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The Southern Conference, which is in its 98th season of intercollegiate competition in 2018-19, is a national leader in emphasizing the development of the student-athlete and in helping to build lifelong leaders and role models.
The Southern Conference has been on the forefront of innovation and originality in developing creative solutions to address issues facing intercollegiate athletics. From establishing the first postseason college basketball tournament (1921), to tackling the issue of freshman eligibility (1922), to developing women's championships (1984), to becoming the first conference to install the 3-point goal in basketball (1980), the Southern Conference has been a pioneer.
The Southern Conference is the nation's fifth-oldest NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association. Only the Big Ten (1896), the Missouri Valley (1907), the Pac-12 (1915) and the Southwestern Athletic (1920) conferences are older in terms of origination.
Academic excellence has been a major part of the Southern Conference's tradition. Hundreds of Southern Conference student-athletes have been recognized on CoSIDA Academic All-America and all-district teams. A total of 20 Rhodes Scholarship winners have been selected from conference institutions, most recently in 2012-13, when former Wofford volleyball player Rachel Woodlee earned the prestigious award.
The conference currently consists of 10 members in six states throughout the Southeast and sponsors 22 varsity sports and championships that produce participants for NCAA Division I Championships. The league added rifle, becoming just the second Division I conference to sponsor the sport, in 2016-17, and added women's lacrosse for the 2017-18 campaign.
The Southern Conference offices are located in the historic Beaumont Mill in Spartanburg, South Carolina. A textile mill that was in operation from 1880 until 1999, Beaumont Mill was renovated in 2004 and today offers the league first-class meeting areas and offices as well as a spacious library for storage of the conference's historical documents.
Membership history
On Feb. 25, 1921, representatives from 14 of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association's (SIAA) 30 members met at Atlanta's Piedmont Hotel to establish the Southern Intercollegiate Conference. On hand at the inaugural meeting were officials from Alabama, Alabama Polytechnic Institute (Auburn), Clemson, Georgia, Georgia School of Technology (Georgia Tech), Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi A&M (Mississippi State), North Carolina, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech) and Washington & Lee.
Dr. S.V. Sanford of Georgia was chosen as acting chairman and N.W. Dougherty of Tennessee was named secretary. The decision to form a new athletic conference was motivated by the desire to have a workable number of conference games for each league member. With 30 schools in the SIAA by the early 1920s, it was impossible to play every school at least once during the regular season and many schools went several years between playing some conference members. In addition, in 1920, the SIAA voted down proposed rules that an athlete must be in a college a year before playing on its teams and refused to abolish a rule permitting athletes to play summer baseball for money.
Play began in the fall of 1921, and a year later, six more schools joined the fledgling league, including Tulane (which had attended the inaugural meeting but had elected not to join), Florida, Louisiana (LSU), Mississippi, South Carolina and Vanderbilt. VMI joined in 1923 and Duke was added in 1929.
By the 1930s, membership in the Southern Conference had reached 23 schools. C.P. "Sally" Miles of Virginia Tech, president of the Southern Conference, called the annual league meeting to order on Dec. 9, 1932, at the Farragut Hotel in Knoxville, Tennessee. There, it announced that 13 institutions west and south of the Appalachian Mountains were reorganizing as the Southeastern Conference. Members of the new league included Alabama, Alabama Polytechnic Institute, Florida, Georgia, Georgia School of Technology, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Mississippi A&M, University of the South, Tennessee, Tulane and Vanderbilt.
According to the minutes of the meeting, Georgia's Dr. Sanford stated that the division was made along geographical lines. Florida's Dr. J.J. Tigert, acting as spokesman for the withdrawing group, regretted the move but believed it was necessary as the Southern Conference had grown too large. The resignations were accepted and the withdrawing schools formed the new league, which began play in 1933.
The Southern Conference continued with membership of 10 institutions, including Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, Virginia, VMI, Virginia Tech and Washington & Lee.
The second major shift occurred some 20 years later. By 1952, the Southern Conference included 17 colleges and universities. Another split occurred when seven schools – Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina and Wake Forest – departed to form the Atlantic Coast Conference, which began play in 1953. The revamped Southern Conference included members The Citadel, Davidson, Furman, George Washington, Richmond, VMI, Virginia Tech, Washington & Lee, West Virginia and William & Mary.
A third major shift occurred in 2012-13, when five members announced their departures and three schools were added. College of Charleston announced its decision to leave for the Colonial Athletic Association following the 2012-13 season, while Appalachian State (Sun Belt), Davidson (Atlantic 10), Elon (Colonial) and Georgia Southern (Sun Belt) announced they would depart following the 2013-14 campaign. At the Southern Conference's 2013 spring meetings in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, the league officially extended invitations to former members ETSU and VMI, as well as Mercer, to join the league for the 2014-15 academic year.
Today, the league continues to thrive with a membership that includes 10 institutions and a footprint that spans six states: Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Current league members are The Citadel, ETSU, Furman, Mercer, UNCG, Samford, Chattanooga, VMI, Western Carolina and Wofford.
John Iamarino was officially named commissioner of the conference on Jan. 2, 2006. Iamarino has promoted the Southern Conference through an ambitious agenda that has improved championships, upgraded compliance-related matters, launched the conference's Hall of Fame, created the SoCon Academic Exchange and increased the marketing and brand awareness of the conference and its member institutions. He has also guided the league through its recent membership changes, ensuring the Southern Conference's future viability and stability with the additions of ETSU, Mercer and VMI.
The eighth commissioner in Southern Conference history, Iamarino spearheaded the effort to create the SoCon Digital Network, which launched in the fall of 2014, and the league-wide plan to have all 10 member institutions capable of producing broadcast-quality content by 2017.
Iamarino has also orchestrated the addition of three sports in the last five years, starting with men's lacrosse in 2014-15. Rifle was added in 2016-17, and women's lacrosse became the SoCon's 22nd varsity sport in 2017-18. The addition of those three sports has attracted a combined 11 associate members.
The Southern Conference named its first commissioner in December 1950. Duke's Wallace Wade made the transition from Blue Devil football coach to athletics administration as the first person at the helm of the conference.
Lloyd Jordan replaced Wade as the commissioner in 1960 and served a 14-year term until Ken Germann became the league head in 1974. Germann was the commissioner for 13 years and orchestrated the league's expansion to include women's athletics. In 1987, he was succeeded by Dave Hart, who oversaw the transfer of the league office from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Asheville, North Carolina.
Wright Waters succeeded Hart upon his retirement in 1991. Under Waters' leadership, the Southern Conference expanded to 12 members, added three women's sports and posted record revenue from the basketball tournament. Waters was followed by Alfred B. White in 1998. White, a veteran member of the NCAA office, introduced the current conference logo and elevated the conference's commitment to marketing and development of corporate partners.
Danny Morrison, who would go on to be president of the Carolina Panthers, headed the conference from 2001-05 and orchestrated the league's move from Asheville to Spartanburg. Under Morrison's leadership, the conference increased its marketing and promotional efforts.
Championship history
The first Southern Conference Championship held after the formation of the league was the basketball tournament in Atlanta in 1922. The North Carolina Tar Heels won the tournament to become the first recognized league champion in any sport. The Southern Conference tournament remains the oldest of its kind in college basketball.
Commissioner Germann spearheaded the Southern Conference's expansion to include women's athletics during the 1983-84 season. That year, league women's championships were held in volleyball, basketball and tennis. Cross country joined the mix in 1985, outdoor track and field was added in 1987 and indoor and track and field followed in 1988. The conference instituted golf and softball championships in the spring of 1994 and added soccer in the fall of that year. Women's lacrosse crowned its first champion in May 2018.
The Germann Cup, named in honor of the former commissioner, annually recognizes the top women's athletics programs in the conference. From their humble beginnings, women's athletics have become an integral part of the Southern Conference and its success.
The Southern Conference declares champions in 11 men's sports – football, soccer, cross country, basketball, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, wrestling, baseball, lacrosse, tennis and golf – and 10 women's sports – soccer, volleyball, cross country, basketball, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, tennis, golf, women's lacrosse and softball. Rifle is a mixed sport.
The Southern Conference has also excelled as the premier Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) conference. Former Southern Conference member Appalachian State won the three consecutive FCS titles from 2005-07, becoming the first team to do so. The league boasts more than 250 players who have garnered All-America recognition and numerous national player or coach of the year awards. The conference had at least one team in the top 10 of the final FCS poll for 28 consecutive years (1985-2012), with at least two teams finishing in the final poll in every season from 1982-2013. Samford and Wofford finished in the top 20 in each of the last two seasons, with Furman joining them in the top 25 in 2017. The Citadel, Chattanooga, Samford and Wofford each finished in the top 25 in 2016, giving the league four in the final poll for the first time since 2007.
The conference has placed multiple representatives in the FCS Playoffs in 29 of 34 seasons, with 16 championship game appearances and eight national titles. The Southern Conference has had at least one team reach the semifinals in 12 of the last 19 years and in 18 of the last 26 seasons.
In 2007, Appalachian State became the first FCS team to defeat a nationally ranked Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) team, when the Mountaineers defeated No. 5 Michigan, 34-32, on Sept. 1 before a sellout crowd at Michigan Stadium. Georgia Southern, in its final game as a member of the Southern Conference, downed the SEC's Florida in Gainesville. The league picked up two wins over FBS teams in 2015, with Furman downing UCF and The Citadel stunning South Carolina.
Prior to the conference's reclassification in 1981, Southern Conference football teams appeared in a total of 36 bowl games, posting a record of 16-18-2. From 1925-30, league schools won five football national championships in a six-year span. There are nearly 60 former Southern Conference players and coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame. One of the most recognizable of these names is former North Carolina running back Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice, who helped guide North Carolina to three bowl appearances. He was a first-team All-America selection and the Heisman Trophy runner-up in 1948 and 1949. In 1949, Justice earned first-team all-conference honors for the fourth consecutive season, becoming the first player in league history to achieve that feat. He was a member of the league's inaugural Hall of Fame Class in 2009.
Another of the league's football products that made it to the College Football Hall of Fame is Sam Huff of West Virginia. Huff was a three-year starter on both the offensive and defensive lines for the Mountaineers. In 1955, Huff earned first-team All-America honors on the field and was a first-team Academic All-American for his work in the classroom. He played 12 seasons in the National Football League for the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins. Also a member of the conference's first Hall of Fame class, he was a five-time All-Pro linebacker and is also a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Former Appalachian State coach Jerry Moore was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in December 2014. The winningest coach in Appalachian State and Southern Conference history, Moore compiled a 215-87 record in his 24 seasons at Appalachian State (1989-2012), including 10 SoCon championships, 18 postseason appearances and an unprecedented three straight NCAA Division I FCS/I-AA national titles (2005-07).
In 1999, Georgia Southern's Adrian Peterson captured the Walter Payton Award, presented annually to the Football Championship Subdivision's most outstanding offensive player. Peterson, a four-time All-American who finished his career as the NCAA Division I leader in rushing yards with 6,559, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in December 2017.
The league saw a pair of former players enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018, as former Chattanooga standout Terrell Owens and Marshall star Randy Moss, who enjoyed a record-breaking freshman year in the SoCon, earned the nod.
