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Two big threats to the economy shrink a bit
WASHINGTON The economy may have a long way to go, but at least two big threats are fading.
Economists are less worried that the U.S. will experience another round of mass layoffs and its first bout of deflation since the 1930s after the release of two government reports Thursday.
The third drop in jobless claims in four weeks and a mild uptick in wholesale prices in August add to evidence that a second recession is unlikely.
Concerns about another downturn intensified last month when jobless claims spiked past the half-million mark. Wholesale prices, meanwhile, fell in early summer for three straight months. But those trends have, for now, reversed themselves, leaving an economy that is still growing, but at a pace too slow to create many jobs.
First-time applications for jobless benefits fell by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 450,000 last week, the lowest level in two months, the Labor Department said Thursday.
Despite the drop, initial claims for unemployment benefits are above levels that would signal a hiring boom. In a healthy economy, claims usually fall below 400,000.
And some companies are still letting go of workers - FedEx announced Thursday it would be cutting 1,700 jobs.
Still, applications for unemployment benefits have dropped nearly 11 percent in the past month.
Chris Rupkey, an economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, said last month's spike in claims was a "false alarm."
"The labor markets are stable and companies are not increasing layoffs," he said in a note to clients.
David Resler, chief U.S. economist at Nomura Securities, said last month's leap in claims may have resulted from the ending of hundreds of thousands of temporary census jobs. With that distortion largely completed, the job market could stabilize, he said.
A second Labor report said that wholesale prices, which measure price changes before they reach the consumer, rose 0.4 percent in August after rising 0.2 percent in July.
Excluding food and energy costs, so-called "core" producer prices were relatively flat. They rose just 0.1 percent and are up 1.3 percent in the past year. That indicates the weak economy is keeping inflation in check.
Concerns about deflation grew this spring after prices declined for three straight months. July's increase quieted most of those fears. Economists said Thursday's report confirmed that deflation is not an immediate threat. Deflation is a prolonged drop in prices and wages.
Also Thursday, the Commerce Department said the broadest measure of the U.S. trade deficit widened for the fourth straight quarter. The current account trade deficit grew to $123.3 billion in the April-to-June period, a 12.9 percent increase from the first quarter. A year of growth could be viewed as a healing sign for the U.S. economy as Americans slowly regain their appetite to spend. That pushes up imports and widens the current account deficit.
The reports follow other data earlier this week that showed modest improvement in the economy. In August retail sales rose slightly and output at factories grew for the 12th time in 14 months.


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Mar 19, 2009
March 19, 2009 Issue
One point provides instant end Cal Poly Pomona closes Seasider best season ever Governing BYUH hosts roundtable BYUH says goodbye to Uncle Bill A fond `Aloha' Recognizing the Seasiders #1 fan Fanfare March 19, 2009 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ryan Anderson ART DIRECTOR Erynn Vierra WEB MASTER Jenna Chidester AD MANAGER Melody Chiang STAFF WRITERS Rachel Adams Ben Buttars Lucy Cammock Brett Evans Nicole Hamilton Mary Jantalert Trijsten Leach Marni Vail Jordan Flake Austin Cook PODCASTERS Lauren Woodbury Brian Poppleton Anna Daines MARKETING Terrence Kau COPY EDITORS Sam Akinaka April Courtright Amanda Hansen Karen Hemenway ADVISOR LeeAnn Lambert ART Rachel Au Ieong Kent Carollo Courtney Banks Charlotte Aldridge PHOTOGS Chris Gardener Nate Williams Meghan Seely Aaron Knudsen INTERNS Shem Greenwood Kathleen Majdali PUBLISHER BYU-Hawaii KE ALAKA'I is printed weekly by: BYU-HAWAII PRINT SERVICES kealakai.byuh.edu E-mail: email@example.com Phone: (808) 675-3694 Fax: (808) 675-3695 Aloha Center, Room 134 CAMPUS NEWS CENTER Campus Box 1920, BYU-Hawaii, Laie, HI 96762 U.S.A RSS FEED SUBSCRIBE ON-LINE: KEALAKAI.BYUH.EDU SEE BACK ISSUES ON-LINE: KEALAKAI.BYUH.EDU ON THE COVER: Junior forward Lucas Alves, who has been a star player all season, comes down from dunking the ball against Humboldt State. After winning against both Humboldt and Cal State Dominguez Hills, the Seasiders lost to the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos leaving them with a 27-2 overall record. Editorial, & Photo Submissions, Advertising & Distribution inquiries: email@example.com � Entire Contents Copyright 2009, Ke Alaka`i 3-5, in this issue 6-8 sports Enthusiasts suffer depression - Seasider men lose to Cal Poly Pomona. Record rollercoaster - Softball clinches a win from Academy of Art, loses to Hilo. Smashing tennis - Men and women both outlast UH-Hilo. Campus Steady attendance - No. 1 Seasider fan noted for his contagious smile. Student expeditions - D.C. spends $30 billion more on AIG. Legally speaking - Law Week: Reuben J Clark Law School dean visits BYUH 9 Nation Support your favorite bookworm - National Library Week comes to BYUH 10-11 Campus A legacy of love - Honoring `Uncle Bill'. Get ready - 72-hour kits help make emergencies less stressful. Beauty from within - Helping people believe in themselves is Jones' goal. 12 Life & entertainment Comedy and cross dressing - `Twelfth Night, or What You Will.' To everything there is a season - Opinion: Why the Ke Alaka'i changed 0 2 March 19, 2009 http://KeAlakai.byuh.edu Cover Photo by NATE WILLIAMS I T Student elections determined by 28 votes to once again let voters get to know the candidates and make a decision on who they should vote for. The teams discussed budget cuts, changes that they thought would improve BYUHSA, leadership qualities and campus n the BYUHSA General Elections last Thursday and Friday, March 1920, 1079 students cast their vote for BYUHSA President and Executive Vice President. The vote was split 51 percent to 49 percent, with only 28 votes separating the two candidates. Alma Fonua and Emily Judson won the election, and will be BYUHSA President and Vice President for the 2009-2010 year. he final Q&A session was held Thursday morning, March 19, in the Aloha Center Mall at 11 a.m. During this session, candidate teams Roger Brown and Jennifer Tongi and Alma Fonua and Emily Judson answered questions about themselves and their campaign ideas. These questions were written by students and audience members, the current BYUHSA team and the candidates themselves. After a week of campaigning, this was an opportunity STATISTICS: Q&A REPORT: Alma Fonua and Emily Judson won the BYUHSA General Elections March 19-20 with 51% of the votes. The difference between Fonua and Judson and their opposing candadites was 28 single votes. specific ideas they had that would improve the campus. When asked to explain the meaning of their campaign slogan "Walk the Talk," Brown said, "It just means that we are what we are, what you see is what you get. Being BYUHSA President is a big position, but ultimately it's just a position. You should still be who you are, and that's what our campaign is all about." Judd had the opportunity to explain why their campaign, "Peace by Piece." used stars as a logo. She demonstrated, with the help of Fonua and Brown, that with five hands each making a peace sign, all of the fingers could be put together and it made a star shape. Therefore, each peace sign was a piece of the star, and all of the hands worked together to create a picture. The Q&A session was also kept lighthearted and fun, with the challenge for each team to come up with a song that described their campaign, excluding church music, within 30 seconds. Brown and Tongi were first to answer, and they sang a rendition of "Lean on Me." When Fonua and Judd went to answer the question, Fonua simply said, "Well..." and the two began singing the same song. The audience laughed at this coincidence, and Janelle Cabacungan, who was conducting the Q&A, said, "I was hoping somebody was going to rap for me or something!" � R ACHEL ADAMS AMus exerion nis dolorerum ilibus aut optisci molorrum verchicia volla dolorro voluptatis conectatecus eumquia voluptatem dis consenda nonsent otatatur ratem harchilitas dolora volorit, utempore laborepro et digene eum voluptis voluptas vent volupis ium adis mi, quis ad que se eosam rem alique ex eicid mo blatest fugiati ad utem acid eium repudicae vent aspicat iasimi, offic testius apicit Joseph Smith PF Headline MIke Wilcox adipicab ium liqui dolo quaeritem eum aut omnim dellabo repellabo. Nem eari blaborp orumqui dolorae pudisquunt quam, cuptiatem que qui tempos adis quo coneces solesti istiat est molento temperessim volorro beatur ant hit, omnis et odit venihicat etus, simincient alia sinvel is cus, quid enis dolum velest acearum quos et volore, ideligni cum es sae peria nobisit, nos ariore quisit alit dit mosaperum re dolupic illendi tatust fugit quibusam resseceste il il ipsum que odi oditis el et doluptas ma volenih ilibus, te consendellit rest, ut velenihil iuscius excerspellam etur rem et poratem aut eos ersperum consed moluptur ad quis eictio. Ediatiscilla volor sit di amus adis iliquae prorio cone repelendis sequatecerit es adi quam cum aut pe quo inus essus ad quidebit facepel igenet hillore, volupta tectaerspere pore, sint. Luptaspis moditatior milloris autatem porenih icidit es molecum exerferit es u estibus, suntur aborporem se dolupta simin exceped itatum rehenem ipsaeresto et a dolorpo ribercias endenihilis am exerspediam eum nossitiis voluptas nobis sinvellaute non porae. Bitibus aut quo estrum ullique ne plita vollum quissit ut laudanis ditatquunte conetum is eost doluptas molupicium doluptatque ma et la ipsum eles iduntorae cupta perendi tionem. Ceaturi onsequos dolo dis essit, si blaut qui a quid mo berempere, as dolupta tenempe lenemolorepe quo volupta que reptus cum eatis inus dolorib eatiorem faceperit molentiis experun totate molum eic tem voloreponsequi abor sum nimpernat.Oluptasitio essimin cipitat volore cuptat apicabor autatem. Odipiss itibus.Orias pra corro to qui dis nimodip santis doluptatist vid molesedis exerent mil ium volor sim verspit, quasi tempore nihitia voluptatus, sequi nossitiis aliquatia praturio te acepudior sunt lam, sinulpa ruptasp � LUCY CAMMOCK S Honors students `Brainstorm' t. Patrick's Day, March 17, students tried their luck answering trivia questions on topics ranging from ancient history to recent sports. This semesters' BYU-Hawaii Honors Program sponsored a Brainstorm trivia challenge that tested the knowledge of 34 BYUH students, separated into 9 different teams. These teams were self-titled: Ted's Bakery, Glottal Stops, Skulls and Bones, Count Rockula and the Super Friends, The Sophisticatrons, Peckerwood, The Dublin Hooligans, The Wiki-Wiki Wombats and Twiddle-Dee-Dee and Twiddle-Dee-Smart. Dr. Allred was the host of this trivia game. There were three fifteen-minute segments with toss-up questions that each team had 20 seconds to answer. Each question was worth 10 points. Bonus questions worth varying points were attached to random questions, and all teams who had answered the first question correctly had a chance to get more points from the bonus. Twiddle-Dee-Dee and Twiddle-Dee- ABOVE: Melanie Roy, sophomore in biology from