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With state resources failing to meet today's increasing costs of higher education, our goals are becoming more challenging to achieve. Private support is essential to make certain that future generations graduate with the quality education, fond memories and lasting relationships that reflect and preserve the ethics, characteristics and traditions of WT's exceptional experience.
Thank you for your interest in making a gift to West Texas A&M University. The West Texas A&M University Foundation accepts gifts, both current and planned, for the support of the University, its students, programs and faculty. A variety of giving methods are available, and gifts can be structured to meet the donor's philanthropic goals while providing maximum tax or estate planning benefits.
Cash Gifts
Cash, in the form of personal checks, credit cards and bank drafts, is the most popular type of charitable gift the Foundation receives. Cash contributions may be deductible and result in tax savings. Checks should be made payable to "WTAMU Foundation" and mailed to the WTAMU Foundation, P.O. Box 60766, Canyon TX 79016. Be sure to indicate the purpose of your gift on the check or in a cover letter.
If you itemize deductions on your federal tax return, you may claim an outright gift of cash as a charitable contribution up to an amount equal to 50 percent of your adjusted gross income. Any deduction not usable in the first year can be carried over for up to five additional years or until it is completely used, whichever is first. You may wish to consult your accountant or tax adviser to determine the tax benefit of your gift.
A transfer of securities (stocks or bonds), held long term, to the WTAMU Foundation allows you to make a gift and receive a charitable deduction equal to the full fair market value of the securities. You pay no capital gains tax on your gift and neither does the WTAMU Foundation.
Please contact the WTAMU Foundation for assistance when transferring assets. You may want to donate the securities before selling the assets and then making a gift of the proceeds, as this may trigger a capital gains liability for you.
It may be possible to deduct the value of these securities up to 30 percent of your adjusted gross income. Any excess can be carried over for an additional five years if necessary.
Real Estate
You can give real estate as a current gift or a deferred gift (a retained life estate or gifts through your will). A current gift of real estate, held long term, provides you with a charitable deduction for the full fair market value of the gift, up to 30 percent of your adjusted gross income. The gift must be appraised by an independent appraiser to determine the value of your deduction.
All gifts of real estate are first evaluated by the WTAMU Foundation for marketability and potential environmental concerns. Before it can accept a gift of real estate, the WTAMU Foundation may ask that you supply detailed information on the property.
We recommend you consult with your financial adviser(s) before making a gift of property.
Pledges are welcomed and may be paid over one to five years at the donor's convenience. For gifts in excess of $25,000, we provide a gift agreement, which states the form, schedule and purpose of your gift.
Matching Gifts
To encourage employees to make charitable gifts, many corporations agree to match personal donations with an equal or greater corporate contribution. Rules about the type of gifts that companies will match (cash, stock, property) vary.
To initiate a matching gift, complete your company's matching gift form and send it along with your gift to the WTAMU Foundation. The WTAMU Foundation completes the form, certifying that it has received your gift and is eligible to receive matching gifts under your company's guidelines; we then forward the form to your company. After verifying the eligibility of the donor and the WTAMU Foundation, the company sends a check to us.
You should check with your company's personnel department to see if your gift qualifies for a corporate match.
Honorary or Memorial Gifts
A gift in memory or in honor of a colleague, relative or friend is a generous and thoughtful way to recognize a person's life and accomplishments.
When an honorary or memorial gift is made, the WTAMU Foundation notifies the honoree or others, and the gift is administered as the contributor specifies. To make an honorary gift, send a letter detailing the purpose of your gift as well as the name and address of the honoree. For memorial gifts, your letter should list the honoree's name and the name and address of those you want to be notified of the gift.
Check out the University's planned giving website at http://wtamu.giftlegacy.com/.
Please contact Dr. Fred Hueston, CFRE – Director of Gift Planning, at 501-681-6501 or at firstname.lastname@example.com for more information.
"I wish I could do more"
Those are words that accompany so many of the gifts we receive. The truth is that there are dozens of ways for friends to "do more" for our future – if gifts are carefully planned. Gift planning is an art that combines financial planning, estate planning and tax planning techniques to enable friends to make gifts of surprising significance, often with dramatic tax and financial rewards.
Remarkable Unitrusts
The need for careful planning becomes clear when people consider the basic questions involved in making an important gift: What should I give; how should I give, when should I give, and are there special purposes my gift should accomplish?
Surprisingly, there are different tax results from giving different types of property. Consider for example, highly appreciated securities. If stocks have been owned more than one year, then donors can deduct not just their original cost, but also any "paper profit" present in the gift. Best of all, no capital gains taxes are due when you give securities. Real estate, mutual funds and other types of property offer the same advantages. At death, it makes sense to leave "tax-burdened" assets, such as U.S. savings bonds and death benefits from retirement accounts, to charities, thus allowing heirs to avoid income and death taxes.
You might want to join our many friends who have helped through bequests – gifts through their wills or living trusts. You also could choose to make a gift that reserves lifetime income to you or a family member. We would benefit in the same manner as if you had made a bequest, but you would be entitled to charitable deductions and other tax benefits today.
Or you may prefer the simplicity of an immediate gift of cash or property. By tailoring the form of your gift to fit your personal situation, you can gain maximum tax rewards, maintain financial security and make a truly meaningful contribution.
Planning for Women
Many people plan gifts at year-end to provide important tax deductions. Or they may find charitable contributions most helpful in years when they have a large influx of taxable income, from a bonus, sale of a business or successful investment, or conversion of a regular IRA to a Roth IRA. As noted above, large deductions are available even if you retain lifetime income from your gift. But the most practical time to make significant gifts may be through your estate plan, by means of a will, living trust or beneficiary designation on a life insurance policy or retirement account. Such gifts are wholly revocable while you are alive and may save significant taxes for your estate.
Your support should be carefully planned to ensure your personal satisfaction. Your gift can be established as a memorial to a loved one or special friend. You may want to earmark your gift for a particular program or purpose, or simply say that your gift may be applied wherever the need is greatest.
We invite you to explore with us the many sides of your own planned giving and the meaning your personal philanthropy can have for both you and our future!
Most people would like to make their mark on the world – to do something that leaves the earth a better place. Your contributions to our future make a statement about your thoughtfulness. Why not continue that support through your estate plan?
Artful gift planning often is a matter of seizing opportunities and acting at just the right time. Please call our office before you:
Are any of the planning ideas we have discussed of particular interest to you? We would be happy to talk over all the possibilities with you and your advisers. Just send back the reply form or contact our office.


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Joe sez: Those of you paying attention may notice I have a new picture in my sidebar, linking to my proofreader. I released Haunted House earlier this year, in a rush to meet a deadline, and the published book had dozens of errors in it.
Since then, I've been using Chereese to vet my manuscripts, and have found her reliable, fast, and affordable.
Here she is to talk about what she does.
Chereese: We all make mistakes.
As an author you have whole worlds to create, characters to build, stories to tell, you can't always remember to cross every "t", dot every "i", or make sure that the son your protagonist had on page four didn't end up as a daughter on page one hundred and seven.
That's where I can help. My name is Chereese and I can catch the things that may go unnoticed by you or your copy editor. I'll do a first read-through of your manuscript to get a sense of your writing, and utilizing the Chicago Manual of Style I can help to make sure your work is in tip-top shape and ready for publishing.
Once you've completed the editing process, I can be one more set of eyes to help with:
Punctuation Marks
Grammatical Mistakes
Run-On Sentences
Subject-Verb agreement
Rates: I charge a flat fee of $1.50 per each double-spaced, 12 point font page. That way you'll know exactly what the upfront cost will be. The goal is to find no mistakes, but whether I find one or a hundred, your rate will never increase.
Turnaround Time: Varies depending on scope of work. Estimated anywhere from two days to two weeks.
Method: Everything is handled through email. Most documents are proofread utilizing the Track Changes feature in MS Word. A hard-copy, red-lined version can be available upon request.
Payment: I bill through Paypal. Full payment will need to be received before a finalized version of your manuscript is emailed back to you.
Contact me: firstname.lastname@example.com
Friday, November 22, 2013
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subset: commoncrawl


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*Caudalie keeps your information confidential and undertakes to not disclose it to partner websites s.In accordance with the French Law No. 78-17 of 6 January 1978 on Data Protection, amended by French Law No. 2004-801 of 6 August 2004, you are entitled to oppose, access, modify, rectify and delete any data concerning you. You can exercise this right by sending us an email using our website Contact form or by writing to Caudalie Customer Service to the following address: 70W 36th street, Fl 13, 10014 New York, New York, USA
An e-mail with your new password has been sent to %email%


