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My daughter Rachel is sitting silently ten feet away from me, stroking our cat. It's a hot summer day and nearby her siblings are all splashing in our new pool. Why isn't my 11-year-old with them? Because she suffers from clinical depression, and she isn't having one of her better days.
I first noticed Rachel's symptoms when she was 6. She started clinging to me more than usual, crying at the smallest provocation, eating less and having nightmares. She seemed anxious. After several weeks, the situation seemed to resolve on its own, but, having been through depression several times myself, I was on the watch for other signs.
Symptoms showed up again two years later, at the end of a long winter. Rachel, by then a third-grader, started telling me that everybody picked on her (though this didn't actually seem true), and that she wished she had never been born. That last, increasingly frequent comment scared me, but I decided to give her a few weeks to see if it would pass.
It didn't. Her mood became worse and her grades began to slip. I could see that she was suffering terribly. I wanted to hold her and tell her it would be all right. I wanted to vacuum out of her the empty, deceiving emotions that I knew were skewing her reality into despair.
We made an appointment to see the pediatrician, and it was obvious from Rachel's eager anticipation that she hoped someone could help her. Though I wasn't surprised at her diagnosis, I was surprised by how overwhelmed I felt by it. I couldn't think of any other parent grappling with this. And I ached knowing that my little girl had to deal with something so much bigger than she was.
Since that day, I've learned a lot about childhood depression—including the fact that ours is far from the only family affected. If you think you may be seeing the illness in your child, turn the page for what you need to know.
"Depression is no more a result of 'bad parenting' than is diabetes or cancer," says Dr. Fassler. "All are real illnesses that require careful evaluation. The good news is that we can help most children and adolescents."
*Names have been changed.
It's more common than you think
Depression isn't normally an illness that we associate with kids, but it should be, says Robert L. Hendren, D.O., past president of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). The AACAP estimates that as many as one in 20 children and adolescents is depressed. "Another way to think about it is that, on average, at least one child in every classroom will have it," says David Fassler, M.D., co-author of "Help Me, I'm Sad": Recognizing, Treating and Preventing Childhood and Adolescent Depression.
The catch is knowing when a child is more than simply unhappy. "Normal sadness comes and goes and usually clearly relates to an incident," says Dr. Hendren, who is also director of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. "Clinical depression is like a dark cloud hanging over the child, and there's often a pervasive feeling of gloom, irritability and loss of interest."
Since childhood depression isn't on many parents' radar (and sometimes not on doctors', either), it can be easy to miss. Sally Davis's* son Richard* saw counselors from age 6. But, says the Brockville, Ontario, mom, "the psychologists refused to consider depression because they felt that children that young didn't get depressed." As a result, Richard wasn't given that diagnosis until seven long years later.
Being the parent of a depressed child is not easy. As Ann Slater*, a Columbus, OH, mom whose daughter was diagnosed at age 8, puts it, "It's heartbreaking and scary. Like any other serious medical condition, it consumes your time and thoughts as a parent. Then there's the guilt: Maybe I could have done something differently."
Dr. Fassler, who's also a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont, says parents have no reason to blame themselves. "Depression is no more the result of 'bad parenting' than is diabetes or cancer," he says. "All are real illnesses that require careful evaluation and appropriate treatment. The good news is that we can help most children and adolescents."
Depression can run in the family
Studies show that 25 percent of kids who have a parent who has suffered from clinical depression will experience their own episode, says Dr. Fassler. If both Mom and Dad are depressed, the risk increases to around 75 percent. Scientists aren't exactly sure of the reason for this, but one theory posits that these kids have a genetic vulnerability, which is then exacerbated by a stressful environment. That said, keep in mind that genes aren't destiny, even when there's depression in the family: Rachel's siblings, for example, so far seem untouched by the disease.
It's often masked or mimicked by other problems
"Approximately forty percent of children and adolescents with depression also have an anxiety disorder, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and about one in four has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)," says Dr. Fassler. Learning disorders are also common. Experts don't know quite how these relate to each other, but they do know that when there are coexisting conditions, it can be harder to suss out and treat each one: Symptoms can overlap, making the conditions harder to identify, or medication may not be as effective. That's why some mental health professionals suggest that every child diagnosed with depression be evaluated for the other disorders, and vice versa.
Irritability can be a major clue
The biggest difference between symptoms of adults and those of children is that while adults are usually sad and withdrawn, children are easily aggravated and may have irrational outbursts, says Dr. Hendren. "Children might not recognize that they are feeling depressed," he says. "Often, they don't know how to identify this feeling and put it into words."
Kate Coyne*, a mom from South Portland, ME, initially took her daughter, Emma*, then 8, to a psychologist after a teacher said she'd been "uncharacteristically irritable" at school. "I was shocked when the psychologist said she was depressed," says Coyne. "Since Emma wasn't withdrawing or sleeping all the time—symptoms that might have jumped out at me—it never entered my head."
Early diagnosis and treatment is key
MRI studies have shown that prolonged untreated depression can actually change the shape of the brain. It may, for example, shrink the hippocampus, which helps regulate emotions. No surprise, then, that depression can contribute to problems in school, substance abuse and, in the most serious cases, even self-harm and suicide when help is delayed. The bottom line: If you suspect your kid is depressed, get him to the doctor as soon as possible.
"If Richard had been diagnosed properly, we could have been working on giving him his coping strategies when he was six, instead of waiting until he was in the pit of hell at thirteen," says Davis of her son, whose suicidal tendencies, recurrent depressive episodes and serious sleep difficulties are all consistent with untreated depression. "I definitely feel that the amount of time between his first diagnosis and the right diagnosis contributed to the severity of his depression."
The treatments for childhood depression are more complex than for adults
Doctors use the same basic set of tools in ministering to both age groups: everything from lifestyle changes (getting more exercise, eating better) to cognitive behavior therapy, which focuses on developing realistic, practical ways to cope with depression-distorted thoughts and reactions. "In particular, research suggests that many children and adolescents with milder cases respond well to psychotherapy," Dr. Fassler says. However, depending on how severe the depression is and how long it has been going on, medication may be necessary as well.
This was the case for Damon Reinhardt, 9, of Vancouver, WA. "He was never a happy-go-lucky child," says his mother, Melissa Hansen. "You would look at him and he just looked like a sad little boy." But after the death of his father 15 months ago, not long after his parents had split up, things got much worse: He spiraled into a depression so deep that his mother had him spend a week in the hospital. Eventually, his doctors put him on the antidepressant Celexa, and an antipsychotic, Abilify. "The counseling and medications were the best decision I could have made for him, for both of us," says Hansen. "He still has lots of ups and downs, but he can laugh and play now. It's amazing to see how much difference it makes for him."
Of course, most parents have heard of the warning from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about the risk of increased suicidal tendencies in children and adolescents using antidepressants (see "The Controversy Over Kids & Antidepressants," left, for more information on this). Yet it's important to know that all the major medical groups have come out in favor of using them in at least some situations, in conjunction with other treatments. ("Medication alone is rarely a sufficient intervention," Dr. Fassler points out. "It should only be used as one of the components of a comprehensive, individualized treatment plan.")
In Rachel's case, the doctor recommended therapy, coupled with a low dose of Prozac. I was hesitant to put her on medication but ultimately decided that I wanted her to have relief as soon as possible. Today she sees a therapist who specializes in treating children, as well as a pediatric psychiatrist. And it's worked well for us. Her doctor plans to wean her off of medication soon to see how she does. I do worry about what will happen with her depression when she hits adolescence, but I'm glad we've got a handle on it now and that we have an idea of what to expect. Most of all, I'm happy that for every stormy day, there are now dozens when she walks in the sun.
Sarah E. Ludwig is a freelance writer and mom of four living in South Dakota.


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Please read the below post from Joe. In addition to this donation opportunity below, there are currently some auctions listed in this FBTB thread and more are in the works, and more will be announced in the days ahead. Please help out if you can.
Hi all,
We have all seen the devastation that Hurricane Katrina left in New Orleans, and with it the displaced families and children. They all have little or nothing from their homes and have been placed in shelters around the country. Companies and organizations from around the world are assisting in relief efforts, including The LEGO Group.
LEGO employees around the world have been collecting money internally that is being matched dollar for dollar by the Edith and Godtfred Kirk Christiansen Foundation in the name of the Relief Fund and will be given to the Red Cross.
The LEGO Group has invited the adult LEGO community to join this donation matching program. If you're interested in participating, please send your monetary donation to:
LEGO Group
Attn: AFOL Katrina Relief
555 Taylor Road
Enfield, CT 06082
Checks need to be made out to the Red Cross. Check or money order is the preferred method of submission. If you have any questions or concerns, Jake McKee (firstname.lastname@example.com) has offered to address them as quickly as possible.
In addition to the program outlined above, the LEGO Group is working on several other Katrina relief efforts, which Jake has promised more details on soon. In the meantime, we can announce that monetary donations will be collected at the 25 LEGO stores around the United States, with those donations matched by the Christiansen Foundation as well.
Every donation counts, and with the help of the LEGO Group, the community's effort will go farther to helping out relief efforts.
Thank you very much to everyone who can help out.If you can't give through this program, please donate or volunteer in another way. The hurricane victims need you!
Joe Meno

subset: commoncrawl


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Fleas are a problem for cat owners all year round but spring is when they're at their worst. It is important to treat fleas as they can pass-on disease and in some cases course an allergic reaction.
It has been estimated that the average household contains in the region of 20,000 flea eggs at any one time, which will develop into adult fleas in a matter of weeks! Fleas increase numbers so readily, that just 200 fleas will become ten thousand in a matter of six months.
To stop a flea problem becoming an infestation you need to treat your cat and it's surrounding area. So what treatments are available to you?
Off the shelf flea treatments:
The main types of treatment available for the treatment of your cat, spot-on remedies, collars, 'electric shock' combs, sprays and tablets. The type of remedy you use will largely depend on your cat:
One of the easiest methods to use are flea collars. They'll be able to protect your cat for up to four weeks. Even so, some owners are uncomfortable having collars on cats.
Spot-on drops are a very effective treatment, protecting your cat from fleas for up to 5 weeks. Some brands offer two types, one for cats or one for dogs, so make sure you get the right one, as a cat can be overdosed using the dog formula.
Electronic combs is a flea comb that emits a mild electric shock, enough to kill the fleas it comes in contact with, but that is harmless to your pet. The benefit here is that no chemicals are involved, but you will need to be thorough with the comb and it can miss the eggs, so you'll have to keep repeating the process for it to be effective. There is also a slight buzzing noise when it "zaps" a flea that may put off some cats.
Flea sprays are a relatively inexpensive way to treat fleas, but cats need to be over three months of age and be pretty tolerant of the 'hissing' noise. Your cat will also need to be placid enough to sit still while you make sure the job is done thoroughly.
Oral Tablets will kill all the fleas on your pet, but it can be difficult to get your cat to swallow a pill unless your well practiced!


