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Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) -
2012 SEASON IN REVIEW: The 2012 campaign got off to about as great as start as
the Hilltoppers could have hoped for, with their only loss in the first six
weeks of the season coming against eventual-national champion Alabama (35-0).
Western Kentucky hit a slide in mid-October, however, dropping four of five
before winning the regular season finale at home versus North Texas (25-24).
Despite the up-and-down season, the team finished 7-5 (4-4 in the Sun Belt)
and qualified for its first bowl game since 1963 and its first as a member of
the FBS. It went on to lose the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl to Central Michigan,
Willie Taggart, who made huge strides with the program in just three seasons,
departed his post at the end of the year to accept the head coaching position
at South Florida. WKU opted for a high-profile option to replace Taggart, with
Bobby Petrino coming on board. Although Petrino is attempting to revive his
tainted image, his coaching resume' in eight years with Louisville and
Arkansas is fantastic (75-26, 4-3 in bowl games).
OFFENSE: Western Kentucky ranked in the middle of the pack in the Sun Belt
last season both in terms of scoring (28.8 ppg) and yardage (391.8 ypg), but
Petrino brings with him his proven style of high-octane offense that is sure
to result in even loftier numbers, especially considering the team's star
running back is back in the fold.
Antonio Andrews is one of the top playmakers in all of college football. As a
rusher in 2012, he was a workhorse, carrying the ball 304 times for 1,728
yards and 11 touchdowns, but when adding his receiving and return totals, he
put up one of the best seasons in NCAA history. His 3,161 all-purpose yards
being the second-most all-time behind only Barry Sanders (1988).
While things are set at running back, the situation is much less clear under
center. With the departure of Kawaun Jakes (2,488 yards, 22 TDs, 11
interceptions), Petrino is holding an open competition to find his
replacement. Brandon Doughty appears to be the frontrunner, but don't rule out
junior college transfer Nelson Fishback and freshman Todd Porter.
"I like the competition we have," Petrino said. "It'll be fun to see how it
plays out."
Whoever wins the quarterback job, he will be fortunate enough to line up
behind an offensive line that returns three starters. He'll also have Willie
McNeal at his disposal, who caught 43 balls for 556 yards and six touchdowns a
year ago.
DEFENSE: One of the Hilltoppers' biggest strengths in 2012 was the play of the
defense, as the unit ranked in the top-two in the conference in both points
per game (25.6) and yards per game allowed (345.3 ypg), and several key
components are back in place.
Andrew Jackson is one of the top linebackers in the country and he put
together an outstanding 2012 season (122 tackles, 17.5 TFL, four FF). He has a
lot to live up to this fall, as he was recently named the Preseason SBC
Defensive Player of the Year.
Jonathan Dowling is another veteran member of the defense. In addition to
racking up 68 tackles from his safety position, Dowling was integral in the
turnover battle with six interceptions and two forced fumbles.
WKU recorded 32 sacks last season, but all four starters on the front line
have moved on, including standout Quanterus Smith (18.5 TFL, 12.5 sacks).
SPECIAL TEAMS: Garrett Schwettman was solid on field goal attempts as a
freshman (10-of-13), but he was just 2-of-5 from beyond 30 yards. Hendrix
Brakefield (42.1 avg) returns as the team's punter.
Andrews was dynamic both as a kickoff (767 yards) and punt returner (234
yards), and while he is expected to be a special teams factor once again,
there's always the possibility that Petrino views him as too big a part of the
offense to keep trotting him out for returns.
OUTLOOK: Petrino's on-the-field success is unquestionable, and that combined
with a solid core that helped the Hilltoppers go to a bowl game last season
could mean big things in Bowling Green, but there appears to be some
trepidation as WKU was picked fourth in the Sun Belt preseason rankings.
Petrino understands that preseason polls shouldn't be taken too seriously,
"We never worry too much about preseason rankings," Petrino said. "We have a
long season to play and our focus right now is really getting better every day
and that we practice and prepare for the opener."
"Our goal is to win the conference," the head coach continued. "We feel like
as we build this program we want to go to a bowl game every year and win the
bowl game and then be conference champions. We have a great challenge ahead of
us. It'll be really exciting to see how it all plays out."
With Petrino and Andrews, it should surprise no one if WKU makes a splash in
2013 and wins the league, but with impressive teams like ULM and Louisiana
to compete with, that goal may have to wait a year.
The Sports Network


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Best of times, worst of times on family outing
(Page 2 of 3)
Against all odds, we landed in Sarasota the Saturday before July Fourth. It was raining. Over the next 24 hours, the rain pounded the beach. Torrents, sheets . . . whatever cliché leaps to mind, that's what poured out of the gray skies. Somehow the kids from New York and Fort Lauderdale and California all arrived, and moved into the rented condos we had arranged.
Day two, it rained. Never-ending, monsoon-like downpours soaked the roadways, darkened the windows and flooded out our plans. After so many hours cooped up indoors, the grandkids — 4, 6, 8 and 10 — went berserk. We organized a treasure hunt in our building. It took us 40 minutes to hide the clues and 10 for them to find them. We planted the kids in front of the TV. We gave them our cell phones to play with. We fed them Snickers and Cheez Doodles. We let them paint the dog.
Just how mind-numbingly bored can one get after three days of steady rain? I walked into the condo to find all 12 adults strewn about the floor with needles in their heads, ears, legs and toes. Did I mention that my daughter is an acupuncturist? A psychiatrist, she recently added acupuncture to her practice. Her closest relatives, who knew her back when she licked the ice cube tray and got her tongue stuck to the freezer, actually let her stick needles into their tender parts.
On day four, the rain was light enough to go swimming. My mother, who was, after all, the birthday girl, came down to the beach to watch. Her default mode, hysterical anxiety, quickly accelerated into warp-speed anxiety as she watched her grandkids and great-grandies in the waves. Her eyes locked onto their little bodies, clearly expecting Godzilla to emerge from the waves and carry them out to sea. She wasn't having fun yet.
The Fourth of July was a day for the memory book. First, at 6:45 a.m., my nephew caught the largest snook anyone remembers catching on Longboat Key. Later, we hauled out the paddleboards, surfboards and boogie boards. Everyone in the water! Several of the kids paddled out into a pod of dolphins — a strange encounter of the nautical kind. They said the water around the dolphins smelled like fish.
KeywordsRandi Kreiss, family outing, summer, vacation, July Fourth
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subset: commoncrawl


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U.S. stocks opened sharply lower Monday on Wall Street as investors braced for a potential government shutdown.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down more than 170 points, or 1.1% shortly after the opening bell. The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index was off 1% and the Nasdaq composite was down 1.2%.
Markets are under pressure as a budget battle in Washington threatens the first government shutdown in 17 years. Congress has until a midnight deadline to avert the crisis.
Despite the fact that Wall Street has gone through prior budget battles in recent years, the chronic inability of lawmakers to compromise on fiscal matters and their tendency to squabble right up to key deadlines has investors on edge once again. It is also causing volatility to spike.
"The rancorous debate in Washington does little to generate investor confidence," notes Tobias Levkovich, an investment strategist at Citigroup.
The political dysfunction coincides with the last trading day of the third quarter and ahead of a spate of market-moving headlines in coming days and weeks, including soon-to-be-released third-quarter corporate earnings reports, another fight mid-month in the nation's capitol over raising the debt ceiling, and the Federal Reserve's next policy meeting near the end of October.
In addition to the hit to investor confidence if a government shut down occurs, a shutdown would cause many government workers to be furloughed, which will likely weigh on economic growth and hurt corporate profitability in the final three months of the year, warns Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ.
Stovall cites the "continued uncertainties from Washington" as a "headwind" for stocks.
The U.S. government will reach its borrowing limit, or debt ceiling, on Tuesday. If Congress doesn't raise that limit, the government won't be able to pay all its bills and some 800,000 of the 2.1 million federal employees will not go to work.
On Friday, the Dow fell 0.5%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.4% and the Nasdaq lost 0.1%.
Global benchmarks were showing signs of jitters Monday ahead of the start to regular U.S. trading hours. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 2.1% to 14,455.80 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 1.5% to 22,859.86.
Markets in Europe were further exercised by renewed political crisis in Italy, where former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said over the weekend that he will push for snap elections. A confidence vote on Prime Minister Enrico Letta's administration is due Tuesday. Italy's FTSE MIB index was down over 2%. Benchmarks across Europe also fell, as Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 0.8% and Germany's DAX index fell 1.1%. France's CAC 40 was down 1.3%.
Benchmark oil for November delivery fell $1.21 to $101.64 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Contributing: Associated Press


