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"I am simply astounded that there is virtually no scholarly literature which addresses the role of North American archeology in the contemporary world. "
Brian Fagan
The wonderment of the circuitry in your hard drive is testament to how far removed we are from our earlier incarnation as people who depended on the seasons, animal habits, the flow of water, and the proclivities of plant life. The technology of everyday living is electronic now, but back then, the most esteemed engineers were those who could divine what the natural world could contribute to humankind.
Yet, sometimes the futuristic landscape moves us closer, not farther from, the past. People in the Past, a CD-ROM produced by the Bureau of Land Management's Anasazi Heritage Center and the Southwest Natural and Cultural Heritage Association, is a convergence of temporal extremes across cyberspace. Resonant of childhood fantasies of time travel, the interactive multimedia program places you before Lowry Ruin in southwest Colorado, a National Historic Landmark managed by the BLM. From there, you are on your own to discover the 800-year-old pueblo. People in the Past brings all the tools of the technology to bear in bringing Lowry Ruin and its people to life: sound, animation, QuickTime/video, stills, and 3D imaging.
The conscientious presentation of the archeological and Native American perspectives is the first thing you encounter on your path to the ruinone of many walkways to explore. On a wooden welcoming sign are the engraved faces of an archeologist and a Native American woman. Click either and hear them talk about the site as a focus of study or as a center of cultural identity, both with a reverence evident throughout the program.
The CD has the visitor assume the role of a new research assistant. You can take part in excavations, measure and record artifacts, learn about curation, examine specimens with a microscopein general, explore any aspect of the discipline. Or you can wander at will, peeking into rooms and kivas or walking down the pathways that open before you in a twisting course through the brush. One can recognize how powerfully the creators of the program wanted to place people in the Southwest. The animation captures a certain aspect of Southwestern sunlight, with the steady chatter of birds and the occasional distant screech of a hawk lending to an overall effect of solitude.
LouAnn Jacobson, director of the Anasazi Heritage Center, says that People in the Past came about by happenstance when two people approached the museum in 1993 with an idea of doing something about archeology on the computer. Theresa Breznau and Clay Hamilton were illustrators-animators-producers with an unlikely address in the tiny rural town of Bluff, Utah. Both had extensive experience with computer graphics, and Hamilton had won a regional Emmy, a Silver Reel Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and other honors.
Over the following year, museum staff met with the designers to work out the goals and content. They agreed that the state of interpretation at the timeobsolescent technology and exhibits dominated by archeological interpretations (with Native American views conspicuously absent)called for something new.
Jacobson's description of People in the Past's objectives echoes the creed of the preservation establishment nationwide, though with a Southwestern bent. There are tens of thousands of Puebloan sites in the Four Corners region, she says, many on private land that can't be protected. And those on public land don't get the protection they need, the place is simply too vast. But she makes the point that where technology, anthropology, and ancient tradition come together, a new front is opened in the campaign to reach the public. If people can see a pueblo live before them on screen, they are more likely to see it as far greater in the sum of its parts than a desert oddity or a souvenir trove.
The CD is intended for all ages, but is particularly pitched to elementary and middle school students, though it is both accessible and popular on both sides of that age range, Jacobson says. In developing the CD, Native American advisors from the San Juan, Santa Clara, and Hopi Pueblos lent insight into their culture and personal connections to the past. Archeologists from BLM and the private Crow Canyon Archaeological Center contributed their expertise. The Southwest Natural and Cultural Heritage Association, a non-profit organization that works with federal agencies to foster preservation, joined the project as well.
The BLM and SNCHA next tapped what Jacobson describes as "a remarkable resource." Colorado allows gambling in three historic mountain towns about 50 miles west of Denver. Regular busloads of gamblers from the city have made it a success, and 28 percent of the gambling tax revenues go to the Colorado Historical Society. Over $9 million are distributed every year to historic preservation projects throughout the state.
Over the course of its development, the People in the Past project was awarded two preservation grants from the State Historical Fund totaling almost $135,000. SNCHA also contributed funds and handled financing, while the Heritage Center oversaw the project, compiled records and photos of Lowry, and purchased software and other equipment. The Native American advisers and archeologists Melissa Churchill and Mark Varien of Crow Canyon were interviewed for video segments. In March 1996, a three-minute prototype was produced to demonstrate to the Colorado State Historical Society what kind of technology was available and to serve as a launching point for a longer and more comprehensive program.
Making the site live is exactly, it seems, what everyone had in mind. The human figures are fashioned after models that the designers bought and then re-touched digitally, producing 24 individual characters. Computer-animated landscapes are difficult to render convincingly, but software made specifically for the purposeQuestar's World Construction Setgot the results the artists wanted.
The archeologist's tent showcases what the software can do. The visitor can operate a laptop, a VCR, a CD player, and more. Inserting a slide into the microscope and seeing the grinding marks on a mano shows the visitor archeology's ability to inform us about the people of the past.
At certain points in the journey, you can visit the pueblo ca. AD 1125, when it was a busy, thriving place, full of Native Americans going about the tasks of daily life. A child's voice narrates these segments, giving descriptions of how different rooms are used, how food is gathered, how idle time is passed. The narration is yet more evidence of the program's emphasis on people, not only in the child's words, but also in the constant murmur of voices one can hear in the background.
In all, producing People in the Past cost $380,600. About an additional $8,000 will be spent on the writing, design, and printing of a companion teacher activity guide. The CD is copyrighted by SNCHA, which will pay for its production. The first run will be 1,000 CDs and 500 guides. SNCHA will market the CD through museum shops, magazines, and cooperating associations. The association operates a number of shops and information centers itself where it will sell the CD. Proceeds will fund other SNCHA projects.
The BLM has established a permanent version of People in the Past on a Macintosh computer at the Anasazi Heritage Center. The museum is visited by between 5,000 and 6,000 schoolchildren as well as 35,000 adults each year. People in the Past is both Macintosh and IBM compatible, and can be purchased for $24.95 ($39.95 with the activity guide) by contacting the Southwest Natural and Cultural Heritage Association, 27501 Highway 184, Dolores, CO 81323, (970) 882-4811.
For more information, contact LouAnn Jacobson, Anasazi Heritage Center, 27501 Highway 184, Dolores, CO 81323, (970) 882-4811, fax (970) 882-7035, e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com.


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I am posting this from my room in Rome, still fairly jetlagged but eager to get out there tomorrow and start drawing. Meanwhile, here are some journal pages from the last few days while I was shooting in Chicago, specifically at an 80-year old institution called the Aragon ballroom.
Most of our days lasted more than 16 hours and we wrapped at 3 am; the effects are visible in my drawings which are actually quite nice and loose though manically, Tom Kanesian in their crosshatched detail.
My colors are a little bolder than usual — I should probably continue to paint in the gloom.
I drew entirely in Sepia ink and watercolors, and many of these entries were doing in semi darkness and while severely sleep deprived. My marginal comments seem even more crabby and distracted than usual.

subset: commoncrawl


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Cover Story
Big Money's assault on democracy is even worse than you think.
Opportunity to Serve
The church in China is finding new openness--but only when the state says so.
The biblical vision of Sabbath economics.
Rita Dove balances creative solitude with a public vocation.
Threat to Religion
Unholy alliance pushes more than religious freedom.
Or just in need of repair?
The death penalty is nothing more than revenge.
A tour of Sojourners Online.
'Star Wars' just won't go away.
The post-Cold War dream of a world free from nuclear weapons had a rude awakening this May.
Some days ago I received an unexpected call from Lima, Peru. A brother Franciscan there told me that Olga Valencia had died and, knowing of my friendship with her, he had attended the funeral.
Sojourners Community
Jury duty is one of those responsibilities of citizenship that reminds us that the American justice system is the best in the world.
Young people are the keystones of any culture. Youthful energy is needed to get work done in society.
When we made the decision to take our older two children out of public school, my husband and I felt it was the only real choice we had.
Culture Watch
Billy Graham's walk with the Lord.
Greenbelt is no melting pot; rather, more than a rich stew, it is a smorgasbord of spiritual, cultural, and personal experiences.
Michael Moore's irreverent tour of American industry.
When he died, Dr. Benjamin Spock had been a household name for more than 50 years. His book Baby and Child Care, first published in 1946, coincided with the first swell of the baby boom.
The danger of "men with guns."
Lorrena McKennitt's musical and spiritual guidance.
Within the Christian tradition, rarely is a concept more misunderstood than prophecy. Unfortunately, this misinterpretation wreaks havoc on our society in the form of doomsday soothsayers, apocalyptic dreamers, and militant revolutionaries.
New visions of the body of Christ.
Bernardin's journey of faith.
When generations stand together, a movement is strengthened.
Signal Fire
WHEN ROME EMBRACED Christianity under the emperor Constantine, Rome didn't change—it remained "the Empire." However, the church did change. It lost its prophetic voice.
I READ IN the recent issue of the death of Maurice ("Mac") McCrackin. Your words and memories sparked my own ("Hearts & Minds," by Jim Wallis, March-April 1998).
A group of Native Americans appeared before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to argue that "Redskins," the name of Washington, D.C.s football team, is racist and not deserving of federa
Just as the long legacy of violence in Guatemala was changing, that country lost another voice for truth.
Debt Relief
WE ARE DEEPLY troubled by the implications of your editorial ("What to Do About Iraq?" by David Cortwright and George A.
Faithfulness. For the unnamed "young girl" in the story of Naaman, it meant trusting in God's healing power. For Amos, it was speaking truth when it would have been safer to keep quiet.
WITH REGARD TO the demon of racism ("Exorcising an American Demon," by Bill Wylie-Kellermann, March-April 1998), we need to look at the criminal justice and prison systems.
This issue has the final "Signs & Wonders" column from contributing editor Joyce Hollyday.
What is a Call to Renewal Roundtable?
THANK YOU FOR your ongoing Christian coverage of such a broad range of issues. I have benefited greatly from reading Sojourners over the years.
"HOW DO YOU contain Saddam Hussein without either bombing or starving the kids in his country?"
SOJOURNERS IS ALWAYS well worth reading but I thought "The Changing Face of America," by Timothy Tseng and David Yoo (March-April 1998), was outstanding.
In an awesome display of people power, 70,000 demonstrators linked arms to "break the chains of debt" at the recent G8 summit of world economic leaders in Birmingham, England.


