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August 29, 2007
2007 Fall Convocation and Investiture Ceremony
Barbara R. Snyder Comes Home and is Formally Invested as President at Fall Convocation
Thank you Frank [Linsalata], members of the Board of Trustees and our distinguished platform party, including my friends Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Chancellor Eric Fingerhut, Dr. Greg Eastwood, Dr. Karen Holbrook, and my wonderful colleagues here at the university, our deans, and administrators.
I am particularly pleased to welcome delegates and friends from other academic institutions, honored guests, alumni, and of course our faculty, staff and students, and those joining us via webcast.
I especially want to greet our new students. We celebrate convocation as the day you officially join the Case Western Reserve University community, one that will help shape you and will help support you throughout your lives.
You and I begin this journey together because convocation marks the official opening of my presidency. For me, though, it is a return to the place where I got my academic start as a faculty member a number of years ago-in fact, well before the members of the class of 2011 were born. Back then, CDs were the new thing, and cell phones weighed pounds, rather than ounces. Much has changed in the years I was gone, so it is fair to say that more about the university is new to me than is familiar.
I learn more about this wonderful community of scholars, teachers, students, staff, alumni, and friends every day. Our history is replete with people whose work has, literally, changed the world. We count among our alumni
- two U.S. Surgeons General,
- the Director of the Centers for Disease Control,
- current and former members of Congress,
- the president of the American Nursing Association,
- a legendary civil rights lawyer who represented Martin Luther King,
- the founder of the Dow Chemical Company,
- and CEOs of companies across the world.
Among our faculty are:
- six members of the Institute of Medicine,
- eight members of the National Academy of Engineering,
- four members of the National Academy of Sciences,
- 17 fellows of the American Academy of Nursing,
- eight members of the American Law Institute,
- and two members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
And fifteen of our former students and faculty have won the Nobel Prize. [As Greg Eastwood said: More to come.]
We also attract outstanding staff members whose dedication to our university can be seen every day, in every corner of our campus. I enjoyed meeting recently with the members of the Staff Advisory Council. I am grateful for all of our employees' continuing contributions to our university, and I look forward to celebrating our day of service in September.
The students who choose Case Western Reserve University are among the best anywhere—they are bright, talented, motivated and generous with their time.
They, along with our faculty and staff, contribute collectively over 160,000 volunteer hours to more than 500 organizations in Northeast Ohio. I'm proud to tell you that our Number One partner is the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, where we have over 70 signature programs that touch 145,000 Kindergarten through 12th-grade students in our community.
What better way to learn about our university than getting to know some of our faculty, staff, students and alumni? I've met many in a series of meetings in the first weeks of my arrival on campus; others I've gotten to know by reading about your achievements in Case Daily and elsewhere.
- Professor Eric Bettinger, from the Department of Economics, is at the forefront of the national debate on whether financial incentives boost student test results, and is a special adviser to Chancellor Fingerhut regarding Ohio higher education.
- Team CASE, led by Professor Wyatt Newman from the Case School of Engineering, has created DEXTER, the smartest car you'll ever see. DEXTER recently advanced to the semifinal round of the DARPA challenge, a multimillion-dollar competition sponsored by the Department of Defense. The goal is to create a vehicle that "thinks" without a driver, for use in battlefield situations. We will be cheering the team when it competes in California in late October.
- Ted Gup, Professor of English and an award-winning reporter for the Washington Post, published a new book, Nation of Secrets: The Threat to Democracy and the American Way of Life, which arrived this summer to widespread acclaim.
- At an alumni event in Washington DC this spring, I met Dr. Stan Gerson, director of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University. We celebrated a few weeks ago when Stan and his colleagues at the Cancer Center were awarded a $25.5 million grant by the National Cancer Institute in recognition of their outstanding work in research and patient care.
- Professor Stephen Post from the School of Medicine co-authored a powerful new book, Why Good Things Happen to Good People: The Exciting New Research that Proves the Link Between Doing Good and Living a Longer, Healthier, Happier Life.
- The Functional Electrical Stimulation Center, led by Professor Hunter Peckham, this summer won a $6.5 million dollar grant, along with Brown University and a private company, to continue to explore ways to bring movement to limbs stilled by injury or disease. The Center is a collaboration among Case Western Reserve University, MetroHealth Medical Center, and the Louis Stokes Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. At Research Showcase this spring, I had the privilege of seeing a demonstration of the center's amazing work.
- When I think of Congressman Louis Stokes, I think of the impact one individual can have on a community. I had the privilege of meeting him on our campus, and I'm proud to say that he is both a distinguished alumnus and faculty member at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences. Congressman, thank you for your continued support of the University and our community.
- Last week, with Professor David Matthiesen and Dean Norman Tien of the Case School of Engineering, we celebrated a partnership with the Cuyahoga County Commissioners to develop the Great Lakes Wind Energy Research Center, which would be the first fresh water off shore wind energy project in the world.
- From water and wind to the high altitudes of Tibet, Professor Cynthia Beall is a member of the National Academy of Science, reknown for her research focusing on human adaptation to the high altitudes and genetics of adaptive traits and evidence for natural selection.
- Just after my arrival in July, I enjoyed a tour of the campus from this year's and last year's student body presidents, Adam Rupe and Neil Ursic. They are wonderful examples of the combination of leadership and academic achievement that is characteristic of our students, and I'm proud to report that they both spent the summer engaged in research with our faculty.
These are just a few examples, drawn from the weeks that I have been here, that illustrate the intellectual energy that permeates our campus and, in turn, carries the potential to change lives here and around the world.
Yes, our university is filled with potential, the potential to be among a small number of truly great urban research universities.
Beginning now, we have the opportunity, indeed, the responsibility, to create its future, to ensure that our university lives up to its enormous promise.
How will we do this? First, we must create a strategic plan together that will serve as our road map for the next several years.
We have already begun the process through conversations with groups of faculty, staff and students at the university as well as alumni and friends in our community. These gatherings have been valuable, but are just a start. Our stakeholders will be involved throughout the development of this plan.
Interim Provost Jerry Goldberg will lead the effort to develop, by the end of the academic year, a strategic plan with ambitious but realistic goals, action steps, and timelines. It will identify people accountable for each part of the plan and benchmarks to measure our progress. It will set forth both short- and long-term priorities. We will commit to reporting publicly on our progress each year. Execution of the plan will require focus, determination, and engagement from all of us.
Second, we must ensure the long-term financial health of the university. This requires more than simply balancing our annual operating budget. We must achieve and maintain adequate reserves. At the same time, we need to generate additional resources for investment in priorities. This will require difficult choices and fierce resolve.
The strength of this great university rests squarely on the capacity and commitment of its people. By that measure, Case Western Reserve University will build on the firmest of foundations.
As you know, this year's convocation is also my investiture. We adopted as its theme a line from the American poet T.S. Eliot: Home is where one starts from. That quotation comes from a masterpiece called The Four Quartets. Let me leave you with another stanza from that work:
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
In many ways, I am getting to know this place, the Case Western Reserve University of the 21st century, for the first time. But even as I begin, I already have no doubt that it is home.
My family and I thank you for the warm welcome. I am grateful for the trust that has been placed in me and our outstanding team of academic leaders, and we will work every day to live up to that trust. We appreciate your continued support in the work that lies ahead. Thank you.


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With new attacks by President Trump, high-stakes testimony next week on Capitol Hill, and a midterm election vulnerable to online manipulation, tech's giants are bracing themselves for two months after Labor Day that could decide whether and how much the government regulates them.
The big picture: The companies — led by Facebook and Google but with Twitter, Apple, and Amazon also in the mix — are caught in a partisan vise, between privacy-oriented critics on the left who fear further election interference and newer charges from the right of anti-conservative bias and censorship.
We spoke with people at the big companies to map the cases they expect to make publicly and privately.
The message: We're at the table. We're willing to accept some regulation. We don't have all the answers.
Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg will testify at the Senate Intelligence Committee's hearing next week on disinformation. The company is now seasoned in the art of congressional testimony thanks to previous appearances by several executives, most notably CEO Mark Zuckerberg last spring.
- Its strategy in recent months has been to adopt a more open public posture compared to its initial circle-the-wagons response in 2016, including on-the-record press briefings touting its election protection work and the disclosure so far of two coordinated disinformation campaigns.
- The company says it will work with the intelligence community to protect the midterms, but that those agencies are responsible for answering questions about who is behind disinformation campaigns.
The message: Slippers Women's Comfy BLIZ Fluffy Fur 01 Mules PAIRS Sheepskin Pink DREAM Our algorithms have no politics.
Google had been less in the spotlight than Facebook or Twitter even though it probably has more data on users and operates YouTube, which has struggled to limit conspiracy theories and other questionable content. That, of course, changed with Trump's recent tweets.
- Unlike its rivals, Google has so far resisted sending a C-level executive to next week's congressional hearings.
- Women's Sheepskin Comfy Slippers Mules BLIZ PAIRS 01 Pink Fluffy DREAM Fur In response to Trump's repeated charges that its search engine is biased against conservative news and views, the company insists that neither its code nor its engineers are discriminating against any political perspective.
- Many conservatives remain dissatisfied, a Sandal Taos Teal Leather Women's Carousel Wedge z11qwYPF, and feel that social media in general "censors" their point of view.
The message: BLIZ Fur Slippers Sheepskin Fluffy Women's Comfy DREAM Pink PAIRS Mules 01 We're listening to users and working with the authorities. We're being more transparent about political ads. And we're cracking down on fake accounts.
Twitter updated its ads policy Thursday to include a certification process for advertisers and more visibility into issue ads.
- Like Facebook, it created an archive of political ads that will be logged through a "transparency center" so that people can see who's spending on the platform.
- It has also been purging millions of accounts to weed out fakes, bots and dormant users. Round Diamond Low Heel whith M US Glass 8 Metalornament B and PU Pink WeenFashion Women's Closed Pumps 5 Toe Ew4RHISWvq
- Twitter has been more transparent with law enforcement officials and the public about flagging coordinated misinformation attacks.
The message: We don't sell your info. We don't have a social network. We're pro-privacy.
Unlike Google and Facebook, Apple isn't dependent on advertising revenue, so it's able to stand apart from rivals and say that it's not stockpiling user data and it's not a vector for election tampering.
- Another Apple talking point: In the company's chief business, selling phones and computers, it has no monopoly power. So when the talk of antitrust regulation gets hot and heavy in DC, the company argues that it should be left out of the discussion.
The message: We don't do elections. We're not a social network. We pay fair wages.
Comfy Sheepskin Pink Fur BLIZ 01 Fluffy PAIRS DREAM Women's Mules Slippers Amazon has been largely insulated from concerns over election meddling and malicious content, but nonetheless has a lot at stake over the next two months.
- A privacy debate spurred by Google and Facebook would also implicate Amazon and its massive cache of consumer data.
- Sen. Bernie Sanders has been putting pressure on the company over conditions in its warehouses.
- A White House-inspired task force is examining the president's evidence-free charge that the U.S. Postal Service is suffering from Amazon's business.
The company has largely laid low, but on Wednesday it publicly blasted Sanders for making "misleading accusations against Amazon."
Pink PAIRS Women's Sheepskin DREAM BLIZ Fluffy Comfy Slippers Fur 01 Mules The bottom line:The companies are all adopting different versions of a "we're different from all the others" strategy, and that could let aggressive legislators divide and conquer them on the road to regulation.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to note that Amazon made its statement about Sen. Bernie Sanders' criticism on Wednesday, not Thursday.