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Mechanisms Underlying the Responses of Normal and Cancer Stem Cells to Environmental and Therapeutic Insults
Adult stem cells play an essential role in the maintenance of tissue homeostasis. Environmental and therapeutic insults leading to DNA damage dramatically impact stem cell functions and can lead to organ failure or cancer development. Yet little is known about the mechanisms by which adult stem cells respond to such insults by repairing their damaged DNA and resuming normal cellular functions. The blood (hematopoietic) system provides a unique experimental model to investigate the behaviors of specific cell populations. Our objective is to use defined subsets of mouse hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and myeloid progenitor cells to investigate how they respond to environmental and therapeutic insults by either repairing damaged DNA and restoring normal functions; accumulating DNA damage and developing cancer; or undergoing programmed cell death (apoptosis) and leading to organ failure. These findings will provide new insights into the fundamental mechanisms that regulate stem cell functions in normal tissues, and a better understanding of their deregulation during cancer development. Such information will identify molecular targets to prevent therapy-related organ damage or secondary cancers. These are severe complications associated with current cancer treatments and are among the leading causes of death worldwide. Originally discovered in blood cancers (leukemia), cancer stem cells (CSCs) have now been recognized in a variety of solid tumors. CSCs represent a subset of the tumor population that has stem cell-like characteristics and the capacity for self-renewal. CSCs result from the transformation of either stem or progenitor cells, which then generate the bulk of the cancer cells. Recent evidence indicates that CSCs are not efficiently killed by current therapies and that CSC persistence could be responsible for disease maintenance and cancer recurrence. Developing interventions that will specifically target CSCs is, therefore, an appealing strategy for improving cancer treatment, which is dependent on understanding how they escape normal regulatory mechanisms and become malignant. Few mouse models of human cancer are currently available in which the CSC population has been identified and purified. This is an essential prerequisite for identifying pathways and molecules amenable to interventional therapies in humans. We have previously developed a mouse model of human leukemia in which we have identified the CSC population as arising from the HSC compartment. We will use this model to understand how deregulations in apoptosis and DNA repair processes contribute to CSC formation and function during disease development. These results will provide new insights into the pathways that distinguish CSCs from normal stem cells and identify ways to prevent their transformation. Such information will be used to design novel and much-needed therapies that will specifically target CSCs while sparing normal stem cells.
This application investigates how environmental and therapeutic insults leading to DNA damage impact stem cell functions and can lead to organ failure or cancer development. The approach is to study how specific population of blood (hematopoietic) stem, progenitor, and mature cells respond to DNA damaging agents and chose a specific cellular outcome. Such information could identify molecular pathways that are available for interventional therapies to prevent end-organ damage in patients who are treated for a primary cancer and reduce the risk of a subsequent therapy-induced cancer. These are severe complications associated with current mutagenic cancer treatments (radiation or chemotherapeutic agents) that comprise a substantial public health problem in California and in the rest of the developed world. The hematopoietic system is the first to fail following cancer treatment and the formation of therapy-related blood cancer (leukemia) is a common event. The development of novel approaches to prevent therapy-related leukemia will, therefore, directly benefit the health of the Californian population regardless of the type of primary cancer. This application also investigates a novel paradigm in cancer research, namely the role of cancer stem cells (CSCs) in the initiation, progression and maintenance of human cancer. The approach is to study how dysregulations in important cancer-associated pathways (apoptosis and DNA repair processes) contribute to CSC aberrant properties using one of the few established mouse model of human cancer where the CSC population has already been identified. Leukemia, the disease type investigated in this application, has been the subject of many landmark discoveries of basic principles in cancer research that have then been shown to be applicable to a broad range of other cancer types. Accordingly, this research should benefit the people of California in at least two ways. First, the information gained about the properties of CSCs should improve the ability of our physicians and scientists to design, develop and evaluate the efficacy of innovative therapies to target these rare disease-initiating cells for death. This would place Californian cancer research at the forefront of translational science. Second, an average of 11.55 out of 100,000 Californian inhabitants are diagnosed with primary leukemia each year. Thus, in California, leukemia occurs at approximately the same frequency as brain, liver and endocrine cancers. As is true for many types of cancer, most cases of leukemia occur in older adults. At this time, the only treatment that can cure leukemia is allogeneic stem cell transplantation, which is a high-risk and expensive procedure that is most successful in younger patients. The development of novel and safe curative therapies for leukemia would, therefore, particularly benefit the health of our senior population and the economy of the state of California by realizing savings in the healthcare sector.
Escape from apoptosis and increased genomic instability resulting from defective DNA repair processes are often associated with cancer development, aging and stem cell defects. Adult stem cells play an essential role in the maintenance of normal tissue. Removal of superfluous, damaged and/or dangerous cells is a critical process to maintain tissue homeostasis and protect against malignancy. Yet much remains to be learned about the mechanisms by which normal stem and progenitor cells respond to environmental and therapeutic genotoxic insults. Here, we have used the hematopoietic system as a model to investigate how cancer-associated mutations affect the behaviors of specific stem and progenitor cell populations. Our work during the first year of the CIRM New Faculty award has revealed the differential use of DNA double-strand break repair pathways in quiescent and proliferative hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which has clear implications for human health. Most adult stem cell populations, including HSCs, remain in a largely quiescent (G0), or resting, cell cycle state. This quiescent status is widely considered to be an essential protective mechanism stem cells use to minimize endogenous stress caused by cellular respiration and DNA replication. However, our studies demonstrate that quiescence may also have detrimental and mutagenic effects. We found both quiescent and proliferating HSCs to be similarly protected from DNA damaging genotoxic insults due to the expression and activation of cell type specific protective mechanisms. We demonstrate that both quiescent and proliferating HSCs resolve DNA damage with similar efficiencies but use different repair pathways. Quiescent HSCs preferentially utilize nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) - an error-prone DNA repair mechanism - while proliferating HSCs essentially use homologous recombination (HR) - a high-fidelity DNA repair mechanism. Furthermore, we show that NHEJ-mediated repair in HSCs is associated with acquisition of genomic rearrangements. These findings suggest that the quiescent status of HSCs can, on one hand, be protective by limiting cell-intrinsic stresses but, on the other hand, be detrimental by forcing HSCs to repair damaged DNA with an error-prone mechanism that can generate mutations and eventually cause hematological malignancies. Our results have broad implications for cancer development and provide the beginning of a molecular understanding of why HSCs, despite being protected, are more likely than other cells in the hematopoietic system (i.e., myeloid progenitors) to become transformed. They also partially explain the loss of function occurring in HSCs with age, as it is likely that over a lifetime HSCs have acquired and accumulated numerous NHEJ-mediated mutations that hinder their cellular performance. Finally, our findings may have direct clinical applications for minimizing secondary cancer development. Many solid tumors and hematological malignancies are currently treated with DNA damaging agents, which may result in therapy-induced myeloid leukemia. Our results suggest that it might be beneficial to induce HSCs to cycle before initiating treatment, to avoid inadvertently mutating the patient's own HSCs by forcing them to undergo DNA repair using an error-prone mutagenic mechanism.