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By: Chalene Johnson
I wanted to demand she hand over her license to mother, on the spot. (I wish the institution was licensed!)
I thought, so your job was too good, but the kids… what were they? Not so hot? Good, but not worth considering moving into a smaller house to be able to spend more time with them? Cute, but not nearly as likely to help her afford that Mercedes E-class?
Don't get me wrong. I do understand that sometimes both parents have to work. Circumstances and finances are sometimes out of our control. A roof over your family's heads is priority number one.
That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about people who seem to make everything else more important than being with their own kids. This leads me to my next point.
So I asked, "What would the weekend girl do when you were home on Saturdays and Sundays?"
She gloated, "Oh, I was the committee chair for XYZ charity and most of our events are on the weekends." What? No really. This is what she said!
That's when it hit me. I can usually see both sides to ANY story. I try to keep an open mind. Yet, there are a few topics which I hold strong, unwavering beliefs. My friends and close associates know my hot buttons. She had hit a nerve. I stood there quietly on fire. Yet, at that moment, I also had an epiphany. Suddenly, I felt really good about being a loser.
A few years back, I was nominated for an industry award. Part of the process required me to complete many questionnaires about my contributions to the fitness industry and my charitable work.
I didn't win. I bumped into one of the committee members at a fitness event about a month later. She whispered that she had something to tell me. In a hush tone she explained, "You need to put in more hours of volunteer work to win. Just do a bunch of charity work for a year, and you'll have it."
No thanks.
Volunteerism is wonderful. In college I spent almost all my extra hours working for the Grand Rapids Aids Foundation. We delivered meals, did laundry, changed bed pans or sometimes, just sat quietly holding a hand.
Without volunteerism we wouldn't be able to cure as many cancers, save as many lives, or offer the support to families who need it most. Volunteerism is essential. At some point, everyone should volunteer time to a meaningful cause. Yet, I truly believe the greatest thing a parent of young children can do for their community is to raise outstanding citizens. We could solve most of societies' problems by being around more often. Donate your extra time to your kids.
You'll have thirty plus years to devote to your free time when they're out of the house! For now, learn to say "no" without regret. Learn not to care about what other people think if you politely decline without explanation. Instead, worry about what type of parent your kids will say you were!
When you have extra time, go to the park with your kids. Paint some rocks. Ask your teenager to teach you how to text message. Bake some cupcakes and open a lemonade stand. Build a tree house! Sit down on the couch and tell them stories about when they were babies.
There are many causes worthy of your time. I support the work of America's volunteers. It's just not my first priority when dividing my time. Yet, I want to do my part. So, Bret and I donate both personally and as a corporation. That is how I contribute at this stage in my life.
What I won't donate is my family time. I will pass for now.
So here's my request to working parents with young children: Devote yourself to your community by spending more time with your children. If your circumstances are such that both
parents have to work full time, then consider staying off volunteerism until they are older. Instead, use those precious extra hours to be at practices, pick her up from school, see
his first steps, act excited when she walks through the door. If you are compelled to volunteer your time, then volunteer to be the carpool Mom, the little league coach, the den leader or the more involved parent. Your kids, and your community, will thank you.


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|Almaty, Kazakhstan
|High School:
Syrym is a new addition to the Golden Eagle roster, a transfer from the University of Oklahoma who will sit out the 2010-11 season...with two years of eligibility remaining, he will begin his Golden Eagle playing career during the 2011 fall tournament schedule...a native of Kazakhstan, he played for the Davis Cup team and has 13 years of international playing experience.
BEFORE TECH: Starting in the sport at the age of 10, Syrym has played for 13 years in national and international competition...ranked in the ITF U-18 Top 70...highest international rank was 548 in the ATP world singles charts and 460 in doubles...has captured tourney titles in Greece, Georgia and Pakistan....spent one year at Oklahoma as a member of the team but was not eiligible to compete because of his previous Davis Cup experience...the restriction continues through the current season...attended Almaty High School.
PERSONAL: The son of Kanat and Gulmira Abdukhailikov...born August 7, 1987 in Almaty, Kazakhstan...majoring in interdisciplinary studies.


text: Yipe 221 Posted May 10, 2012 Due to the number of increasingly complex rules questions popping up on the forums lately, I broke down and emailed Damon a list of questions to help resolve some of these issues. Here's the reply I received: 1) THE DOORWAY Q: When can this card be triggered? This card doesn't have any trigger requirements, so can you exhaust it and return a character to your hand at any time? A: Not precisely. It can be triggered anytime a disrupt can be triggered, that would be as any action, player or framework, is initiated, but before it resolves. Check the timing structure in the FAQ. Q: Can I trigger The Doorway to return a character to my hand that was chosen to receive a wound from a lost combat struggle, and therefore avoid taking the wound? If I do this, must I assign the combat struggle's wound to another character I control, or has the wound been avoided/negated? A: From the FAQ: 1. Framework Action is initiated.2. Disrupts3. Framework Action is executed. The combat struggle resolution is a framework action, the character is chosen to be wounded at the point of initiation, The Doorway can be triggered, and then the framework action is executed. The character is no longer in play so cannot have the wound token actually placed on it. Because the designation of the character to be wounded happens at the point of initiation a new target cannot be chosen since that moment has already passed. This is precisely the same timing for canceling a wound with a disrupt effect during the combat struggle. Q: Can I trigger the Doorway to return a character to my hand that was chosen to receive a wound from Khopesh of the Abyss? If I do this, does the character attached to Khopesh still take a wound or is the effect canceled entirely? A: From the FAQ: 1. Action is initiated.2. Disrupts3. Action is executed. Just like in the combat struggle resolution, the Khopesh of the Abyss effect is divided into two separate pieces, the initiation and the execution. In between these is a disrupt window where either character that is designated by the effect to be wounded could have that wound canceled or some other form of disrupt that keeps the wound from being placed on the character. This is again where The Doorway and any form of wound cancel would be triggered and resolved before the Khopesh's ability is executed. Because the effect removes the target from play (or in the case of a wound being canceled) but does not cancel the effect itself (just prevents the wound from being placed) the effect finishes resolving, in this case on the attached character. It is worth noting that Invulnerability prevents the effect from even being triggered since it is illegal for any card to wound in any fashion a card with the Invulnerability keyword. Canceling the wound is not canceling the card's effect. STAY TUNED! More questions and answers to come… Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


text:
"This will probably be the last time we do this," my husband said, as he dragged yet another box of memorabilia from the garage. "So let's make sure we throw away everything we don't want the kids and grandkids to see."
The first item I plucked from a box marked "random stuff" was a book proposal I had written in 1979, about women's sexual fantasies. This one is definitely off the kids reading list. Even George passed on it. I confess, I am reading it. But as soon as I finish, I plan to feed it to the shredder.
Further sorting revealed some dirty little secrets of my college days that the kids really don't need to know. A dorm room inspection form alerted my roommate and me sternly, "If this doesn't improve, I'll send both of you to the President." We had been warned about making our beds before, but this time the dorm mother noted she couldn't even find the beds under our mess.
And a handwritten missive from the dean addressed my little habit of storing food on the windowsill outside my room. Actually, this was an inspired practice that I continued after college when I moved from Virginia to New York in the cold of winter, and lived in a women's hotel sans refrigerator. The icy sill provided cold orange juice and milk for my tea every morning. No one can say I didn't put my education to use.
Another interesting discovery was my affinity for variations of my name. Most of my childhood I was called "Patty" (with a Y). But I found letters addressed to "Patti" (with an I) and Pattianne. Even one to "Pate." And then there was the envelope addressed to "Peaches." George suggested that perhaps Peaches was my persona who wrote the sex fantasies manuscript.
Surely, I can't be the only one with hidden dirt in my garage. Anybody else find a surprise they don't want to leave around for the grandkids? Maybe a companion piece to my manuscript?
Readers may contact Patricia at email@example.com.


