text:
Experimental evidence for evolution
Discussion of everything related to the Theory of Evolution.
Moderator: BioTeam
Re: Experimental evidence for evolution
Now please don't bombard me with links and other data but can you succintly explain to me where the empirical evidence that supports your view* on speciation is?
You reject evidence on the basis that its not direct observation of speciation and then post links to experiments which are... you guessed it.. not direct observations of speciation.
* I don't know if you've actually explained your view. I think I've got it, reading between the lines but can you just come out and say it so we can all be clear where your coming from?
Re: Experimental evidence for evolution
The whole statement reads
Now if that is not clear enough then may be it is the English language that has the problem
Look I understand your need to use rhetorical devices to veer away from what the evidence is revealing.
If it is your view (although I am not sure what your view is) that the Darwinian mechanism is real and explains speciation, then likely it is a very ingrained viewpoint.
This however is science and science requires evidence. The evidence I have repeatedly pointed to shows that the Darwinian mechanism does not explain speciation.
That is where I am coming from.
However, there is a more fundamental principle that Developmental biology raises against this mechanism.
Please bear with me, if only for the purpose of some education.
Embryological evidence has long shown that DNA does not wholly determine morphological form. This suggests that mutations/variations in DNA alone cannot account for the changes required to build a new body plan, which is what speciation requires.
( I can point you to the evidence both in the wild and experimental, but I wont push my luck )
DNA directs protein synthesis. It also helps regulate the timing and expression of the synthesis of various proteins within cells.
DNA alone though, does not determine how individual proteins assemble themselves into larger systems of proteins, still less does it alone determine how cell types, tissue types, and organs arrange themselves into body plans.
Other factors, such as the structure and organization of the cell membrane and cytoskeleton, play important roles in determining developmental pathways that give rise to body-plan formation during embryogenesis.
For example, the shape and location of microtubules in the cytoskeleton influence the shape and form of embryos. Arrays of microtubules help distribute the essential proteins used during development to their correct locations in the cell.
Now microtubules themselves are made of many protein subunits. These protein subunits in the cell's microtubules are however identical to one another. But neither they nor the genes that produce them account for the different shapes and locations of microtubule arrays that distinguish different kinds of embryos and developmental pathways.
What matters in development is the shape and location of microtubule arrays, and (this is important) the shape and location of a microtubule array is not determined by its units.
An analogy may help explain
Electronic circuits are composed of many components, such as resistors, capacitors, and transistors. But these lower-level components do not determine their own arrangement in an integrated circuit.
Biological systems also depend on the hierarchical arrangements of parts.
Genes and proteins are made from relatively simple building blocks, nucleotide bases and amino acids, arranged in specific ways.
Cell types are made of, among other things, systems of specialized proteins.
Organs are made of specialized arrangements of cell types and tissues.
And body plans comprise specific arrangements of organs. ( I hope you can see the hierarchical nature of the cell arrangement.)
Clearly therefore the properties of individual proteins (or indeed the other lower-level parts in the
hierarchy generally) do not determine the organization of the higher-level structures and organizational patterns or forms.
It follows, then, that the genetic information that codes for proteins does not determine these higher level structures either.
James Shapiro uses the analogy of Lego-like assemblies regarding this arrangement.
The above consideration poses but just one challenge to the sufficiency of the neo-Darwinian mechanism.(there are others)
Why does this pose a challenge?
Because neo-Darwinism seeks to explain the origin of new information, form, and structure as the result of selection acting on randomly arising variation at a very low level within the biological hierarchy, namely, within the genetic text.
Yet major morphological (form and shape) innovations depend on the specific arrangement at a much higher level of the organizational hierarchy that DNA alone does not determine.
So if DNA is not wholly responsible for the body-plan ,(which is a fact) then DNA sequences can mutate indefinitely and still not produce a new body plan.
But speciation requires a new body plan.
These mutations could and do produce variations at the lower levels and that is what the experimental evidence I have referred to shows.
Thus, the mechanism of natural selection acting on random mutations in DNA cannot in principle generate novel body plans, including those that first arose in the Cambrian radiation.
My view is quite simple.
Evolution has happened, and that is a fact.
Natural selection is happening, that is also a fact.
Whether natural selection alone explains new species is unknown, for the simple reason that observing new species is so difficult. Hey for all we know all this random mutation and natural selection may serve only to improve a species, maybe even to set the conditions for the creation of a new one, but maybe not create a new one.
Anyone who holds a view that something causes new species does so on a basis of faith because, to quote one of your favourite lines, "the evidence is simply not there".
Hi, not sure if this has been discussed here, but cancer provides a compelling demonstration (even if not proof!) about how mutations in DNA can create a new 'surviving unit' (ie, cancer cell/tumour) which evolves by continuing mutation, so that a 'late cancer cell' can be considerably different in genome from an early one, and which, moreover, has spread into other eco-niches (ie, metastasised), and which also demonstrates survival of the fittest, as chemo will kill off vulnerable cancer cells, whilst some, with different genotypes, will survive to continue to increase their population in the host body and colonise more and more habitats (lungs, bones, brain, liver, peritoneum etc etc etc....)(until the host dies, of course....)
The only evolutionary barrier cancer faces is, of course, the death of the host, except starting again from scratch in a new host for those particular cancers that are familial and inheritable.
But, in a microcosm, each patient's cancer does seem to demonstrate rather a lot of the tricks and traits that evolution uses to increase populations, colonise new habitats, and improve fitness (ie, survivability).
By the way, the death of the host situation that limits cancer could also be a pretty good mirror of the death of the host situation that global warning/earth destruction by humans presents as a grim limit to our own species....
Re: Experimental evidence for evolution
I fully agree with you and it is good to be at one on this.
This is something that both empirical evidence and research supports and is good sound science.
There are things that science is unable to answer and it becoming clear that species origin is one of those things.
Science however can and often does show what cannot be.
Species origin by the Darwinian mechanism of random variation and natural selection cannot be, and I hold that the accumulating and now indeed the overwhelming evidence of actual science, demonstrates this. The last two of my posts simply summarises that evidence.
Nice to have agreement again.
What is very problematic though, is the reality in the scientific community that Darwin's Origin of Species hypothesis which is a faith based view (and it is) is paraded as fact, to the point that any other faith based view is regarded as unscientific (which they are) and considered irrelevant and often ridiculed.
Julie5 » Fri Sep 24, 2010 8:15 am
What you say is demonstrably true.
Remember though that there is a great deal of difference between the concept of "survival of species" and the "arrival of species"
The full Title of Darwin's publication is very revealing.
"On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of
Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life."
Darwin himself recognized that he was using one hypothesis (preservation) supported by observable evidence to support his philosophical view of an entirely different process (origin).
Re: Experimental evidence for evolution
Not quite.. when you say
That is indeed a fair point of view to take, however you then shift your viewpoint without any further prompting towards...
in order to conclude...
So firstly you interpret data to support a viewpoint (A suggests B is not true), but then suddenly state that viewpoint as if it were a fact (ie B is not true).
Darwin's hypothesis was that evolution has happened and that natural selection drives it. Whether natural selection drives alone is the debateable point, but the amount of evidence in support of natural selection's role means that anyone who suggests it isn't even in the car is being unscientific.
I don't think that the scientific community regards faith based views as irrelevant and I certainly don't see any ridicule that isn't justfied. Examples of justified ridicule would be the conservapedia/Lenski dialogue, demanding samples of E Coli was just plain asking to be ridiculed. On the other hand Shapiro's treatment by some members of the scientific community is unwarranted, but these people represent a minority and certainly don't represent the science community in the same way that Conservapedia don't represent people of faith.
You have previously likened neo-darwinism to being a sinking ship, one only has to type the following words "neo darwinian sinking ship" in to a search engine to see the types of unscientific people who hold those views. Only you will really know whether your part of that community or the scientific one.
Re: Experimental evidence for evolution
When I stated
I was stating a fact. I resisted the urge to provide evidence simply because of your stated request for me not to keep referring to evidence
However may I repeat
Changes in DNA alone do not produce new body plans. That is a fact supported with evidence.
I also stated that the Darwinian mechanism of random mutations/variations and natural selection can and do produce variations at levels lower than speciation.
From your comments I rightly or wrongly assumed that we are in agreement
However if I assumed wrongly and you have evidence to challenge that view then please present it so that a rational debate can continue.
However I am not going to engage with you on peripheral issues. If you disagree with me on the matter of ridicule then that is ok with me.
We are dealing with opinion on this matter and it's always good to have variety, so long as it does not lead to animosity.
Re: Experimental evidence for evolution
I guess the only explanation for my failure to be overwhelmed by such evidence is that I can't see the wood for the trees. Seriously though, you can hold whatever opinion you wish, but know this; if what you say were true then I'm sure we wouldn't be having this debate because it would be accepted by major sections of the scientific community.
