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Are you ready for our move to updated electronic application forms (FORMS-C) for Fellowship, Career Development and Training programs? Are you submitting a multi-project grant application to NIH electronically? Find the latest resources and news in the most recent NIH eSubmission Items of Interest.
NIH reminds awardee institutions that annual reports are due to the NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) by January 31. See the NIH Guide Notice for more information and links to helpful resources.
Grants.gov has scheduled downtime Friday, December 6, 2013 through Sunday, December 8, 2013 in order to perform system maintenance. As a result, December 2013 NIH application due dates that fall in that timeframe will be adjusted. See the NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-14-022 for the new due dates, and as always, submit early!
NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-14-014 provides additional clarification to the previous guidance (NOT-OD-14-007) on resumption of NIH extramural activities following the recent lapse in appropriations. This includes specific language clarification and rescheduled standard due dates.
In addition to this clarification at NOT-OD-14-014, updates and additional resources may be found on the FAQs and a web page devoted to the resumption of NIH Extramural Activities.
NIH has issued a revised guide notice providing NIH's extramural grants community with more detailed information on how NIH is resuming operations after the government shutdown. See NOT-OD-14-007.
A summary of shutdown-related guidance and related frequently asked questions are also now available.
NIH has issued a second guide notice providing NIH's extramural grants community with more detailed information on how NIH is resuming operations after the government shutdown. See NOT-OD-14-003.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
NIH is working to reestablish dates for grant and contract submissions, determine how to handle missed review meetings, and reschedule dates for training and other activities that were scheduled to occur during and immediately following the period of the government shutdown.
As of today, we can confirm that we will be rescheduling all October grant application submission deadlines to the November timeframe (specific dates to be announced in a future Notice). By delaying due dates that occurred both during the lapse in funding and in the week following, applicants will have access to NIH staff and the help desks as they develop their applications.
Peer review meetings that were due to be held between October 1 and October 17 have been cancelled and are being rescheduled.
We expect the eRA Commons will be available for public access on Monday, October 21.
NIH will provide additional information, including a Notice on NIH operations during a continuing resolution, as soon as it is available.
See NOT-OD-14-002.
TO: NIH Extramural Community
This is a brief communication to update the biomedical research community of the current status of extramural operations at NIH. The NIH continues to be shut down for all non-excepted activities. This means that the vast majority of NIH staff that oversee program, review, and grants management are furloughed, NIH grants and contract submissions are not being processed, reviews are not occurring, and no awards are being made. As described in NOT-OD-13-126, the Payment Management Systems remains operational and funds for most grants awarded before the shutdown can continue to be drawn down.
As the shutdown drags on, the challenge of reestablishing normal operations quickly is growing. Once the shutdown is over, NIH will need time to set new dates for grant and contract submissions, review meetings, conferences, and other activities that were scheduled to happen during and immediately following the period of the shutdown. It will take us a few days after this is over to communicate our plans, so please bear with us.
You can find the current guidance posted at grants.nih.gov. Once we reopen, additional information will be posted and published in the NIH Guide as quickly as we can make it available.
All of us at NIH hope the current situation is resolved soon, but we don't know when that will be.
We appreciate your patience as we go through this difficult experience together.
Sally Rockey, Ph.D.
NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research
As NIH's fiscal year comes to a close on September 30, 2013, NIH encourages grantee officials to verify the accuracy of the FY2013 award information reflected in NIH systems to ensure the most complete and accurate information is reflected in FY13 reports. Any corrections to the data must be received by 5:00 PM EST Friday, October 4, 2013 to be reflected in NIH reports. Learn more.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) invites all Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) members to participate in the NIH Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) Phase II pilot which begins following the October 18, 2013 eRA release. The pilot includes all non-SNAP awards which require detailed budgets. (As of May 2013, NIH already requires use of the RPPR module to submit SNAP and fellowship award progress reports.) A training webinar for FDP pilot institutions will be given on Oct. 22 from 1-3:00pm EDT. Registration is required and webinar seats are limited: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/351474342.
Further information on this announcement is available in NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-113. Additional information and resources on the RPPR can also be found at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/rppr/.
You'll find several updates in RePORT, including a freshly designed RePORTER query form with a streamlined layout, enhancements to the data visualization tools such as project publication charts, and new alerts for portfolios and saved queries in MyReporter. Read more about these latest updates on the RePORT ReSOURCE news page.
Are you ready for our move to updated electronic application forms (FORMS-C)? Are you submitting a multiproject grant application to NIH electronically? Find the latest resources and news in the most recent NIH eSubmision Items of Interest.
The NIH has recently provided guidance on the use of HeLa Cell Whole Genome Sequence Data and encourages researchers to acknowledge Henrietta Lacks and her surviving family members for the significant contributions that she and the HeLa cell line have made to scientific research and advances in human health. For more information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-099.
The NIH is seeking input from the public on any concerns they may have regarding the implementation of the revised International Guiding Principles for Biomedical Research Involving Animals (Guiding Principles) of the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS) and the International Council for Laboratory Animal Science (ICLAS). For more information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-096.
This NIH has announced the availability of new application instructions and forms for paper-based PHS 398 applications (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html) and also the availability of new Application Guide instructions for electronic SF 424 (R&R) applications (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/424/index.htm). The new application instructions and forms must be used for applications intended for due dates on or after September 25, 2013. For more information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-091.
We'll be holding a webinar on the new ASSIST (Application Submission System & Interface for Submission Tracking) system to prepare and submit multi-project applications. Anyone involved in the preparation and submission of multi-project applications to NIH is welcome to attend.
Space is limited and filling up quickly. NIH strongly encourages institutions to promote classroom-style viewing whereby groups of viewers can participate via one log-in.
If you cannot attend the webinar, it will be recorded and posted online for later viewing. For registration and more information, please visit: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/webinar_docs/webinar_20130813.htm.
NIH has modified the forms used to provide us with information on planned enrollment and actual cumulative enrollment of individuals involved in clinical research studies in accordance with NIH's inclusion policy. The policies for the inclusion of women and minorities in clinical research and collection of participants' sex/gender, race, and ethnicity have not been modified, however. Read more about the modified enrollment reports in the NIH Guide notice, and find additional resources including a podcast, narrated slide deck, and frequently asked questions on grants.nih.gov.
The NIH has posted announcements for the following Extramural Loan Repayment Programs (LRP):
The overall purpose of the extramural LRP is the recruitment and retention of highly qualified health professionals as research investigators to careers in research. Additional detailed information about each LRP is provided at http://www.lrp.nih.gov/about_the_programs/index.aspx.
The 15th Annual NIH Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Conference will be held October 28 – 30, 2013 at the Sioux Falls Convention Center, 1101 N West Ave, Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57104. Registration has now opened.
This year's conference "How to Be Competitive in a World of Change: Opportunities Through SBIR/STTR Awards", will offer presentations from NIH program staff and other experts, opportunities for one-on-one meetings with staff representing most NIH institutes and centers, a poster session providing examples of NIH-funded SBIR and STTR projects, and a "Pitch to Investors" panel to educate attendees as to investor expectations.
The conference will include three tracks "Navigating through SBIR/STTRs"; "Circumventing the Hurdles"; and "Path to Commercialization". The wide variety of topics covered at this conference makes it ideal for SBIR newcomers, Phase I companies looking to advance to Phase II, and Phase II companies looking for commercial assistance, strategic partnership and investors. The conference agenda planned for Monday and Tuesday evenings will allow ample time to network with other attendees, NIH staff, potential strategic partners and investors.
The agenda, registration, and other conference information are available at the conference website: www.usdresearchpark.com
Updates to Report include enhanced search ability, the addition of press releases from Newswise, and enhanced custom hitlists in MyReporter.
NIH has announced an adjusted transition schedule to the electronic submission of multi-project applications. Please view the updated timeline and NIH Guide Notice for details, and visit the Applying Electronically web site to learn more about electronic submission.
NIH's next electronic grant application form update is coming, beginning with Fall due dates. See the NIH Extramural Nexus article and the related NIH Guide notice for more information.
The PHS 2013-2 Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH, CDC, FDA, and ACF for SBIR/STTR Grant Applications and SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide for SBIR/STTR Grant Applications are now reissued. The reissued solicitation consists of: (1) re-issued parent funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for SBIR, (2) re-issued parent FOA for STTR, and (3) narrative descriptions of the programs and research topics (in PDF - 1 MB and MS Word - 1 MB formats). The remaining due dates for CY 2013 are August 5 and December 5, 2013. AIDS and AIDS-related applications are due September 7, 2013 and January 7, 2014.
The original SBIR and STTR Omnibus solicitations, PA-13-088 (SBIR) and PA-13-089 (STTR) are now expired. Applications can no longer be submitted to these FOAs, applicants will receive an error in their submission if these expired FOAs are used. Applicants must download and use the reissued FOAs, PA-13-234 (SBIR) and PA-13-235(STTR), for ALL SBIR and STTR Omnibus submissions for the remaining due dates listed above. This includes resubmissions ('-A1s').
This re-issuance implements two additional provisions of the Reauthorization Act: 1) majority venture-capital owned companies may now apply to the NIH SBIR program and 2) all small business concerns must register in the SBA Company Registry.
See NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-071 for details.
This Notice provides guidance about the NIH Fiscal Operations for the remainder of FY 2013 in light of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 (P.L. 113-6), signed by President Obama on March 26, 2013, and the sequestration provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended, 2 U.S.C. § 901a. NIH is operating at a program level of $29.15 billion in FY 2013, a decrease of about five percent from FY 2012. For more information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-064.
On May 16 & 17, 2013, the National Academy of Sciences, with support from NIH and other agencies, will host a two-day meeting on data to allow members of the public and representatives of concerned stakeholder groups and communities to voice their concerns about issues related to public access to the results of Federally funded R&D. This will provide these agencies and others, to consider these views as the agencies develop their respective plans as required by the Memorandum on Expanding Public Access to the Results of Federally Funded Research, released by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) on February 22, 2013. Registration is required. For more information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-065.
NIH Reminds Grantee Institutions of the Requirement to Use the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) for All SNAP and Fellowship Progress Reports for Awards with Start Dates On or After July 1, 2013. See NOT-OD-13-061 for more info.
Experiencing a problem with submitting a grant application due to a Federal system not working as it was designed? NIH reminds applicants of our policy for handling electronic system issues that threaten on-time grant application submission. See NOT-OD-13-054 for more information.
Need to learn more about the NIH Grants Process to help you with the submission of NIH grant applications and the management of awards? Are you an investigator wanting to get to know Program Officials and get questions answered about writing a successful grant? If yes to either question, check out the 2013 NIH Regional Seminar on Program Funding and Grants Administration in Baltimore, MD (June 26-28). For information, see NIH Regional Seminar-Baltimore, MD or for ListServ information see the NIH Regional Seminar Home page.
The NIH has posted a Notice of Information on the reissuance of the K99/R00 Pathway to Independence FOA which reiterates the major changes in the program, and provides additional guidance to prospective applicants concerning the deadlines for resubmission applications. The primary purpose of the Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) program is to increase and maintain a strong cohort of new and talented NIH-supported independent investigators by facilitating the transition from mentored postdoctoral research positions to stable, independent, tenure-track (or equivalent) faculty positions with independent NIH or other independent research support at an earlier career stage than is currently the norm. For more information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-050.
Rates for the 2013 NIH Regional Seminar on Program Funding and Grants Administration in Baltimore, MD (June 27-28) are the best they have been for years. Save even more by registering on or before Monday, March 25 and take advantage of the Early Bird Rate of only $275 for 2 days with NIH & HHS staff. In addition, if you are a Predoc or Postdoc, you may receive an additional $50 off the registration costs. For information, see NIH Regional Seminar-Baltimore, MD or for ListServ information see the NIH Regional Seminar Home page.
Stay tuned to http://sbir.nih.gov and for an NIH Guide Notice in the coming months for the conference website with details about the agenda, registration, and all logistics. NIH is pleased to work with the University of South Dakota Research Park, Inc. as host for the conference.
See NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-047 for a correction to the following:
Section II.B.1. "Financial Benefit" noted in Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-010.
The NIH Regional Seminar on Program Funding and Grants Administration, June 26-28, 2013, provides a comprehensive program of valuable information about the NIH grants process and related policies. In addition, this is an opportunity to network over the course of 2 days with over 600 grants administrators, researchers, students, financial officials, and grant writers from around the world. An optional eRA Workshop is also available. Space is limited. For more information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-046 or NIH Regional Seminar –Baltimore, MD.
This is the only NIH Regional seminar this year...Be a part of it!
The NIH invites comments and suggestions on the implementation of recommendations of the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director (ACD) Working Group on the Biomedical Research Workforce. To ensure a thorough and comprehensive consideration of the issues that may arise in implementing the Working Group's recommendations, responses are being sought from all stakeholders in the extramural community, as well as from the general public. Responses to the RFI will be accepted through April 22, 2013. For more information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-045.
The NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) is transitioning to electronic submission of final noncompliance reports in lieu of paper submissions by postal or express mail delivery. Effective immediately, institutions are requested to submit final reports to the OLAW Division of Compliance Oversight electronically, either by email (email@example.com) in PDF format or by fax (301-480-3387). Full implementation of electronic submission is required by December 31, 2013 after which paper submissions will not be accepted. For more information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-044.
The NIH continues to operate under a Continuing Resolution as described in NOT-OD-13-002 which reduces non-competing continuation awards from the level noted on the most recent Notice of Award. Final levels of FY 2013 funding may be reduced by a sequestration. For more information on the effect of a sequestration on NIH awards, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-043.
Note the following Public Access Policy changes for non-competing continuation grant awards with a start date of July 1, 2013 or beyond:
1) NIH will delay processing of an award if publications arising from it are not in compliance with the NIH public access policy.
2) Investigators will need to use My NCBI to enter papers onto progress reports. Papers can be associated electronically using the RPPR, or included in the PHS 2590 using the My NCBI generated PDF report.
For more information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-042.
Mark your calendar! The use of the eRA Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) Module for submitting Streamlined Noncompeting Award Process (SNAP) and Fellowship progress reports will be required for awards with start dates on or after July 1, 2013 (i.e., due dates on or after May 15, 2013, for SNAP awards and May 1, 2013, for Fellowships). The RPPR module will also allow the awarding Institutes and Centers (ICs) to request and accept additional materials electronically following submission of an RPPR. For more information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-035.
