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Steve Trusty
Pomeroy IT Solutions on unified communications
How familiar are you with unified
communications (UC)? UC is in its
very early stages compared to many other technologies, but it is something
you should be considering and planning
for. Productivity can be enhanced,
employees can save time, and your firm
can save money.
"The sooner companies can establish
their UC system, the sooner they can start
reaping the benefits," says Louie A. Belt,
internetworking principal at Pomeroy IT
Solutions. "Besides the benefits of productivity improvements, UC also enhances the way in which all employees
Smart Business spoke with Belt for
more of his insights into UC.
What is unified communications?
UC is an integration of applications that
create the unified workspace that allows
people to choose how, where and with
whom they wish to communicate. Major
components include IP telephony, messaging, conferencing and meetings, media
exchange, instant messaging, text messaging and setting calendars. With UC,
employees can work from anywhere they
need to be and be able to share information with anyone that needs to know.
There are applications that allow your cell
phone to effectively turn into a desk
phone when you walk into the office.
Why should I be interested in learning more
about UC?
If you are interested in improving your
company's communications and profitability, using UC is a very good thing to
do. It is a platform to integrate business
applications with communications. There
are various factors to consider, and it is
important to put the proper planning into
what is going to work best for your business. Results documented by Sage
Research showed organizations using UC
saved an average of 32 minutes daily per
employee because presence technology
enabled staff to reach one another on the
first try. That was just one of the many
savings that they have documented.
What are the key factors that one should be
aware of concerning UC?
When evaluating your move into UC,
you need to look at your current business
practices. You need to determine how
these practices depend on communication and how you can leverage UC into
your practices. You need to know when to
modify business practices to take better
advantage of UC and where cost or time
savings will be realized.
As workers become more mobile and
work from various locations, UC becomes
even more important. UC allows you to
optimize time and resources effectively.
UC is business driven, and each case must
be evaluated on its individual merit.
What are some of the benefits of UC?
It is easier to access information. There
is the ability to reach mobile colleagues
and key decision-makers quickly. More
effective communications are realized.
You can experience on-demand collaboration. Essentially, when implemented
effectively, it results in employee time
savings and cost savings. Wherever
employees' work takes them, they can work more effectively. With gas prices
what they are, there can be substantial
savings for everyone.
How do I make sure that I am obtaining the
best UC fit possible?
Review your current systems and take
on some pilots that could improve
processes for you. Proactively implement
the organization changes that anticipate
the technology and market changes. Plan
for the future. When evaluating, understand your company's core strengths.
Understand your vendor's core values
and know where they intend to go in the
future. There are a number of things to
evaluate when choosing vendors and
- Total cost of ownership — Looking
not only at initial upfront costs but also
looking at the real cost over the lifetime
and the value of what is received for what
is being spent.
of scalability, flexibility and adaptability.
Can it be reconfigured and changed? Also
consider compatibility — will it work with
other programs in your system?
of system. Is it able to take hits to the system and allow you to continue business?
Can it survive outages?
easy is it to maintain? Can I handle internally or do I need to outsource? If so,
what is the experience of the vendor's
development team and what are the support systems available?
solution in terms of installation configuration, ease of maintenance and, most
importantly, how easy is it for users to use
and navigate?
LOUIE A. BELT is internetworking principal at Pomeroy IT Solutions. Reach him at (615) 351-6095 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
Occupancy costs
Occupancy costs have a big effect on the bottom line. Depending on whom you ask, they are usually the second- or third-highest costs of operating a business. Personnel costs are usually first. Occupancy costs rank just before or after IT costs. Some companies consider some of IT costs as a part of occupancy costs. You need to be fully aware of what goes into occupancy costs and look for ways to cut them and still deliver all the needs for customer and employee satisfaction.
"Occupancy costs are not just rent, and when analyzing those costs, you also have to consider the culture of the organization," says Eric Ross, senior vice president in the Atlanta office of CB Richard Ellis.
Smart Business talked with Ross about what you need to know about occupancy costs and ways to reduce them.
What are occupancy costs?
Occupancy costs are any costs a tenant incurs to occupy a property. They may include but are not necessarily limited to: rent, taxes, insurance, landscaping, utilities, security, telephony, cabling, computers, furniture, fixtures and equipment. Some businesses include capital improvement costs they spend to upgrade the property. Some IT costs are lumped into occupancy costs for many businesses. Occupancy costs are both expense- and capital-related. These costs can also be affected by proximity to restaurants, entertainment, gyms, shops, residential housing and hotels. Closeness to public transportation also can affect costs as well as traffic in or around the property. In some businesses, traffic is very important, and in others, it can be a detriment. In any event, it has to be taken into consideration.
It should also be noted that some firms, even though they own their property, charge occupancy costs against their earnings for a more realistic view of their expenses.
What do you mean by 'culture of the organization' and how would that affect occupancy costs?
The culture of an organization is its personality. It is composed of the attitudes, experiences, beliefs and values of the organization. An organization whose culture includes encouragement of physical fitness, camaraderie and attractiveness to young people may want certain amenities in close proximity to attract and keep the best employees. Location may not be important to attract customers, but closeness to gyms, restaurants and entertainment may be of great interest to employees. Retail amenities and housing within walking distance may be important. Easy access to public transportation may be another criterion. Organizations may be willing to pay more for space that is close to public transportation. This can become even more of an issue with rising fuel costs. Any or all of these factors are going to affect costs. The more attractive a property is to a wide range of people, the higher the cost.
What are some of the other factors that affect occupancy costs?
Taxes. Cities and other taxing authorities are raising property taxes because of previous sales of properties at record prices. They are basing their rates on the highest possible values to produce more income to cover their costs.
Utilities. These costs are not going down. Tenants are trying to figure out how to be better corporate citizens in use of water and other utilities.
Insurance. Rates have gone up with terrorism coverage. Of course, the coastal areas also have seen increases. Replacement costs have gone up, too. They haven't been spiking like in the past but still are going up.
Landscaping. There are no significant increases here except in the extreme drought areas. Owners have to make some changes in their maintenance practices and requirements.
Security. Since Sept. 11, companies have looked more closely at their security plans and adjusted as needed. Almost everyone has had to increase security. It may only account for 1 to 3 percent per year, but that must be considered.
What can be done to reduce occupancy costs?
Occupancy costs can be reduced by occupying less space. An area that is becoming increasingly effective is redesigning to fit more bodies into a space. The working figure used to be one employee to every 250 rentable square feet. The norm is now becoming one per 200 square feet. Another way to reduce space needs is by what is known as hoteling. If a business constantly has people on the road, maybe one office space will serve two or three employees. Telecommuting also has an impact. It may be driven more by fuel costs but still affects space needs.
ERIC ROSS is senior vice president with the Tenant Representation Group at CB Richard Ellis. Reach him at (404) 923-1303 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
Pomeroy IT Solutions on staff augmentation
There are a number of reasons that
you might need additional IT help.
It could be your business is growing. You might be exploring expansion
into a new area. Maybe it's time to investigate better customer service options. It
could be time to ramp up for a new product launch. Perhaps you need to get a
better handle on how your business is
really doing.
In any event, you need help — maybe
one person for a few hours a week,
maybe several people working multiple
days — to get the job accomplished,
especially in today's challenging business
"In uncertain times, staff augmentation
is usually the way to go," says Matt
McGee, the vice president of technical
staffing services at Pomeroy IT Solutions.
"A temporary worker is the best alternative to a W-2 employee."
Smart Business spoke with McGee
about ways to obtain the best solutions
with staff augmentation.
What do you mean by staff augmentation?
Staff augmentation is an outsourcing
strategy to quickly obtain the person or
people you need to complete a project.
The project may be temporary or ongoing and may take one or more people.
The key is, you are not in a position to
add to your full-time staff but the work
still needs to be done. Those reasons
could include but are not limited to: You
are restricted to a certain percentage of
labor to income and this project can be
charged to another line item; the work
might be for a specific project and that
project can support the work without it
increasing the entire overhead; you may
need to maintain the ability to ramp up
and ramp down very quickly; and you
may not be in a position to attract the talent needed on your own or have the skill
sets to get the best people so you partner
with a specialist in this area.
How should staff augmentation be done?
It is very important to partner with a
firm that understands you, your business
and your needs. Take the time upfront to
interview two or three potential partners.
Make sure that they will take the time to
really get to know you and your needs. If
your partner doesn't know you well
enough, you'll become a sorter of
resumes. You'll receive hundreds of candidates when you really only need a few
to select from for the best fit.
It is also important for you to take time
to thoroughly research your needs. As
the specific needs are identified, they
must be carefully spelled out in the job
description. It can't be one or two sentences. It is also important for you and
your partner to work together to find the
person that not only has the skills you
need but also will fit in well with your
culture. The better your partner knows
you, the better it can identify the right
What do you do differently in finding temporary resources?
You need to respond much faster. A
person identified by your partner may be
on the market for a week or two. If you
don't respond within 24 hours with an
interview time and take a week or less to
make a decision, you are likely to miss
the right person. If the first person you
talk to isn't the right one, you need to
respond quickly to get your partner looking for another candidate. You also need
to be clear on why the first one was not
right so your partner has the information
needed to make a better choice on the
next go-round.
What do you do the same?
Your criteria for hiring an employee or
retaining a resource should remain the
same. In either case, you want the person with the right skills that fits in to
your company and with the other
employees. The resource is going to
have to fit in to be comfortable and
effective. Staff augmentation is a great
pathway to a full-time employee. In fact,
you should not hire a resource whom
you would not consider as a candidate
for a full-time position.
Are there different tactics for different types
of businesses?
As a CIO or IT manager, there is no difference for you. Your recruiting partner
should be looking for talent who has
experience in your type of business. This
will be easier for your partner if it has
experience in your area. That is one of
the things to look for as you interview
potential partners. There will be a better
fit if the resource is already very familiar
with your type of industry.
MATT MCGEE is the vice president of technical staffing services at Pomeroy IT Solutions. Reach him at (859) 586-0600 x1162 or
Green-powered IT
Being green isn't just about the environment. Going green with your information technology (IT) infrastructure can take more red out of your expense side and put more green on your bottom line. Today, a significant cost factor of in-house or outsourced data centers is directly related to power and cooling. The more efficient the system, the less power is consumed and the more you can save. Energy is not only consumed by power servers, but it is also needed to cool them. Outsourcing some or all of your IT needs to a "green service provider" to reduce your overall IT footprint and management costs can provide additional savings.
"Virtualization, business continuity, service-oriented architecture (SOA) and proactive monitoring are four good strategies that lead to improved resiliency and reduced cost for the business, while at the same time promoting good corporate citizenship great reasons to care about green power," says Trent Henson, Executive Vice President, Information Technology at DYONYX. "Anything that can be done to reduce physical infrastructure and provide the same or better level of service inherently reduces the complexity (and cost) for managing that process."
Smart Business learned more from Henson about the benefits of green IT.
How does virtualization fit with green power?
Typically, as a business grows, more servers are needed for more applications. More servers require more rack space, which requires more floor space. All of this infrastructure requires more power and cooling. More power requires more money. Virtualization is a proven strategy for making hardware more efficient. This mature technology allows several operating systems to reside on the same server, and more tasks can be performed on one machine. Where traditional servers provide a 1-1 efficiency ratio, virtual servers provide an average 15-1 ratio. Energy can also be saved by deferring lower priority tasks to be performed at night when energy is needed less for other operations and costs can be considerably less. Instead of purchasing new, more efficient servers that utilize less power while doing more, you might look into outsourcing to a firm that through economies of scale only charges you for the resources you need and utilize.
What about business continuity?
You can also leverage virtualization technology for lower-cost, high-availability solutions. Businesses need to make sure they take measures to ensure business continuity; however, many can't afford two of everything should one component fail. Virtualization allows you to lift virtual images (your data) onto another physical device, quickly and without the time and cost of replacing the exact same hardware. A service provider that has multiple server sessions and data centers can build this in for you. Redundancy is made practical with virtualization.
What is service-oriented architecture, and how does SOA fit into this?
SOA is the concept of taking traditional IT functions of a business and turning it into a service. SOA reduces costs through increased reuse, another greening strategy.
Another advantage of SOA is it reduces redundancy and the associated decommissioning of applications. Common implementation of business rules and processes results in better consistency, security and compliance. While the long-term results can provide more service with less cost, the initial developmental costs can be quite extensive. It takes a while to recoup them. Virtualization can provide affordable SOA, especially for middle-market companies. If you outsource SOA functionality, it is possible to get even more service for less cost. Imagine spending a few thousand dollars per month for a service that could cost well over $250,000 in purchased hardware and software, data center space and the skilled resources to manage it all.
Don't most companies already have proactive monitoring systems?
Many companies think they do, but more often than not, it is more reactive in nature. When something happens, someone is notified, and the IT department gets right on it. Proactive monitoring is encompassing and utilizes predictive analysis to notify IT before the failure occurs. Does your system monitor power draw? As the power demand goes up, more heat is produced and something has to give. A breaker trips and the system goes down. Getting it back up is going to take some amount of time. Even minimal downtime can be costly, especially if core systems or customer service is compromised. Monitoring power draw, all motherboards, ram and all other processes can predict an oncoming problem and provide notification and adjustments before a crash occurs. Make sure your IT department or outsource provider can demonstrate this as part of your systems management.
At the end of the day, most companies are more interested in meeting their business goals than being green. By asking the right questions, it is possible to achieve both objectives, and who doesn't want to increase productivity, reduce cost and look good doing it?
TRENT HENSON is Executive Vice President of Information Technology at Houston-based DYONYX. Reach him at (713) 293-6359 or email@example.com.
A new methodology
Significant benefits can be gained with wide-scale virtualization. Holistic virtualization is the next step in the evolution. It is imperative to have a strategy to pull everything together for best results.
According to Jaymes Davis, virtualization practice specialist at Entisys, "The most important thing about VOA methodology is that it is a new, trademarked methodology that is sweeping the industry as the de facto standard for building virtualization architecture. It is time to consider what it can do for you and your company."
Smart Business talked with Davis for his insight into holistic virtualization.
What is holistic virtualization?
It is defining solutions and architectures within your environment to work with virtualization technologies. A methodology has been created for transitioning and adapting to the virtualized workload. We have found that holistic virtualization has become the mindset in today's market around solutions that integrate everything from hardware, software and applications because of its benefits. Prior to this point, people believed certain workloads would not work in this space, and we are finding that this is not the case.
What's the VOA methodology?
VOA is the virtualization-oriented architecture. It is a methodology that has been defined to create an assessment that captures the logical definition of your existing environments, i.e. processes, inventory, forecasting, architecture design and implementation planning. The VOA identifies soft costs and hard costs when you are thinking about consolidation, new services, business continuity planning or disaster recovery. It is a holistic view of virtualization that employs the virtualization ecosystem to ascertain a strategy versus utilizing it as a tactical solution.
Why this methodology? How was it created?
The VOA methodology was created by the deployments and implementations for SMB to enterprise customers and finding processes and logic structures as well as information architectures that helped create the stepping-stones for this process. When aggregating the data, we found that certain subsets of logic indicators played out in all the scenarios, i.e. VM sprawl, forecasting host scalability as well as defining architecture and processes, which allowed us to create and base the VOA methodology on an ITIL format with an emphasis on performance and perception.
Why should people move to virtualization?
From desktop users to managers of data center infrastructure, people move to virtualization for a number of reasons. The main reason is to create new service capabilities within their own environment and to create time to market improvement of their business. Another reason is consolidation and disaster recovery (business continuity planning). New opportunities for virtualization have been found in desktops with VDI architectures, providing more cost savings, mobility and stability scenarios than ever.
How can a virtualized company benefit from the VOA methodology?
Existing virtualized companies can benefit from the VOA methodology through the evolved assessments, the VOA foundation services and the VOA comprehensive assessments. These expanded services were created to further adoption of the new technologies and service methodologies for your existing environment. If you don't have an ITIL-based change management or a service delivery model for your virtualization platform as well as chargeback, these expanded methodologies are for you.
With so many different virtualization platforms, how do you choose?
It is important to provide a choice for customers after defining the logical structure and requirements within an organization. This helps create solution architectures and scenarios with most hypervisors and hardware configurations while embracing CAPEX and OPEX before defining a strategy for a company. Because there are so many choices and virtualization has such a big ecosystem, it is important to make sure that the solution presented is customized to fit those variables.
Are there workloads that can't be virtualized? How does that tie into holistic virtualization?
There are workloads that can't be virtualized but can still benefit from virtualization-oriented architecture. Nonvirtualized workloads can utilize tools from third-party vendors as well as platform supportability to augment its capability to participate. Virtualization can play a part in disaster recovery for the nonvirtualized workload at a reduced capacity or a service replacement once identified.
How long does a VOA assessment take and what is the cost?
VOA assessments for Phase I take approximately two weeks. The latest virtualization appliance technologies, project implementers and project engagement services are utilized to fulfill Phase I assessments with speed and accuracy. Cost varies based on the server count, but the return on investment and savings can be staggering.
JAYMES DAVIS is virtualization practice manager for Entisys Solutions. Reach him at (925) 270-8230 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
Avoiding disaster
No one knows when a disaster might strike. Whether it's a natural disaster, riots or a disgruntled employee erasing the computer's hard drive, disasters can have a huge impact on your business if you are not prepared. The longer it takes to recover and get back in business, the less chance a company has of surviving.
