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Online voter registration in Oregon: towards an election administration triple bottom line.
If hanging chads and provisional ballots were the top election administration controversies of the 2000 and 2004 elections, then voter registration was undoubtedly the defining issue of the historic 2008 election. (1) States were flooded with more than 60 million voter registration applications between 2006 and 2008. (2) Legal clashes over the actions of registration drives and purging practices of statewide voter registration databases saw progressives decrying unnecessarily restrictive policies that could result in eligible registrants left off the rolls, while conservative groups invoked the specter of fraudulently obtained registrations. (3)
At the center of this massive logistical challenge and rash of bitterly contested litigation was the humble paper voter registration card, delivered by the millions to county elections offices to be processed, transcribed, and matched to driver's license or social security records. The system of paper-based voter registration is both enormously expensive and prone to human error at every step along the way: registrants commonly omit required information and write illegibly, and county elections offices inevitably commit transcription errors. (4) Millions of voter registrations that can't be matched to government records are the natural result, which threatens the right of qualified registrants to cast a ballot on Election Day and fuels fears of fraudulent voter registration practices.
Partisan conflict over election administration practices shows no sign of abating. But online voter registration, a recent election administration policy innovation pioneered by state legislatures, promises to bridge the partisan divide and unite election reformers, budget hawks, and voter fraud watchers around an election administration triple bottom line (5): increasing participation, decreasing costs, and improving integrity.
Online voter registration went live in Arizona by 2002, but it wasn't until 2008 that the state of Washington had joined Arizona in rolling out a system of its own. By the end of 2009, Oregon, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Utah, and California had passed online voter registration legislation, and at least four other state legislatures had introduced bills proposing similar systems. (6) While online voter registration has attracted press coverage and praise from commentators across the political spectrum, (7) it has received limited analysis by academics and policy experts. (8) This Note focuses on online voter registration legislation in Oregon as a case study of the second wave of states to adopt such a system. (9)
Online voter registration enhances Oregon's traditional, paper-based voter registration system in three primary ways. First, online registration lowers barriers to registration and decreases errors in the registration process. In these respects, Oregon House Bill 2386 aimed to boost overall rates of registration and turnout among eligible voters generally, and young voters in particular.
Second, online voter registration eliminates the need for costly data entry and processing of paper voter registration cards, yielding considerable savings to cash-strapped state and local governments.
Third, when combined with well-designed statewide voter registration databases, (10) electronic data transaction standards, and eligibility verification processes, online voter registration further reduces the already low risk of voter registration fraud and helps ensure the integrity of ballots cast on election day.
Oregon's reputation as an innovator in election administration stems from its first-in-the-nation adoption of a statewide vote-by-mail system, credited with increasing turnout among registered voters, reducing costs, and increasing election security. (11) But vote-by-mail's requirement that a voter have her current residence address on file in order to receive a ballot negatively affects the participation of highly mobile populations: young people, low income people, recent immigrants, and communities of color, in particular. (12)
Such concerns weighed upon thirty-one-year-old Representative Ben Cannon, who drafted and introduced Oregon House Bill 2386 (HB 2386) after receiving an email from a young college student asking why Oregon hadn't followed the lead of Washington and Arizona in establishing an online voter registration system. (13)
A coalition of online voter registration stakeholders coalesced early in the legislative session. Supporters included Cannon, nationally recognized youth-vote advocate Representative Jefferson Smith, key budget negotiator Senator Richard Devlin, good-government organizations like the League of Women Voters, youth-vote organizations like the Oregon Student Association and the Oregon Bus Project, and newly elected Secretary of State Kate Brown. Finally, the coalition benefited from the enthusiastic support of an unlikely partner: Representative Sal Esquivel, a self-described conservative and cosponsor of a controversial voter ID bill. (14)
HB 2386 directs the Secretary of State to adopt by rule an electronic voter registration system, and outlines a few specific requirements for the system. Most significantly, the bill mandates that only those who possess a valid Oregon driver's license, driver's permit, or state identification card may use the online voter registration system. (15) The bill further instructs the state Department of Transportation to provide the Secretary of State with a digital copy of the relevant state ID for every person who submits her registration online. (16) Since online registrants can't "sign" their registration online, county elections offices need a digital image of registrants' signatures from their state IDs to verify the signature on the voters' ballot envelopes.
In the middle of the worst recession in a generation, even the most worthy new initiative that depended on state funds would have been dead on arrival. However, the bill's advocates were able to draw entirely upon federal funds appropriated under the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) for the upgrading of state electoral systems. The Secretary of State budgeted one-time costs of $200,000 for the development of the voter registration system itself, and $17,000 for the development of a mechanism to transfer registrants' digital signatures from the DMV. During the first budget cycle in which the system will be fully operational, the Secretary of State projected $22,000 in operating costs. (17)
HB 2386 underwent minor technical amendments and faced no organized opposition, passing the House and Senate with broad--but not unanimous--bipartisan majorities, (18) and Governor Ted Kulongoski signed it into law in August 2009. Once the specifications for the system are settled through administrative rulemaking, (19) the Secretary of State will put the project out to bid, and the system is scheduled to go live by March 2010.
A. Online Voter Registration Increases Participation
It's no secret that the number of voting-eligible American citizens far outstrips the number of citizens who participate in the electoral process by voting. In Oregon, although turnout is relatively high among registered voters, the fact remains that more than twenty percent of eligible Oregonians are not registered to vote and thus do not participate. (20)
The causes of American under-participation are many and varied; the modern requirement that citizens register to vote is undoubtedly one. (21) Voter registration requirements not only prevent eligible but unregistered voters from participating, but they can also prevent registered voters from casting a ballot. One recent nationwide survey found that registration problems were either a major or minor factor in preventing at least twenty percent of registered non-voters from participating in the 2008 election, accounting for roughly 2.2 million lost votes. (22)
From an expanding access perspective, problems with voter registration policies and procedures can be generally divided into two major categories: those that make eligible citizens less likely to register to vote and participate in the first place, and those that make citizens who actually submit a voter registration form less likely to cast a ballot on election day. Online voter registration addresses both the "front end" and the "back end" in significant, but limited ways.
1. Online Voter Registration Reduces Barriers to Registration
In contrast to many other industrialized democracies, the act of registering to vote in the United States is voluntary and the responsibility of the voter. (23) Such a diffusion of responsibility erects barriers to registration beyond voters' simple lack of desire to register.
One major barrier is the number of times a voter must register to vote. Since voting is tied to place of residence, more transient citizens--who tend to be younger and poorer--have to fill out voter registration cards more often, which entails more trips to the library, election office, or DMV. (24)
Another barrier is knowledge and experience in dealing with voter registration practices and government bureaucracies in general. (25) Many registered voters, especially in Oregon, don't know that because the post office cannot forward mailed ballots, voters must update their registration every time they move. (26) Confusing rules and instructions as well as unpredictable international mail delivery lowers the registration rates of overseas and active duty military service members. (27) Finally, perhaps as many as twenty percent of young would-be voters simply miss voter registration deadlines. (28)
Online voter registration can significantly mitigate the impact of these and other barriers to voter registration by reducing the cost and number of steps necessary to register to vote. Currently, registrants must pick up or download and print a voter registration form, fill it out, and then stamp and mail it or drop it off at an elections office. With an online registration system, an eligible registrant with Internet access anywhere in the world can initiate and complete the entire voter registration process in just three to four minutes, without buying stamps, gas, or bus fare.
Online voter registration is well suited to the human tendency to register at the last possible minute. Late registrants tend to be disproportionately young and geographically mobile, and can constitute anywhere from five to twelve percent of the electorate in a given election. (29) By reducing the number of steps that need to be completed when it matters most--the final days and hours before the deadline--online voter registration makes it more likely that last minute registrants will have a chance to participate.
Online voter registration also presents a unique opportunity to reach millions of potential young voters in a familiar web-based medium, (30) facilitated through online social networks. (31) Online voter registration will enable an Oregonian Facebook user to go from browsing her news feed to submitting her voter registration application in just a few clicks. (32)
While experts agree that adopting practices that make it easier and more convenient for citizens to register to vote has a significant positive impact on participation, (33) such voter registration practices--including online voter registration--have significant limitations.
Eligibility is the most obvious limitation. In order to register to vote online in Oregon and other states, the registrant must possess valid state-issued identification, which leaves out tens of thousands of eligible registrants who recently moved to the state or do not possess a state ID. The digital divide is another limitation. Differential rates of internet access between white registrants and registrants of color, as well as between registrants of different socioeconomic statuses, leave open the possibility that rather than broadening participation, online voter registration will merely make it easier for already high-propensity voters to participate. (34)