subset: commoncrawl


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With a huge fight heating up over whether to allow exports of U.S. natural gas, California solar executive Arno Harris argued that allowing exports would help the solar industry and reduce global carbon emissions.
The U.S. shale-gas boom (fracking) has up-ended global energy markets, lowering energy costs in the U.S. and promising to make the U.S. a net energy exporter, instead of a dependent on Middle East oil.
Cheap natural gas "is wiping coal off the map," said Harris, CEO of San Francisco-based Recurrent Energy, which builds large-scale solar plants that sell electricity to utilities.
That's a big plus for climate change, because natural gas has about half the carbon emissions of coal. But cheap natural gas also threatens to undercut green energy.
But Harris argued in an interview that solar costs are plummeting too, and that the industry can remain competitive.
"Everybody knows we're in this cheap gas environment," Harris said. "Gas-fired electricity today is probably five cents or six cents per kilowatt hour, wholesale." But new solar plants that Recurrent Energy is building will sell power to utilities as low as seven cents a kilowatt hour, he said.
"There's no longer this giant gap like there used to be a few years ago," Harris said. "What Americans aren't aware of is in fact how narrow that gap gotten, just as gas is at historically low prices, wind and solar are at historically low prices as well."
Gas exports are a rare case where Republicans and the Obama administration agree. The Dept. of Energy set off a ruckus with a study saying gas exports would provide a "net economic benefit" to the United States. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-OR, called foul. Democrats want to keep gas prices low. Environmentalists oppose exports because they oppose the fracking that allows the gas to be reached; they also fear that low gas prices will undercut cleaner energy.
Harris favors gas exports because they could help boost the price of gas, making solar and wind more competitive.
"I'm making the argument to my friends in the environmental and climate community that they shouldn't make this knee jerk reaction about exported gas," Harris said. "In fact export of gas is the best step we can take to bring order back to energy markets and raise the price a little bit." Gas has gotten so cheap that utilities are under intense pressure to build gas turbines and decrease their use of renewables.
U.S. natural gas exports could also reduce U.S. exports of coal to Europe, Harris argued.
Paradoxically, the U.S. gas boom has encouraged coal exports to Europe, where U.S. coal is cheaper than natural gas from Russia, which controls most of the gas supply to Europe. The price shift has made it more difficult for European countries to meet their carbon emissions targets.
"That coal is still coming out of the ground, it's just all going to Europe," Harris said. "They are switching from Russian gas to American coal, so overall, even though we're keeping the natural gas here, it is still resulting in a big uptick in carbon emissions because we're still pulling all that coal out of the ground. We're just not burning it here."
Harris is on the board of a new trade group, AEE, or Advanced Energy Economy, which wants to add a pro-business voice to counteract forces who argue that alternative energy is not viable without subsidies. (Harris argued that fossil fuels are "all permanently subsidized in the permanent tax code" as opposed to temporary breaks for renewables.)
There's a lot at stake in the coming fight over corporate tax reform, although more may be happening in state legislatures. California's incentives, including its renewable portfolio standard that requires utilities to use green power, drew the solar industry to the state, and the AB 32 climate change law is being closely watched worldwide.
(National Journal argued that with AB 32 Arnold Schwarzenegger has done more to combat climate change than Al Gore or President Obama.)


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DP in the News: NOTCOT.org Giveaway!
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A few of our designers were kind enough to give some treasured product to NOTCOT.org for their holiday giveaway. The loot: A set of Harry Allen Bulb Candles, a Harry Allen Rabbit's Foot Keychain, and a pair of CAKE Octopi Cups.
What would you do if…"You're trapped in a room, and all you have are these objects?" Comment on NOTCOT.org!


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Mark Zuckerberg famously dropped out of Harvard to devote his time building a little startup now known as Facebook. So unlike some other big-time Silicon Valley CEOs, he doesn't have to worry about losing his job over an exaggerated resume.
But at least someone in the Zuckerberg household will be able to hang a new college degree on the wall: Zuckerberg's longtime girlfriend, Priscilla Chan, graduated Monday from the UCSF School of Medicine. Chan, who plans to be a pediatrician, also earned membership in the national medical honor society, Alpha Omega Alpha.
Zuckerberg posted this check in on his Facebook wall from the commencement ceremonies in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts: "I'm so proud of you, Dr. Chan : )."
This is a big week for Zuckerberg. Monday was also his 28th birthday and his company is heading toward a Friday initial public stock offering that could value Facebook at more than $90 billion.
But there was an even bigger celebrity who stood out – literally – from the crowd of graduates, family and friends outside the center after the commencement ceremonies: Hall of Fame basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was there to celebrate the graduation of his son, Amir Abdul-Jabbar, who did his postgraduate training in orthopedic surgery.


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Black Onyx Club sets annual Heritage Scholarship Banquet for Saturday, June 8
- Details
- Category: School
- Published on 03 June 2013
- Written by Mount Vernon Optic-Herald
The sixth annual Heritage Scholarship Banquet is set for 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 8 in the Franklin County Multi-Purpose Center
on Taylor St. (NETO's Senior Meal Center). Tickets are available in advance for $10 per person. Seating for the banquet is limited to no more than 130 persons. Advance ticket purchases are advised. For more information, see the May 30 edition of the Mount Vernon Optic-Herald.


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Your local home health care provider of wheelchairs, walkers, scooters, stairlifts other mobility devices, grab bars and other home safety products. MEDIchair is North America's largest Home Medical Equipment (HME).
We carry a complete selection of Home Medical Equipment and Home Health Care products designed to enhance the quality of life, increase mobility, and provide a safe and accessible environment for the home. We're proud of our caring, knowledgeable and highly trained people, who are committed to finding the right home health care product solutions for our customers. We also provide in-home maintenance and installation services.
For further information about MEDIchair, please visit our website using the link above.
Please enter your phone number and click "Send" to receive the listing details by SMS. For numbers outside the US, please enter the country code, for e.g. +91. If you do not receive a message, your phone number might be registered in the Do Not Disturb Registry.
For numbers outside the US please enter the country code.
Please enter your phone number and click "Call" to call the listing owner.
For numbers outside the US please enter the country code.


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You know that saying, "you snooze, you lose?" Yeah, we've got an issue with that. As unabashed lazy girls, we think it's completely acceptable, nay imperative, to spend more time sleeping and less time primping in the a.m. An hour to do our hair? No thanks. A 30-minute, meticulous makeup application? Hells to the no.
As far as we're concerned, there's no reason you can't be out of bed and out the door in 10 minutes flat, with only half that time spent on your beauty routine. So, we enlisted makeup artist Claudia Lake and Bumble and bumble stylist Britney Williams to show us their best hair and makeup shortcuts.
From a sneaky way to concoct pretty waves to the one makeup trick every girl needs to know in order to look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, read on to get the scoop, then go ahead and hit that snooze button — you've got time.
Photographed by Sunny Shokrae; Makeup by Claudia Lake; Hair by Britney Williams for Bumble and bumble; Model Taylor Vasi at S Models, Shot on location at The Standard East Village


