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A guidewire useful for feeding a medical catheter through a body duct network to a distant target site within the body has a flexible distal portion. The distal portion facilitates threading the guidewire in a tortuous path through acute bends at branch junctions in the duct network. The guidewire end is able to feed into very delicate vessels such as ventricles of the brain and the spinal canal without puncturing the walls or damaging organs.
The novel guidewire includes beads displaced longitudinally at the distal end of a core wire. The beads are separated by a gap distance. The core wire can flex at points within the gaps between beads which allows the dial end of the guidewire to bend at branch junctions and to conform to the curvature in the vessel duct. The beads can be fixed to the core wire or they can move freely along the distal portion. Also, beads freely sliding along the core wire can be compressed against each other to control the degrees of stiffness and curvature of the distal portion by manipulating the proximal end of the guidewire outside the body during deployment of the guidewire. An insertion tube is provided for initially feeding the flexible guidewire end into the body duct.
1. A catheter guidewire having a leading end, the guidewire comprising:
a core wire adapted to insert into the lumen of a duct of a body, the core wire having a proximal end adapted to remain outside the body, a distal end, and a core diameter; and
a beaded portion appended to the distal end forming the leading end of the guidewire, the beaded portion comprising
a plurality of spheroidal beads sequentially disposed along the core wire each bead having a bead length in a direction axial to the core wire and wherein adjacent beads are axially spaced apart by a gap distance; and
a blunt forward end.
2. The catheter guidewire of claim 1 wherein the beads have a bead diameter sufficiently small for the core wire to move freely through the lumen and an aspect ratio of bead length to bead diameter of about 0.75 to about 2.
3. The catheter guidewire of claim 2 wherein the beads are affixed to the core wire and the gap distance is at most one third of the bead length of the bead proximally adjacent the gap distance.
4. The catheter guidewire of claim 2 wherein the core wire extends through a central bore in each bead, the central bore defined by a bore diameter that is sufficiently larger than the core diameter to permit the beads to slide freely along the distal portion.
5. The catheter guidewire of claim 4 wherein the core wire further includes a stop having a stop diameter larger than the bore diameter and wherein the stop is affixed to the core wire proximal of the beads.
6. The catheter guidewire of claim 5 wherein the stop is distant from the forward end by at most about 1.3 times the sum of all the bead lengths.
7. The catheter guidewire of claim 4 further including adjustment means for remotely controlling stiffness of the distal portion from the proximal end.
8. The catheter guidewire of claim 7 wherein the adjustment means comprises a radially flexible, longitudinally incompressible, tubular sleeve having a sleeve lumen larger than the core diameter and an outer sleeve cross section larger than the bore diameter, the tubular sleeve being adapted to freely slide over catheter guidewire from the proximal end and to contact the most proximal bead with an axial force applied from the proximal end effective to compress the beads between the head and the sleeve thereby stiffening the distal portion to a desired extent.
9. The catheter guidewire of claim 8 wherein the adjustment means further comprises at least one thread affixed at one thread end eccentrically to the tip and extending through the central bore of each bead and through the sleeve lumen to the proximal end.
10. The catheter guidewire of claim 2 wherein the beads are spheres.
11. The catheter guidewire of claim 2 wherein the beads have a density significantly greater than or less than 1 g/cm3.
12. The catheter guidewire of claim 2 wherein the guidewire further includes a removable, rigid, hollow insertion tube comprising a funnel-shaped proximal orifice, a port distant from the proximal orifice, and a tube lumen slightly larger than the bead diameter being adapted to slide over the core wire to feed the beads through the port in axial alignment into the lumen of the bodily duct.
13. The catheter guidewire of claim 11 wherein the density of the beads is outside the range from about 0.8 g/cm3 to about 1.2 g/cm3.
14. A catheter guidewire adapted to insert into the lumen of a bodily duct comprising:
a core wire having a distal end;
a distal portion attached to the distal end of the core wire including a plurality of segments, each segment including a spheroidal ball member pivotably and slidably connected to a post member, wherein the post member of each segment is pivotably and slidably connected to the ball member of an adjacent segment in sequence to form a chain of segments having a free end; and
a head at the free end of the chain that has a blunt forward end.
15. The catheter guidewire of claim 14 wherein the core wire has a central bore wherein each segment includes a hollow, spheroidal ball member having two diametrically opposite openings and a post member having a post cross section smaller than the openings and two post ends, wherein one post end extends through one of the two openings into the ball member so that the post member slidably engages the ball member and wherein the second post end extends inside the second of the two openings into the ball member of an adjacent segment, and wherein each post end includes a flange defining a flange cross section larger than the opening, thereby preventing the post member from disengaging from adjacent ball members; and
a head at the free end of the chain having a blunt forward end.
16. The catheter guidewire of claim 14 which further comprises at least one thread affixed at one thread end eccentrically to the head and running externally to the post members through penetration holes of the ball members.
This invention relates to a guidewire used to deploy medical catheters in ducts within the body. More specifically, it relates to guidewires for use in ventricles of the brain or in the spinal canal.
Catheters are used to perform various diagnostic and therapeutic procedures at selected sites within animal, and especially human bodies. In such procedures it is desired to position the operative portion of the catheter at a target location in a blood vessel, brain or spinal cavity, or other body duct distant from the point of catheter entry. For example, one of the increasingly common types of catheterization procedures is percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty ("PITCA"). Greatly simplified, PTCA involves opening a coronary artery which has become partially blocked by plaque deposits to increase blood flow. It is accomplished by repeatedly inflating and deflating a balloon in the lumen of the artery at the location of the partial occlusion. The deflated balloon is delivered to the occluded site by a specially designed catheter which is inserted through an incision usually in the femoral artery. PTCA is sometimes accompanied by deploying a generally tubular, reinforcement stent in the opened artery to shore up weakened, blood vessel walls. The stent is also delivered to the site by a catheter designed for that purpose.
Several aspects of physiology make catheter deployment difficult. For one, the distance between the catheter entrance point and the target site is often considerable. Additionally, the body has a highly branched vessel network between the incision point and the target site. The size of the lumen of the vessels leading to the target site is normally quite small. Hence the path which the catheter must follow is narrow and tortuous.
To facilitate catheterization, a guidewire is often employed to direct the catheter toward the desired location. The guidewire is typically inserted through the incision before the catheter. The proximal end which remains outside the body is manipulated to urge the guidewire along the vessel network. Guidewires are commonly constructed from radio-opaque materials, and therefore, various methods such as X-ray fluoroscopy are available to monitor progress of the guidewire along the path. When the guidewire reaches the intended destination, the catheter cam be slipped over the proximal end and threaded along the guidewire to the target. The guidewire, then residing within the lumen of the catheter, can be withdrawn through the incision leaving the catheter in position to carry out the desired procedure.
Catheter guidewires are subject to significant structural design constraints. They are quite slender in order to fit into small ducts while leaving room for the catheter to slide over the guidewire inside the duct. The diameter of PTCA guidewires, for example, is generally less than about 0.5 mm (0.02 inches). The guidewire should also have adequate torsional strength over its full length to permit steering the distal portion into the correct vessel branches by axially rotating the proximal end. The guidewire, and especially the distal portion, should be sufficiently flexible that it can conform to the acute curvature of the vessel network. Additionally, the guidewire should have compressive strength suitable to push the wire into the vessel without folding back on itself. Also, the tip of the guidewire importantly should be adapted to avoid puncturing or otherwise damaging delicate vessel was and body tissue.
Various guidewire designs have been developed to satisfy these rigorous requirements. Often such designs include a core wire with a cross section which reduces progressively toward the tip to make the leading end very flexible. One very popular guidewire design enhancement is a leading end which incorporates a helical coil of fine diameter wire. Frequently, the helical coil is wound about the core. Helical coil-tipped catheter guidewires are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,884,579; 5,120,308; 5,234,003; 5,243,996; 5,365,942; 5,368,049; and 5,402,799, for example.
In neurosurgery, it is occasionally desirable to deploy a catheter in a ventricle of the brain or in the spinal canal. Conventional guidewires, including helical coil-tipped guidewires, are generally unsuitable because the tips are normally springy and stiff enough to easily puncture the extremely delicate tissue of the ducts being probed. Damage to the brain or the spinal cord resulting from unintentional guidewire wounds can be quite severe. A traditional guidewire tip which is made sufficiently soft to reduce the risk of tissue penetration, is usually too flexible. It lacks stiffness and consequently tends to buckle in the needle used to feed the guidewire or in the duct. Thus there exists a need for a neurosurgical catheter guidewire which can advance through a tortuous path and which has an especially gentle leading end.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a guidewire for facilitating the deployment of catheters in vessels and ducts within the body.
It is another object of this invention to provide a catheter guidewire with an extremely flexible tip and which can be threaded along a tortuous path with reduced risk of puncturing delicate tissue of the walls of ducts and vessels being probed.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a neurosurgical catheter guidewire which is suitable for assisting the deployment of a catheter in a ventricle of the brain or in the spinal canal.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a neurosurgical catheter guidewire which can be advanced into a ventricle of the brain or the intradural sac with diminished exposure to injury of the brain tissue or spinal cord, respectively.
A still further object of this invention has to provide an improved guidewire for use in deploying catheters in various vessels, ducts and organs within the body, including vascular, digestive, urinary, and reproductive systems.
FIG. 1 is a partial section view of a guidewire according to the present invention wherein beads are fixed to the distal portion.
FIGS. 2a, 2b, and 2c are side views of the distal portion of a guidewire of this invention wherein the bead spacing as moderate, small and large, respectively.
FIGS. 3a, 3b and 3c illustrate the maximum angles of deflection between adjacent beads spaced apart as in FIGS. 2a, 2b, and 2c, respectively.
FIG. 3d is a section view of bodily duct in which a guidewire with large bead spacing is jammed.
FIG. 4 is a partial section view of a guidewire according to the present invention wherein the beads slide freely along the distal portion of the core wire.
FIG. 5 is a partial section view of the guidewire of FIG. 4 wherein a long section of core wire extends beyond the beads.
FIG. 6 is a section view of a part of the distal portion of a guidewire according to is invention wherein the bore through the beads is eccentric with respect to the diameter.