Furman's Louis Ivory earned the Walter Payton Award in 2000, Georgia Southern's Jayson Foster was presented with the 2007 trophy and most recently, Appalachian State's record-setting quarterback Armanti Edwards became the first two-time winner in Payton Award history after claiming the honors in 2008 and 2009.
Appalachian State's Dexter Coakley was a three-time all-conference selection and consensus All-American in 1994, '95 and '96 before going on to stardom with the Dallas Cowboys. Coakley won a pair of Buck Buchanan Awards, given to Football Championship Subdivision's top defensive player each year. Western Carolina's David Patten and Appalachian State's Matt Stevens were both members of the New England Patriots' Super Bowl champion team in 2002 and Patten also earned Super Bowl rings with the Patriots in 2004 and '05. Appalachian State's Daniel Kilgore appeared in Super Bowl XLVII for the San Francisco 49ers in 2013.
Men's basketball was the first sport in which the conference held a championship. The league tournament is the nation's oldest, with the inaugural championship after the formation of the league held at Atlanta's City Auditorium in 1922 and won by North Carolina.
Not only was the Southern Conference tournament the first of its kind, but the league also helped change the face of college basketball. In 1980, the league began a season-long experiment with a 22-foot 3-point field goal with the approval of the NCAA Rules Committee. Ronnie Carr of Western Carolina made the first 3-point field goal in college basketball history in a game against Middle Tennessee State on Nov. 29, 1980.
Another college basketball tradition that originated in the Southern Conference is the traditional cutting of the nets by the winning team in important tournaments. According to USA Today, the practice of net-cutting originated in 1947 with NC State head coach Everett Case. As a first-year head coach, Case led the Wolfpack to the Southern Conference tournament title. Case celebrated by claiming the nets as souvenirs to commemorate the event.
Basketball coaching legend Red Auerbach gave credit to former George Washington coach Bill Reinhart, who coached in the conference for nearly 30 years, as one of the originators of the modern fast-break.
West Virginia's 10 tournament championships rank as the second-most in league history behind Davidson's 12. The Mountaineers were led by the incomparable Jerry West from 1958 through 1960. West, a two-time All-America selection, spurred West Virginia to the Final Four in 1959. The Mountaineers lost in the championship game that season to California, 71-70, but West earned Final Four Most Valuable Player honors. West was a three-time Southern Conference tournament MVP, a two-time league regular-season MVP, and was twice named the conference's Athlete of the Year. He went on to a spectacular career with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979. He was a 14-time NBA All-Star while with the Lakers. It is West's silhouette that comprises the NBA's globally recognized logo.
Frank Selvy set the NCAA record for points in a game while at Furman. On Feb. 13, 1954, the senior scored 100 points in a game against Newberry, a record that still stands. Selvy was the Southern Conference Most Valuable Player in 1953 and 1954 and the league's Athlete of the Year in 1954. He went on to a 10-year career in the NBA. Selvy and his former Lakers teammate West were both enshrined in the league's Hall of Fame in 2009.
Rod Hundley was another West Virginia star during the 1950s. "Hot Rod" made a name for himself as one of the most spectacular players to tour the league during his era. Hundley averaged 24.5 points per game in his three seasons as a Mountaineer and was an all-conference and all-tournament performer in each of those three years. He was the Southern Conference Most Valuable Player and Athlete of the Year as a senior in 1957. He was the first player selected in the 1957 NBA draft and enjoyed a six-year career in that league.
ETSU's Keith "Mister" Jennings made his mark on the college basketball world in the early 1990s. Despite standing less than 6 feet tall, Jennings was a two-time all-conference choice and the league's Player of the Year and Athlete of the Year in 1991. Jennings played with the Golden State Warriors of the NBA and was inducted into the SoCon Hall of Fame in 2016.
Besides West Virginia's team in 1959, the Southern Conference has been represented in the Final Four on two other occasions. North Carolina advanced to the NCAA championship game in 1943 before falling 43-40 to Oklahoma State. NC State finished third in the tournament in 1950.
Davidson continued the record of success by advancing to the NCAA tournament's Elite Eight in 2008 as coach Bob McKillop's Wildcats came within a basket of making the Final Four behind the play of sophomore guard Stephen Curry. Curry, a two-time SoCon Male Athlete of the Year winner, led the nation in scoring as a junior at 28.6 points per game and has gone on to star for the NBA's Golden State Warriors, earning league MVP honors twice and leading the Warriors to NBA titles in 2015, 2017 and 2018. He was also inducted into the SoCon Hall of Fame in 2016.
Women's basketball competition began in the Southern Conference in 1983-84 with seven teams. In the sport's history, eight schools have won the league's tournament at least once, with Chattanooga winning 18 and Appalachian State owning six titles. UNCG won the 1998 tournament as head coach Lynne Agee became the first coach to take a team to the NCAA tournament in all three divisions – I, II and III. In 2001, Chattanooga head coach Wes Moore became the first coach in NCAA history to take three different teams to the NCAA tournament in all three divisions. After Moore's departure to helm NC State following the 2012-13 season, Chattanooga hired coach Jim Foster, who was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in June 2013.
Since 1984, 10 different teams have claimed at least a share of the regular-season crown. Chattanooga has the most overall titles with 21, eight of them shared. Chattanooga also owns the most outright championships with 13. In 2018, Mercer guard Kahlia Lawrence became the only player in SoCon history to win the Player of the Year award three times. Only six others have done it twice: ETSU's DeShawne Blocker (1993 and 1995), Furman's Jackie Smith (1998 and 1999), Chattanooga's Damita Bullock (2000 and 2001), Alex Anderson (2007 and 2008) and Shanara Hollinquest (2009 and 2010) and Davidson's Sophia Aleksandravicius (2012 and 2013).
Other sports
In baseball, Wake Forest advanced to the championship game of the NCAA College World Series in 1949. The Citadel made history in 1990 by becoming the first military school to make an appearance at the College World Series. The Bulldogs were joined that season at the College World Series by future conference member Georgia Southern.
One of the Southern Conference's more famous baseball alums is Duke's Dick Groat. The Blue Devil shortstop, who was also a basketball standout, was the conference's Athlete of the Year in 1951 and 1952. He went on to a 14-year career in the major leagues and was named the National League MVP in 1960 after leading the league with a .325 batting average for the World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates.
Among Southern Conference alums to grace Major League Baseball fields have been Atlee Hammaker (ETSU), Jeff Montgomery (Marshall) and Mike Ramsey (Appalachian State). Other SoCon players to go on to play in the major leagues include third baseman Dallas McPherson (The Citadel), who played for the Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels, the Florida Marlins and the Chicago White Sox; pitchers Britt Reames (The Citadel) and Ryan Glynn (VMI), who both pitched with the Oakland A's in 2005; Furman's Tom Mastny, a pitcher with the Cleveland Indians (2007); College of Charleston's Graham Godfrey, who pitched for Oakland in 2011 and 2012; Georgia Southern's Everett Teaford, a pitcher with Kansas City from 2011-13; The Citadel's Chris McGuiness, who made his MLB debut with the Texas Rangers in 2013; and Western Carolina's Jared Burton, who played for Cincinnati and Minnesota in a career that spanned seven years (2007-14). The Catamounts' Tyler White, who made his MLB debut with the Houston Astros in April 2016, earned a World Series ring in 2017.
Several SoCon alumni have played in the majors in the last four seasons, including College of Charleston's Brett Gardner, who earned a World Series ring with the New York Yankees in 2009, and Michael Kohn (Atlanta Braves); The Citadel's Asher Wojciechowski (Houston Astros); Western Carolina right-handed pitcher Greg Holland (Washington Nationals), a three-time All-Star who helped the Kansas City Royals to the 2014 AL pennant and their first World Series appearance since 1985, saving Game 3; and Wofford's John Cornely, who debuted with the Atlanta Braves in April 2015. Three SoCon alums made their debuts in 2017: Samford's Phillip Ervin with the Cincinnati Reds, UNCG's Max Povse with the Seattle Mariners and Elon's John Brebbia with the St. Louis Cardinals.
In the summer of 2016, Mercer's Kyle Lewis made league history, becoming the highest-ever SoCon draft pick when he was selected 11th overall by the Seattle Mariners in the MLB First-Year Player Draft. He was a starter for the All-Star Futures Game in 2018.
Legendary golfer Arnold Palmer competed under the Southern Conference banner as a collegian at Wake Forest. He took medalist honors at the Southern Conference tournament in 1948 and 1949 and was the tournament's runner-up in 1950. Palmer was the medalist at the NCAA Golf Championships in 1949 and 1950. He went on to become one of the most accomplished golfers to play on the professional tour. Palmer won 62 tournaments while competing on the PGA Tour and added 10 more victories as a member of the Senior PGA Tour. A member of the SoCon Hall of Fame, he won eight major championships – four Masters, two British Opens, one U.S. Open and one U.S. Amateur.
Furman golfer Dottie Pepper was named the Southern Conference Women's Athlete of the Decade in the 1980s and was honored as part of the league's 25th anniversary of women's championships celebration in 2007-08. Furman's Brandi Jackson won the NCAA Women's Golf East Regional in the spring of 2003, while, on the men's side, Chattanooga's Stephen Jaeger was the 2012 champion at the NCAA Bowling Green Regional and has played in a pair of U.S. Opens, in 2015 and 2017. Chattanooga's Steven Fox won the U.S. Amateur in 2012, going on to play in the 2013 Masters, U.S. Open and Arnold Palmer Invitational, among other PGA Tour events. ETSU's Adrian Meronk represented Europe in the Palmer Cup in 2015 and 2016, becoming the first Polish player to do so, and helped the European side to the title in 2016. Wofford alum William McGirt won the Memorial Tournament in June 2016 for his first PGA Tour win, while Western Carolina's J.T. Poston, a two-time SoCon medalist and now a PGA TOUR member, made his major debut at the U.S. Open in June 2017.
In track and field, Appalachian State's Mary Jayne Harrelson won the NCAA outdoor title at 1,500 meters in 1999 and 2001, while UNCG's Paul Chelimo posted runner-up finishes in the outdoor 5,000 meters in 2012 and 2013 and won a silver medal for the United States in the 5,000 meters at the Olympic Games in Rio in the summer of 2016. Samford's Karisa Nelson made history in March 2017, becoming the Bulldogs' first Division I national champion when she won the mile run at the NCAA indoor championships.
Coaches and administrators
The Southern Conference has also been a breeding ground for some of college athletics' most recognized coaches and administrators.
Legendary basketball coaches Adolph Rupp of Kentucky and Everett Case of NC State both worked the sidelines in the Southern Conference. Rupp guided the Wildcats to a 30-5 mark during the 1931 and 1932 seasons. Yet, for all his coaching accomplishments, Rupp never led Kentucky to a Southern Conference tournament championship. Case mentored the Wolfpack to six consecutive Southern Conference tournament championships from 1947 through 1952.
Lefty Driesell coached Davidson to Southern Conference tournament championships in 1966, 1968 and 1969. Driesell also won the league's Coach of the Year award four straight times from 1963 through 1966. Former Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins earned league Coach of the Year honors three times in the late '70s and early '80s while at Appalachian State and again in 2010-11 as the head coach at the College of Charleston.
Terry Holland saw his basketball coaching career take off at Davidson when he returned to his alma mater in 1970. Holland was honored as the Southern Conference Coach of the Year for three consecutive seasons from 1970-72 and led the Wildcats to the conference tournament title and an appearance in the NCAA tournament in 1970. J. Dallas Shirley, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, spent 21 years as the assistant to the commissioner and supervisor of officials in the Southern Conference. He also served as president of the International Association of Basketball Officials and the United States Olympic Basketball Committee.
The legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant got his coaching start in the Southern Conference as he guided the Maryland Terrapins in 1945. Another famous Southern Conference football coach is the late Frank Howard of Clemson, who guided the Tigers as a league member from 1940-52. The incomparable Howard won 69 Southern Conference games.
The Southern Conference has been represented on the sidelines at six Super Bowls in the past two and a half decades. Bobby Ross, who piloted the San Diego Chargers to the 1996 Super Bowl, was the head coach at The Citadel from 1973-77. Former Buffalo Bills head coach Marv Levy, who coached the Bills in four Super Bowls, directed former league member William & Mary from 1964-68 and was succeeded there by Lou Holtz. The Carolina Panthers, then owned by Wofford alum Jerry Richardson and with former Wofford athletic director and SoCon commissioner Danny Morrison serving as team president, played in Super Bowl 50. Chattanooga's Keionta Davis was a member of the Patriots' organization for New England's appearance in Super Bowl LII.