rites he answer to a problem at the Smart took the lead right in the first Califormia, wrivia cthallenge March 17. Brainstorm t segment and held onto it the whole game, winning Brainstorm with a score of 390 points. At the end of the game, The Dublin Hooligans and Count Rockula and the Super Friends were tied for second place. To decide on the final rankings, the tied teams answered three toss-up questions, and the one with the most correct answers would be awarded second place. Both teams answered the first two questions correctly, but The Dublin Hooligans missed the last question about the Korean War, placing in third overall. "In the heat of the moment you forget things that you should know- like the Korean War," said Dustin Geddes, Hooligans team member and senior in biology from Cedar Hills, Utah. The Winning team, Twiddle-Dee-Dee and Twiddle-Dee-Smart consisted of team members Melanie Roy, junior in earth science from San Diego, California, Briana Strawn, sophomore in ICS: Communications from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and Roberto Leon, sophomore in English from San Juan Capistrano, California. � R ACHAL ADAMS http://KeAlakai.byuh.edu March 26, 2009 photo by AARON KNUDSEN 0 3 campus BELOW: Students in the new marine biology specialization program at BYUH joined Dr. David Bybee to perform research in the waters off the coast of Maui. be able to use the things he has been taught in class all semester. He said, "It's more practical, it gives more purpose to your study. It's actually putting into application what I've studied. I pretty cool to see people actually using the things we have been learning about." Bybee feels passionately that stuof the resources in Hawaii. "We are in the fortunate position to be able to another island and study some of the most unique marine environments in S ometimes it's better to get out of the classroom to learn. At least that was the reasoning behind biology professor David Bybee's class was able to spend two full days "I wanted them to get some hands Ecology. I wanted them to actually go is to do marine ecology as opposed to just reading about it," said Bybee. on a wide variety of projects, including whale censuses, whale mapping, data collection on whale behavior, water quality measurement at different locations and much more. marine biology specialization," It was a dream come true," as Heather Dell, senior in biology, from Gilbert, Ariz., said it was for her. She continued, "To water was amazing. The marine biology classes are great. I am learning a lot from them." periences that the students could never was high winds so it was bumpy. There all you want about what the open ocean bee. can be put on their resumes." Although the marine biology specialization is fairly new, students said getting out of the classroom. It helps us to learn." "This is just the beginning of what we hope to do with this program," Bybee said. �LUCY CAMMOCK BYU Law School dean, students visit to give tips for admission of lawyers. Unfortunately, some of these negative stereotypes may be deserved, because society views lawyers as being contention creators and proHowever, this is not representative of all of us." legal profession, a career he says is geared to con"Through their interpretation and upholding of A ssistant Dean of Admissions Carl Hernandez from BYU's J. Reuben - legal careers in general, and how to prepare for the law school application process. Along with Dean Hernandez, there were several questions. Hernandez hosted an information fair, an school-styled classes to students interested in learnIn addition to affording BYUH students with a wealth of information and insight into the law he also focused on the demanding, yet rewarding, profession. To gauge students' own perceptions, it," he said. Indeed, agreements, contracts, trusts, treaties, and statutes are among just a few of the lecollaboration and agreement among people. "However, not even the best draft-writer of those written agreements can foresee all of the possible repercussions if something goes wrong. When there is S BYU has competitive admissions standards, and Hernandez and the law students with him offered tips for students to prepare impressive applications. dents who want to learn more or prepare to apply to attend law school at BYU, Hernandez referred them to the law school's Website at www.law.byu. edu. �CHASE BARLET dents what he believes should remain the focus tudents can have fun, enjoy some refreshments and dance the night away when the EXS 180, Social Dance class holds this semester's practicum dance on Saturday, March 28 from 8-11 p.m. in the Aloha Center Ballroom. Called "Dance Into Spring," Elissa Oleole, who teaches the class with her husband, said, "Dress is semi-formal, it's free to the campus family, we will have yummy refreshments and ballroom dancing." Dances will include the swing, fox trot, waltz, cha-cha, tango, rumba and four presentations will be performed by the Ballroom Dance class students throughout the night. Students in EXS 180 are required to find a date outside of the class that they will dance with during most of the evening. Students along with their dates and anyone belonging to the BYUH campus family will be required to reserve their place by picking up tickets from the EXS office located in the McKay (Old) Gym Building. Tickets are free for everyone and will be available during school hours until March 24. Dress for the occasion is semi-formal, which means a white shirt and tie, dress pants and shoes for men, and a modest, Sunday-best dress for women. photos courtesy of David Bybee and AP Ballroom dancing at BYUH 0 4 March 19, 2009 http://KeAlakai.byuh.edu campus Federalism Conference Gathering on campus to be part of book S eventeen individuals from around the country met in BYU-Hawaii's television studio on Friday, March 13, 2009, to discuss issues that have the potential to change the world's outlook on federalism and intergovernmental relations. Troy Smith, BYUH associate professor of political science, was approached by the Forum of Federations to coordinate one of 13 round table discussions-planned to happen globally. "What they [the Forum of Federations] have done is they've had 13 different dialogues going on in 13 different countries, so this was the USA dialogue," said Smith. "In November the coordinators for each country's dialogues will get together in India, have a discussion on what they've learned, and a book will come out with a chapter from each country." Among the 17 members of Smith's round table were members of local, state, and national governments, including Sandra Sagasi, a cabinet member of House of Representatives member Colleen Meyer and Former U.S. House of Representatives member Ed Case. Other members of the round table included of Seton Hall University's College of Arts and Sci- ABOVE: Participants of a roundtable discussion held during Professor Troy Smith's Federalism Conference on Friday, March 13. There were 17 participants in the discussion, among which were local, state and national government leaders. relations between different levels of government. "National, state and local governments coordinate and collaborate to get things done, There's a lot of concern about this. For example, the Barack Obama stimulus package has money from the national government, but implementation is carried out by state and local governments," said Smith. "It's important that there is good coordination and collaboration between levels of government. (We were) trying to understand what works and what doesn't work and why in intergovernmental relations." Another discussion topic of the conference was on the growth of nationalization. One participant of the conference remarked, "My constituents don't care which level of government is responsible for something. All they know is there is a problem and they want it solved." This mentality leads to power being taken from the local and state governments, where people can get involved, and puts power at the national level. The problem with national policies is that they generally don't account for the diversity of America and the need for its diverse policies, said Smith. Other topics discussed at the event included the idea that the government is driven by short-term interest principles and the need for citizens to take an interest in local and state government. "One of the lessons that came out of the event was that those who know the system, who monitor the system and participate in the system could have you want it to go, or it will move along without you and do things you may not like," said Smith. -CHARLOTTE ALDRIDGE Hannemann becomes new BYUH 1st Stake president O ne of the students in Art Hannemann's BYUH 5th Ward said she has mixed feelings about having to say goodbye to her bishop as he steps into the role of stake president of the BYUH 1st Stake. "I see him as a father," said Marilia Selli, senior in political science from Brazil, who has been in Hannemann's ward for the past two years. Selli said though she is sad he is leaving, "I'm happy he's so worthy he can take another step to become president. He's going to help a lot with the singles in the BYUH 1st Stake." President Ara Meha, long-time friend of Hannemann, said, "President Art Hannemann is well prepared to do the Lord's work. He is hard working, humble, caring, compassionate, and a loving husband and father. Awesome blessings will come to the 1st Stake." Amanda Whitford, senior in exercise and sports science from California, added, "He is an awesome bishop. He is always involved and such a good guy." Hannemann's reaction to being called as a new stake president was that it is "extremely humbling," he said. "In March it would have been three years that I was bishop in the 5th Ward." Recalling when he went to school here at BYU-Hawaii in the LEFT: Recently appointed 1st Stake President Art Hannemann with his wife Peggy. 