Indeed, the adoption of an online voter registration system does not alter the fact that younger, less affluent, and more geographically mobile voters disproportionately bear the burdens of frequent re-registration. Nor does the adoption of online voter registration alter voter registration deadlines or necessarily increase civic knowledge or engagement.
In short, while the effect of online voter registration on turnout will be significant, (35) the practice is no panacea to the problem of under-participation. Nor is online voter registration a replacement for other election reform efforts aimed at boosting turnout, such as same-day registration and automatic registration.
2. Online Voter Registration Reduces Errors in Registration
The most dramatic effect of online voter registration on voter participation may lie not in bringing more registrants through the "front end" of the voter registration system, but rather in strengthening the system's "back end": ensuring that citizens who submit a voter registration are actually able to cast a ballot on election day.
While problems with voting machines have drawn much media attention and generated some of the highest-profile litigation, (36) a far greater number of votes are "lost" before voters attempting to participate even have a chance to pull the lever (37)--or, in Oregon, to lick the envelope. Nationally, roughly 2.2 million votes were lost in 2008 because of registration problems--compared to 2.2 million lost because of voters' lack of identification, and 1.9 million lost because voters couldn't find their polling place. (38) While registration problems may be relatively less pronounced in Oregon, (39) the fact remains that a significant percentage of ballots are returned to county elections offices marked undeliverable. (40)
Though the biggest share of these undeliverable ballots likely results from registered voters who move and forget to re-register, a significant proportion of undeliverable ballots comes from simple human error on the part of the registrant (omitting necessary information, writing illegibly) or on the part of county elections offices (committing errors in manual data entry). (41) While some degree of human error in written communication is inevitable in any voter registration system, online voter registration can dramatically reduce its prevalence.
Online voter registration systems do not permit registrants to submit their registration form without completing all required fields, and eliminate errors based on illegible handwriting. Most significantly, online voter registration obviates the need for expensive and error-ridden manual data entry currently performed by county elections officials and temp workers.
Some of the very strengths of online voter registration relative to paper forms--web accessibility and centralization--are also weaknesses. A computer crash or web slowdown, or worse, a denial of service attack, in the days or hours before a registration deadline could potentially disenfranchise thousands of would-be registrants relying on the system. (42) An investment in fail-safe backup servers could pay substantial dividends in mitigating the effects of a crash and ensuring public confidence in the system.
B. Online Voter Registration Reduces Election Administration Costs
Voter registration is an expensive undertaking for state and county governments. One authoritative study pegged the cost of each voter registration transaction in Oregon at $8.43--a per-unit price that adds up quickly over the course of over a million such transactions in 2008 alone. (43) By drastically reducing the need for printing, distributing, and manually processing paper voter registration cards, online voter registration can dramatically cut costs even as it increases accessibility and integrity. For example, Maricopa County (Phoenix) reported at least an $0.80 reduction in processing costs for each voter registration application submitted online. (44) Similar figures on costs and usage in Oregon could have saved the state hundreds of thousands of dollars in the 2008 election cycle. (45)
However, implementing online voter registration requires hundreds of thousands of dollars in up-front investment to build the online interface, and the efficiencies it yields depend on factors difficult to forecast with precision, such as the rate of use over time. For these reasons, legislative budget analysts are unlikely to credit online voter registration legislation with net cost reductions over a given fiscal period. Federal HAVA funds specifically appropriated for states to upgrade voter registration systems are thus crucial to overcoming state budgetary limitations.
Finally, the efficiency of online voter registration depends upon the implementation of existing elections administration infrastructure in the state--a statewide electronic voter registration database in particular. Even though online voter registration disposes of manual data entry to get registrations into the statewide database, incompatible data-exchange formats may still require costly extra data-entry steps on the part of elections officials. (46)
C. Online Voter Registration Enhances Election Integrity
While the threat posed by voter registration fraud to election outcomes is all but nonexistent--researchers at the Brennan Center for Justice could not find one recent substantiated case in which a fraudulent registration led to a fraudulent vote cast (47)--it is certainly true that even isolated incidences of fraudulently submitted voter registration forms undermine election integrity. Fraudulently submitted forms force elections administrators to expend resources on investigation, give rise to costly litigation, and undermine public confidence in the system. Though the functional benefits of online voter registration may be more pronounced in increasing access and decreasing costs, the system's salutary effect upon election integrity gives it additional bipartisan appeal.
The safeguards against voter registration fraud in an online voter registration system are just as strong as under the existing paper card system--and in some respects, even more robust. Like paper form registrations, online registrations are verified against state identification cards and felony and death records, as well as against the registration records of neighboring Washington State. (48) But the online registration system's treatment of the signature requirement sets it apart from the current paper form system. Currently, a person attempting to submit a fraudulent paper voter registration application could provide a signature on the card that they could easily duplicate on the ballot envelope (should their fraudulent application somehow slip through the system). By contrast, under an online registration system, the registrant's state ID signature is used to verify the ballot envelope signature. A determined online fraudster must either fraudulently obtain a state ID from the DMV for every registration he plans to submit, or steal state IDs from eligible voters in order to copy their signatures--two substantially more difficult undertakings.
Online voter registration also addresses several other perceived risks of voter registration fraud. First, as noted above, online voter registration mitigates human errors associated with the processing of paper registrations and reduces "no-match" records, increasing public confidence in the system's integrity. Second, online voter registration reduces voters' reliance on third-party voter registration drives, which are vilified (usually with partisan overtones) for introducing large amounts of incomplete, illegible, or fraudulent registrations into the system. (49) While evidence of actual election fraud resulting from voter registration drives is virtually nonexistent, (50) "cracking down" on voter registration drives with online voter registration can provide political cover to policymakers with constituencies otherwise suspicious of the concept. (51)
The few election integrity problems specifically raised by online voter registration have more to do with the existing election administration system, rather than anything endemic to online voter registration itself. Indeed, most of the legislators who voted against HB 2386 indicated that they supported online voter registration but opposed Oregon's voter registration standards with respect to proof-of-citizenship requirements. (52) Moreover, the risks to election integrity posed by online attacks substantially overlap those faced by statewide voter registration databases. (53) To this end, the continued development of security standards and procedures for statewide voter registration databases will also improve the integrity of online voter registration systems.
While many states will likely jump on the online voter registration bandwagon in the coming years, system start-up costs pose the biggest obstacle to broader implementation. Congress can nudge the process along by passing House Bill 1719, the Voter Modernization Act of 2009, directing states to adopt online voter registration systems and allocating HAVA funds to enable them to do so. (54) Bipartisan passage of the bill would represent a fitting conclusion to a successful partnership between Democrats, Republicans, the federal government, and the states towards an election administration triple bottom line.
(1.) See Daniel P. Tokaji, Voter Registration and Institutional Reform: Lessons from a Historic Election, 3 HARV. L. & POL'Y REV. ONLINE, Jan. 22, 2009, at 1, http://www.hlpronline.com/Tokaji_HLPR_012209.pdf, at 1.
(2.) U.S. ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMM'N, THE IMPACT OF THE NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION ACT OF 1993 ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS FOR FEDERAL OFFICE 2007-2008, at 1 (2009), available at http://www.eac.gov/program-areas/ research-resources-and-reports/completed-research-and-reports/program-areas/ research-resources-and--reports/copy_of_docs/ nvra-report-final_congress.pdf. The total number of registered voters jumped by 5.4% from 2004 to 2008, an increase of nearly ten million registrants, accompanied by millions more voters submitting voter registration applications to update their address or change their party affiliation. See Michael McDonald, George Mason Univ. U.S. Elections Project, 2008 General Election Voter Registration Statistics, http://elections.gmu.edu/Registration_2008G.html (last visited Jan. 30, 2010). A significant proportion, if not an outright majority, of the applications were received in the last few months before the voter registration deadline, leaving county elections officials scrambling to process the forms in time for the election. See, e.g., R. Michael Alvarez & Thad E. Hall, Resolving Voter Registration Problems: Making Registration Easier, Less Costly and More Accurate 9-10 (Caltech/MIT Voting Tech. Project, Working Paper No. 87, 2009), available at http://vote.caltech.edu/drupal/files/working_paper/ wp_87_pdf_4acfa68b61.pdf (showing that more Franklin County, Ohio voters registered between August and October 2008 than in the year before the March primary elections).
(3.) See generally U.S. Student Ass'n Found. v. Land, 546 F.3d 373 (6th Cir. 2008) (denying request to stay preliminary injunction against Michigan Secretary of State and Director of Elections from rejecting a voter's registration if the voter's identification card is returned as undeliverable); Common Cause of Colo. v. Buescher, No. 08-CV-02321-JLK, 2009 WL 1847353 (D. Colo. June 26, 2009) (alleging that Colorado officials violated NVRA by removing voters from statewide voter registration database); Am. Ass'n of People with Disabilities v. Herrera, 580 F. Supp. 2d 1195 (D.N.M. 2008) (denying preliminary injunction against enforcement of New Mexico's laws regulating 3rd party voter registration drives); Ass'n of Cmty. Orgs. for Reform Now v. Scott, No. 08-CV-4084-NKL, 2008 WL 2787931 (W.D. Mo. Jul. 15, 2008) (granting and denying injunctions against Missouri for alleged failure to distribute voter registration forms at public assistance offices).