The way I see it, one small but growing section of the scientific community (evolutionary developmental biology, a relatively new field) is currently undergoing a debate over interpretation of it's own findings. You seem to liken this to the sinking of the darwinian ship, whereas I suggest it's merely a few raised voices in one corner of the foredeck. I guess what I'm saying is that I think you're overreacting.
There is evidence in support of this viewpoint but of course this is down to interpretation. There is overwhelming evidence that genes are responsible for body plan changes, such as the loss of limbs that lead to snakes. Darwins own observation of the beaks of finches was later confirmed to be the result of genetic expression alone.
Whether you believe that phenotypic evolution conflicts with neo darwinism or extends it is a point of view. I guess I take the view that it extends it (rather like Einstein extended Newton). But then again, I believe in the evidence which supports natural selection and the extension of that viewpoint is that DNA, whether directly or indirectly, is responsible for embryological development.
Well we've had Darwinism and Neo-Darwinism, I guess "Post Modern Darwinian Development" might be the new watchword in years to come.
This is probably a can of worms, but I've personally never really undrestood why some faiths don't like evolution. Huge numbers of religious people have no problem with E by NS (eg Catholics, Anglicans), and simply reconcile the science with their theology - ie, that God used the mechanism of E by NS to produce the living world, and good old Homo.sap to do whatever He/She are here to do.
If some religious people say they don't like E by NS because it implies that it's chance alone that produced Homo sap, then they don't really get the concept of divine omniscience and omnipotence. If they seriously think God can't set up a universe in which particular genes are subjected to particular mutuations by particular mutagenic events at particular times which eventually result in Homo sap, then they believe in a pretty puny God to my mind! (When you are God, random doesn't exist!)
As for the moral objection to E by NS, that species come and go without any divine care of them, well, Nature, like it or not, is red in tooth and claw, and no amount of Creationism is going to get round that moral problem.
Finally, it is my personal belief that the reason dinosaurs came and went is because God thought they were a pretty neat idea, and got a lot of fun out of them (After all, we already know He/She has an inordinate fondness for beetles....). More utilitarianly, of course, He/She needed dead dinosaurs to form our modern oil reserves, which are necessary to get Homo Sap into a state of civlisation where we are wealthy enough so we can FINALLY sort ourselves out and put a stop to poverty, illness etc etc, and built that City of God that is our Divine Task (ie, for those who are of a religious disposition.)
And, whether or not we are religious, making people happier and healthier is a clear moral imperative for all of us.
Re: Experimental evidence for evolution
That's definitely not true. You can have plenty of mutations causing basically nothing, but you can have like one mutation, which changes "everything"
Cis or trans? That's what matters.
Re: Experimental evidence for evolution
When you say "everything" I have to assume you mean "speciation or novel body plan" because that is what this question is all about.
Can you therefore point me to evidence that shows how one mutation, as you put it, can change "everything".
There seems to be a problem here in separating science from religion.
This question is about whether there is any experimental evidence that supports speciation.
It has nothing to do with faith or religion. That said though, peoples faith can and often does impact on their world view.
In a book review by Danny Yee on the book
Bones of Contention:
Controversies in the Search for Human Origins Roger Lewin, he made this comment.
"And anyone who still holds to a naive belief in the clear-cut objectivity of science and scientists will find it an eye-opener."
That comment carries a lot of merit.
May I remind you what you yourself wrote on the Fri Sep 24, 2010 12:03 am
You now write
You appear to be (and I would conclude unintentionally) blurring the distinction between variation within species (ie [email protected] finches) and speciation.
You also refer to the loss of limbs in snakes as overwhelming evidence for body plan changes by genes.
This of course raises quite a controversial topic on the origin of the snake. However whichever side of the argument you are on, none of the discussions address, what to many is the fundamental question about snake evolution in the first place:
Why should an animal with legs evolve into one without them?
Legs seem to be quite a useful bit of equipment; every other terrestrial vertebrate has them.
The Darwinian hypothesis of natural selection rests on the selective advantage for survival. The snake seems to me to be disadvantaged by the removal of it's limbs.
Now a biblical scholar pointed me to the Genesis account Chapter 3 verse 14, which reads in reference to the serpent.
"Because you have done this you are accursed more than all the cattle and all wild creatures. On your belly you shall crawl……"
So the account states that all the animals were put into a state of disadvantage (cursed) but the snake more than the rest, in that it lost it's limbs.
Now I may not be a creationist, but this explanation has more logic to it than Darwinian selectivity.
What do you think?
Re: Experimental evidence for evolution
The fact that you do not see the advantages of the loss of limbs does not prove anything. Maybe it makes it easier to crawl into small holes/spaces, or maybe something else that cannot be seen but was advantageous for the snake's ancestor. Remember that reversion is not always possible, and once something is lost, it might not be possible to get it back. So the evolution has to work on what is there now, not on what was previously there.
The famous example by S.J. Gould is the Panda's thumb. Bear lost it, but a thumb is useful to eat bamboo shoots, but the thumb structure cannot be recreated, however another solution emerged (i refer you to the book, he writes better than me).
And the "curse" solution however better it looks to you have so much implicit complexity (necessity of a creator, possibility of curses etc...) that I suggest that you take Occam's razor and use it. But once again remember the implicit assumptions behind your scenarii.
Science has proof without any certainty. Creationists have certainty without
any proof. (Ashley Montague)
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text:
Reyes' gusto resonates with Blue Jays
Prized acquisition boosts anticipation, expectations for 2013
By Mike Bauman / MLB.com
DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Jose Reyes had the whole spectrum covered when he arrived at the Spring Training headquarters of the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.
On the one hand, there was his inherent nature, which is relentlessly positive, upbeat and encouraging to those in his company. On the other hand, there was a cautionary tale about a baseball team that was advertised as having great potential, but finished in last place.
Reyes is a particularly prized part of the package the Blue Jays got in a trade with the Miami Marlins. The trade helped to transform the Jays into something more than simply contenders. Expectations are soaring for the Toronto club.
Reyes, a fine defensive shortstop, a legitimate leadoff hitter and one of baseball's most exciting, dynamic players, is one big reason for that optimism. But he has been through this experience before. Prior to the 2012 season, the Marlins made major acquisitions and, as they moved into a new ballpark, spent major money. After putting in his formative Major League seasons with the Mets, Reyes received a share of that money, signing a long-term deal with the Marlins.
One way or another, the Marlins were widely seen before the 2012 season as a team that could/would/should reach the postseason.
"Last year, we had an unbelievable team in Miami and we finished last," Reyes said, uttering the word "last" with real distaste. "So everything that people say sounds good -- we've got a good team, stuff like that -- but it's about the players putting it together on the field.
"It's kind of similar [with the Blue Jays]. But it doesn't matter what people say. It's just, get on the field and get it done. ... That team in Miami, we had a lot of talent, but we never put it together on the field."
This same outlook has taken hold in the Toronto front office, as well. Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos said Friday that it could be helpful to his current club having former Marlins players who experienced both the hype and the letdown last season. But the Jays who were in Toronto in 2012, Anthopoulos said, may have learned the same sort of lesson when what had been a promising season unraveled due to injuries.
"It's like the saying, 'I'm from Missouri, show me,'" Anthopoulos said. "Again, we have talent, that goes without saying and I think the fact that we have an older club helps. I think what the Marlins players went through, what our own players went through; I hope there has been a sense of humility developed."
On the other side of Reyes's arrival, there was the contagious enthusiasm he carries with him to any baseball occasion. It was noticed immediately and appreciated immensely at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.
"It's amazing, the energy he brings," Anthopoulos said. "You know, you hear about it. Sometimes, you go, 'All right, everybody's blowing this up into a little more than it is.' But man, oh man. He walks in and the smile on his face just lights up the room. And I can see how it's contagious and it impacts his teammates.
"I understand. Being around him now, in the clubhouse for 20 minutes? I get it. For the guys who had been around him before, I see what you guys saw. It's just a genuine passion, for life, for the game.
"And then there's obviously his talent. It's going to be fun to watch him play."
It will be a different league and a different home country for Reyes. But he's had adjustments to make before, after being a Met for years and then lasting only one season in Miami.
"It's a little weird because when I went to Miami, I didn't expect that I'd get traded so soon," Reyes said. "But it's a business, and as a baseball player you've got to understand that kind of stuff is going to happen sometimes.
"I was shocked because [Marlins owner] Jeffrey Loria always told me he was never going to trade me. He called my agent and said: 'Tell Jose to get a good place to live.' Stuff like that."
Days before the trade to Toronto, Reyes said, he was having dinner with Loria, who "was talking still about me getting a nice house in Miami. So it was kind of a surprise."
Now well past the surprise, Reyes is looking forward to playing with an exceptionally talented Toronto team. He is encouraged by the proud history of players from the Dominican Republic being major contributors for this organization. And he has personal testimony from one of the leading players in Blue Jays history, first baseman Carlos Delgado, who later played with Reyes on the Mets.
"Carlos Delgado is a great friend of mine," Reyes said. "He told me a lot about Toronto and how great the city is. I'm looking forward to stepping on the field and meeting the fans there. ... I'm very excited to be part of this team."
The excitement is a two-way street. The Blue Jays are filled with happy anticipation regarding the prospect of Reyes, with all his talent, all his boundless enthusiasm and all of his baseball experience -- including the 2012 letdown -- playing for them.
Mike Bauman is a national columnist for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