For the latest updates and reminders related to to the NIH policy on post-submission application materials, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-030.
HHS has issued the PHS 2013-2 Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH, CDC, FDA, and ACF for SBIR/STTR Grant Applications and SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide for SBIR/STTR Grant Applications. The solicitation consists of: (1) parent funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for SBIR, (2) a parent FOA for STTR, and (3) narrative descriptions of the programs and research topics (in PDF - 1 MB and MS Word - 1 MB formats). The due dates for CY 2013 are April 5, August 5, and December 5, 2013. AIDS and AIDS-related applications are due May 7, September 7, 2013, and January 7, 2014.
NIH has set up a new website to keep the small business research community abreast of its implementation plan for the many changes resulting from the reauthorization. For more information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-027.
This Notice announces that Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R) will present an IACUC 101 workshop and the 2013 IACUC Conference on March 17-19, 2013 in Baltimore, MD. For Program descriptions and Registration information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-028.
Read the January 2013 Peer review notes to learn about the new CSR Director, a reviewer who won the Nobel Prize the day before a review meeting, suggestions from CSR's Council about ways NIH can help applicants, and more. http://public.csr.nih.gov/aboutcsr/NewsAndPublications/PeerReviewNotes/Pages/Peer-Review-Notes-Jan-2013.aspx
NIH announces the release of the Public Access Compliance Monitor (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/utils/pacm/), a web-based tool that institutions can use to track compliance of publications that fall under the NIH Public Access Policy. The compliance monitor supports the efforts of grantee organizations to ensure their awards are compliant. For more information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-020.
This Notice revises the required documentation for registration in the Payment Management System (PMS) for foreign grantees announced in NOT-OD-12-139. All other policies and processes announced in NOT-OD-12-139 for awards to foreign grantees remain unchanged. For more info, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-019.
On January 15, 2013, the NIH will be providing a webinar to assist grantee institutions with guidance and resources related to the NIH Public Access Policy, upcoming changes, tools, and how non-compliance will affect awards. Spring 2013, at the earliest, the NIH will hold processing of non-competing continuation awards if publications arising from grant awards are not in compliance with the Public Access Policy. In conjunction with these changes, the NIH has released new tools and enhancements that make it easier for investigators report compliance information, and for investigators and institutions to track compliance. For more information on this webinar, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-016 and the Webinar Event Page with a list of presenters.
In addition to the health and safety of people and animals in programs the NIH supports, there is also a deep concern about the health of the biomedical enterprise in the affected area when disaster hits. The NIH is committed to working with researchers and institutions to ensure that NIH-funded research continues.
The NIH has posted a list of available resources and actions being taken in response to Hurricane Sandy. The NIH encourages Investigators and institutions who are affected to talk with their assigned Grants Management and Program Officials about their specific situation. This information is available in NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-013.
The NIH initial peer review process involves the consistent application of standards and procedures that produce fair, equitable, informed, and unbiased examinations of grant and cooperative agreement applications to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Last year, the NIH issued revised policy (NOT-OD-11-120) for managing conflict of interest (COI), the appearance of COI, prejudice, bias, or predisposition in the NIH initial peer review process.
After assessing the 2011 policy by the NIH Office of Extramural Research, further changes have been made and are reflected in NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-010.
The NIH announced that in Spring 2013, NIH will delay processing of non-competing continuation grant awards if publications arising from that award are not in compliance with the NIH public access policy. This change will take effect in conjunction with NIH requiring the use of the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPRs) for all Streamlined Non-competing Award Process (SNAP) and Fellowship awards in the Spring. For more on the new requirements and available resources, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-12-160.
Reminder: The Public Health Service (PHS) Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (Policy) requires Assured institutions to submit a written report to OLAW at least once every 12 months. Annual reports for the period January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012 are due to the NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) by January 31, 2013.
More information available at NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-13-009.
NIH has established a Web page on the NIH Extramural Response to Natural Disasters that provides information on a variety of topics:http://grants.nih.gov/grants/natural_disasters.htm.
The NIH will be operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR) (H. J. Resolution 117) that was signed by President Obama as Public Law 112-175 on September 28, 2012. The CR continues government operations through March 27, 2013 at the FY 2012 level plus 0.6 percent.
What does this mean for grantees? Until FY 2013 appropriations are enacted, NIH will issue non-competing research grant awards at a level below that indicated on the most recent Notice of Award (generally up to 90% of the previously committed level). For more information, see NIH Guide Notice NO-OD-13-002.
NIH plans to transition all multi-project applications to electronic submission using the SF 424 (R&R) form set by January 2014. These changes include: 1) transitioning multi-project applications from the paper PHS398 grant application to the Standard Form 424 Research and Related (SF 424 R&R), and 2) simultaneously transitioning to electronic submission of these multi-project applications.
To facilitate this process, an online application system for multi-project applications called ASSIST (Application Submission System and Interface for Submission Tracking) has been developed by NIH and Grants.Gov. ASSIST will allow users to develop and store their applications in a secure online environment and includes many features requested by users over the years. For more details on ASSIST and a timeline for the transition, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-12-161.
Revisions to the NIH Grants Policy Statement (NIHGPS, rev. 10/1/2012) were announced, effective for all NIH grants and cooperative agreements with budget periods beginning on or after October 1, 2012. This revision supersedes, in its entirety, the NIH Grants Policy Statement (10/2011) as a standard term and condition of award. However, for all NIH grants and cooperative agreements with budget periods that began between October 1, 2011 and September 30, 2012, the October 2011 NIHGPS still applies. For more info, see NIH Guide Notice: NOT-OD-157.
Note: The NIHGPS provides guidance that serves as NIH standard terms and conditions of awards for grants and cooperative agreements as well as extensive guidance to individuals interested in pursuing NIH grants.
On October 17, the NIH will provide guidance on how to submit a Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) using the new NIH RPPR eRA Module. This webinar will help prepare you for October 19 when eRA provides all grantees with the option to submit an RPPR for SNAP and Fellowship awards. If you are responsible for completing and/or submitting progress report to NIH...then don't miss this opportunity. The live broadcast session will be held from 1:30-3:00 pm, EDT but will also be archived. Registration is limited to the first 1,000; reserve your on-line seat at https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/647997446. More information is avaialable at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/upcoming_webinars.htm.
If you are a NIH SBIR/STTR Phase I awardee funded in fiscal years (FY) 2012 and 2013, then you may be interested to learn more about the NIH's Niche Assessment Program. All active NIH SBIR/STTR Phase I awardees (by grant or contract) as well as those small businesses selected to receive a Phase I award in the first three months of the upcoming fiscal year will be eligible to participate. For more information, see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-12-146.html.
Organizations affected by the widespread damage caused by Hurricane Isaac and who are submitting grant applications late because of these events must include a cover letter noting the reasons for the delay. For additional details see the NIH Extramural Response to Natural Disasters Web page and NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-12-145.
Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) [PD(s)/PI(s)] who receive $1.0 million per year in direct costs from active NIH awards will now undergo an additional review of all grant and cooperative agreement applications by NIH Institute and Center (IC) Advisory Councils. In an effort to help NIH effectively manage resources, the NIH piloted the Special Council Review (SCR) procedure earlier this year and refined the policy based on feedback. For more information see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-12-140.
On October 17, 2012 from 1:30-3:00pm EDT, NIH will host a webinar for grantees on the new NIH Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR). This training is an opportunity for grantees to get a first-hand look prior to October 19 when all grantee institutions will have access to the NIH RPPR for most Streamlined Non-competing Award Process (SNAP) and Fellowship awards. Registration is required. For more information see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-12-142 and the NIH RPPR web site.
On August 14, the NIH hosted a webinar reminding NIH grantees of the 2011 revised FCOI reporting requirements and provided a demonstration of report submission through the updated eRA Commons FCOI Module. The archive of this webinar, along with FAQs and additional resources, are now available on the NIH FCOI web site.
NIH added a new set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), NIH Fiscal Policy, to address applicant budget submissions under the Fiscal Policy announced in NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-12-036 regarding cost-of-living/inflationary increases in awards, and related issues.
On August 14, 2012 (1:30-3:00PM EDT), the NIH will host a webinar reminding NIH grantees of the 2011 revised FCOI reporting requirements and providing a demonstration of report submission through the updated eRA Commons FCOI Module. Space is limited. Registration Required! If you are responsible for submitting FCOI reports to NIH through the eRA Commons, then don' t miss this opportunity. For more information see, NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-12-122.
You do the research. NIH will repay your student loans. If you are or will be conducting qualified research funded by a domestic nonprofit institution, you may be eligible for one of the five extramural Loan Repayment Programs. Specific program information posted for the 2013 application cycle:
LRP applications will be accepted September 1 through November 15, 2012, 8:00 p.m. EST. For more information, visit the NIH Loan Repayment Programs website at www.lrp.nih.gov.
The NIH Guide is the official publication for NIH medical and behavioral research grant policies, guidelines and funding opportunities. Subscribe to the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts ListServ and receive a weekly email of links to all announcements (PAs, RFAs and Notices) published during the week.
The FCOI Module in the eRA Commons has new features available to accommodate the additional reporting requirements required by the 2011 FCOI regulation, Responsibility of Applicants for Promoting Objectivity in Research for which PHS Funding is Sought at Title 42, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 50, Subpart F for grants and cooperative agreements. The enhanced FCOI Module will accommodate the submission of the additional FCOI information as required under the 2011 revised FCOI regulation for NIH grants and cooperative agreements. For more information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-12-118.
During May 2012 NIH Institute and Center (IC) Advisory Council meetings, Councils will discuss and pilot-test procedures for the additional review of grant and cooperative agreement applications from Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) who already receive in excess of $1.5 million per year in total costs to determine if additional funds should be provided to already well-supported investigators. The feedback from this pilot will help NIH further refine policies for managing limited grant resources. (NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-12-110)
The NIH Regional Seminar on Program Funding and Grants Administration provides 2-days of sessions designed to demystify the grants process, plus optional eRA computer workshops on a 3rd day. This comprehensive program covers topics such as peer review, grant writing for success, pre-award and post-award issues for administrators and investigators, compliance, research integrity, human subjects and animals in research, interacting electronically with NIH, and mapping your career with NIH. In addition to the opportunity to meet and receive guidance from approximately 35 NIH and HHS experts in a central location, the seminar also brings together 600 grants administrators, researchers, students, financial officials, and grant writers from around the world. See NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-12-109.
The NIH has developed and posted a checklist to assist Institutions as they implement the requirements of the 2011 revised Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI) regulation for NIH grants and cooperative agreements. This checklist may be utilized as a resource when developing, revising or reviewing an Institution's FCOI policy to determine compliance with all regulatory requirements. This document may be accessed on the Office of Extramural Research, FCOI Web Page under "Resources" at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/coi/index.htm. More information available in NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-12-103.
Registration is now open for the 2012 NIH Regional Seminars on Program Funding & Grants Administration! Held only twice each year, the 2012 locations include Indianapolis, IN (April 16-18) and Washington, DC (June 20-22). Approximately 35 NIH & HHS program, review, and grants management experts provide sessions on the NIH grants process and special areas of interest, including research involving animals and/or humans, R15 AREA opportunities, Office of Research Integrity, and so much more. Optional eRA hands-on computer workshops are offered on the day prior to the 2-day seminar. Register soon for the best rates! For more information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-12-082 and the NIH Regional Seminar website.
Attention small business research community! The 14th Annual NIH Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Conference will be held May 30-June 1, 2012 in Louisville, Kentucky. Registration is now open for this year's conference, "The Changing Face of SBIR/STTR." During the 2 day conference, presentations will be offered by NIH program staff and other experts, a poster session will provide examples of NIH-funded SBIR and STTR projects, exhibits, and opportunities for one-on-one meetings can be scheduled with staff representing several NIH institutes and centers. An optional 3rd day will provide information on SBIR/STTR programs at other agencies. For more information, see the conference website at http://nih.kysbir.com/ .
Links to the archive and slides are available on OER's Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI) Page.
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text:
- Willamette
- Athletics
- News Archive
- 2011
- September
- Willamette in Cross Country Rankings
Cross Country | Thursday, September 15, 2011
Willamette Men's Cross Country Team Holds #22 National Ranking
SALEM, ORE. -- The Willamette University men's cross country team remained #22 in the nation this week in the NCAA Division III Poll released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The Bearcat men's team also retained its #1 ranking in the West Region, while the WU women's team held its ground at #6 in the West Region.
Leading the men's national poll was North Central College (Ill.) with all eight first place votes and a perfect 280 points. NCC placed second at the 2010 NCAA Championships.
Haverford College (Pa.) moved up two spots from the Preseason Poll to take over the #2 spot in the men's rankings. Haverford received 270 points. St. Lawrence University (N.Y.) stayed at #3 with 264 points. Washington University (Mo.) advanced one spot to #4 with 256 points, while Calvin College (Mich.) fell from #2 to #5 with 243 points.
Following Calvin was Dickinson College (Del.) at #6 with 238 points. Williams College (Mass.) was #7 at 232 and SUNY Geneseo (N.Y.) was #8 at 229. The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse held #9 with 216 points and New York University was #10 with 195 points.
Willamette's men continued to be the highest ranked West Region team in the NCAA Division III Poll. Other West Region teams in the national rankings were Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) at #27 and Whitworth University at #34.
In the men's West Region Rankings, Willamette kept the #1 spot,while Claremont-Mudd-Scripps jumped over Whitworth into the #2 position. Whitworth fell to #3, with Colorado College at #4 and Occidental College (Calif.) at #5. Completing the Top 10 were Linfield College at #6, University of La Verne (Calif.) at #7, Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) at #8, Pacific University at #9 and George Fox University at #10.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps continued to own the top spot in the women's West Region Rankings. Lewis & Clark College remained at #2, while Linfield moved up three spots to #3. Whittier College (Calif.) was #4 and Pomona-Pitzer was #5, as both teams slipped one position. Willamette was next at #6. Other Top 10 teams were Whitworth at #7, Occidental at #8, Whitman College at #9 and the University of California-Santa Cruz at #10.
A group of Willamette cross country runners will compete at the Linfield Preview on Saturday, Sept. 24. The 37th Annual Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational will be hosted by the Bearcats on Saturday, Oct. 1.
USTFCCCA Cross Country National Polls
NCAA Division III
Released on Sept. 14, 2011