1980s, he said the 5th Ward was also His wife, Peggy Hannemann, he continued, even served as the ward's Relief Society president. Bobby Tree, senior in history from Washington and member of the sion of his new stake president was he could feel love from him. Tree said he went up to shake Hannemann's hand when he became the new stake president, and said he told him, "'We look forward to getting to know you,' and he said, `I love you brother.' He's a really loving guy. That's all I know of him." The previous president of the BYUH 1st Stake was Al Pierce, who served as president for seven years, Hannemann said. He said Pierce "did an incredible job with the youth. Pierce has a huge heart, a love for people, and has helped thousands of youth." Hannemann added that Pierce "is known for having banana splits at his house." Talking about his own values, Hannemann said, "The most important thing is our family. Hannemann and his wife have seven sons, four who are married, and eight grandchildren. Hannemann said he and his boys Andrea Hannemann, President Hannemann's daughter-in-law, said, "I think it's a good position for him because he likes setting people up and being involved." When Andrea was single about two years ago, President Hannemann showed Andrea pictures of his fourth son, Shem, who was serving a mission in Tahiti. Now Andrea and Shem are married with a beautiful baby boy, she said. Hannemann, who worked at the Polynesian Cultural Center and was a janitor at the temple as a student, said, "Without the PCC, I could not have graduated. I am a product of PCC and [President David O.] McKay's vision." Serving in the BYUH 1st Stake presidency with Hannemann are Alfred Grace, who is the head of marketing at the PCC, and Glade Tew, who is an accounting professor in BYUH's School of Business. -MARNI VAIL March 19, 2009 photos by KAWIKA WISE and courtesy of RIO HAYASHI http://KeAlakai.byuh.edu 0 5 SEASIDERS end best season Ever T he BYU-Hawaii men's basketball team fell victim to a tremendous comeback by the visiting Broncos of Cal Poly Pomona on Wednesday, March 18. The Seasiders saw a double-digit lead slip away over the last 6:39 as the Broncos capped a 16-2 run with 3.5 seconds left for a 59-58 victory. in the regional championship game, the same in which the then number one seed and host university, Alaska Anchorage, ousted them last year. The Seasiders were awarded the number one seed in this season's West Region tournament on the strength of a 25-1 regular season record. A three-point shot by Trenson Akana got the Seasiders on track early Wednesday night, and BYUH quickly took command of the game. Despite an uncharacteristically low-scoring half, the Seasiders never trailed, sports LEFT: (L to R) Nathan Sims, Jermaine Odjegba, and JR Buensuceso, along with their fellow seasiders, contributed to the success of the season. ABOVE: Coach Ken Wagner, who has led the men's basketball team since 1990. RIGHT: Jet Li, freshman guard from Taiwan, as The Seaders won this game against Humboldt State, 0 6 March 19, 2009 http://KeAlakai.byuh.edu photos by Chris Gardner sports closing with a 28-23 lead at the break. BYUH continued to dominate early in the second half, stretching the lead to as much as 15 before the Broncos started to chip away at the scoreboard. Seasider head coach Ken Wagner said of the We missed some shots we normally would have hit." lead of the game with 53 seconds remaining on a Tobias Jahn free throw. BYUH quickly regained the lead, 58-57, when junior forward Lucas Alves hit two free throws of his own. However, it was Larry Gordon, the other preseason AllAmerican from the West Region, who would forward, slid around a ball screen with less than 15 seconds left, and was immediately swarmed by Seasiders before throwing up an errant shot. The ball clanged off of the iron, but Gordon came down with his own rebound and put the it up at the rim," said Gordon. For a moment that lasted an eternity, the ball rattled around, then settled into the basket with 3.5 seconds left way, BYUH wins," said Cal Poly Pomona head coach Greg Kamansky following the game. An off-balance heave at the buzzer by Marques Whippy, sophomore in international business management from Bua, Fiji, and just like that, the game � and the season � was over for the Seasiders. Before the Seasiders could leave the court, however, the raucous crowd of Seasider supporters rewarded the players with one last cheer. aimed at the most successful basketball team in name feels good," said Alves, junior in exercise and sports science from Casa Branca, Brazil. Alves stated that it was good to know that the Decked out in Seasider red, Lee Kane was upsetting that we lost, but we had a great season. Our team is amazing," said Kane, senior in Even the Broncos were impressed with the intensity and volume of the crowd. Gordon complimented the Seasider faithful, shaking his give it to BYUH." double, scoring 18 points and pulling in 15 rebounds, none bigger than the follow up of his own shot at the end. Alves led the Seasiders with and two blocks. BYUH placed two players on the All-Tournament team, Alves and senior the night. BYU-Hawaii defeated Humboldt State, game and Cal State Dominguez Hills, 84-71, on March 14 to advance to the championship game against Cal Poly Pomona. The Seasiders' overall record now stands at 27-2. The 3rd-seeded Bronco men reached the regional championship with a pair of wins over Cal State San Bernardino, 83-81 (OT), and in Bellingham, Washington. Cal Poly Pomona will advance to the NCAA �Sam Akinaka photo by MONIQUE SAENZ http://KeAlakai.byuh.edu March 19, 2009 0 7 sports Softball tops Academy of Art, loses to Hilo, Dixie State A side from wins against the Academy of Art on Monday, March 16, and Wednesday, March 18, it was a rough week for the BYU-Hawaii softball team. The Seasiders lost both games of a doubleheader against UH-Hilo last Friday, both conference games against Chaminade last Saturday, and the second game of Monday's doubleheader against the AAU Urban Knights. The win against the Urban Knights on Monday came in dramatic fashion, with Kahealani Alohikea-Betham, sophomore in social work from Ewa Beach, hitting a walk off homer in the bottom of the eighth inning for the comelianne Tialavea, freshman in special education for pulling together this week. nings," said Tialavea. The Seasiders scratched out two hard fought wins against the Urban Knights on Wednesday, improving to 10-18 on the season. After Thursday's game against Notre Dame the Lady Seasiders lost Friday's doubleheader against UH-Hilo 0-3 and 2-3. Ivy Sessions, senior in art from Huntington Beach, Calif., had two hits, a run and an RBI on the day. Morgan Necaise, junior in exercise and sports science from Bay St. Louis, Miss., joined Sessions in were unable to get on the scoreboard. In the second game Melissa Lehano, senior in elementary education from Mililani, was brought home by a Sessions double into leftcenter following her second stolen base of the day. Sessions came home on a single for the The Lady Seasiders lost Saturday's doubleheader against Dixie State, 1-4 and 4-7. Sessions led the Seasiders' hitters again with two on the game came from a homerun by Necaise in the bottom of the seventh inning. In the second game Lauren Fielding, freshman in pre-professional biology from Mesa, Ariz., went 2-3 with a single and a double. Three other Seasiders contributed a single each, and four different players scored, putting BYUH ahead 4-1 in the second inning before allowing six runs in the third. ABOVE: (L to R) Lauren Fielding, Brook Perriton game against the Academy of Art on March 16. �MEGHAN SEELY Men's and women's tennis defeat Hilo Lady Seasiders increase record to 14-0, continuing their winning streak after beating UH-Hilo 9-0 and 6-0 T ABOVE: Manu Bajpai sends the ball back across the net during his singles match. RIGHT: Women's doubles team with Yuan Jia and Wen-lin Wang play during a recent match on campus. he BYU-Hawaii men's tennis team could leapfrog UH-Hilo in the upcoming release of Division II rankings, following the Seasiders March 17 win over the Vulcans. A day after losing a heartbreaker to UH-Hilo, the 25th�ranked men roared back with a near sweep of the 24th�ranked Vulcans on Tuesday. The second-ranked women continued its perfect season, extending its win streak to 14 over an outmatched UHHilo women's tennis squad. "The season itself looks promising, said team manager Lucy Mercado, sophomore in exercise and sports science from Lansdale, Pa., "In tennis it's all about the doubles. If doubles win then it is that much easier to win the match." The men proved Mercado's words, dropping two of three doubles matches on Monday on the way to the loss. They fought back in the singles matches, but an injury to Manu Bajpai, soph- omore from Bangalore, India, proved to be the difference as his withdrawal contributed to the Seasiders' 5-4 loss. On Tuesday the men started strong, winning two out of three doubles matches. They then picked up steam, matches. The Seasiders also led in two of the three remaining matches with The Seasider men also split matches with the Vulcans earlier in the season at UH-Hilo. The women dominated on both Monday and Tuesday, defeating the 29th-ranked UH-Hilo 9-0 and 6-0 to improve their record to 14-0. The Seasiders trail only Armstrong Atlantic in the national rankings. Armstrong Atlantic defeated BYUH in last season's national championship. The Seasider women have only lost two doubles matches all year and have not lost a singles match to date. �TRIJSTEN LEACH photos by MEGHAN SEELY and NATE WILLIAMS 0 8 March 19, 2009 http://KeAlakai.byuh.edu nation Nationalar y Week r throughout the nation. This brary participated in this nationally celebrated event to help people to support their local libraries and librar- S tee came up with the idea that, with motivation, people would read and begin to support and use their libraries revolved around the theme, "Worlds connect @ your library." The activities included readings done in different languages from students who are enrolled in language classes on campus, and movies that were Some other activities included guessing games with prizes and an activity for students to turn in their own - Lib celebrated towards the beginning of April, but the BYUH library staff wanted to cater to a larger group of students so they chose to celebrate H YU oB t es com on a daily basis and to provide the public with in- p.m. in the library courtyard. � AUSTIN COOK and television have been invented, people spent more time with their new technology than reading or going to the libraries. Concern about the decline in reading has had grown so much that The committee's goals ranged from "encouraging people to read in their increasing leisure time," to "improving incomes and health" and "developing - National Library Week Events photos courtesy of GOOGLE.COM http://KeAlakai.byuh.edu March 19, 2009 0 9 l&e Acting supreme in `Twelfth Night' C Shakespeare play well attended despite other activities on campus Lets go fly a kite TOP: ompeting for attendance during the same time as the NCAA Regional Basketball game and Culture Night last week, March 17-21, was BYU-Hawaii's Fine Arts department's production of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night, or What You Will." In spite of these conf licting schedules, "Twelfth Night" sold out every night except for Wednesday, March 18. Audience seating for this show was actually on the stage, with the front row being less than one foot away from the action of the play. This setting created a very intimate atmosphere and made the audience feel as if they were part of the play, especially with the bits of audience participation that were added throughout the show. The set was simple, yet this provided for smooth and quick scene changes and allowed the focus to be on the actors rather than scenery. Scene changes can sometimes be a hold-up in theatrical performance, but this was not the case for this production, as only one scene change seemed to last longer than 30 seconds. The acting was impeccable, and it was wonderful to have the focus on that instead of elaborate costumes or props. Every performer was believable in the delivery of their lines and portrayed the meaning of what they were saying. Virtually no lines were dropped, and the few that were recovered quickly without damaging the plot or f low of the play. Emotions were conveyed with great skill by the lovesick characters- namely Tessa Brady as Viola, Gailyn Bopp as Olivia, Jacob Cantor as Orsino, and Drew Mierzejewski as Malvolio. The emotions that the characters were feeling seemed to be felt by the audience as well. Another interesting element of the play was the songs sung by Feste, played by Shem Greenwood. Feste is a fool, or entertainer, that other characters pay to entertain them. He sang songs that were originally written by Shakespeare, but set to music by Greenwood himself. They were enjoyable to listen to and added another interesting layer of talent to the play. "Twelfth Night" was a very high-quality production, which makes it no big surprise that it had high attendance almost every night. � R ACHEL ADAMS TOP: (L to R) Drew Mierzejewski, Mika Valia, Anna Hubert, and Nate Stout perform in a scene from BYU-Hawaii's production of "Twelfth Night." ABOVE: Gailyn Bopp play the role of Olivia in the Shakespeare' comedy. RIGHT: Tessa Brady, who plays Viola only masquerading as her brother, shares a scene with Shem Greenwood, who plays a fool or entertainer. S tudents at BYU-Hawaii have lots of nice things to say about kites. And the weather couldn't be better than now to f ly them. But where to start? "Avoid trees. I went kite f lying on Laie Point and my kite kept getting stuck. I was with friends, so it was still fun, but it would have been nice to be able to f ly the kite for a longer time." ERIKA DICK Senior ICS Dayton, Iowa "The big grass field in front of the Little Circle is perfect. On a nice, windy day, it's great. And make sure you have the string in your hand before you launch the kite! Launch it as high as you can and let the string out." KIT MING LAU Junior Music Education Hong Kong "Kite f lying makes a great date! But make sure the weather is ideal. Some rain or lightning mixed with kite flying could end badly." RHONDA PECK Senior Political Science Las Vegas, Nevada "I see people f lying kites all the time at Sunset Beach. Right now, it's a good time to do it since it's so windy there." TAILEE DEAN Teacher at Sunset Elementary School, BYU-Hawaii Class of 2008 "My mom sent me and my brother trick kites for Easter last year. They were awsome, but they were hard to f ly. It was fun once we figured it out, but it took a while. I'm going to get an easier kite next time." CHRISTIAN EVANS Junior Biology Centennial, Colorado Let's go f ly a kite Up to the highest height! Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring Up through the atmosphere Up where the air is clear Oh, let's go f ly a kite! -Marry Poppins Now that you have the basic know-how, go find (or make!) a beautiful kite with friends or family and have some fun in the sky! � BRET T EVANS 1 0 March 26, 2009 http://KeAlakai.byuh.edu photos by Dwight Miller B Helping people believe in themselves is Jones' goal than the divine power within a women determined to rise." proclaimed "workaholic" was determined to make ion, and she started out working tuming for parades and fashion involvement with the Dallas Barbi- campus arbara Barrington Jones has a message for women all over the world and she is determined to share it. With an unwavering belief in the divine power and potential of women, Jones has spent the past week on BYU-Hawaii campus teaching students how to reach this potential during the Having worked hard to become successful, in woman about how each of them A passionate dancer since the age of 6, she moved from her career in ballet. After spending Jones said she used the school in into a new life after the death of her husband. During this time she met her second husband, Hal Jones. After married and she moved her fam- ABOVE: Barbara Jones has spent years working with women and men to improve how they present themselves as an image consultant and as a lecturer. father of her two children. During riage, Jones suffered abuse from himself in the end. When talking about her maren don't leave abusive relationABOVE: Barbara Barrington Jones speaks at the International Institute of Professional Protocol concluding dinner on Saturday, March 14 in the BYUH Stake Center. keep them together," she said. Jones said she has spent much of her life juggling numerous projects, professional and personal life, Jones thinks of her children." As she travels the world speaking to women, she is determined to impart some of what she holds so - of discomfort." For women who are in abusive relationships her to take her children to school and waiting for them - "Life is not just surviving the storms, but learning of Christ." -LUCY C AMMOCK T candidates. Elections activities this week are as follows: Aloha Center p.m. and then to the school at Culture Club Night. ABOVE: Roger Brown and Jennifer Tongi. photos by NATE WILLIAMS -RACHEL ADAMS ABOVE: Emily Judson and Alma Fonua http://KeAlakai.byuh.edu March 19, 2009 1 1 L&E YU-Hawaii's Fine Arts department's next theatrical performance, "Twelfth Night, or What You Will", will continue to display the talents of students here at BYUH. "Twelfth Night" is a comedy by William Shakespeare with an intricate plot that involves crossdressing, mistaken identities, love, and deception. The most modern interpretation of this Shakespearean plot was used in the movie "She's the Man," which premiered in 2006. "Twelfth Night" deals with the story of twins Viola, played by Tessa Brady, and Sebastian, played by Mike Buck. Viola becomes separated from her brother Sebastian and is shipwrecked in the land of Illyria at the beginning of the play. She thinks that Sebastian is dead, and decides to disguise herself as a boy named B Cesario. While appearing as a boy, she begins to serve Orsino, the Duke of Illyria, played by Jacob Contor. Orsino is desperately in love with Countess Olivia, played by Gailyn Bopp. The Duke sends "Cesario" to deliver a message to the Countess on his behalf. Olivia then falls in love with Cesario as he delivers this message, thinking that he is actually a man. The plot is further twisted as Viola/Cesario falls in love with the Duke, while she is serving as his messenger BYU-Hawaii's production of this Shakespeare play will be performed Tuesday, March 17 � Saturday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the McKay Auditorium. Tickets are $5 general admission, $3 for faculty and staff, and $2 for students and can be purchased at the Aloha Center Front Desk. The Fine Arts department is also the opening night performance, which can be claimed at the Front Desk as well. �Rachel Adams A Opinion: Why the Ke Alaka'i changed munications. LeeAnn Lambert continues to be the advisor for the Ke Alaka'i. With that in mind, let us mention some of the reasons that helped sway our decision to make the change: 1) It is more colorful and exciting, and allows our art people to expand their talents and stretch their wings, so to speak; 2) Your hands are no longer covered in newsprint ink after you peruse the pages of the Ke Alaka'i; 3) The paper is now printed on campus, through Print Services, which means the printing is cheaper for us, the money we spend on printing stays right on campus (which made the people in charge of budget cuts quite supportive) and because it never leaves campus, printing time is times: So much of the news is now online rather than in print, and we hoped this type of design would draw more people to our Web site, kealakai.byuh.edu. So far it has been successful, and we hope to see that continue and even increase. 5) It makes the campus a little more marketable: This format can easily be sent in mailers to prospective students, donors and friends of the university. So, whether you have heard the rumors that have been circulating around campus or not, we hope this clears them up. We made the decisions ourselves, and with the support of our advisor, we feel it has been a success and that we are moving in a positive direction. Feel free to let us know how you feel about it though. We love feedback. You can e-mail us at email@example.com, drop us a line on Facebook, or even stop Have a great rest of the semester, and join us next term for more great news. Mahalo nui loa for your support. What: Twelfth Night When: Thur., March 19 to Sat., March 21 7:30 p.m. Where: McKay Auditorium s is likely to happen on a small campus such as BYU-Hawaii, rumors have been circulating about the reasons behind the changes in the Ke Alaka'i format. For those who haven't noticed (hint, hint) the print source of news on campus, known by its Hawaiian name that means "the leader," has changed both its appearance and printing schedule. The Ke Alaka'i, now in a 12-page, all-color magazine format, prints every week. This change was made because the Ke Alaka'i staff wanted to make the change. At the end of Fall Semester 2009, the editor-in-chief for over two years, Lianna Quillen, graduated and moved on. It was then time for new leadership and, the staff felt, a change in the way the campus news was presented as well. We wanted to see more color added to our news presentation, and we felt that having the newspaper print every other week meant there was too large of a lapse in between editions, and it led to stale news. We felt the new presentation would make the news fresher and more exciting. After all, we want as many people as possible to read what we print. Our layout artists and art director worked together to create some mocklayouts late last semester so staff members could see if they liked it or not. The change was not, nor did it need to be, approved by the administration. We remain, like any legitimate news organization, free from bias and heavy-handed direction. Last summer the Ke Alaka'i was moved from the College of Fine Arts and Sciences as part of the campus restructuring and is now under the direction of University Relations and Communications, led by Bill Neal, assistant to the president, and Michael Johanson, director of com- �KE ALAKA'I STAFF WINTER 2009 FRIDAY Campus 20 SATURDAY Campus 21 SUNDAY Campus 22 MONDAY Campus 23 TUESDAY Campus 24 WEDNESDAY Campus 25 THURSDAY Campus 26 7:30 pm aud "Twelfth Night or What You Will" ($) Town Town Town Town Town Town Town 1 2 March 19, 2009 http://KeAlakai.byuh.edu


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For Families in Central America, Heartbreaking Decisions
Why are so many more unaccompanied children crossing the U.S. border with Mexico? Most (about 75 percent) of the new wave of minors are not actually from Mexico, but have made the long journey through Mexico from the Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.
If the surge of child migrants were caused by softer U.S. policies -- or rumors of softer U.S. policies -- we would expect many to be from Mexico. After all, Mexico, which shares its long border with the United States, is the home country of the majority of undocumented immigrants here. But as we see in the above graphic, Mexico is not the source of the increase. In fact, the number of unaccompanied Mexican children has changed little, and even declined since 2009.
The primary causes are, instead, deep poverty and extreme levels of violence in Central America. The striking disparities between the haves and have-nots in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador sustain high levels of hunger and malnutrition, particularly among young children, whose rates of stunting are soaring. At the same time, the three are the most violence-plagued nations in the hemisphere. Gangs often choose to recruit elementary school children; those who refuse to join are sometimes killed along with their entire families, and girls are frequently targeted for gang rape. This is why so many of those trying to cross the U.S. border are children and teenagers.
As long as poverty, inequality, and weak governance persist – and often worsen – many families in these three countries face a dilemma no parent should have to face: keep their children home even though they can't protect them, or send them on long, dangerous journeys in hopes that they will reach a safer place.
To resolve the crisis of the unaccompanied child migrants, border control is not enough. The root causes are at home. Thousands of desperate families have determined that fleeing, even with the risk of never reaching their destination, is the best option their children have. The United States can do a great deal to help alleviate poverty and enable Central American governments to protect their citizens. Read more about specific policy recommendations from the Institute's senior immigration policy analyst, Andrew Wainer.