subset: commoncrawl


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Towns of Milton, Fulton laying groundwork to consider industrial park
TOWN OF MILTON—The towns of Milton and Fulton are laying groundwork to begin discussions with landowner Bill Watson about his plans to build a major industrial park west of Milton.
The Milton Town Board on Monday forged a legal agreement to accept $5,000 in funding from Watson to investigate potential re-zoning and land use changes for a plan he has to develop as many as 1,200 acres of farmland for the project.
Watson has offered to pay for technical and legal costs of zoning reviews the towns might have to undertake if they begin to consider his sweeping plan. That includes Watson's plan to fund a potential interchange at County M and Interstate 90/39 that would create access for what he says could be a 4 million- to 5 million-square-foot industrial park.
On Monday, the town of Milton also unveiled a pending intergovernmental agreement to work with the town of Fulton to discuss potential zoning and land use changes that would be linked to Watson's plan, though Watson has not yet formally asked for zoning changes in either town.
The town board's moves Monday came in front of a large crowd of about 60 residents at Milton Town Hall, and they drew questions and comments from a handful of residents.
Among those attending were Watson, state Rep. Andy Jorgensen, Fulton Town Chairman Evan Sayre and Milton City alderpersons Anissa Welch and Nancy Lader.�
Watson has said that at its outset, the project could involve a 750,000-square-foot facility. He also has hinted that some prospects for development could include intermodal freight transporting or warehousing and distribution, as well as a large-scale dairy equipment manufacturer.
Town Chairman Bryan Meyer said the town is still trying to learn more about Watson's plans, but that it needed to set a legal agreement on Watson's offer to cover funding legal or technical review of zoning and land use linked to the proposed project.
"We were in a rush, because Mr. Watson dropped off some funds (to the town)," Meyer said. "I said, 'That's wonderful, but we need an agreement.'"
The town's agreement would make room for Watson to spend more in the future if necessary. The town of Fulton is expected to discuss a similar agreement at a meeting tonight, officials said.��
Some residents attending Monday's meeting had questions about Watson's plans, particularly about authority over annexation and taxing jurisdiction.
Watson told The Gazette last week he plans to petition the city of Milton to annex all or part of the 1,200 acres he's earmarked for development, but it remains unclear if the city would have authority to annex the property or if adjacent farm landowners would agree to the annexation.
Steve Busch, a resident who lives on Manogue Road adjacent to Watson's proposed industrial park, wondered about the city's authority to annex the property.
"Can they just reach out and grab us? Do we have a say in it?" Busch asked.
Meyer told Busch that while the city doesn't have a clear line of jurisdiction over the land in question, industrial use fits in with the city's comprehensive plans.
That fact alone would give the city leverage to negotiate with the state Department of Administration over authority to annex the land, Meyer said.
Watson has made it clear that one reason he'd like the city to annex the property is because he believes it could undertake zoning and land use changes necessary for the development on a faster timeframe than the towns could.
Watson elaborated on that idea Monday, explaining to residents that the city could use its own rules for industrial zoning and development to write potential agreements quickly, whereas the towns could take months to hammer out the same agreements.
"'We're not reinventing the wheel," he said. "If you bring a guy (company) in from Frankfurt, Germany, then you say you've got to go into the town board and you could wait a year and half. That ain't going to go for us."
Some residents, including Busch, said they're concerned about the townships losing out on taxing authority if the city of Milton annexes the land.
Meyer indicated that from the town's perspective, that would have to involve agreement between all municipalities involved over how tax revenue from Watson's development would be split up.
"The concept is for all the local municipalities to have an intergovernmental agreement by contract as to what seems fair, to share the wealth," he said. "I don't know if it would take a month, three months, six months."
If there isn't a shared agreement, Meyer said, "it's feasible to kill the project as a result."
Sayre told residents that the town of Fulton is on board with forging an agreement to work closely with the town of Milton, and he suggested the towns work to form an ad hoc committee to regularly discuss updates on Watson's emerging proposal.


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Death Notices for March 20, 2014
William "Bill" H. Bermann, 64, Edgerton, died Wednesday at home. Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, Edgerton. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at Ehlert Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Edgerton, and from 10 a.m. until the time of services Saturday at the church.
Linda Sue Hatfield, 65, Janesville, died Monday at St. Mary's Hospital in Madison. Services will be held in Arkansas. Hansen Funeral Service, Janesville, is assisting the family.
Marjorie Patricia Mason, 72, Juneau, formerly Beloit, died Sunday at Beaver Dam Community Hospital, Beaver Dam. Services will be at noon Saturday at Hansen-Gravitt Funeral Home, 424 Prospect Street, Beloit.
Janice M. Payne, 72, Janesville, formerly Chetek, died Tuesday at Huntington Place Memory Care, Janesville. No services are planned. Schneider Apfel Schneider & Schneider Funeral Home & Crematory, Janesville, is assisting the family.
Ellen Bertha Ramberg, 96, Janesville, died Tuesday at Cedar Crest Health Care Center, Janesville. Services will be at noon Friday at Schneider Apfel Schneider & Schneider Funeral Home & Crematory, Janesville. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until the time of services Friday at the funeral home.


text:
Local mechanics warn motorists of pothole dangers
JANESVILLE — Thump thump, thump.
This winter, that could be the sound of your car hitting pothole after pothole after pothole or your heart beating increasingly louder as the potholes send your blood pressure through the roof.
Local mechanics say the problem will only get worse.
"As soon as the weather breaks, it's going to be an ugly spring," said John Freeman, owner of Freeman Alignment in Janesville. "The roads are pounding cars."
Freeman has seen an uptick in cars needing work, and he expects the number to grow.
"This is a hard winter to figure out because we've had such a long period of cold," Freeman said. "The roads have bubbled up so bad it's like speed bumps, and some roads have so many potholes you can't go around them."
Blown struts, shocks, tie rods, suspensions and ball joints are among the problems caused by bad roads, he said.
"Some of these parts, it normally takes two or three years before they go bad," Freeman said.
Typically, people wait until better weather to fix road-induced problems because they are more concerned about keeping enough gas in their cars and getting them to start in the extreme cold, he said.
Nate Woodman, a mechanic at Beeline Alignment in Janesville, said ice-induced mishaps have caused their share of problems, as well.
"Ice can cause people to slide into curbs, which can knock their alignment off, bend a wheel or bend a control arm," Woodman said.
Potholes are common this time of year, and not much can be done to avoid them, he said.
"When there's a warm up three different times this winter, then rain,� then subzero temperatures and refreeze, it makes for rough roads and potholes."
According to a press release from the Janesville Public Works Department, potholes are formed when snow and ice melt as part of Wisconsin's seasonal freeze-thaw cycles. Water seeps beneath the pavement through cracks that have formed from wear and tear of traffic.
As temperatures drop below freezing, water becomes ice and expands below the road's surface, forcing the pavement to rise. Continued traffic over the raised portion of road and above-freezing temperatures thaw the formed ice, creating a void. The asphalt over the void then breaks away, creating a pothole.
Applying salt to roads worsens the freeze-thaw action in joints and cracks in the pavement.
The high number of storms and several unusual twists, including two episodes of freezing rain,� have increased the number of times salt has been applied. Also, the extreme cold has caused the frost to go much deeper than usual, and many roads are already in rough shape due to significant heaving and deteriorating pavement, according to the city.


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Man pleads guilty to home invasion charges
JANESVILLE—A Whitewater man pleaded guilty Tuesday to five felony charges for his role in a violent January home invasion and robbery in the town of Fulton.
Christopher A. Kimps, 25, had been charged with nine counts, eight of them felonies, for breaking into a rural home and stealing money, dozens of guns and a pickup truck along with three friends the night of Jan. 11, according to court documents.
Kimps threatened the homeowners with a shotgun, bound both of them with duct tape and kicked one of them in the face as he opened a safe with a gun to his head, according to a criminal complaint.
Later that evening, Kimps led police on a chase through downtown Janesville, authorities said.
At one point, they said, Kimps drove across the lawn in front of the Rock County Courthouse, where he sat Tuesday morning.
Kimps and the three people suspected of being his accomplices—22-year-old Jesse D. Adams of Beloit, 20-year-old Sarah A. Buckingham of Monroe and 22-year-old Kayla L. Pearson of Janesville—were arrested a couple of days later in Sauk County, police said.
The four have been charged with a combined 22 felonies and 4 misdemeanors in Rock County Court.
Kimps pleaded guilty to charges of armed robbery, theft of firearms, driving a car without the owner's consent, possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and attempting to flee or elude police.
Four other counts—armed burglary, false imprisonment, misdemeanor battery and another charge of driving a car without the owner's consent—were dismissed and read into the record as part of a plea agreement.
Adams, Buckingham and Pearson all have plea hearings scheduled for next week, according to online court records.
Judge Kenneth Forbeck on Tuesday accepted Kimps' pleas and scheduled a sentencing hearing for Feb. 4.
As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors agreed they would not argue for more than 30 years in prison and 10 years of extended release at the sentencing hearing.
The charges he pleaded guilty to combined with enhancers for a 2008 felony conviction in Milwaukee County carry a maximum penalty of more than 80 years in prison.
Last updated: 3:31 pm Tuesday, November 19, 2013


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Your Views: With Democrats in control deal was best Ryan could do
The budget deal that Republican Paul Ryan and Democrat Patty Murray worked out does not rein in spending enough. But with Obama as president and Democrats controlling the Senate, it is the best Ryan could hope for. We can finally return to the normal appropriations process instead of mindless automatic cuts in the sequester.
If the sequester continued, our troops would bear the brunt of the cuts. The Defense Department would have to shrink our armed forces and make serious cuts to training, readiness and modernization.
The Bipartisan Budget Act will provide $63 billion in sequester relief, split evenly between defense programs and other domestic priorities, in exchange for $85 billion in savings elsewhere in the budget. This bill will reduce the deficit by an additional $23 billion in a smarter way, without raising taxes.
The bill eliminates waste and cuts corporate welfare. It reforms autopilot spending. The agreement retains fiscal discipline by preserving 92 percent of the sequester cuts, even though Democrats wanted none of them.
Ryan has passed three budgets in the House that would have fully paid off our debt without raising taxes had the Democrats gone along. This bill still allows too much spending. But with Democrats controlling the Senate and the White House, it's the best we could expect.
I hope Republicans can take back the Senate in 2014. Washington must live within its means. Democrats' tax-and-spend policies are crippling our country.