Our work during the second year of the CIRM New Faculty award has lead to the discovery of at least one key reason why blood-forming stem cells can be susceptible to developing genetic mutations leading to adult leukemia or bone marrow failures. Most adult stem cells, including hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), are maintained in a quiescent or resting state in vivo. Quiescence is widely considered to be an essential protective mechanism for stem cells that minimizes endogenous stress associated with cellular division and DNA replication. However, we demonstrate that HSC quiescence can also have detrimental effects. We found that HSCs have unique cell-intrinsic mechanisms ensuring their survival in response to ionizing irradiation (IR), which include enhanced pro-survival gene expression and strong activation of a p53-mediated DNA damage response. We show that quiescent and proliferating HSCs are equally radioprotected but use different types of DNA repair mechanisms. We describe how nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ)-mediated DNA repair in quiescent HSCs is associated with acquisition of genomic rearrangements, which can persist in vivo and contribute to hematopoietic abnormalities. These results demonstrate that quiescence is a double-edged sword that, while mostly beneficial, can render HSCs intrinsically vulnerable to mutagenesis following DNA damage. Our findings have important implications for cancer biology. They indicate that quiescent stem cells, either normal or cancerous, are particularly prone to the acquisition of mutations, which overturns the current dogma that cancer development absolutely requires cell proliferation. They help explain why quiescent leukemic stem cells (LSC), which currently survive treatment in most leukemia, do in fact represent a dangerous reservoir for additional mutations that can contribute to disease relapse and/or evolution, and stress the urgent need to develop effective anti-LSC therapies. They also have direct clinical applications for minimizing the risk of therapy-related leukemia following treatment of solid tumors with cytotoxic agents. By showing that proliferating HSCs have significantly decreased mutation rates, with no associated change in radioresistance, they suggest that it would be beneficial to induce HSCs to enter the cycle prior to therapy with DNA-damaging agents in order to enhance DNA repair fidelity in HSCs and thus reduce the risk of leukemia development. While this possibility remains to be tested in the clinic using FDA approved agents such as G-CSF and prostaglandin, it offers exciting new directions for limiting the deleterious side effects of cancer treatment. Our findings also have broad biological implications for tissue function. While the DNA repair mechanism used by quiescent HSCs can indeed produce defective cells, it is likely not detrimental for the organism in evolutionary terms. The blood stem cell system is designed to support the body through its sexually reproductive years, so the genome can be passed along. The ability of quiescent HSCs to survive and quickly undergo DNA repair in response to genotoxic stress supports this goal, and the risk of acquiring enough damaging mutations in these years is minimal. The problem occurs with age, as these long-lived cells have spent a lifetime responding to naturally occurring insults as well as the effects of X-rays, medications and chemotherapies. In this context, the accumulation of NHEJ-mediated DNA misrepair and resultant genomic damages could be a major contributor to the loss of function occurring with age in HSCs, and the development of age-related hematological disorders. We are now using this work on normal HSCs as a platform to understand at the molecular level how the DNA damage response and the mechanisms of DNA repair become deregulated in leukemic HSCs during the development of hematological malignancies.
Our work during the third year of the CIRM New Faculty award has extended and broaden up our investigations in two novel directions that are still within the scope of our initial Aims: 1) identifying novel stress-response mechanisms that preserve hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) fitness during periods of metabolic stress; and 2) understanding how deregulations in DNA repair mechanisms contribute to the aberrant functions of old and transformed HSCs. Blood development is organized hierarchically, starting with a rare but well-defined population of HSCs that give rise to a series of committed progenitors and mature cells with exclusive functional and immunophenotypic properties. HSCs are the only cells within the hematopoietic system that self-renew for life, whereas other hematopoietic cells are short-lived and committed to the transient production of mature blood cells. Under steady-state conditions, HSCs are a largely quiescent, slowly cycling cell population, which, in response to environmental cues, are capable of dramatic expansion and contraction to ensure proper homeostatic replacement of all blood cells. While considerable work has deciphered the molecular networks controlling HSC activity, still little is known about how these mechanisms are integrated at the cellular level to ensure life-long maintenance of a functional HSC compartment. HSCs reside in hypoxic niches in the bone marrow microenvironment, and are mostly kept quiescent in order to minimize stress and the potential for damage associated with cellular respiration and cell division. Last year, we showed that HSCs can also engage specialized response mechanisms that protect them from the killing effect of environmental stresses such as ionizing radiation (IR) (Mohrin et al., Cell Stem Cell, 2010). We demonstrated that long-lived HSCs, in contrast to short-lived myeloid progenitors, have enhanced expression of pro-survival members of the bcl2 gene family and robust induction of p53-mediated DNA damage response, which ensures their specific survival and repair following IR exposure. We reasoned that HSCs have other unique protective features, which allow them to contend with a variety of cellular insults and damaged cellular components while maintaining their life-long functionality and genomic integrity. Now, we show that HSCs use the self-catabolic process of autophagy as an essential survival mechanism in response to metabolic stress in vitro or nutriment deprivation in vivo. Last year, we also reported that although HSCs largely survive genotoxic stress their DNA repair mechanisms make them intrinsically vulnerable to mutagenesis (Mohrin et al., Cell Stem Cell, 2010). We showed that their unique quiescent cell cycle status restricts them to the use of the error-prone non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) DNA repair mechanism, which renders them susceptible to genomic instability and transformation. These findings provide the beginning of an understanding of why HSCs, despite being protected at the cellular level, are more likely than other hematopoietic cells to initiate blood disorders (Blanpain et al., Cell Stem Cell, review, 2011). Such hematological diseases increase with age and include immunosenescence (a decline in the adaptive immune system) as well as the development of myeloproliferative neoplasms, leukemia, lymphoma and bone marrow failure syndromes. Many of these features of aging have been linked to changes in the biological functions of old HSCs. Gene expression studies and analysis of genetically modified mice have suggested that errors in DNA repair and loss of genomic stability in HSCs are driving forces for aging and cancer development. However, what causes such failures in maintaining HSC functionality over time remains to be established. We therefore asked whether the constant utilization of error-prone NHEJ repair mechanism and resulting misrepair of DNA damage over a lifetime could contribute to the loss of function and susceptibility to transformation observed in old HSCs. Similarly, we started investigating how mutagenic DNA repair could contribute to the genomic instability of HSC-derived leukemic stem cells (LSC).
Our work during the fourth year of the CIRM New Faculty award has been focused on achieving the goals set forth last year for the two first aims of the grant: 1) identifying the stress-response mechanisms that preserve hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) fitness during periods of metabolic stress; and 2) understanding how deregulations in DNA repair mechanisms contribute to the aberrant functions of old HSCs and the aging of the blood system.
Blood development is organized hierarchically, starting with a rare but well-defined population of HSCs that give rise to a series of committed progenitors and mature cells with exclusive functional and immunophenotypic properties. HSCs are the only cells within the hematopoietic system that self-renew for life, whereas other hematopoietic cells are short-lived and committed to the transient production of mature blood cells. Under steady-state conditions, HSCs are a largely quiescent, slowly cycling cell population, which, in response to environmental cues, are capable of dramatic expansion and contraction to ensure proper homeostatic replacement of all needed blood cells. While considerable work has deciphered the molecular networks controlling HSC activity, still little is known about how these mechanisms are integrated at the cellular level to ensure life-long maintenance of a functional HSC compartment.
HSCs reside in hypoxic niches in the bone marrow microenvironment, and are mostly kept quiescent in order to minimize stress and the potential for damage associated with cellular respiration and cell division. Previously, we found that HSCs also have a unique pro-survival wiring of their apoptotic machinery, which contribute to their enhanced resistance to genotoxic stress (Mohrin et al., Cell Stem Cell, 2010). Now, we identified autophagy as an essential mechanism protecting HSCs from metabolic stress (Warr et al., Nature, in press). We show that HSCs, in contrast to their short-lived myeloid progeny, robustly induce autophagy following ex vivo cytokine withdrawal and in vivo caloric restriction. We demonstrate that FoxO3a is critical to maintain a gene expression program that poise HSCs for rapid induction of autophagy upon starvation. Notably, we find that old HSCs retain an intact FoxO3a-driven pro-autophagy gene program, and that ongoing autophagy is needed to mitigate an energy crisis and allow their survival. Our results demonstrate that autophagy is essential for the life-long maintenance of the HSC compartment and for supporting an old, failing blood system.
Previous studies have also suggested that increased DNA damage could contribute to the functional decline of old HSCs. Therefore, we set up to investigate whether the reliance on the error-prone non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) DNA repair mechanism we previously identified in young HSCs (Mohrin et al., Cell Stem Cell, 2010) could render old HSCs vulnerable to genomic instability. We confirm that old HSCs have increased numbers of γH2AX DNA foci but find no evidence of associated DNA damage. Instead, we show that γH2AX staining in old HSCs entirely co-localized with nucleolar markers and correlated with a significant decrease in ribosome biogenesis. Moreover, we observe high levels of replication stress in proliferating old HSCs leading to severe functional impairment in condition requiring proliferation expansion such as transplantation assays. Collectively, our results illuminate new features of the aging HSC compartment, which are likely to contribute to several facets of age-related blood defects (Flach et al, manuscript in preparation).
Our work during the fifth and last year of our CIRM New Faculty award has been essentially focused on understanding how deregulations in DNA repair mechanisms contribute to the aberrant functions of old hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and the aging of the blood system.
- Nature (2014) Replication stress is a potent driver of functional decline in ageing haematopoietic stem cells. (PubMed: 25079315)
- Nature (2013) FOXO3A directs a protective autophagy program in haematopoietic stem cells. (PubMed: 23389440)
- Cell Stem Cell (2013) Myeloproliferative Neoplasia Remodels the Endosteal Bone Marrow Niche into a Self-Reinforcing Leukemic Niche. (PubMed: 23850243)
- Cell Stem Cell (2011) DNA-damage response in tissue-specific and cancer stem cells. (PubMed: 21211780)
- Cell Stem Cell (2010) Hematopoietic stem cell quiescence promotes error-prone DNA repair and mutagenesis. (PubMed: 20619762)