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Samsung to invest $4 billion in Austin plant
(AP) Samsung Electronics co. will spend $4 billion renovating its plant in the U.S. to increase production of advanced chips used in smartphones and tablet computers.
Samsung's Tuesday announcement is its latest push into the lucrative logic chip business. In June, Samsung said it would spend nearly $2 billion to build a new production line in South Korea to ramp up mobile chips that work as a brain in smartphones and tablet computers.
The South Korean company said mass production in the Austin, Texas plant will start in the second half of next year. The U.S. plant also produces chips for Apple's iPhone and iPad.
Samsung is the world's largest maker of computer memory chips but is trying to reduce its exposure to the cyclical downturn of the memory chip industry.
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If you are looking for a no-nonsense, high quality, mid-size, 2WD, two-passenger Side x Side at a great price, look no further than the Mule™ 4000 Side x Side.
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Front - MacPherson strut
Wheel travel - 3.9 in.
Rear - De Dion axle
Wheel travel - 2.8 in.


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A couple of weeks ago I blogged about how the iPhone app, iFlix, was Netflix Heaven on the iPhone. I'm happy to announce that heaven looks that much brighter for us iPhone touting Netflix subscribers! The iFlix team has been pretty busy as they have just released iFlix 2. And I have to say that every criticism that I had with iFlix version 1 has been addressed in the version 2 release.Â
First of all, the iFlix interface has seen an uplift in version 2 courtesy of Alex Marchuk (iFlix interface and website developer). The upgrade to the interface is not only pleasant to the eye but also made managing my Netflix queue that much easier.
One of the major gripes I had with the original release was the inability to select movies by format (DVD or Blu-ray). Now, when you search for a movie title, the search results bring back detailed information about each movie, including whether or not the movie is available in Blu-ray format. Being able to see Netflix ratings and MPAA ratings alongside the search results are added (and welcome) bonuses. Oh yeah, you can also browse by Blu-ray now as well.Â
I'm a bit envious of the people who can use the Watch Instantly feature on Netflix (I run a Mac and Netflix currently does not support Watch Instantly on the Macintosh). With Watch Instantly, you have access to movies and TV shows that you can watch directly on your PC or 3rd party media player like an XBox 360 or Roku Player. iFlix 2 now not only supports the regular Netlfix snail mail queue but also supports instant queue management, which means adding movies to view on your PC, Xbox 360, or Roku Player is that much easier.Â
iFlix has also improved on the rating system. Not only can you easily rate a movie from within iFlix but iFlix is intuitive enough to tell you which movies you've already rated by marking those ratings in yellow rather than the standard red.Â
I was fortunate enough to have a word with iFlix developer, Brent Jensen. Here's what we talked about.
Coty: I noticed that Brent Jensen is not listed with the rest of the team of the iFlix 2 website, is Brent no longer affiliated with the project? If not, why?
Brent: That's just me being modest. My name's on it for the App Store, so I wasn't too worried about the site. It looks like Alex took note after your question and has added my name to the site.
(Update: Alex has added Brent's name to the footer of the iFlix homepage. We can all sleep better now, LOL.)
Coty: The iFlix homepage also has changed, from the specific iFlixMobile.com to the more general and encompassing iPhonevine.com. Does this mean that there will be more iPhone based apps coming from your team?
Brent: For now, Alex Marchuk is hosting the site because of his amazing skills with design (and my lack of love for website development). You may see more apps hosted here, either made by me, or something that Alex has collaborated on. I'd love to have time to work on a lot more great apps, but for now my day job and iFlix keep me too busy to take on much else. I am working with my brother on a word search game for the iPhone, but it's got a ways to go.
Coty: iFlix has definitely helped to fill in the gap for Netflix users wanting a mobile solution. Why do you think Netflix has not released a native application on their own?
Brent: Larger companies are always going to be more hesitant to jump right into a new platform. Since releasing an app represents a commitment to the platform, especially for a big company, they've got to pick and choose where they'll invest. I would love to work with Netflix on improving the application, or even releasing it oficially, if they were ever to express interest.
Coty: iFlix 2.0 has added some killer functionality, such as the ability to view and add Blu-ray titles to your queue, a new interface and the ability to have detailed info like ratings literally at our fingertips. Where does iFlix 2.0 go from here? What are some things that you still would like to improve on?
Brent: The major focus right now is on performance and stability. As far as new features (e.g. iFlix 3.0), those are all still in the brainstorming phase. I'm certainly open to suggestions. A big fix is on it's way that drastically improves scrolling and drag reordering, along with a nasty bug that's been keeping some users from enjoying the "Detailed Queue" feature of iFlix 2.0.
Coty: There have been some controversy over the way that Apple has handled the App Store, specifically with developers. For instance, Apple has received some flack for not allowing developers to openly discuss program development with other developers. What are your thoughts on this?
Brent: There certainly are some frustrations, for me mostly with the inability to have more control over updates and responding to reviewers. A lot of times a reviewer will express frustration, or say they wish there was this or that feature, and the feature is in iFlix, or there is a work around for their issue, but I've got no way of contacting them. It would also be really nice to be able to build a customer base with a contact list, but the App Store doesn't allow for that. For the most part though, I think Apple has created a fantastic platform, and given me a way to get my software out there to be enjoyed by more users than might have ever been possible with the App Store.
*I'd like to thank Brent Jensen for taking the time to talk to me (much appreciated!) and Alex Marchuk for letting me know of the iFlix 2 updates (much appreciated as well!). Keep up the great work, iFlix team!