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The Slumber Pet™ Cozy Kitty Bed provides cats a soft and cozy place to rest.
In cozy berber or soft cheetah print plush, this cat bed is a must have for cat lovers.
Plump, comfy and perfect for feline sensibilities, this donut style Slumber Pet™ Cozy Kitty Bed is a must have for cats.
Each style is stain-resistant and features a soft polyfill design with a non-skid nylon bottom.
Material: 100% Polyester
Size: Each bed measures 18"Diameter (outside, including bolster)
Care: Machine wash in cold water on gentle cycle. Lay flat to dry.
Diameter will vary slightly from bed to bed, bolsters are sewn on before stuffing is added.
© 2015 DogSupplies.com - Visit Our 2 Locations: DogSupplies.com - 11136 Sam Furr Road, Huntersville NC 28078 - 704.875.7800. Store Hours: M-F 9:00am to 6:30pm, Sat 9:00am to 3:30pm
DogSupplies.com Outlet Store - 2960 St Rose Pkwy Ste 170, Henderson, NV 89052 Mon - Sat 9:30am to 7:00pm, Sun 10:00am-6:00pm.


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|The most helpful favorable review
|The most helpful critical review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
By PMS1911 from USA on 2009-02-24 09:07:46Things I liked:Easy to use.Cleans up nice.My gun does work better.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
By Stephen from USA on 2015-03-05 20:21:57Things I liked:A must-have accessory to keep your Airsoft guns clean and working smoothly.
|By RifledDNA from USA on 2014-03-21
CheckoutSubtotal (USD):
does not include shipping and tax


