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Some of the headlines about the conviction of hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam are misleading or just plain wrong. The Rajaratnam guilty verdict won't "change the way Wall Street does business" – not where it matters most. Too Big to Fail banks will continue to endanger the economy because they know they'll be rescued again. And they'll keep on breaking the law, knowing that even if they're caught they'll be protected from prosecution.
And yet, instead of being grateful, bankers like JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon will continue to publicly sulk about their own perceived mistreatment. That can be annoying, since the U.S. taxpayer saved their corporations, their careers, and their wealth from the consequences of their own mismanagement.
But in the end all this public posturing is just a form of territorial primate display, like mandrills showing their brightly-colored posteriors to zoo visitors. These bankers are reminding us that this country's economy and government are their territory and we're just trespassing on their mating grounds. To paraphrase an old Sam and Dave song, "It's their world, we're just living in it."
Any aggravation felt as a result of their actions can easily be overcome through a rigorous program of spiritual and emotional self-improvement – or so I'm told. Here's the real problem: If you combine the egocentric and self-absorbed vituperation from these CEOs with the fact that their institutions can continue to commit crimes without fear of prosecution, it means that Wall Street enjoys state of "undiplomatic immunity" that endangers the entire country.
Whether it's Dimon's whine du jour, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan's arrogant sarcasm, or Washington's love affair with the CEO of serial corporate lawbreaker GE, the arrest of a hedge fund manager or two is insignificant as long as Wall Street's real power brokers remain immune from investigation. The Rajaratnam conviction doesn't change the underlying reality:
Too Big to Fail is still Too Big to Jail.
Something Fishy
Rajaratnam sounds like a big fish. He ran a $7 billion hedge fund and was convicted of making $63 million from criminal behavior. But one bank alone, Dimon's JPMorgan Chase, has already given up three quarters of a billion dollars to settle charges after it systematically bribed government officials in Alabama. Dimon's Chase has set aside another $2.3 billion to settle additional lawsuits that are expected to arise from other illegal acts on its part.
Jack Palance's line to Billy Crystal in City Slickers was "I cr*p bigger than you." Dimon's JPMorgan Chase excretes legal settlements that are bigger than Raj Rajaratnam.
How big are the biggest banks in America? Bank of America has $2.27 trillion in assets. JPMorgan Chase has $2.2 trillion. Citigroup has $1.97 trillion. Wells Fargo has $1.2 trillion. Compared to them, Rajaratnam's hedge fund is just a rounding error.
Raj Rajaratnam isn't a big fish. He's a guppy.
Busting up the wrong gang
This conviction is "just the start," we're told. Other members of Rajaratnam's Galleon fund have been targeted, along with Silicon Valley executives and employees of other investment funds. And we're told that the SEC's investigation is broadening to address the idea of "expert networks" that link industry professionals (i.e., in technology) with hedge fund investors.
To be sure, "expert networks" are dubious at best and downright illegal at worst. Business Insider did a useful round-up of firms who advertise themselves with phrases like these: "a global knowledge broker connecting professionals seeking specialist knowledge with those possessing it" …"connects the investment community and advisory firms with leading industry specialists around the globe in order to access key market information" … "the premier provider of expert consultation, market intelligence, advisory services, investment, and events for the China market."
To the untrained eye, that sounds a lot like insider trading. And to the trained eye it sounds a lot like insider trading.
A very gray, very faint line divides "networking between the investment community and experts in the industry" and the illegal exchange of information between investors and experts. And it can be crossed in a heartbeat. In can be crossed in the course of a four or five-sentence answer that a "industry specialist" gives to a question from "a member of the investment community."
So it's worth investigating. But it's not the source of our economy's systematic danger … or its systematic corruption. The Rajaratnam conviction may be "just the start" of something useful. But it's not going to fix our worst problems.
Big and Bad
We never learned our lesson from the 2008 crisis. Instead of ending Too Big to Fail, the government has encouraged it. It's been helping larger banks acquire small ones. There were 157 bank failures last year, and there are now roughly half as many banks in the U.S. as there were 20 years ago. And most industry experts agree that consolidation in the banking industry will continue.
What's much worse is the fact that the top banks are getting bigger, not smaller. The "Big Four" – Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo – had 32% of the market before the 2008 collapse. Afterwards they had 39%, and they continue to grow.
And these corporations are all serial outlaws. Each of them has been deeply implicated in widespread mortgage fraud that includes the forging of court documents, a crime for which the Attorneys General for fifty states are reportedly reducing a proposed slap on the wrist to a proposed gentle kiss on the back of the hand.
We've already described some of the crimes committed by Dimon's JPMorgan Chase. The number of criminal indictments that resulted? Zero. Another "Big Four" bank, Wells Fargo, systematically laundered drug money from the cartels that have murdered 35,000 people in Mexico. Number of criminal indictments? Zero. Citigroup violated SEC law regarding corporate disclosures, engaged in illegal rate activity toward credit card customers, and is under investigation for aiding and abetting a Ponzi scheme. Number of criminal indictments? Zero.
(A more detailed description of these banks and their rap sheets can be found here.)
Get Real
So forget all of those headlines that say Raj Rajaratnam's conviction will "change everything." The government is still targeting small fry and trying to convince the public it's getting the people who have ruined their lives. It's not. Justice won't be served, and we won't be protected from the next crisis, until executives from the major U.S. banks are seriously investigated for their roles in the criminal behavior that has already been admitted to and addressed with a wave of large financial settlements.
It's time to get real about Wall Street crime, before it brings down the economy again. And it's time to end Too Big to Fail.
If Raj Rajaratnam's conviction fails to convince the public that the government's cracking down on bad bankers, they'll need another target for the public's wrath. Who knows? Maybe they'll arrest Martha Stewart again. Or they can get serious, and investigate the people whose crimes have done so much damage and may very well do more in the years to come.
As Martha might say, that would be a good thing.
This post was produced as part of the Curbing Wall Street project.


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text: NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks blasted higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average scoring its biggest first-session-of-the-year-point gain ever, as Wall Street welcomed an 11th-hour deal to avoid steep spending cuts and tax increases. "We are happy that we are halfway home to fixing the fiscal cliff," said Art Hogan, market strategist at Lazard Capital Markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.66% rose 308.41 points, or 2.4%, to 13,412.55. The S&P 500 index SPX, -0.79% advanced 36.06 points, or 2.5%, to 1,462.25. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.68% rallied 92.75 points, or 3.1%, to 3,112.26.


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How to Increase Energy
Begin each day by eating breakfast that includes protein such as cereals
with nuts, left over dinner, or the traditional egg. (Oh, no, not my
grandmother's advice again: Eat three square meals a day and get some
fresh air!)
Listen to yourself and when you begin feel tired, STOP! Take a short walk
instead of reaching for a snack or a cup of coffee. (At work, schedule
walking meetings.)
A twenty-minute walk will increase your energy, loosen your neck and
shoulders and help to transform irritations into solvable problems.
Exercise also lengthens the time before desiring a snack or cigarette
(Thayer, 1996).
During the day take many breaks to interrupt the low-level chronic tension
that is common during computer work. Breaks allow your body to regenerate.
For more information read: Thayer, R.E. (1996). The Origin of Everyday
Moods. New York: Oxford University Press.
Copyright 2003 Erik Peper, Ph.D. and Katherine Hughes Gibney
Permission to copy and distribute Healthy Computing Email Tips for
personal use is granted. Distribution or copying of Healthy Computing
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Lakshadweep Islands
- Details
- Category: Travel and Tourism
- Published on Sunday, 01 June 2014 18:05
- Written by kripasreerag
- Hits: 803
One of world's most spectacular tropical island systems, Lakshadweep is tucked away at 220-440Kms off the Kerala Coast. The islands offer a precious heritage of ecology and culture. The unique feature of the Islands is its coral reef, making it a pristine leisure spot to come back to. 4200 sq. kms. of lagoon, rich in marine wealth, is spread over 36 islands in an area of 32 sq. kms.The underwater view at Lakshadweep is kaleidoscopic and breathtaking. The lagoon offers excellent potential for water sports like swimming, wind-surfing, diving, snorkeling and kayaking. No wonder, Lakshadweep is fast becoming India's one of its kind "Adventure sport - Nature Tourism" location.Each island is fringed by snow white coral sands. The crystal clear water and the abundant marine life enhance the beauty of these islands. Against the vast expanse of the blue sea, the island look like emeralds. The huge shallow calm lagoon on one side with wall like reef made of marine live coral boulders blocks the incoming swells of the outer sea. The islands are linked to the mainland by:- ship, helicopter, Indian Airlines, Kingfisher Airlines and mechanized sailing wooden vessels. The islands like Agatti and Bangaram can be reached by ship and air from Cochin. From Agatti, Kadmat and Kavaratti are linked by speed ferry. In all the islands, elaborate infrastructure is in place to meet the needs of tourists.
Lakshadweep was given the National Eco-Tourism Award 1997 .
