text:
The Pink Cow is the first restaurant in Tokyo that lets you pay with Bitcoin, the world's most popular digital currency. In some ways, this California-Mexican cafe – a hangout run by an American expatriate who believes in new ideas – sits at the center of the Bitcoin universe. The digital currency was created by an anonymous computer programmer who many assume is Japanese, and the first big Bitcoin exchange – the web service where so many people bought their first bitcoins – is operated out of a Tokyo office not far from this wonderfully quirky bar and restaurant in the city's Roppongi district.
But when the Tokyo Bitcoin Meetup Group holds one of its weekly gatherings at the Pink Cow – bringing together Bitcoin enthusiasts from across the city and beyond – only about a third of them actually pay for dinner and drinks with bitcoins. People like Marco Crispini, an expatriate from Britain, and Aya Walraven, who moved to Tokyo from Canada, very much believe in the digital currency. And they own bitcoins. But they prefer not to spend them because their value just keeps going up.
You can see their point. In the month since Crispini and Walraven declined to spend their bitcoins on burritos at a mid-October meetup, the value of the currency rose from about $160 on the Tokyo-based Mt. Gox exchange to well above $700. In other words: What they would have spent on a $20 Cal-Mex meal is now worth at least $90.
The trouble is that this sort of bitcoin hoarding leaves many questioning the future of the currency. If economic incentives encourage people to hoard their bitcoins rather than spend them, the thinking goes, the currency will never fulfill the extravagant promises laid down by the biggest believers, who say it will streamline monetary transactions, free the world from the financial manipulation of big government and big banks, breakdown the financial walls between nations, and, well, remake the worldwide economy.
The concerns are justified. Even some of Bitcoin's most ardent supporters – like Fred Friis, one of the Tokyo Bitcoiners who regularly spends his digital currency at the Pink Cow – say that the consistent increase in the currency's value is a "legitimate issue."
But Friis also says – and rightly so – that the issue shouldn't be exaggerated. According to many economists who have closely followed the progress of the digital money, Bitcoin's recent ups – and downs – are to be expected from a currency so young, a currency that is just now attracting major attention from the mainstream population. The bottom could fall out of the market, but the currency could just as easily stabilize and reach a point where its value is consistent enough that people no longer hoard the stuff.
Yes, Bitcoin is what some call a deflationary currency. Because the system was designed to allow the creation of only a finite number of bitcoins (see our "Bitcoin Survival Guide"), there will come a point where, as demand rises, the value of the currency will only go up (making the price of goods and services fall, hence the term deflation). And that could lead to hoarding on an even larger scale.
But that moment is a long way off, and it won't necessarily prevent the currency from flourishing, says Peter Rodriguez, a professor of economics and senior associate dean at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business. After all, many deflationary currencies have flourished in the past.
"The analogy is gold," says Simon Johnson, a professor of entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. "Gold is a finite resource, and until the big South African discoveries in the 1890s, there wasn't that much gold. But people were happy to make payments with it. The whole idea that people won't make payments with something that's finite and held as a store of value is not correct."
Bitcoin Deflated —————-
Matthew Yglesias, an economics journalist and pundit who currently writes for the online magazine Slate, has long questioned whether Bitcoin can survive in the long term. "If you have persistent deflation, then simply holding the cash becomes a way of earning a return," he tells WIRED. "If that's the case, your economy will be starved of funds for investment and won't be able to grow."
The main issue here is that the worldwide network of computers that controls the digital currency only creates a limited number of bitcoins every so often and will one day stop making bitcoins entirely. This will happen in about the year 2140, and as some people manage to lose their bitcoins – misplacing the digital keys that control them – the supply of the currency will actually drop.
In theory, this means that, if demand for the currency continues to grow, the value of bitcoins will necessarily continue to rise. The result, according to Yglesias and many others, is that people will have little incentive to spend their money – and the bitcoin economy will come crashing down.
This limited-supply issue is the most common argument against the viability of the new currency. You read it so often on the web. It comes up time and again at Bitcoin meetups like those at the Pink Cow. And it's a very real concern for merchants who accept payments in the digital currency. "I dislike the pure deflation model," says Adam Sah, the founder and CEO of Buyer's Best Friend, which accepts the currency. "I wish bitcoin had more inflation built in, to encourage people to spend money and create a healthy economy."
But this issue shouldn't be confused with what is currently happening in the Bitcoin world. Yes, we've seen a steady climb in the value of the currency, and yes, this has slowed spending at some merchants. Michal Handerhan – the CEO and co-founder of BitcoinShop.US – says that his sales have dropped 20 percent in recent weeks. "People are holding their bitcoins," he says, "and won't let go." But that has little to do with the limited-supply issue. It's just that the currency is experiencing some very normal growing pains as more and more people jump on board.
The limited-supply issue won't really come into play for many, many years, and even if it does cause problems, there are good reasons to believe that these problems can be alleviated – reasons that go to the heart of the Bitcoin architecture.
Portrait of a Bitcoin as a Young Currency —————————————–
Bitcoin is still so very young. It arrived little more than four years ago, when a programmer or group of programmers under the name Satoshi Nakamoto released an open source software platform onto the internet and others jumped on board, helping to develop the system and expand it to an ever-growing number of online machines. Driven by this distributed piece of software, the currency is just now beginning to reach the mainstream. The recent spike in value is only natural. It just means a large number of people are suddenly embracing the currency.
"In a strange way, this is a necessary moment to establish the validity of Bitcoin," Rodriguez says.
Yes, the current price volatility could become a problem. "On the one hand, these huge price increases may lead people to buy bitcoins for speculative purposes and hang on to them to make capital gains," says François Velde, a senior economist in the research department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago who recently penned a widely-read public primer on bitcoin. "And then other people might see the volatility and think: 'Whoa. If this is going up like that, it could come down just as quickly. I'm not gonna use this as a currency. The value is just too unstable.'"
But this won't necessarily keep the currency from succeeding, and at the moment, it doesn't seem to be a huge issue. Even though the value of a bitcoin is on such a steep climb, the number of worldwide bitcoin transactions continues to increase as well. People are not only willing to invest in bitcoins. They're willing to trade them and, in some cases, spend them too. For Jeffrey Tucker, an economist who writes about the intersection of economics and technology, this is proof that hoarding is not the problem many say it is.
"Theory would predict that, as the currency grows in value, people would tend to hold it rather than spend," he says. "But all the empirical evidence we have shows precisely the opposite."
Separately, the system may run into a problem when it stops producing new bitcoins – way off in the year 2140. But this is only really a problem if Bitcoin begins to replace federal monies – if it becomes what's called "the unit of account" in countries like Japan and the U.S. This means that goods and services would actually be priced in bitcoins.
As it stands, our goods and services are still priced in currencies like yen and dollars. At merchants that accept bitcoins, like the Subway sandwich shop in Allentown, Pennsylvania, prices are merely converted from federal currencies into the digital money. But if bitcoin becomes the unit of account and then a depression hits, it could be difficult to turn the economy around.
"In a depressed economy, when there's not growth in price levels, deflationary expectations do encourage a collective retreat of spending behavior, and in order to push out of that, you have to reverse those expectations," Rodriguez says. "If you had no discretion to expand the currency, you couldn't necessarily reverse those expectations."
But it's wrong to think that deflation will necessarily be a problem. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago economist Volde cites what is called The Friedman Rule. Proposed by economist Milton Friedman, the rule essentially says that a certain amount of deflation is actually preferred. "This idea has been around for decades," Volde says. "Deflation doesn't mean that a currency won't be used."
Bitcoin Is More Than Bitcoin —————————-
But let's say Bitcoin does take over the world. Let's say that in some distant future it does become the unit of account in Japan and the U.S. and elsewhere. Let's say deflation does become a problem. There are still ways around it.
The bitcoin system runs on open source software, and that means it can be changed. It's just that the change must be approved by a majority of those participating the system.
"Bitcoin is a software program," says Joshua Kroll, a computer science researcher at Princeton University who has closely studied bitcoin alongside various Princeton academics who deal not only in technology but public policy. "People can upgrade it."
Some have argued (in the pages of WIRED in fact) that bitcoin should be updated to include some form of central control, a means of manipulating the value of the currency. But this runs counter to one of the main ideas behind Bitcoin. For many, bitcoin is a way to remove money from the grips of big governments and big banks. "It is always the government paper fiat money that gets corrupted throughout history," says Ken Shishido, who helps oversee the Tokyo Bitcoin Meetup Group. "Bitcoin is not just a new digital currency. It is actually about liberty."
The historic problem that monies have, says MIT Sloan economist Johnson, is that governments promise not to mint more of them, but then they do. The inevitable result: inflation. "The basic problem with money is not limited supply," Johnson says. "The basic problem is that once you create it, it's valuable, and if you're the person who created it, you have an incentive to create more." Bitcoin was designed as a way around this problem.
It's more likely that the massive community that runs Bitcoin would upgrade the system so that it consistently expands the supply of bitcoins into the very distant future. That would alleviate the deflation problem without giving anyone central control.
Joshua Kroll believes that the system will have to be modified in some way. It's not just that it needs a way of fighting deflation, he says. It needs a way of encouraging people to operate the machines that make up the worldwide bitcoin network.
Today, when the system creates new bitcoins, it automatically doles them out to people who run the hardware that drives the system. If you take this away, Kroll says, there will be no incentive for people to keep contributing processing power to the system through what are called bitcoin miners. "If the miner reward goes to zero, people will stop investing in miners," he says. "And this is a problem."