FIG. 7 is a section view of a guidewire according to the present invention having a tubular sleeve.
FIG. 8 is a section view of the guidewire of FIG. 7 viewed from line 8--8.
FIG. 9 is a partial section view of the distal portion constructed of ball and post members, according to the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a section view of a part of a different embodiment of a ball and post member distal portion.
FIG. 11 is a section view of part of the distal portion of the guidewire of FIG. 10 wherein adjacent balls are in contact.
FIG. 12 is a section view of part of the distal portion of the guidewire of FIG. 10 wherein adjacent balls are separated by a full post member length.
FIG. 13 is a section view of another embodiment of a ball and post member guidewire according to this invention.
FIG. 14 is a side view of a part of the distal portion of a ball and post member guidewire according to the present invention wherein a thread extends through holes in the ball surfaces.
FIG. 15 is a section view of an insertion tube inserted into a bodily duct.
FIG. 16 is a section view of the insertion tube of FIG. 15 showing the leading beads of the guidewire feeding into the bodily duct.
A first embodiment of the invention can be understood with reference to FIG. 1. The catheter guidewire 10 has a slender core wire 2 of sufficient length to reach a distant target site when fed percutaneously from a point outside the body into the lumen of a bodily duct. Mostly, overall length of the core wire is about 50-300 cm. The guidewire has a proximal end 4 which remains outside the body and is manipulated by the physician. Generally, the core wire is flexible so as to be capable of threading through a branched bodily duct network along a tortuous path. The thickness, shape of cross section and materials of construction of the core wire can vary along the length to provide different mechanical properties, such as flexibility and torsional strength. Normally, the core wire near the proximal end can be relatively stiff. This portion of the guidewire can be less flexible because it usually resides in larger diameter, slightly curving sections of the duct network near the entry point. For example, PTCA catheter guidewires are usually inserted in the femoral artery near the groin. Also the increased stiffness near the proximal end facilitates transmission of torque along the full length of the guidewire to steer the tip at the distal end. Generally, guidewire flexibility increases along the length toward the distal end.
Throughout this specification reference will be made to the cross section dimension of particular articles which may have noncircular or circular cross sections. For example, the core wire preferably has a circular cross section, although other cross section shapes can be useful. Unless otherwise stated, the term "diameter" herein shall mean the maximum cross section dimension, i.e. the diameter of a circumscribing circle of a noncircular cross section shape as well as the true diameter of a circular cross section. The diameter of the core wire over the proximal portion of the guidewire can generally taper in the axial direction from the proximal end to the distal end. This geometry permits the guide wire to slide easily into the duct lumen which normally becomes progressively smaller approaching the target site. However, the core wire diameter should remain sufficiently large that the proximal portion can adequately transit axial and torsional manipulative forces from the proximal end along the full length, which can be a considerable distance. The diameter of the proximal portion of the guidewire can be about 0.1 to about 2 mm.
At its distal end the core wire terminates at tip 6 on which is affixed a head 8. Because the head leads the guidewire through the bodily duct, the forward end 9 is blunt to reduce the risk that the head will puncture a delicate wall of the duct if the guidewire is inserted with slightly excessive force. The head can have a conical or spheroidal shape. The term "spheroidal" means that the shape can be imperfectly spherical as well as exactly spherical. Spheroidal shapes include spherical, elliptical, oval and hemi-spheroidally-ended, cylindrical shapes. If conical, the forward and trailing ends should be blunted to elate sharp edges that can gouge or penetrate the duct walls. That is, the cone should have an aerodynamic "nose cone" appearance. A preferred head is egg-shaped, i.e., an asymmetrical oval with the forward end 9 having a smaller diameter than the trailing end 11.
To assure that the head does not separate from the core wire, the head should be securely attached to the tip. The method of attachment is not critical to operation of the invention. For example, the head and core wire can be fabricated as a single piece, the head thus being integral to the core. Alternative exemplary methods of attachment include cementing, thermally fusing or crimping the head to the core wire, fastening with clamps, pins and set screws, and any combination of these. In FIG. 1 the tip of the core wire is shown to penetrate plate 12, seen in cross section, which is embedded in the head. The tip can be adhered to the plate by conventional methods to anchor the head to the wire.
The distal portion 14 includes a plurality of spheroidal beads 16 positioned sequentially along the core wire. The beads are also securely attached to the wire. Any of the previously stated methods for attaching the head to the wire can also be used for the spheroidal beads. The beads generally have smooth, rounded surfaces to prevent drag against the duct walls during guidewire movement within the duct lumen. The leading end 17 and trailing end 18 of the bead are both rounded to facilitate movement of the guidewire in the reverse as well as forward axial direction. Preferably the beads are axially symmetrical, meaning that the curvature of the leading and trailing ends is the same. The rounded nature of the leading and trailing ends also assists the core wire to flex smoothly in regions between the beads. By flexing smoothly, the distal portion is able to assume curvature of continuously variable radius and to resist kinking or jamming when being fed into the duct. Representative bead shapes include spherical, elliptical, oval and cylindrical, i.e., cylindrical beads having hemi-spheroidal ends. Spherical and elliptical bead shape is preferred.
The distal portion of the guidewire is intended to lead the guidewire into the usually very small duct branches in the far reaches of the network. Consequently, the diameter of the beads should be sufficiently small for the distal portion to slide easily through the narrowest ducts. Therefore, the diameter of the beads in the direction perpendicular to the core wire axis should be at most about 1.5 mm.
The beads are spaced apart along the axis of the core wire by a small distance which creates a gap 19 between adjacent beads. The core wire can flex freely in the gaps. Such flexing permits the distal portion to assume suitable curvature to advance the distal end toward the target site through acute curves in the narrow duct network. If the distal portion is too flexible, it tends to kink and jam. The size of the gap distance in relation to the bead and lumen dimensions is important for defining the minimum radius of curvature and the tendency of the distal end to kink or jam. For example, FIGS. 2a, 2b and 2c illustrate a section of the distal portion of the guidewire of FIG. 1 in which the gap distances 19a, 19b and 19c, between adjacent, identically sized, beads are medium, small and large, respectively. FIGS. 3a, 3b and 3c show the distal portions of FIGS. 2a-2c, respectively, in the flexed state. As seen in FIG. 3a, the core wire 30 is free to flex until the leading end 31 of proximal bead 37 contacts the trading end 33 of the adjacent distal bead 39 to define an angle of deflection, α. By increasing axial thrust applied from the proximal portion of the guidewire, the beads can be forced to pivot against each other at the point of contact. This pivoting can cause the deflection angle to increase slightly as the core wire curvature between the beads stretches to its limit. If the gap distance is small, as in FIG. 3b, the leading and trailing ends contact ache other when the core has flexed to only a small deflection angle β. Such a distal portion will not be able to bend around sharp curves. FIG. 3c shows that adjacent beads can deflect to an angle γ of more than 90° if the gap distance is very large. If the core wire is permitted to flex to too great an angle, the distal portion can fold onto itself inside the duct causing the guidewire to kink. Furthermore, if the gap distance is too large, a following bead 32 can overtake a leading bead 34 to cause a jam against the duct walls 36 as shown in FIG. 3d. Hence, it is preferred that the gap distance should not exceed about one third of the length of the proximally adjacent bead.
Beads of the novel guidewire will also be defined by a characteristic length. By length is meant the maximum axial dimension of a bead, such as the dimension 20 in FIG. 1. The aspect ratio of beads, that is, the ratio of the length to the diameter, can also influence the ability of the distal potion to fold, kink or jam in the duct. Beads which have too great an aspect ratio will behave like long, rigid rods and will not be able to move through sharp curves. If the aspect ratio of the beads is too low, the beads may tend to bunch in a group to jam in the duct at bends and branch junctions. The physician should choose a guidewire populated with beads of size and spacing appropriately matched for the lumen to be probed. According to the present invention, the aspect ratio of the beads preferably should be within the range of about 0.75-2, and more preferably, about 1-1.5.
Although the beads for each guidewire shown in the figures are the same size, the beads of any particular guidewire distal portion can be different lengths, diameters and aspect ratios. Moreover, the gap distances between beads of a single distal portion can differ. Hence, the bead shape and spacing can be selected to provide a greater radius of curvature at the forward part of the distal end than at the trailing part.
FIG. 4 illustrates a second specific embodiment of the invention in which the beads slide along the distal portion of the guidewire. Guidewire 40 includes a slender core wire 42 extending from proximal end 44 to tip 45 fixed to plate 48. Plate 48 is embedded within spherical head 50 so as to anchor the head to the core wire in a manner which prevents the head from accidentally detaching while the guidewire is within the body of the patient. The guidewire further includes a plurality of solid spherical beads 52 each of which is drilled through a meter to create a central bore 54. The bore diameter is larger than the diameter of the distal portion of the core wire which allows the beads to freely slide along the distal portion. Forward motion of the sliding beads is limited by the presence of the head which is a sufficient size to prevent the beads from falling off the distal end of the core wire. The core wire additionally includes a stop 56 fixed to the core wire between the proximal end and the most proximal sliding bead. The stop is defined by an enlarged cross section of sufficient size to prevent the beads from sliding toward the proximal portion of the guidewire. That is, the stop diameter is larger than the bore diameter. Hence, according to the illustrated embodiment of this invention, the beads can freely slide along the distal portion between the stop and the head. Such a guidewire advantageously can flex at many more locations along the distal portion than can the fixed bead embodiment shown in FIG. 1. This sliding bead embodiment thus is able to bend to a varying radius of curvature so as to automatically conform to duct bends which exhibit a wide range of curvatures. This guidewire should also be capable of threading through highly branched ducts having severely tortuous paths to the target site.
When a duct is probed with a sliding bead guidewire, the beads generally will tend to drag until the most proximal bead 53 rests against the stop 56, as shown in FIG. 5. Alternatively, the beads can slide forward toward the head, for example when the head of the guidewire enters a steeply descending duct branch. In either of such circumstances, a long segment of the core wire 51 may extend beyond the central bores. This can substantially reduce the stiffness of distal portion. In order to maintain the adequate stiffness and to lessen the tendency for the distal portion to kink or jam, it is preferable to limit such extension to a maximum. Preferably, the overall length of the distal portion should not exceed the total bead length distance by more than about 30% and more preferably, by more than 10%. That is, the length of the core wire from the stop to the tip preferably should not be more than about 1.3, and more preferably 1.1 times the sum of all the bead lengths.
