text:
UT Press
[ Texas ]
Texas Graveyards
A Cultural Legacy
By Terry Jordan
This book not only marks the distinct ethnic and racial traditions in burial practices but also preserves a Texas legacy endangered by changing customs, rural depopulation, vandalism, and the erosion of time.
Where more poignantly than in a small country graveyard can a traveler fathom the flow of history and tradition? During the past twenty years, Terry G. Jordan has traveled the back roads and hidden trails of rural Texas in search of such cemeteries. With camera in hand, he has visited more than one thousand cemeteries created and maintained by the Anglo-American, black, Indian, Mexican, and German settlers of Texas. His discoveries of sculptured stones and mounds, hex signs and epitaphs, intricate landscapes and unusual decorations represent a previously unstudied and unappreciated wealth of Texas folk art and tradition. Texas Graveyards not only marks the distinct ethnic and racial traditions in burial practices but also preserves a Texas legacy endangered by changing customs, rural depopulation, vandalism, and the erosion of time.
- Acknowledgments
- 1. The Truth about Cemeteries
- 2. The Southern Folk Cemetery in Texas
- 3. Traditional Southern Grave Markers
- 4. The Mexican Graveyard in Texas
- 5. The Texas German Graveyard
- 6. A Legacy Squandered?
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- Map of Texas Counties
My attraction to Texas cemeteries does not rest upon a fascination with death. I am not in the least thanatophilic and have instead long entertained, even nurtured, a healthy fear of death. Nor was I drawn to these landscapes of the dead, as so many are, by genealogy or the loss of loved ones. Death remained a stranger throughout my researches, never touching those close to me. Rather, my first visits to the cemeteries of Texas occurred as a result of a project I undertook to chart the spatial distribution of ethnic and cultural groups in the state, in particular the Germans. I compiled the resultant map, in no small part, from surname counts of tombstones in hundreds of rural and small-town graveyards across Texas. During these early years of cemetery tramping, I gradually became aware of four noteworthy truths about traditional burial grounds.
First, and most important from my perspective as a cultural geographer, I learned that many characteristics of traditional Texas cemeteries differ greatly from one ethnic group to another, from one district to its neighbor. I found, for example, along the boundary between German-settled areas and neighboring regions occupied by southern Anglo-Americans, that more than mere surnames differed from one side to the other. Instead, the whole material culture of death clearly reflected the presence of the boundary. Soon I was able to distinguish German from Anglo cemeteries even before I had approached near enough to read surnames or other inscriptions. And when, as often occurred, some Mexican graves were included in these dominantly Anglo and German cemeteries, I found that they, too, could easily be distinguished from a distance, their specific ethnicity revealed by rough wooden crosses and elaborate floral decoration.
Subsequent cemetery tramping in the Midwest, New England, and Europe reinforced my realization that major regional/ethnic variations existed in graveyard types; that a vivid "necrogeography," or regionality of burial practices, awaited description, classification, and analysis. Before I was finished with my ethnic map, I had become convinced that the traditional cemeteries of Texas provide one of the best indices to the cultural diversity of the state. Nowhere else, perhaps, is the imprint of Texas' multiple peopling still so sharp and clear as in the places we set aside for our dead.
The Living and the Dead
The second truth about cemeteries may sound trite or even absurd. Graveyards, I learned, are not primarily for the dead, but for the living. My initial forays into rural cemeteries were clouded by a sense of guilt at disturbing the dead. I felt like an intruder and trespasser in an afterworld where I did not belong, and I hastily snatched the desired surnames before fleeing back to the domain of the living. Only gradually through observation, did I come to regard the cemetery as a proper place for live people. Graveyards, after all, reflect the customs, beliefs, handicrafts, and social structure of the survivors. At certain times of the year, such as "decoration day," they even provide the setting for valued, important social events. One rural cemetery in Southeast Texas even has a "Welcome" sign attached to the fence. Indeed, painted messages to the living abound in Texas folk graveyards. "Your Donations Keep This Cemetery," proclaims a sign alongside the gate at rural Trinity Cemetery near Denton, and another communication in nearby Collin County establishes the graveyard's ownership of the pecans produced by trees within its bounds. Visitors to Moss Hill Cemetery in Tyler County are advised that "All Graves Must Be Placed by the President— Law." At aptly named Friendship Cemetery in Milam County, the startling presence of a rural mailbox atop a post in the burial ground is explained by a sign requesting that "visitors register here." Sure enough, a registry book and pencil are inside the mailbox. The Salado town cemetery offers a handpowered pump, covered by a shed, to provide water for the thirsty visitor and the floral decorations. Many graveyards, even those not adjacent to churches, have a board privy for the convenience of the temporary visitor.
The living, singly and in groups, are frequent visitors. They come to commune with the dead, to associate with friends and neighbors, to manicure and beautify the grounds, to record biographical data concerning their ancestors, to make rubbings of fine old tombstones, to vandalize and destroy and even to study traditional material culture. In many Texas cemeteries, lawn chairs for visitors are placed alongside some graves. Researchers in one Boston urban cemetery observed twenty-two categories of human activity, ranging from frisbee tossing, jogging, bicycling, and model airplane flying to berry picking, card playing, sleeping, playing hide-and-seek, and voyeurism. Even at that, the Boston researchers probably missed quite a few activities. If you wait and watch long enough, you will eventually witness living humankind display in the graveyard, its gamut of behavior, from base to noble. I believe that cultural geographer Yi-fu Tuan erred in implying that cemeteries are "landscapes of fear." Clearly they are not—at least not during daylight hours.
Too, I found that the rural folk do not distinguish so sharply between life and death as do we from the cities and universities. Death is, for them, intertwined so tightly with life as to be inseparable. They converse with the dead and leave favorite foods for the departed to consume. Life, death, and afterlife merge in the folk culture of the burial ground. The living have every right to be there.
A third truth concerning traditional Texas cemeteries was more difficult to perceive. After years of observing the highly diverse material traits of southern, German, and Hispanic rural graveyards, I came to regard the traditional burial ground as an extremely conservative aspect of the respective cultures. Folkways survive better there than in the world at large. Perhaps rural cemeteries preserve archaic customs and practices better than do other facets of the culture because many people are superstitious about death and the dead. Time-tested techniques for laying the dead to rest and calming the spirits of the deceased tend to persist for centuries, even millennia, and the practitioners are reluctant to tamper with them. James Deetz, who knows well the rural graveyards of New England, reminds us that "religious institutions and their artifacts are known to be the most conservative aspects of a culture, resisting change." He would likely also agree with me that cemeteries constitute the most conservative aspect of religious institutions. Geographer Fred Kniffen echoes these sentiments, noting that "since there is a special reluctance to disturb graveyards, they often lie surrounded by bustling urban activities, preserved for study longer than might normally be expected of an outmoded folkway." Likewise, folklorist John M. Vlach concluded that, for black culture in America, the cemetery represents "the strongest material demonstration of African-inspired memories."