"Disaster recovery can make or break a company, depending on its preparedness," says Geoff Hanson, practice director-server of operations, storage and migration services at Pomeroy IT Solutions Inc. "The CEO or CFO must consider it if the business is going to be there tomorrow. If you don't plan for disaster recovery, it could be gone. Besides yourself, you need to think about your investors, employees, customers and community, and how important your business continuance is to all of them. By positioning your company with the right plan, right equipment and right personnel, you can survive a disaster."
Smart Business spoke with Hanson about disaster recovery processes and what companies can do to implement them.
What is the first step in disaster recovery?
You should develop a comprehensive disaster recovery plan and put it in place. A company that plans and prepares can experience minimal or no loss. Companies that are unprepared will experience a very stressful time during their recovery process.
What areas of a business should be taken into consideration?
Disasters take a wide variety of forms. Power outages, floods, fires, weather phenomenons and riots can happen at any time. Some emergencies might not harm your property directly but may make it impossible to access it for a period of time. Take into consideration power, people, facilities, air conditioning, communications and the surrounding area. Businesses depend on computers and people to run them. Evacuation, data and paper backup, processes and safety must be thought out. Every area of your business should be taken into consideration.
Who in the organization should be involved in the planning process?
All departments within the organization should have some involvement in the planning process. A point person should have responsibility for the overall plan. That person needs to make sure that all departments are involved in providing input and that each department knows what it needs to do to implement the plan. Then everyone can do their parts when disaster strikes.
Is more and better technology the only answer to disaster recovery?
More and better technology can aid in the recovery process, yet it is not the only answer. It takes a combination of the business plan and the disaster recovery plan itself, designed and implemented by key personnel utilizing the right equipment, to successfully recover from any disaster. You have personnel, customers, equipment and productivity to consider. Your plan has to spell out how you are going to recover and what equipment is needed. Remote facilities and personnel must be an integral part to the recovery time and to minimizing any disruption. Having the right-skilled resources in place with the replicated data for a company to press on with business as usual is the key. It is also very important to have space between your business and the data recovery facility. It does you no good to have your backup data system so close to your home office that a disaster can take out both.
How do you differentiate between cost and value when it comes to disaster recovery and business continuity?
First of all, cost is a dollar amount. Value is what you receive for that amount. Companies have to ask themselves how much time they can afford to be shut down. The shorter the time, the more comprehensive the plan must be. Those who plan and invest and have everything in place can recover with a minimal effect on the bottom line. How many companies went out of business because of Sept. 11, Hurricane Katrina or any other disaster that comes to mind? How many of those might still be in business if they had a disaster recovery plan? What is the value of continuous operation compared to the cost of being prepared for whatever comes up?
How can you save the business money while lowering the risks?
The first step is through proper disaster recovery planning. The next is through server and storage consolidation and virtualization initiative. These tend to reduce and/or eliminate specific hardware dependencies. Companies are thus better positioned to ride out disasters with little to no loss of data, equipment or their associated business revenue streams.
GEOFF HANSON is the practice director-server of operations, storage and migration services at Pomeroy IT Solutions Inc. Reach him at (623) 551-5771 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
Real estate: Where's the value today?
Changes underway in the debt market are unquestionably having an effect on the value of real estate. The result can be positive or negative depending on a variety of circumstances. As an investor for either the short or long term, it is critically important to be current on the value of the asset in today's market.
"Right now, we are in the most dynamic and fluid real estate market of the last 10 to 15 years," says Jerry Gisclair II, MAI, Managing Director Florida for CB Richard Ellis Valuation & Advisory Services Group. "As such, third-party appraisals are imperative to ensure property owners are taking the right steps to realize optimum return on their investment."
Smart Business talked with Gisclair for his insight on the current real estate market and why current valuation updates are important.
What effect is the current debt market having on real estate values?
The current debt market does not offer the same high-leverage programs so evident in 2005 and 2006. Today, we see deal structures that require stricter underwriting, higher equity requirements and subsequently lower loan to value debt percentages. The result is a shift to those buyers and lenders who prefer lower leverage and who have been somewhat shut out of the market by the more aggressive, highly leveraged entities of the past few years. While the reality and the on-going anxiety of the subprime market has become evident in the residential sector, we have seen only minor impact to commercial properties. Aside from market to market strengths and weaknesses, the fundamentals in the commercial sector remain in check and quite healthy.
So, is this good or bad for values?
It depends. Repricing certainly had been expected under these conditions, and we are seeing this come to fruition for highly leveraged properties where buyers paid top dollar. A good example is land, where prospective residential or high rise condo developments caused prices to soar. On the other hand, quality assets are still experiencing strong demand but are now being pursued primarily by investors with the capacity to bring a higher equity component to the transaction. As such, the changes in the debt market are somewhat mitigated. Additionally, the change in the value of the dollar is encouraging to foreign investor interests, who see a two-fold advantage in a real estate play and a long-term hedge that the dollar will recover, causing an arbitrage of sorts on their currency.
Are appraisals needed then for other than buying and selling real estate?
Certainly. Current appraisals are also important for annual reporting to fund managers, private investor groups, for some Sarbanes-Oxley compliance cases and to assist with tax planning and FASIBE 141 compliance. A third-party appraisal accompanied by a proper cost segregation analysis can help structure depreciation schedules that can potentially result in significant federal tax savings. A current appraisal can also help in evaluating the true potential of a property and what steps can be taken to achieve that added value.
What should be considered when choosing an appraiser?
It is important to interview the appraiser to make sure he or she meets your particular needs. Your appraiser should be adept at analyzing financial statements and properly weighing risk/return amongst different property types. He or she should have the necessary resources and a sound understanding of current market conditions to ensure a valuation at a specific point in time. What was happening 15 months ago is relevant but not necessarily applicable today.
If you have properties in multiple markets, both nationally and/or multinational-ly, it would be very helpful to work with a company that has the presence to bring demonstrated local expertise to each. While the real estate itself remains subject to a variety of local influences, the approaches and methodology to value are much more consistent. As such, the best of both can be enhanced through a single source provider.
Do you have any other advice for those in the real estate market?
Treat any investment as though you are going to hold it for at least three to five years, regardless if it is a residential or commercial property. Consider the cost to enter, alternative investment options, current valuation, long-term goals and, of course, the cost to exit. Some of the problems on the residential side occurred because the real estate was simply treated as being much more liquid than it really was. This applies to the land purchases for residential development and the home buyer.
JERRY GISCLAIR is the Managing Director Florida in the Valuation & Advisory Services Group of CB Richard Ellis in Tampa. Reach him at (813) 261-4510 or by e-mail at email@example.com.
Communication in employee benefits
Employee benefits are an essential tool in attracting and maintaining a motivated and loyal work force. If the employees aren't fully aware of all the benefits available to them, much of the time and effort employers spend to select those benefits is negated.
"People can't put a value on what they don't know about," says Naomi Hall, regional director of training for Gallagher Benefit Services Inc., Houston. "Effective communications include getting the right information out at the right time for the right audience. The more employees know about the benefits that the company is paying for, the better chance there is that they will appreciate what they have."
Smart Business talked with Hall for her insight into effective employee benefits communication.
Why is communication of benefits so important?
First, there are the legal requirements. Most employers are familiar with the communications mandated by COBRA, HIPAA, and other federal and state laws, but just as important is keeping employees regularly informed about what the benefits mean to them and at what cost. Too often, employers will simply hand out a 'benefits booklet' once a year when the new plan takes affect. Studies show that about half of employees just skim those booklets. Communications-savvy companies are finding a variety of ways to provide more timely information targeted to the employees' needs.
Strategic communications are so important. It takes forethought and planning, but can pay big dividends in employee knowledge and morale.
What benefits information should be provided on a regular basis?
The majority of employees underestimate the total cost of their benefits package and overestimate their cost share. Employers should share information about the total cost of benefits with employees. It's often called 'the hidden paycheck,' the amount employers pay for benefits, yet employees don't know about it. That can be 20 percent to 40 percent of their total compensation. Also, reminders about how to most effectively access and use benefits are essential. For instance if you have a wellness plan that pays for a free annual checkup, remind employees about it. Healthy employees are more productive. You can also communicate various ways that employees can better maintain a healthful lifestyle.
What are some of the ways companies can communicate this information?
It depends on the corporate culture and what resources the company has available. If employees regularly have access to the Internet, e-mails or postings on the company intranet can be effective. Some companies are setting up specific Web sites just for benefits. Employees can go to that site 24-7 to obtain benefits information and request updates to addresses or even coverage levels. Web casts are also effective. A year-round communications campaign is very important. If considering print communications, postcards could be mailed. Break-room posters are visible reminders of the benefits package. Helpful wellness tips in the pay envelope can be effective. If you need help in getting started, your benefits vendor should be able to supply some ideas or even printed materials that you could use.
Employers don't need to spend a lot of time or money, but the more they do communicate, the more advantages they are going to receive from the benefits provided. Some companies use a specific font or logo to communicate benefits information. Any time employees see that font or logo in company communications they know the item is addressing benefits and they are more likely to review it.
What do you mean when you say the right time?
The right time certainly includes the open-enrollment period. Be sure to get the information out at least a month ahead of the deadline. Some larger companies formally survey employees from time to time to get their feedback on effective benefits programs. If you are doing this, be sure to get the survey information out six to eight months before renewal so that you have time to thoroughly review the input as you are making decisions. These surveys can be done online, through one-on-one visits or focus groups. This information can help determine what is really important to your work force.
What do you mean by the right audience?
For example, if you have a primarily younger staff, those people are probably going to be more interested in child-care programs than retirement plans. By communicating the availability of nurse hot lines through the medical plan or possible federal tax breaks on child-care expenses by using a flexible spending account, you can target this part of your work force so that the employees better value the benefits package provided to them.
NAOMI HALL, CEBS, is regional director of training in the Gallagher Benefit Services Inc. section of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in Houston. Reach her at firstname.lastname@example.com or (713) 358-5898.
Controlling insurance costs
Securing the right insurance is an ongoing challenge. Obtaining affordable insurance can be an even greater test.
The market can get quite complicated so it is wise to consider all the alternatives. One option is group captives.
"Group captives provide a means whereby business owners can achieve more control and stability over their insurance program, while lowering their insurance costs through the return of underwriting profits and investment income," says Norman Henley, director, Captive Services, Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services Inc., Houston.
Smart Business talked with Henley for more of his insight into group captives.
What is a group captive?
A group captive is an insurance company owned and operated by its members for the benefit of those members. It is over-seen by a board of directors made up of elected individuals from the member firms. They are often based in locations where there is favorable tax treatment and less onerous regulation, like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. Since the passage of the 1986 Tax Reform Act, domestic captives have become more popular. Some U.S. states, such as Vermont, South Carolina and others, have passed laws adopting captive domicile status to be able to regain some of the lost premium tax income.
Is there more than one type of group captive?
Essentially, there are two types of member-owned group captives: homogeneous and heterogeneous. Homogeneous refers to those groups whose members represent the same industries. For example, all the members could be temporary employment agencies, or they could all be building contractors, trucking contractors or electrical distributors. Heterogeneous group captives are those whose members come from diverse industries.
What are the benefits of a group captive?
There are several. One of the benefits is that premiums are based on the insured's loss experience rather than trends in the overall insurance market. A captive provides control of claims through proactive, third-party claims management. The insured retains the underwriting profit and investment income.
As a group captive member, you are an owner. You control the 'who, why and when' of the insurance process. The financial strength of the group allows the members to choose the highest quality service providers while limiting the risk of catastrophic losses. This ability to control and manage these services reduces operating costs.
In a group captive, premiums paid to a captive are generally tax deductible because there is risk sharing. That is unlike self-insured programs where only the operating expenses are deductible and losses are not deductible until paid.
What about loss control?
Along with claims management, the business owners control the return on their investment through the design of detailed loss prevention strategies.
Captive members take an active part in the claims process. They do that with protocols that provide for special handling requirements. They identify 'hot claims,' which alert adjustors to claims that require immediate attention. Many captives also have access to online claims information that allows real-time review. Claims management and loss control services are usually provided by third-party administrators.
What coverages are written by a group captive?
Captives were originally used to insure tough-to-place product liability insurance. Over the years, they have evolved into a creative vehicle for providing insurance covering most types of frequency-driven insurance including, but not limited to, workers' compensation, general liability, automobile liability, automobile physical damage and even warranties. Because many of these have a 'long tail' on the claims payment, the insured has the benefit of investment income.
Should a business owner be concerned with this alternative approach?
Once an alternative, we believe that captives have now become conventional. Currently, there are more than 5,000 captives in existence, representing $38 billion in premiums.
But, entering into a group captive should not be taken lightly or with only the expectation of immediate savings. It is imperative to seek out and obtain expert advice on all aspects.
It is important that the determination of risks are actuarially determined, that the premiums are set to reflect the retained exposure and that all operating costs are determined. All of these costs must be shared on an equitable basis.
NORMAN HENLEY is director, Captive Services at Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services Inc. in Houston. Reach him at (713) 358-5788 or at email@example.com.
Offshoring and outsourcing
There are numerous new outsourcing and offshoring issues that need to be recognized and dealt with before a company jumps on either practice's bandwagon.
"Company executives are always looking for ways to lower costs and increase services delivered," says Al Solorzano, practice manager in Application Delivery Infrastructure at Agile360. "Outsourcing and offshoring are ways to increase efficiencies, however, the shift to globalization isn't without pitfalls."
Smart Business talked with Solorzano for his insight on some of the things executives should consider.
What should be my first concern as I consider outsourcing and offshoring?
You have to be realistic in your expectations. Your organization must have the infrastructure and systems in place to maximize the efficiencies expected or you will never get the best return on your investment. In order to maximize the potential benefits to your company, you also will want to partner with an adviser who has done this before who can help you think outside the box and analyze the pitfalls on both sides. Realize that the person or company that you are dealing with to supply the offshore work force has more experience in this field than you have. Consequently, he or she is going to have more experience in developing a contract. Doesn't it make sense for you to partner with someone who is looking out for your best interests?
What about security concerns?
Security is definitely an issue. You have to consider security of data electronic and print and security of communications, with an emphasis on access rights and user authentication methods. Along with that, you have to think about turnover how it relates to security and to customer service. Training is another issue. What systems does your organization currently have in place to allow new employees to learn their tasks quickly and accurately? Are your account provisioning systems and security auditing tools efficient? The higher the turnover rate the offshore work force has, the more an inefficient IT infrastructure can result in increased costs for your organization. It is also always best to plan for more turnover than initially expected.
How do I know what I am going to receive from a potential supplier?
Both service-level objectives (SLO) and service-level agreements (SLA) should be developed. Understand which is which. An SLO lays out what you want to accomplish and what is needed to meet those objectives. An SLA is the agreement by the supplier of what is actually being supplied and usually comes with financial compensation for not meeting the agreed-to terms. An SLO is analogous to the postal service and standard mail delivery. There are posted terms on standard mail delivery, in this case the service-level objective. You agree to those terms when you send standard mail by using a stamp on your envelope. If the postal service takes another day or two to get the mail delivered, the postal service does not compensate you.
However, the SLA is more analogous to a higher-level service like next-day delivery. You contract for a certain service and, if the postal service misses its obligation, you may receive a refund. In some cases, if you don't receive what is agreed upon, you may even be compensated damages that are specified in the contract. Be careful though; in our example, you could also be liable for damages if you don't meet your obligations based on the contract, such as trying to send a 10-pound package when you only paid for a 5-pound package. Make sure you understand your contract and whether you have SLOs or SLAs.
Most organizations have issues supporting local desktops, much less desktops halfway around the world. How is this addressed?
Managing desktops is a concern, but there are many methods to get the users access to the applications quickly and efficiently. Centralizing your data, access methods and applications would be the most efficient way of getting users access to the tools they need to perform their work. Efficiencies are going to have to first be internal. The more efficient the organization is, the easier it is going to be to make the outsourced and offshore tasks efficient. The reverse is also true, but your organization must be efficient first. To really optimize the return on your investment in an offshore work force, your IT infrastructure must be able to adapt to changes and scale as additional requirements are identified or as new opportunities to out-source are identified.
What kind of technology infrastructure should be considered to make an organization efficient?
An application delivery infrastructure that utilizes remote display capabilities makes the most sense. You want centralized application, centralized data and IT control maintained by your organization. You should also have rapid application deployment that is adaptive to changes in requirements while, at the same time, keeps all data securely on your network and does not traverse other networks. Combine these solutions with desktop virtualization infrastructure and your organization will be ready for globalization. Spend time with an organization that is knowledgeable in these solutions, and you are well on your way to achieving an efficient offshoring and outsourcing plan.
AL SOLORZANO is practice manager in Application Delivery Infrastructure at Agile360. Reach him at (949) 253-4106 or email@example.com.