The sliding beads need not be solid. For example, the beads can be hollow with diametrically opposing apertures through which the core wire extends.
FIG. 6 illustrates a part of the distal portion of another contemplated embodiment. The core wire 60 passes eccentrically through the beads 62, i.e., not concentric with the bead diameter. Such alignment provides a natural curvature to the distal portion. It is customary for physicians to sometimes bend the tip of a conventional catheter guidewire prior to insertion in order to form a hook shape. Such bending allows the physician to direct the tip positioned at the threshold of a network branch by rotating the proximal end until the hook points into the lumen of the branch. The novel, beaded guidewire can be made to have a similar, slight, hook shaped curvature by passing the core wire through the beads eccentrically. In another contemplated variation of the illustrated embodiment, some of the beads are bored eccentrically and the remaining beads are bored concentrically with the diameter. This ability to form a natural hook shape at the distal portion by passing the core wire eccentrically through the beads can be employed in fixed bead as well as sliding bead guidewires.
Another embodiment of the present invention which employs sliding beads is illustrated in FIG. 7. This embodiment provides the advantageous feature that the stiffness, and thus to some degree, the curvature of the distal portion within a remote branch of the duct can be controlled during guidewire deployment by manipulation of the proximal end. The guidewire includes a tubular sleeve 74 which has coaxial bore 76. The lumen of the coaxial bore is sufficiently larger than the diameter of the core wire 70 that the sleeve can slide freely along the core wire. At the far end 79 of the sleeve, the coaxial bore 77 of the sleeve is enlarged to the extent that the sleeve can axially slide over the stop 72 to contact the most proximal bead 52. The outer diameter of the sleeve at the far end is smaller than the bead diameter yet larger than the diameter of the bead bore 54. These dimensions are selected to assure that the sleeve is able to advance into the duct to approach the most proximal bead 52 and to present a contact surface 78 which can bias against the trailing end 57 of the most proximal bead. The sleeve should be shorter than the core wire length yet sufficiently long that the near end 75 of the sleeve extends outside the body when the sleeve is fully threaded on the core wire. In this manner, the proximal end of the core wire extends outside the body beyond the sleeve so that both core wire and sleeve can be manipulated independently by the physician.
The guidewire optionally includes a means for controlling the relative axial positions of the sleeve and core wire. For example, the guidewire of FIG. 7 includes advancing nut 80 having a bore 82 with female screw threads 84 adapted to engage male screw threads 92 on the core wire near the proximal end. The advancing nut has an end flange 86 on the forward end of the nut which defines a circumferential groove 87 adjacent the nut body 83. The advancing nut mates with the near end of the sleeve insofar as the end flange 86 extends into cavity 94 formed by an enlarged diameter portion 95 of the sleeve 71 at the near end, thereby enabling the circumferential groove to receive a retaining ring 96 affixed to the near end of the sleeve. The retaining ring is held to the sleeve 71 by conventional fastening means, not shown, such as screws. The dimensions of the retaining ring and circumferential groove are selected to create close axial tolerance and sliding circumferential engagement between the retaining ring and advancing nut. Consequently, rotation of the advancing nut about the core wire causes axial movement of the nut induced by engagement of the screw threads to urge the end flange against near face 88 and far face 89 of the groove. The sleeve thus moves axially without rotating about the core wire. FIG. 8, showing a view through section 8--8 of FIG. 7, illustrates a key 98 extending radially inward from the coaxial bore of the sleeve. The key is adapted to engage a radial slot 99 near the proximal end of the core wire so as to further cause the sleeve to resist circumferential rotation as the advancing nut is turned. Hence, the sleeve can be advanced toward or drawn away from the core wire tip to a continuously adjustable extent by rotating the advancing nut in the appropriate direction.
The type of means for adjusting advancement of the sleeve is not critical. Other equivalent means for controlling relative axial position of the sleeve and core wire as are readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in light of the instant disclosure are contemplated to fall within the scope of the present invention.
The novel catheter guidewire equipped with a tubular sleeve is used as follows. The guidewire is prepared for insertion by retracting the sleeve until the contact surface 78 is proximally distant from the stop 72. This relieves compression between the beads and makes the distal portion most flexible. Alternatively, the sleeve can be removed from the guidewire temporarily.
Next, the guidewire is inserted into, and urged forward in the duct toward the target site until it reaches a branch junction. If previously removed, the tubular sleeve can be re-installed by sliding the sleeve over the proximal end of the core wire and advancing the sleeve forward. From the proximal end the guidewire and sleeve together can be twisted and repeatedly pushed and pulled, in forward and reverse directions, so as to direct the head into the desired branch at the junction. Also, the patient's body can be rolled, inclined and otherwise oriented in such manner as to use gravity to move the guidewire head and the most distal beads into the proper duct branch. In addition, the physician can gradually move the sleeve forward on the core wire until the contact surface at the far end of the sleeve begins to bias against the most proximal bead. For guidewires equipped with an advancing nut mechanism, this can be accomplished by rotating the nut the appropriate direction. As the advancing nut is increasingly turned, the sleeve moves farther forward on the core wire. Advancing the sleeve pushes the beads forward on the distal end of the core wire to reduce the total gap distance between the beads. The reduction in gap distance increasingly limits the ability of the distal end to flex between beads, and thus, increases distal portion stiffness. The beads ultimately become compressed between the head and the contact surface of the sleeve thereby stiffening the distal portion to a maximum amount. The physician can advance or retract the sleeve slightly to increase or decrease the degree of distal portion stiffness by rotating or counter-rotating the advancing nut. By exercising in concert all the tools of advancing and retracting the guidewire, adjusting distal portion stiffness and changing body orientation to varying degrees, the physician should be able to effectively, quickly, and without damaging the duct walls, steer the distal portion through a curve at the junction and into the desired duct branch.
Once the guidewire has successfully negotiated a curve at a duct junction, it can be pushed farther into the duct until the next junction is encountered. The sleeve can be retracted slightly relative to the core wire to reduce compression of the beads, and thereby increase distal portion flexibility. At the next junction, the distal portion again can be adjusted by advancing or retracting the sleeve on the core wire.
The beads and/or core wire can be made of radioopaque materials. Accordingly, conventional fluoroscopy techniques can be used to allow the physician to monitor the progress of the guidewire distal portion and to steer the guidewire into the proper branch at each duct junction.
The procedure of negotiating the guidewire into the desired branches of the duct at successive junctions is repeated until the guidewire tip arrives at the intended target site. If a tubular sleeve is used, it can be removed completely by sliding it off the proximal end of the core wire. A catheter then can be placed over the proximal end and threaded into the duct along the guidewire by conventional means. Finally with the catheter suitably deployed, the guidewire can be retracted from the duct, if necessary.
In another embodiment of the novel catheter guidewire shown in FIG. 9 the distal portion comprises a chain of a plurality of ball and post member segments. The ball members are spheroidal and the post members are elongated. Each segment includes a ball member 102 pivotably connected at a position 104 on the surface 103 to first post end 112 of a post member 110. The second post end 114 is linked to a neighboring segment with a pivotable connection to an adjacent ball member 120. The pivotable connection of the second post end is positioned on the surface 123 of the adjacent ball member diametrically opposite to the first post end 122 of the adjacent post member. The plurality of ball and post members thus form a sequential chain which may be likened to a common key chain or electrical fixture pull chain.
As stated, the chain of ball and post member segments forms the distal portion of the guidewire. One end of the chain is attached to the distal end 111 of the core wire 113. The most proximal ball member 102 can be attached so as to pivot around the distal end or it can be immovably attached. The free end 125 of the chain has a head 126 with a blunt forward end 127. The head can be a specially formed second post end. Preferably, the head is spheroidal ball member without a second post member connection position.
The method of effecting the pivotable connection between ball members and post members is not critical. A universal joint configuration similar to that of an automobile drive shaft, for example, is acceptable, however, a ball and socket joint is preferred. In order to incorporate such a ball and socket joint, the ball member can include at the pivotable connection position a convex, spherical cavity 107 to form the socket adapted to receive a spherical ball 115 affixed to the ends of the post member.
Another preferred embodiment of the novel guidewire having ball and post members is illustrated in FIG. 10. Each ball member is a hollow spheroid 130 having two diametrically opposite openings 132 and 134. The post member 140 has a cross section diameter smaller than the opening diameter which permits the post end 142 to extend into the openings so that the post member 140 slidably engages two adjacent ball members 130 and 136. The post ends 142 include a flange 143 having a cross section diameter greater than the opening diameter. The flange prevents the post end from disengaging from the ball member. In is embodiment, a clearance between the post member diameter and the lip of the opening allows the post member to pivot about the lip. In addition, this type of guidewire provides the beneficial feature that the post members can penetrate the ball members to varying extents. That is, the gap distance can range from zero when the intermediate post member between adjacent ball members is inserted wholly inside the adjacent balls, as shown in FIG. 11, to a maximum when the ball members extend to the limit of the intermediate post member and are constrained by the flanges as shown in FIG. 12. Therefore, this ball-and-post member construction distal portion, can conform to the curvature of the bodily duct extremely well.
A particularly preferred embodiment of the ball and post member novel guidewire is shown in FIG. 13. The proximal portion 151 of the core wire 152 has a central bore 154 extending from the distal end 156 to an exit orifice 158 near the proximal end 153. Near the proximal end, the bore can remain concentric with the longitudinal axis of the core wire to emerge at the proximal end, or it can veer away from the axis to emerge from the core wire at the circumferential surface, as shown. In addition, each post member is hollow to define a longitudinal tunnel 160 therein. One end of a line thread 162 is affixed to the distal end of the guidewire. The other, free end of the thread is lead back to the proximal end of the guidewire through each post member tunnel and ball member, and the central bore of core wire. The thread can be affixed internally to the distal end of the guidewire at any axial position, however, eccentric attachment at a position offset from the axis is preferred. Such eccentric attachment position permits the distal portion to form a curve when the thread is tensioned, as will be explained.