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Kids' Books
February 2017
"I see a broken shell and I remind myself that something might have needed setting free. See, broken things always have a story, don't they?"
~ from Sara Pennypacker's
Summer of the Gypsy Moths
Recent Releases
The Crooked Sixpence
Jennifer Bell
Fantasy. In the secret underground city of Ludinor, even the most boring things can be more than they seem: belts make people fly, bicycle bells talk, and toilet brushes are weapons. After being suddenly whisked away to Ludinor's marketplace for these "uncommon" objects, 11-year-old Ivy and her brother Seb are targeted not only by the police, but also by a sinister group known as Dirge that believes the siblings' family history holds the key to a powerful uncommon treasure. If you enjoyed the vivid magical world, creepy villains, and charming wordplay in the Harry Potter series, you won't want to miss this 1st book in the Uncommoners trilogy.
The Jolly Regina
Kara LaReau; illustrated by Jen Hill
Adventure. Sisters Kale and Jaundice Bland are upset when their deliciously dull routine of darning socks and waiting for their long-absent parents to return is disrupted by Deadeye Delilah, a pirate captain who kidnaps the girls for some annoyingly exciting adventures with her all-female crew. The pirates are in a race to find the treasure of Captain Ann Tennille, and they don't mind dragging the sisters through all sorts of "Serious, Life-Threatening Peril" if it means beating their all-male rivals on the pirate ship Testostero. Cartoon illustrations and buckets of "booty" puns add to the humor in this swashbuckling tale.
Molly and Pim and the Millions of Stars
Martine Murray
Fiction. Ten-year-old Molly's mama was embarrassing even before she turned into a tree. She used to dreamily collect herbs and make weird food for school lunches, but ever since she was transformed by one of her own potions, Molly's mama can only make tree-branch beds and grow unusual fruit. Molly wants her mama back more than anything, but with such a strange problem, she needs help from a strange person -- someone like her offbeat classmate, Pim. Tinged with magic but rooted in everyday life, this story of family and friendship will charm readers who like realistic fiction with a fairy-tale feel.
The Harlem Charade
Natasha Tarpley
Mystery. While helping at her grandparents' Harlem bodega, seventh-grader Jin notices lots of things that other people don't see -- such as her classmate Alex, who secretly uses her family's wealth to help her neighbors. After Jin joins Alex's quiet charity project, the two girls meet Elvin, who's new to Harlem and recently homeless. Elvin's grandfather is in a coma following a mysterious attack, and the three new friends join forces to find the attacker, uncovering fascinating details about the art and history of Harlem along the way. For further urban mysteries starring smart young sleuths, pick up Elizabeth Eulberg's
The Great Shelby Holmes
or Blue Balliett's
Pieces and Players
Stef Soto, Taco Queen
Jennifer Torres
Fiction. Though she wishes they would give her a little more freedom, middle school artist Estefenia Soto knows that her parents love her. There's only one "family member" Stef just can't stand: Tia Perla, her dad's beloved, battered old taco truck. Instead of letting Stef take the bus to school, her dad drops her off in Tia Perla, earning Stef the embarrassing nickname of "Taco Queen." She does her best to handle the school drama, but when the family business is threatened, Stef might have to step up in Tia Perla's defense. Breezy and sprinkled with Spanish,
Stef Soto, Taco Queen
serves up a fresh, warm-hearted slice of life.
Celebrating Families
Whether you're celebrating Canada's Family Day or you just want to read about fictional relatives for a while, these books featuring all kinds of families are for you.
Mr. and Mrs. Bunny -- Detectives Extraordinaire!
Polly Horvath; illustrated by Sophie Blackall
Humorous Mystery. Discovering that her parents have been kidnapped by disreputable foxes, sensible fifth-grader Madeline joins forces with Mr. and Mrs. Bunny (a pair of fedora-wearing, amateur detective rabbits) in order to find and rescue them. That's about all we can say about this wacky, witty story without ruining it -- but if you like fantastical tales with a slightly old-fashioned feel and both humans and talking animals as characters, hippity-hop right to the library and check out
Mr. and Mrs. Bunny -- Detectives Extraordinaire!
and its sequel,
Lord and Lady Bunny -- Almost Royalty!
Bo at Ballard Creek
Kirkpatrick Hill; illustrated by LeUyen Pham
Historical Fiction. Fans of historical fiction will love this cozy, engaging story set in 1920s Alaska. Abandoned by her mother years ago, five-year-old tomboy Bo lives happily with her adopted papas in Ballard Creek, a close, caring community made up of gold miners and Alaska Natives. Though Bo's life is full of hard work (endless chores, sluicing dirt for gold), it's also got plenty of thrills (being chased by a bear, seeing a plane for the first time). Readers will be fascinated by the diverse characters, authentic details, and expressive illustrations in this endearingly simple tale. If you like Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books, you should definitely check out
Bo at Ballard Creek
The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher
Dana Alison Levy
Fiction. It's back-to-school time, and along with their two dads and various pets, the multiracial Fletcher brothers -- sixth-grade athlete Sam, almost-twin fourth-graders Jax and Eli, and bouncy kindergartener Frog -- are excited to start the year. Their stodgy next-door neighbor, however, is NOT happy about their annual traditions, such as the epic Halloween party or the backyard ice rink. Can the Fletchers win him over with their brand of cheerful mayhem? Find out in this lively family story, which is followed by a sequel,
The Family Fletcher Takes Rock Island.
For similar stories featuring sisters instead of brothers, don't miss Jeanne Birdsall's Penderwicks series.
The Summer of the Gypsy Moths
Sara Pennypacker
Fiction. Twelve-year-old Stella has a happy life on Cape Cod with her great-aunt Louise, although she isn't too fond of Angel, the foster kid Louise has taken in. But then something terrible happens, and Stella and Angel are forced to become a team -- or else they'll both be uprooted and sent away. Intense, deeply emotional, and yet at times surprisingly funny, this story of friendship and survival is one that fans of Kathi Appelt's more fantastical but still mostly realistic book
are bound to enjoy.
The Fantastic Family Whipple
Matthew Ward
Fiction. Eleven-year-old Arthur Whipple doesn't think it's fair that he's a disappointment to his family. After all, being ordinary isn't a problem unless your family is extraordinary. Arthur's 12 siblings have broken nearly 50,000 world records, from Most Crème Brulée Eaten in One Minute to Highest Hamster-Piloted Model Rocket Launch -- how is completely average Arthur supposed to keep up? A new friend and a curious mystery might just help him find a way. Those who enjoy the quirky characters and over-the-top humor in
The Fantastic Family Whipple
should be sure to check out the sequel,
War of the World Records
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Prospect Heights Public Library District
12 N. Elm Street, Prospect Heights, Illinois 60070
847-259-3500 •


text: FAPRI: Expect Breakeven Crop Prices through 2023 March 18, 2014 11:41 PM Tweet TAGS: Marketing, Overseas December 18, 2014 By Ed Clark Top Producer Business and Issues Editor Email The export demand story for corn and soybeans is a relatively buoyant one from now to 2023. But even so, producer prices are likely to hover near breakeven, according to the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri. In its new econometric baseline, FAPRI economists predict farm corn prices of $4.42/bu. this year, $4.17 in 2014/15, with an average of $4/bu. for 2015/16 through 2023/24. The last four years of the period, corn prices are forecast to be slightly below $4. These corn prices would represent more than a $1/bu. drop from the $5.18 average of 2008/09 to 2012/13. Planted corn acres decline from 95.4 million in 2013/14 to 91.3 million this year and average 90.7 million acres for the rest of the decade. FAPRI quickly adds, however, that even with a $4 average, weather, energy prices and other factors could lead to prices over $5/bu. or below $3/bu. For soybeans, FAPRI looks for a larger price decline, from $12.57 this year to $9.84 for 2014/15 and average $9.82/bu. from 2015/16 to 2022/23. Soybeans prices averaged $11.55 from 2008/09 to 2012/13. Soybean acreage is expected to increase from 76.5 million acres in 2013/14 to 78.7 million acres in 2014/15, but drop back to average 76.6 million acres from 2015/16 to 2023/24. FAPRI economists see a downward correction, too, in wheat prices, from $6.82 in 2013/14 to $5.55 in 2014/15, with farm prices to average $5.27/bu. from 2015/16 to 2023/24. For 2008/09, wheat prices averaged $6.47/bu. Little change is expected in wheat acreage. FAPRI sees a steady increase in corn yields from 158.8 bu./acre in 2013/14 to 181.2 by 2023/24. Because of that, total production sets a new record each year, from 14.8 billion bushels in 2013/14 to 17.1 billion by 2023/24. Ending stock levels continue to increase over the period, from 1.665 billion to 2.238 billion bushels—increasing each year, as supply increases faster than demand. Exports, however, set a new record, from 1.447 to 2.883 billion bushels. Corn used for ethanol hovers around 5 billion for the period, while feed and residual use increases slightly from 5.264 billion bushels to 5.395 billion. However, FAPRI forecasts that this category will see less corn use than 2013/14 until the 2018/19 marketing year. On the cost side, variable expenses decline from $354.48/acre in 2013/14 to $338.29 in the upcoming marketing year and bottom out for the decade at $333.37/acre for 2015/16, mostly due to declines in fertilizer prices. Costs after that climb and reach $374.88 by 2023/24. Only a modest yield increase is forecast for soybeans, from 43.3 to 48.6 bu./acre over the decade. Strong soybean exports continue, but at a slower rate that in recent years, increasing from 1.5 billion in the current marketing year to 1.6 billion by 2023/24. However, while a small increase is expected in soybean exports for 2014/15, for 2015/16, FAPRI looks for a decline to 1.495 billion bushels. Soybean crush increases from 1.669 to 1.952 billion bushels over the forecast period. Biomass-based biofuel demand is forecast at 1.4 billion to 1.5 billion gallons. Despite strong demand, U.S. soybean stocks increase from 144 million bushels in 2013/14 to 248 million bushels by 2023/24. Variable costs increase from $154/acre to $175 over the period. While for 2014, returns appear to favor soybeans according to most analysts, soybean net returns per acre are lower than for corn over the next decade, FAPRI's analysis shows. For U.S. wheat, planted area is constant over the forecast period, although a slight increase is expected this year. Exports increased in 2013/14, but could be under pressure in 2014/15 from competing international supplies of wheat and low corn prices. Domestic feed use of wheat also declines. Exports are stable over the decade at about 1.1 billion bushels, with ending stocks increasing from 611 million to 734 million bushels. Yield changes little over the period, from 47.2 bu./acre in 2013/14 to 48.7 by 2023/24. Looking at key variables, FAPRI assumes U.S. GDP growth of 3% during the next five years, a slow decline in the unemployment rate, low inflation and short-term interest rates increasing in 2016 and reaching pre-recession levels in 2017. Global GDP is forecast to improve from 2.5% in 2013 to 3.3% this year, peaking at 3.9% in 2016/17 and be 3.6% by 2023. China's GDP is forecast to increase from 7.7% last year to 8.1% in 2014 before peaking in 2015 at 8.3%. For the rest of the decade, however, China's GDP growth rate declines, hitting 6.2% by 2023. The world population growth rate also declines, from 1.1% growth in 2013 to 0.9% growth in 2023. Back to news


