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10 Proven Traits That Will Make You a Success
Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon.com.
When Jeff Bezos was a child, he dreamed of being the next Thomas Edison. Today, he's the multibillionaire founder and CEO of Amazon.com , with personal ambitions geared toward outer space, financing a clock that measures time for 10,000 years, and, perhaps equally ambitious, supplanting Wal-Mart at the top of the retail food chain.
How did he go from being an admittedly accomplished child to one of our generation's greatest (and richest) entrepreneurs? And, more specifically, are there lessons we can draw from his experience to increase our own chance at success in the future?
I believe the answer to the latter question is yes. As I highlight in the following list of factors underlying Bezos' stratospheric ascent, as recounted by Brad Stone in The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon, while luck and genetics certainly positioned the Amazon founder for success, other traits such as confidence, work ethic, and a fierce independence are both critical to explaining his rise and largely replicable by others.
1. Luck
To a certain extent, every great entrepreneur is a product of luck -- that is, of their specific time and place of birth.
"Shortly before or very shortly after 1840 were born nearly all the galaxy of uncommon men who were to be the overlords of the future society," Matthew Josephson wrote nearly 80 years ago in The Robber Barons, a book about the scions of the Gilded Age. By coming into their own on the heels of the Civil War, these men were uniquely positioned to capture the wealth from the postwar industrial revolution.
The same can be said of Bill Gates, the founder and longtime CEO of Microsoft, who was born on the eve of the computing revolution and attended a private middle school that had only recently started a computer club. "It was an amazing thing, of course, because this was 1968," Malcolm Gladwell wrote inOutliers: The Story of Success. "Most colleges didn't have computer clubs in the 1960s."
Even Warren Buffett's current station in life can be attributed in part to happenstance. Born in 1930, he was too young to be burdened with memories of the Crash of 1929 or the Great Depression, yet old enough to ride the epic wave of prosperity that followed World War II and ignited one of the greatest bull markets in history.
Bezos is no exception here. Beyond his considerable intellect and skill set, it simply can't be denied that he was of the age (late 20s) and ability to exploit the Internet revolution of the mid-1990s.
2. Intelligence
That Bezos has been lucky, however, doesn't detract from his own talents and abilities. "A lot of what we ascribe to luck is not luck at all," Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz wrote in Pour Your Heart Into It. "It's seizing the day and accepting responsibility for your future."
To Schultz's point, of the roughly 4 million babies to be born in 1964, there was only one Jeff Bezos. Only one person thought of Amazon. Only one person threw caution to the wind, abandoned a lucrative Wall Street career, and drove cross-country to make his dream a reality. And only one person had the emotional fortitude to stare down the likes of Wal-Mart and Barnes & Noble in order to see the vision through to completion.
What made Bezos "the one"? Perhaps more than anything, it's his uniquely keen and "hyper-rational" intellect. He was a standout pupil in elementary school, the valedictorian of his high-school class, and a summa cum laude graduate of Princeton University. He sprinted through the ranks at D.E. Shaw, one of the earliest and still most sophisticated quantitative hedge funds on Wall Street.
Three decades ago, when a teacher of his was asked to estimate 12-year-old Bezos' grade level, she responded: "I really can't say, except that there is probably no limit to what he can do, given a little guidance."
3. Work ethic
Layered on top of this intellect has been a fierce work ethic that's propelled by Bezos' intense ability to focus and strong underlying discipline.
At one point, Bezos announced to his high-school class that he intended to be the valedictorian, Stone recounts. After that, it became a race to be No. 2. "Jeff decided he wanted it and he worked harder than anybody else," recalled a friend of Bezos' from the time.
At D.E. Shaw, he kept a sleeping bag in his office and a makeshift mattress pad on his windowsill for nights that he chose to sleep at the office. At Amazon, one of his guiding principles is that "you can work long, you can work hard, you can work smart, but at Amazon you can't choose two out of the three."
"He was excruciatingly focused," said the same friend. "Not like mad-scientist focused, but he was capable of really focusing, in a crazy way, on certain things."
4. Energy and a bias toward action
Make no mistake about it: It takes a lot of energy to start and run a company like Amazon -- and, by all accounts, Jeff Bezos had an abundance of it.
"I walked into the door and this guy with a boisterous laugh who was just exuding energy comes bounding down the steps," recalled an early investor in Amazon who had also backed companies like Netscape and Intuit. "In that moment, I wanted to be in business with Jeff."
On top of this, Bezos is famous for harboring the same "bias toward action" that Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton made famous in his autobiography, Sam Walton: Made in America. As Bezos encapsulated in one of Amazon's leadership principles:
Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.
5. Competitive drive
This, too, is a trait that Bezos shared with Walton. In Walton's autobiography -- which is essential reading for so-called "Amazonians" -- various derivations of the word "competition" show up no fewer than 100 times.
In Bezos' case, it was apparent from an early age. Stone gives multiple examples of this from Bezos' childhood, including an obsession with reading and science competitions. Stone also describes the adult Bezos' competitive streak as "fierce" and refers to his "uncommon need to best his adversaries."
6. Confidence and self-esteem
There's no getting around the fact that confidence and a high self-esteem are indispensable elements of success.
Perhaps no one proved this better than Sam Walton. "It never occurred to me that I might lose; to me, it was almost as if I had a right to win," the Wal-Mart founder said in explaining how he prevailed over deeper-pocketed competitors. "Thinking like that often seems to turn into a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy."
As I see it, there are two reasons for this, both of which have taken center stage in Bezos' life at various times. First, confidence gives a person the courage of their conviction and thereby frees him or her to take risk.
While Bezos' pre-Amazon career isn't as widely known as his life since then, the reality is that he was already on top of the world. By 1993, he was in charge of D.E. Shaw's Chicago-based options trading group and oversaw its entry into a new business that allowed retail investors to trade equities without the usual commissions assessed by the New York Stock Exchange.
His parents' first reaction upon hearing that he would be abandoning this coveted perch? "What do you mean, you are going to sell books over the Internet?"
And the second reason is that confidence gives one the strength to persevere in the face of adversity, which Bezos has most certainly experienced at numerous junctures along the way.
7. Resourcefulness
There's an interesting paradox that courses through the lives of most highly successful entrepreneurs like Bezos.
On the one hand, as I mentioned earlier, they're tirelessly innovative and bring a disruptive approach to their trade. But on the other hand, very few are true first-movers. Sam Walton didn't invent discount retailing; he just did it better than anyone else.
Additionally, many of an entrepreneur's greatest accomplishments come from assimilating the ideas of others into their own framework. In Schultz's case, for instance, he was neither the founder of Starbucks nor the inventor of the coffee shop -- he discovered the former on a trip to Seattle and the latter on a junket to Italy.
The same is true of Bezos. When he first developed the idea behind Amazon, there were already people in the market doing the exact same thing. And while his company is often credited with inventing the e-reader, in reality it was merely the most successful in a series of handheld reading devices, many of which pre-dated it by years.
The lesson here is that it's not critical to be the first person to the proverbial party. What's important is to be resourceful. Read. Immerse yourself in the topic. And don't feel the need to always reinvent the wheel.
8. Innovative and disruptive mindset
To be wildly successful in any new business venture, it's almost axiomatic that you must be willing to disrupt the status quo.
This doesn't require you to invent something from scratch. Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, wasn't the first person to think of shoes. Starbucks' Schultz didn't invent coffee. Walton didn't come up with the idea of discount retailing.
What all of these people did do, however, is look at their respective industries slightly differently. Nike made better shoes and crafted a witty irreverence around its brand. Starbucks appropriated the coffee shop concept from Italy and gave it an American twist. Wal-Mart used small towns, as opposed to big cities, as the beachhead for its now-massive retail empire.
And so it is with Amazon. To say that Bezos is a disruptor would be an egregious understatement. He's perhaps the greatest disruptor running a business today. He blew the lid off of the book industry, he revolutionized what it means to be a discount retailer, and his company is now the vanguard of cloud computing.
9. Ruthlessness
While I hesitated to include ruthlessness as a trait that underlies success, I think I would do the subject a disservice if I didn't. Indeed, one of the most ruthless people alive is none other than the kindly Warren Buffett.
When Buffett called Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan to offer his support for the then-ailing lender in 2011, it wasn't out of the goodness of his heart. Buffett smelled blood in the water. He knew Moynihan couldn't turn him down, and he capitalized on the opportunity by negotiating a sweetheart deal for Berkshire Hathaway that has only downside for long-term shareholders of the Charlotte-based bank.
There are no free lunches in this world. This is particularly true when you're up against the likes of Wal-Mart. In short, there wouldn't be an Amazon today if Bezos didn't drive a hard bargain and use the same ruthless tactics that his suppliers and competitors would otherwise use against him.
10. Business acumen
Of course, one can have all the ideas, intelligence, drive, and work ethic in the world and still fail to run a good business -- think Andrew Mason, the founder and former CEO of Groupon who was ousted by the company's board at the beginning of last year. To build a sustainable business model, one must also have business acumen.
How to run a successful business is something that's been written about ad nauseam. In the simplest of terms, what it boils down to is identifying one's core mission -- Jim Collins refers to this as the Hedgehog Concept in Good to Great -- and then pursuing it relentlessly.
In Bezos' case, that boils down to two things: first, eliminating inefficiencies in the system and thereby driving down costs, and second, keeping prices to the bare minimum and thereby maximizing revenue. Indeed, when all is said and done, virtually all of Amazon's success can be thought of in the context of these two goals.
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The article 10 Proven Traits That Will Make You a Success originally appeared on Fool.com.
John Maxfield owns shares of Bank of America. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com, Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway, Nike, and Starbucks. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com, Bank of America, Barnes & Noble, Berkshire Hathaway, Microsoft, Nike, and Starbucks. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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Peter Morici: World's bad actors resist 'soft' answers
Russia is pushing into Ukraine and threatening Eastern Europe, China is bullying Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam in the East and South China seas, and terrorist groups in the Middle East and Africa...
Russia is pushing into Ukraine and threatening Eastern Europe, China is bullying Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam in the East and South China seas, and terrorist groups in the Middle East and Africa can be displaced in one place only to multiply and create more lethal threats in others — most recently in Iraq.
Since the end of the Cold War, both Democratic and Republican administrations have in varying measure premised policy on the notion that economic incentives and other soft power can cultivate peaceable democracies throughout the world and friendly societies adhering to Western liberal values.
The United States and Western Europe have offered China, Russia and developing countries access to markets, investment, foreign aid and technical cooperation but in many venues, those have yielded few results other than to finance threats to our common security.
China remains an authoritarian regime led by an oligarchy — the Communist Party — with a poor human rights record. Its superior economic performance, greatly assisted by trade with the United States, and the material gains enjoyed by its citizens virtually ensures the party's continued grip on power. However, Beijing sees American influence in the western Pacific as a threat and is actively challenging U.S. naval superiority.
Vladimir Putin and his loose coalition of oligarchs appear more interested in restoring lost empire and amassing wealth at the top than genuinely improving the lot of ordinary citizens. They are happy to sell natural gas to Europe to finance those ambitions, but don't count on international commerce to make Russia a benign actor in world affairs, or its own.
If America doesn't match China's navy and Russia's army with resources and forceful actions when challenged, those rivals will prevail in their regional ambitions. Still, President Obama is correct to warn that flexing military muscle is not a stabilizing solution everywhere — especially the Middle East and Africa.
Perhaps Iraq best epitomizes the dilemmas terrorism poses. If the U.S. provides air support or puts troops on the ground to defend Bagdad, it may halt the advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, but it can't defeat it.
The ISIS is a curious hybrid of terror organization and brutal organized army that can hold territory and potentially topple a government, but does not regularly mass forces that can be destroyed in the field by a western army. If stymied, its fighters will simply move to other venues, such as the civil war in Syria.
Western democracies long ago assigned religion a subordinate role. The state claims sovereignty from citizen consent — not by appealing to divine right. For many Muslims, religion and state legitimacy are inseparable, and throughout the Middle East and Africa, many are willing to die to destroy democratic governments that could subordinate the authority of Islam to secular governments. And ethnic rivalries are often cast in terms of religion.
Without democratic institutions that place individual freedoms above religion, it is hard to see how competing claims of historically conflicting ethnic groups can be resolved and civil wars ended. Nor can animus toward the West and acts of terror be stopped.
Neither economic engagement by the West nor American foreign aid can change those facts on the ground. Radical Islam is premised on widely held ideas, and ideas are tough to destroy with armies.
In the end, the United States must recognize that it is in for a long slog fighting terrorism in the Middle East and Africa. No amount of nation building or economic aid will change that, but sometimes it can make matters worse.
Sadly, armies and navies still trump economics. Americans will have to pay the price or face menacing threats to their security at home and interests abroad.
Peter Morici is an economist and business professor at the University of Maryland, national columnist and five-time winner of the MarketWatch best forecaster award.