In our rural burial grounds we find one of the last viable refuges of folk culture, with all the antiquity, timelessness, and continuity implied by that term. For, as John Stilgoe tells us, the traditional Christian graveyard is the work "of laymen seeking to objectify the most meaningful elements of a folk religion grounded in paganism." Indeed, venerable practices, some of which long antedate Christianity, abound in many Texas cemeteries. Nowhere else, I maintain, is it possible to look so deeply into our people's past. No better place exists to ponder questions of culture history and ancient ancestral cultural hearths. In more ways than one, we are closer to our forefathers when treading upon the ground where they lie buried.
The fourth truth about rural and small-town graveyards may seem to contradict the third or, at the very least, to present a paradox. Change is occurring. In spite of the conservatism inherent in the cemetery institution and regardless of the native conservatism of most Texans—Anglo, black, Mexican, and German alike—the traditional graveyards are endangered. Few unaltered folk cemeteries survive in Texas; most burial grounds today reveal departures from the ancient, traditional material culture that prevailed a century ago. Rural depopulation, "perpetual care," and acculturation have already taken a heavy toll, and the rise of an all-pervading popular culture, represented by the modern commercial cemetery (the necrological equivalent of a fast-food joint), will likely obliterate most distinctive elements of the traditional Texas graveyards by the end of this century. In this sense, the cemetery can be regarded as a microcosm of southern folk culture. All traditions face an early demise, and landscapes of the past give way to cultural homogenization. Regionalism and provincialism fade; national culture ascends.
Folk burial practices are still to be seen, but generally the searcher must seek out remote graveyards in economically depressed districts to find the best surviving examples. Even there, the greatest rewards are found in the older sections of the cemeteries, away from mass-produced commercial tombstones and plastic flowers that speak of the twentieth century. Our present generation may be the last to have access to the incredibly rich material culture of the folk cemetery
Two personal examples of this change illustrate what is happening: one from a rural Texas setting, the other from the suburbs of a great city. My maternal grandmother lies buried at Mount Zion Cemetery in rural Panola County, East Texas. She always believed, in common with the folk of the Deep South, that all grass should be hoed out of graveyards, leaving the bare earth exposed. Grass growing on a grave was a sign of disrespect for the dead, she thought. Traditionally, Mount Zion reflected her belief and preference—grass was banished from its fenced enclosure. No doubt my grandmother expected that, when her time came to join the departed ancestors at Mount Zion, her grave would be similarly tended. Today thirty years after her death, a lush green carpet of carefully manicured St. Augustine grass covers the entirety of Mount Zion, her grave included.
A mile or so from my boyhood home in North Dallas, atop a windy blackland prairie hill, a pioneer family long before my time, established its private clan cemetery. In the early years, the small graveyard no doubt reflected the folk burial customs of Dallas County's farm people. By the 1940s, though, this simple graveyard had become the nucleus of one of Dallas' first commercial cemeteries, complete with mausoleum, funeral chapel, radio commercials, and professional gardeners. Folk and popular culture had clashed there amid the Johnson grass pastures on the northern outskirts of Dallas, with a predictable outcome.
Graveyard Scholars
Persuaded of these four truths—that traditional cemeteries in Texas displayed pronounced regional variation, a necrogeography offering a useful index to cultural identity and ethnicity; belonged properly to the domain of the living; preserved in refuge some truly venerable material culture, providing a potential key to antecedence and diffusion; and faced extinction in the immediate, foreseeable future—I began tarrying longer in these places, not merely recording the ethnic affiliation of the deceased but carefully noting, cataloging, and photographing the diverse, intriguing material culture. What appeared at first glance to be a chaotic, meaningless mixture of symbols and customs proved, upon close analysis, to contain fascinating clues to questions of cultural origins and spread. I redoubled my field research, acquired some modest funding to support my madness, delved deeply into libraries to discover what other scholars had learned from and about cemeteries, and sent some of the best among my students out to experience what I had and to help me learn. I found, in the libraries, that I was by no means alone in my morbid interests. A great variety of scholars, among them archaeologists, anthropologists, folklorists, sociologists, and fellow cultural geographers, had preceded me. Prehistorians have long found graves and tombs rich sources of knowledge, though their practice of excavating and altering as they learned and preserved left me with a vaguely distressed feeling. Too, their interest was in long-dead cultures of the distant past, while mine concerned ways of life still extant, at least in vestige. From the archaeologist I could learn of the Classical Greek or prehistoric Celtic cemetery, but not much about the burial places of present-day rural Texans. True, some historical archaeologists have recently worked on grave sites in the American South, generally as part of the preparation of environmental impact statements, but their reports are as yet relatively few in number and diffficult of access.
Anthropologists have also traditionally viewed cemeteries as worthy of study. Physical anthropologists excavate graveyards in order to measure and classify the racial and skeletal characteristics of the deceased. Perusing their professional literature, I could learn, for example, that the Icelander's average height decreased steadily between about A.D. 12OO and 1800, coincident with a climatic deterioration in the North Atlantic. While worthy their scholarly concerns were unrelated to mine. The cultural anthropologists, too, have been frequent visitors to folk cemeteries. Preponderantly, though, their research has been carried out in remote lands among non-Western peoples. From them I could find out much about the burial practices of African pygmies, Indochinese hill tribes, and Pacific islanders but relatively little about those of the present inhabitants of rural Texas.
Sociologists have approached cemeteries asking questions relevant to their discipline, questions concerning the functioning of society, social status, and the symbolism that pervades human life. Material culture is not their domain or concern and, understandably they devoted little attention to it. They did not have the answers I sought.
American folklorists, amateur and professional alike, I discovered, had devoted considerable study to the death lore of the American South and Mexico. Even so, their interests were still not precisely mine. Their attention usually focused on nonmaterial culture, on the lore surrounding death rather than the physical entity of the graveyard. They wrote of people who covered mirrors when death occurred, of ghosts lurking along the Cumberland and on the Brazos, of banning cats from rooms where corpses lay, of traditional funeral oratory. But, with a few notable exceptions they did not teach me about the material culture of the cemetery.
Even journalists have occasionally visited and written about Texas cemeteries. They are usually attracted by strange or even bizarre elements of graveyard material culture—eyegrabbing features that testify to the general insanity of humankind. One of my students, ever seeking to please, once brought me such a newspaper clipping, now yellowed with age in my files. Regrettably, I cannot determine which paper or year it came from, since the student neatly scissored away the identifying dateline, frustrating my instinctual desire to footnote. In any case, the headline reads "Odd, Strange, and Curious," beneath which is a photograph of a massive tombstone shaped like a king-sized bed, complete with an imposing headboard and a two-poster footboard. "Man rests in peace in double bed," reads the caption, further explaining that the "unknown Texan wanted to take at least one of the comforts of home with him on his final journey." While individualism on this scale is commendable and perhaps reflective of Anglo-Texan idiosyncrasies, it tells me little about what is ordinary and typical of the folk culture. In my academic geographical training, I was taught to observe the commonplace and to ignore the freakish. Following journalists around, I concluded, was not going to teach me what I needed to know.