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Arsenal fans are set to have their long awaited dreams realised, with the Gunners just days away from capturing their first signing of the summer for a club record fee.
Gonzalo Higuain was already reported to have agreed personal terms with Arsenal, in a move that would see him become their top earner on a figure believed to be around £130,000-per-week.
talkSPORT have since revealed that only a medical is left to be completed before he would officially become an Arsenal player, after Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez agreed to the £22 million fee.
The 25-year-old will join on a four-year-deal after calling it a day on his Real Madrid career, which has seen him spend much of his time keeping the bench warm.
In 2006 he was thought to possess huge potential, but since joining Madrid he has found it difficult to hold down a regular starting place.
It was only during the 2009/10 season under Manuel Pellegrini, now the Manchester City manager, that Higuain was the first-choice striker. In that campaign he netted a decent 29 goals - out of the 117 goals he scored throughout his seven-year tenure.
Last season Higuain played second fiddle to Karim Benzema more often than not, yet still managed to accumulate 16 goals in 19 league starts - a record that betters most.
Higuain has also established himself as the top scorer in South America's World Cup Qualifiers throughout the last year, with one more goal than Lionel Messi. However, there is a suggestion the teams he has scored against are weaker opponents compared to the teams he will face in the Premier League.
Nonetheless, Arsenal are in need of a marquee signing and a goalscorer is certainly among the priorities this summer.
Higuain's record and goalscoring pedigree is undoubtedly good, with his technical ability making him the perfect fit with the Gunners' footballing ethos.
Furthermore, at £22 million and just 25-years-old, this is good value for money, unlike the January rumours of £14 million for David Villa, a 31-year-old.
Higuain will put an end to the string of under-par strikers that Arsenal currently have in the likes of Olivier Giroud, Marouane Chamakh, and Nicklas Bendtner, all adding to the wage-bill, and could, along as there are another one or two top signings, even push Arsenal up the table, returning them to their place as serious title-contenders.
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DISCLAIMER: This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article. GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.


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Remember when Matt Harvey was cruising and the talk was how great it would be if he got to start in the All-Star Game at Citi Field?
If it seems like a long time ago, that's because it is. Harvey is 5-0, but there's no longer the feeling of invincibility.
Harvey is coming off a four-run, 10-hit outing in which he lasted a pedestrian five innings. Outside that performance last week in Miami, Harvey is still giving the Mets innings, but he and the team have little to show for it as he's had seven no-decisions in his last eight starts, with the Mets losing half those games.
He's still the best the Mets have to offer, but the sense of the game being over when goes to the mound is gone for a variety of reasons, notably a pathetic offense and leaking bullpen. Simply, Harvey can't do it by himself.
Of course, that makes me wonder about Zack Wheeler. The conventional thought process on promoting a stud prospect is the time is right when he starts to dominate, but that hasn't been the case with Wheeler.
In theory, once promoted Wheeler will stay, but last night he didn't make it through five innings for Triple-A Las Vegas. Wheeler has had flashes of what could be, but also shown us what we saw in Mike Pelfrey.
Reportedly, Wheeler is to start next Friday at Citi Field, but you can't like the timing. Why give him a week to sit on the start and get tight? Why not spring it on him and let him go on adrenalin?
Either way could be fine or disastrous, but thinking about it for a week doesn't seem like the best option, especially with how poorly the Mets are playing. As much as Terry Collins warned Wheeler isn't the "savior,'' the team is putting extraordinary pressure on him.
You would hope the Mets would put Wheeler in the best position to succeed, but there appears to be a lot of obstacles, beginning with the timing, and including the anticipation and how badly the team is going.
Is there ever a right time to bring up a prospect? Not really with a struggling franchise because of the lofty expectations. Perhaps Wheeler is ready for all this … I don't know.
However, I wonder about the ramifications if he's not ready. The Mets rushed prospects before with terrible results – Pelfrey and Jenrry Mejia to name a couple – and you'd hate to see it with Wheeler.
Another variable is how well Jeremy Hefner and Dillon Gee have pitched recently. Both have pitched well enough to stay in the rotation. If Jon Niese is physically ready to go Sunday, there doesn't appear to be the need for Wheeler.
It looks as if the Mets are forcing this and that can't be good.
As always, your comments are greatly appreciated and I will attempt to answer them. Please follow me on Twitter @jdelcos


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Students will take part in the expansion of the Girl Scouts' Career Exploration Program (CEP), a three-year, in-school program that aims to broaden the scope of career options available to disadvantaged young girls.
"This program provides girls with a number of important opportunities, including organized and effective empowerment curriculum that includes literacy and social skills, field trips with career readiness focus, and built-in systems to involve students in community service and college skill building," said Sarah Goodman, principal of Hunters Point Community Middle School.
The initiative began when the Girl Scouts made a presentation last spring in an attempt to work with the school. When prospective students and their families were ranking their top three choices when it came to what club they were interested in, the Girl Scouts was among the most popular choices.
"Our school, like Long Island City as a whole, is very diverse and we have targeted this program to the girls we believe will most benefit from this opportunity," said Goodman.
Currently the school only has a 6th grade class, but will add students from 6th to 8th grade within three years. The school expects to have 15 girls participate in each grade, meaning that roughly 45 students will be involved in the Girl Scout program by the 2015-2016 school year.
In addition to the inclusion of CEP at Hunters Point Community Middle School, six other schools are participating in the program in Queens, Bronx and Brooklyn.
"Middle school is a pivotal time for girls when it coms to determining their future education and career prospects," said Barbara Murphy Warrington, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Greater New York. "With CEP expanding, middle school girls in three more schools and two more boroughs will now have the opportunity to experience the full range of careers available to them."