subset: commoncrawl


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Among painting genres, one most definitively affected by photography is still life. If we think of contemporary still life, the photographs of Elad Lassry, Roe Ethridge or Thomas Demand come to mind. Photography's exhaustive objectification of its subjects suits the genre's close-up scrutiny. Ryan McLaughlin, however, is essentially a still-life painter. The young American tends to paint accumulations of objects, arranged in tightly packed compositions, but occupying the shallow space of abstract painting. His marks are apt to trail off in a self-regarding wisp, as if confirming that gesture precedes object.
At Lüttgenmeijer, seven small paintings (all 2012) were sparsely hung. The show's title, "Barbara," might refer to Christian Petzold's recent film of that name—a dour meditation on the former GDR in the early 1980s —given that these are the dourest paintings McLaughlin has exhibited, and he lives in Berlin. McLaughlin has exchanged his usual oil for a matte egg-tempera technique, while his palette of sour lemon, olive and carmine has been muted to grisaille shades. These are signs of an attempt to deepen, if not broaden, his range.
An excess of white pigment in the thinly applied tempera corresponds to memory's unreliability. Objects have been almost obliterated by gray-white tints, as though fading into the past. The trope is familiar from Luc Tuymans's work, although the wan cheer of McLaughlin's nostalgia couldn't be further removed from Tuymans's sense of history as a nightmare from which he is trying to awaken. The past, for McLaughlin, is bittersweet, but never pious or portentous. Schinkel Nächte depicts a street lantern emerging from the gloom in a few deft strokes that might have been borrowed from a repository of traditional ciphers.
The two largest paintings, Summer and Winter (each 28 by 161⁄2 inches), also deal in an abbreviated sign language, but one suggesting wistful evocations of childhood—a snowman, a beach ball, a yellow spade. However, like the lantern, these objects are stock signifiers, as the paintings' generic titles imply. The slipperiness between owning a perception and designating it as a cultural appropriation corresponds to that between subjectivity and its evasion. McLaughlin's images, floating in their milky fields, dissolve. Their illegibility suggests the flourish of painterly abstraction overcoming the forms it describes (a kind of self-aggrandizement) as much as it indicates the dissolution of memory (conversely, a kind of self-effacement). The white ball in the top right-hand corner of Summer might be a fluffy cloud surmounting the beach scene, or a lesion in the painting's illusion.
McLaughlin's most haunting images cannot be assigned to generic or traditional sources, and seem tantalizingly specific yet impossible to locate. Chicken Rabbit is a bunny figure so ill-defined that it is hardly more than a blob with ears, the contours pathetically following the parameters of the canvas, as though too diffident to contradict them. It might be a gnawing memory, all the more troubling for its vagueness. Fruit Wagon adapts an art historical cliché, the bucolic pastoral scene. But the hay-filled wagon trundling through a glade has wheels that glower like mismatched eyes under a mop of unruly hair. McLaughlin has painted a place so remote and unreal that the importunacy of its central image seems to outstrip, and even deny, the only world it has to occupy.
Ryan McLaughlin: Summer, 2012, egg oil tempera on linen on board, 28 by 161⁄2 inches; at Lüttgenmeijer.


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So many people believe they are limited in their cheese selection by an unfortunate fact of geography. "Alas," they declare. "I have no local artisan cheese shops because I live in [insert tiny town in the middle of nowhere here]. If only I lived in a large city, I would be swimming in specialty cheese!"
What these folks may not realize is that you can buy cheese on the internet. There's been a fairly large up-cropping of specialty cheese retailers that sell dairy-wares online, and for relatively reasonable prices. Thanks to the advent of express shipping, you can order specialty cheeses in peak chilled condition.
Online cheese retailers usually pack their cheese shipments in insulated containers full of icepacks and styrofoam peanuts, then ship them one- or two-day service to almost anywhere in the country. You may be inclined to doubt that a few icepacks will be enough to keep your precious order refrigerated enough to not spoil, but fear not. On more than one occasion I've received an order of cheese two days after its ship date, and the cheese is so cold, I have to leave it out on the counter for an hour to reach room temperature.
To ensure delivery in time to prevent spoilage, many online cheese shops only offer shipping services that will deliver within 48 hours, and you'll need to make sure you're home to receive your shipment. If you miss the UPS guy and he leaves your package sitting in the sun on your doorstep, you'll arrive home to a very sad box of cheese.
Many smaller shops will ship cheese all over the country&madsh;ask about their shipping policies whenever you visit a cheese shop while traveling. For the time being, here are a few reputable online cheese retailers:
- Murray's: Perhaps one of the most popular cheese shops ever, this New York fixture has an incredible selection of cheese and a hundred years of experience to back up their cheese knowledge.
- Artisanal Premium Cheese: Artisanal stocks everything you would ever need to enjoy cheese: cheese books, cheese accessories, snacks, and mail-order cheese clubs.
- Zingerman's: The famous Ann Arbor deli and gourmet grocery store has long been considered a haven for denizens of DairyLandia.
- Arrowine: Located in the DC Metro area, Arrowine is a great little shop that's big on selection and customer service.
- Cowgirl Creamery: Considered by many to be the Grand Poobahs of cheese, Cowgirl Creamery has an incredible selection and an equally incredible staff of knowledgable cheesemongers.


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The Representative. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 1, Ed. 1 Monday, May 22, 1871
Description: Weekly newspaper from Galveston, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising. This was the first African American newspaper printed in Texas.
Date: May 22, 1871
Creator: Nelson, Richard
Partner: UNT Libraries