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A Saudi man is jailed in Detroit following his arrest over the weekend by authorities who alleged he altered his passport and was not truthful about why he had a pressure cooker in his luggage.
According to a criminal complaint, Al Kwawahir Hussain reportedly could not explain to U.S. Customs officers at Detroit Metropolitan airport why pages were missing from his Saudi passport on Saturday.
He told them only his family had access to it and he kept it locked in a box, and that he was planning on visiting his nephew, according to the court filing.
During followup security screening, customs officers discovered a pressure cooker in his luggage.
Pressure cookers are not illegal but have been in the spotlight since authorities said they were used in the Boston Marathon bombings.
"Initially, he said that he brought the pressure cooker for his nephew because pressure cookers are not sold in America," the complaint said.
But Hussain allegedly changed his story and said his nephew had purchased one in the United States that "was cheap" and broke after its first use, officers reported.
Based on the conflicting stories and missing pages in his passport, Hussain was arrested and charged with altering a passport and making materially false statements.
A U.S. official familiar with the matter said the intelligence community is aware of the case and is tracking it, but has not seen anything to indicate anything suspicious.
Hussain was ordered at an initial court appearance on Monday to remain in custody temporarily.
CNN was unable to reach the public defender representing him.
He is due back in court on Tuesday.
CNN's Bill Mears contributed to this report.


text: HORSEBACK's 'The Gorgon Tongue: Impale Golden Horn Forbidden Planet' brings together a reissue of Jenks Miller's 'Impale Golden Horn' with the new (and previously cassette-only release) work of the 'Forbidden Planet' Lp. 'Impale Golden Horn' is a work of lush, blessed out drone a la Flying Saucer Attack and Loop. Its' beauty is in stark contrast to 'Forbidden Planet'; a decidedly harsh record with its sinister tones and harsh, distorted black-metal vocals. 'The Gorgon Tongue:…' further reinforces how broad and captivating HORSEBACK'S abstract psychedelia is.


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Shadow Weaver
Shadow Weaver was one of Hordak's most powerful warriors. Among the numerous powers that Shadow Weaver displayed were: Shape-shifting, teleportation, the ability to steal others' shadows (i.e. Orko's), the creation of shadow coils to ensnare her foes, the capability to open cross-dimensional gateways, and a battalion of skeletal Dark Riders at her command.
Origin #1 (Filmation)
Shortly before the arrival of the Horde on Etheria, she—alongside Castaspella, the future ruler of Mystacore—was a student of the wizard Norwyn. The three mystics were among the few who knew where Etheria's Council of Kings had hidden themselves at the start of the invasion.
Origin #2 (MOTUC Official Bios)
Born in the Etherian Kingdom of Mystacor, Beatrix was once known as Light Spinner and served as an apprentice to the great mage, Norwyn. When Hordak arrived on Etheria during his exile in Despondos, he promised her great power in return for information and help in overthrowing Bright Moon and the surrounding kingdoms. Her powers were greatly enhanced through a magical gem whose power also induced an irreversible change in her appearance and mental state. She betrayed Norwyn and her fellow magical student Castaspella, leading Horde Troopers to their hidden magic archives. In Horror Hall, Beatrix took the name Shadow Weaver, using her black magic to fight the Great Rebellion all the while secretly planning to overthrow Hordak and claim his power for her own!
MOTU Filmation Cartoon Movie Appearances:
MOTU Mini-Comic Appearances:
Marvel/Star Comic Appearances:
MVCreations: Dark Reflections – Comic Appearances:
DC Ongoing Comic Appearances:
DC Digital Comic Appearances:
UK MOTU Magazine Appearances:
UK POP Magazine Appearances:
ALLEANZA : Evil Horde, The
SPECIE : Human
LUOGO DI ORIGINE : Horror Hall
SESSO : Female
ARMI : Magic, Magic Wand, Book Of Edrich


text: This log will tell you that it is very well possible to have an exciting and happy life while being on a strict diet. You'll read all my adventures, my education, my regimen of SCD foods, attitude and exercises and some of mom's and my own school business. After starting this way of eating and drinking early 2003, I've been able to have a better life. My autism symptoms have lessened considerably.


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TwistPack Plus
Product Description
More safety. More efficiency. The new generation of TwistPack packaging tubes convince with user-friendly "twist-lock" closure
- For a complete view of our product range please refer to the data sheet.
Product Features
- maximum flexibility through universal length adjustment
- optimal product protection
- easy opening and closing through telescopic adjustment
- firm hold force through our click groove system
- large surface area for your individual branding
- hexagon end prevents rolling
- durable and reusable
- sturdy, oil, and moisture resistant
Standard Material
- Polypropylene (PP)
- Polyethylene (PE)
- Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
- PE natural, PP transparent, PVC clear or in various attractive standard colors
Packaging Description
- outer parts and inner parts are packed separately in individual cartons


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In a recent blog post, our publisher commented on the state of the fluid power industry, saying that the market is strong and stable. It's nice to hear this and nice to know it's true, working in the industry every day and speaking to business owners, designers, users and engineers. But for those that are looking for some hard numbers, let me just review a few market/economic news stories I stumbled across my RSS feeds this morning.
First came the news from Eaton Corp. that it once again had record sales, with net income per share of $0.91 for the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 10% over the first quarter of 2011. Sales in the quarter were a first quarter record of $4.0 billion, 4% above the same period in 2011. Net income was $311 million, up 8% over the first quarter of 2011.
According to Alexander M. Cutler, Eaton chairman and chief executive officer, "We entered 2012 expecting it would be a year of subpar global economic growth, leading to approximately 5% growth in our markets. We continue to believe that for the full year markets will grow 5%, but we now believe the rate of growth in our U.S. markets will be higher than originally expected and the rate of growth in our non-U.S. markets will be lower than originally expected.
"For full year 2012, we expect another record year, with revenue growth of 7½% and operating earnings per share growth of 14%," said Cutler. "These growth numbers represent strong performance in an uncertain global growth environment."
While most of its business segment results were strong, its hydraulics segment sales were $735 million, an increase of 7% compared to the first quarter of 2011. Global hydraulics markets increased 4% in the quarter compared to the first quarter of 2011. Operating profits in the first quarter were $109 million. Excluding acquisition integration charges of $1 million, operating profits were $110 million, an increase of 4%. The company recently announced two overseas acquisitions in Turkey and South Korea.
"The hydraulics markets in the first quarter grew about as expected," said Cutler. "Our bookings in the quarter declined 15 percent from the first quarter of 2011, as bookings in the first quarter last year reflected orders placed by OEM customers to rebuild their order backlog with suppliers. For all of 2012, we now believe hydraulics markets will grow by 5%, up 1% over our previous estimate."
This comes just a couple weeks after market analysts rated Eaton a good buy. A few days after this stock market tip about Eaton, came several pointers recommending Sun Hydraulics, one of the industry's largest manufacturers of cartridge valves. As Forbes pointed out, Zacks.com gave Sun Hydraulics a #1 Strong Buy rating, after the company posted five of six positive earnings in a row.
I'm sure over the next few weeks, we'll see similar news from other big market players, such as Parker Hannifin and Bosch Rexroth, as we usually do. But the best part of my internet search had me find a nice gem of an article about Hyspeco, a small Wichita, Kan.-based distributor and repair house. It highlighted how that company recently received an award as it too saw a big jump in sales.
I'd never heard of Hyspeco but I'm glad to see the little guys are doing well as the fluid power market rebounds, and the big players aren't taking up all the market share, so congrats to the folks at Hyspeco!
After the hard hit we took at the end of 2009 and early 2010, it's nice to see the rebound. I hope to see this trend continue and welcome more good news each day.


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However, one group of Florida filmmakers are hoping to "shake up" the way movies are made. If Lakeland native Blake Hooks, and his co-director, Jason Sanders, can pull it off, they expect to earn recognition from Guinness World Records. Their plan? To film an entire feature length film in 24 hours.
In the tradition of movies whose stories have taken place over the course of a day such as "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", "Dog Day Afternoon", "Do The Right Thing", and "Training Day", "The Deadlines" takes place in one house over the span of a single night.
Reportedly, the plot involves a young writer's assignment to complete a highly anticipated novel left unfinished by the death of a famous author. As the writer begins work, elements from the horror novel come to life, creating dangers for him and his girlfriend.
"The main reason we decided to attempt the 24-hour thing is because most of us have been on sets where you sit around more than you shoot," Hooks recently told The Ledger. "It becomes aggravating and you become less motivated on the project when you spend an entire day shooting one scene. So we started thinking there had to be a way to do 'guerrilla' filmmaking with quality."
Hooks said his life was changed by a TV production class he took at George Jenkins High School. In 2003, Hooks moved to California after attending college in Tallahassee and studied film production at Los Angeles City College.
After film school, Hooks served in various roles in and around Hollywood. He worked as a casting assistant with an LA casting agency and then later as a camera assistant on tv shows such as "Project Runway", "Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency", and "The Dudesons in America". In 2008, Hooks felt like he finally got his big break when he was hired to document the tour of Texas rock band Flyleaf.
Shooting on the 90-minute horror movie "The Deadlines" will both open and wrap on Aug. 8. Filming will take place in in Bakersfield, California.
Follow "The Deadlines" on Facebook or check out the Official Site for more information.
First Step Toward a Filmmaking Career
Learn the best way to get started in your filmmaking career from someone who's been there. By Andy Crosier, Independent Filmmaker
Filmschools.com has your list of the top 12 film schools with the best film degree programs available. See who made the top 12!
Though there are no specific degree requirements for film, many aspiring filmmakers receive a 2 or 4-year degree in directing, producing, or writing.