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When you're creating food for a football party, I think it's best to make items that your guests can eat with their hands so there's no need for silverware, or even plates. Last week, I created fun little snacks, called "Buffalo Bites", that have all the flavors of chicken wings stuffed in a little pastry cup. That recipe is available online. This week I'm stuffing pizza in herb flavored mini buns. These rosemary and thyme flavored rolls are filled with pepperoni, basil, tomato and mozzarella and topped with a little parmesan cheese.
To compliment these little pizza buns, think about adding simple fruit skewers to your buffet and get a selection of items from the olive bar at your grocery store. For beverages, I actually use a little refrigerated beer station that holds a 5 liter mini keg. It's perfect because it lets your guests serve themselves.
Pizza Buns
makes 16 individual stuffed mini snack rolls
1 pkg Active Dry Yeast
2 tbl Flour
1 tsp Granulated Sugar
1/2 cu Warm Water (about 110°)
3 1/2 cu All-Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1 lg Egg, beaten
1/2 cu Warm Milk (about 110°)
1/2 cu Butter, melted
1 1/2 tbl Fresh Rosemary, finely minced
2 tsp Fresh Thyme, finely minced
16 Grape Tomatoes
3 oz Pepperoni slices, chopped
1 cu Shredded Mozzarella
1/4 cu Fresh Basil, finely chopped
2 tbl Olive Oil
2 tbl Grated Parmesean Cheese
Mix yeast, flour and granulated sugar together in a medium sized bowl. Slowly pour in water while stirring and mix well. Set aside for about 10 minutes until yeast has activated and mixture is a bit foamy.
In a large bowl, mix together flour and salt. Stir egg into the center of the flour and slowly add milk and butter. Add yeast and stir until mixture forms a dough. Knead dough by hand for about 8-10 minutes on a lightly floured work surface or use a stand mixture with a dough hook. Once dough becomes elastic, pour about a teaspoon of olive oil into the bottom and sides of a large bowl. Roll the dough around the bowl to coat all sides with the oil. Cover the bowl with a towel and set it in a warm draft-free place in your kitchen. Let the dough rise for an hour until it has doubled in bulk.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut each grape tomato in half and then squeeze out and discard the seeds and juice. Chop the tomatoes and set them aside with the mozzarella, basil and pepperoni.
After the dough has risen, cut it into 16 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. Using your hands, pull each ball into about a 3" circle and then shape it into a bit of a cup by pressing your thumbs down into the center.
Add a portion of chopped tomatoes into the center of the cup and top it with a portion of the basil. Add mozzarella and top that with the chopped pepperoni. Bring the sides up over the filling and pinch them together. Place the stuffed dough on a baking sheet, sealed side down, and mold your hands around it to create a uniform shape and to be sure the sealed edges are directly on the bottom of the baking sheet.
Brush the surface with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle a portion of the parmesan cheese on top.
Bake for 15-18 minutes or until rolls are light golden brown on top. These are best served warm but they can also be served at room temperature.
If you have any comments or questions, please send me an email at firstname.lastname@example.com or follow me on Facebook or Twitter.


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The Corrosion Dr. is in at Penn Stainless
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Friday, November 1, 2013
Stainless-steel distributor and processor Penn Stainless Products, Inc., Quakertown, PA, has forged a partnership with metallurgist and corrosion consultant Dr. Hira Ahluwalia, Ph.D., president of Material Selection Resources, Inc. Known as "Dr. Metals," Ahluwalia will support Penn's customers with material selection and testing, and corrosion analysis. Penn Stainless provides sheet, plate, bar, structural, pipe and tubular products.
See also: Penn Stainless Products
Related Enterprise Zones: Materials/Coatings
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text: Main Content Act 24 of 1995 friendly link Printer Friendly bills affecting index and updates Search within this Statute for MICHIGAN ECONOMIC GROWTH AUTHORITY ACTAct 24 of 1995AN ACT to promote economic growth and job creation within this state; to create and regulate the Michigan economic growth authority; to prescribe the powers and duties of the authority and of state and local officials; to assess and collect a fee; to approve certain plans and the use of certain funds; and to provide qualifications for and determine eligibility for tax credits and other incentives for authorized businesses and for qualified taxpayers. History: 1995, Act 24, Imd. Eff. Apr. 18, 1995 ;-- Am. 2000, Act 144, Imd. Eff. June 6, 2000 Popular Name: MEGA © 2017 Legislative Council, State of MichiganThe People of the State of Michigan enact: DocumentTypeDescription Section 207.801SectionShort title. Section 207.802SectionLegislative findings. Section 207.803SectionDefinitions. Section 207.804SectionMichigan economic growth authority; creation within Michigan strategic fund; duties; membership, appointment, and terms of members; vacancy; compensation; expenses. Section 207.805SectionMichigan economic growth authority; powers; quorum; meetings; business conducted at public meeting; confidential information; written statement; disclosure; "financial or proprietary information" defined. Section 207.806SectionMichigan economic growth authority; powers. Section 207.807SectionApplication for tax credit; written agreement; form. Section 207.808SectionAgreement for tax credit; determination; requirements; amount and duration of tax credits; factors; written agreement; criteria; limitation on new agreements; execution; repayment provision; conditions; agreement with eligible business not meeting criteria. Section 207.808aSectionFee or donation. Section 207.809SectionEligibility for credits; issuance of certificate. Section 207.810SectionReport to legislature.


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Thos of you who have ordered the watch introduce yourselves here let's find out where they are all going and who gets what number..?
Alistair Gibbons owner of ATG Vintage Watches serial 001
Thos of you who have ordered the watch introduce yourselves here let's find out where they are all going and who gets what number..?
Alistair Gibbons owner of ATG Vintage Watches serial 001
Buy Chasing Time Book here on Amazon LINK
#chasingtimebooklook for me on Instagram
Call: +44 (0) 203 544 4012
Official Dealers
Bremont, Dodane 1857 & PITA Barcelona
So, I'm the second to post. Well, I suppose it's relatively fitting, although the honour should probably go to @StampeSV4.
Back in the mists of time, we started talking about a watch that, like the first Bremont LE (the quite brilliant EP120), would take its influences from cockpit clocks and early aviation watches. The base of the watch, we suggested, would be a relatively unloved member of the Bremont stable - the S2. For some time, this "sleeper" model had been described as the one to have: the simple three hander in black / green seemed to be the watch that most successfully captured the feel of those old leCoultre Chronoflite / Smiths Mk III dials, and the gauges that sat alongside them...
Fast forward a few years, and ATG announces that it's managed to persuade Nick / Giles to actually put our little pipedream into production. We even had a launch party at the Bremont Boutique last year, where we finally got our grubby mits on the prototype model (apologies for the photo - I forgot to take a camera). I've had my name down since the watch was announced. Can't wait to get my hands on the finished article.
Untitled by Noodlefish, on Flickr
Alistair sent me one of his large, leather pilot's straps to try: it's a marvel of leather and stainless steel. Chunky, but surprisingly comfy, I was intrigued by the design that allows it to be easily adjusted with one hand.
There was another strap that might work well - this was a prototype by GasGasBones using nylon and parachute silk. Wonder if we can persuade him to make a few?
Untitled by Noodlefish, on Flickr
Your bleeding-edge Now is always someone elses past. Someone elses 70s bellbottoms. Grasp that and start to attain atemporality.
the #watchnerd
So I am signed up for the S2 (serial 008 - the perfect number for an aviation watch in my view)
Like most here I have always loved watches. From sneaking a look at my hidden Casio Christmas present through to early bling Seiko's and on to my first 'serious' purchase of a Tag Heuer when I started to earn a salary.
When many are now reaching for their mobile phone to tell the time I am hankering for something more old school. I have a more modern Tag Heuer Carrera and reach for my trusty Omega Seamaster quite regularly, but you do see them a great deal. I could go antique or really avant garde to stand out but Bremont and the S2 really tick the boxes.
I love the Britishness of it, quality engineering without being brash (for that go for Breitling). I do go out in the great outdoors, but also earn a crust in corporate life. This brand and model works for both. Alistair and Bremont have created a watch that looks fantastic and for a price that seems very reasonable considering the quality and low production numbers.
I really cannot wait to get my hands on it and feel lucky to have picked one up in time
Last edited by ATG; 21-11-2013 at 18:53.
I couldn't agree more Steve…. all my ideas are just that… A..
Buy Chasing Time Book here on Amazon LINK
#chasingtimebooklook for me on Instagram
Call: +44 (0) 203 544 4012
Official Dealers
Bremont, Dodane 1857 & PITA Barcelona
This is great news. As Mat said above, we have been waiting for this watch for a long, long time. Years ago Al' started a thread asking which Bremont watch we would like to see made and this S2 LE Black was our response.
The S2 is the real sleeper in the Bremont range but this LE may well make people appreciate just what a clever piece of design it really is.
Out of all the Bremonts, this black and green dial S2 looked the most like an aircraft instrument and with a black case, it willl look almost as if it has just been removed from an aircraft cockpit.
The other great thing about this watch is that I see it as the perfect compliment to the EP 120 - the two watches will make the perfect Bremont pair.
A lot of work has gone into this watch, I gather that the black crowns have been extremely difficult to produce.
I know that Mat will be delighted with the black date wheel.
I have not seen the pilot's strap yet but if the quality of Al's previous straps is anything to go by, it will be excellent.
The sword hands are another great detail - I think those were Dave S's idea? Who knows, maybe in years to come people will think of this watch as a sort of Bremont Milsub?
I also like the fact that the watch will still have the old Bremont style of logo on the dial, again linking it with the EP 120.
Hurry up and build them please!
Their was no way greenburger was going to get away with being the only member of the green clan to own an s2 so just to ensure I got my hands on one I had to go for number 9. It's not one upmanship just the house number of our house growing up. I am really looking forward to getting this and it will be a daily wearer for me. As much as I love the codebreaker and victory at 12k it's to rich for me. I want to thank Alistair for his hard work bringing an affordable ltd bremont to the working man. To have a unique item few are able to get makes this even more special.
Welcome aboard… I am going to shoot a couple of films about the watch and its package so will post it all here… any thoughts about the watch would be greatly appreciated…. cheers.. A
Buy Chasing Time Book here on Amazon LINK
#chasingtimebooklook for me on Instagram
Call: +44 (0) 203 544 4012
Official Dealers
Bremont, Dodane 1857 & PITA Barcelona
...and StampeSV4 completes the limited edition of just 5.


