text:
An Investigation of the Antidepressant Efficacy of the 5-HT2A Antagonist, M100907, in Combination With Citalopram in Treatment Resistant Depression
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00070694
Recruitment Status : Completed
First Posted : October 7, 2003
Last Update Posted : March 4, 2008
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- No Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
This study will examine whether a highly specific and powerful 5-hydroxytryptamine 2A (5-HT2A) antagonist, M100907, combined with escitalopram, is responsible for an antidepressant effect. Major affective disorders are common and can be chronic and life threatening. Yet as many as 50 to 75 percent of patients get only a partial response to the use of antidepressants. Some do not respond to medications in the category of serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)-or they experience side effects that sharply interfere with daily life. This study will determine the extent to which M100907 improves sleep and improves fatigue in people who are treated, and how it reduces cognitive impairment, that is, limitations to awareness, in the depressive syndrome. It will also look at allele frequencies as being covariates in the analysis and to collect data.
Patients 18 to 65 years of age who meet the criteria for major depression, without psychotic features, may be eligible for this study. Women of childbearing potential must be using two medically accepted contraception methods and must agree to a (Beta)-HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin, a polypeptide hormone produced by the human placenta) test at the screening and at several intervals.
In random groups, participants will receive treatment with escitalopram and either M100907 or a placebo. The timing of escitalopram can be adjusted to manage side effects. If already taking any other medications for psychiatric purposes, participants will be tapered from those medications and monitored.
Participants will also undergo the following tests and procedures:
- Test of vital signs, lying and standing
- Physical exam
- 12-lead electrocardiogram (SCG)
- Psychiatric examination for screening
- Thyroid screening
- Collection of blood for chemistry and hematology
- Hepatitis B and C/HIV screening
- Beta-HCG pregnancy test, if applicable
- Urine drug screening
- Urinalysis
- Tests using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Montgomery-Asburg Depression Rating Scale
- Use of the Antidepressant Treatment History
A sleep study will be conducted during the steady state period and again toward the end of the double blind treatment period. Each study will involve 2 consecutive nights of polysomnographic recording done by an EEG technologist experienced in using the technique.
|Condition or disease
|Depressive Disorder
|Drug: MDL100.907
|Phase 2
Major Affective Disorders are common and often chronic life threatening illnesses. Furthermore a significant fraction of patients do not respond to treatment with serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI's), have only a partial response with continued significant morbidity and functional impairment, or suffer from drug induced side effects that decrease the individuals' quality of life. Side effects from SSRI's include gastrointestinal symptoms, anxiety, sleep disturbance, and sexual dysfunction. Evidence from recent clinical trials and preclinical studies suggests that blockade of 5-HT2 receptors may have antidepressant effects when combined with reuptake blockade of serotonin at serotonin transporters. In order to better determine whether 5-HT2A receptors are responsible for this effect we propose to study the highly specific and potent 5-HT2A antagonist, M100907, in combination with escitalopram in SSRI resistant major depression.
Subjects aged 18-65 will be studied who prospectively are shown to be treatment resistant to the SSRI escitalopram. Subjects will be randomized in a double-blind fashion to receive continued open treatment with escitalopram+M100907 or continued escitalopram+placebo. Subjects will have weekly mood and safety ratings during this randomized period for four weeks. At that time subjects who were initially randomized to placebo (and are non-responders) will be switched to active drug for four weeks of randomized treatment while the active group continues an additional four weeks of combination therapy. Those meeting remission criteria will be eligible to extend therapy in open treatment with the combination therapy for an additional period of up to 6 months.
Due to the potential for M100907 to improve sleep architecture in general and slow wave sleep in particular, sleep will be studied using polysomnographic methods before and after randomization. Sleep disturbance is also a well-known side effect of SSRI's, and the addition of M100907 may improve sleep disturbance related to the affective disorder itself or to iatrogenic SSRI effects on sleep. Examination of improvement in sexual side effects, gastrointestinal side effects, headache frequency, and anxiety will also be investigated in the comparison of addition of M100907 versus placebo in escitalopram treated subjects. DNA samples will be collected for neurotransmitter-related genetic polymorphisms for covariance.
Finally, 5-HT2A receptors on cortical apical dendrites sit in a crucial location to influence cognitive processing and excitatory transmission. Since some 5-HT2A antagonists can lead to a down-regulation of 5-HT2A receptors and their altered distribution, as well as increased prefrontal cortical monoamine levels, neuropsychological testing to compare between and within subjects treated with M100907 and placebo may increase our understanding of the importance of serotonin receptors in cognition and depression. Subjects will be studied neuropsychologically before and twice following randomization. If M100907 enhances cognition in depression this would be an important advance given the high rates of impairment in functioning and residual cognitive difficulties observed in patients with depression.
|Study Type :
|Interventional (Clinical Trial)
|Enrollment :
|96 participants
|Primary Purpose:
|Official Title:
|An Investigation of the Antidepressant Efficacy of the 5-HT2A Antagonist, M100907 in Combination With Escitalopram in Treatment Resistant Depression
|Study Start Date :
|September 2003
|Study Completion Date :
|October 2004
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|Child, Adult, Older Adult
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Subjects meeting all of the following criteria will be considered for enrollment into the study:
Men or women, 18 to 65 years of age.
A woman of childbearing potential must be using two medically accepted means of contraception. This can include an oral or other hormonal contraceptive started at least 4 weeks prior to randomization plus a barrier method such as condoms or two barrier methods combined. Surgical sterilization of the subject or their partner is also considered acceptable. Hormonal therapies should be in place at least 4 weeks prior to randomization (V8). Women of childbearing potential must agree to a beta test at screening and during Visits 5, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 13 through 16.
Each subject must have a level of understanding sufficient to agree to all tests and examinations required by the protocol.
Subjects must be considered reliable (i.e., based on clinical judgment of the investigator the subject is able and willing to cooperate with study procedures (including compliance with medication, use of birth control appropriately, and attend study visits, etc).
Each subject must understand the nature of the study and must sign an informed consent document.
Subjects must fulfill the criteria for major depression, without psychotic features as defined in DSM-IV based on clinical assessment and confirmed by structured diagnostic interview SCID-P.
Subjects must have an initial score at Visit 1 and Visit 2 of at least 20 on the HAM-D (17).
Subjects must have a total score of HAM-D at the end of the 6th week of escitalopram prospective screening of at least 17 (visit 5).
Current major depressive episode of at least 4 weeks duration and for the current episode of major depression has a history of failure to respond to at least 4 weeks of any antidepressant medication such as SSRI, Wellbutrin, nefazodone/trazadone, MAOI, or venlafaxine/duloxetine at an adequate or clinically customary dose for antidepressant purposes prior to entering escitalopram screening. Informed consent must be obtained in writing for all subjects at enrollment into the study.
Subjects presenting with any of the following will not be included in the study:
No subjects who have previously been treated with the investigational product (M100907) will be enrolled in this study.
Participation in a clinical trial of another investigational (nonmarketed) drug within 1-month (30 days) prior to study Visit 1.
Female subjects who are either pregnant or breast-feeding or who do not appear reliable to use adequate contraception.
Clinically significant cardiovascular, hepatic, endocrinologic (including but not limited to diabetes and uncorrected hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism), neurological (including but not limited to epilepsy, stroke and sleep apnea), or other major systemic disease making implementation of the protocol or interpretation of the study results difficult
Subjects with one or more past seizures without a clear and resolved etiology.
DSM-IV substance abuse (except nicotine and caffeine) within the past 90 days and substance dependence within the past 2 years.
Treatment with a reversible monoamine oxidase inhibitor, guanethidine, or guanadrel within 1 week prior to Visit 2.
Treatment with any other concomitant medication with primarily CNS activity, other than specified in Appendix 2 1 day prior to randomization.
Subjects are excluded if greater than four failed antidepressant trials in the past not including escitalopram (adequate dose and duration) during the index episode of major depression. An adequate trial is defined as 6 weeks of treatment with the antidepressant at a dosage considered therapeutic 159. The doses considered therapeutic are for fluoxetine 20-80 mg/day, paroxetine 20-60 mg/day, sertraline 100-200 mg/day, citalopram 20-40 mg/day, escitalopram 10-20 mg/day, fluvoxamine 100-300 mg/day, bupropion 300-450 mg/day, and venlafaxine 75-375 mg/day.
Failure to respond to drugs with a 5-HT2 mechanism when added to SSRI including nefazodone, trazodone, mirtazapine/mianserin, SSRI + atypical neuroleptics (clozapine, risperidone, olanzapine, ziprasidone) at therapeutic doses for 4 weeks or longer. (the SSRI must be at clinically appropriate doses and the 5-HT2 antagonist must be at doses that antagonize a significant % of receptors (trazadone greater than 125 mg, nefazodone greater than 300 mg, mirtazapine greater than 30 mg, clozapine greater than 50 mg, risperidone greater than .5 mg, olanzapine greater than 5mg, ziprasidone greater than 20 mg).
Treatment with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) within 3 months prior to Visit 2.