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Although some Jambands.com readers likely first heard Jeff Pehrson's name when he joined Furthur as a vocalist back in 2010, others have been following his career for a few decades now. Pehrson first gained notoriety in the mid-90s as the co-founder of Box Set (the group was featured in my 1998 book Jam Bands). Pehrson and Jim Brunberg were the vocalists and songwriters for the group, which signed with Capricorn Records and released a well-received album before the sale of the label's parent company threw them off course. From there the two continued to record and perform, often as a duo, touring nationally until, as Perhson explains, "around 2008 or so, Jim and I both turned 40 and we had both been doing this since we were 22. So we decided to see what life's like without being on the road constantly. I guess it was kind of a midlife crisis." Brunberg now lives in Oregon where he is one of the founders of Mississippi Studios ("It's a great venue and he's got a little restaurant next door."). As for Pehrson, he took some time away from music before resurfacing with a new group, The Fall Risk, and not so long afterwards, received a phone call that altered his path.
Beyond his role in Furthur, Pehrson is a longtime Deadhead with more than 100 shows to his name. As a result, it's quite fitting that today The Fall Risk release their debut CD, Volume No. 1. The group is also touring through the East Coast from August 2-6, including stops at Bear's Picnic on Friday and Brooklyn Bowl on Monday. In the conversation that follows, Pehrson talks about all of these subjects and offers his thoughts on Jerry Garcia as well.
So let's start with your transition from Box Set to the Fall Risk. How did that come about?
I ended up taking a year off to get my head together and think about what I wanted to do. I realized that I went to college at one time (laughs), so I sent out a bunch of résumés downtown just looking for a new experience and see what it was like to have a straight job. I ended up getting a marketing job at a mergers and acquisitions firm, of all things. I was good it because it's basically being a bullshit artist but after a year of it I was getting pretty burnt out and wanted to do music again. So I called Mark Abbott who was the drummer in Box Set and said, "Hey, let's get something together. I'm tired of not playing music." So we started a little band called The Fall Risk, which at first was just Mark and I and a bass player I knew from college, who's no longer in the band. These were just guys I went to college with that I used to jam with way back and we started playing little gigs. It was never meant to be anything other than an outlet for fun.
And then around that time I got a call from a guy named J.C. Flyer. Years ago he wrote for Relix and he used to do this column called Bay Area Bits. He loved Box Set and he had since gone on to work with Furthur. So he called me one day out of the blue and said, "Hey man, what are the best lead vocals you think you ever did on a Box Set CD?" I thought it was an odd question but I gave him my answers and I said, "Do I even want to know why you're asking me this?" (laughs). And he said, "No, you don't want to know." So I said, "Fine" and about another three weeks go by, then he calls me up and basically offered me the gig in Furthur. I guess he took these tracks and played them for Phil.
Bob was aware of who we were because Box Set opened for RatDog a couple times and he used to pop in and see us at the old Sweetwater in Mill Valley. In fact, the day after Jerry died when he flew home, he came to Sweetwater where we were playing, not to see us but to see Jeannie [Patterson] the owner of the original Sweetwater who was a very dear friend of his.
So I think between J.C. and Bob knowing who I was and J.C. turning on Phil to what we did, that's kind of how I got the gig.
The other strange thing is Sunshine [Becker] is the sister of Box Set's longtime roadie (Laughs). I had known Sunshine since she was 17 or 18 years old. She sings some harmony vocals on the very first Box Set CD.
Were you uncomfortable at first singing without a guitar in front of you? Did that take some time getting used to?
Absolutely. It was actually quite harrowing for me. I didn't know what to do with my hands. I still don't know what to do with my hands, which is why a lot of time on stage I'll just put them in my back pocket. You knew especially being a big dude I feel goofy dancing up there and I don't want to draw attention to myself because it's not about me, Furthur is Bob and Phil's band. So when I first joined the band I used to wear a hat and hide my face and try to be invisible and then I saw some video of myself where I was dancing around pumping my fists and I said, "You look like an idiot and you're drawing attention to yourself, so put on some black clothes, stand back there and just sing." People aren't there to see me they're there to see Bob and Phil because those guys are incredible.
Were you a Grateful Dead fan back in the day?
I saw well over 100 Grateful Dead shows. In the late 80s, early 90s over a six year period I saw about 100 shows.
Is there one that stands out for you?
I think my very first show is the one that sticks out to this day. I grew up a big progressive rock fan. Rush is still one of my favorite bands so I was used to the whole rock show thing: the opening band plays 45 minutes and then the next band come on and plays an hour and a half straight and then they leave and that's the night.
My very first Grateful Dead show was at Henry J. Kaiser and it was 1987 Mardi Gras [3/3/87]. I was in college and a friend of mine brought me over. It was a lot of fun. There was a park across the street where the whole shakedown happened and in those days they just let you sleep in the park because In The Dark hadn't come out yet and it wasn't this mob scene like it became. So, we dosed, saw the show and I remember they opened with "Quinn the Eskimo." At the time the only thing I knew about the Grateful Dead was "Casey Jones" and "Truckin'." So they opened with Quinn and I thought, "Oh cool, Dylan." Then the acid kind of kicked in and all of a sudden there's this this parade going down the venue with all the Mardi Gras floats and beads. So we got in line, went up to the front of the stage, they did "Terrapin" and I was hooked. It completely melted my face. As Deadheads like to say either you get it or don't. I got it immediately and I was never the same (laughs). It opened up an entire window into how different music can be and where you can take it and what you can do with it and how you can put on a show. It was just so uplifting and so wonderful to be moved like that. And when I ended being in a band later with Phil and Bob it just blew my mind.
What was it like then, your first rehearsal or performance with Furthur?
It was terrifying. We did rehearsal shows at the Seafood Peddler which later became Terrapin Crossroads. Basically it was trial by fire and that's exactly how it was described to me. "We roughly do about 300 songs. Here they are, good luck."
How do the vocal arrangements shake out?
It shakes out like this: you find a part. Sunshine bless her heart, I went to her house because she had been with Furthur for one tour before I joined. And she said, "Here are the parts I sing." It's a matter of finding the parts that aren't overly taken and it also depends on when Phil wants to sing and when Bob wants to sing. So when Phil sings I usually change parts to double Bob and when Phil is not singing I usually do the part that he would sing. So you're constantly on your toes trying to find parts that are not completely overdone. It was an incredible challenge. I've never been challenged so much musically and it was incredible. I feel like I've grown so much and I have them to thank for it.


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Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference remains one of the main attractions of the year for developers. And now that the iPhone has come into the picture, it's that much more popular with the influx of new devs—indie and corporate—trying to succeed with their iPhone and iPod touch apps. If you fall into that category but haven't yet had the opportunity to hit up WWDC, Apple may be coming to you with its own series of iPhone Tech Talks to take place through the end of 2009.
The dates for the 2009 world tour are posted on Apple's Developer Connection, starting in San Jose, CA on October 29. The tour then hits up Seattle, New York, Toronto, Paris, London, Hamburg, and Beijing before concluding in Tokyo on December 15. On the agenda are discussions ranging from more general tips to mastering certain technologies, such as Open GL ES. And, if you're already part of Apple's developer program, the talks are free.
The Tech Talks aren't new—Apple had a world tour in 2008 as well—but they are apparently popular among those who aren't able to travel halfway across the world every year. The tour includes fewer cities this year than in 2008 (we're going to go ahead and blame the economy and Canada), so that much will probably be a disappointment. However, if you're even within reasonable driving distance, it could be worth a look—or at least worth checking out the free wine and cheese reception.