(4.) See R. Michael Alvarez, Voter Registration: Past, Present, and Future 3 (Caltech/MIT Voting Tech. Project, Working Paper No. 30, 2005), available at http://vote.caltech.edu/drupal/files/working_paper/vtp_wp30.pdf (noting that typographical errors are inevitable in databases containing information about millions of voters).
(5.) I borrow the term "triple bottom line" from the corporate social responsibility expert John Elkington, who used it to describe an expanded set of values and criteria for measuring success--in the business context, criteria based not solely on the traditional profit bottom line, but also on social and environmental value added. See generally JOHN ELKINGTON, CANNIBALS WITH FORKS: THE TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE OF 21ST CENTURY BUSINESS (New Society 1998) (1997).
(6.) For a continuously updated list of states that have adopted or introduced online voter registration legislation, see Brennan Center for Justice, Voter Registration Modernization in the States: Online Registration, http://www.brennancenter.org/content/pages/vrm_online_registration (last visited Jan. 30, 2010).
(7.) See, e.g., Robert Bauer & Trevor Potter, Op-Ed., A New Page for Voting: It's Time to Ditch Paper-Based Registration, WASH. POST, June 25, 2009, at A19 (former general counsels to the Obama and McCain 2008 presidential campaigns) (arguing for the adoption of a paperless voter registration system); Ken Blackwell, Op-Ed., Time for a Big Overhaul: Reform Could Help Rid System of Manipulators, WASH. TIMES, Oct. 9, 2009 (former Republican Secretary of State of Ohio) (arguing that automated and online voter registration would "get rid of ACORN and ensure that only eligible citizens get on the rolls"); John Lindback, Op-Ed., Voter Registration: Time to Trade in Our Costly Clunker, OREGONIAN, Dec. 29, 2009 (senior officer for election initiatives at the Pew Center for the States, former Director of Elections for State of Oregon) (praising online voter registration as an innovative component of a modernized registration system).
(8.) Although some academics and policy experts have recommend adoption of online voter registration, few have conducted an in-depth analysis of the policy's strengths and weaknesses. See, e.g., PEW CTR. ON THE STATES, BRINGING ELECTIONS INTO THE 21ST CENTURY: VOTER REGISTRATION MODERNIZATION 3 (2009), available at http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/ Voter_Registration_Modernization_Brief_web.pdf; Robert Richie, Leave No Voter Behind: Seeking 100 Percent Voter Registration and Effective Civic Education, NAT'L CIVIC REV., Fall 2007, at 39, 43. But see Modernizing the Election Registration Process: Hearing before the Subcomm. on Elections of the H. Comm. on H. Administrations, 111th Cong. (2009) [hereinafter Hearings] (statement of Wendy Weiser & Nicole Austin-Hillery, Brennan Ctr. for Justice), available at http://www.brennancenter.org/page/-/Democracy/Weiser Austin-Hillery H.R.1719 Testimony.pdf.
(9.) Although the Arizona legislature and Secretary of State deserve much credit as the first to successfully create an online voter registration system, they did so before the election administration controversies that arose out of the 2004 and 2008 elections, and before they or any other state had created a statewide online voter registration database
as required by the Help America Vote Act. I chose to focus on Oregon in the hope that it is more reflective of the political and policy concerns of similarly situated state legislatures in 2010 and beyond.
(10.) Mandated by section 303 of the 2002 federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA). See Help America Vote Act [section] 303, 42 U.S.C. [section] 15483 (2006).
(11.) However, turnout gains attributed to vote-by-mail appear to result from retention of existing voters in the system, rather than the recruitment of new voters. Cost savings of vote-by-mail are apparent in comparison to a hybrid system of absentee and polling place balloting. See PAUL GRONKE, CTR. FOR DEMOCRACY & ELECTION MGMT. AT AM. UNIV., BALLOT INTEGRITY AND VOTING BY MAIL: THE OREGON EXPERIENCE 3-4 (2005).
(12.) In 2004, the turnout gap between 18- to 24-year-old Oregonian voters and voters over 25 was 28%, one of the largest gaps in the nation. See CARRIE DONOVAN ET AL., CTR. FOR INFO. & RESEARCH ON CIVIC LEARNING & ENGAGEMENT, YOUTH VOTER TURNOUT IN THE STATES DURING THE 2004 PRESIDENTIAL AND 2002 MIDTERM ELECTIONS 3 (2005), available at http://www.civicyouth.org/PopUps/FactSheets/FS_04_state_vote.pdf.
(13.) Ben Cannon, Or. State Legislature House of Representatives, Floor Speech in Support of HB 2386 (March 20, 2009) (notes on file with author). Before 2010, Oregonian registrants could fill out a paper voter registration form to send to or drop off at a county elections office or the Secretary of State's office, or register at the Department of Motor Vehicles and other public agencies as provided under the federal National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), commonly known as "Motor Voter." See Oregon Secretary of State, Voting in Oregon Guide: Registering to Vote, http://www.uhavavote.org/ votingguide/register.html (last visited Feb. 19, 2010).
(14.) The bill, which died in committee, would require first time registrants to supply documentary proof of citizenship to complete a voter registration. See H.B. 3432, 75th Leg. Assem. (Or. 2009).
(15.) H.B. 2386 [section] 2(1)(a)-(c), 75th Leg. Assem. (Or. 2009).
(16.) Id. [section] 2(4).
(17.) STAFF OF OR. LEG. FISCAL OFFICE, 75 LEG. ASSEM., FISCAL ANALYSIS OF H.B. 2386 B-ENOROSSED (2009). This estimate falls in the middle of start up costs projected by other states, ranging from $100,000 in Arizona to $400,000 in California. See Hearings, supra note 8, at 4.
(18.) For a discussion of "No" votes, see infra note 52.
(19.) The proposed rules includes a provision for an electronic time and date record at the time of submission that will be deemed the time submitted for voter registration purposes, and for the county elections offices to process and accept or reject the registration application submitted online. See Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Adoption of Online Voter Registration System (proposed Jan. 8, 2010) (to be codified at OR. ADMIN. R. 165-005-0160).
(20.) See Michael McDonald, George Mason University U.S. Elections Project, 2008 General Election Voter Registration Statistics, http://elections.gmu.edu/Registration_2008G.html (last visited Jan. 30, 2010).
(21.) Although there remains a lively academic debate about the precise effects of different voter registration laws and policies, there is broad consensus that registration requirements and procedures generally decrease participation among otherwise eligible voters. See, e.g., Daniel P. Tokaji, Voter Registration and Election Reform, 17 WM. & MARY BILL RTS. J. 453, 496 (2008); Stephen Ansolabehere & David M. Konisky, The Introduction of Voter Registration and its Effect on Turnout 16 (Caltech/MIT Voting Tech. Project, Working Paper No. 14, 2004).
(22.) R. MICHAEL ALVAREZ ET AL., PEW CTR. ON THE STATES, 2008 SURVEY OF THE PERFORMANCE OF AMERICAN ELECTIONS 34, 59 (2009), available at http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Reports/ Election_reform/Final% 2520report20090218.pdf.
(23.) See JENNIFER ROSENBERG & MARGARET CHEN, BRENNAN CTR. FOR JUSTICE, EXPANDING DEMOCRACY: VOTER REGISTRATION AROUND THE WORLD 2 (2009), available at http://www.brennancenter.org/page/-/publications/Expanding.Democracy.pdf (citing laws in fourteen other industrialized countries that either required citizens to register to vote or saw the government take an active role in keeping voter rolls up to date).
(24.) For example, in one nonpartisan youth voter registration drive in Oregon in 2008, almost a third of voter registration applications collected came from already-registered Oregonians who simply needed to update their address. The share of in-state movers registered by the Oregon Bus Project was a higher percentage of total registrants than any other comparable nonpartisan field program in the nation. See ETHAN ROEDER, NEW ORGANIZING INSTITUTE, VOTER REGISTRATION ANALYSIS '08: EVALUATING INDEPENDENT VOTER REGISTRATION EFFORTS FROM THE 2008 ELECTION CYCLE 34 (2009).
(25.) Even though most Americans believe that registering to vote is not a difficult task, younger voters, voters of color, and voters with lower levels of education are more likely to view voter registration as difficult compared to older, white, and better-educated voters. See R. Michael Alvarez et al., How Hard Can It Be: Do Citizens Think it Is Difficult to Register to Vote? 18 STAN. L. & POL'Y REV. 382, 397-400 (2007). Another corollary factor is differential access of demographic groups to the Motor Voter system. While many Americans register to vote while obtaining or updating a driver's license at the DMV, younger citizens who obtain their driver's licenses two years before they are eligible to vote, lower income citizens who rely exclusively upon public transportation, and disabled and elderly citizens who can't drive are all less likely to take advantage of this convenient process.
(26.) A good number of Oregonians lack life-long experience with state specific voter registration practices; only about half of the population was born in the state, one of the lowest percentages in the nation. See R. Michael Alvarez et al., Interstate Voter Registration Database Matching: The Oregon-Washington 2008 Pilot Project 2 (Caltech/MIT Voting Tech. Project, Working Paper No. 84, 2009), available at http://www.vote.caltech.edu/drupal/files/working_paper/ wp_84_pdf_4acf7a043a.pdf.
(27.) Even with special federal and state laws that relax registration and voting deadlines for military service members, overseas and active duty service members register and vote at lower rates than the civilian population. See ADAM SKAGGS, BRENNAN CTR. FOR JUSTICE, REGISTERING MILITARY AND OVERSEAS CITIZENS TO VOTE 3 (2009), available at http://www.brennancenter.org/page//Democracy/Registering%20Military%20 and%20Overseas%20Citizens%20to%20Vote.FINAL.pdf.
(28.) See KARLO BARRIOS MARCELO, CTR. FOR INFO. & RESEARCH ON CIVIC LEARNING & ENGAGEMENT, FACT SHEET: VOTER REGISTRATION AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE 2 (2008), available at http://www.civicyouth.org/PopUps/FactSheets/ FS07_Registration.pdf.
Unsurprisingly, states that allow people to register to vote on election day report the highest levels of turnout in the nation for voters of all demographic backgrounds. See DEMOS, DEMOS POLICY BRIEF: VOTERS WIN WITH SAME DAY REGISTRATION 1, 5 (2009), available at http://www.demos.org/pubs/voterswin_09.pdf.
(29.) See James G. Gimpel et al., Election-Year Stimuli and the Timing of Voter Registration, 13 PARTY POL. 351, 356-59 (2007). What's more, people who register late vote at a higher rate than those who register earlier in the year--as high as 7% in one study. See Expert Declaration of Michael P. McDonald at 7, League of Women Voters of Fla. v. Browning, 575 F. Supp. 2d 1298 (S.D. Fla. 2008); Gimpel et al., supra, at 368. Enhancing the ability of late registrants to successfully submit their voter registration cards thus has a considerable "bang for your buck" in terms of increasing participation.
(30.) Indeed, online voter registration seems to be popular with young voters in particular. In the first six months of implementation, over half of Washington's online voter registrants were between the ages of eighteen and thirty. See OFFICE OF THE WASH. SEC'Y OF STATE, WASHINGTON STATE ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION 6 (2009), available at http://nass.org/index2.php?option=com-docman&task=doc-view& gid=632&Itemid=99999999.
(31.) For example, more than forty-two million Americans between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four are active users of Facebook, and half of active Facebook users log in on any given day, for an average of fifty-five minutes. See Justin Smith, Latest Data on Facebook's U.S. Growth by Age and Gender, INSIDE FACEBOOK (Oct. 1, 2009), http://www.inside facebook.com/2009/10/01/latest-data-on-facebooks -us-growth-by-age-and-gender-october-1-2009/; Facebook Statistics, http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics (last visited Jan. 30, 2010).