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It's been relegated to the shadows since the media spotlight moved on. But whether the United States follows through on its commitment to rebuild the long-suffering nation has lasting ramifications for the war on terrorism and deserves journalistic scrutiny.
By Lori Robertson Lori Robertson (firstname.lastname@example.com), a former AJR managing editor, is a senior contributing writer for the magazine.
At the end of April, as some were questioning whether Iraq was already making a slow retreat from the news, a Baltimore Sun story began with this question: "Remember Afghanistan? Anybody?"
It was a lead that spoke volumes about the short attention span of the American public, or maybe the White House, or the press. Or was it all of the above?
It was also a popular way to start a piece. Cynthia Tucker, editorial page editor at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, posed the same "remember?" query at the beginning of a column critical of the Bush administration for shifting focus. Further into the piece, Tucker wrote, "Afghanistan is already a distant memory for the news media, for most ordinary Americans and even for foreign-policy hands in the Bush administration."
Instead of "meanwhile, in other news," we may just be witnessing the emergence of a new cliché--introducing reports about Afghanistan by referring to the little attention given to reports about Afghanistan.
On the April 25 "CBS Evening News," Dan Rather read a brief item about two American special-forces soldiers killed in a firefight in that country east of Iraq. His lead-in: "In the all-but-forgotten war in Afghanistan..." And "CBS Morning News" anchor Susan McGinnis warned on March 31, "Lest anyone forget, there is another war going on, this one in Afghanistan."
It was as recently as late February that Afghan President Hamid Karzai (at least we all remember him) came to Washington to deliver the message "Don't forget Afghanistan." Oh Mr. Karzai, your country has certainly become a back-burner issue. And it's up to a small number of media organizations to keep the flame alive.
As is to be expected, coverage has declined since October 2001, when the U.S. launched its war against the Taliban. And the story counts and airtime minutes have continued to plummet. In January 2002, the networks' weekday nightly newscasts aired a total of 106 minutes on Afghanistan, according to Andrew Tyndall, who tracks such numbers for the Tyndall Report. This January, the count was down to 11 minutes. In March, it was a mere 60 seconds.
For U.S. newspapers, it's difficult to do a sweeping content study, but a search of Lexis-Nexis stories with a dateline of "Afghanistan" produces some interesting results. From January through the end of April 2002, a search nets a
trove of stories that Lexis-Nexis considers too large to display (at least 1,000). A year later, from January through April 2003, there were 167 stories. (Note: Not all newspapers are available through Lexis-Nexis.)
Of those 167, more than half were published in two newspapers: the New York Times (52) and the Washington Post (37).
Those two papers continue to keep at least one staffer, or in the Times' case a dedicated stringer, in Afghanistan. In early May, a number of major newspapers, including USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, the Baltimore Sun and the Washington Times, no longer had anyone there. USA Today said it expects to send someone back soon, and the Journal is using two freelancers in Pakistan for its coverage. In the case of television, ABC, CBS and Fox News didn't have reporters in Afghanistan. ABC planned to send a reporter back; CBS was maintaining its house and a producer in Kabul; Fox reporters travel in and out. CNN is the only TV network with a team in Afghanistan; it also has a bureau in Pakistan.
On the cable news channels, the word "Afghanistan" is mentioned almost every day, usually in talk-show conversations that include "unlike in Afghanistan..." or "just as we saw in Afghanistan." Breaking news--a land mine that blew up a bus, killing 18, or a helicopter crash that killed six--usually gets reported and is repeated throughout the day. But substantive reports that piece these tidbits together to provide context are extremely rare.
We could take a glass-half-full attitude toward the decline: After all, very few news organizations had any kind of presence in Afghanistan prior to September 11, and here we are, a year and eight months later, with some still hanging in. News--even if it's mainly briefs, and those few and far between--is being published and aired. If someone wanted to stay up-to-date, he or she could take the time to search for stories about Karzai and Kabul and what the warlords are up to – such pieces are there for the finding.
But without prominent media coverage, Afghanistan becomes an afterthought. Some journalists say that this is the case with any number of former hotspots--Somalia, Panama, Colombia, Rwanda, Iraq after the first gulf war--countries that quickly faded from the news or hardly made the headlines in the first place. The argument for a different fate for Afghanistan is that this was the first stop in the lengthy war on terrorism, and the United States (with more than 9,000 troops still there) has made a commitment to rebuilding the country. Whether that commitment is fulfilled, and how well Afghanistan is able to recover from 20-plus years of conflict, has long-term ramifications for possible terrorist attacks against the U.S., the spread of Islamic fundamentalism and rage against America, and the stability of the region.
Journalist Roy Gutman, who is working on a book about Afghanistan before September 11, believes this part of the world should remain a journalistic priority. "I think it's incumbent on all of us to develop a worldview that actually fits the world we're living in," he says. "What I'm learning from my own research right now is that South Asia and Central Asia...[is] a region in real transition." With the types of wars and upheavals there, and the fact that the area gave rise to Osama bin Laden, "it seems to me we want to draw the lesson that we want to figure this one out."
There's a responsibility, editors agree, to keep attention on important stories even if the public seems to be losing interest. Says Washington Post Managing Editor Steve Coll: "The media power of television and the Internet to sort of create one big commodity of running news stories...makes it all the more essential to go where other people won't go, can't go.... Afghanistan was one of those places before September 11, and I think it still is."
The criticism of Afghanistan coverage now is that it will barely make a blip on the media's radar unless something big happens (a horrific event or the capture of the elusive bin Laden) or unless the Bush administration broaches the subject.
"I think that news judgments at this moment are affected more than ever before by the agenda that comes out of the White House," says Av Westin, a former ABC News executive. "I don't quite know why." One reason, he says, is that the media don't want to be accused of being unpatriotic.
Even at a news organization that has made a commitment to be there, there's fear that the effort hasn't been good enough. Coll says that though his paper and others have staffed Afghanistan, "the weight of the coverage has been drawn elsewhere." And it's not just the country, it's al Qaeda and Pakistan, rage against America and political Islam. "Afghanistan is a symbol of a larger story in a way," Coll says. As an editor, "I feel frustrated on a lot of days that we are not delivering on that subject.... It may be that the Bush administration has shifted focus.... But I don't think we should be in tandem."
The "all-but-forgotten" Afghanistan was once "the story of a lifetime." That's how reporters described it to AJR's Sherry Ricchiardi in the fall of 2001. Kabul, in fact, was home to a media circus on several occasions.
Pamela Constable is the Washington Post's Kabul correspondent. After 9/11 and particularly after the fall of the Taliban in late 2001 and into early 2002, she says, "it was very, very crowded with lots and lots of journalists." The big hotel in Kabul--the Intercontinental--was booked solid, and camera crews from all over the world were in the streets. The throngs thinned out but came back in June 2002, when the loya jirga met to choose new Afghan leaders. After that, the level of media presence "dropped off again," she says, "and stayed fairly constant but not as crowded for the rest of the year."
Constable left in December 2002 to write a memoir about her experiences covering Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. She'll go back in July, and in the meantime, the Post's Marc Kaufman and April Witt have been filling in. Kaufman, who spent December through March in Afghanistan, says many print and broadcast media organizations had rented houses in Kabul. Most of those houses are empty now. For Kaufman, having less company wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Afghanistan, he says, is "journalistic heaven because there are fascinating stories there and few reporters to report them." He regularly talked to ministers in the Afghan government and Lt. Gen. Daniel K. McNeill, commander of the U.S. troops there. He "generally had access that I think was clearly improved by the fact that there were so few other reporters."
Vanessa Gezari, a freelance reporter on assignment in Kabul for the Chicago Tribune, echoes those comments. "It's actually nice for me, though perhaps problematic for Afghanistan, that there aren't many reporters here at the moment," she writes in an e-mail to AJR. "I don't like pack journalism, and I find that most people, Afghans included, tend to be much more thoughtful and energized about talking when there are fewer journalists around."
Gezari notes that not all reporters agree that it's a wonderful place to be--one American reporter told her it was boring. And these journalists have differing views on whether the shrinking media contingent was to be lamented. Says Kaufman, "I think there are enough reporters that significant problems are going to be reported.... And if it looks like things are going to be really bad, that signal will bring people back."
Gezari is optimistic that that will be the case. But she's still worried about the decline in coverage. "In Afghanistan," she says, "history counts for a lot, and journalists with a past here have amazing access and depth."
At the St. Petersburg Times, there's proof that having a reporter on the scene translates into stories making the paper. Staff writer Chuck Murphy spent three weeks in Afghanistan in late March and early April. Of the six traditional news stories he filed, four ran on the front page. At a time when everyone was concentrating on Iraq, how exactly did a trip to Afghanistan come about?
"I nagged," says Murphy.
When the Times learned how many embedded reporters it could have in Iraq, editors asked Murphy if he'd like to go. He says he responded, "To tell you the truth again, I'd rather go to Afghanistan. I don't think as many newspapers are there, and I think we can do something different." His editors were ultimately sold, he says, when he got an e-mail from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, saying there were only two reporters there, from the Associated Press and Reuters, and that Reuters was leaving soon.
"I have to tell you it was a little bit of an extraordinary experience as a reporter in that I was welcomed just about everywhere I went," Murphy says. "U.S. troops were glad to see me.... There's no question they were feeling unloved."
Murphy's stories--about what troops are doing in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, operations to win over Afghan support for the new government, the bread-making business Afghan men have undertaken near a U.S. base--would sometimes hold for a few days, waiting for a lull in the action in Iraq. But he says he wasn't frustrated by that. What he is frustrated by is the dependence on a few to cover news for many.
"The more people who are there, the more likely their newspapers are to put [stories] on the front page, and the more likely people are to get a range of viewpoints," he says. "Is the U.S. making progress? Are they not?" Answers to those questions are more likely to come out if the press corps is augmented. "When you're counting on the three or four big news outlets to do all the work around the world--they're wonderful--but when you're counting on them to cover the entire planet while you worry only about city council or the state legislature, it's a dilution of voices, and I think ultimately the readers aren't being served as well."
The Christian Science Monitor is another newspaper that has made a commitment to staffing Afghanistan. Scott Baldauf, based in New Delhi, has been there most often, and other reporters in the region have been rotated in and out. While the Monitor didn't have as many recent Afghanistan datelines as the Washington Post (it had 17), the paper has carried some of the longest stories--say 2,500 words on how the United Nations' efforts in Afghanistan could provide a model for what the U.N. does in Iraq--and it ran an April 28 story by Baldauf about an al Qaeda spy ring on page one.
Monitor Editor Paul Van Slambrouck says all the media energy was sucked into Iraq. In his paper Afghanistan coverage was usually back-of-the-book. With Iraq winding down, he says, "now will be a truer test of how we prioritize those two stories."
Van Slambrouck is one of the few people interviewed for this story who doesn't accept that readers have lost interest in what happens in Afghanistan. "There's a readership out there that is strongly interested in the coverage that we're providing," he says. "I don't feel that we are bucking against a readership trend." People still understand how foreign stories affect them. The Monitor, Van Slambrouck says, has maintained a presence in the region for a long time, and that pays off. "You can't dip in and out," he says. "You lose track of the story.... I don't know if there'll be a timeline that will be clear to readers" if we don't cover it.