Current diagnosis of schizophrenia or other psychotic or bipolar disorder as defined in the DSM-IV.
Judged clinically to be at serious risk of suicide based on HAM-D suicide item rating plus direct clinical questioning and assessment.
History of drug or alcohol dependence criteria in the last 2 years.
Hepatic enzyme elevation greater than 2X normal
Subjects who are taking drugs that could potentially interact with M100907 via the cyp 3A4 isoenzyme.
Subjects with a corrected Q-T ECG interval greater than 450 for males and 470 for females on screening ECG (Bazett correction)
History of hypersensitivity to the investigational products or to drugs with similar chemical structures.
Likelihood of requiring treatment during the study period with drugs not permitted by the clinical study protocol. Excluded meds: Treatment with CYP 3A4 inhibitors (macrolide antibiotics, itraconazole, indinivir, ritinivir, ketoconazol, verapamil, propoxyphene, fluoxetine) or inducers (rifampicin, carbamazepine, phenobarbitol, phenytoin). Treatment with sedative hypnotics or drugs with 5-HT2A or 5-HT3 activity (clozapine, risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine, trazodone, nefazodone, mianserin, mirtazapine, cyproheptadine, ondansetron, granisetron, dolasetron). Treatment with drugs that are known to significantly prolong the QT interval of the ECG.
Mental condition rendering the subject unable to understand the nature, scope, and possible consequences of the study.
Subjects unlikely to comply with protocol, (e.g., uncooperative attitude, inability to return for follow-up visits, and unlikelihood of completing the study).
Subjects will not be allowed to receive psychotherapy during the trial..
Subjects may be included in the study only if they meet all of the inclusion and none of the exclusion criteria. The investigator and Aventis must approve any waiver of these inclusion and exclusion criteria on a case-by-case basis prior to enrolling the subject. Both Aventis and the investigator must document this. No subject will be allowed to enroll in this study more than once. The essential inclusion criteria for entry are subjects who have at least moderate level of major depression (HAM-D = 20) who do not have psychotic depression and are resistant to treatment based on both retrospective and prospective rating are treatment refractory to specified antidepressants. Subjects are excluded who have failed antidepressants of similar mechanism to M100907. Female subjects must use two forms of birth control and subjects will be excluded based on medical criteria outlined in the full list of inclusion and exclusion criteria.
No subjects who have previously been treated with the investigational product will be enrolled in this study.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT00070694
|United States, Maryland
|National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
|Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|First Posted:
|October 7, 2003 Key Record Dates
|Last Update Posted:
|March 4, 2008
|Last Verified:
|October 2004
Affective Disorders
Combination Therapy
Affective Disorder
Major Depression
Depressive Disorder
Depressive Disorder, Treatment-Resistant
Behavioral Symptoms
Mood Disorders
Mental Disorders


text:
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
President Donahue's Inaugural Address
Thank you, Leo, for your kind introduction and thank you all for being here today. I feel deeply honored and blessed to be standing before you as the new President of Saint Mary's College of California.
There are truly many thank you's that are appropriate for this occasion, but I want to begin by thanking my family – my wife Jane, our boys Luke and Nick, my brother Hugh and my sister Elinor – not just for the support you have given me to make this day possible, but most especially for all you have given me over the course of my life. Whatever I have learned about love in my life (the most cherished treasure of all), I have learned from each of you. You have given this to me in great abundance, and for that I am deeply thankful.
Today I stand on the shoulders of many distinguished leaders of Saint Mary's College of California. These are the Christian Brothers who have worked with their fullest passion to make Saint Mary's the outstanding institution of learning it is. I particularly want to recognize past presidents Brother Ronald Gallagher and Brother Mel Anderson who are with us today who have led SMC with such distinction.
I can promise you here and now my own deep commitment to Saint Mary's most illustrious future – and to giving my full heart and energy every day to bring it about. As the first non-Christian Brother to be President here at SMC I take the honor and responsibility of this with great seriousness, and I am committed to carry on and enhance the legacy of what the Brothers have done to make SMC a very special educational community.
It is the privilege of my life to be with you now at Saint Mary's – because something extraordinary is happening here. Something – extraordinarily – good. Because what this college offers, on this beautiful campus and beyond, is an educational experience, a human enterprise, that may be unique. It has brought together people of high purpose, vigorous mind, and generous social conscience in a way that has elevated life for thousands of students over the years. To be exact, 150 years – and we're just getting started.
Students come to Saint Mary's with high expectations – only to have them raised even higher when they get here. They bring dreams of a fuller, bigger life – and here they find the learning and the people to help them make it happen. That's possible in large part because Saint Mary's has attracted an eminent faculty of the highest quality. They devote themselves to sparking the imagination and guiding the performance of every student they teach. And the results show.
Then students graduate to become alumni who are one of the college's finest assets. Our alumni continue their relationship with Saint Mary's because, well, like the Hotel California, you can check out any time but you can never leave. What you take away remains with you all your life. And we are grateful that our graduates honor us by sharing their experiences with the College today.
I believe in this extraordinary place and that's why I feel so privileged to be here.
Three things have become apparent to me in my early days here at SMC.
Community is at the core of what makes Saint Mary's a truly distinctive institution. The deep connections that form among students, faculty, Brothers and staff support a student's development both as a scholar and as a citizen of the world. I hear this over and over again from alumni.
The talent and commitment exhibited by individuals from all areas of the College is extraordinary. Our faculty are not only committed scholars and researchers, they are also dedicated and highly skilled teachers. Our students are of a very high caliber – and their level of achievement is increasing with each new entering class. Both faculty and students are also engaged in bringing their knowledge to the betterment of their communities. Our dedicated staff contribute as well to the creation of this remarkable institution.
I have never encountered an institution so very clear about its mission and identity. I'm convinced this clarity is what continues to attract the very best talent in our faculty, staff and students.
SMC is a great story – and we need to tell that story more widely, more boldly. We're seen as a "hidden gem." Now we aim to become a highly visible "polished gem." One that illuminates the landscape of higher education. And we are poised to do that.
What is it we are poised to do? Nothing monumental - we're just looking to change the world. Even a little. We'll do that one student at a time. And together we'll bring to our needy world people who are educated and disposed to contribute. As working participants of society, but also as citizens of conscience and character.
Our method, you could say, is "supportively Socratic." What I mean is, we work with questions. Big questions. We educate and engage our students to ask the most fundamental of human questions: "Who am I? Who am I meant to be? What am I called to do?" What our students find is that the answers may be elusive and changing. But they will keep asking the questions, because that spirit of inquiry, of always seeking, is an important part of what students learn at Saint Mary's.
Of course those questions are at the root of any quality education. But it may be that we address them at Saint Mary's with a resonance, and a solidity that takes hold and shows up in the world in very tangible ways.
And we're gratified that we are not the only ones who think so. In 2013, Saint Mary's College was invited to join and be identified as one of only 40 liberal arts colleges in the nation with the distinction of "Colleges that Change Lives." At your seat, you have been given a reprint of the chapter describing SMC. It is of some note that we are the only California college, the only Catholic college, and the only college with Division I Athletics among the 40. We offer something over and above the curriculum and the diploma.
Change lives? Good. That's exactly what we intend to do. Because then we can begin to have an impact on our times. As one of the students interviewed for the "Colleges That Change Lives" report said, "Why would you get a college education if you weren't hoping to do something good in the world?" We learn so much from our students.
Certainly, the identity question "Who am I?" has been an organizing question for me throughout my life, both personal and professional. I come from a Jesuit education, and the Brothers have already graciously forgiven me for this. I would like to recall just a brief snippet of that experience with you now and go back to my senior year in high school. I share it here because it addresses the "Who Am I" question that grounds a Lasallian education at Saint Mary's.
One day in a casual conversation, a Jesuit teacher of mine asked me what was I planning to do with my life. I launched into a description of what I saw immediately ahead. College, maybe a political science major, then maybe law school, then law practice, and then marriage and family. My teacher listened to this litany and asked me again, "What are you planning to do with your life? I repeated my babble – Holy Cross, law school, and so on. He said, "No. What I am really asking you is what kind of person do you desire to be? What values do you believe in and want to live your life by? What commitments do you think you are being called to make? Who is God in your life?"
I got it finally. He was asking what will guide my choices in this life. What is the shape of my character/my identity?
Every thoughtful person addresses the big questions. And so must every serious institution. At Saint Mary's we need to know "Who are we?" because knowing that empowers us to make choices that are constructive, mature, developed, and even courageous.
I believe we have a clear sense of the cornerstones of the college's identity. And they are three:
- The Liberal Arts Tradition—Being committed to shaping our curriculum and programs to ask the fundamental questions of human existence and to situate our knowledge in light of the best thinking and writing that informs our past, present and future.
- Our Catholic Identity—the realization that the self-understanding of who we are and what we do is grounded and informed by what it means to be Catholic, being part of a tradition and a Church with deep and profound beliefs,
- Our Founding Lasallian Heritage—Being grounded and continually informed by the core values of Saint John Baptist De La Salle—providing a quality education for each of our students, a concern for the poor and social justice, and building an inclusive/diverse community where all are respected and welcomed.