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After focusing on traditional Kirtan (chanting) music for the last several years, Jai Uttal returns to his signature blend of world-music, American roots music, and devotional Bengali chanting. This recording is exceptionally well crafted and produced, and Jai does an amazing job of incorporating sultry Brazilian rhythms with ancient Sanskrit mantras. The spectrum of instruments used on this Cd is just astounding, and I especially enjoyed the documentation and use of "toy instruments, cookware, and pots and pans."This is the most rockin' and musically diverse Cd Jai has recorded, and by far one of the most enjoyable. And even though these tracks have a fast tempo and a definite western rock style to them, there is also a noticeable sweetness to all of the tracks, especially on Never Felt This Love, which features the vocals of his son Ezra. This would be a great album to introduce someone to the world of chanting and is a must-have for Jai Uttal fans.
Purchase Thunder Love by Jai Uttal at Amazon.com
Or preview and buy MP3s below:


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Father And Son Matching Ties....Cute!
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Price: $13.99 to $15.99


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Clinton writes of Biden, Bergdahl
Hillary Clinton, in her book out next week, reflects on her split with President Barack Obama over how to handle conflict-riven Syria, describes her role in the early-stage discussions about a prisoner swap with the Taliban for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl and recounts her first date-like rapprochement with her former primary rival, according to a new report.
Story Continued Below
CBS News obtained a copy of "Hard Choices," Clinton's memoir about her time as Secretary of State that's set to hit book shelves on Tuesday. POLITICO reported last week on the chapter that addresses the Benghazi attacks and their aftermath.
And in an excerpt obtained by the Associated Press, Clinton writes that she pushed the president to make a change to the long-standing U.S. embargo against Cuba.
( PHOTOS: Hillary Clinton's 50 influentials)
Here's a look at some of the other excerpts reported by CBS and the AP.
Iraq. Clinton says for the first time that she was "wrong" to have voted to authorize the Iraq war in 2002, a vote that helped sink her in the 2008 presidential primary.
"Many senators came to wish they had voted against the resolution. I was one of them," Clinton says. "As the war dragged on, with every letter I sent to a family in New York who had lost a son or daughter, a father or mother, my mistake (became) more painful."
She adds, "I thought I had acted in good faith and made the best decision I could with the information I had. And I wasn't alone in getting it wrong. But I still got it wrong. Plain and simple."
( Also on POLITICO: Chambliss: Would have raised 'holy Hell' over Bergdahl)
It's further than Clinton ever went in the 2008 race, even as she slowly crept away from the vote. It's unclear if she explains in the book why she wouldn't say it back then.
Bergdahl. Regarding the man who sparked a cable news wall-to-wall controversy since his release was announced by Obama on Saturday, Clinton writes that she knew "that opening the door to negotiations with the Taliban would be hard to swallow for many Americans after so many years of war."
Syria. Clinton acknowledges she was at odds with Obama on whether to arm Syrian rebels, a policy debate she lost.
"I returned to Washington reasonably confident that if we decided to begin arming and training moderate Syrian rebels, we could put in place effective coordination with our regional partners," she writes.
( Also on POLITICO: Krauthammer backs Bergdahl deal)
"[T]he risks of both action and inaction were high. Both choices would bring unintended consequences. The President's inclination was to stay the present course and not take the significant further step of arming rebels. No one likes to lose a debate, including me. But this was the President's call and I respected his deliberations and decision. From the beginning of our partnership, he had promised me that [I] would always get a fair hearing. And I always did. In this case, my position didn't prevail," she writes.
Cuba. Clinton said the long-standing embargo had simply given Fidel Castro "a foil to blame for Cuba's economic woes."
She notes that her husband had also tried easing the embargo, although it didn't have an impact. Still, she advised Obama that it "wasn't achieving its goals" and "it was holding back our broader agenda across Latin America. … I thought we should shift the onus onto the Castros to explain why they remained undemocratic and abusive."
Osama bin Laden. Clinton supported the raid that killed him, and she reveals some of the dramatic moments in the Situation Room as Obama's team waited to see whether the mission would succeed.
"Contrary to some news reports and what you see in the movies, we had no means to see what was happening inside the building itself. All we could do was wait for an update from the team on the ground," she writes. "I looked at the President. He was calm. Rarely have I been prouder to serve by his side as I was that day."
She adds: "After what seemed like an eternity, but was actually about fifteen minutes, word came from [Admiral William] McRaven that the team had found bin Laden and he was 'E-KIA,' enemy killed in action. Osama bin Laden was dead."


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Past Event
Roundtable Workshop 30: Disaster Resilient DesignDisasters Roundtable
The Venable Conference Center
575 7th Street NW, The Capitol Room Washington DC 20004
The Disasters Roundtable of the National Academies' National Research Council and the National Academy of Environmental Design hosted a workshop, "Disaster Resilient Design," on October 26, 2010. Bringing together thought-leaders and experts in the design and disaster communities, this workshop identified ways to integrate principles of sustainability and disaster resilience in building, site, and community planning and design. Disaster resilient design embodies a broad range of ideas and specifications that can include site planning and building codes, sustainability and green design principles, pre-event plans for risk reduction and mitigation, and post-event retrofit, reconstruction, and resettlement considerations. The workshop drew upon examples from research, planning, and design studio work to address how building, site, and regional plans can mitigate exposure to risk and effects of disasters to:
-Identify areas of intersection between sustainability and disaster resilience
-Identify ways to integrate green design and disaster resilience principles in the United States and in international arenas
-Identify new models for disaster resilient design research and education
-Raise awareness, facilitate dialogue, and create collaboration among experts in the disasters and environmental design communities
The afternoon of the full day workshop was spent in interactive and participatory small group activities to identify actions needed to:
-Integrate green design and disaster resilience into physical design
-Identify new models that integrate disaster resilient design research and education
-Discuss disaster resilient design in international contexts
This workshop was open to the public.
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Registration
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon Morning Plenary and Panel Discussions: Points of convergence and divergence between sustainability and disaster resilience
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Small Working Groups on (1) integrating green design and disaster resilience in physical design; (2) new models for disaster resilient design research and education; and (3) disaster resilient design in international contexts
2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Working Group Reports
4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Summary Comments and Reflections
Download the full Meeting Agenda


text: A novel you can't put down may be the best possible goad to achieving your resolutions (unless reading less is one of your resolutions and we really hope it's not). Who needs to remember to stop eating so much, for example, when you're more concerned about what's going to happen to a character you care about? Dip into these novels and you'll be hooked.


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Folks at the site beautifulpeople.com will tell you that hanging with the beautiful crowd has its perks — until an angry ex-employee crashes the pretty-people party with 30,000 of his or her ugliest friends.
The exclusive dating site reports it was targeted by a virus aptly called "Shrek" last month, allowing thousands of so-called "ugly people" to set up profiles on the site without approval. Usually, the site's members vote on whether applicants are worthy of a beautifulpeople.com profile.
"We got suspicious when tens of thousands of new members were accepted over a six-week period, many of whom were no oil painting," site director Greg Hodge said in a prepared statement.
(If you think that's a little odd, read on.)
About 30,000 users reportedly got a not-so-polite rejection email informing them their profiles would be shuttered. "Sorry to inform you, you're not beautiful enough," the email stated, according to one report.
"We have sincere regret for the unfortunate people who were wrongly admitted to the site and who believed, albeit for a short while, that they were beautiful," Hodge said. "It must be a bitter pill to swallow, but better to have had a slice of heaven then never to have tasted it at all."
The flippant tone of the statement — and beautifulpeople.com's history of publicity stunts — has some calling the site out for faking the virus. After all, this is the same site that once falsely reported it was making users reapply for membership after the holiday season because too many "let themselves go."
Graham Cluley, a blogger for Naked Security, wrote:
It's a fantastic piece of chicanery, of course, designed to boost awareness of the dating website, get them many thousands of pounds of free publicity with little risk of damage to their reputation.
But beautifulpeople.com managers maintain that's not the case. They're blaming a disgruntled ex-employee for the "Shrek" virus.
From the site's statement:
The origin of the 'Shrek Virus' is still being investigated internally. It was initially thought to be one of the 5.5 million BeautifulPeople.com rejects, but further investigations point to a former employee who placed the virus before leaving the team in May. Despite wreaking havoc with the application process, member privacy and security was never breached.
And that's just convenient enough to make the world skeptical.
Beautifulpeople.com proudly claims to have rejected about 5.5 million applicants. But now: "BeautifulPeople.com has set up a hotline on 1 (800) 791-0662 to help recently rejected applicants deal with the hard news and can give tips for those wishing to re-apply. "
I'm guessing tip No. 1 goes a little something like this: "Become prettier."