Instead, I found my true kindred spirits exactly where I should have expected them—among the small but hardy band of fellow cultural geographers. The seminal work was done by Fred Kniffen, the acknowledged founder and father figure of American folk-geography. Kniffen's intellectual roots reached deep into the "Berkeley school" of cultural geography, developed by the late Carl O. Sauer at the University of California in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1967, while I was still snatching surnames, Professor Kniffen published a stimulating call for research on traditional cemeteries, pointing out the great potential value of such studies. "Formal disposal of the deceased," he wrote, "is a universal practice" and "should be an essential consideration in individual or comparative study" of the human occupance pattern. The cemetery "reflects traditional values, religious tenets, legal regulation, economic and social status, and even natural environment. Evolution, invention, and diffusion are as nicely exemplified here as with any other cultural phenomenon." In sum, said Kniffen, "there can be few other subjects as untouched or as promising as the geographical study of burial practices." A number of Kniffen's students have carried out research on traditional cemeteries in the decade following his appeal for study.
In the same year that Kniffen's article appeared—1967—another cultural geographer of the Berkeley persuasion, David E. Sopher, lent vitality, impetus, and respect to the geographical study of religious faith through the publication of the first book in the English language on this subject. Sopher's The Geography of Religions was widely read and stimulated a great deal of discussion and research. Seemingly deriving his inspiration from French geographer Pierre Deffontaines' "geography of the dead," Professor Sopher devoted a short section of his book to differing burial customs. My own work clearly belongs in the tradition developed by Kniffen, Sopher, and their students. In a broader sense, it belongs in the growing interdisciplinary field of "folklife" studies, in which cultural geographers play a major role.
The Present Volume
In all, my cemetery tramping has occupied the better part of twenty years, the latter decade of which involved a systematic study of traditional material culture. During that period, only my closest friends, next-of-kin relatives, and most devoted students, if anyone, retained full confidence in my sanity and well-being, but then cultural geographers are by nature eccentric. From time to time in that latter decade, I read papers at professional meetings and published the tentative findings of my research, seeking advice, criticism, and encouragement from my peers.
The present book is the culmination of my lengthy research. It deals with three distinct Texan geographies of death: southern, Hispanic-American, and German. These three represent, respectively, the numerically and spatially dominant host culture and two major ethnic minorities in the state. The southern folk cemetery tradition crosses racial lines to be shared by blacks, southern Anglod Americans, and Alabama-Coushatta Indians. As such, it embodies the ancestral burial customs of well over half of the rural Texas population and is clearly the prevalent traditional type in the state. I have, accordingly, devoted two chapters to the southern graveyard. With southern whites and blacks joined in a single cemetery culture, a fitting union since their dead cohabit many an East Texas burial ground, the Hispanic and German traditions represent the next two largest population groups in the state. One chapter is devoted to each of these two major ethnic minorities.
By omitting consideration of the numerically lesser ethnic groups, I do not mean to imply that they lack worthy and distinctive cemetery traditions. Czechs, Norwegians, Cajun French, Poles, Jews, and Swedes, among others, practiced their own venerable burial customs. Viewing a remarkable 1854 Gothic folk tombstone in the Norse cemetery in Bosque County for example, can conjure up images of newly Christianized Vikings dwelling along the fjords of Norway. Rather, my omission of these smaller minorities reflects the shallow depth of my own knowledge concerning their cultures and my inability to read their ancestral languages. Perhaps my book will stimulate better qualified persons to investigate and record the morbid material legacy of these numerous smaller groups. In the meantime, I content myself with a simple thanatological trisecting of Texas. Since the southern folk cemetery is the prevalent traditional type, I will begin with it.
A sixth-generation Texan, the late Terry G. Jordan held the Walter Prescott Webb Chair in History and Ideas in the Department of Geography at the University of Texas at Austin.
"...throw away your inhibitions, forget the ghost stories, and travel with Terry Jordan through the fascinating world of tombstones and epitaphs, the departed, the remaining, and the odd, revealing ways in which we honor the dead.... Jordan treats his subject with respect in both words and pictures."
—Southern Living
"...Jordan's wonderful Texas Graveyards is a tour of Texas history in quite a unique way.... the book is a genuine masterpiece."
—El Paso Times


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BLUE EARTH - The Blue Earth Area Buc girls basketball team usually gets kick-started via defense.
Friday was no exception for the Bucs against St. James in Blue Earth.
The Bucs scored the first nine points of the game and never looked back en route to a 58-28 South Central Conference win over the Saints.
Article Photos
OVER THE DEFENSE — Blue Earth Area guard Courtney Grandgenett (25) lofts a shot over the stretched-out arm of St. James defender Maggie Ramirez during South Central Conference basketball action Friday night in Blue Earth. (Courtesy of Kevin Mertens/Faribault County Register)
SQUEEZING BETWEEN — Fairmont's Shannon Christianson (51) squeezes between New Ulm's Kelsy Kannegiesser (left) and Elizabeth Rummel on Friday night at New Ulm High School. View additional photos at: http://cu.nujournal.com (Courtesy of Steve Muscatello/New Ulm Journal)
"I thought our defense was good and I was really happy how they (Bucs) boxed out. They (Saints) couldn't have had too many defensive rebounds," said Bucs' head coach Al Cue.
Camille Driscoll led the Bucs with 22 points, going 8 of 11 from the floor and 4 of 5 on free throws.
"Our shots were falling in and our bench played pretty well," said Cue.
Sara Warmka moved the scoreboard numbers first for the Bucs with a drive down the middle of the lane at 17:35.
Driscoll later added a pair of free throws, before Allie Curtis went up and in in the lane and followed up with 1 of 2 at the foul line for a 7-0 Buc lead at 16:54.
Driscoll then earned her first bucket of the game by following her own miss inside for a 9-0 Buc lead at 16:20.
The Saints got on the board at 16:10 as Cheyanne Bowers went glass from Julia Runge, but Driscoll's next conversion put the Bucs ahead by double figures.
Driscoll hit from behind the arc at 15:25 for a 12-2 lead, before a pair of Krista Hassing free throws gave the Bucs a 14-2 lead.
Devon Flohrs cut the Saints' deficit to under 10 points by taking a Bowers pass to the hoop at 12:30, but consecutive Buc hoops from Nicole Carr, Kristine Volz and Driscoll put the Bucs ahead 21-5 with 11:05 left in the first half.