There is, however, that little matter of money. Not all news organizations feel they can afford to keep staffers overseas, and those that can sometimes need to make hard decisions about which areas of the world are more vital at the moment. While coverage of Afghanistan had declined well before the buildup to Iraq, the war there pulled a number of other journalists out.
Says David C. Scott, the Monitor's international news editor: "We, like other organizations, threw a lot of resources at [Iraq]. But at the same time for me...I didn't feel like we could leave [Afghanistan] uncovered." The paper took staffers from other places (Africa was one) and sent them to Iraq, but Baldauf stayed in Kabul.
In early May it had been several months since USA Today had a reporter in Afghanistan. World Editor Elisa Tinsley says the paper still has an interest in what happens in the country, but "it's just a matter of when and where resources are available." Other events, in addition to the war in Iraq, she says, had affected where reporters were assigned. USA Today has an office in Afghanistan, and Tinsley said a reporter would be going back in the next month.
"I can see how the news sort of bubbles" and "moves in different directions," she says. "That's not to say that...it isn't still on our radar." The paper uses the wires--many credit the Associated Press' Kathy Gannon, based in Islamabad, Pakistan, with providing excellent coverage of the region – when news warrants, Tinsley says.
Resources have also affected the Wall Street Journal's coverage. "I think the problem for us has been the bad economy, because it's meant we've had to be very selective in terms of newsprint space and in terms of reporters," says Foreign News Editor Lora Western. "I'm sure you could continue to do fascinating stories from Afghanistan, but we were looking for what are the biggest issues now that are in flux that could affect where world issues go from here. Afghanistan seems [to be] fairly on the same course." Western adds that the Journal's focus is business news and the paper emphasizes analysis more heavily than breaking political news.
There also were special circumstances at the Journal. In early 2002, the paper pulled all of its reporters out of Afghanistan and Pakistan, mainly because one of its staffers, Daniel Pearl, was kidnapped in Pakistan and killed. Also, two reporters in Kabul had come across an al Qaeda computer, and they left the country to research and write about that.
Western says the paper has gone back to its pre-9/11 arrangement: no full-time staff in Afghanistan or Pakistan. The Journal uses two freelancers based in Pakistan.
CBS News' Moscow correspondent, Elizabeth Palmer, has spent a lot of time reporting from Afghanistan since September 11. In fact, Palmer was there during the bulk of the most intense action in Iraq. But in early April, she went to Baghdad. CBS News spokeswoman Sandy Genelius says the network doesn't know if Palmer or another reporter will go back anytime soon. (Palmer says she stays in touch with a producer who is still there.)
One of the problems with covering Afghanistan, Palmer says, is that it's no longer a fast-breaking news story. Network television, with its very limited newshole, is dedicated to what's hot at the moment. "The fact is these little incremental changes don't warrant people keeping full crews there anymore."
John Schidlovsky, director of the Pew International Journalism Program, says he can't blame the news media entirely for not paying as much attention to Afghanistan, or even Iraq, once the fighting is over. "They've spent so much money covering the hot phase of the war," he says, "many can't afford to stay on for the perhaps less exciting, but perhaps more important, coverage of what happens after the shooting stops."
As far as the public's short attention span, Schidlovsky says it's a vicious circle. "The public has a perception that the war is over, and then the media begin to take correspondents away and that fuels the public's perception that the war is over and so on."
Bronwyn Lance Chester, editorial writer and opinion columnist at the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, has written about the importance of not forgetting Afghanistan. She, for one, doesn't accept the resources-had-to-go-to-Iraq argument. "Is that fair?" she asks. "Look at how many reporters were embedded in Iraq.... Every cable network from the quilting channel to MSNBC had somebody embedded over there.... If we can spare the resources to report on one thing, can't we also spare the few resources [it would take] to report on Afghanistan as well?"
Lately, her newspaper hasn't published much on that other war either. "I think a lot of folks are guilty of it," she says of the shift in emphasis. "As the newspaper that covers the largest military concentration in the country, [it's] obvious why we would focus more on Iraq." But, Lance Chester adds, "My neighbor across the street just left yesterday for Afghanistan."
There is the desire, if not the ability, on the part of some editors to do more. Philadelphia Inquirer Foreign Editor Ned Warwick "can't wait" to send someone back to Afghanistan. Andrew Maykuth, the paper's former Johannesburg correspondent who is now on a Knight Fellowship, provided dispatches from Afghanistan in the fall of 2001. He returns to the paper this summer. "I would give anything to send him back over," Warwick says. "As we look away and get preoccupied by the Middle East, we do it at our peril."
Not having someone there clearly affects what goes into the paper or the newscast. Since the St. Petersburg Times' Murphy has returned, he says he doesn't think there is a commitment to playing news from Afghanistan more prominently at his paper. "I wish I could say otherwise," he says. In late April, two American soldiers were killed in a firefight with rebels, and the Times, and other outlets, ran a brief about it. Murphy says he searched the newspaper for days afterward looking for their names, but came up empty. "It sounds like a small thing in a country where there are murders every day," Murphy says. "But U.S. troops died in combat and their names didn't make the paper.... And I think that's happened a lot from Afghanistan."
Poor little Afghanistan has a hard time competing for space. ABC News Senior Vice President Paul Slavin predicts that reports from the country will make a comeback now that the activity in Iraq is less intense. His network, which had its Beijing correspondent traveling in and out of Afghanistan in April, is talking about when it can send someone back in. But there's an additional problem. Slavin says the storyline in Afghanistan and Iraq is similar: nation building. And if you only have time for one or the other in the nightly newscast, Iraq is going to win. "Nation building in Iraq," Slavin says, "is more dynamic because it's newer."
There isn't a lot of breaking news in Afghanistan these days, but when there is, there are mentions, however short, in at least some of the news media. And you'll hear the tidbits repeated a few times throughout the day on the cable news channels. Most of the newspaper stories from this year were spot news stories--U.S. forces involved in the largest battle in nearly a year against Afghan guerrillas, a Red Cross worker dragged out of his car and executed by suspected Taliban gunmen, a taxi laden with explosives that blew up in an apparent botched terrorist attack, killing the driver and three others. All important news, but giving readers bits and pieces back on page A20 doesn't help them understand what's happening in the country.
More thorough reports crop up here and there. For instance, CNN's Karl Penhaul appeared on the network nine times this year from Afghanistan (up until March 17; by then he was in Iraq). Of those taped and live segments, six were spot news reports, two were features on aspects of life in Afghanistan, and the most substantive piece, an overall look at what's going on in Afghanistan and how it's tied to challenges in Iraq, aired on CNN International but not CNN in this country.
MSNBC's correspondent in Kabul, Marina Fazel, had four reports air this year, prior to February 28. Three were breaking news and one was an interview with her by anchor Keith Olbermann on current issues in Afghanistan. Fox News' Geraldo Rivera swept through the country on his way to Iraq, appearing in a number of segments from March 9 through March 21.
Roy Gutman says he hopes to see more big-picture stories, the ones that require some digging. "Iraq was more than a distraction, it was a major event," he says, "so the real test is whether people go back [to Afghanistan].... And it may take a different kind of coverage than the sexy bang-bang of the last month." It takes sophistication, he says. "The American media is fully capable of doing this.... And the American public is capable of reading this. But that's not to say it's going to happen, because I think on the whole editors underestimate the intelligence of their readers."
Most editors would disagree with that statement. But there is a limit on space, even in the large papers. Something in-depth that doesn't have a sense of urgency, or slice-of-life-in-Afghanistan pieces, might hold for a while.
Pamela Constable of the Washington Post says she's not worried that it'll be difficult to get big news in the paper once she goes back to Afghanistan this summer. It's the smaller stuff--"when you've written some long feature about some aspect about life in some country that could be in the paper the next week or the next month"--that's problematic. Those features will get in, she says, but she expects it will take longer.
Says Gezari: "I'm convinced that what's happening in Afghanistan now is just as important in the long run, if not more so, than what was happening a year or 18 months ago, so I don't feel that the story is in any way over.... This is a society rebuilding itself, and I think the stories we choose to tell about developing countries--especially about a place as extraordinary as Afghanistan, and one with as many links to the U.S.--are really significant, both for people here and for readers in America."
But for television, it's becoming a check-back-in-and-see story. "I think Afghanistan is one of the most televisual places on the earth," says CBS' Elizabeth Palmer. But "it all comes back to the fact that you can't go there to film daily news."
Her last substantial segment, about the problems of nation building and security in Afghanistan, went to "Sunday Morning," not the evening newscast. "This is a dilemma we all face all the time in the business. When a story is still passionately interesting...and yet doesn't generate daily news...how do you keep it in the spotlight?" Palmer asks. There are hundreds of stories like that, she says, though Afghanistan is in a special category. "I don't know the answer to that. It's something that we all fight with all the time, every day."
Stories that are percolating rather than boiling over, Palmer says, resonate most deeply with viewers who are keeping up with them. Those stories more often appear in venues geared for such viewers. For instance, CBS' "60 Minutes." The show led its May 4 program with a piece by Lesley Stahl that took a hard look at U.S. efforts to get the country on its feet.
Does the nature of the story mean we're not going to see much Afghanistan on television apart from segments on the newsmagazines? ABC's Paul Slavin doesn't think so. Despite the overall dearth of coverage on the evening newscasts, ABC aired six segments in a "Back to Afghanistan" series in February and March.
But Slavin says Afghanistan is particularly difficult for television, because it requires sending a minimum of four people "to do a good job," and the country is hard to travel in since it's not completely secure. "It's easier to travel around in Iraq right now than Afghanistan," he says.
Once again, Iraq wins.
In smaller papers, finding coverage of Afghanistan when the Bush administration isn't talking about it is close to impossible. "International news in U.S. newspapers, outside of the papers of record, will follow the White House, and the White House has shifted the focus," says Edward L. Seaton, editor in chief of Kansas' Manhattan Mercury.
Seaton says the amount of coverage the public sees will depend on what the U.S. government does. "If the U.S. abandons it, then it's a lot less likely to be getting into the paper until there is an explosion of some kind," he says. "But as long as the likes of [Defense Secretary] Don Rumsfeld drop in there occasionally," stories will make the papers.
Seaton has been on a crusade for the past five years--ever since he was president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors--to get editors to run more foreign news. He has talked about trying to find a local connection. Virginia's Roanoke Times found such a link in an A1 story in April with this telling headline: "Lack of Coverage Doesn't Bother Parents of 'Forgotten War' Soldier."
In Manhattan, Kansas, there's a business school dean at a local university who is Afghan, and he's been speaking about his country, warning that if it's abandoned, it will breed terrorists once again. Seaton's paper has worked Afghanistan into its pages by covering the dean.
The fact that there was sporadic coverage of Afghanistan even before Rumsfeld's visit in early May shows that not all news organizations are simply following the White House. But in the absence of White House attention, Afghanistan doesn't get a prominent position in the newshole. It becomes a reporter-driven story--it's up to those who have made long-term commitments to stay to do all the digging.
"It's not as if [newspapers are] walking away from it or running away from it," Gutman says. "But what it takes...is tenacity, it takes patience, it takes concentration over a period of years. This region really deserves it, and I hope it's going to get it. I'm quite convinced that in the period before September 11 it didn't get it."