text:
Sale! Grey & Black Untamed Tweed Heels
This is our favorite fun and funky brand of shoes, NAUGHTY MONKEY. These are adorable pumps in a grey tweed with black suede patches at the back and front of the heels. Available in size 6-10.
To return an item, it must be delivered back to us within 14 days of receipt, (30 for international). You can opt to receive a refund (less shipping), an exchange or a store credit for future use. For exceptions and/or restocking fees see description.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Abandoned Kitteh
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text:
Assorted Greenery Basket Arrangement
Add a touch of greenery to your home décor with this arrangement.
Craft Time: 30 minutes
Get exclusive offers about this product and more!
Material List
- Basket
- Fern Bush
- Greenery Bush
- Mini Greenery Bush
- Floral Foam
- Glue Gun
- Glue Sticks
- Spanish Moss
Project Instructions
Step: 1
Fill basket with floral foam, secure with glue, moss.
Step: 2
Cut and insert greenery bushes as shown, secure with glue.
Step: 3
Cut and insert fern bushes as shown, secure with glue.
Refer to photo to complete project.
Follow manufacturer's directions for all products used.


text:
Callipepla gambelii (Gambel's quail)
Gambels quail are heard the world over in every Western movie ever made. Here are two examples of their "gathering call" which you all knew, just didn't know you knew!
Douglas Von Gausig (recordist; copyright holder), Naturesongs.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
To cite this page: Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2014. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed at http://animaldiversity.org.
Disclaimer: The Animal Diversity Web is an educational resource written largely by and for college students. ADW doesn't cover all species in the world, nor does it include all the latest scientific information about organisms we describe. Though we edit our accounts for accuracy, we cannot guarantee all information in those accounts. While ADW staff and contributors provide references to books and websites that we believe are reputable, we cannot necessarily endorse the contents of references beyond our control.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants DUE-0633095 and DRL-0628151.
The ADW Team gratefully acknowledges their support.


