Idol, season 4 winner Carrie Underwood.
Check out McCreery's performance of his new single, 'I Love You This Big,' below, then sound off: Did he deserve to win 'American Idol' season 10? Or should the title have gone to somebody else?


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A Hope College senior who has been representative of the NCAA Division III scholar-athlete model is being recognized through the Capital One Academic All-American program.
Pitcher Cory Schmidt of Milan, Ohio (Edison HS) has been named a second team baseball Academic All-American through a program sponsored by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)
Schmidt was a psychology major who maintained a 3.95 grade point average throughout his college career. He received Phi Beta Kappa academic honors.
He posted a 6-2 record over 10 starts this season for the MIAA co-champion Flying Dutchmen. He was named to the All-MIAA second team.
His career record was 15-5. Over 136 innings pitched he yielded only one homerun and compiled a 2.93 earned run average.
He will be attending the University of Toledo College of Medicine. He is the son of Dr. Eric and Dr. Jane Schmidt of Milan, Ohio.
He becomes the sixth Hope baseball player to achieve Academic All-America distinction joining Peter Rink (1981), Randy Cutler (1984 & 1985), Tom Bylsma (1985 & 1986), Mark Kuiper (1994 & 1995) and Mike Meeuwsen (1998).
The program is supported by the NCAA Division II and III governance structures. To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration a student-athletre must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing and be nominated by ther athlete's sports information director. The program was initiated in 1952.
The honor has been presented to 44 Hope student athletes eight different sports over the years. Earlier this spring the award was presented to Hope softball player Laura Tjepkema.


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An innovative approach to apprehending residential burglars
In PoliceOne "First Person" essays, PoliceOne Members candidly share their own unique personal insights on issues confronting cops today, as well as opinions, observations, and advice on living life behind the thin blue line
Editor's Note: This week's PoliceOne First Person essay is from PoliceOne Member Travis Martinez, a Lieutenant who writes about "While You're Away — RPD Electronic Home Surveillance Program" — a system that was put in place at the Redlands Police Department to deter thefts and track stolen goods through GPS. This is a platform from which individual officers can share their own personal insights on issues confronting cops today, as well as opinions, observations, and advice on living life behind the thin blue line. If you want to share your own perspective with other PoliceOne Members, send us an e-mail with your story.
By Lieutenant Travis Martinez
PoliceOne Member
Every week, thousands of Americans leave their homes to enjoy a vacation. Most vacationers take precautionary measures to protect their valuables in their house by installing alarms or surveillance cameras. Often, they will have neighbors or volunteers from the local law enforcement agency periodically check on their property.
Unfortunately, even when taking these safeguards, residents all too often return to discover that some criminal violated their personal space and stole some if not all of their prized possessions.
At a time when they are supposed to be relaxed and rejuvenated, these victims are now stressed trying to balance the return to normal everyday life with replacing possessions, dealing with insurance agencies, and fixing damage caused by residential burglars.
While You're Away
In Redlands (Calif.), located 50 miles east of Los Angeles in the Inland Empire, the local police department has implemented a new program entitled, "While You're Away — RPD Electronic Home Surveillance Program."
The program helps address the problem of suspects preying on residents who are away on vacation. For years, the Redlands Police Department (RPD) has conducted a vacation house check program that is similar to other vacation house check programs conducted at law enforcement agencies across the United States. Residents can request a volunteer unit to conduct a daily drive by of their residence to ensure the residence does not have any open doors or windows.
The program has proven to be in demand with residents consistently signed up to partake in the security check. Unfortunately, the volunteer program only allows a law enforcement presence at the residence for approximately five minutes a day. Despite offering such a voluntary service, RPD has experienced a nearly 16 percent increase in residential burglary between January and July 2013 as compared to the same time period in 2012. Some of those burglaries occurred at residences whose owners were away on vacation.
Beginning in September 2013, residents who are planning a vacation can now sign up via the RPD internet homepage for the "While You're Away" program. Before leaving for any extended period of time, residents can arrange to check out a GPS tracking device that can be hidden on items of value that are particularly attractive to burglars such as home electronics, safes, or jewelry boxes. If the residents do not feel comfortable attaching the device, they can opt to pick up a laptop computer from the police department that has a GPS device pre-installed in it.
The resident simply leaves the laptop in a location the suspect will likely see. The motion sensitive device is activated once the resident leaves on vacation through a hibernation feature. Any movement of the device will set off a signal that sends a text message to both the resident and the police. Officers can then use Internet tracking software to quickly locate the stolen property and apprehend the thief.