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Rumblings xtra: Items that didn't make print edition
Vegas Vacation owner Adriano Sorella actually sounded sorry that horse of the year favorite Captaintreacherous skipped the Little Brown Jug. That says something about how he feels his horse would have done against him Thursday on the Delaware County Fairgrounds.
Vegas Vacation's combined winning time of 3:40 was a Jug record, so he might have a point.
"I wish Captaintreacherous was here honestly because fans would want that and we kinda wanted that as well," Sorella said. "But I won the Little Brown Jug, so we'll see the Captain probably in Lexington and maybe in the Breeders Cup.
Can Vegas Vacation beat Captaintreacherous in Lexington?
"I think we have a very good shot," Sorella said. "The horse is good. He's very versatile. He shows his moves, right? He can come up first and he's got the speed. So I think we have a good shot."
Sorella said he would never skip the Jug if he had a horse that was eligible for it.
"I like it here," he said. "If I have another three-year-old who can get here, I definitely will be here again. When they talk about the half mile and drawing the outside and heat racing and all that, everybody has a different opinion on it. I liked it before I won the Jug and now I won the Jug so I love the Little Brown Jug and heat racing."
He revealed a secret after the race he had been keeping to himself at the request of trainer Casie Coleman.
"I've been keeping my mouth shut for a little while now because I know Casie's really superstitious and I promised I wouldn't say anything," Sorella said. "But yes, we're going on a Vegas vacation. We'll probably wait closer toward the end of the year, but I was in my car about a half-an-hour ago and I was lying there, listening to the other heat on the radio and I was like "if this happens, we're going. At last count, it looked like there were 45 or 50 of us. I'm paying for the whole thing."
Michigan coach Brady Hoke didn't leave any doubt who he is rooting for when two of the Wolverines' rivals – Michigan State and Notre Dame – meet Saturday.
"I think you always pull for the Big Ten, to be honest with you," Hoke said, on CBS Detroit's "Stoney and Bill Show." "That rivalry we have with Michigan State, man, it's intense. And it's very, very important. But, as a conference, I like our conference."
Hoke also used his appearance to take a shot at the officials at the Wisconsin-Arizona State game, as reported by Mlive.com
"Last week we didn't have a great week as a conference," Hoke said. "I'm hoping we don't have the same officiating crew that Wisconsin had. But it's a great conference and a great league."
Mike Holmgren, the former Browns president who traded up last year to take running back Trent Richardson in the draft, blasted the team for trading him to the Indianapolis Colts for a first round draft pick on 950 KJR in Seattle as reported by the Plain Dealer. He said if he were the coach and the team's management did that, it might have to fire him.
"Philosophically, if I am the coach and someone came in anywhere and did that, I'd say 'OK, fire me, or I'm going to quit," Holmgren told host Dave "Softy" Mahler. "Or we're going to both go into the owner and talk about this and then we'll see who's still standing.'
"How do you make your team better by trading your best player? He's the best offensive player. He's a valuable, valuable guy.''
He said he watched the press conference and figures that Browns coach Rob Chudzinksi approved the deal because of the way he appeared there with team CEO Joe Banner.
"Clearly the coach is OK with this because they sat at the news conference together," Holmgren said." I personally would not be OK with it. It was my best offensive player, a young guy. Not an eight-year vet. He's a young guy.''
After former Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema and his wife, Jen, watched the Badgers lose to Arizona State in a controversial ending last Saturday night, Jen hashtagged the word "karma" and posted it to her Twitter account.
The posting ignited a storm of anger from Wisconsin fans, who saw it as a vengeful response to the way her husband was criticized when he left Madison to take the Arkansas job.
In a text message to the Wisconsin State Journal, Bielema said his wife was responding only to a small pocket of "sick and ruthless" people that "constantly hound her" via social media. He said his wife was "crushed" to learn of the widespread impact her one-word entry had on UW fans and that wasn't her intent. He said he knows that criticism comes with his job description, "but she lets it get to her."
Bielema coached the Badgers for seven seasons, from 2006 to 2012. His teams won three straight Big Ten Conference titles, but his exit caught people off-guard and subsequent comments where he compared the quality the Arkansas and Wisconsin programs upset many UW fans.
"Some of the comments are so sick it's hard to imagine someone can say it," he said.


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AIDS-ravaged Malawi, where over a tenth of the population is HIV positive, records on average 1,000 new cases weekly, a top government official said Saturday.
"It?s a great concern to us that despite efforts by government to prevent HIV and AIDS, the country continues to register about 1,000 new cases of HIV every week," Edith Mkawa, a senior health ministry secretary in charge of nutrition, HIV and AIDS, told reporters.
"The number is very high. It is frustrating the fight against HIV pandemic," she said.
Mkawa said Malawi, where 11.8 percent of the 14 million citizens are HIV positive, "needs urgent action to attain zero new HIV infections."
People "are not changing their behaviours. These behaviours are fuelling the spread of HIV at an alarming rate."
The southern African nation has 350,000 people receiving free anti-retroviral drugs, up from 5,000 in 2004.


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Verisign to Issue New Domain Name Industry Brief Beginning in 2014
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), the global leader in domain names, today announced that the company is updating the Domain Name Industry Brief (DNIB). A new version of the DNIB is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2014.
Verisign also released infographics containing select DNIB data for the first three quarters of 2013 on the company blog. To view this data, visit the Verisign blog at Blogs.VerisignInc.com.
About Verisign
As the global leader in domain names, Verisign powers the invisible navigation that takes people to where they want to go on the Internet. For more than 15 years, Verisign has operated the infrastructure for a portfolio of top-level domains that today includes .com, .net, .tv, .edu, .gov, .jobs, .name and .cc, as well as two of the world's 13 Internet root servers. Verisign's product suite also includes Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Protection Services, iDefense Security Intelligence Services and Managed DNS. To learn more about what it means to be Powered by Verisign, please visit VerisignInc.com.
Statements in this announcement other than historical data and information constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainty of whether the U.S. Department of Commerce will approve any exercise by us of our right to increase the price per .com domain name, under certain circumstances, the uncertainty of whether we will be able to demonstrate to the U.S. Department of Commerce that market conditions warrant removal of the pricing restrictions on .com domain names and the uncertainty of whether we will experience other negative changes to our pricing terms; the failure to renew key agreements on similar terms, or at all; the uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results due to such factors as restrictions on increasing prices under the .com Registry Agreement, increasing competition, pricing pressure from competing services offered at prices below our prices and changes in marketing and advertising practices, including those of third-party registrars; changes in search engine algorithms and advertising payment practices; challenging global economic conditions; challenges to ongoing privatization of Internet administration; the outcome of legal or other challenges resulting from our activities or the activities of registrars or registrants, or litigation generally; the uncertainty regarding whether and when, if at all, the liquidation of one of our domestic subsidiaries will occur, and what the ultimate outcome, use or amount of benefit we receive, if any, will be; the outcome of our reevaluation of our current strategy related to foreign operations and the amount of additional tax obligation, if any, we may be required to accrue as a result of this analysis; new or existing governmental laws and regulations; changes in customer behavior, Internet platforms and web-browsing patterns; the uncertainty of whether we will successfully develop and market new services; the uncertainty of whether our new services will achieve market acceptance or result in any revenues; system interruptions; security breaches; attacks on the Internet by hackers, viruses, or intentional acts of vandalism; whether we will be able to continue to expand our infrastructure to meet demand; the uncertainty of the expense and timing of requests for indemnification, if any, relating to completed divestitures; and the impact of the introduction of new gTLDs, any delays in their introduction, the impact of ICANN's Registry Agreement for new gTLDs, whether our gTLD applications or the applicants' gTLD applications for which we have contracted to provide back-end registry services will be successful; and the uncertainty regarding the impact, if any, of the delegation into the root zone of up to 1,400 new TLDs. More information about potential factors that could affect our business and financial results is included in our filings with the SEC, including in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2012, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. Verisign undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this announcement.
©2013 VeriSign, Inc. All rights reserved. VERISIGN, the VERISIGN logo, and other trademarks, service marks, and designs are registered or unregistered trademarks of VeriSign, Inc. and its subsidiaries in the United States and in foreign countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.


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The rise of the 5K
When Jenny Gump's friends decided to sign up as a group for a local 5K, she only could think of one thing.
"I hate running."
However, she had to admit she was a little out of shape and not at her ideal weight since having a baby. On top of that, her blood pressure and blood sugar were out of whack. She needed something to get her off of the couch each day: Why not let it be running with her friends?
That's when the stubborn side of her personality took control. If she was going to do this, she was determined to train for the race and do it to the best of her ability.
Gump and her friends used a Couch-to-5K program to help them train. It takes users through a series of walks and light jogs during a period of several weeks. Every morning, the women would get together to tackle the next.
"I was the slowest in the group," said Gump, 39, of Newark. "But I kept doing it. After eight weeks, it says you're ready for a 5K and I'm thinking, 'Oh God, can we really do that?'"
It turns out they could. Each of the women in Gump's group was able to complete the race without walking. After they crossed the finish line, their thoughts immediately turned to registering for another 5K. The group would email each other every time one of them came across a 5K in town and, the next thing she knew, Gump had run six 5Ks in a matter of months.
Gump's closet began overflowing with race T-shirts and her bathroom wall was taken over by framed race bibs. She was hooked.
The races have exploded in popularity during the past few years, becoming a favorite way for many to get active while raising money for local causes.
Cindy Warner, 49, of Johnstown, said she thinks there are a couple of reasons to explain the 5K obsession.
First, a 5K is one of the shortest races someone can run, coming in at 3.1 miles. That distance might not seem so daunting to someone who is new to running, Warner said, thus making the race popular among beginners.
There also are a number of programs, apps and Internet resources available to people who want to train for a 5K, even if they're starting from square one. The fact that most races come with a free T-shirt, food and a chance to be social with others also is a big draw, she said.
"I've noticed some of my friends, especially ones who have never worked out ever, they're in their 40s and they're searching for something to make themselves better. I don't know if it's a midlife crisis thing or what. But they're like, 'I'm going to sign up for a 5K.' They're fun," Warner said. "That's why I think it's catching on. Anyone can do it."
Warner had been a casual runner in her 20s but never really was consistent with it. After having her first child at 29 years old, she decided to pick it up again.
However, she mostly stuck to the treadmill at the gym. People would see her running and ask what she was training for, to which Warner would reply, nothing. Warner always told herself she never would race, because what was the point?
When a friend finally talked her into running a 5K, Warner placed third overall. Her competitive juices kicked in and she decided to sign up for a marathon. After completing her first marathon, Warner swore she never would do another one because she was so sore.
She's now run eight marathons and is signed up for her ninth.
One of her most memorable experiences has come from competing in races: Warner had the opportunity to run in the Boston Marathon in 2010.
When she crossed the finish line in Boston, Warner broke down and cried. She didn't have any family waiting for her at the end of the race, but the passion of the crowd of strangers cheering on the runners as they finished was enough to move her to tears.
"I'm like, oh my gosh, I just finished the Boston Marathon. It totally freaked me out and overwhelmed me," Warner said. "Crossing a finish line can be very satisfying, and no one can take that way from you."
Now that she's moved on to marathon running, Warner cycles 5Ks into her schedule as a way to speed train. What used to feel like such an accomplishment has become just a small step on the race to bigger things, something she never would have thought possible.
"That's the thing about running, it gets you started on a pathway you never thought you would go down. It's like the challenges are never-ending," Warner said.
Although meeting personal goals is a big part of running for Lacey Snoke, 36, of Carroll, her biggest motivation is a 9-year-old boy named Alex who was diagnosed with Down syndrome.
Snoke met Alex through I Run 4, a website that links runners with people who have physical and development disabilities that prevent them from being able to participate in activities such as running.
Because Alex can't run, Snoke runs for him.
She post details about each of her runs on a Facebook page so Alex's family can share them with him. Sometimes it's an update on how far she ran; other times she shares pictures from various 5Ks in which she has participated. Snoke even has sent some of the medals she has earned from her races to Alex so he really can feel like he was a part of the event.
The program is meant to provide support and encouragement to people with disabilities, but Snoke has found it also does something for her. It gives her something to run for.
"When I'm having a really hard time finishing a race, I have a little mantra I say. I say, 'I run for Alex' over and over again," Snoke said. "For me, it's not about being the fastest, it's just about getting out there and doing something I enjoy. It's a way to extend myself and put myself out there for someone else."
The Ontario community has used a 5K as a way to come together to remember resident Brian Ward, who died unexpectedly in 2012. The Brian Ward Memorial 5K Charity Run/Walk initially started as a way to help the family with funeral costs, but it grew into something more.
"Even though Brian's no longer with us, it's important to keep his memory alive," Jon VanHouten, a family friend who helped organize the event, told Gannett Ohio earlier this year.
The race now provides scholarship money for area students.
Supporting local causes can be one of the most meaningful parts of running for many 5K participants. It certainly is the case for Snoke.
But it's also been a way to get involved in a whole new community.
Runners tend to form a tight bond, Snoke said. If she ever overhears someone talking about a race in which he or she ran, she feels comfortable going up to him or her to share her own experiences. And at every race she has participated in, Snoke has seen nothing but love and support among the runners, who encourage each other all the way to the finish line.
She knows running isn't for everyone, but for anyone out there who has thought about trying it out, Snoke suggests starting slow. Every day gets a little easier, she said, and nothing beats the feeling of accomplishment that comes after finishing a tough run.
"When you cross the finish line, it's such a good feeling. You realize you've started this race with hundreds of other people and you actually finished it. It's a powerful moment."
Twitter: @emmaddern