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MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – The Georgia College men's basketball team (6-6, 2-3 PBC) lost a tight battle with Flagler College (5-7, 1-4 PBC) 60-58 in the Centennial Center Thursday night.
Ante Gospic performed on both ends for Flagler in the waning seconds, sealing the two point win with the game's final four points and by blocking a potential game-tying shot as time expired.
Senior forward Scott Ferguson (Roswell, Ga.) paced three double-digit scorers for the Bobcats, tallying 18 points and nine rebounds with three steals. Classmate Tarrence Chatman (Macon, Ga.) put in a season-best 10, while junior guard Aaron Robinson (Lawrenceville, Ga.) made all five of his free-throws en route to 11 points off the bench. Freshman Alex Reid (Savannah, Ga.) was just outside the group with nine points on three from long range.
The Bobcats were out-shot 45 percent (21-47) to 39 percent (22-57) but stayed in the ballgame with a 16-8 advantage in turnovers caused as well as an 8-5 lead in offensive boards.
Gospic posted a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds, making 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. Reserve Richard Brown posted 13 points, while Matt Clark added 10.
In a tight ballgame where neither team had a lead more than seven, the game hit the 1:44 mark in a 56-56 tie after a Ferguson free throw. A defensive stand by the Bobcats resulted in a Ferguson steal, setting up a bucket by the senior on the other end for a 58-56 Bobcat lead.
Gospic made a lay-in to tie the game with 41 seconds left, and after a Bobcat miss the Croatian big man was fouled with five seconds left. Gospic knocked down his final two points for a 20-point performance, and blocked the Bobcats' last-second effort to close out the game.
The Bobcats are back in action Saturday, Jan. 12 at 1:30 p.m. traveling to Young Harris College.
The Georgia College Department of Athletics, two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at www.twitter.com/BobcatSports and www.facebook.com/gcbobcats for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit www.GCBobcats.com for more information, and to nominate your favorite former Bobcats and Colonials to the GC Athletics Hall of Fame.


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Election night was, for me, a true multimedia event. My television was tuned to the local PBS station, with Gwen Ifill, David Brooks and Mark Shields providing analysis as the returns came in. But most of the breaking news came from my other screen: my laptop.
Jumping between news websites, my Facebook and Twitter feeds, and a couple private chats, I stayed on top of which states were being projected for Mitt Romney and which were going for Barack Obama. In fact, I was typing the news that Ohio had been called for Obama when PBS announced that he had indeed been re-elected president of the United States.
I'll admit it: I cried. But I was tempted to cheer, which wouldn't have been a surprising response, given how the democratic election of the leader of our country pretty much resembles the Super Bowl, the World Series and the World Cup, all rolled into one.
By the next morning, the American people, who had previously been divided into Democrats ("blue") and Republicans ("red"), could now be labeled "winners" and "losers" based on the presidential and other, local election results. Demographic groups, too, were categorized as winners or losers. Women, Latinos and other people of color, and gays and lesbians were popping champagne. White men? Not so much.
The Catholic church was also declared a loser. Although a number of vocal bishops had insisted that opposition to abortion, gay marriage and/or comprehensive contraceptive insurance coverage were the defining issues of this election, a majority of U.S. Catholics did not follow the hierarchy's thinly veiled campaigning for the Republican ticket and platform.
It's no fun to be the loser. I should know; I'm a Cubs fan. But it's been interesting to observe the reactions of those who did not prevail on Nov. 6. In his concession speech, Romney appeared sad and a little shocked, but he called for an end to "partisan bickering and political posturing" and urged his supporters to pray for the president and the country. Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York also promised prayers, but got in a plug for his priorities in a congratulatory letter to Obama. A number of conservatives have been uncharacteristically quiet.
But not everyone has been so graceful in defeat, and the blame game has begun. I heard a conservative talk radio host blame Romney's loss on his refusal to appear on -- surprise, surprise -- conservative talk radio. Others say the Republican Party needs to move more to the center. Shockingly, one Catholic conservative, Austin Ruse, president of the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute, posted his solution on his Facebook wall, writing, "Women should not be able to vote until they are married." I can only hope he was kidding.
In a world in which social media allow anyone to broadcast their every thought and feeling, emotion-laden reactions are the norm, from Donald Trump's Twitter tantrum ("This election is a total sham and a travesty. We are not a democracy.") to the legion of references to end times among some evangelical Christians.
Some of the winners, too, have been less than magnanimous in victory. If you thought the snarky Tumblr memes would end after the election, you would be wrong, since apparently the temptation to gloat is too strong. A number of liberals have offered to buy a plane ticket for Rush Limbaugh, who famously promised to move to Costa Rica (where ironically there is universal health care) if Obamacare passed. Others seem just a little too happy to dance on conservatism's grave.
True, there is much talk about "reaching across the aisle" and the need to work together to avoid the "fiscal cliff." But when one side complains about partisanship, they're usually talking about the need for the other side to compromise. Too much of the lament about political polarization is itself merely more political posturing.
So where do we go from here, as Americans and as Catholic Christians? Do those who are grieving and those who are celebrating have anything in common? Or are we headed for the next civil war?
Author Parker J. Palmer, a Quaker, believes Americans today -- much like at the time of the Civil War -- are brokenhearted and in need of healing. The "politics of rage," like any expression of intense anger, is really a mask for heartbreak, he writes in Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit (Jossey-Bass, 2011).
Healing that anger takes inner, spiritual work. As I learned during a retreat with Palmer this fall, he believes five "habits of the heart" are critical to sustaining a democracy, the most difficult of which seems to be the ability to hold tension in life-giving ways and an appreciation of the value of "otherness." Such habits are spiritual disciplines that require prayer and practice.
The Gospel reading on the Sunday before Election Day featured Jesus telling the scribes that the greatest commandments are to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12). While we may interpret those commandments differently, it seems a fitting place to start the necessary healing after the election. With love, there are no winners and losers. Either we all win, or we all lose.
[Heidi Schlumpf teaches communication at Aurora University in the Chicago suburbs and is the author of While We Wait: Spiritual and Practical Advice for Those Trying to Adopt.]