This identity will guide Saint Mary's now as we navigate our future. How well we do that depends on how clearly we see the possibilities and how determinedly we pursue them.
I never thought I'd be invoking Walt Disney in my remarks at an occasion like this, but it fits. And this is after all, California. Walt Disney died in 1966, before Disney World in Florida could be completed. But he'd worked on it for years, mapped it, planned it, and supervised its construction up to the day he died. On the opening day of Disney World in 1971, someone commented to Mike Vance, former creative director at Disney Productions, "Isn't it too bad Walt Disney didn't live to see this." Vance replied. "He did see it. That's why it's here."
We're not building a magic kingdom here at Saint Mary's, but we are constructing a positive way of living in the world. And if we do it with fire and creativity and joy, we can make something extraordinary happen. That's why we are here. We need to see and plan for an existence beyond Saint Mary's.
We start by knowing what we're searching for. As a people working together at Saint Mary's, we are searching for three things that reflect our three core traditions:
- We are searching for Knowledge and Truth.
- We are searching for God.
- We are searching for the Good.
If that sounds like an ambitious agenda, you're right; it is. And yet, using those three compass points, it breaks into simpler, entirely doable and practical strategies and actions.
We aspire to excellence, not defined necessarily (and certainly not exclusively) by the measures that are offered by the norms of higher education – SAT scores and GPA's of applicants, GMAT and CBEST scores of graduates, volume rather than content of faculty research, graduate school placements of our graduates. We aspire to "Distinctive Excellence," excellence that is unique to our mission, our gifts, our strengths, our values and beliefs, our hopes and aspirations.
I'd like to briefly share some thoughts about our direction in each of those areas of search.
First, the Search for Knowledge and Truth.
At Saint Mary's we are an academic community at our center. Ideas are the currency of our work. Our teaching, scholarship, and research are the focal point of our common life. Our purpose is to examine ideas that explain our past, restate our present and allow us to explore our future. We seek knowledge. In the search for knowledge, we also seek the truth. Our intellectual core rests on a solid foundation created in 1941 with the implementation of the Collegiate Seminar/Great Books program that develops critical thinking, communication skills, shared inquiry, and an introduction to a world of ideas. Ideas are stated then examined, expressed and constantly assessed. Ideas are both Theoretical and Practical. They are tested by community experience, history, and canons of our academic disciplines.
Our challenge is to align the great ideas and great texts with the practical demands of the realities of the times, in the world, in the lives of our students. To be practical means that we must connect our work with what the world needs, and what our students need to engage in the world they are in. It means that we give our students both the skills they acquire here, as well as the pathways to a career and a life of fulfilling employment. We assess our success by how well we have educated our graduates.
Second, We are searching for God. We search for that presence always.
This is the essence of our Catholic identity. I believe Catholic higher education at its core is a spiritual practice.
There are some who claim that thinking critically and believing deeply are somehow opposite endeavors. I believe this is false. It only means that the way we think and study is one that incorporates rich and distinctive ways of construing a problem, a challenge, a plan, an idea, an encounter. Our vision at Saint Mary's is fiercely academic and yet based profoundly on the issues and ideas that arise from our faith tradition.
When we say, as the tradition of the Brothers does, that "We are in the Holy Presence of God," this must mean something. How do we remain grounded in the belief that there is divine presence in each of us and at the same time be realistic and practical in educating young minds for a 21st century world?
Saint Mary's is here to serve the Church, but it is not a Church. It is often said that a Catholic college is the place where the Church does its thinking. A wonderful example of that here at Saint Mary's is the Bishop John S. Cummins Institute. The Institute fosters the idea that Catholic colleges and universities are where the Church is able to engage multiple perspectives. What the Cummins Institute has been doing successfully is promoting the dialogue between faith and reason across the campus as a whole.
There are many dimensions to Catholic Identity. I resist the inclination of some to reduce it to one variable or litmus test. I firmly believe that the Catholic Intellectual Tradition has many strands. It is:
- A learning tradition – where no discipline is irrelevant to it. All points of view are engaged.
- A moral tradition – continually adding insights to its body of social thought and our search for the good.
- An aesthetic tradition that seeks to convey the beauty of the realm of the divine.
It is a tradition of hospitality – unparalleled in its ability to be a home for all faiths. To be Catholic means that all faiths are welcome here at SMC – Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Protestants. We come to know and deepen our own beliefs through dialogue and engagement with others who believe differently. This is what my years of experience in interreligious theological education have taught me.
Pope Francis is presenting a breathtaking vision of what the Church can be. He is a model of leadership for me – vision, conviction, pastoral empathy/compassion, inclusion, outreach to those in need. Always with joy and delight.
Our third area of search is our Search for the Good.
The importance of serving – serving the great world that begins outside our doors – may be our most salient distinction. Always we are intelligently passionate doers. We seek to create the common good in all we do. The heart of the Lasallian tradition is grounded in the belief that our students "Enter to learn. Leave to serve." Education for justice is the very fabric of who we are and what we do.
The Search for the Good shows up in numerous social outreach programs at Saint Mary's; for example, CILSA (the Catholic Institute for Lasallian Social Action) whose focus is to integrate social justice in the academic experience and provide student service opportunities for engagement and giving to those in need.
Looking ahead as a college, we know we are bound for someplace good. A place in the world where we can offer our distinctive wisdom, spirit and service – because that's where we have our sights set. That's why we're here. To create it. And to stay with the journey.
Any journey worth the trip takes courage – and it takes resources. We seek those too – the means to realize what we came here to do. After all, we need to be practical people.
Our strategic choices will be made in light not only of what we aspire to do, but what we have the means to do.
- Our future depends on the resources available to do this.
- It requires gathering the fundraising revenue needed to carry on and expand what we can bring to our students. I will work tirelessly to partner with everyone to create those resources.
We have challenges ahead. I will lead us to face these challenges:
- The challenge of technology. We have been recognized for the effectiveness of our hybrid online and in-person approach for working adults. How can we bring this expertise to bear for our undergraduates? How do we evolve the education we provide to be both highly interactive and technologically advanced (High Touch and High Tech)?
- The challenge of affordability and enrollment – To achieve access and success for our students, we must provide the Financial Aid necessary for them to afford an SMC education. SMC is an investment that must yield returns. We do this, but I believe we need to and can do this better.
- The challenge of aligning the relevance of the Liberal Arts for the practicalities of job creation for our students and graduates. I am not proposing the commercialization of SMC, nor the crass vocationalization of our fundamental education. It is rather giving our students what they deserve and need so that they will flourish.
Saint Mary's College is truly a distinctive institution of learning:
We have a venerable past.
We have all the ingredients for greatness.
We will tell our story more boldly and extensively
We will invest in our most appropriate and creative opportunities
We will begin the planning process to identify strategic priorities. Some are already in process, such as the goal of enhanced technology and a much needed new Library and Learning Commons. We need to actively seek partners among our alumni and friends to make these important initiatives a reality.
Now, let's proceed on to our future.
All we need is all of us moving forward together. Let's make a commitment here to travel boldly. With eyes wide open and minds receptive. In this way we honor our rich traditions and still realize they are never static. Your insights, your ideas, your participation, whether student, faculty, Brother, alumni, friend, community ….. you are an essential part of the "we" that is Saint Mary's College. Each person who believes in what we do here will be part of what we become here.
I end here with three requests. One, that you accept my deep gratitude for the privilege of being part of your future at Saint Mary's. Two, I ask for all of us the grace of enlightened days in our work. And three, I invite you to enjoy this journey with us as we see what we can make happen next.
May we do it well. May we do it together. And may we do it joyfully.
Thank you for being here. God bless each of you. God bless Saint Mary's College. Go Gaels!


text:
(Another unselected story sent for TOI story contest!)
It was still dawn when I stepped out of the cab and walked towards the entry gate of the Delhi airport. The early morning February air was pleasantly cold.
I was travelling to Bengaluru to attend a college friend's wedding. It had been four years since we graduated from the same college. This wedding was also going to be a reunion of our batchmates. But what I didn't know was that the reunion would begin much ahead of time; right in the queue in front of the airline counter.
I was almost sure it was she. Same height! Same long hair! Same complexion! Curiosity had my eyes glued to her. And then about 60-odd seconds later, when she turned, she proved me right. My ex-girlfriend stood two places ahead of me in that queue. We had never met after the college farewell.
She was Leela, the girl whom I had followed crazily for four years in college and whom I had resolutely put into the dark corners of memory for the past four years after leaving college. Leela, the lovely maiden stood out in any crowd like the lofty moon in the night sky amidst a million stars.
She was a typical Tamilian girl from a small town in Tamil Nadu inheriting the characteristic features and beliefs of her native state. Her wheatish complexion which differentiated her from the majority of the fair-skinned girls of our college was in a way advantageous to her. Her face did not change colour, either to redness or paleness betraying the emotion rushing inside her. The skin humbly took the back seat leaving other facial features to take care of the drama. Be it surprise, shock, anger, mockery or hatred it was her eyes, nostrils, lips and eyebrows that moved most appropriately to convey her inner feelings with unfailing accuracy.