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Long Prairie presents Julie Johnson and the No-Accounts
Tap your feet and learn about Minnesota history while listening to Julie Johnson and The No-Accounts at the Long Prairie Public Library, Tuesday, April 17, 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. The group reinterprets folk music, making the songs relevant by bringing in new instruments (vocals, flute & bass flute, guitar, resonator guitar, & mandolin) and diverse musical backgrounds. They arrange songs from the old North Woods and Minnesota pioneer songs, looking for the Upper Midwest's equivalent to the South's rich roots tradition.
Julie continues to research historic Minnesota music — songs from the Iron Range mines, French Canadian voyageurs, Scandinavian churches, and Minnesota folk legends — in order to find and interpret the band's own region's melodic, rhythmic, and thematic folk tradition and history.
This project was funded in part or in whole with money from Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage fund.


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Klemme Inducted to 4-H Hall of Fame
(Le Mars) – A well known, well loved and dearly missed man from Plymouth County is being inducted into the State 4-H Hall of Fame at the Iowa State Fair. Jeff Klemme, who passed away in February, will be honored for his contributions and years of work in connection with the Plymouth County Fair. His wife Cindy will accept the award on Sunday.
The Plymouth County ISU Extension office nominated Klemme for the award. His nomination letter describes a man who "loved the fair and spent a lot of time assisting the poultry and sheep departments and ultimately was named sheep superintendent. Jeff's passion, work ethic, and personality were one of a kind…and he instilled those qualities in many 4-H and FFA youth whose lives he touched in such a positive way. His three children, Jessica, Cassie and Chance were active members sharing their father's love of livestock." Chance was named this years Plymouth County Fair King.
Again, the late Jeff Klemme will be inducted into the State 4-H Hall of Fame at the Iowa State Fair. The ceremony takes place at 3:30 this Sunday.
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Stanley Smith - March 17, 2009
Stanley Stuart Smith died March 17, 2009. He was born Feb. 21, 1920 to Seldon H. Smith and Mary Belle Sales on the family farm west of Champion, Neb. He was the fourth of five children.
Stan graduated from Chase County High School in 1936 at the young age of 16.
He married the love of his life, Goldie Marie McCurry on April 20, 1941 in Imperial, Neb. They would have been married 68 years this coming April. They were blessed with three sons: Jim, Bill and Larry.
Their family was the center of their life and as it grew with daughters-in-law, grandchildren and great grandchildren they were eternally grateful and proud of each of them.
Stan and Goldie lived west of Champion, Neb. for most of their married life. You know where they lived if you know where the Wagon Wheel Ballpark was as they donated the land for the park north of their home in 1950. Stan played softball until he was in his 50s.
He served in the U.S. Navy from March 1945 until April 1946 during World War II.
Stan enjoyed farming and custom haying.
Stan was an avid fisherman. He was known for spending the summer at Enders Lake. Everyone who asked where he was catching fish would get the answer as he would act like he was hooking them in their mouth. He did then share where the latest good catch was.
Stan was a natural when it came to hunting. The boys' goal was to out shoot dad but never reached that goal.
Stan was a member of the Community of Christ Church. He served in the priesthood and was the pastor of the Imperial Congregation for many years. Stan was known for his strong Christian faith and teaching and sharing love to all. He was called upon often for many wedding ceremonies, blessings, baptisms and funerals.
Stan is preceded in death by his wife, Goldie, on Jan. 23, 2009; his parents; brother, Jack; sisters, Hazel Beck, Frannie Lubeck; sisters-in-law, Velma Smith, Thelma Yost; brothers-in-law, Willard Yost, Norman Beck and Herman Lubeck.
Stan is survived by his son, Jim, and his wife, Marla, of Ogallala, Neb.; son, Bill, and his wife, Cindy, of Max, Neb.; son, Larry, and his wife, Debbie, of Blue Springs, Mo.; grandchildren, Shaun and Rendale Meyer of Big Springs, Neb., Rick and Susanne Smith of Holdrege, Neb., Chad Smith of Ogallala, Neb., Kelly and Ashlee Smith of Grant, Neb., Stacy and Josh Clark of Grant, Neb., Bobbie and Chris Nelson of Wakefield, Neb., Wade Smith of Benkelman, Neb., Justin Smith of Sidney, Neb., Jay and Misty Smith of Lee's Summit, Mo., Joel Smith of Independence, Mo., Jacqualine and Matt Davis of Blue Springs, Mo., Brian and Janine Mitchell of Independence, Mo., Jennifer and Eric Mitchell of Blue Springs, Mo.; 21 great grandchildren; sister, Maudie Isley; brother-in-law, Bill, and his wife, Agnes McCurry of Blue Springs, Mo.; sister-in-law, Connie Borell and her husband, Jim, of Burns, Wyo.; many nieces and nephews and many friends.
Memorial services were held at the Champion Community Center on March 21 at 10 a.m. with Mitch and Cindy Korf officiating.
Prelude and postlude was by Karen Trumper.
Musical selection was sung by singers Stacy Clark, Shaun Meyer and Jim Smith with accompaniment by Marla Smith.
Honorary casketbearers were all of Stan's grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Military rites were by the V.F.W. and American Legion Posts of Imperial, Neb.
Inurnment was at the Lakeview Cemetery, Champion, Neb.
A memorial has been established to the Champion Community Center.
Liewer Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.


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Thursday Afternoon News, December 27
(Le Mars) Over a month before the tragic events in Connecticut, Le Mars Community Schools in
cooperation with Le Mars Police and Fire Departments had made arrangements to conduct
a training drill at Clark Elementary School on Wednesday, January 2nd. Similar exercersizes
have been held at various school buildings in the district in the past. Le Mars Superintendent
Dr. Todd Wendt notes that there is no school on January 2nd when the training session will
be held. The event is important for emergency personnel to practice their response to
various scenarios at different school buildings.
(Linn Grove) Two people were arrested Christmas Eve on controlled substance charges. A Buena Vista County Sheriff's deputy conducted an evening bar check at Bobby's Sand Bar in Linn Grove.
Robert D. Wiese, age 60, the bar owner, and Debra R. Chapman, 59, both of Greeneville,
were arrested on charges of drug paraphernalia and suspicion of a controlled substance.
Both subjects were transported to the Buena Vista County jail. The investigation is
(Alta) A December 22nd traffic stop in Alta, Iowa, resulted in drug paraphernalia and possession charges against 24-year-old Martin Hernandaz Jr. A Buena Vista County sheriff's deputy stopped a vehicle operating without license plates. A routine search of the vehicle revealed a substance
believed be marijuana located in the back of the vehicle. Hernandez was transported to the
Buena Vista County jail. Four other occupants in the car were released without being charged.
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Reusable Stencil Kits
Build your own custom signs
Create clear messages with these brass interlocking stencils. Simply slide each piece together to spell out needed messages and paint over. Reusable stencils clean up fast with a quick paint solvent wipe down. USA made. Gothic sytle letters and numbers as follows: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0. Also included are four spacers and one each of comma, dash and period.
2016 Master Catalog: Page 441


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Actor David Arquette shocked Howard Stern fans on Wednesday by drunk calling the shock jock's live radio show and rambling about Adolf Hitler, among other things.
The "Scream" star, who began drinking alcohol again earlier this year after two years of sobriety, rang in to speak to Stern and his sidekick Robin Quivers.
A near 30-minute conversation included a variety of topics, including the star's ex-wife, God, and the video game Grand Theft Auto. Arquette admitted he had been boozing before dialing, and left listeners concerned for his wellbeing when he began to talk about the Nazi leader.
He told Stern, "I'm wasted. This isn't the first time I called you (drunk). I've called in a few times."
He added, "This is the most controversial thing I'm going to say. It's very controversial, and I'm sorry, and I apologize to anyone I'm going to offend. And I'm wasted and I'll get sober tomorrow. Listen, listen, listen – I've gotta say something on the N-word later – but Hitler played the game very well. He did. Listen, yeah, he played his game very well. He convinced a lot of people to play his (expletive) evil game. He played the game really well, but he was playing the wrong game."
Arquette went on to gush about his ex-wife, Courteney Cox, saying, "She's the most brilliant, beautiful friend that I've ever met."
Listen to the full audio, but be warned; it's full of craziness, expletives, and sexual content.


