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ADAPT-POL New Orleans: Adaptation of Prevention Techniques With Popular Opinion Leader
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00252109
Recruitment Status : Completed
First Posted : November 11, 2005
Last Update Posted : August 16, 2012
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- No Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
Adopting and Demonstrating the Adaptation of Prevention Techniques (ADAPT) is a supplement to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Community Based Organization Program Announcement 04064 (PA 04064). The purpose of ADAPT is to improve the understanding of the processes needed for adapting evidence-based behavioral interventions to fit new conditions or populations and to pilot the CDC-developed adaptation guidance. The ADAPT project responds to concerns from the field that existing interventions do not address the HIV prevention needs of their specific population. This project seeks to develop guidance for agencies to engage in the evidence-based adaptation of interventions previously shown to be effective in evaluation settings for use in real world applications.
The New Orleans AIDS Task Force (NO/AIDS) is one of five grantees funded to use the adaptation guidance to adapt an intervention packaged by the CDC's Replicating Effective Programs and disseminated by CDC's Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions. The agency will adapt Jeff Kelly's Popular Opinion Leader (POL) intervention (Kelly, 2004; Kelly et al., 1991) for use in Internet venues with seropositive men who identify ethnically/racially as other than White/Caucasian who have sex with other men (men who have sex with men [MSM] of color).
Kelly's POL intervention is a community-level, evidence-based HIV prevention intervention that originally targeted gay and bisexual men in smaller cities throughout the United States. Kelly's intervention seeks to identify and enlist the support of well-known and well-liked opinion leaders to take on risk reduction advocacy roles. Opinion leaders attend sessions to learn how to engage in risk reduction conversations with people in their own social networks. The opinion leaders help to reshape social norms to encourage safer sex by helping to create a social environment in which MSM feel comfortable and empowered to make decisions to avoid high-risk sexual behaviors.
|Condition or disease
|HIV Infections
|Behavioral: Popular Opinion Leader
In 2000, NO/AIDS was funded by the CDC to conduct community mobilization. Two components of that program were Kelly's POL and outreach in Internet chat rooms. Kelly's POL targeted traditional venues frequented by MSM, such as gay bars. Online outreach in chat rooms was modeled after standard street outreach, where outreach workers provide HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted disease and risk reduction information and referrals. Since the agency started online outreach, the Internet has continued to grow and it has become a mainstream venue for MSM to seek sexual partners online while maintaining their anonymity (Benotsch et al., 2002; Bull et al., 2001). With this trend, the agency realized that the online MSM community needed to be targeted by multiple behavior change interventions comparable to those implemented in other at risk venues. The agency included implementation of Kelly's POL online in chat rooms frequented by MSM as one of the interventions to be funded through the CDC's PA 04064 (the parent grant). As of August 2004, the agency has been funded under the parent grant to conduct Kelly's POL online in chat rooms that serve New Orleans, Louisiana, and the Southeastern U.S. region. This parent grant project shall be referred to as South POL. Supplemental PA 04064 funding for ADAPT will be used to further adapt South POL to target seropositive MSM of color. The supplement grant project shall be referred to as South POL+.
The South POL+ intervention has three main goals: first, to adapt the intervention for use with adult seropositive MSM of color based on formative evaluation findings; second, to evaluate and monitor the process of adapting the intervention utilizing the CDC-developed Adaptation Guidance; and third, to conduct implementation monitoring and evaluation and evaluation of the implementation of the adapted intervention.
|Study Type :
|Actual Enrollment :
|27 participants
|Time Perspective:
|Official Title:
|New Orleans AIDS Task Force Adopting and Demonstrating the Adaptation of Prevention Techniques (ADAPT) With Popular Opinion Leader (POL)
|Study Start Date :
|July 2004
|Actual Primary Completion Date :
|September 2007
|Actual Study Completion Date :
|January 2009
- Behavioral: Popular Opinion Leader
Popular opinion leaders of social networks are identified and attend 4 sessions to prepare them to have casual conversations with persons in the social networks that are meant to shift social norms to embrace safer behaviors (e.g., increased condom use, fewer sexual partners)Other Name: Adapted POL intervention also known locally as SouthPOL+.
- Qualitative data collected during online focus groups to discuss risky sexual behavior engaged in by men who have sex with men (MSM) of color and access online venues primarily frequented by MSM in the New Orleans LA area. [ Time Frame: Fall/winter 2006 ]
- Development of Popular Opinion Leader behavioral HIV prevention intervention materials adapted for use online use with men who have sex with men (MSM) of color and who access online venues primarily frequented by MSM in the New Orleans LA area. [ Time Frame: Spring 2007 ]
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
|Sampling Method:
|Non-Probability Sample
Inclusion Criteria:
- Seropositive
- Men who have sex with other men
- African American
- At least 18 years of age
- Report having sexual contact with a man (any type of sexual contact in which either partner achieved orgasm) within the last year
- Those who frequent viable venues for recruiting pre-and post-implementation questionnaire respondents
Exclusion Criteria:
- MSM who are not willing to identify themselves to study staff as seropositive Hispanic MSM may be excluded.
- Those under 18 years of age will be excluded from participation due to the study design precluding direct applicability of hypotheses and intervention to both adults and children due to different cognitive development, HIV prevalence levels, and social networks.
- Serious mental illness which makes the individual unsuitable for participation
- Under the influence of drugs or alcohol which makes the individual unsuitable for participation
- Anyone who does not meet the inclusion criteria
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT00252109
|United States, Louisiana
|New Orleans AIDS Task Force
|New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, 70119
|Principal Investigator:
|Vel S. McKleroy, MPH, BSW
|Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
|Responsible Party:
|Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT00252109 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
U65/CCU623818-01-1 ( Other Grant/Funding Number: CDC )
|First Posted:
|November 11, 2005 Key Record Dates
|Last Update Posted:
|August 16, 2012
|Last Verified:
|August 2012
Keywords provided by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
African American
Popular Opinion Leader
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
HIV Infections
Lentivirus Infections
Retroviridae Infections
RNA Virus Infections
Virus Diseases
Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral
Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes
Immune System Diseases


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Whistles stymie Raiders while Lansing wins to go to 14-1; Leavenworth's skid continues as does Pleasant Ridge
There's no question the whistle played a big role late in Tuesday's down-to-the-wire Immaculata loss.
The crowd wondered aloud if the officials "forgot their glasses" (that was on the tame side) after four fouls were called on the Raiders in the last two minutes. Two of the fouls were offensive, giving the ball back to Troy, who held just a two-point lead.
Moments later, that became a four-point loss — 36-32.
"In a tight game like that you want every call to go your way, so you're going to complain," Raiders boys' basketball coach Mike Connelly said. "I thought the officiating was good."
The wasted possessions were indeed costly. By the time Immaculata had a clean possession, they needed a basket with the clock winding down. However, Sean Murray's 3-pointer for the lead went off the side of the rim.
Following another Imac foul, Troy made both free throws to go up four and take the 36-32 win.
In the third quarter, the Raiders battled back after a lackluster first half. Its defense created offense in the second half.
"We didn't give them many easy shots," Connelly said. "They don't shoot a high percentage from three so we didn't mind giving them the long shots."
In the fourth, Connelly often went from a 2-3 zone to a 1-3-1 trap. The scheme worked, as Imac produced multiple turnovers.
But that didn't completely fix the offense so when the Raiders weren't getting quick offense off of turnovers, the scoring suffered.
"We missed a lot of open shots and free throws," said Connelly. "We shot five of 12 from the free throw line, and lost the game by four."
The loss marks four in a row for Imac, now 5-10 on the year. They play Jefferson County North Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Lions flex muscles in win
After a slow start Tuesday, the Lansing boys' basketball team got its groove back in the middle of a defensive battle.
Though it wasn't the most impressive outing by the Lions, it got the job done with a 51-29 win over Bonner Springs. The performance was the least amount of points allowed by Lansing all season.
"I thought we came out very uninspired and lethargic," Lansing coach Rod Briggs said. "I didn't like that very much and we did pick it up later."