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When done with a little flair, a small gesture is much more meaningful. Look, for example, at the quick bread. It takes almost no time to make -- quick breads don't require rising or kneading -- but can be a wonderful gift for a hostess or a neighbor.
Quick breads are quick because they're yeast-free; the batter is mixed and put straight into the oven, with baking soda, baking powder, or eggs to give it lift. (Baking powder should be no more than a year old; baking soda, however, will last about three years, as long as it's protected from humidity.) The result is something that seems more like cake than bread (think classic banana bread). The flavors, often sweet, can also be savory.
All are ideal gifts. They taste good and look good, particularly when prettily packaged. Offering quick breads to friends with such care is more than a small gesture. It is a personal one, showing the best sentiments of the season. Give one of these delicious homemade breads as a special holiday present:
Chocolate Marble Bread with Ganache
Carrot and Dried-Currant Muffins
Rosemary Cornbread
It's a Wrap
Try these simple packaging ideas -- they're as easy as the breads themselves. Present muffins in the tin they were baked in, with any drips wiped off, of course. Wrap it in a cellophane bag and then in linen with frayed edges; tie on a tag -- and the recipe if you like -- with twill tape. Bake cornbread in wooden molds, which then serve as gift boxes (they can't be reused for baking). Cover bread in cellophane, then put in a loaf box from a baking-supply store and wrap with loose-weave cotton fabric and sewing thread. Bake bread in a can and cover with rounds of waxed paper, then a round of tissue paper or striped cotton; the whole is neatly tied with waxed-linen thread.


text: Please distribute. ---------------------------------------- Hiroshi "Gitchang" Okuno, Ph.D Kitano Symbiotic Systems Project, ERATO, Japan Science and Technology Corp. 6-31-15 Jingumae, Mansion 31 Suite 6A Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001, Japan. Tel: +81-3-5468-1661, Fax: +81-3-5468-1664 E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com URL: http://www.symbio.jst.go.jp/~okuno/ ============================================================ Call For Papers (CASA'99) The Third IJCAI Workshop on Computational Auditory Scene Analysis Stockholm, SWEDEN Sunday, August 1, 1999 Over the last decade several research communities have begun sustained research inquiries into the problem of auditory scene analysis, or the process of decomposing arbitrary sound mixtures, such as those often found in human listeners' acoustic environments, into component sounds. Such mixtures typically include non-speech and musical sounds, the understanding of which represents a challenging area of psychoacoustic research. Computational Auditory Scene Analysis (CASA) deals with the problem of getting software and/or hardware systems not only to interpret sound mixtures as combinations of their components, but also to decide what feature set(s) to use as the basis for reconstructing (modelling) the combination. Typically, CASA systems rely on or are inspired by psychoacoustic or psychophysical theories of perception. However, given that the problem of auditory scene analysis and its automation is intimately related to questions studied by other fields ranging from robotics to speech recognition to machine perception and artificial intelligence, the CASA community has a strong interdisciplinary component. The purpose of the IJCAI-99 workshop on Computational Auditory Scene Analysis (CASA'97) is to bring together researchers from various disciplines including artificial intelligence, automatic speech recognition, signal processing, psychoacoustics and psychophysics, and robotics, and application engineers who are engaged in or interested in computational auditory scene analysis. Through key presentations and ample discussions, it is hoped that the workshop will facilitate the exchange of ideas among researchers, as well as to bridge the gap between basic researchers and application engineers. Having CASA'99 at IJCAI-99 is particularly important as some topics of the workshop -- including listening to several things simultaneously or understanding non-speech sounds -- have been also proposed as Challenge Problems for Artificial Intelligence at the American Association of Artificial Intelligence's (AAAI) 1996 National Conference. Indeed, the workshop committee encourages (but does not require!) potential attendees to consider submitting papers on systems for interpreting acoustic signals to the parent IJCAI conference. The list of challenge problems proposed at CASA'95 is available at the CASA'97 Web page (http://www.nue.org/CASA97/). TOPICS ====== The workshop committe is currently soliciting submission of quality contributions on computational auditory scene analysis. We strongly encourage designers of CASA systems to consider giving real-time demonstrations of their systems. Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following: Modeling Issues: Cognitive Modeling Low-level Auditory Models. etc. Sound Processing Issues: Auditory Filters, Wavelets, Time-frequency Distributions, Multi-resolution Analysis, Adaptation of Signal Processing Parameters, etc. Representational Issues: Auditory/Sound Representation, Speech Representation, Representation for Music, Unified Representation of (possibly Dynamic) Vision and Audition, etc. Architectural Issues: Unified Architectures Blackboard Architectures Multi-Agent Paradigm Performance Evaluation Hybrid Approach to Top-Down/ Bottom-Up processing, etc. Applications: Sound Understanding Speech Understanding Music Understanding Performance Evaluation Multi-Modal Integration, etc. The workshop committee anticipates publishing accepted papers in a workshop proceedings. SUBMISSIONS =========== Authors will submit a copy of a full paper (limited to 5000 words), or an extended abstract (approx. 2500 words) electronically to email@example.com or by surface mail to Frank Klassner Computing Sciences Dept. Villanova University 800 Lancaster Avenue Villanova, PA 19085 USA by February 21, 1999. Electronic submissions are strongly encouraged. The e-mail should contain an uuencoded gzipped (or compressed) PostScript file, or Adobe Acrobat file. All submitted papers will be reviewed by the workshop committee. TIME TABLE ========== Papers due: February 21, 1999 Notification of Acceptance: March 22, 1999 Camera-ready edition due: April 20, 1999 IMPORTANT NOTICE ================ Workshop attendees must note that workshop participation is not possible WITHOUT REGISTRATION for the main conference (International Joint Conference on Artificial Ingelligence, web address: http://www.dsv.su.se/ijcai-99/ WORKSHOP COMMITTEE ================== Frederic Berthommier Institut de la Communication Parlee, FRANCE firstname.lastname@example.com Martin P. Cooke University of Sheffield, UK firstname.lastname@example.com Daniel Ellis ICSI, Berkeley, USA firstname.lastname@example.com Frank Klassner (chair) Villanova University, USA email@example.com Hiroshi G. Okuno Kitano Symbiotic Systems Project, ERATO, JST, JAPAN email@example.com Malcolm Slaney Interval Research, Inc., USA email@example.com Email to AUDITORY should now be sent to email@example.com LISTSERV commands should be sent to email@example.com Information is available on the WEB at http://www.mcgill.ca/cc/listserv


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326 members6 Likes
Maria has not received any gifts yet
Hey. Do you still play at Ramsden?
ya i did, i have no idea what level you are aswell, can u hit the ball atleast 100km/h consistently? ur cute that might have been part of the reason i messaged u aswell ;)
Hey Maria,
Are you up to play rallies at Ramsden park in the evenings? I can play anytime after 6 almost everyday and would love to play as much as I can this summer.
Please let me know!
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Into a food processor, add the cheese, butter, mustard, and garlic. Blend until the mixture is thick, smooth and spreadable. Spread the cheese mixture over 1 side of each bread slice. Arrange the turkey slices over the cheese mixture on 6 of the bread slices. Top sandwiches with the remaining bread slices, cheese mixture side down, pressing gently to adhere. Cut the sandwiches in half.
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Cook half of the sandwiches until golden brown and heated through, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a serving platter and tent with foil to keep them warm. Repeat with remaining 3 tablespoons of oil and sandwiches. Serve immediately.