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Some people are fans of the Cincinnati Bengals. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the Cincinnati Bengals. This 2012 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Read the other Why Your Team Sucks 2012 previews here.
1. Coach for life. The Bengals quietly gave head coach Marvin Lewis a two-year extension two weeks ago. Normally, a contract extension means nothing in the coaching world, since shitty coaches with contract extensions get fired all the time (Brad Childress being a prime recent example). But that's not the case when you're dealing with Bengals owner Mike Brown. Mike Brown would rather watch his own children die than eat a contract, and so you Bengals fans are in for at least three more years of Lewis, a coach who is exceedingly professional yet is also a notoriously incompetent game manager. I, for one, am excited to see just how Marvin plans on sabotaging one of the most talented young rosters in football. There are so many ill-fated red challenge flags in your future, Andy Dalton. YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET.
2. Let's talk a little bit more about how awful Mike Brown is. Because Mike Brown is the fucking worst. This is a man who, according to author Kevin Delaney, once threatened to move the Bengals to Cleveland (!!!) if the people of Hamilton County didn't give him the stadium he wanted. Then, after getting his outrageously lopsided stadium deal, he gave the county commissioner in charge a cushy front office job as the director of business development. NOT SHADY AT ALL. It seems that the only time Mike Brown exhibits any type of shrewdness is when he's fucking taxpayers in the ass. Since the opening of Paul Brown Stadium in 2000, the Bengals have had just three winning seasons and Brown remains one of the most parsimonious owners in all of sports:
Bengals fans love swapping stories about Mike Brown's stinginess: He flies free agents in on coach and puts them up in hotel rooms without minibars; he employs four ticket reps for every one scout; and so on. Now, fans could see Brown's penny-pinching in spreadsheet form. Expenses were broken down by category, and the Bengals often ranked lowest in the league—and sometimes absurdly low. When it came to "team expenses"—football costs not related to player salaries, such as coaches, trainers, scouts—the Bengals spent millions less than many teams.
He should rename the team the Marlins just to drive the point home. Paul Brown Stadium remains perhaps the ultimate example of a pro sports team building a metaphorical slant drilling company that drinks the milkshake of public schools, parks departments, fire departments, teacher salaries ... anything useful, really. What little county money there is to spend in an economic crisis has been diverted to the absolute LEAST DESERVING HUMAN BEING ALIVE, a man who can't even be bothered to try to field a winning team after being gifted a fucking mint by public officials. Any success the Bengals experience, be it right now or in the future, is almost comically incidental. If anything, success brings Brown unwanted attention. Much easier to fuck people over in the relative anonymity of a losing season. The more indifferent people are to a team, the less inclined they are to look at just how shady its operations are.
Drew Magary writes for Deadspin and Gawker. He's also a correspondent for GQ. Follow him on Twitter @drewmagary and email him at firstname.lastname@example.com.
That's why the remarkable draft that the Bengals staged a year ago will ultimately prove fruitless. Brown drafted Andy Dalton only because so many other teams were too stupid to take him. Three years from now, he'll have found a way to ruin both Dalton and A.J. Green forever. How? Because he's Mike Brown and he's the fucking worst. And you Cincy folk deserve him. I went to camp with kids from Cincinnati and they were racist as shit. When it comes to Cleveland versus Cincinnati, America sides with poor Cleveland every time.
3. Even their cheerleaders get arrested. While wholly inappropriate, I'd like to salute the young man who slept with Bengals cheerleader Sarah Jones. Sleeping with your teacher AND a professional cheerleader all in one? That's like winning the teenage fap lottery. STRONG HUSTLE.
4. CHUH CHUH! Do you realize that Pacman Jones is still on this roster? O HELLZ YEZ. Pacman gon shine. And Pacman gon drank. O HE GON DRANK. The best part is that Pacman lectured rookies at this year's rookie symposium, and he'll be arrested in six weeks for shooting a stripper in the pussy. His cornermate is Terence Newman. As someone who had to cover the Cowboys for NBC last season, I can tell you that Terence Newman is a fucking bowling pin.
5. Hear it from Bengals fans!
It seems like Mike Brown is putting all his efforts into killing the fans this year.
Exhibit A: Not agreeing to follow the NFL's changed guidelines for TV blackout policy
Exhibit B: Charging for a pep rally? Who does that? Oh wait, we do.
THEY WILL STILL FIND A WAY TO SUCK. Their defense, despite being loaded with talent, will continue to struggle against the Browns. Some mongoloid fuck on the Steelers will decapitate dear Andy Dalton. Even A.J. Green (oh, A.J.) will disappoint somehow. Why? Because they're the Bengals, and they exist only to bring pain.
Oh, and Mike Brown's solution in the run game is the "Law Firm" Ben-Jarvis-Green-Ellis-Nunn-Johnson-Whoreface.
If it weren't for Donald Sterling we would have the worst owner in sports. Plus I believe we are snakebit. 1st round pick Ki-Jana Carter breaks his leg his league rookie year, never the same again. 1st round pick David Pollack breaks his fucking neck in the first game of the year, out of football. 2nd round pick Odell Thurman has a stellar rookie year then proceeds to drink himself out of the league but not before being filmed by a cop car in a DUI arrest with our slot receiver Chris Henry puking out of the rear window. Henry straightens his life up only to fucking DIE falling out of the back of a truck. Going way back, our secret Super Bowl weapon proceeds to coke himself into insanity the eve of the big game. Oh, and this year, our 1st round pick breaks his fucking kneebone before training camp. Not to mention that our star former QB was never the same after the fucking Steelers deliberately crushed his knee into a thousand pieces and then he decided to retire rather than be a Bengal again. WHO DEY
Tully Blanchard Express:
Mike Brown will outlive us all. After that, it's still in the damn family as Katie will take the reins and rumor has it she's teaching her kids the business by denying them food, water and love. Historically, our owner has the cheapness of Jack Benny, our offensive playbook was written by the Three Stooges and our players have had the anarchistic streak of the Marx Brothers but part of that has turned around. Hopes are high, mostly because we've had a season with a non-high school offensive coordinator, hired a scout and doubled the Gatorade rations—I can only assume Brown upped to the "Executive" Costco membership with the extra playoff money.
This is far and away the most excited we've had any right to be about the franchise since the late 1980s, and people who claim to be Bengals' fans but still want to hate on the current situation are missing the point of being a fan. GO BENGALS!
/A.J. Green's ACL explodes
//Carlos Dunlap's stomach bursts
///Andy Dalton rapes a seven-year-old pitbull
////Marvin Lewis found to pay bonuses for every concussion handed out by one of his players
/////BenJarvus Green-Ellis fumbles on first carry
//////Jay Gruden leaves midseason for head coaching position with Montreal Allouettes
///////Mike Brown appoints high school dropout nephew head coach and offensive coordinator
////////Ohio river floods its banks
You may have seen that the Cleveland Browns were recently sold for $1 billion. This proves that the NFL is an unstoppable money making juggernaut where moribund franchises increase in value independent of record, right? According to Forbes, the Bengals value has DECREASED by 4% over the last 5 years.
Mike Brown, you are festering sore upon humanity. You are a pus-filled boil that has humiliated my beloved (and boring) hometown for over 20 years. There's never a move too cheap, too petty for you to make. You extorted the worst stadium deal in the country out of the county, and for good measure you hired one of the county commissioners who voted for that robbery as your director of business development. Because of you, the county is selling hospitals so that they can pay for HD screens in your stadium that, while you do not pay for ANYTHING, you reap ALL of the rewards. I want you to know that whenever you pass away, there will be massive celebrations on the streets of Cincinnati. You will not be missed. Fuck you.
Watching this cumstain of a franchise is more painful than a blowtorch to the testicles.
The last quality team the Bengals beat was in 2003 against the 9-0 Chiefs. Peter Warrick took a punt to the house. Peter. Fucking. Warrick. FUCK!
I hope this team sucks again so I can go to a game in peace like back in the day when Jeff "Shake n" Blake was tossing deep balls to Darnay Scott. The days when Ian Eagle and Beasley Reece were calling the game and you knew exactly where you stood. At the bottom. At least the fans didn't have an inflated sense of self.
Mike Brown looks like a cross between second-term Dwight Eisenhower and the swollen, rosy tip of my penis.
The Bengals just cannot deal with more than one winning season in a row. It just isn't in their nature. It is entirely possible and necessary to follow a 10-6 season with a 4-12 one. 9 -7 last year? If I'm feeling charitable, and I usually am as it is my hometown, I say 5-11 this year. And, as a fan, if two of those wins come from beating Cleveland, well then GREAT SUCCESS!
Playing for Cincinnati generally turns good players to shit and drives possible franchise players away, frustrated and ruined. There are exactly two Bengals in the Hall of Fame. One, Anthony Munoz, played out his career for the Bengals. Why he stayed, I'll never know as we certainly didn't deserve him.
The Bengals just established a scouting department THIS SEASON. What did they do prior to that? Mike Brown was the scouting department. Mike Brown. The owner. Hence, the Bengals wiffing on every draft in the '90's, which included 6 top 10 picks and 2 number 1 overall picks. They should have had a dynasty after that kind of draft position.
Really it boils down to this: Mike Brown is a spoiled, selfish little prick who inherited an NFL franchise from his father, has zero football acumen, watched the NFL grow into a revenue juggernaut no thanks to him, and uses the team to keep him and his family members wealthy while putting the absolute minimum product out on the field year after year.
But hey, at least we've made it to 2 Super Bowls, that's more than you can say about Cleveland.
A Bengals fan's viewpoint is strikingly similar to the worldview of an atheist. The future is a bleak unknown where most likely horrible shit will happen, but even when something good happens it sure as hell isn't due to any higher power.
Wanna be part of the Deadspin NFL previews? It's simple. Just email me and give me ample evidence of why your team sucks. I'll throw any good material into the post and give you proper credit. Next team up: THE RAVENS.