The Tourism sector is one of the newly developed sector in Lakshadweep. From 1956 to 1962 there was no ship nor any mechanized vessels operating between the Islands and mainland to carry even the local passengers. It was in the year 1962 that a small ship 'M.V. Sea fox' having a capacity to carry just 12 pax was introduced. There was no building nor any infrastructure available to carryout tourism activities in this Union Territory. In the year 1974 a full fledged all-weather ship. M.V. Amindivi , joined the fleet changed the very face of journey in the Islands. This was the first all weather ship and was a great relief that prior to Amindivi very small ships including M.V. Laccadives having capacity to carry 47 pax was not sufficient for the movement of passengers. The coming of Amindivi and two all weather ships M.V. Bharatseema and M.V. TipuSultan during 1988 created a favourable condition for the movement of tourists. Two small ships M.V. Minicoy & M.V. Amindivi joined the fleet recently has helped the movement of tourists further.
Tourism is one of the few areas in Lakshadweep which can play a vital role in generating income, employment and over all development of islands. Recognizing vast tourism potential, a humble beginning was made in 1974 and one of the uninhabited island Bangaram was opened for International Tourism. The Hotel Corporation of India was looking after the affairs of Bangaram island resort up to 1982. The tourists on those days were coming by ship Amindivi. During 1978-tourists came by chartered ship 'M.S. Europa'. But in the absence of a permanent set up, the flow of tourists were not encouraging. After the Hotel Corporation of India wound up their business the SPORTS was directly dealing with the tourist activities both Indian and foreign. The Casino Group of hotels, Cochin entered the field of Lakshadweep Tourism through a lease deed dated 22nd October 1988 with SPORTS for operating the Bangaram Island Resort. Encouraged by the Bangaram experiment, the Lakshadweep administration has gone ahead with Tourism promotion in the Islands of Kavaratti, Kadmat, Kalpeni and Minicoy were opened for domestic tourists in 1983.
The policy of the Administration for the promotion of Tourism in the islands is designed on the basis of the recommendation of Island Development Authority. Since the carrying capacity of these tiny islands has to be kept in mind, any activities related with Tourism has to be carried out with utmost care. This has stressed the necessity of preventing environmental imbalance arising out Tourism and has recommended sea based Tourism so as to ensure that land resources are not over taxed. Therefore the domestic tourists are brought by ship and the night halt of tourists are arranged in such way that they are boarded from the islands before night taking in to account carrying capacity of the islands and shortage of essential items including drinking water. The experiment of day tourism has been found quite successful. International tourists to Bangaram are brought by flight from Kochi to Agatti, the nearest Island to Bangaram which is having an Airport.
|Lakshadweep Samudram is a Five-days cruise to visit the islands of Kavaratti, Kalpeni and Minicoy by ship- M.V Kavaratti. The island tour is organized during the day with lunch and refreshments ashore. Nights are spent on board the ship. M.V Kavaratti has 150 Diamond class accommodations. Swimming, snorkeling and other water sports are arranged during the day' tour. Children from 1 year and above up to 10 years will be treated as child.
Package rate for Five Days Lakshadweep Samudram Package.
|Class of Accommodation
|Transportation Cost
|Tour Charges
|Diamond (Adult)
|Diamond (Child)
* Rates in Indian Rupees, Service Tax at applicable rate (3.09%)
The Bangaram Island Resort, Bangaram, the Lakshadweep Institute of Water Sports, Kadmat and the Twenty Bedded Tourist home, Agatti are presently operated by private entrepreneurs on lease. The Twenty Bedded Tourist Home at Minicoy has started functioning. The Twelve Bedded Tourist Home at Kadmat is presently run by SPORTS on lease. The tourists huts in the tourist focal Islands of Kavaratti, Kadmat, Kalpeni and Minicoy are looked after by SPORTS. Apart from these huts three private cottages at Minicoy are operated by local enterpreneurs.
Taking into account all the aspects involved the Administrative set up of the department of Tourism has been reorganized and strengthened. The department, till 1989 was functioning with a skeleton staff of one U.D. Clerk and an Ex-officio Director. In 1990, the Department was strengthened with the posting of Tourism Officers and other necessary ministerial staff.
SPORTS( Society for promotion of Nature Tourism and Sports) has been recognized as a nodal agency for the promotion of tourism in Lakshadweep. It has got its staff trained in various disciplines of water sports. In the absence of any restaurants in Lakshadweep, this SPORTS has been running restaurants for the tourists in every tourists focal Islands. The SPORTS operate a number of tourist packages to Lakshadweep. For more details on tourist packages please log on to http://www.lakshadweeptourism.com/
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The Inaugural Address of William "Old Tippecanoe" Harrison is possibly the most popular and least examined speech of its kind. The story of the address is one of the best (and most morbid) jokes in presidential history: an elderly president, in an attempt to display his youthful stamina, gives an inaugural speech nearly twice as long as any other, catches pneumonia during the address and subsequently dies. Setting aside the fact that it was probably not much of a side-splitter at the time, this post is my attempt to unearth some of the lost substance of Harrison's speech.
The most obvious attribute of Harrison's Inaugural is its length. The speech is well over 8,000 words – double that of any other. Harrison's predecessor, Martin Van Buren, gave a speech of 3,800 words. Andrew Jackson, in his second inaugural address, managed only 1,100 words. Contemporary presidents typically give speeches in the 2,000-3,000-word range. Lincoln's Second Inaugural, arguably the most examined in history, was only 700 words. So, what message did Old Tippecanoe need 8,000 words to convey?
Harrison took the opportunity to lay out a framework for a more limited presidency – one that scaled back the "monarchical" tendencies of Jacksonian Democracy. The speech is overburdened with references to Roman Emperors and Consuls to illustrate this point. Harrison wrote:
It was the remark of a Roman consul in an early period of that celebrated Republic that a most striking contrast was observable in the conduct of candidates for offices of power and trust before and after obtaining them, they seldom carrying out in the latter case the pledges and promises made in the former. [...] I fear that a strict examination of the annals of some of the modern elective governments would develop similar instances of violated confidence.
To attain the confidence of the public, Harrison described a humbler presidency – one that did not claim to speak for the people, but was made subservient by the trust placed in the office. His views may be entirely alien to "modern" presidents. According to him, the presidency was a profoundly corrupting office whose natural propensity toward patriotism took "possession of the human mind." Only a constitutional amendment prescribing presidential term limits, he argued, could address that danger. Accordingly, he pledged never to "consent" to serve a second term. (Little did he know...)
Harrison's speech is not without forewarnings. The first echoes what Washington had said decades earlier: "To me it appears perfectly clear that the interest of that country requires that the violence of the spirit by which those parties are at this time governed must be greatly mitigated, if not entirely extinguished, or consequences will ensue which are appalling to be thought of." Harrison looked uneasily at the strides made to institutionalize parties. His most poignant warning, however, has a prophetic quality:
The attempt of those of one State to control the domestic institutions of another can only result in feelings of distrust and jealousy, the certain harbingers of disunion, violence, and civil war, and the ultimate destruction of our free institutions.
Twenty years before the American Civil War, Harrison spent 8,000 words extolling the virtues of government not ruled by passions, and warned of the crisis that could occur if the people continued to violently organize themselves in opposition of their fellow citizens. His last public message is the most enduring part of a presidency that is more than a punchline.


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College of Graduate Studies and Research
- Davis College of Business and Economics
- College of Education and Human Development
- College of Graduate Studies and Research
- Waldron College of Health and Human Services
- College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences
- Artis College of Science and Technology
- College of Visual and Performing Arts
- Other Offices and Departments
Appalachian Studies
Radford University's geographical placement in Southwest Virginia provides the optimal location for a program in Appalachian Studies. The undergraduate interdisciplinary minor in Appalachian Studies has been in place since 1981, and multiple course offerings in Appalachian topics have served a variety of majors in both undergraduate and graduate education for years. The graduate certificate in Appalachian Studies builds on those foundations and draws from existing courses in the initial phase of the certificate offering.
The certificate serves community college and K-12 teachers desiring course work at the graduate level in Appalachian Studies, as well as those with a general interest in the discipline. Also, the Master's program in English at Radford University regularly attracts students wishing to focus on Appalachian topics, as do occasionally Master's programs in Education and other disciplines. The certificate in Appalachian Studies, then, may stand alone as a non-degree curricular unit, or it may become a corollary to a Master's degree in a related field.
The certificate is based in the Appalachian Studies Program in the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences. It is supported by the English Department and other departments having graduate-level courses with Appalachian content. The contact person is Dr. Theresa Burriss, Chair of the Appalachian Studies Program and Director of the Appalachian Regional Studies Center.
Scope and Sequence:
The certificate in Appalachian Studies consists of 18 graduate credit hours chosen from among those courses listed below. Other courses may be added to the list with the approval of the Appalachian Studies Committee. Courses do not have to be taken in a particular sequence since each is a complete entity within itself. Therefore, students may begin the curriculum in any semester.
Courses Include:
ENGL 590: Summer Workshop (3 s.h.) - A two week summer institute - Appalachian writing and culture. Students may enroll twice (2 summers), as the course content changes.