The system does allow bitcoin holders to include transaction fees when they send and receive money, and the idea is that these fees – which go to the miners – will provide the needed incentive. But Kroll says that isn't enough. You have to enforce some sort of standard payment to the miners, he says. It follows, then, that if you change the system so that it keeps creating bitcoins, you solve not only the hardware problem but the deflation problem.
What Bitcoin Really Is ———————-
That may or may not happen. But the larger point is that the system will be what the people want it to be.
Bitcoin is a currency, like the dollar or the yen. And it's a means of processing payments over internet, like PayPal. But it's also a piece of technology controlled by the masses, like Linux, the increasingly popular open source computer operating system, or the internet itself. What history has shown is that, once they get going, things like Linux and the internet take on lives of their own.
It's not just that people across the world use the internet. They also help run it – not because there's an immediate monetary payoff but because the internet can help fuel so many other endeavors, many of which can generate money on their own. You could certainly argue that people will continue to run bitcoin miners even if they don't get paid for doing so. They may run them just to keep the Bitcoin system going, knowing that the system will reward them in other ways.
But if the system needs change – if it can't survive unless it continues to make new bitcoins – people will change it. Like the internet, Bitcoin has its limitations, but it's something that anyone can modify. What that means is that any problem with the currency can be solved, including the limited-supply problem. We could even see a "fork" of the Bitcoin system, where someone takes the open source code and creates a new system that then exceeds the popularity of Bitcoin.
This phenomenon has value in its own right. As Peter Rodriguez points out, Bitcoin can generate consumer confidence simply because it isn't controlled by a single, central authority. People trust things that they have control over.
The point is not that Bitcoin is a deflationary currency. The point is that it can be anything.
Additional reporting by Robert McMillan


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2 tablespoons olive oil
1 package refrigerated pizza dough (about 1 pound)
flour for the work surface
1 16-ounce can refried beans
1 1-pint container fresh salsa
1 8-ounce package shredded Cheddar
sour cream (optional)
1Heat oven to 400° F. Spread 1 teaspoon of the oil on a baking sheet. Divide the dough into 6 equal portions. Roll each into an 8-inch round on a lightly floured surface. 2On half of each round, spread some of the beans, then top with 1½ tablespoons of the salsa and 2 tablespoons of the cheese. Fold over the other half of each round, covering the filling, and press the curved edge with your thumb to seal. Lightly brush the tops of the empanadas with the remaining oil, then transfer to the baking sheet. 3Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, if desired. (Perfect complement: the salad of avocado, red onion, cilantro, and lime juice pictured here.)


text:
THE future would appear bright for the electric car. Gasoline prices are high. The government is spending billions on battery technology. Auto companies are preparing to roll out a dozen new electrified models. Concern is growing about the climate impacts of burning oil. And tough new fuel economy standards are looming.
Yet the state of the electric car is dismal, the victim of hyped expectations, technological flops, high costs and a hostile political climate. General Motors has temporarily suspended production of the plug-in electric Chevy Volt because of low sales. Nissan's all-electric Leaf is struggling in the market. A number of start-up electric vehicle and battery companies have folded. And the federal government has slowed its multibillion-dollar program of support for advanced technology vehicles in the face of market setbacks and heavy political criticism.
The $41,000 Volt, in particular, has become a target of conservatives. Glenn Beck called the Volt "crappy." Rush Limbaugh accused General Motors of "trying to kill its customers" by selling an unsafe car. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said while campaigning for president in Georgia last month that the Volt was too small to handle a gun rack (a claim proved wrong repeatedly on YouTube).
Daniel F. Akerson, the chairman of General Motors, defended the Volt before Congress earlier this year after revelations that the battery pack in one Volt caught fire three weeks after a federal crash test. Federal authorities eventually declared the car no more flammable than regular gasoline-fueled vehicles.
"Unfortunately, there's one thing we did not engineer," Mr. Akerson said. "Although we loaded the Volt with state-of-the-art safety features, we did not engineer the Volt to be a political punching bag. And that, sadly, is what it's become."
Is this the beginning of the end of the latest experiment in the electric car, whose checkered history goes back to the dawn of the automobile age? Can the electric car survive only with heavy government subsidies and big consumer rebates? Are the Teslas and Fiskers and ActiveEs and Volts and Leafs destined to be the playthings of only rich technophiles with a couple of spare gas-powered cars at home?
Or is this what an emergent technology looks like before it crosses the valley of death?
"Face it, this is not an easy task," said Brett Smith, assistant research director at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. "You still have an energy storage device that's not ready for prime time. You still have the chicken and egg problem with the charging infrastructure. That's not to say it's not viable over the long run. But the hype is gone and the challenges are still there."
The market for all-electric and plug-in electric cars in the United States is tiny, amounting to fewer than 20,000 sales last year out of total light-vehicle sales of 12.8 million. Even in optimistic forecasts, plug-in vehicles will account for less than 5 percent of the global market by 2025.
Hybrids that do not require external charging, however, like today's Toyota Prius and many others already in showrooms, are a growing segment. Forecasters say they could represent as much as 6 percent of the market by 2015 and 25 percent by 2025, in part because they are among the few vehicles currently on track to meet the government's proposed new fuel economy standard of roughly 50 miles per gallon by 2025.
Other propulsion technologies, like natural gas and fuel cells, are more likely to be seen first in heavy trucks and local delivery vans because of limited refueling options.
Jon Bereisa is a former G.M. systems engineer who helped design the Volt and was among the lead developers of the company's mid-1990s experiment in electric vehicles, the ill-fated EV1. He says that the prospects for the electric car are much better today than they were then, but technical development, cost reduction and consumer acceptance are going to take far longer than most people expect.
"There is much more political support for it today, for a variety of reasons," he said. "Global warming, energy security, petroleum prices, all these vectors are aligned to support the electrification of the automobile, whether it's hybrid, plug-in, extended-range hybrid or full battery-electric."
But he added that the Volt was an incredibly complicated device in the early stages of development. "When you push the start button, you've got 10 million lines of software running. On an F-15, it's about eight million lines of code. You're really driving a modern data center, and a lot can go wrong."
He noted that the current Volt was the first generation and predicted that its third version, which will come between 2020 and 2025, will gain wide acceptance, as long as G.M. does not end the project and the government backs a nationwide infrastructure of charging stations.
PRESIDENT OBAMA, who has been a strong supporter of alternative vehicle and fuel technologies, proposed this month spending more than $4 billion to encourage purchases of electric and natural gas vehicles and to speed construction of charging and fueling stations. He is seeking to raise the current $7,500 purchase incentive for electric and plug-in electric vehicles to $10,000, and to make it a point-of-sale rebate rather than a credit to be claimed on a tax return.
David B. Sandalow, the assistant secretary of energy for policy and international affairs, said that the Obama administration was fully committed to nurturing this technology, and he is persuaded that, eventually, it will catch on.
"It is the future of transportation," said Mr. Sandalow, who saves money on gas by commuting to work in a Prius converted to run 30 miles on battery power alone. "The only question is how fast and how soon."
He said that China, Germany, Israel, South Africa and other nations were racing ahead with electric vehicle programs and maintained that President Obama's goal of putting one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015 was achievable if Congress fully financed his rebate and infrastructure proposals.
Most analysts doubt the million-car goal is achievable, as the enthusiasm over electrification in the industry has begun to flicker and the price of battery technology remains stubbornly high.
At the recent auto show in Geneva, for example, Peter Schwarzenbauer, a top executive at Audi, said of electric vehicles, which generated considerable buzz at previous shows, "Reality is phasing in."
And Dieter Zetsche, the chief executive of the German automaker Daimler, said that cost, range and consumer rates remained serious problems for the electric car. Still, he said, the company would continue work on such vehicles, as well as those powered by gasoline, diesel and hydrogen.
"There is no alternative," Mr. Zetsche told reporters. "We believe it is our responsibility to push this technology forward and make it marketable."
The fate of the electric car remains hazy, with technical, economic and political forces working both for and against it. Chris Paine, who made the 2006 documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?" about the demise of G.M.'s EV1 at the hands of the car company, government regulators and the oil industry, said he was alarmed at how quickly the political climate had turned against the Chevy Volt and other electric vehicles, and offered a theory as to why.
"The attacks leave me a bit stunned," he said in an e-mail message. He said the Volt had been more successful in the marketplace than the early Prius was and that today, unlike in the late 1990s, the government and the auto industry are fully behind electric vehicle programs.
But one possible culprit still stands to gain if the electric car is killed yet again, Mr. Paine suggested.
"Not too hard to guess," he said. "With Americans paying $250 a month to fill up on gasoline when electricity can do the job in a Volt for $50 a month, why are we being told electric cars are failures? Who could possibly be behind this?"


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Undergraduate Degrees, Majors and Concentrations
MATH3250 - Practicum Tchng Math With Tech
Fall 2019
This course is designed to train students in the use of computer software, CD-ROM technology, and the graphing calculator for the teaching of mathematics and to allow these students to act as technology assistants in computer laboratories and as trainers of math tutors. Emphasis is placed on the use of the TI-83 graphing calculator in algebra, calculus, and finance, on the use of Excel software in statistics, and on CD-ROM technology used in elementary algebra. Training in the use of the equation editor in Microsoft Word will also be provided. Students are required to complete a minimum number of hours of tutor training and/or computer lab assisting and to review current mathematics software packages for secondary and post-secondary settings.
Prerequisites: STAT2110 and MATH2070 with a grade of C or better.
3 Credits
Prerequisites: STAT2110 and MATH2070 with a grade of C or better.
3 Credits
Click "Details" for a course description, instructor information, and a link to the instructor's website, where you can find a syllabus, first class information, and more...Registration Help
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Since Craig and I were both off of work today, we just kind of approached the day in a leisurely fashion.