text:
We're back with the fourteenth episode of Season Six of the Ubuntu Podcast from the UK LoCo Team! Alan Pope and Mark Johnson are still wandering the wilderness so Tony Whitmore and
Mark Shuttleworth has marked Ubuntu's 'Bug #1' as fixed,
KeePass 2 is an open source password manager available for Windows and Linux (Mono).
You can no longer use the KeePass2 tray icon in Ubuntu 13.04 because the old systray whitelist has been removed from Unity, but you can now get AppIndicator support for KeePass2 thanks to an extension created by David Lechner.
autossh is a program to start a copy of ssh and monitor it, restarting it as necessary should it die or stop passing traffic.The original idea and the mechanism were from rstunnel (Reliable SSH Tunnel).
Ubuntu Billboard in Ukraine
Ubuntu has been forced to axe a competition offering an Ubuntu-loaded Dell XPS laptop as a prize after just two weeks.
Wake up! There's a new Humble Indie Bundle waiting to have your cash thrown at it!
The drill, as always, remains the same: the Humble folks have some games, and you can buy them for however much you like.
Games on offer in this latest bundle are:
Opera's popular e-mail feature is to be removed from the browser and released as a standalone application, developers have announced.
TuxOnIce is most easily described as the Linux equivalent of Windows' hibernate functionality, but better. It saves the contents of memory to disk and powers down. When the computer is started up again, it reloads the contents and the user can continue from where they left off.
Popular PC sport simulation game 'Football Manager' will support Linux with its next major release, games developers Sports Interactive have said.
The news means that the upcoming Football Manager 2014 will be the first official release of the series on Linux.
A video demonstrating a new set of animations on Ubuntu Touch has been posted online.
In the 1.17 minute clip, Ubuntu designers showcase a range of visual effects used in 'core movements' on Touch. These include animations when switching between applications, unlocking the screen, and pressing buttons.
Tizen, the open-source Linux software platform aiming to power everything from smartphones to smart TVs, is seemingly coming to laptops.
Gnome 3.8 introduced a bundle of nifty changes like new applications for Weather, Clock, Documents and Note Taking, improved search in the Activites, Privacy Settings and so on.
Tony Whitmore and Laura Cowen are joined by Andy Piper and Laura Czajkowski for the thirteenth