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'Man Vs. Cartoon' Begins Six Week Run June 13
SOCORRO, N.M., June 2, 2009 – New Mexico Tech will be the star of a new six-episode cable series that begins airing Saturday, June 13.
Tech students John Korbin, Daniel Preston, Tyson Joe and Justine Davidson test their "Coyote Contraption" during filming of "Man Vs. Cartoon" in the summer of 2008.
Pilgrim Productions set up camp in Socorro for four months over the summer of 2008 to film the show, which was planned to coincide with the re-release of the Warner Bros.' roadrunner cartoons. The premise of the series was rather simple: If Wile E. Coyote had had a proper engineering education, would his harebrained contraptions been able to catch the Roadrunner?
For the series, two teams of Techies were given problems to solve. One team included seven students – Tyson Joe, Carolyn Eggert-Pehap, Justine Davidson, John Korbin, Daniel Preston, Jessica Elias and Stefan Marr. The students conducted three experiments and tests – the Coyote Contraption, Rocket Skates and Fan Skates.
"I'm so excited to see the show," said Eggert-Pehap, an Alamogordo native. "We spent so much time on it and we had such a good time on it. I can't wait to see how it turns out."
The two teams of New Mexico Tech engineers recreated 10 stunts, which will be featured in six hour-long episodes. The show will air at 9 p.m. every Saturday from June 13 to July 18 on TruTV.
"You invest so much time and effort and then you get to see it play out on TV," said Davidson, a Los Lunas High graduate. "When you watch the show, it looks like it didn't take very long, but we took a month to build that contraption.
Davidson said she and her cast mates have been anticipating the release of the show.
"We've been Googling the show every day and seeing it in the news," she said. "I think it represents the school pretty well and it's entertaining."
"It's been nearly a year of waiting and anticipating," Joe said. "There was so much hype within the student body and the university. We were amped up for the first six months after filming. Then, it got delayed and delayed. Now that it's really happening, it's sort of surreal."
Each of the students said the filming process was a lot of fun and hard work.
"We were all from different disciplines," Marr said. "We were kind of running around doing our own thing, but we got it all together."
Joe said each of the student team members brought their own strengths and skills to the Tech engineering cast. Eggert-Pehap and Korbin are math majors. Elias is a physics major. The others are from different engineering disciplines – petroleum, chemical and mechanical.
"We all had exceptional abilities and a sense of planning," Joe said. "But we usually work with people within our own department. So we had to figure out how to work together to make these projects work."
Several months ago, Pilgrim Productions gave Tech a promotional video for the show, which the university has used as a marketing tool. Vice President of Research Dr. Van Romero, who was largely responsible for bringing the TV show to Tech, showed the video to visiting politicians, state leaders and gatherings of students. Dr. Romero used the video, along with an interactive physics tutorial, to engage students at the State Science Fair and the State Science Olympiad.
"The national exposure will be priceless," Romero said. "But I truly treasured the opportunities I've had to relate talk about science in an innovative style. Everyone knows the Roadrunner cartoons, so these students stay engaged when we talk about how math, science and engineering are put to use in the real world – or the cartoon world, in this case."
The students said the same thing – that Tech will get invaluable exposure from the series.
|From left are faculty advisor Dr. Don Weinkauf, the Roadrunner, student Joe Tyson, stuntman Casey Adams, stunt coordinator Tim Gernec, and students John Korbin, Stefan Marr and Carolyn Eggert-Pehap.
The other team was staff members from Energetic Materials Research Testing Center – engineers Mike Stanley, Leonard Garcia, Jason Metzger and Robert Abernathy, along with several support technicians. The EMRTC crew recreated seven coyote experiments and stunts.
Mike Stanley, associate director of EMRTC, said he's previewed all six episodes and much of the footage is dramatic. Stanley, who is also a Tech graduate, said the show could serve as a great recruiting tool.
"I think it's going to be great publicity for Socorro, New Mexico Tech and EMRTC," he said.
Most of the series was filmed in labs and workshops on the main campus and the EMRTC test range. However, other portions of the series were filmed around town as well, including trips to hardware stores, pawn shops and other local locations.
Each team was given several tasks to engineer. After each team constructed and tested their devices – like rocket-powered roller skates – professional stuntmen put some of the properly-engineered devices to the test.
Other stunts include the Coyote's boulder drop and the Coyote trying to spear the Roadrunner while swinging from an oversized pendulum.