I listened in on a Institute for Integrative Nutrition webinar which promoted the program and answered questions from the audience. It was informative and well thought out. I am just not sure I want to spend that kind of money on another degree (even though I need to spend it on some type of program in order to make a career change).
Lunch was a big salad, as you may already know if you entered my OXO giveaway! Keep the entries coming and thanks for your responses so far. Love reading about everyone's favorite salad combinations.
Since it's that time of the month, I can't get enough chocolate today. I had a couple of pieces of this for dessert. I gave my mom a bar for her b-day yesterday and she enjoyed it too.
After lunch, we went to Batteries Plus to get my car battery tested (they do it for free there, whether or not you buy a battery). We found the store to be busy with customers and friendly sales people to help them. I did need a new battery within the next year, so I bit the bullet and bought a new one. They installed it there and the installation was totally free and quick. I ended up getting a pretty good deal on with a coupon I printed off the web, so I was happy. My car started up much more nicely once it had a new battery to power it with! I know this has nothing to do with healthy living, but I thought I would just give a nice little review on our positive experience at Batteries Plus. 🙂
Then it was time to watch the storms come in. We got pounded a bit this afternoon, but nothing like the flooding they're experiencing north of us.
Dinner tonight was our favorite pizza from Trader Joe's.
And my dessert was INSANELY FANTASTIC. I won some Orange, Lemon and Vanilla stevia drops from NuNaturals through Clare's blog. I got the idea for my dessert from her giveaway post. I just combined some Fage plain greek yogurt, a few lemon stevia drops and strawberries. I haven't been this crazy happy with a dessert in a long time and it's super healthy to boot! I kept saying "mmmm" every time I took a bite! I can't wait to make this again.
Time for a walk outside! It's the perfect time of night. It's cooling off and the birds are all chirping so happily. Aaah, I love spring.


text:
The Park
Some girls! But the boys took their turns and had a blast.
Happy New Year to all our friends and family. Hoping and praying for everyone to have a great 2009!
There's never a dull moment in the Khan household........just sayin'!
Happy New Year to all our friends and family. Hoping and praying for everyone to have a great 2009!
Labels: New Year, playground comments (1)
Here is a montage of some photos taken over the past weekend.
Labels: Bear, home repair, slideshow, vacation comments (4)
The most traumatic thing possible has happen. Bear is missing, that's Bilal's very first stuffed toy, the one he has slept with since he was little. We couldn't find it last night at the hotel, but he didn't realize when he fell asleep in his little makeshift bed. Tonight he knows. We think the housekeeping staff may have accidentally wrapped Bear up in the linens when they were being changed yesterday, but so far they haven't found him. I left a note at the desk when we checked out and called again just a little while ago. No Bear. As I was tucking Bilal in he asked for some milk, so I went downstairs to get it. When I went back up his first words were, "Mama, can't find Bear". So of course I had to tell him that Bear got left at the hotel. After that his cries were heartbreaking. He kept wailing "Wanna go hotel!" I managed to console him by promising to make a phone call to the hotel, which I promptly did. Tomorrow I am going to have to tell him again that we can't find Bear. We originally got Bear when Hamza was 4 months old, in a toy store in London, almost 10 years ago. It's no consolation that Bilal has three other bears in his crib: Baby Blue, Boy and Champ, also a special pillow that Safa made him and of course, Blankie. Maybe we'll be take him shopping to pick out another bear, I hope that works. Any other suggestions, anyone?
Labels: Bear, bedtime comments (2)
I've been out of the loop for a couple of days, this darn hotel room has very dodgy internet service. It's a rainy day and, as Zakir says, perfect shopping weather so we're going to check out the malls. I'll be checking in on my blogger buddies over the next day or too, and I have loads of pics to post once I get back home tonight. Stay tuned!
Labels: vacation comments (0)
We have very special visitors spending a few days with us. Farah, Adeel and Mobeen drove up from Mobile yesterday evening. It is wonderful to have a newborn in the house again, but no, it's not giving me any ideas! We've got our hands full with the three kids we have. Mobeen will be turning 2 months old in a couple of days, and we have missed out on seeing him for the past month. He has changed so much since then. He's basically a very happy baby, and has been giving us lots of smiles.
Labels: Mobeen, vacation comments (3)
This is one of those stories that make you laugh and cry all at once. Click on this link to watch an inspiring video, perfect for the season.
And remember to hug your loved ones a little bit tighter tonight!
Labels: news, video comments (1)
More pictures of my little construction worker I can't resist sharing, especially with that cute little firefighter's hat and his dump truck PJs. What a combination!
Safa's freckled lemonade, yum!
And my feeble attempt at making festive gingerbread-shaped buttermilk pancakes for supper this evening. This is the only one that survived being eaten long enough to take a picture
I got a letter a couple of days ago that Bilal's pediatrician is leaving the practice to go to work at the Health Department. This means we're going to have to find him a new doctor. I trained with this pediatrician during my residency, and she took care of Hamza when he was a baby. It is going to be so sad to see her go. I really trust her with my kids' care and she has always been so accomodating, getting them in at a moment's notice if they were sick. She has recommended a couple of other pediatricians she knows, and sadly they aren't accepting new patients right now. So the hunt will continue. We take care of Safa and Hamza's medical needs at home now, but since Bilal sees a cardiologist as well I want there to be somewhere his records can be sent to, also for his annual check-ups until he is about six. It's good not to be doctor to your kids (well, not all the time!)
Labels: medical, random comments (2)
Want to waste a little time? Check out one of the most popular links on the web right now. I scored 8. Can you beat that? Click here to have some fun.
Labels: humor comments (1)
I met with the orthopedic surgeon today. I've been having problems with my shoulders, mostly the left one. I saw him a year ago and he told me that I could benefit from surgery, but I told him I wanted to wait until Bilal went to Kindergarten. Well, one year later I think I'm ready to have something done, of course Bilal's not in Kindergarten yet, but waiting another three years? Maybe not. I'm the sort of person who'd rather have a problem fixed than keep taking medications for it. Anyway, my last MRI scan is over 4 years old, so he has recommended another one. The thing that made me anxious was that based on my present symptoms he is more concerned about my neck than my shoulder. Whoa! I don't mind considering an arthroscopic procedure on my shoulder but no one, I mean no one is fooling with my neck! He did make me promise that if my shoulder MRI was stone cold normal (he doubts it), I'd let him evaluate my neck in more detail, but I'm praying that it's all shoulder related.
So I have get an MRI scan on my shoulder, and we'll take things from there. I have had so many MRIs in the past that I can almost fall asleep in the noisy tunnel.
Safa and Hamza are wrapping up school for the holidays. Safa has not had a structured class since her midterm exams on Tuesday. Lockers have been cleared out since the entire school is moving in January, and there is a last minute frenzy for the teachers to pack up their belongings. So no studies are going on. But off to school Safa goes tomorrow too; otherwise it will be an unexcused absence which really doesn't look good on her report card. Hamza had his Christmas party today, and tomorrow there is a dance, but he also has a test, so at least it's worth his while to be in school. We don't have any big vacation plans until the day after Christmas, so the kids will be hanging out with Vicki while Zakir and I work.
Saturday we have our staff and their families coming over for dinner; we decided to get it catered this year so all we have to worry about is making sure the house is clean. With spouses and kids it will be just over 25 people. No other weekend plans, except I'll be working at the hospital too. Sigh.
Labels: medical, school, weekend comments (2)
Yesterday when I took Bilal shopping in town we drove past several lamp posts with snowflake Christmas lights. Bilal pointed to one of and said "Look Mama! Frosted flakes!" I thought it was so funny he was confusing them with the cereal. I made the mistake of telling him they were actually snowflakes, so today he pointed and said "Snowflakes". When I asked him why they weren't frosted flakes, he said, "Silly Mama, eat frosted flakes!" He learns so fast, sometimes I don't want to correct him. His version is so much cuter!
Labels: speech comments (1)
This is what Bilal and I encountered not long before noon today:
Can you tell that there's a gas station only a couple of hundred feet away? You can probably make out the outline, bottom line, it was dull and very, very foggy. Later in the afternoon the fog lifted a bit and temperatures went as high as the upper sixties, but it has still been several days since we've seen a single ray of sunshine. It's so depressing.
What's never depressing, in fact quite the opposite, is the sight and sound of a toddler having fun at bath time:
Labels: bath time, weather comments (3)
I've got to admit, after a rough Saturday Bilal is back to his adorable, funny, rather energetic self. You're right Megan, it is such a blessing that they have the health to do all that. I feel rather guilty about complaining, but it was just one of those crazy days. Sunday turned out to be a wonderful day, and even today Bilal so far has been nothing more than hugable, kissable, and lovable. But I admit, he's still got to take that nap! It makes all the difference in the world.
Safa and I spent a couple of hours last night going over her math and science for her mid-term exams. I'll be relieved when this week is over. I know that she will too! Friday is the last day of the second nine weeks, then the kids don't go back until January 8th. We're making some plans for the five days we have off too, probably a trip to Georgia, although we haven't smoothed out the details. We're hoping that Farah, Adeel and Baby Mobeen will meet us in Birmingham and come with us too. Tonight I'll be booking the hotel and making an itinerary. Other options that we explored were Gatlinburg (too cold), Tampa (too far), and Disney World (too far AND too expensive). I think we'll hold off on the Disney trip until Bilal can stay awake all day without degenerating into a monster.