text:
Chelsea Academy product Todd Kane has signed a new contract which keeps him at the club until 2016.
The right-back was a member of our Under-21 squad this season until he went on loan to Blackburn Rovers, a move extended last week until the end of the Championship season. He has so far made 12 appearances for the Lancashire club.
Kane has yet to make his Chelsea first team debut but he was a member of our reserve squad that won the 2011 national league, and was an integral member of our FA Youth Cup-winning side last season.
Prior to his loan to Blackburn, the 19-year-old played five games this season on loan at League One Preston North End.
Quick, strong in the tackle and a genuine goal threat when shooting from distance (as can be seen in the video above), Kane has been with Chelsea since Under-8s and is an England Under-19 international.


text:
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Click on any linked name for a biography, contact information and photograph
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Link to Faculty & Staff Vacancies (Faculty by Discipline page)
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Eric Berlin, Trumpet, Conductor
(Trumpet Studio website)
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T. Dennis Brown, Music Education
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Infinity Brass Ensemble
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Gilles Vonsattel, Piano
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Photo by Will Kirk
Brandon Keith Brown, Director of Orchestral Studies, holds an MM in Orchestral Conducting from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, and a BM in Violin Performance from Northwestern University. He won 3rd Prize in the 2012 Sir Georg Solti Competition for Conductors. In April 2013, he made a highly successful European debut with the Badische Staatskapelle drawing critical remarks as having "...mastered the difficult program with flying colors." Selected by the Vienna Philharmonic as winner of 2011 Ansbacher Fellowship, he was in residence at The Salzburg Festival and conducted Vienna Philharmonic members in the opera camps for young people.
Orchestras conducted in concert include the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Badische Staatskapelle, members of the Vienna Philharmonic, Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, Yakima Chamber Orchestra, the Macon Sinfonia, the Astoria Symphony and the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia. Versatile in opera, Brown was music director for Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte and Puccini's Suor Angelica, and assistant conductor for Britten's Albert Herring. Brown conducted at The 2010 Castleton Festival in Virginia under the direction of Lorin Maazel and at the 2009 American Academy of Conducting at Aspen, with David Zinman. German debuts next season include the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen. Please see www.brandonkeithbrown.com for more details.
LOUIS EPSTEIN Bio page
MUSIC HISTORY, Lecturer
Lecturer in Music History, Louis Epstein's research focuses on early twentieth-century French modernism(s). His dissertation, Toward a Theory of Patronage: Funding for Music Composition in France, 1918-1939, explores the wealthy individuals, powerful institutions, and lucrative practices that made music composition possible during a time characterized by political and economic turmoil. Louis has presented at regional and national meetings of the American Musicological Society, as well as at numerous other national and international conferences.
He received the Oscar S. Schafer Award in recognition of his excellent classroom teaching and has presented on pedagogy research at the 2011 Music History Teaching Day Conference. His other research interests include musical nationalism and exoticism, music sociology, and historiography. Epstein received his BA in Music from Princeton University and his PhD in Music from Harvard University.
STEFAN CARIS LOVE Email Bio page
MUSIC THEORY, Assistant Professor
Stefan Caris Love, Assistant Professor of Music Theory, has an MA/PhD in Theory from the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, and an AB with Honors in Music from Brown University. He was an Instructor at Eastman, a Visiting Instructor at Oberlin Conservatory and a Lecturer in Music at the University of Chicago.
Co-winner of the 2009 Bruce Benward Student Analysis Competition sponsored by the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy, he published articles in leading peer-reviewed journals-- Music Theory Spectrum, Music Theory Online and the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy. He presented papers at the College Music Society Great Lakes Regional Conference, the Society for Music Theory Annual Meeting and the Renaissance Society of America's Annual Meeting. His research includes analysis of jazz; his dissertation was entitled "On Phrase Rhythm in Jazz." In his recent research, he applies his findings to other styles, including the music of the common-practice period.
Emiliano Ricciardi, Lecturer in Music History, is completing a Ph.D. in musicology at Stanford University, supported by a Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship. He holds an M.Phil. in historical musicology from the University of Cambridge, UK, a Diploma in violin performance from the Conservatory of Rome, Italy, and a Bachelor in Humanities from the University of Rome.
His research focusses on the Italian madrigal and the settings of Torquato Tasso's lyric poetry. He has published articles and reviews in The Journal of Musicology, Renaissance Quarterly and Notes, and has presented papers at international conferences in the U.S. and Europe. With Stanford University's Center for Computer Assisted Research in the Humanities, he is preparing a digital edition of the about 500 extant settings of Tasso's lyric poetry. He presented work on the reception and practice of twelve-tone music in fascist Italy at international conferences and at the annual meeting of the American Musicological Society. Ricciardi is a violinist and an avid chamber musician and has performed widely in the U.S. and Europe with leading ensembles and soloists.
Jeffrey Swinkin, Lecturer in Theory, received his B.M. with High Distinction in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music, and his M.M. in Piano Performance and Ph.D. in Music Theory from the University of Michigan. His dissertation advisor was Kevin Korsyn; he has also worked with Scott Burnham, Fred Lerdahl, Patrick McCreless, Wayne Petty and Janet Schmalfeldt. Dr. Swinkin's primary piano instructor was Anton Nel, and he has played in masterclasses for Vladimir Feltsman, Richard Goode and Rosalyn Tureck. He has taught at the University of San Francisco, where he was Adjunct Professor of Music, and at the University of Michigan, as a graduate teaching assistant.
top of page
E. Wayne Abercrombie
Director of Choral Activities
Doric Alviani (Deceased)
Choral Director and first Department Chair
Charles Bestor
Electronic Music, Composition; Emeritus; Former Department Chair
Philip Bezanson (Deceased)
Composition; Former Department Chair
Horace Clarence Boyer (Deceased)
Vocal Jazz, Conductor, Theory; Emeritus
Walter Chesnut (Deceased)
Trumpet, Conductor; Emeritus
Joseph Contino (Deceased)
Band Director, Clarinet/Woodwinds
Nigel Coxe
Piano; Emeritus
Richard E. du Bois (Deceased)
Choral Conductor
William Hanley
Chief Undergraduate Adviser, Percussion
Charles Heffernan
Music Education; Emeritus
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Voice; Emeritus
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Director of the Minuteman Marching Band, Tuba
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Music Education; Former Department Chair
Max Roach (Deceased)
Jazz Drums
Malcolm W. Rowell, Jr.
Director of Bands, Conductor, Music Education; Emeritus
Emanuel Rubin (Deceased)
Musicology; Former Department Chair
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Music Education, Trombone/Euphonium
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Voice; Emeritus
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Conductor, Music Education
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Composition; Emeritus
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Trombone, Conductor, Jazz
Robert Sutton (Deceased)
Theory/Composition, Former Department Chair
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Percussion, Conductor
Karen Tarlow (email@example.com)
Theory, Composition
Billy Taylor (Deceased)
Jazz Piano; Wilmer D. Barrett Professor of Music
Leopold (Terry) Teraspulsky (Deceased)
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text:
I am the genie of the island
My most favourite racing games are NFS World and Xpand Rally Xtreme. I also love NFS ProStreet. I don't like Mario Kart because it's a kiddy toy, but my 9 years old friend from Japan loves Mario Bros and Mario Kart.
well so far NFS MOSTWANTED ...
only racing game that made me play 18times....
Carmageddon all the way, baby.
nothing more fun than crushing an old lady between your car and a wall
hey you shouldn't bump old threads