The thread is sufficiently long that the free end extends outside the body at the proximal end of the guidewire. By tensing the thread, the physician can pull the ball members proximally. This causes the post members to insert into the ball members, as described above, and the gap distances between ball members to diminish. Tensing the thread thus stiffens the distal portion. Accordingly, the physician can manipulate the stiffness of the distal portion to maximum advantage while deploying the guidewire into branches of the bodily duct by gently pulling and releasing the free end of the thread. FIG. 13 shows an advantage provided when the core wire central bore 154 veers away from the axis 155 to emerge from the core wire at the circumferential surface 159. Specifically, the free end of the thread extends from the guidewire at a position convenient for the physician to manipulate the thread with one hand while grasping the core wire near the proximal end with the other hand.
Fixed bead guidewires according to the present invention can be deployed in a manner similar to that described above. However, the physician will not have the ability to remotely adjust stiffness of a fixed bead guidewire distal portion during deployment.
Variations of ball-and-post member embodiments of the novel guidewire which can induce curvature in the distal portion are contemplated. For example, the two openings for posts in each ball member can be eccentric from the diameter, i.e., so that the openings are not diametrically opposite each other. Consequently, when the posts insert into the balls as can occur when the distal portion encounters the wall at a duct junction, the distal portion will form a hook shape, as has been described above. Also, the thread end 163 can be affixed to the distal end of the guidewire offset from the guidewire axis 155, as illustrated in FIG. 13. Alternatively, the thread can be run externally to the posts by penetrating the ball members through holes 171 provided as shown in FIG. 14. In such embodiments tensioning the thread will induce curvature in the distal portion, much in the way that a human finger deflects from an initially straight orientation to grip a curved object when the digital muscles are contracted.
The distal portion of the novel guidewire will be in a most flexible state for example when the sleeve is retracted or removed, or the thread is completely untensioned. In such condition, it may be difficult to initially feed the distal portion into the duct at the incision point, as by analogy, it is sometimes hard to thread a limp fiber through the eye of a needle. In order to facilitate feeding the extremely flexible distal portion into the duct while maintaining the beads aligned in single file behind the head, the present invention can include an optional insertion tube 170 as shown in FIG. 15. The insertion tube is basically a rigid, hollow cylinder with a tube lumen 172 having a diameter slightly larger than the bead diameter, and preferably less than two bead diameters. The insertion tube preferably has a funnel-shaped proximal orifice 174. In use, the distal extremity 176 of the insertion tube is injected through the skin 175 and past subdermal tissue, not shown, into the duct 177. Outside the body, the distal portion of the guidewire is easily fed into the funnel-shaped proximal orifice and advanced within the tube lumen. The distal portion of the guidewire is then urged forward into the insertion tube. Owing to the small tube lumen diameter, the beads remain in single file while traveling the full length of the insertion tube. Finally, the head and trailing beads emerge from the port 178 at the distal extremity inside the body duct in single file alignment as shown in FIG. 16. Length of the insertion tube is not critical. Preferably, the overall length of the insertion tube is about 2 to about 20 cm. After the distal portion of the guidewire fully enters the duct, the insertion tube can be removed from the proximal end of the core wire.
The catheter guidewire of the present invention should be useful for deploying catheters in fluid filled cavities such as the dural sac. For example, it can be used to probe along the spinal cord by access through a lumbar puncture. In such fluid filed applications, materials of densities substantially different from the fluid density can be used to make beads which will float or sink in the fluid. Buoyant or sinking beads can help direct the guidewire up or down toward the target site. Preferably, the beads should have a density significantly greater or less than 1 g/cm3, and more preferably, higher than 1.2 g/cm3 and lower than 0.8 g/cm3. Low density plastics or gas-filled beads can be used for light beads and metal can be selected for high density beads.
The novel catheter guidewire of this invention can be constructed from conventional materials well known in the art, such as metal or plastic. Metal beads of titanium and stainless steel, for example, will be radioopaque, and therefore, are preferred. The tubular sleeve can be constructed of synthetic elastomer. Metal wire or plastic such as nylon can be used for the tensioning thread.
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text: FAQ What it takes to be a Kumon Franchisee Here's what you will need to know if you're interested in becoming a Kumon Franchisee. Read the information below to gain a better understanding of the application process and to determine if becoming a Kumon Franchisee is right for you. Is there a franchise opportunity in my area? Am I qualified to become a Kumon Franchisee? Must I have a background in education? What is the application and approval process? What kind of training will I need? How much money and space do I need to open a Kumon Center? How will I work with Kumon, and how will they support my franchise? How can I get more detailed information? How do I get started? What is Kumon? Is there a franchise opportunity in my area? With more than 2,000 centers, Kumon enjoys a presence across North America and is committed to growth, primarily in more populated, commercial, metropolitan areas. Check Available Franchise Opportunities to see about opening a center or taking over an existing one in your area. Top Am I qualified to become a Kumon Franchisee? If you enjoy working with children and have some prior business experience, that's a very good start. Kumon Franchisee candidates must meet the following qualifications to be considered for a franchise opportunity: A passion for and dedication to education and working with children Teaching background helpful, but not essential A four-year college degree is required Adequate capitalization to aggressively develop your Kumon Center Required capital needed to establish a Kumon Math and Reading Center $70,000 liquid capital $150,000 net worth The ability to create and manage a center that effectively motivates children in the Kumon Learning Method and an interest in and commitment to helping children in your community The ability to deliver an excellent customer experience while maintaining dedication to Kumon's core values A good understanding of your area of opportunity and strong ties to the community Excellent communication and interpersonal skills A full-time commitment to Kumon — an average of 6–8 hours per business day U.S. Citizen or Permanent Legal Resident (Green Card) Top Must I have a background in education? Not all Kumon Instructors have a background in teaching, but most have worked with children in the past. It's not a requirement as long as you like children and are good at working with them. Kumon Franchisees typically have some kind of business background and have decided to apply it to helping children learn. Many have family members who have been enrolled in Kumon. Top What is the application and approval process? The path to becoming a Kumon Franchisee is an exciting journey. We will work with you to complete the multiphased process once you have submitted your application. Complete and submit your application. Attend a two-hour Kumon Franchise seminar and complete a Math, Reading and Written proficiency assessment. Participate in an initial interview via telephone with the franchise recruitment manager. Participate in an in-person interview with the general manager. Be proficient in math and reading. Receive and review the Franchise Disclosure Document. Provide proof of citizenship or permanent residency (Permanent Resident Card). Provide proof of assets. Participate in a more in-depth review of net worth, including proof of funding. Process credit background check. Provide results of criminal records check. Receive final approval and an invitation to franchisee training/Kumon Instructor Development Program. Begin franchisee training/Kumon Instructor Development Program. This is a thirteen-day training program that takes place at Kumon University in Teaneck, New Jersey, over a five month period. Approval of site. Finalize lease for approved site. Successfully complete Kumon Instructor Development Program. Sign Franchise Agreement. Top What kind of training will I need? Kumon trains qualifying franchisees in the Kumon Curriculum and the Kumon Learning Method, as well as business strategies for owning and operating a Kumon Center. Kumon Center owners also take part in our continuing education programs. Top How much money and space do I need to open a Kumon Center? It all depends on where you plan to set up your business, our stated range in our Franchise Disclosure Document is $64,073 - $134,100 for the initial investment. It is recommended that the retail location of the center be at least 1,200 useable square feet. The minimum lease term is 5 years. You'll find that Kumon has a much lower startup cost than other supplemental learning franchises. View Investment for more detailed Information. Top How will I work with Kumon, and how will they support my franchise? Through Kumon branch offices, our staff takes an active role in supporting franchisees in both the administration of programs and center growth and development. Student materials are continually reviewed, updated and supplied to our centers. Both internal communications and customer communications are produced and disseminated regularly. Continuing training, meetings and seminars are widely attended by Kumon Franchisees. In addition, Kumon North America is now embarking on the most aggressive marketing and franchisee support program in its history. Top How can I get more detailed information? For more information, call 855-KUMONUS (855-586-6687), or you can start the application process by clicking the following link for franchise opportunities. Click Here to View Available Franchise Opportunities Near You Click Here to Fill Out and Submit the Kumon Franchise Application Top How do I get started? We encourage you to familiarize yourself with Kumon and our franchise opportunities by calling call 855-KUMONUS (855-586-6687) or clicking on the link above. If you think you would make a good Kumon Franchisee based on your interest, background and qualifications — and if there appears to be an opportunity in your area — we would love to hear from you. Top What is Kumon? Kumon is the world's largest after-school math and reading enrichment program. Kumon unlocks the potential of children so they can achieve more on their own. It allows students of all ages and abilities to build the skills they need to have a richer, more successful educational experience. It is also a place where children are motivated to achieve more by gaining a sense of accomplishment that fosters further achievement, driving them to perform at their highest potential. Kumon Centers are individually owned and operated. Who we are, what we believe in and how we do business — Learn more about our core values at www.kumon.com. Top

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Better Enough: Design Thinking in Three Easy Questions
We enjoy sharing our thinking and insights on interesting business and organizational topics. In all of our writings, we provide practical and tactical guidance that helps leaders think a little differently or find the courage to make important or difficult decisions and then take action. Below are a few articles written by Coraggio partners, principals and alumni.


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Jan 28th
Gears of War: Judgment Demo Arrives 19th March
Earlier Access to Those Who Pre-Ordered From US Retailer GameStop
If you're reading this post and you're not from the United States, prepare for a slight feeling of injustice. Major Nelson has announced that a demo for the upcoming Gears of War: Judgment is making it's way to Xbox LIVE. Here are the details:
If you've pre-ordered the game from US outlet, GameStop, then you can access the demo from the 15th March with the full game due to be released in North America on the 19th. Live outside of the US however, and you can access the demo on the 19th, with the full game released in the UK on the 22nd. You'll need an Xbox LIVE Gold Membership and 2GB of free storage, too.
Also, those who have pre-ordered from GameStop will have their XP earned in the demo carried over to the full game, allowing them to get the jump on everyone else in terms of unlocks and achievements. These special few will also receive an exclusive "Young Marcus" character skin and Lambent weapon skin.