Blue Earth Area led 39-15 at the break and the Saints could not get any closer than 18 points in the second half.
Driscoll added four rebounds and three steals for the Bucs, while Hassing scored 12 points in addition to four assists and three steals.
Bowers led the Saints with eight points, while adding three steals and three assists.
Blue Earth Area (8-1, 3-1 South Central) hosts Southwest Star Concept tonight in Blue Earth.
St. James (4-7, 1-4 South Central) hosts Windom Area on Tuesday.
Fairmont 62, New Ulm 47 - Sophomore center Kayla Lardy neared double-double territory by collecting 13 points and garnering eight rebounds to guide the Cardinals to a 15-point victory over the Eagles during South Central Conference action Friday night in New Ulm.
Sierra Schultz also scored 13 points for Fairmont and pulled down four boards, while Kamara Cone supplied eight points and four rebounds.
Ashley Kloeckner contributed seven points and four boards to the Cardinals' winning ways, while Shannon Christianson and Tracy Thiesse chipped in five and four points, respectively.
Fairmont made 26 of 55 shots from 2-point range for 47 percent, while hitting 10 of 21 free throws on the game.
Fairmont (6-5, 2-2 SCC) plays host to Waseca on Thursday night.
Fairmont 26-36-62
New Ulm 19-28-47
Pauli Anderson collected 11 points and seven rebounds to pace Fairmont's 61-24 triumph over New Ulm during B-squad action on Friday in New Ulm.
Kaylee Sauck scored nine points for the Cardinals, Courtney Guetter pocketed six steals and Madison Geerdes garnered five rebounds.
Fairmont (8-1) hosts Waseca on Thursday.
Sydney Glienke delivered 18 points and six assists to power Fairmont to a 56-17 rout of New Ulm during C-squad action Friday in New Ulm.
Morgan Seifried contributed nine points and four steals to the Cardinals' victory, while Sophie Shelgren chipped in eight points and seven rebounds.
Fairmont (5-4) hosts Waseca on Thursday.
North Sentral Kossuth/Armstrong-Ringsted 56, Corwith-Wesley-Luverne 16 - Kelsey Gerhart scored 17 points and distributed three assists to lead the Eagles to a 56-16 Corn Belt Conference win over the Panthers on Friday night at Sentral School in Fenton, Iowa.
Tori Johnson produced 12 points, four steals and three assists for NSK/AR.
Collete Haag contributed 10 points and six steals to the winning performance, while Aurora Oliver added five rebounds.
The Eagles were 25 of 53 on 2-pointers, 1 of 16 on 3-pointers and 3 of 9 at the foul line.
North Sentral Kossuth/ Armstrong-Ringsted (9-2, 6-0 Corn Belt) plays Manson-Northwest Webster on Thursday in Manson, Iowa.
Granada-Huntley-East Chain 29, Nicollet 26 - Amanda Cegelske grabbed 11 rebounds and scored seven points to lead the Mustangs to a 29-26 Valley Conference win over the Raiders on Friday night at East Chain School.
Anna Balcom scored 10, and Rachael Sauck grabbed three steals for GHEC.
Katelyn Skrien scored 10 points for the Raiders, while Kayla Wenner scored eight.
The Mustangs were 13 of 37 on field goals and 3 of 9 on free throws.
Granada-Huntley-East Chain (4-5, 3-1 Valley) plays Martin Luther on Monday in Northrop.
Nicollet 16-10-26
Murray County Central 50, Martin County West 34 - Makenzie Giese and Kristi Bose each scored 11 points to lead the Rebels to a 50-34 win over the Mavericks on Friday in Sherburn.
Kate Thiesse led the Mavericks with 10 points, while Madyson Larson had eight rebounds.
The Mavericks were 6 of 10 on free throws, while the Rebels (5-3) were 12 of 20.
Martin County West (7-2, 3-0 Valley) hosts Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial on Monday in Sherburn.
Alden-Conger 45, Truman 31 - Liesel Theusch scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds to lead the Knights to a 45-31 Valley Conference win over the Bluejays on Friday in Alden.
Ariel Keller added nine points and five rebounds, while Taylor Martin and Karina Skov scored nine and eight respective points for the Knights.
Truman (1-9, 0-4 Valley) plays host to Madelia on Monday.

subset: commoncrawl


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A dozen is 12.
A baker's dozen is 13.
In wrestling, an Eagles dozen is 14.
This year, one fell out of the box, but St. Edward had a fresh glazed replacement at the ready.
St. Edward begins today's state wrestling tournament in Columbus with a remarkable 14 state qualifiers — its entire lineup — for the second time in the Division I tournament's history. It also qualified 14 in 2007.
The Eagles barely skipped a beat when heavyweight Greg Kuhar, a returning state runner-up, blew out his knee in late December.
Senior Joe Belford stepped in and placed third at the Ashland district tournament last week, completing the Eagles' state lineup.
Belford was not an unknown. He qualified for the freestyle national championships in Fargo, N.D., last summer. Yes, St. Edward is so deep it has national qualifiers on the bench.
"Greg has beat him in the wrestle-offs for four years, but that did not put a sour face on him," St. Edward coach Greg Urbas said. "He's kept his attitude good for four years. Even when he didn't start the last three years, Joe was right there pushing Greg, trying to make him better. This has all paid off."
Urbas said the Eagles are ready to make a run at wrestling history. They have an excellent chance to surpass Cleveland West's 1951 big-school division mark of six individual champs. They also could break records for scoring (229) and place-winners (13), both set by St. Edward in 2007.
"All 14 are in real, real good shape," Urbas said. "They have smiles on their faces. It's a tough schedule and they have come out pretty healthy."
Price increase: Ticket prices for the state tournament increased as much as 25 percent for the best seats. All-session booklets for entry-level and club-level seats went up from $60 last year to $75 this year. Terrace-level booklets increased $5 to $55 and individual finals session seats are $15, a $2 increase.
A sign: Solon coach Tony DiGiovanni's disagreement with this season's new weight classes will be clear to see at the state tournament. During the tournaments, he and his assistant coaches have been wearing dark blue shirts with large block white letters on the back that read, "COACHES DESERVE A VOICE."
DiGiovanni believes coaches' opinions were not taken into consideration when the Ohio High School Athletic Association adopted new national weight classes. "I still have to do what I feel is right," he said at the Mentor district tournament. "I've had so many coaches come up to me and say, 'Good, good. Keep it up.' "
Mended Bengal: Benedictine senior Brian Smith's state berth comes after a long comeback. He suffered a badly broken leg during a match his freshman year that required surgery and resulted in a rod and nine screws being implanted. He rebroke the leg playing football as a sophomore. He was a district alternate as a junior, and he placed fourth at 170 pounds at the Division II Alliance district last week. "He has really been kind of fearless through the whole thing," said his father, Brian Sr.