text:
Cervical Cancer (cont.)
In this Article
Comment on this
If you have symptoms of cervical cancer, your doctor will try to find out what's causing the problems. You may have the following tests:
You may want to ask the doctor these questions before having a biopsy:
Patient Comments
Viewers share their comments
Cervical Cancer - Risk Factors Question: Did you have any of the risk factors for cervical cancer at the time of your diagnosis? If so, what were they?
Cervical Cancer - Symptoms Question: What symptoms did you experience with cervical cancer?
Cervical Cancer - Treatments Question: What treatment has been effective for your cervical cancer?
Cervical Cancer - Share Your Experience Question: Did you have cervical cancer or a precancerous cervical condition? Please share your experience.
Cervical Cancer - Diagnosis Question: Please discuss the tests or exams that led to a diagnosis of cervical cancer.
Cervical Cancer - Share Surgery Experience Question: Did you have a surgical procedure to treat cervical cancer or a precancerous condition? Please share your experience.


text:
I'm starting to think this is becoming less of a "Welcome" thread and more of a "Warning" thread. :p
I'm Bubba and I'm here for the coverage and commentary of soccer and cycling, and of course, Radiohead.
Where were all you people when I had to find a thesis subject in Advanced Abnormal Psychology?
|« Previous Thread | Next Thread »


text:
MarySlim: Multimarine Composites' wave cleaving Very Slender Vessel
Click image to enlarge © PHOTOGRAPHER: Neils Obee 2008 – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Article Summary
Until recently limited to military craft, the wave-piercing attributes of the Very Slender Vessel (VSV) design has now made its way into the civilian boat world in the form of the MarySlim, a stunning 72-foot, £1.5 million, long-range cruiser built by Cornwall based Multimarine Composites that debuted last year at the Royal William Yard in England. The unique shape of the 1650 hp, V12 powered yacht allows it to cleave through waves, eliminating the power-consuming, bruising bounce of other crafts and allowing users to explore greater areas through harsher weather conditions.
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LINCOLN — It's back to the basics this week for a struggling Nebraska punt return unit that's on pace for the worst statistical season on record.
The Huskers are averaging 3.6 yards on their 18 punt returns this year. Only 12 teams nationally have performed worse.
It's been a season full of muffs, misjudges, bad blocks and coaching mistakes — a blooper-reel-like collection of miscues that have had a subtle or direct impact on games all year.
Some deficiencies could be traced back to Nebraska's commitment to guarding against potential fake punts. NU coaches have pointed out that returning punts has become increasingly difficult across college football. Redshirt freshman Jordan Westerkamp and his backup, freshman Terrell Newby, haven't returned punts at this level before, either.
But the fact that the Huskers could finish the 2013 season with the lowest punt return average in their history (the stats go back to 1946) is enough to catch everyone's attention. Nebraska's previous single-season low was 5.7 yards per return in 1979.
"We'd like to have more yards, obviously, with what we're doing," said Ross Els, the special teams coach.
It could take some time to fix, though.
* * *
The last time Kenny Bell tried to field a punt, he muffed it and turned the ball over in a tight road game last year at Northwestern. He knows firsthand how difficult it is.
"I think it's the hardest thing to do in football," said Bell, the team's second-leading receiver.
Perhaps even more so of late.
The total number of punts nationally has declined slightly during the last 10 years (5 percent fewer per game). Yet the number of punt returns per game has dropped by 28 percent.
Teams averaged 9.94 yards per return in 2004, but the mean mark is 8.8 this year.
One reason is better punting, Oregon coach Mark Helfrich said.
"The Utah guy last week was phenomenal," Helfrich said, referring to Utes punter Tom Hackett. "I've never seen a guy that rugbys one way and hits it in the exact opposite corner with distance."
Nebraska has had its problems trying to field those low-line-drive darts that can bounce and roll unpredictably. The Huskers have lost an average of 8 yards of field position every time they've let a punt hit the ground this year — and they've done that 22 times. Eight of those instances resulted in the NU offense starting its drive inside the 10.
But even when the Huskers have tried to catch punts on the fly, they've had issues. They've lost two fumbles (after losing five last season). Westerkamp has seemingly made every acrobatic fair catch imaginable, too — diving forward while in a full sprint or lunging backward at the last second or corralling the football while a teammate accidentally takes out his legs.
Stanford coach David Shaw said he tries to solve that issue before the season. The players who can read the flight of the ball and secure the catch are the candidates to return punts. Stanford has averaged between 9 and 12 yards per punt return in each of the last four seasons.
"We don't worry about speed. We don't worry about run after catch," Shaw said. "A lot of times, they're former baseball players, as funny as it is. Guys that are used to seeing the ball off the bat, get a good job on balls that are hit off the foot."
But sometimes gambles pay off.
* * *
Michigan State's Macgarrett Kings fielded a third-quarter punt against Nebraska last week. There was no blocking design for him, yet Kings made the first Husker miss and got to the edge for a 26-yard gain.
Instead of Michigan State starting a crucial drive inside its own 15-yard line, the Spartans were at their 37. "Great example of player making a play," coach Mark Dantonio said.
It's the kind of field-flipping return that Nebraska has been missing all year.
The scheme isn't the issue, Pelini said. Former Huskers Nate Swift and Niles Paul both ranked in the top 25 nationally in punt return average. Ameer Abdullah was 40th in 2011.
But there's been a sharp decline since.
The Huskers' longest return was a 19-yarder by Westerkamp, and he had to break two tackles to do it. He's been hit right after fielding a punt on nearly every return over the past month. There have been two illegal block penalties, too.
The reason for the lack of space is a result of poor execution near the line of scrimmage, Pelini said. It's become a focus this week in practice.
College rules allow as many as seven members of the punt coverage team to release downfield at the snap. The NFL, by comparison, permits just two.
The key, Pelini said, is what happens within the first 10 to 15 yards.
"We're running alongside of them," he said, "and you have guys there — we have almost bodies on bodies — but we're not disrupting them enough and widening them enough to give our punt returners the comfort level to catch that ball and give them room."
* * *
>> Video: The Big Red Today Show, Nov. 19:


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This seems to be the current left wing meme as a way to support and accentuate OWS: it's all about greed; greedy shoppers, greedy corporations.IDemo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Sat Nov-26-11 01:11 PM
Original message
Report: Shoppers unfazed as man dies at Target
Source: msnbc.com
Family and friends were stunned by the loss of a West Virginia man who died while shopping on Black Friday as fellow bargain hunters reportedly walked around and even over the mans body.
Family members told WSAZ-TV that 61-year-old Walter Vance of Logan County, W. Va., had become ill and collapsed while shopping for Christmas decorations inside Target in South Charleston. He later died after being taken to the hospital, family said.
Witnesses told the NBC News affiliate in Charleston, W. Wa., that shoppers walked around and even over Vances body.
"Where is the good Samaritan side of people? Vances co-worker and friend Sue Compton told WSAZ. How could you not notice someone was in trouble? I just don't understand if people didn't help what their reason was, other than greed because of a sale."
Read more: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/20...dies-at-target
begin_within Donating Member (1000+ posts) Sat Nov-26-11 01:12 PM
Response to Original message
1. The Reason for the Season!But people did help, just not EVERYONE.Zorra Donating Member (1000+ posts) Sat Nov-26-11 01:30 PM
Response to Original message
4. "I just don't understand if people didn't help what their reason was,
other than greed..."
Yep, that's it. Heartlessness, selfishness, and greed go hand in hand. It's what conservatives, the GOP, the Tea Party, are all about.
Rachel Maddow: Republican Debate Audience: "Let Them Die"
From US News:
There's no report about the individual laying of the floor without help, only that people walked around him or over him. If they were unable to help THAT IS WHAT THEY NEEDED TO DO-GET OUT OF THE WAY so someone who could help could get in to do so. It also doesn't help to have a bunch of people standing around in the way gawking as people try to help someone.http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/20...dies-at-target
Friends say Vance had been suffering from heart problems for years and had open heart surgery in 2000, but his death came as a shock.
An E.R. nurse who also happened to be shopping at the store tried to administer CPR. She and an off-duty paramedic tried to help Vance while he was on the floor.
They are assuming that people were "unfazed" because they got out of the way.
They are simply using this tragedy of an individual who probably had a heart attack and died for political gain...........blame those greedy people. It's sick and it reflects more poorly on them than on those who couldn't or even wouldn't help.
lbrtbell Donating Member (1000+ posts) Sat Nov-26-11 01:43 PM
Response to Original message
5. But hey, let's send riot police after the Occupiers!
I mean, people walk over dead bodies at OWS every day.


text:
Emerging Talent: Interview with 17-Year-Old Alex Stoddard on his 365 Project
By Chase on March 27, 2012
29 Responses to Emerging Talent: Interview with 17-Year-Old Alex Stoddard on his 365 Project
Carlos Garcia March 27, 2012 at 4:28 am #
shit! mad skillz
jose element March 27, 2012 at 12:03 pm #
this kid has a wicked sense of humor and a great eye. (i know some pros that wouldn't mind having a few of those shots in their portfolio.)
with all that you've got going on Chase thanks for putting in the time on this series of 'emerging talents.'
reminder: you the man.
Normand Desjardins March 27, 2012 at 12:04 pm #
I am glad you are blogging about 365 projects because, inspired by Lauren (Randolph) Lemon, I have done a 365 of self-portrait in 2010. I can tell you that, with a wife and 3 kids, it is hard to be creative every day for a whole year. I loved it though and made many Flickr friends doing it.
Like you just did, you can discover many talented photographers along the 365 journey. Thanks for sharing your Flickr discoveries!
Chris Plante March 27, 2012 at 12:05 pm #
WOW! The kid is goin places. Great work.
Joice Kelly March 27, 2012 at 12:32 pm #
Maya Sugiharto March 27, 2012 at 4:31 pm #
Hi Chase,
You know what's interesting about reading your blog? It's that I always find something new to learn and reflect on.
Like Normand Dejardins, and possibly many others, I am currently in week 13 of my '365 Days of Photography' project. It's been amazing and I totally agree with Alex Stoddard.. it takes a hold of your life In a good way that is!!
But mine is not about self-portrait. It's more like a journal, where I captured my emotion, or what that day means to me.
This teaches me to think differently, and see Melbourne in a new light
<3 Maya
Faheema Patel March 27, 2012 at 5:20 pm #
I do remember seeing one of his photos before, I didn't know he was only 17 and didn't have that much experience with photography, wow he's really talented and so young! Great interview
Nicole Raine March 27, 2012 at 5:43 pm #
Phenomenal work!
Joni Schrantz March 27, 2012 at 6:19 pm #
Inspiring. That kids got talent.
Ryan Parker March 28, 2012 at 9:35 am #
This is epic.
Ahmed Raouf March 28, 2012 at 12:41 pm #
Unreal… Going through his Flickr, I see some of the best pictures I have every seen by any photographer period. 17 years old or not. The concepts, locations, expressions and most of all execution are just amazing. Not only are his photographs amazing but his responses to Chase's questions show a mature young man thats going places.
Insight Images March 29, 2012 at 9:49 pm #
This young man has one of the most amazing portfolio's i've seen! Better than many professional photographers, its really amazing to see how far one can come so quickly with practice!
His technique is pretty phenomenal for such a newbie. But also his discipline is impressive. You can kind of spot that moment in a 365 when you make something significantly better than everything before it and you know you've set yourself new standards for the rest of the year.
poekmon list June 2, 2013 at 6:05 am #
Highly descriptive post, I loved that a lot. Will there be
a part 2?
Health Insurance State June 19, 2013 at 9:46 pm #
Heya i am for the primary time here. I found this board and I find It truly useful & it helped me out much. I'm hoping to provide something again and help others like you aided me.
Justin McClelland June 21, 2013 at 7:53 pm #
I very much needed to see this guys work. I'm fresh into my project and needed some inspiration. Mission accomplished. I have a far far way to go before I output quality concepts like this kid
Interview with 17-Year-Old Alex Stoddard on his 365 Project | Pixelgranaten -
March 27, 2012
[...] Emerging Talent: Interview with 17-Year-Old Alex Stoddard on his 365 Project [...]
17 Year Old Photographer Alex Stoddard + His 365 Project | Breaking Gear -
March 27, 2012
[...] himself to be a photographer with his 365 days project, and the photos he produced are impressive.Via blog.chasejarvis.com Tweet(function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async [...]
No Time Like the Present « Let the Beat Rock -
March 29, 2012
[...] to make everyday count. After a few nights hanging out on flickr thanks to a blog post from Chase Jarvis, I've become inspired once again. I've had this damn 7d for two years and I'm [...]
Back to Berlin–and looking for what's next | Bettina Shzu -
April 22, 2013
[...] + people who make photographs every single day for a year [...]
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Tomorrow's the show! April 18 at 8/7c is the concert! To watch go to http://t.co/T0Yzp3WBlj or check local listings. http://t.co/CdMYuahXXm
@FeedingAmericaabout 15 hours ago
Outnumber Hunger is a nationwide campaign designed to make it easy for people to join in the fight against hunger in their own communities and support local food banks.
More on Outnumber Hunger >>
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Other images are models for illustrative representation purposes only.
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pyNMS is a set of Python modules for network management, network testing, systems management, and general use. It contains a nearly complete implementation of SNMPv2c, a SMI/MIB package, and a MIB "compiler". There are many others, such as a telnet/console access class, XML tools, an IPv4 class, etc. There is, unfortunately, little documentation, and not everything works properly yet, but they work well enough to be useful for many things.
Pylint is a lint-like tool for Python code. It performs almost all the verifications that pychecker does, and additionally can perform some stylistic verification and coding standard enforcements. The checked code is assigned a mark based on the number and the severity of the encountered problems. The previous mark of a given piece of code is cached so that you can see if the code quality has improved since the last check.
A program for monitoring JavaEE applications.
Software that rips DVD to MOV, MP4, M4V, and iTunes.