RU graduate Evening Courses, taught fall and spring semesters.
ENGL 648: Studies in Oral and Written Literature of Appalachia (3 s.h.)
Students may enroll twice, as long as the content differs.
APST 560: Seminar in Appalachian Studies (3 s.h.)
Students may enroll twice, as long as the content differs.
APST 698: Directed Study (3 s.h.)
Total Credits: 18 s.h.
Delivery Strategies and Resources:
Most of the courses listed above are currently offered in accelerated summer workshops or in evening classes on campus and are therefore accessible to educators and others working full-time. As the certificate offering develops, alternate delivery strategies will be investigated to accommodate distance learners and other scheduling needs.
Duration and Review Process:
The Certificate in Appalachian Studies can typically be completed within a two-year time frame by students taking courses on a part-time basis. Students who are able to take fuller course loads may be able to complete the Certificate requirements in a shorter time frame.
Admissions Criteria:
Applicants wishing to pursue the certificate should apply as non-degree seeking students, submitting graduate application including "Appalachian Studies Certificate" in the comment field, the application fee, and official transcripts. Those wishing to take the certificate with a degree program should apply to the graduate program of interest and, when admitted, complete a Certificate Declaration Form. All applicants should notify Dr. Burriss of their intent to pursue the certificate.
Dr. Theresa Burriss
Appalachian Regional Studies Center
P.O. Box 7014, Radford University
Radford, VA 24142


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Adverse reactions to radiocontrast media
Related Terms
Abnormal kidney function, adverse effects, adverse reaction, anaphylactoid reaction, anaphylaxis, barium, barium sulfate, cardioversion, computerized tomography (CT) scan, contrast-induced nephropathy, CT scan, delayed reaction, dialysis, epinephrine, hemodialysis, high blood pressure, hypertension, hypotension, iodine, iodine-based radiocontrast media, ionic compound, kidney damage, kidney dysfunction, low blood pressure, non-ionic compound, organic compound, side effects, tissue damage, X-ray.
Some patients may develop adverse reactions or side effects from substances called radiocontrast media. These substances are given to patients before an X-ray or computerized tomography (CT) scan. The substances improve the visibility of the internal organs, allowing healthcare providers to detect cancerous tumors and abnormal growths.
There are two main types of contrast media: barium sulfate and iodine. Barium sulfate is a white powder that is mixed with water. The agent is most often used to help healthcare providers see the internal organs of the digestive tract, such as the intestines. Barium sulfate is usually swallowed or administered as an enema. The substance will be excreted from the body in the feces.
Iodine-based radiocontrast media are can be used almost anywhere in the body. They are typically injected into veins, but they may also be injected into an artery, injected into the spine, or injected into the abdomen.
Iodine may be formulated as either an ionic compound or an organic (non-ionic) compound. Ionic compounds were developed first, and they are still widely used today. Although ionic compounds are more likely to cause side effects than organic compounds, adverse reactions are uncommon. Organic compounds have fewer side effects because, unlike ionic compounds, they do not separate into smaller particles once they dissolve in water. This means the concentration of particles dissolved in a fluid, also called osmolality, is one-half that of ionic agents. Substances with higher osmolality are more likely to cause adverse reactions.
Adverse reactions from radiocontrast media are rare and symptoms can range from mild to life threatening. Serious side effects include an anaphylaxis-like reaction and kidney damage. Normally, anaphylaxis reactions are allergic reactions that involve the immune system. When anaphylaxis reactions occur in response to radiocontrast media, the immune system is not involved. Therefore, it is not considered true anaphylaxis. Kidney damage may occur because the kidneys must break down the radiocontrast media.
Radiocontrast media should not be given to patients who have experienced adverse reactions in the past because they have an increased risk of experiencing reactions in the future.
Treatment for adverse reactions depends on the type and severity of symptoms. Commonly used treatments include electrical cardioversion, epinephrine, hemodialysis, isotonic fluid, and supplemental oxygen.
Author information
This information has been edited and peer-reviewed by contributors to the Natural Standard Research Collaboration (www.naturalstandard.com).
Gleeson TG, Bulugahapitiya S. Contrast-induced nephropathy. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2004 Dec;183(6):1673-89. .
Greenberger PA, Patterson R. Adverse reactions to radiocontrast media. Prog Cardiovasc Dis. 1988 Nov-Dec;31(3):239-48. .
Natural Standard: The Authority on Integrative Medicine. .
Tepel M, Zidek W. Acetylcysteine and contrast media nephropathy. Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens. 2002 Sep;11(5):503-6. .
Wittbrodt ET, Spinler SA. Prevention of anaphylactoid reactions in high-risk patients receiving radiographic contrast media. Ann Pharmacother. 1994 Feb;28(2):236-41. .
: Although adverse reactions to radiocontrast media produce the same symptoms as allergic reactions, they do not involve the immune system. Also, prior sensitization is not required. This means the patient can develop an adverse reaction to radiocontrast media the very first time they receive the substance. Therefore, adverse reactions to radiocontrast media are not considered true allergic reactions.
Current research suggests that individuals who have asthma and/or allergies to food or medications have an increased risk of experiencing adverse reactions to radiocontrast media. The reason for this remains unknown.
Some reactions may occur with any dose of radiocontrast media, while others only occur if high doses of radiocontrast media are given to sensitive patients.
Dose independent
: Anaphylaxis-like reactions may occur with any dose of radiocontrast media. For instance, severe adverse reactions can occur following injections as low as one milliliter of radiocontrast media.
True anaphylaxis reactions are allergic reactions because they involve the immune system. However, anaphylaxis-like reactions that occur in response to radiocontrast media do not involve the immune system. Therefore, it is not considered an allergic reaction. The exact cause of anaphylaxis reactions remains unclear.
Dose dependent
: Most adverse reactions that are dependent on a specific dose of radiocontrast media are non-life threatening. They typically cause symptoms, such as hives, warmth, nausea, vomiting, or metallic taste in the mouth. However, kidney failure or damage has been reported with intravenous use of radiocontrast media. This may occur because the kidneys are responsible for breaking down the radiocontrast media.
Anaphylaxis-like reaction
: Some patients may develop a severe reaction similar to anaphylaxis. Symptoms of an anaphylaxis-like reaction can vary from mild to severe and may be potentially life threatening. The most dangerous symptoms of an anaphylaxis-like reaction are low blood pressure, difficulty breathing, shock, and loss of consciousness, all of which can be fatal. Other symptoms may include chest pain or tightness, irregular heartbeat, hives, reddening of the skin, flushing, angioedema (swelling below the skin surface), nausea, abdominal cramping, vomiting, stuffy nose, red/itchy/watery eyes, and headache. Patients who develop symptoms of anaphylaxis should seek immediate medical treatment.
Delayed reaction
: Delayed adverse reactions occur anywhere from 30 minutes to seven days after the administration of contrast material. Patients typically experience flu-like symptoms, including fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fatigue, and stuffy nose. Delayed symptoms almost always go away on their own, requiring little or no medical treatment.
Kidney damage
: Some patients may develop kidney damage in response to radiocontrast media. Symptoms of kidney damage may include weakness, fatigue, decreased urine, increased thirst, blood in the urine, decreased alertness, drowsiness, lethargy, confusion, generalized swelling, decreased sensations (especially in the arms and legs), nausea, and vomiting.
Tissue damage
: Tissue damage can occur if the drug leaks into nearby tissues. The radiocontrast media has a toxic effect on the tissues it comes into direct contact with. This may result in compartment syndrome, which causes the nerves and blood vessels to become compressed. As a result, impaired blood flow may lead to muscle and nerve damage.
: Some patients may experience a sensation of warmth, metallic taste in the mouth, nausea, and vomiting.
Adverse reactions to radiocontrast media typically occur within 20 minutes after the substance is administered. Healthcare providers should monitor patients closely for at least 20 minutes for possible reactions to the substance, such as low blood pressure and difficulty breathing. If symptoms of an adverse reaction develop, the patient receives treatment immediately.
Patients who received radiocontrast media within the last seven days and experience symptoms, such as fatigue, upper respiratory tract congestion, weakness, diarrhea, chills, abdominal pain, pain near the injection site, rash, dizziness, headache, nausea, and vomiting, should be suspected of having a delayed reaction to the substance. Although delayed reactions to radiocontrast media do not usually require medical treatment, patients should call their healthcare providers if they experience any of these symptoms within seven days of receiving the substance.
Electrical cardioversion
: Electrical cardioversion, or defibrillation, should be performed if the patient experiences irregular heart beats called arrhythmias. During the procedure, an electrical shock is delivered to the heart in order to make it beat in a regular rhythm. The patient's response to treatment dramatically decreases with time. In fact, the likelihood of success decreases by about 10% with each passing minute. Therefore, doctors who give patients contrast media should have fast access to defibrillators.
: A medication called epinephrine is used to treat a severe anaphylaxis-like reaction. Epinephrine is injected into the skin at a hospital. Epinephrine acts as a bronchodilator because it opens the patient's airway. It also constricts the blood vessels, which increases blood pressure. Patients who experience anaphylaxis may also be admitted to the hospital to have their blood pressure monitored and possibly to receive breathing support.