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OK…..most of you are going to have a field day with this blog post, so let's just get it out there. Barefoot running came in a BIG way. And like most BIG things that come quickly, its fading at a rapid rate. A lot of people think barefoot runners are nuts, and begging for injury. And others think that the injury risk is the same as those who wear shoes, but the location of injury in the body will just move from one to another. Well, I'm not really a fan of speculation.
Some years ago, I put out a survey to barefoot runners with some simple questions. How much to you run barefoot? Why did you go down this path? Did barefoot running impact your injury risk or performance? Over 500 runners responded. Thank you interweb.
To be 100% forthcoming, the study is biased towards runners who have actually tried barefoot running (not minimal footwear, but true barefoot). Duh, you had to have experience running barefoot to answer the questions! Barefoot runners are a passionate bunch, but we made the default assumption that people tell the truth. And yes, its just a survey. But it provides an interesting slant. Instead of wondering if barefoot running works, why not just ask people who do it?
This study, "Barefoot Running: Evidence from the Field" was just published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science, and you can get a full download right here. And for those of you who just want the simple version, the abstract is below.
Now I'm not saying that all of you should ditch your shoes for 100% of your mileage. But this idea of barefoot running supports a very critical concept. Feet are capable of some pretty good work. Barefoot running, when done in the right volume and circumstances, can be a great training tool to help you build a better body. And no matter what side of the barefoot debate you stand on, putting better bodies into running is a concept we can all get behind.
Running is becoming an increasingly popular activity among Americans with over 50 million participants. Running shoe research and technology has continued to advance with no decrease in overall running injury rates. A growing group of runners are making the choice to try the minimal or barefoot running styles of the pre-modern running shoe era. There is some evidence of decreased forces and torques on the lower extremities with barefoot running, but no clear data regarding how this corresponds with injuries. The purpose of this survey study was to examine factors related to performance and injury in runners who have tried barefoot running.
The University of Virginia Center for Endurance Sport created a 10-question survey regarding barefoot running that was posted on a variety of running blogs and FaceBook pages. Percentages were calculated for each question across all surveys. Five hundred and nine participants responded with over 93% of them incorporating some type of barefoot running into their weekly mileage.
A majority of the participants (53%) viewed barefoot running as a training tool to improve specific aspects of their running. However, close to half (46%) viewed barefoot training as a viable alternative to shoes for logging their miles. A large portion of runners initially tried barefoot running due to the promise of improved efficiency (60%), an attempt to get past injury (53%) and/or the recent media hype around the practice (52%).
A large majority (68%) of runners participating in the study experienced no new injuries after starting barefoot running. In fact, most respondents (69%) actually had their previous injuries go away after starting barefoot running. Runners responded that their previous knee (46%), foot (19%), ankle (17%), hip (14%), and low back (14%) injuries all proceeded to improve after starting barefoot running.
Prior studies have found that barefoot running often changes biomechanics compared to shod running with a hypothesized relationship of decreased injuries. This paper reports the result of a survey of 509 runners. The results suggest that a large percentage of this sample of runners experienced benefits or no serious harm from transitioning to barefoot or minimal shoe running.