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The strength and resiliency of your lips is astounding, especially when you consider what the lip area is subjected to each day. Your lips endure it all: the harmful particles in the environment, the harsh rays of the sun, the constant moisture of your mouth and the acidic properties of the foods you eat. Over time, these elements can weaken and damage even the healthiest of lips, causing them to become dry, irritated and cracked, and because parched and sensitive tissue is particularly susceptible to aging, fine lines often develop prematurely around the mouth. The NUXE Lip Products collection makes an important ally for your mighty lips, helping them stand up to everything that comes their way.
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Plant Talk - Gardening Forums
sick Japanese Maple
For help in growing and maintaining your favourite plants, from sowing seeds and staking perennials to pruning roses, shrubs and trees, join the discussion.
6 posts • Page 1 of 1
sick Japanese Maple
I planted a Bloodgood Japanese Maple 6 years ago and it did really well until late last summer when I noticed the leaves died on a couple of the branches...now, the leaves are just starting to bud and it looks like even more of the branches will not have leaves. It's about 8 feet tall now. It gets full sun but little wind and the first 2 or 3 winters we protected with burlap. Any input is appreciated!
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Apr 27, 2008 7:40 pm
What zone are you in Sue? I don't know much about Japanese Maple but my first guess would be wind damage or sun scauld and my second either over or underwatering. What does the damage look like?
AB, Zone 3A
"Those who say it can't be done are usually interrupted by others doing it." ` James Arthur Baldwin"
AB, Zone 3A
"Those who say it can't be done are usually interrupted by others doing it." ` James Arthur Baldwin"
- Posts: 11182
- Joined: Nov 14, 2006 10:47 pm
- Location: AB, Zone 3A
I'm in zone 5B...attached are some pictures. It might be hard to see the problem b/c the leaves aren't fully out, but you can see the change in the bark on the "dead" branches. They seem to go back to one main branch from the trunk so I'm thinking I need to cut it off?
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Apr 27, 2008 7:40 pm
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The Rifle Area Chamber of Commerce would like to extend our gratitude for the help with the Annual Membership Appreciation Luncheon on Thursday, Aug. 16, at Lions Park. We want to thank our caterer, WingNutz Bar and Grill, for a mouth-watering lunch, and Western Slope Communications for their live broadcast and Rock Jam tickets.Thank you to our Cornerstone Partners: Encana, Alpine Bank, Grand River Hospital District, Western Slope Communications, KMTS, Walmart, Citizen Telegram, Mountain Air Mechanical, Rain For Rent, Williams Midstream, WPX Energy, Kuersten Construction, Bill Barrett, Wells Fargo Bank, KREX TV Grand Junction, and Bayou Well Services.Thanks to our board of directors: Chair Nita Smith, NLS Business Solutions; vice-chair Kasey Nispel, Jim Lord Agency/ American Family Insurance; treasurer Karrie Fletcher, Alpine Bank; Chris Manera, Colorado River Engineering; Jay Barner, Jean's Printing; Bryan Chochon, Bank of Colorado; Dylan Lewis, Lewis Marketing; and Susan Nichols-Alvis, White River Trail Runners ATV Club.We appreciate our ambassadors: Kasey Nispel (chair), Jim Lord Agency/ American Family Insurance; Jodi Manera (vice chair), Gold Star Realty; Karrie Fletcher (treasurer), Alpine Bank; Becky Mall (secretary), Community Assistance Program; Cami Taylor, Wells Fargo Bank; June Renfro; Andrea Maddalone, Grand River Hospital District; Ralph Koehler; Joy Wentzel, Alpine Bank; Joanne Nelson, Mountain Man Nut and Fruit; Lisa Caskey, Mac5 Mortgage; Wanda St. Pierre, Alpine Bank Central Operations; Denise Ibsen, Ibsen Insurance; Tracy Barner, Dalby Wendland; Chereyl Owens, Community Banks of Colorado; Leanne Worton, Rifle Moms for Moms; Tamra Turza, Wellness Marketing Team; Bryan Chochon, Bank of Colorado; Shannon Smith, It Works Global; and Jerry Going, W.J. Bradley Mortgage.We show our gratitude to: CDOT for the use of the facility; the Country Florist for their beautiful floral arrangements; the Garfield County Fairgrounds for the use of their tables and chairs; Shear Intensity staff for supplying their goodies; and Tami Sours (Community Banks of Colorado), Mark Fergen (Mountain Air Mechanical), and Shaun Brainard (Sammy's, Rifle Brewing Co. and BandY Drilling) for the use of their tents. The dedication and support of our members to the Rifle chamber over the years has enabled us to do what we do, and to continue to grow the organization so we can continue to assist our members when they need us most.CEO Frank LaddMembership Services and Tourism Director Kacey BeresEvent Coordinator and Membership Sales Gina Reece-Long
The Rifle Area Chamber of Commerce would like to say thanks to the following businesses and people who helped make the first annual Western Slope Softball Tournament of Champions, held Friday and Saturday, Sept. 7 - 8, at Deerfield Park, a huge success.The first place prize of $500 went to the Stickmen of Grand Junction, second place prize of $350 went to Colorado Customs of Grand Junction, and the third place prize of $150 went to Gonzalez Construction of Grand Junction. Our special event sponsors were WingNutz Bar and Grill, IOOF Bookcliff #45 and Wells Fargo Bank. Umpires included Theresa Hamilton, Donald Gilstrap, and Ronnie Chick. Thanks to Grand River Hospital District for supplying the players with sun block and lip balm.The chamber board of directors include: Nita Smith with NLS Business Solutions, Kasey Nispel with the Jim Lord Agency/American Family Insurance, Karrie Fletcher with Alpine Bank, Chris Manera with Colorado River Engineering, Susan Nichols-Alvis with the White River Trail Runners ATV Club, Dylan Lewis with Lewis Marketing, Bryan Chochon with the Bank of Colorado, and Jay Barner with Jean's Printing. Thanks to our committee members: Bryan Chochon with the Bank of Colorado and Karrie Fletcher with Alpine Bank. As always, our Cornerstone Members who help make all our events possible: Encana, Alpine Bank, Grand River Hospital District, Walmart, Mountain Air Mechanical, Wells Fargo Bank, Bill Barrett Corp., Rain for Rent, WPX Energy, Citizen Telegram, Western Slope Communications, Williams Midstream, Kuersten Construction, Bayou Well Services, KMTS Radio, and KREX TV Grand Junction. A special thank you goes out to the City of Rifle Parks and Recreation Department for helping with the field preparation, in organizing this event, and offering their wonderful facility and all of its perks. The chamber was very pleased to be able to run this tournament, and enjoyed all the new faces who came to Rifle to spend the weekend. We look forward to having an even bigger second year.Gina Reece-LongRifle Area Chamber of Commerce
Perhaps you sent a card, flowers, brought food, a kind word, a hug, went to the service, or made a call. Whatever you did, and you know who you are, we would like to thank you all. It's people like you that made this time of sorrow a little easier to go through.Sincere thanks, gratitude, and appreciation.The family of David G. Kehr
When Jim Boone passed away on Aug. 7, one of our city council members stated, "Our community has lost a hero." I appreciated her statement, as Mr. Boone was larger than life to many students, athletes and adults in our area. Since his passing, I have noticed there are many heroes in our community. These are not the people that you necessarily see in front of a crowd or that get recognition for what they do. These are the members of our community that find quiet, helpful ways to support those that are hurting or needing help. They use their gifts to fill needs with a phone call, a text, Facebook, a card, a hug, or financial help. Our family has been inundated with heroes in our community. They are the hands and feet of Jesus to the "least of these." We are so appreciative of all the support we have received. Thank you for reminding us that heroes are all around us and that we need to look outside ourselves and help others. Who can you be a hero to today? Jenny BooneRifle
All of us at the Grand River Hospital Volunteer Association would like to sincerely thank our wonderful community for the support you showed us for the 5th annual Grand Wine Affair. A special thank you to Betty Mosby, our Grand Wine Affair chairperson, for a great job and to our sponsors, the Grand Valley Historical Society and Choice Liquors. We would also like to extend our gratitude to our many silent auction donors: The Hair & Nail Outfitter in Parachute; VJ'S Outlaw Ribs; Holiday Inn Express in Parachute; Mancinelli's Pizza in Rifle; Jean's Printing, Inc.; Sammy's on Park Avenue/Rifle Brewing Co.; The Hair Company; The Country Florist; Zoe Life Soapworks; Stereo Unlimited, Inc.; 35th Avenue Caf Bar in Battlement Mesa; Gateway Canyon Resort; Meeker Golf Course; Gypsum Creek Golf Course; The Guzzler in Parachute; Redstone Inn; Rifle Creek Golf; Battlement Mesa Golf Club; Mike Thomas; Tripp Dobson; Shommy's in Parachute; Crabtree's Red Canyon Auto Body and Frame; FR's For Less; Western Exposures Photography; Rifle Radio Shack; Blown Away Day Spa; Ladybug Express; Crystal Fly Shop in Carbondale; Hampton Inn & Suites in Rifle; Outlaw Gun & Tactical; Mary's Wondrous Things; Miner's Claim Restaurant; Silt Discount Liquor; Classic Nails & Day Spa; Rifle Fireside Lanes; Lindsey Johnson; Midland Arts Company; Canyon Cleaners; Lakota Canyon Golf Club; Mountain View Tree Farm; Hotel Colorado; Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park; EZ-IT; Divide Creek Wood Turnings; Nachos Mexican Restaurant in Rifle; Starbucks Coffee Co. in Rifle; Brenden Rifle 7 Theatre; Daylight Donuts; Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad; Historic Strater Hotel of Durango; Aaron's of Rifle; Sweet Peas Flowers Shop/Nancy Vance; Studio Six Salon; Elk Creek Mining Co.; Fiesta Guadalajara; New Castle Family Fitness; Trendz Clothing Co.; Telluride Ski & Golf Resort; Larry & Pam Sweeney; Sandy Constine; Yvonne Siebert; Sandy Edgerton; Sandy Sekeres; Peggy Swank; Ellie & Nancy Slocum; Lindsey Johnson; and Lou Roes.This year's proceeds benefit the Grand River Meals On Wheels program, which delivers meals to homebound, disabled, and recovering clients from New Castle to Parachute, five days a week. Your donations couldn't come at a better time, as our meal deliveries are up over 30 percent over last year. We deliver over 1,000 meals a month. It takes a village to make this all possible and I would like to thank each of you for being a part of this event.For more information on Meals on Wheels, go to www.grhd.org or like our page on Facebook.Kaaren PeckGrand River Hospital Manager of Volunteer Services


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Mayfield Earns NWCA Academic Honor
AMES, Iowa - Senior Max Mayfield has been selected to the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division I All-Academic team for the 2012-13 season, the NWCA announced earlier today.
The Davenport, Iowa native, who has already earned a bachelor's degree from Iowa State University in computer engineering, sported a 3.42 cumulative GPA in the graduate program for business administration this year.
In March, Mayfield was named a member of the 2012-13 Academic All-Big 12 First-Team, marking his first Big 12 academic honor.
In the semifinals at the Big 12 Championships this season, Mayfield punched a ticket to his first career NCAA Championships with a 4-2 upset of No. 16 Nick Lester of Oklahoma. Despite falling to eventual NCAA champion Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State in the finals, Mayfield earned one of two automatic bids at 149 pounds to the national tournament in Des Moines, Iowa with his runner-up finish.
At the annual Cyclone wrestling post-season awards banquet, Mayfield received the Dr. Wise Burroughs Leadership Award. The award is given to the ISU wrestler who best demonstrates leadership to his team and community.
Mayfield completed his final season 15-15 with seven wins in dual competition. He finished his Cyclone career with a 42-40 overall record.