This morning Zakir's alarm clock went off at 6am as usual. He turned it off and we both fell back asleep. Hamza's alarm went off at 6:20am. He turned it off and went back to sleep. Safa's went off at about 6:40am. She turned it off and fell back asleep. What a morning! Zakir woke up with a start, just in time to wake up Hamza so he could make it to the bus stop on time. One disaster averted. Bilal woke up at 7:20am, and when I went upstairs to pick him out of his crib I realized that Safa was still sleeping. So I woke her up, and she hurried to get dressed. She tried to print some work for school but the printer froze up and refused to cooperate. Grrrrr! So I had to write a note for her to take to school, proof that she had made every attempt to print out her essay checklist and get it signed by a parent. Maybe she'll learn to not leave things for the last minute. Or maybe she'll join the procrastinator's club. Tomorrow.
At least the rest of the day went smoother. I blame our tardiness on the dreary, cold, dull, wet weather we have had today, while the North is enjoying temperatures in the 60s. No fair! I don't know what the forecast is for tomorrow, but we could sure do with a bit of sun. It's been overcast for days.
Caught in the act by Safa. See? He's not always the sweet little guy everyone thinks he is
I think I still hear Bilal talking in his crib. But this time I will not be suckered. He WILL take that nap, otherwise Mama will go nuts!
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Hamza has officially completed the junior instructor training for the JIKF karate program. He even memorized the pledge, which was a pre-requisite for completing the training. At the beginning of today's Black Belt class he was awarded with a ceetificate, and cool black baggy pants he'll be wearing when he helps teach a class. Go Hamza!
Hamza with the Senseis
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I distinctly heard the weather forecast last night, then this morning, and this afternoon again. By now it should be snowing in Birmingham. Temperatures have dropped, but no snow, not even a flurry! We were looking forward to a flake or two to make the weather a bit more interesting, but except the horrendous downpour this morning, nothing.
Safa has weatherbug, a weather program, on her iPod. Yesterday she told me there was a flash flood watch as well as a non-precipitation advisory, both in effect at the same time. Only in Alabama! Although it has been pouring these past 2 days we are still in an area that is experiencing exceptional drought. So I suppose we should take the rain in stride, since it might mean that we'll actually be able to water our lawn, come next spring. For the past 2 summers we have not used the lawn sprinklers a single time, so you can imagine the weed to grass ratio is pretty bad.
Safa is stressing out about her end of semester exams, this is the first year she is taking them, and her whole class is freaked out. On top of that the teachers are stressing because of the upcoming school move. Effective January 8th the middle school will be officially housed in the former High school, which got a new home in October. You can imagine most of these teachers have taught in the same classrooms for many many years, so the move will be quite an adjustment. Plus Safa will probably riding the bus next semester, and she's dreading having to get up 30 minutes earlier in the morning. No more leaving the house at 7:50am and still making it to school by 7:50am (well, a couple of minutes later).
Hamza brought home his STAR test results today. His reading level is up to 12.9. This means that he is reading at the same level a 12th grade student is expected to, right before graduating from high school. The second child in the family to reach this level. Safa was 13.0 in 5th grade, and somehow that was easier to believe, considering the way she plows through books. Hamza just surprised us. Zakir congratulated him, them demanded a recount!
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Bilal: Otay.
Labels: haircut, library, repairs comments (1)
It was great to meet my email buddy Karen today, after 'knowing' each other for about 2 years, but not having met. She was visiting from South Carolina with her mom and daughter, our little heart buddy Abby. She is a tet baby like Bilal. What a precious little girl! And such a contrast from Bilal the 'Wildman'. That is, until he got her warmed up a bit. Here is a little clip of Karen trying to sit the two little toddlers together for a picture:
And these are the photos Zakir managed to get:
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But he left his voice at camp. All he can get out is a croaky little whisper. My guess is he had way too much fun. Despite the fact that he can barely talk he has been having a great time comparing notes with Safa (she went 2 years ago, and apparently the structure of camp hasn't changed much). They played the same games and learned about the same things. Apparently the furnace went out the first night they were in the cabins (it was 30 degrees outside), so that sleeping bag (and the three pairs of socks he wore) sure came in handy. And you know what? I feel so relaxed now that he is home. I think I'll sleep better tonight.
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Bilal modeling his tool belt........
Complete with a hammer........
And his 'working man' hat and saw.
We have play tools strewn all over the house. Hamza had a drill and screwdriver that came with a take-apart truck, and Vicki bought Bilal a little tool bench for his birthday. Then Tahir came and got him a 42 piece play Black and Decker tool set, complete with a tool belt and hat. If that wasn't enough to put Bilal in little boy heaven, Farah got him a peg bench with a wooden hammer. So it's 'bang, bang, bang' all day long. When he's at the dinner table we have to stop him from drumming the fork like a hammer. Is this a phase, or does Bilal really have a future in the construction industry? This morning I took Bilal to the library, and he picked out six books, all about diggers, earth movers and construction sites. Next time I'll try and steer him away from the kids' non-fiction section in an attempt to widen his horizons a bit.
After the library we went to Walmart to pick up some groceries and of course we had to see the toys. However no trip to Walmart is complete without spending a little time in the real tools section. I think he enjoys this even more that looking at the actual colorful toys!
Safa didn't make it back home until after 7pm because of the debate meet at Samford, and aside from a brief pause for dinner she was working on her homework until 9pm. She still has some work left that she plans to complete during lunch study tomorrow. Just one of those days when she had more work than hours in the day. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit less busy for her.
Hamza is still at Camp McDowell, and I am still missing him terribly. The house is just not the same without him. We'll be picking him up from school tomorrow about 4:30pm. I can't wait to hear about the trip.
Labels: debate, tools comments (1)
I wonder what Hamza is doing around about now. Probably not wondering what is going on at home. It was down to 39 degrees at 5:30pm and I'm sure temperatures will get even cooler tonight. He's camping in a cabin, but I still wonder if he'll be warm enough in the sleeping bag he took with him. Maybe we should have got him thermal underwear after all. At least he has a fleece sweatshirt and sweatpants which should keep him warmer than his regular pyjamas. It was snowing a bit this morning, probably around the time he was riding the charter bus to Camp McDowell, and again this evening, which then changed to sleet. It might get icy tonight. Hopefully he's having too much fun to think about getting cold. I'm glad he packed his blankie, he has never slept without it since he was a newborn.
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Don't cry, little baby!
Labels: Bilal, Mobeen comments (2)


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University of Vermont
Carl W. Borgmann (1952 - 1958)
Carl Williams Borgmann took office as the sixteenth president of UVM on August 1, 1952. Borgmann was born in Mt. Washington, Missouri, on June 3, 1905, and he spent his boyhood and early college years in Colorado. He received his B.S. degree from the University of Colorado and worked on the technical staff of the Bell Telephone Laboratories before he married Mable Dorothy Gaiser on September 28, 1930. After he received a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Colorado in 1931, he studied abroad for three years in Norway, Sweden, and England where he was awarded a Ph.D. degree from Cambridge University in 1934. When he returned to the Unites States, Dr. Borgmann joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina. In 1938, he was appointed the chairman of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Colorado. He later served as coordinator of research and as director of the state experiment station at the university before leaving in 1947 to take a position as dean of facilities at the University of Nebraska. When the Borgmanns came to Burlington in 1952, their family consisted of four daughters and a son.
Carl Borgmann left a lasting impact on UVM by negotiating a new relationship between the university and the state of Vermont. When the university was seeking changes in its charter during the 1955 session of the state legislature, a reporter asked Borgmann on a television broadcast, "Was it always your plan when accepted the presidency of UVM to make the university a state university?" Borgmann, with a friendly grin, replied, "When I accepted the presidency, I thought UVM already was the state university."
Borgmann's support for public education was nurtured by the populist tradition he experienced in the western and Midwestern states. Borgmann also held a deep admiration for Vermonter Justin Morrill, the sponsor of the Public Land Grant College Act, and he simply assured that UVM, located in Morrill's home state, was a public university.
In order to understand the situation that Borgmann and the Vermont State Legislature faced in 1955, it is necessary to review the legal status of UVM at the time the charter revisions were being considered. UVM was actually made up of three separate corporate entities. The oldest was The University of Vermont, the original corporation chartered by the Vermont General Assembly on November 4, 1791. The second major component, The Vermont Agricultural College, had been created by the legislature as a public corporation on November 9, 1865, the legislature united the university with the agricultural college by creating a third corporation. The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College.
Hence, UVM's legal status was complex and confusing. The University of Vermont was perceived to be a private corporation, and it received only minimal support from the state legislature. The Vermont Agricultural College, on the other hand, was a public corporation that received a large portion of its funds from state (and federal) grants. In essence, the University of Vermont was something of a misnomer. Although the state helped to rescue the university following President Bailey's death, once this financial crisis had passed it did not provide any consistent, ongoing appropriation. The legislature might provide special funds for specific building projects, but the university only received only scattered and largely inconsequential state support.
When Borgmann arrived at UVM, he discovered that Mississippi and Vermont had the lowest national percentages of college age population actually attending college. He was particularly concerned that Vermont students attending the University of Vermont had to pay a tuition of $625, while resident students who attended the state-subsidized agricultural college paid only $225 in tuition. Students who enrolled in the agriculture, education, medicine, and dental hygiene programs received state financial support, but none was available for students in the art and sciences, technology, or special graduate programs. As a result, the University of Vermont ranked number one among state institutions in high tuition costs for resident students who enrolled in these latter programs.
Borgmann's primary motivation in proposing the charter changes was to secure more financial support for the university so that all Vermont students would receive the same amount of tuition assistance from the state. He campaigned very strenuously, visiting all the state senators and more than half of the 246 House members in an effort to convince them to revise the charter so as to make UVM an instrumentality of the state. "I worked like hell," he recalled later. "I drank an awful lot of coffee."