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Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans
Historically, Pythagoras means much more that the familiar theorem about right triangles. The philosophy of Pythagoras and his school has impacted the very fiber of mathematics and physics, even the western tradition of liberal education no matter what the discipline.
Pythagorean philosophy was the prime source of inspiration for Plato and Aristotle; the influence of these philosophers is without question and is immeasurable.
Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans
Little is known of his life. Pythagoras (fl 580-500, BC) was born in Samos on the western coast of what is now Turkey. He was reportedly the son of a substantial citizen, Mnesarchos. There he lived for many years under the rule of the tyrant Polycrates, who had a tendency to switch alliances in times of conflict -- which were frequent.
He met Thales, likely as a young man, who recommended he travel to Egypt. It seems certain that he gained much of his knowledge from the Egyptians, as had Thales before him.
Probably because of continual conflicts and strife in Samos, Pythagoras settled in Croton, on the eastern coast of Italy, a place of relative peace and safety.
Even so, just as he arrived, Croton lost a war to neighboring city Locri, but soon thereafter defeated utterly the luxurious city of Sybaris.
This is where Pythagoras began his society.
The Pythagorean School
The school of Pythagoras was every bit as much a religion as a school of mathematics. For example, here are some of the rules:
Vegetarianism was strictly practiced probably because Pythagoras preached the transmigration of souls.
The school of Pythagoras represents the mystic tradition in contrast with the scientific!!
Indeed, Pythagoras regarded himself as a mystic and even semi-divine. Said Pythagoras
"There are men, gods, and men like Pythagoras."
It is likely that Pythagoras was a charasmatic.
Life in the Pythagorean society was more-or-less egalitarian.
The Pythagorean Philosophy
The basis of the Pythagorean philosophy is simply stated:
"There are three kinds of men and three sorts of people that attend the Olympic Games. The lowest class is made up of those who come to buy and sell, the next above them are those who compete. Best of all, however, are those who come simply to look on. The greatest purification of all is, therefore, disinterested science, and it is the man who devotes himself to that, the true philosopher, who has most effectually released himself from the 'wheel of birth.'"
The message of this passage is radically in conflict with modern values. We need only consider sports and politics.
Is not reverence these days is bestowed only on the ``super-stars"?
Are not there ubiquitous demands for accountability!!
The Pythagorean Philosophy
The gentleman, of this passage, has had a long run with this philosophy, because he was associated with the Greek genius, because the ``virtue of comtemplation" acquired theological endorsement, and because the ideal of disinterested truth dignified the academic life.
The Pythagorean Philosophy ála Bertrand Russell
From Bertrand Russell, we have
"It is to this gentleman that we owe pure mathematics. The comtemplative ideal -- since it led to pure mathematics -- was the source of a useful activity. This increased it's prestige and gave it a success in theology, in ethics, and in philosophy."
Mathematics, so honored, became the model for other sciences. Thought became superior to the senses; intuition became superior to observation.
The combination of mathematics and theology began with Pythagoras. It characterized the religious philosophy in Greece, in the Middle ages, and down through Kant. In Plato, Aquinas, Descartes, Spinoza and Kant there is a blending of religion and reason, of moral aspiration with logical admiration of what is timeless.
Platonism was essentially Pythagorean ism. The whole concept of an eternal world revealed to intellect but not to the senses can be attributed from the teachings of Pythagoras.
The Pythagorean School gained considerable influence in Croton and became politically active -- on the side of the aristocrasy. Probably because of this, after a time the citizens turned against him and his followers, burning his house. Forced out, he moved to Metapontum, also in Southern Italy. Here he died at the ages of eighty. His school lived on, alternating between decline and re-emergence, for several hundred years.
Tradition holds that Pythagoras left no written works, but that his ideas were carried on by his eager disciples.
What is known of the Pythagorean school is from a book written by the Pythagorean, Philolaus of Tarentum. From this book Plato learned the philosophy of Pythagoras.
The dictum of the Pythagorean school was All is number.
What this meant was that all things of the universe had a numerical attribute that uniquely described them. For example,
Pythagorean Mathematics
Pythagorean Mathematics
Classification of numbers. The distinction between even and odd numbers certainly dates to Pythagoras. From Philolaus, we learn that
"...number is of two special kinds, odd and even, with a third, even-odd, arising from a mixture of the two; and of each kind there are many forms."And these, even and odd, correspond to the usual definitions. But even-odd means a product of an even and odd number. Note: orginally the number 2 was not considered even.
Prime or incomposite numbers and secondary or composite numbers are defined in Philolaus:
Proposition. There are an infinite number of primes.
Proof. (Euclid) Suppose that there exist only finitely many primes . Let . The integer N-1, being a product of primes, has a prime divisor in common with N; so, divides N- (N-1) =1, which is absurd!
The search for primes goes on. Eratsothenes (276 B.C. - 197 B.C.), who worked in Alexandria, devised a seive for determining primes. This seive is based on a simple concept:
Lay off all the numbers, then mark of all the multiples of 2, then 3, then 5, and so on. A prime is determined when a number is not marked out. So, 3 is uncovered after the multiples of two are marked out; 5 is uncovered after the multiples of two and three are marked out.
The Primal Challenge
The search for large primes goes on: Below is a list of the largest found to date. For a great deal of information on primes, including the numbers below, check out the The Primes Home Page A special method, the Lucas-Lehmer test has been derived to check primality.
2^859433-1 (258,716 digits); Slowinski and Gage, 1994 2^756839-1 (227832 digits); Slowinski and Gage, 1992 391581*2^216193-1 (65087 digits); Noll and others, 1989 2^216091-1 (65050 digits); Slowinski, 1985 3*2^157169+1 (47314 digits); Jeffrey Young, 1995 9*2^149143+1 (44898 digits); Jeffrey Young, 1995 9*2^147073+1 (44275 digits); Jeffrey Young, 1995 9*2^145247+1 (43725 digits); Jeffrey Young, 1995 2^132049-1 (39751 digits); Slowinski, 1983 9*2^127003+1 (38233 digits); Jeffrey Young, 1995
Subdivisions of even numbers are reported by Nicomachus (a neo-Pythagorean, ~100 A.D.).
Similar subdivisions of odd numbers are:
Actually the third category is wholy subsumed by the second.
Also ascribed to the Pythagorean s is the study of perfect and amicable and deficient numbers.
A number n is perfect if the sum of its divisors is itself: Examples: ( 6, 28, 496, 8128, ...) In Euclid, we find the proposition: If is prime, then is perfect. (Try , p= 2, 3, 5, 7 to get the numbers above.)
The pair of numbers a and b are called Amicable If the divisors of a sum to b and if the divisors of b sum to a. Example: 220 and 284.
In addition, the number a was classified as abundant or deficient according as their divisors summed greater or less than a, respectively.
Example: 12-divisors are: 6,4,3,2,1-- . So, 12 is abundant.
Example: All primes are deficient.
Mersenne Primes
Just the fact of finding perfect numbers using the previous propositions has spawned a cottage industry of determining those numbers p for which is prime. Such primes are called Mersenne (1588-1648) primes after the friar of the 17 century So far 33 have been found, though it is unknown if there is another between the 32nd and 33rd. It's not known if there are an infinity.
Mersenne Primes
number p year by ---------------------------------------------------------- 1-5 2,3,5,7,13 in or before the middle ages 6-7 17,19 1588 Cataldi 8 31 1750 Euler 9 61 1883 Pervouchine 10 89 1911 Powers 11 107 1914 Powers 12 127 1876 Lucas 13-14 521,607 1952 Robinson 15-17 1279,2203,2281 1952 Lehmer 18 3217 1957 Riesel 19-20 4253,4423 1961 Hurwitz & Selfridge 21-23 9689,9941,11213 1963 Gillies 24 19937 1971 Tuckerman 25 21701 1978 Noll & Nickel 26 23209 1979 Noll 27 44497 1979 Slowinski & Nelson 28 86243 1982 Slowinski 29 110503 1988 Colquitt & Welsh jr. 30 132049 1983 Slowinski 31 216091 1985 Slowinski 32? 756839 1992 Slowinski & Gage 33? 859433 1994 Slowinski and Gage,
Figurate Numbers. Numbers geometrically constructed had a particular importance to the Pythagorean s.
Triangular numbers. These numbers are 1, 3, 6, 10, ... . The general form is the familiar
Square numbers These numbers are clearly the squares of the integers 1, 4, 9, 16, and so on. Represented by a square of dots, they prove(?) the well known formula
The gnomon is basically an architect's template that marks off "similar" shapes.
Note the gnomon has been placed so that at each step, the next odd number of dots is placed.
Figurate Numbers of any kind can be calculated.
The Pentagonal and Hexagonal numbers are shown in the graphs below.
Note that the sequences have sums given by
Similarly, polygonal numbers of all orders are dsignated; this process can be extended to three dimensional space, where there results the polyhedral numbers. Philolaus is reported to have said:
All things which can be known have number; for it is not possible that without number anything can be either conceived or known.
The Pythagorean Theorem
Whether Pythagoras learned about the 3, 4, 5 right triangle while he studied in Egypt or not, he was certainly aware of it. This fact though could not but strengthen his conviction that all is number. It would also have led to his attempt to find other forms. How might he have done this?
One place to start would be with the square numbers, and arrange that three consecutive numbers be a Pythagorean triple! Consider for any odd number m,
which is the same as
Put the gnomon around . The next number is 2n+1, which we suppose to be a square.
which implies
and therefore
It follows that
This idea evolved over the years and took other forms.
Did Pythagoras or the Pythagorean s actually prove the Pythagoras Theorem? Probably not. Although a proof is simple to give, the Pythagorean s had only a limited theory of similarity. And perhaps the reason was that rigor had not yet advanced to that level, at least in the early and middle period. The late Pythagorean s ( 400 B.C) however probably did supply a proof of this most famous of theorems.
Theorem I-47. In right-angled triangles, the square upon the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares upon the legs.
This figure is modelled after the original figure used by Euclid to prove the result. It is known to the French as pon asinorum and to the Arabs as the Figure of the Bride.
More Pythagorean Geometry
Contributions by the Pythagorean s include
From Kepler we have the quote
``Geometry has two great treasures: one is the Theorem of Pythagoras; the other, the division of a line into extreme and mean ratio. The first we may compare to a measure of gold; the second we may name a precious jewel."
A line AC divided into extreme and mean ratio is defined to mean that it is divided into two parts, AP and PC so that AP:AC=PC:AP, where AP is the longer part.
Let AP=x and AC= a. Then the golden section is
and this gives the quadratic equation
The solution is
The golden section is the positive root:
And this was all connected with the construction of a pentagon.
The Pythagorean Pentagram
First we need to construct the golden section. The geometric construction, the only kind accepted, is illustrated below.
Assume the square ABCE has side length a. Bisecting DC at E construct the diagonal AE, and extend the segment ED to EF, so that EF=AE. Construct the square DFGH. The line AHD is divided into extrema and mean ratio.
Verification. Note,
The key to the compass and ruler construction of the pentagon is the construction of the isoceles triangle with angles and . We begin this construction from the line AC. Note the figure
Divide a line AC into the `section' with respect to both endpoints. So PC:AC=AP:PC; also AQ:AC=QC:AQ. Bisect the line AC and construct on the perpendicular at this midpoint the point B so that AP=PB=QB=QC.
Define PAB and QPB. Then . This implies , and hence . Solving for we, get . Since PBQ is isoceles, the angle QBP . Now complete the line BE=AC and the line BD=AC and connect edges AE, ED and DC. Apply similarity of triangles to show that all edges have the same length. This completes the proof.
Regular Polygons
The only regular polygons known to the Greeks were the equilaterial triangle and the pentagon. It was not until about 1800 that C. F. Guass added to the list of constructable regular polyons by showing that there are three more, of 17, 257, and 65,537 sides respectively. Precisely, he showed that the constructable regular polygons must have
sides where the are distinct Fermat primes. Recall, a Fermat prime is a prime having the form
Fermat ( 1630) conjectured that all numbers of this kind are prime.
Pierre Fermat (1601-1665), was a court attorney in Toulouse (France). He was an avid mathematician and even participated in the fashion of the day which was to reconstruct the masterpieces of Greek mathematics. He generally refused to publish, but communicated his results by letter.
Regular Polygons
Are there any other Fermat primes? Here's what's known to date.
By the theorem of Gauss, there are constructions of regular polygons of only 3, 5 ,15 , 257, and 65537 sides, plus multiples,
sides where the are distinct Fermat primes.
The Pythagorean Theory of Proportion
Besides discovering the five regular solids, Pythagoras also discovered the theory of proportion. Pythagoras had probably learned in Babylon the three basic means, the arithmetic, the geometric, and the subcontrary (later to be called the harmonic).
Beginning with a>b>c and denoting b as the --mean of a and c, they are:
The Pythagorean Theory of Proportion
In fact, Pythagoras or more probably the Pythagorean s added seven more proportions. Here are a few, given in modern notation:
Note: each of these is expressible in the notation of proportion, as above.
Allowing A , G, and H denote the arithmetic, geometric and harmonic means, the Pythagorean s called the proportion
the perfect proportion. The proportion
was called the musical proportion.
The Discovery of Incommensurables
This discovery is usually given to Hippasus of Metapontum ( cent B.C.). One account gives that the Pythagorean s were at sea at the time and when Hippasus produced an element which denied virtually all of Pythagorean doctrine, he was thrown overboard.
Theorem. is incommensurable with 1.
Proof. Suppose that , with no common factors. Then
Thus , and hence . So, a=2c and it follows that
whence by the same reasoning yields that . This is a contradiction. width .1in height .1in depth 0pt
But is this the actual proof known to the Pythagorean s? Note: Unlike the Babylonnians or Egyptians, the Pythagorean s recognized that this class of numbers was wholly different from the rationals.
``Properly speaking, we may date the very beginnings of ``theoretical" mathematics to the first proof of irrationality, for in ``practical" (or applied) mathematics there can exist no irrational numbers." Here a problem arose that is analogous to the one whose solution initiated theoretical natural science: it was necessary to ascertain something that it was absolutely impossible to observe (in this case, the incommensurability of a square's diagonal with its side).
The discovery of incommensurability was attended by the introduction of indirect proof and, apparently in this connection, by the development of the definitional system of mathematics. In general, the proof of irrationality promoted a stricter approach to geometry, for it showed that the evident and the trustworthy do not necessarily coincide.
Other Pythagorean Geometry
Quadrature of certain lunes was performed by Hippocrates of Chios. He is also credited with the arrangement of theorems in an order so that one may be proved from a previous one (as we see in Euclid).
The large lune ABD is similar to the smaller lune (with base on one leg of the right isosceles triangle . Proposition:The area of the large lune ABD is the area of the semi-circle less the area of the triangle .


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You'd better create a rock-solid alibi, because Le Samourai is the Greatest Movie EVER!
Click on the DVD cover or the title above to download our review of the film, featuring Sean "Hollywood" Hunting.
Review in a Nutshell: Suggested by listener Eric Barroso as part of the IndieGoGo campaign, Le Samourai is a minimalist French neo-noir crime drama from 1967. It's an exquisitely composed film that is at once bleak, ambiguous, and wonderfully suspenseful.