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July/August 2009
Women and HIV in the United States
Women represent the fastest growing demographic of HIV infections worldwide. In order to work on reversing this trend, we must have a thorough understanding of the unique issues that affect women living with HIV infection. To date, the medical community has focused a large amount of its research efforts on HIV/AIDS in men.1,2 However, both clinical experience and the observational data that we do have suggest that, despite the many similarities between HIV-positive men and women, there are some sex/gender-related differences with important HIV prevention and treatment implications. These differences range from the interaction of HIV and the female immune system, to the social vulnerability that places women at higher risk for HIV and its complications. In order to design effective prevention and treatment strategies for HIV-positive women, we will need to understand and address any gender differences in the susceptibility to, and progression of, HIV infection. This article will review what we do know about women and HIV in terms of prevention and treatment, as well as highlighting areas that still require more research.
The Statistics
The statistics serve as a potent reminder that specific HIV prevention strategies for girls and women are greatly needed. Women represent 46% of all people in the world infected with HIV. However, the rate of new infections among women is climbing, with 50% of all new infections worldwide occurring in women (www.unaids.org). The United States has not escaped this global trend. The proportion of all AIDS cases in women has more than tripled in the past 15 years, from 7% in 1985 to 29% today.3
Women who are racial or ethnic minorities in this country are disproportionately at risk for HIV/AIDS. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that, among HIV-positive women in the United States, over 80% are either African American or Hispanic. AIDS remains the leading cause of death in black women ages 25-34 in the U.S., while it represents the 10th leading cause of death in white women of the same age group.
The threat of death from HIV/AIDS remains high in older African American women as well: AIDS is the 3rd and 4th leading causes of death in black women ages 35-44 and 45-54 years old, respectively.4 Clearly, the rising rates of HIV infection in women and the disproportionate impact on women of color in this country require special attention.
Women May Be Unaware of Their Risks for HIV Infection
In order to prevent new HIV infection in women, we must first understand how women are being infected with HIV. According to many studies, approximately 40% of HIV-positive women report that they contracted HIV through sex with men. This number has not changed dramatically over the past two decades.
What has changed, however, is an increasing number of women who do not know how they got HIV. In one large study of over 2,000 HIV-positive women, 48% of participants could not identify how they had contracted HIV.5 Other studies have shown similar percentages of women not knowing how they contracted HIV, which likely indicates that women may not necessarily know the risk status of their male partners.6
A commonly-described phenomenon in the African American community, which may place black women at additional risk, is "down-low" behavior, where non-gay-identified men have secretive sex with other men and then unprotected intercourse with female partners.7 However, some analyses have shown that there is no real evidence that "down-low" behavior is fueling the epidemic among black women and that HIV prevention efforts in the African American community should not be focused on a single risk behavior.8
Because the majority of women in the United States acquire HIV through sex with men, often without any knowledge that they are at risk, prevention efforts in women must focus on increasing awareness of risk and routine diagnosis. Early diagnosis is critical to the prevention of HIV and AIDS.
We know that identifying HIV in an individual decreases the risk of him or her infecting somebody else because of behavior modification.9 HIV treatment also decreases a person's infectivity if he or she achieves undetectable viral loads. People who are diagnosed earlier also have a lower risk of progression to AIDS.
Unfortunately, an estimated 24?27% of people living with HIV in the United States are unaware of their status. Furthermore, according to a National Health Interview Survey conducted in 2007, only 36% of adults reported ever being tested for HIV.10
In hopes of strengthening HIV prevention efforts and maximizing the efficacy of treatment for HIV-positive individuals, the CDC published new recommendations in September 2006 that all adults aged 13-64 should be tested at least once for HIV in a medical setting and that people at higher risk should be tested annually.11 The guidelines recommend opt-out screening, where a patient would be informed that he or she will be tested for HIV infection and given the opportunity to decline, instead of the previously instituted opt-in screening, where written consent was required for testing. The guidelines relaxed requirements on written consent and pre-testing counseling, which can be both time and labor intensive, in the hopes that this would decrease barriers for HIV screening for both patients and providers.
These recommendations have not been fully implemented throughout the United States, since each state has needed to address the guidelines separately. California turned the CDC recommendations into law in 2007 with the passage of AB 682, which waives the need for written consent for HIV testing in this state. Widespread implementation of these recommendations would be especially beneficial to women in this country, given the lack of perceived risk factors for HIV in this population. [Also see "Doctors Urge the Government to Keep up With Medical Progress".]
HIV Prevention Strategies in Women
Women are biologically and sociologically more vulnerable to HIV infection than men. Women are at greater risk of HIV infection through heterosexual sex than are men simply by virtue of an unequal exchange of genital secretions. The risk of transmission of HIV from a man to a woman is approximately 1 in 1,000 for each sexual contact, whereas the risk of transmission from a woman to a man is much less (approximately one in 2,000).12
Women living in both resource-rich and resource-poor settings are vulnerable to HIV infection through sex for a variety of reasons, often arising from positions of dependence and an inability to insist upon the use of male condoms.
Because women are more vulnerable to HIV through heterosexual sex, prevention efforts need to focus on providing women with female-controlled prevention modalities. Currently, the male condom is the most effective form of HIV prevention for people engaging in sex, followed by male circumcision in terms of specific protection for the male partner. Obviously, women have much less control over the use of a male condom during a heterosexual encounter than men. Women-focused methods for HIV prevention are listed in Table 1. Although the female condom does have some efficacy in reducing HIV transmission, it is not completely covert, as the outer ring or frame is visible outside the vagina. Further reducing its acceptability is the potential noise that the latex can make during intercourse. Additional hindrances to the use of the female condom include the fact that it is not readily available in many countries, can be difficult to insert and remove, can be more expensive than male condoms and historically, can be used only once.
Microbicides and diaphragms have received a lot of attention as they are relatively inexpensive and are completely female-centered modalities of prevention.
Diaphragms were studied with lubricant gel in a large randomized open-label controlled trial of 4,948 HIV-negative Zambian and South African women and showed no efficacy in protecting women against HIV transmission.14
Microbicides are biological or chemical substances that reduce transmission of HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases when applied to the vagina or rectum. Ideally a microbicide would be effective, safe with frequent use, widely available, easy to store and use, surreptitious, and acceptable to a variety of cultures. Most studies to date on different microbicide products, starting with the failure of nonoxynol-9 to protect women against HIV infection (and the possibility of increased transmission rates), have shown disappointing results in terms of interrupting transmission.
Both microbicide products showed favorable safety profiles in the trial. While BufferGel did not show a protective effect against HIV, the trial indicated that PRO2000 was at least 30% more effective than any other arm in the study in preventing new HIV infections. This preliminary trial was not designed to generate definitive data on PRO2000, although the data is highly suggestive of the potential efficacy of this product. These findings were viewed with a great deal of enthusiasm in the microbicide and HIV prevention fields and other studies are underway. Studies that are looking at the efficacy of a once-a-day pill (tenofovir or tenofovir/emtricitabine) for HIV-negative people to protect themselves against HIV infection (the pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP trials) are also underway. [Also see What's Goin' On.]
More From This Resource Center
Newly Diagnosed? Words of Encouragement from HIV-Positive Women
What Every HIV-Positive Woman Should Know About GYN Care and Prevention
Reader Comments:
Just a quick clarification:
This article mentions that the female condom is not covert because the latex can be seen covering the outer female genitalia. The female condom is not latex - it is made from polyurethane. Partners with latex allergies can use the female condom - another bonus for its use.
Would love to see an article on woman and menapause and HIV drugs and the affect they have with Hormone Replacement therapy.
Internet search results. Be careful when providing personal information! Before
adding your comment, please read TheBody.com's Comment Policy.)


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Bellator 90 took place at the Maverick Center in West Valley City, Utah, on Thursday night, featuring the delayed Season 7 Featherweight Tournament final between Shahbulat Shamhalaev and Rad Martinez, as well as the Season 8 Light Heavyweight and Welterweight Tournament semifinal bouts.
Shahbulat Shamhalaev vs. Rad Martinez
Shahbulat Shamhalaev stalked Rad Martinez, who was fighting on his home turf, from the opening bell, chopping away at Martinez's lead leg with low kicks and patiently looking for an opening for his hands.
Just past the midway point of the opening round, Martinez managed to take the fight where he wanted it: to the mat. He Shamhalaev on his back for the remainder of the round, trying to soften him up with ground and pound.
Unfortunately for Martinez, round two meant a return to their feet.
Shamhalaev immediately returned to his gameplan, walking Martinez down, until he found an opening for a high kick that rocked the Utah native. Shamhalaev kept the pressure on, landing a knee to the chin and another to the body, keeping Martinez rattled.
Shamhalaev put an end to it moments later with an overhand right that found the mark, dropping Martinez to the canvas.
"I think I showed a pretty good fight with every one of my opponents," said Shamhalaev after the victory. "But I've got a lot more that you guys don't know about."
Shamhalaev is now the Season 7 tournament champion and will next face the winner of the bout between current Bellator featherweight champion Pat Curran and challenger Daniel Straus, who square off at Bellator 95 in early April in Atlantic City, N.J.
King Mo Lawal vs. Emanuel Newton
Trying to fight his way into the light heavyweight final opposite Mikhail Zayats, Emanuel Newton started in with various punch combinations and kicks early against King Mo Lawal.
Lawal relied on his ever-refining boxing skills, used a lot of head movement and footwork to avoid most of Newton's attacks, but regularly left his hands a little low.
Newton connected on a couple of big punches early in the round, but Lawal wasn't fazed.
When Newton threw and missed with an overhand right, however, his follow-up spinning backfist did connect. It landed on Lawal's chin, putting him out on his feet. Newton caught Lawal as he drifted towards the canvas, but he was already unconscious, the referee stepping in before Newton and Lawal settled to the mat.
With the win, Emanuel Newton moves on to the light heavyweight final opposite Zayats, while Bellator's marquee signing goes back to the drawing board.
"Mikhail is gonna be tough, he's a beast," said Newton after the fight. "I'm very happy that me and him made it to the finals together. It's gonna be a good, respectful battle, but it's gonna be a battle."
Douglas Lima vs. Bryan Baker
Douglas Lima and Bryan Baker started thing off rather slow, each taking some time to try and find his range, but once Lima found his it was all over.
When Lima decided to fire, he unleashed the big overhand right, connecting and spinning Bryan Baker around and to the mat, ending the fight as abruptly as it began.
Lima now moves on to the welterweight final, where he will face American Top Team stable mate Ben Saunders, who won earlier in the night. It's a tough proposition to fight a teammate, but one that Nova Uniao's Eduardo Dantas and Marcos Galvao recently faced.
Saunders took to the cage with Lima following Lima's victory, declaring, "ATT is gonna take it, that's all that matters. It sucks man, he's my brother, but we're gonna do what we have to do. This is business."
Mikhail Zayats vs. Jacob Noe
Mikhail Zayats took out Renato "Babalu" Sobral in the light heavyweight quarterfinal round, and on Thursday, he took out Jacob Noe in their semifinal showdown.
Zayats dropped Noe early in the opening stanza with a powerful right hand. He immediately followed Noe to the mat, smothering him and softening him up with ground and pound, before finally switching to an armbar that he extended for the tap.
Bellator Light Heavyweight Final:
Emanuel Newton vs. Mikhail Zayats
Bellator Welterweight Final:
Douglas Lima vs. Ben Saunders
Bellator 90 Results
Bellator Featherweight Tournament Championship Fight:
-Shahbulat Shamhalaev def. Rad Martinez by KO (Punch) at 2:12, R2
Light Heavyweight Semifinal Fight:
-Emanuel Newton def. King Mo Lawal by KO (Spinning Backfist) at 2:35, R1
Welterweight Tournament Semifinal:
-Douglas Lima def. Bryan Baker by TKO (Punch) at 2:34, R1
Light Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal:
-Mikhail Zayats def. Jacob Noe by Submission (Armbar) at 3:38, R1
Preliminary Bout Results:
-Shanon Slack def. Josh Tyler by Submission (Peruvian Necktie) at 1:56, R3
-Ben Saunders def. Raul Amaya by KO (Head Kick) at 2:56, R1
-Travis Marx def. Chase Beebe by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Jesse Juarez def. Jordan Smith by Split Decision, R3
-Sean Powers def. David Allred by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 2:10, R3
-Lionel Lanham def. Joe Rodriguez by TKO (Strikes) at 0:49, R1
Be sure to Like MMAWeekly.com on Facebook and Follow @MMAWeeklycom on Twitter.