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WELLS - June E. "June Bug" Royer, 81, of 6454 N. 1st St., Wells, passed away Friday, Oct. 5, 2012, at the St. Francis Hospital in Escanaba following a brief illness.
June's family will receive friends on Wednesday, Oct. 10, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Our Savior Lutheran Church in Wells.
Funeral services will follow at 6 p.m. with Rev. Al Schubert officiating. Luncheon will follow at Our Savior Lutheran Church.
She will be laid to rest next to her husband at Gardens of Rest Cemetery in Wells.
The Skradski Family Funeral Homes of Escanaba and Gladstone are assisting the Royer family.
Please visit www.skradskifuneralhomes.com where you can express your sympathy to the Royer family, or to leave a memory tribute about June.


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In December, 2012, PRO-ED, Inc. acquired the assets of PCI Education. PRO-ED has a long history of providing assessments, books, materials, and journals for use with individuals with disabilities of all ages. We are proud to incorporate PCI's extensive collection of high quality special education materials and curricula for struggling learners into the PRO-ED line.
For questions or assistance please see www.proedinc.com, or contact us at 800-897-3202, and by FAX at 800-397-7633.
Company Info


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Message from the Dean
Welcome to the School of Adult and Professional Studies (APS), an academic unit offering accelerated, evening programs for working professionals who want to finish a bachelor's degree or earn a master's degree in a convenient, efficient format. APS programs offer a unique alternative to traditional residential degree programs with classes meeting one night a week, and program completion in 15-20 months while working full time.
Each APS program focuses on key multidisciplinary concepts useful in working with people in all fields. Students examine these universal principles together, adding the invaluable contribution of their own rich perspectives. This concept of reality-based learning integrates textbook theory with students' work and life experiences, making course work and acquired skills immediately applicable to the workplace in both profit and nonprofit organizations.
Choose from an on-campus Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership, a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies (for prospective elementary and special education teachers); or online bachelor's degrees in Liberal Studies or Organizational Leadership. For those seeking an advanced degree, the Master of Arts in Leadership and Organizational Studies and Online Master of Arts in Leadership and Organizational Studies sharpen the managerial and communication skills of professionals pursuing leadership roles.
As a full service, one-stop shop, we offer admissions, registrar, financial aid, advising, and other academic support services. The support of our office staff and the accelerated format of these programs allow the working professional to effectively manage the challenges of completing a degree while contributing to their family, organization, and community.
Please explore our website and read about the accelerated degree programs that are of interest to you. In addition to online programs, several of our programs are offered at our regional centers throughout Southern California. We look forward to hearing from you.
Fred G. Garlett, Ed.D.
School of Adult and Professional Studies


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Convenience, ease, and peace of mind when you're out and about with our great On the Go Kit. The USB Case provides protection for your Ecig battery and has an internal battery that you can charge, and then charge your Ecig battery while you are on the go. The internal battery of the case has the power to charge up to four Ecigarette batteries.
Case will hold one Ecigarette battery and two individual refill cartridges.
USB Case with Built-in battery: 1
# of Batteries: 1
Battery Size: Holds a PR110 or PR111
# of Cartridges: 5
Nicotine Level: High, Medium, Low or Nicotine Free
Carrying Case: Any available Color
Puffs per cartridge: 250-300
The USB case contains internal battery. There are 2 lights located inside the case. The top light shows USB case battery charge. When you plug the case into the USB port, the light will turn red indicating that the case battery is charging. Once the case battery is fully charged, the light will turn green.
The bottom light in the case indicates charge of the Premium electronic cigarette battery. When the battery is charging, the light will be steady red. Once the electronic cigarette battery is fully charged, the bottom light will start blinking.
It will take you about 3-5 hours to fully recharge the USB case battery. And it will take you about 2-4 hours to fully charge the electronic cigarette battery. The USB case is designed to recharge electronic cigarette battery at least 4 times before you have to recharge the case.
Once the electronic cigarette battery is fully charged, take the refill cartridge. Screw it onto the battery and you are now ready to puff away. Please make sure that you remove both rubber caps and the plastic insert from the refill cartridge before using it.
Showing reviews 1-4 of 12 »
So Far, So Good!
5th Feb 2013
Very convenient and works the way it says. Just wish the USB cord was longer.
Thank U!!
17th Nov 2012
I am so excited and pleased with my on the go kit, that a friend recommended. I hate my self for smoking but couldn't stop! Then wasting so much time going outside to smoke, then trying to cover up the smell on myself, hair, hands, clothes, and my apartment. It is lovely to wake up and smell shampoo in my hair!!! Hope to lower the dose slowly and eventually quit. This has been the ONLY thing that has made me feel like I can really do it this time and that feels amazing. Thank you!!!!
28th Sep 2012
After my best friend made the switch to Premium E Cig and was so pleased, I soon followed and switched from the 21st Century Vape cig to these, and am still SO HAPPY with my purchase. I ordered this starter kit, which I swear is a life saver! Doesn't matter where I am, I can easily keep an extra battery in my case, with cartomizers and have the ability to charge my battery in my pocket or purse even. My only beef with these cigarettes is that in my house alone we have ordered 5 batteries (I have 2, my friend has 2, and my sister 1) and out of all these we had to have 2 replaced. Although the company did switch mine out VERY quickly and easily. Other than that the only problems any of us have had is our fake ash falling off the end and becoming lost. Which does affect how the battery vapes. Overall though I have recommended this company and case to at least 5 people within the first week. LOVE IT!
Tobacco companies should be scared
11th Jul 2012
I have been smoking on and off for many years. Mainly, I smoke when I am with friends who smoke or I am consuming an alcoholic beverage. However, when I found out about electronic cigarettes I was intrigued. I tried it and was instantly convinced. Why would I continue to fill my body with harmful chemicals when I could still smoke and do so while gradually stepping down my nicotine levels to eventually 0 mg? I did a little research and found Premium Electronic Cigarettes came highly reviewed. I purchased a starter kit about a month ago and I have not purchased a "real" pack of cigarettes since! I have even convinced two seasoned smokers to give it a try and they now smoke electronic cigarettes exclusively! In my opinion, the tobacco companies have a serious problem on their hands. Frankly, they (the tobacco industry) should have come up with this alternative years ago.


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Lars Boilesen
Chief Executive Officer
Lars Boilesen has extensive sales and business development experience from the global IT and telecommunications industries. He has held executive positions in various corporations including Alcatel-Lucent where he was CEO for the Nordics and the Baltics. He has previously served at Opera Software where he was Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, from 2000 to 2005. Prior to that, Lars headed the Northern Europe and Asia Pacific markets for Tandberg Data. He started his career at Lego Group.
Lars Boilesen holds 700,000 options and 10,000 shares in the company.


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Ranked among the nation's most integrated healthcare systems, Community Health Network is Central Indiana's leader in providing convenient access to exceptional healthcare services, where and when patients need them—in hospitals, health pavilions, workplaces, schools and homes.
Stacey Reith, PTspecializes in orthopedics and sports medicine, with a special interest in the diagnosis and treatment of injuries to the extremities, foot and ankle injuries and orthotics fitting. Stacey also has advanced training in Graston technique, functional progression and return to work activities, diagnosis and treatment of muscle imbalance and musculoskeletal pain disorders and is Matheson trained in Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE). She is an APTA certified clinical instructor and is certified in EPIC Lift Station.
See more of our awards


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By Janelle Walker For the Courier-News November 15, 2012 3:18PM
Mudy A. Munez-Salgado, 35, of Eldon, Mo., charged aggravated sexual assault.
Updated: December 19, 2012 12:51PM
ELGIN — Bail was set at $3 million Thursday for a Missouri man charged with multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault following a rape police said occurred at an Elgin motel on Route 25.
Police said they were called to the Lexington Motel at 12:20 p.m. Tuesday. A woman there told police she'd been pulled into a stairwell and up to a second-floor room by Mudy A. Munez-Salgado, 35, of Eldon, Mo. According to police, security video shows Munez-Salgado pulling the woman into the stairwell and a struggle outside the room where the assault occurred. The assault, police said, lasted four minutes.
The victim told police she had seen her attacker before as he worked with a friend of hers. Munez-Salgado told police he had seen the woman before but had not had contact with her for six months, and that he was looking to have sex when the assault occurred.
Munez-Salgado has been charged with two class X felony counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, a class 1 count of criminal sexual assault, two class 3 counts of aggravated battery, and a class 4 count of unlawful restraint.
His next court appearance is set for Nov. 29.


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The Health Services Office is located in The Wellness Center at 604B Convent Road. It is a red brick building with white shutters directly across from the exit on Convent Road.
The Health Services Office is opened from 8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m. Monday – Friday. Students can stop in without an appointment.
A doctor is on campus on Tuesday and Friday mornings from 9:30a.m. – 12:30p.m. An appointment is recommended.
Office visits are free of charge. Telephone: 610-558-5540.