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About the County
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Mecklenburg County, NC
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Mailing Address:
Revolution Park Sports Academy
1225 Remount Road
Charlotte, NC 28208
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Youth Athletics
For more than a decade, the Excellence in Youth Sports Awards have recognized programs that are doing superior jobs of conducting diverse activities with a focus on providing safe and positive experiences for all participants - including children, parents and coaches. Each year hundreds of programs across the country vie to be an award winner.
Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department's history with the Award:
2019 Winner
2017 Finalist
2015 Finalist
2014 Ineligible for application due to winning in 2013
2013 Winner
2012 Finalist
Mecklenburg County 2019 Award Winning Video.mp4
Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation offers a variety of youth sports & fitness programs throughout the year. All programs are recreation center based and take place at various facilities and parks throughout Mecklenburg County.
ADA and Inclusion Statement v.2019.pdf
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Youth Sports Rain Inclement Weather Hotline 704-432-3834
Youth Sports Philosophy
The youth sports philosophy in Mecklenburg County is based on three main goals.
Participation development based on the following:
Everyone Plays -
Providing opportunities to learn skills and improve conditioning by minimizing roster sizes and ensuring that players play at least half of every game.
Balanced teams -
Building teams that are evenly balanced with regard to skill level and ability
Positive Coaching -
Providing training and education for coaches to assist in the development of the player's self-worth and confidence.
Sportsmanship -
Creating a positive environment that fosters mutual respect
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the typical length of a season?
Each youth sports regular season consists of 8 games (approximately 8 weeks in length). A single elimination post season tournament is held for ages 9 and older, which is typically played out over a Friday, Saturday and Sunday (weather permitting).
How are the leagues organized?
Leagues are organized based on the number of teams registered within an age division in a recreation center region (north, central & south). Generally teams from each of the centers in a corridor will participate in the regular season together.
When and where will my child practice and play games?
During the registration process, you should locate your desired
ecreation center
and register. Ideally you want to choose a facility that is convenient to your home or place of work for ease of transportation to and from practices. The center staff will communicate with you regarding the practice days and times chosen by the volunteer coach or assigned by the facility. Practices are typically once a week in the evening and will continue throughout the season once games have begun.
The Sports & Fitness staff will make a concerted effort to place teams at the proposed game site closest to their home recreation center. However, we reserve the right to adjust the game sites based on the ability to form leagues with four or more teams from the respective recreation centers within the north, central and south Mecklenburg service areas. For example, if you are in a center in the south and you only have enough for two teams, you will be moved to the closest secondary site to form a league that comprised of four or more teams.
Can I register my child to play in an older age division?
While it is not recommended, we do allow youth sports participants to "play up" by one year of age only. For more information please see the Play Up Policy located below.
Play Up Policy
Play Up Policy - Release Of Liability And Assumption Of Risk
For more information, email
or call 980-314-1116.
Individual sports at Park and Recreation facilities include:
Disc Golf
Thank You Park Operations!
Providing our youth sports participants with the highest quality parks and recreational facilities possible is no small task. Hard work and dedication from these men and women day in and day out, make it possible for everyone to "
Recreate All Year
"! Please be sure to thank your park staff everyday for all they do.
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- PAL provides opportunities for youth that foster their leadership and citizenship skills through athletics and academics.
Mailing Address:
Revolution Park Sports Academy
1225 Remount Road
Charlotte, NC 28208
Youth Athletics
Send an Email


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Being an underground rock 'n' roll band is tough anywhere, but especially so in Iran, where just playing a show can get you thrown in jail. That's exactly what happened to one of my recent discoveries, The Casualty Process. The band did not let that stop them. They continue to push back and make the music they want to make – a kind of electronic rock that makes me think of acts like Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode.
The Casualty Process has a story to tell, and the band's ongoing Kickstarter project will help get that story out. The band wants to produce its first music video for the song On the Ground. You can find out more about that here. If they can raise $4,000 by May 31 they can pull it off. A number of gifts are available for different levels, including a copy of their debut album, [Un]even plus an extended version of On the Ground. (I have [Un]even. It's quite good.)
Check out the band's Kickstarter project here, and pitch in if you can. And read what I wrote about them back in December 2010
Great indie rock from Iran (you didn't think Iran had any of that did you?)


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Permanent rubber reinforced face yarn provides the highest performance for removing soil and water. The face yarn is made from 100% post-consumer recycled PET Polyester fabric from drink bottles. The 30-ounce Tri-denier fiber system is designed for heavy traffic in commercial and industrial entrances. Color Line available in Black Smoke, Indigo, Southern Pine, Gray Ash, Maroon, Chestnut Brown, Khaki and Regal Red. FOB Shipping Point.
See Related Items tab for WaterHog Eco Elite with Fashion Border.


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Engineering students at the University of Colorado at Boulder are ramping up for a week of intense activity April 20 to 24, when they will celebrate Engineering Days and complete hands-on design projects for demonstration to the community at the Engineering Design Expo.
Engineering Days is an annual celebration of the engineering profession organized by the engineering student government and various honor societies. Activities include an egg drop, rocket launch and other fun activities for students.
The college egg drop will begin Thursday, April 22, at 1 p.m. at the base of the Engineering Office Tower. Students are challenged to build contraptions that will protect a raw egg when dropped from an eighth floor window. Prizes will be awarded for departmental winners as well as the best use of engineering principles, most destroyed, largest volume, crowd pleaser and judges' choice.
Students will launch balsa wood rockets Friday, April 23, from noon to 4 p.m. on the Business Field, south of the Engineering Center. A complete schedule of activities will be posted in the Engineering Lobby throughout the week.
The Engineering Design Expo will showcase the work of about 300 engineering students, ranging from first-year students to seniors, on Saturday, April 24, from noon to 3 p.m. at the Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory.
Student design projects will be set up both inside and outside the ITL Laboratory, and will include various inventions for walking on water, an airboat that runs on biodiesel, a helium blimp that uses solar-generated electricity and a highly maneuverable stair-climbing rover.
Volunteers from industry, government and the community serve as judges for the event, rating each project on its originality, craftsmanship, grasp of engineering principles, effectiveness and presentation. An awards ceremony will be held at the close of the event, and prizes will be given to the best project in each category. Attendees can vote for their favorite project to win the "People's Choice" award.
The ITL Laboratory is located on Regent Drive south of Colorado Avenue. For more information call 303-492-7222 or visit itll.colorado.edu.


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By Ed Harris
The Italian-American Festival returns to Center Street this weekend. The three-day street festival, managed by the Sons of Italy and the Southington chapter of UNICO, aims to carry on the customs and traditions of the Italian culture.
"It's a gathering of friends," said Bill Della Vecchia, who co-chairs the festival with Bob Triano.
Della Vecchia described the event as simple and small, with a street festival atmosphere.
The festival will include 25 food vendors, a wine tasting competition and a wide variety of entertainment highlighted by Italian themed singers and bands.
The festival usually attracts a crowd, though weather can prove to be a hindrance.
"We've had a good turnout every year," said Joe LaPorte, who handles the entertainment for the festival.
Along with the food, music is a large part of the festival, and LaPorte has the stage packed all three days of the festival.
Some returning musical guests include Aaron Caruso and the Southington Stars group. Other musical guests include Roberto Pavortto, Vincent Riccardi and Emily Wright, Marty Roache and an Elvis tribute.
Non musical acts include an Italian magician and the Young Italians group, led by Tina Riccio, which consists of youths that will perform and sing in Italian.
"A lot of people come down," Della Vecchia said. "It's similar to the Music on the Green. It's a festival atmosphere."
A special outside church mass, a highlight of the festival, will take place at the stage on Sunday morning at 10 a.m. A blessed saint procession will then take place throughout the neighborhood at 11 a.m.
Should it rain, the mass will take place at St. Thomas Church at 11:30 a.m.
See page 5 for details on road closures and restrictions due to the festival.
Italian-American Festival takes over Center Street
By Ed Harris


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Google shuts down SMS search without warning, angers users
Users of Google's once-popular SMS search function found last week that texting search queries to 466453 -- "GOOGLE" on alphanumeric keypads -- no longer works. Instead of texting back search results, Google responds with a short message noting that the service "has been shutdown" (sic) and that you can continue to search the Web by visiting google.com (duh). Meanwhile, the Web page that used to explain how SMS search works appears to have been taken down.
For the majority of Americans who own smartphones, this would seem unlikely to come as a major blow. That hasn't stopped people from griping about the move on Google product forums, though. The annoyance from folks who still have feature phones without data plans is understandable, given that Google apparently gave no warning. But the legitimate frustrations seem to be mixing with generalized ill will toward Mountain View, Calif., from people who haven't used SMS search in years, if they ever did.
I remember SMS search as a pretty handy trick on my old flip-phone. It offered a way to quickly and easily look up directions, phone numbers or the score of a game on a phone that either couldn't browse the Web or took forever to load a page. Still, it's hard to blame Google for shutting it down. It basically provided the service as a public good, and now that most of the public no longer needs it, it makes sense for Google to stop paying for it. Instead of blasting Google for discontinuing SMS search, let's take a second to appreciate the fact that it continued providing it long after most of us had forgotten it existed.
Oremus is the lead blogger for Future Tense, reporting on emerging technologies, tech policy and digital culture.