Easing the Fear of Being Burglarized
RPD has been using the GPS devices manufactured by 3SI Security Systems for over two years to address crime trends in the community. With 68 arrests of career criminals for such crimes as armed robbery, vehicle burglary, metal theft, bike theft, laptop theft, copper wire theft, commercial burglary, fire hydrant theft, construction site theft, and tire theft, RPD has found a low cost method to address crime trends as they arise. With the recent spike in residential burglary, the RPD has turned to the same type of GPS devices to help address the burglary problem. The devices offer the residents the opportunity to participate in a program that will help ease the fear of being burglarized while they are away.
Using asset forfeiture money, RPD purchased tracking devices at a cost of only $450 each with a $30 a month cell phone service, mapping, and 24/7 technical support fee per device. Residents apply for the program by completing two online applications and submitting a $200 fully refundable deposit. There is no cost to participate in the program. However, residents can make a monetary donation that will be applied to help sustain the program. If enough money can be raised, RPD will purchase more devices to help the residents protect themselves.
The idea for the program was contrived one afternoon when a resident discovered his neighbor's house broken into while the neighbor was in the middle of a two week Hawaiian vacation. During a check of the exterior, the neighbor discovered a broken window where somebody had gained access and ransacked the residence. Of greatest concern was the fact that the suspects had moved several home electronics — including the newly-purchased 60-inch flat screen television —to the entryway. Officers believed the suspects might return to steal this property.
Police were able to make phone contact with the homeowner who was very distraught and shared the same concern of the burglars returning to steal the rest of the property that had been lined up by the front door. The resident was not comfortable with simply having periodic checks conducted by the volunteers or the housesitter and felt forced to cut his family vacation short because of the burglary.
With the cost of changing flights and the expense of non-refundable hotel fees, the costs of the burglary to the resident was going to grow. Instead, RPD officers offered to discreetly attach a GPS tracker to the back of the television. The technology was not going to prevent the suspects from returning, but if that television moved so much as a foot, officers would immediately know about it and be able to accurately track its movement. Armed with this knowledge, the resident opted to stay in Hawaii with his family and enjoy the remaining week of his vacation. Although the suspects never returned, the resident was grateful their local police department had the capability of electronically protecting his valuables.
Pioneering the GPS Tactic
RPD was one of the very first law enforcement agencies nationwide to deploy the GPS devices in a manner to address property crime issues. With the success of the GPS tracking program at RPD (67 arrests as of September 2013), several surrounding police agencies have purchased the same type of device and began conducting their own electronic stakeouts. To illustrate the impact the technology has had on apprehending criminals, research conducted as part of a POST Command College project found that 38 out of the first 44 arrests were adults. Each person arrested had a criminal record with the exception of one female who was accompanied by her career-criminal boyfriend at the time of the crime.
The 38 people had been previously arrested a total of 561 times for an average of 14.2 arrests per individual. Thirty four percent of the 38 people arrested were on some form of supervised early release. Six of the subjects had stolen property in their possession from other thefts. Fourteen of the subjects had warrants out for their arrest. These numbers demonstrate that RPD's arrests not only solved the current crime, but likely prevented numerous others by taking recidivists who drive crime rates up off the streets.
Innovative projects such as the GPS trackers have been solid force multipliers for RPD and will most certainly serve as an example for other police agencies. At a time when many police agencies have been forced to cutback on proactive measures such as police surveillances, RPD has figured out a way to conduct 24/7 surveillance at a cost of $1 a day.
As other agencies search for new and innovative ways to protect the community and preserve the quality of life at a time when more and more prisoners are being released early due to the mandates of prison realignment, the use of the GPS tracking device system will no doubt spread throughout the law enforcement community.
The residents of Redlands can be assured that RPD is on the cutting edge of providing innovative policing to their community. RPD is creating a paradigm shift in how modern policing practices can address emerging crime trends. The results speak for themselves: 68 arrests of career criminals in 34 months. Innovative uses of GPS technology has allowed RPD to implement a new community policing program that will help residents protect their homes "While You're Away."


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As I get ready for my 38 week OB appointment tomorrow, I feel the need to just 'blog it out.' Ya know . . . as a way to relieve some tension and stress from last week's appointment. I'm maintaining 'shadow care' with the only OB I know in town who would 'tolerate' babysitting an ill-advised VBA2C in the hospital. Only thing – I'm not planning on going to the hospital. However, I've been encouraged to keep up this disingenuous relationship just in case I do need to transfer during or following the birth.