Lansing got off to sluggish beginning and trailed after the first period 13-9. The team rebounded in the second to outscore Bonner 12-2 and take a 21-15 at the half.
From there, the Lions maintained success through the rest of the game to break away.
Joe Schneider had 16 points to lead Lansing while Donte Gibson contributed 13.
The Lions, 14-1, will play at Bishop Ward Friday starting at 7:15 p.m.
-James Howey
Missed opportunities plague Pioneers
For three quarters Tuesday, the Leavenworth boys' basketball team hung tough with Lawrence Free State.
But a disastrous fourth, one which included multiple missed scoring chances and poor defensive execution, broke down the Pioneers.
"We are struggling to find an identity," LV coach Larry Hogan said. "It's just bad basketball. We are not playing very well as a group. We have outstanding games from individuals, but as a team we are not very good right now."
Versus Free State, the Pioneers trailed for most of the game. After the first quarter, the Firebirds were up 12-7, then 21-18 at half.
After three, it was just a five-point game at 43-38. But a haphazard fourth quarter saw Leavenworth collapse.
"We sure got sloppy, turned the ball over and gave up open looks on top of that," Hogan said. "It was anybody's game at half and then we just didn't guard and execute. We have some guys who if their shots aren't going in, it affects their whole game."
Jason Randall finished with a team-high 18 points for the Pioneers while Trey Adkins added 10.
Leavenworth, 6-9, will travel to Shawnee Mission South Friday for a 7 p.m. tip.
Horton cruises by Pleasant Ridge
It was over before it started Tuesday for the Rams.
The Pleasant Ridge boys' basketball team couldn't match the physical nature of its hosts, Horton, from the start and trailed by 10 points eight minutes into the game. From there, the team went on to fall 70-34.
"We couldn't match their physicality from the get-go," PR coach Sean Murphy said. "We are still searching for a remedy for the same issues we've been having since day one — we are not playing together. With that said, our young guys keep getting experience, which is a positive and something to build on."
At half, the deficit had grown to 20 points and then a 22-4 third quarter, in favor of Horton, put the game away for good.
PR, 1-13, will host Oskaloosa Friday at 7 p.m.

subset: commoncrawl


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New Breed Logistics executives announced Wednesday, Jan. 16, they are expanding their Memphis operations in a move that will create nearly 500 warehouse and distribution jobs.
New Breed, based in High Point, N.C., is a third-party logistics provider. The privately held company is hired by companies to help them design and operate their supply chains. New Breed also manages warehouse space at more than 75 distribution centers that employ more than 7,500 people around the world.
The $23 million expansion investment will enlarge New Breed's Memphis facility at 4895 Citation Drive in the Oakhaven-Parkway Village distribution center district and New Breed plans to lease additional space at 4585 Quality Drive in the same area.
The expansion by the privately held company was announced through the office of Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Haslam's Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty.
Hours after the announcement Wednesday, the board of the local Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) was to vote on accepting the state economic development grant that was the government incentive for the expansion.
The announcement follows an increase in activity by third-party logistics companies late last year as noted by Memphis-area industrial brokers. The new leases have been particularly noticeable in medical/pharma-related logistics.
Some of that activity has been south of the state line because of new Mississippi tax breaks aimed at attracting health care-related businesses.
New Breed's clients include not only those kind of companies but such brand names as Boeing, Bombardier, Honeywell, Navistar and Nokia.
FedEx Corp. has named Henry J. Maier to run its FedEx Ground unit, succeeding David F. Rebholz, who is retiring in May.
Maier will be president and CEO of the unit, which includes FedEx Ground, FedEx Home Delivery and FedEx SmartPost, the company announced after the markets closed Monday.
Maier has been at FedEx for 25 years, including his current job as executive vice president at FedEx Ground, where he was responsible for strategic planning, corporate communications, and contractor relations.
Ground shipments are an increasingly important part of FedEx's business. The larger United Parcel Service Inc. has traditionally dominated that area, although both companies run air and ground operations.
"Henry has vast experience going back to the early days of FedEx Ground and has played a leading role in shaping the incredible long-term success of the company," said Frederick W. Smith, chairman, president and CEO of FedEx Corp.
Rebholz is retiring on May 31 after a 37-year career at FedEx, the company said.
A federal bankruptcy court in New York has approved the reorganization plan of Pinnacle Airlines Corp.
The approval of the plan for the Memphis-based regional carrier came Wednesday, Jan. 16, the day after union pilots ratified a new contract agreement with Pinnacle.
Pinnacle president and CEO John Spanjers called the set of agreements with creditors and employees groups a "significant milestone" in Pinnacle's move to emerge from the bankruptcy company leaders filed in April 2012.
With court approval, Pinnacle now has until Feb. 15 to file a plan acceptable to Delta Air Lines and the creditors committee.
The plan gives Delta or a Delta affiliate the ability to acquire the equity in Pinnacle after it emerges from bankruptcy.
Delta, through Delta Connection, will provide an additional 40 CRJ-900 aircraft with a capacity for 76 passengers to Pinnacle starting in the fall of 2013 under the plan. Those additions to Pinnacle will continue through the end of 2014.
Meanwhile, Pinnacle will phase out its smaller 50-seat CRJ-200 aircraft over the next two to three years.
The results are in for the most recent Shelby County Tax Sale held Jan. 3-4 that drew 65 registered bidders.
The sale, the second of the fiscal year, featured more than 400 properties. A total of 26 properties were sold to individuals for $212,721.69 and another 403 were purchased by the county, said Wendie Blanton with the Shelby County Trustee's Tax Sale Department.
Properties and parcels purchased by the county will be marketed through the Shelby County Land Bank once the required one-year redemption period has expired, Shelby County Trustee David Lenoir said. The next Shelby County tax sale is April 9-10.
For information about properties available through the tax sale, call 432-4829, or visit www.shelbycountytrustee.com and click the "Tax Sale" link.
Republican state Rep. Mark White of Memphis has been named chairman of the House Education Subcommittee by House Speaker Beth Harwell.
With the appointment, White also has a seat on the House Education full committee during a legislative session in which education reform initiatives are expected to be a major part of the work of the legislature.
White will also serve on the House Consumer and Human Resources Committee, which reviews legislation on consumer protection laws and labor law regulations as well as human resource issues.
White is serving his third term representing State House District 83.
Southaven Mayor Greg Davis says he will not run for re-election.
Davis has served as mayor of the Northwest Mississippi city for 16 years.
Davis says in a statement released Thursday, Jan. 17, that he reached the decision after talking with his partner and family.
The 46-year-old Davis, who admitted he was gay more than a year ago, cited a long list of accomplishments during his tenure in the release. He did not mention his legal problems as a factor.
State Auditor Stacey Pickering has ordered Davis to repay more than $170,000 including penalties and interest that Pickering said was misspent from city funds.
Davis was indicted in December on state charges of making false statements related to a car purchase, city gas and a check from a city account.
For the moment, The Commercial Appeal's paywall is down.
Ordinarily, non-subscribers would be hit with a screen after viewing 10 articles during the span of a month that asks them to pay for digital access to view additional stories. Non-subscribers also only had very limited access to the newspaper's content on mobile devices like phones and tablets.
For the moment, neither of those limitations is present. Nonsubscribers are able to view more than the paywall's limit of 10 stories during a month, and the newspaper's stories also appear to be fully viewable on mobile devices without a digital subscription.
Commercial Appeal publisher George Cogswell told The Daily News it's a temporary situation.
"We have had a team of folks here upgrading and adding new systems that will greatly enhance our consumer log-in/access experience for all digital platforms i.e. smart phone, tablet and PC," he told The Daily News in an email.
"While we are undergoing that process I decided to enable all consumers to experience what (our) content has to offer, for a brief period. I will be commenting further, in just a couple of weeks, as to how we will move forward."
The law firm of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs LLP, has elected four new partners.
They are Byron Brown IV, Kacey Faughnan, Jordan Reifler and Kristen Mistretta Wilson.