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Hey everyone here's my LC8 entry, Enjoy
RichardAM wrote:Quick question- are we allowed to builds things for CCC that tap into the mythology/world and lore of Garheim and get free build points? Also, again, would this only be allowed if our character was included?
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Journal of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering
On-line version ISSN 2309-8775
Print version ISSN 1021-2019
J. S. Afr. Inst. Civ. Eng. vol.56 n.1 Midrand Jan. 2014
Towards a systems thinking approach in allocating infrastructure budgets in local government
G N Kaiser; J J Smallwood
Legislation, systems and processes provide a rigid framework within which local government operates. In a perfect world, perfect information would result in perfect decisions. However, the world is chaotic, people are far from perfect, and priorities vie for resources, as is evidenced through the social inequality and environmental degradation in society. A common way of managing complexity is to break complex processes into manageable portions. In doing so, the advantage of integration is often lost. Furthermore, silo thinking tends to yield duplication, often through localised efficiencies at the cost of overall value. System thinking can be employed to facilitate a constructive, creative space that has potential to evolve in the presence of intuitive trust, combined with a framework with which to measure and verify against. The City of Cape Town serves as example of a local authority grappling with allocation of resources in a manner which is fair and efficient in fulfilling its electoral mandate.
Most people are faced with making budgetary decisions daily - only a lucky few can perhaps afford to buy without compromise. Where money as a resource is scarce, trade-offs invariably have to be made. If the household has no money, then there are no choices to be made in allocating money. The complexity of allocating the household budget is thus initially premised on the budget existing. Once a budget is available, other factors influence complexity of decision-making, such as the structure and size of the household, standard of living, culture and value systems. Whatever the case may be, household budget choices are generally made by the head of the household, who has a fair grasp of the scope and complexity of internal budget options, expectations and priorities. The decision around budget spend is purely financially based for anyone living in poverty, but includes other factors as soon as enough money is available to provide choice - in other words, it becomes an economic choice.
The aim of this research is to provide a model or models on which to base budgetary allocation decisions in the City of Cape Town, in an environment where funding constraints exist.
Local government is charged with the provision of free basic services necessary for a reasonable quality of life, without which either health or the environment could suffer. This includes a vast scope of services requiring significant funding to maintain and augment, including utility services such as water and electricity, mobility infrastructure such as roads and public transport, and social and recreational facilities such as parks, sports fields and community halls. To be of value, such models would need to be simple, inclusive, transparent, flexible and capable of providing repeatable results.
A comprehensive library of legislation cascades from the Constitution down to detailed National Treasury practice notes - guiding, controlling, empowering and regulating the municipal budgetary process. Applying rigorous legislation to complex systems will not necessarily result in good decisions, just as one cannot regulate for honesty or competence. Alternative solutions based on pattern and systems thinking are likely to yield better solutions, and will be explored in the context of the economic impact of budgetary allocations.
South Africa is grappling with the reality of a world where resources are scarce. The term "resources" may be interpreted broadly to include everything from minerals, products, utility services, soft services, skills, and labour, to money. The economy is driven by producers selling their wares at the highest possible price, while consumers aim to purchase at the lowest possible price. When a particular resource is abundant, the price decreases. The market players thus aim to keep resources scarce as this drives capitalism (Ellis 2009: 15).
Legislation tabled subsequent to the 1994 elections has provided rules, controls and processes in pursuit of equitable allocation of resources across the three spheres of government, with a focus on correcting imbalances created by apartheid. The legislation is sound and can be implemented to the letter, but yet often fails to yield the best result for reasons as simple as having a span of control that is too large to enable fair consideration of all variables and options. Given the need for infrastructure provision, South Africa can ill afford to allocate an oversubscribed budget sub-optimally.
This is emphasised by National Treasury in stating in the introductory paragraph of a recent Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) circular that reminded municipalities to do more with existing resources (South Africa 2010).
Allocation of scarce resources has and continues to confound institutions of all kinds. In the public sector, the problem of attributing value to products and services is further complicated by collective social services, such as parks, policing and security (Pauw et al 2009: 50-51).
Despite comprehensive legislation, public participation and political oversight, decision-making around budgetary issues is difficult and the value hard to measure. Infrastructure is under pressure in South Africa, and resources to fund new and maintain existing infrastructure are not abundant.
The impact of growing worldwide inequality has never been as evident as in 2012 (the year during which this paper was initiated). On the one hand, the world continues along the well-established economic path with little apparent concern of the worldwide impact of growing inequality. On the other hand, inequality is mooted as cause for wide-spread uprising, including:
■ The Occupy Wall Street, otherwise known as the 99% movement, and
■ The Arab Spring or revolution, which since December 2010 removed leaders from power in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, and sparked widespread protest across much of the Arab world.
In South Africa, Thabo Mbeki warned of the risk attached to the concept of "two nations" occupying the same space. In response to the formal economy's marginalisation of the poor, a second economy developed, with very little real progress in converging (Manning 2006: 17). Causes of the mass public protest are thought to include a combination of factors, including:
■ Inflation causing reduced buying power of currency leading to a drop in standard of living and a lack of access to health care, education and basic services
■ Un- and underemployment leading to increased poverty and dependence
■ Political and religious oppression
■ Autocracy with little or no political opposition or public participation, often controlled by force, such as in a police state
■ Social imbalance and inequality. Inequality is commonly justified in that it provides incentive for individuals to work harder and thus prosper. The relative wealth adds to the incentive and drives economic growth (Galbraith 1969: 68). Redistribution of wealth has found less favour than growth has in improving the lives of the impoverished. Eradicating inequality is resisted by the wealthy on the grounds that it undermines arts and education, leads to uniformity and monotony. Galbraith also developed the "theory of social balance" which refers to the balance between private goods and public goods. He argues that public goods are artificially highly valued thanks to demand increased through advertising and emulation of conventional prosperity. So the public is prone to recognise novelty as adding value, while the less attractive social services are grudgingly paid through taxes (Galbraith 1969: 188).
The South African government embarked on a strategy to create a dynamic economy (Joyce 2007: 195) in the development of a macro-economic policy titled the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) policy. The policy was approved in June 1996 as a five-year plan to support the implementation of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). The aim of the policy was to strengthen economic development, reduce unemployment by expanding the employment base, and redistribution of opportunities and income (Padayachee & Valodia 2001: 78).
GEAR relied on a market-friendly environment inspiring private sector investment to drive the social initiatives. By 2001 the economy had stabilised, but GEAR had failed to achieve its goals (Padayachee & Valodia 2001: 78). The next phase was characterised by an expansionary budget aimed at balancing broad objectives of poverty reduction and providing a safe environment, infrastructure investment and maintenance of assets, reducing the tax burden to stimulate job creation and household spending, and reducing interest rates.
This was followed in 2006 by ASGISA (Acceleratd and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa), with principles focused on achieving the millennium goals of halving unemployment and poverty by 2014. The merits of ASGISA lay in the wide consultation during its development, as well as the holistic developmental perspective (South Africa 2006). To date, the benefits have not accrued to any noticeable extent.
The remarkable economic stability encountered under Trevor Manuel (Green 2008: 538) as Minister of Finance did not manage to live up to expectations in terms of job creation. The economy had grown, and could not be faulted for its stability when compared to other economies, but the formal economy had simply failed to provide the number of jobs required to alleviate poverty. Pursuing the number of imperatives requiring prominence that the new government faced, it is not surprising that job creation did not follow the stability of persistent growth (Nattrass 2008: 8).
Fedderke et al (2001: 5) explored the impact of infrastructure spending on economic growth over 125 years, as it relates to rail, roads, electricity and telecommunications. The research results indicated that the economic impact was distinguishable in terms of certain types of infrastructure, but more difficult to quantify in others. The concluding supposition suggested that large-scale infrastructure investment could catapult South Africa beyond the 3% economic growth level. Bogetic and Fedderke (2005: 2-34) further confirmed that large-scale investment in infrastructure was required to remedy the underinvestment which had occurred in the past, and that the value of infrastructure in South Africa was generally comparable to that of other centres in the world. If the available funding were better applied, it could thus increase the value of the end product.
It is important to consider the developmental nature of South Africa, and thus municipalities, to fully comprehend the state of infrastructure and local government capacity, as well as the necessity for the rigorous legislation and controls, all of which are aimed at protecting the people. The Integrated Development Planning (IDP) process was introduced in 2008 in an effort to provide a mechanism whereby newly formed municipalities could perform in a "coordinated, strategic, developmental and fiscally responsible way". (Van Donk et al 2008: 323) Critique of the IDP process is that it is a rigorous technocratic tool - while functionally correct, it is unlikely to provide anywhere close to an optimum outcome.