In March 1955, the legislature passed the proposed charter revision bill, which was signed into law by Governor Joseph B. Johnson (UVM '15). The legislation added two new provisions to the act of 1865 by specifying that The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College "shall be recognized and utilized as an instrumentality of the state for providing public higher education…and the general assembly of the State of Vermont shall, from time to time, appropriate such sums as it deems necessary for the support and maintenance of said corporation."
Although the charter revision act united the three corporations, each was still maintained as a separate legal entity in order to protect existing endowments, particularly the Wilbur Fund. The revised charter of The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College provided for three new trustees, appointed by the governor with the consent of the senate. This increased the board to twenty-three members, with the majority being drawn from the public sector (i.e., nine elected by the legislature, three gubernatorial appointees, and the governor ex officio), plus nine self-perpetuating trustees and the president of the university ex officio.
The immediate effect of the charter change was to increase the state appropriation to UVM by more than $500,000 from $1,054,000 in 1955 to $1,593,000 in 1956. A total of $358,000 of this increase was earmarked for in-state tuition support, which was used to equalize tuition charges for all Vermont students attending UVM at $325 (versus $705 for the nonresident students). The remainder of the state appropriation was used to continue state support for the agricultural college and the medical school. At the time, it was assumed that the state would pay 60 percent of the cost of each Vermont student attending UVM, and the legislature passed a statute requiring that the university not charge resident students more than 40 percent of the out-of-state tuition fee.
Once the charter amendments were approved, President Borgmann announced, "There no longer need be any confusion about UVM. It is now a unified institution dedicated to public higher education and is recognized as such by the legislature."
The charter revision of 1955 was Carl Borgmann's most significant accomplishment as president, but a number of other initiatives were also launched during his six years in office. In 1952 the Graduate College was established to coordinate advanced degree programs outside the College of Medicine, and by the end of the decade, it was sponsoring more than fifty different curricula leading to master's degrees. Research grants from federal, state, and private sources increased from $270,000 in 1951 to $570,000 in 1956, and in 1958 the trustees authorized the granting of the Ph.D. degree in biochemistry. New women's residences were completed at Redstone, with the central unit named for Mary Jean Simpson (UVM '13), the long-time dean of women. Late in Bormann's term, planning began for a new university library, a new gymnasium, a new medical college center, and an addition to Old Mill. Two major gifts the university received during this period provided for the establishment of the Corse Professorship of English Language and Literature in 1952 and the creation of the George Bishop Lane Arts Series in 1953.
A major controversy during the Borgmann era involved the firing of Professor Alex Novikoff during the 1950's congressional investigations into communist subversion. In 1953 Novikoff, a research professor at the medical school, was subpoenaed to testify before the U.S. Senate Internal Security Subcommittee on the grounds that he had been a former member of the Communist party. In an effort to defuse the situation, Borgmann announced a new university policy stipulating that "a faculty member who admits previous membership in the Communist party, but who now claims that he is no longer a member, will be investigated by a faculty-trustee committee which will make recommendations on his fitness to continue on the staff of the university."
The crux of the issue, however, did not center on Professor Novikoff's alleged prior membership in the Communist party. Instead, it focused on Novikoff's refusal to testify before the senate subcommittee by invoking his constitutional right to take the Fifth Amendment. In September 1953, the UVM board of review that considered his case voted to retain Novikoff on the faculty was Reverend (later Bishop) Robert Joyce (UVM '17). Thirty years would pass before Professor Novikoff was invited back to UVM—this time to receive an honorary degree at the 1983 commencement ceremonies.
In 1958 Borgmann resigned as president of the university to accept a position as program director of the science and engineering division of the Ford Foundation. He remained there for eight years before returning to the University of Colorado where he served as the interim dean of the graduate school.
Carl Borgmann was a steady, solid, forthright individual who worked very energetically to achieve his primary objective of making UVM more accessible to all Vermont students. By the time he left Burlington in 1958, The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College had become an instrumentality of the state, a change that was destined to have a major impact on the course of its subsequent development.
Last modified September 30 2012 07:36 AM


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2 in. Thick Urethane Foam Mat with Hook-and-Loop on 4 Sides - Gold, 4 ft. x 6 ft.
Product Number: Z42228(A)
This item is shipped directly from our supplier. Allow extra delivery time.
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- 2-ft. W folding panels for convenient storage
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|Underground Chambers
|Location information
The Underground Chambers[2] were a series of rooms below Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, serving as the defences protecting the Philosopher's Stone from 1 August, 1991 until 4 June, 1992[1]. There were a total of seven chambers, each of which containing an obstacle or task that guarded the Stone and delayed any intruder[1].
In 1991, the Philosopher's Stone became the target of Lord Voldemort due to its potent ability to return him to full power[1]. Suspecting danger, Albus Dumbledore set out Rubeus Hagrid to retrieve the Stone from Vault 713 at Gringotts Wizarding Bank the same day he took Harry Potter to Diagon Alley[1]. That same day, Quirinus Quirrell, who was being used as a parasite of Lord Voldemort, broke into the bank, but failed to obtain the Stone[1].
Thereafter, Hagrid brought the Stone to Hogwarts as requested, and Professors Pomona Sprout, Filius Flitwick, Minerva McGonagall, Quirinus Quirrell and Severus Snape, as well as Hagrid and Dumbledore themselves, created each their own separate chamber[1].
- Ron: "What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school? If any dog needs exercise, that one does."
- Hermione: "You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you? Didn't you see what it was standing on?"
- Harry: "The floor? I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads."
- Hermione: "No, not the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor. It was obviously guarding something."
- — Harry, Ron and Hermione[src]
The only known way to access the Stone was through a trapdoor in the Third Floor Corridor, which was guarded by the three-headed dog Fluffy[1]. Fluffy had been purchased by a Greek man in the Hog's Head Inn by Rubeus Hagrid, and was later put into the third floor[1]. To get past this obstacle, one had only to play some music, which would then put Fluffy to sleep[1].
- Hermione: "Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare... What did Professor Sprout say? It likes the dark and the damp-"
- Harry: "So light a fire!"
- Hermione: "Yes - of course - but there's no wood!"
- Ron: "HAVE YOU GONE MAD? ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"
- — Harry, Ron and Hermione[src]
After going through the trapdoor, a long and dark drop through the air led into a chamber full of Devil's Snare, planted by the Herbology teacher Pomona Sprout[1]. The plant was designed to entangle and suffocate any intruders, especially quickly the more the intruder tries to escape[1]. Bluebell Flames, however, could be used to repulse them[1].
- "They're not birds! They're keys! Winged keys - look carefully. So that must mean ... Yes - look! Broomsticks! We've got to catch the key to the door!"
- —Harry[src]
A downwards sloping passage with stone walls, through which trickling water could be heard, led to a brilliantly lit chamber with a very high ceiling, full of glittering winged keys, charmed by Filius Flitwick[1]. On the opposite end of the chamber from the stone passage was a large, old-fashioned wooden door with a silver lock that would not open, even with the Alohomora Charm, without the necessary key[1]. One had to mount a broom and attempt to pursue the correct key; all of the keys fluttered away quickly, darting around, making it very difficult to catch the correct one[1].
- "I think we're going to have to be chessmen."
- —Ron[src]
The next chamber was so dark that it was impossible to see anything[1]. It contained a Human Chess Game, which had been enchanted by Minerva McGonagall[1]. To get across the chamber, one had to checkmate the King according to the rules of Wizard's Chess[1].
- Hermione: "Go on."
- Harry: "I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one, come on, I can't breathe."
- — Harry Potter[src]
After that came a chamber containing a mountain troll that needed to be knocked out in order to pass; it had a foul odour in it, and it was said that there was great relief in passing through it[1].
- "Brilliant. This isn't magic - it's logic - a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here for ever."
- —Hermione[src]
The second-to-last obstacle guarding the Stone was a logical riddle set by Severus Snape[1]. Upon entering the chamber, the entrance was blocked by purple flames, whilst the exit was covered by black flames[1]. A table holding seven bottles of differing shapes and sizes sat in the centre of the room[1].
Each bottle contained a liquid, but the bottles were not labelled with their contents[1]. Three were poison, two contained nettle wine, one contained a potion to safely traverse the black flame, and the last contained a potion that allowed passage back through the purple flames[1]. The riddle, when properly worked out, revealed the contents of each bottle, and therefore which one was safe to drink to allow onward progress:
Based on Hermione's deductions, from left to right, the potions lineup is:
- Poison
- Nettle wine
- Potion to move the drinker forward through black flames
- Poison
- Weedosoros
- Nettle wine
- Potion to move the drinker backwards through purple flames
- Harry: "You!"
- Quirrell: "Me, I wondered whether I'd be meeting you here, Potter."
- — Harry Potter discovering Professor Quirell in the seventh chamber[src]
The final obstacle was the Mirror of Erised, designed and set by Albus Dumbledore[1]. The only way to obtain the stone was for an individual to look into the mirror and see themselves possessing the stone but not using it[1].
Behind the scenesEdit
- The prevalence of the number seven is not coincidental; seven obstacles were in place to get to the Philosopher's Stone and seven different potions were available in Snape's logic riddle. Seven, as deduced by Arithmancer Bridget Wenlock, has magical properties to it. It is believed that the number seven is the most magical number. It is also, of course, the total number of books in the series, with Rowling firmly sticking to that number.
- The fifth and sixth obstacles were cut from the film. The potions riddle, however, was later shown in the second disc.
- There were a lot of differences in the Chambers between the books, films and video games, shown in the following table:
|PC Game
|PS1 Game
|GBC/GBA Game
|LEGO Years 1-4
|Fluffy's Chamber and Through the Trapdoor
|Harry and then Hermione played the flute Hagrid gave Harry for Christmas.
|Disc 1: Quirrell bewitched a harp to play itself.