Brown concentrates his practice in general and commercial civil litigation and white collar criminal defense.
Faughnan concentrates her practice in all areas of commercial litigation in federal and state court. Reifler concentrates his practice in representing publicly owned and privately held commercial real estate developers in the acquisition, development, leasing and management of commercial properties.
He also provides general litigation support and service to the firm's clients. And Wilson concentrates her practice in commercial litigation.
The family and divorce law firm of Divorce Inc. has opened a new office in East Memphis.
One month after opening its third office in Clarksville, Tenn., the Jackson, Tenn.-based firm has relocated its Collierville office to the Forum I building at 6750 Poplar Ave.
Divorce Inc. is a boutique family law firm, focusing on but not limited to the areas of divorce, child custody, child support, and other family law matters.
The Memphis Regional Design Center board of directors has decided on a new organizational path in order to build additional program capacity to serve and respond to evolving community needs.
Jeff Sanford, of Jeff Sanford Consulting and former president of the Center City Commission, has been named as the new interim leader to oversee the structural and administrative changes needed to position the center to: improve responsiveness to distinctive community needs; stabilize organizational resources; cultivate long-lasting and sustainable partnerships; and increase positive economic and social impact through quality design projects and programs.
Sanford's interim leadership comes after founding director Chooch Pickard, who joined the organization in 2009, left the nonprofit this week.
Founded in 2007, the center's mission is to increase vitality and economic stability of the Memphis region by promoting excellence in urban design and planning.
Highlighted accomplishments for the region include Midtown Overlay/planning; South Memphis Renaissance Collaborative and Farmers Market; South Parkway Restoration Project; Overton Square Public Discussions and Charrette; Regional Greenways Forum; Urban Design 101 - 170 Graduates since 2008; Broad Street restoration; and numerous Geographic Information Systems mapping projects for regional planning.
Paragon National Bank has added three people to its board of directors.
The new members are Mary McDaniel, Lauren Boggs McHugh and Pete Stark. They'll each serve a three-year term and work closely with the bank's 10 other board members.
The board expansion comes on the heels of a big 2012 for Paragon, during which the bank saw a successful capital campaign and completed its eighth straight quarter of profitability.
McDaniel is a veteran of FedEx Express, which she retired from in 2010 as vice president-air operations material and corporate sourcing.
Since 2007, McHugh has served as president of the Huey's restaurant chain. And since July, Stark has served as chief financial officer for Physicians Pharmacy Alliance.
Tim Brown, president of the Kroger Delta Division and Shannon A. Brown, senior vice president of human resources and diversity officer for FedEx Express, are the co-chairmen of the 37th annual Memphis NAACP Freedom Fund Gala.
Brown will be the corporate fundraising co-chairman and Brown will be the community co-chairman.
The event is the largest fundraiser of the year for the civil rights organization. This year it will be held March 20 at the Memphis Cook Convention Center.
The gala has a tradition of having biracial chairmen and chairwomen who are business leaders.
The Memphis branch of the NAACP began holding the galas in 1977, the year that Memphis attorney and judge and FCC commissioner Benjamin L. Hooks became national executive director of the nation's oldest civil rights organization.
Lower gas costs offset more expensive food and higher rents to keep a measure of U.S. consumer prices flat last month.
The Labor Department said Wednesday that food prices increased 0.2 percent in December from November. Rents and airline fares also rose. Gasoline prices fell a seasonally adjusted 2.3 percent.
The flat reading of the December consumer price index caps a year when inflation slowed. Consumer prices rose only 1.7 percent in 2012, down from 3 percent in 2011.
Food prices increased 1.8 percent last year, down from 4.7 percent in 2011. Gas prices rose just 1.7 percent last year. That followed annual gains of nearly 10 percent in 2011 and roughly 14 percent in 2010.
Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices ticked up just 0.1 percent in December compared with November.
And core prices rose only 1.9 percent in 2012. That's below the Federal Reserve's inflation target of 2 percent. And it's lower than 2011's increase of 2.2 percent.
Prices for household furniture, clothing and used cars declined in December from November.
Mild inflation leaves consumers with more money to spend, which is good for the economy.
Lower inflation also makes it easier for the Fed to continue with its efforts to accelerate the economy. If the Fed were worried that prices are rising too fast, it might have to raise interest rates.
Shelby County Commissioners approved at their Monday, Jan. 14, meeting the agreement between the Shelby County Trustee's office and the city of Memphis for Trustee David Lenoir to collect city property taxes for the city.
The agreement means the county general fund will see an increase of $625,000 in revenue.
Late last year, the commission also approved an agreement in which Lenoir's office will collect the newly enacted property tax in Lakeland.
The commission in other action also approved an $850,000 contract with Southeast Mental Health Center to provide detoxification and mental health services for suspects who are arrested.
The program amounts to determining if a prisoner who is behaving erratically has a mental health issue or is intoxicated and from that determination whether there is a long-term problem.
And the commission approved a $1.4 million contract with Standard Construction Co. for a set of asphalt paving and resurfacing projects in Shelby County. The funding comes from Shelby County gas tax funds.
So does another $30,000 approved by the commission for the acquisition and closing costs of right-of-way land for the Raleigh-Millington Road bridge over the Loosahatchie River in North Shelby County.
Butler, Snow, O'Mara, Stevens & Cannada PLLC attorney Eric Hudson has been tapped as the new president of the board of directors of the Memphis Mid-South Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.
Hudson is a member of Butler Snow's commercial litigation group and focuses on pharmaceutical litigation, complex commercial litigation, toxic torts and environmental law, class actions, mass torts and multi-district litigation.
Membership in the Memphis Mid-South Chapter is comprised of any active member of the Federal Bar Association who lives or practices in the Memphis metro area.
The Federal Bar Association consists of more than 15,000 federal lawyers, including 1,200 federal judges.
Crye-Leike Realtors Inc. recently raised $22,300 for its 2012 United Way campaign.
The donation will be made to local charities in the nine states Crye-Leike serves.
The nation's fifth-largest real estate company reached $22,300 by setting up a United Way campaign website to allow agents and employees to donate online. Crye-Leike also encouraged its associates to visit United Way's website and type in their ZIP code to see all of the ways the organization supports their local community.
To jumpstart its annual United Way campaign, Crye-Leike agents and employees organized a pumpkin decorating contest this past fall, collecting $400.
Crye-Leike's sales volume in 2011 was $3.8 billion with 24,470 properties sold.
Jonathan Lindsey has joined the law firm of Martin, Tate, Morrow & Marston PC.
Lindsey joined the firm as an associate, and he'll focus his practice in the area of litigation. He's a 2012 graduate of the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, where he graduated first in his class of 134 law students.
Lindsey was managing editor of the University of Memphis Law Review, and his honors include the Herbert Herff Presidential Law Scholarship and the Dean's Award for Excellence.
Christian Brothers University is offering a new Master of International Business degree beginning in January 2014.
The degree is designed to prepare graduates for global careers in domestic or foreign business entities and to conduct business on an international basis. Graduates will gain an understanding that the future of American business is dependent on the global markets as well as the ability of American businesses to compete with foreign businesses in those global markets.
The MIB is a dual degree program in which graduates will earn a Master of International Business from CBU as well as a Master of International Business from Ramon Llull University in Barcelona, Spain, which is a member of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International. The 12-month program is offered in executive format and geared toward professionals with prior master's education who want to give their knowledge a more global perspective.
Downtown Memphis has been identified as the Memphis metropolitan area's top ArtPlace, which recognizes neighborhoods where the arts are central to creating the kinds of places where people want to be.
These communities have been successful at combining art, artists and venues for creativity and expression with independent businesses, retail shops and restaurants, and a walkable lifestyle to make vibrant neighborhoods. ArtPlace director Carol Coletta said in a statement that the impact the arts have had on the "vibrancy and economy of Downtown Memphis is unmistakable."