: If kidney damage develops, the healthcare provider will monitor the patient's condition and make sure that he/she is hydrated. In rare cases, patients may require temporary or permanent hemodialysis. Dialysis is a method of removing toxic substances and waste from the blood because dysfunctional kidneys are unable to perform this function. During the procedure, a hollow tube, called a catheter, is inserted into a patient's vein at the hospital. The blood is then filtered through a dialysis machine to remove waste products from the blood. The filtered blood is then returned to the patient. This procedure typically lasts about three to four hours.
Isotonic fluid
: If the patient experiences mild to moderate low blood pressure and increased heart beat, isotonic fluid (usually 0.9% isotonic sodium chloride solution) is typically injected into the patient's vein. This helps increase blood pressure and reduces symptoms.
Supplemental oxygen
: Patients who experience difficulty breathing may receive 10-12 liters of oxygen per minute with a facemask. If the patient's symptoms continue to worsen despite treatment, epinephrine should be injected immediately.
Patients who have low blood pressure may also receive high doses of oxygen.
Supportive care
: Symptoms of delayed reactions generally resolve without any medical treatment. However, patients should visit their healthcare providers if they experience flu-like symptoms up to seven days after receiving radiocontrast media. Patients may receive supportive care with pain medications to treat headaches. Patients may receive antipyretics to treat fevers. Meperidine (Demerol?) may be used to treat tremors, and isotonic fluid may help treat low blood pressure.
There is no specific treatment for tissue damage that occurs when radiocontrast media leaks into body tissues. Instead, the affected area may be elevated and a cool compress may be applied to help relieve symptoms. If the pain continues to worsen after two to four hours, or if the skin begins to blister or circulation or sensation changes in the affected area, a plastic surgeon should be consulted. In such cases, surgery may be necessary to restore blood flow and prevent further muscle and/or nerve damage.
Integrative therapies
: Anaphylaxis-like reactions are considered medical emergencies that require immediate medical care. Therefore, integrative therapies should not be used in place of conventional medicine when an individual experiences an anaphylactic-like reaction.
Unclear or conflicting scientific evidence
: Acupuncture is commonly used throughout the world. According to Chinese medicine theory, the human body contains a network of energy pathways through which vital energy, called "chi," circulates. These pathways contain specific "points" that function like gates, allowing chi to flow through the body. Needles are inserted into these points to regulate the flow of chi. Acupuncture plus point-injection has been found beneficial for hives. However, more research is needed to confirm these findings.
Needles must be sterile in order to avoid disease transmission. Avoid with valvular heart disease, infections, bleeding disorders or with drugs that increase the risk of bleeding (anticoagulants), medical conditions of unknown origin, or neurological disorders. Avoid on areas that have received radiation therapy and during pregnancy. Use cautiously with lung disease (like asthma or emphysema). Use cautiously in elderly or medically compromised patients, diabetics, or with a history of seizures. Avoid electroacupuncture with arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) or in patients with pacemakers.
Traditional or theoretical uses, which lack sufficient evidence
: Burdock is native to Europe and northern Asia. The root is used most often in herbal preparations. Traditionally, burdock has been used to treat hives. However, there is currently no human evidence on the safety and effectiveness for this use.
Avoid if allergic to burdock or other plants of the Asteraceae/Compositae family (ragweed, chrysanthemums, marigolds, daisies). Avoid with a history of dehydration, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, or HIV. Stop use before surgeries/dental/diagnostic procedures. Avoid if pregnant or breastfeeding.
: Chamomile is a common tea that has an apple-like smell and taste. Chamomile is a popular home remedy for many conditions, including skin and stomach discomfort. Although chamomile has traditionally been used to treat hives, scientific evidence is lacking. Currently, no human trials have evaluated the safety or effectiveness of chamomile for this use.
Avoid if allergic to chamomile or any related plants, such as aster, chrysanthemum, mugwort, ragweed or ragwort. Stop use two weeks before surgery/dental/diagnostic procedures with bleeding risk, and do not use immediately after these procedures. Use cautiously if driving or operating machinery. Avoid if pregnant or breastfeeding.
Detoxification therapy (cleansing)
: Detoxification is a broad concept that encompasses many different therapies and substances that are used to cleans the body's systems and organs. Proponents of detoxification believe the various approaches can cleanse the body, clear the skin, enhance the senses, help weight loss, improve fertility, improve flexibility, increase vitamin and mineral absorption, reduce blood fat levels, rejuvenate, rest organs, and slow the aging process. Detoxification has been suggested as a possible treatment for hives. However, there is currently no scientific evidence of its safety or effectiveness for this use.
In cases of illness the various forms of detoxification should be used under professional guidance. See specific monographs for precautions and warnings associated with modalities of detoxification.
: Kudzu has been traditionally used in China to treat alcoholism, diabetes, gastroenteritis, and deafness. There are several species of pueraria throughout the world including
Pueraria lobata
Pueraria Flos
. Although kudzu has been suggested as a possible treatment for hives, there is currently no scientific evidence on the safety and efficacy of this use.
Use cautiously with anticoagulants/anti-platelet agents, blood pressure-lowering agents, hormones, antiarrhythmics, benzodiazepines, bisphosphonates, diabetes medications, drugs that are metabolized by the liver's cytochrome P450 enzymes, mecamylamine, neurologic agents, and methotrexate. No well-designed studies on the long-term effects of kudzu are available. Avoid if allergic or hypersensitive to
Pueraria lobata
or members of the Fabaceae/Leguminosae family. Avoid if pregnant or breastfeeding.
: Moxibustion is a therapeutic method in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), classical acupuncture, and Japanese acupuncture. During the therapy, an herb, usually mugwort, is burned above the skin or on the acupuncture points to introduce heat into an acupuncture point to alleviate symptoms. It may be applied in the form of a cone, stick, or loose herb; or it may be placed on the head of an acupuncture needle, to manipulate the temperature gradient of the needle. There is limited evidence suggesting that moxibustion may help treat hives. Additional research is needed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of moxibustion for this use.
Use cautiously over large blood vessels and thin or weak skin. Avoid with aneurysms, "heat syndrome," heart disease, convulsions, cramps, diabetic neuropathy, extreme fatigue and/or anemia, fever, or inflammatory conditions. Avoid over allergic skin conditions, ulcerated sores, skin adhesions, inflamed areas, face, nipples, genitals, head, or contraindicated acupuncture points. Use cautiously after exercise or after a hot bath or shower. Use cautiously with elderly people with large vessels. Not advisable to bathe or shower for up to 24 hours after a moxibustion treatment. Avoid if pregnant or breastfeeding.
Peppermint oil
: Peppermint is a flowering plant that grows throughout Europe and North America. Peppermint is most often grown for its fragrant oil. Peppermint oil has been used for many health conditions, including the common cold. Peppermint leaf has been used for stomach/intestinal disorders and for gallbladder disease. Historically, peppermint has been used to treat hives. Further research is needed to determine whether peppermint is safe and effective for this use.
Avoid if allergic or hypersensitive to peppermint or menthol. Peppermint is generally considered safe in non-allergic adults when taken in small doses. Use cautiously with G6PD deficiency or gallbladder disease. Menthol, which makes up part of peppermint oil, is generally considered safe in non-allergic adults. But, doses of menthol greater than one gram per kilogram of body weight may be deadly in humans. Avoid if pregnant or breastfeeding.
: Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that are sometimes called friendly germs. They help maintain a healthy intestine and aid in digestion. They also help keep harmful bacteria and yeasts in the gut under control. Most probiotics come from food sources, especially cultured milk products. Probiotics can be taken as capsules, tablets, beverages, powders, yogurts, and other foods. Although probiotics have been suggested as a possible treatment for hives, there is insufficient scientific evidence on the safety and efficacy for this use.
Probiotics are generally considered safe and well tolerated. Avoid if allergic or hypersensitive to probiotics. Use cautiously if lactose intolerant.
: The smallest amount of contrast agent should be used for each procedure. If multiple studies are needed, they should be performed at the same time. That way, patients only require a single dose of radiocontrast media, which reduces the chance of an adverse reaction. Patients should wait at least 48 hours between procedures that require radiocontrast media. Healthcare providers may recommend that the patient wait as long as five days between procedures. This allows the kidneys, which process radiocontrast media, to fully recover.
Traditionally, it has been suggested that adverse reactions, such as nausea and vomiting, are more common when the substance is injected quickly. However, recent research does not support this claim.
Patients should tell their healthcare providers if they are taking any drugs (prescription or over-the-counter), herbs, or supplements because they may interact with radiocontrast media.
Alternative imaging studies
: If the patient has experienced a previous adverse reaction to radiocontrast media, an alternative imaging study that does not require the substance, such as a sonograph or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, should be considered.