I blogged last week about his ridiculous statement that "short, Mexican women" have the best births. Here are some of his other de-motivating tactics:
- "So . . . we still doing this?" He likes to begin my appointments with this rhetorical question. He knows the answer, but yet, he continues to ask.
- "You're not gaining weight but you have a BIG BABY." Such bullshit. He doesn't share my fundal measurements with me, but I know I have been and continue to measure 'right on' each week.
- "When you have a bad outcome, ________." He's filled in the blank with a variety of scary things.
- "When you need a cesarean, you can't freak out on me." I told him that was way too much for him to expect.
- I have to have a perfect Friedman's labor.
- CEFM, IV, yada yada. Ok, whatever. I'll agree to the monitoring assuming they have telemetry. I'll consent to heplock but not an active IV.
- As soon as I'm in labor, I'm to go directly to L&D. (Yeah, right, doc. I'll do that.)
- I asked him why my rupture risk is increased since they went through the old cesarean scar. His response: "Because it just is." My response: "Come on, you know that's not a good enough answer for me!"
- When I told him that I gestate longer than 40 weeks, he said "that's bad!"
- Doesn't believe vaginal delivery is best for healthy babies (?!?!?!?!!!!!)
- Places VBAC in the "want" not need category, though he seems to understand that I have my reasons
- Doesn't seem to believe that the pelvis expands during pregnancy and birth? The only way to get more room would be to break my pelvis (not that he was suggesting that route). Does he not 'get' the physiology of birth? Does he not understand the role of hormones in preparing the body to birth??
- Seems to consider 37 weeks as term . . . not early term as I suggested. (A newly released NIH study asserts that babies born in the 37th and 38th weeks are more likely to die before age 1 than babies born in the 39th and 40th weeks.)
- "You know I'd prefer not to do this." In response to my objections over having him and an anesthesiologist breathing down my neck during my entire labor and birth. Which is a mis-representation anyway of what would actually happen. If I'm in labor during the day, he can continue seeing his patients. If I'm in labor at night, he's welcome to go sleep somewhere in the hospital or at his office. And our hospital has 24-hr anesthesia immediately available, so he shouldn't be guilting me about an anesthesiologist having to be there for my labor. If a hospital isn't safe for a VBAC . . . . it's not safe for any birth.
Wow, when I write all of that down, I just get angry. I'm going to crawl under the covers with my Hypnobabies tracks, strengthen my bubble of peace, work on fear cleansing, listen to my pregnancy affirmations, and call it a day. My husband will go with me tomorrow to my appointment, so I imagine it will be uneventful. I have a mind to bring in my "birth preferences" just to see how the doc would react, but really . . . is it worth it? Probably not. At this point, I'm no longer interested in his opinion because he continues to skew the 'truth.' I don't want to argue about laboring in water or delayed cord clamping or any of it.
Point is – I'm not going to the hospital to have this baby unless the need arises before, during, or after the birth. I fully recognize that at any point between now and my birthing time, that I may need hospital services. My husband and I will decide if we agree with recommendations to abort our homebirth plans. Otherwise, I'm not planning on needing the hospital or an obstetrician. So the last thing I want to do tomorrow morning is have an off-putting, destabilizing, stress-inducing discussion with someone who begrudgingly is putting up with my wingnut idea to have a natural birth but very vocal about what all "will" go wrong.
You can read my last pregnancy update (34 weeks) here.


text: On Fri, Apr 12, 2002 at 01:40:08AM -0400, Patrick Geoffray wrote: > Steffen Persvold wrote: > > >>I talked to a guy at SC2002 from Quadrics and he said > >>that list pricing on a Quadrics network was about $3500 > >>per node when you are in the 100s of nodes and up. > >>The price includes the cards, cables, switches, > >>etc. This doesn't include any sort of discount that you > >>might get. Myrinet is about $2000 for an equivelent > >>network at list price. Dolphin/SCI falls around $2245 list > >>per node (if the system is > 144 nodes and you have to get > >>the 3d card). > > > > This is list prices for the cards only, right ? > > Not for Myrinet. Actually $2000 per node is the total cost > (NIC/cable/port/software) for the high-end products (with L9/200 MHz), > should be more like $1500 for low-end ones. Craig is spoiled, only buys > the top stuff :-) Sorry Patrick. The problem with trying to state numbers is that if you get it wrong, then the real knowledgeable ones can point it out. I figure out list cost on a 256 node system at about $2000 before for basic hardware. I as wrong. I reworked it and it is $1500 for 256 (and would be the same for 512 and 1024). I thought I had decent information. What I was trying to provide was info on the three options. The SCI price is per node (cards, cables, software). It is $2245 list. This would be appropriate for systems over 144 nodes. The Quadrics number I got from the rep might have been the sales number, and not a perfect comparsion to all the required hardware for a system of a few hundred nodes. Craig


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GSAs more common in high schools: Focus on safety helps ease coming-out process
National Coming Out Day is having a greater presence on high school campuses these days. As with Transgender Day of Remembrance and the National Day of Silence, many high school gay-straight alliances (GSAs) observe National Coming Out Day in hopes of educating faculty and students about the importance of GLBT students' safety on campus.