The list included 45 areas such as Anchorage, Alaska; Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Baltimore; The Bronx, N.Y.; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Detroit; Los Angeles; Miami Beach, Fla.; Milwaukee; Nashville; Philadelphia; Portland, Ore.; St. Louis; Salt Lake City; San Francisco; Seattle; Tampa; Williamsburg, Va.; and Washington.
ArtPlace is an initiative of national and regional foundations, various federal agencies, and major banks to accelerate creative placemaking across the U.S. ArtPlace's determination of the Top ArtPlaces in the country was based on a set of six indicators identified by Impresa Inc., a Portland-based consulting firm specializing in the study of metropolitan economies.
Four indicators measure ingredients of vibrancy: the number of retail and service businesses; the percentage of independent businesses; the neighborhood's Walk Score; and the percentage of workers in creative occupations living in the neighborhood. The number of arts-related nonprofits and businesses were also used.
ArtPlace is currently developing measures specific to smaller metropolitan areas and will release America's Top Small Town ArtPlaces later this year.
Boyle Investment Co. has promoted seven senior level executives.
Paul Boyle has been promoted to president, replacing Henry Morgan, who served as Boyle's president from 1985 to 2012, and will now serve as co-chairman with Bayard Boyle Jr. This marks a major change for Boyle, as Paul Boyle represents the third generation of the family taking over as president, where he will oversee all company operations.
Mark Halperin has been promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer. Halperin will continue to lead the Boyle Memphis office leasing, development and sales team, and as chief operating officer, will help direct company operations, including strategy and personnel.
Bayard Morgan, Henry Morgan Jr. and Cary Whitehead have been promoted to executive vice president. Bayard Morgan and Henry Morgan will continue to serve on Boyle's executive committee and board of directors, work directly with senior department managers and approve strategic direction and major decisions of the company. Whitehead has both development and financial responsibilities heading Boyle's retail development for the Memphis office and also mortgage finance.
Phil Fawcett has been promoted to chief manager of the Nashville office and will be responsible for overseeing all Nashville-based developments and personnel policies.
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis invites Memphians to participate in the ninth annual MX Sales Coach "Home Team Huddle" fundraising event Feb. 3 during the Super Bowl. Participants are asked to host a "Super Sunday" party and collect donations for Memphis Habitat during halftime. All proceeds go directly to the local affiliate and help further its mission of eliminating substandard housing in the Memphis community.
Memphis Habitat's 2013 Home Team Huddle goal is to raise $15,000. All guests and hosts are eligible to win the grand prize getaway – two tickets to an NFL game of their choice from MX Sales Coach, two Delta SkyMiles vouchers and a two-night stay at a Hilton hotel.
Party hosts who sign up by Jan. 30 will get a Home Team Party Pack to help promote and build excitement around the parties. For more information or to sign up to host a party, visit www.memphishabitat.com or contact Amy Paul at 322-3517 or email@example.com.
The U.S. annual budget deficit is on track to reach $1 trillion for a fifth straight year, though government revenue jumped last month as people paid some taxes early to avoid higher rates in 2013.
The Treasury Department said the federal deficit grew just $260 million in December. But for the first three months of the budget year, the deficit widened to $292 billion.
In December, tax revenue rose 12 percent to $270 billion. Spending fell 17 percent to nearly the same amount.
Copyright 1995 -
by The Daily News Publishing Co. Inc. - All Rights Reserved


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Baseball-Cards.com Vintage baseball cards with checklist and price guides
1974 Topps #340 Thurman Munson (Yankees) Baseball cardPrice = $ 12.95
NM to NM/MT
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In hockey, there were a few sets issued in the 1910's and while O-Pee-Chee issued some sets in the 1930's, the real modern sets began in 1951 with the itroduction of Parkhurst's first set.
In racing, while cards go back as far as the early Indy car days of 1911, modern racing sets began in 1988 with the issues released by MAXX.
1955 Topps Double-Headers (Doubleheaders)
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1969 Topps StampsThis was Topps 3rd stamp issue in the last eight years and it was a good one !!! The stamps were not inserts but a totally separate issue . For a nickel you got a strip of twelve stamps plus a mini album. The 1969 Topps Stamps complete set contains 240 stamps. The 1 x 1-7/16 inch stamps were unnumbered and featured a color photo with the player's name, team and position inside a colored banner at the bottom of the stamp. The stamps were released in both vertical and horizontal strips of 12 stamps. The 1969 Topps Stamps are often confused with Topps' 1974 issue. The 1974 Topps Stamps have ovals rather than banners at the bottom and were released only in 12-stamp horizontal panels.
Along with the stamps, Topps also issued a set of 24 albums, one per team, to store them in. The 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" orange albums were the same size as a baseball card and held a complete 10-stamp team set. To add even more collecting fun, the album's back cover had facsimile autographs of the ten players shown in the album.
The 1969 Topps Stamps set is packed with stars like Pete Rose along with tons of Hall-of-Famers including MICKEY MANTLE, Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente & many, many more !!!
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Mercy Medical Center wants a new name —Mercy Parkway—for the street that runs along the eastern side of its property.
That street is currently called St. John's Parkway, and the Rolla Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday night OK'd Mercy's request.
Now it's up to the Rolla City Council to decide.
"We just literally got this a day or two ago," Community Development Director John Petersen said as he distributed a letter from Mercy's local director, Dr. Randall D. Huss, to members of the commission.
That's why the name-changing request was not on the commission's agenda.
Here's the text of that letter:
"Dear John,
"As you know, during the construction of our Mercy facility in Rolla, Jack Dietzmann and Mercy jointly constructed a street connecting Martin Spring Drive and Bridge School Road, then added this street to the City of Rolla with the name of St. John's Parkway.
"Due to Mercy's subsequent initiative for uniform branding throughout our entire organization, we are no longer known as St. John's Health System or St. John's Clinic, rather Mercy Health and Mercy Clinic.
"We at Mercy, with Jack Dietzmann's approval, now respectfully request the City of Rolla undertake the process of changing the name of the city street named St. John's Parkway to Mercy Parkway.
"Mercy is willing to underwrite any associated costs of such name change.
"Please let me know what further steps we may need to take to further this request.
"Thank you and the Rolla City Council for your consideration of this request.
"Randall D. Huss, MD
"Rolla Division President
"Mercy Clinic
Petersen said three property owners are affected by the proposed name change. In addition to Mercy and Dietzmann, Gary Heavin is the other land owner.
There is no opposition to the change, Petersen said.
Commission members also voiced no opposition; indeed, there was no discussion. The change was unanimously supported by Janese Martin, Greg Sawyer, Robert Anderson, Monte Shields and Russell Schmidt. Don Brown, Dennis Bennett and Jack Morris were absent. Paul Stigall is the chairman.
Now the change proposal will to go the city council for first reading of a resolution at the Feb. 19 meeting. By state statute, the city must advertise the resolution and wait four weeks for reaction from landowners along the street. After that, the council can adopt an ordinance to make the name change official.


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1965 O-Pee-Chee/OPC #.60 Jim O'Toole (Reds) Baseball cardPrice = $ 8.95
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Select a different Sport or Vintage Baseball Cards set Enter words,partial words,partial words with wildcards (*) or a phrase in quotes.
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Cards from Topps,Bowman,Fleer,San Diego,New York City,Las Vegas.
Buying vintage sports cards! Bring/escort them to Los Angeles.
Below are some tidbits on baseball and sportscard collecting.
Visit our web site for more info on vintage and current
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Extended Set - Also frequently called Update Set or Traded Set.
Facsimile Autograph - a simulated autograph printed on a card designed to show what the player's actual signature looks like. These are NOT the player's "real" autograph.
Factory Set - a complete set in a special box and wrapped with a protective covering produced by the manufacturer, usually with a unique seal and sold directly to dealers or card shop owners and not available through the usual retail outlets.
Grade - the physical condition assigned to a card, either by a price guide, or through the assessment made by sellers.