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When Puppies Attack — Daily Distraction
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They are truly the stuff of nightmares. Adorable, licky, stubby-legged nightmares. We're talking about puppy attacks, of course.
If you've ever suffered the wrath of a pack of wild, crazed, baby dogs who just want to chase you down to lick your face and then promptly take a nap on your chest with all their siblings, you know this is the kind of 33 second nightmare you want to have over and over again.
The Daily Distraction is your Internet break from reality. Whether you're eating lunch at your desk or avoiding high school exes on Facebook, you might just laugh, say "aaahhh" or not believe what you just watched.


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Reaching the uninsured: Insurance fairs offer help in Rock, Walworth counties
ELKHORN—Some think the Affordable Care Act signals the beginning of the country's descent into socialism and chaos.
Others think it's the dawn of a new era, when people won't have to hold fundraisers to pay for their medical expenses.
Either way, the act is now law, and the sign-up deadline is approaching.
In the next two weeks, officials in Rock and Walworth counties will be hosting health insurance enrollment fairs to get people signed up.
"If you don't have insurance, if you're losing insurance, or you've signed up for insurance and you think it's unaffordable, we can help you," said Katherine Gaulke, chairwoman of the Walworth County Affordable Care Act Awareness Committee.
Applicants are facing two deadlines, Gaulke said.
In Wisconsin, an estimated 92,000 people will be dropped from BadgerCare on April 1.
If they want their insurance coverage to be seamless, they need to sign up and pay their first premium by March 15. If they do not, their insurance will not start until May 1.
The second important deadline is March 31, when all people must be signed up for insurance or face a "shared responsibility" penalty when they file their 2014 taxes.
The penalty is 1 percent of yearly income or $95 per adult and $47.50 per child—whichever is higher.
One advantage of attending an enrollment fair is learning about the subsidies that aren't always listed online.
For example, Common Ground Cooperative in Walworth County offers a no-deductible plan to people who meet the income requirements. That plan is not listed on the healthcare.gov website, Gaulke said.
People who want to sign up at one of the fairs should bring tax returns or a pay stub and the Social Security numbers for everyone in the family who needs insurance.
Tax returns are needed to help calculate this year's income and deductions. Your adjusted gross income determines what you will pay, Gaulke said.
"We've had people show up with all these medical files," Gaulke said. "We don't need that anymore. There are no more preexisting condition clauses."


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Brief Intervention to Reduce STDs in ER Drug Users (SAFE)
This study has been completed.
Boston Medical Center
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First Posted: June 23, 2011
Last Update Posted: December 20, 2016
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
Edward Bernstein, Boston Medical Center
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
Detailed Description:
The goal of the proposed project is to determine the effectiveness of a brief motivational intervention among Emergency Department (ED) patients who use cocaine and/or heroin to prevent Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) by comparing cumulative incidence and frequency of safe sex behavior between intervention and standard voluntary counseling, testing and referral to substance abuse treatment (control) groups over a one year follow-up period.
|Sexually Transmitted Infection
|Behavioral: brief motivation intervention
|Phase 3
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double (Participant, Investigator)
Primary Purpose: Treatment
|Official Title:
|Brief Intervention to Reduce STDs in ER Drug Users
Resource links provided by NLM:
MedlinePlus related topics: Sexually Transmitted DiseasesU.S. FDA Resources
Further study details as provided by Edward Bernstein, Boston Medical Center:
Primary Outcome Measures:
- unprotected sexual acts [ Time Frame: 1 year ]
Secondary Outcome Measures:
- sex acts while high on drugs [ Time Frame: 1 year ]
|Study Start Date:
|November 2004
|Study Completion Date:
|May 2009
|Primary Completion Date:
|May 2009 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
|Assigned Interventions
Experimental: Brief motivation intervention
Brief motivation intervention was implemented with enrollees identified with heroin and cocaine use who were allocated to the experimental group. The aim was to test the ability of a peer-delivered intervention to reduce risk of HIV and STIs related to sexual behaviors (condom use and sex while high on drugs.
Behavioral: brief motivation intervention
Brief motivation intervention consisting of brief psychosocial counseling (20 minutes at the time of an ER visit)
Other Names:
No Intervention: control group
Care as usual.
Detailed Description:
Barriers to health care utilization limit drug users' interaction with the primary health care system, resulting in episodic health care received through Emergency Departments (ED) and Urgent Care Centers (UCC). Since 1994, the Boston Medical Center ED and UCC have provided substance abuse screening as standard of care. This program employs the Brief Negotiated Interview (BNI) to assess patient's reasons for drug use, readiness to change and offer intervention alternatives and referrals to substance treatment and other resources. Drug users' high rates of STIs, HIV, and Hepatitis C (HCV) and utilization of EDs and UCCs as usual sources of health care support the introduction of sexual behavior intervention in the ED and UCC setting. The proposed study will apply existing Brief Negotiation Interview (BNI) theory and research to a new behavioral context. The proposed project is a collaborative effort to adapt the BNI to encourage safe sex behaviors to prevent gonorrhea, chlamydia, and HIV among male and female ED and UCC patients age 18-54 years who use heroin and/or crack/cocaine and are not in treatment. We will enroll and 1:1 randomize 1,030 patients to intervention (safe sex BNI) or control (voluntary counseling and testing and referral to substance abuse treatment) over a 2.5-year period, with 6-month and 12-month follow-up. STIs and HIV will be diagnosed by specific laboratory assay at baseline, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up. Sexual and drug using behavior will be determined by participant self-report at baseline, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up on a 30 day time-line follow-up calender, with biochemical testing of hair samples for opiates and cocaine at enrollment and 12-month follow-up. Sexual behavior risk will be measured in terms of proportion of vaginal and anal sex acts protected by condom use and condom use at last sexual act, by sexual partner type. Differences in safe sex behavior between intervention and control groups will be evaluated using General Estimating Equation (GEE) modeling. After assessing intervention effect in the base model, we will assess intervention effect controlling for age, gender, race, injection use, HIV status and sexual and drug using behavior. An effective, brief intervention for safe sex behaviors to reduce STDs and HIV among drug users in ED and UCC settings may provide a sustainable intervention opportunity for drug users who are otherwise difficult to access.
Information from the National Library of Medicine
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years to 54 Years (Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
- registered ER patient
- English and Spanish speakers
- 30 day use of heroin and or cocaine
- DAST score=>3
Exclusion Criteria:
- severity of medical illness
- suicidality
- police custody
- residential substance abuse treatment
- ability to provide contact information
Contacts and Locations
Information from the National Library of Medicine
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT01379599
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT01379599
|United States, Massachusetts
|Boston Medical Center
|Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02118
Sponsors and Collaborators
Boston Medical Center
|Principal Investigator:
|Edward Bernstein, MD
|Boston Medical Center
More Information
Keywords provided by Edward Bernstein, Boston Medical Center:
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Bernstein E, Heeren T, Winter M, Ashong D, Bliss C, Madico G, Ayalew B, Bernstein J. Long-term follow-up after voluntary human immunodeficiency virus/sexually transmitted infection counseling, point-of-service testing, and referral to substance abuse treatment from the emergency department. Acad Emerg Med. 2012 Apr;19(4):386-95. doi: 10.1111/j.1553-2712.2012.01314.x.
Bernstein E, Ng V, McCloskey L, Vazquez K, Ashong D, Stapleton S, Cromwell J, Bernstein J. Qualitative analysis of cocaine and heroin users' main partner sex-risk behavior: is safety in love safety in health? Addict Sci Clin Pract. 2013 Apr 23;8:10. doi: 10.1186/1940-0640-8-10.
Tassiopoulos K, Bernstein J, Bernstein E. Age and sharing of needle injection equipment in a cohort of Massachusetts injection drug users: an observational study. Addict Sci Clin Pract. 2013 Dec 13;8:20. doi: 10.1186/1940-0640-8-20.
Bernstein E, Ashong D, Heeren T, Winter M, Bliss C, Madico G, Bernstein J. The impact of a brief motivational intervention on unprotected sex and sex while high among drug-positive emergency department patients who receive STI/HIV VC/T and drug treatment referral as standard of care. AIDS Behav. 2012 Jul;16(5):1203-16. doi: 10.1007/s10461-012-0134-0.
|Responsible Party:
|Edward Bernstein, Professor of Emergency Medicine BU SOM; Professor of Community Health Sciences BUSPH, Boston Medical Center
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT01379599 History of Changes
|Obsolete Identifiers:
|First Submitted:
|June 22, 2011
|First Posted:
|June 23, 2011
|Last Update Posted:
|December 20, 2016
|Last Verified:
|December 2016
|Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement:
|Plan to Share IPD:
|Plan Description:
|de-identified may be shared on request
Keywords provided by Edward Bernstein, Boston Medical Center:
brief motivational intervention
voluntary testing and counseling
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Virus Diseases
Genital Diseases, Male
Genital Diseases, Female