Yes, Leela's bright, expressive face was her chief attraction. If face is the index of the mind Leela's face was definitely the index of her intelligent, passionate and brave soul. She had very strong likes and dislikes. She tenaciously held on to her beliefs of what is right and wrong. She was an admirable blend of all that is beautiful in the old and new generations.
She did not, for example, yield to peer competition in any matter-fashion or perspective. She did not like to blindly follow the crowd. Her long and neatly plaited hair made her prominent among the girls who wore their short hair loose. Neither her manner nor her dress was ever sexy or provocative. Her demeanour commanded respect from even the worst roguish boys in the college. Her uncompromising policies and body language kept the excitement-seeking boy friends at bay and they rather preferred to chase and win more susceptible specimens of the female species.
It was no wonder then that I who am an exact male version of her personality was drawn to her. The attraction was mutual. It was Platonic love that prospered as the years passed. We were biding our time to make our intellectual union a physical one weighing all the mundane considerations of money and family consent. We were confident of settling down in decent jobs and getting the consent of our parents who were very reasonable and understanding.
Smooth sailing it was till one Sunday morning in the hectic, emotionally tense last semester of our college life when she called me to come and meet her in her hostel reception hall. An elderly man and a young man were with her. She introduced them to me as her father and cousin, the son of her father's sister who lived in the same town where her family lived. She introduced me to them as her close friend hailing from their neighbouring district in Tamil Nadu.
They were pleased to meet me. We all went to a hotel and had lunch together. When we were seated and the waiter approached us with the menu cards Leela's cousin playfully snatched the menu card from her hand saying, "Don't I know what silly stuff you like to eat and your favourite sweet lassi at the end?" She giggled contentedly.
I felt something stirring inside me. Throughout the course of the meal both of them went on chatting like childhood chums are wont to do and her father looked on indulgently. The beast that had been dormant within me all these years yawned, stretched and opened its claws.
She did not seem to be conscious of my grim silence. When the time came for them to part both seemed to have so much more still left to share. He said fondly to her,"You know, my mother and sister never stop talking about the picnic we had during your last visit." And pat came her eager reply,"Oh! How I enjoyed the festival at our family shrine and all the colourful traditions that were followed elaborately!"
The wild beast inside me now stood up and I could hear it growl with bared teeth. Neither had she elaborated on the good times spent in her town with her kin nor had I showed interest in learning about them in detail.
Next few days passed in busy schedules of project submissions and preparations for final exams. I had no chance of talking with Leela at leisure. Even in the midst of my busy work I could not escape from the ordeal of listening to the persistent growl of the wicked beast inside me.
Her cousin seemed to have come suddenly like a bolt from the blue. How confident was I of my dame's love for me! All of a sudden I found myself torn between pangs of diffidence and insecurity. What primal instinct was this? What male dominance and possessiveness over one's woman was I experiencing?
In this new, strange trauma I found it extremely difficult to concentrate on my studies. I had in hand a lucrative job obtained in the placement interviews conducted by companies visiting our campus. I almost panicked losing it by failing in the final semester's exams. But suppressing all my rational thinking the wild beast reared its head and craved to draw blood.
I rummaged my suitcase and found in its bottom an old photograph of my mom flanked by my younger sister and my cousin who was the daughter of my mom's brother. On a Sunday evening I called Leela and asked her to meet me in the park where we usually met.
I must have looked a sight for as soon as she came near me she exclaimed,"Ram! Why do you look so haggard? Are you overstraining yourself for the coming exams?"
I managed to laugh drily and bluffed,"I am perfectly all right. I wanted to show you something." I pulled out the photograph and stuck it under her nose, "Can you guess who these ladies are?"
She was clueless and said, "You tell me!"
"It is my mom and the one on her left is her daughter and the one on her right is her niece whom she wants to be her daughter-in-law," I declared triumphantly.
Her eyes narrowed and I could sense her body becoming stiff. "Oh! Your mother wants? What about you? Do you want to marry her?" she enquired with sharp shrewdness.
I shrugged my shoulders with calculated indifference and asked, "Why not?"
Her eyes narrowed to a slit and she hissed through clenched teeth, "Are you joking?"
I was immensely pleased. "I am not. Why should I?"
She continued in the same tone, "Were you not serious then when you described your dreams of your future life with me as your wife?"
This gratified me inexplicably. "And all the time you had been dreaming about joining hands with your Prince Charming of a cousin!"
Now she paused. It all seemed to dawn on her. Being the intelligent woman she was she easily saw through my jealous anger. But the revelation seemed to flare up her righteous indignation. She was clearly enraged. She asked with ominous calmness, "What is your final decision, may I know?"
I was a bit shaken by the threatening seriousness in her voice. But her pompous manner and unshaken firmness challenged my male ego. So I replied flippantly, "Our parents know what is best for us, don't they?"
Her nonchalant retort was:"We seemed to have independently taken the responsibility of deciding our destiny ourselves!"
I shot back, "If you decide to change your mind, what prevents me from changing my mind?"
She spat fire, "You, idiot! What puts such nonsensical ideas into your head?"
I was not ready to admit the Othello syndrome that had me in its diabolic clutches. My condescending reply was, "Cool! Cool! And mind your words, my young lady!"
She got up with iron resolution, angrily clapped her hands in a mock farewell gesture and rasped, "Good riddance!" With those words she walked away with her head held high in the air.
The college farewell party took place in a couple of days. We had behaved like complete strangers during the party as if we had never met each other before.
Now when I see her in the queue in front of me about to journey in the same plane to the same destination to attend the same function I cannot understand my own feeling, much less the look in her eyes when they met mine.
I could see from outward signs that she too was still unmarried. The rail track lines run together all the way. But do they meet at any point? Do they, can they, ever touch each other? It is clear disaster if they try to.


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Here you can see a detailed look at the forecast for the next 48 hours. Note that the base for this is our Meteogram product, which shows a good average forecast for Guémou (Mauritania).
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Forecast for the next few days - The weather forecast for Guémou is available in several different versions, all clearly and simply displayed here on the Weather Guémou page. For the short term, we have data based on a single weather model that is known to deliver the best forecast for Guémou. For the longer term, we have forecasts for the next two weeks based on an analysis of many different possible forecast outcomes that will give you a sense of not just what's most likely, but how the forecast could change in future updates as we get closer to any given date. If the range of possible outcomes is narrow, you can have high confidence in the forecast. If the range is wide, you know there's more uncertainty, and to not give too much credence to any one possible forecast outcome. We also have other products such as Meteograms and Forecast XL elsewhere on our site to give you additional options for figuring out the forecast for Guémou.
Neighboring places around Guémou
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Cities, towns, villages
- Achemime, Agreïj, Akjoujt, Aleg, Amourj 'Arr, Arafat, Atar, Ayoun El Atrous, Bareina, Barkéwol, Bir Mogran, Boû el Mhâr, Boû 'Achch, Chingueṭṭi, Dar Naim, Dernié, Diaguili, Diam-Diam, Djonaba, El Ghayra, El Mraïfig, El Mâleḥ, Foum Ajâr, Hovratt ehl Cheikh Sid'Elemine حفرة أهل الشيخ سيدي الأمين, Joueïlet Ahel el Ḥammoud, Kaédi, Kenaouâl, Kiffa, Laargoub, Mâncheddek, Ndiâfâne, Nouadhibou, Nouakchott, Néma, Portendick, Riyad, Rosso, Seuil de zira elhamra, Souigya, Sélibaby, Tevragh Zeina, Tezegraz, Tidjikja, Tinial, Toueïghîda, Tékane, Tîchilît, Zouérat, 'Aouînât Tijet, 'Elb el Jmel
Mountains and hills
- Adrar Toussasset, Anâguer es Seyâla, Echeghel, El Khomsânîyé, Gleïb el Ghabra, Gleïb el 'Aïch, Gleïbât Oûlâd Dâoûd, Goûr Amogjâr, Kediet ej Jill, Khneg Ḍbâ', Krekra, Massif de Mbalou, Massif de Sbaya, Mgueïssem el Ouâs'a, Montagne d'Artémou, Mount Tizzai, Nouâmleïn, Oumm Agoueïguîf, Oumm Arâguene, Oummât el Ham, Taghâda el Ouâs'a, Teniaggoûri, Toubâddi, Tsalabia, Zednes
- Bakh, Banouga, Diaouling, Diou, El Msîlé, Faramzaye, Ghlîg el Ghodf, Gouére, Goûrmél, Khakane, Khouda, Khérénéla, Lac Rkîz, Lac de Mâl, Laououaja, Mare de Kankossa, Mare de Kaora, Megta'es Sfeïra, Saré Souki, Sisiande, Ti-n-Yeddir, Tiak Tiak, Tianbrank, Tîchilît Sadra, Tîchilît el Angra


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Count It: Seven Home Games Left
Starting today, Monday September 20, the A's begin their final 7-game homestand with three games against the Chicago White Sox, followed by four games against the division-leading Texas Rangers.