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Emerging Leaders Program: A Promising Practice in Placing College Students with Disabilities in Challenging Internships
Emerging Leaders is a program that partners with corporate sponsors to provide summer internships for college students with disabilities. Leadership development skills are emphasized in these positions and both students and businesses gain from the experience. Students are placed in a corporate context and are allowed to show their dedication and motivation in the business environment while the employers involved are able to welcome diverse individuals into their workplace.
To qualify to apply for the Emerging Leaders program an applicant must:
- Self-identify as a person with a qualified disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act
- Have completed a minimum of 60 college/university-level credits
- Maintain at least a 2.8 GPA
- Maintain matriculated student status for the semester following your internship (graduating seniors immediately continuing on to graduate level study may apply)
- Have U.S. citizenship or be a documented alien legally authorized to work in the U.S.
Booz Allen Hamilton founded Emerging Leaders in 2001 and recruited many members of the business community to get involved with the program. Today, applicants are placed in well known corporations such as Motorola, Lockheed Martin and Merrill Lynch. The program is currently administered by the National Business and Disability Council. The Emerging Leaders program is a promising practice for teaching others about the abilities of those with disabilities while providing opportunities for students with disabilities to gain real-world work experiences.
If you are interested in becoming an Emerging Leader, information on the application process is available on their website along with the application.
If your company or organization would like to hire an Emerging Leader or learn more about the employer commitments you can visit their website or contact Michael McGowan at 516.465.3747 or email@example.com.


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God in America: Five: Soul of a Nation
Special | 56m 10s | Video has closed captioning.
Evangelist Billy Graham tries to inspire a revival, fusing faith and patriotism to battle "godless communism." Americans flock in record numbers to houses of worship; nonbelievers and religious minorities appeal to the Supreme Court for protections. Martin Luther King, Jr. emerges as a modern-day prophet, calling upon the nation to honor biblical teachings and the founders' democratic ideals.
Aired: 10/13/10
Buy Now:
Problems Playing Video? | Closed Captioning


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Man Accused Of Using Vacuum To Steal Coins
KSCB News - April 6, 2011 8:16 am
Police in Lincoln, Neb., say they believe they have nabbed the vacuum bandit.
Police on Tuesday ticketed a man they say used a vacuum to suck quarters out of several apartment laundry machines. The man was caught on surveillance camera on March 4. Photos show a man entering the laundry room with a backpack, which contained a vacuum. The man pries open the coin
tray, plugs in the vacuum and sucks out the change.
Police say 40-year-old William Logan, of Lincoln, was cited for suspicion of misdemeanor theft. Officials say he no longer had possession of the vacuum.
Logan's case is not on the online court system, and there is no phone listing for him in the Lincoln area.


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Course Syllabus
M 12:40 PM - 1:30 PM A405Online assignments are due at 12:30 PM.
See daily course outline.
Dennis G. Jerz (jerz.setonhill.edu)
Email | Facebook | Twitter | Weblog | 724.830.1909
Office: 403 St. Joseph, Box 461
Office Hours, Fall 2010
- Mo 10-11 (St. Joe's 403)
- Tu 3-4 (in Admin 309)
- We 4-5 (St. Joe's 403)
- Th 3-4 (Admin 309)
- and by appointment
From the Catalog
Course through which students may earn credit on The Setonian (student newspaper) and its online counterpart. Meets for one hour per week, with an additional production lab for each issue (4 or 5 times per semester). Repeatable for credit.Our theme for this semester is layout. We will focus on how the spatial arrangement of elements on a page helps journalists communicate the news.
Production Labs
You are responsible for scheduling your own "production labs" in keeping with the needs of producing the print and online issues of the Setonian.
- Your production lab may involve selling advertisements,
articles, laying out pages, delivering papers, sorting through archives,
fact-checking, organizing files, or doing almost anything that needs to be done in order to publish the news. (While I encourage you to write articles for The
Setonian, ordinarily writing an article will not count towards your
EL200 lab requirement.)
- To schedule your production lab, contact the editor-in-chief, Maddie Gillespie, at email@example.com, and ask to be put on the mailing list (so you'll know when the office will be open and what jobs will need to be done).
Developing and maintaining a good working relationship with your peers is part of the learning process in this course.
- If you cannot carry out a task an editor has entrusted to you, please tell your editor before the deadline passes. It's a matter of professionalism and simple good manners to inform your peers of any changes in your ability to commit.
- Student editors and managers who work on the Setonian are just as busy as you are. I don't expect the student editors to drop everything and squeeze in someone who waits until the last minute to ask for work.
- Can't make it to any of the scheduled meetings? Not to worry. You can:
- contact an editor well in advance, to discuss an alternate time
- arrange to proofread articles by e-mail
- help with the Setonian Online at any time
- deliver print issues of the paper once it arrives on campus (let the editor-in-chief know you're interested)
More formally speaking, this course is intended to help meet New Media Journalism learning objectives 4, 5, 7, and 8.
- Examine a wide range of genres, styles and cultural literatures.
- Examine the traditional canon and innovative nontraditional writers and writing.
- Demonstrate analytical skills of reading literature.
- Demonstrate a high level of research and writing skills.
- Write and speak in a wide range of formats appropriate to major emphasis...
- Speak and write about issues in the discipline and how they interact with the culture at large.
- Articulate the ongoing relation between personal habits of reading and writing and the evolving study of English.
- Produce a professional portfolio that demonstrates an awareness of and engagement with vital issues in an appropriate professional field relating to new media journalism.
These goals are carefully chosen so that your Seton Hill education will, in the words of Elizabeth Ann Seton, "fit you for that world in which you are destined to live."
According to a survey published in 2009 by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), here are the skills employers say they want in their new hires:
- Communication skills (verbal and written)
- Strong work ethic
- Teamwork skills (works well with others)
- Initiative
- Analytical skills
Developing leadership skills in a student publication offers solid experience in each of the areas NACE highlights. EL200 is carefully designed to help you make a transition between high school (where your teacher tells you what questions to ask and praises you for supplying "the right answer") and the real world (where you have to compete for limited jobs, against all the other people who know "the right answer").
How will EL200 help you develop the skills that NACE says employers want in their new hires?
- Service to the Seton Hill Community: Of course a student publication needs writers, but articles submitted to The Setonian need to be edited, fact-checked, proofread for Associated Press Style, laid out on the page, posted online, and delivered around campus. Selling ads, recruiting and training staff, and predicting and responding to changes in our community and the practice of journalism all take time.
- Resume Experience: The course asks you to develop your own skills by participating in the group effort to publish the voice of the student body.
- Work-Study Employment: Students holding positions of responsibility on The Setonian (or Setonian Online) may be eligible for work-study funding. If the work you get paid to do also helps meet your EL 200 requirements, that's fine with me.
This course expects you to use various learning tools. Just as
students in generations past learned to carry an extra inkhorn and spare
lamp wicks, there are certain common-sense strategies that will help
you do the necessary work.
- Patience, and a positive attitude, will help you make the most of your learning environment. Our technology won't work 100% of the time.
- I will often send out bulk e-mails to the address on file for you in the GriffinGate system. If you check a different address more regularly, please use SHU's e-mail forwarding service so that you don't miss important updates.
- Submit your lab reports and exercises to Turnitin.com.
- All students will also have a SHU weblog, where they will post responses to assigned readings. Since journalism is rapidly moving away from print and into the 21st century, unless a homework assignment specifically mentions a printout, you may assume that I do not want a hard copy.
- Download or print out a copy of the course syllabus and the online readings, so that you can work on the readings even if the internet happens to be down.
- Get in the habit of emailing drafts to yourself, so that you can retrieve them from your archives if you lose your USB drive. (Or consider a free service such as DropBox or Google Docs, that lets you store all your files online.)
- Unless the homework assignment specifically mentions a printout, you should assume that I don't
want a hard copy. (I will give you instructions for submitting each assignment.)
Students are expected to attend every class (according to the Seton Hill University Catalog).
5.1.1 Absence Penalties (for any reason -- excused or unexcused)
What to Do When You Must Miss a Class
- Consult this website to find out what is scheduled.
- Consult a classmate and arrange to get notes, handouts, etc. (After you have first checked with a classmate, I will be happy to answer any specific questions, by e-mail or in person, about what you missed.)
- Download and email me a completed "Absence Form" (available at http://jerz.setonhill.edu/teaching/Absence.doc) as soon as is reasonably possible.
The point of the form is to document your good-faith effort to keep up with the course material despite your absence.
- For instance, if your coach announces a change in the team schedule, I think it's reasonable for you to let me know of any conflicts by the next day.
- If you have a personal emergency, once the immediate crisis is over, I think it's reasonable for you to tell me by the next day.
- Meet the deadlines. Submit your work before you leave on a trip, or submit it while you're on the road. (There is a space to explain any extenuating circumstances on the "Absence Form," but my assumption is that a scheduled absence from class does not warrant any sort of extension.)
- Note: It may not be possible to make up some assignments or class activities.
- one absence: zero for in-class activities missed (unless your Absence Form proposes and you complete acceptable make-up assignments within one week)
- two non-consecutive absences: zero for in-class activities, and final grade lowered by two-thirds of a letter grade (unless your Absence Form proposes and you complete acceptable make-up assignments within one week)
- two consecutive absences, or a total of three absences during the semester: final grade reported as F
- To clear that F and complete the class normally, you must submit a written request to remain in the class.
- Include any evidence that will help me decide in your favor.
- Late arrivals, early departures, and lack of participation may accrue as absences.
- Please don't skip class after pulling an all-nighter to complete an assignment for this class. I will not only record your absence, but also count the assignment as one day late anyway.
- You'd be better off going to sleep, coming to class on time, and turning in the assignment a day late.
- You'll still get a one-day late penalty, but you won't be a sleep-deprived zombie and you won't have an absence on your record. (I'm not doing this "just to be mean," but rather to give you some extra motivation to make the better choice.)
- If there is insufficient time for us to agree upon an acceptable alternative assignment, or if an approved alternative assignment is unsatisfactory, then I may report the missed work as a zero.
Students are expected to contribute actively to a positive learning environment, both in person and online.
Distracting or isolating behavior (such as late arrivals and
early departures, listening to headphones or using electronic devices
for purposes unrelated to the class), lack of preparation, and general
incivility (such as doing homework for another class, falling asleep,
eating more than a discreet snack) will affect your ability to
contribute to our shared learning environment.
If your final grade falls near a borderline, I will take your participation into account when I decide whether to round up or down.
By default, late assignments automatically lose one letter grade if they are not submitted on time, and another letter grade for each additional day late (counting weekends as one day). This means that no assignment will earn any credit if it is more than four days late, unless there are extenuating circumstances.
Deadlines for the submission of turnitin.com assignments are typically 10 minutes before class starts. I do this simply to discourage you from being late to class because you are still working on your homework. It also permits me to scan the assignments briefly before class begins. If your online submission is late by a few minutes, but you are still on time to class, your paper won't lose the late points.
Special Cases
In-class writing assignments and on-line exercises are usually time-sensitive, since they are designed to capture your thoughts and feelings at a particular moment in time, so I can assess your understanding. are not easily replaceable. My policy is to offer no make-up assignments for in-class or on-line activities. (In rare cases, I may accept a make-up task for half credit.)
Perspective on Missing Routine Assignments and Activities
Because we have so little time together in EL200, each in-class activity is important. However, getting a zero for any one missed activity will have very little direct affect on your final grade, assuming your participation otherwise remains strong.
What happens if you fall out of the habit of preparing for and completing the routine work (reading assigned texts, writing informal reflections on them, and in-class analysis and interpretation tasks)?
- They are all designed to work together, building on the skills you develop each week.
- If you do miss the deadline for one of these routine assignments, I suggest you do the work anyway, so that you get the practice the assignment was supposed to provide (even though that won't erase the zero). Overall, your average will recover quickly.
- Just be sure to do a little more participation (online
or in person), so I'll have a good reason to bump your grade up if your
final score falls near a borderline.
Make-up/Extra Credit Assignments
I do not have a policy of inventing make-up or extra-credit assignments to enable you to pull your grade up in the last few weeks of the term; however, at any time during the course, you may demonstrate your willingness to work hard for your grade by doing more than the required amount of work on your in-class or online assignments. (You can call my attention to this extra work when you submit your next lab report portfolio.)
Required Texts for Media Lab (Fall 2010)
All Students
- The Associated Press Stylebook iPhone App ($24.99. Works just fine on my iPad.)
[If you are not eligible for a SHU iPad, then you may instead purchase The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law. 2010. (ISBN 978-0-917360-54-1)]
Haiman, Best Practices for Newspaper Journalists B0006RIMW0
Purchasing a printed copy is optional; the full text is available for free from the publisher: http://www.freedomforum.org/publications/diversity/bestpractices/bestpractices.pdf
If you have taken EL200 before, you will have an additional text:
- Coffey, Best Practices: The Art of Leadership in News Organizations B0006RZ1HO
Purchasing a printed copy is optional; each section is available for free from the publisher (if I can find the full text as a single PDF I'll let you know): http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=16166
Disability Statement
If you have a disability that may require consideration by the instructor, you should contact Terri Bassi, the Director of Disability Services at 724-838-4295 or email@example.com as soon as possible to develop a plan of accommodation. You should provide the instructor with a copy of your accommodation plan and schedule a meeting so that you can be supported in an informed manner. It is not necessary to disclose to your instructor the nature of your disability.
Archive Policy
In order to fulfill the requirements of the liberal arts curriculum, major assignments completed in this course must be saved by the student, so that they can successfully argue in the capstone liberal arts course, Senior Integrative Seminar, that they have met the University Learning Objectives.
Hill University expects that all its students will practice academic
honesty and ethical conduct. The University regards plagiarism,
cheating on examinations, falsification of papers, non-sanctioned
collaboration, and misuse of library material, computer material, or
any other material, published or unpublished, as violations of academic
honesty. Violators of the code may expect disciplinary sanctions, which
are discussed in the Seton Hill University Catalog, page 30, Code of
Academic Conduct.
Paraphrasing the thoughts or written work of another without reference is also plagiarism. Helpful information is available at the following web site: Plagiarism: What It Is and How to Recognize and Avoid It. (http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml).
Any plagiarism on a draft will result in a zero as the final grade on that assignment. Any plagiarism or cheating on an informal essay, paragraph, or grammar exercise will also result in a zero.
See also "Plagiarism (and Academic Integrity)."
Maintain your academic integrity by
- submitting your own original work
- giving proper credit to other people whose words and/or ideas appear in your work
- recognizing that direct quotation (with citation) and paraphrase (with citation) are both acceptable ways to use outside material.
- start early (plan 2-3 hours of homework for each hour of class)
- keep on track (with brainstorming, drafting, workshop, and revision assignments)
- seek out help (from the professor, Writing Center, tutors)
The whole course is based on 500 points.
All assignments are marked on a 4-point scale, just like your
official university transcript.
Every year, some students panic because
they see their grade hovering in the high 70s, and they worry they are going
to get a C. But with a four-point system, if a particular exercise is
worth 40 points, and you get 30 on it, that means it works out to a B. (I'll use Turnitin.com to report your grades on an ongoing basis, so you'll always be able to see the letter grade that represents your work so far.)
On Oct 2, Seton Hill is sponsoring a bus trip to Washington D.C.
- Cost is $20 for students. Sign up in the Student Activities office. (The bus fills up, so sign up early.)
- The bus leaves at 5am.
- From about 9-1, EL200 students will visit the Newseum.
- From about 1-5, you'll be free to do whatever you like (but I ask you to take photos and write about your experiences).
- The bus will drop us all off back at SHU around 10pm.
- An assignment due on Monday, Oct 4 will ask you to reflect on your experience.
Exercises (300pts)
- Ex 1 (40pts)
- First-timers: Goals and Journalism Basics
- Editors: Goals and Instructions 1 Draft
- Ex 2 (40pts)
- First-timers: Peer Interview
- Editors: Instructions 1 Revision
- Ex 3 (50pts)
- First-timers: Layout 1
- Editors: Leadership Portfolio 1
- Ex 4: (50pts)
- First-timers: Center spread pitches
- Editors: Instructions 2 Draft
- Ex 5: (60pts)
- First-timers: Center spread articles
- Editors: Instructions 2 Revision
- Ex 6: (60pts)
- First-timers: Center spread layout
- Editors: Leadership Portfolio 2
A lab report (submitted to Turnitin.com), online discussion of assigned readings, plus other brief items as specified (for example, I might ask you to respond to a breaking news story).
Portfolios (50pts each) are due:
- 04 Oct
- 25 Oct
- 08 Nov
- 06 Dec
Present Ex 6 (your final center spread layout) during the 2-hour time slot reserved for the final exam, 8-10 on 07 December.