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HOUSTON - Dozens of companies and organizations set up shop at Minute Maid Park for a chance to hire military veterans from every branch.
Hundreds of military men and women stood in line at the park Thursday for a chance to apply for a job.
Mathew Ramirez went to both Iraq and Afghanistan twice in the past five years. Even with a frustrating job search, he said he's glad to be home.
"Its the only thing you think about. What makes you get through your day. When you hear 'incoming, incoming,' and you hit the floor, working on a plane in the middle of nowhere and you hear the sirens. It's a little bit scary so you are always thinking about coming home," said Ramirez.
Twins Mathew Daniel and Michael Daniel are both Marines, and they're also glad to be back together.
"We went for a period where we didn't see each other for about two and a half years. We went to boot camp together and split up shortly after that," Michael Daniel said.
Now, they're both searching for engineering jobs that will allow them to work in the same city.
"We hope at least 50 percent walk out with a job offer or at least an interview. We have companies doing on-site hiring today," said Mike Rolins with Recruit Military.
Navy veteran Derik Elizarraras was lucky enough to get one of those interviews right on the spot.
"Military brings to the table all the core value that corporate America wants and needs, including integrity and all the personal characteristics. That is why the clients are here to hire," added Rollins.
Company officials said the military brings to the table all the corps values that corporate America's wants and needs.
There will be another job fair for veterans in Houston on Dec. 9.
Copyright 2012 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City
There's a buzz about Kansas City. For the past few months or even years, I've heard rumblings about this Midwestern metropolis that's considered an "emerging destination" for arts, for food, and LGBT culture. Rodgers and Hammerstein must have been ahead of the curve 50 years ago when they wrote, "Oklahoma!," which includes the lyrics:
I went to Kansas City on a Friday
By Saturday I learned a thing or two
But up 'till then I didn't have an idea
Of what the mod'rn world was comin' to.
In spite of their nod to KC, I admit I was skeptical. But eventually, my curiosity led me to discover Missouri's biggest city for myself.
Right away I felt welcome in Kansas City for two reasons. First, my initials are "K.C.," and seeing them plastered all over billboards, business names, bumper stickers, and bodies (from clothing to tattoos) is a great way to feel right at home.
Secondly, I visited during Kansas City Pride weekend, and surrounding myself with thousands of local queers instantly assured me that this town does indeed have a potent LGBTQ community.
KC Pride, held in early June, introduced me to lovely Berkley Riverfront Park on the Missouri River. It serves as a green space and festival grounds that ties into downtown's charming River Market neighborhood.
There's no march for KC Pride, so the festival's $10 entry (weekend packages are cheaper) is both a donation and the only way to join the revelry. Along with family-friendly activities, info booths, local-store pop-ups, and busy drink tents, the festival's showcase was a mainstage chock full of performances -- from local drag queens, choruses, dance troupes, and headliner Thelma Houston, one of my all-time favorite disco queens.
Sticky and Sweet, and Rainbow Heat
I flirted my way through the Pride crowd, on my way learning about July's Outskrts "LGBTQ" Festival and meeting cool, proud locals eager to tell me all about their town.
I used barbecue as my throughline. KC is famous for its "slow and low" smoked meats slathered with thick, sweet-tangy sauce. Naturally, there's a slew of great restaurants to choose from, but only a few were mentioned time and again. With a half-dozen locations, Gates BBQ is consistently ranked first. But its counter service is famously curt, so most locals advised me to have my order ready before walking in the door.
Char Bar is another top spot, and gay-owned, where the succulent BBQ is rivaled by its other hearty comfort-food (fried chicken, grits-filled hush puppies), plus a sprawling beer garden with lawn games. Veteran pitmaster Rob Magee helms the award-winning Q39 (a relative newcomer since its 2017 opening), serving up tender, juicy barbecue that may leave you breathless.
Both Char Bar and Q39 are in the happening neighborhood of Westport (aka Midtown), which is where I discovered most of KC's gay bars. The most famous is the always-friendly Missie B's, a neighborhood watering hole that's welcomed local queers to its piano bar, live stage shows, and late-night upstairs dance floor since 1994.
Bistro 303 (self-proclaimed as a "gay little bar and bistro") is a few blocks away and serves lovely brunch, lunch, and dinner, plus daily food specials and signature martinis.
If all the barbeque has inspired your Western flair, kick up your heels with a live show or line dancing among a lesbian-centric crowd at Side Kicks Saloon. To catch some of the state's top drag queens, don't miss Sunday brunch at Hamburger Mary's or its other near-nightly events like karaoke, bingo, and trivia.
From Culinary to Culture
Kansas City's local pride stretches beyond the LGBTQ community and through shops like Made in KC where you can browse clothes, housewares, letterpress goods, jewelry, even food and drinks made in "the Mo." (That's what locals call Kansas City, Missouri; as opposed to "KCK" across the river in Kansas.) The goods are mostly made through the Made in KC Creative Studios that's been a small-business anchor and incubator in the Crossroads neighborhood since 2015.
Crossroads is a lively district just outside of downtown that's home to many of the city's art galleries, as well as several nationally landmarked buildings. Every first Friday evening all year round, the neighborhood becomes a veritable street festival with bands playing in parking lots, artists selling their work from sidewalk tables, food trucks lining the streets, and streams of people browsing art exhibits.
I was glad to catch a First-Friday event and especially loved how well used the city's streetcar line and bike lanes are -- disproving my assumption that KC is strictly a driving city.
Following tips for more great art, I enjoyed the free Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, home to compact, engaging galleries as well as a delightful restaurant in Café Sebastienne. By comparison, the vast Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art seemed intimidating. But its collections were a trip highlight, especially its new "Big Picture" photography gallery and 20th-century permanent collection.
One of KC's most impressive features is the city's devotion to urban renewal. Union Station, for example, remains an active Amtrak station; but it's also a museum, event space, and home to a few standout restaurants like the classic Pierpont's, one of the city's best steakhouses.
Hotel Phillips is another prime example of an early 20th-century building that's now a chic, restored structure, and a great lodging option in downtown's Power & Light District. The 1931 building boasts incredible Art Deco details, comfortably modern rooms, a handsome lobby (with shuffleboard for guests); and below, the sexy P.S. Speakeasy that hosts live music on weekends to accompany smooth craft cocktails.
On my last day in town, I headed up to the central Liberty Memorial Park, home to the fascinating National World War I Museum and Memorial. From the hilltop overlook, I absorbed this fabulous city stretched out before me. I realized that I loved learning about Kansas City, a town I'm now a little crushed on. KC reminded me that no matter what I've heard or expect to find, I can never know a city without going there -- and sometimes it might leave you wanting more.


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Lasagna Cupcakes, Anyone? Science Says We Can't Get Enough Mini Stuff Featured
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Authors: npr.org FOOD
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Cupcakes or just mac 'n cheese baked in a muffin tin?
Courtesy of Lisa S. Kim
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Grilled cheese cupcakes ready for consumption. At our cupcake cook off, we stuffed these minis with Havarti cheese, roasted tomatoes and fresh basil.
Courtesy of Lisa S. Kim
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Bubbling chicken potpie cupcakes, fresh out of the oven. Crescent roll dough creates a shell for the chicken filling.
Courtesy of @LisaSKim
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The Thanksgiving cupcake looks the most like your run-of-the-mill sweet cupcake. The recipe was created on the spot at our cupcake cook off: Biscuit dough is topped with stuffing, turkey and a crown of mashed potatoes.
Courtesy of Lisa S. Kim
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Five savory cupcakes: Chicken potpie, lasagna, grilled cheese, macaroni and cheese, and Thanksgiving leftovers.
Courtesy of Lisa S. Kim
A few weeks ago, my friend came back from Brooklyn raving about the food served at a baby shower.
"Savory cupcakes!" she exclaimed. Lasagna, grilled cheese, chicken potpies and even a mac n' cheese cupcake — all shaped like the trendy dessert and served on a cupcake tree.
Despite all the enthusiasm, my first response was quite cynical. Isn't that just baked macaroni and cheese in a muffin tin?
The idea came from Pinterest, where you can find recipes for taco cupcakes, mini caprese sandwiches and baby meatloafs "frosted" with mashed potatoes.
Seriously, why are Americans so fascinated with miniaturized foods? Was this simply the next installment of the cupcake trend, or did savory cupcakes speak more deeply about Americans' need to individualize everything?
Alice Julier, director of food studies at Chatham University, says she doesn't buy the individualism argument. The desire to shrink beloved dishes into individual servings pervades the global gastronomical landscape, she says. Think about tapas, dim sum or the Bento Box.
"The Japanese have been doing it with food forever," she says. And, they take miniaturization and individualism to extreme. They sell individually wrapped strawberries and even have toy kitchens where you can prepare dime-sized doughnuts and one-inch pizzas with micro-utensils and Lilliputian cookware. (These nano-foods are made of seaweed extract, but they're not edible).
Why shouldn't we Americans jump into the trend and miniaturize our favorites, like grilled cheese and lasagna?
These home-spun versions of molecular gastronomy – where food is deconstructed and then put back together — adds "a creative fun play to cooking that people don't get to do in their regular day," Julier thinks. And it brings us closer to our food. "Americans now feel a disconnect with their food. This gives us some control of foods' shape and form."
This all sounds reasonable, but it still doesn't explain the emotional response many of us have when we see a pee-wee pizza or bite-size lasagna. "Omigosh, look how adorable!"
Writing in The New York Times a few years ago, Natalie Angier called this "The Cute Factor." She said that humans are hardcoded to respond positively to any features or signs that reminds us of needy infants, from "the young of virtually every mammalian species, fuzzy-headed birds like Japanese cranes, woolly bear caterpillars, a bobbing balloon, a big round rock stacked on a smaller rock, a colon, a hyphen and a close parethesis typed in succession."
If punctuation can emanate "cute cues" that make us happy and trigger our impulse to nuture and care, then surely miniaturized food may elicit a similar response.
This foodie-scientist needed some solid data. So I suggested my friend come down to Washington, D.C. and bake up a few batches of these baby casseroles.
As soon as the bubbling mini-potpies came out of the oven, my skepticism and pedantic analyses turned to child-like glee.
Cute little discs of brioche — brushed with butter of course — served as the bread for the grilled cheese cupcakes. And, a thick bechamel sauce was rich enough that the mac n' cheese cupcakes held their shape as they cooled. Oh, how delightful!
But what finally won me over were the lasagna cupcakes. Wonton noodles replaced the pasta, and the thin noodles folded up along the sides of the cupcakes, sealing in the ricotta cheese and tomato sauce. Dare I say they were better than the large format?
Whether it's an instinctual affection for baby Japanese birds or just a desire to connect more closely to your dinner, the mini-food movement appears to be kicking in the U.S.
And, it's probably no coincidence, Julier says, that we are choosing to miniaturize calorie-rich dishes, like lasagna and meat pies. "It allows an indulgence without the guilt."
Cute and healthy all wrapped up together in a muffin. What more does a foodie need.


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Student Resources
Resources for Students
Distance and Continuing Education courses and online degrees can be an excellent way to expand your career horizons, gain a new skill or expertise, or supplement your traditional study program. This student resources section of our website is designed to be a go to resource for individuals who are current and/or potential NDSU online students. Online students often are unable to make it to campus and, as a result, may not be aware of the wealth of resources available to help them succeed in college. The resources found here are provided to help you make the most of your online degree experience.
If you are new to online classes at NDSU, be sure to view our Getting Started Guide as it will walk you through the process of becoming an online student. For additional questions about online degrees and classes you may find it useful to view our searchable list of frequently asked questions.