I've said this now for a month, but fans, it's time to stop procrastinating and putting off your visit to the Coliseum. With only seven home games left, the time is now to show your green an gold pride!
Here's a short collection of photos from the last month, showing off some of our Super Fans at the ballpark…
A berth in the playoffs would be nearly impossible for the A's to achieve at this point in the season, but that doesn't mean the 2010 campaign has been a disappointment. We've seen an impressive showing from all five, improbably young pitchers in our starting rotation and some great hitting and base-stealing efforts from the lineup. Also, let's not forget how the 2009 season ended and how far we've come. Last year, we finished last in the division, 22 games behind the division-leading Angels.
This fan, David, in the two photos above comes to every game as if the team is playing for a playoff berth. A serious A's follower, he's always decked out in green and gold, his special, superstitious pants, and of course, his glove to catch homerun balls. In the photo to the right, you can see David diving for one of Coco Crisp's long balls. Awesome enthusiasm! The crummy part is that he didn't even get the ball!! Better luck next time, David.
So fans, I hope to see you at the Coliseum this week. Let's send our team off for the final roadtrip with love and support from our fan base. And hey, you never know…we're only nine games back!!
13 Comments
Look at that stupid glove. LOOK at that stupid glove! No wonder I missed the ball. It's bending BACKWARDS on my leg!
AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh my goodness.
I need to put Coco's glove from that game on a birthday list or something. That would be SO much more meaningful than the ball. Screw the ball. I was going to give it away anyways. I need Coco's glove. Kara, is there any way to arrange for him to deliver it to me on the 25th?
Oh man! I need to bury that glove in the back yard and put a tombstone on it that says "RIP the original wallball glove" because that's all it was good for. If I don't catch a ball in the EXACT middle of the glove, I don't think I have a chance at anything. I checked it out today, and that's the only secure spot on the thing, the exact middle. Wow.
This is an addition to last comment, in case it doesn't show up (the last one was long)
And there WILL BE a next time. Good or bad glove, any ball that comes near that area I'm going to swallow up with whatever I got. I'm training for this like never before. It's gonna be like the wallball version of Rocky IV outside B-gate before every game from now till season's end. You'll actually hear Eye of the Tiger amongst others.
I'm gonna have that moment. Someone needs to inspire these fans.
Season's over at long last. Thought I'd follow up to my 2nd comment there. (TWO comments? REALLY??? Where's all the A's Fans??????)
I only ended up "training for this like never before" outside B-gate for the first two days of that last homestand. Why only 2 days? Because I worked so hard that I ran my calves into the ground. The first day, I sweated so much that there was not a single dry spot left on any of my clothing…. shirt, undershirt, pants, hat, everything. It's like I dipped myself head to toe in a barrel of 100% pure sweat. The second day, I worked so hard that by the end of it, I could not even walk without experiencing calf pain and anytime I landed on them in the slightest form, I felt a threatening sting. Had I spent even one more day preparing, they would have turned into stone and then I wouldn't been able to use them period.
Then once they recovered near the end of the homestand, I had to use them for other things. I had some running around to do before the games 😉
No season-ending blog huh? Makes sense. Might as well end it on top right? Quit while you're ahead? Go out on a high note? {insert cliche HERE}. heh… Who wants to talk about the Giants anyways, right? Or the Encarnacion deal?
You know… I'd bet my life for a ham sandwich that there is no individual on the face of this planet happier about that deal than I am. Even now. Now that I know… I'm still happy about that. Just another amazing coincidence. Probably the clearest. Next to the Coco ball (which I think the A's OWE me back now, given the incredible year I've had and the story behind it), that was the most meaningful one to me. Made me look at a certain person differently from that day forward. Pity is… I never got the chance to tell them why. Because I just had a tremendous amount of respect for them all season long, a tremendous amount of self-doubt that I was struggling with, and I wanted to do everything right. Every last thing. So I just put on my best poker-face and had faith. I'll never forget that. Even now. I'll never forget the faith I had, and how it led me to feel, for the first time ever in my life.
That's person's name… I can't say. Because I'm still doing it. I have to keep the respect up. I have to do things right. But just for the sake of saying something… and not appearing like a crazy person to everybody who reads this… let's give'um a name. Let's call "him or her"…
Zdeno Chara
That's right the hockey player. CHARA.
A's, if you're reading this, I WANT THAT BALL BACK. And there are 3 signatures that belong on it. Coco's. Mine. And Zdeno Chara. CHARA.
Oh yeah, one last thing. From now on, I'm giving away EVERY LAST BALL I catch to the nearest little kid. Every time. Call it a self-imposed legal obligation. Why? Because I could give away 10,000 homerun balls the rest of my life, and it WILL NEVER be as selfless as an act as I'm doing now. That's nothing. Nothing at all.
Like I said… BALL… BACK… NOW…
uh oh… I just realized something!
That "interesting story behind it" that I mentioned up there… I was referring to everything I'd been through in life in the year LEADING UP TO the 2010 A's baseball season, as well as the thing I was intending to do all season long with the ball had I caught it. NOT referring to anything between me and Zdeno Chara. That's not the story. Don't want to get Zdeno in trouble. "He" was awesome. Best part of the year, I won't lie… but Zdeno Chara needs to go on and play a lot of hockey, make a lot of hip checks, score some goals, support the team, be a captain, and be that shining example that surprised the holy heck out of me all season long. I don't care if it was just the job or the person (like I once asked, for a definite purpose). I'm impressed by both. Changed as a person by both for the better. I needed that in my life. And I wouldn't do it over any differently. Zdeno Chara is THE best hockey player that the Boston Bruins (I think he's still on) could ever have.
The main reason I'm making this post, is because now that I've had time to reflect on absolutely EVERY last detail of the situation, I have to have that ball back. It's the key piece of some life-changing events for me. Plus, that ball was a fraction of an inch away from being one of the best fan-moments the A's stadium had ever seen. Had it landed in my mit instead of the camera-platform, you would have seen a massive celebration, and I would have hiked my rear-end up to the top of 131 and given it to that 5-year old girl. No joke. Don't believe me? Ask Chara. "He" was the only person in the world who understood what I was really about all season long… and although "he" never knew it… well that just meant the world to me. For a guy to have that feeling… it's priceless. A whole stadium, a whole sports organization, and a whole WORLD that has no clue what you're doing… and yet the most amazing person sitting right next to you does. And loves it. That's why. That's only ONE reason why.
So yeah, this is my of asking for the ball by peaceful means. But if I have to, I'll get a petition signed by every last A's fan who walks into that stadium on Opening Day 2011. And I bet 99.9% of them will agree that I deserve that ball. I bet I could get 100% of them if I mention Chara, and the effect that had on me… but like I said… Zdeno Chara needs to go on and play some good hockey. It's "him" and "his" needs first, not mine. That's the biggest change right there. And to quote a popular movie that I USED to think was a little overrated…
"Through this fight… I saw a lot of changes. The way that you's felt about me. And the way that I felt about you. And if I could change, and you can change… EVERYBODY CAN CHANGE!"
*queue song "Hearts of Fire"*
I know I shouldn't be doing this, but…… welcome to Plan B:
There had to be a reason for everything. And I'm determined to find it. Forgive me yet?
Forget Plan B. Forget everything I said before. Forget secrecy. Forget the past. Here it is. The full story.
…just see it.
And forget "Thank you". No. There's something else along those lines I'd rather say. Much stronger than thanks.
I don't know what's taking more strength… working up the muster to post this… or… no definitely coming out of that whole ordeal took more strength…. definitely….. (If I say it didn't, then it might happen again! It's all about superstition now, LOL!)
A's, just anoint her into sainthood already! *LMAO*
You know… when I took that dive…. many eons ago…. and left that park on Sept 26th feeling like an athlete who had just lost the championship (watching the other team celebrate, sitting butt on the concrete in front of my seat, staring blankly at the scoreboard, glove over mouth in utter disbelief…) I left that stadium, and I did NOT….
not, not, NOT picture any of this happening!
I wake up everyday a changed man, and say "Really? Did it all just happen? I don't know what's more unbelievable anymore, the season or the OFFseason!" It's hilarious. What a ride. I'm even starting to wonder who's more changed now, me or her?
In the beginning, it was just kinda pretend. The Rocky metaphors… trying to work up the nerve to be able to catch a ball for a kid… but then once you actually LIVE that stuff… the hard way…. it becomes real. There's no more pretending or holding out on your feelings. You have to man up and be honest with yourself, and others. That was a "deathbed confession" that happened to me, except without the death. And if I'm gonna say something there, then I better damned well say it to her… finally. That's called "manning up".
So yeah, I'm posting this. Right move. No doubt.
I don't know where y'all found that woman, but I love her. I do. I love you Kara. And this ain't no fan speaking about a celebrity here. It was NEVER that. Ever. It's real. Person-to-person. Like it always was. And will be. Overwhelmed with the person since day 1. That's what it was like. Couldn't see anything superficial. From the very INSTANT you turned to look at me at the New Era hat stand, "Kara the PERSON" took over everything. Hand to God.