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Protest rally at suspected German NSA site
BERLIN (AP) — German police say several hundred people staged a protest at a suspected U.S. surveillance facility near Frankfurt.
Protesters held up fake cameras in what they described as a bid to "spy" on the heavily secured military complex allegedly housing a snooping facility of the National Security Agency.
One protester wore a helmet bearing the phrase "democracy is watching you."
Police spokeswoman Andrea Loeb said some 450 protesters turned out for the rally Saturday at the U.S. military's so-called Dagger Complex on the outskirts of Griesheim town.
Allegations by leaker Edward Snowden about the NSA's wide-ranging spying activities targeting data and phone communication worldwide have caused concern in Germany, where protecting personal data is an especially sensitive topic.


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Learning to brush their own teeth is a lesson all children must master. Although parents ultimately may have children who become proficient at brushing their own teeth, getting them to floss is generally more difficult.
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 41 percent of children aged 2 to 11 had tooth decay in their first teeth. Dental caries are common among children, likely because they have not become proficient at taking care of their teeth.
Soft, sticky foods are commonplace in young kids' diets, and these can promote decay. Even well-intentioned gummy vitamins can be sources of dental decay. Oftentimes, these foods become lodged between the teeth or on the surface of molars. If left in contact with the teeth for too long, food particles become a source of carbohydrates for oral bacteria, and cavities may appear as a result.
To remove food particles from between the teeth, children must floss, advises the American Academy of Pediatric Dentists. It is recommended that parents help their children to floss as soon as two teeth are touching and continue to do so until the child is around the age of 8, when a child should have enough dexterity to do it on his or her own.
Flossing is essential to making sure children do not experience cavities at an early age, and it can establish practices that promote oral health throughout life. Despite being so important, many parents fail to encourage flossing or are at a loss as to how to make it enjoyable and effective.
Although regular dental floss is one of the first tools for flossing, the dexterity required to wind the floss around little fingers and then thoroughly clean the teeth may discourage children. Parents can look into the wide array of flossing helpers available at the store. In fact, many age-appropriate flossers are now available that feature fun designs and smaller profiles to fit into kids' mouths more easily. Flossers may be attached to a handle to make back teeth more accessible and promote more effective flossing. Manufacturers such as DenTek, Butler GUM, Plackers Kids, Dr. Fresh, Oral-B, and Brush Buddies offer children's flossers.
Kids who shy away from flossing may be more likely to use a children's water flosser. In lieu of string floss, a water flosser uses a pressurized stream of water to dislodge food from between teeth. Although a water flosser may be more messy, children may enjoy the opportunity to "play" with water and the cleaning sensation provided.
To prevent the buildup of plaque and the development of dental caries, parents should educate children about proper flossing techniques.


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Brevard officials have begun studying the possibility of tapping into a new water source and building another water treatment plant down the road should the city experience significant future growth.
Brevard officials have begun studying the possibility of tapping into a new water source and building another water treatment plant down the road should the city experience significant future growth.
The city currently serves its 1-million-gallon-a-day water demands from an intake and 32-year-old treatment plant on Cathey's Creek, southwest of town between Brevard and Rosman, with a daily capacity of 2.5 million gallons.
That kind of volume would fall way short of the possible 5 million gallons needed if Brevard were to see build-out growth within its current geographical boundaries and land-use ordinance, according to city officials.
"We've got a water plant that we need to tend to as far as doing some maintenance work on it anyway; we also have a watershed that's limited in the amount of water that it can provide," City Manager Joe Moore said.
While the Cathey's Creek plant "has always made good, finished water and still does and will continue to do so," City Engineer Jay Johnston said, last month the city began a renovation project there to "restore and revitalize its usefulness," prompting city staff to begin looking toward the future.
"Which," Moore said, "is about not only what kind of industry that we're trying to attract, but what kind of city are we going to become? So, since we have to tend to some water issues anyway, let's have this discussion related to a comprehensive plan."
While still in the "very earliest of the planning stages," Johnston said he and his staff have begun compiling their own data to determine a possible future water intake location, and are using a spot at the confluence of the Davidson and French Broad rivers to calculate available water flow.
Johnston said a water treatment plant would not necessarily have to be in the same place as an intake location, and that consideration for a plant site "has not yet been pondered."
"That's something that would more naturally come when we're doing a feasibility analysis," said Johnston, who added that such a process would be the next logical step once his data is gathered.
Johnston said city staff presented their plan to Brevard City Council during a work session last month, and that the council indicated its support to move forward. The issue is expected to be formally addressed during an upcoming council meeting sometime in early 2013, city officials say.
Brevard City Councilman Wes Dickson said he is "fully engaged" in the process and supports the project, and believes the council as a whole does as well.
"We gave them direction to look into the feasibility study because it is something on the horizon that we need to be aware of," Dickson said. "And to make sure that we're planning ahead and that we react properly and not just reacting out of necessity, giving everybody ample time and ourselves ample time to make informed decisions."
Officials agree a feasibility study and possible subsequent construction of a water intake and treatment operation would be lengthy and expensive, but Moore said it's important to consider future growth as people and businesses continue to discover the quality-of-life benefits the area provides in contemplating relocation.
Colorado-based Oskar Blues Brewery, which is expected to launch its new East Coast expansion facility in Brevard this week, is a great example. While the company's water demands itself wasn't reason to begin looking at the city's future water needs, Johnston said, its choosing of Brevard to set up shop could be a sign of things to come.
"So," Johnston said, "we look at Oskar Blues as just an indication of what could be, so a city must plan for what it will do if it needs to, and it certainly appears based on the metrics that we have run that we could very well need more water than we can get from Cathey's Creek, or produce with our Cathey's Creek water plant."
Said Dickson, "We just want to make sure we're providing what our community needs. I'm not saying I want to explode our community (population), but if it ever came to it where people did want to come to town, I don't want to restrict it because we don't have water. I don't want it to be a limiting resource."


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Tuesday, September 25, 2012
The Civil War (website) - Tuesday's Tip
The Civil War website says of itself, "the WEB's most extensive source of original Civil War resources. This site has over 7,000 pages of original Civil War content, and is full of incredible photographs, original illustrations, and eye-witness accounts of the defining moments of this Historic Struggle." If you have ancestors who served in the war, this may be a helpful site for you to learn more about their experiences. You won't find genealogical information but you may be able to find meat to put on the bare bones of dates and places.
In an earlier post I introduced you to the Civil War issues of Harper's Weekly at The Civil War. Now, let's look beyond the magazines to see what else is available. Go to the site and look at the left sidebar. Ignore the ads at the top and look below where you'll see a list of links to topics: Civil War, Civil War Overview, Civil War Battles, Confederate Generals, Union Generals, Confederate History, Robert E. Lee, Civil War Medicine, Lincoln Assassination, Slavery, etc. (There are also individual links to each year of the Civil War which will take you to issues of Harper's Weekly for that year)
Civil War Battles you'll be taken to a page that looks like the one to the right. Click on one of the battle images and you'll go to a page which gives details of the battle, the movements of the troops, and the actions of the soldiers and generals, along with images in photos and/or drawings. There are multiple links on each page.
Click on Confederate Generals or Union Generals and you'll be taken to a page with photos of generals. Click on one of them and you'll see photographs and be able to read a biography.
The links in the sidebar may change depending on the subject of the page. For instance, when you click on Slavery you'll see another dozen options including Slavery History, Slave Photographs, Slave Pictures, Slave Maps, etc. At each of the links you'll learn more about the topic.
Civil War Medicine because of my great-grandfather's Civil War Pension File. It gives a good overview of the conditions of patients, a link to the report of the sanitary commission, and information about amputation, including a photograph of an original amputation kit.
At the main page, scroll down a little lower on the left sidebar and you'll see links to other wars and to Civil War artists Winslow Homer and Thomas Nast, and photographer Mathew Brady. Read their biographies and see some of their art.
This website is very large with many individual pages. I think it's a good site for both general and specific Civil War information. (But don't be put off by the ads. Without the ads I suspect we'd have to pay to use the site.) Explore and see if you find helpful information.
13 comments:
Nancy, I will definitely be checking out this web site! Thanks for the tip!ReplyDelete
Have bookmarked the site. Thanks so much for the tip!ReplyDelete
Thanks Nancy, I will be spending a lot of time at this site.ReplyDelete
Thank you Nancy! What an amazing website on the Civil War. I have many ancestors from Georgia who served including my Great Grandfather who's service history has been well documented by family and service records. I know I will read and read at this website.ReplyDelete
CollectInTexas Gal
I found your blog via Shelley at A Sense of Family. Thanks for the Civil War site. Such an awesome resource!
I have Holmes ancestors from Tuscarawas County. Rebecca Holmes Williams, her father William Holmes, his father Obadiah Holmes and so on. Rebecca is my g-g-grandmother. They came to Allen County, Oh in the mid 1860s from Tuscarawas County. Any chance our families cross branches?
Cindy Freed genealogycircle.comReplies
Hi, Cindy. You're welcome. I hope you enjoy the Civil War website. With all the links it seems like an almost endless resource.Delete
Our Holmes families probably cross somewhere but I'm not sure where. My g-g-g-grandmother was Susan/Susanna Holmes (who married William Bickerstaff in 1830 in Tuscarawas Co.). Susan's g-grandfather was Obadiah Holmes but I think that's further back than your Rebecca, William, and Obadiah Holmes. I think I have to come forward and laterally to find your Holmes family. I've gathered some of the family myself but a distant cousin sent 50 pages of descendants of Robert Hulme Holmes (b. 1553!). I haven't adopted these ancestors as mine yet until I do some more research. In the kinship list I see Rebecca, William, and Obadiah Holmes but I'm not sure they're the same individuals who are your ancestors. It seems likely the lines cross somewhere based on family names and location.
I enjoyed your bio/interview on Geneabloggers a few weeks ago.
Wow, this looks like a great website, Nancy! I've never heard of it before, so thanks for telling us about it. I'll have to take some time to explore it.ReplyDelete
Nancy, just wanted you to know this post is listed on today's Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2012/09/follow-fridayfab-finds-for-september-28.htmlReplyDelete
Thank you so much!ReplyDelete
I appreciate your comments and look forward to reading what you have to say. Thanks for stopping by.