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Foreign Policy
Sources: Haitian Refugees Could Go to GitmoJanuary 13, 2010 - 12:30 PM | by: Mike Levine
per Mike Levine and Justin Fishel
Haitians left homeless or without food and water by Tuesday's major earthquake may be sent to live temporarily at Guantanamo Bay, according to two Defense Department officials.
Military planners are considering housing Haitian refugees at the Naval base in Cuba, the officials told FOX News.
"We are certainly keeping that option open," one official said. "Of course no final determinations have been made as the military is still in its 'assessment' mode."
Guantanamo Bay has a long history of housing refugees from the Caribbean, particularly Haitian refugees.
In 1991, after a military coup ignited a violent power struggle in Haiti, more than 30,000 Haitian refugees passed through Guantanamo Bay, according to GlobalSecurity.org.
If refugees from Tuesday's earthquake are brought to Guantanamo Bay, they would likely be housed at Camp Justice, where reporters and other visitors have stayed when covering the military trials of terror suspects.
Camp Justice is about a half-hour drive, across the base and over densely forested hills, from where terror suspects are currently being held at Guantanamo Bay.
Asked at an afternoon press briefing whether Guantanamo Bay is under consideration to house Haitian refugees or detain Haitian criminals, a top military official told reporters the naval base is a possibility.
"It's a resource that's available if we need to take advantage of it for various reasons," said Gen. Douglas Fraser, commander of U.S. Southern Command. "So we're looking across the region to just understand what the possibilites are there."
In recent months, military officials at the base have said that – after the detention facilities are closed as President Obama has promised – Camp Justice might still remain so that refugees from the Caribbean could be housed there if necessary.
After Tuesday's earthquake, the U.S. Coast Guard brought four Americans, who were working at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti, to Guantanamo Bay.
"They required medical evacuation," a Coast Guard spokesman said. "We were able to get a helicopter in there, and they were medically evacuated from the embassy to Gitmo."
The spokesman said the Americans were evacuated to Guantanamo Bay due to its proximity to Haiti.


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Art Materials & Stationery Pty Ltd
Street address: U 3/170 Rooks Rd
Postcode: 3133
Town or Suburb: Vermont
State: VIC
GPS coordinates: -37.831105,145.18718
Telephone(s): 03 98738100
Website: www.amsaustralia.com
Short description:
Number next to the recommend button count the clicks - use Your Facebook account.
Or with your Google account:
Location of Art Materials & Stationery Pty Ltd on map:
Dear visitor, if you are owner or employment of above company, please check your data. If informations are incorrect, let us know, so we can fix them. Please help keeping the picture-framing-supplies.goaus.net up to date. Thank you foor cooperation.


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Several Disney executives and others who have talked to Mr. Eisner in recent days said it was an awkward time for him. He is leaving a job he loves before he is ready to, they said. Moreover, they added, he is concerned that last year's shareholder revolt, after which he was stripped of his chairman's title, will be given greater weight in assessing his legacy than the gains he made at the company in his early years.
Mr. Eisner has yet to disclose his plans. His contract says he can remain a Disney consultant. In an interview earlier this year with Charlie Rose, the public television show host, Mr. Eisner said he hoped to remain in entertainment, perhaps producing Broadway shows or making movies. He has an apartment in New York and has long expressed interest in the theater there.


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Hang tight!
Recipe by CORWYNN DARKHOLME
"This is a very hearty and flavorful soup, I do believe all will enjoy it!!"
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2 cups
wild rice
6 cups
4 cups
chicken broth
1 cup
frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup
chopped green onions
2 tablespoons
red bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons
chopped green bell pepper
1 tablespoon
chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon
dried tarragon
2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons
this is good, a tad bland. it ended up being really thick and not soupy at all. i think next time ill cut the rice in half and add garlic.
I tried this recipe and loved it!
It is one of the best, nothing can compare. I give a great big 5 stars to Corwynn Darkholmetars for submitting this recipe.
4 Ratings
Hearty yes...but this was as bland as it gets in terms of soup.
Good, but it turned out a little bland.. but maybe that's because I had no tarragon in the house. Added some garlic and celety salt and it helped. I must get some 'gon so I can do Darkholme's recipe justice.
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Calico Wild Rice Soup
Serving Size: 1/6 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 6
Amount Per Serving
** Calories: 256
** Calories from Fat: 16
With our 2,700+ chicken breast recipes, you'll never serve the same old chicken again.
The firm, juicy texture of zucchini make them a perfect side to toss on the grill.
Delicious recipes, party ideas, and cooking tips! Get a year of Allrecipes magazine for $7.99!
See how to make a simple creamy chicken soup with wild rice.
Combine carrots, pecans, and wild rice into a delicious side dish.
This healthy soup has a tomato broth and seven kinds of fresh, healthy veggies.


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Open Hardware Definition 1.0 Disseminated
The Hardware Summit announces the availability of version 1.0 of the Open Hardware Definition and asks for the community to help drive this initiative forward.
The Open Hardware Definition takes the Open Source Hardware (OSHW) Statement of Principles and Definition v1.0, which is a high-level overview of the ideals of open-source hardware and is attempting to apply definitions to those ideals to create a standard to evaluate licenses for hardware designs.
The Open Hardware Definition seeks to apply a standard definition to the following:
- Free Redistribution
- Source Code
- Derived Works
- Integrity of The Author's Source Code
- No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups
- No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor
- Distribution of License
- License Must Not Be Specific to a Product
- License Must Not Restrict Other Software
- License Must Be Technology-Neutral
The availability of the definition was announced on the Hardware Summit Blog earlier this month and asks the community to help move this project forward. Those wishing to help with this initiative are asked to do the following:
- Endorse the definition and give feedback on version 1.0. There is a forum and the mailing list available to receive the feedback.
- Review the logos which are being considered for "open source hardware" and give feedback on the LOGO Thread on the forums.
- Show your support of the OSHW Definition by applying the definition to your work/project/website.
Issue 178/2015
Buy this issue as a PDF
Qemu Flaw Lets the Guest Escape
Xen project announces a privilege escalation problem for Qemu host systems
Android Bug Threatens Millions of Users
Attackers can compromise an Android phone just by sending a text message
Lenovo and Canonical Announce Laptop Deal
PC vendor will pre-install Ubuntu on portables in India.
Mozilla Firefox Blocks Flash
More embarrassment for Adobe's embattled multimedia tool
Security Problem in Firefox's NoScript Add-On
Mozilla's script blocker add-on could be putting malware sites on the whitelist.
RIP SSLv3
The Internet community officially banishes the notoriously unsafe Secure Sockets Layer protocol.
Mate 1.1 Arrives
Popular desktop environment continues the Gnome 2 legacy – with new support for the Gnome 3 toolkit.
US Government Requires HTTPS
The Obama White House has issued a memorandum telling all US government agencies they must use HTTPS for all websites and web communication.
Mozilla Signs Firefox Add-Ons
New program will dial up security for the Firefox browser.
Fedora 22 Arrives
Red Hat's community distro embraces the cloud.