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Two arrested in string of Janesville burglaries
JANESVILLE—Two Janesville men have been arrested in a string of burglaries at Janesville parks and businesses.
Andrew V. Donaldson, 18, of 920 Eisenhower Ave., Janesville, was charged with 10 counts of burglary Monday in Rock County Court.
Garrison Lytle, 18, of 2413 Hawaii Drive, was arrested at 10 a.m. Friday and Donaldson at 1:35 p.m. Friday.
The burglaries Donaldson is accused of occurred between Sept. 16, and Nov. 1, all in Janesville.
Lytle told police many details about the burglaries, the criminal complaint indicates.
Several burglaries were of offices in One Parker Place, a downtown office building. One was at the Moose Lodge, 2701 Rockport Road.
Lytle said the pair broke into maintenance sheds at Riverside Park and Rockport Park five to 10 times, taking leaf blowers, other power tools and gasoline.
They sold the tools at "some pawn shop on the south side of town," Lytle told police.
A third male was involved in some of the burglaries, Lytle said, according to the complaint.
"Lytle stated between trips to the maintenance sheds stealing tools they would go to the casino, where they would spend the money that they were getting for the power tools. Lytle stated that Donaldson was obsessed with going to the casinos," the complaint states.
Walmart gift cards taken from one business were used to buy "food and stuff," Lytle told police.
Break-ins also included the Rockport Pool building, concession stands at Riverside Park and the Janesville Youth Sports Complex and Riverside Golf Course, where they tried to remove an ATM machine before an alarm scared them off.
Burglary is a felony with maximum penalties of 12 years, six months in prison and a $25,000 fine.


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About eight hours after J.C. Penney Co. said yesterday it was "pleased" with its turnaround, the retailer announced the sale of 84 million shares to raise cash.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is running the offering, the Plano, Texas-based department-store chain said in a statement yesterday. The underwriters will have a 30-day option to buy as many as an additional 12.6 million shares, which would push the total to 96.6 million shares. Based on yesterday's closing price, the value of the sale would be about $1 billion.
On Sept. 25, Charles Grom, an analyst for Sterne Agee & Leach Inc., wrote in a note that Chief Executive Officer Mike Ullman told him the retailer would end the year with sufficient liquidity. J.C. Penney said today it expects to end the fiscal year with about $1.3 billion in liquidity, excluding the offer proceeds. It had said on Aug. 20 that it expected year-end liquidity of more than $1.5 billion and that the forecast didn't assume it would need any additional outside financing.
The fact that the company is raising cash "doesn't bode well" for third-quarter results, Paul Swinand, an analyst for Morningstar Inc. in Chicago, said in an e-mail. Nor will the offering be good for current investors because the share count will increase by more than a third, which means the stock price will likely fall by that amount, he said.
The shares closed at $10.42 in New York and sank 5 percent to $9.90 in extended trading yesterday. On Sept. 25, J.C. Penney fell 15 percent to the lowest level since 2000 after a Goldman Sachs debt analyst raised concerns about the chain's liquidity. For the year, J.C. Penney's shares are down 47 percent, compared with a gain of 19 percent for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
"It's an opportunity to do things now," Kristin Hays, a spokeswoman for J.C. Penney, said of the share sale. The fundraising "has the dual benefit of easing the concerns of our vendors" and our employees, Hays said in a telephone interview yesterday. "It also shores up the balance sheet ahead of what could be a choppy holiday season for retailers."
Since Ullman returned in April, J.C. Penney had already taken out a $2.25 billion loan and drew $850 million from its revolving credit line. The company discussed with Goldman Sachs, which arranged the loan, the possibility of raising more cash to fund its turnaround, people with knowledge of the matter said earlier this month. While J.C. Penney didn't have immediate cash needs, it has faced shareholder pressure to take advantage of cheap financing, the people said.
"For a survivability point, it's obviously better to raise equity while you can, rather than more debt when the debt is already high," Swinand said.
Yesterday, before the markets opened, the company said sales were continuing to improve. Ullman is working to shore up investors' confidence and fix a company that hasn't turned a quarterly profit since mid-2011 and has posted a 22 percent drop in revenue in the past year.
Ullman, who took back the helm this year after his predecessor Ron Johnson's attempt to appeal to younger and wealthier consumers failed, has revived sales events and brought back private-label merchandise that appeals to the chain's traditional customers.
Those actions helped slow the loss of shoppers, with sales at stores open at least 12 months sliding 12 percent in the fiscal second quarter ended Aug. 3.
A report from Cleveland Research earlier this week said the third quarter looks "more difficult than initially expected." The return to more promotions doesn't appear to be generating better sales or store visits, the firm said.
Comparable-store sales are expected to decline 4.3 percent in the current fiscal third quarter and gain 2.4 percent in the fourth quarter, according to analyst estimates compiled by Retail Metrics.
Since Pershing Square Capital Management LP, one of J.C. Penney's largest shareholders, exited the stock in the past month, hedge funds, including Glenview Capital Management LLC and Hayman Capital Management LP, have increased their stakes. Glenview Capital is the largest investor with a stake of 9.1 percent, according to Bloomberg data, followed by Soros Fund Management LLC with 9.06 percent.
Bloomberg News


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Your Views: Republican Party wants to go backward
Ready, set, go—backward. The "1850s Party" (aka Republican Party) is consumed with the objective of eliminating all positive legislation or constitutional provisions it doesn't like. This reactionary party proposes to roll back or diminish the effects of the Affordable Care Act, Rowe v. Wade, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Civil Rights Act of 1964, Medicare and the 14th and 15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and others. If they can't change the law, they'll attempt to subtly chip away at its effects through craftily written legislation.
African-Americans, Latinos, women, students, disabled, seniors, military veterans and war-time handicapped will experience the effects of 1850s Party assaults and even more effects if the GOP gains a majority. This 1850s Party is not Abraham Lincoln's party!
What to do? It's no secret. Voters have the right to vote, period! The 1850s Party and its supporters are attempting—through intimidation, conniving, gerrymandering, ID requirements, purging the voter rolls, poll-place manipulation, outright fraud (announcing incorrect days, hours or places for voting)—to disenfranchise those deemed most likely not to vote for the 1850s Party.
University students must be intensely vigilant as a demographic group, standing to suffer through new ID requirements, decreased registration time and no same-day registration. Wisconsin is no exception because the 1850s (formerly Republican) Party-controlled Assembly is as reactionary as any and prone to disregard the wishes of even the voters electing these representatives. Don't accept the party rhetoric until you see the actions and results!


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Anti-freeze: Ash borers expected to survive winter, keep on killing trees
Abandon all hope, ye who thought this cold winter would kill off the emerald ash borer.
The counties along the Illinois border, from Rock County and eastward, are rife with the tree-killers, and everyone should plan accordingly, a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources forester said.
Homeowners who want to save the prized ash trees in their yards should be planning to treat them with insecticide this spring, said Bill McNee, forest health specialist.
Most of the ash borer larvae now living under the bark will survive the cold, he said.
"There will be some mortality, but you would not expect that it's going to make a difference in the emerald ash borer population growth and the decline of the trees," McNee said Friday.
McNee said the emerald ash borers come from an area of east Asia that is at least as cold as it is here. The scientific consensus is that the extreme cold might kill a few of the larvae as they winter under the bark of ash trees, but it won't slow their spread much.
They are so well adapted, in fact, that their bodies manufacture anti-freeze, McNee said.
With each adult female laying 50 to 100 eggs this spring and summer, the emerald ash borer population should be booming, now that it has gained the local foothold, McNee said.
McNee recently confirmed two new infestations in Walworth County, one in a marshy area next to Pell Lake and one in the town of Delavan just north of Williams Bay on the west end of Geneva Lake.
Those sites are more evidence the southern halves of Walworth and Rock counties are full of the killer beetles, as part of a wider infestation in northern Illinois, McNee said.
McNee expects a rapid decline in ash trees as the emerald ash borer population builds in these area.
Without treatment, ash trees will fade and die, McNee said. "It's a matter of not if, but when."
Trees are typically treated in April and May, so the insecticide is already in the tree when they're attacked in late spring and summer, McNee said.