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EDUCATION SUBCOMMITTEE B Education Audit & Fiscal Issues Senator Gregory A. Tucker & Delegate David G. Perry
1. Call to order/roll call.
2. Assigned Subcommittee Study Topics (Staff).
● House Concurrent Resolution No. 135 (SCR98), Requesting the Joint Committee on Government and Finance to study the Education Efficiency Audit of West Virginia's Primary and Secondary Education System.
● Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 57, Requesting Joint Committee on Government and Finance study state's cooperative purchasing process.
● Senate Bill 371, Providing school system under declared state of emergency participate as collaborative innovation zone.
3. Overview of Forums in Education: Service-delivery in West Virginia; eight public forums being conducted throughout the state by Vision Shared, Inc., to gather input on the Governor's Education Efficiency Audit of West Virginia's Primary and Secondary Education System.
- Rebecca McPhail Randolph, President/CEO, Vision Shared Inc. 4. Other business.
5. Adjourn.


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Put the name of Quebec billionaire Guy Laliberté, the mercurial founder of Cirque du Soleil, into YouTube, and the first result isn't circus-related but a six-and-a-half-minute clip from a high-stakes game of Texas Hold 'em.
A few minutes in, Laliberté has poker pro David Benyamine up against a wall. Benyamine is all-in with an extremely weak hand, and Laliberté has a 2:1 chance to win and walk away with $600,000 of Benyamine's money. All he has to do is let the hand play out. But Laliberté, worth $2.5 billion, is feeling charitable. Perhaps it's because the money would increase his net worth by just one tenthousandth of one percent, or maybe it's because Benyamine is French.
"I know this is a lot of money for you," Laliberté says in his slight French-Canadian accent as he waves his hand dismissively. "It's more important [for you], that pot, than it is for me.
"I know I'm very favorite, so I'll make you a deal. I'll take the middle [pot, maybe $100,000] and forget it."
It's an incredibly unorthodox move by Laliberté, completely out of left field and completely unnecessary, and it's extremely generous. There's no crying in poker, after all. Benyamine, who had the trembling look of a guy about to be executed, instantly takes the deal. Instead of potentially losing $600,000, he loses $50,000.
Laliberté doesn't play by any rulebook, be it in poker or in the performing arts. He loves to travel. He spent $35 million to visit space.
Cirque du Soleil, his life's work, is far from conventional; he has taken the traditional circus, pumped it with steroids and mescaline, and created a billion-dollar company. When he plays poker, you get the feeling it's not about the money, it's about play, about the challenge, maybe even having fun. And what kind of jerk lets a little thing like half a million dollars ruin a good time?
Laliberte's company employs 5,000 people, including more than 1,300 artists. Two thousand of them work at the beating heart of Cirque du Soleil's global, extremely profitable operation, the company's 118,000-square-foot headquarters in Montreal. It's where, in addition to the expected corporate duties, top brass create new shows, train performers, make costumes, mold athletes into artists and more. The building is also home to a massive costume workshop, where Cirque employs artisans and fashion designers to make the elaborate costumes, headpieces, shoes and wigs that make the Cirque shows so visually appealing.
I got a chance to see the headquarters up close and personal after Cirque du Soleil invited me to see Dralion, coming to the 1stBank Center in Broomfield Feb. 8-12, in Montreal. They flew me out to Canada, set me up in a hotel downtown and gave me a tour of the headquarters and costume workshop. I got a rare glimpse at a side of Cirque du Soleil most never get to see — the unsung workers who keep the costumes shiny and clean, the artisans who make them, and the studios where the acrobats and performers perfect their craft.
The training process for new Cirque du Soleil performers lasts at least 16 weeks. About half of all performers come from an athletic background, so Cirque puts them through a training program designed to help them transition from athlete to athletic performance artist. (See Jan. 26 story "Inside the heads of circus performers.") "We give them tools to develop their artistic potential," says Cirque du Soleil's corporate PR manager, Chantal Côté. "We will not give them all the answers. They will have to find them, learn to cope with ambiguity, which is not an easy thing to do."
"When you are competing, you just com pete.
You have to do your routine, and that's it," says 36-year-old Alejandro Cuenca, a Barcelona, Spain, native who was competing in international trampoline competitions before joining Dralion. "When you're a performer, you don't only have to do your skills, you have to perform. You have to do some choreography, to do movements, to do makeup. To be in character, it's absolutely different. It's a different world."
Cirque du Soleil doesn't employ makeup artists as part of the touring shows; rather, each artist applies his or her makeup individually. Simple makeup designs take up to an hour to apply, and the more complex ones can take even longer — some of the performers on Dralion, says show publicist Julie Desmarais, have seven layers of colors to apply around their eyes alone. Learning how to apply makeup is a complex process that takes a couple of training sessions, but it explains why, as you walk around Cirque's headquarters, you might pass by a woman wearing gym clothes and elaborate silver and red makeup.
All the costumes for all 22 Cirque shows are designed and produced by hand at the Montreal headquarters. The average life for a Cirque do Soleil show is 12 to 15 years, and that creates problems when designing costumes. You can't just buy a decade's worth of cloth at one time; it'd be impossible to store. And that's just for one costume, not thousands. So Cirque solved that problem by doing everything in-house, from silk-screening to bath-dyeing to painting directly on the fabric.
"Let's say we see a nice blue on the market somewhere," Côté explains. "In order to have enough blue to last the show for the next 15 years, we would need to buy rolls and rolls and rolls of this, since next year fashion would make it unavailable for us.
"So we buy it white, and we'll just dye it and print it as needed."
The supply area for the costume workshop is impressive, with shelves filled with hundreds of rolls of brightly colored fabrics. Tall shelves filled with zippers, sequins, straps, buttons and more stretch as far as the eye can see. One section contains dozens of gallon-sized jugs of different colors of glitter.
Every costume has a production "bible" that specifies how much red, yellow or green the workers need to produce a specific color.
To make the process even easier, the bible also includes the measurements of the performer that the costume needs to fit. Cirque takes very exact measurements when the performers come to Montreal to train, down to a 3-D model of the performer's head. This allows the costume workers in Montreal to tailor each costume in Montreal, which minimizes the time the show's wardrobe supervisors have to meddle with the costume once it gets shipped out to the performer on tour.
All the shoes worn by performers are made in Montreal as well. The shoe workshop is a busy, cluttered place filled with beastly looking industrial sewing machines and work tables. On one wall sits dozens of different-sized shoe molds that the shoemakers use to create shoes entirely from scratch. In other cases, athletic shoes or ballet shoes are painted or dyed to fit the specific needs of the costumes.
On average, the workers produce nearly 3,000 pairs of shoes each year.
Creating a show, designing the costumes, making the shoes, and training the performers is just the first step. The next step is sending the show out on the road.
Dralion premiered in Montreal in 1999.
The show blends Chinese circus arts with Cirque du Soleil presentation, and it was recently adapted to tour small arenas. It takes 18 53-foot semis to transport the show's elaborate set and wardrobe, and 24 full-time crew members manage everything during the show. At each stop on the tour, 75 to 100 local volunteers help set up and tear down the show, and with all that help, it only takes a few hours.
"In some places, the little things don't count, but for us it's very important. Just maintaining that is very important. … Our job is to make sure the artists feel 100 percent secure and comfortable," says Mike Newnum, the interim production manager.
That means doing everything from checking each light bulb before the show to regulating the temperature backstage. There are literally thousands of pounds of rigging that must be hung from the rafters of each arena. Technicians must oversee all the moving parts in the show, anything that's automated. All the sound systems must be checked. It's a massive operation.
"Every city we go to, before we ever do a show before the audience, almost every act goes on stage," Newnum says. "Our artists have hardcore work ethics. We want to make sure they're not questioning what they're doing, because what they do is pretty crazy. So we want them to make sure that when they're on that stage, even if it's a new arena, they know where the suite lights are, they know where the exit lights are, so when they're spinning around and doing all the things that they do, they have those reference points and they know what to ignore. And we'll do that every week."
The wardrobe alone takes up one and a half semis. Melody Wood, a Londoner, supervises all the wardrobe operations, which includes setting up six washing machines and two dryers and a number of fans to speed the air-drying process.
"As a rule, if they wear it, whether it be their face or their body, then we take care of it," Wood says.
That includes wardrobe, makeup, shoes, etc. Dralion employs four full-time wardrobe workers with them, who are responsible for putting out any wardrobe-related fires, including sudden rips, tears, alterations and replacements. They carry a whole filing-cabinet-sized drawer full of shoelaces, packets of replacement beads, dozens of different colors of threads and hundreds of spare cases of foundation and creams.
"It's about assisting the artist, whether it's about providing them with makeup, makeup removers, whether the elastic is stretched on the hats," Wood says. "Ultimately it's about preparing. We do a lot of washing, a lot. But that's part of any show because items are being used every day and have to be clean. That's a challenge for us because we change cities every week. Water can be very different from city to city. So sometimes a costume can feel very soft, and sometimes it can feel very stiff."
Cirque's success is in flaunting the rules, taking the unusual and making it extraordinary. Part of Dralion is an incredible act that involves a woman balancing on one or two hands on a small, circular platform raised five or six feet off the ground. With her back to the audience, she curves her torso so that her head is facing the audience, and then slowly brings her feet to her head. It's as if instead of bending forward to touch her toes, she bent backwards.
It's an astounding display of strength and flexibility, but in the United States, it's typically the stuff of NBA halftime shows, where the novelty — the "look, mom, she's super bendy!" factor — is exaggerated, and the poetics of the human potential minimized by the bright lights and popcorn and beer.
But in Cirque du Soleil, the presentation is sublime. And with beautiful handmade costumes, live music, elaborate and enormous sets and gorgeous stage lighting, contortion — or juggling, tumbling, etc. — becomes art.
And it remains art, despite the pomp and bombast and production values that dangle precariously on the edge of cheesiness.
Cirque du Soleil remains true to the spirit of its founder, the fun-seeking visionary who never lets the logistics bog down the pursuit of wonder, whether it's in poker or circus.
Respond: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Sehwag: Who are you?
Superman: Strange! You don't know me? I'm Superman!
Sehwag: No idea what you do but kids know you. Why they call you Superman? Have you scored a 400 in a test?
Superman: I mean....No.
Sehwag: 200 in ODIs?
Superman: Err...No.
Sehwag: So? Have you beaten Navjot Sidhu in a proverb contest? Did you out-cliche Ravi Shastri in presentation ceremony? Do you do more endorsements than Tendulkar?
Superman: Hang on. Well, to start with, I have x-ray vision.
Sehwag: X-ray? Not bad. Why don't you join our support staff? We need a portable x-ray machine anyway. Someone is getting injured every day.
Superman: Man, it's not like that. With it, I can see through.
Sehwag: What? What's wrong with you? Are you a pervert?
Superman: What are you talking, man!
Sehwag: Forget it. What else can you do?
Superman: I save damsels in distress.
Sehwag: Why just damsels? Why not kids and the aged ones? Hero banta hai?
Superman: I mean I help all...
Sehwag: Then why said only damsels? What else you can do?
Superman: I can fly.
Sehwag: Why?
Superman: What do you mean why?
Sehwag: What's the need to fly? What these aeroplanes are for? Hero banta hai?
Superman: Man, you are just impossible. Well, I'm an American cultural icon and I hope you know what I mean when I say that.
Sehwag: Icon? So what? I'm also an IPL icon player. There are several other players whom Lalit Modi made icon. What's the big deal?
Superman: I give up. No point arguing with you. Can't believe someone can be so...good bye.
Sehwag: Good bye. Waise bhaisab, don't mind but you have worn your undie on the outside. No doubt in a hurry.
Superman: No. I wear it like this! This is my style. It's when in hurry that I dress like you guys. Bye.
Sehwag: What? Dufferman.