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Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes
Meeting, February 13, 2001
3:30 p.m. Columbia Room.
1.0 Call to Order
2.0 Call of the Roll:
Roll was automatic. The following Senate Members were absent: Joel Alexander, Maureen Dolan, Mary Ann Linden (for Linda Keller), David Olson, Mark Perlman, Mark Seabright, and Tamina Toray.
3.0 Corrections to and approval of the minutes from the previous
senate meeting/agenda adjustments.
The previous meeting minutes were approved and the agenda was not adjusted.
4.0 Reports of the Presidents
4.1 Senate President:
John previewed next week's major agenda item (PT3/CTL presentations and discussion). Adele Schepige and Jeff Taylor also announced WOU's hosting of the Oregon Academy of Science Meeting (Junior Competition, March 3), soliciting interested judges from the sciences and math.
4.2 President of Western Oregon University:
President Youngblood encouraged all faculty to contact her with budget concerns and questions. She stressed, again, that the budget situation will likely not be resolved until summer or later. She mentioned that an alternative proposal made by the Legislature will add back $29 million to the plan proposed by the Governor; however, what portions of this could go to WOU remain unknown and somewhat unspecified. Finally, she emphasized that increasing full-time faculty remains a key goal.
4.3 Student Body President:
Andy high discussed the upcoming OSA and OUS lobbies. He reported that the childcare grant has made it to the Ways and Means Committee for review. Student senate activity includes discussing incidental fee increases (to $133).
5.0 Consideration of Old Business
5.1 Pastega Award:
This contentious issue has not been resolved. Reports from several divisions yielded a strong difference of opinion: Humanities, Social Science, and Creative Arts (for the most part) support limiting the award to teaching faculty only (as defined by the bargaining agreement). Natural Science and Business do not support proposed limitations. Health/PE does not have a consensus. Teacher Ed. perceived no need to change the eligibility requirements given that this problem happens so infrequently. There was no report from Computer Science. Questions about Pastega's intention and how long Teaching Research has been recognized on campus were discussed, as were issues about the guidelines the Honors Committee used to rate applicants. A new draft of guidelines will be written and it is likely a Faculty Senate vote will be made upon submission and re-consideration by Divisions.
6.0 Consideration of New Business
6.1 Report from Kerry Frost, WOU Bookstore Manager:
Please review materials provided by Kerry. The bookstore has increased its mark-up from 20-30%, citing a variety of reasons; these include significant increases in rent, freight (tied to increased gasoline prices), and unsold books or mistake/last-minute purchases. Internet competition was discussed but there was some debate about how substantial this drain was or would be in the future. Some discussion about the copyright legality of providing texts via the library was had, owing to some students requesting this service (in lieu of paying for books); however, this practice seems questionable. Kerry also urged faculty and departments to let Kris Adams (the book buyer) know about books that would be used again (from term to term and year to year) because this could reduce unsold text costs.
A motion to extend the meeting beyond 5:00 was made and approved.
7.0 Reports of Interinstitutional Faculty Senators:
Bob provided an outline of the recent IFS meeting at WOU and quickly summarized key points. Please share and review. Specifically, the IFS commended the WOU administration for their upfront presentations about the budget (as apparently compared with other campus administrations, noted by several IFS members). Faculty are urged to write personal letters to legislators to best communicate budget issues and concerns.
The meeting was adjourned.


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Below is the poem entitled Burial On The Presidio Banks which was written by poet
Giroux. Please feel free to comment on this poem. However, please remember, PoetrySoup is a place of encouragement and growth.
Read Poems by
Reese Giroux
The dark day has come
As we stand on Presidio Banks
We cry
Towards the sea
The waves
Just... so grey
The look on the faces
So grave
As we mourn the losses of today
The songs start to play
The oceans waves
And we do the same
We say our goodbyes
Then look towards the sky
As the darkness beings to face
The clouds drift
Like the cars pulling away
But I stand knowing
This is no dark day
The days will fade
And so will the years
But not what I hold dear
I will remember this day
As a sight to be amazed
Because I saw
The burial on presidio banks


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Supporters flock to Chick-fil-A
BARBOURSVILLE -- Lines of Chick-fil-A supporters flooded stores nationwide, including both locations in Barboursville, on what was a customer-driven appreciation day.
"We'll wait till midnight," said Karen Perry of Salt Rock, who joined in her husband, Larry, in the line of vehicles waiting to order at the Melody Farms location. She was one of many who filled the drive through lines backing all the way to Mall Road. Perry and others were there in support of the restaurant's owners support of groups that oppose gay marriage.
Wednesday's customer appreciation day was started by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in support of company President Dan Cathy's promotion of the company as a Christian organization that stays closed on Sundays and opposes same sex marriage. In Chicago and Boston, political leaders have said they don't want Chick-fil-A doing business in their cities.
The customer appreciation day was in response to boycotts of the restaurant chain urged by gay rights advocates, who are calling for a kiss-in at Chick-fil-A restaurants on Friday.
Those who lined up in Barboursville on Wednesday were there in support of Cathy and the Chick-fil-A corporation.
Delores Nelson dined in for lunch, saying members of her church, Salt Rock Community Church, were planning to bring a large group Wednesday night.
"I want to make it known I stand for the Bible," Nelson said. "It meant a lot to take stand. We need to do that more."
Beth Kuhn and her four children walked up the hill from the lower shopping plaza to get their food, also saying that they wanted to support Cathy's stance on family values.
One woman called police Wednesday evening claiming that two female protesters were kissing in front of her and her child as they waited in line.
Both Barboursville locations are run by franchisee Larry Pittman, opening the mall location in 1981 and the stand-alone restaurant in 2005.
Pittman said he couldn't get into the political debate surrounding Chick-fil-A, but he did express gratitude for the support people were showing.
"We try to treat our customers with honor, dignity and respect," Pittman said, as he propped open the door for customers coming and going at the Melody Farms location.
He downplayed the crowd, though, saying that August is one of the store's busiest months as it coincides with back-to-school season. Pittman also said that having employees take orders face-to-face from drivers outside also is not something new, but it did help keep the average wait time to 12 minutes, he said.
Pittman provided members of the media with a release from Chick-fil-A's marketing department that stressed the company's belief in how it operates and also called for issues such as same-sex marriage to be left to lawmakers.
"We believe that closing on Sundays, operating debt-free and devoting a percentage of our profits back to our communities are what make us a stronger company and Chick-fil-family," stated the release. "Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate ... to the government and political arena. Our mission is simple: to serve great food, provide genuine hospitality and have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
The Herald-Dispatch welcomes your comments on this article, but please be civil. Avoid profanity, obscenity, personal attacks, accusations of criminal activity, name-calling or insults to the other posters. Herald-dispatch.com does not control or monitor comments as they are posted, but if you find a comment offensive or uncivil, hover your mouse over the comment and click the X that appears in the upper right of the comment. If you do not want your comment to post to your personal Facebook page, uncheck the box below the comment.


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Masson's trichrome stain
Masson's trichrome is a three-colour staining protocol used in histology. The recipes evolved from Claude L. Pierre Masson's (1880-1959) original formulation have different specific applications, but all are suited for distinguishing cells from surrounding connective tissue.
Most recipes produce red keratin and muscle fibers, blue or green collagen and bone, light red or pink cytoplasm, and dark brown to black cell nuclei.
The trichrome is applied by immersion of the fixated sample into Weigert's iron hematoxylin, and then three different solutions, labeled A, B, and C:
- Weigert's hematoxylin is a sequence of three solutions: ferric chloride in diluted hydrochloric acid, hematoxylin in 95% ethanol, and potassium ferricyanide solution alkalized by sodium borate. It is used to stain the nuclei.
- Solution A, also called plasma stain, contains acid fuchsin, Xylidine Ponceau, glacial acetic acid, and distilled water. Other red acid dyes can be used, e.g. the Biebrich scarlet in Lillie's trichrome.
- Solution B contains phosphomolybdic acid in distilled water.
- Solution C, also called fibre stain, contains Light Green SF yellowish, or alternatively Fast Green FCF. It is used to stain collagen. If blue is preferred to green, methyl blue, water blue or aniline blue can be substituted.
A common variant is Lillie's trichrome. It is often erroneously called Masson's trichrome. It differs in the dyes used, their concentrations, and the immersion times.
Another common variant is the Masson trichrome & Verhoeff stain, which combines the Masson trichrome stain and Verhoeff stain.[1] This combination is useful for the examination of blood vessels; the Verhoeff stain highlights elastin (black) and allows one to easily differentiate small arteries (which typically have two elastic laminae) and veins (which have one elastic lamina).
- ^ Masson Trichrome & Verhoeff Stain. vetmed.vt.edu. URL: http://education.vetmed.vt.edu/Curriculum/VM8054/Labs/Lab2/Examples/exvrmass.htm. Accessed on: August 20, 2009.
External links[edit]


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Rhizome scale of Lepirosurs clathratus © Li Wang
Lepisorus clathratus has the following synonyms:
Lepisorus clathratus is a polypod fern which belongs to the Polypodiaceae family and the Lepisorus genus. The genus Lepisorus is a taxonomically difficult genus due to the morphological similarity of its species. In addition, the systematic position of Lepisorus was not clear until Ching (1933) raised it to generic rank based on morphological distinctness.
Recent phylogenetic analyses recovered Lepisporus clathratus as a distinct lineage within the genus Lepisorus. It is still not clear if the lineage comprises a single species Lepisorus clathratus, or several closely related and morphological highly similar species.
The phylogenetic studies also confirmed that Lepisorus clathratus includes individuals with regular dehiscent sporangia and individuals with indehiscent sporangia - previously, the latter were treated as the segregate genus Platygyria.
The leaves are:
The leaves have veins that are visible on both surfaces, but not prominent.
The rhizome is:
The sori are:
Paraphyses cover the young sori. They are irregular or even ovate-lanceolate and usually fall off when sori are mature.
Plant structures that open at maturity.
Grows on another plant or structure, but does not derive nutrition from it.
Plant structures, such as fruits that do not open at maturity.
Having a shape between oval and lance-like.
Erect sterile filaments occurring amongst reproductive organs in plants.
A segregate genus is created when a genus is split off, from another genus.
Clusters of sporangia.
Spore producing structures.
Occurs when the demand for water exceeds the available amount during a certain period.