Blind wrestlers: Coventry senior Jesse Gunter is not the first blind wrestler to qualify for the state tournament. Charles Bartee of the Ohio School for the Blind placed sixth in 1966. Longtime tournament observers say Euclid had a blind wrestler, Deral Euretig, who placed fifth in 1970.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
firstname.lastname@example.com, 216-999-4661


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text:
By GEOFF MULVIHILL
Associated Press Writer
Two legislative committees were scheduled to hold a joint hearing Thursday to consider Gov. Jon S. Corzine's proposed new formula for how the state would give money to local schools.
The topic could be hot for the next few weeks. Democratic lawmakers, who hold the majority in both houses in Trenton, want the law passed by Jan. 8.
Here are some questions and answers about what the new formula means for students, schools and taxpayers.
Q: What is different about the new proposed formula?
A: There would be one formula for allocating money -- simplified compared to the current one, but still complex -- that would apply to each of the state's 618 school districts. Currently, 31 districts in poor areas -- known as the "Abbott districts" -- get a lot of extra help. Other districts, especially in recent years, haven't seen much increase in their state aid. Under the new formula, the number of low-income students in a district would be a major factor.
Q: What are other factors in this formula?
A: New Jersey will calculate how much it costs to meet the requirement in the state constitution to give every student a "thorough and efficient education." The state bases its share of the requirement by the wealth of a district; poorer districts would get a higher precentage of their budget from the state.
Q: How much does it cost to provide a thorough and efficient education?
A: The state says it starts at $9,649 per year for an elementary school student. Middle school and high school students cost more to educate, as do students learning English, and those with speech issues.
Q: Will schools get more money now?
A: The state is planning to pump an extra $530 million into the education system next year. For the first three years, each district would get more state aid than it saw this year. For the 2008-09 school year, every district would get at least 2 percent more.
Q: Would certain schools benefit more than others?
A: The biggest increases will be in relatively low-income non-Abbott districts, such as Pennsauken and Lakewood, and to fast-growing districts, such as Elmwood Park and South Brunswick. There's a cap on increases, so districts cannot see their allocations rise by more than 20 percent each year.
Q: Do any schools stand to lose money?
A: Not at first. But some could see smaller contributions starting with the 2011-12 school year. Those most likely to be see cuts, or the smallest increases, would be wealthier districts where the enrollment is shrinking -- like Princeton and Middletown. Also, the Education Law Center says 26 Abbott districts could see decreases in the future.
Q: How will this affect taxpayers?
A: That's a tricky question. The bulk of school budgets in most New Jersey communities come from local property taxes. Property taxes have skyrocketed this decade in most towns partly because state aid to schools has barely increased while the cost of running the schools has risen sharply.
Corzine says some schools that are spending more per pupil than the state estimate could be pushed to reduce spending -- and taxes -- in the coming years. But some say that could hurt the education in those districts.
Q: What else is new under the proposal?
A: Free preschools could be expanded. The state funds all-day programs for 3- and 4-year-olds in the Abbott districts -- something credited with giving those students a huge boost later on. Under the plan, the state would eventually pay for similar programs for all 3- and 4-year-olds in lower-income districts.
Q: What about special education?
A: Educating special needs kids can be pricey, averaging more than $20,000 per student, per year, with some children needing several times that amount. One big change in the proposed formula is that the state would now pay a higher portion of the bills for special education students in lower-income communities.
Q: What happens to the proposal now?
A: Lawmakers say they hope to get it approved by the time the legislative session ends on Jan. 8. That would give the state and local school districts time to work the new figures into their budget years that start in July.
Q: Will there by opposition?
A: Yes, but perhaps not enough to derail quick passage. Education advocates are concerned that the new formula will hurt schools; Republican lawmakers say it won't do enough to ease the property tax burden.


text: wild deer and pigs where i get them from just eat mainly grass and clover and some native bush. i should prob expand my knowledge of the fish species i eat. my faves are the fish that eat mainly crabs and seaweed. i only usually eat them raw after they have been soaked in lemon juice. kakoda. i eat shellfish raw and sea urchins raw too.


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MONSON - Letters of interest will be accepted until Sept. 20 from town employees who are interested in taking on town administrator duties on an interim, part-time basis now that Town Administrator Gretchen E. Neggers is retiring.
Selectmen unanimously voted at their Tuesday meeting to move forward with a part-time, interim administrator from within the town's departments. The board will review applications at its next meeting on Sept. 24.
The board also will hear proposals from two consulting firms at that meeting, and will decide its next course of action regarding a permanent replacement for Neggers.
The board discussed options that included hiring an outside firm to conduct the search, or appoint a search committee comprised of residents. Neggers' last day of work is Nov. 25.
Consultant proposals were submitted by the Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, MMA Consulting Group of Plymouth, and Municipal Resources of Meredith, N.H., but selectmen are only inviting MMA and Municipal Resources to the meeting, as the Collins Center already is involved with the regional emergency dispatch issue.
Neggers said she is trying not to start "any big projects, but they just happen."
Some of the ongoing and more involved projects she is working on include the reuse of Monson Developmental Center, Monson's status as a surrounding community to the proposed Mohegan Sun casino project in Palmer, the new Town Building-Police Station project and union negotiations with police and town employees.
Neggers said she has passed much of the Town Building project work to town planner, Daniel Laroche, also the disaster recovery manager.
Selectmen Chairman Edward A. Maia said he wants interested employees to detail how they can include town administrator duties into their current position, and their requested stipend for taking on the extra work.
While Maia said he was not in favor of hiring a consultant, Selectmen Edward S. Harrison and Richard M. Smith said they were interested in hiring a firm to do the search.
Harrison said he would spend $10,000 or $11,000 on a consultant.
Said Smith, "I don't know if I feel confident enough to do it ourselves." Smith said he would consider hiring a consultant or appointing search committee, but is leaning toward using a consultant.
Neggers said the consultant fee could come from the gifts to the town account, which has $36,000.
"You may decide, geez who wants to listen to them for the next three months, we'll just do it ourselves . . . Sit down and talk to them and get a real feel for the process and then you'll be able to move forward," Neggers said.
Maia said after that he hopes to have a permanent town administrator hired by February.


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McClain to follow in Bart Scott's footsteps?
Will Jameel McClain do what former Ravens inside linebacker Bart Scott did in the 2009 offseason and ship up I-95 to join his former defensive coordinator, Rex Ryan?
McClain, 26, played under Ryan in his rookie in 2008 before Ryan left to become the head coach of the New York Jets. Scott, who followed Ryan to the Big Apple, signed a six-year, $48 million deal on the first day of free agency in 2009. When Scott departed for New York, it left an opening alongside Ray Lewis in the Ravens' 3-4 defense, which McClain promptly filled.