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Vacation Photographers in Podgorica
Book a Photographer for your Wedding, Proposal or Family Trip. Or just for a great day.
Choose your Photographer in Podgorica
We believe in our service and quality of our photos so much that we decided to offer a 100% money back satisfaction guarantee for your photo shoot.
If you don't like your online gallery once we deliver it, you can contact us within 7 days and claim your money back. Find more details in our Terms.
Your reviews
When you get down on one knee and ask the person you love to spend the rest of their life with you, you'll want to have the moment captured in photographs. Whether it's a surprise proposal or an engagement photo shoot, our vacation photographers will send you home with photos you'll cherish for a lifetime.
There is nothing more romantic than exploring classic cities or exotic locations with the one you love. Traveling is an incredible experience for couples to share, and there is no better way to remember a romantic getaway or an anniversary than by hiring a professional vacation photographer to capture your memories.
Spending time with family is always special, but when you're spending time together on vacation, there is so much more fun to be had and memories to be made. Whether you're planning a simple family holiday or a large family gathering, you'll want a vacation photographer to take photos of all of the fun.
The liberating feeling of traveling in a foreign land on your own cannot be easily replicated. You'll carry the memories of solo travel with you wherever you go, but it's always nice to have a vacation photographer photograph your journey, so you can share your adventure stories with friends and family.
Whether you're having a destination wedding with your family present or eloping, you will need to make sure you don't forget a photographer to capture your special day. With all of our travel photographers spread out across the world, you will be able to head to your favorite city and marry the person you love.
Once your wedding is behind you and you begin your journey as a married couple on your honeymoon, you'll have many incredible experiences together. You'll never want to forget the time you spent on your honeymoon, so you'll want to hire a vacation photographer to capture the memories you'll look back on for many years.
Sometimes, you just need to get away with your friends. All of the memories you make while exploring the world with your friend will create such a special bond. A travel photographer can make sure you return home with many photographs that you will be able to look back on and cherish throughout your friendship.
Before you say "I do", you will want to have a special celebration with all of your friends to commemorate your upcoming wedding. Bachelorette parties (or Hen parties) are the perfect way to do so, and with all the fun you will have exploring a new city, you will want to have a vacation photographer to take several photographs.
Whether you're traveling for a babymoon, Stag Party, reunion, or birthday, you will want to make sure that you hire a vacation photographer, so you can return home from your event with special photos and memories. There are limitless reasons to travel and hire a photographer, so don't miss out on this fun opportunity!


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Doug McElroy, Ph.D. University of Maine
- Professor and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
- Email: email@example.com
- Office: Wetherby Administration Building; 212
- Phone Number: 270-745-7009
- Curriculum Vitae: Curriculum Vitae
I am not teaching courses at this time.
Evolutionary Biology and Genetics, Biostatistics.
My current research focuses on applying evolutionary principles and multivariate statistical methods to examine processes of curricular change and assessment in higher education. Past research interests have addressed questions related to wildlife molecular forensics, morphometrics and conservation of desert fishes, genetics and speciation in African cichlid fishes, and the statistical analysis of population genetic data.
Ph.D. 1992 Zoology, University of Maine
M.S. 1988 Zoology, University of Maine
B.S. Marine Science, Southampton College
Selected Publications
McElroy, D. and R. Cobb. 2010. Demonstrating growth of a student engagement culture: a multivariate approach to assessing institutional goals at a public university. Planning and Changing 41:18-41.
Marcus, J.M., T.M. Hughes, D. McElroy, and R.E. Wyatt. 2010. Engaging first year undergraduates in hands-on research experiences: the Upper Green River Barcode of Life Project. Journal of College Science Teaching 39:39-45.
Doerner, K.C., W. Braden, J. Cork, T. Cunningham, A. Rice, B.J. Furman and D.M. McElroy. 2005. Population genetics of resurgence: white-tailed deer in Kentucky. J. Wildlife Mgmt. 69: 345-355.
Garner, L.M., C. Anderson, D. McElroy and J. Bilotta. 2003. Differences in spectral sensitivity of ERG b- and d-waves in three African cichlid fish species. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 44: 4169.
Douglas, M.E., M.R. Douglas, J.M. Lynch and D.M. McElroy. 2001. Use of geometric morphometrics to differentiate Gila (Cyprinidae) within the upper Colorado River basin. Copeia 2001: 390-401.
Seyoum, S., M.D. Tringali, T.M. Bert, D. McElroy and R. Stokes. 2000. Analysis of genetic population structure in red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus, based on mtDNA control region sequences. Fishery Bull. 98: 127-138.
McElroy, D.M., J.A. Shoemaker and M.E. Douglas. 1997. Discriminating Gila robusta and Gila cypha: risk assessment and the Endangered Species Act. Ecol. Appl. 7: 958-967.
McElroy, D.M. and M.E. Douglas. 1995. Patterns of morphological variation among endangered populations of Gila robusta and G. cypha (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) in the upper Colorado River basin. Copeia 1995: 636-649.
McElroy, D.M. and I. Kornfield. 1993. Novel jaw morphology in hybrids between Pseudotropheus zebra and Labeotropheus fuelleborni (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Malawi, Africa. Copeia 1993: 933-945.
McElroy, D., P. Moran, E. Bermingham and I. Kornfield. 1992. REAP: an integrated environment for the manipulation and phylogenetic analysis of restriction data. J. Hered. 83: 157-158.
McElroy, D.M., I. Kornfield and J. Everett. 1991. Coloration in African cichlids: diversity and its constraints in Lake Malawi endemics. Neth. J. Zool. 41: 250-268.
McElroy, D.M. and I. Kornfield. 1990. Sexual selection, reproductive behavior, and speciation in the mbuna species flock of Lake Malawi (Pisces: Cichlidae). Envir. Biol. Fishes 28: 273-284.
Some of the links on this page may require additional software to view.


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Arizona Ave. until just recently was like many bike lanes, in Southern California there for a while and than disappears before it gets to a destination. Now the last few blocks connecting to Ocean Ave. have been included, bridging an important connection toward having a more complete grid of bike routes. Since these last few blocks have a much higher turn over than the residential area, be on the look out for doors. I always ride on the far left of the bike lane on streets adjacent parking. One new design treatment I like and would love to see a lot more of, is the diagonal street markings to discourage people from driving through when parked cars are not present. On streets like 11th where the bike lane is much wider than necessary and poorly marked, I'd love to see diagonal markings to more visually indicate the extra space is not for driving through.
Arizona also has some more modern signal detection using cameras in a few places like the intersection of Lincoln Blvd., a higher priority street that may not change without a trigger. The camera is calibrated to the spot they place the bike marking, so if you see that, wait there for signal to change. More signal detection work is also on the way to start addressing what has long been a gripe of mine on this blog. This can't come soon enough.
(Photo from Santa Monica press release. I'll be around to shoot my own photos of them soon.)
Originally this post was just going to be on my observations of the new Arizona work, but I also just got word from a city press release, that sharrows have been put in on 14th St. for a few blocks south of Montana Ave. along with routine maintenance. The intention is for these to connect to future plans for a bike lane on 14th St. south of Washington. Santa Monica is a little late to the sharrow party, but better late than never, and this further cements the use of the sharrow as a tool to educate and change road behavior in the Southern California region. Hermosa Beach, Long Beach, Los Angeles and Santa Monica all have sharrows (FAQ) on the ground. I have yet to ride on these new sharrows having just heard about them, but I can't wait to check them out.