: Several studies suggest that antioxidants may help reduce the risk of kidney damage in patients who receive radiocontrast media. Some studies suggest that 600 milligrams of an antioxidant called acetylcysteine twice daily, in combination with hydration, may help reduce the risk of kidney damage. According to the study authors, acetylcysteine plus hydrations is the treatment of choice to protect against radiographic contrast media-induced kidney damage.
: Patients with a history of anaphylaxis-like reactions (moderate to severe) to radiocontrast media may receive drugs called corticosteroids to help prevent adverse reactions. For example, 50 milligrams of prednisolone (such as Deltasone? or Orasone?) has been taken by mouth 13 hours, seven hours, and one hour before radiocontrast media is injected into the patient.
Discontinuing certain medications
: Patients who are taking drugs known to cause kidney damage, such as aminoglycoside antibiotics, should stop taking their medications under the supervision of their healthcare providers before they receive radiocontrast media. They can resume taking the drugs 48 hours after the imagine study is performed. This has been shown to reduce the risk of kidney damage.
: Research has shown that patients who are well hydrated are less likely to experience adverse reactions to radiocontrast media. Patients typically receive injections with 100 milliliters of saline per hour for four hours before the procedure and 24 hours after the procedure. It is also recommended that patients drink 500 milliliters of fluids before the procedure, followed by 2,500 milliliters over the course of 24 hours after the procedure.
: Two diuretic drugs, mannitol (Resectisol?) and furosemide (Lasix?), have been studied as possible treatments to prevent kidney damage in patients who receive radiocontrast media. However, several studies suggest that these medications are not effective treatments.
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Santa Cruz voters overwhelmingly back desal vote to set up city charter change
By J.M. Brown
Santa Cruz Sentinel, 11/8/12
SANTA CRUZ -- The city's charter will be changed to put a controversial desalination measure on the ballot.
That's the order from voters, who on Tuesday overwhelmingly backed Measure P, a resident-led initiative to ensure a future say on the water supply project.
The measure garnered 71 percent support, which proponents say indicates strong concern about the city's plans to pump water out of the ocean and remove the salt to create up to 2.5 million gallons of drinking water each day.
"It could mean it would be very likely a desal vote will not pass," said Rick Longinotti, a founder of Santa Cruz Desal Alternatives.
Desalination proponents disagree and are planning a campaign to convince ratepayers the plant is needed to protect the city from severe drought-driven rationing.
"We're going to outspend them (the anti-desal coalition) dramatically in 2014," said five-time former Mayor Mike Rotkin, referring to the year the plant is likely to come up for a vote.
City Councilwoman Lynn Robinson, who is likely to be mayor in 2014, said Measure P results make "a statement that the community is really focused on the desal issue."
Robinson joined council colleagues in passing an ordinance earlier this year granting voters the right to decide whether the plant would be built. But desalination opponents wanted to ensure the new council, a majority of whom were elected Tuesday, couldn't erase that right by overturning the ordinance. City charter changes can only be made by voters.
Measure P blocks the city from constructing the plant or going into bonded debt to pay for it without voter approval. The plant also will need the approval of an extensive host of regulators after an environmental review is released in the spring.
The plant is expected to cost an estimated $125 million to build. The city and its desalination partner, Soquel Creek Water District, already have spent about $11 million studying, planning and designing the facility since 2006.
Follow Sentinel reporter J.M. Brown on Twitter at Twitter.com/jmbrownreports
Asks voters to decide whether they want to change the city's charter to guarantee them the right to a future vote on desalination. It required a simple majority to pass.
Yes 12,972
No 5185
36 of 36 precincts reporting


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Home > News & Events > Wayland Press Release Archives > 2006 News Releases > May 2006 > Community Classroom offering poverty training for area agencies
Community Classroom offering poverty training for area agencies
PLAINVIEW – Social service agencies face a multitude of challenges when serving their communities, not the least of which is communicating with and understanding the populations they serve. Having a clearer understanding of poverty and its facets can help agencies do their work better, Debbie Stennett believes.
That's why Stennett, director of the Community Classroom at Wayland Baptist University, has planned a two-day workshop June 21-22 to train agency personnel in understanding individual and family behaviors in poverty. The workshop is slated from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. both days at the Community Classroom, 708 Yonkers.
"The poverty framework for agencies is about developing a shared and informed perspective among social service professionals who daily serve the poor. Participants will learn about behavioral patterns common to families in generational poverty that often puzzle the middle class," Stennett said. "They can expect to learn, too, about building resources within their clients to help them help themselves. It's about social change that starts deep within individuals and about connectedness and relationships with the poor whose increasing numbers threaten community sustainability in rural areas."
Based on the work of Dr. Ruby Payne and Phillip DeVol, the workshop provides information on helping clients in poverty develop stabilizing resources. Participants will learn about the causes of poverty and community sustainability, the hidden rules of families in poverty, the role of language, family structure and resource development.
Instruction will be provided through small-group activities, PowerPoint presentations, Web site reviews, class discussions and video clips. The workshop is $20 per person, and registration is open through June 9. Call 291-3650 for more information.
A three-day workshop for teachers is slated for June 27-29 and costs $50 per person. Registration is also open for that workshop, geared more for educators and school personnel.


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On St. Patrick's Day—Tuesday, March 17—millions of people will don green and celebrate the Irish in, and around, them with parades, good cheer, and perhaps a pint of beer.
But few St. Patrick's Day revelers have a clue about St. Patrick, the man, according to the author of St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography.
"The modern celebration of St. Patrick's Day really has almost nothing to do with the real man," said classics professor Philip Freeman of Luther College in Iowa.
Who Was the Man Behind St. Patrick's Day?
The real St. Patrick wasn't even Irish.
He was born in Britain around the A.D. 390 to an aristocratic Christian family with a townhouse, a country villa, and plenty of slaves.
What's more, Patrick professed no interest in Christianity as a young boy, Freeman noted.
At 16, Patrick's world turned.
He was kidnapped and sent overseas to tend sheep as a slave in the chilly, mountainous countryside of Ireland for seven years.
"It was just horrible for him," Freeman said. "But he got a religious conversion while he was there and became a very deeply believing Christian."
Hearing Voices
According to folklore, a voice came to Patrick in his dreams, telling him to escape. He found passage on a pirate ship back to Britain, where he was reunited with his family.
The voice then told him to go back to Ireland.
"He gets ordained as a priest from a bishop and goes back and spends the rest of his life trying to convert the Irish to Christianity," Freeman said.
Patrick's work in Ireland was tough—he was constantly beaten by thugs, harassed by the Irish royalty, and admonished by his British superiors.
After he died on March 17, 461, Patrick was largely forgotten.
But slowly, mythology grew up around Patrick. Centuries later he was honored as the patron saint of Ireland, Freeman noted.
No Snakes in Ireland
The St. Patrick mythology includes the claim that he banished snakes from Ireland.
It's true no snakes exist on the island today, Freeman said. But they never did.
Ireland, after all, is surrounded by icy ocean waters—much too cold to allow snakes to migrate from Britain or anywhere else.
But since snakes often represent evil in literature, "when Patrick drives the snakes out of Ireland, it is symbolically saying he drove the old, evil, pagan ways out of Ireland [and] brought in a new age," Freeman said.
The snakes myth and others—such as Patrick using three-leafed shamrocks to explain the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost)—were likely spread by well-meaning monks centuries after St. Patrick's death, Freeman said.
St. Patrick's Day: Made in America?
Until the 1970s, St. Patrick's Day in Ireland was a minor religious holiday. A priest would acknowledge the feast day, and families would celebrate with a big meal, but that was about it.
"St. Patrick's Day was basically invented in America by Irish-Americans," Freeman said.
Timothy Meagher is an expert on Irish-American history at Catholic University in Washington, D.C.
He said Irish charitable organizations originally celebrated St. Patrick's Day with banquets in places such as Boston, Massachusetts; Savannah, Georgia; and Charleston, South Carolina.
Eighteenth-century Irish soldiers fighting with the British in the U.S. Revolutionary War held the first St. Patrick's Day parades. Some soldiers, for example, marched through New York City in 1762 to reconnect with their Irish roots.
Others parades followed in the years and decades after, including well-known celebrations in Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago, primarily for flourishing Irish immigrant communities.
"It becomes a way to honor the saint but also to confirm ethnic identity and to create bonds of solidarity," Meagher said.
Wearing Green Clothes, Dyeing River Green
Sometime in the 19th century, as St. Patrick's Day parades were flourishing, wearing the color green became a show of commitment to Ireland, Meagher said.
In 1962 the show of solidarity took a spectacular turn in Chicago when the city decided to dye a portion of the Chicago River green.
The tradition started when parade organizer Steve Bailey, head of a plumbers' union, noticed how a dye used to detect river pollution had stained a colleague's overalls a brilliant green, according to greenchicagoriver.com.
Why not, Bailey thought, turn the river green on St. Patrick's Day? So began the tradition.
The environmental impact of the dye is minimal compared with sources of pollution such as bacteria from sewage-treatment plants, said Margaret Frisbie, the executive director of the advocacy group Friends of the Chicago River.
Her group focuses instead on turning the Chicago River into a well-known habitat full of fish, herons, turtles, and beavers.