Graded Card - a card which has been assessed for condition by an independent source and given a ranking, with 10 being the best. The card is then placed in a hermetically-sealed plastic holder with the grade designation and player name, card company, card number, and serial number printed on the encasement.
1974 Topps DECKLE EDGEThis 72-card test issue set was released with a very limited distribution on only the East Coast around Massachusetts making them quite scarce. They were Officially simply called "Topps Baseball Photos" but their serrated or "DECKLED" edge gave them the name they go by today. The 2 7/8" x 5" inch cards were sold in either a 2 card pack with gum or a 3 card pack with no gum for 5 cents.
The cards were meant to have the look of the black and white movie star photos from the 1950's and feature a black & white photo with a blue facsimilie autograph on the front. The backs make this very scarce test issue even more interesting ! They feature handwritten script of the player's name, team, position & date and location of the photograph as well as a mock newspaper article on the player's career.
This was Topps 2nd "Deckle Edge" issue, their first being their smaller and much more common 1969 Topps Deckle Edge which were inserts in certain series of packs of 1969 Topps cards.
Variations of 1974 Topps Deckle Edge do exist, making this issue even more fun and challenging to collect. The backs can be found in either gray or a much scarcer white version. Also, a more limited proof version with non-scalloped edges exists and occasionally can be found.
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1972 Topps Baseball Cards AUTOGRAPHED Set info/informationBy now you all heard of the rash of counterfeit autographs on the market.
The following autographs all come with auction house LOA's (Letters of Authenticity) from the top authenticators in the hobby - PSA/DNA or James Spence !!!
TOP ROOKIES: Carlton Fisk, Ron Cey, J.R. Richard, Rick Dempsey, Dave Kingman ...
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Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer: Power Cosmic Edition (US - DVD R1)
Gabe kind of wishes there was a little more 'fantastic' and a little less 'four'...
The Fantastic Four—the Human Torch, the Invisible Woman, the Thing, and Mr. Fantastic—are all back, and this time they face the very end of the world. A mysterious being comes to Earth flying atop a silver surfboard, and immediately begins to effect the environment. Our heroes must team up with the military and their sworn enemy Dr. Victor Von Doom to stop the Silver Surfer before his master, Galactus, makes his way across the universe and devours our world.
The first theatrically released Fantastic Four film wasn't too hot. I didn't despise it or anything, but it was certainly underwhelming. Much of my opinion on the film is based in the fact that I have almost zero investment in the characters. X-Men, Spider-Man and Batman were my bag, and those films had expectations to live up to. Hulk, Superman, Daredevil, The Punisher, and Fantastic Four were more or less under my radar for most of my life, which probably has something to do with me not hating any of the characters' newer features even when fervent fans cried foul (though I still say Ang Lee's Hulk was magnificent). I do appreciate the team's spot in comic book history, and love some of the characters they've inspired, like the Incredible family (from the Pixar feature, which was a much better Fantastic Four movie), and the Impossible Family (as seen in The Venture Bros.).
The Silver Surfer is another character I had little interest in thematically. Like Ghost Rider he's about 90% cool imagery, and works best as a supporting or guest character. The folks at Sony obviously didn't get the memo when they made Ghost Rider into a stand alone feature, but Fox and the folks at Marvel were clearly clever enough knew that a silver coated space man on a surf board, with vaguely defined super powers, and a two sentence back story probably wasn't going to hold his own film. There was brief talk of a David O. Russell adaptation, which given the directors Buddhist background and disinterest in mainstream cinema may've produced the 2001 of comic book adaptations, but realistically I think the studios took the correct course of action.
When it was first announced that the Surfer would be making his big screen debut in the Fantastic Four sequel I was excited at the prospect. Cross-over stories are the next logical step in super hero motion pictures, not to mention the fact that the Surfer did make his first appearance in a Fantastic Four comic. At this point we've used up all the big names in the industry and most of the little names aren't really worthy of their own productions (sorry MODOK and Alpha Force fans). It was a pleasant surprise to see Fox and Marvel taking the initiative so early in the latest comic book cycle. The Fantastic Four's charm was all but exhausted in the first feature, and splitting their follow-up film with another character was a good move in general. Bryan Singer's X-men films set up a constant and evolving storyline, Fantastic Four was a standalone with a concrete beginning, middle and end. If the people behind the Fantastic Four didn't shoot for the stars (so to speak) in the second feature, the series would've been stuck in the mud right off the bat.
The seeds were planted for a fine follow up feature, and given Fox's super hero legacy it was easy enough to hope for a better film than the first. When Fox produced X-Men, Daredevil and the first Fantastic Four, they produced ninety-minute spectacles that didn't cost them too much money. All three films are basically long trailers for part two. Fox was dipping its toes in the water, testing the temperature, and decided whether they wanted to proceed with each property. I don't like the process, but I can't deny it's perfectly logical. In the case of X-Men 2 the studio's loosened grip produced a better and more finely crafted film (my personal favourite among super hero flicks). I assumed that the botched production of X-Men 3 was due more to Singer's leaving and the Fox exec's asinine need to beat his Superman film to theatres. I had hoped that they'd open up the Fantastic Four universe to more sophisticated story telling on a broader canvas.
It turns out that X-Men 2 was a fluke, and that Fox has no interest in making sophisticated super hero movies. They want short, tight, crowd pleasing special effects movies. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer takes a plot as epic as the end of the world, and makes a ninety-two minute comedy out of it. The audience is left with no reason to give a damn about any of the characters, no time to be afraid of the prospect of the world being eaten by galactic spores, and a few of the most obviously tacked-on, designed-in-committee action sequences in recent memory. Sometimes a joke or visual will work, but there's zero suspense or gravity, and the movie ends as if there was a Fox exec counting reels and shaking his head at the prospect of five more minutes of film time.
There's nothing wrong with making light-hearted comic book movies, and frankly I resent the fact that everything has to be as dark as Batman Begins to get fan boy acclaim these days. I'm rooting for next summer's Iron Man for that very reason. The problem is that FF:RotSS is the same brand of fluffy entertainment that insulted children back in the 1970s and '80s (I'm sorry, but Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends was a horrible show). It's obsolete entertainment, and based on its derisory returns (compared to the first film) I'm not the only one that thinks so.
I'm not sure if the blame lies on any particular shoulders either. Director Tim Story has definitely improved, and there are a few moments of genuine visual inspiration, but I'm still not clear on why he was hired for the job at all. He's no Sam Raimi, Brian Singer, or Ang Lee. He's not even a Brett Ratner, but he does his job and doesn't drop the ball, though a few shots on net would've been nice (even an air-ball would be adequate).
The writers, based on their credentials and how strictly they adhered to the original '60s comic, seem to have been hired for their comedy aspects alone. Some immediacy would've been nice, even a little additional character development, you know, more beyond what was already established beyond the first film.
The actors are the film's strongest asset with one very, very, very obvious exception—Jessica Alba, who's probably the single largest black hole in the film, which is filled with many (both literally and figuratively speaking). And just in case we didn't notice how vapid she is the filmmakers Aryan her up this time around, making her look as porcelain as she acts. Sadder than Alba's continuing success in Hollywood is the fact that Doug Jones is thoroughly screwed out of any real credit for his work as the Silver Surfer. The editors mention the fact that Lawrence Fishburne's line delivery as the voice of the Surfer is almost identical to Jones', begging the question, "Why did they even bother hiring the poor guy?".
But you know what? No matter how stupid the movie thinks I am, no matter how little suspense or immediacy it has, watching a silver man on a surfboard fight a man on fire is cool enough to pique my interest, at least a little bit. In the end FF:RotSS is on an even keel with Fox's last Marvel release, X-Men 3. Both films are just interesting enough to make me pine for what might have been. I'd say better luck next time. Maybe Alex Proyas proposed Surfer follow-up will fare better.
When you put $130 million dollars into a movie it better look good on DVD, and this one does. Compression artefacts are minimal, edge enhancement is absent, and grain is quite fine. Details are sharp, to such a degree that some of the special effects sometimes show their weaknesses. Colours are eclectic and bright, and there's very little cross-colouration or bleeding. There is a sequence towards the end of the film where the Fantastic Four take on a Super-Doom over China that's quite dark, but it's mentioned on the commentary as an issue with the original film so I suppose it's not the fault of the disc.