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Elekttrolab.ru - Elekttrolab Website Traffic Estimation
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The Server of elekttrolab.ru is powered by the nginx/1.14.1 webserver software and the server is physically located in Russian Federation and uses the IP address 220.127.116.11. At the DMOZ open directory project we found no listing for elekttrolab.ru at this time.
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The [The selected task "{0}" no longer exists…] issue
Good morning AskPerf! Over the past couple of years, our customers have opened Support Cases and created forum posts on the following error when opening Task Scheduler on Windows 7 clients and Windows 2008 R2 Servers: The selected task "{0}" no longer exists. To see the current tasks, click Refresh. After you click OK to… Read more
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Bike Racks on Fairfax Connector Buses
Now it is easier than ever to commute by bike and bus as all of the Fairfax Connector bus fleet has been equipped with bicycle racks. Each bus has been equipped with a front-mounted rack capable of carrying two bicycles. Instructions on how to use the bike racks are available on the Fairfax Connector Web pages. An instructional DVD and brochure have been produced and are available at the Connector Stores .
Remember, there is no cost to bring your bike on board!
What about other transportation systems, can I take my bike on Metrobus, Metrorail or VRE?
All Metro buses are equipped with bicycle racks similar to those mounted on Fairfax Connector buses. There is no additional cost and there are no restrictions. For detailed information see the Bicyclists on Metrorail web page.
Certain restrictions are in place for taking your bike on Metrorail including peak period and loading restrictions. For detailed information see the Bicyclists on Metrorail web page.
The Virginia Railway Express (VRE) now allows bicycles but there are restrictions. For detailed information about using your bike on VRE trains, consult the VRE On-Board Policies web page.
Other Commuting Options
Fairfax County is trying to increase your commuting options. Bicycle racks and lockers are available at most park and ride lots within the county. To find out if they are available near you, visit the Park and Ride page.
Tips for Biking to Work
Hundreds of Fairfax County commuters bike to work every day. It's not uncommon for a commute by bike to exceeded a distance of 20 miles one way. For most, the commute is much shorter. Bicycling is a healthy, clean, economical and fun way to get to work. To get started:
- Lay out a bike-friendly route
- Try a practice run to see how long it takes
- Try biking one day a week to start
- Find co-workers or friends to commute with
If you need help in finding a route, contact your local bicycle club or bike shop, most are more than willing to assist you.
Remember, when sharing the road, make sure you wear high visibility clothing and abide by the motor vehicle laws of the Commonwealth. At night, wear reflective clothing or accessories, use a headlight and taillight and always wear a helmet.


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Professional Event DJ Services
Established in 1992, and inspired by Ritz-Carlton five star service, we put a bride's dreams first. We are unique compared to other wedding DJ's because we are not a cookie cutter Wedding DJ company. We want your wedding to be as unique as you. We are based in Salt Lake City, but very willing to travel.
When FUN and Professional matter! I do everthing from the wedding ceremony through the send off and everything in between!
Public Opinions Soundstage is a full service DJ company with a strong goal to commitment and excellence.
Personally performed over 1300 Wedding Receptions and 300 Wedding Ceremonies to my clients total satisfaction. Each wedding is individually designed for the client by defining the event they would love to create for themselves. Call to setup a time to create yours?
Over 20 Years of Professional MC/DJ experience. We focus on personalized service and detailed planning. YOUR EVENT, YOUR WAY We specialize in wedding ceremonies, reception events and theme
We are a full service entertainment company that specializes in providing DJ's, live music, and a wide variety of entertainment options for all types events.
We will work with you to plan every aspect of your special day. We'll custom-tailor a music program to your taste to make your day care-free and truly personalized.
Exit Only Entertainment has over 10 years in the entertainment industry and provides DJ services and live sound reinforcement with professional equipment. We bring back up gear to every event to ensure the show will go on. Every event is outlined in a contract. Give us a call at 801-725-2484
We cater to our clients! We concern ourselves with the vision, and needs of each event from the Guest and the Host's point of view. We create an environment based on your personal and unique tastes in entertainment, making your event unique to your dream.
Liam Heffernan, a Brit, Sundance veteran and 15-year Park City resident, has deejayed a wide variety of weddings in Park City, from outdoor barn-stormers to intimate gatherings. I work closely with the bride and groom to ensure that all music fits their personalities, and sets the perfect mood throughout your special day.
As Utah's premier wedding DJ, DJ Opus provides a variety of services for your special day from music to full emcee assistance. All wedding packages come with a free hour-long consultation where you can voice your needs and wants for your big day and DJ Opus can make them happen.
What sets Magic Valley DJ Services apart from others for your Weddings, Parties, Corporate Events & More is the following: All Pro Audio equipment; All systems are computerized; Karaoke; We always complete our agreement with you; Backup equipment; We're always on time; We dress & act professional; No music restrictions.
At Red Tie Events we DJ everything: weddings, parties, reunions, dances and MORE. Nearly a decade of on-air and on-location experience. HUGE playlist that covers all genres. BIG lights and sound and all for much less than the other guys. We are more than just a wedding DJ playing music, we entertain!
SteadyJake offers mobile DJ experience including but not limited to weddings and receptions of all kinds, corporate parties, private parties and city sponsored events. We provide over 60,000 song selections, uplighting, wireless mic, and more. We offer unlimited complimentary consultations.
We can provide music for any occasion no matter how big or small. We will do whatever it takes to ensure your event is a success.
Music For Your Event At Prices You Can Afford! Merik Music provides high quality entertainment for wedding ceremonies and receptions. We pride ourselves on providing a good time at a reasonable price.
Bad Boyz DJ Service is one of the Elite DJ Services in Grand Junction, Colorado! We have great Customer Service, Awesome equipment and Affordable Prices!
You will receive the benefit of my 30 years experience and hundreds of previous events. Together, with your ideas, we will create a memorable, stress free, fun day for you and your guests. You wedding day is a big deal, a major milestone in your life, and I do not take my involvement in it lightly.
With Jamm All Nyte Entertainment you will electrify your event with a local western Colorado DJ and Glenwood Springs only mobile DJ. Weddings, birthdays, we can do anything you need a DJ for.
Experience, Quality & Value. Click above for a link to my website where I have helpful organizational tools, video, prices, a music list & more. When you make an inquiry, I'll send you a series of questions that when answered, enables me to give you an accurate bid & sets you on the course of organizing your big day.
I insure my complete control and responsibility for planning your special occasion, one on one, to make it as perfect as possible. Having worked as a disc jockey for 20 years and in the Wedding industry for 22 years, I know how much work is involved in planning the perfect wedding. I look forward to working with you
High Mountain DJ's is an all occasion DJ service dedicated to bringing joy through music. We are committed to consistently delivering the highest quality professional service at a great price.


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March 27, 2007
CHANDLER, Ariz. - Despite the loss of four key starters and a completely revamped lineup, it took only three games for MIT baseball to once again assert its position among the top teams in the region. Competing against Middlebury College in the Greater Phoenix Invitational, the Engineers raised eyebrows after a thunderous offensive performance. Before all was said and done, 29 runners crossed the plate for the Cardinal and Gray as MIT defeated its NESCAC rival, 29-5.
The Panthers had little answer for MIT's (2-1) attack on Tuesday, which shattered a single-game program record with 33 hits. The Engineers scored in six different innings, plating at least five runners in four different frames. Sophomore Stephen Toth powered the attack with a break-out performance at the plate. Toth finished 6-for-6 plus a walk, while scoring four runs and driving home a game-high seven. Toth's six hits tied the Institute record for hits in a game which was originally set by Herb Kummer in 1975.
Obviously, Toth wasn't the only one seeing the ball well against Middlebury (3-3). Eight players recorded at least three hits and 10 players produced an RBI. Freshman Stewart Park drove home five runs while going 3-for-8, while Steven Nunez and David Nole each picked up three runs batted in and combined for seven runs scored. Park's eight at-bats also tied an MIT single-game record set three times during the 1972 campaign.
The Engineers scored seven times in the first inning, collecting all their runs after two outs. MIT repeated the two-out magic again in the second inning, scoring five more times with no outs to spare. After tacking on another run in the third, MIT was in front, 13-1, heading to the fourth.
With one out in the fourth inning, MIT broke the game open with seven more runs. After an RBI single by Jason Witzberger, Thomas Phillips, Nole and Kevin Wheeler answered with three consecutive doubles. Toth added one of his three doubles later in the frame to push the margin to 19 runs. MIT closed the tilt with an Institute record nine doubles, including Toth's hat trick which tied another school mark most recently clubbed by Joel Morales in 1997.
The Engineers established a plethora of offensive marks in Tuesday's win. The 29 runs batted in topped a record that stood for 40 years, while new records were established for extra base hits (11) and total bases (46).
Freshman Ben Bersanti filled in admirably in the lead-off role, reaching base four times, while connecting for a single, double and triple. Amid all the offensive fireworks, Jay Turner made his season debut against the Panthers, scattering four earned runs while hurling a complete game.