(32.) What's more, the Facebook user receives the registration form from a trusted peer messenger, rather than from an anonymous government employee or an unfamiliar street canvasser.
(33.) See, e.g., Benjamin Highton, Easy Registration and Voter Turnout, 59 J. POE. 565, 573 (1997); KEI KAWASHIMA-GINSBERG ET AL., CTR FOR INFO. & RESEARCH ON CIVIC LEARNING & ENGAGEMENT, FACT SHEET: STATE ELECTION LAW REFORM AND YOUTH VOTER TURNOUT 2 (2009), available at http://www.civicyouth.org/PopUps/FactSheets/State_law_and_vouth_ turnout_Final.pdf.
(34.) See Alvarez & Hall, supra note 2, at 4 (noting debate in the research literature about whether voter registration reforms result in additional voter participation, or have just made it easier for already-high-propensity voters to participate); Pamela S. Karlan & Eban Moglen, The Soul of a New Political Machine: The Online, the Color Line and Electronic Democracy, 34 LOY. L.A.L. REV. 1089, 1089 (2001).
(35.) No empirically rigorous study has yet measured the independent turnout effect of online voter registration, but even an optimistic estimate might only approach the 4.7 to 8.7 percent increase attributed to Motor Voter laws. See Benjamin Highton & Raymond E. Wolfinger, Estimating the Effects of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, 20 POL. BEHAV. 79, 79 (1998) (discussing estimated independent turnout effect of NVRA implementation).
(36.) The most obvious example of litigation resulting from problems with voting machines is Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000).
(37.) Even in the much criticized 2000 election, where faulty voting equipment and confusing ballots accounted for 1.5 to 2 million votes lost, voter registration problems accounted for a larger share of lost votes--l.5 to 3 million. See CALTECH/MIT VOTING TECH. PROJECT, VOTING: WHAT IS, WHAT COULD BE 9 (2001), available at http://www.vote.caltech.edu/drupal/files/report/voting_what_is_what _could_be.pdf. Thanks to federal and state elections administration reforms (such as HAVA), the impact of "voting booth problems" on lost votes has been significantly reduced--the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project report for the 2008 election did not even list voting equipment and confusing ballots as a source of lost votes. But the number of lost votes attributable to registration problems was almost as high in 2008 as it was in 2000. See Alvarez & Hall, supra note 2, at 3.
(38.) See R. MICHAEL ALVAREZ ET AL., supra note 22, at 58-59.
(39.) One virtue of vote-by-mail is that county elections divisions are in more frequent contact with voters, leading to cleaner and more accurate voter registration records.
(40.) As many as four to six percent of ballots are undeliverable in Multnomah County, the most populous county in Oregon. See GRONKE, supra note 11, at 5.
(41.) A 2004 audit of the New York City elections division yielded an almost twenty percent error rate in the transcription of drivers' license numbers alone. See JUSTIN LEVITT ET AL., BRENNAN CTR. FOR JUSTICE, MAKING THE LIST: DATABASE MATCHING AND VERIFICATION PROCESSES FOR VOTER REGISTRATION 23 (2006), available at http://www.brennancenter.org/dynamic/subpages/download_file_49479.pdf.
(42.) Arizona experienced just such a problem before their primary election voter registration deadline in 2008. See Paul Davenport, Online System Malfunctions in Advance of AZ Registration Deadline, ASSOCIATED PRESS, Jan. 8, 2008. However, the adoption of online voter registration does not foreclose existing methods of voter registration. Moreover, it is doubtful that even a major computer failure near a voter registration deadline would result in a lower level of voter registration than in the absence of online voter registration altogether; the subset of citizens who would have registered online but would not seek out a paper registration form in the event of a computer crash are probably unlikely to register in the absence of an online option--with overseas, out of state, and very-last-minute registrants being the troubling exceptions.
(43.) See PEW CTR. ON THE STATES, THE REAL COST OF VOTER REGISTRATION: AN OREGON CASE STUDY 5 (2009), available at http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/The_Real_Cost of Voter_Registration.pdf.
(44.) This figure likely underestimates the total savings per transaction, since it does not appear to include the costs per application borne by the Secretary of State--printing and distributing voter registration cards chief among them. Since over seventy percent of Arizonans register to vote online, the cost savings are quite substantial. See PEW CTR. ON THE STATES, supra note 8, at 3.
(45.) Author's estimate based on Oregon's 1,152,761 voter registration transactions in 2008. See PEW CTR. ON THE STATES, supra note 43, at 5.
(46.) See R. MICHAEL ALVAREZ & THAD HALL, IBM CTR. FOR THE BUS. OF GOV'T, THE NEXT BIG ELECTION CHALLENGE: DEVELOPING ELECTRONIC DATA TRANSACTIONS STANDARDS FOR ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 19 (2005), available at http://www.businessofgovernment.org/pdfs/AlvarezReport.pdf. For example, the statewide voter registration database and the state agency that maintains death records may have different formats for date of birth (mm-dd-yyyy versus dd-mm-yy) or for dealing with multiple-word last names (Elizabeth De La Torre versus Elizabeth Delatorre). Though section 303 of HAVA requires that the database "be coordinated with other agency databases within the State," the statute does not mandate that state elections agencies coordinate data-exchange formats with state agencies or other states' elections divisions, nor does it provide specific funding to do so. Help America Vote Act [section] 303, 42 U.S.C. [section] 15483(a)(1)(A)(iv) (2006). Unsurprisingly, observers note a lack of interest and incentive on the part of various state agencies to collaborate on creating database interoperability with the state's elections division. See COMM. ON STATE VOTER REGISTRATION DATABASES, NAT'L RESEARCH COUNCIL, IMPROVING STATE VOTER REGISTRATION DATABASES FINAL REPORT 17 (2009), available at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12788.html. The costs of correctly formatting and matching information are thus borne by the elections division, the agency that bears the ultimate statutory responsibility to ensure that applicants attempting to register are correctly verified. For example, in Oregon the Secretary of State sent its HAVA funds to the DMV to set up the transfer of signature files for online voter registration. County elections divisions also must bear the costs of attempting to contact non-matched voters to verify their eligibility.
(47.) See JUSTIN LEVITT, BRENNAN CTR. FOR JUSTICE, THE TRUTH ABOUT VOTER FRAUD 20 (2007), available at http://truthaboutfraud.org/pdf/TruthAboutVoterFraud.pdf.
(48.) See generally Alvarez et al., supra note 26 (noting that Oregon and Washington are two of a handful of states that are cross-referencing their statewide voter registration databases against each other to identify voters registered to vote in both states).
(49.) See, e.g., Blackwell, supra note 7.
(50.) See LEVITT, supra note 47, at 18.
(51.) See, e.g., Hearings, supra note 8, at 4, available at http://cha.house.gov/UserFiles/245_testimony.pdf (statement of Todd Rokita, Indiana Secretary of State) (criticizing draft of federal online voter registration legislation that, unlike Indiana's system, does not require the use of DMV signature files, on the grounds that such a system would be vulnerable to fraud).
(52.) See, e.g., Jim Thompson, Or. State Legislature House of Representatives, Vote Explanation on H.B. 2386, Mar. 26, 2009 (on file with author). Minority Leader Bruce Hanna and Representatives Vic Gilliam, Andy Olson, and Tim Freeman submitted identical letters to the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives. Almost every "No" vote against HB 2386 can be attributed to the concern on the part of a group of Representatives that non-citizens who had acquired a state ID under since-repealed DMV regulations could register to vote online. Before Oregon adopted a law requiring proof of citizenship to obtain a state ID in 2006, non-citizens could theoretically obtain drivers' licenses, and using those drivers' licenses, register to vote. Evidence of such action is not forthcoming, and the theoretical window in which such a felony could occur is fast closing; subsequent state ID re-registrations will require proof of citizenship as well. As advocates pointed out, non-citizens foolish enough to submit identifying information to the government and risk felony charges and deportation in exchange for casting one marginal vote could do so under the current paper card system.
(53.) Such risks include exploitation of the data transmission process between state databases to register fictitious voters, delete or alter registration records, or disrupt the transfer of registration information from the Secretary of State to county elections offices. See generally R. Michael Alvarez, Potential Threats to Statewide Voter Registration Systems (Caltech/MIT Voting Tech. Project, Working Paper No. 40, 2005), available at http://www.vote.caltech.edu/drupal/files/working_paper/vtp_wp40.pdf. As noted above, an online voter registration system could be uniquely vulnerable to a denial of service attack by someone seeking to prevent registrants from submitting their registrations online, a risk that could be mitigated by fail-safe backup servers.
(54.) See Voter Registration Modernization Act of 2009, H.R. 1719, 111th Cong. (2009).
Alex G. Tischenko, B.A. 2007, Pomona College; J.D. Candidate 2012, Stanford Law School; former Legislative Aide to Oregon State Representative Ben Cannon and Lead Field Organizer in Oregon Bus Project's 2008 youth voter registration drive.
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Get down and dirty with the VoiceTone X1 Megaphone and Distortion Pedal by TC-Helicon. Growing tired of that same old clean sound? Do you wish there was something you could do to spice it up a bit and add more energy to your performances? The X1 is packed with modern sounding megaphone/telephone effects and some seriously grungy distortion that's sure to get the crowd going.Select from three phone effects, two distortion types and three different amp effects. The dedicated drive knob allows you to dial up more or less distortion for greater intensity or clarity while the filter knob lets you create custom tailored phone effects that are sure to peak your listeners interest. The X1 is no less than roadworthy with its die-cast metal enclosure and rubberized no-slip base. It features a clean and detailed mic pre with phantom power and a balanced XLR output which delivers studio quality, analog to digital conversion. The XLR out also enables linking of multiple VoiceTone pedals so you can create a unique and distinct vocal chain which can be used time and time again on any song. Use the X1 with TC-Helicon's MP-75 Modern Performance Vocal Microphone and the pedal's effects can be turned off and on via a convenient thumb switch right on the handle. What's more, is a mini USB port connecting the pedal to TC-Helicon's VoiceSupport application offers helpful tips, tricks, updates and more.
- Delivers modern megaphone/telephone and distortion effects along with three different amp tones
- Dedicated drive knob allows you to dial up more or less distortion for greater intensity or clarity
- Filter knob lets you adjust the effect to create new custom tailored phone effects
- Phantom powered mic pre and balanced XLR output deliver studio quality A/D conversion
- Link multiple VoiceTone pedals and effects to create unique and distinct vocal chains
- Roadworthy die-cast metal enclosure and rubberized no-slip base
- Recessed mic gain prevents accidental bumps on stage
- Mic control for TC-Helicon's MP-75 Modern Performance Vocal Microphone
- USB connects to TC-Helicon's VoiceSupport application offering tips, tricks, updates and more