Again, $130 million can buy a lot, and that includes a fine Dolby Digital 5.1 track. As expected the action is bombastic, the dialogue clear, and the score rich. The Surfer zips from the back channels to the front while the LFE throbs, Johnny Storm crackles and burns into every speaker when he 'flames on', and The Thing's voice booms without losing definition. There are a few cases of shoddy mixing (Johnny's voice is way to loud during the Surfer chase), but everything is rather state of the art and effectively noisy.
The film benefits greatly from John Ottman's majestic and commanding score. This is Ottman's fourth super hero score, and though I'm still more partial to his work on X-Men 2, I'm very impressed by his ability to avoid repeating himself too much. This particular score adds much needed weight to some of the film's more intense sequences without dropping the film's overall whimsical feel.
Disc one features two audio commentaries, one with director Tim Story, the other with producer Avi Arad, writer Don Payne and film editors Peter S. Elliot and William Hoy. I didn't have the time to sit through both tracks in their entirety, and ended up switching between them during my third viewing of the film. My reading of the tracks is based on these bits and pieces. Everyone except Arad (who only fills a couple minutes here and there, including a positively retarded comparison between Galactus eating the world and terrorism) is full of vague regret. Story keeps using the word 'we' instead of 'I', which sends up all kinds of flags. 'We' were going to do blank, but 'we' decided to do blank, though 'I' would've rather done blank, comes up a lot. He's pretty giddy overall, but is always clear on what he wanted to do differently.
The producer/writer/editor commentary is a mash up, and features less blank space than Story's solo track. The editors snidely point out error after error—"This background plate is obviously not New York", "It's never clear why Dr. Doom comes back to life", "We really didn't think that special effect was going to make the final film", etc. Writer Don Payne has the most regret, and lets us in on a script with better pacing, more character development, and better explanations behind various plot developments. The one good thing that seems to have come out of the constant studio interference is the increase of the Surfer's presence, but making a movie in committee is almost always a bad idea.
Disc two starts with extended scenes, which I was excited about, considering how scatter-brained and obviously retooled the theatrical release was. Unfortunately, the scenes add up to only a few minutes, and none of them have a place in the final cut. Most of the deleted stuff takes place before the Surfer shows up, and is unimportant to the film the studio ended up wanting to make. The extended credits are neat, but look a little too much like those at the beginning of Superman Returns, which Story neglects to notice in his commentary. I'm reasonably sure, based on the theatrical commentary, that there's a lot more deleted information being held for a future release.
For sheer length the making of documentary, entitled 'Family Bonds', is the way to go. This one of those top-to-bottom, fly-on-the-wall affairs that covers the entirety of the pre-production and productions in about forty-five minutes. It moves briskly and doesn't overstay its welcome. The doc more or less lays out the cause of all the film's problems like a smorgasbord—extremely strict shooting schedules, too many studio notes, not enough money, too many directors (Tim Story comes off as a head assistant director at best) and a looming release date. There's obviously no clear vision to the film, and too much is being made up on the spot. Everyone seems to be having a decent time at least.
Before you go wondering about the missing post-production information I'll direct your attention to the 'featurettes' menu. 'The Power Cosmic' covers the Silver Surfer process, from concept to final animation (though curiously it skips over Lawrence Fishburne entirely). Thanks to Weta Digital's technological advances made with Gollum on Lord of the Rings the on-set motion capture process is nearly child's play. The featurette isn't entirely clear on Weta's total contribution to the film (there were several effects houses utilized), but it appears that they were at the very least responsible for the Surfer. The evolution of the process is incredible, and the entirety of Doug Jones' performance can now be captured without cumbersome mo-cap camera set-ups. Re-doing the entire performance digitally (minus a few scenes of the Surfer without his powers) seems like overkill to me, and I don't think the digital mouth works at all, but the final product is mostly impressive.
'FantastiCar: State of the Art' covers the design and construction of the silly looking vehicle the Fantastic Four fly around at the end of the film. It's interesting from the standpoint that machines do almost all the work these days, making the design to completion process much shorter, and needed only a handful of computer jockeys to do most of the work. On the plus side this kind of thing will keep movie production costs down, which is nice considering how ridiculous the prices have soared over the past few decades, but the down side is, of course, that fewer workers will be needed and hired in Hollywood in years to come.
I'm not sure what the MSRP is on this guy, but if you're someone that liked the film enough to buy it, the 'Comic Book Origins of The Silver Surfer' featurette is worth the price of the double disc set. The mini-doc runs almost forty minutes, and really digs into the character's history. You've probably seen similar featurettes on other Marvel DVD releases—the ones that cover each major creative team in charge of the property over the years, and the character's place in popular culture. The most interesting aspects of the Surfer's popularity are also the most obvious. He was visually quite popular in the '60s (apparently the number one selling black-light poster), but his comics never sold, at least not until the 1980s when Marvel finally figured out what to do with him. This featurette is filled with beautiful artwork and engaging interviews.
The featurettes are completed with one oddly called 'Character Design With Spectral Motion', which is all about the new Thing suit, which is better looking, and apparently more comfortable for actor Michael Chiklis to wear, and another entitled 'Scoring the Fantastic', all about John Ottoman's soundtrack. The rest of the disc is finished off by a series of galleries, including one labelled 'Interactive FantastiCar', which isn't really all that interactive, and trailers.
Dear Twentieth Century Fox and Producer Avi Arad,
Please stop micro-managing your comic book films. Just because Aang Lee's Hulk didn't work for some people, and just because Bryan Singer ditched you guys to make Superman Returns doesn't mean you can't trust creative types. Please try to make good movies rather than passable movies fine-tuned to make the most money. I promise the process will be rewarding, really.
Gabe Powers
PS: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is decent in parts, awful in others, but I appreciate some of the effort. The DVD is pretty sharp, with high end A/V and some great extra features.
Review by Gabriel Powers
Some material may not be suitable for children
Disc Details
Release Date: 2nd October 2007
Discs: 2
Disc Type: Dual side, single layer
RCE: No
Video: NTSC
Aspect: 2.40:1
Anamorphic: Yes
Colour: Yes
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 English, Dolby Digital 2.0 Spanish, Dolby Digital 2.0 French
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Extras: Director Commentary, Producer/Writer/Editor Commentary, Behind the Scenes, Extended Scenes, Featurettes, Stills, Trailers
Easter Egg: No
Feature Details
Director: Tim Story
Cast: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon, Doug Jones
Genre: Action and Adventure
Length: 92 minutes
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welcome to the music-strings onlineshop
by Matthias Wagner, Badenweiler. this shop has the aim to offer mainly strings to musicions of ancient music with the instruments like lute, theorbo, chitarrone, baroque guitar, vihuela and historical mandolines and furthermore all instruments of the viola da gamba family like bass viols, tenor/alto viols, trebble viol, pardessus and the violone. All the strings for those instruments are constantly on stock, or can be delivered very shortly.
And of course for all the instruments which are not listed here, strings can be offered too.
But furthermore strings for harps and all bowed instruments like violin, viola, cello and doublebass are part of this shop's offer. If any string is not listed, please make a request and we will try to help you.
Now we have 30 years experiance in stringing plucked and bowed instruments, and this knowledge will be your advantage to get optimal strings. Several special stringsets are prepared and offered. Please have a look in the corresponding categories.
Over 24 hour you can place your orders, and normally within one day your order will be shipped. Special orders will last sometimes a bit longer, but you will be informed about that.
Furthermore some interesting and useful accessoires can be found here in the shop, like Kapodaster, tuning machines ...
The section instruments shows you some of the instruments by Master Matthias Wagner, mainly the aouds which are already on stock. But mainly here in the shop used instruments and commercial instruments are offered.
We will ship all around the world!