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End the Obamacare Slush Fund
As Dean Clancy wrote last week at FreedomWorks, the House today will take up the Helping Sick Americans Now Act (H.R.1549). The bill cuts a slush fund and uses the money to subsidize insurance for the sickest Americans. Congress should pass it. Contrary to various claims, this bill neither cripples Obamacare implementation nor fixes Obamacare. It merely forces the Obamacare train wreck to get by on its | Read More »


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ATHENS, Ga. -- Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall each scored twice on the ground as No. 5 Georgia rolled to a 48-3 win over Vanderbilt in SEC action.
Gurley carried the ball 16 times for 130 yards and Marshall finished with 10 touches for 82 yards for the Bulldogs (4-0, 2-0 SEC), who have won their first four games this season by a combined 124 points.
Aaron Murray was a crisp 18-for-24 with 250 yards and two touchdowns and added a score on the ground for Georgia, which totaled 567 yards of offense in the game.
Jordan Rodgers was 13-for-23 with 218 yards while Jordan Matthews had eight catches for 120 yards for the Commodores (1-3, 0-2), who were coming off a 58-0 thumping of Presbyterian last Saturday.
(The Sports Network)


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May 31, 2016
More than eight water slides, and a lazy river to boot. Geyser Falls Water Park beats the heat.
Responses from the children were positive, from "It's great," to "Today's been a lot of fun," to "I went on this and this and this, this is the best!"
Chief Phillip Martin of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, which owns the development, opened the park. All slides will be up by the weekend. The Backsplash already is.
"Believe it or not, the park is about more than just fun, it's a new direction for the resort," said Martin. "This will attract people from all over."
"This park is family oriented and provides 250 jobs," said park manager Steve Mayer. "The economic growth spurs us to build more."
Thousands of jobs are expected to be added with upcoming developments.
Click Here to access the online Public Inspection File
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(Page 2 of 3)
In 1833, England enacted the Slavery Abolition Act, outlawing what we now call human trafficking. In the U.S., the abolitionist movement was no less strong. America, of course, fought the Civil War from 1861 to 1865 to end slavery.
In addition to their book –– the most horrifying that I have read –– Kristof and WuDunn are embarking on what they call a "transmedia" project to spread the word about the evils of modern slavery, which largely subjugates "women," a term that includes adults of all ages and girls as young as 6.
I first heard about the transmedia project at the Columbia University Journalism School's Social Media Weekend in February. Kristof and WuDunn are employing as many media as they can to reach the widest possible audience and spark a worldwide movement that will at long last free repressed women from the bonds of slavery. The couple are on Twitter and Facebook, and even have a Facebook game, complete with cartoon characters. I haven't tried it, but I assume that it is targeted at teenagers to encourage them to tune in and get involved.
And then there's the four-hour PBS series inspired by "Half the Sky." Two segments of this "Independent Lens" series will air in the coming week –– "Strong," at 2 p.m. on March 23, and "Whatever It Takes," at 2 a.m. on March 28, both on Channel 13. The series, filmed in 10 countries, follows Kristof and celebrity activists America Ferrera, Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, Gabrielle Union and Olivia Wilde as they meet with inspiring women who are making a difference in the lives of other women. The series, we are told, is solution-oriented.
And so, I might add, is "Half the Sky," the book. In this masterpiece of modern-day abolitionism, Kristof and WuDunn offer myriad ways that most anyone can join what appears to be a burgeoning movement ready to explode. It is undeniably hard to read. Many times I had to put it down for a moment and regain my composure before I could continue. It is not a book for children. I'm not even sure that teenagers should read it. But it should be required reading for every adult living in law-abiding Western nations.
KeywordsScott Brinton, "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide", torture, rape, mistreatment, enslavement, women, developing world, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn, Pulitzer Prizes, Tiananmen Square, abolitionist movement, prostitution, hard labor, Africa, Middle East, Asia, William Wilberforce, slave trade, Slavery Abolition Act, human trafficking, transmedia, PBS series, "Independent Lens", "Strong", "Whatever It Takes", America Ferrera, Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, Gabrielle Union, Olivia Wilde, Women's History Month, women's movement, women's rights, halftheskymovement.org.
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Anaheim, CA (Sports Network) - Peter Bourjos went 3-for-4 with three RBI and a
run scored to back six scoreless innings from Tommy Hanson, as the Los Angeles
Angels of Anaheim dominated the Detroit Tigers, 8-1, in the opener of a three-
game series.
Albert Pujols went 3-for-5 with two RBI for the Angels (5-10), who avoided
their worst 15-game start in franchise history. Mike Trout knocked in two runs
and scored once.
Hanson (2-1) gave up six hits while walking four and striking out two for Los
Angeles, which snapped a two-game skid.
Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter went 2-for-4 with a run scored in his return to
Angel Stadium. After the Angels balked at re-signing Hunter after he hit a
career-best .313 last season, the veteran moved on to sign a two-year, $26
million deal with defending AL champion Detroit. Hunter received a standing
ovation from the crowd Friday night.
Detroit starter Anibal Sanchez (2-1) allowed three runs -- two earned -- on 11
hits over 6 2/3 innings.
The Sports Network


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Nov 11
Driver's Track is Next for Leader of Driver's Standings
Posted by: lori on Nov 11, 2010
Tagged in: Sherwin Williams , Germain Racing , GEICO Racing , GEICO
- Bodine Leads the Truck Series Championship Battle by a 230-point margin
- Germain Racing has 22 Truck Series Victories and Nine Pole Awards
- Bodine Owns 21 Truck Series wins with Germain Racing and 36 NASCAR career wins
- Bodine's 2010 Season Stats include 4 wins, 2 poles, 16 top-fives and 19 top-tens
- He has 1 Win, 3 Top-fives and 4 top-tens in Trucks at Phoenix
November 9, 2010 (Mooresville, N.C.) - As the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season draws to a close, Germain Racing is focused on something other than protecting their lead in the driver's championship standings. The team is focused on returning to victory lane at Phoenix International Raceway. Todd Bodine likes the Arizona one-mile circuit, and he'll be driving a winning chassis when he puts the No. 30 Germain.com Tundra on track.
"Phoenix International Raceway is a driver's track. There are different corners, different straightaways. You can move around, change your line and make the race truck do different things. We are taking our Darlington race-winner for our Germain.com Tundra and I'm really looking forward to getting on track at Phoenix," said Bodine, who saved the truck chassis, TRD-122, from the scrap heap when he wheeled it into victory lane in Darlington in August.
Mike Hillman Jr. says the days of thinking about recycling TRD-122 are long gone. He's confident this chassis is the right chassis to give Germain Racing a chance at returning to PIR's victory lane.
"The guys that work on this No. 30 Germain.com Tundra are really the reason we're taking this chassis to Phoenix. Todd drove a heck of a race for us at Darlington to get that win, but, it was the work that my guys put in behind the scenes, after hours, never giving up that kept this chassis in winning form," explained Hillman.
Hillman and the No. 30 team of Germain Racing tested this chassis before Martinsville, then raced it at the Virginia short-track, leading 83 of 206 laps before finishing 3rd.
"With what we learned testing at Little Rockingham and racing at Martinsville, I'm confident this Germain.com Tundra will be very competitive at Phoenix. This team has put in a lot of time to get the truck to where Todd likes driving it. The truck responds well to the changes we do in practice and in the race. I think this is the most excited I've been to take a truck to Phoenix in a couple seasons," said Hillman.
Bodine has raced six Truck Series races at Phoenix International Raceway. All have been behind the wheel of the No. 30 with Germain Racing and the pairing has produced one win, three top-five and four top-ten finishes. This Friday night, he'll compete in his 164th Truck Series race when he fires up the Germain.com Tundra for the 24th race of the 2010 season. Bodine has 725 NASCAR career starts to date.
Watch Bodine in the No. 30 Germain.com Tundra on Friday, November 12th, at Phoenix International Raceway. SPEED will cover Truck Series practice on Friday at 4:30 PM ET, and live later at 7:30 PM.
Follow Germain Racing on Twitter @GermainRacing or on the web at Germainracing.com or become a Facebook fan.
When shopping for your new or used car or truck, head directly to Germain.com to find the perfect vehicle or visit your local Germain dealer in Ohio, Florida, or Arkansas. Germain.com is part of Germain Motor Company, a top-25 automotive retail network with 21 dealerships and more than 60 years of experience.