As far as I'm concerned, the fact that it happened in the A's coliseum and not in some bar or where ever people actually TRY to go out to meet people doesn't even matter. It's appropriate. It's ridiculously appropriate. I love it. I live for this kinda stuff. This is what I live for.
ummm…. I forgot to put some kind of warning message before those video links. I needed to warn about swears and mildly-graphic content descriptions.
It's ok though because I put a 1-minute annotation on each one with a warning message at the beginning. There's one "s-word" on the first one before you have a change to read the warning message, but it should be cool.
Funny…. here I am acting worried about the "s-word" when the ones that really devastate me are the "B-word" and "D-word". I should be putting warning messages on there about those!
Like careful… "boyfriends" and "doctors" are mentioned! The HORROR! 🙂
"Overheard from Lew Wolff: 'This is the first season where I expect to win, not hope to win.'"
Oh I love that. That sounds like a "Plan A's" attitude right there!
Yep, this Joe's startin' to get wise, and he "Schmos" back. It's so much more fun when the Joe knows, it really is.
But don't worry, I know I don't have to be in anyone's corner anymore *wink*. See I forgot about Rocky V. Rocky wasn't in Tommy Gunn's corner the whole time. And he wasn't the one who asked for the title shot. That's what I forgot! That was my mistake! (I love how the Rocky metaphors just continue to work perfectly. It's priceless)
By the way, that was a very risky "Gamble" going into that on one-day notice with no cover-ID. It's a good thing I'm not a sore loser. But then again, if you don't believe in playing games with people in the first place, then I guess you can count on that. Everything I said to you… all true.
And did I mention I love this? This is what I live for. Not the bar-hopping. This. This right here. It's AWESOME!
Ok, now I'm totally convinced. You HAVE to have been looking at me through some kind of crystal ball this entire time and doing something to make all this happen.
Thursday March 4th, 2010 – My main camera breaks down, goes into the shop where it stays too long, forcing me to go to A's games all season, meet you, yadayada… and everyone knows the rest.
Friday March 4th, 2011 – The biggest, strongest, most definitive coincidence there's been. It extends the current streak 6-days, continues off of a seed that was planted during "East Meets West" (which was the last one of the 10-day streak of early January), and one-third of it is an "unmentionable".
Btw, we're now officially even for "The Look". Yes we are (not that I mind any).
oh, and by the way…
Because whether or not you actually meant for all this to happen somehow… if, perhaps in the back of your mind, you were actually hoping that something special would happen on the 1-year-anniversary of the fateful day that set all of these events in motion, well guess what…
Certainly! And much like everything else, I did not see this one coming either. No I did NAHT!
Poor "code of silence"… it never stood a chance!
Like I said, I'm serious about Charity Videomaking. And Coincidence #13 did it. I was already thinking of making this my first one back because of you, but I didn't have a charity to raise funds for, so I went with the whole Official Comeback Video instead. Now I don't care about that. It was just to destroy the idea that I'm just about Goldeneye. That'll happen when it happens. But right now, there's something more important to make stuff for.
And that's why this one suddenly makes it to the top of my videomaking priorities. Spread the word. I'm serious about this.
OH LOOK! It's the 13th comment too! Honestly… does EVERYTHING have to be so coincidental??? 😉 JESUS!
Or maybe I should say "DeJESUS!" Ohh… the jokes on that one are endless! I have a new favorite player! I'm gonna make jokes about him all season, Kara! I hope you're ready for them!


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Tiramisu Marshmallow Domes
Our latest addition to our Marshmallow Domes range - Tiramisu!
A thin, smooth milk chocolate shell with coffee marshmallow, mascarpone ganache and a coffee sablé on the inside.
This product contains dairy, gluten and nuts.
COVID-19 Update: Please expect a possible delay on orders. The current challenges presented by the pandemic mean there are delays within the freight and delivery network. Our delivery partner Australia Post is experiencing delays due to a high volume of parcels in their network. Whilst these delays are out of our control we are doing everything we can to ensure that our parcels are to the required standard during these delays. This means we are putting more effort into packaging to accomodate the delays. We politely ask that you bear with us during this challenging time.
HOT WEATHER POLICY: As we approach the warmer months in Australia we must take precaution when shipping our handmade Chocolate. We do this in a number of ways. Firstly, we ensure all orders are packed to the highest of standards with resources that help keep the products cool. This includes ice packs, styrofoam boxes and insulated bubble wrap. Additionally, our team constantly checks the weather of the destination cities and the city we are based in. If we feel that the weather is too hot then we will hold off sending your order until it is safe to do so.
We are currently shipping to NSW, ACT, VIC, SA, TAS & QLD.
Any order over $79 SHIPPING IS FREE!! But if you can't meet that amount then don't stress, we have very affordable shipping cost at $14.95.
COVID-19 Update: Please note that these delivery estimates are without the current delays experienced by Australia Post. Please allow an extra 2-3 business days for metro cities and 3+ business days for remote locations.
All deliveries are estimates and are delivered within the express delivery network*. Please note, all delivery estimates are based from time of dispatch, not from the time an order was placed. We aim to process and dispatch orders within 1-2 business days. During seasonal periods it may take between 2-3 business days.
NSW - SYDNEY: 1-2 Business Days
NSW - REGIONAL: 2-4 Business Days
VIC - MELBOURNE: 1-2 Business Days
VIC - REGIONAL: 2-4 Business Days
QLD - BRISBANE / GOLD COAST: 1-2 Business Days
QLD - REGIONAL: 2-4 Business Days
TAS - HOBART: 1-2 Business Days
TAS - REGIONAL: 2-4 Business Days
SA - ADELAIDE: 1-2 Business Days
SA - REGIONAL: 2-4 Business Days
We love our Chocolate and want to make sure it gets the best treatment possible. We get many questions about how we ship and if your chocolates will arrive safely, especially during hot weather. We ensure this by doing a few things:
- Orders will only be dispatched Monday - Thursday to avoid your package sitting in the depot over the weekend - We don't want it to melt, do we!
- You will only receive your order between Monday - Friday, unless it is a public holiday.
- We will include 1 ice pack in each order to make sure the contents stay cool during warmer months.
- We use insulated bubble wrap to keep heat out of the box and contain the coolness of the ice pack.
- In extreme weather conditions we will hold off on sending your order. Instead, we will contact you to organise another delivery date to make sure you're aware of the delay.
- Each order will receive tracking notifications so you can see its journey and make sure you're home to collect it.
- Please note: Once your Chocolates arrive we cannot control how it is stored. So take care of it by storing it correctly (not in warm areas such as cars, near the window, or outside for a long period of time).
Contact us on (02) 9636 9535 between the hours of 9am – 4pm Monday – Friday if you require any special delivery requirements.
Yes, you certainly can. We offer a free pick up service from our store located in Pemulwuy, NSW. Simply select the In-Store Pick Up option during checkout and nominate a date and time for collection.
Our address is 44 / 2 - 4 Picrite Close, Pemulwuy NSW, 2145. If you've never been to the shop before we recommend using Google Maps for directions. Unfortunately other navigation apps are inaccurate with our position.
We're located approximately 1km away from Raging Waters and down the road from the Berry Patch Day Care Centre.
We advise customers to order carefully as we cannot exchange or refund goods due to their perishable nature.
Cancellations and refunds are acceptable if your order has not yet been dispatched. Once your order has left our shop we can no longer process a refund. We have implemented our 'Happiness Guarantee' for customers who have received damaged goods.
Our happiness guarantee are for orders that have been received in an unacceptable condition. If you experience this please contact us so that we can arrange either a refund or a replacement. Please note that refunds or replacements are approved at our discretion.
We cannot be held responsible for orders that are not handled with care after delivery.
How does the pre-order system work? Any orders that contain products that are listed as pre-order will be collected and shipped at a later date. Our pre-order system allows us to anticipate demand and produce our products as fresh as possible. This ensures our customers are receiving the best quality product at time of delivery.
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How do I get in touch about wholesale? Please send all wholesale inquiries to email@example.com
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Sankarshan Thakur, The Telegraph
Lahore, Nov. 18: There's a bequest chief minister Nitish Kumar has carried back home from Pakistan that escaped the customs authorities at Wagah.
He has been gifted so profusely over the past week by his hosts, it required a station wagon to be added to his road caravan; the aircraft hold on the final lap to Patna would probably have choked on their burden — trophy plaques, a rainbow range of traditional hats, piles of shawls and chadars, carton-loads of tomes on a shared civilisation and history.
But the takeaway that neither registered nor bleeped on the crossover X-ray ramps is what Nitish might want to treasure most from his trip — it's endorsement from a constituency that has dogged and harried generations of Indian leaders, a certificate of recognition and respect, Made in Pakistan.