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How to Read a Scientific Paper: Part One
(First of a three-part series)
So Many Papers, So Little Time: What Can I Trust?
When it comes to coverage of health issues on TV and in the papers, it seems like the media has a new, and often contradictory, story every week. First eggs are cholesterol-laden orbs of death, then they're a great source of protein. One day, estrogen replacement can protect against heart disease in older women, the next day it can't. Last year, a high-fiber diet was said to be your best protection against colon cancer, now they say it's irrelevant (although anything that gets you to eat all your veggies can't be too bad).
In a complex and fast-paced field like AIDS research, the confusion can be even worse. Every single month, over a hundred scientific articles and conference presentations come out, each intended to expand our knowledge about HIV. And that's not even counting all the reports (like basic immunology studies) that are key to understanding HIV/AIDS but are not technically "AIDS research." While many of these scientific reports help piece together the jigsaw puzzle of HIV, filling in a picture of the virus and its nefarious activities, the absolute truth may be as difficult to grasp here as it is in the mainstream media.
Two years ago d4T (Zerit) was widely thought to be the least toxic of all the NRTIs (nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors: drugs in the same class as AZT, ddI and abacavir). More recently, findings suggest that d4T may be one of the prime suspects for causing damage to mitochondria (energy "factories" within our cells). Similarly, not long ago, missing a single dose of one's antiretroviral medication was thought to be risking catastrophe. In 2000, our spring fashion line featured the concept of strategic treatment interruption (STI) as the next great hope.
The Internet, while being an indispensable research tool, literally bringing the libraries of the world to our fingertips, has also increased the deluge of information. Now hundreds of articles -- some in agreement, some contradictory -- vie for our attention, along with the commentary of experts pointing out confirmation of their pet theories -- and refutation of their rivals' -- in the newest research.
How can we make sense of this? Obviously not all research is equally good or useful. How can a healthcare consumer critically evaluate this torrent of information? When two reputable sources disagree, how do we make sense of it? Do we have to believe one over the other or do we try to find some useful synthesis?
The highly technical language of most papers doesn't help matters. While much of the jargon serves as a kind of "shorthand" among scientists to refer to common methods or basic findings, it can make scientific papers difficult or impossible to understand for those who aren't involved in the field.
The good news is that there are some common rules and conventions for writing science reports that make reading, understanding and interpreting the results much easier. Certain standards and terminology are universal, whether one is discussing immunology or botany. I hope to provide you with an understanding of these conventions and how they are used -- and misused. While it's probably a good policy to mistrust anyone who claims to have the one and only answer to a controversy, it's a lot easier to evaluate someone's claims (or your own discoveries) when you have a good understanding of the scientific conventions.
Anatomy Lesson (The Components of a Research Paper)
Before we dig into the specifics of analyzing a research paper, let's take a look at how scientific reports are organized and how the information is presented. Usually, the basic structure of a scientific paper is the same, whether it's about AIDS or nuclear physics. Roughly speaking, you can always expect to find these sections in a paper:
the abstract,
the background and rationale,
a description of the methods used,
the actual results, and finally
the discussion -- the author's interpretation of the results.
Hopefully the discussion makes sense of the results within the context of the issues that were raised in the background and rationale.
Let's take a closer look at each of these sections.
The Abstract
The abstract isn't technically a part of a paper, rather it's the "Reader's Digest" version: a short synopsis that summarizes the key points. These key points should give you a brief recap of each part of the paper listed above. Generally when one consults Medline, AEGIS, or other on-line information sources, an abstract is all that's available. The abstract is an invaluable tool that can help you decide which papers are worth getting and reading in their entirety. As a tool for fully understanding the research, abstracts have substantial limitations. Specific details beyond those necessary to convey the main finding are scarce. Often the description of methods is cursory or missing, making it hard to assess the scientific rigor of the study. Only the primary results are summarized, omitting potentially valuable supporting data. Still, abstracts play an indispensable role by allowing you to quickly extract the gist of a paper.
Background and Rationale
The background and rationale section tells you the reasons why the paper was written. It describes previous related research, identifies the questions that are still unanswered and proposes exactly what the paper will address. For the purposes of this article I will refer to an imaginary antiretroviral drug I call "X-100" to provide examples. (X-100 does not exist, and all the data relating to X-100 is for illustration purposes only.)
In a paper describing the usefulness of X-100 for patients who have previously failed a protease inhibitor (PI), the background and rationale should explain why the X-100 experiments were done in the first place. It might discuss the rate of virologic failure in patients treated with PIs, the clinical implications of virologic failure, and why new therapies like X-100 are needed. Next, it might give us some background on X-100 itself: its basic chemistry and research results, including in vitro (in the laboratory) activity, animal studies, and any human research to date. The background and rationale is exactly what it sounds like. It provides you with the basic context of the research, and offers the rationale (reason) why this particular study is needed. It should also describe the primary hypothesis (the key question that drives the research) as well as any secondary objectives.
The methods section is one of the most important, and also most neglected, parts of a scientific paper. Here the investigators describe exactly how they did the research: how they set it up, what measurements were taken, what mathematical methods were used to analyze the data, etc. The methods section is where eligibility criteria (who was, and was not, allowed in a clinical trial) and endpoints (the exact definition of what is to be measured, and why) are defined. It is also in the methods section that the primary hypothesis and secondary objectives (introduced in the rationale) are specified in full detail.
In the case of our fictional "X-100" trial, the hypothesis might go something like this: "In adults with CD4 counts between 50 and 300, who have HIV RNA (viral load) of over ten thousand while on a protease inhibitor containing regimen, X-100 provides a greater and more prolonged decrease in HIV RNA compared to an optimized regimen using approved agents, guided by genotypic resistance testing." The study then attempts to prove (or disprove) this hypothesis. Secondary objectives might compare X-100 with standard treatments on the bases of toxicity, quality of life, or other important considerations.
In this age of high technology, with sophisticated tests like HIV RNA, sometimes the focus drifts from the specific and detailed construction of the hypothesis. It's tempting to add all kinds of extra measurements to a trial without first being clear about exactly what questions they will address. More than one scientist has observed that properly framing and describing the research question is half the job. By starting with a clearly thought out and well-described research question, much of the subsequent planning is just filling in blanks for the specifics that are dictated by the nature of the question itself. [One amusing sociological side note on the methods section: At scientific conferences you can always spot someone who works in the same field as an author -- they jump straight to the methods section, just as others tend to skip past it. But after all, if they're in the same discipline, they hardly need convincing of the background and rationale!]
The heart of a paper, the results section presents the actual findings of the study. You also will read a description of what the conditions were at the start of the trial. In our fictional X-100 trial, we might see a summary of the patients' baseline (at the beginning) CD4s, their viral loads, their history of AIDS-related conditions, and, since this is a salvage trial, probably a summary of their previous treatment histories. In terms of the actual results themselves, we might expect to see the average viral loads of the group who got X-100 compared to those who didn't. We also might see information about the duration of response, relative rates of clinical disease, toxicities, and other objectives of the trial. We can certainly expect to see all the data relating to the objectives described in the methods section. Editorializing about the meaning and implications of the results is supposed to be restricted to the discussion section. Rarely are things divided this neatly, though, and the results section can contain a fair amount of analysis and sometimes, spin.
This is where the authors try to wrap up the whole package. The findings are discussed in the context laid out in the background and rationale, and the significance of the results is established. In general, this is the most editorial section of the paper, where authors not only discuss the raw data, but attempt to generalize (extend) these findings to groups of people who were not in the trial. By nature, some speculation is not only tolerated but expected, even if it's as bland as "X-100 holds great promise for the treatment of HIV-infected individuals failing existing therapies."
Now that we have discussed how a paper is constructed, we can get to the interesting stuff -- the actual contents of the paper. Of the thousands of papers published every year, some are far more reliable and relevant than others. There are certain specific characteristics you can look for when deciding which papers to trust and use for making important decisions.
Who Is Telling You This?
It may seem very obvious, but one of the most important criteria for evaluating any piece of information is to consider its source. Many people feel more comfortable with research coming from a university or the National Institutes of Health than if it comes from a drug company. It's only recently that most research designed to lead to U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of a company's new drug application (NDA) has primarily come from trials conducted by drug companies or by hand-picked teams of investigators. These studies are often the first and only source of information available about a new drug. Obviously it would be naïve and unproductive to ignore this research just because of the source, but knowing the source can certainly help you to critically evaluate the research, and may affect how much you are willing to take on faith.
Sad as it is, it's not just drug companies that have a personal stake in "favorable" research results. The careers of modern-day academics flourish or die based on the papers they publish. And rarely does anyone publish papers with negative results (those where the experiment failed). So there's considerable psychic pressure on everybody involved with trials to produce positive research results. Furthermore, many people feel that data is inherently less trustworthy when it's been summarized and presented by someone with a financial stake in the outcome. Fortunately, more and more journals are adopting policies that obligate investigators with a financial stake in the research results to disclose their interests.
One relatively little-known fact is the significance of the last author listed. Obviously, everybody looks at the name of the lead author. The research is likely to be their personal project and they probably have more tied up in terms of time, thought, and effort than anyone else (although let's not forget the grad student who is probably listed fifth or sixth). But the last author in the list is usually the senior scientist in whose lab the work was done. So intramural (on-campus) research at the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) always lists Anthony Fauci, the director of NIAID and its several labs, as the last author, even when his only participation was advisory.
Looking Forward, Looking Back (Prospective vs. Retrospective Designs)
One of the things that can most affect the usefulness and generalizability of a study is whether it was prospective or retrospective. A prospective study is an experiment that is designed to answer a specific question (prospective -- meaning literally "looking forward"), with every aspect of the design meant to facilitate getting that particular answer. Alternatively, a retrospective study starts with a bunch of information that was collected for some other purpose (maybe not even with research in mind. Clinic charts are a good example). The investigator then tries to answer a new question by piggybacking onto the existing set of data.
Retrospective designs can never produce the kind of convincing results that prospective studies can, for reasons I will shortly discuss. However, prospective designs are not always practical or possible. For example, if we wanted to know if the introduction of HAART had a major impact on AIDS-related dementia, we would have to look at people from the pre-HAART era to make that comparison. This is a question we simply cannot answer prospectively today. It would be criminal to deprive PWAs of optimal treatment simply to do that study.
Sometimes there may be only a narrow window of time during which one can answer a question prospectively. In the example above, dementia-related questions could have been included in the initial trials of HAART when the new combinations were being compared to only one or two drugs. Today, however, we know that HAART is effective and that no one should be denied it. But in the case of our mythical X-100, since we don't really know what effect it has yet, we have a unique opportunity to collect some neurocognitive data that lets us compare X-100 to standard HAART for prevention of dementia.
One of the biggest problems with retrospective data is that we have no idea who was excluded from the data set, and why. For example, if we used chart review to try to get an idea of who had dementia in the early nineties, we might stumble into some unexpected pitfalls. It's possible that one particular clinic had a very good relationship with the neurology clinic, so that all potential dementia cases were taken to neurology for evaluation and diagnosis. This clinic might report a high rate of dementia. Another clinic that serves many people with multiple addictions might not carefully distinguish between early dementia and other cognitive problems. They'd report a low rate of incidence. One of the biggest problems with missing data is that, by definition, we don't know how much data are missing or why they are missing. One of the advantages of a prospective design is that we can make sure that all participants have, say, their neurocognitive functions measured in the same way at baseline, so that we do not have to compare apples and oranges.
Next Month
In our next installment, we'll look at inclusion and exclusion criteria, endpoints, and then we'll flip a few coins to understand the role that chance plays in all of this.
If you live in New York and would like to read some of the scientific information about HIV/AIDS, visit GMHC's Treatment Education Library. The address is 119 West 24 Street on the 7th floor.
The Treatment Library offers a wide range of information about HIV/AIDS -- from easy-to-read pamphlets to the latest scientific journals. The friendly staff can also help you search for information and abstracts on the Internet. Basic classes on using the Internet are offered for people living with HIV/AIDS. Call 212/367-1458 for more information or to make an appointment to use the library.
Click here to see Part 2.
Click here to see Part 3.
Back to the GMHC Treatment Issues April 2001 contents page.


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Thu, 21 May 2009
Adrian Goldsworthy has some more theories about "How Rome Fell". Oliver North with "American Heroes" and responds to the Obama closing of Gitmo. Iowans respond to the Cheney rebuttal. Spirited. Totally unrelated to anything on the air, here's a couple of music videos which are great.
Direct download: mickelson-2009-05-21.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 9:35am CDT


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Our Resumé
Event name: Metcash Food and Grocery Expo, annually, from Year 2000
Client: Metcash
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Star was dx in April 2009 with what they thought was rectal cancer. When she went in for the biopsy, the doctor/ surgeon took out her anal sphinter as well as performing the biopsy. She didn't start chemo ( mitomycin & 5-FU) once a week and radiation until July of '09. She was given a PET scan shortly there after and it showed the cancer was found in her lymph nodes on the left side of her groin. After completeing her chemo and radiation, the oncologist's told her she was in remission and everything was fine.
Fast forward to November 11, 2010...She had found some lumps on the right side of her groin and it was found that the cancer did in fact come back. It was also found that not only did the cancer come back to the groin area, but it spread to her labia, and anus and nodes. Now she was staged at lllb Squamous Cell Carcinoma. This time around she went to a NCI hospital in Madison, WI. And she found an old pathology report, dated from April 2009, which stated in black and white, she was dx with SCC of the anus in situ. She started Cisplatin once a week along with radiation everyday for 4 weeks, then will stop the radiation and continue with the high doses of Cisplatin for the next four weeks. When she went back to the onco she explained that she felt her lumps were coming back and they told her they didn't think it was cancer.
In March of 2011... She contacted me and told me she was scared that the doctors weren't listening to her and she was afraid that she would be staged very soon at lV or worse. I made some calls and sent her to Dr.Amy Halverson who specializes in anal cancer out of Northwestern University , Chicago,Il. Star contacted them and they told her the doctor's she was seeing at the NCI hospital knew what they were doing, but they would look at her to see if perhaps they could help a bit more as Dr. Halverson specializes in anal ca. Her apointment was for March 2012 and guess what they found.......Her thoughts were right, she was now told she had less then a year to live, she was in fact..in end stage. They told her they couldn't do anymore surgery because of all the radiation she had and that she could continue with the chemo, but Star, didn't want to. So they put her on some maintanence drugs and she basically left treatment to go and live her life as best as she could.
In June 2012 she saw her first born grand daughter being born and spent a few months in TN with her son and daughter -inlaw and the new baby. She started to take vitamins and learned some relaxation tips and started swimming for exercise, she seemed to be doing rather well honestly. The lumps were still growing but not causing her any pain. In January of this year she started hospice and the cancer had spread into her thighs and she no longer could walk as she was wheelchair bound and her fatigued levels were getting the best of her. Last month the pain was getting worse and at our last phone call, her and her husband were planning a trip back to TN to see their granddaughter turn 1. As of today March 5,2012 she is still living and beating the odds.