Disc 2: The player has to choose between four items: the Cloak of Invisibility, a chicken, a bone or a flute.
|Harry plays the flute Hagrid gave him and has to put all 3 heads asleep at once; the heads will wake up once asleep enough.
|Harry plays the flute Hagrid gave him.
|Not seen.
|Same as PS1.
|Desktop: When Harry, Ron and Hermione enter the room to see Quirrell climb into the room, when he finds out they have seen him he destroys the playing harp and wakes Fluffy. Ron tries playing a trumpet but it doesn't work. In order to fix the harp they have to distract Fluffy with a rubber duck.
Handheld: When Harry, Ron and Hermione enter the room to see Quirrell climb into the room, when he finds out they have seen him he destroys the playing harp and wakes Fluffy. Ron tries playing a trumpet but it doesn't work. Fluffy then chase Harry through the Third Floor until Harry jumps through the trapdoor.
|Devil's Snare
|The three are grabbed by the Devil's Snare; Hermione defeats it with Bluebell flames.
|Disc 1: The three are grabbed by the Devil's Snare; Hermione's directions were to relax, after which the plant would release Harry and Ron. However, Ron, being the last one trapped, and being afraid, couldn't calm himself enough leading Hermione to cast Lumos Solem, allowing Ron to slip through.
Disc 2: Not seen.
|Only Ron and Hermione are grabbed by the Devil's Snare; Harry defeats it with the Fire-Making Spell.
|Same as PC.
|Not seen.
|GBC: Only Ron and Hermione are grabbed by the Devil's Snare and Harry defeats it in a duel.
GBA: Only Ron and Hermione are grabbed by the Devil's Snare; Harry defeats it by burning it with torches.
|Desktop: Only Ron is grabbed by the Devil's Snare; Harry defeats it with the Wand-Lighting Charm.
Handheld: Not seen.
|Winged Keys
|Harry, Ron and Hermione catch the key.
|Disc 1: Harry catches the key.
Disc 2: You must search and click on the right winged key.
|Same as film.
|Same as film. However, the wrong keys shine red and the right key shine blue and it's wing is not broken.
|You must search and click on the right winged key.
|Same as film.
|Desktop: Same as film, except for the fact that Harry shoot spells at the key.
Handheld: Harry finds the hideout of the key, then same as film.
|Giant Chess Board
|Harry is a bishop, Hermione is a rook, Ron is a Knight and is injured after sacrificing the Knight in order to win.
|Same as book, except Ron rides the Knight instead of taking its place.
|Ron defeats most of the pieces and gets injured, Harry defeats the rest, Hermione doesn't play and Harry and Ron need to get the pieces to attack each other, but not attack them.
|There are three boards; Ron defeats most of the pieces on the first board and gets injured, Harry defeats the rest, Hermione doesn't play.
|You just see a few pieces move around.
|GBC: Ron defeats the Queen and gets injured, Harry defeats the rest, Hermione doesn't play.
GBA: Harry paralyses all the pieces on top of the door-opening platforms, realising the lack of pieces to all the platforms, Ron stays on top of the last one.
|Desktop: After directing the pieces on the board where to move and winning, Ron trips over the King's sword and watches the doors close after Harry and Hermione enter next room.
Handheld:Ron gets injured from start, Harry have to answer three questions in order to make the pieces move and win.
|Mountain Troll Chamber
|The Troll is already collapsed on the floor when Harry and Hermione arrive.
|Not seen. However a bit of the Chamber is shortly seen.
|Not seen.
|The Troll was collapsed but wakes up when Harry and Hermione get there. The Troll is still groggy so while Hermione tries to unlock the next door, Harry levitates the litter present in the room from out of the Troll's way, without making noise. The Troll doesn't notice a hole on the floor and falls into it.
|Not seen.
|GBC: Same as book.
GBA: Not seen.
|Desktop: Not seen. However a bit of the Chamber is shortly seen.
Handheld: Not seen.
|Potion Riddle
|Hermione solves the riddle; Harry goes through the Black Flames, Hermione goes through the Purple Flames to go get help as there is only enough potion for one of them to go through the black flames.
|Disc 1: Not seen.
Disc 2: The player must click on the right potion.
|Harry solves the riddle by watching the 7 containers move, and must select the one that has the correct potion; Harry goes through the Black Flames, the Purple Flames disappear.
|Harry has to guess which knight has the Ice Potion.
|You must read the riddle and figure out the correct two potions.
|GBC: Harry has to mix and brew the potion, solving the riddle.
GBA: Harry and Hermione have to look for the four potion ingredients, scattered trough the dungeon.
|Desktop: Not seen.
Handheld: Not seen.
|Mirror of Erised Antechamber
|Not seen
|Not seen
|Harry has to push the blocks to get to the Mirror of Erised room, while Quirrell pushes the blocks back at him and tries to curse him.
|Quirrell brings suits of armour to life and summons one gigantic suit of armour.
|Not seen
|GBC: Harry duels with Quirrell.
GBA: Harry dodges Quirrell's curses, making him destroy the floor. Then, they both fall into the Mirror of Erised Chamber.
|Not seen.
|Mirror of Erised Chamber
|Harry struggles against Quirrell and Voldemort, but passes out before Quirrell dies.
|Harry struggles against Quirrell and Voldemort, watches Quirrell die, and passes out when Voldemort's soul passes through him.
|Harry tries to kill Quirrell/Voldemort by collapsing pillars on top of him and he also tries to deflect Voldemort's curses with the Mirror. Harry passes out at the same time Quirrell dies. Dumbledore then bursts in to the room.
|Harry tries to kill Quirrell/Voldemort by collapsing pillars on top of him and he also tries to boost his jinxes with the Mirror, and then directing it to Voldemort. Harry watches Quirrell die.
|You must find the Philosopher's Stone. (It was in Harry's pocket.)
|GBC: Harry duels with Voldemort and passes out when he touches him. He doesn't see Quirrell die.
GBA: Harry deflects Voldemort's curses with the Mirror and passes out when he touches him. He doesn't see Quirrell die.
|Desktop: Harry battles with Quirrell, hurling his own green cursed heads back at him, after touching him 3 times Quirrell burns away and Harry passes out.
Handheld: Harry has to lit the torches to make the fire graves bubble with lava. Then some blocks appear, but when destroyed let go of a heavy object that knocks Quirrell out (Harry does this 3 times).
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
- LEGO Harry Potter: Building the Magical World
- LEGO Harry Potter: Characters of the Magical World (Mentioned only)
- LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
- Pottermore
- Harry Potter LEGO Sets
Notes and referencesEdit


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Hot Dog of the Week: Yesterdog in Grand Rapids, Michigan
A unique hot dog feature each week from hot dog connoisseur and cartoonist Hawk Krall!
Opened in 1976, Yesterdog is a funky hot dog joint in Grand Rapids, Michigan, serving up deliciously messy dogs that go completely against the grain of the current gourmet hot dog trend. Breaking several cardinal rules of hot doggery, including the use of cheap boiled hot dogs and plenty of ketchup—right in the middle of Coney country!—Yesterdog instead espouses a greasy comfort food overload approach that has earned them a huge following.
Along with being crowned the best hot dog in Grand Rapids for years, Yesterdog was also recognized by Esquire magazine's "Where Men Eat" feature in 2010 as well as our own SE/Rachel Ray 2011 hot dog bracket.
What's New On Serious Eats
Yesterdog sort of looks like a cross between a flea market and a dive bar, filled with antique signs and covered in graffiti from 30 years of customers. Adding to the atmosphere is Yesterdog's "signature rudeness" and ordering rules, often a sign of delicious food to come.
These hot dogs are cheap ($1.80 to $2.30) and often ordered in large quantities. The dogs are built assembly-line style on a big wooden plank before being doled out to customers on wax papered cafeteria trays. The banner under the menu proclaiming that "Regular Hot Dogs Don't Exist" is not just a slogan—Yesterdog will actually not serve you a plain hot dog.
Popular dogs here include the self-explanatory Cheddardog and Krautdog, although many go for the Ultradog, a cheap boiled dog loaded with mustard, ketchup, finely chopped pickles, a few onions, and Yesterdog's delicious homemade chili sauce piled into a soft white bun.
There are no fries, no milkshakes; just hot dogs. Well, and chips, soda, and chicken noodle soup in the winter. Over the years customers have suggested adding hamburgers to the menu. Owner Bill Lewis suggests that they "go somewhere else".
They do offer a veggie dog option that might better be described as a "loose kraut sandwich"—basically just all the toppings (minus chili and dog) piled into a roll. It's quite similar to a 7-Eleven sandwich, the old trick where you buy a roll for 30 cents and load it up with all the free cheese and toppings at the 7-Eleven.
So despite breaking almost every rule of hot dogs in the middle of serious hot dog country, Yesterdog has lines out the door and a near-cult status. Not a place to miss if you like hot dogs, wild late night food joints packed with drunks, or crazy places full of cool old stuff.
1505 Wealthy Street Southeast, Grand Rapids MI 49506 (map); 810-233-4000; yesterdog.com
Hawk Krall is a Philadelphia-based illustrator who has a serious thing for hot dogs. Dig his dog drawings? Many of the illustrations he has created for Hot Dog of the Week are available for sale: hawkkrall.net/prints/.
Thanks to photographer and Yesterdog lover Mike Donk for the awesome photos this week. Check out his work at monitorpop.com.


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DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh said on Tuesday a fire that killed 111 textile workers was sabotage as protesters took to the streets for a second day and garment factories across the world's second biggest clothes exporter stopped work to mourn.