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Monday, December 30, 2013
The Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission (CCPRC), along with several other area recreation organizations, is launching the Lowcountry Master Games in January.
The Lowcountry Master Games will feature a different sport or event each month this year. The games, which include basketball, softball, racquetball, golf, bocce, table tennis, track and field, along with several others, will be held at different locations throughout the greater Charleston area.
As the fastest growing segment of our population, the 50+ market deserves attention, CCPRCs Fitness and Wellness Program Manager Allison Foster said. Powerful, active, and competitive 50-plussers are redefining age as we know it. They personify the adage age is just a number. Most are living longer, healthier, more productive lives with little thought of slowing down. The Lowcountry Master Games capitalizes on this trend.
The program begins Jan. 28 with bowling. The Town of Mount Pleasants Recreation Department is the sponsoring agency hosting the inaugural event in the series. A complete schedule listing each sport or activity along with the time, date, location and associated fees is available online at www.lowcountrymasters.com.
The website will provide direct access for those interested in learning more about the programs and for registration information. Registration can also be completed in person at the recreation department or agency hosting the event. Participating agencies include the City of Charleston Department of Recreation, City of North Charleston Recreation Department, Town of Mount Pleasant Recreation Department, Isle of Palms Recreation Department, St. Andrews Parks and Recreation Department, CCPRC, and the Charleston Metro Sports Council.
The Lowcountry Master Games are presented by BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina and supporting sponsor Glasspro. For more information on the Lowcountry Master Games, visit www.lowcountrymasters.com or contact one of the participating agencies.
The Berkeley Independent is pleased to offer readers the enhanced ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. We do not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not The Berkeley Independent.
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Manhattan School of Music continually seeks funding for these important outreach initiatives, from sponsoring a summer camper to underwriting a year of instrumental lessons in a New York City public school.
The Arts-in-Education program prepares students to be effective artist educators by offering pedagogical instruction and practical teaching experience in New York City schools. The program provides semester-long classroom residency programs in orchestral music, opera, musical theater, and jazz, as well as year-long instrumental instruction in partner schools. Our commitment to arts education in New York City remains central to the mission of the School. More than 1,500 New York City schoolchildren participate annually in our outreach program.
In January 2011, Manhattan School of Music launched a new cooperative endeavor with Tony Amato and the legendary Amato Opera. Maestro Amato created a series of Operas-in-Brief presentations over the course of many years that introduced the opera repertory to children and the general public. Manhattan School of Music requests endowment gifts as well as annual expendable funds to sustain The Sally and Anthony Amato Program. Your gift will help ensure that the legacy of Tony Amato's work in the field of opera will continue in perpetuity. All gifts will have direct impact on the School's opera studies program and will deepen our service to New York City public schools and performance venues.
Red more about the Opera-in-Brief program >
Music Teaches is supported, in part, by a grant from the D'Addario Foundation.
The Manhattan School of Music Community Engagement program provides students an opportunity to present inspirational and interactive performances to diverse audiences in hospitals, senior living residences, hospices, and other community centers in New York City, sharing the healing power of music as medicine. In many cases, performances are presented to underserved communities and to those who are unable to attend musical performances on their own. Through the program, students are able to expand their performance techniques for diverse audiences in nontraditional concert settings.
Camp MSM is a 4-week residential summer camp (with a day-camp option) that provides intensive musical instruction in musical theater, orchestra, guitar, and piano studies for students who have completed grades 6-11 (ages 11-17). Campers develop their musical skills and join a community of young musicians through a wide variety of musical and social activities. The rigorous curriculum includes a weekly private lesson, large and small ensembles, master classes by renowned artists, theory and ear-training classes, field trips, and a diverse array of musical and non-musical elective classes. Performance opportunities take place throughout the summer in Manhattan School of Music's state-of-the-art recital halls and main auditorium.
120 Claremont Avenue New York, NY 10027-4698 | Map | Main: 212 749 2802 | Box Office: 917 493 4428 | Contact
Copyright 2014 Manhattan School of Music


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July 29 2015 Latest news:
James Marston has already sleected his menu choices for Christmas meals
James Marston
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
I've looked in my dairy and it's a shocking fact but I am busy now until mid-January.
I'm not sure whether I should complain or not but isn't this time of year busy?
On Friday night the ladies of the book club popped along to my small Felixstowe flat with sea views (distant) to discuss the latest book I haven't read.
While they were talking I administered white wine, cups of tea and some nice chocolate biscuits (buy one get one free) I'd picked up in Morrisons.
Anyway, once we finished discussing the book and mentioned the next one – Othello because we're going to watch the film in the sitting room of one of our group who has a big screen – the talk moved on to our Christmas party.
We are all dining together a couple of weekends before Christmas.
The same weekend I have the Ipswich Star journalists dinner – always a riot where everyone under 35 drinks too much and everyone over 35 feels old and drinks too much as well – so by Sunday I shall be rolling around unable to move beyond lift my fingers to a box of chocolates to take the hangover away.
The following week I have to repeat the process with a few friends and for my other job with our family business in the west of the county.
Of course for these dinners you have to make your menu choices and pay in advance as restaurants at Christmas, it seems, rarely like any surprises financial or otherwise.
Almost without fail chicken liver parfait/pate/terrine is on the menu with the occasional prawn or mushroomed based alternative. For main course turkey is the stalwart with adjectives such as succulent and Norfolk and "all the trimmings" usually thrown into the mix in a futile attempt to disguise one of mother nature's most tasteless of meats.
Dessert is Christmas pudding or a selection of "Suffolk cheeses" which, considering that this is hardly a big dairy area always seems a triumph of hope over experience – though I suppose brie bought in Bury St Edmunds counts.
For the vegetarians there is usually an alternative – but I'd rather not think about that.
This year, dear readers, I have managed to go off piste menu choice wise with a seasonal game pie I found lurking unexpectedly on one of the menus and a belly pork alternative offered as an alternative to us journalists.
In fact with the exception of Christmas day itself and with a fair wind I think I shall just about be able to successfully avoid turkey – Norfolk or otherwise - all together.
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It's All Politics
12:36 pm
Thu October 27, 2011
Will Rick Perry Skip Future GOP Debates?
Do you feel like there have just been too many presidential debates already? Well, Rick Perry might agree with you.
Ray Sullivan, the Texas Governor's communications director, told CNN's John King this Wednesday night:
There have been eight Republican debates so far, five since Governor Perry got in. We certainly respect the process, but when you've got 8 or 9 candidates and 30 seconds to a minute, it takes valuable time away from campaigning in Iowa as those elections approach.
King followed up to see if that meant Perry would pull out of future debates. Sullivan simply said there's no way for the candidates to participate in all of the debates currently being planned. He put that number at 18.
Perry himself has criticized the format of previous debates and accused the planners of gaming the candidates to fight with each other. He's also admitted on several occasions that he's not the smoothest debater. You might take that as a jab at former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Romney ran in 2008, and with more practice under his belt, is considered a much smoother candidate by many political watchers.
In August, Perry became the last of the current hopefuls to declare his candidacy and quickly shot to first in the polls. He broke above 30 percent in at least two national polls — something no other candidate has been able to accomplish. But once the Texas governor endured several poor debate performances, his numbers slid sharply — and his fundraising dipped. The most recent national poll, from Fox News, has Perry in fourth place with 10 percent. He trails Herman Cain (24 percent), Mitt Romney (20 percent) and Newt Gingrich (12 percent).
That poll was conducted after a CNN debate in Las Vegas on Oct. 18. Perry got a lot of attention for being more aggressive in that debate, especially in this interaction with Romney.
A Perry spokesperson tells NPR he will participate in the next scheduled debate. That's set for Nov. 9 at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich. But no decisions have yet been made on whether Perry will participate in future debates.
No voters have to decide on a candidate until the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. That is, unless New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner pulls a Thanksgiving surprise. But, sometime next week, Gardner is expected to set the New Hampshire primary for Jan. 10.


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In this week's "Top 10 Thursday," ESPN.com's Myron Medcalf counts down the best leaders in men's college basketball. Medcalf lists Notre Dame senior forward Scott Martin third, behind Michigan State's Draymond Green and Butler's Ronald Nored. "These are the 'locker room guys.' Some of them fill up the stat sheets. Others don't. But if you're a coach, you want these guys on your roster because of their undeniable leadership skills," Medcalf writes. Here's the snippet on Martin, who has helped guide the Fighting Irish to seven straight wins and a 10-3 record in the BIG EAST Conference: 3. Scott Martin (Notre Dame) -- The Fighting Irish had every reason to make excuses. In November, the program lost its best player when Tim Abromaitis tore his ACL and was lost for the season. But as the team's co-captain and only other senior, Martin stepped up to lead Notre Dame to a surprising stretch of success. The Fighting Irish are nationally ranked, despite losing five out of eight games from Nov. 21 to Dec. 17. Martin leads a balanced Notre Dame team that's managed to climb the Big East standings with a feisty defense and an absence of egos. This crew could have fallen apart once it lost Abromaitis. But Martin has helped Mike Brey put the Fighting Irish in a position to make a lot of noise in March. For Medcalf's complete list, click here.
Top 10 Thursday: Leaders
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TrackBack URL: http://cstv.collegesports.com/mt5.2/mt-tb.cgi/31341


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Chapel Cottage, Llanishen, Chepstow NP16 6QT
Email firstname.lastname@example.com
UK Customers please add postage @ Ł2.00
per book (Ł4.00 maximum)
Overseas customers will be charged Surface or Airmail as requested
Harlech Castle
HM Office of Works official guide, 1924. 19pp booklet + 3 photo ills + folding ground plan. Blue thin card covers. A little dog-eared, generally G. Ł1.00 UK post-free
The Merioneth Lay Subsidy Roll 1292-3
Edited by Keith Williams-Jones, 1976. 144+136pp inc index, 3 maps. An early list of tax payers, the 1st 144pp being an invaluable background to the scene both locally and generally. M in VG d/w. (ref 2318) Ł7.50
Another Copy
This one is ex-Glamorgan Record Office Library, their stamp at bottom corner of title page. F copy except for a stain on the title-page, the d/w is worn along the top edge and there's a lib class mark in ink at the top of its spine. (ref 252/137) Ł5.00
A Calendar ofthe Merioneth Quarter Sessions
Rolls - Vol 1: 1733-1765
Merioneth County Council, 1965. Large 8vo, 376pp inc 2 indexes, 5 plates, folding map of parishes and townships. Nice clean copy in grubby & worn d/w. Ex-Glamorgan Record Office Library, their stamp in lower corner of title-page, lib class mark in ink at top of spine of d/w. (ref 252/141) Ł25.00
Another Copy - Nice clean copy in quite worn and sunned d/w. (ref 5111) Ł30.00