Now, it looks like history could be repeating itself. Scott, 32, is reportedly on his way out of New York. He is signed through the 2014 season and is scheduled to make $4.2 million in base salary next year, but Scott's role diminished greatly in 2011, as he played just 677 snaps compared to playing over 1,000+ snaps in each of his first two seasons with the Jets.
McClain, like Scott, went from being an undrafted free agent to starting inside linebacker for the Ravens. Like Scott, McClain's reputation has been polished by playing alongside a future Hall-of-Famer in Lewis and in the the middle of a defense that ranks among the league's best units year in and year out.
McClain, who will become an unrestricted free agent on March 13, could be looking at a big payday in free agency.
After filling in for Lewis, who was forced to miss four games due to a right turf toe injury, McClain took over the defensive play-calling and leadership roles of the defense, as the Ravens went 4-0 during that stretch including the team's best defensive performance of the season in a 16-6 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Thanksgiving night.
Although the Ravens have the first chance to resign McClain, time is running out, as he is scheduled to hit the open market in just six days.


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By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(January 30, 2011)
How aggressive was Juan Pablo Montoya during his final stint Sunday in the No. 02 Ganassi Racing BMW Riley, which Montoya kept in the overall lead in the Rolex 24 Grand-Am season opener at Daytona International Speedway?
So much so that his team went through three noses on Montoya's Daytona Prototype. The third nose on the car was plain white, sans the logo of sponsor Target, because the team didn't really expect to use it.
"Me?" Montoya said with mock incredulity, when asked if he was more aggressive than usual. "I'm never aggressive. I don't even know what you're talking about.
"No, over the night you have to be aggressive. There are some guys, when you get beside them …"
One of those "guys" was the No. 76 Ford Lola of Krohn Racing, which frustrated Montoya by blocking his progress for more than 20 minutes Sunday morning.
"I spent 10 laps or 15 laps trying to pass that green car (76), and when I finally passed him, he lets the other car go (Montoya's teammate in the No. 01 car, Joey Hand). So it was like, 'Oh, my God.' I was so hoping he was going to hold him and I'm going to open a bit of a gap."
Montoya considered moving the No. 76 out of the way, but by then, noses were at a premium.
"Tempting," he said. "But they came on the radio and said, 'Whatever you do, do not touch him.' When they say that, you (say), 'Yes, sir.' "
Montoya and teammates Jamie McMurray, Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti finished second in Sunday's race behind their sister car, the No. 01 BMW Riley driven by Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, Graham Rahal and Hand.
Full-time racing for Dempsey? Not exactly
Actor Patrick Dempsey was so elated about his team's podium finish in the Rolex 24's GT division that he joked about quitting his day job.
"I'm retired from 'Grey's Anatomy' as of today, and I will be racing full time from here on in—now there's a headline for you," Dempsey quipped.
In fact, Dempsey now has two day jobs. He flew from Daytona to Park City, Utah, on Friday for the screening of "Flypaper," a film he produced and starred in, at the Sundance Film Festival. He flew back to Daytona on Saturday in time for the 3:30 p.m. start of the race.
"It's really tricky because you have to balance the two (racing and acting)," Dempsey said. "And this weekend, it was so obvious with having to get to the premiere that was successful, and the career, I had to balance them out.
"I hope I can successfully balance both out—be competitive in both of those arenas and make time for both."
Allmendinger's team gets 'Shorty'
AJ Allmendinger is 5 feet 6. His teammates in the Rolex 24—Justin Wilson and Michael McDowell—are 6-4 and 6-3, respectively.
Consequently, building a seat for a Daytona Prototype is a compromise. With two tall drivers and one short one, Allmendinger's Michael Shank team opted for a larger seat in the No. 6 Ford Dallara, leaving Allmendinger to use a seat insert when it was his turn to drive.
An as-yet-unidentified prankster on Allmendinger's team couldn't resist the opportunity. The culprit found a "Little Tykes" sticker and placed it conspicuously on Allmendinger's seat insert.
Despite discomfort with the seat, Allmendinger closed out the Rolex 24 on Sunday afternoon in seventh position in the Daytona Prototype division.


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From the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary/Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA.
Correspondence to: Kimberly A. Hardin, MD, MS, FCCP, 4150 V St, PSSB Building, Room 3400, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA 95817; e-mail: email@example.com
The authors have reported to the ACCP that no significant conflicts of interest exist with any companies/organizations whose products or services may be discussed in this article.
Reproduction of this article is prohibited without written permission from the American College of Chest Physicians (www.chestjournal.org/site/misc/reprints.xhtml).
© 2009 American College of Chest Physicians
Patients in the ICU are known to have severely disrupted sleep with disturbed circadian pattern, decreased nocturnal sleep time, abnormally increased stages 1 and 2 sleep, and reduced or absent deep sleep. Recent data reveal that a subpopulation of critically ill patients manifests unique EEG sleep patterns. The etiology of sleep disruption in the ICU includes the inherent nature of the environment, medications, ventilator-patient interaction, and the effect of acute illness. How sleep disruption contributes to outcomes in critically ill patients, such as recovery time and weaning from mechanical ventilation, is unknown. This article reviews the literature describing sleep in ICU patients, including recent investigations in patients who require mechanical ventilation, factors that affect sleep in critically ill patients, and the potential mechanisms and clinical implications of disturbed sleep in the ICU setting with directions to consider for future investigations.
For > 30 years, sleep abnormalities have been well documented problems in patients who are hospitalized in the ICU.1–9 Quantitative and qualitative deficiencies have been characterized and include decreased total sleep time (TST), decreased deep (or restorative) sleep, fragmented sleep, as well as altered circadian patterns.1–8 Partial or total sleep deprivation may result. Total sleep deprivation infers complete loss of all sleep for the designated time period. Partial sleep deprivation may be chronic and may constitute insufficient hours of sleep, a reduction or absence of a specific sleep stage, and, often overlooked, the lack of consolidated sleep due to one or more factors that elicit awakening or arousals and impair the normal progression/pattern of sleep stages.
The etiology of sleep perturbation in ICU patients is multifactorial. Moreover, it is noteworthy that sleep duration, architecture, and the sleep-wake cycle are closely associated with many metabolic and regulatory processes that impact critically ill patients by engendering detrimental physiologic and psychological sequelae.7,9–13 However, high-level evidence regarding the effect of sleep deprivation on recovery from acute illness or the morbidity and mortality in ICU patients remains to be described.