The country's worst-ever industrial blaze broke out on Saturday and consumed a multi-storey building of a Tazreen Fashions factory. More than 150 workers were injured.
The fire has put a spotlight on global retailers that source clothes from Bangladesh, where the cost of labour is low - as little as $37 a month for some workers - and rights groups have called on big-brand firms to sign up to a fire safety programme.
The interior minister, Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, said according to a preliminary inquiry, the fire was the result of arson. He promised to bring the culprits to justice.
"We have come to the conclusion that it was an act of sabotage. We are finding out as of now who exactly the saboteurs are and all culprits will be brought to book," Alamgir said.
Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said she suspected the fire was an act of sabotage but she did not identify any suspect or say why she thought the cause might have been arson.
More than 1,000 workers, some carrying black flags, demonstrated in the Ashulia industrial belt on the outskirts of the capital where the factory is located.
They blocked traffic moving on a highway and vowed to avenge the deaths of their colleagues, witnesses said.
"Never shall we give up demands for punishment for those responsible for the tragedy," one worker said.
Dhaka district police chief Habibur Rahman told Reuters his men were investigating complaints from some survivors that factory managers stopped workers from running out of the building when a fire alarm went off.
Representatives of the Tazreen Fashions factory, including the owner, were not available for comment.
Bangladesh has about 4,500 garment factories and is the world's biggest exporter of clothing after China, with garments making up 80 percent of its $24 billion annual exports.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer, said one of its suppliers subcontracted work to the factory without authorization and would no longer be used.
A number of other retailers such as Gap Inc and Nike Inc rushed to deny any relationship with the plant.
Hundreds of protesters, mostly from labour and rights groups, also gathered in the capital demanding to know the cause of the fire and calling for punishment of those responsible.
All of Bangladesh's garment factories closed as the nation observed a day of mourning. Flags flew at half-mast on government buildings.
Working conditions at Bangladeshi factories are notoriously poor, with little enforcement of safety laws. Overcrowding and locked fire doors are common.
More than 300 factories near the capital shut for almost a week this year as workers demanded higher wages and better conditions.
At least 500 people have died in garment factory accidents in Bangladesh since 2006, according to fire brigade officials.
Reporting by Ruma Paul and Anis Ahmed; Editing by Robert Birsel


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Rate This Movie SYNOPSIS: A mother and her 6 year old daughter move into a creepy apartment whose every surface is permeated by water. REVIEW: Following hot on the heels of the execrable Sadako 3D, here we have the perfect antidote. Dark Water is Hideo Nakata's second adaptation of a Kôji Suzuki story, and it is also one of several …Read More »
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First of all let me congratulate you on being returned as Scotland's First Minister. Your party received a lower share of the combined vote than in 2011, you have fewer MSP's and no longer command a majority - but nevertheless you can rightfully claim a strong mandate to implement your manifesto commitments.
So I've been checking the 36 "Next Steps" that were detailed in your manifesto, and see that independence is only mentioned in the very last one.
It would be nice to think that the other steps - things like investing in our NHS, improving our education system and creating a positive climate for business - are indeed more important for you right now than revisiting a debate you so recently lost. But if the headlines1 you've been making since the election are anything to go by, the question of independence remains a little higher than number 36 on your actual to-do list.
I'm teasing of course. The SNP's formal constitution makes clear2 that independence is the first of only two objectives for the party (the second being the rather nebulous "furtherance of all Scottish interests") - so of course independence is high on your list.
That 36th step in your manifesto talks of "persuading a clear majority of people in Scotland that independence is the best future for our country".
Whether or not independence actually is the best future for our country is obviously not a question you're willing to contemplate. You start with what for you is an unchallengeable conclusion and you work your way back from there.
This is hardly surprising. You joined the SNP when you were 16 and became their youngest ever parliamentary candidate as a 21 year-old. It's probably fair to say you've dedicated your entire adult life to the party, that you're wedded to the cause. In your position you have to show an unwavering belief that no matter the question, no matter the economic context or consequences, independence must be the answer. You clearly can't ask whether separation from the rest of the UK actually is in our best interests - it's an article of faith that it simply has to be.
So here's what you need to understand to persuade people like me, people who don't do blind faith.
You need to understand that we noticed your economic case relied on £6.8billion to £7.9billion of oil revenues every year3. We didn't fall for "oil is just a bonus" because we saw that we'd need those revenues (and more) to continue enjoying the high levels of public spending we currently receive. We've noticed what's actually happened to oil revenues, so know your suggested gamble wouldn't have paid off. Those of us who've dug a little deeper also realise that the high extraction costs associated with our relatively mature oil reserves means that even a dramatic oil price recovery wouldn't see North Sea tax revenues return to their historic highs3.
You need to understand that we know the UK currently transfers over £8bn a year to Scotland3. You know that too of course, because you worked hard to ensure that transfer remained in place when you negotiated the fiscal framework with Westminster. Some of us don't see this transfer as anything to be embarrassed about either. We know that revenues generated from oil found in Scottish waters allows us to argue that (cumulatively) we're net contributors to the UK since 19803. You need to understand that people who don't share your ideological position see receiving funds from the rest of the UK now as the sensible result of neighbourly pooling & sharing of our resources then.
You need to understand that we know why you've stopped talking about "full fiscal autonomy". We know that if we were to pay for our public expenditure with the taxes we raise in Scotland we'd have to find annual savings (or tax rises) of £8billion – 10billion a year just to match the deficit levels of the rest of the UK3. We remember that your own notoriously optimistic White Paper identified just £0.6bn of net savings (primarily from defence cuts) and you will have noticed how unenthusiastically voters reacted to Labour and the Liberal Democrats proposing we pay just £0.5bn a year more in tax.
You need to understand that we've also worked out that to raise those taxes simply by growing Scotland's onshore economy faster than the rest of the UK would, even optimistically, take generations to achieve. We've worked that out because we read your Independence White Paper and we did the maths3.
You need to understand that we've seen through the barrage of misinformation that's been spread on social media. We know that England's costs aren't unfairly allocated to Scotland in the GERS figures that your government produces. We know that myths about missing whisky export duties or taxes allocated based on corporate head office location are simply nonsense.
So before you look for a fresh set of Nobel laureates to try and come up with a workable currency solution, you need to address this simple truth: many of us have considered the idea that independence might be best for Scotland and have rationally concluded that, whatever the weight of emotional argument on either side, the economic case is overwhelmingly against separation. To be fair I'm sure you understand this way of thinking as as you seem to have grasped it in the context of the EU debate.
Of course you might rightly argue that this is about more than simple economics - but in that case you should have the courage and integrity to be straight with people about the fact that we'd be paying the economic price for independence for many generations to come.
This is the acid test of your faith: are you confident enough in your emotional case to be honest with us about the economic reality?
- Nicola Sturgeon: SNP leader rules out Holyrood coalition and vows to build independence case - IBT, 06/05/2016
- Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon says party will seek to 'persuade not divide' electorate on independence - Breaking news, 06/05/16
- Defiant Nicola Sturgeon; I'll persuade not divide - Herald, 07/05/16
- Nicola Sturgeon vows to keep making the case for independence after failing to win an SNP majority - The National, 07/05/16
- Minority government will not be barrier to second independence referendum - The Press & Journal, 07/05/2016
- Nicola Sturgeon Confirms Intention to Relaunch SNP's Independence Campaign - Herald, 08/05/16
- Sturgeon says summer independence Drive will go ahead - STV, 08/05/16
- Nicola Sturgeon Confirms Intention to Relaunch SNP's Independence Campaign - Huffington Post, 08/05/16
- Nicola Sturgeon to launch new Scottish independence campaign - The Scotsman, 08/05/16
2. Extract from SNP constitution
The aims of the Party shall be:
(a) Independence for Scotland; that is the restoration of Scottish national sovereignty by restoration of full powers to the Scottish Parliament, so that its authority is limited only by the sovereign power of the Scottish People to bind it with a written constitution and by such agreements as it may freely enter into with other nations or states or international organisations for the purpose of furtheringinternational cooperation, world peace and the protection of the environment.
(b) the furtherance of all Scottish interests.
I remain confused as to whether the personal statement from Nicola Sturgeon under the "constitution" link on the SNP website has formally been adopted by the party as their new constitution. A very strange formal constitution and a very low-key change if it was3. The Price of Independence


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- Following a Shaky Leaf that leads to a Hint pointing to the Find-A-Grave website. This link will include the steps to record a Citation the shows information that shows the Ancestry.Com State Index collection pointing to Find-A-Grave. I have chosen to Cite these indexes.
Find-A-Grave Citations - from a Shaky Leaf
- Linking on the Link to the Find-A-Grave website, how I cite the Find-A-Grave website.
Find-A-Grave Citations - From Find-A-Grave
- I have decided to put all of my Sources into the Family Tree Maker Template Feature. This blog post will show the steps to follow to do so, for these Find-A-Grave citations.
Find-A-Grave - Create Source Template
- When following the Shaky Leaf and the use of the Web Merge feature, the Source will be in the Free Form or non-Template format. This blog post will help convert the Free Form format to the Template format
Find-A-Grave - Transfer Free Form to Source Template
- The final step, for me, is to add headstone photographs to the Burial Fact and the Find-A-Grave Fact. These are only for photographs that I take. I do not use photographs provided on the Find-A-Grave website. This blog post will show how I create a Citation for my photographs and add MY photographs to those two facts
Find-A-Grave - Add My Photos
- For those Find-A-Grave Memorials that I have created, below is how this is documented. Since the photograph was taken by me, it will be the Citation Media file
Find-A-Grave - My Memorial
The steps in the above blog posts can be used for non-Find-A-Grave Sources and Citations._______________________________________________________________
Copyright © 2012 by H R Worthington


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Editor's Note: Bell Curves periodically enlists our teachers to take the official GMAT to keep themselves sharp, help them better inform their students about current testing trends and procedures, and provide additional insight for materials development and instruction. Sometimes, we have gung-ho teachers that just want to take the test for fun. To which we say, Rock On! Today's post comes from Andrew Geller, one of our NYC-based instructors. Below, he provides some insights on making your test day as stress free as possible.