text: Home Culture Aisha Tyler: Queen of the Blerds The TV star talked to The Root about nerd culture, dealing with bullies and the pursuit of failure. By: Genetta M. Adams Posted: Feb. 28 2013 12:12 AM 0 Frazer Harrison/Getty Images (The Root) -- Aisha Tyler is always on the grind. The comedian and TV star is in a constant state of motion: She can be seen Monday to Friday as a co-host of CBS' The Talk, a show similar in vibe to The View; she's the voice of sassy secret agent Lana Kane in the animated series Archer on FX; she's the creator and host of the popular weekly podcast Girl on Guy, where she interviews (mostly) men about the things they love; and she's a stand-up comedian who regularly goes on the road. Next stop: South by Southwest, or SXSW, in Austin, Texas, in March. She's even found time to write her second book (due out in July), called Self-Inflicted Wounds: Heartwarming Tales of Epic Humiliation, named after the segment on her podcast where she ask guests to reveal their most personal epic fail. The book, though, is a collection of her own past failures, beginning at age 5. One could never imagine that the popular and outspoken Tyler, 42, was once a bookish, nerdy kid who didn't have the cool clothes or the cool friends, and who was obsessed with video games and science fiction. The Dartmouth alumna now sees those early difficult days as a formative time in her life. And today all the things that made her seem uncool then have suddenly made her the reigning queen of the black nerds, or "blerds," as they're called these days. She still loves and plays video games. (Anyone who questions her gamer bona fides can go read her manifesto that went viral last year after some trolls tried to call her out for hosting a video-game event at E3, the annual gadgets-and-games expo that Tyler says she attends every year.) Comic book writers and other nerd types, black or otherwise, have all been regular guests on her podcast. Just back from Paris, where she was filming an episode of a new food-and-travel show produced by Anthony Bourdain for the upcoming Esquire Network, Tyler took a moment from her crazy schedule to talk to The Root about the rise of blerds, being bullied in school and why pursuing failure is a good thing. The Root: Why do you think blerds have recently become the cool thing? Aisha Tyler: We've been around forever, haven't we? I don't know that we've become cooler, but I think [that with] the rise of nerd culture and the celebration of other[ness] and the outsider, as a result it's like a high tide lifting all boats. It's only recently become cool to be a nerd in popular culture. I don't think it's ever been OK to be a nerd in black culture. There is this specific monolithic identity that's presented as what is authentically black and what isn't. I think because traditionally, black people have been in a [defensive] posture, there's been this desire to really enforce that monolithic idea that we all feel the same way politically and listen to the same music and eat the same food. I've heard, in the past, black people say things like "black people don't swim," "black people don't eat bagels," "black people don't listen to rock music." That's not other cultures putting those stereotypes on us; that's us doing that to ourselves -- specifically saying, "That's black, that's not black." So I think what's great about the rise of nerd culture generally is that it really celebrates individuality. TR: I understand what you're saying, but it does seem as though recently blerds have been able to come out in a much bigger way. AT: I think the celebration of nerd culture has empowered nerds of every [culture]. We also have popular blerds. He doesn't really seem like an outsider now, but Kanye West and his album College Dropout [were] really very, very different from hip-hop at the time. Now we have people like Frank Ocean. I think the last barrier in hip-hop is queer culture, and I think it's just about individualism and [how] the idea of that individualism expresses itself in every culture, not just white culture. TR: You've talked about being an outsider and being bullied in school. What used to happen to you? AT: One of the things I remember the most -- this is not a joke, this happened; it was like an after-school special -- kids literally joined hands and danced around me in a circle. This is pre-Facebook. I'm sure there's a Facebook equivalent to dancing around somebody in a circle [and] taunting them, but that actually happened to me, literally, in the real world. TR: If you could go back in time and talk to your younger, nerdier self, what would you say? AT: "It gets better" is absolutely what I would tell her. And I also would tell her to stick to her guns. I don't look back and wish that I was a different kid, because I feel like odd kids end up trusting their own instincts. They don't ever have to check their decisions against the mob because the mob doesn't care what they do. TR: So your new book is all about self-inflicted wounds. Care to share one of your stories? AT: No, you'll have to buy the book. But I will tell you philosophically, the book is about the pursuit of failure. Hopefully it's just a funny book, but it's also about the pursuit of failure as a means to success. I've heard so many people say, "I didn't try that because I was afraid I was going to fail." I think to really do something interesting, you have to do something knowing not just that you might fail but in all likelihood you will fail. And fear of failure should not ever inhibit somebody from pursuing something that they want. And in fact, it's better to stipulate that "this is going to go terribly and I may get injured, but I'm going to do it anyway," because that's the only way you grow. Genetta M. Adams is a contributing editor of The Root. Follow her on Twitter. Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Get what we're watching delivered to your inbox everyday! Sign up for our daily video newsletter below. Page 1 of 3 NEXT PAGE > Powered by Livefyre 0


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Venus Williams debuted a new EleVen dress during a photo call for the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami today.
The 7-time Grand Slammer was joined by Indian Wells finalist Andy Murray and the pair displayed their skills while standing on the hoods of two cars. No, seriously.
Anyway, back to the dress. While I'm absolutely thrilled the Goddess Dress has been put to pasture, this dress is horrid. V gets points for trying something different with the tie-dye moment but what's up with the strange triple-tiering? It looks like she took leftover materials for another dress and stapled them on. Plus, the area where her boobs should be is all mushy and looks like it's stuffed with beanie babies. Not flattering.
Check out more pics from the photo call below.
(images via getty)
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
FASHION FIX: Venus joins Andy for car top SEO promo, debuts tie-dye mess
Labels: Andy Murray, dress, EleVen, fashion, Miami, publicity, Sony Ericsson Open, sports marketing, tennis, Venus Williams
11 comments:
I love that they call playing tennis on top of two vehicles in traffic "impromptu" - as if they didn't know beforehand.ReplyDelete
At least the Goddess dress has been put to rest. This one ... too busy. They looked like they had fun though.
- AnonymousMarch 24, 2009 at 12:04 PM
Hmmm...I kinda like it. I think it will look great against the SE Miami court color.ReplyDelete
Yay for Andy but wow, that dress...I think I've gone officially color blind.ReplyDelete
I actually love the dress. The colors look beautiful on Venus, I'm a fan of such bright colors on black skin (but not too bright colors), and the design is pretty too. All in all, it's refreshing.ReplyDelete
B2012 you're lucky that you've gone color blind. The rest of us are stuck looking at it. Darn! I didn't know that our prayers for a new dress would backfire.ReplyDelete
Well at least Venus' hair looks good. I like the cut. Let's see how long before the extensions go back in.ReplyDelete
I completely disagree with you on the dress! I think it looks gorgeous on her. I like that fact that she's wearing some color rather that the monochromatic whites and blacks and such. And the cut of the skirt is different and playful. Well done Vee!ReplyDelete
This is sort of reminiscent of the Sampras-Agassi commercial from back in the day where they stop traffic and play tennis in the middle of NYC (I think it was).ReplyDelete
I love the cut and style of her dress but the colour mish mash is horrible. That sort of mess is more like something we would see on Vintage Serena not the usually fashion savvy Venus.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMarch 25, 2009 at 6:38 AM
I don't know but to me it just looks gaudy and reminiscent of sista Serena's aussie open print dress.ReplyDelete
- WesterlyMarch 26, 2009 at 6:21 PM
I caught a glimpse of it on the BBC while she was playing on top of the car and I instantly liked it...from a distance.ReplyDelete
Close up, I still love the colours (agree that they're strong and vibrant without being gaudy) and they really flatter her, but the actual cut of the dress is only 'so-so' imo, and I agree that the tie-die print looks a little random.
Might grow on me (it looks downright cute with the white jacket) but we'll see. Jury's out for me.