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Autumn is the time for football and to relish the most beautiful of our four seasons. Many trees have been waiting to show off their foliage. One of the great things about living where we do is the ever-changing seasons. For a few weeks, nature puts on one of its most spectacular displays as trees complete the growing season in a brilliant display of fall colors.>> read "Plant an Awesome Autumn: Trees for Fall Color" #Fall #Orange #Trees
This is about the time of year I start getting inquiries from local media about why leaves turn colors in the fall. What they really want to know is the exact week of peak color to inform the leaf-peepers. I usually respond that the plants are preparing to enter dormancy and peak color depends on prevailing weather conditions and is often unpredictable.
But what exactly is dormancy and why is it crucial to plants? Like explaining why leaves change color, the answer is not straightforward and "depends," which is not the answer most people want to hear. I'll attempt to explain in layman's terms an interesting facet of a plant's life.
Fans of perennial flowers admire both their longevity in the garden and their capabilities. Where they once planted a daylily, by division, they can have three or more clumps in a few years. Fans of annuals tout their quick results and their lengthy bloom period. Pop in your six-pack and, if it isn't blooming already, it soon will be – and will bloom for months on end. No wonder biennials are the Rodney Dangerfields of the flower world ...>> read "The Underappreciated Biennial" #Blue #Colorful #Flowers #Orange #Purple #Yellow
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My first daffodil to bloom this year ...
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Pamela Crawford
$ 19.95
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A complete guide to simple container gardening designed for anyone who has ever killed a plant. It includes illustrated instructions to create gorgeous, fool-proof container gardens that even you can't kill!
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Dorie Byers
$ 16.95
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Enhance your health naturally with herbs from your own garden. Even if you've never gardened before, you can care for yourself and your family using time-tested herbal remedies harvested from your own medicinal herb garden. Master Gardener Dorie Byers offers simple growing instructions for more than 20 versatile medicinal herbs such as garlic, chamomile, and echinacea. You'll also find recipes and tips for using the herbs for first-aid and preventive health care.
>> more information


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|North Andover, Mass.
|High School:
|Andover Academy
Career Notes: 126 games played... 31 goals and 75 points.
2010-11: Saved his best season for his last one... Third-team All-ECAC… Second-team All-Ivy… ECAC Hockey MLX Skates Player of Week on 12/6/10… ECAC All-Tournament Team… Career-high 15 goals and 34 points… Four different two-goal games and a trio of three-point outings… Notched game-winner late in third period at Princeton on 2/20/11... Fourth on team in goals, fifth in points.
2008-09:Slowed by early-season injury but played 26 games... Hit net twice with five assists... Scored Yale's only goal in NCAA Regional game vs. Vermont... Scored a goal in first and last games of the season.
2007-08: Played in every game... Had 6-11-17... Fifth on the team in assists and sixth in points and goals... Three assists in 6-1 win at Colgate... Three games with multiple points...One power-play goal... Third on the team in penalties and penalty minutes... David C. Noyes III Award for determination, grit, and courage.
2006-07: Played in all 31 games as a freshman and finished fourth on the team in scoring with 17 points... Eight goals were third most on the team... Finished second in power-play goals with four... Had five multiple-point outings... Scored the game-winning goal on power play at Harvard (11/18) in a 5-2 victory... Turned it up in the second half of the season, managing 11 points in the final 10 games... Scored late third-period goal at No. 8 New Hampshire (10/28/06) to force overtime and then assisted on game-winner... One goal, two points at Brown (11/1/08).
At Phillips Andover Academy: Played three years varsity hockey at Andover with Bulldog teammate Tom Dignard... In his senior campaign, finished second on the team in goals with 11 and third on the team in points with 25... Also played one year at the US National Development program with Bulldogs Billy Blase and David Inman.
Personal: Christopher Cahill is the son of Jack and Pam Cahill... His brother Ryan played hockey for Middlebury College... He is a member of Calhoun College.

 Year	 GP	 G	 A	 P	 PIM

 2006-07	31	8	9	17	41

 2007-08	34	6	11	17	45

 2008-09	26	2	5	7
30

 2010-11	35	15	19	34
64

 Total	 126	 31	 44	 75


text:
Long ago, a powerful staff was created; the creator gifted the king with it, and begged that it be locked away… The kind obliged, sealing the staf Siel'zar in the darkest catacombs of his castle's dungeon, surrounded by barrier both mundane and mystical.
The kingdom has long since fallen, the the dungeon has long since been forgotten. Originally, the staff was meerly a powerful tool; however, over centuries of time, the enchantments have grown, wraping into a strange, alien awareness. The staff feeds upon the lifeforce of the creatures around it and the ambient magic in the area it influences, growing stronger with each sip of energy.
Now, it seeks to surpass the gods themselves, and to this end it uses the power it contains to slowly influence the dungeon it resides within - creating a loyal kingdom of followers in the creatures who have been infused with the staff's power, and shaping the dungeon itself into a stronghold.
Soon, it may stake a claim of the surface world, and expand from there - becoming a greater threat with each tree, bird, and deer that falls to it's influence, always riveted on the goal of becoming the Ultimate Force.
It appears to be a simple oak staff, decorated heavily with silver and platinum, with a seven-fingered talon atop it, clutching a blood-red ruby carved to resmble an eye. When the mind within the staff is awake and active, the gem flickers erratically, as if a distant lightning storm plays aound within the gem.
It remains trapped within the dungeon, the bottom half of it locked in stone warded to the strength of mithril by the kingdom's long-since-dead archmage.
Magical Properties:
This staff is not meant to fall into the hands of players, but rather to be a villain in and of itself.
It has access to all wizard spell of level five and below, with the skill of a wizard of twentieth level.
It projects a field around it, perhaps six or seven hundred yards wide; any creature which spends a year regularly bathed in the field will be changed, their mind enhanced and their will bent to loyalty to the mind in the staff - and they carry a limited-range version of the field with them, allowing the staff to send minions forth to infuse others and make them part of the staff's growing army. It also feeds on the life energy of those it controls, sipping just enough to make it stronger, wthout bringing any real harm to the servants.
It can also cast a force wall, impervious and nigh impossible to breach save by an archmage or a god, and often uses this to keep creatures it wishes to make serve it trapped within the field's radius.
It can also directly control those who serve it, but prefers to leave them to their new intelligence, which is often a feral kind, as most of those who serve it are animals raised to awareness.


text:
Trip with Louis Vuitton speedy bagsCategories:Louis Vuitton
My internal clock is still tuned to Louis Vuitton Speedy 30 handbag, and I'm starting to get that itch to drive down to theFlorida coast like we did every year in high school. It's not quite warm enough yet to make one of the beaches up North an enjoyable jaunt. With the popularity of trips, here comes the new selections of Louis Vuitton Handbag mainly perfect for trips. As the weather starts to get a little warmer, my mind always turns to trips.
It may be the perfect weekender. With the high price and fine leather of this bag, I'd probably be too nervous to take it on an airplane, even as a carry on, but I could certainly see myself throwing Monogram Canvas Speedy in the back seat of a rental convertible and setting out for the coast. I can still plan for that eventuality, though, and in a perfect world, I'd be packing my bathing suits and flip flops into a bag like the Speedy 40, the respect choice for Monogram Canvas collection.
This bag is a fantasy piece for me, but Louis Vuitton's non-monogrammed pieces are often so beautiful that as someone who's not a monogram lover, I can't help but zero in on them and obsess. What's your dream weekender Louis Vuitton Purse and where would you take it?This kind of bag is the perfect size for a trip of a few days to a week, as long as you're not packing heavy winter coats and boots, which is why it's best to save it for summer if Neverfull GM Monogram is going to be your bags.
Tags: Louis Vuitton handbag speedy 30


text:
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio) said Friday morning that Sen Ted Cruz' 21-hour speech before the Senate this week made one thing clear: The Texas Republican can never be president.
On the MSNBC program "Morning Joe," Castro said the reason Cruz can't be president is "nobody will follow him. Even people within his own party won't follow him. And so I think in terms of his long-term prospects, it was fairly damaging."
Castro repeated a sentiment he had expressed in a Tweet during Cruz' speech — that Cruz had made dysfunctional Congressional politics even worse.
"It was really hard to hear Ted speak about representing 26 million Texans when he was giving that talk, because there are millions and millions of Texans who're without health care coverage and who very much disagree with his point of view and who are also looking forward to the chance to get health care coverage," Castro said.
Texas leads the country in percentage of population without health insurance.