If the river becomes a wildlife haven, the thinking goes, Chicagoans won't want to dye their river green.
"Our hope is that, as the river continues to improve, ultimately people can get excited about celebrating St. Patrick's Day different ways," she said.
Pint of Guinness
On any given day 5.5 million pints of Guinness, the famous Irish stout, are consumed around the world.
On St. Patrick's Day, that number more than doubles to 13 million pints, said Beth Davies Ryan, global corporate relations director of Guinness.
"Historically speaking, a lot of Irish immigrants came to the United States and brought with them lots of customs and traditions, one of them being Guinness," she said.
Today, the U.S. tradition of St. Patrick's Day parades, packed pubs, and green silliness has invaded Ireland with full force, noted Freeman, the classics professor.
The country, he noted, figured out the popularity of St. Patrick's Day was a good way to boost spring tourism.
"Like anybody else," he said, "they can take advantage of a good opportunity."
Check out article at National Geographic News.
Interesting history on St. Patrick's Day! You learn something new each day! Are you wearing green today? The green in my camo counts, right?


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Transfer Advising
Planning to Transfer
The Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI) is here to help you successfully transfer college credit in the state of Illinois. This effort, effective summer of 1998, establishes guidelines and recommendations for transfer course work in both general education and select majors. Check out the iTransfer web site for participating institutions, course coding information, and further benefits of this initiative.
Want more information on transferring from an Illinois Community College to an Illinois 4-year institution? Find everything you need to know here.
College Search
College/University web sites are a great source of information for transfer students. To gather facts and resources about SVCC's top transfer schools, just click on the links below.
- Bradley
- Eastern Illinois University
- Illinois State
- Northern Illinois University
- Southern Illinois University - Carbondale
- Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville
- University of Illinois at Chicago
- University of Illinois at Springfield
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Western Illinois University
If your school of choice is not listed above, use the following sites to locate a college/university web site:
- To connect to the web sites of U.S. Community Colleges
- To connect to the web sites of U.S. Universities
Finding a Transfer School
The following web sites are guides that can help you identify schools by type, major, and area of the county.
Transfer Guides
Transfer guides are available for select colleges and universities in a number of program areas outside of the Student Services Center at SVCC. See a SVCC advisor to complete an individualized transfer plan designed to fit your needs and interests.
Equivalent Courses in Illinois
Course equivalents (.pdf) are available for six state universities in Illinois (EIU, ISU, NIU, SIU, UIUC, and WIU). This guide includes all baccalaureate/transfer courses (1.1) and select occupational/technical credit courses (1.2). Courses on this 1.1 and 1.2 guide can be utilized toward a general transfer degree at SVCC.
Students can use their current Sauk transcripts and see how their courses might fit into the requirements of many Illinois colleges and universities by registering and using transferology located at the Illinois portal of www.itransfer.org. Select "Create an account" for the link into Transferology. Get started on your road to transfer!
Dual Admission / Early Advising
Dual AdmissionSauk Valley Community College has teamed up with Western Illinois University to provide students with the opportunity to gain admission while attending Sauk Valley Community College. This Dual Admission Program enables students to begin their college career at Sauk Valley Community College, complete a transfer Associate Degree, and continue their education at Western Illinois University to complete their Bachelor's Degree.
- Western Illinois University's Dual Admission Program
- SVCC and Western Illinois University have teamed up to provide students with the opportunity to gain admission to both institutions at the same time. Students in this program will have the advantage of academic advisement updates each semester, a seamless transition between institutions, and the opportunity to continue their education in the region at low tuition rates.
- Application Process: In order for students to receive the earliest possible advising, they should fill out the WIU application, the intent to participate form, and the SVCC application as soon as they decide to attend WIU.
Early Advisement Programs
Early advisement programs are designed to give students an edge on their academic career. While at Sauk, students will be able to gain early advisement from the four-year university.
- Southern Illinois University at Carbondale's Individualized Two Plus Two Initiative
- Students receive from Southern Illinois University individualized plans designed to evaluate their transfer credit, monitor academic progress, and provide them with transfer equivalency listings tailored to their specific major. This initiative is designed for community college students who have selected a major and plan to earn an AA or AS degree prior to transfer to SIUC.
- Application Process: In order for students to receive the earliest possible advising, they should fill out the SIUC Individualized Two Plus Two Application, submit to SIUC official transcripts from all colleges attended including SVCC as soon as they decide to attend SIUC.
- Bradley University's Academic Advisement Agreement
- This program is designed to help students by giving them a personalized curriculum for their indicated major; retaining the students' transcript(s) as part of the admission process; and providing students with on-going advisement regarding every aspect of the transfer process.
- Application Process: In order for students to receive the earliest possible advising, they should complete and return the Academic Advisement Application and have official transcripts sent to Bradley from each college or university attended as soon as they decide to attend Bradley.


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Mizzou Athletics Announces Zou Crew Student Trip to LSU
COLUMBIA - Mizzou Athletics and Head Basketball Coach Frank Haith announced that the school will take 30 members of the Zou Crew leadership core, Missouri Basketball's official student fan group, to Baton Rouge, this week when the nationally-ranked Tigers battle LSU at the Pete Maravich Center on Wednesday.
Coordinated through the University's Office of Campus Activities, the leadership core of the Zou Crew was tasked with the selection process for the trip.
"We are all so excited that the students have been given the opportunity to travel with the Mizzou Men's Basketball Team," Assistant Director of Student Life Kathy Murray said. "It will allow them to support the team, and to learn about what goes on behind the scenes when a major athletic program travels. The Zou Crew leadership can't wait to bring Mizzou spirit to Baton Rouge and see the Missouri Tigers face LSU!"
"We are so excited to be able to offer this opportunity and I wish we could take our entire student section to Baton Rouge," Haith said. "Our students give our team so much energy when we play here at home and this is a fun way to thank them and really recognize all of our students for how much they mean to our basketball program."
The traveling students were asked to get prior approval from their teachers before missing class on Wednesday and must be in good academic standing.
"Academics are priority No. 1 for us," Haith said. "Our team had above a 3.0 grade-point average last semester and I want to make sure the traveling students get proper consent before missing any class, just like our students-athletes will do."
"We are really looking forward to this trip," said Zou Crew Director Aaron Sternecker. "It's a great opportunity to show the team how much we care and help to bring the energy from home on the road. It will also be fun just to get to experience the "life" that they live on the road."
Mizzou is a perfect 12-0 at home this year when playing in front of the Zou Crew and will look for a third consecutive SEC win on Wednesday. Game time in Baton Rouge, La., is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised live on the SEC Network.


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Join us on our mission to help millions of people to have memorable outdoor experiences. We're building top products and services and we're seeking the top talent. Interested?
You will join our small team that designs, develops and implements all the code for wikiloc.com and apps. We have an ambitious vision with lots of cool stuff to do and you will work on all product-level decisions. Your work will reach millions of people worldwide in a short time.
For all positions we expect that you have excellent communication skills and able to clearly bring forward your vision or opinion.
We'd like you to be the kind of person who have high integrity and low ego, you're a team player, pragmatic problem-solver and self-driven, doer ideally with successful samples of projects online (mobile apps, designs, writings, web projects or open source contributions) and active in GitHub, Stackoverflow, Dribbble or Wikipedia. Experience working with remote teammates is a plus.
Good sense of humor, passion for outdoor sports and being active in Wikiloc is a big plus!
Our currently open positions...
Software Engineer - Platform
Join us to improve the backend that powers the platform and apps that hundreds of thousands of outdoor enthusiasts rely on for their activities.
For this position the following skills are relevant to us:
- You hold or are finishing a masters degree and have superior coding skills
- If you have experience in the Wikiloc stack (Java, Redis, NGINX, PostgreSQL) that's great, but if you learn really fast, that's just as well
- Java in a production environment
- Web services & API design
- Testing (unit, integration, ui)
- Server side experience (Linux, Python, shell scripting, networking) is also a plus
Software Engineer - Data
Every day we face the challenge to process large amounts of data in the form of places, geometric features, descriptive text in many languages and beautiful outdoor images among others.
If you hear Terabytes of data and feel an urge to start exploring, you speak fluent SQL and are excited about new R packages then this position might be for you. We also expect that you're proficient representing results interactively. Beyond machine learning skills, we value more your capacity for understanding and identifying current and future community needs and how to map those needs to data. Our goal in Wikiloc is to delight users and your mission will be to imagine, discover and define data-driven opportunities to excel on that.
Desired skills:
- Degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics or equivalent experience.
- Coding skills in a high level language such as Python, Scala or Java.
- Familiarity with statistical computing tools (such as R, Julia, MATLAB, pandas) and database languages (such as SQL)
- Familiarity with ML tools (such as Tensorflow, MLlib, scikit-learn, Mahout)
- Familiarity with data visualization (such as d3, bokeh)
- Familiarity with big data technologies (e.g. Spark, Hadoop, Hive, Cassandra)
- Excellent comunication skills
We also expect that you'll work in your own analyses to answer important questions that we might already have or new ones that you'll identify. Community demographics, usage of Wikiloc on Web, Android, iOS and Wearables are focus areas where you'll identify the data you need to answer a question, analyze it, present it in a comprehensive way and write in plain English a compelling conclusion about it.