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Italian cuisine is often associated with Mediterranean ingredients like olive oil. However, if you travel along the country's northern borders, you will find many locals producing and regularly cooking with butter. Generally speaking, butter gets its flavor from the quality of milk used to make it, and its texture from the techniques used to manipulate that milk into the final product.
Burro 1889 is made by Le Fattorie Fiandino, a family-owned dairy. The history of Fattorie Fiandino dates back to the end of the 1700s, when a shepherd named Stefano Fiandino moved from Milan to Demonte and set up shop. Skipping forward several generations to the 1920s, Magno Fiandino (great-grandfather to the current generation) began purchasing the land that comprises Villafalletto, the farm where the family is based to this day.
After much experimenting, the present-day Fiandino family discovered the right combination of technique and ingredient to produce an exceptional butter, named after the official year of the company's founding. The milk used to make Burro 1889 is from Piedmontese cows that roam the hills eating fresh grass and the machine used to produce the butter is a centrifugal cream separator. This process for churning butter is distinctive in that the paddles are fixed and the container spins around them. Using a centrifugal system means more butter is separated out from the buttermilk and water, giving it a smoother texture than traditionally churned butters. After the butter is separated from the buttermilk, it is allowed to ferment or mature in a cool space for a minimum of 72 hours, allowing the butter to develop even greater flavor.
Salt comprises 2% of the salted version of Burro 1889. Not surprisingly, it plays a major role flavor-wise and the salt they have chosen is considered by the Fiandino family to be almost a "secret ingredient." Salt, a major commodity in European trade for hundreds of years was originally rare in the mountains of Piedmont. When Nonno Magno happened to be visiting the port of Genoa (accompanying one of many friends who went to seek their fortune in the Americas), he discovered a new salt, just arrived from Sicily and bought a bag to take home. He found this salt to be significantly different from that he normally used, both to sight and to taste – it was very fine and delicate. To the family, it seemed natural to follow Magno's lead. They researched the salts from Sicily and have chosen to make Burro 1889 with one that is hand-harvested by Culcasi, a saltworks based in Nubia, a small village in the municipality of Trapani on Sicily.
Both the salted and unsalted versions of Burro 1889 have a smooth, creamy texture and sweet, nutty flavor. All things being equal, I prefer the salted version – a thick spread of salted butter on a crusty piece of bread and a large dollop of apricot preserve makes for a very nice breakfast or afternoon snack with a cup of tea. A nice twist, however, is a compound butter, made with the unsalted version of Burro 1889, using brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. This has the power of transforming a simple pancake into a delicious winter treat!
1/3 cup unsalted Burro 1889, at room temperature
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
dash of freshly grated nutmeg
Place all ingredients in a bowl and, using a spoon or small spatula, gently knead the butter until all ingredients are evenly incorporated. Serve at room temperature with pastry, pancakes or toasted bread.
Syndey Oland is a Formaggio Kitchen Cambridge alum, a passionate cook and regular writer on her own blog, Eating Nose to Tail.


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Death notices for Jan. 23, 2014
Robert J. Flinn, 85, Lake Geneva and Rockford, Ill., died Tuesday at Wisconsin Veteran's Home, Union Grove. Services will be at 2:30 p.m. Friday at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, Lake Geneva. Visitation will be from 1 p.m. until the time of services Friday at the church. Derrick Funeral Home, Lake Geneva, is assisting the family.
Mary J. Kelsey, 77, Madison, formerly of Beloit, died Dec. 19 at University Hospital, Madison. Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Monday at Central Wisconsin Center, Madison. Brian Mark Funeral Home, Beloit, is assisting the family.
Walter Stoklosa, 96, Rockford, Ill, formerly of Janesville, died Monday at St. Anthony's Hospital, Rockford, Ill. Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Janesville. Visitation will be from 9:30 a.m. until the time of services Friday at the church. Schneider Apfel Schneider & Schneider Funeral Home and Crematory, Janesville, is assisting the family.


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The implementation of Accounting Standards Codification 715 (ASC 715) in 2006 moved pension economics out of the footnotes and directly onto the financial statements of corporate America. The goal was to incorporate the net assets and liabilities of defined-benefit plans onto corporate balance sheets so that a company's investors could gain a more transparent view of the financial impact associated with its pension plan. However, under the current Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), plan sponsors can use a variety of techniques to smooth out that impact.
GAAP rules allow for delayed recognition on the income statement of gains or losses on pension plans' assets and liabilities. Plan sponsors use an expected return figure that reflects their long-term expected returns on their current portfolio. Annual variances between expected and actual market returns are accrued in "accumulated other comprehensive income" (AOCI) on the balance sheet. Likewise, deviations from expected liability growth are accrued in AOCI. The AOCI amount is then amortized over time on the income statement, usually over the expected future working lifetime of plan participants. Plan sponsors are, in effect, shielded from a significant portion of the actual volatility of their pension assets and liabilities.
The goal of this technique is to decrease the year-to-year volatility of pension expenses on corporate financial statements, minimizing the impact of the pension plan on the core operations of the plan sponsor. This delayed recognition spreads immediate gains and losses into the future. As a result, corporate income statements have felt an ongoing drag in recent years, which may be significant for large pension plans. Today many plan sponsors are continuing to amortize pension losses they experienced during the 2008 financial crisis. For many with closed or frozen plans, these additional "costs" are related to legacy benefits that have no relationship to the organization's current operations and cost structure. Plan sponsors are struggling with how to account for these legacy benefits and minimize pension plan expense volatility, while providing clarity to investors regarding the financial performance of their base operations.
Pros and Cons of Marking to Market
In response, some plan sponsors are considering switching from standard GAAP smoothing methods to mark-to-market (MTM) accounting in calculating pension cost. In general, mark-to-market accounting involves applying actual plan gains and losses to the calculation of pension plan expense. This approach means eliminating some or all of the smoothing techniques that a company may currently employ.
The major benefit of implementing mark-to-market accounting for a pension plan is that the company can restate historical financial statements to reflect actual losses experienced within the plan. The company can also remove "escrowed" losses—losses that were incurred in the past but are still awaiting future amortization—from its income statement. The risk in a transition to MTM accounting arises from the fact that the company's pension expense is likely to be more volatile going forward. Shifting to mark-to-market accounting also carries the potential threat of a negative earnings impact, as happened when the 2012 decline in interest rates overwhelmed the rise in pension asset values and eroded funding levels in most plans.
To better understand the impact that transitioning to mark-to-market accounting might have on a company's key financial metrics, SEI conducted an analysis of 23 public companies that have made the switch within the past two years. (See Figure 1, on page 2.) In doing so, SEI identified four key areas that might be impacted by an organization's transition to mark-to-market accounting for its pension fund:
Investors. The first question we considered was: Do investors view the shift to mark-to-market negatively, and do companies pay a price in terms of share value for making the move? In each of the 23 companies in our analysis, SEI conducted an event study to evaluate movements in share price over a five-day period surrounding the announcement of the accounting change. In addition, the analysis included each company's Q4/2012 earnings release in order to provide insight into the mark-to-market impact for the full calendar year. The research then constructed a capital asset pricing model line for each company, based on actual performance relative to that of the appropriate subset of the S&P 1500, and used regression analysis to predict an expected change in company return given a change in benchmark return.
This analysis indicated that the companies in the study experienced no statistically significant changes in share price that would reflect a direct, obvious shareholder response to the implementation of mark-to-market accounting. In addition, the analysis showed no change in share price as a result of the "noise" inherent in utilizing actual asset and liability returns on financial statements rather than including those results in the footnotes. Although a few early adopters, such as Verizon, experienced abnormally large, but transitory, changes in share price following the initial announcement, those changes did not translate into sustained effects on share value, either positive or negative. This research confirms what SEI expected: With no cash implications, changes in accounting measures have no direct impact on share prices.
Analyst community. Next, we looked at whether analysts appreciate the change in accounting for pension expenses and whether they recognize the impact on earnings volatility for comparison purposes. For some time, analysts have frequently employed mark-to-market analysis in evaluating "core" earnings and the cash impact of the pension plan. For large companies in which the pension is large relative to market capitalization, analysts unwind GAAP treatment of losses and focus on the projected cash impact of the plan going forward. Likewise, in comparing a mark-to-market company's EPS with non-mark-to-market comparables, analysts generally unwind the MTM adjustment, using the companies' smoothed GAAP earnings across time periods to compare performance.
A careful review of the Q4/2012 earnings calls of the 23 companies in our study revealed little to no discussion of the impact of mark-to-market versus GAAP accounting for the organizations' pensions, nor did company representatives spend time discussing the resulting volatility in their earnings. Analysts appeared to be unsurprised by the earnings drag that mark-to-market companies felt in 2012 due to the decline in interest rates. Across all 23 calls, there were very few questions and no direct criticisms of the new accounting implementation. It is worth noting that in many analyst reports pension liabilities were still calculated using GAAP accounting, meaning the mark-to-market impact was adjusted out of the analysts' annual earnings forecasts for those companies.
Ratings agencies. We also looked at whether a plan sponsor's credit rating tends to be affected by a move to mark-to-market accounting. Reviews of the rating practices of Standard & Poor's, Moody's, and Fitch, as well as discussions with Moody's Investor Services, indicate that a shift to mark-to-market by a plan sponsor does not cause a significant disruption to the financial analysis practices of the major ratings agencies. Among several other non-GAAP adjustments that the ratings agencies make to corporate financial statements, applying full mark-to-market treatment for pensions appears to be standard practice.
At the same time, pensions and pension volatility have a discrete but limited effect on overall ratings. Compared with a company's revenue and leverage level, pension-related factors generally have a modest impact on its credit rating. Significant changes to a plan's funded status may limit credit rating upgrades, but such changes are unlikely to lead directly to a downgrade if they're not accompanied by other changes in the company's creditworthiness; since the major ratings agencies already are, in effect, using MTM in their analyses, a shift to MTM accounting should have a negligible impact on a particular plan sponsor's credit rating.
Internal management. Finally, we evaluated how management incentives are affected by the change in earnings per share that results from the increased volatility in pension gains and losses. It is not unusual for some portion of a management team's incentive compensation to be tied to annual GAAP earnings performance. Since pension expenses average approximately 10 percent of a company's EPS, the additional volatility associated with a mark-to-market implementation has the potential to have a material impact on earnings. In response, based on available proxy statements, all companies adopting mark-to-market accounting have appeared to revise their compensation plans to exclude the MTM adjustment, effectively shielding management bonuses from the volatility of actual pension performance.
Interestingly, many of the companies that SEI surveyed did not de-risk their pension plans to reduce volatility prior to implementing mark-to-market accounting; instead, they chose to maintain more aggressive investment portfolios. The net effect of combining the higher expected return in accounting for pension expense, eliminating the amortization associated with historical losses, and adjusting out the mark-to-market impact is that management ultimately gets the benefits of a more favorable EPS without the penalty of past poor performance. In many respects, this is an ideal outcome for management.
The Right Move—for Certain Companies
While there is much discussion in the industry regarding the pros and cons associated with full mark-to-market accounting for pensions, SEI's research suggests that the reaction of stakeholders and the subsequent impact on corporate financial metrics is generally negligible. Investors appear to see through the GAAP-accounting conventions to appreciate the underlying economics of a pension's actual performance. Financial analysts and ratings agencies are already in the practice of "unwinding" the smoothed assets for comparison purposes. And management teams that move to mark-to-market receive the benefit of removing a drag on earnings, while often retaining the GAAP smoothing techniques to shield their incentives from the possible impact of poor pension plan performance on their balance sheet.
Our research indicates that a change to mark-to-market accounting is likely to result in little substantive change on the part of investors, analysts, or managers. But does this mean it's the right move for your company's plan?
During our review, it became apparent that the 23 companies we considered share two characteristics which likely drove their decisions to transition to mark-to-market. First, the companies' pension plans were typically two times larger than those of the median plan sponsor, relative to the company's market capitalization and balance sheet. As Figure 1 illustrates, the median ratio of pension assets to corporate market capitalization is 20 percent for the MTM companies in our study, versus a median of 10.9 percent for U.S. public companies overall. Along the same lines, the median ratio of pension assets to adjusted corporate assets is 16 percent for MTM companies, compared with 9.5 percent for all U.S. public companies.
Second, as Figure 1 also demonstrates, the 23 companies that moved to mark-to-market accounting were experiencing pension-related loss amortization expenses, as a percentage of net income, that were more than three times higher than those of the median U.S. pension plan in the year prior to switching to mark-to-market accounting. Clearly, mark-to-market accounting is most attractive to plan sponsors in which the size and impact of the pension plan is disproportionately large relative to the plans of their competitors.
Tom Harvey is director of advice for SEI's Institutional Group. In this capacity, he oversees the corporate finance practice, analyzing the risk profiles of corporate defined benefit clients and the corresponding impact on asset allocation and funding strategies. An expert in corporate finance and a frequent speaker at industry events, Tom has over 15 years of experience in the investment industry.
Joe Busillo is a senior strategist for SEI's Institutional Group, where he works closely with defined-benefit clients in providing strategic advice. He is responsible for the development and application of SEI's global liability-driven investing strategy. Joe has over 14 years of experience in the investment industry.