This article provides a review of the literature describing relevant features of sleep physiology and highlighting current knowledge of sleep in adult ICU patients, including recent investigations addressing issues related to individuals who require mechanical ventilation, factors that affect sleep in critically ill patients, as well as the potential mechanisms and clinical implications of disturbed sleep in the ICU environment with direction for future investigations.
Sleep is characterized by a variety of physiologic, behavioral, and EEG changes and is necessary for restoration of cognitive, mood, and physiologic functions.12,14 Normal sleep architecture, measured by polysomnography (PSG) is divided into the following two distinct states: non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.14–16 NREM is composed of three distinct stages based on EEG criteria. Stage 1 and 2 are considered to reflect light sleep followed by deep slow-wave sleep (SWS). SWS is an anabolic state and considered the most restorative stage of sleep for physiologic repair.16
REM sleep is thought to be necessary for memory consolidation. REM sleep resembles wakefulness by EEG characteristics with bursts of REMs, and it is a catabolic state. However, motor neurons are inhibited, resulting in inhibition of major muscles, except the diaphragm and ocular muscles. Breathing and heart rate are often irregular.14,16
Many of the agents used in treating critically ill patients are also directly relevant to the sleep process. Regulation of the sleep-wake cycle is complex and controlled by a balance among the homeostatic need for sleep, circadian rhythm, and interaction between neurotransmitters.14,16 Neurotransmitters that promote wakefulness include catecholamines (norepinephrine and dopamine) glutamate, histamine, hypocretin (orexin), and acetylcholine. Acetylcholine is also a major REM-promoting neurotransmitter, whereas noradrenergic and serotonergic neurons inhibit REM sleep.16
Neurotransmitters predominantly associated with promoting SWS are serotonin and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), whereas certain cholinergic neurons inhibit SWS.14,16 Various inflammatory factors that are involved in acute illness, such as interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α also promote SWS and participate in sleep regulation.17 Adenosine, a ubiquitous nucleoside and by-product of energy metabolism, promotes sleep by inhibiting wake-active neurons and is thought to be a homeostatic regulator of energy in the brain during sleep. Caffeine and theophylline are adenosine antagonists.
The circadian pacemaker, located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, is modulated primarily by light and ambient temperature, causing normal sleep to occur at nighttime. Melatonin, secreted by the pineal gland and inhibited by light, has a diurnal variation and thus promotes nocturnal sleep. The physiologic relationship between light exposure and the sleep-wake cycle is an important aspect of sleep in ICU patients because the circadian pattern of light exposure is so unnatural in this setting.
Like melatonin, adrenal secretion of cortisol and body temperature follow a circadian pattern.16,18,19 The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis modulates the response and release of cortisol to stress. SWS inhibits HPA activity, and reciprocally, glucocorticoids or HPA activation impairs sleep. The HPA axis and disruption to these various regulatory mechanisms is particularly important in ICU patients who are in high-stress states and more vulnerable to sleep disturbance.
Studies of sleep-deprived animals and healthy humans reveal many derangements in physiologic parameters that could negatively affect the underlying pathophysiology, treatment, and recovery from acute critical illness in ICU patients.20–31 Even short-term, partial sleep deprivation (6 nights of 4 to 5 h of sleep per night) results in untoward effects. Studies demonstrate decreased glucose tolerance and increased insulin resistance, which could impact glycemic control in ICU patients. There is increased activation of the HPA axis, resulting in an increased heart rate, BP, and cortisol level, whereas growth hormone peak and melatonin onset are decreased. Thermoregulation is disrupted and gastric acid secretion is increased. Inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1, and IL-6) and C-reactive protein, known to cause vascular injury and increase insulin resistance, are also increased and may amplify the impact of sepsis physiology.21–24
Additionally, increased anxiety and impaired cognitive performance occur and may contribute to acute delirium. This may adversely impact patient care by necessitating sedation, which is known to prolong mechanical ventilation.25 In patients with stable moderate to severe COPD, 1 night of sleep loss was associated with a decrease in pulmonary function, which could further prevent the ability to wean from mechanical ventilation.28–30 Little is known about the clinical ramifications of sleep deprivation during critical illness, and further research is needed to define population characteristics and effect on physiologic parameters and patient outcomes.
More than 60% of patients surviving ICU admission report poor sleep or being sleep deprived.32,33 Other studies have shown that patients recall frequent interruptions and memories of pain, anxiety, and fear that impaired their ability to sleep.33,34 In a study of 464 patients, 51% recalled experiencing dreams and nightmares over the course of their ICU admission; 14% of these patients, 6 months after ICU discharge, believed these dreams continued to negatively impact their quality of life.35 Additionally, nurses' subjective clinical assessment of patients' sleep correlates poorly with the patient's own perception of sleep quality.36 Compared with PSG, nurses were inaccurate 26% of the time in determining the presence of sleep and often overestimated sleep time, indicating the need for objective measurement of sleep in this vulnerable population.4,37,38
Early PSG investigations in ICU patients revealed sleep deprivation as indicated by decreased TST and disrupted sleep architecture with increased stages 1 and 2 NREM sleep and decreased SWS and REM sleep.2,3 However, these studies were limited to 8-h nocturnal data collection and usually excluded patients on mechanical ventilation or sedation.
In order to evaluate circadian pattern and the contribution of daytime sleep, 24-h PSG studies in various patient populations were conducted. Studies demonstrated mixed results with mean 24-h TST ranging between 3.2 and 19.4 h and large intersubject variation with some patients sleeping < 1 h. This clearly indicates that some patients were quantitatively sleep deprived.1,4,7,8,11,39,40 More than 40% of sleep occurred during the daytime.7,8,39–41 TST over a 24-h period that is "normal" (using nocturnal standard normative values) but is obtained by a combination of short nocturnal sleep plus abnormally timed (daytime) sleep may not achieve the same physiologic benefit as a "normal" TST obtained at night. Consistent with nocturnal studies, 24-h PSG studies also demonstrated abnormal sleep architecture with lack of the normal sequential progression through sleep stages, abnormal distribution of sleep stage quantities, and fragmented sleep with increased arousals and awakenings. Most investigations have shown excessive stages 1 and 2 sleep and reduced to absent SWS and REM sleep.1,4,8,41
However, Gabor and colleagues11 found REM sleep to be 2.5 times higher (14.3% of TST) than previously reported in ICU patients. The authors did not speculate about why their patients had more REM sleep than in prior studies. This discrepancy may reflect different patient profiles where previous patients received REM-suppressing medications or patients were studied at various points in the course of illness such that the latter patients were experiencing REM rebound. In postsurgical patients, REM sleep has been described as biphasic with severely diminished or no REM sleep for the first few nights followed by REM rebound on day 3 with peak levels higher than preoperatively.4,42–44 Surgery is known to disrupt the circadian regulation of cortisol, melatonin, core body temperature, and the autonomic nervous system with increased norepinephrine levels, which could suppress REM sleep.44
Until recently, studies have excluded patients who were receiving continuous sedation (CS) or required aggressive hemodynamic support. Cooper and colleagues39 were the first to investigate 24-h sleep patterns in 20 critically ill mechanically ventilated patients who received CS/narcotics. Patients were retrospectively categorized into three patient groups based on the following EEG features: disrupted sleep (all stages of sleep were present), atypical sleep (absent stage 2 sleep), or the presence of "coma" (> 50% delta or slow frequency waves). Twelve of the 20 patients were considered to have "unidentifiable electrophysiologic sleep." Seven of these patients had > 50% delta activity believed to be consistent with encephalopathy or coma (four patients had pathologic wakefulness where the patient has behavioral correlates of wakefulness, but with slow-frequency EEG), and the other five patients had atypical EEG patterns (no stage 2). Severity of illness scores, sedatives and narcotic doses were higher among these patients, although no specific source for encephalopathy could be determined to explain the increase in delta activity.