The demo will feature the new OverRun game mode, in which five players battle for objectives. The game will also feature class-based multiplayer for the first time in Gears of War, a norm in most competitive multiplayer since Call of Duty 4.


text:
Energy Blog
Energy efficiency, renewable energy, green building and cleantech startups.
Monthly Archive for May, 2007
SFO PUC Adds PV to HQ, Seeks LEED
San Francisco's Public Utilities Commission is putting its millions where its mouth is. But it's keeping mum about its Civic Center project, a solar-powered government tower that would be more energy-efficient than any large office building in the U.S. [Read More]
Chevron and Weyerhaeuser Partner on Cellulosic Biofuels R&D (GreenBiz)
Chevron's expertise in fuel technologies, coupled Weyerhaeuser's knowledge of forest products, may be a future source of renewable biofuels made from wood fiber and other cellulose sources. [Read More]
Show More


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My family takes April Fool's Day pretty seriously. As a child, I thought everyone did. I didn't notice that normal people spent the month of March watching NCAA basketball or going for bike rides; I was busy brainstorming for April 1, preparing gambits that would be a notch above remarkable but just shy of incredible. When I was nine, I told my parents my school had burned down. When I was (actually) driving back from post-Katrina New Orleans, I called my dad to tell him I was dropping out of college and moving into a FEMA trailer with my new sweetheart. Pretending to be my landlord's lawyer, I threatened to sue my roommate for having loud sex.
But each year, my 85-year-old grandmother is the biggest target. On one hand, this could be perceived as cruelty to my elders. On the other hand, you should see the grin on her face when she retells the stories. Which she does, constantly, to strangers. She clearly enjoys being part of the annual revelry, even if her role is to be duped. One year I told her I was getting married. Another year I told her I was climbing Mount Everest — without a jacket. Then I dragged her to Grand Central Terminal, where my friend Ben pretended to be a StoryCorps employee.
Eventually, she wised up and stopped picking up the phone. She now marks the April 1 box on her calendar with the most counterintuitive instructions a Jewish grandmother can imagine: Don't talk to your grandson today.
I had to find another way to reach her. My aforementioned friend Ben suggested snail mail.
This is what I sent her:
Figureheading: The Opposite of Ghostwriting
If I write a piece that does not appear under my name, you might call me a ghostwriter. But what about the inverse? What if I don't write a piece that does appear under my name?
According to the slang I just made up, that would be called figureheading. Which would make me, metaphorically, a wood carving. Or, one-metaphor-removedly, a celebrity taking credit for words I did not write. But I am not a celebrity, and I never asked anyone to be my ghostwriter. So why are two pieces I didn't write masquerading under my name?
More Foster Wallace
On May 21, 2005, David Foster Wallace—by then recognized as one of America's best living writers—spoke to the graduating class of Kenyon College. Wallace had earned a reputation as a wily postmodernist, but his address that day was straightforward and sweet. It began this way:
There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says 'Morning, boys. How's the water?' And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, 'What the hell is water?'
Last week, the speech was published posthumously as a short book. This Is Water will not be remembered as the pinnacle of David Foster Wallace's literary career, but it reminds us that, beneath all the virtuosity and above all the footnotes, Wallace was a compassionate humanist. He was not just our generation's greatest prose stylist; he was one of our greatest spiritual writers as well. Read more…
a broken streetlight. / an unsafe building site.
The text below comes from a poster for 311, a New York City government hotline. The poster tries to make 311 sexy (a tall order for a hotline) by using "311" as a transitive verb. They don't want you to "call 311 to find out where your towed vehicle has gone"–that sounds so pedestrian–rather, you "311 your towed vehicle." In order to form imperative sentences of this type, on the poster, each of the phrases below was preceded by "311." I didn't get this at first, so I just read the text below, objects without predicates, and thought of it as a poem about urban life.
senior services. your noisy neighbor. graffiti cleanup. food assistance. domestic violence counseling. a tree request. summer meals for youth. recycling and trash collection. a broken streetlight. an unsafe building site. health care for your family. a pothole on your street. a dog license. alternate side parking. a park. youth employment. a heat or hot water complaint. your towed vehicle.
Maniacal in Minnesota
Even in the throes of campaign excitement, chugging along at breakneck speed on the Hope Express, most of us had a few sober moments. During these moments, we realized that not all of Obama's campaign promises would come to fruition. Even if he was sincere about wanting to fix healthcare or education, his plans might be blocked; or they might be enacted and not work.
Still, at a minimum, we knew that President Obama would be able to do at least a few real, consequential things. He would order the closure of Guantanamo. (Check.) He would bring the troops home. (Um…impending check?) And he would push through a bipartisan bill that would grant free education in exchange for national service. Sure, this one would require congressional approval — but who would oppose an expansion of voluntary public service? Who could possibly launch a PR campaign against AmeriCorps?
I should have known the answer, of course. Who else but the wackiest conservative around, the lady who makes Glenn Beck look like Charlie Rose, Michele Bachmann:
Where is this paranoia coming from? By "philosophical agenda," does she mean, perhaps, the agenda put forward during the Sermon on the Mount? I am going to stop writing about this before I start getting angry. The point is: this is not a question of competing political ideologies, but of incommensurate versions of reality. When Michele Bachmann looks out the window, or reads the (liberal) news, she simply does not see the world I see.
Nothing But a Party
[Originally published in Killing the Buddha]
"You heading to the second line?" the stranger asks. He is standing in the middle of the street, where the dividing line would be if there was one, picking catfish from a Styrofoam box. "Just up there a few blocks. You can hear the music almost."
I am on my way to the second line, but I don't answer right away. I have just left New York, and am still following that city's unspoken code—that any stranger who wants to chat is crazy, or soliciting money, or both.
I have to remind myself: this is New Orleans, where strangers make small talk and eye contact; where "All right" is a greeting; where "How are you?" is more than a greeting; where people are nice to each other for no reason.
"I am going to the second line, actually," I say. "Are you?"
He spits out a bone. "I'll walk with you a bit. Can't go too far, though. Have to watch the museum." I guess he means the Backstreet Cultural Museum, half a block behind us. As I passed by it I considered going in; but I couldn't tell if it was a hidden treasure or a scam, some guy trying to charge me $8 to fondle his tchotchkes. (Later, when a New Orleanian suggests I visit that very museum, I ask her which she thinks it is. "Both," she says, without a pause.)
He walks with me a bit. Asks me if I knew the woman.
He must mean the lady who died. "No. Did you?"
"Oh, sure. Everyone in the Treme knew her. You must not be from around here."
I am not. I am visiting for a weekend. The wrong weekend, most people would say: the first weekend of Lent, four days after Mardi Gras. The streets are quiet. The French Quarter looks like a living room the morning after a house party: sticky sidewalks instead of sticky floorboards; plastic beads instead of plastic cups. The city feels diffident, not sure what it did last night and afraid to find out.
New Orleans is a deeply Catholic city. Before the storm, 40 percent of the city's children went to Catholic schools; the city is still split into parishes. Even Ignatius Reilly, main character of A Confederacy of Dunces and the great literary anti-hero of New Orleans, was a grudging Catholic. Reilly disdained all modern institutions—capitalism, democracy, courtship, kinship, even New Orleans itself—but he never renounced the Church.
In a bona fide Sin City like Las Vegas, the hedonism buffet is open year-round. In New Orleans, though, the revelry runs in cycles of indulgence and guilt, delineated by the liturgical calendar. After all, Mardi Gras, that bacchanal of bacchanals, is a Catholic festival, and it ends with a hell of a whimper: forty days of fasting and repentance. This is New Orleans—the country's biggest party followed by the universe's biggest buzzkill.
The catfish docent and I part ways, and suddenly here comes the second line, and suddenly I'm swept up in it. Two white horses draw an ornate gharry carriage with the casket inside. The band marches in front, playing those sweet sad dirges everyone knows—"When the Saints Go Marching In," "This Little Light of Mine"—and we go along with them, in equal scale weighing delight and dole.
Is a jazz funeral really a funeral or a party? Both, I say.
A lady near me wears a torn tank top and no shoes, a cigarette burning in each hand. The first time I look over she's gyrating wildly, grinding her hips and shouting with primal, aggressive joy; the next moment she's bent over a parked car, racked with sobs. She might be the sister of the deceased, blind with grief, or she might just be out of her mind. Read more…
P. T. Barnum and Martha Nussbaum
Went to see the elephants last night. They were walking across Manhattan in the cold, starting at the Midtown Tunnel at midnight and ending at Madison Square Garden. (They had to get to the Garden to perform in the circus and, as my friend put it, "How else are they gonna get there?")
It all sounded like a great idea around 9:00 pm. When someone asks you if you want to go see the elephants, it seems that yes is the only right answer. But by the time it was 11:30 and time to go, I was having doubts. Then after an hour underground, the Q train lurching, then stopping, the whole time wondering whether I was missing the parade, I picked a mental fight with Del Close: You can't always say yes!
Off the train and above ground: We had not missed the elephants. We were just in time. The crowd was pressed up against the barricades, brimming with a kind of self-conscious, self-fulfilling enthusiasm. (The logic seemed to be: "This is a childish thing to do, so I will do it with a childlike sense of wonder.") We were shivering, but every few minutes someone would yell "Whooo! Elephants!" and we would all break into a cheer. The elephants were not here just yet, but they were coming, goddammit.
This is the amazing thing about New York: whatever crazy, self-destructive thing you decide to do, you can take comfort in the fact that hundreds of people will be stupid enough to do it with you.


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Boise State Head Coach Chris Petersen On Coaches Being Put on the "Hot Seat" – Memo To Chris Petersen Who Is Making Millions of Dollars A Year: This Is AMERICA…If You Can't Handle the Heat Find Another Profession! – The Post Week 3 Coaches Hot Seat Rankings – The Top 10 Coaches on the Post Week 3 Coaches Hot Seat Rankings
Before we get to the Post Week 3 Coaches Hot Seat Rankings and the Top 10 Head Coaches on the latest Coaches Hot Seat Rankings we first must address something that was said by the ESPN announcers on the Air Force – Boise State telecast on Friday night.