Posted by Bread on July 14, 2014 in Assets for the Poor, Development Assistance, Economic Development, Food Aid, Food Prices, Foreign Aid Reform, Global Hunger, Good Governance, Hunger Hotspots, Hunger Report, Immigration, Inequality, Latin America, Malnutrition, Maternal and Child Nutrition, Millennium Development Goals, Success in Fighting Hunger, Trade, Weblogs | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Hacking For Women's Empowerment: What We Accomplished
This past Saturday, Bread for the World Institute, in partnership with the website, HelpMeViz, hosted the very first HelpMeViz Hunger Report Hackathon at Bread's Washington, DC office. The event brought together a diverse group of justice-minded statisticians, web developers, coders, designers, and data geeks who volunteered their time, skills, and creative energy to take on two compelling data questions on global women's empowerment and nutrition. The goal? To scour massive World Bank and UN datasets to find and visualize answers. We gave them four hours. They gave us a lot to think about. Here's our storify-style recap of how the day went down:
@HelpMeViz Hunger Report Hackathon kicks off tomorrow at 9am! Great time to review the data challenges!--> http://t.co/qSwVUnkmjB #helpmeviz— Bread Institute (@breadinstitute) June 27, 2014
Two Data Challenges—Two Dynamic Groups
Challenge 1: There's a lot of data missing on women's empowerment. How do we tell that story visually?
Challenge 2: Stunting hurts one in four children around the world. When women are more empowered, do stunting rates drop?
Ethernet cords & power strips galore! Room's all set for tomorrow's @breadinstitute/@helpmeviz hackathon! #helpmeviz pic.twitter.com/VdptmSItyK— Derek Schwabe (@DerekSchwabe) June 27, 2014
It's a lovely day in DC for a Hackathon. #helpmeviz pic.twitter.com/eE9jvfHtkQ— HelpMeViz (@HelpMeViz) June 28, 2014
We hope the #helpmeviz Hackathon in DC this morning is a huge success! #dataviz @HelpMeViz— Arati Mejdal (@JMP_software) June 28, 2014
Getting Started: Cleaning Data and Brainstorming Ideas
Both teams were thrown a number of very large datasets. Some were manageable and easy to understand—most were not. So the first step was to get to know the data, share some tips on where to start, and find ways to clean it up and make it easier to analyze. The close second step was to begin brainstorming ideas for how to use that data.
#hackathon_group @breadinstitute digging into women's empowerment and #nutrition data gaps. #helpmeviz— Scott Bleggi (@sbleggi) June 28, 2014
Interrelationships are key! 3 main issues: bargaining power, care, & political power #womensempowerment @breadinstitute #helpmeviz— Emily (@emily1852) June 28, 2014
Not my normal Sat, feeling inspired by #HelpMeViz http://t.co/ZEt2IohayT— Evelyn Chou (@Evyfindstheway) June 28, 2014
Women's empowerment hackathon gets underway @breadinstitute #helpmeviz. Excited to see what the day will bring! pic.twitter.com/1Oue25NoUh— Asma Lateef (@asmalateef) June 28, 2014
If you're following along w/ the #helpmeviz hackathon (and you should) here's the data we're looking at. https://t.co/2OscPvLb4D— Ben Chartoff (@BenChartoff) June 28, 2014
Starting Ideas and Clues for Challenges #1 and #2 #helpmeviz pic.twitter.com/5SshnsTk39— HelpMeViz (@HelpMeViz) June 28, 2014
Team 1: How Do You Visualize Nothing?
Team 1 had an atypical data challenge—not to tell a story about the data that we have, but to focus on what's missing. Thankfully, they were up to it.
At the #helpmeviz bread for the world hackathon wishing I had seen Andy Kirk's talk at @OpenVisConf http://t.co/0EzF9PYodo— Seth Blanchard (@SethBlanchard) June 28, 2014
We're visualizing 'missing women' in the data, but truly missing women is a much bigger problem #helpmeviz http://t.co/kODltKqBVf— Zach McDade (@zmcdade) June 28, 2014
#helpmeviz Women's empowerment hackathon, I cut out what is missing from women's empowerment data. pic.twitter.com/ZNxCrxXpg8— Lindsay (@not_young) June 28, 2014
Team 2: Reaching Two Audiences
After cleaning their data, team two quickly began to find correlations between increased empowerment of women and lower stunting rates. But they wondered about the best way to tell the story. For advocates and academics, a data-heavy visualization would work, but probably not for policy makers. So the team decided to craft two ways of telling the same story: an infographic, and an interactive data app. They made good use of the sketch pads.
At the #helpmeviz Hackathon exploring and visualizing #data on #nutrition and #womensempowerment @breadinstitute #InteractiveGraphsAreCool— Reshma Roshania (@ReshmaRoshania) June 28, 2014
Data is about cleaned, which means we're going to move from analog to digital. #helpmeviz— HelpMeViz (@HelpMeViz) June 28, 2014
Sketching away at #helpmeviz Hackathon pic.twitter.com/cyMbn2QSCX— HelpMeViz (@HelpMeViz) June 28, 2014
Four Hours Later: Data—Visualized!
By the end of the hackathon, both teams, with some help from online participants, produced some impressive visualizations and prototypes that attacked the data challenges from all angles. Heat maps, small multiples, scatter plots, bar charts and some very artful designs all brought fresh insight to the nutrition and women's empowerment policy discussion, and striking content ideas to the 2015 Hunger Report. Here are some of them:
#helpmeviz Heatmap of % data by country and year. Odd uniformity in 2013. Most measures are all or none. pic.twitter.com/Y3o9PDqEmw— Xan Gregg (@xanjmp) June 28, 2014
Update on the missing data small multiples viz #helpmeviz pic.twitter.com/C3zen6U8OC— HelpMeViz (@HelpMeViz) June 28, 2014
@BreadInstitute we hack to show it's impossible to #endpoverty if #women remain #invisible http://t.co/vqL29AwxFd @washingtonpost @helpmeviz— Faustine Wabwire (@Fwabwire) June 30, 2014
We Had a Lot of Thanking to Do
Wow. We're floored by how much happened in 3 hours at the @helpmeviz hackathon! Huge thanks to all! Next step email on the way...#helpmeviz— Bread Institute (@breadinstitute) June 28, 2014
Thanks to everyone for a terrific first #HelpMeViz Hackathon! Hope the conversation continues.
— HelpMeViz (@HelpMeViz) June 28, 2014
New Friends Made, New Projects Started
Thank you @breadalaska for hosting today's #hackathon #helpmeviz pic.twitter.com/1dzMnIAP0R— Asal Nassir (@AsalNassir) June 28, 2014
I hung out with a bunch of @HelpMeViz and @breadinstitute data geeks and I didn't trip over a single power cord! http://t.co/dBSoHU8PYZ— Julia Carpenter (@juliaccarpenter) June 30, 2014
Next Steps
It's clear to see that many stellar ideas were born in the three hours that our two teams had to work at this hackathon. The next step in some cases is simply to refine and polish. But in others it may be to continue building out the concept. We at Bread for the World Institute are eager to create opportunities for the teams to continue their work and to ultimately ready their visualizations for publication in the 2015 Hunger Report. We are now following up to decide on the best way to continue partnering with participants to carry on the work to that point.
Posted by Bread on July 01, 2014 in Africa, Agriculture, Asia, Assets for the Poor, Climate Change, Data to End Hunger, Development Assistance, Economic Development, Food Aid, Food Prices, Gender, Global Hunger, Hunger Hotspots, Hunger Report, Inequality, Latin America, Malnutrition, Maternal and Child Nutrition, Success in Fighting Hunger, Trade, Weblogs | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Which Country Is Most Committed to Ending Hunger?
This time last year, I blogged about the Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI), which combines a number of variables to come up with a ranking of how serious a country's central government is about fighting hunger and malnutrition. We know that lack of political will is the only reason the world hasn't ended hunger yet – so efforts like HANCI are important.
Government commitment was measured by indicators such as the creation and implementation of new policies and programs, the strength of existing programs, and whether the efforts are supported with sufficient funding. The first HANCI, last year, ranked Guatemala at the top because of its substantial "improvements in providing clean drinking water, ensuring improved sanitation, promoting complementary feeding practices, and investing in health interventions." HANCI also noted that the Guatemalan government had launched a national campaign, the Zero Hunger Plan.
The second HANCI report, released this week, once again ranks Guatemala, along with Peru and Malawi, at the top. In these countries, governments, civil society organizations, and international partners are collaborating on programs that are making a difference to people's health and well-being. It is no surprise that the three are also leaders in the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement, with active civil society networks that advocate for improved nutrition with their governments. SUN countries emphasize the "1,000 Days" window of opportunity on nutrition, which lasts from a woman's pregnancy to her child's second birthday.
In this chart from the HANCI report, nutrition rankings are the Y axis (vertical) and hunger rankings are the X axis (horizontal). The closer a country is to (1,1), like Guatemala (GTM), the higher its score.
Learn more about Guatemala's efforts by watching a recent PBS NewsHour segment, "Widespread childhood malnutrition is a paradox in agriculturally rich Guatemala".
The PBS broadcast features interviews with government leaders such as Luis Enrique Monterosso, head of the country's hunger and malnutrition agency; leading private sector businesspeople on why they believe that ending malnutrition in Guatemala is imperative; and Save the Children-Guatemala, which implements programs funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Early successes in Guatemala stem from the recognition that nutrition is important across development sectors; offices devoted to agriculture, health, education, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are all working on nutrition issues. In health, direct nutrition interventions such as feeding malnourished infants are complemented by "nutrition-sensitive" actions in other areas – actions aimed at tackling the underlying causes of malnutrition. These programs together comprise "bundled interventions," which experts at The Lancet medical journal, the Copenhagen Consensus, and IFPRI consider one of the best uses of development assistance. Bundled interventions fight malnutrition in cost-effective ways; in fact, the benefits they bring are worth many times their cost.
Posted by Scott Bleggi on June 27, 2014 in A Climate to End Hunger, Africa, Agriculture, Asia, Climate Change, Data to End Hunger, Development Assistance, Economic Development, Food Aid, Foreign Aid Reform, Gender, Global Hunger, Good Governance, Hunger Hotspots, Hunger Report, Immigration, Inequality, Latin America, Malnutrition, Maternal and Child Nutrition, Success in Fighting Hunger, Weblogs | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
"Nutrition for Growth" At One Year: Tracking Global Pledges
Nutrition and education link in Guatemala school feeding. (Joe Molieri/Bread for the World)
We recently marked the first anniversary of the historic global nutrition event "Nutrition for Growth: Beating Hunger Through Business and Science" (N4G), held in London in conjunction with the 2013 G-8 Summit. Co-hosted by the governments of the U.K. and Brazil and the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), the event brought together leaders from business, government, science, academia, and civil society. They made ambitious financial and political commitments to provide better nutrition to women and children in the 1,000 Days "window of opportunity" from pregnancy to age 2; reduce the numbers of stunted children; and help put an end to deaths from severe acute malnutrition. More specifically, they agreed to prevent at least 20 million children from being stunted and to save at least 1.7 million lives by 2020.