Since 2010 service delivery protests have become the norm. According to Community Protests in South Africa (Karamoko 2011: 2), lack of accountability and absence of true public participation are aggravating factors in service delivery protests. While the number of monthly protests varies depending on the criteria used, protest action is widespread throughout the country, with not a month passing without a protest. Since 2007 the Western Cape has been in the top three provinces in terms of protest action.
It is evident that an alternative paradigm of problem solving is required, as the programmes aimed at "fixing society" have been unimpressive. System-thinking approaches any complex system, such as an organisation, city or region, as a whole as an integrated system of which all component parts have an impact or are impacted upon by all others (Senge 2006: 7). Taking a holistic view provides space for intuition. Subconsciously the human mind is capable of integrating and dealing with great complexity. A system approach provides scope for unconventional solutions and a humanist approach to managing, empowering and providing for people. It requires a mind shift away from the conventional analysis of components towards assessing and problem-solving entire systems.
In the context of using system thinking as a way of improving the function of local government holistically, it is necessary to unpack some of the theory behind system thinking as the fifth discipline. Added to the disciplines required of a learning organisation, of personal mastery, shared vision, mental models and team learning, is system thinking; the underlying worldview, in all its complexity. Personal mastery refers to "consistently realising results that matter deeply to them", anything from a physical skill to a job function. Shared vision, if achieved, inspires people to attain their best effort in all they do, not simply to comply, but with enthusiasm in sincere pursuit of the vision. Mental models are deeply entrenched views of the world, preconceptions, often providing a skewed picture of reality and stifling the opportunity to grow and learn. Team learning requires a creative space where honest conversations can lead to the necessary security and freedom of thought for a group of people to debate constructively, to think together, thereby maximising the possibilities for positive outcomes (Senge 2006: 8-10).
Dealing with complexity is a recurring theme in texts offering alternative models for creating improved solutions. From complexity economics to dealing with complexity in system thinking, the propensity to divide complex organisations into manageable chunks of information has been shown to achieve fragmented results. Organisations tend to organise into hierarchical structures, which completely eliminate any organic environment.
In The Origin of Wealth, Beinhocker (2006: 347) argues for an "adaptive social architecture", which will allow organisations to adapt to change intrinsically and organically rather than through policy and structural provisos. Legislation and policy in government are slow-moving and need to follow a path of public participation and lengthy approval processes, constraining government bodies, and constraining adaptability. In a complex adaptive system, it is necessary to view human behaviour, rather than rational behaviour. The premise of human resources in local government is that, while it is recognised that employees are important in fulfilling the constitutional mandate, they are not valued to the extent that they feel secure in their positions, or are recognised as individuals. The legislation informs that processes should be as mechanistic as possible, not providing for individual thought or input. In a complex system, this is thought to be unlikely to provide much in the line of value.
In False Economy, Alan Beattie (Beattie 2009: 247) defines path dependence as resembling "evolutionary biology - the role played by a sequence of events, some of which may come by chance". An irresistible example quoted by Beattie is that of the configuration of a keyboard - that the layout is designed to slow down typing and specifically to prevent hitting adjacent keys in quick succession. This arose when a particular mechanical typewriter malfunctioned often due to speed of typing. The current layout has long lost the original intent, but inertia and the "network effect" or critical mass of use of a standardised layout means it is unlikely to change. The adoption of QWERTY keyboards in smart phones such as BlackBerry is an indication that the layout is here to stay.
In the Black Swan, Nassim Taleb (Taleb 2007: 41) emphasises the security that man has chosen to derive from statistical analysis by adopting models such as the bell curve and linear regression to predict the future. To easily understand the concept, he posits the example of a free-range turkey that roams around the farmyard. The turkey is fed every day for a number of years, say a thousand days. Using linear regression the turkey thus anticipates being fed daily until eternity, until the day arrives that the turkey is not fed, but has its throat cut. This turns the linear regression curve upside down. Taleb's issue with the bell curve is that the outliers tend to have a far more dramatic and unpredicted effect than ever credited.
The norm is used to assess risk and map the future. His ideology provides scope for alternative modelling.
From an environmental economics perspective, the focus has moved from conventional through green, sustainable and restorative, to regenerative design that considers a living system in its entirety (Reed 2009: 9). The evolving system is based on patterns in nature and is seen to comprise at least the impacts of global warming, water scarcity, destruction of habitat, social justice, pollution, toxins and degradation of raw material.
A model directly related to infrastructure is explained in Country-led monitoring and evaluation systems (Segone et al 2008: 56), which is predicated on establishing a strategic intent and pursuing this intent above all else. Common themes throughout these texts lie in dealing with whole systems, which are recognised in all their complexity. The importance of common vision is emphasised, as the work of man is generally performed for the benefit of man.
As a local authority, the City of Cape Town is beholden to legislation, emanating from central government, which is based to some extent on events in the world. Technology enabled the world to become a global village, but it also emphasised that every country is connected, has an impact on, and is impacted on by world events. The system works because countries cooperate. So-called successful countries in particular have no incentive to be the leader in breaking out of the system.
A number of models are proposed to assist local authorities, such as the City of Cape Town, in improving decision-making around budgets. It is possible that further benefits will accrue due to the variety of the models proposed. Models provide frameworks, with embedded information, which can make it easier to deal with detail, which in turn provides space for evaluating alternatives and analysing social issues in more detail. Models tend to simplify data, yielding approximations of the truth, resulting in some inaccuracy in detail. Transformation of mind-set is difficult to quantify, but transformed individuals behave in a manner that has intrinsic value. Experiencing an environment of trust, while not tangible, is nonetheless a real experience with real benefits.
Over the years the City of Cape Town has used various prioritisation models, applicable mainly to capital expenditure, although they have been applied to projects funded by the operating budget. Typically, projects are scored in weighted categories including risk, compliance, IDP alignment and backlog, and a final score achieved per project. The efficacy of such models can be hampered through the crafting of creative motivations for funding - for example the strategic objectives of a local authority tend to encompass an entire spectrum of social and economic services, providing space to motivate for virtually any expenditure.
Covering the business of local government in all its complexity would require a highly specialised model, which would need specialised skills to implement. In reality, any model that attempts to grade initiatives numerically will be of value, particularly if combined with interventions with the potential to enhance trust, integration and cooperation. Thus a combination of models and strategies addressing different angles of the problem has the potential of being more practical, broadly applicable and implementable than a single model.
Teamwork determines that combinations of people derive better solutions in interaction than the sum of the individuals. Diversity multiplies value in any team. This happens through combining different perspectives, interpretations, heuristics and predictive models into a framework or cognitive toolbox (Miller & Page 2007: 8). Although diversity may complicate the process of agreeing rational choices, pursuit of a common goal paves the way for more integrated decisions.
Whichever models are implemented, certain aspects of the budget process are non-negotiable:
■ Good corporate governance in the broadest possible sense
■ Compliance with legislation
■ Fiscal discipline.
Regional prioritisation model
Apartheid planning resulted in an undeniable disparity of service delivery within the municipal area. The current administration purports to have a pro-poor focus, but this is not as evident on the ground as it may have been expected to be. A regional prioritisation model proposes to integrate geographic location with service delivery and socioeconomic measures.
Sub-councils have been included in the budget process, entrenching a more regional approach providing the opportunity to submit budget priorities. Information may be available in different forms depending on the directorates, but needs to be consolidated to provide a graphical depiction by a sub-council and should include:
■ Population, and number of households
■ Service statistics
■ Income level
■ Occupational status
■ Education
■ Community satisfaction
■ Crime statistics
■ Unemployment
■ Condition and availability of infrastructure
■ Bulk votes across boundaries.
The identification of areas in need of basic services does not necessarily require an academic exercise, and could easily be identified visually, with informal settlements displaying the largest lack of service and thus in most urgent need of intervention. Mapping is, however, required to provide structure to the cross-subsidisation that exists, to ensure an incremental improvement without the balance of areas becoming degraded in an uncontrolled manner.
The regional prioritisation model above is indicative of the value that could be harnessed through the combination of geographic information and meaningful statistical data. The actual content can be adapted to the requirements of the leadership using up to date spatial and census information.
Asset management model
The concept behind an asset management model in providing for efficient budgeting is that information is available and accessible, informing the actual requirements to cover the cost of maintaining assets in a serviceable condition, thus avoiding indirect fruitless expenditure in allowing asset deterioration. While there is a broad understanding of the constraints provided by existing municipal service infrastructure, which restricts approvals of new development, detailed information on infrastructure items is required to determine best value investment. In complex organisations such as municipalities, the task of tracking asset life cycles is onerous, but the benefits of having a working model in place can significantly change the required funding cycles.