Looking foreward with interest to your order or request I remain
your Matthias Wagner


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Captain's Report4-Stroke Technology is Sea-Doo's Redesigned GTI SEBy Captain Vince DanielloUntil this year, choosing a Sea-Doo personal watercraft meant opting for a four-stroke engine on a higher-priced model with extra features, or settling with older two-stroke technology in an "entry-level" PWC. Not so anymore, as Sea-Doo's completely redesigned GTI SE is built with the same four-stroke Rotax 4-TEC engine as the rest of the multi-passenger watercraft, and enough standard features for hours of fun on the water.Engine TechnologyLast year's GTI was powered with a 2-stroke, fuel injected 110 horsepower engine, which was clean and quiet as two-strokes go, but still not as advance as Sea-Doo's 4-stroke engines. The 2006 GTI features the same basic 4-stroke power as the rest of Sea-Doo's boats, but in a 130 horsepower configuration. This same engine is offered in 155 horsepower, 185 horsepower, and 215 horsepower on other models. Besides the cleaner, smoother, quieter operation inherent in 4-stroke engines, Sea-Doo's 4-TEC engine also features the only closed cooling system in the industry, which circulates antifreeze through the engine to keep it cool, rather than pumping lakewater or seawater through the motor like other PWCs. The antifreeze is kept cool by a heat exchanger built into the bottom of the hull, much the same way as the antifreeze in your car's engine is kept cool by the radiator.Totally RedesignedNot just a re-power, the 2006 GTI is an entirely new design from the keel up. The hull is about six inches longer and two inches wider than previous GTI models, with an 18 ½ degree "V" bottom. This is somewhat less "V" than other Sea-Doo models, providing the GTI with a little more lift for better performance from its 130 horsepower. The flatter hull also gives the rider a choice of whether to make tight turns with precision, or goose the throttle at just the right moment to allow the GTI's back end to break free – sort of the on-the-water version of high school parking lot "doughnuts" in the days of muscle cars. Years ago, most PWCs had this ability, which has gradually been engineered out in favor of tighter turns and improved tracking, but Sea-Doo brought this fun aspect of PWC riding back – with one important difference. The PWCs of the nineties required practice to keep the boat from sliding sideways in tight turns. While test riding Sea-Doo's new GTI SE, I found it turned on a dime every time I wanted it to, but required just a little practice and finesse to get it to slip and slide, giving consistent control for safety, yet still allowing for wet and wild fun. If there is a down side to the new hull, it's distance cruising. The 22 ½ degree "V" hull of Sea-Doo's other boats is better suited to cut through choppy water if the wind picks up. The GTI's somewhat flatter hull handles a chop, just not as comfortably.FeaturesWhile some entry-level offerings skimp on important features, the GTI SE comes with all the essential implements for fun and convenience. Sea-Doo's completely redesigned instrument package displays tachometer, speed, fuel, and temperature simultaneously, without the scroll button needed on previous models to switch information on the display. This is a slightly watered-down version of the new gauge packs on Sea-Doo's higher priced boats, but still provides all the basics. The GTI SE also comes with dual mirrors, a ski-tow ring, retractable boarding step, safety gear, and other important equipment. So how did Sea-Doo offer all the technology of their more expensive models at an entry-level price? Since the 4-stroke engine is used in just about everything Sea-Doo makes, it becomes cost effective to use it the GTI as well, according to company spokesmen. Also, the 130 horsepower version offered in the GTI doesn't have the supercharger needed for 185 horsepower or intercooler added to boost it to 215 horsepower. Sea-Doo simplified the boat as well. For example other models have a two-piece seat with storage under the aft section. The GTI has a one piece seat with no storage beneath, although there is a large removable, watertight storage bin in the bow, and an extra deep storage compartment under the handlebars. The GTI also uses applied decals to dress it up, where other Sea-Doo's have molded plastic and chrome trim.PerformanceThe GTI SE we tested is a slight upgrade to Sea-Doo's basic GTI. The SE includes mirrors, a boarding step, and expanded gauge pack over the standard GTI, but either version comes equipped with the 130 horsepower 4-stroke engine and closed cooling. With this new power plant, our test topped out at 53.5 mph, and accelerated from 0 to 30 mph in 2.5 seconds, not as fast as some of Sea-Doo's other boats, but still plenty of power to carry multiple passengers or pull a skier or boarder. SafetyBoth the SE model and basic GTI also include Sea-Doo's security system, where safety lanyards are electronically coded for each individual watercraft. Also, an additional lanyard, called a learning key, limits the boats top speed to about 35 mph and correspondingly decreases acceleration.Off-power steering is an important safety feature on personal watercraft, which are both propelled and steered by a water jet rather than a traditional propeller and rudder. This is inherently safer when operating around people in the water, as there are no appendages beneath the hull to strike or entangle a person. But since a stream of water both propels and steers the PWC, steering control is eliminated when the engine is turned off or throttle released. To counteract this, several companies keep RPM above idle for a few moments after the throttle is released. This allows the PWC to decelerate but still pumps enough water out the stern to steer. Sea-Doo took an entirely different approach, attaching small rudders on either side of the hull at the stern to add steering both while decelerating from high speed, and while maneuvering at idle. Sea-Doo's system, called Off Power Assisted Steering or OPAS also works whether the engine is running or not.The personal watercraft market has become specialized, offering comfortable distance cruisers, nimble sports boats, powerful muscle craft, and even ski and wakeboard models, but I suspect most PWCs are often called upon to fill most of these roles. Sea-Doo's newly redesigned GTI SE meets the basic needs of all, engineered with the company's newest technology for one specific purpose: having fun on the water.
Test Result Highlights
- Top speed for the Sea-Doo GTI SE (2006-) is 53.5 mph (86.1 kph), burning gallons per hour (gph) or N/A liters per hour (lph).
- Time to plane for the Sea-Doo GTI SE (2006-) is n/a seconds.
- Time from 0 to 30 of the Sea-Doo GTI SE (2006-) is 2.5 sec. seconds.
Standard and Optional Features
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When a language is dying, can the arts associated with it long survive?
According to recent research, 50 percent to 90 percent of the approximately 7,000 languages spoken today are expected to go silent by the end of the century, some well before that. In a global age, English, Spanish and Mandarin dominate, with 94 percent of the world's population speaking only 6 percent of its languages.
In the Lowcountry, Gullah, the rich patois of the Sea Islands, might seem to be in decline. As little as 25 years ago, one heard Gullah (or variations thereof) spoken almost every day in the streets of Charleston. Today, many must seek it out.
This, along with the gradual disappearance of the grasses that artisans use to sew the signature sweetgrass baskets of the Lowcountry, could have consequences for all Gullah-related or Gullah-influenced art forms, from theater and dance to music and fine art.
Linguists say Gullah began in the Western Hemisphere as a mixture of West African languages and English, but today is regarded as a Creole tongue, a language in and of itself. The question is, is Gullah going the way of such vanished or endangered species as desktop computers, snail mail, handwriting and the incandescent light bulb?
And, if so, what will it mean? Beyond that, and acknowledging the remarkable history of the African-American contribution to the cultural history of the South and the U.S., to what extent is Gullah the principal "voice" or origin of those contributions?
"I think Gullah is declining to an extent," says Lee Pringle, founder and president of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Gospel Choir and the CSO Spiritual Ensemble. "While I agree that the language is evolving, I also think it's in decline as fewer people have a connection to it.
"My grandfather spoke it, and my father spoke a version of it, but I don't hear it as prominently as I used to. It has evolved to a point where there is less occasion to hear the language."
Alphonso Brown, a retired music educator and author, is director of the Mt. Zion Spiritual Singers and owner of Gullah Tours of Charleston. He contends that one way to preserve the language is to perform it.
"But the powers that be don't always endorse that, seeing it more as a novelty thing."
First, notes Brown, one must be aware of the origins of Gullah, a term used to describe descendants of enslaved people who live, principally, in the Lowcountry regions of South Carolina and Georgia as well as their distinctive language.