text:
No. 97,5561
AUSTIN DESLAURIERS, Clinical Director,
LEO HERMAN, Program Director,
1. An appellate court's standard of review over a trial court's summary dismissal of a K.S.A. 60-1501 petition is well-established. K.S.A. 60-1503 authorizes the summary dismissal of a habeas corpus petition if it plainly appears from the face of the petition and any exhibits attached thereto that the plaintiff is not entitled to relief in the trial court. To avoid summary dismissal, the allegations must be of a constitutional stature. In determining if this standard is met, courts must accept the facts alleged by the inmate as true. If a violation of due process is alleged, a question of law is raised over which an appellate court has unlimited review.
2. The Kansas Act for Judicial Review and Civil Enforcement of Agency Actions (KJRA), K.S.A. 77-601 et seq., applies to all agencies and all proceedings for judicial review and civil enforcement of agency actions that are not specifically exempted by statute. The KJRA is the exclusive remedy for all requested relief which an agency can grant under its authority. Only actionable claims which fall outside the authority of an agency to grant can support a separate action by an aggrieved party.
3. The Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services is the agency charged with the control, care, and treatment of sexually violent predators.
4. K.S.A. 60-1501 states that subject to the provisions of K.S.A. 60-1507, and amendments thereto, any person in this state who is detained, confined, or restrained of liberty on any pretense whatsoever, and any parent, guardian, or next friend for the protection of infants or allegedly incapacitated or incompetent persons, physically present in this state may prosecute a writ of habeas corpus in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, or the trial court of the county in which such restraint is taking place.
5. K.S.A. 60-1501 may be an appropriate remedy for an individual to use to challenge an agency's actions or an agency's administrative hearing procedures when the agency's actions or the agency's hearing procedures infringe on the individual's constitutional rights.
6. Before seeking judicial review in a K.S.A. 60-1501 proceeding, a petitioner must exhaust all available administrative remedies.
7. To avoid summary dismissal of a 60-1501 petition, the petition must allege shocking and intolerable conduct or continuing mistreatment of a constitutional stature.
Appeal from Pawnee District Court; BRUCE T. GATTERMAN, judge. Opinion filed September 7, 2007. Dismissed.
Sam S. Kepfield, of Hutchinson, for appellant.
C. William Ossmann, chief litigation attorney, Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, and Danny J. Baumgartner, of Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, for appellees.
Before HILL, P.J., GREEN and GREENE, JJ.
GREEN, J.: Travis Williams appeals from the trial court's summary dismissal of his K.S.A. 60-1501 petition. On appeal, Williams contends that the lack of a formal disciplinary procedure in the Sexual Predator Treatment Program (SPTP) at the Larned State Hospital denied him due process under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Because Williams' complaint concerning a lack of a disciplinary procedure in the SPTP to protect his due process rights involves an agency action and is controlled by the Kansas Act for Judicial Review and Civil Enforcement of Agency Actions (KJRA), K.S.A. 77-601 et seq., we determine that Williams brought his action in the wrong forum. As a result, we determine that the trial court correctly held that it lacked jurisdiction to consider this action. Further, assuming arguendo that this is the proper forum for Williams' 60-1501 petition, we determine that Williams has failed to allege in his petition shocking or intolerable conduct or continuing mistreatment of a constitutional stature sufficient to afford him relief under habeas corpus. Accordingly, we dismiss.
In August 2003, Williams was committed to the SPTP at the Larned State Hospital. On February 12, 2006, Williams' room was searched and several adult DVD movies that were rated X were seized. On February 15, 2006, Williams was called to a meeting with the SPTP treatment team where he was told that he was being reduced to a Level 1 in the program. Williams was told that he would have to retake several "Core Phase" classes. Williams alleges that he was also told that he had to disclose who gave him the adult movies, how the movies got into the facility, and the names of any other individuals he knew who had adult movies. Williams was told that he would not get his privileges back unless he cooperated with these conditions. Nevertheless, Williams refused to disclose any of the requested information.
According to Williams, it was revealed during an investigation of another resident that the movies seized from Williams actually belonged to another resident and that a staff member had brought the movies into the facility for that resident. Williams alleged that he had to meet with the SPTP treatment team again to tell them his story and take a polygraph test to ensure that he was telling the truth. Williams was told that this was to help the SPTP treatment team with their investigation.
Williams sent a letter titled "Grievance" to Eric Fox, the director of consumer relations for the Larned State Hospital, detailing the above facts. Williams alleged that he had been deprived of his property, his job, and his wages. Moreover, Williams argued that the use of the polygraph for investigative purposes was improper and illegal. Fox responded to Williams' grievance in a written letter dated April 12, 2006, stating that he had investigated Williams' claim. Fox noted that it was the consensus among different departments across campus that it was allowable to have him take the polygraph test. Fox advised Williams to participate with the treatment team's plans in order to progress through the levels of the SPTP.
In May 2006, Williams filed his K.S.A. 60-1501 petition. Williams alleged that his property, privileges, and job were taken and that more restrictive living conditions were imposed on him without due process of law. Specifically, Williams alleged that a disciplinary procedure had not been established within the SPTP program that provided for the following: (1) that a resident is entitled to receive advance written notice of the charges against the resident at least 24 hours before the disciplinary hearing; (2) that the factfinder shall prepare a written statement setting out the evidence relied upon and the reason for the disciplinary action; and (3) that the resident is entitled to call witnesses and to present documentary evidence in the resident's defense. Williams requested that the trial court grant the following relief: (1) order that Williams be reinstated to phase level 3; (2) restrain the appellees from reducing Williams' phase level until constitutional procedures for disciplinary hearings and the opportunity for appeal had been established; and (3) order the establishment of a patient rule book that listed the precise violations and penalties, the policy and procedures outlining processes for a hearing, the right to have a legal or staff representative through every step of the hearing process, and the process for an appeal.
The appellees, Austin DesLauriers (the Clinical Director of the SPTP program) and Leo Herrman (the Program Director of the SPTP program), moved to dismiss Williams' action. The trial court held a nonevidentiary hearing in July 2006. The trial court determined that to the extent that Williams was seeking declaratory or injunctive relief, the provisions of the KJRA provided the exclusive means by which the court could provide such relief. Therefore, the trial court dismissed Williams' case seeking declaratory relief under K.S.A. 60-1701, et seq. which is the Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act adopted in 1993. Moreover, the trial court found that Williams had failed to allege or show that the actions complained of in his K.S.A. 60-1501 petition were incompatible with the legitimate treatment team goals related to the discipline and behavior modification and the treatment of patients committed to the SPTP. Accordingly, the trial court granted the appellees' motion to dismiss.
Did the trial court err in summarily dismissing Williams' K.S.A. 60-1501 petition?
On appeal, Williams argues that the trial court erred in dismissing his K.S.A. 60-1501 petition without holding an evidentiary hearing. This court's standard of review over a trial court's summary dismissal of a K.S.A. 60-1501 petition is well established:
"K.S.A. 60-1503 authorizes the summary dismissal of a habeas corpus petition if it plainly appears from the face of the petition and any exhibits attached thereto that the plaintiff is not entitled to relief in the district court. To avoid summary dismissal the allegations must be of a constitutional stature. In determining if this standard is met, courts must accept the facts alleged by the inmate as true. If a violation of due process is alleged, a question of law is raised over which an appellate court has unlimited review." Hogue v. Bruce, 279 Kan. 848, Syl. ¶ 1, 113 P.3d 234 (2005).
The SPTP civil commitment statute is narrowly drawn to serve the State's compelling interest in treating sexual predators and protecting society from their inappropriate behavior. Because Williams had been determined to be a sexually violent predator under the SPTP civil commitment statute, he was committed to the custody of the Secretary of Social and Rehabilitation Services for the following purposes: "for control, care and treatment until such time as [his] mental abnormality or personality disorder has so changed that [he] is safe to be at large." K.S.A. 2006 Supp. 59-29a07. Moreover, Williams was required to receive his "control, care, and treatment" in a facility operated by the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS). See K.S.A. 2006 Supp. 59-29a07.
In his brief, Williams makes a disjunctive argument: "[T]he failure to establish a disciplinary procedure at the [SPTP] violated [Williams'] rights to due process. This is the crux of the entire case–whether his due process rights are to be held in primary regard, or whether the 'legitimate treatment team decisions or medical decisions' trump them." A true disjunctive argument is one which expresses a choice between two exclusive alternatives. To omit a possible alternative renders the argument suspect and its conclusion unacceptable. Williams' argument does not contain a true disjunction because it fails to mention a third alternative: that the SPTP's due process procedure, though sketchy, furnished Williams with a remedy for adequate relief.
We note that Williams fails to allege that no administrative remedy existed under the SPTP. In fact, the record indicates that Williams participated in a grievance procedure. Nevertheless, we have been handicapped in reviewing this grievance procedure because neither party has included, in the record, a copy of the grievance procedure. This is significant because a petitioner must have exhausted available administrative remedies before seeking judicial review under a K.S.A. 60-1501 proceeding. Fletcher v. Nelson, 253 Kan. 389, Syl. ¶ 3, 855 P.2d 940 (1993).
The record does show that Williams filed a grievance with Eric Fox, the director of consumer relations for the Larned State Hospital. The record also indicates that both Fox and the SPTP treatment team investigated Williams' grievance. The record shows that Williams was encouraged to cooperate with the investigation. Finally, the record indicates that Williams refused to cooperate in the investigation. Nevertheless, because we agree with the trial court that this issue was brought in the wrong forum, as discussed later in this opinion, it is not necessary to address this issue further.
Declaratory Judgment
At the nonevidentiary hearing in this case, Williams' counsel clarified that part of Williams' request in his K.S.A. 60-1501 petition was for a declaratory judgment that the SPTP needed to establish procedures comporting with due process requirements. Thus, a resident involved in a similar situation in the future would be given a hearing, notice of the action, and an opportunity to prepare a response. Nevertheless, the trial court found that in order for Williams to pursue that type of claim, he was required to pursue relief under the KJRA.
Exclusive Means of Review
The KJRA applies to all agencies and all proceedings for judicial review and civil enforcement of agency actions that are not specifically exempted by statute. K.S.A. 2006 Supp. 77-603(a); Heiland v. Dunnick, 270 Kan. 663, 668, 19 P.3d 103 (2001). "The KJRA is the exclusive remedy for all requested relief which an agency can grant under its authority. Only actionable claims which fall outside the authority of an agency to grant can support a separate action by an aggrieved party." Douglass v. Kansas State University, 22 Kan. App. 2d 171, 174, 915 P.2d 782, rev. denied 259 Kan. 927 (1996).