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What is .health
You've heard of .org and .edu – now the health industry has its own domain extension: .health
.health [dot - health] (n): the domain extension for brands, organizations, and
individuals who provide health products, services and information.
Search for your .health domain:
You've heard of .org and .edu – now the health industry has its own domain extension: .health
The .health domain extension immediately tells the world that your website is health-related – and with the availability of many great names, it's perfect for new companies and brands building websites for new products.
Mount Sinai's AppLab chose Rx.health
to introduce their digital medicine platform.
If you had to settle for a less-than-perfect domain name in the past, .health domains provide an opportunity to rebrand with a shorter, better name while simultaneously showcasing your affiliation with the health and wellness industry.
MATTER rebranded to MATTER.health
to assert their health-industry focus.
Focused and meaningful, the .health domain extension is ideal for blogs, advertising campaigns, or other initiatives that require their own domain name apart from your company's website.
appliedVR built Immersive.health
to consolidate their thought leadership content
on the clinical benefits of VR.
With the need to be "short and sweet" in advertising calls-to-action, marketers are taking advantage of the opportunity to use a branded URL shortener for promotions and campaigns.
athenahealth uses marketplace.health to redirect to their MDP marketplace.
Check out recent news & events about .health!Read more
Discover the full launch schedule for .health domains.Learn more


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Fired Calif. nanny who wouldn't leave disappears
A fired live-in nanny who had refused to leave a Southern California home and threatened to sue has disappeared, the family said Friday.
Marcella Bracamonte told ABC News that 64-year-old Diane Stretton left the home in Upland, San Bernardino County, on Thursday morning and hasn't returned. She left behind her belongings.
"I don't know what happened," Bracamonte said.
The story of the nanny who wouldn't leave became national news this week.
Bracamonte and her husband, Ralph, told how they had hired Stretton in March to help care for their three children, ages 1, 4 and 11, in exchange for free room and board.
Stretton was "awesome" the first few weeks, but then suddenly stopped working, blaming chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Marcella Bracamonte told ABC News earlier in the week.
The Bracamontes said they put her on notice twice earlier this month before firing her. They cut off her cable TV and Internet, and even padlocked the refrigerator.
The couple had tried to evict Stretton, and even called police, who said they couldn't intervene because it was a civil matter. KCAL-TV reported Wednesday that Stretton was served with a three-day notice to leave or face eviction, a potentially long legal process.
The Bracamontes said Stretton had also threatened to sue for breach of contract, wrongful termination, false imprisonment and elder abuse. Last year, the state enacted a landmark Domestic Worker Bill of Rights.
"So this lady is welcome inside my house, anytime she wants," Marcella Bracamonte told KTLA-TV. "I'm now a victim in my home, and it's completely legal."
"If we're to lock her out of our house she could sue us, if we're to grab her stuff and throw it out of our house she can sue us," her husband said.
ABC News said Stretton reportedly has been involved in three dozen lawsuits and is listed by California courts as a "vexatious litigant" for abusing the legal system. A Diane Gail Stretton is named in two cases in San Diego Superior Court, one each in 2005 and 2006, but it could not be immediately determined whether they are the same person.
Stretton has avoided the media.