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"Hope for Haiti" will be seemingly everywhere Friday – even China.
The earthquake victims relief fundraiser is being billed as the most "distributed" telethon in history, and stands to show the power of celebrity, television and the Internet – too often forces of the frivolous – to help a good cause.
MTV and George Clooney are spearheading the two-hour event, which will be shown on every major network, PBS, HBO, Comedy Central and BET, to name a few, and will stream live on YouTube, Hulu, AOL, Yahoo, MSN.com, among other sites. MTV's networks alone reach 640 million homes around the world – including China. In addition, social media powerhouses Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have signed on to help steer donations.
The event has its roots, in among other places, Jerry Lewis' annual MDA telethon, which still raises tens of millions annually. There also are echoes of George Harrison's 1971 The Concert for Bangladesh, the first major example of rock stars joining to raise money for charity.
While legal entanglements tied up the proceeds for years, lessons of the Bangladesh effort were applied as the MTV era brought us Live Aid and "We are the World" in the 1980s. Sadly, tragedies of recent years – 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami disaster – have given the entertainment community practice in coming together quickly to raise money.
The Haiti relief effort comes as digital technology is increasing pervasive, with much of the fundraising so far Web- and text message-driven – even the White House-backed effort is collecting money online. The Red Cross has raised more than $24 million from text messages alone, reflecting not only people's desire to help but their growing comfort with the payment method.
Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti Foundation also used text message donations to great effect before questions about the charity were raised by The Smoking Gun website. Jean, who returned to his native country to help after the earthquake, took to YouTube to deny anything amiss, and followed up with a more traditional news conference to defend the foundation.
Jean will co-host of Friday's telethon from New York, along with Clooney in Los Angeles and Bono, the king of the celebrity do-gooders, in London, while CNN's Anderson Cooper reports from Haiti. The proverbial all-star line-up of performers is set to include Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, Jay-Z, Stevie Wonder and Alicia Keys.
On Saturday, iTunes will offer downloads of the various performances for 99 cents, with proceeds going to the telethon's charities, which include Oxfam America, Partners in Health, the Red Cross, UNICEF, the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and United Nations World Food Program and Jean's charity.
Friday night is generally a slow time in TV land. But the combination of multiple media, big stars and a worthy cause offers a rare opportunity in an increasingly segmented media world for a worldwide shared viewing experience.
The only mass audiences these days, at least in the U.S., usually are drawn by "American Idol," the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards – probably the only other time this year we'll see that many stars on the same show.
The telethon airs, of course, as the Hollywood awards season is getting into full swing. We'll no doubt soon be back to the usual celebrity excess and self-important silliness.
But for at least one night, a shared concern about the earthquake that ripped Haiti apart will provide an opportunity to bring the much of the world together and do some good.
Hester is founding director of the award-winning, multi-media NYCity News Service at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is the former City Editor of the New York Daily News, where he started as a reporter in 1992. Follow him on Twitter.


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It's the final first round matchup, and it's a fun one, methinks. Ah, if only these two pictures could somehow be combined. Anyway, this is the last time with a new matchup. So everybody vote. Yes, please, Facebook people too.
Voting will remain open until the end of the first round ... nice and easy. No. 5 seed Dana Jacobson vs. No. 12 Erin Andrews. A look at the nominees' 2008 resumes:
No. 5 Dana Jacobson
Angers Charlie Weis.
No. 12 Erin Andrews
Attacked by Bruce Pearl.
Angered Mike Nadal.
Showed up everywhere.
Vote! It only takes one hand!


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A forum about Atari 16/32 computers and their clones. This forum is in no way affiliated with Atari Interactive.
Moderators: Mug UK, Silver Surfer, Moderator Team
mzry wrote:Hey guys,
I never owned an Amiga, I was always an Atari kid growing up. But these days when checking ebay, Amiga 1200s seem to go for very reasonable amounts of money and yet its equivalent Falcon from Atari goes for 4-5 times the price. Is this just to do with how many units were sold? Probably a stupid question. Either way sometimes I get tempted to try an a1200 but the thought of learning an entire new world of retro tech scares me, and the price of inevitable upgrades My Atari hobby keeps me poor enough lol
EmpireAndrew wrote:(what's with the giant icons and orange and blue color scheme?!)
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The Aeronauts
The thrill of The Aeronauts lies in its death-defying stunts.
The thrill of The Aeronauts lies in its death-defying stunts.
This documentary about a family-owned private ambulance service in Mexico City is one of the great modern films about night in the city.
Roger Ebert on James Ivory's "Howards End".
"The Ballad of Narayama" is a Japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice, telling a story of startling cruelty. What a space it opens…
An article about today's noon premiere of a new movie about architect Benjamin Marshall at the Gene Siskel Film Center.
An article about the screening of Horace Jenkins' "Cane River" on Friday, November 1st, at the Academy Film Archive in Los Angeles.
Scout Tafoya's video essay series about maligned masterpieces celebrates Steven Soderbergh's Solaris.
An article about today's noon premiere of a new movie about architect Benjamin Marshall at the Gene Siskel Film Center.
An FFC on Gavin Hood's Official Secrets.
A celebration of Yasujiro Ozu, as written by a Far Flung Correspondent from Egypt.
An article about Chicago native Verdine White, and Earth, Wind & Fire receiving the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday, December 8th.
A review of the EA game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
The woman sits in a park, legs crossed, smoking, relaxed. Two men watch her from a window above the park, and they discuss her, looking down on her. "If she were six, you would say she was sulky," one of the men says. "Since her incarceration, her group of friends has been destroyed." She is meeting the two men, and one says, "She won't come in a moment before it's time." It is an eloquent exchange, and even more eloquently filmed, the woman seen in long shot, from above. She knows she is being watched. Her "relaxation," then, is an act of public theatre.
This is the opening scene in Christian Petzold's effective psychological and political thriller "Barbara," and it sets up the tension and atmosphere with precision and a taut elegance. It is East Germany, 1980. Barbara, the woman, played by Petzold's regular muse, Nina Hoss, is a chilly alert blonde. Barbara is a doctor and has been placed in a rural medical clinic as punishment for applying for an exit visa. Given an apartment by the State, Barbara is under constant surveillance by the Stasi. Andre, the doctor who runs the clinic (played by the gentle, hunky Ronald Zehrfeld), is an informer for the Stasi, and yet he does not seem devoted or fanatical in that role. His primary priority is his patients. He would also like to get to The Hague someday, to see Rembrandt's "Anatomy Lesson" in person, although his hope for being allowed such a trip is dim.
Andre recognizes Barbara's gift at her job during her first shift, when she correctly diagnoses a teenage girl (Jasna Fritzi Bauer) with meningitis, the signs of which the rest of the doctors had missed. Barbara, the cool character self-consciously smoking in the park, is an entirely different person at her job. The girl has escaped from Torgau, a Socialist work camp nearby, and Barbara treats her with a mischievous warm camaraderie, and reads to her at night. Barbara's choice of book is significant: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
In Mark Twain's classic, Huck and Jim, on the run, take to the Mississippi River in a raft, loosening the fetters that bind them on the mainland, all while plunging deeper and deeper into slave country. Barbara, who has secret rendezvous in a nearby forest with a lover from West Germany, smokes expensive black market cigarettes, and has mysterious meetings with people who surreptitiously hand her packets of money, is a flight risk: you can sense that in her tense posture, and in her wild-looking eyes flicking out the window at the sound of every car horn.
Nina Hoss is a magnificent actress, watchful, tense, and spikily intelligent. When a smile cracks open on her face, the warmth and beauty is heartbreaking, because of the contrast. Hoss' work in all of Petzold's films is good, and while he has used her continuously, she never shows up as quite the same character. The woman in "Yella" is not the same as the one in "Jerichow" or in "Barbara." Nina Hoss can do anything.
In East Germany, in 1980, no one is to be trusted, and Petzold creates that sense of oppression with meticulous sound design (never has a doorbell sounded so frightening), and yawning gaps in between conversations, gaps filled with sound: wind, echoing footsteps in a hallway, trees rustling, the crunch of gravel under bicycle wheels. There is no score. The only music comes from the radio, once, and when Barbara plays her newly-tuned piano alone in her apartment. Barbara's landlady stares at her with cold expressionless eyes, a piano tuner shows up unexpectedly, freaking Barbara out (he must be there to inform on her), and every interpersonal interaction is charged with suspicion. Even the romantic and sexual tension in between Barbara and Andre seems loaded and dangerous.
"Barbara" is extremely suspenseful, without using the common genre trappings. The workings of the clinic are observed in a detailed fashion. Andre has set up a lab where he makes his own serum, a fact that impresses Barbara, accustomed as she is to better big-city hospitals. Petzold's films with Hoss are often about different sub-cultures of work, as well as about the long shadow left by Germany's split: in "Yella," Petzold examines the risky thrill-seeking world of corporate negotiations; in "Jerichow" it's the ins and outs of snack bar ownership, and in "Barbara," the challenges of running an out-of-the-way clinic, short on supplies and staff. There are decisions to be made about the patients (the teenage girl with meningitis, and another teenager, a failed suicide), and these decisions require cooperation and openness, anathema in a police state.
Andre, after examining the boy who attempted suicide, confides to Barbara, "I don't know. Something is wrong. I can feel it." One could say that about the entirety of the world portrayed in "Barbara," a world filled with everyday objects: bathtubs, pianos, bicycles, cigarettes, all of which take on portentous significance when seen in the context of totalitarian culture. Something is wrong in East Germany, and everyone can feel it. Doctors examine a patient and make a guess at a diagnosis.
The reality of Barbara's world, and the world of all East Germans, is one of constant surveillance, omnipresent informers, and a huge gap between private and public behavior. Petzold is a master at creating the kind of tension that can be felt on a subterranean level, a sort of acute uneasiness that can't be easily diagnosed, fixed, or even acknowledged by the characters. This is well-trod ground for Petzold, but never has it been so fully realized, so palpable, as in "Barbara."
A Far Flung Correspondent weighs in on the MCU controversy.
Scout Tafoya's video essay series about maligned masterpieces celebrates Steven Soderbergh's Solaris.
An early review of Clint Eastwood's Richard Jewell out of AFI Fest.
The top 50 shows of the 2010s.