subset: commoncrawl


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Belleisle Bay
|This article does not cite any references or sources. (December 2009)
Belleisle Bay is a fjord-like branch of the Saint John River in the Canadian province of New Brunswick.
The bay is oriented northeast from the river, which it joins at the head of Long Reach, just south of the village of Evandale. Belleisle Bay forms part of the northern boundary of southern New Brunswick's "Kingston Peninsula", with the southern boundary being the Kennebecasis River.
Belleisle Bay has little current as it has few freshwater inlets and acts more-or-less as a lake in a glacial valley, framed by the low rolling hills of the St. Croix Highlands of the Appalachian range. Although the bay is mostly freshwater, the entire lower Saint John River system has a limited saltwater tidal influence resulting from the Reversing Falls. Its waters freeze completely in the winter months.
Measuring approximately 18 kilometers long by 1 kilometer wide, Belleisle Bay has several small freshwater streams, namely Kingston Creek near the mouth of the bay, and Belleisle Creek at the head of the bay. A small wetland also exists at the head of the bay. The bay hosts a single island, Ghost Island, located between Elmhurst and Lower Kars.
The bay is located entirely within Kings County. The Belleisle Bay Ferry, a year round cable ferry, crosses the bay between Earle Wharf and Long Point.
See also[edit]
Coordinates: 45°32′43.4″N 66°0′49.8″W / 45.545389°N 66.013833°W
|This New Brunswick location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.


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Books must show On Our Shelves Now for same day pick-up in stores.
We recommend calling stores that show low stock numbers.
Kel Gilligan's Daredevil Stunt Show (Hardcover)
On Our Shelves Now
From Michael Buckley, the bestselling author of the Sisters Grimm and NERDS series, and Dan Santat, author-illustrator of "Sidekicks," comes this hilarious picture book starring Kel Gilligan (a.k.a. The Boy Without Fear ) that encourages kids to laugh at their fears and celebrates the bravery it takes to try new things no matter how ordinary. Narrated by Kel himself as he attempts his stunts with Evel Knievellike flair, the story unfolds as a performance in which readers themselves become part of the audience, encouraging Kel to get dressed all by "himself" (without a net ), eat new foods like "broccoli" (eww ), and take a bath (gasp ). Bold, interactive, and downright silly, this is a book to make kids cheer and attempt some stunts of their own.
Praise for "Kel Gilligan's Daredevil Stunt Show"
"The stunned faces on the 'audience' as Kel successfully chews and swallows broccoli are hilarious, and their comments will inspire many giggles... the intended audience will be rolling on the floor laughing at these silly antics... Santat's illustrations, are busy, grandiose, loud, and proud, just like Kel Gilligan. They add depth and humor to the action."
"School Library Journal"
"Expect demands for multiple readings."
"The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books"
"A fantasy romp destined to please preschoolers and parents alike who are faced with getting through the day-to-day tasks that at times feel insurmountable."
2013 ReadKiddoRead Kiddos - FINALIST
About the Author
Michael Buckley is 55 years old, currently living in the Philippines. Worked in Iraq seven years, and Afghanistan for one year. He enjoy's writing dystopian stories from his vivid imagination.
Dan Santat, the author and illustrator of The Guild of Geniuses. He's also developing his own animated television show.


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Native English Speakers
Julia Kim (English)
Native English Speakers' Comprehension and Perception of a Nonnative Speech
The purpose of the study is to investigate how native English speakers' perceptions and understanding of nonnative speakers' speech is affected in two different conditions: first, when the nonnative speech is grammatically accurate but marked for a noticeable foreign accent; second, when the nonnative speech displays both an accent and common nonnative speakers' grammatical errors such as omission of articles and pluralizing non-count nouns. In order to examine the relationship between these variables and the listeners' comprehension and perception, this study analyzes data collected from a experimental study involving speech samples of three non-native speakers of English--a Korean, a Chinese, and a Russian—and six groups of U.S. college students as listeners. By examining how the two variables of non-native's speech—accent and grammar-- might play a role in the native speakers' responses, this study aims to contribute to the ongoing discussion in shaping the lingua franca core in the World Englishes context by identifying grammar items that may or may not affect comprehension and perception of the listeners. This knowledge will help aid in establishing pedagogical priorities in teaching grammar when English is taught as a lingua franca (ELF).