How pervasive a problem is malnutrition? The number of people suffering from chronic hunger declined from 868 million in 2012 to 842 million in 2013. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, the number of undernourished children has been reduced by 17 percent in 20 years. Yet undernutrition is still the cause of nearly half of the deaths of children under age 5.
Globally, nearly one in four children younger than 5 is stunted due to chronic micronutrient deficiencies. Stunting is a condition linked to increased susceptibility to common illnesses, lower levels of academic achievement, and lower lifetime earnings, said UNICEF in its recent report, "Improving Child Nutrition: The Achievable Imperative for Global Progress".
Severe acute malnutrition is a life-threatening condition that requires immediate attention. According to the World Health Organization, there is a 30 percent to 50 percent mortality rate for children younger than 5 who develop severe acute malnutrition.
How ambitious were the N4G commitments? Altogether, leaders pledged an historic $4.15 billion to tackle malnutrition via investments in multiple sectors: agriculture; health; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); education; and social protection programs. They did so in the realization that nutrition is intertwined with all these sectors -- and that a person who is malnourished in early childhood can never reach her or his full potential.Commitments were made to new partnerships and scaled-up research. An annual Global Report on Nutrition was announced (the "first annual" report will be released in November 2014 at the Second International Conference on Nutrition). An annual global nutrition meeting alongside the UN General Assembly was initiated. A Global Nutrition for Growth Compact puts nutrition at the center of the world's development agenda. A group of businesses has pledged to improve the nutrition (and hence the productivity and health) of 927,000 employees in 80 countries. See a complete list of commitments.
A year after N4G, what progress has the United States made? The U.S. government has made nutrition a higher priority in meeting our global development assistance commitments. In a time of almost universal budget cuts, Congress reached a bipartisan agreement to boost funding for nutrition in the FY 2014 federal budget. USAID recently announced a new global multisectoral nutrition strategy. The agency credits the "strong advocacy and dedication" of civil society organizations such as Bread for the World Institute for the release of the strategy, which will "align our important global nutrition commitments." The USAID strategy will be used to develop a U.S. Government Global Nutrition Coordination Plan, to include USAID, four cabinet-level departments (Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Treasury, State), the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Peace Corps, and the White House. The plan is designed to accelerate "progress toward relevant WHA targets and other U.S. government commitments by maximizing the impact of government actions."
Civil society organizations, including those in the nutrition stakeholder community such as the Institute, are clearly a driving force in getting this high level of U.S. government commitment to nutrition. Legislative and non-legislative advocates are working seamlessly to increase funding for nutrition activities and to shape an effective policy and program operations agenda. USAID operational partners are designing nutrition projects that encompass several sectors of development assistance.
Of course, commitments and action by the governments of countries with high burdens of malnutrition are essential to success. To date, 51 such countries have come together in the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement in order to work -- governments and civil societies together – to expand successful nutrition programs.
Working together, civil society will monitor the pledges made at N4G to ensure that they are honored. We will help ensure that diverse government nutrition policies and programs come together in the most effective way possible. Malnutrition is a major component of global hunger, so tackling it more effectively will bring us much closer to our very feasible goal, ending global hunger by the year 2030.
In a recent blog post, David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World and Rick Leach, CEO of WFP-US said: "From climate change to civil liberties, the world is at a critical point right now with many issues. Global nutrition is no different, and, as such, deserves adequate attention as its reach is vast and implications deep. Future generations depend on decisions we--governments, NGOs, faith leaders, community leaders, investors, scientists, educators, and others--are making and actions we are taking right now to ensure that they can reach their full potential. Not only can we reduce undernutrition--we must if our children's children are to thrive."
Posted by Scott Bleggi on June 13, 2014 in A Climate to End Hunger, Africa, Agriculture, Asia, Assets for the Poor, Climate Change, Data to End Hunger, Development Assistance, Economic Development, Food Aid, Food Prices, Foreign Aid Reform, Gender, Global Hunger, Good Governance, Hunger Hotspots, Hunger Report, Immigration, Inequality, Latin America, Malnutrition, Maternal and Child Nutrition, Millennium Challenge Account, Millennium Development Goals, Religion and Hunger, Success in Fighting Hunger, Trade, Weblogs | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Data to End Hunger: Hacking for Women's Empowerment
Bread for the World Institute is excited to announce our first live HelpMeViz Hunger Report hackathon event. On Saturday, June 28, the Institute, in partnership with the website HelpMeViz, will bring together coders, data scientists, and data visualizers in Washington, DC, as we tackle two data visualization challenges for our upcoming 2015 Hunger Report. The report, currently being drafted, explores why women's empowerment is essential to ending global hunger. We hope to feature the visualizations developed at the event in the report, either in print or online at hungerreport.org.
HelpMeViz is a website open to anyone who is searching for feedback on visualization designs, from seasoned designers and data visualization specialists to individuals seeking to improve their graphic displays. It offers an online community where all types of visualizations are welcome, including simple bar or single-line charts, full-blown infographics, and interactive visualizations.
Here are the visualization challenges that we will tackle:
Exposing Gaps in Data on Women's Empowerment
Over the past few decades, we have learned a lot about the marginalization of women around the world and its costs to human development. Data authorities such as the World Bank and the United Nations have set out to develop holistic ways of measuring women's empowerment and gender equality across countries, defining a minimum set of 52 indicators for doing so. But even the most advanced women's empowerment indexes available today still miss critical elements of what it means for women to be empowered in the developing world. Far too many of the indicators that compose women's empowerment indexes depend on largely unreliable, old, or inconsistent data for far too many countries. This significantly compromises the accuracy and integrity of the index and makes it much less reliable for policy makers who base decisions on it.
In our upcoming 2015 Hunger Report, Bread for the World Institute will identify key missing data in current women's empowerment indexes and explain why better data are essential to continued progress. We'll need help from hackathon volunteers to visualize where those gaping holes in the data lie.
Women's Empowerment and Stunting
Childhood stunting (far below average height for one's age) is a condition that indicates long-term malnutrition. It currently affects one in four of the world's children. When a child is stunted, she is prevented from growing, learning, and later earning to her full potential. As we begin to explore years of data on women's empowerment from the World Bank and United Nations, we want to ask the question: Do countries that significantly improve the status of women also eventually see lower rates of stunting? Research from countries around the world has shown that when women are empowered to earn more and have a greater say in home finances, they are more likely than men to invest additional income in promoting the welfare of their children -- through nutritious food, for example. Are there data that support a relationship between women's empowerment and improvements in stunting?
Up to 25 guests will be invited to the HelpMeViz Hunger Report Hackathon. We will provide participants with the datasets, work space at Bread for the World's offices, and breakfast and lunch during the event. Participants will also receive a printed copy of the 2015 Hunger Report when it is released, and an invitation to the report's launch at the National Press Club in November, 2014.
The event will be blogged live on HelpMeViz. We hope that interested people all over the world will want to lend their voices and skills to these challenges. Data will be made available when the event begins, and visualizations, conversations, and comments will be posted to the site in real time.
If you would like to attend the event in Washington, DC, email HelpMeViz with a short paragraph that describes your interest and your skillset (statistics, programming, design, etc.) with the phrase "Bread for the World" in the subject line.
You can check out the most recent 2014 Hunger Report, complete with interactive stories and data, infographics, and featured stories online at hungerreport.org.
Posted by Bread on June 03, 2014 in Africa, Agriculture, Asia, Assets for the Poor, Climate Change, Data to End Hunger, Development Assistance, Economic Development, Food Aid, Food Prices, Gender, Global Hunger, Good Governance, Hunger Report, Inequality, Latin America, Malnutrition, Maternal and Child Nutrition, Success in Fighting Hunger, Trade, U.S. Hunger, Weblogs | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Feed the Future: The Untold Success Story
What is the U.S. government doing to reduce global hunger? Many people would answer – correctly, of course -- that our country provides food aid to save lives during emergencies. And, in fact, the United States has been the leading provider of emergency food aid for decades.
But it is not the whole story, particularly for the past few years. From May 19-21, I attended the first-ever Feed the Future Forum -- deepening my knowledge of an effective and influential program that most Americans have never heard of.
Feed the Future, the U.S. global hunger initiative, was launched in 2009. When G-8 leaders gathered in L'Aquila, Italy, in July of that year to respond to the global food price crisis, the Obama administration's proposal to invest significantly more effort and resources in agriculture won support from other donor countries, who committed to providing $22 billion in financing for agriculture over three years. This became known as the L'Aquila Food Security Initiative (AFSI), and Feed the Future is the primary U.S. contribution to it.
As a whole-of-U.S.-government initiative, Feed the Future is laying a foundation for lasting progress against global hunger by focusing its investments within agriculture on three areas: improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, strengthening maternal/child nutrition, and building the capacity of governments and civil society to promote long-term growth.
Bread for the World members have played a vital role in supporting Feed the Future and advocating for improvements to enable it to reach more of the most vulnerable people on the planet. Bread President David Beckmann was invited to give a keynote speech at Feed the Future's first Global Forum, which brought together stakeholders from around the world to highlight progress, address challenges, and chart a way toward more progress against hunger and poverty.
In his address, Beckmann called on participants to be active in sharing Feed the Future's good-news story. He stressed that while many Americans know about the U.S. leadership in addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic through PEPFAR, very few people know about the role that the United States has played over the last few years to reduce world hunger.
Four Years later-- What Has Feed the Future Achieved?
At the Forum, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah announced that in 2013 alone, Feed the Future reached nearly 7 million smallholder farmers and helped to save 12.5 million children from hunger, poverty, and malnutrition.
For example:
- In Bangladesh, Feed the Future reached 3.3 million smallholder farmers with improved seed, fertilizer, and farm management practices, helping farmers increase rice yields by up to 20 percent and creating additional rice sales of $25 million.
- In Senegal, the initiative helped farmers produce enough additional rice to meet the consumption needs of more than 400,000 Senegalese for a year.