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Sadiq Abubakar is seeing his hopes of an annual bonus fade as Ghana's central bank hoards dollars, cutting foreign-exchange trading to the least in almost three years and sending the cedi to an all-time low.
The 32-year-old dealer at International Commercial Bank Ltd. in the capital, Accra, says he has met just 40 percent of his revenue target this year and hasn't traded U.S. currency on the interbank market since June 1. Purchases of foreign exchange (FX) among lenders fell an annual 17 percent in the second quarter to $1.86 billion, the lowest since the third quarter of 2010, according to Bank of Ghana data compiled by Bloomberg.
"I don't see the interbank market coming back until the end of the first quarter next year," Abubakar said in a telephone interview on Oct. 23. "There's going to be no bonus for me this year."
The drought in trading underscores the havoc being wrought on developing nations by speculation the U.S. plans to scale back its monetary stimulus program as soon as the first quarter. Ghana central bank Governor Kofi Wampah is following countries from India to Mexico in bolstering reserves to brace for the capital outflows that may follow the Federal Reserve's pullback.
As Wampah stockpiled dollars, the cedi plunged 16 percent this year against the U.S. currency. The selloff is the continent's fourth worst, trailing only declines in Malawi's kwacha, the rand, and Namibian dollar, which is pegged to the South African currency. The cedi, which gets its name from the Akan word for the cowrie shells used as currency as recently as the 19th century, weakened 2 percent to 2.2650 per dollar by 9:21 a.m. in New York after touching 2.2750, a record low.
For traders, the central bank's move to boost reserves couldn't have come at a worse time as foreign investment falls, remittances from overseas wane, and commodities slump. Ghana's $41 billion economy gets 72 percent of export revenue from cocoa, gold, and oil.
The average daily foreign-currency turnover in Ghana's interbank market has dropped to about $7 million this year from $20 million a year earlier, according to Standard Bank Group Ltd., Africa's largest lender. In Nigeria, trading is about $400 million. In Mauritius, where the economy is a quarter of the size of Ghana's, turnover is $30 million.
To bolster reserves, the central bank retained dollars from the sale of $1 billion in Eurobonds in July and a $1.2 billion syndicated loan the Ghana Cocoa Board received in September. Traders had been anticipating those dollars would trickle into the market, Abubakar said.
"We were hoping that the inflows of the Eurobond money and Cocobod's loan would change the situation, but it hasn't," he said.
Keeping the dollars helped boost Ghana's reserves 38 percent in August from a year earlier, to $5.8 billion, according to the central bank. Reserves in 12 of the biggest developing countries have risen $38 billion since the start of September to $2.93 trillion, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Developing nations have quadrupled reserves from $722 billion in 2002.
"The purpose of keeping foreign reserves is to step into the market to supply when there is a shortage," Collins Appiah, head of asset management at Accra-based NDK Financial Services Ltd., which manages the equivalent of $30 million, said by phone on Nov. 1. "It's not the best strategy by the central bank to be building reserves when there's a high demand for dollars."
Currency trading has slowed because earnings from gold and other exports have declined, according to First Deputy Governor Millison Narh. Revenue from bullion fell 13 percent in the year through August, the Bank of Ghana said Sept. 18.
"We don't want to sell everything to the market," Narh said in an Oct. 23 interview in Accra. "Investors also look at our reserves" to gauge the economy's strength, he said.
Ghana, which is Africa's second-biggest gold miner, needs to have enough reserves to pay for five months of imports to "comfortably defend the economy" against external shocks, Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur said Oct. 29 at a conference in Accra. Reserves equaled 3.2 months of imports in August, the central bank said.
Falling exports are hampering efforts by President John Dramani Mahama's administration to reduce the country's trade and budget deficits. The current-account shortfall, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, will widen to 12.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013 from 12.2 percent last year, according to the International Monetary Fund. The fiscal gap will narrow to 10 percent of GDP from 12.1 percent, Finance Minister Seth Terkper said in an Oct. 19 phone interview.
"The country is running large external deficits, which amplify structural shortages of dollars," Samir Gadio, an emerging-markets strategist with Standard Bank's London-based unit, said in e-mailed comments on Nov. 5. "Even if the Bank of Ghana were to sell more dollars, it's questionable whether they would be able to fill demand and stabilize the exchange rate on a sustainable basis as long as more fundamental reforms are not implemented."
A challenge to Mahama's December election victory has damped investment in Ghana this year. His win was upheld by the Supreme Court in August, which set aside opposition allegations that vote counting was marred by irregularities. The controversy contributed to a 78 percent decline in foreign direct investment in the first half of the year, according to the state-owned Ghana Investment Promotion Centre. Remittances from Ghanaians living abroad fell by an annual 12 percent in July, according to the central bank.
Oil-Fueled Growth
Ghana's economy is still on course to grow 7.9 percent in 2013, beating the sub-Saharan African average for a sixth straight year, as oil production increases, according to the IMF. Earnings from crude rose 47 percent this year through August, central bank data showed.
Abubakar is feeling none of that growth in his business.
He said he keeps busy at International Commercial Bank by exchanging currencies with lenders outside Ghana and supporting colleagues with money-market transactions. When the central bank does release dollars, they're earmarked for ICB's clients, who need the cash to pay for imports, he said.
While Abubakar wouldn't discuss details of his salary, the average compensation cost per employee at FBN Holdings Plc, which acquired ICB in September, was $34,138 in 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and the Lagos-based company's annual report. That compares with a global average of $319,755 for the first nine months of 2013 at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and $165,774 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Without a bonus, Abubakar, who started at ICB as an intern in 2008, said he may need to borrow money to take the next step in his career.
"That's the money I use to pay for my accounting exams and course material," he said. "I may have to take a loan to pay for my exams next year."