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Joseph Feinberg MD, FACS
About the Practice
Practice Specialization
Breast Implants
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Joseph Feinberg MD is a recognized leader in the field of cosmetic surgery having practiced, on the North shore of Long Island since 1978.
Dr. Feinberg did his under graduated work at Cornell University followed by a medical degree from Cornell University Medical college.
He received his general surgical and plastic surgical residency training at New York Hospital - Cornell University Medical Center
Along with a reconstructive fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Teaching Appointments
Dr. Feinberg is an Assistant Professor of Plastic surgery at Weill Medical College at Cornell University.
Publications and Presentations
Dr. Feinberg has been listed in the Castle-Connolly Best Doctor guide since its inception and the NewYork Magazine Best Doctors.
Affiliations & Memberships
Hospital Affiliations
Dr. Feinberg is an attending physician at New York Presbyterian Hospital, St.Francis Hospital, and North Shore/LIJ Hospitals. He is an Assistant Professor of Plastic surgery at Weill Medical College at Cornell University.
Joseph Feinberg MD, FACS
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Request More Information
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Phone: 516-869-6200


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Based out of the legendary NYC music scene, Electric Sun is a collective destined to rock your world. Their...
Archive for category: Electric Sun
ELECTRIC SUN "DON'T LOOK BACK" VIDEO PREMIERES ON AOLken, , Bands, Electric Sun, News, Don't Look Back, Electric Sun, The Gilded Cage, 0
RECORDED LIVE GIBSON STUDIO SESSION Electric Sun "Don't Look Back" video exclusively premieres on AOL. You can watch it...
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Virtualization, in the business world, is a sound economic choice. Buying fewer pieces of hardware with more memory and larger disks, for running farms of virtual servers, makes more financial sense than buying hardware for each machine you need in your server environment. However, those server farms, while saving you money, may or may not conform to the rest of your security policy. You can't make the automatic assumption that whatever you're doing to automate security for the rest of your environment will apply to your virtual machines, because by default, it won't. For instance, if you are using a vulnerability scanner on your network, which you should be doing, it's not going to pick up the virtual machines on your network unless you configure your VM host to allow it to do so. This configuration is not something that's enabled by default, in general, so you have to keep it in mind. The scanner might detect that you have virtual machines but not be able to detect vulnerabilities on them without further configuration. Even so, the components that allow for the visibility you need might not be available on all versions of the virtual platform. If you're running enterprise-level server farms, then you should be fine; you should be able to configure the virtual switches to allow for network scanner and IDS visibility. But what if some of your technicians are running virtual labs off their desktop machines using a non-enterprise level platform? Not only will they be less likely to have hardened the host machine (although, certainly, it should conform to your desktop policies at least), but your scanners are not going to have visibility into the virtual networks. And unless you have some kind of managed desktop solution, you can't prevent them from running that type of virtual lab environment. If virtual machines are communicating with the Internet or otherwise network-accessible, it's also possible to fall victim to a type of attack known as "VM escape", where an attacker uses malicious code to "break out" of the virtual environment and access the underlying host, giving him access to all the other virtual machines on that host and access to your network as well. So in a worst-case scenario, let's say that you have a server farm where even just one virtual machine access the Internet for whatever reason, and is attacked in this way. Suddenly the attacker has access to your entire server farm, which, unless it's successfully isolated from the rest of your network, can give him full network access as well. Or, back to the example of the technician with the virtual lab, now your desktops are compromised. Obviously I am simplifying the possible scenarios, and certainly there are patches and hardening techniques that are available to combat the security issues that come with virtualizing your enterprise. But keep in mind that virtualization is not merely a matter of economics; it needs to be part of your security strategy as well.
Guest Blogger
Going 'virtual' introduces a whole new set of potential vulnerabilities
Recommended for You


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|Home | Stories | News | Theaters | Drive-Ins | Profiles | The Authors | Other Books | Links
|Strand Theatre - Columbia, SC
Photo from the collection
of Malcolm Samuel Suggs, City Manager of the
seven Columbia Theatres in the Wilby-Kincey Theatre Chain - Charlotte, NC.
(Palmetto, Ritz, Strand, Carolina, 5 Points, Star-Lite Drive-In and later the Richland Mall.)
During WWII, Fort Jackson was the major Infantry Training Base for the US Army and the soldiers were allowed Sunday day-passes to leave the fort. Downtown theatres were the main attraction. Often they stood in lines around the block for the length of the feature to get a seat. The theatres opened at 1:00 pm and the last show was around 9:00 pm, getting out at 11:00. More than likely, a late show was helf after 11:00 to accommodate the crowds.
Photos by Charles
Old Studio - Columbia
|Home | Stories | News | Theaters | Drive-Ins | Profiles | The Authors | Other Books | Links