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How would you react to this request?
I am co-captaining a ladies 40+ team. We started off with a full roster, including five singles players.
Registration fees in our league are about $40. Matches cost $18 each. Players pre-pay for four matches when they register. When the season ends, those who played more than four matches get a bill; those who played less get a refund.
Once the season schedule was released, one singles player dropped off the team because it conflicted with work.
Another singles player got injured.
Another singles player's husband started traveling a lot and she can't get a sitter.
That leaves us with two die-hard singles players who will each probably play nine matches. Without them, we would be defaulting courts at $36 a pop (default cost spread among all players on the team). Trouble is, they hadn't anticipated racking up court fees of $18 x 9.
My co-captain and I feel badly that they are paying so much for being willing to play to avoid defaults. We are looking for a way to make it up to them. We could simply pay some of their court costs, but then again, we're not made of money either and have our own court costs to pay.
Here's the idea I want to run past you folks: When it comes time for the end-of-season reconciliation, some folks will be owed a refund. We captains could suggest that players voluntarily donate some of their refund to offset the court costs of these two singles players. After all, the reason these two ladies are playing so much is because other people are not available or won't play singles.
If you were one of those players, how would you feel about this request? Would you kick in a few bucks, or would you consider the request inappropriate?
first off it is only money so I would not mind .... but there are many others that would disagree.
However, putting an e-mail like that out to the squad might encourage a couple of your other players to make singles a go.
Wow. In atlanta we don't pay per match fees. All that is collected up front and the team pays them equally. But that is a conversation for before the season- not now.
It does seem very extreme to have the singles pay almost $200 in court fees because no one else wants to play doubles. I'd say that it would be very tricky for the players who get squashed on playtime to be the ones to pay that. I'd say that pick the number you want to supplement and work it out equally among the players. Say its $10 per person. The people getting the refund would have it come out of that money. The others would have to pay $10 or else volunteer to play singles.
The two singles get five extra matches and pay for five extra matches. Seems fair to me.
Why does the rest of the team have to eat the cost if they don't play? If you know they can't play all matches in advance, why can't you notify your opponents and book two fewer courts for those matches?
Suresh and I will GOAT them at the end of the season.
I think you ask the singles players the question: "Ideally, how many matches would you want to play". And of course the expectation is that they will answer honestly.
If they say "as many as possible", or similar, then they should of course pay for every match they play.
But on the other hand if their preference is to say only play 6 at most, and they are only going to play more because of pressure from the team to avoid defaults, then I would ask them to pay for 6, and then do as you suggest - ask the others on the team who are due refunds to consider chipping in. I would not have a problem myself chipping in under these circumstances.
For future seasons, I would set the expectation that any refunds of the up-front fees for 4 matches are completely at the discretion of the captain, as long as the captain guarantees that everyone who makes themselves available will get 4 matches.
I really wish MOCO would not handle fees this way. Its such a headache for captains to do all the refund/owing at the end of the season, and my understanding is that captains end up putting a lot up front themselves. I'm still waiting on a refund from last fall because my schedule didn't allow the four prepaid matches.
I like your idea of bring it up...like someone else said, it may inspire someone else to step and play some singles! But honestly, I can also see people say (quite rightfully) that they shouldn't have to pay for other peoples' matches. Honestly, I wouldn't want to...I'm strapped myself and have enough issue budgeting my own tennis.
Any hope to just adding some singles players?
You play, you pay. You don't play, you don't pay.
This is recreational, you know, for fun. Fun costs money.
The singles players aren't heroic characters sacrificing their time for those less fortunate. They are playing a tennis match.
If someone asked me for money to reimburse someone who played more matches than I did, I would tell them to go poop in their hat.
Regarding the court fees system we have here. . . . Players hate it, captains love it. It is ridiculous to ask captains to front over $1000 and then collect it up later. That really discouraged people from captaining.
What I don't care for is Virginia's system of collecting money at every match from every player. That s a huge pain in the behind for captains.
Quick Question before I answer/give my opinion.
Do the doubles players also pay $18 each per match (for $36 per court) or is the "court" fee of $18 divided by the both them?
Doubles payers also pay $18 per match per person. So $72 per court.
If you default a court, you owe all of the costs for that court for all players. That is $36 for defaulting singles and $72 for defaulting doubles.
Our policy is that a player who causes a default must pay the entire cost by herself.
If we default a court because we didn't ave enough available payers, we share the cost as a team.
The way I see it, (almost) everyone on the team is on the hook for at least another $18. I'd put it to them this way:
(A) you can play a singles match and pay the $18 OR
(B) you can "hire" someone else to play it for you (and pay "their" $18 ) OR
(C) accept that there will be some "team" defaults, which must also be divided up monetarily...AND you've lost the ability, as a team, to potentially win that "line" -- making winning the "match" that much more difficult.
For me personally, I'd probably choose these options in the order I've presented them, none of which would bother me. It's part of being part of a TEAM.
Are league matches always that expensive over there?Who gets the money and what do they do with it?
Thinking about it is it paid to your area tennis ***?
See, this is why I'm not playing league tennis. Have to pay for matches that you aren't even going to play and too much drama.
Being a nomadic singles player in tournaments sounds a lot better. :)
No, Cindy gets the money.
The $18 is actually a blended rate. The league did not want to charge per court, as it would make singles twice as expensive as doubles. So it is $18 per person per two-hour timed match.
If we did not do it this way, we would have a very short and weather-interrupted season in the warmer months and nothing in the winter. Because we are able to purchase this huge amount of indoor time, we have year-round league tennis in every conceivable format.
In NYC we pay $38 per match for USTA GOATed Glory(tm).
It's actually going up to $42 this year.
Good times.
My god you guys pay a lot to play matches. All we have is a $26 flat fee to join a team, then we have to pay whatever fee it is to play matches at our home facility, but for the large majority of facilities that I am aware of in my area, there are no extra fees for court time other than the flat membership fee, which we have already paid in most cases. After hearing what other people pay, I consider myself lucky to be playing tennis in my area.
Anyway, players should pay whatever the costs are to play. Some may want to play 9 singles matches and will pay the appropriate amount. If they don't want to pay/play that much, they can decline. Even if they are the designated singles players, you can't force them to play every match. Someone else can step up and play singles if need be if the team doesn't want to pay the default cost.
Back to the original question...
I wouldn't be offended or anything at being asked. I'm not sure if I'd actually donate or not (more likely I would volunteer to play some singles myself during the season instead), but I don't know why people should be offended at being asked. They're free to decline if they wish.
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Our pick of the latest watches
All the shiny, new watches worth knowing about
Posted: 21 Nov 2012
If Lotus did watches...
...we might end up with something like this. Lightweight, low-friction and surgically accurate, it's Cartier's new ID2.
Like any carmaker dreaming up a concept car to show off new ideas, Cartier has devised the ID2 to do a very similar job. Its goal is to make mechanical watches more efficient by using the same sort of methods as Colin Chapman once did: lower weight, reduced friction by replacing traditional metal parts with things like fibreglass springs, and better aero (or, actually, none - the movement's sealed in a vacuum). So, sort of like a racing car, the idea is to enable it to run more accurately for longer.


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Item: IM1Y67948 Model: FH-6T
This converter converts unshielded twisted pair (UTP) and fiber LANs and joins their collision domains. It supports half-duplex and full-duplex operations.
This Web site is intended for use by US residents only. See International Sites. See our delivery policy for full details. Copyright 1998-2014, Staples, Inc., All Rights Reserved.


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Rolling Back the 20th Century
I. Back to the Future
George W. Bush, properly understood, represents the third and most powerful wave in the right's long-running assault on the governing order created by twentieth-century liberalism. The first wave was Ronald Reagan, whose election in 1980 allowed movement conservatives finally to attain governing power (their flame was first lit by Barry Goldwater back in 1964). Reagan unfurled many bold ideological banners for right-wing reform and established the political viability of enacting regressive tax cuts, but he accomplished very little reordering of government, much less shrinking of it. The second wave was Newt Gingrich, whose capture of the House majority in 1994 gave Republicans control of Congress for the first time in two generations. Despite some landmark victories like welfare reform, Gingrich flamed out quickly, a zealous revolutionary ineffective as legislative leader.
George Bush II may be as shallow as he appears, but his presidency represents a far more formidable challenge than either Reagan or Gingrich. His potential does not emanate from an amiable personality (Al Gore, remember, outpolled him in 2000) or even the sky-high ratings generated by 9/11 and war. Bush's governing strength is anchored in the long, hard-driving movement of the right that now owns all three branches of the federal government. Its unified ranks allow him to govern aggressively, despite slender GOP majorities in the House and Senate and the public's general indifference to the right's domestic program.
The movement's grand ambition--one can no longer say grandiose--is to roll back the twentieth century, quite literally. That is, defenestrate the federal government and reduce its scale and powers to a level well below what it was before the New Deal's centralization. With that accomplished, movement conservatives envision a restored society in which the prevailing values and power relationships resemble the America that existed around 1900, when William McKinley was President. Governing authority and resources are dispersed from Washington, returned to local levels and also to individuals and private institutions, most notably corporations and religious organizations. The primacy of private property rights is re-established over the shared public priorities expressed in government regulation. Above all, private wealth--both enterprises and individuals with higher incomes--are permanently insulated from the progressive claims of the graduated income tax.
These broad objectives may sound reactionary and destructive (in historical terms they are), but hard-right conservatives see themselves as liberating reformers, not destroyers, who are rescuing old American virtues of self-reliance and individual autonomy from the clutches of collective action and "statist" left-wingers. They do not expect any of these far-reaching goals to be fulfilled during Bush's tenure, but they do assume that history is on their side and that the next wave will come along soon (not an unreasonable expectation, given their great gains during the past thirty years). Right-wingers--who once seemed frothy and fratricidal--now understand that three steps forward, two steps back still adds up to forward progress. It's a long march, they say. Stick together, because we are winning.
Many opponents and critics (myself included) have found the right's historic vision so improbable that we tend to guffaw and misjudge the political potency of what it has put together. We might ask ourselves: If these ideas are so self-evidently cockeyed and reactionary, why do they keep advancing? The right's unifying idea--get the government out of our lives--has broad popular appeal, at least on a sentimental level, because it represents an authentic core value in the American experience ("Don't tread on me" was a slogan in the Revolution). But the true source of its strength is the movement's fluid architecture and durability over time, not the passing personalities of Reagan-Gingrich-Bush or even the big money from business. The movement has a substantial base that believes in its ideological vision--people alarmed by cultural change or injured in some way by government intrusions, coupled with economic interests that have very strong reasons to get government off their backs--and the right has created the political mechanics that allow these disparate elements to pull together. Cosmopolitan corporate executives hold their noses and go along with Christian activists trying to stamp out "decadent" liberal culture. Fed-up working-class conservatives support business's assaults on their common enemy, liberal government, even though they may be personally injured when business objectives triumph.
The right's power also feeds off the general decay in the political system--the widely shared and often justifiable resentments felt toward big government, which no longer seems to address the common concerns of ordinary citizens.
I am not predicting that the right will win the governing majority that could enact the whole program, in a kind of right-wing New Deal--and I will get to some reasons why I expect their cause to fail eventually. The farther they advance, however, the less inevitable is their failure.