Rajya Sabha member N.K. Singh, who slipped ineffably into jobbing as Nitish's chief spokesperson and interpreter during the visit, turned hot on domestic implications of the journey early in the trip. "This cannot be only about Pakistan," he told The Telegraph at the close of three rousing days for Nitish and his delegation in Karachi. "This is as much about what it could mean for politics back home. Don't forget we are part of the NDA and in the scheme of that alliance the Bihar chief minister has now come to represent the (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee model more than anyone else. You want peace and progress in the region, then Nitish Kumar is the NDA's best future bet, nobody else."
Singh didn't name Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, who is perceived by many as aiming to grab the top NDA job, but it's tough not to put that name to the object of his reference. Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar have engaged in a long, often bitter, proxy duel for a future prize both deny seeking.
But for all their disowning of ambition, they are seen as actors in an elaborate masquerade for prime ministership. The Pakistan visit, at least in the estimation of Singh, has given Nitish a lead in the competitive trot. Narendra Modi has often made Pakistan-bashing the leitmotif of poll campaigns.
Nitish has done the road Modi refused to take, and he may seek, now, to profit from shaking hands across the border that Modi wants rapped hard.
"Nitish Kumar will return from Pakistan with a vastly enhanced reputation," Singh reckoned.
"In the NDA's scheme he is the man who now completely represents Vajpayee's legacy, a man of peace rather than a man of confrontation. He will no longer be seen only as a Bihar leader, over the last seven days he has become larger of stature."
This was not Nitish's first outing abroad as chief minister (he has been to Mauritius and to China) but it can already count as his most noteworthy. Unprecedented access and applause has come his way, such as no other Indian politician has been accorded. In protocol terms, Nitish's high point was a Diwali night dinner invitation to Aiwan-e-Sadr or the Presidency in Islamabad; the last-minute tweaking of the itinerary at the request of Asif Ali Zardari's office provoked pleasantly arched eyes even among mover-shakers of the Indian high commission in Islamabad.
"This is surely raising the bar on the visit," a diplomat at the mission said. "Protocol didn't require Zardari to host Nitish over dinner, he could have done with a formal call-on. That he laid out a table at home and summoned foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar to be in attendance says something. Interpret it how you will."
Zardari's was not the lone high table Nitish was requested to. Sindh chief minister Qaim Ali Shan waited almost constantly on Nitish during his three days in Karachi. Imran Khan of the Tehreek-e-Insaf covetously sought time and secured an hour's initiation for his team on Nitish's ideas on governance.
Here in Lahore, the brothers Sharif — Punjab chief minister Shahbaz and former and aspiring Prime Minister Nawaz — played hearty hosts. Their hugs were hard and long, their food a delight for gourmands and gluttons alike. Their treatment of Nitish was not Track II or provincial, it was mainline bilateral.
Nawaz Sharif wouldn't else have spent the better part of his meeting with Nitish claiming how good his tenure in power had been for India-Pakistan ties. "It was in my time that Vajpayee travelled by bus to Lahore and we saw friendship rise to new levels," Nawaz Sharif told Nitish. "It is only after I went out of power that troubles began again." Sharif omitted to mention going reactively nuclear or the Kargil war, which too were critical markers of his regime, but then Nitish hadn't come here to argue or to confront.
Through this trip, the Bihar chief minister performed a dextrous slalom across the treacherous India-Pakistan minefield, dodging many a booby-trapped invitation to trip. He was asked about Kashmir and the 26/11 Mumbai assault, he was questioned over partnering the BJP and over his sense of Gujarat under Narendra Modi. He managed to say not a word in response.
"Hamare maazi mein bahut kuchh hua hai, hamare mustaqbil mein bahut kuchh hona hai, main to yahan haath badhane aaya hoon (A lot has happened in our past, a lot remains to happen in our future, I have come here to extend a hand)."
It was a stock reply he had scripted ahead of his arrival, it seemed enough for him to carry the day with his Pakistani interlocutors. Narendra Modi wouldn't like that. Neither, perhaps, would Lalu Prasad, who might have hoped his celebrated exploits in Pakistan from a decade ago wouldn't be overtaken. The irrepressible Lalu Prasad took Pakistan with his humour; Pakistan took Nitish Kumar seriously.


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Scholarship Swim Meet On October 17 vs. JMU
September 29, 1999
By ODU Athletics
By ODU Athletics
NORFOLK, VA (September 29) -- The 1999 Cox Communications/Old Dominion University Scholarship Swim Meet will be on Sunday, October 17th, as the Monarchs and Lady Monarchs take on CAA-foe James Madison at the J.C. "Scrap" Chandler Pool. Action begins with diving at 9 am and swimming at 12 noon.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the Old Dominion University Intercollegiate Foundation for swimming and diving scholarships. Tickets are $5 and are on sale now at the Old Dominion Athletic Ticket Office, 683-4444.


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Mike Christenson has brought business, education and government together to create jobs.
Now, he'll try to do it as a new city employee in a new agency.
To glimpse the city's economic-development future in lean financial times, take a trip to the troubled Phillips neighborhood and the campus of Abbott Northwestern and Children's hospitals.
In the neighborhood just south of Downtown, you will find job-training programs for residents, from entry-level housekeeping jobs up the career ladder to nursing. The Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC) trains students for high-vacancy jobs -- and hospitals guarantee jobs for graduates. Called the Health Careers Institute, it is the nation's largest hospital-based jobs program, backers say.
Mike Christenson played a vital role in creating and shaping the program; he now will play a critical role in city development. Lee Sheehy, executive director of the Minneapolis Community Development Agency (MCDA), named Christenson the director of strategic partnerships. He started Aug. 4.
"There is a magical combination of need in the challenged communities in Minneapolis and need in the private sector for a sound workforce," Christenson said. "The challenge is to build between those two needs creatively and effectively to produce a model like this. The key to this model is you are guaranteed employment when you start. That is not an easy proposition. It requires a lot of trust from employers."
Christenson will help Sheehy create the department of Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED), a mega-agency that will merge the MCDA, the city's Planning Department, the Empowerment Zone and the Minneapolis Employment and Training Program
Mayor R.T. Rybak enthusiastically supported Christenson's hire, saying in tough economic times, the city must partner more with business, nonprofits and other government agencies to get things done.
Still, Christenson's appointment has sparked criticism. Some say public-private partnerships could give the private sector too much power. Others said Christenson was a good hire but that the CPED organization was flawed.
Christenson's job description reflects a new mega-agency still in flux.
On July 11, Sheehy appointed Christenson as director of planning and strategic partnerships. In less than two weeks, Sheehy dropped planning duties from Christenson's title and portfolio.
Christenson is a trained lawyer, not a planner. Some City Councilmembers said the city's top planner should have planning experience -- and have clout equal to Christenson, not report to him.
"Planning is not going to end up a rung below everyone else," said Councilmember Gary Schiff (9th Ward), chair of the Zoning and Planning Committee.
Now, Sheehy said, he will personally oversee planning, and the planning director will be on the same level as Christenson. Christenson would drop planning but inherit some of Sheehy's workload, Sheehy said.
"For example, we have to strategically look at our theater venues Downtown," Sheehy said. "It is likely Mike [Christenson] will pick up that responsibility."
The snafu means CPED will likely have four top managers making over $100,000 a year. In March, Sheehy laid off three top MCDA executives with similar salaries, blaming the city's budget crunch.
Resume redux
Christenson, 44, of Falcon Heights, has worked as chief administrator of the Metro Transit Commission (1990-1993), Allina Health Systems Foundation executive director (1993-2001) and most recently as an attorney for Smith Parker law firm. He is a past president of the Citizens League and current board member for Franklin National Bank and St. Paul's Day One Center.
His neighborhood improvement centerpiece has been at the Phillips Partnership, a collaboration of Abbott and Children's hospitals and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage --large employers in Phillips -- and government, neighborhood and foundation representatives. The Partnership has worked to improve safety, housing, job opportunities and infrastructure in Phillips, bounded by I-35W and Hiawatha Avenue and by Lake Street and I-94.
Christenson worked with the partnership at Allina and more recently as its attorney.
Among the partnership's initiatives is the I-35W Access Project, a plan to add freeway ramps in South Minneapolis. Smith Parker has lead the Access Project's public planning process. The most vocal critics of Christenson's CPED hire are those who oppose the proposed freeway ramps and view Smith Parker as the prime, self-interested mover in a bad decision.
Kingfield resident Ken Avidor is a member of STRIDE, a group formed to oppose the freeway ramps. He compared the Christenson appointment to former Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton's appointment of Julie Idelkope, a Northwest Airlines lobbyist, to the city Planning Commission.
Then-citizen R.T. Rybak vigorously criticized Idelkope's appointment at the time. Laura Sether, aide to now-Mayor Rybak, called the comparison "ridiculous," noting Christenson will resign his job with Smith Parker, but Idelkope kept her lobbyist job.
Christenson said at CPED he would recuse himself from any discussions involving the freeway ramps.
City Councilmember Robert Lilligren (8th Ward) represents part of the Phillips and has worked with Christenson on neighborhood issues, he said. He credits Christenson with "incredible energy and capacity."
Yet Lilligren, also an Access Project opponent, worries about Christenson's Smith Parker ties.