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December 13, 2007
By JOHN FLOWERS
MIDDLEBURY — The UD-3 school board on Tuesday agreed to send voters a proposed 2008-2009 spending plan of $15 million and a request to spend almost $400,000 in surplus funds on security and energy efficiency upgrades to the Middlebury Union high school and middle school buildings.
The proposed budget places the district safely below the per-pupil spending penalty threshold prescribed under the state's education funding law. Under that law, districts that spend 125 percent of the statewide average per-pupil spending level are taxed at a higher rate, with the "penalty" revenues used to help pay for education in poorer towns.
Addison Central Supervisory Union Superintendent Lee Sease said the draft budget reflects a 4.73 percent increase in overall spending compared to the current year.
District officials are still firming up numbers on how the budget will affect taxpayers in the UD-3 member communities of Middlebury, Cornwall, Weybridge, Shoreham, Ripton, Salisbury and Bridport. The UD-3 budget reflects education expenses for both MUHS and MUMS.
Sease acknowledged that the district was in large part able to keep its budget under the state's per-pupil spending threshold because 12 teachers have voiced interest in participating in an early retirement program. This program will allow the district to either keep some of the positions unfilled or hire new teachers at a lower wage scale.
But Sease added a cautionary note about the retirements in a recent memo to UD-3 board members.
"These early retirements have not been fully processed," Sease wrote. "If for some reason these retirements do not come to pass, then substantial reductions-in-force will need to be made to meet the budget as presented."
By ANDY KIRKALDY
VERGENNES — A chronic funding shortfall could end a summer childcare program that has served up to 100 Vergennes-area children and their families in recent years.
Mary Johnson Childcare Center co-director Ilana Snyder said the Vergennes Summer School Age Program has been losing between $20,000 and $25,000 annually for the past three years. After seeing the latest numbers at the end of this past summer the MJCC board voted to pull the plug unless more funding could be found.
But MJCC officials are still working on ways to pay for the program, which has operated either at Vergennes Union Elementary School or Vergennes Union High School in recent years and was based at VUHS this past summer.
No one who knows the program — which offers arts, sports, field trips, swimming, and other activities, plus lunches — wants to see it end, Snyder said: Many working-class families rely on it for childcare while schools are out of session, and it also serves many families whose tuition is subsidized by the state.
"It would be a loss for that community," she said. "A hundred kids with no place to go … That's an issue. That's a cause for concern."
Families not helped by the state paid $125 a week last summer for the seven-week, full-day program, which has operated when schools are closed and grew out of the Roxanne Bannister Provencher summer recreation program in the 1990s.
Snyder said MJCC is pursuing additional state funding and private grants for the program, which is too expensive for tuition alone to support.
December 13, 2007
By MEGAN JAMES and ANDY KIRKALDY
LINCOLN — The Sargent family of Lincoln will have lots of venison in the freezer this winter and stories to share for years to come thanks to a fortunate combination of hunting acumen and good luck last week.
First Stanley Sargent bagged a trophy buck with one shot from his muzzleloader, then three days later his son Brett Sargent felled an even bigger buck, also with a single shot.
"Always the bridesmaid, never the bride," Stanley said with a wry smile in his voice when asked how he felt upon learning that his son had got the bigger buck. Then he added, "Really, I'm tickled."
It started on Wednesday, Dec. 5. "Everybody had been up there looking for this deer," Stanley said that afternoon, as he nudged the 160-pound animal back into the bed of his truck, blood dripping onto the snow beneath it as he closed the rear gate.
Early that morning he swapped deer stories with fellow hunters while filling up on breakfast at Kinfolk Kountry Restaurant in Bristol. He'd been in the hospital only a week before for a hernia operation, so he hadn't been able to hunt in Vermont muzzleloader season yet.
"If I get one, someone's going to have to help me out," he recalled telling the folks at the restaurant.
Sargent left Kinfolk, and not half a mile up the road, he saw the deer on the edge of the woods, evidently in pursuit of a doe, he said. He pulled over, grabbed his muzzleloader, got out of his truck and shot.
"I see feet flying and horns flying everywhere," he said. But he didn't have any powder left. He'd put his pouch full of muzzleloader paraphernalia away earlier this fall after hunting in New York during muzzleloader season there. After his surgery, Sargent forgot to put it back in his truck.
MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE SOPHOMORE Elizabeth Goffe belts out a tune during a showcase of student jazz performances held in the college's Center for the Arts last Thursday evening.
Independent photo/Trent Campbell
December 10, 2007
By MEGAN JAMES
ADDISON COUNTY — René Nill never imagined she would get college credit for the work she did as a child on her parents' rabbit farm, or her experience as a paste-up artist at a printing company. But the 47-year-old Vergennes resident found there was plenty she had already learned before setting foot in a Community College of Vermont classroom two years ago. All she needed was a way to articulate that learning.
That's what she found in the Assessment of Prior Learning (APL) course she took at CCV last year. The course, which is being offered again this spring at seven different locations around the state, including Burlington and Rutland, assists adult students in the preparation of individual portfolios through which they request credit for learning acquired on the job, through volunteer work or even in self-taught hobbies.
"Students do not get credit for experience, they get credit for learning through experience," said Gabrielle Dietzel, coordinator of assessment services for the Office of External Programs of the Vermont State Colleges, which evaluates the completed portfolios.
The program, which is one of the oldest of its kind in the country, has been offered for 30 years, but Dietzel said she's seen a rise in enrollment since returning to college after years in the working world has become more common in recent years.
"Adults are going back to school in huge masses," she said. "A lot of our students have a business background. They've risen through the ranks in their company … Now they're 50 years old and they realize that not getting a degree is holding them back from getting promotions. Or they simply want a degree."
BRIDPORT — Ask most people to share their views about the relationship between Israel and Palestine and they will describe a political conflict of epic proportions that is often punctuated by tanks, missiles and suicide bombs.
But a Bridport couple recently returned from the Middle East with a far different take on the state of Palestinian-Israeli relations. Diane Nancekivell and Tom Baskett spent two weeks in the region as part of a tour co-sponsored by Interfaith Peace-Builders and the American Friends Service Committee. They were part of a delegation that toured Israel and Palestine, speaking to many regular folks and citizens' groups that are quietly working on peaceful solutions to one of the world's most volatile disputes.
The simmering feud centers on land claims dating back at least to the mid-1940s and the establishment of an Israeli nation under a United Nations plan. Palestinians have seen their territory shrink over the years and have sought to reclaim territories they believe are rightfully theirs. Israel has disputed those claims.
"We think it's very important for people to understand the truth over there, that it's not one group that is good and another that is bad," said Nancekivell, a retired Episcopal dean and assisting priest at St. Stephen's Church in Middlebury. "It's about two nations trying to find a way to share the land, feel secure in a sense of national identity and prosper in the future."
Nancekivell had been to the region before, as part of a trip organized by Sabeel — a Palestinian Christian organization. She enjoyed her time, and this year wanted to go with her husband. Baskett, a Quaker and retired psychotherapist, was game for the journey.
December 10, 2007
By CYRUS LEVESQUE
MIDDLEBURY — Health care is a highly stressful field with a risk of mental or emotional burnout, according to Diana Scholl, chaplain at Porter Hospital. Many medical professionals have found a way to deal with that stress through a new way to approach medicine: reading and discussing literature.
Scholl has helped run Porter's Literature and Medicine program, a book club for doctors, nurses and others in the health care business in the Middlebury area. She says that reading about and discussing the inner lives of others can make a big difference.
"You have to have some way to deal with (burnout), and this gives people a way," said Scholl, who in addition to being chaplain is one of Porter Hospital's liaisons to the Vermont Humanities Council.
The club began about five years ago. The Vermont Humanities Council offers grants to help such programs get started, but Scholl said that Porter has paid its expenses for the past four years. Most participants are nurses and doctors at Porter, but the club also includes administrative and cafeteria staff at Porter, employees of Community Associates and other area medical practitioners that aren't affiliated with Porter Medical Center, and retired medical professionals.
According to Scholl, most hospitals in Vermont have similar book clubs, but Porter's is the most successful in terms of the number of members and consistent attendance. At the Dec. 6 meeting there were 20 guests.
The club's activities sometimes include attendance at cultural events like movies and plays, in addition to reading books. They also discuss a related method called narrative medicine, which encourages doctors and nurses to think of a patient's problem as a story rather than as a collection of symptoms and medication.
NOAH QUESNEL, 5, of Middlebury gets in the spirit of the occasion during a visit with Santa Claus Saturday morning at the Community House in Middlebury.
Independent photo/Trent Campbell
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Showdown over Ukraine sparks Cold War-style propaganda battle
Fed up with the Russian government's false claims early in the Ukraine crisis, the State Department issued an unusual, point-by-point takedown along with a cheeky note that said not since 19th-century novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky had the world seen such "startling Russian fiction."
The jab didn't seem to hurt in Moscow. A pro-Kremlin newspaper columnist mocked the Obama administration's "excellent knowledge of Russian literature." And an undeterred President Vladimir Putin spent the next several weeks polishing his narrative of a strong Russia standing up to Western imperialism in order to protect a vulnerable ethnic Russian population from an illegitimate, Nazi-infiltrated new Ukrainian leadership.
In retaliation, the State Department fired off a second literary-themed fact sheet: "Russian Fiction the Sequel: 10 More False Claims about Ukraine."
Such calculated repartee is familiar to historians and analysts of the Cold War, who've noticed a resurgence of that era's disinformation and propaganda tactics in Russia's showdown with the United States and Europe over its military activities in and near neighboring Ukraine.
The issue came into even sharper focus this week, when tens of thousands of Russians packed Moscow's Red Square for a May Day parade _ the first since the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was a cannily timed revival that went well beyond celebrating workers' rights and included slogans approving of Putin's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region over the objections of the United States and its allies.
"From the Russian side, propaganda-wise, you see a lot of talking about the West as a monolithic body. It's 'us versus the West,' very much in the way the Cold War was," said Vince Houghton, a scholar of Soviet-era foreign policy and in-house historian at the International Spy Museum, a privately operated museum in downtown Washington that exhibits Cold War spy ware and propaganda artifacts.
Unlike in those days, however, the U.S. government's response to Russia's spiel appears far more muted. In part, that's in keeping with the Obama administration's efforts to avoid foreign entanglement unless there's a direct threat to U.S. interests.
But, say critics, it's also a reflection of how Washington turned its gaze away from Moscow's information campaigns after the Soviet Union dissolved, and has downsized or dismantled the U.S. agencies that were tasked with countering such propaganda.
John Lenczowski, who was Ronald Reagan's principal Soviet affairs adviser and is now the president of the Institute of World Politics, touched on that topic at a recent event called "Propaganda, Disinformation and Dirty Tricks: the Resurgence of Russian Political Warfare," sponsored by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research center in Washington.
The United States used to have a working group dedicated to combating Russian "active measures," a term of art that encompasses disinformation, forgeries and other propaganda-style activities. Lenczowski said the U.S. monitors picked up intelligence, analyzed it, declassified it and then sent it out to foreign governments and editorial boards to build awareness of Soviet activities.
At the end of the Cold War, Lenczowski said, the Russian agencies in charge of active measures were simply reshuffled but never truly reformed, and many of the practitioners, including former KGB spy Putin, remain in government. That wasn't the case in the United States, where those functions largely disappeared.
"There's a tremendous institutional memory within Russia today about how this was done during Soviet days," Lenczowski said. "Unfortunately, we have stopped tracking these kinds of things in the U.S. government."
The U.S. side is invoking the old tactic of juxtaposing repression in Russia with freedoms in the West, warning that Putin's worldview is outdated and puts his nation at risk of becoming a pariah state _ a refrain that comes up each time Washington defends the effectiveness of sanctions it's slapped on Russian businesses and business leaders.
And those recent State Department releases quoting a beloved Russian novelist?
"It's not something brand-new. It's very reminiscent of the 'Dr. Zhivago' operation," said Houghton, the spy museum historian.
He was referring to a covert CIA operation that during the Cold War smuggled Boris Pasternak's Nobel Prize-winning novel behind the Iron Curtain and into the hands of thousands of Russian readers. The Soviet government had banned "Dr. Zhivago" for its critique of communist rule. An internal CIA memo from the time noted its "great propaganda value"; the agency even funded the publication of a lightweight paperback edition that could be easily concealed in a jacket pocket.
The Zhivago stunt came to light only last month, when the CIA declassified nearly 100 documents related to the operation. The timing, Houghton said, was no coincidence.
Russian actions, however, are outpacing the U.S. response, with bolder and more provocative statements from the Kremlin each day, according to analysts who watch Moscow's messaging.
One battle in this information war is waged 140 characters at a time, with the State Department and Russian Foreign Ministry squaring off on Twitter over the hashtag #UnitedForUkraine.
Initially conceived in the United States as a label to promote Ukraine's upcoming elections and highlight the country's democratic progress, the hashtag was hijacked by Russia to smear the Kiev politicians. This week, the Russian Foreign Ministry used #UnitedForUkraine in a tweet that said, "Kiev authorities making situation in #Ukraine catastrophic."
Richard Stengel, a former Time magazine editor who's now the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, used a State Department blog this week to rattle off evidence that Moscow is subjecting "the rest of the world to an intense campaign of disinformation that tries to paint a dangerous and false picture of Ukraine's legitimate government."
Stengel noted how Russia's RT network, which Kerry described last month as a "propaganda bullhorn," manipulated a leaked telephone call to suggest that a former Ukrainian prime minister was advocating violence against Russia. He also noted the "ludicrous assertion" that the United States has invested $5 billion to foment regime change in Ukraine.
"These are not facts, and they are not opinions," Stengel wrote. "They are false claims, and when propaganda poses as news it creates real dangers and gives a green light to violence."
Meanwhile, Putin continues to deny that his forces are behind unrest in separatist enclaves in eastern Ukraine. He's made other statements that range from bizarre, such as claiming the Internet is a "CIA project," to brazen, such as referring to areas of eastern Ukraine as "Novorussia," or New Russia.
Still, message control isn't what it used to be in the Cold War. With the ubiquity of social media and online news portals, it's much easier and faster today to fact-check official lines, seek alternative viewpoints and chat directly with ordinary citizens nearly 5,000 miles away. That can lead to more nuance and independence in popular opinion.
Take Anastasia Vikhoreva, a 17-year-old Russian exchange student from St. Petersburg who on a recent morning said she had conflicting emotions while visiting the Red Terror exhibit in the Spy Museum with some American friends. She posed for a picture in front of a portrait of the founder of the KGB, the legendary Soviet spy agency where Putin was a colonel, and admitted that the Russian martial music playing in the room gave her nationalist stirrings.
"When I hear this, songs about war and stuff, I'm, like, 'Yes!' " she said.
Vikhoreva wasn't moved enough, however, to support a wider operation in Ukraine, and she said she feared that growing international isolation might leave Russia with just China as an ally. So does she buy Putin's line about standing up to the West and defending ethnic Russians in and around Ukraine?
"It might be a not very patriotic thing, but, honestly, I do not, because Vladimir Putin is not the best person, not the best president that we can have," Vikhoreva said.
Perhaps wary of running afoul of the Kremlin after such an unflattering description, the Russian teen gave a little laugh and quickly added a conciliatory aside to her president: "Sorry, sir!"