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E. M. Forster once urged his readers: "Only connect!" The English Department's Common Context program, a feature of its introductory core literature and writing course (ENGL 121), helps students follow Forster's injunction. Each academic year the department selects a context that has strong contemporary resonance for our lives, and that has also provided a powerful focus for some of the greatest imaginative literature: Water, Beauty, Work, Exploration, Home, Atonement, or Sanctuary, to name a few examples that have been either proposed or adopted in recent years.
Rather than adopt a single text to facilitate discussion of the Common Context, the Department celebrates the diversity of human literary expression by encouraging individual instructors to select a text that will address the given year's theme in a primary way. Instructors also design writing assignments that will engage students in the ethical, political, and artistic implications of the theme chosen for that particular year. The Common Context is not just a focus, but a nexus as well, providing opportunities for learning and conversation across academic disciplines and linking to key parts of the University mission, including diversity, sustainability, and a focus on the common good.
The award-winning essayist Amy Leach will be on campus during the week of September 22nd for a series of events celebrating her genre-defying book Things That Are. All events are free and open to the public.
The book, a collection of 28 essays and meditations on the natural world, combines science, nature, philosophy, and cosmology with Leach's wild imagination on subjects ranging from the tiniest Earth dwellers to far-flung celestial bodies. The Guardian newspaper in London said the book was written with "mad, magical exuberance and whimsy" as it attempts to "slowly, methodically, thoughtfully, digest the universe for you."
Leach has been recognized with the Whiting Writers' Award, Best American Essays selections, a Rona Jaffe Foundation Award, and a Pushcart Prize. Her work has been published in A Public Space, Tin House, Orion, the Los Angeles Review, and many others.
Leach's visit is sponsored by the ACTC Visiting Writers Series and the UST English Department's Common Context Program. This year's common context theme is "Illumination." Illumination begins with an invitation to both see more than what is immediately apparent, and also believe that most subjects deserve such an effort. Whether considering science or philosophy, business or art, the act of illumination both sheds and discovers light in its subject. The tradition of illumination can be literal, however, as in the act of brightening a room, or drawing an illustration, and it can of course be figurative, as in the intellectual or spiritual act of bringing oneself or another to greater understanding. Similarly, when considering illumination in texts, one might consider the very traditional illuminated texts such as the Book of Kells, as well as their modern inheritors, the graphic novel, and then all the other limitless texts in between that drive us toward illumination.
Leach's book engages with this theme by attempting to understand & illuminate existence from a point of view outside the self. The central question the book asks is: What would it be like to experience the world as something other than me?
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Amy Leach Reading and Book Signing
7:30pm, Anderson Student Center, Woulfe Alumni Hall North
Author Amy Leach read selections from her nonfiction book Things That Are: Essays, published by Milkweed Editions in 2012. A book signing was held immediately following the reading.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Amy Leach Common Context Lecture for English Students
7:30pm, Anderson Student Center, Woulfe Alumni Hall North
ACTC Visiting Writer Amy Leach lectured on the theme of illumination and discussed how she incorporates her own sense of illumination into her lyric essays. A streaming video of her lecture can be found HERE.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Student Q & A with Amy Leach
11:45am, OEC Auditorium
Students had an opportunity to ask author Amy Leach questions about her writing process and her book Things That Are.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Panel Presentation: The Making of Things That Are
7:30pm, Owens Science Hall, 3M Auditorium (OWS 150)
Amy Leach, Patrick Thomas (Milkweed Editions Managing Editor), and illustrator Nate Christopherson discussed the business and artistic processes that went into creating and publishing Leach's Things That Are.
2010-2011: Water
2011-2012: Hunger
2012-2013: The Meaning of Work
2013-2014: Wonder


text: Imogen Poots hot pics. These are sexy Imogen Poots photos and GIFs. Imogen Poots is one of the hottest women in movies and on TV. Hot pics of Imogen Poots's body near naked / nude in a bikini and more (or less.) We compiled the sexiest photos of Imogen Poots from various photo spreads. Poots is known for… Continue Reading


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- Record Label: It Never Rains
- Release Date: Nov 27, 2012
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Dec 4, 2012As impressively deep as the music's pile may be, however, it's Marshall's towering voice that most recalls Elbow. [Dec 2012, p.109]
Dec 4, 2012The spaces in-between are almost as important as the notes themselves on a headphone album with which to brave the winter.


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Egypt declares state of emergency in 3 provinces
A relative unknown until his Muslim Brotherhood nominated him to run for president last year, Morsi is widely criticized for having offered no vision for the country's future after nearly 30 years of dictatorship under Mubarak and no coherent policy to tackle seemingly endless problems, from a free falling economy and deeply entrenched social injustices to surging crime and chaos on the streets.
Reform of the judiciary and the police, hated under the old regime for brutality, are also key demands of Morsi's critics.
Morsi did not say what he plans to do to stem the violence in other parts of the country outside those three provinces, but he did say he had instructed the police to deal "firmly and forcefully" with individuals attacking state institutions, using firearms to "terrorize" citizens or blocking roads and railway lines.
There were also clashes Sunday in Cairo and several cities in the Nile Delta region, including the industrial city of Mahallah.
Egypt's current crisis is the second to hit the country since November, when Morsi issued decrees, since rescinded, that gave him nearly unlimited powers and placed him above any oversight, including by the judiciary.
The latest eruption of political violence has deepened the malaise as Morsi struggles to get a grip on enormous social and economic problems and the increasingly dangerous fault lines that divide this nation of 85 million.
In an ominous sign, a one-time jihadist group on Sunday blamed the secular opposition for the violence and threatened to set up vigilante militias to defend the government it supports.
Addressing a news conference, Tareq el-Zomr of the once-jihadist Gamaa Islamiya, said:
"If security forces don't achieve security, it will be the right of the Egyptian people and we at the forefront to set up popular committees to protect private and public property and counter the aggression on innocent citizens."
His threat was accompanied by his charge that the opposition was responsible for the deadly violence of the past few days, setting the stage for possible bloody clashes between protesters and Islamist militiamen. The opposition denies the charge.
In Port Said on Sunday, tens of thousands of mourners poured into the streets for a mass funeral for most of the 37 people who died on Saturday. They chanted slogans against Morsi.
"We are now dead against Morsi," said Port Said activist Amira Alfy. "We will not rest now until he goes and we will not take part in the next parliamentary elections. Port Said has risen and will not allow even a semblance of normalcy to come back," she said.
The violence flared only a month after a prolonged crisis - punctuated by deadly violence - over the new constitution. Ten died in that round of unrest and hundreds were injured.
In Port Said, mourners chanted "There is no God but Allah," and "Morsi is God's enemy" as the funeral procession made its way through the city after prayers for the dead at the city's Mariam Mosque. Women clad in black led the chants, which were quickly picked up by the rest of the mourners.


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The tranny was pulled and had parts relaced twice on the first visit. Ford replaced the tranny on the second visit. The car has had software issues on both visits. The new tranny is starting to do the grinding issue again. Everything has been done under warranty. The car looks great, handles great and rides great but the car is extreamly un reliable and has safety issues. I would not recommend purchasing a 2012 Focus. If you have not found it yet there is a site " focusfanatics.com " that will give you all the horror stories from people that have also purchased a 2012 Focus and have also found the car to be unreliable.
With the car shutting down, did Ford or the dealers give you a reason it could be happening?
Also, I'm assuming the car is shutting down at stop lights?
While your car was in the shop for a total of 26 days, did it all deal with strictly the transmission?
Did the problems ever subside/get fixed after you went to get it serviced?
I'm also assuming that this was all covered by the warranty?
When did you purchase this car?
I'm thinking about purchasing this car and I'm trying to get as many opinions as possible. Your response would help greatly!
Thank you for the feedback. 2 quick questions now, when did you purchase the Ford Focus? And, have you heard of any later versions where these problems have been fixed?
The car was purchased at the end of Oct 2011. Yes if you read comments on other sites there are still continuing problems with these cars even with purchases after 2012 and later buid dates. Most of the issues will start up once the car reaches 500-1000 miles. In my case even with a new tranny as we are reaching 500 miles the same issues are starting to show up again.
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Letran cager's shooter still at large
More News from Philippine Daily Inquirer
The police have viewed a portion of the footage taken by a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera showing the attack on Letran cager Franz Dysam and his live-in partner although they have yet to identify the gunmen.
In the five-second-long footage, which was shown to the media, two men on a motorcycle were seen overtaking several vehicles on N. Domingo Street in San Juan City at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
As the vehicle drew abreast of the Nissan Sentra being driven by Dysam, who was with his partner, Joan Sordan, the motorcycle slowed down as one of the riders fired at the car.
The couple and their children were on their way to Intramuros, Manila, to attend a victory party following the Letran Knights' win over the Lyceum Pirates at the FilOil Flying V Arena on Saturday.
Dysam survived despite six gunshot wounds while his partner was declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital. Dysam was set to be operated on Monday to remove four of the bullets.
Although the whole incident was captured on video, the faces of the motorcycle riders were not visible as they were both wearing helmets.
Senior Supt. Bernard Tambaoan, San Juan chief of police, however, said that the footage could still prove useful as it established that a shooting incident did take place in the area.
He added that investigators were now looking for a person who reportedly captured the shooting on a cell phone in the hopes that that footage would be clearer and would help them identify the gunmen.
Meanwhile, a witness surfaced at the police station Monday to provide the police with information.
The witness, who was in a vehicle behind the couple's car, told reporters he saw one of the motorcycle riders fire four shots at the driver's side. The motorcycle then sped forward although the gunmen looked back and fired a final shot.
The witness said he saw the bloodied driver of the Sentra (Dysam) open his door and ask for help. Sordan, he added, was lying on Dysam's lap.
"But I followed the suspects instead. I lost them near SM Sta. Mesa when they sped straight ahead to Quezon Avenue," the witness said, adding that he failed to catch a glimpse of the motorcycle's plate number.
The police had said that they were considering a love or business row as the possible motives for the attack.
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The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. National Merit Finalists who list Miami as their first choice school with National Merit Corporation are eligible to receive a National Merit Scholarship sponsored by Miami University. Miami's National Merit Scholarships range from $750 to $2,000 depending on financial need.
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Juan Lewis Vives
1 portrait of Juan Lewis Vives
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Juan Lewis Vives
by Edme de Boulonois
line engraving, possibly late 17th century
8 in. x 5 1/4 in. (204 mm x 132 mm) paper size
Given by the daughter of compiler William Fleming MD, Mary Elizabeth Stopford, 1931
Reference Collection
Click on the links below to find out more:
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- Juan Lewis Vives (1492-1540), Theologian and teacher. Sitter in 1 portrait.
Artistback to top
- Edme de Boulonois (active late 17th century). Artist of 11 portraits.