We are paraphrasing but the ESPN broadcasters said they had been talking to Boise State head coach Chris Petersen in preparation for the Air Force game and that Petersen said (paraphrasing):
"This Hot Seat stuff is just terrible. Coaches are already under lots of pressure and talking about firing coaches in Week 2 is just crazy."
The above is close but not exactly what Chris Petersen told the ESPN broadcasters but we believe you and we here at Coaches Hot Seat get the drift of what Petersen was saying which was…
"Coaches being put on the Hot Seat early in the season is wrong because coaches are already under pressure without that talk."
We cannot imagine that Chris Petersen is talking about the Coaches Hot Seat website since we are just a tiny presence on the Internet that has no influence over anyone, any issue and especially on what head coaches are or are not on the Hot Seat so we are guessing that Petersen is talking about large media organizations like ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, Fox Sports, Sports Illustrated, CBS Sports, etc. that are discussing amongst themselves what coach is or might be on the Hot Seat and to Chris Petersen claiming that someone in the media doing that is inappropriate we can only say…
Take your $2 Million Dollars a Year Job Coaching Football and Stuff It Where the SUN DOES NOT SHINE!
Geez Chris Petersen….in a time when there are 70 Million Plus Americans not even in the workforce and no doubt living hand-to-mouth each week while they struggle to keep food on the table and keep a roof over their and/or their family's head that a Prima-Donna college head football coach would complain about coaches making…
Millions of Dollars A Year
…job status being questioned is so far over-the-top we don't even know where to start.
Well, we could start with this…
NO ONE forced you Chris Petersen or ANY other football coach to…
Coach Football!
…and in case you didn't know it Petersen since you have worked your entire life on a college campus which is a Complete Fantasyland out in the REAL WORLD if you do not perform at a very high level every Damn day of the week…
Your Ass Will Be Sent Packing
….and without a big buyout with Millions of Dollars in your pocket as you go out the door after you have FAILED at your Damn job!
Athletic Departments across America have paid out over the past 20 years..
Hundreds of Millions of Dollars
…in the form of buyouts to head coaches and assistant coaches that failed miserably at their jobs and in case you haven't checked lately Chris in a time when American workers wages have stagnated and even reversed for many the salaries of college head football coaches have more than TRIPLED in the last 20 years!
That the media is talking about Lane Kiffin and Mack Brown possibly losing their jobs is NOT inappropriate because Kiffin and Brown have been in the last few years performing at a level way Damn below what they should at their respective schools especially when they are making…
Millions of Dollars A Year
….to coach football programs that win football games and championships and if Chris Petersen can't stand the pressure that comes with being a head football coach at a major college then Petersen can find something else to do like teach philosophy or botany there at Boise State University for about $50K a year and no one will bother…
Precious Chris Petersen's Precious Ass
….who in our opinion here at Coaches Hot Seat
Does NOT have the GUTS or COURAGE
…to take a Big-Time head coaching job at a Big-Time school because he knows he…
Could NOT handle the pressure! PERIOD.
Hey Chris Petersen! There are members of the US Military at this very moment operating in combat zones all around the world making less than $50K a year that do have GUTS and COURAGE and you are complaining about some media organizations…
Talking about the job status of college head coaches making Millions of Dollars a year?
Please, how about coaching your Damn football team Chris Petersen and if you want to prove you have some GUTS and COURAGE if USC, Texas, Nebraska or some other Big-Time school calls you later this fall why don't you….
Take the Damn Job!
….and let's see if you can really coach the game of football or are you just riding the coattails of what the previous head coaches built at Boise State and playing in a conference against very mediocre football teams.
Yes, Chris Petersen has every right to criticize anyone he likes….this is America after all and FREE SPEECH is what separates us from Fascist countries like China and Russia which are scared to death of their own people…but Chris Petersen…
Americans…ANY Americans…have the right to criticize you or any other Damn college head coach
…and if you don't like the criticism then find something else to do as former Auburn head coach and College Football Hall of Fame member Pat Dye advised coaches to do if they can't handle the heat:
"If you're a football coach, criticism comes with the territory. If it tears you up, you better get into another profession."
Oh….Pat Dye said the above in……1985.
Memo to USC AD Pat Haden: Pat, when you fire Lane Kiffin and no doubt you will fire Lane Kiffin soon don't bother to make a call to see if Boise State head coach Chris Petersen is interested in the USC job because Petersen CAN'T TAKE THE HEAT that comes with coaching at Big-Time job because Precious Chris is afraid that he might wake-up one day and see people on ESPN talking about his job status!
Question: When did America become such a bunch of Candy Ass Pussies that people making Millions Dollars A Year to do a job the readily and voluntarily took can't take a little criticism?
No doubt it was after World War II because there is not a chance in Hell that Candy Ass Pussies coaching a college football team that can't take someone criticizing their Precious Asses would have NEVER been able to whip the Germans and Japanese….PERIOD.
Getting onto one of these boats was/would be REAL PRESSURE Chris Petersen…
….not having someone put your Precious Ass on the Hot Seat when you are making Millions of Dollars a year and when there are 70 Million Americans that can't get a Damn job!
With that off our chest let's get to the Post Week 3 Coaches Hot Seat Rankings!
Give 'e Hell Mr. Cash!
Top 10 Head Coaches on the Post Week 3 Coaches Hot Seat Rankings
1. Mack Brown, Texas – We have a member of Coaches Hot Seat that can tell stories about the Alabama football program going back to the 1970s who also knows where all the bodies are buried in Tuscaloosa and who put them there and on Sunday as we watched NFL football he made the comment about Mack Brown and Texas football:
"Texas right now looks a lot like the end of the Gene Stallings and beginning of Mike Dubose era at Alabama. There are all kinds of people that have nothing to do with winning football games that have their hands and voices in all kinds of things at UT (Univ. of Texas) that have nothing to do with Texas winning football games."
What should scare the Hell out of the fans of Texas football is that as Gene Stallings was pushed out the door….meaning forced to resign….at Alabama after the 1996 season which saw Bama put up a 10 – 3 record Mike Dubose was hired by Alabama who promptly put up a dismal record of 24 – 23 in four seasons in Tuscaloosa and was the head coach when Alabama got hit hard by the NCAA during the Albert Means debacle BUT what really makes Alabama in the mid-1990s and Texas of today similar is that both schools…in our opinion of course…were/are heavily influenced and it might even be said are controlled by wealthy alumni and boosters that are calling all the shots in Austin.
The reason that it is our opinion here at Coaches Hot Seat that the current President and Athletic Director at Texas no more run the University of Texas and the Texas Athletic Department than the Man on the Moon is that the signs of this TRUTH are everywhere in Austin if one is willing to do a little legwork and even last week two members of the media knew exactly who they needed to talk to relative to Mack Brown's job security and it wasn't any employed by the University of Texas:
Jamail in Mack's corner, Kirk Bohls, Austin American Statesman
Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman, who has been working in Texas media longer than many of us here at CHS have been alive on Earth called Texas booster and billionaire Joe Jamail to check on Mack Brown's status and we find out that Mack Brown actually talks to Joe Jamail EVERY FREAKING DAY! Yes, we can see Nick Saban talking to an Alabama booster EVERY FREAKING DAY….NOT!
Texas denies report of Dodds stepping down, Mike Finger, Express-News
Mike Finger of the San Antonio Express-News called Texas booster and billionaire Red McCombs to get his opinion on Mack Brown and Texas AD DeLoss Dodds' future which is OF COURSE who Mike Finger should have been calling….right Red?
We have some news for fans of Texas football and Texas athletics:
There are very few to NO places in America where reporters and columnists would call boosters to check on the job status of the athletic director and head football coach EXCEPT at Texas which in our opinion is now…
Run by a very small group of very rich, very powerful and Very Damn Dumb boosters that don't know their asses from the side of a barn when it comes to what it takes to field a winning football team on the field AND it is also our opinion these boosters would swap not having to admit they are WRONG about anything even if the Texas football program was destroyed in the process of satisfying their massive egos.
Our opinion of course.
Beyond the above there are several other problems and issues at Texas that have NOTHING to do with the Texas football program winning football games and championships including the Complete Absurdity of Mack Brown's entire life being turned into a reality show by the Longhorn Network which we believe is taking its toll on Mack Brown and is directly impacting in a very negative way the Texas football program something that Brown himself even talked about last Fall:
Even Mack Brown Hates The Longhorn Network, Deadspin.com
Of course, NONE of the above excuses Mack Brown for having final authority and full responsibility for the Texas football program and its performance on the field and since the 2009 – 2010 National Championship Game against Alabama the Texas Longhorns have played 41 games over the past four seasons and their record is…
23 – 18 (.561)
…and to put those 18 losses in the last 3.25 seasons into perspective between 2001 and 2009 (9 seasons) Brown and Texas only lost…
16 Games Total!
What then has gone wrong at Texas and can Mack Brown do anything to turn things around in Austin?
Well, since no one here at Coaches Hot Seat is going to take over the coaching duties of a college football program anytime soon we called a high school coach in the Great State of Texas that gave us some great insight into defending the spread offense last Fall and we asked him what he thought was wrong with Texas football and his response was:
"Texas is just not very well coached right now."
Coaches Hot Seat: "Can you elaborate on that?"
Texas High School Football Coach: "They are out of position on defense a lot and often take bad paths to the ball carrier. On offense I don't have a clue to what the Hell they are trying to do or be. Are they a spread offense, a power running offense or are they going into a game with several hundred plays and most of them they can't run very well? I would guess the latter."
There you have it fans of Texas football from the horse's mouth which in the state of Texas a high school football coach is about a knowledgeable of a person that you can talk to about the game of football.
The Texas defense is in disarray and the Texas offense doesn't have a clue what it wants to be which 99.9 percent of time in the game of football leads to…
….like 18 losses in their last 41 games for Texas football!
What can be done to turn things around at Texas?