We love metrics, and we love charts and visualizations so expect to be a very popular member of the team!
Software Engineer - Systems & Infrastructure
As Wikiloc keeps growing our systems have to be scaled and re-architected to relieve bottlenecks, keep data safe and secure and make the ecosystem easier to maintain and evolve.
Above all these essential requirements your mission will be to guarantee a blazingly fast experience to all community members worldwide.
For this position the following skills are relevant to us:
- Masters degree in computer science
- Server side experience (Linux, shell scripting, networking)
- Scaling high-traffic web apps (host architecture/databases/caching)
- Performance benchmarking and monitoring tools
- Reconfiguring services on the fly
- Testing
- An eye for automation and instrumentation
- Solid experience with one or more of our areas: Ansible, Java, ElasticSearch/Solr, Redis, Nginx, Tomcat is a bonus
Keeping all systems running smoothly with great reliability is the foremost mission of the Systems & Infrastructure team, and they're amazing at doing it.
UX/UI Design Lead
We're looking for a design lead to join our team in Girona. You'll play a key role for the entire experience all Wikiloc users will go through.
You are an experienced generalist who enjoys working closely with engineers and who's confident owning and defending all aspects of design at Wikiloc, from web and mobile UX/UI conceptualisation & prototyping to implementation, visual design and branding.
We always start new projects with design, so you'll have the opportunity to challenge and lead us in new directions.
Besides having great visual taste and a sensibility for a community and web identity of more than 10 years online, we also value experience designing specifically for iOS and Android.
We are not looking for an expert. We're looking for someone with great capacity and talent who demonstrates the interest, sensibility and will to keep learning new things and continually get better.
Having experience with technologies we currently use is a bonus but we're ready to learn from your suggestions too!
You'll be working with all team members since design and brand is inherent to everything we do.
Software Engineer - Mobile
Join us to improve the mobile app that hundreds of thousands of outdoor enthusiasts rely on for their activities.
Main responsibility will be to join the mobile team and work in coordination with the Android, iOS and our backend engineers with the mission of improving the outdoor experiences of all community members.
We won't reject applications that show a high proficiency in data structures and algorithms but here are a few desired skills:
- Experience developing for Android, iOS, embedded or similar technologies
- Swift, Java, Kotlin, functional programming & Rx
- Unit testing, integration testing and UI testing
- An App we can look at in the stores is a big plus
About us
Outdoor enthusiasts from around the world use Wikiloc to explore and share the best outdoor trails of many activities like hiking and mountain biking. Since we launched the iOS and Android apps, hundreds of thousands of users have embraced them as an easy and effective way to track their activities, discover great trails and have fun outside.
Wikiloc has been recognized with awards from Google, National Geographic and Garmin. We are located in the Parc Cientific UdG in Girona, Spain, near the pyrenees mountains and the beautiful mediterranean coast; great places to test our products!
How to apply
If all of this sounds exciting to you, we'd love to hear from you! Please email firstname.lastname@example.com with your resume and a cover letter telling us about yourself and why you want to work at Wikiloc.


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But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 NIV
Sometimes it is hard to find the good in our struggles. Yet, the day our Savior died on the cross is called Good Friday.
Maybe you're having a "Good" Friday like Jesus did – or a "good" week. Or month. Or year. Maybe you're asking why God has forsaken you. (Matthew 27:46)
Just remember: if you are His child, it isn't forever. And He can and will work it out for your good (Romans 8:28). And Good Friday isn't the end.


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|Quick Facts: Human Resources Specialists
$60,880 per year
$29.27 per hour
|Bachelor's degree
|7% (As fast as average)
What Human Resources Specialists Do
Human resources specialists recruit, screen, interview, and place workers. They often handle other human resources work, such as those related to employee relations, compensation and benefits, and training.
Work Environment
Human resources specialists generally work in offices. Some, particularly recruitment specialists, travel extensively to attend job fairs, visit college campuses, and meet with applicants. Most human resources specialists work full time during regular business hours.
How to Become a Human Resources Specialist
Applicants must usually have a bachelor's degree in human resources, business, or a related field. However, the level of education and experience required varies by position and employer.
The median annual wage for human resources specialists was $60,880 in May 2018.
Job Outlook
Employment of human resources specialists is projected to grow 7 percent from 2016 to 2026, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Human resources specialists will be needed to handle increasingly complex employment laws and healthcare coverage options. Most growth is projected to be in the employment services industry.
State & Area Data
Explore resources for employment and wages by state and area for human resources specialists.
Similar Occupations
Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of human resources specialists with similar occupations.
More Information, Including Links to O*NET
Learn more about human resources specialists by visiting additional resources, including O*NET, a source on key characteristics of workers and occupations.


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10/28 Ask Liz About Your Hometown Destination Wedding
We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post. By clicking on the links and making a purchase, you're helping to support the site so we can keep bringing you badass ideas.
Dear Liz,
I am living in the Netherlands right now, and about to begin planning our wedding back around my hometown in Maryland, near the summer camp where we met when we were both working there. Money is super tight, so simplicity in planning is key. It is safe to assume that I will have two visits to America, for about 3 weeks each, when I can meet vendors and see things in real life. We have a venue that we're pretty sure we're going to use for the wedding, but not much else. Do you have tips on planning a wedding from a distance?
American Bride in Amsterdam
Dear American Bride,
You're right, the key is to keep it simple. So, the good news is that if you decide to go with that venue (Wedding Planner says, "Yes") , you can work that connection like a pole. Hopefully they have catering? If not, get recommendations from them, as well as referrals for a Photographer, Florists, DJ, cake, and any other rentals you might need. Be very upfront about how much you have to spend. Look at your choices, pick three at the most to contact, and go from there. And, remember, your ceremony and reception – site fees, catering – shouldn't take more than 50% of your budget. Make the venue your first stop on your first trip out here, and nail it down, if you can, and get those referrals.
The photographer is usually the next most expensive line item, so try and get in a couple of meetings before you fly back to Amsterdam. If you don't like any that the venue offers, get recommendations from friends and family or just google the area where your venue is. Always mind potential travel fees. Make it a goal to have a decision by the time you fly back.
And, of course, look for your wedding dress when you're here, too, instead of getting it in the Netherlands and having to ship or carry it over. Dollars are still cheaper than Euros…I think? You'll be able to find something that you love, in your budget.
Your second trip out can be spent finalizing any choices you didn't make on your first trip, plus any follow-up you have to do. Your third trip will be the same. And then you should be able to keep track in between visits with emails and phone calls. Don't worry, you'll get it all done.
Dear Liz,
My fiance and I find ourselves in a bit of a predicament. We're living in Norway right now, but his family is from the East Coast, while I am from the Midwest (a small town in North Dakota) and we've been trying to decide on a location. My grandparents have to be there, but they aren't able travel more than four hours to attend a wedding. Also, even though we were planning on a small wedding, a good portion of the guests will be flying over from abroad. Would it be fair for me to ask all his friends and family to come all the way to my hometown? Oh, and did I mention that my hometown is a 10 hour drive to the nearest international airport? There is a small local airport and train connections to my hometown, though. The airfare in is usually atrocious, but train fare can be very reasonable. I appreciate any advice you may have!
– Country-Crossed Lover
Dear County-Crossed,
Wow. I…Wow.
Okay, the way I see it, you have two choices. Choice #1: Have a small ceremony in your hometown, without the majority of your out of town/foreign friends, or invite everyone and go for it. My instinct says to go for it. Make an adventure out of it. Get a clear idea of what it's going to take to get to North Dakota, plane fare, train fare and accommodations included, and let all your guests know. This is where wedding websites come in handy. If you can get all of them to come out on the same day, what about joining them on the train? That could be a party. Come up with fun things to do in your home town while they're there. My advice is to throw the idea out to your guests and see who's up for it. Because the ones who make it? Are going to be ready to have a great time with you and make the most of it. Keep me updated.
What do you think? Would you add anything to my advice, or do you have some experience in this to share? Let me know in the comments!
See you at the end of the aisle,
Liz Coopersmith


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LeTourneau University will delay opening offices until 10 a.m. Monday, March 3, due to icy weather conditions.
The first "class" students will attend will be chapel at 10:50 a.m. featuring a guest performance by a traditional Chinese orchestra. Classes at LETU's Abbott Aviation Center at East Texas Regional Airport will begin after chapels conclude at 11:30 a.m.
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HYCOM (Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model)
Posted March 20, 2002,18:55
Institution: HYCOM Consortium
Contact: email@example.com
In the mixed layer, grid points are placed vertically so that a smooth transition of each layer interface from an isopycnic to a constant-depth surface occurs where the interface outcrops into the mixed layer. HYCOM therefore behaves like a conventional sigma model in very shallow and/or unstratified oceanic regions, like a z-level coordinate model in the mixed layer or other unstratified regions, and like an isopycnic-coordinate model in stratified regions. In doing so, the model combines the advantages of the different types of coordinates in optimally simulating coastal and open-ocean circulation features. The present procedure of driving high-resolution coastal models (which invariably use fixed vertical grids) with output from a basin-scale isopycnic model can be streamlined, since HYCOM will be able to provide the required near-shore data at fixed depth intervals.