Williams' complaints about a lack of a formal disciplinary procedure for the SPTP program would come under an agency action. K.S.A. 77-602(b) defines an "agency action" as follows: "(1) The whole or a part of a rule and regulation or an order; (2) the failure to issue a rule and regulation or an order; or (3) an agency's performance of, or failure to perform, any other duty, function or activity, discretionary or otherwise." SRS is the agency charged with the control, care, and treatment of sexually violent predators.
Here, Williams is seeking a declaratory judgment or an injunction against SRS because of SRS's alleged failure to establish a formal disciplinary procedure for the SPTP. This type of relief would fall under K.S.A. 77-602(b)(2) or (3): "the failure to issue a rule and regulation or an order; or . . . an agency's performance of, or failure to perform, any other duty, function or activity, discretionary or otherwise." K.S.A. 77-606 states that the KJRA is "the exclusive means of judicial review of agency action."
Furthermore, K.S.A. 77-622(b) of the KJRA allows a court to do the following:
"The court may grant other appropriate relief, whether mandatory, injunctive or declaratory; preliminary or final; temporary or permanent; equitable or legal. In granting relief, the court may order agency action required by law, order agency exercise of discretion required by law, set aside or modify agency action, enjoin or stay the effectiveness of agency action, remand the matter for further proceedings, render a declaratory judgment or take any other action that is authorized and appropriate."
As the appellees point out, the KJRA allows the court to grant relief (including declaratory and injunctive relief) if it determines that the agency action is unconstitutional (K.S.A. 77-621[c][1]); or if the agency has engaged in an unlawful procedure (K.S.A. 77-621[c][5]); or if the agency action was otherwise unreasonable, arbitrary, or capricious (K.S.A. 77-621[c][8]). Because Williams has failed to file his action under the KJRA, his action is in the wrong forum.
Due Process Clause
Although we have determined that Williams should not have bypassed the KJRA in bringing his due process claim, we will consider whether Williams, under any circumstances, could have properly bypassed the KJRA in bringing his due process claims. In fact, the trial court found that with respect to Williams' claim that his due process rights were violated, the KJRA was not the exclusive vehicle for Williams to present his claims. K.S.A. 60-1501(a) states:
"Subject to the provisions of K.S.A. 60-1507, and amendments thereto, any person in this state who is detained, confined, or restrained of liberty on any pretense whatsoever, and any parent, guardian, or next friend for the protection of infants or allegedly incapacitated or incompetent persons, physically present in this state may prosecute a writ of habeas corpus in the supreme court, court of appeals or the district court of the county in which such restraint is taking place. No docket fee shall be required, as long as the petitioner complies with the provisions of subsection (b) of K.S.A. 60-2001 and amendments thereto."
Under K.S.A. 60-1501, "any person" who is confined in Kansas may prosecute a writ of habeas corpus in the county in which such restraint is taking place. Based on the broad language of K.S.A. 60-1501, it seems that the trial court was correct in determining that an individual confined in the SPTP program could bring a habeas corpus petition alleging due process violations. See In re Jones, 228 Kan. 90, 104-05, 612 P.2d 1211 (1980) (recognizing that if chief medical officer of state security hospital, where individuals are committed, should fail to perform duties, safeguard of habeas corpus action under K.S.A. 60-1501 is available to committed person whose rights are adversely affected thereby). Nevertheless, even if Williams properly filed his due process claims under K.S.A. 60-1501, he cannot prevail as his allegations do not rise to a constitutional stature sufficient to provide him relief under habeas corpus.
The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution states that "[n]o State shall . . . deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." Procedural due process questions are examined in two steps. The first step is to determine whether the State has deprived the individual of life, liberty, or property. If there has been a deprivation of life, liberty, or property due to State action, the second step is to determine the extent and nature of the process due. Hogue, 279 Kan. at 850-51; see Kentucky Dept. of Corrections v. Thompson, 490 U.S. 454, 460, 104 L. Ed. 2d 506, 109 S. Ct. 1904 (1989). The process requirement necessary to establish 14th Amendment procedural due process comes into play only after a plaintiff has shown that he or she has a protected property or liberty interest. See Murphy v. Nelson, 260 Kan. 589, 598, 921 P.2d 1225 (1996).
Protected liberty interests arise from two sources: (1) the Due Process Clause; and (2) the laws of the states. Shepherd v. Davies, 14 Kan. App. 2d 333, 335, 789 P.2d 1190 (1990). "'"A State creates a protected liberty interest by placing substantive limitations on official discretion." [Citation omitted.]'" Davis v. Finney, 21 Kan. App. 2d 547, 554, 902 P.2d 498 (1995) (quoting Thompson, 490 U.S. at 462). In order to constitute a protected liberty or property interest for 14th Amendment purposes, an individual must have a legitimate claim of entitlement to it. The interest must be more than an abstract need or desire and more than a unilateral expectation. Murphy, 260 Kan. at 598; Davis, 21 Kan. App. 2d at 553-54.
Here, Williams seemed to argue that he suffered a deprivation of his property when the SPTP treatment team seized the movies from his room. Nevertheless, in his letter to Fox, Williams pointed out that the movies actually belonged to another resident of the SPTP program. Because the movies were not his property, the team members did not infringe upon any "protected property interest" of Williams by seizing the movies.
Williams also argued that he suffered a deprivation of his liberty by having his phase level reduced from a level 3 to a level 1. Williams maintained that as a result of the reduction in his phase level, he had fewer privileges and more restrictive living conditions and had lost his job through the SPTP program. Williams contended that his due process rights were violated because there was no formal disciplinary procedure in place similar to that used by the Kansas Department of Corrections in a disciplinary proceeding.
Our research has revealed no cases in Kansas that have addressed a similar argument for an individual committed to the SPTP program. Nevertheless, in cases involving a prison inmate, our Supreme Court and this court have held that an inmate's custody classification does not involve a liberty interest. In Bankes v. Simmons, 265 Kan. 341, 351, 963 P.2d 412, cert. denied 525 U.S. 1060 (1998), our Supreme Court held that an inmate's custody classification, the housing assignment given to an inmate, spending limitations at a canteen, regulation of visiting hours, and regulation of other daily activities that are not atypical and do not pose a significant hardship within a prison do not involve a liberty interest. Moreover, in Lile v. Simmons, 23 Kan. App. 2d 1, 929 P.2d 171 (1996), this court held that the appellant inmate had no liberty interest in receiving minimum security status and refused to review the Department of Corrections' decision to maintain the inmate's medium security status.
Here, Williams has not shown that he had a protected liberty interest in being on a particular phase level of the SPTP program. As a person who had been determined to be a sexually violent predator and had been civilly committed to the control, care, and treatment of SRS, Williams needed to show that he was subjected to some loss of liberty that was beyond the normal circumstances of confined treatment. The alleged actions by the SPTP treatment team were part of Williams' treatment plan as a sexually violent predator.
First, a legitimate purpose for confinement of an SPTP resident is to prevent the resident from having access to sexually explicit materials. These materials could adversely affect the resident's treatment plan. As a result, the seizures of such materials is necessary to both treat and protect the resident and to protect others. Second, a resident's status and privileges in the SPTP are expressly conditioned on the resident's compliance with the rules and the policies of the SPTP. As a result, the actions by the SPTP staff in reducing Williams' treatment phase level are not of such a stature as to infringe on Williams' constitutional rights.
Recognizing that this case differs from one brought by a prison inmate because this case involves a civil commitment, the trial court stated:
"I think all parties acknowledge that the Department of Corrections does have an elaborate procedures [sic] in place for not only administrative remedies, but the types of due process procedures that must be followed at any sort of disciplinary hearing. I don't think that there is serious dispute by any of the parties that this is a civil case and that the extent of those protections would be lesser in a civil commitment proceeding than in a proceeding in the Department of Corrections, where potentially you're looking at a loss of good time credit or other loss of specific liberty interests."
The trial court then compared Williams' confinement to a civil commitment under the mental illness code:
"In comparing this civil commitment procedure to the normal civil commitment procedure under the mental illness code, the Court would note that the treatment team in those instances has free leave for a person that is mentally ill, which would also apply to the findings made for Mr. Williams in this case, to seclude an individual for reasons of inappropriate behavior, to take away privileges or to grant privileges, in terms of a behavior modification program, and to generally provide as a treatment team decision the type of confinement or privilege confinement that an inmate may have."
The trial court found that the SPTP treatment team had imposed the discipline or behavior modification in Williams' case as a part of a valid treatment program or valid treatment interest. We agree. The SPTP staff must have the authority to confiscate sexually explicit materials from an SPTP resident and to take away privileges from the resident when inappropriate materials are discovered in the resident's possession. This allows the SPTP staff to fulfill the SPTP civil commitment statute's dual purpose of treatment and protection of society.
In Bankes, 265 Kan. at 349, our Supreme Court noted that proceedings on a K.S.A. 60-1501 petition are not subject to the ordinary rules of civil procedure. To avoid summary dismissal, a K.S.A. 60-1501 petition must allege shocking and intolerable conduct or continuing mistreatment of a constitutional stature. In this case, Williams' allegations do not rise to the level of "shocking and intolerable," nor does Williams show "continuing mistreatment of a constitutional stature." The trial court was correct in determining that Williams had failed to show that the actions complained of in his K.S.A. 60-1501 petition were incompatible with the legitimate treatment goals related to the discipline and behavior modification and the treatment of patients committed to the SPTP.
Because Williams cannot establish a constitutional claim sufficient to provide him relief under habeas corpus, his K.S.A. 60-1501 petition was properly dismissed.
1REPORTER'S NOTE: Previously filed as an unpublished opinion, the Supreme Court granted a motion to publish pursuant to Rule 7.04 (2006 Kan. Ct. R. Annot. 50). The published version was filed with the Clerk of the Appellate Courts on November 19, 2007.


text:
|Find the best surf spots
Monday June 11 2007 07:00:55 AM
Surf spot: Mamba Point, Liberia
Session's Rate:
Wind direction: Offshore
Wind Strength: Light
Nb waves ridden: 5
Length of the surf session: 150 min
Surfboard ridden: 6'2" short rounded squash and bodyboard
Fins: normal
Weather and water temp: Sweet and warm
Waves height: 2.5m-3m / 8ft-10ft
Waves Quality:
- Powerful
- Fast
Waves Shape:
- One peak
Like swimming upstream in a river. Worth it whe we got to the point, but every wave meant another 20 min.+ paddle back to the point. Ouch. Don't know if it was the swell size that made this rip or how low the tide was, but it was brutal. And surprisingly I didn't have any 300 m rides this day as I have in the past when it's been about 7 feet. Seems better at 7-8 feet.
Created: Wednesday June 13 2007 08:24:35 PM
Modified: Wednesday June 13 2007 08:24:35 PM
Hits: 6861
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