"We want to make everybody at our school as aware as possible," said Lauren Lydiard, a senior at Scripps Ranch High School and chair of their GSA. "People have come up to us and said, 'Wow, I didn't know some of these things; I didn't know how these slurs I had been saying affect people,' or 'I've been so upset; I didn't know there was some place I could go to talk about these things that are affecting me.' So it's great to know that we do have an impact."
National Coming Out Day, which was created by the Human Rights Campaign, takes place this year on Monday, Oct. 11.
"GSA Network doesn't currently track how many schools are participating in the day, although we do promote it and individual schools can choose to do whatever kinds of activities they want," said Carolyn Laub, executive director of California's Gay Straight Alliance Network. "And lots of GSAs do participate, and they do all kinds of things, from assemblies and speak-outs, or public announcements at the beginning of the day, maybe a speaker on campus for the event, posters or flyers that they put up around campus – all kinds of activities."
In conjunction with National Coming Out Day, Lydiard and fellow members of the school's GSA are holding a fundraiser on Oct. 8 to raise money for their club's activities. The event will feature six local bands and take place at the Mira Mesa Epicentre.
The club is hoping to attract 400 people to Friday's event, and plans are in the works to hold several more fundraisers over the course of the year.
"We want to be able to have huge things for the Day of Silence and the Transgender Day of Remembrance, and it takes a lot of paper and a lot of money," Lydiard said, adding, "Activism is not cheap."
Gay-straight alliance clubs have become more common on high school campuses in recent years. The federal Equal Access Act requires that any federally funded school that allows non-curriculum clubs must allow for a GSA, or risk losing their funding. The act was initially championed by Christian students who wanted to organize religious clubs on campus, and has since been invoked to set up on-campus GSAs.
There are currently more than 1,700 student-led GSAs in the nation's public high schools, over 400 in California and approximately 35 in San Diego County. Laub said in the six years that California's Gay-Straight Alliance Network has existed, they've seen the network grow from approximately 40 clubs to 425 clubs, a tenfold increase.
"GSAs 10 years ago typically were support groups," Laub added. "And they were either sort of a social environment or they were there primarily to just provide a supportive place for people to gather. There's many, many more clubs – the vast majority of clubs now are engaged in some kind of activism or education that is aimed at changing the school environment."
Lydiard said 330 out of approximately 1,200 students at Scripps Ranch High participated in this year's Day of Silence.
"We had the most kids [participate] in California… and I think we were something like third in the nation," said Lydiard, a member of the national GSA network's council for Southern California. "Other high schools had a higher percentage than us, but we had so many students… it was amazing."
Part of their success Lydiard attributes to getting the word out early and in earnest.
"At Scripps, we do huge campaigns," she said. "I mean, when we have something like National Coming Out Day, it's not just like one flyer that we pass out; we have statistics everywhere, we have things in the quad, we have them way in the bungalows in the corners [of campus] and sometimes we get things over the PA and we have bulletin announcements. We find every possible medium of reaching our student body."
Though the main focus is usually on safety and inclusion, GSAs are not without their share of controversy, especially when they hold school-wide memorial events that encourage other students' participation. The recent "Poway T-shirt" case, in which a white male student wore antigay messages taped to his shirt to protest this year's National Day of Silence, is moving its way through U.S. District Court. The student, Tyler Chase Harper, with assistance from the Christian legal advocacy group Alliance Defense Fund, sued the Poway Unified School District in June, alleging violation of his First Amendment rights. A ruling in the case has been postponed until next June.