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The National Cycle Network is signed using a system modelled on the Danish Cycle Network and adopted by the Department for Transport, the Scottish Government, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Executive. The same system is now being adopted by a number of other European countries.
The signs show the number of the route that is being followed. National route numbers are shown against a red patch and regional route numbers are shown against a blue patch.
National routes
The national route numbering system is similar to the original A-road numbering system introduced in the 1920's, with primary routes radiating clockwise from London, and their branches adding digits to the primary number.
National Cycle Network routes beginning with numbers 1-6 are generally in England, those beginning with 7 start in the far north of England and Scotland. Those beginning with 8 are generally in Wales and those starting with 9 are in Northern Ireland.
Please note that some of these routes currently consist of incomplete sections. Click on the links to visit the individual route pages for further information and a breakdown of the route into stages.
National Route 1 runs from Dover to the Shetlands via London, the east coast of the UK, Edinburgh, John o'Groats and the Orkneys. Branches are mainly in the East of England, numbered 10 to 19.
National Route 2 runs along the south coast of England, from Dover to St. Austell with branches numbered in the twenties.
National Route 3 goes from Bristol to Land's End in Cornwall, includes the West Country Way & the Cornish Way and has branches numbered in the thirties.
National Route 4 runs from London to Fishguard on the west coast of Wales, with branches numbered in the forties, many of which are in South Wales.
National Route 5 runs from Reading up through Birmingham via Chester, along the North Wales coast to Holyhead. It has branches numbered in the fifties, generally in central England.
National Route 6 connects London to the Lake District, with branches numbered in the sixties. One of these is the Pennine Cycleway from Derby to Berwick-on-Tweed.
National Route 7 goes from Sunderland to Inverness, with branches in the seventies in Northern England and Scotland. All Scottish routes are in the seventies apart from National Route 1.
National Route 8 is called Lôn Las Cymru and runs from Cardiff to Holyhead through the heart of Wales. It has branches in the eighties, predominantly in Wales.
National Route 9 presently runs from Belfast to Newry but is planned to continue to Dublin. All other routes in Northern Ireland are in the nineties.
National Route 10 runs from Cockermouth to North Shields as the majority of The Reivers Cycle Route. Roughly parallel to the C2C and Hadrian's Cycleway it is a branch of National Route 1.
Regional routes
Regional routes are an integral part of the National Cycle Network, serving to link more areas and towns to the Network.
Sharing the same characteristics as national routes, regional routes include a number of established county cycle routes.
Sustrans is currently embarking on a project to re-number and re-classify regional routes as national routes, which comprises the allocation of new two- and three-digit numbers to the routes in the same fashion as detailed above, making each route a branch of an established national route.
The present regional route numbering system that is being phased out, divides the UK into ten regions with regional routes numbered 10-99 within each region. The signing convention is the same as for the national routes except for using a blue, rather than red number patch.


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Jacaru Australia Pty Ltd
Australia is a land like no other.
Welcome to the country where the dreaming begins, where white cockatoo's cry to greet the morning air and Kangaroos leap against brilliant sunset skies. From golden coastlines, endless sun baked horizons, to dense tropical rainforest this land of red earth, stretches as far as the eye can see. Scattered along the coasts, our cities blend a European enthusiasm for art and food with a laid-back love of sport and the outdoors.
Established in 1969, the Jacaru brand reflects the spirit that is Australia - wild, untameable, strong and courageous! From humble beginnings Jacaru has established itself as one of Australia's finest accessories brands, selling in over 50 countries worldwide.
Jacaru hats are as unique as the people who wear them. Our hats are made tough - to withstand the rugged conditions of this sun burnt land. Our customers enjoy quality craftsmanship that will last a life time.
Using first grade materials throughout the range, Jacaru craft quality hats with infinite patience and unmatchable strength.100% Australian made, Jacaru craftspeople work tirelessly to bring you the best.
Jacaru - Australia's finest. Since 1969


text:
Following Friday's loss to ETSU, the Lipscomb women's tennis team traveled a state over to take on USC Upstate. Unfortunately, the team couldn't win their second road match of the weekend, losing 5-2.
The doubles team of Deahna Welcher and Jenny Borck walked away with a victory, while Borck and Melissa Kromer won their singles matches.
Coach Andrew Harris said that the team planned to begin the day strong in doubles, but that changed as the set went on.
"We wanted to break things down very straight forward with the girls Saturday in doubles starting off," Harris said. "We want them to keep their energy up and focus on finishing at the net. For the most part, that held constant through the doubles until we got through the later stages of the pro set."
Harris said the play of USC Upstate was a large factor in the team's loss.
"Upstate's players executed the shots when they had opportunities," Harris said. "The same could be said for the singles. When we have the momentum in matches it's imperative that we sustain that momentum and don't give it back."
LU, 7-12 overall, 2-5 in the conference, will face a quick turnaround with a match against Ole Miss at the Huston-Marsh-Griffith Tennis Center on Tuesday, April 9.
Box score
USC Upstate 5, Lipscomb 2
Apr 06, 2013 at Spartanburg, S.C. (Upstate Tennis Complex)
Singles competition
1. Isabel von Stryk (UPSTW) def. Deahna Welcher (LIPW) 2-6, 6-0, 6-4
2. Constanze Kuerten (UPSTW) def. Lorena Djuknic (LIPW) 6-4, 6-0
3. Melissa Kromer (LIPW) def. Talia Rojas (UPSTW) 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 10-7
4. Jenny Borck (LIPW) def. Taylor Cohen (UPSTW) 6-4, 6-1
5. Allison Beeler (UPSTW) def. Alyssa Bellini (LIPW) 7-6 (4-0), 6-3
6. Julie Bell (UPSTW) def. Shilpa Naruka (LIPW) 6-4, 6-2
1. Deahna Welcher/Jenny Borck (LIPW) def. Taylor Cohen/Julie Bell (UPSTW) 8-7 (7-5)
2. Isabel von Stryk/Talia Rojas (UPSTW) def. Alyssa Bellini/Lorena Djuknic (LIPW) 8-2
3. Allison Beeler/Constanze Kuerten (UPSTW) def. Shilpa Naruka/Melissa Kromer (LIPW) 8-3
Match Notes
Lipscomb 7-12, 2-5 A-Sun
USC Upstate 12-5, 4-2 A-Sun
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (6,2,4,5,1,3)