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Buyer's Guide to Medicine Balls
Medicine balls are Swiss balls and are tools that offer many training options, as their instability means that handling them requires a special workout for muscles and for limbs. Work which gives important benefits for almost all sports from an aerobic point of view and strengthens joints and muscles. As well as toning the muscles, they burn off fat and improve sports performance. Medicine balls:
- · Provide muscular toning, strength, power, coordination, balance and resistance.
- · Enable greater mobility and involve different parts of the body: arms, legs and trunk.
- · Offer high intensity work for muscles and joints.
- · Are an excellent way of aerobic training.
- · Develop explosive strength and stamina.
- · Prevent muscle and joint injuries.
- · Contribute to correcting bad posture.
- · Serve as a relaxation technique and help to eliminate accumulated tension.
- · There are different sizes and weights to adjust the exercise to each user.
- · Suitable for all ages.
Training with medicine balls requires great body control, so you have to bear in mind the size and weight of the ball in order to avoid injuries and work as efficiently as possible.
Size and weight of the Medicine Ball
Medicine balls are different weights and sizes. The greater the weight of the ball, the greater the size and the colour will also be different. Generally, the minimum weight of the lightest ball is 1 Kg, and the heaviest is 15 Kgs.
A suitable weight for the medicine ball is determined according to the exercise you are going to do and the level of strength of the user and the number of repetitions. For power training, the weight of the medicine ball should be 30%-50% of your capacity. For activities that involve multiple joints, the medicine ball should be big enough to be able to control it with both hands. For abs workouts, the size of the medicine ball should be smaller and lighter so as to be able to maximize the speed and technique.
A good way to start to train with medicine balls is to choose a light one at first to learn posture and technique, and progressively increase the weight as you advance through the exercises and training and increase your strength.


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Wasteful Laboring
I visited Ocean City this past week and while walking the boardwalk I witnessed severe waste of tax dollars. The crew rebuilding the Caroline Street comfort station spent most of their time wondering aimlessly around the work area.
As a business owner from out of town, I can only assume that this project is a union job funded by tax dollars. I watched them on several occasions (including Saturday) and at no time was work being done at a rate that would be near the level of productivity accepted by private industry in a competitive market.
If this is what the American workforce is all about, we are sure to be doomed by immigrant and foreign labor forces. I truly believe that we have lost sight of what it takes to be a successful democracy and we do not have the courage or strength to make the necessary corrections!
I certainly hope the Ocean City government makes some tough decisions before it is too late.
Gerald Wolfe
Lititz, Pa.
Common Core A Facade
Recently, a local paper published an article highlighting Worcester County's Public Schools' request to the county to request from the state a "one-time non-recurring" additional $400,000 of funding, with more than half being applied to the advance of technology. Specifically, $200,000 of the budget is meant for computer tablets as a means to ready students for the PARCC Test (Partnership for the Assessment and Readiness for College and Careers).
While I am generally pleased when funding is allotted for the purpose of education, do we really need to spend $200,000 (we don't have) for an extraneous item that really seems more of a novelty than a necessity? That aside, the tablets will be used to assist students with passing an assessment which is supposedly designed to measure "common core" knowledge of Language Arts and Mathematics. The Common Core State Standards initiative is a paper tiger to the failed No Child Left Behind program, changing the title certainly did not change the methods or practices of the organization.
This program, working in conjunction with the PARCC, says it is meant "to provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them." Perhaps my perspective is skewed, but if a teacher doesn't know what his or her students need academically perhaps they shouldn't be a teacher? An educator needs a government institution to tell them how and what to teach so they can do it effectively? Sounds more like the common core is designed to teach educators how to do their job, since bad educators can't be fired (Thank you Teacher's Union). As a means to ensure the students are absorbing a curriculum the Common Core considers to be "robust and relevant to the real world," the PARCC is tasked with creating an assessment to measure student progress.
On the surface the PARCC doesn't seem so bad-measuring student progress and perhaps a means to regulate the Common Core itself? Until you learn the program was formed with government stimulus money, $186 million to be precise, and the 'assessments' are tracking more than math scores. The tax money given to the PARCC could be spent on schools and students directly for the facilitation of learning, not on a program that allegedly creates a test to determine if they are learning. As a means to track student progress, PARCC is amassing copious amounts of data on each student, details that prove invasive and unnecessary, especially if the data really is (as they say) meant strictly for monitoring academic progress. The assessments were supposedly designed to track Language and Mathematical competence, but they are also tracking things like "appreciation for diversity" and "flexibility."
How are either of these imperative to mapping a child's academic progress? They are not. How can subjective things of this nature be measured objectively? They cannot. Maryland is implementing the Common Core standard in September 2013, and participates with the PARCC-as evident with the aforementioned funding proposal to assist with the assessment. We should be fighting against an educational institution that is a façade for more government control, as well as invading the most basic privacy of school children, that we as adults take for granted.
Shakespeare said it best, "A rose by any other name…," and while the regulation may be under a different guise it will still be as unproductive as the first implementation, and just as costly.
Leigh Williams
Spending Appalling
I am from Salisbury and Ocean City and I am 58 years old. I have always been a Baltimore sports fan. When I was a little kid I would listen to Chuck Thompson and Vince Bagli do Colt games, I followed the '66 Orioles, I watched Gus Johnson and Earl Monroe play for the Bullets. It was wonderful. Baltimore was my team and Maryland was my state.
However, things have changed over the years.
Whenever I hear of a player getting $100 million, I get nauseous and I want to throw up. As we all know, Joe Flacco, the quarterback for the Ravens, just signed a contract for $120 million for six years. That breaks down to $20 million a year (and I'm glad we have him for another six years). Of course, $20 million is a lot of scratch. There are 16 games a year. That comes to $1.25 million a game. The game is 60 minutes long. That is over $20,000 a minute.
If a man has a regular job where he works Monday to Friday, eight hours a day for 40 hours a week, and he works 50 weeks a year, that comes to 2,000 hours a year. If he makes $25 an hour, his annual salary would be $50,000 a year. He would have to work 25 years to make what Joe Flacco will make in one game. If he makes $25,000 a year, it would take him 50 years.
Of course, players are going to make a lot of money but it is so out of control. I am still a big fan of Baltimore teams but sadly, not like I used to be.
Dan King
Tubman Honor Lauded
President Obama recently marked the 100th anniversary of the death of Harriet Tubman by designating the establishment of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument in Dorchester County. I cannot think of a more fitting or compelling tribute to one of the most courageous, inspirational heroes in our nation's history.
Harriet Ross Tubman was born into slavery on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. As a young child and adult, she toiled for a number of masters, escaping from slavery in her mid-20s to become the most famous "conductor" on the Underground Railroad. She also served as a nurse and a spy for the Union during the Civil War. In her later years, she became active in the women's suffrage movement and created a home "for aged and indigent colored people" before her death on March 10, 1913 in Auburn, N.Y.
All Marylanders can be proud that this new National Monument will memorialize the tremendous contributions Harriet Tubman made to American history. It also preserves the unique landscape associated with her life on the Eastern Shore, which remains almost unchanged today. President Obama's National Monument designation will serve as an intermediate step to fulfilling an even greater vision of honoring her legacy.
That vision includes legislation I have authored — The Harriet Tubman National Historical Park and The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park Act, S. 247 — to create a National Historical Park in Maryland and another in New York to honor the legacy and life's work of Harriet Tubman. Co-sponsors of S. 247 include: U.S. Senators Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD) and Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand (both D-NY).
The new National Monument designated by President Obama will be located in Dorchester County on lands that were historically significant to Harriet Tubman's life and her work on the Underground Railroad. Located within the National Monument are portions of Stewart's Canal, a manmade waterway Harriet Tubman's father, Ben Ross, helped build as a slave. The National Monument also will contain the home site of Jacob Jackson, a free black man who used coded letters to help Tubman communicate with family and others and who also offered up his house as one of the first safe houses along the Underground Railroad leading out of Maryland's Eastern Shore. The Conservation Fund donated a 480-acre property, adjacent to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, to the National Park Service for the purposes of establishing the National Monument.
Harriet Tubman was an iconic figure in our nation's history, and as we commemorate the 100th anniversary of her death this year, this designation is an important step in fully honoring this true American heroine.
U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin
Washington, D.C.


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TAYLOR, Mich., April 9 (UPI) -- Members of a Michigan gym said they are outraged by the business' decision to only allow women to use the facility.
Fitness USA, which has three locations in Wayne County, announced men will no longer be welcome to work out at the Taylor location as of this month, The Detroit News reported Tuesday.
"This is discrimination," said member Roger Kruzman, who said he and other members of both sexes are planning to protest outside the gym.
The Lincoln Park location is the only Fitness USA in the county to continue to allow men to work out, but only on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
"How can they do that when you pay membership and especially if you have a lifetime membership?" asked Kruzman's wife, Wanda, who canceled her membership in protest. "Why shouldn't [men] be able to use the Taylor location?"
Jodi Berry, Fitness USA executive director, said the move was a business decision.
"We've done a lot of research and the trends indicate that a women-only environment is something that is welcomed," she said. "We think this will be a business change that will be a positive move."
Berry said male members are being offered upgraded privileges at the Lincoln Park facility, including daily access, free unlimited tanning, free WiFi and benefits for family members.


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