WELL, anyone that watched the Ole Miss – Texas game saw a Longhorns defense that was worn out by the beginning of the 4 th quarter which led to the Rebels running wild and beating Texas in the 2 2 nd half by a score of…
27 – 0
….and which saw the 'Horns offense finish the game with these SEVEN drives…
7 plays – 41 yards – Punt
3 plays – 4 yards – Punt
3 plays – 3 yards – Punt
3 plays – 3 yards – Punt
3 plays – 4 yards – Punt
6 plays – 5 yards – Fumble
6 plays – 28 yards – Turnover on Downs
4 plays – 5 yards – Turnover on Downs
….which put a tremendous strain on the Texas defense and would lead us to the following if we took over Texas football tomorrow:
We would tell Texas offensive coordinator Major Applewhite to put away his big playbook and bag of "innovative" plays because against Kansas State this week Texas football was going to find out if there were still any REAL MEN on the UT football team because we are going to….
RUN THE BALL, RUN THE BALL, RUN THE BALL, RUN THE BALL and RUN THE BALL SOME MORE
….against Kansas State because for Damn sure we want to keep the Texas defense on the sidelines as much as Damn possible!
Of course, there is nothing like a play-action pass play after you have whipped your opponent up front and run the ball up and down the field on them BUT does anyone think that Texas football and especially the Horns offense can whip anyone in college football today?
Didn't think so.
After a 1 – 2 start Texas has left in 2013…
Kansas State
At Iowa State
At TCU
At West Virginia
Oklahoma State
Texas Tech
At Baylor
…and save for Kansas IF Texas plays like they did against BYU and Ole Miss the Longhorns will only win 1 Game the rest of this season and if Mack Brown think things are bad now just wait until you have to resign after going….
2 – 10!
Lastly, there is something else that happened between the Texas – Alabama BCS Title Game in January 2010 and today which is a time when the Texas football program has gone…
23 – 18 (.561)
…in its last 41 games and that thing was the below headline that stunned the college football world on June 3, 2010:
Pac-12 set to invite six from Big 12, Chip Brown, OrangeBloods.com
Of course, the above story broke right in the middle of the Big 12 Conference meetings in the summer of 2010 and it detailed how the Pac-10 Conference was going to invite…
Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado
….to form a new Pac-16 Conference which would have left Iowa State, Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska and Missouri to go looking for a new conference affiliation.
In OUR opinion here at Coaches Hot Seat the above story was leaked to OrangeBloods.com by someone at Texas to be released right in the middle of the Big 12 Conference meetings in order to cause a number of things to happen that would in the opinion of the "leaker" benefit the University of Texas even though TEXAS never had any intention of every moving to a new Pac-16 Conference under ANY circumstances….in our opinion of course.
What happened next after the above story was written is well documented with Nebraska applying for and joining the Big Ten Conference which was something the "leaker" at Texas wanted to happen and it led to Texas A&M heading to the SEC Conference which the "leaker" at Texas also wanted to see happen which was then followed by Missouri heading to the SEC which the "leaker" at Texas didn't really give a Damn about since no one at Texas gave two rips about what Missouri does BUT the above story by Chip Brown at OrangeBloods.com also did something else and that is it…
Weakened the Big 12 Conference
….considerably and provided an opening for Texas to form the Longhorn Network which went on the air in April 2011 and pays Texas about $11 Million Dollars a year.
YES, Nebraska, Texas A&M and Missouri leaving the Big 12 Conference gave Texas a stronger hand which it used to form its own network while the Big 12 Conference still does not have a network of its own BUT in our opinion here at Coaches Hot Seat the actions by the people at Texas and when we write "people" we mean a Helluva lot of people that don't work for the University of Texas is that instead of making Texas Athletics stronger their selfish and egotistical actions have actually done great damage to Texas athletic programs including the Texas football program and the PROOF of that is the performance of the UT football, basketball and baseball programs in the last three years which has been dismal at best and a complete disgrace to the University of Texas at worse…..and the downward spiral at Texas is not over yet….it is NO WHERE NEAR from being over.
In our opinion the University of Texas is run by some of the BIGGEST….
Pompous, Arrogant Asses on the Face of the Earth
….and who would to a man in our opinion…
Destroy the University of Texas
Destroy Texas Athletics
….to satisfy their own Massive Egos which in TRUTH is the ONLY thing that really matters to them on this Earth.
Memo to Mack Brown: Good Luck against Kansas State this week BUT why don't you count the minutes and even hours you spend satisfying the egos of a Helluva lot of people that have NOTHING to do with Texas winning football games and what you will find Mack is that the Bastards that claim to "love Texas football" are actually the Bastards destroying the program and sinking your coaching career in the process.
Here's a suggestion for you Mack Brown from people that don't have a dog in this fight: Tell the folks at the Longhorn Network and these boosters that are always calling you that they can…
…and to leave you the Hell alone because you have a football team to coach!
Oh, the "people" in charge at Texas don't really care if Texas football wins or not as long as they are getting their precious asses kissed?
That sounds about right.
Be proud alums and fans of Texas Football! You have sat on your hands and let a Band of Egotistical Morons destroy the Texas Football Team and Texas Athletics and our guess you will continue sit on your asses and do nothing as the Texas Athletics spirals into the toilet bowl because let's face the TRUTH:
The Candy Ass Pussy Fans of Texas Football and Texas Athletics DON'T HAVE THE GUTS to challenge the Sorry Ass Bastards in Austin.
2. Charlie Weis, Kansas – On Saturday Charlie Weis and Kansas lost to a good Rice team…
23 – 14
…and Weis's records at Kansas are:
Overall: 1 – 11
Big 12: 0 – 0
….and Kansas has next up La. Tech at home which just lost to Tulane at home.
Can Charlie Weis and Kansas beat La. Tech?
IF they can't Charlie Weis should be fired after the game….PERIOD.
3. Paul Pasqualoni, Connecticut – We never really saw the logic in hiring the 62-year old Paul Pasqualoni at Connecticut in 2011 and considering that Pasqualoni took over a UConn team that went to the Fiesta Bowl the previous season his records with the Huskies prove our concerns about his hiring were right:
Paul Pasqualoni's records at UConn:
Overall: 10 – 15
To make matters worse Pasqualoni started the 2013 season off with losses to I-AA (FCS) Towson and to a woeful Maryland team coached by former UConn head coach Randy Edsall and next up for a coach and team that can's beat Towson or Maryland at home is…
Michigan at home
…which just got embarrassed by a very bad Akron team in the Big House.
YES, a game against a pissed-off Michigan team this Saturday will turn out real well for Paul Pasqualoni and Connecticut…NOT!
4. Lane Kiffin, USC – The USC offense finally got going on Saturday against Boston College with a 35 – 7 win over the Eagles at the LA Coliseum and up next for Lane Kiffin and the Trojans is….
Utah State
….which played an almost even game against Utah, whipped Air Force and then beat I-AA (FCS) Weber State.
We don't give much credit when a USC football team beats a football like Boston College which has won….
6 Games
….in the last two years and Utah State is also a team that an even average-coached USC team should destroy so that makes the Week 5 game at Arizona State the first REAL GAME of the year for Kiffin and the Trojans and until then Kiffin can expect to find his rear-end on the…
5. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa – It is hard to give Kirk Ferentz and his Iowa football team much credit for beating an Iowa State team that lost to I-AA (FCS) Northern Iowa in Week 1 nor will the Hawkeyes get much credit for beating a very bad Western Michigan team next Saturday at home which means that Kirk Ferentz will find his rear-end on the Hot Seat at least until the Hawkeyes travel to play Minnesota on the road on September 28.
Iowa is now 2 – 1 and they have left…
Western Michigan
At Minnesota
Michigan State
At Ohio State
At Purdue
At Nebraska
…and if Iowa plays the above opponents like it has in the first three weeks of the season we can imagine they will win more than…
5 Games
….in 2013 but then why worry about winning games when you are going to make $4 Million Dollars whether you win another game or not!
What a great country America is!
YOU CAN FAIL consistently and still make $4 Million Dollars a Year!
6. Bobby Hauck, UNLV – Bobby Hauck and his UNLV Rebels got their MUST WIN in Week 3 over Central Michigan and they have an even easier game they better Damn win against Western Illinois on Saturday and after that the Rebels have left…
At New Mexico
At Fresno State
At Nevada
San Jose State
Utah State
At Air Force
San Diego State
…and Hauck really needs 6 Wins in 2013 and finding four more wins after beating Western Illinois among the above games is NOT going to be an easy thing to do.
7. Terry Bowden, Akron – Terry Bowden REALLY pissed us off here at Coaches Hot Seat on Saturday when his Akron football team went to Michigan and took the Wolverines to the last play and really should have won the game and the reason we are so pissed off is that if Akron is good enough to give Michigan a tough game then how in the Hell could someone explain….like Terry Bowden….is it possible that Akron has only won 2 games in Bowden's tenure with the Zips and those two wins are over I-AA (FCS) teams?
It just make NO DAMN SENSE and that is why Terry Bowden is moving on up the Coaches Hot Seat Rankings!
Now let's see here….Akron has left on their schedule…
La. Lafayette
At Bowling Green
At Northern Illinois
At Miami (OH)
Ball State
Kent State
At Massachusetts
…and Michigan would at least be a 21 point favorite against ALL of the above teams so we expect Akron to finish the season with NO MORE losses and a…
10 – 2 Record!
Coach Hard Terry Bowden…..In ALL the games!
8. Norm Chow, Hawaii – Hawaii had Week 3 off and after their 0 – 2 start to the season they have left in 2013…
At Nevada
Fresno State
San Jose State
At UNLV
Colorado State
At Utah State
At Navy
San Diego State
At Wyoming
…and if Norm Chow is going to start getting the Warriors program going in the right direction then a WIN over Nevada on Saturday in Reno would be a good start.
Of course, if Hawaii loses to Nevada they might not win a game in 2013 and if that happens Norm Chow will probably not be the coach at Hawaii come December.
Coach Hard Norm….like your job is on the line….IT IS!