Copyright ©2002-2007 Ocean-Modeling.org. All rights reserved. Webmaster


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Heather Jill Symons, M.D., M.H.S.
Clinical Director, Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant
Associate Professor of Oncology
Expertise: Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), Aplastic Anemia, Bone Marrow Transplant, Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML), Graft-versus-Host Disease, Haploidentical Bone Marrow Transplant, Hematologic Malignancies, Hodgkin's Disease, Leukemia, Malignant and Nonmalignant Disorders, Medical Oncology, Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS), Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL), Pediatric Oncology ...read more
Research Interests: Improving the efficacy and decreasing the toxicity of haploidentical BMT for pediatric malignancies and non-malignant disorders; augmenting graft versus tumor effect and preventing relapse after haploBMT ...read more
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The Johns Hopkins Hospital (Main Entrance)
1800 Orleans St. The Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children's Center Building, 11th Floor Baltimore, MD 21287
In her first decade as a pediatric oncologist, Dr. Symons already has shown an impressive ability to juggle multiple research projects, in addition to caring for patients.
One of Dr. Symons' research pursuits focuses on using a novel immunotherapy approach to treating both solid tumors and hematologic (blood-borne) malignancies. The basis of her work stems from the theory that cancer patients' immune systems should recognize tumor cells as foreign and destroy them. This doesn't happen, theorizes Dr. Symons, because the immune system attacks only those cells it perceives as dangerous—not cancer cells, which it sees simply as foreign. That's where her research comes into play.
Evaluating an experimental therapy, Dr. Symons is pairing donor lymphocytes (white blood cells that activate the body's immune system) with chemotherapy to determine if this combination will "awaken" patients' immune systems to the danger of existing cancer cells and, in turn, elicit an immune response.
In a separate yet equally compelling research endeavor, Dr. Symons is working to increase the availability of donors for children whose cancer requires bone marrow transplants (BMTs) as a potentially lifesaving treatment. "It can be challenging to find a 'matched' donor," says Dr. Symons, who explains that only about 40 percent of patients who require a BMT find a matched donor. "Sometimes, we don't have the benefit of time, because remissions can be short-lived. But almost all patients have a half-matched donor: a parent, sibling, or child," adds Dr. Symons, who is examining ways to reduce BMT-related complications ordinarily associated with half-matched donors after ablative (high dose) chemotherapy.
"Like anything else that's new, it will take some time to prove that this is a feasible option that's safe," she says. But she's optimistic. "It has the potential to revolutionize BMT."
Dr. Symons knows it's worth the wait. "Seeing the research I do in the lab translate into clinical trials, then seeing patients in these trials survive long term, is incredibly rewarding," she says.
- Clinical Director, Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant
- Associate Professor of Oncology
Departments / Divisions
- MD, Albany Medical College of Union University (1999)
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine / Pediatrics (2002)
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine / Pediatric Oncology (2007)
Board Certifications
- American Board of Pediatrics / Hematology-Oncology (2006)
Research & Publications
Clinical Trial KeywordsPediatric bone marrow transplantation
Selected Publications
Heather J Symons, Moshe Y Levy, Jie Wang, Xiaotao Zhou, Gang Zhou, Leo Luznik, Hyam Levitsky, Ephraim J Fuchs. The Allogeneic Effect revisited: exogenous help for endogenous, tumor-specific T cells. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant, 2008, 14(5), 499-509.
Heather J. Symons, M. Sue Leffell, Nancy D. Rossiter, Marianna Zahurak, Richard J. Jones, Ephraim J. Fuchs. Improved survival with inhibitory Killer Immunoglobulin Receptor (KIR) gene mismatches and KIR haplotype B donors after nonmyeloablative, HLA-haploidentical bone marrow transplantation. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant, 2010 Apr;16(4):533-42.
Tolar J, Sodani P, Symons, H. Alternative donor transplant of benign primary hematologic disorders. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2015 Feb 9. doi: 10.1038/bmt.2015.1. Epub 2015 Feb 9.
Jacoby E, Chen A, Loeb DM, Gamper CJ, Zambidis E, Llosa NJ, Huo J, Cooke KR, Jones R, Fuchs E, Luznik L, Symons HJ. Single-Agent Post-Transplantation Cyclophosphamide as Graft-versus-Host Disease Prophylaxis after Human Leukocyte Antigen-Matched Related Bone Marrow Transplantation for Pediatric and Young Adult Patients with Hematologic Malignancies. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2015 Sep 4. pii: S1083-8791(15)00595-9. doi: 10.1016/j.bbmt.2015.08.034. Epub 2015 Sep 4.
Klein OR, Chen AR, Gamper C, Loeb D, Zambidis E, Llosa N, Huo J, Dezern AE, Steppan D, Robey N, Holuba M, Cooke KR, Symons HJ. Alternative donor hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with post-transplantation cyclophosphamide for nonmalignant disorders. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2016 Feb 6. pii: S1083-8791(16)00095-1. doi: 10.1016/j.bbmt.2016.02.001. [Epub ahead of print].
Activities & Honors
- Alpha Omega Alpha, Alpha Omega Alpha
- Jack Spitalny Prize, Awarded to the senior medical student who has excelled in Pediatrics
- Charles Eckart Award, Awarded to the medical student who has demonstrated outstanding academic achievement in the field of surgery, 1999
- American Academy of Pediatrics International Health Travel Scholarship
- Fellowship to Attend American Association of Cancer Research Workshop in Molecular Biology and Clinical Oncology
- NIH Loan Repayment Program Grant Recipient
- Appointed Chief Fellow, Johns Hopkins Children's Center/National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD.
- October, 2006: Recipient of an ASH Travel Award for oral presentation of submitted abstract at the 2006 ASH annual meeting
- June, 2014: Recipient, Teaching Award from Johns Hopkins-NIH Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Fellows
- February, 2015: Recipient, Best abstract award, CIBMTR
Patient Ratings & Comments
The Patient Rating score is an average of all responses to physician related questions on the national CG-CAHPS Medical Practice patient experience survey through Press Ganey. Responses are measured on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best score. Comments are also gathered from our CG-CAHPS Medical Practice Survey through Press Ganey and displayed in their entirety. Patients are de-identified for confidentiality and patient privacy.
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May 20, 2010
By Justin Tang
LOS ANGELES -- In response to a job market that continues its rough ride through the national and state-wide recession, UCLA Anderson's Parker Career Management Center (Parker CMC) hosted its second annual MBA Career Fair on April 30. The event was split into two parts: a recruiters' day and a career fair.
The recruiters' day -- hosted in Anderson's state-of-the-art Jim Easton Global Connection Classroom -- was an information session designed to educate employers on how to best reach out to Anderson students. Employers learned about on-campus recruiting events and how to participate in Anderson's Applied Management Research projects. Perhaps the most informative portion of the morning consisted of a student panel featuring Chris Benway ('10), Jack Brethauer ('11), Avani Parakh ('10), Whey Han Tan ('11) and Maggie Watson ('11) who advised employers on how to reach out to students. The students also spoke about their job search process and spent time answering employer questions.
"The personal aspect is critical to recruiting; it makes me believe the employers are really interested in getting to know me," Brethauer said to the 50 company representatives in the room. When asked what they look for in an internship, Watson responded, "I looked for a very structured program where I would be assigned a project that I could finish."
"The student panel was very helpful, it taught us how to get in better contact with Anderson students," Joseph Saltarelli ('08), of IBM Global Business said. "It also gave us insight into how other companies are connecting to students."
After a catered lunch with student club leaders, the company representatives - from such high-profile entities as The Capital Group, Taco Bell, One West Banks, Gallup and DirectTV, along with government agency representatives from the CIA and FBI - met individually with students, who themselves were seeking potential summer internships and possible future employers.
Xochityl Morales of Harbor Freight Tools said she looked for students with experience and maturity. "I want a person who can translate their classroom knowledge into the real world."
Asked about her overall impression of the day-long event she said, "The overall presentation of the school was phenomenal. I learned how to better reach out to students and create an internship program that fits the students' needs."
About UCLA Anderson School of Management
UCLA Anderson School of Management, established in 1935, is regarded among the leading business schools in the world. UCLA Anderson faculty members are renowned for their teaching excellence and research in advancing management thinking. Each year, UCLA Anderson provides management education to more than 1,800 students enrolled in MBA, Fully-Employed MBA, Executive MBA, UCLA-NUS Global Executive MBA, Master of Financial Engineering, and doctoral programs, and to more than 2,000 professional managers through executive education programs. Combining highly selective admissions, varied and innovative learning programs, and a world-wide network of 36,000 alumni, UCLA Anderson develops and prepares global leaders.