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Group sponsors billboards to show military support
ELKHORN--Billboards with messages encouraging drivers to support military personnel are popping up across Walworth County.
The billboards, sponsored by the Support Our Troops committee of the Walworth County Council of the American Legion, have spread the message for three years and are a way for Robert Webster and his fellow veterans to ensure history isn't repeated.
"Some of us older vets remember all too well that during the Vietnam War we didn't support our troops as well as we should have, and we're determined to not repeat that mistake," Webster, committee chairman, said.
There are two types of billboards, Webster said.
One with dog tags with the message, "Our heroes don't wear capes. They wear dog tags!". The other has an image of a soldier and the words "Freedom is not free. Never forget the fallen. Remember those serving."
Regardless of the message, the mission is the same: support and honor, said Chris Jordan, an American Legion member involved in Support Our Troops.
"Having this exposure throughout the county reinforces to the public the sacrifices of our present generation of veterans and all those who have served in the past," Jordan said.
"This is a visual way to remind the public that there are vets throughout the county that deserve their support and respect."
Lamar Advertising, the company providing the billboard space, waives the installation fee for the 12-billboard contract, and the committee pays the printing cost, said Brad Yarmark, vice president and general manager of Lamar Advertising.
The printing cost was paid for through garage sales, bake sales, the sale of Packer tickets and other fundraising events, Webster said.
Webster does not know when or where the billboards will go up. It depends on space availability.
The billboards started going up before Veterans Day, and two billboards per month will continue to go up for the next five months, Yarmark said. Each billboard is up for four weeks.
One billboard is located at highways 12 and 67 north of Elkhorn. The other is on County M north of highways 11 and 14.�
The goal is to have a billboard, at some point in time, on each main artery of the county.
"During the time they're up, every driver in Walworth County has gone by at least one of those billboards," Webster said.�


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Should Wisconsin drop 180-day school year requirement?
I'm not sure I'm sold on a measure that would end the requirement that schools no longer would have to teach 180 days of classes in order to retain state funding. An Associated Press story in today's Gazette says the Senate is expected to approve the measure and send it to the Assembly.
Now, schools must meet not just the 180-day requirement but an hourly quota to retain their state aid. The 180-day requirement has become an issue this winter, what with brutal weather so often forcing schools to cancel classes. Schools not building enough "snow days" into their calendars face having to extend the school year deeper into June.
Some spread-out districts up north, where buses burn much fuel making long trips and heating classrooms is especially expensive, support dropping the 180-day requirement. If, for example, they want to extend classes for more time each day and cut their total schedule to 170 days, they could do that and reduce busing and utility costs.
On the other hand, do you realize how hard it is to keep the attention of not just young kids but teenagers? How much more time can they spend in a classroom each day and still absorb lessons?
Greg Peck can be reached at (608) 755-8278 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.
Greg Peck can be reached at (608) 755-8278 or email@example.com. Or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.


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Lineker urges Wenger to strengthen
Gary Lineker believes it is "essential" Arsenal sign a new striker during the transfer window if they want to challenge for major silverware.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is refusing to panic buy a replacement for Olivier Giroud, who has been ruled out until the New Year with a broken tibia.
Giroud's injury has limited Wenger's striking options to Alexis Sanchez, who is more effective as a winger, and the inexperienced Yaya Sanogo and Joel Campbell.
Lukas Podolski can play up front but has been linked with a move away from the Emirates Stadium, while another possibility, Theo Walcott, is sidelined with a knee problem.
Former England marksman Lineker believes Wenger must add firepower to his squad before the transfer window closes on Monday.
"Arsenal needed to sign a forward whether Giroud was injured or not," said Lineker, who was speaking as part of Walkers' 'Do Us A Flavour' campaign.
"Now that he's injured it's essential for them really if they're to compete for major titles
"Forward is one position where they needed to strengthen. You could say in midfield too, but particularly up-front.
"If they could add a player who could guarantee 25-goals a season that would be hugely beneficial to them.
"Arsene has showed a lot of faith in Giroud and he's a good player who will score goals, but he's not hugely prolific and lacks a bit of pace to be that."
Sanchez operated as lone striker in Wednesday night's 1-0 victory over Besiktas and rewarded Wenger's faith by opening his Arsenal account with a goal that secured the Gunners' place in the Champions League group stage.
However, Lineker shares a widely-held belief that the £35million signing from Barcelona is better suited to a wider role.
"Striker isn't Sanchez's natural position, he prefers it out wide, certainly on the right-hand side of a three," Lineker said.
"I'm sure he can play striker because he's a terrific player, but I'm not sure it brings out the best in him.
"He's better when he's facing people and going at them, rather than having his back to goal."
Sanchez was superb against Besiktas with a glaring second-half miss failing to devalue an energetic performance full of desire and commitment.
The Chilean's team-mate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was impressed by his shift and believes Arsenal will cope without Giroud.
"Losing Olivier is a massive blow for us because he's a great player, but Alexis played absolutely unbelievably against Besiktas," Oxlade-Chamberlain said.
"I did not realise a man as small as Alexis could hold the ball up so well against big defenders. He did it unbelievably well all night.
"There are players in the squad who can fill that role. We have got Theo coming back as well. Whoever is playing up front, I'm sure they will be confident of filling that role."
Arsenal secured a 17th successive campaign in the group stage of the Champions League, a prize that generates £25million in income, but rode their luck at the Emirates Stadium.
"Being in the Champions League is massive. Sometimes it seems like everything," Oxlade-Chamberlain said.
"For us as players, we put that expectation on ourselves because we want to be playing in the Champions League.
"We know how hard we worked at the end of last season to make sure we get in the position to give ourselves this chance this season, and we really did not want to waste that."
Press Association


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David A. Benitez-Thalacker, Edgerton (2010-2013)
April 25, 2010 - December 14, 2013
Heaven's gain was our loss when David was called into the arms of Jesus on Saturday, December 14th. David's sweet smile and laugh could brighten the darkest day. He loved living on his Grandpa's farm and riding in the combine with his Uncle B.
David will be greatly missed by his parents, Anuedy Benitez and Krystal Thalacker; his parents in love, Mike and Mandie Roehl; his grandparents, Gary Thalacker, Dayna Bertrand, & Estella Martinez; his uncles, Brett & Garrett Thalacker and Brett Bertrand; his aunts, Cira & Denniela Ramon and Aubree Doucha; his siblings: Alexianna Benitez, Jayden Benitez, Urielo Amociona-Benitez, Aleijah Bautista, Enrique Benitez, Emmanuel Benitez-Thalacker, Amarantha Benitez, & Amalinally Benitez and his brother in love, Carter Roehl.
"Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation." -Khalil Gibran
Visitation will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, December 21st at ST. JOHN'S LUTHERAN, EDGERTON. Private services will be held with ALBRECHT FUNERAL HOMES & CREMATION SERVICES, Edgerton, assisting the family. In lieu of other expressions of sympathy, a memorial fund will be established in David's honor.
Albrecht Funeral Homes & Cremation Services, Edgerton
1004 S. Main St., 608-884-6010


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Headline making cyberattacks have previously hit the technology and retail industries, but the financial industry was relatively spared… until recently. On August 28, JPMorgan Chase announced that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is conducting an investigation related to a potential cyberbreach at the bank. The damage done by the breach is unclear, but the question remains: How safe are major financial institutions?
According to The Wall Street Journal, representatives from Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., U.S. Bancorp, PNC Financial Services Group Inc., Bank of New York Mellon Corp., State Street Corp. and SunTrust Banks Inc. all said that they have not detected signs that their private information was infiltrated. Currently, the FBI's investigation seems to be localized to JPMorgan Chase.
However, that does not mean that those financial institutions are necessarily safe. According to numbers from PricewaterhouseCoopers, 34 percent of financial institutions reported a cybersecurity incident related to customer records, up 10 percent from 2012. In addition, 34 percent of financial institutions relayed an incident related to employee records in 2013, double 2012's 17 percent figure.
Those attacks have risen even as spending on cybersecurity has also risen. Earlier in 2014, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon wrote to shareholders, "by the end of 2014, we will have spent more than $250 million annually with approximately 1,000 people focused on the effort."
Protect your company against the rising threat of data breach
Cybersecurity risk a concern for everyone
Passwords and policies for the new corporate generation
But so far in 2014, the trend has continued. In one notable case, eight men were charged with attempting to steal $15 million from customer accounts at 14 financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase.
For financial institutions, cybersecurity can not only effect the bottom line, but also customer trust in the bank. That's why, Alston & Bird partner Kim Peretti recently told InsideCounsel, cybersecurity should be top of mind for all, no matter the industry.
"The biggest concern for companies, their boards and senior executives, is that being the victim of a cybersecurity event will make headlines for months or years," says Peretti. "There's broad exposure for companies, board members may lose jobs. It's now no longer a matter of if a company will be breached, but when, and in some cases, it's not the breach itself but rather a company's response that can land on the front page of the news."