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We're expanding our Wings For Autism program, originally introduced by the Charles River Center and ARC, by bringing the initiative to Burbank's Bob Hope Airport for the first time. Wings For Autism practices air travel in a realistic and compassionate way. These rehearsal field trips help families practice going through TSA security and allow time for […]
Archive for the 'Community' Category
May 4th, 2013
Wings For Autism Takes Flight at Burbank Airport Today
April 28th, 2013
Portland Celebrates One Thing That's Green
In celebration of our annual One Thing That's Green campaign, our Portland, Oregon crewmembers and their family members cleaned up the streets in the St. John's neighborhood. They collected nearly six full bags of garbage and had a few laughs along the way as they gave back to their city. Even the rain stayed away!
April 27th, 2013
JetBlue Honors Nassau County First Responders
On Sunday, April 21, Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano honored firefighters from across Nassau County at the Firematic Awards Ceremony. Rich Smyth, our Vice President of Corporate Real Estate, attended the ceremony on behalf of JetBlue to thank these first responders for all of their hard work following Hurricane Sandy. We also provided the […]
April 26th, 2013
New York Stands By Boston
Even our Boston and New York planes are making nice, as our Red Sox and I Heart New York liveries spend some quality time at JFK in a show of support following the tragedy in Massachusetts .
April 23rd, 2013
FAA Furloughs
We are deeply frustrated by the negative impact government staffing reductions are having on the national air transportation system, and the inconvenience it's causing our customers and crewmembers. Customers should plan for possible flight delays and cancellations at most airports across the country. While delays related to the furloughs are possible throughout our network, the […]
April 19th, 2013
Joining New York's Carbon Challenge
Dave, our CEO & President, joined New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the kickoff to the City's Carbon Challenge, a new campaign to encourage large corporations like ours to reduce the carbon emissions generated from commercial buildings. Energy use in buildings accounts for 75 percent of New York City's greenhouse gas emissions, and 80 percent […]
April 18th, 2013
Announcing Matching Donations to The One Fund Boston
April 17th, 2013
What's Your One Thing That's Green?
We're looking forward to our tree planting event in New York this weekend. We're pleased with the turnout of volunteers – we actually have all that we need for this event, but you can still help each and every day by pledging to do One Thing That's Green. Visit www.jetblue.com/pledge now through April 30 to show how […]
April 15th, 2013
Boston Marathon Incident
Update 2 p.m. Thursday In a formal coming together of the community following Monday's tragedy, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino announced the formation of The One Fund Boston, Inc to provide aid for those in need. JetBlue has pledged $100,000 to support the fund, and we continue to work with our crewmembers, customers, […]
April 14th, 2013
Dallas Crewmembers Walk for Wishes
Our Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) area crewmembers recently laced up their sneakers for the Make a Wish Foundation. They took part in the Walk for Wishes 5K, which raised money to help children in Texas who have been diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition. The DFW team raised more than $1,000 for the cause!


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VOTE NOW: The Chronicle All-Decade Team
Over the last two weeks, we've had our say at The Chronicle naming Duke's All-Decade Teams. We started with an overall men's basketball team and went everywhere from naming the Top Villans, Top Individual Seasons, All-NBA Team, All-Disappointment Team, Duke Stories of the Decade (Part I, Part II), Top Clutch Performances, All-Shooters Team, All-Defensive Team, to the Best and Worst Hires of the Decade.
Now it's your turn. Help us name The Chronicle's All-Decade Team for Duke Men's Basketball. On the poll below, select five names (or even add your own, if that suits your style). And if you see something ridiculous in the results, feel free to let everyone know with the comments.


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University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
We are lucky to have the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center nearby. Folks travel from all over the country to take advantage of the UMCCC clinical trials.
The cancer center treats body and mind through activities such as guided imagery, art and music therapy. Harpists or pianists often perform in the waiting rooms as part of the Gifts of Art program. Patients enjoy a weaving loom, a library, a kitchen stocked with coffee and snacks, a fish tank, valet parking, 50 cent parking (must be validated in the cancer center), and a friendly, helpful staff. Cancer patients and their families can stay in touch with the latest news with Thrive, the UMCCC newsletter.
Recent materials on cancer at the library: Apples & oranges : my brother and me, lost and found and Anticancer : a new way of life