Test day can be stressful but the more you know about the logistics of the test center the better you will feel on your big day. As we all know: feeling comfortable = better performance.
So what can you do to make the test day easier? Plan in advance!
The Night Before
The night before, pick out your clothes, know what you will have for breakfast, pack your snack pack, pick out 5-10 quantitative questions as warm-ups (I like to pick ones from my error log that are challenging but that I have reviewed at least once), and know the route to the test center.
The Morning Before
Arrive early to your exam. A half hour or so should suffice. It helps to arrive early because you get to check in first and end up waiting less. The test center provides lockers where you must store all of your personal belongings. You can only enter the testing room with the clothes on your back (you are allowed an extra sweater) and your ID. No watches. No bracelets. No lucky coins. You will be asked to empty out your pockets for inspection. If you have forgotten to store an item before checking in you may be sent to the back of the line. This happened to three people on my test day.
During the Test
Scratchwork – At your cubicle you will be provided with one ten page plastic notepad, one marker, ear plugs, and over-the-ear headphones. I tried on the headphones but did not like the feeling of being in a sensory deprivation chamber. I could see them being useful if another test taker were making a racket. Test your marker BEFORE the section begins. If you need another notepad during a section you have to raise your hand and wait for the proctor to retrieve your pad and replace it with a fresh one. During each break you can get a fresh pad, however. My recommendation is to only get a new pad between sections. It is a waste of time to get a new pad mid-section. If you must get a new pad then signal for one BEFORE your old pad is full so that you have the least disruption possible. A quick tip to get the most out of your pad: you can use the cover page for notes.
Snacks and Breaks – The test is long so the snack pack is important. Your snack pack should have a caffeine beverage, water, and a sugary snack (I like Cliff Bars and Snickers). I brought some dark chocolate as well. Be aware that you can only access your personal items during the eight-minute break between sections and that the timer is running while you sign in and out. If you are late getting back the time is deducted from the section. The proctor had issues with the computer while I was signing in so I was late getting back to my cubicle. Luckily, the proctor reset my timer. Do not expect this to happen if you are late getting back from a bathroom break. You have time for a gulp of coffee, a bite of Snickers, a quick bathroom stop, and a quick stretch (this helps!).
The Testing Room – Whenever you need anything you must raise your hand. You are not allowed to get up from your cubicle without an escort. Even after the test is over, you will be ushered back to the waiting room and given a printout of your score report.
Tackling the GMAT – Performing well on the GMAT is dependent on many factors. Some of these factors have nothing to do with the content but with your state of mind. A couple of things that can help during the test: First, we all can get a bit dazed during a section. I like to take a moment every once in a while (2-3 times per section) to reset myself – disengage from the screen, stretch my legs, roll my neck, refocus. Second, after you confirm an answer choice that question is over, MOVE ON!
The GMAT is an arduous undertaking in the best of circumstances, but as we can see there are steps you can take to make test day go a little more smoothly. The biggest piece of advice: plan ahead. Know where your test center is, how to get there, especially if you are taking public transportation which may experience delays and construction re-routes. Know the testing procedures, and the ins and outs of the test center. Know what you can and cannot bring, and what you can and cannot do. Know how you're going to approach the test, and know that once a question has been answered that question is finished. One great way to plan ahead is to practice as you expect the test to go. When doing your practice tests, try however much as possible to mimic what you'll be doing on test day. That's right, put together a snack pack for your 8-minute breaks. Rush through your break rituals when you're doing your practice test, and by all means stick to the 8-minute break on your practice tests as well. Following these helpful tips will help you make the best of your countless hours of preparation come test day. Good luck!


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America East Men's Basketball Championship To Move to Campus Sites Starting in 2015
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The excitement of March Madness will be coming to multiple America East campuses starting in 2015 as the conference announced a revamp of its men's basketball championship format on Thursday. For the 2015 and 2016 seasons, the entire tournament will take place on campus sites with the higher-seeded school hosting each game throughout the championship.
"This is an exciting and positive change for men's basketball in our conference," said America East Commissioner Amy Huchthausen. "This format will afford more of our campuses the chance to experience the thrill of postseason basketball, while also protecting our strongest teams and giving them the best opportunity to advance to the NCAA tournament with the highest seed possible."
The format change, which was unanimously proposed by America East's head coaches, was endorsed by the conference's Athletic Directors and Presidents in June. A conference committee was then formed to examine parameters and logistics of the championship with the conference's Athletic Directors' Council finalizing those details this week.
"This was a collaborative effort among our coaches, athletic directors and presidents to evaluate various options with the goal of enhancing men's basketball in our league and I commend them for their dialogue and diligence throughout this process," said Huchthausen.
The quarterfinals will take place on four different campuses on the Wednesday following the final weekend of conference play, 11 days prior to Selection Sunday. Following the quarterfinal round, the bracket will be re-seeded and match up the highest remaining seeds against the lowest remaining seeds in the semifinals, which will occur four days after the quarterfinals on Sunday. A conference champion will be crowned six days later on Saturday in front of a national television audience on ESPN2.
"This is great for our league," said Stony Brook men's basketball coach Steve Pikiell. "We have great home court venues and enthusiastic fan bases across the conference. To be rewarded for a great regular season and have an opportunity to play in front our fans and bring a piece of March Madness to multiple campuses is really exciting."
"Moving to this high-seed format and re-seeding the bracket enables us to protect our best teams, the teams that have shown their mettle over the course of a 16-game schedule," said University of Vermont Associate Vice President & Director of Athletics Robert Corran. "This will put the conference in a better position to send its best representative forward to the NCAA tournament and obtain its best possible seed. We felt that was very important for the health of men's basketball in our conference both in the short and long term."
The America East Men's Basketball Championship has had a high-seed format 11 times previously, the last in 1995. The tournament was played on campus sites in each round from 1981-82, 1984-87 and 1991-95. For the past four years, and again in 2014, the early rounds of the championship have been combined with the women and held at a single site with the championship games at the highest remaining seed. The men's championship was held on its own at a single site and the championship game at the highest remaining seed from 1996-2009. The entire championship was held at the Hartford Civic Center from 1988-90, while early rounds were played at campus sites with the semifinals and final at a single site in 1980 and 1983.
About America East: The America East Conference provides its member schools and their athletic programs a platform upon which student-athletes can achieve both collegiate and life success through the promotion and nurturing of athletic excellence, academic achievement and leadership, on and off the field.


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Connecting the denizens with their representatives is one of the foundations of democracy, and currently one of the best ways a citizen can communicate his problems, issues and concerns is through a town hall meeting. However, to be able to attend town hall meetings, you will have to dedicate the time and the energy to do so and hence only the people who are truly affected by an issue, or are on the polar extremes of it, end up making it to the town hall meeting.
Therefore, instead of establishing a calm environment for discussion and achieving a representative opinion on an issue, we have a very likely situation in which the debate is reduced to screamed sound bites.
To tackle this issue and to be gather a more representative opinion on issues concerning the urban citizens of the United states, the Give a Minute! Campaign has been lunched in Chicago at the end of December with plans to spread to Memphis, NY and San Jose.


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For more information about the Bachelor of Arts in Sports Media, please contact:
Dr. Christopher Mackowski
Professor of Communication
Jandoli School Associate Dean
(716) 375-4025
Send an Email
228A Murphy Professional Building
Tell us more about you and your interests by completing our online
Learn more about these and other Jandoli School alumni in sports media.
Danny Bush of Belfast, N.Y., received the 2013 Tim Russert Medal of Merit Award at the annual Buffalo Broadcasters Association Awards dinner.
The award includes a $1,000 scholarship from Greater Media Inc. and the BBA.
"Being nominated for the award was an honor, but to win the award was a dream," Bush said. "The journalism school here is incredible, and the professors have worked in professional fields for a long time. So, to be in their thoughts for the nomination was a powerful feeling."
Bush, a 2013 graduate, was grateful to Paul Wieland, an instructor in St. Bonaventure University's Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication, for his advice throughout his education.
"He showed me the ropes when it comes to making a news story good," Bush said. "He has never been coy about when a project has been good or bad, so that guidance has helped me along the way."
This is the fourth straight year a St. Bonaventure University journalism and mass communication major has won the award.
Shannon Shepherd, '12, Lauren Adams, '11, and Amanda Ciavarri, '10, won the award the last three years.
In addition to Bush's award, Bob Koop was honored posthumously with the 2013 BBA Memorial Award.
After working for various television and radio stations throughout his career, Koop joined WIVB, channel 4 in Buffalo, in 1981. Koop died on Jan. 1, 1995, after a 10-year battle with leukemia. After his death, Bob's parents donated money to St. Bonaventure in 1998 for the creation of the Bob Koop Broadcast Journalism Lab in the Murphy Professional Building.
The Buffalo Broadcasters Foundation was organized in 1996 and is dedicated to preserving and promoting Western New York's broadcasting history.
About the University: The nation's first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University cultivates graduates who are confident and creative communicators, collaborative leaders and team members, and innovative problem solvers who are respectful of themselves, others, and the diverse world around them. We are establishing pathways to internships, graduate schools and careers in the context of our renowned liberal arts tradition. Our students are becoming extraordinary.
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