The City of Cape Town has assets of which the variety and value are vast and way beyond the scope of this study, and the intention is not to develop a management model to suit all assets, but rather to encourage such development. Many resources are available to guide the management of municipal assets, such as the International Infrastructure Management Manual from the Institute of Municipal Engineering of Southern Africa. The asset inventory needs to be part of the SAP ERP system, having the benefit of being managed and recorded in an integrated fashion.
Modelling the IDP to a common vision and value system
Since the introduction of municipal integrated development plans in the MFMA, the IDP has been used to motivate budget applications. As the IDP covers virtually every conceivable reasonable activity, almost any programme can be motivated under at least one of the objectives. Beyond this stated alignment and the annual review of the document as required by legislation, the IDP document is voluminous, creating a challenge in providing a common vision or shared strategic intent.
The eight strategic focus areas of the previous five-year term of office of the IDP were replaced by five pillars in the IDP applicable to the 2012-2017 period. The pillars are the expressed outcome of interaction with the people of Cape Town. The political leadership's vision for the term of office is to "create a more inclusive society by working towards greater economic freedom for all people of the city" (City of Cape Town 2012: 14). While the political leadership has a clear vision tied to the IDP, the shift from the previous IDP is perhaps not immediately apparent to the average employee. The political leadership would like to make a difference in the lives of the ordinary people of Cape Town. It is suggested that the City of Cape Town determines a clear, inspirational vision statement, crystallises a strategic intent and undertakes a programme to align the staff with this vision. A vision statement should be memorable, moving, energising. Some options are explored in Figure 1.
Benign visions of a local authority include conservative, moderate and mechanistic visions, as reflected in Figure 1, such as the provincial government ambition (Western Cape Provincial Government 2007: 5). At the other end of the spectrum lie radical visions, such as that of Bhutan. Bhutan has developed an alternative measure of wellbeing to GDP, which considers happiness as an important component of wellbeing (Bhutan Government 1999: 6). The risk in adopting anything other than standard capitalistic goals and measures rests in reduced competitiveness in a global world.
In so far as a value system is concerned, the shortest route to a set of sound values exists in the Batho Pele principles, developed by central government in 1997 and applicable to all government departments. It may be of merit for the municipality to revive these values and ensure assimilation by the wider employee base. The values are displayed across the City of Cape Town in municipal offices (South Africa 2007).
Staff transformation model
The relatively peaceful transition of South Africa into a democratic country has been captured in the annals of history. The lack of social transformation nearly twenty years later, with ever-growing deficits in housing, employment, education and healthcare, and widening gaps in social inequality is a blight on the success story. While official census data for employment and population numbers were released in 2013, the number of unemployed in the City of Cape Town still falls between 300 000 and 500 000, assuming approximately 26% unemployment. The City of Cape Town employs in the region of 27 000 people. By definition of being employed, municipal employees are fortunate, and in a position to have a positive impact on society. To have maximum impact, officials need to focus on working towards the greater good, setting narrow self-interest aside. Modern society has not been very successful in acknowledging the value of socially conscious citizenry. Broader society may thus benefit from the transformation of officials into conscious citizenry and protectors of social justice. If successful, training interventions addressing aspects such as social justice, freedom and kindness could inspire sufficient trust, integrity and commitment to ensure that decisions made at all levels by all officials have a positive impact, which will have a net benefit to the municipality.
Transforming mind sets may be a difficult task, but at a relatively low cost it can have one of the most powerful positive impacts, together with a sense of satisfaction of making a lasting difference extending far wider than the workplace.
If members of staff were to operate in an environment of trust, and act in the best interest of the City of Cape Town, gains could be made. Transformation intervention has the potential to cover a range of imperatives to result in a more motivated, aligned, engaged staff. Transformation is a process rather than an event; while facts illustrate concepts, value is gleaned from the experience rather than a measurable outcome such as test results.
Improved integration model
The City of Cape Town has close to four million inhabitants, with any progress in service delivery resulting in growth caused by influx from elsewhere in South Africa. The administration covers an area of 2 470 km2, through approximately 27 000 permanent staff, with a budget of close to R30 billion. The formation of the City of Cape Town was premised on a centralised model, with function-specific directorates. The scale of operations resulted in a silo approach, which provides sufficient texture to deter cross-functional interaction, unless corporately forced.
Over the years, the leadership has instituted various crosscutting committees and reporting structures. Interaction combines political and administrative spheres, and occurs at high level.
The current leadership introduced a cluster system as part of a transversal governance framework. What is, however, lacking is integration at a more operational level. As all staff form part of the hierarchical management structure, line management can play a valuable role in enabling the necessary integration through proper communication, covering functions, progress, policies and strategy, IDP, performance and vision, which will aid in empowering and transforming the workforce as well, and can be reinforced by electronic communication.
Triple bottom line model - financial, social and environmental reporting
The King Committee on Governance, in their report on governance for South Africa, emphasised the importance of leadership, integrated sustainability, corporate citizenship and social transformation. The City of Cape Town has accepted King III. Triple bottom line reporting provides the opportunity to further integrate the strategic focus areas of the IDP. By inclusion of comprehensive and holistic information in an area where, historically, finance mattered at the expense of society and the environment, the transformation to a responsible citizenry will be further embedded.
For reasons of size, complexity and history, discrete projects only cover a very small portion of the total operating expenditure. If the City of Cape Town is to transform, it will be necessary to create a more flexible structure, with commitments either reduced or made more mobile. Commitments extend beyond contractual agreements on projects and include costs that have been accepted as part of the fixed establishment, such as the cost of staff, which contributes roughly a third of expenditure, the cost of accommodating the staff establishment, such as office space, transport, parking and many other support services. The cost of compliance is unavoidable, but it may be interesting to quantify this and then gauge the effectiveness against real or perceived corruption vis-a-vis other initiatives such as empowerment, to curb poor performance and unprofessional behaviour.
Triple bottom line management has to extend beyond compliance and reporting, and should form an intrinsic part of all activities, providing balanced value attributed to social, environmental and financial imperatives.
To conclude the development of the model, a validation survey was conducted among senior staff to gauge opinion with respect to the effectiveness of the combined model. Some of the models proposed may include interventions already implemented, and some of the data change continuously. The survey provided a summary of each of the models, and provided for each to be rated in terms of suitability, practical relevance, ease of implementation and potential to change the budget.
The validation was premised on a small sample of senior officials with extensive experience in budgeting at the City of Cape Town. Individuals were targeted to participate based on their involvement and experience in budgeting both from finance and line departments, particularly Utility Services, as it is responsible for approximately two thirds of the city's budget. The sample consisted of 25 individuals in reporting levels 0-4, ranging from the municipal manager to branch heads.
The results returned on the surveys indicated that all proposed models were deemed to be relevant. The difference between the top and lowest model's MS calculated as 0.68 of a point, with all scores falling between 3.15 and 3.83. Only five out of the 600 responses indicated that a model "does not" have the potential to impact on the efficacy of budget allocation, equating to less than 1%.
The summary scores are indicated in Table 1 and Figure 2.
The overall average of 3.43 indicates that the survey sample accepts the models proposed as valid. The comments proffered were favourable towards initiatives aimed at increasing value. A caution was, however, raised that, without political support, the best of interventions were likely to have negligible impact.
Notwithstanding comprehensive legislation and commitment, the value derived from allocating budgets can be improved upon. Paying attention to softer issues, such as establishing a shared strategic intent, introducing transformational training interventions and providing a structure more amenable to integration, could enhance value, especially when coupled with technical interventions, such as asset management, regional prioritisation and triple bottom line consideration.
A combination of models evolved while undertaking the research. It was recognised that, for reasons of the complexity of the municipal finance environment, no single model would have sufficient depth, offset with simplicity, to realistically contribute to better decision-making, resulting in a combination of models. The validation survey confirmed that the models could have a positive impact on optimising budget allocation.
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Contact details:
Gisela Kaiser
Department of Construction Management
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
PO Box 77000
Port Elizabeth, 6031
South Africa
E: email@example.com
Contact details:
John Smallwood
Department of Construction Management
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
PO Box 77000
Port Elizabeth, 6031
South Africa
DR GISELA KAISER Pr Eng, Pr CPM, is a civil engineer with the City of Cape Town, responsible for the Utility Services directorate. The directorate provides the trading services of electricity, water and sanitation, and solid waste to the metropolitan area. She has over 20 years' experience In public and private organisations, covering a broad variety of sectors, Including consulting engineering, industrial development, retail, higher education and local government. Prior to her current role, she was the executive director responsible for operations at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
PROF JOHN SMALLWOOD Pr CM, Pr CHSA, Is Head of the Construction Management Department at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, and Director of the MSc Built Environment Programme. His qualifications Include a BSc In Building Management, and an MSc and PhD In Construction Management. He has published widely In journals and presented papers at conferences in Africa, Europe, South America, Asia and Australasia.