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Some new information has come about for widows of Firefighter or Law Enforcement employees. In order to take advantage of the retirement provisions for FF/LEO an employee must be at least 50 years old and complete 20 years of federal law enforcement/firefighter experience. Previously, when an employee died, either in the line of duty or due to natural causes, before accumulating 20 years of Firefighter or Law Enforcement coverage, the surviving spouse would receive an annuity based on the ordinary civil service retirement rules.
This was challenged in Moore v Office of Personnel Management, May 7, 1997. The court reversed a prior decision and stated that the requirements of age and tenure do not bar the application of 5 USC 8339(d)(1) to the period of the petitioner's husband's service for purposes of calculating her survivor annuity. Her annuity was recalculated based on the Law Enforcement years of service and the regular rate for other years of service not covered by special retirement. (This decision was for a CSRS claimant).
It is important that we continue to receive all SF-50's during an employee's career, and then the last one to show retirement. Please keep them coming.
If anyone transfers to FERS please furnish us a copy of the SF-50. If any FERS employees transfer to CSRS Offset, because of the 5 year rule, please send us a copy of their SF-50.
The next scheduled training session is October 21-22, 1998, at NIFC in Boise, Idaho. The training starts at 8:30 am on October 21 and ends at 11:30 am on October 22. Currently, there are about 30 slots available. The course is for employees, supervisors and personnelists. Other bureaus and agencies are welcome to attend. There is no tuition fee for this training.
The course covers:
- - What is Firefighter and Law Enforcement Officer retirement?
- - Definitions of key elements of the retirement program: particularly the terms "primary, secondary, immediate transfer, position coverage and individual coverage."
- - Benefits of the special retirement - $$.
- - How position management affects retirement coverage, and how staffing and recruitment are affected by special retirement?
- - Submitting Position Descriptions for coverage.
- - How an individual makes a claim for coverage.
Copies of the training manual are always available upon request.
Also, the Fire and Law Enforcement Team (FLERT) is available to do "on-site" training sessions. So put your order in now, if you would like our team to provide training at your office. This training is recommended for FF/LEO managers, supervisors, and administrative personnel who provide information and guidance to employees on firefighting and law enforcement retirement. It is also recommended that firefighters and law enforcement officers attend. The class size is normally 15-30 individuals. Requests for training must be submitted in writing to: Marcia Scifres, NIFC - FA104, 3833 South Development Avenue, Boise, ID 83705-5354. For more information, please contact Marcia Scifres or Donna Burch (see numbers at end of bulletin).
It is important when using the Standard Position Descriptions established by the Bureau that the position number not be changed, as this is how coverage is tracked. Please don't put your own OF-8 on the PD or make any other changes without submitting it to us for approval.
A list of approved BLM standardized position descriptions or an individual state listing is available to anyone wishing to receive a copy. If you would like to receive a copy of the available listings, contact this office.
Marcia Scifres and Donna Burch went to Salt Lake City the first week of May to conduct 2 training sessions, one for NPS and one for the Salt Lake City District Office. Thanks to Jeff Scott for coordinating this - it was a good session and we answered many questions and concerns for individuals. Thanks to those who made the long drive to attend. Thanks to Utah Personnel Office for furnishing information on attendees.
Donna Burch and Michael Gillmore went to Battle Mountain, NV to conduct a training session the middle of May. Thanks to Dave Ullrich for coordinating this one and people traveling from the various districts. Hopefully all questions were answered as we have received lots of information from the Nevada Personnel Office. Thanks!!!!
Michael Gillmore
Well, since the last issue I have had the pleasure of visiting several (5) FWS field sites and providing information on the Special Retirement program. I have met a lot of concerned individuals. There were a lot of questions and I provided many answers but some I cannot, and will not, answer without an individual submitting a claim. I must be able to examine and review a person's entire career in order to make a recommendation for or against special retirement coverage. This is why it is imperative that I receive SF50s, affidavits, training records, fire or law enforcement experience records, SF171, and other pertinent supporting documentation to support a claim for firefighter and/or law enforcement special retirement coverage. Finally, there are still a lot of places I need to visit. However, time is of the essence, and I need to get caught up on reviewing and making recommendations on several claim files.
By the way, I have received well over 100 claims since January. This is in addition to the 80 claims I received from the Washington Office when I accepted this program. Just the other day, I completed a listing of CSRS claimants age 50 and over. I have about 43 of these claims. I have finished reviewing and forwarded about 12-14 of the 43 claims. Reviewing individual claims takes some time, but if all of the necessary documents are in the packet, the process goes faster.
A major issue that concerns me at this point is that of Special Agent positions. That is, I have reviewed about 3-4 Special Agent claims and all of them had been placed in Standard approved positions after 1983; however, service prior to 1983 had no documentation that their positions had been submitted for a coverage determination. This is scary. If there is no OPM nor DOI approval sheet, then the position is considered a non-covered position. The individual stands the chance of not being able to retire until the position is accredited/approved. This could take several weeks or months. I would sleep better at night, and I know the Special Agent would too, knowing that these individuals are in covered positions prior to 1983. If anyone has a Regional or Bureau-wide listing that might provide some information on this issue, please forward a copy to me. Thanks.
I would like to take this time to thank the many people who made it possible for me to visit the FWS field sites. Thanks to:
- Dennis Macomber - LEO inservice at Marana, AZ and FF/LEO training session at Portland, OR.
- Ken Chitwood and Ronnie Shell - LEO inservice at Tallahassee, FL.
- Tom Goettel - LEO inservice at Shephardtown, WV at (NCTC).
- Phil Street - Fire Managment meeting at Spearfish, SD.
- John Fort and Doug Scott - southern hospitality and tour of St. Marks NWR, FL.
- Todd Fenzl - tour of Deer Flat NWR, ID.
Also a special thanks to all of the Region Personnel Offices for responding to my requests for personnel information!
Well, I guess I should wrap up this article and get back to reviewing the onslaught of individual claims that are on my desk. Have a great summer and be careful out there. If any questions arise pertaining to special retirement, don't hesitate to call me. Remember please be patient, your claim will eventually get reviewed.
Matt Wagers
In BIA FF/LEO training sessions the last few months I met field and Area staff, personnelists and supervisors face to face. Many of you asked questions about the FF/LEO retirement program and the status of specific individual and position coverage claims. Firefighters and law enforcement officers alike have mentioned retirement claims have been sent for approval, but they have not received responses regarding coverage.
The FLERT office recently received dozens of boxes containing approved and pending FF/LEO retirement cases. If you have submitted a claim and have not received a response on your request for individual or position retirement coverage, please send me written information including your retirement system (CSRS or FERS), where you initially submitted the claim, when you submitted the claim and what retirement coverage (firefighter or law enforcement) was being claimed. I will cross reference the information provided with the claims in the boxes received to clarify your claim status. You can send information to me by e-mail at email@example.com. Or use my mail address on the last page of this bulletin.
Just wanted to thank the following Area and Central office staff for coordinating recent BIA retirement training/information sessions:
* John Philbin, Nate Shourds and Renney Blackwater, Phoenix Area Office for joint BIA/NPS training session;
* Woody Wright, Matthew Prior and Tom Woolworth, Indian Police Academy for Supervisory Criminal Investigator information session; and
* Danielle Dutt and Lisa Sandstrom, Portland Area Office, for combined BIA/FWS training session.
With summer upon us already, there are no scheduled BIA trainings in the near future. FLERT is available for trainings at Area and field offices upon written request after August 1. Have a safe summer and I look forward to hearing from you!
Marilee Pospahala
Since our last bulletin, there has been lots of activity on the NPS individual claims as well as the management submitted position descriptions. The entire FLERT team has been helping me work on the individual claims-here's a summary of what's been going on here during the last quarter:
- Administrative Claims (shipped from DC) 372
- FERS Claims (shipped from DC) 695
- Miscellaneous Claims (shipped from DC) 181
- New claims from individuals 25
Since the NPS established the Administrative Claims (NPS employees in covered positions that had not previously filed a claim) as our number one priority, here's the status of those 372 claims:
- completed as of 6/30/98 119
- reviewed, need more information 86
- reviewed, to be typed 32
- to be reviewed 135
All employees covered under the firefighter and law enforcement officer retirement system- whether your claim has been completed, or still pending-should send us copies of SF-50's when you change jobs, resign, retire, etc., so we can track your service. Along with your SF-50, please send your new mailing address, employing organization, and your servicing personnel office phone number. This can be sent via fax (208-387-5043) or to me at our mailing address identified at the end of this bulletin. I am no longer on the NPS ccmail system, but you can send me a message through Internet e-mail at email@example.com.
THANKS TO ALL THE NPS PERSONNEL OFFICES - When we call and request additional information, they drop what they're doing to get us the information we need to complete these cases!
After your claim is approved, we send you the original approval letter signed by the Secretary of Interior's Designee and a copy to your servicing personnel office. That's when the hard work begins! Your personnel office must correct your personnel actions to place you in the special retirement code and correct your pay, if applicable. Many of these corrections go back 20 or 30 years and take many hours to complete! Then personnel sends the paperwork to payroll where they correct your master record, do calculations, and send it on to AOC who then sends you a bill for your additional retirement contributions, minus any back pay, or a check for back pay, if applicable.
The personnel offices have been sending in management submitted position descriptions for coverage prior to filling the position - KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! I have approximately 77 position descriptions to review for coverage, many of which were submitted to the NPS Washington office but never reviewed. Managers and Supervisors - whenever you rewrite or establish a new position description that contains firefighting or law enforcement duties, you should discuss with the classifier whether this position description should be recommended for either primary or secondary coverage. If we address this position management issue before we fill the position, we will eliminate the need for individuals to submit claims for their past service. Please contact me and I will provide more information!
In June we presented our FF/LE Retirement Training course to Personnelists and Chief Rangers from the Southeast Region at Great Smoky Mountains National Park and in March, an abbreviated training session at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to primarily FWS, NPS and Forest Service firefighters. We are also planning on conducting this training at Dinosaur National Monument, and the Midwest and Intermountain Regional Offices in the fall. See page 1 for information on how you can host this training course at your park/region!
1. I am a FERS employee that had temporary service prior to 1989. I know I can pay a deposit to FERS to receive retirement credit for this time, but some people tell me that I'm better off to just invest the money myself. What difference does it make?
A. The bottom line is that if you don't pay into the retirement system for the time, you don't receive any credit for that time for retirement eligibility or annuity computation. It's as if the time never existed! If you decide to invest the money and pay later, that's your decision. But if you invest poorly, or don't get around to investing at all, it will cost you dearly for that time later on. The interest is a variable interest rate, changing yearly. It adds up really fast, just ask someone that waited a few years before they decided to pay it off.
Why pay for the time at all? It may mean that you can retire a little sooner, or get your 20 years firefighter or law enforcement time in a little sooner. It also affects your lifetime annuity benefit (which receives a cost of living increase each year), as well as a spousal benefit, if elected.
This decision needs some good planning at the "beginning" of your career in order for you to get the best value on your money. We really encourage new employees to ask questions and learn more about their future retirement benefits. Also, we here on the counseling side have lots of sad stories we can relate. We know folks who just didn't want to part with their money early in their career. The closer they got to retirement, the more important it became to have all possible service credited, and to have as few reductions to their annuity as possible.
To buy your temporary time, it will cost you 1.3% of your base salary for the time you worked as a temporary (you do not count overtime). As you know, you cannot buy any temporary service time after 12-31-88. This will give you credit towards your retirement, 1.7% for each year of service. Normally, people do not invest what they owe and if they have access to it, will at some point and time spend it. When it comes time to retire, they will see the difference a year or two makes, and the interest that has accumulated on the temporary service time over the years will be far more than what the original debt was.
This wasn't asked, but just want to mention that should you ever leave the Federal Government, leave your retirement contributions in as once you receive a refund you cannot buy that service back.
2. Law Enforcement retirement coverage increases the cost to the government on each covered employee. Can a manager "waive" the coverage of their subordinate positions?
A. No! This is not an "elective" benefit. Also, special retirement coverage cannot be avoided by writing a "non-covered" position description, but requiring the employee to perform work which meets the definitions for special retirement in the regulations. We have numerous court decisions, (Phillips v OPM (1994), Nuss v OPM (1992), Felzien v OPM (1991), Cole v OPM (1985), Little v OPM (1985) and Ellis v OPM (1979)), where the courts told us to look beyond the position description, at any official documentation describing duties actually performed.
This is distributed to Personnel Office's, State/Region Fire Management Offices and State/Region Law Enforcement Officers within BLM, NPS, FWS, OAS, BIA, BOR, and IG's office. We would like to reach as many Personnel Offices and employees as possible. If you read this, please pass it onto another interested employee. This Information Bulletin is intended for all Bureau's and Office's who have firefighters and law enforcement officers. As our mailing list grows, we rely more on electronic distribution. We urge people that have access to the Internet to get a copy from our home page.
Marcia L. Scifres, (Team Leader - BLM and all other DOI)
FF/LEO Retirement Specialist, 208/387-5345
Michael Gillmore, (FWS Claims)
FF/LEO Retirement Specialist, 208/387-5348
Marilee Pospahala (NPS Claims)
FF/LEO Retirement Specialist, 208/387-5044
Matthew Wagers, (BIA Claims)
FF/LEO Retirement Specialist, 208/387-5045
Donna Burch, General Information
Program Assistant, 208/387-5959
FLERT Homepage
1/2% EXTRA is published by:
Firefighter and Law Enforcement
Retirement Team (FLERT)
National Interagency Fire Center
3833 S. Development Avenue
Boise, Idaho 83705-5354
Donna Burch
FF/LEO Retirement Assistant
If you have any questions or comments about FF/LEO Special Retirement, the Information Bulletin, or other issues, please don't hesitate to call Marcia Scifres at 208/387-5345 or Donna Burch at 208/387-5959.


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The evening will feature two close friends of King's, John David Maguire, president of Claremont University Center and Graduate School, and Cornish Rogers, professor of pastoral theology and director of Urban Ministries Center, School of Theology at Claremont. Both men knew King as classmates; and President Maguire was a member of the original Freedom Ride in 1961. Maguire was also the first chairman of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Social Change in Atlanta, Georgia.
The 6:00 p.m. dinner begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m. At 7:00 p.m. a half-hour documentary, "I Have a Dream," will be shown; this will be followed by a discussion between Dr. Maguire and Dr. Rogers, and will also include time to ask questions of them. Please join us and learn more about a great American leader who was murdered during the year that shaped a generation-1968.


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The Patti Herm School of Dance celebrates 32 years of quality dance instruction in the Otsego/Plainwell area. The School,
located just east of downtown Otsego on M-89 was founded in 1982 and boasts a current enrollment of 400 dance students.
Professional instruction is offered in classical ballet,
modern jazz, tap, and hip hop.
A special pre-ballet/creative program is offered for children 3 - 6 years of age.
Patti Herm School Of Dance
719 E. Allegan Street Otsego, MI 49078
(269) 694-4565
Registration for Fall classes is August 27 from 10:00 - 7:00. Fall classes begin Wed. September 3
Fall 2014 Schedule Now Available