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I thought I saw last night that the early line was ISU as 3 point favorites...either that was wrong or the line dramatically shifted overnight because ISU is now a 3 point dog. More of an underdog now than we were back in the season opener.
Either Vegas thinks we got worse from a 15 point win, or Tulsa dramatically improved as the year went on.
College Football - odds - Rivals.com
nvm that prints too small...thats only 1 site...also Baylor a Favorite in Cali against UCLA lol.
Last edited by CY9008; 12-03-2012 at 02:24 PM.
Originally Posted by CY9008
nvm that prints too small...thats only 1 site...also Baylor a Favorite in Cali against UCLA lol.
It says Tulsa -3
Originally Posted by erikbj
It says Tulsa -3
Tulsa -3 means Tulsa is a 3 point favorite.
Noogie - I'll take ISU and the points
Interesting . . .
Originally Posted by cyman05
Tulsa -3 means Tulsa is a 3 point favorite.
Not sure what you're looking at. Has it ISU -3.
Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge, which is power; religion gives man wisdom, which is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals. They are complementary.
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It is listed as Tulsa -3. That is a low blow! Sagarin predicts ISU -6.5 That is a 2 score swing. I would bet this if I were a betting man
Originally Posted by Incyte
Not sure what you're looking at. Has it ISU -3.
On the site he linked, that's Tulsa -3.
Kansas Must Be Destroyed
Sic Semper Jayhawks
I so confused right now
Odds - NCAA FB - spread | FOX Sports on MSN
Looks accurate. Fox Sports site also shows us as 3 point dogs. Wow.
Makes me think there's some bad news we haven't heard yet. It was definitely us favored yesterday. Today a 6 pt difference. Not just an article, they were taking bets with us favored by 3. Now +3. Something is up. They don't often just put the + next to the wrong team.
So we beat the snot out of these guys, play a Top 10 in the nation schedule, make a bowl, and are still underdogs?
I get a little tired of the "no one respects ISU" lines, but Jesus ******.
In 1984, I was hospitalized for approaching perfection.
I think this happened:
Yesterday, the oddsmakers thought they were picking Idaho State.
Today, they saw that it's Iowa State.
Line switches.
I'm with Al. The "no respect" thing gets old and drama queenish, but this is stupid.
ISU has lost 3 of 4 and Tulsa just won Conf. USA. I get that it's a joke we are not favored but to everyone not wearing God's colors ISU looks like a team limping into the postseason.
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Sounds of silence
Language | With only one in 100 a regular church participant, are churches deaf to the needs of the hearing impaired?
WASHINGTON-In northeast Washington, D.C., some sidewalks will soon be wider, and buildings will have rounded corners. Reflective glass will help show what's coming on the street. The new street architecture is part of an effort to make streets friendly to those who can't hear.
Washington is home to the world's first and only university exclusively for the deaf, Gallaudet University, with around 1,000 undergraduate students. In coffee shops and on streets around the urban campus, sign language is as common a sight as people talking on their mobile phones. But in past years the college community isolated itself from the city, with iron fences defining the school's borders.
Now Gallaudet is opening up, building housing, offices, retail stores and restaurants around its campus, which looks like many others-green quads, classroom buildings-but is usually blanketed in silence. Friends sign jokes to each other. Students stroll by without the college fashion accessory, an iPod. When a car drives by, blasting dance music, no one looks up. (Gallaudet's football team was the first to develop the huddle in the 1920s so other deaf teams wouldn't see the signs for upcoming plays.)
Some deaf students are integrating in mainstream universities, with the help of cochlear implants. The implants, usually surgically placed early in life, allow the deaf to grow up essentially hearing. Some in the past condemned the implants, saying that children receiving them had no choice of whether they would be in the deaf or hearing language groups. But a 2007 study by the Ear Foundation showed many young people who have had the implants for at least seven years embracing the invention. They said implants, rather than excluding them from one language group or another, allow them to participate in both sign language and spoken language.
Cochlear implants, though, are not an instant cure for deafness. The surgery is invasive, the implants do not work on some ears, and they do not grant what most would define as a sense of hearing. Instead, they send signals to the auditory nerve which a deaf person must learn to interpret, and implants can make some deaf people feel removed from deaf culture.
"Deaf people are very proud of who we are. . . . I enjoy being unique and being able to relate to people in a deep level because we understand what being deaf feels like," says Gallaudet student Alex Abenchuchan, who also serves as the interim preacher for the deaf service in the Fairfax Church of Christ in Fairfax, Va., outside of Washington.
About one in 1,000 people is deaf-but the deaf are often invisible to those in mainstream churches. Only one in 100 deaf people regularly participates in church, and deaf communities around the world are typically the last to receive the gospel in any culture.
The century-old St. Ann's Church in New York was one of the first churches for the deaf in the United States. Its original building doesn't have a bell tower, because its parishioners couldn't hear the peals. But the congregation has shrunk in recent years. Now meeting in another church building, St. Ann's these days has 20 attendees at most.
The complete Bible has not been translated into any sign language anywhere in the world. Some ask: Can't the deaf just read the Bible? They're not blind, right? No, but for those who have never heard spoken words, English is like a foreign language. The deaf live in a separate language sphere and, depending on their upbringing, develop different levels of language.
While the deaf live in a world of physical silence, it is not a world without conversation. In 1960, researcher William Stoke was the first to argue that American Sign Language (ASL) is indeed its own language. His work portrayed deafness as its own culture. The idea began to deter widespread efforts to force the deaf to be hearing by learning to read lips and speak orally.
"The hearing church has not thought about them as a language group but as a handicapped population," said Albert Bickford, a sign language linguistic consultant with Wycliffe Bible Translators, an organization that translates Scripture into the world's languages. ASL wasn't widely considered a language until the 1980s. Now it ranks as a major language group behind English and Spanish.
With 90 percent of deaf children born to hearing parents, language barriers may rise up within families, so parents almost always push for deaf children to integrate into hearing communities. Few parents learn sign language, people working with the deaf say, making it difficult for the deaf to learn to communicate with others who are deaf.
While many of the deaf feel comfortable functioning in the hearing world, many also feel a cultural divide, a chasm of silence that the deaf tend to feel more profoundly than do those with hearing.
"Sometimes when I am at a cash -register or if I am trying to talk with a McDonald's employee, they get scared of deaf people and sometimes give us a hard time," says Gallaudet's Abenchuchan: "Sometimes, it can become very lonely if there is a group of hearing people and no one in the group knows sign language. You are around people, but you are -completely alone."
Deaf and hearing cultures can have difficulty mixing, unlike other cultures, because the deaf have one characteristic that keeps them from fully assimilating. "The deaf can never learn to hear," Rebecca Hinckley says simply. She has worked in deaf ministry for almost 30 years. She and her husband David are part of Fairfax Church of Christ's deaf congregation, though they themselves are not deaf.
Integration of the deaf in hearing churches can be hard too, though some have visions of the two worlds worshipping together. The National Community Church in Washington has ASL interpreters in two of its services, and pastor Jason Yost hopes the church can begin a campus ministry at Gallaudet: "We want to bridge the gap. We're all created in the image of God. We need to come together, whether hearing impaired or blind or a different race. I hope we're not naïve in thinking that."
Some longtime deaf ministry workers say incorporating the deaf in hearing worship tends to take away from their ability to worship and be leaders in the Christian community. Abenchuchan, who leads a deaf service separate from Fairfax Church of Christ's main hearing service, says that integrating the deaf into hearing churches is like trying to integrate German-speaking and Spanish-speaking congregations.
ASL interpretation in hearing services may further isolate the deaf. Deaf members sit together, close to see the interpreter, and few hearing members talk to them afterward. Without any ownership of the ministry-interpreters are always hearing-the deaf generally leave the church if the interpreter leaves.
Furthermore, interpretation is not very effective in communicating the gospel. Deaf culture lives on the visual, and hearing church services with interpreters rarely adjust to focus on the visual elements of worship.
"Deaf people like stories, they're more like an oral people," says Geoffrey Hunt, a sign language translation coordinator for Wycliffe Bible Translators. He's quick to say he doesn't speak for all deaf people, but from his general experience: "They might go to a church with an interpreter and not know for years and years what is being preached."
LeeAnn Carrera, who is deaf, runs the Baptist campus ministry at Gallaudet. She urges ministries to teach the Bible chronologically, from Genesis to Revelation, and notes that stories tell the gospel better than a barrage of words like "sanctified," which has no equivalent in sign language. The story of Jesus healing a deaf man in Mark 7: 31-37 resonates deeply for some in deaf culture, showing that Jesus' message reaches everyone.
"Jesus is following deaf culture," says Stuart Thiessen, who is deaf and works in deaf ministry: In the account, Jesus takes the deaf man away from the crowds-that's vital for communication-and then Jesus lets the man know what He is about to do by touching his mouth and his ears, looking up to heaven, and then healing him, giving him hearing and speech.
Thiessen, now 38, had a hard time hearing by the time he turned 4: "I just thought I was a broken hearing person." By the time he turned 18 he was completely deaf. He says he began to realize that deafness wasn't just a flaw in his body but was important to his identity, like being Irish or Hispanic. Since he wasn't born deaf, he learned more easily to lip-read and speak and is now getting a master's degree from the University of North Dakota.
Thiessen married a hearing woman and now has two children, both hearing. He has helped plant deaf churches and is working as a translation consultant with DOOR International Ministry, a deaf-run organization. His ability to communicate both within and without the deaf community allows him to be a bridge between the two worlds, something a hearing person with ASL training can't do.
But with no full ASL translations of the Bible, it's hard for Thiessen to teach a deaf congregation. One translation of the New Testament into ASL exists: Council Bluff Deaf Missions in Iowa signed the New Testament onto DVD, a method Wycliffe translators agree is more effective than sign writing, a print version of visual signs. The process began over 23 years ago and translators are partway through a translation of the Old Testament.
An arm of Wycliffe in Spain is experimenting with Bible translation into sign animation, which allows easier video editing and makes the delivery of the text more neutral. When a live person is signing the Bible on a DVD, those watching may read the person's personality into the text. Animation removes those preconceptions-though Wycliffe's Bickford explains that the process of animating one verse may take eight hours. Also, signers in places like India and China are nervous about being videotaped translating the Bible for fear of reprisals from extremists.
Language can divide the deaf not just from the Bible but from the church itself. Any difficulty deaf people have with English, Thiessen says, often causes hearing people to think that the deaf have lower intelligence: Churches often treat the deaf as "someone less-than," and then deaf resentment of churches blossoms.
Feeling cut off from the church, some deaf people have a hard time believing that salvation can belong to them, too. Thiessen is among the 1 percent of deaf people with regular church participation, but he notes that some among the deaf think "the church is for hearing people."
Thiessen reflects, "Prayer for me was the hardest. I think it might be the same for every deaf person. We are so dependent on our eyes, and we can't see God. When deaf people talk to each other, we have to be locked eye to eye. When I talk with God, I can't see His eyes."
Thiessen recommends that "hearing church" members learn ASL, preferably from a deaf person, and refrain from patronizing attitudes, instead treating the deaf as equals. Bickford remembers teaching a deaf linguistics course at the University of North Dakota, where four of his 12 students were deaf. One day he taught the course in ASL instead of in spoken English, and had a person translate that for the hearing students.
Building bridges requires resources: a good translator, or better, a deaf pastor and deaf-oriented curriculum and teaching. Some suggest having semi-circular rooms for deaf worship, so signs can be easily seen. These can be costly investments for a small slice of the church population, since few churches with deaf ministries have more than a dozen deaf members.
Yet, as Thiessen says, "The burden will always be on the hearing church to relate with us, because our ears will never be fixed. Hearing people can modify themselves to fit into our world, but we can't modify ourselves to fit into their world."
What you can do?
To understand more about deafness, read Deaf in America: Voices from a Culture, by Carol Padden and Tom Humphries National/internationalministries promoting deaf leadership and deaf churches include: Wycliffe Bible Translators (wycliffe.org); St. Louis (sil.org) `0 DOOR International (doorinternational.com) `0 Deaf Missions and (deafmissions.com).