"There is at least the possibility he is creating more access for the people he knows best," Lilligren said. "In the city of Minneapolis, the critical and somewhat neglected partnership is the one with the citizens. It is more difficult for the individual citizen to navigate the city and create access into the city's processes than it is for large business interests."
If his work in Phillips is an example, however, Christenson has earned the praise of neighborhood leaders. Muriel Simmons, chair of the Phillips West neighborhood and a Phillips Partnership board member, said Christenson "was greatly instrumental in keeping our crime-prevention group together. We worked on all kinds of problems, from noise to prostitution."
Beth Hart, former chair of Midtown Phillips, said, "he really gets into the community, listens to the community, asks the community's input and respects the community's input."
Career ladders and crime prevention
Christenson led organizing on several community collaborations, such as the Phillips Powderhorn Wellness Center and the Healthy Learners Board, an effort to boost school immunizations, his bio said.
He has worked to coordinate law enforcement efforts around the Lake and Chicago area, coordinating city police, county probation officers, Metro Transit police and other law enforcement officials.
"It was a matter of getting people around the table and saying, 'I am interested in doing this' -- and to get everybody to pony up some extra shifts and extra time, and figure out how we could work together," said Michael "Mick" Sandin, a Phillips neighborhood probation officer. "Mike [Christenson] is the one who brought us to the table. He was the one who got the various components, the right people, together."
Christenson said he wants to build on his Phillips experience to improve the city.
"Public safety is an economic development tool," he said. "I hope to convince the mayor and Council to allow me to work with communities who are especially burdened by crime."
The Phillips Partnership started the Train to Work program in 1999, working with Project for Pride in Living to train people for entry-level jobs.
Phil Davis, president of MCTC, 1501 Hennepin Ave. S., said Christenson approached him in 2000 to expand the program to train people for more skilled jobs, so they could move up the career ladder at Abbott and Children's hospitals and the Hennepin County Medical Center.
"I was quite taken by his enthusiasm, by how well thought out this was, by how much passion he had for improving the lives of the people in that community," Davis said. "Clearly Mike was the spark, the person who had the vision -- the one who was ensuring everybody was working together."
Christenson made sure the training lined up with the hospital's needs, Davis said. When the hospital had enough trained phlebotomists, for instance, MCTC discontinued the program.
"In some respects, it is like we are an extension of their [the hospitals'] human resources division," Davis said.
The Train to Work and Health Careers Institute jobs program has enrolled nearly 1,600 students in three years, according to the partnership's statistics.
Brenda Pike lives a few blocks from Abbott Northwestern Hospital, 800 E. 28th St., and attended a recent orientation for the nursing program, which will have its first class this fall. Pike and others got the basics: what books to buy, what equipment they needed.
Pike has driven cab for 17 years, she said. "I figured it was a dead-end job," she said. "I like the people contact and the challenge, so I thought a better direction for me was health care."
The Health Careers Institute was successful enough that MCTC just launched the Financial Careers Institute in conjunction with US Bank and Piper Jaffray, replicating the model in the financial services area, Davis said.
He and Christenson are talking about creating business incubator classes for new immigrants and others trying to start businesses along Lake Street. "With the revitalization of the Lake Street corridor, we think it is a logical next step," Davis said.
Planning for planning
A key reason CPED exists is to better integrate planning and economic development, a connection lacking at times in city decision-making.
One recent example of conflicting goals is Downtown's Padilla, Spear, and Beardsley office building at 1101 W. River Rd. MCDA backed the project as riverfront revitalization, despite objections from city planners who said the design violated the city's downtown surface parking lot ban and placed the building too far from the street.
When Sheehy announced Christenson would oversee planning, it caught some leaders by surprise.
Judith Martin is chair of the city's Planning Commission, which does the city's long-range planning and advises the City Council on matters of development, zoning and capital improvements. In the past, city leaders have consulted the comminssion when hiring a new planning director.
"None of us really knows what is going on," Martin said shortly after Christenson's hire. "None of us has been talked to about the direction for the new department, whatever it is going to be."
Schiff and others successfully argued to elevate the planning director's status in CPED.
Sheehy said current Planning Director Chuck Ballentine would remain on the job until year's end. Sheehy said he accepted responsibility for confusion about the role of the planning director.
"I had always envisioned planning shaping and informing development," Sheehy said. "That is the whole reason for creating this [new agency]. . . . I have never felt that planning takes a secondary role."
Councilmember Don Niziolek (10th Ward) is unconvinced, calling the planning director's elevated role a "superficial change."
That Christenson was initially hired to head planning "clearly shows that planning is not a priority," Niziolek said. "I have no confidence to believe we will have a strong planning voice in the city of Minneapolis because of this new structure."
What's the rush?
Councilmember Lisa Goodman (7th Ward) chair of the MCDA's Operating Committee, gave Christenson high marks after her first face-to-face meeting.
"I am very impressed with his unwavering commitment to public service," she said. "He is unbelievably committed to public service work. I think it will serve this city well as we move through this important transition."
Lilligren questioned the agency's need to hire high-priced staff after it recently laid-off three top staffers in a cost-saving move.
"We are hiring three new upper management at higher salaries, which seems to contradict the earlier action," Lilligren said, before the planning director's job was elevated.
Earlier this year, Sheehy laid off Keith Ford, director of strategic financial planning and partnerships; Terrell Towers, director of economic development; and Gerald Boardman, director of housing.
"Today, I am implementing certain personnel actions necessitated by serious financial challenges facing the MCDA," Sheehy said, according to a March MCDA newsletter.
(Ford earned $100,293 a year, and Towers and Boardman earned $96,132 a year, city communications staff said. Christenson and Le Pao Xiong, the newly appointed director of housing, will earn $100,136 a year. Sheehy said he would also hire a director of economic development, in addition to a director of planning. He also plans to eliminate a director of administration position.)
Sheehy said Ford, Boardman and Towers were "talented and committed folks who served the city well."
He said it was tough to make an apples-to-apples comparison between the number of top staff the old MCDA and the new CPED because the new department consisted of several agencies.
The new CPED also needed new leadership, Sheehy and the mayor said, noting Christenson's and Xiong's experience in building community partnerships.
Lilligren said he also did not understand the rush to hire top executives when CPED didn't exist yet.
"This to me seems haphazard or after-the-fact," Lilligren said. "If we had a policy discussion about the structure and functions and put those in place first -- then inserted the people into those positions -- it would be a cleaner way of handling it."
Sheehy said the City Council had already made most of the key decisions about CPED's structure, with the exception of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program.
"In terms of things moving too quickly, there are others who say they aren't moving quickly enough," Sheehy said. "I am trying to keep momentum in an important initiative."
Sheehy said he hopes people would judge the agency and its leadership by its performance.
Rybak defended the timing of the hires.
"My answer is real simple," he said. "I don't expect my entire term to be moving boxes of an org chart and changing ordinances. . . . That is important to do. But now is the time to act and move."


text:
Hey Ian and Sebastien,
Check this out: http://hasseb.fi/shop2/index.php?route= ... duct_id=57
Schematics and Eagle cad files are available. It is also possible to make modifications to the board.
danergo wrote: ↑Thu Oct 12, 2017 2:01 pmHello, Guys,
First of all, thank you Briarios for this work.
Could you explain a few words, why do you recommend using 4 layer setup in Eagle?
I know that it is possible with 2 layers as well, and I have some experience with 4 layers.
What I don't really get, is how did you planned the layers?
I mean, which layer is designed to what function? What are the function of the inner layers?
Thanks very much!
Thanks, Briarios.Briarios wrote: ↑Fri Oct 13, 2017 11:11 amI used 4 layer PCB because of me seeing the usb and ethernet lines be almost to their exact ohm specs while being relatively thin and not taking up alot of space on the PCB compared to 2 layer, plus the 2 middle layers is ground and ground only so the 2 outer layers are for all the lines.
not sure if this makes sense but i am no engineer and this seemed logical for me to do.


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text:
heroin, weed & loaded gun found on Nelly's tour bus (at infamous Sierra Blanca checkpoint)
"Apparently Nelly and his people don't read the newspaper.
The rapper was detained Wednesday night on suspicion of heroin and marijuana possession at the same Texas checkpoint where Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg, Armie Hammer and Fiona Apple all got popped
Police at the Sierra Blanca checkpoint searched Nelly's tour bus, allegedly finding a loaded .45 pistol, 36 small baggies of heroin and more than ten pounds of marijuana inside a large green duffel bag.
There were six other people riding on the bus with Nelly, all of whom were detained during the search, according to TMZ. A law enforcement sources, passenger Brian Keith Jones admitted the drugs and the gun were his and was subsequently arrested. Everyone else was let go.
TMZ said its calls to Nelly's reps were not returned." [Mercury News]
Bummer dude.


text:
Lilian Berillon, A Nurseryman Like No Other
Imagine you are overlooking a sweeping landscape of vineyards, whether it is in the Willamette Valley, Paso Robles, or the Southern Rhône. Have you ever stopped to think where the grape vines come from? Do you plant them from seed? Buy them in a pot like a tree? Not exactly.