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HILLVIEW – Councilmembers may opt to make the mayor's seat a full-time position when the next term begins in January 2015.
MOUNT WASHINGTON - Farming has always been an important part of the Hamilton family, which resides in Mount Washington.
PIONEER VILLAGE - The Pioneer Village Police Department will continue to protect and serve the city of Hebron Estates.
BARDSTOWN JUNCTION – The congregation at a local church has the same concerns as it voiced a couple of years ago when another tract of property sought industrial zoning.
FOX CHASE - With five new council members, the city of Fox Chase encourages members to attend other civic function to gain further experience.
HUNTERS HOLLOW - The members of the Hunters Hollow City Commission generally keep their politics clean. It's the city itself that is of concern.
May is National Moving Month, which kicks off the busiest time of year for Americans changing residencies. It also means unlicensed movers and dishonest scammers are waiting to take advantage of unwary consumers.
BBB is again joining with the American Moving & Storage Association (AMSA) to provide important tips on how to avoid scams.
Christmas might come early this year for Mount Washington city employees.
SHEPHERDSVILLE – Being able to balance your budget without taking into consideration carryover funds, Shepherdsville officials were all smiles Monday night.
SHEPHERDSVILLE - Security is the utmost priority at the Bullitt County Detention Center.
Copyright © 2015
The Pioneer News Online is your source for local news, sports, events and information in Bullitt County and Shepherdsville, KY, and the surrounding area.


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Living with my DW, ourAstrid, my mom and dad, and their dog and cats, too. Hoping to start TTC with my OSO as baby-daddy soonish!
Fill out a "dummy" federal form as a married couple. Then, only file the state returns. Then fill out two separate federal returns as single people. File just the federal returns and not the state.
. I actually haven't even had to file taxes federally for the last couple years, so we just had dw claim all of the kids on the federal form.
Me. With 1 spouse, 4 kids, 16 chickens, 74 matchbox cars, 968,562+ legos, a dishwasher waiting to be emptied, a washing machine waiting to be filled and a lost cup of tea in the house.
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State police report two incidents in which inmates were arrested at Garner Correctional Institution, the state's high-security prison at 50 Nunnawauk Road.
NEW CANAAN — New Canaan police have charged a Newtown man with first-degree larceny in connection with his alleged theft of a diamond worth $40,000 while he was doing carpet work in a home on Weed Street. Police spokeswoman Sergeant Carol Ogrinc said this week that police charged Mario J. Pizighelli, 50, of 29 Botsford Hill Road on a warrant on June 10 at the police station in connection with an incident that occurred on May 5. Pizighelli posted $75,000 bail and was released from custody. He has not pleaded to the charge in Norwalk Superior Court. Pizigehlli is next scheduled to appear in court on July 17.
Released late last month, "Community Connections: Town of Newtown 12-14-12 Resource Guide" is a new edition of a book published in November by Sandy Hook resident Sharon L. Cohen. Now a collaborative effort between the Town and Ms Cohen, the reference source offers a historic document of the massive volunteer and nonprofit efforts that occurred within town in response to the shooting on December 14, 2012, at Sandy Hook Elementary School that took the lives of six women and 20 children; continues to increase awareness of the different organizations in order to promote collaboration, while also addressing gaps in services; and serves as a representation of positive community change. Unlike its predecessor, "Community Connections" is a resource guide that is available to read in a number of public locations but it is not available to purchase. It is also available to read as an online PDF, however.
A young boy squeezed between adults looks out over the St Rose field on Tuesday, the opening night of the St Rose Parish Carnival. Elsewhere, pressed firmly into their seats, three friends felt the carnival ride begin to rise. A few seconds later they hung suspended over the field. Then, as the Rip Cord ride released, the girls fell straight back toward the ground, screaming and laughing as they stopped short of the platform. Rushing into the crowds on the church lawn in search of another thrill, Courtney Cohane, Ashley Marron, and Gianna Terracino all looked back at the ride they were on. All across the grounds were other spinning, swinging, noisy amusements with their lights and bells, and lines of carnivalgoers waiting to get on. The annual event runs each night through June 28.
The 2014 Kelly Report on Gun Violence in America, released Wednesday, June 25, is the first collaboration of its kind between members of Congress, gun safety advocates, and public health/academic communities on the nation's gun violence epidemic. Written by Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-IL), the report is, according to her website, "the first-ever Congressional analysis of the nation's gun violence epidemic that offers a blueprint for ending the crisis." The contributors to the report include Representative Mike Thompson (D-CA), chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force; Representative Marcia Fudge (D-OH), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus; Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. Contributors also include The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, NAACP, National Urban League, Americans for Responsible Solutions, Center for American Progress, Duke University, University of Chicago Crime Lab, Harvard University School of Public Health and John Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Police continue to investigate a serious motor vehicle accident that occurred late on the night of Saturday, June 21, in which a SUV carrying three 24-year-old women, while traveling eastward on Berkshire Road (Route 34) near the Monroe town line, drove off the right road shoulder and then went down a ravine, striking several trees before coming to rest near a stream. The intense impacts of the multiple rollover accident resulted in serious injuries to two of the three occupants of the heavily damaged 2011 Audi Q-5, officials said. Two of the women in the accident had been released from St Vincent's Hospital by midweek. The third remained in critical condition at Yale-New Haven Hospital as of June 26.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) will close a section of Interstate 84 in both directions in Southington from 9 pm Friday night, June 27, until early Monday morning, June 30. Major traffic delays are anticipated. Two bridges that carry I-84 over Marion Avenue — one eastbound and one westbound — are being replaced with new structures. The replacement is what is requiring the complete closure of I-84 in both directions for the weekend.
During the first sobriety checkpoint of the year, which took place on the evening of Friday, June 20, and early morning of Saturday, June 21, town police charged three motorists with driving under the influence. Besides the DUI arrests, police issued two infractions for child safety seat violations, four warnings for seatbelt violations, and 14 warnings for various other motor vehicle violations, according to Lieutenant Christopher Vanghele. Police set up the checkpoint near the intersection of Wasserman Way and Trades Lane, near the main entrance to the Fairfield Hills core campus. Motorists driving in both directions on Wasserman Way were stopped and briefly interviewed to determine whether they were driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Police hold such checkpoints to make local roads safer for the motoring public.


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What is The Human Services Field About?
Human services is one of the broadest fields for college graduates. A degree in human services enables students to work in many different outreach programs and assist people who are struggling to manage various challenges in their lives.
The above degrees have different requirements, and they lead individuals to diverse career paths. For entry level positions, an associate's degree is considered to be the minimum education requirement. While a bachelor's degree is for individuals who wish to acquire better positions and achieve career growth.
What Are The Coursework And Curriculum For A Human Services Degree Online?
Human services courses are designed in a way that they enable students to gain the knowledge, skills, and theory related to the tasks required in the field. The courses offered in human services degree online programs may vary for each institute; however, the major courses offered in the field may include:
Who Could Be An Ideal Candidate For A Degree in Human Services?
An ideal candidate for a degree in human services is one who enjoys helping others. Personality traits such as creativity, resourcefulness, empathy, and strong communication may be instrumental for a successful human services career. With a human services degree, a person could develop and hone the traits and skills needed in a human services career.
What Are The Benefits of Pursuing A Human Services Career?
A career in human services does not only reward you in terms of money and tangible benefits, it is actually an intrinsically rewarding career as it involves helping people and making a difference in their lives. There are many different opportunities available in the field. Human services professionals could create their own career path, and they could work towards starting their own not for profit agencies. There is a positive employment outlook for human services professionals, so they may be able to capitalize on the various growth opportunities. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the employment opportunities for social and human service assistants will grow at a rate of 22 percent from 2012 to 2022, which is greater than the average of all occupations.


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Scal cleared for exercise today
|03.18.09 at 6:31 pm ET
Brian Scalabrine (post concussion syndrome) was cleared by doctors today to begin a monitored 12-day workout regimen. The program breaks down into three days of easy exercise on the bike, three days of hard exercise on the bike, three days on the bike, weights, and treadmill, and three days on the bike, weights, treadmill, and shooting. After addressing the media, he planned on heading to the training room to get back on the exercise bike.
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- Lessons Learned from Celtics so Far
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- C's Big Offense Showing a Sign of Things to Come?
- Green's Transition to PF Could Reshape NBA Career Arc
- Could Rondo's Play Increase the Chances He's Dealt?


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Deal will target titanium users in Japan.
Steel company cites the sharp drop in pig iron prices for indefinite shutdown of plant.
U.S. Shredder to install system in Kansas City, Missouri, that includes equipment from Steinert and SICON.
Browser-based software now can be paired wirelessly with a Bluetooth printer, as well.
Packaging company says it will raise prices by 50 euros per metric ton, starting June 15, 2015.
Kelman headed up Sims' European Metals division.
New CEO previously was CEO of Greenwood Fuels, a renewable energy company.
New MRF with BHS equipment triples Penn Waste's processing capabilities.
Ranjit Baxi, of Indian descent, has been elected BIR president, while Taiwan-born David Chiao is named Non-Ferrous Division president.
Colin Fernie succeeds Joe Beers.
Japanese company says it collected for recycling 5.24 million aluminum cans last year.
Plastics company targets postconsumer polypropylene with custom compounding line at Lodi, Ohio-plant.
The changing nature of global recovered fiber flows does not stop one papermaker from requesting a trade barrier.
A price slump notwithstanding, the global demand for steel and ferrous scrap is poised to remain healthy.
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