- In Honduras, the initiative helped more than 4,300 families move well above the $1.25-per-day global poverty line, in part by enabling them to increase their horticulture sales by 125 percent.
- With Feed the Future assistance, Ethiopian company Guts Agro Industry developed a ready-to-use supplementary food made with specialty chickpeas sourced from 10,000 smallholder farmers, with plans to expand to 52,000 smallholder suppliers.
Read more in the 2014 Feed the Future Progress Report, which outlines how Feed the Future is working to scale up proven technologies and activities, expand nutrition interventions and programs, and conduct research to create the next generation of innovations that can change the lives of food producers and their families.
Posted by Faustine Wabwire on May 28, 2014 in A Climate to End Hunger, Africa, Agriculture, Asia, Assets for the Poor, Climate Change, Data to End Hunger, Development Assistance, Economic Development, Food Aid, Food Prices, Gender, Global Hunger, Inequality, Malnutrition, Maternal and Child Nutrition, Millennium Development Goals, Success in Fighting Hunger, Trade | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
USAID Launches a New Nutrition Strategy
Today at the Chicago Council's Global Food Security 2014 event in Washington, DC, Senior White House Advisor Ambassador Susan Rice announced the release of the USAID Nutrition Strategy.
This is a landmark step toward ensuring that nutrition concerns remain at the heart of the U.S. development assistance agenda.
Bread for the World Institute has been an active participant in the development of the nutrition strategy, along with other members of the nutrition stakeholder community (both advocacy and operational partners of USAID). The draft strategy was first released for public comment in December 2013.
The nutrition strategy recognizes the essential role of nutrition in human development (especially in the "1,000 Days" period from pregnancy to age 2). Moreover, the strategy acknowledges that high rates of chronic malnutrition can cause significant losses in a nation's GDP and carries other economic costs. The USAID strategy also lays the foundation for the development of a comprehensive "whole-of-U.S.-government" nutrition strategy later this year.
Improving maternal and child nutrition has been a major part of the Institute's non-legislative advocacy efforts for the past three years. The USAID nutrition strategy comes after our successful efforts to clarify exactly where nutrition programs are funded within the federal budget, to persuade the administration to identify a high-level spokesperson for nutrition in the U.S. government (Administrator Shah was named), and to help win needed reforms in U.S. food aid policies and programs. The Agricultural Act of 2014 (the "farm bill") authorized changes that will increase the efficiency of food aid programs and delivery, allow greater flexibility to purchase food for distribution closer to where it is needed, and provide additional options for using new specialized food products that have been fortified with vitamins and minerals.
The strategy recognizes that nutrition is "multi-sectoral"-- meaning that effective nutrition interventions can be done not only in health programming, but also in agriculture, education, and water, sanitation and health (WASH) projects. Direct nutrition interventions can be complemented by indirect nutrition actions for maximum impact. Key direct actions include 11 "essential nutrition actions" articulated by the World Health Organization and identified as particularly effective in fighting malnutrition in the research published in the Lancet Maternal and Child Nutrition series. Indirect nutrition actions are nutrition-sensitive activities that target the underlying causes of undernutrition. Combining direct and indirect actions by "bundling" projects that include both has been found to be the most effective development investment a country can make.
USAID is committed to the World Health Assembly 2025 Nutrition Targets (see box), and is developing additional nutrition targets it will use to track and evaluate its development assistance. Included in these is a target in Feed the Future programs of reducing stunting in the regions where Feed the Future works by 20 percent in five years.
The Nutrition Strategy will ensure flexibility (as new evidence of successful interventions becomes available) by including a robust learning agenda that supports research to fill knowledge gaps, a rigorous program of monitoring and evaluation, and a means of quickly disseminating and apply lessons learned to ongoing programs. USAID will immediately begin issuing guidance for its overseas missions on how to implement the strategy. A framework document for the wider whole-of-U.S. government nutrition strategy, called the Global Nutrition Coordination Plan, has been completed, and additional information on this plan and a request for public comment have now been released.
Posted by Scott Bleggi on May 22, 2014 in A Climate to End Hunger, Africa, Agriculture, Asia, Climate Change, Data to End Hunger, Development Assistance, Economic Development, Food Aid, Food Prices, Foreign Aid Reform, Gender, Global Hunger, Good Governance, Hunger Hotspots, Inequality, Latin America, Malnutrition, Maternal and Child Nutrition, Millennium Development Goals, Success in Fighting Hunger, Weblogs | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
A Global Day of Action for Nutrition
2013 was an historic year for nutrition advocacy. As part of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement, civil society organizations (CSOs) around the world committed to supporting and holding their governments accountable on plans of action to improve nutrition. SUN focuses on pregnant women and children in the "1,000 Days" from pregnancy to age 2, since this is the most critical period for human nutrition. CSOs can range from small groups working in community settings to nationwide alliances that advance common interests. The SUN Civil Society Network (SUN-CSN) was formed to establish and support SUN Civil Society Alliances (SUN-CSA), as well as to facilitate, communicate, and coordinate across the network.
In the lead-up to the 2013 G-8 summit in London and its Nutrition for Growth event, nutrition CSOs coordinated actions as part of a "Global Day of Action". Their goal was to show global support for decisive actions at the G-8 to tackle food insecurity and malnutrition. CSOs from Bangladesh, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia led events in their countries to increase awareness of the need for governments to make greater investments in programs and policies to overcome malnutrition.
This year marks an alignment of several key moments in global nutrition. The 67th meeting of the World Health Assembly takes place the week of May 19-23 in Geneva. This is an opportunity for countries to report on progress in achieving global nutrition targets that were set in 2012. The African Union Summit in June will focus on agriculture, food security, and nutrition. The Second International Conference on Nutrition will be held at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in November.
During the week of May 4-11, 2014, a second "Global Day of Action" was held in many of the SUN-CSA countries. The goal was to influence both national nutrition policies and regional development agendas while also highlighting SUN-CSN as a "global, impactful, and agenda-setting network."
The Global Day of Action's objectives were:
- Advance multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral efforts to address nutrition as a priority and to scale-up nutrition intervention efforts;
- Add to continued, growing public pressure on national leaders to continue their focus on nutrition, increase progress toward the 2013 WHA global targets, deliver on commitments to SUN and commitments made at the Nutrition for Growth event;
- Increase the public and political profile of nutrition in member countries;
- Highlight SUN-CSN as an effective international campaigning network; and
- Show an inclusive, global constituency in support of nutrition.
We've already seen effective social media and press coverage of Global Day of Action events by SUN-CSAs using the Twitter hashtag of #ActingTogether4Nutrition in Zambia (@wchilufya), Bangladesh (@SUNCSABD), Ghana (@ghaccssun), Malawi (@CSO_Nut.Alliance), and Uganda (@UCCOSUN).
Altogether, 19 country-level CSOs committed to displaying strong public support for nutrition issues.
At the inaugural meeting of SUN-CSN, in June 2013 in Washington, DC, I witnessed a real commitment from advocates from all over the world to share ideas and build a Community of Practice on efforts to scale up nutrition. SUN countries are those with the world's highest burdens of malnutrition. They are working together with very limited resources in ways that are most impressive. I hope political leaders will take note of their advocacy and live up to their governments' commitments to meet global nutrition targets by 2015.
Posted by Scott Bleggi on May 13, 2014 in A Climate to End Hunger, Africa, Agriculture, Asia, Assets for the Poor, Climate Change, Data to End Hunger, Development Assistance, Economic Development, Food Aid, Food Prices, Foreign Aid Reform, Gender, Global Hunger, Good Governance, Hunger Report, Immigration, Inequality, Latin America, Malnutrition, Maternal and Child Nutrition, Millennium Challenge Account, Millennium Development Goals, Religion and Hunger, Success in Fighting Hunger, Trade, Weblogs | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
MFAN Charts "The Way Forward: A New Reform Agenda for 2014 and Beyond"
A single statistic—the world is home to 842 million chronically hungry men, women, and children—is enough to show that effective U.S. foreign assistance is urgently needed. We must make every dollar count, because the lives of millions of people and the quality of life of hundreds of millions more depend on it.
Last week, the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) issued a fresh call for U.S. foreign assistance reform, citing examples of how reforms will lead to more effective development. In its new policy paper, The Way Forward: A New Reform Agenda for 2014 and Beyond, MFAN emphasizes that development and development co-operation need to promote inclusive, accountable partnerships that support country-led processes that will improve the lives of hungry and poor people. The U.S. government is in a better position today to build on past achievements, redouble its reform efforts, and accelerate progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This is the time.
Roadside Market, Nicaragua. Photo credit: Bread for the World
Country ownership—the idea that countries should decide on and direct their own development priorities—is the foundation of sustainable development. This is what will bring lasting change.Country ownership was one of four basic principles for development cooperation agreed upon by development stakeholders, including major aid donors, at the most recent high-level forum on aid effectiveness, in November 2011 in Busan, Korea. The Busan forum builds on commitments made in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness in 2005 and the 2008 Accra Agenda for Action.
For several years now, country ownership has been gaining traction across the donor community. Development partners, including the U.S. government, are making commitments to support capacity development in areas that respond to the needs and priorities of local actors in countries. This commitment recognizes that country ownership requires strong, effective institutions in both government and civil society. These are built over time, not overnight. In turn, countries adopt strategic priorities that focus on long-term impact in order to reduce hunger and poverty.
In the two and a half years since the Busan forum, country ownership has also emerged as a key element of U.S. foreign assistance reform efforts. For example, the U.S. Agency for International Development has rebranded the Implementation and Procurement Reform (IPR) component of USAID Forward as Local Solutions.
This is a good first step. The hard work has just begun.
The need for U.S. food aid reform is one good example. The practice of buying food aid on local and regional markets for distribution, for instance, can be both quicker and more cost effective than traditional in-kind food aid. The flexibility and timeliness of such programs mean that humanitarian organizations can deliver food aid when it's most needed while supporting local systems, markets, and communities so that countries are better equipped to provide for their people in the future.
This is "The Way Forward."