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Join us for our first improv comedy show of 2018 at The Arts at Marks in Chinatown!
Featuring some of Hawaii's top players and special guests!
Cost: $15 online or $20 at the door
Parking: Street, Paid Garage or Valet
Doors: 7:30pm
Showtime: 8pm
Start off the new year with some IMPROV AWESOMENESS!
Improvhi will be offering a FREE improv workshop on Monday, January 6th from 7pm – 8:30pm. After the class, participants are welcome to stay to jam with fellow players in a 20 minute "show."
Great way to meet and mingle with fun folks!
Must be present to sign up. No "saving spaces."
Sign ups will begin at Arts at Marks at 6:45pm. Once the list is filled, the workshop will be closed.
Open to all levels! Come out to learn something new or freshen up your chops for the new year. LET'S PLAY!
This improvhi workshop will focus on several types of openings for long form sets. Players will have the opportunity to explore different ways to generate information for a fun, focused and idea filled show!
Participants should have some long form improv experience.
Workshop cost: $25
When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that's…IMPROV!
Join us for a special LOVE THEMED musical improv comedy show at Arts at Marks in Chinatown.
Perfect night out for couples, singles, awkward dates and more!
Cost: $15 online or $20 at the door
Parking: Street, Paid Garage or Valet
Doors: 7:30pm
Showtime: 8pm
21 & over only.
You've seen musicals. You've seen improv. You've seen musical improv and now you'd like to try it, right? RIGHT?
Improvisation is a great way to break out of your shell. MUSICAL improv is a great way to break out of your shell with an extra side of jazz hands!
In this two part workshop, students will learn the basics of musical improv comedy. This class will focus on song structure, on the fly group movement, building want songs, and incorporating songs into scenes.
NO MUSICAL TRAINING REQUIRED*. Seriously. This will be a fun, non-judgemental space where you will be to express your voice the way you want to.
Accompanist will be provided.
Class dates: Monday, February 5th and 12th
Class times: 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Class cost: $60
*Participants should have some theatre or improv knowledge.
Class space is limited.
We're heading back to our birthplace for a FREE Improv Comedy Show!
Back in 2012, improvhi.com was created in a little Kaka'ako co-working space located at 685 Auahi street. When that place closed down, improvhi.com returned to that same address to ANOTHER co-working space to teach classes and hold shows. Once again…685 Auahi Street calls us back to the arms of their new tenants…MORNING BREW!
We LOVE the Morning Brew team and CAN'T WAIT to partner up for a one night only (for now) comedy show!
Grab a drink, eat a snack and laugh your booty off with us.
PARKING: SALT Parking Garage or Street.
Recommended for 18 and over.
We're bring back the "Improvhi Test Kitchen!" A casual showcase where local folks whip up an original and delicious improv or sketch comedy recipe and YOU get to taste it!
Got an improv form that you've been wanting to try? Or maybe a sketch that you want to put on its feet?
Come on by and test it out. Open improv jam to follow. NEWBIES VERY WELCOME!
Sign ins begin a 7pm at Arts.
Each form or sketch will get about 12 minutes to play. Possibly more depending on the amount of sign ups.
Not too sweet.
Not too rancid.
Always original.
Come out and support local comedy and the arts!
Join for the opening night (and sadly the closing night) of OTTO CAKE: THE MUSICAL!
This entirely improvised musical comedy will feature everyone's favorite rockstar cake maker! Everything from the lines to the lyrics to the music to the fancy dance moves will be completely made up on the spot.
Show: 8:00pm
Doors: 7:30pm
Cost: $20
Parking: Street or Parking Garage
21 & over only.
We promise you've never seen a show like this before…
Ever watch shows like "Whose Line Is it Anyway" and think, "Hey…I wanna try that!" Well, now you can! Let the improvhi team introduce you to the wonderful and AWESOME world of improv comedy!
Whether you're wanting to break out of your shell, work on your public speaking skills or just want to get your brain a sweatin'…this class will guide you to thinking on your feet and outside of the box through short form improv games and warm ups. GREAT for groups, entrepreneurs, performers, dog walkers and anyone else that likes to have a good time with cool people.
No experience required. All levels welcome. Participants will learn in a fun, safe and non-judgemntal space.
All classes are held on Thursday evenings from 7pm – 8:30pm
April 5, 12, 19
$18 for one class
131 Hekili St Ste 203 ( in the row of warehouses behind retail stores and restaurants).
There are usually parking spaces in the lot in front of the theater and also spaces on Hekili St.
Space is limited.
Join us for some ULTIMATE IMPROV SHOWDOWN MADNESS! A tournament style night of improv featuring some of Hawaii's top players and special guests!
Cost: $15 online or $20 at the door
21 and over only


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Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Minor league update!
-T.J. Steele and Jay Austin will progress a level despite missing time with hamstring issues. (Steele to Corpus; Austin to Lancaster)
-Matt Nevarez could skip Lancaster and head to Corpus
Bennett, on Nevarez:
We're still getting to know him a little bit. He had a good instructional league last fall. We're going to keep the same open mind with him as we do with our other top prospects. His performance, to a certain extent, will dictate where he goes, but I'm of a mindset where we can challenge him. He's had huge success at low-A ball. He had a lot of strikeouts. The command of his fastball is pretty good. If he shows us that he can handle AA, I'd be open to it."
4 comments:
- Richard Keith Winters said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- February 16, 2010 at 9:50 PM
- Richard Keith Winters said...
Hey Astros County. Dominican Baseball Guy here. What's the deal with Jose Capellan? I was following his team (the gigantes) in the Dominican Winter League this year. He killed it down there, got named pitcher of the year. John Florentino(Hooks) only got in 1 game, but I got to meet him a few times in the DR and in Corpus. He is a great guy and I hope he gets a chance to play this year. Erick Abreu also pitched great in relief for Gigantes, but didn't see many innings. What do ya'll think about all these guys? Especially Capellan, like I said he was pitcher of year down there, great stats, but didn't seem to do that well in Round Rock last year.
- February 16, 2010 at 9:52 PM
- tpack said...
Good new on Steele and Austin. Might as well see what they have, especially with Steele who had success when healthy and isn't getting any younger. Hopefully the ballpark at Lancaster will...boost Austin's confidence?
- February 17, 2010 at 7:56 AM
- The Constable. said...
Capellan almost won the SP5 job for the Astros out of Spring Training in 2009, but Russ Ortiz edged him out, whereupon Capellan forgot how to throw the ball, or at least wasn't motivated enough to throw a strike.
I haven't seen anything regarding his status with the Astros organization in 2010, but I'm guessing he isn't coming back to Houston.
Good to hear about Abreu and Florentino...
- February 17, 2010 at 10:00 AM


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SJSU ERFA Application
The SJSU Emeritus and Retired Faculty Association (SJSU ERFA )invites you to become a member of our organization. You are eligible whether you are fully retired or still on FERP. The primary purpose of the SJSU ERFA is to maintain contact with friends and colleagues as the years go by. To do this, we provide an annual Directory with up-to-date addresses and mail out a newsletter five times a year. The latter provides news of events and changes taking place on campus and information about members. We also host occasional get-togethers: a "Holiday Celebration" every December and two luncheons each year, with speakers or entertainment provided. In addition, we schedule occasional field trips to museums, historical sites or places of interest throughout the Bay Area. You are welcome to participate in any or none of the events, as you see fit.
We are pleased to provide you with your first year's membership free of charge, to acquaint you with the organization. After that, membership dues are a mere $24.00 per year, primarily to cover the cost of mailings.
If you are interested, print and fill out the form below. Send it to the SJSU ERFA Treasurer: Abdel El-Shaieb, 5023 Wilma Way, San Jose, CA, 95124. Please include a check for $24.00 payable to SJSU ERFA (newly retired faculty need not send a check as the first year's membership is free). We will enter your name and contact information into our annual Directory, which is distributed to all members so they can contact friends and colleagues if they wish. Please write or print legibly, especially when recording e-mail addresses.
Name ______________________________ Home Phone _______________
Name of Spouse or Significant Other _______________________________
Street Address _________________________________________________
City/State/Zip _________________________________________________
SJSU Department _____________________________ Year Retired_______
EMail Address ___________________________________________
We will add you to the email distribution list at the address you give above.
Category: (Check one) Fully Retired ___ FERP ___ Surviving Spouse ___


text:
See source attribution and disclaimer notice
Derived from USGS and other event data. See details below.
Automated Preliminary Details – subject to review.
Magnitude 7.1 [subject to review and confirmation]
- Date-Time: 2015-12-04T22:24:54.520Z (utc)
- Earthquake location: 47.740°S, 85.183°E
- Seismic Region: 33 – Indian Ocean
- Seismic Geo Area: 4350 – Southeast Indian Ridge
- Earthquake depth: 10.0 km
- Tsunamigenic: No. (Not tsunamigenic or unknown at this time)
- Felt reports?: No
- Status: Reviewed
- Event ID: us100043z2
- Version Timestamp : 2015-12-04T22:41:32.040Z
Event and Aftershocks
This link shows the event and any aftershocks during the following month using the IRIS Earthquake Browser Historical Information
Mag 6+ events in region in the last 20 years ~500 miles radius of the event (Max 100) from IRIS
(The current event may not appear for a few minutes or so after the time.)
The above events in the IRIS Earthquake Browser 3D viewer


text:
A decorative porcelain log.
About Far4 products
In 2003 an experimental porcelain workshop was opened in Moscow by Igor Klimenkov. Over the years fine porcelain collections were created and two brand names were established, IK (Igor Klimenkoff) and {far4}. Today the Klimenkoff workshop produces unique works of art, some of which are already looked after by Russian museums. Famous Klimenkoff collections include a series of works which dwell on the spirit of Soviet nostalgia. These creations are sold all over the world and are interesting to collectors. Klimenkoff porcelain creations are true gems worthy to be seen in exquisite interiors and homes.