9. Randy Edsall, Maryland – We don't give much credit for a coach on the Hot Seat playing and beating a team that is spiraling into oblivion which in the case of Maryland head coach Randy Edsall is his team's win over…
…on Saturday which is a team that is now spiraling into oblivion BUT the Terps are now 3 – 0 and with Edsall needing at least SIX WINS to return in 2013 here is what Maryland has left…
West Virginia
At Florida State
At Wake Forest
At Virginia Tech
Boston College
At NC State
From where we sit Edsall and Maryland SHOULD be able to find 3 more wins among their last 9 games BUT for Damn sure if they cannot…
Randy Edsall will NOT BE the head coach at Maryland in December
10. Bo Pelini, Nebraska – A couple of years ago we had an internal vote for the toughest jobs in college football and had each Coaches Hot Seat member list the…
10 Toughest Jobs in Major College Football
…based upon the pressure placed upon the head coach to win and with 1 being the toughest and 10 being the 10 th toughest job and the final vote looked like this….
1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Texas
4. Nebraska
6. Oklahoma
7. Michigan
8. Tennessee
9. Georgia
…and note that Nebraska came in at the..
4 th Tough Job in Major College Football
…and even if you have WON…
51 Games
…in 5.25 seasons on the job when you are the Head Football Coach at the University of Nebraska when the UCLA Bruins come into Lincoln and put up…
504 Total Yards
41 Points
…you are going to find yourself on the Hot Seat and that is where Bo Pelini finds himself on September 16, 2013.
Going back to the end of the 2012 season and into 2013 against Wisconsin, Georgia, Wyoming and UCLA the Nebraska defense has given up an average of…
47.5 Points Per Game
….and correct us if we are wrong BUT if you are going to give up more than 45 points a game you are sure the Hell NOT going to win very many football games!
The task ahead for Bo Pelini and his Nebraska Cornhuskers is simple enough with these games left…
South Dakota State
At Purdue
At Minnesota
At Michigan
Michigan State
At Penn State
….and that task is to win their next FIVE Games and be 7 – 1 when they head to the Big House to play Michigan on November 9 and if Akron can give Michigan a good game then Nebraska can beat Michigan…
…if Nebraska stumbles in any of their next FIVE Games against teams that the Cornhuskers have a Helluva lot MORE talent than they Bo Pelini can expect the Husker faithful to turn up the HEAT and we mean HEAT that makes what we do here at Coaches Hot Seat look like the spark from a match that will not light.
Coach Hard Bo Pelini…AND…don't overlook South Dakota State….they can score some points as well and the last thing you need is for a I-AA (FCS) team to come into Lincoln and hang 40 plus points on the Black Shirts!
No, that would not be a "good thing!"


text:
April 21, 2011
RSU to Present Senior Art Exhibition April 29 through May 6
The artwork of 19 seniors who will earn bachelor's degrees in fine arts will be exhibited from Friday, April 29, through Friday, May 6, at Rogers State University.
The annual Senior Capstone Art Exhibition, which is free and open to the public, will be presented in the art gallery in Baird Hall on the RSU campus in Claremore.
The exhibition is part of the second annual Art on the Hill Festival, to be held Friday and Saturday, April 29-30, on the RSU campus.
A reception will be held for the exhibition from 5-7 p.m. Friday, April 29. The public is invited to attend.
Seniors will exhibit their final art projects in the exhibition, the "capstone," or culmination of four years of arts education at RSU.
"We are pleased to share the best artwork by our seniors with the public in this exhibition," said Gary Moeller, RSU art professor. "This will be an opportunity for the public to view student artwork, while enjoying the Art on the Hill festival on the RSU campus."
The senior capstone exhibition is an annual tradition at RSU, signifying the end of the academic year, Moeller said.
The exhibition will include art in a variety of media, including paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, installations and more, he said.
For more information, call 918-343-7740.


text:
Job Opportunities with Backroads
Trip Consultant
Berkeley, CA
Amaze yourself. Amaze our guests.
A job at Backroads is unlike any other job you'll ever have. You'll be challenged. You'll be inspired. And you'll be gratified. Because whatever you do here, you'll be part of something that makes us all proud—delivering authentic, enriching—and sometimes profoundly life-changing—experiences.
The devil is in the details.
Every world-class biking and hiking route. Every gourmet picnic. Every carefully orchestrated cultural connection. Everything. And it doesn't just matter some of the time. It matters all of the time. That's how we do things at Backroads. The result: guests so loyal to Backroads they travel with us 10, 20, 30, 40 or more times.
Making it look easy, isn't easy.
Ask anyone at Backroads. It's hard work. It means forever asking, "Is the guest experience the absolute best it can be?" More often than not our answer is "no." We continuously redefine what an active vacation can be and establish standards no one else can match.
Does this sound like the kind of company you want to be a part of? If so, we can't wait to meet you.
Combine your interest in travel and the outdoors with your sales experience and knowledge and come to work for BACKROADS in Berkeley, California.
We are currently seeking a Trip Consultant to sell our world class biking, walking & multi-sport vacations and to provide our guests with exceptionally high quality service. The ideal candidate will have: 2 years of successful relationship-oriented sales experience; domestic & international travel experience; excellent communication, organization, & computer skills; enthusiastic about working for Backroads; have a passion for active travel and the outdoors and promoting biking, hiking & travel. SATURDAY AND SUNDAY HOURS ARE REQUIRED. We have a full-time position available for the right candidate. Please do not apply if you are not available or willing to work weekends.
Competitive salary plus excellent benefits package including comprehensive medical, dental and vision insurance, 401(k) with employer match, flex plan, generous time-off and travel benefits, commuter incentive programs, etc. Backroads promotes work/life balance, and offers a fun, casual work environment.
To apply, please send a cover letter explaining why you think you'd be a great fit for Backroads along with your resume and salary requirements to firstname.lastname@example.com with "Trip Consultant" in the subject line of your email or by fax to (510) 292-2793, Attn: HR/Trip Consultant.
No phone calls please.
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
About Backroads
As the world's #1 active travel company, Backroads offers more bicycling, walking, hiking and multisport trips around the world than any other company. We are a service-oriented organization composed of high-energy individuals with varied backgrounds who enjoy people, travel and the outdoors.


text:
What's New
The First Second Time Around Fashion Show
The Legendary Studio 54
Oscar de la Fur
Peace and Plaid
Tara explains her desire to help others, and to open up on camera.
What The Water Gave Me
Ambria discusses the team's work with Generosity Water and how proud she is of Tara's progress.
We Are Family
Karina explains her escape from the store and how the STA staff has bonded.
Episode 11: On Display Items
Take a closer look at the items the STA staff consigned in their finale -- including what could have Coco Chanel's cuff.
On the Auction Block
Check out party pics from the STA staff's charity auction for Generosity Water.
El Final Feliz
Wilson shares his experiences in Haiti and his sadness over the season ending.
Episode 11: What They Wore
See what the STA staff wore to drink on the streets in their Season 1 finale episode.
Episode 10: On Display Items
Sneak a closer peek at some of the items the STA staff auctioned off for Generosity Water.
Episode 10: What They Wore
Check out what the Fashion Hunters wore for the big Generosity Water auction.
Cuff Love
Episode 10 and 11: Bravotv.com's Associate Editor ponders Chanel's old bracelets and Kelly Killoren Bensimon's pillows.
A Pissed Off Consigner


text:
By Sgt. Sarah Scully, USASpecial to American Forces Press Service
CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait, Nov. 16, 2006 Instead of climbing aboard a snowmobile to track prey and patrol the vast wilderness, they now slide into military vehicles and patrol a sandy wasteland, looking for suspicious activity.
Leaving behind frozen tundra to serve in a scorching desert, hundreds of soldiers from the Alaska National Guard have taken over the quick-reaction force and other security measures here. As the largest deployed unit of the Alaska National Guard since World War II, the 3rd Battalion, 297th Infantry Regiment, has important missions to accomplish during the next year in support of 3rd Army/U.S. Army Central in Kuwait.
The unit has a diverse population of soldiers with unique skills to succeed at those missions while stationed at camps Navistar, Buehring and Virginia. The unit has a large segment of minorities – roughly a third of the soldiers are of Eskimo or American Indian heritage.
"There's nothing in this theater that's going to put them out," said Lt. Col. Duff Mitchell, the unit's commander. "Some guys have killed many bears – they're not worried about insurgents."
Each region of the "Land of the Midnight Sun" contributed soldiers to travel halfway around the world to guard and defend fellow servicemembers. Many of the soldiers come from military families, and Alaskans have a history of volunteering to serve their country in times of war.
"It's almost a way of life out there that's been passed down from generation to generation," said Command Sgt. Maj. Alan Feaster, the battalion command sergeant major.
While most people might find native Alaskans and the Kuwaiti desert contrasting and incompatible, these soldiers look at it differently. The flat and barren desert with occasional camps resembles the frozen tundra of northern Alaska, where remote villages dot the landscape. And many have already confronted in the tundra the hardships they may face in the desert.
"When you're in Alaska, and it's 10 degrees below zero, you have to trust yourself, have confidence in yourself," said Mitchell. "And you just have to persevere."
Some of the soldiers are whaling captains, subsistence hunters and fishermen, used to dealing with hardship on a daily basis.
"They grew up with the warrior spirit," said Mitchell. "The 'Warrior Ethos' is a natural part of their everyday life."
With infantry soldiers stationed at Camp Navistar and regularly making trips into Iraq, the unit has many chances to display those warrior skills. The soldiers had an opportunity to bond and get used to warmer weather during a 90-day training session at hot and humid Camp Shelby in Mississippi before the unit deployed to Kuwait.
"That was quite a shock to the system," said Mitchell. "One of the soldiers came up to me and said, 'Sir, this is just like being in a sweat lodge – but there's no door.'"
There are other differences from home the soldiers must endure – among them are culture, food and language. To combat the homesickness, the soldiers have photos of their hometowns picturing tranquil lakes, soaring mountains and bald eagles. They also get care packages from their families, filled with dried caribou, smoked salmon, berry jellies and dried fish.
As a farewell gift, the governor of Alaska brought whale blubber to the soldiers at their departure ceremony in October. With these reminders of home, they look out at the desert and continue their service. Guarding the camps with the Big Dipper constellation emblazoned on the unit's patch, the soldiers live up to the American Indian "Yuh Yek" motto: "Be on watch – ready to fire."
"They've already walked the walk in their own lives," said Mitchell. "They're solid soldiers."
(Army Sgt. Sarah Scully is assigned to the 40th Public Affairs Detachment.)