Posted by Faustine Wabwire on April 25, 2014 in Agriculture, Asia, Assets for the Poor, Development Assistance, Economic Development, Food Aid, Foreign Aid Reform, Global Hunger, Good Governance, Millennium Development Goals | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
A Climate to End Hunger: Climate Change, Food & Nutrition Security, and Poor People
The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said recently that there is increasing scientific evidence that food and nutrition security are at risk from climate change. The report concluded that African countries are the most vulnerable from the "profound and irreversible" changes that have already taken place.
In a world projected to have a population of 9 billion by the year 2050, requiring an increaseof 70% in food production, climate change could instead cause losses of up to 25 percent in the world's major cereal crops: corn, wheat, and rice. This, clearly, will lead to grain shortages and increasing hunger unless steps are taken to better manage natural resources dedicated to farming and pasture land.
Another danger in an era of climate change is increases in "hidden hunger," defined as malnutrition caused by deficiencies in micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). In its two landmark series on maternal and child nutrition, The Lancet medical journal helped bring the world's attention to vulnerable people – especially pregnant women and children under age 2, those in the 1,000 Days window where nutrition is most critical – who eat enough calories but have hidden hunger. This is primarily because their diets are composed primarily of corn or rice and contain few micronutrients. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that 2 billion people globally already suffer from hidden hunger.
So how can we get additional nutritious foods to people in an era of rapidly growing population and climate change? In the past generation, research scientists have developed seed varieties with traits that make them more drought resistant, or more heat resistant, or ready to harvest more quickly, or biofortified (meaning that micronutrients have been added). In the last decade, though, a new generation of seed varieties that combine two or more of these desirable traits have been developed. These more resilient and "climate smart" seed varieties are adapted to different climactic conditions. So far, though, poor farmers in the developing world don't have access to seed containing multiple, or "stacked", traits and improved genetic profiles.
The challenge today is to bring sustainable farming practices together with efforts to increase crop production in ways that are resilient to climate change. This will require a renewed Green Revolution. The pioneering plant science research done by Dr. Norman Borlaug and others did a great deal to reduce mass hunger in Asia in the 1960s and 1970s. To extend the work of the Green Revolution and ensure that plants can survive under new conditions will require major investments in plant research. The World Bank and regional lending institutions can lead efforts to make these investments.
In the words of Nigerian Minister of Agriculture Akinwumi Adesina, who leads agricultural research efforts in a country where 240 million people are undernourished, "We invest in roads, in power, in ports, and we must recognize that building this infrastructure along with improving nutrition is investing in the economy today and in the future of our societies."
Posted by Scott Bleggi on April 23, 2014 in A Climate to End Hunger, Africa, Agriculture, Asia, Assets for the Poor, Climate Change, Data to End Hunger, Development Assistance, Economic Development, Food Aid, Food Prices, Foreign Aid Reform, Gender, Global Hunger, Good Governance, Hunger Hotspots, Latin America, Malnutrition, Maternal and Child Nutrition, U.S. Hunger | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Get updates on issues and actions to take on behalf of hungry people.


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Mike Tyson will star in cartoon show
Adult Swim says it's turning Mike Tyson into a cartoon detective.
THE GREATSWhere do Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali rank among the best boxers of all time?
The network announced a new animated series Friday called ''Mike Tyson Mysteries'' that will feature the retired boxing champ.
On the show, a cartoon version of Tyson will solve wacky problems, assisted by a trusty associate: a foul-mouthed pet pigeon. The network said Tyson will voice the animated character, as well as make live-action appearances.
The show is targeted for next season, but no premiere date was specified.
Among other programming planned for its 2013-14 season, Adult Swim announced ''Robot Chicken DC Comics Special II.'' It's a second spinoff of the cable network's long-running stop-motion sketch comedy series.
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Molly Sims Partners with Nexxus® To Launch Breakthrough in Hair Color Care
Iconically Blonde Actress Transformed to Radiant Redhead to Showcase the 2X* Longer Color Preservation Benefits of Nexxus Color Assure
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., Feb. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Actress and model Molly Sims unveiled her dramatic hair color makeover – from sun-kissed blonde to vibrant red – to underscore the power of the new Nexxus Color Assure color care collection. The collection features a Pre-Wash Primer, our revolutionary first-ever pre-treatment, that shields hair against color fade before it's even a problem.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140218/NY67251-a )
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140218/NY67251LOGO-b )
Sims' color transformation was the vision of celebrity colorist Aura Friedman, who joins the brand as Nexxus Celebrity Color Expert to lend her expertise on color preservation and proper color care.
Best known as an iconic blonde beauty, Sims said she "has always wanted to go red" but worried about keeping the color vibrant. "I am obsessed with this color and I want to keep it looking this way!" says Sims. She was inspired by the new Nexxus Color Assure products to experiment with her color because she is "confident that my color will last longer and my hair always will be camera-ready."
"We know women have an emotional connection with their colored hair – one that starts with elation which turns to frustration because of color fade and the inability to make that color last," said David Rubin, Vice President, Hair Care for Unilever U.S. "By developing Color Assure – with our breakthrough primer to help lock out water so colored hair stays vibrant twice as long – Nexxus makes it possible for women to love their hair color longer!"
Products in the Nexxus Color Assure collection are infused with a blend of clear, weightless oils, including almond, to lock in moisture, nourish hair and reduce breakage; coconut, to provide softness and elasticity; and argan oil, to improve shine and vibrancy. The color care system is sulfate free and provides two times longer color protection, compared with non-conditioning shampoos, when used over an eight-week period.
To celebrate that just-colored feeling, Nexxus is hosting a "Prime Color" contest** on Facebook beginning February 19, 2014 through April 1, 2014. Sims will kick off the contest by posting a selfie of her freshly colored hair, and encourage others to share their own just-colored selfies, using the hashtag #primecolor on Instagram and Twitter. Nexxus will be giving away a daily beauty bundle including the entire Color Assure system (Color Assure Vibrancy Retention Shampoo, Color Assure Vibrancy Retention Conditioner, Color Assure Glossing Tonic and the new Color Assure Pre-Wash Primer), as well as a ceramic hair straightener and curling wand.
For contest details and more information about Color Assure, visit the Nexxus Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/Nexxus.
The Color Assure collection includes: Color Assure Pre-Wash Primer, Color Assure Vibrancy Retention Shampoo. Color Assure Vibrancy Retention Conditioner, and Color Assure Glossing Tonic. The products are now available at mass retailers, select drugstores and supermarkets nationwide. Suggested retail prices are $9.99 – $17.99.
About Molly Sims
Molly Sims is a supermodel-turned actress recognized for her strong sense of fashion and style. As a model, she was featured four years in a row in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She made her transition into acting as portraying Delinda Deline on the NBC series "Las Vegas" and has appeared in feature films including "Yes Man" with Jim Carrey and "Starsky & Hutch." She also hosted MTV's "House of Style" and Lifetime's "Project Accessory."
About Aura Friedman
Aura Friedman is known for her artistry with hair color. Her trendsetting color work includes the creation of "splashlights" for Caroline Polachek, ombre for MIA, and pink hair for Lady Gaga. Her transformative color on Sky Ferreira, Soo Joo Park and Charlotte Carey helped propel their careers.
About Unilever North America
Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products with sales in over 190 countries. Our products are present in 7 out of 10 homes globally and are used by over 2 billion people on a daily basis. In the United States and Canada the portfolio includes brand icons such as: Axe, Becel, Ben & Jerry's, Bertolli, Breyers, Caress, Clear Scalp & Hair Therapy, Consort For Men, Country Crock, Degree, Dove personal care products, Fruttare, Good Humor, Hellmann's, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!, Just for Me!, Klondike, Knorr, Lever 2000, Lipton, Magnum, Motions, Nexxus, Noxzema, Pond's, Popsicle, Promise, Q-tips, Ragu, Simple, Slim-Fast, Soft & Beautiful, St. Ives, Suave, tcb, TIGI, TRESemme, Vaseline, and Wish-Bone. All of the preceding brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies.
Our ambition is to double the size of our business, whilst reducing our overall environmental footprint (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal) and increasing our positive social impact. We are committed to helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, sourcing all our agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020, and decoupling our growth from our environmental impact. Supporting our three big goals are more than 50 time-based targets. See more on the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan at http://www.unileverusa.com/sustainable-living/ or http://www.unilever.ca/sustainable-living/.
Unilever employs more than 12,000 people across North America – generating over $10 billion in sales in 2012. For more information visit www.unileverusa.com or www.unilever.ca.
*based on Pre-Wash Primer, Shampoo and Conditioner use over 8 weeks vs. non conditioning shampoo.
**No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Nexxus Selfie Sweepstakes is sponsored by Conopco, Inc., d/b/a Unilever. Open to the 50 U.S. & D.C., 18 or older. Begins 2/19/14 at 12:00 p.m. ET & ends 4/1/14 at 11:59 p.m. ET. For official rules, click here.
SOURCE Nexxus


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5 CFR 890.1111 - Employing office responsibilities.
(a) Providing information to employees. Employing offices are responsible for providing employees who are eligible to enroll under this part with literature developed by OPM that sets forth their rights under this subpart. This literature must be distributed to employees prior to each open season occurring under § 890.301.
(b) Administration of the enrollment process. The employing office must establish procedures for notifying the former employee, child, or former spouse about his or her eligibility to enroll, including what documents are needed to determine eligibility, and for accepting enrollment registrations.
(1) Collection of the contributions is the responsibility of the employing office of the employee or annuitant at the time of the qualifying event.
(2) The employing office must submit all premium payments collected from enrollees along with its regular health benefits payments to OPM in accordance with procedures established by that Office.
(d) Health benefits file. The employing office must maintain a health benefits file for the enrollee as a file separate from the personnel records of the employee or former employee. This file may be destroyed 2 years after the end of the calendar year during which the 18- or 36-month period described in § 890.1107 (a) or (b)(1) expires.
[54 FR 52339, Dec. 21, 1989, as amended at 55 FR 22891, June 5, 1990]
Title 5 published on 2014-01-01
The following are only the Rules published in the Federal Register after the published date of Title 5.
For a complete list of all Rules, Proposed Rules, and Notices view the Rulemaking tab.
Title 5 published on 2014-01-01
The following are ALL rules, proposed rules, and notices (chronologically) published in the Federal Register relating to 5 CFR 890 after this date.