"The principal African-American voice in America is Gullah," he says. "But remember, blacks of past eras in America were not trying to speak 'Gullah.' They were trying to speak English. We were criticized for that then, and we are now, too. My grandparents spoke Gullah, but others came around and made a concerted effort to speak English. We were not trying to preserve a language or a culture. We didn't recognize it as a language until later. It is not being used as often today, but I don't see it disappearing because so much of it is written now."
Today's linguists owe a considerable debt to the late Lorenzo Dow Turner (1890-1972), a longtime English department head at Howard University and Fisk University who performed groundbreaking research on Gullah. The Elizabeth City, N.C., native also introduced African studies programs at Fisk and Roosevelt universities.
Author and actor Ronald Daise ("Reminiscences of Sea Island Heritage," "Gullah Branches, West African Roots") is a native of St. Helena Island. Vice president for Creative Education at Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, where he presents a weekly Gullah/Geechee program series, Daise also serves as chairman of the National Park Service-administered Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. The historical designation extends from Wilmington, N.C., to St. Augustine, Fla.
Daise believes it is a challenge for young adult audiences to embrace the culture because for so many years speaking Gullah or identifying one's self with Gullah is what many chose not to do.
"But I think there is a renaissance of awareness of the importance and significance of the culture, and the arts reflect that. Thirty years ago, you may have heard Gullah spoken more consistently in the community, but I hear it consistently when I go to gatherings. Perhaps the intonations are not the same, but you will hear it spoken, even among educated Geechee people, wherever they are in an environment where they feel comfortable.
"My daughter is a student at the College of Charleston, and she talks constantly about the different Gullah expressions she hears among her peers. So I think that as long as the language is spoken, it will affect the arts."
Artist Charlotte Hudson-Wrenn of Edisto Island counts herself firmly in the evolution of Gullah camp. Among the art forms she holds as uniquely Gullah are sweetgrass baskets and the late Philip Simmon's renowned ironwork.
"They come immediately to mind, but the Gullah influence, I feel, is rich and deep across many genres. Gullah speech is a song language based on lyricism and rhythm and is a creole of English and African sounds and syntax. And since oral interaction was the only means of communication for so many years during slavery, rhetoric skills became highly developed and were marks of being properly educated within the community, according to Patricia Jones-Jackson's 'When Roots Die.'"
(The late Jones-Jackson was a noted scholar and linguist who wrote several of the most influential books on Gullah language and culture. "When Roots Die: Endangered Traditions on the Sea Islands" (1987) is among her most well known. Others include "Gullah: An Endangered Language" (1981). She conducted research among the Gullah of South Carolina and Georgia for more than nine years until her accidental death in a car crash in 1986.)
"The use of metaphor, riddle and storytelling within the rhetorical tradition is the basis of poetry, storytelling and song," Hudson-Wrenn adds. "Symbols in gardens and yard art continue this tradition. Gullah spirituals and music were arts that soothed and brought hope in the past, and I believe they continue to bond and connect the community today."
A more obvious influence has been exerted on the culinary arts, Hudson-Wrenn says.
"Certainly the thriving Charleston food scene is indebted to Gullah culture. Local foods like shrimp and grits, okra, cornbread and many others are foods clearly descended from Gullah kitchens.
"Finally, I think the Gullah church might be the most powerful force with a continuing influence. The intricate rituals produced by this highly adaptable and creative society exemplified a new expression of religion. And I know at least that on Edisto Island the church population swells the island every Sunday and continues to creatively and elegantly intertwine prayer, music, song, storytelling, dance and ritual into a cohesive whole. The sense of community is strong."
Born and raised in the Gullah/Geechee neighborhood of Union Heights here, Carlie Towne, producer-director of the forthcoming MOJA Festival play "Da Beat Gwine On From Africa Ta Da Gullah/Geechee Nation" (Oct. 3, Circular Congregation Church), considers the present state of Gullah and the arts to be one of revival. And she attempts to bring all the arts to bear in her annual productions.
"A lot of people are infusing the language into various art forms," says Towne, whose play melds mixed-media, song, music, dance, poetry and oral history with audience participation. "I always try to speak life into things. I am a traditionalist, and in my play, I try to give people reasons why the language should continue.
"We are bilingual, but it's important to hold onto our traditions. I think more people are becoming aware of this need to keep it alive. More institutions are teaching about the Gullah-Geechee heritage, though language is just one part of it."
A contemporary play with a cast composed of Gullah speakers, "Da Beat Gwine On" employs a combination of English and Gullah/Geechee dialect.
"You could say we spice the production with it," says Towne, minister of information for the St. Helena Island-based Gullah/Geechee Nation and co-founder of the nonprofit organizations Gullah/Geechee Angel Network and Gullah/Geechee People Foundation. "If we did everything in Gullah, few would understand it."
Painter and rice-field historian Jonathan Green says the language is like a living organism that's "always adapting and changing and having some hiccups" along the way.
"Today, more people speak a form of Gullah than ever did before. You have more European cultures speaking the Gullah dialect, something you found very little of in the days of DuBose Heyward. They are speaking it like it's something hip to do. The language is there in all sorts of diverse musical forms: blues, jazz, rap, R&B.
"For me, the problem of anything disappearing in reference to Gullah is the art form of visual imagery. Visual art exists before, during and after the language."
Much of the language in its earliest form does not survive, Green says, but the art does. And one can reconstruct the language through that art. Although many recognize that Gullah-influenced music derives from West African work songs, Green notes that "West Africa is a painted world; they paint on everything.
"That, too, was the power of the Bible, because the stories were told through visual imagery," adds Green, whose work will be showcased in the traveling show "Ashe to Amen, 100 Years of Art by African-American Painters" early next year. "I believe this visual imagery is most important, and that is what I am more in fear of being completely lost."
Green says most of the art forms that derive from Gullah still exist, and there is considerable momentum on the part of African-American people "who know they must protect this legacy."
Visual arts portrayals by artists of the Gullah-Geechee culture are too often wed to a single time period, says Daise, whose own programs meld memoir, historical documents, traditional and nontraditional spirituals and photography to illuminate cultural connections.
"I think artists who are of Gullah-Geechee heritage need to transcend that (focus). It's because we are contemporary individuals. The intonations of our language also are contemporary now. It is changing and this is healthy.
"There are a number of artists who depict Gullah life, not solely as people who carry objects on their heads, but as people who are living their daily lives. These are very accurate depictions and I would like to see artists do that more and more. I think the Gullah community will begin to celebrate itself more and more because it is a living culture."
Not surprisingly, the picture that many Americans continue to embrace is that of an outsider's interpretation of the culture.
"I think of 'Porgy and Bess' and subsequent versions of it as being a very ironic form that is really the only thing that most people can relate to," says Pringle. "And that's a Jewish man's interpretation of what was going on at the time. I would say that the Gullah-Geechee language is at a point that if there is not a focus on re-establishing it in the arts, there is a chance it will continue to decline."
For Brown, whose Mt. Zion Spiritual Singers are a fixture of Piccolo Spoleto each year, there's also the issue of purity.
"What we do, that's real spirituals. We do the pure, unarranged Negro spirituals as opposed to the arranged spiritual, for which music is designed or found to accompany it. It's modernized, and very little of the lyrics of these spirituals are from Gullah."
Green contends that Gullah is too little a part of the academic curricula.
"The school system does not support the teaching of Gullah. For what little is done it's in schools with a very small percentage of African-American kids. If they don't have an active art department in a school, you can't get a math or science teacher to do it."
Change is inevitable, Hudson-Wrenn says, and should be celebrated.
"In Gullah they say, 'Things change up now.' I trust art and art makers to continue telling stories about this unique place and culture. It is just too powerful. You are writing about it, Alphonso Brown is touring about it and Jonathan Green is painting about it.
"Much is up to the singers and poets and painters. I was drawn back to the Lowcountry of my ancestors to live in the heart of Edisto Island where I find Gullah culture still alive. The influences are just a bit more subtle, but I argue that they are still there."