Though students at Scripps Ranch High have also protested events like National Day of Silence and Transgender Day of Remembrance, Lydiard said the club encourages participants to keep their cool.
"We're not going to talk down to other people because we wouldn't want them to do that to us," she said.
Laub said that, though media attention can make it seem like a bigger issue than it is, the number of lawsuits attempting to ban GSAs are a small fraction compared to the amount of clubs that actually exist. "What we recommend for individual students when they're coming out or starting a GSA is that they assess their safety," she noted. "Students always have to think about their own personal safety when they're taking a stand, starting a GSA or participating in their events."
When Scripps Ranch's GSA was founded three years ago, the club consisted solely of its board members and Lydiard. Though its initial startup was a "sticky process," Lydiard said the club now has between 40 and 45 members.
"I know a lot of the kids, they can't go home and talk about [being gay]; and sometimes school isn't a safe environment either, and all they have is GSA," Lydiard said. "It's so important to me and to our club to make everybody feel safe."
Laub agreed, citing a recent report published by the California Safe Schools Coalition called "Safe Place to Learn" which found that GLBT or questioning students who had a GSA on their campus – whether they went to the GSA or not – felt safer at school, reported lower levels of harassment and reported that teachers intervened more often on their behalf when students were confronted with derogatory slurs or threats. "And actually those students reported that they had stronger, what's called 'youth resilience'; they felt more connected to school, they felt more connected to adults, they felt like adults cared about them, supported them and respected them," she said, adding, "It's the first time we're seeing some data that shows that GSAs are making a difference in school safety."
Scripps Ranch High's GSA has recently started working with the National Conference for Community and Justice and UC San Diego's Queer Coalition, which holds several all-ages dances annually where various members of local GSAs can network.
The recent AIDS Walk provided another opportunity for area GSAs to network with each other and other student and GLBT youth organizations. "We're going to hopefully do some stuff with the Poway High School GSA – I've heard their pretty cool," Lydiard said.
Though there are no official activities planned at the Hillcrest Youth Center for National Coming Out Day, the HYC is hosting its third annual leadership training for GSAs on Dec. 4.
The San Diego GLSEN chapter could not be reached for comment as of press time


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Bridge Building Team Scores Well At First National Appearance
SOCORRO, N.M. June 4, 2009 – The Civil Engineering student members of the American Society of Civil Engineers club participated in their first National Student Steel Bridge Competition on May 22 and 23 in Las Vegas, Nev.
Club sponsor Dr. Claudia Wilson said she is thrilled with the Tech students' performance in their first trip to the national event.
"It was really exciting," team member Robert Montoya said. "This was the first time a New Mexico Tech team had a bridge in nationals. We were pretty proud that we made it in our fourth try."
The Steel Bridge Building Team is (from left) Joe Sullivan, Dr. Claudia Wilson, Amiri Alexander, Phil Cheasebro, Jay Herrera, Robert Montoya, Katie Milowicki, Phil Heid, Isaac Simmons, and Royce Beaudry. Not present: Brent Meins.
Montoya said the biggest challenge was the construction.
"We got it designed fairly easily," he said. "It looked great on paper, but we had to figure out what had to come first and how to put it together."
The bridge building team was a club activity last year, after two years as a senior design clinic project. For the 2008-09 school year, the bridge building team once again was a "capstone project," as part of the Senior Design Clinic in Civil Engineering. Montoya said the project gave the seniors a chance to apply their education to a project.
The design team is Brent Meins, Phil Heid, Jay Herrera, Robert Montoya and Isaac Simmons. The building team at the regionals was Meins, Heid, Montoya, Simmons, and Amiri Alexander. At nationals, Meins was unable to attend. Jay Herrera, who could not compete in Provo due to a knee injury, rejoined the team. Other participants at nationals were Royce Beaudry, Joe Sullivan and Phil Cheasebro.
"Through this project, I learned how to apply all the classes I've taken," Montoya said. "We also used the RISA modeling program. We designed every aspect of the bridge, right down to designing each weld and bolt hole."
Tech had qualified for this competition during the ASCE Rocky Mountain Regional Competition in April in Provo, Utah. There, the Tech students placed in third overall. The Tech team placed first in efficiency, second in stiffness and third in lightness.
The team improved its performance at the National Competition by reducing slightly their construction time and decreasing the bridge deflection through the modification of two tension members.
As a result, Tech bested South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, which had placed second at regionals. In Nevada, Tech placed 32nd overall out of the top 280 universities from the 18 regional conferences.