Similar to Cooper's study, Hardin and coworkers40 prospectively evaluated three groups of mechanically ventilated patients (18 patients) receiving either CS with and without neuromuscular blocking agents or intermittent sedation (IS). All three groups demonstrated increased delta activity. Patients who received CS had a greater percentage of delta activity and with slower frequency than patients who received only IS (Fig 1). Of particular note, patients receiving neuromuscular blocking agents were scored as awake 20% of the time. Severity of illness scores, sedatives, and narcotic doses were higher among the patients receiving CS, but no specific source for encephalopathy could be determined to explain the increase in delta activity.39,40 However, all patients receiving CS demonstrated appropriate EEG response to external stimuli. This implies intact brain reactivity and is less supportive of "coma" as the etiology. Importantly, patients in the IS group who were completely awake and responsive also had more slow-wave activity than previously reported. This may indicate pathologic wakefulness (behavioral correlates of wakefulness but with slow frequency EEG) as in the study by Cooper et al,39 or the slow waves may be reflective of other mechanisms, such as medications or recovery from illness. The pattern of sleep-wake organization and its resemblance to normal sleep-wake encephalographic characteristics based on 24-h PSG is a reliable prognostic marker for survival and functional recovery in the subacute phase (> 24 h off any sedative medication) of posttraumatic head injury coma.45 Whether a similar process may be present in patients with acute illness needs to be determined.
Many factors can disturb sleep in ICU patients. These include the environment with disruptions due to noise, lighting, and patient care activities; disruption due to medical illness itself; and sleep disturbance due to medical treatments, such as respiratory care, drug therapies, and mechanical ventilation.7,9–11
The Environmental Protection Agency recommends hospital noise levels be < 40 dB.9 Noise levels in ICUs have been found to be elevated with average daytime sound peaks of 150 to 200 dB and nighttime peaks > 80 dB (for reference, sitting in front-row seats of a rock concert reflects exposure to approximately 110 dB).9 Surprisingly, PSG studies in ICU patients show that only 10 to 30% of arousals/awakenings could be attributed to noise.7,11,46 Patients also subjectively report that noise was not the most disruptive factor32 (Fig 2). Nonetheless, of specific sources of noise (staff talking, various alarms, ventilator sounds, suctioning sounds, physician beepers, telephone, and television), staff talking accounted for 26% of the noise, had the highest peak decibel level, and was perceived to be the most disruptive.11,32,46 Additionally, when healthy subjects slept in the ICU, noise caused even more (57%) arousals and awakenings, and staff conversations and alarms were rated to be the most disruptive.11 This suggests that as patients recover from illness or become more cognitive, noise may be perceived as a more substantially disruptive sleep factor. Studies have shown that implementing guidelines and education of staff regarding noise can effectively change staff behavior and reduce peak noise levels.46–48 Decreasing noise with ear plugs improves sleep efficiency and REM sleep in normal subjects in a simulated ICU environment and has subjectively improved sleep in ICU patients.49,50 But when healthy subjects have slept in open vs private ICU rooms, there was no change in sleep architecture or fragmentation despite lower peak noise levels in private rooms.11 Stanchina and colleagues51 speculated that it was not the peak noise levels that created disruption but rather the change in noise level. They found that adding white noise to background ICU noise substantially reduced patients' arousals from 48.4/h back to baseline no-noise level of 13.3/h. Table 1 suggests strategies that may optimize sleep in the ICU.
Despite the use of new technologies to monitor patients, frequent hands-on manipulation of sleeping patients continues to be the norm in critical care units. Studies have documented a mean range of 40 to 60 direct patient contacts during the night for activities such as wound dressings, medication administration, and nightly baths.52,53 Approximately 10% of arousals and awakenings over a 24-h period are due to patient-care activities.11 Other studies show that patients are interrupted so often that only 5 to 30 min of undisrupted time may be available for sleep.3,9 Despite attempts to optimize the environment, studies have shown that patients continue to exhibit disrupted sleep, indicating there are other factors more intrinsic to the patient that may be the source.4,47 Nonetheless, longer periods to allow sleep consolidation should be fostered. Although it may be cumbersome to implement, staff need to coordinate with the patient's nurse all activities of ICU care; this may require changing routine schedules to facilitate nighttime sleep (Table 1).
Daytime sleep represents 40 to 50% of TST in ICU patients.7,8,39,40 Nighttime patient-care activities often disrupt the sleep-wake cycle. Variation in the light-dark pattern also disrupt the normal sleep-wake cycle. Although light levels have been adjusted to simulate a circadian variation with higher mean peak levels during the daytime (1,602 to 5,089 lux) and lower levels at nighttime (127.6 to 318.5 lux),9 the normal circadian variation in melatonin measured by urinary and serum levels was lost in critically ill patients and may impact sleep regulation.18,54–58 Avoiding high nocturnal light levels and intermittent bursts of bright light, such as with nursing activities, could be important for sleep consolidation.
Approximately 60% of patients complain of disturbed sleep related to being on a ventilator; 30% stated they felt panic and anxiety, which directly inhibited their ability to rest and sleep.59 Only recently has mechanical ventilation been investigated as a direct mechanism causing sleep disruption. Potential factors that may contribute to sleep disruption due to mechanical ventilation include mode of ventilation, patient-ventilator asynchrony, and improper ventilator settings.10,60
Parthasarathy and Tobin10 compared 11 patients on mechanical ventilation in a randomized crossover study who received assist-control ventilation (ACV) and pressure support ventilation (PSV). Six of the 11 patients developed central apneas with increased sleep fragmentation while on PSV but not during ACV. Five of these six patients had a history of congestive heart failure. The other five patients did not have central apneas, and in four of these five patients, there was no difference in sleep fragmentation between modes of mechanical ventilation. Adding dead space to those patients with central events increased end-tidal Pco2 and decreased central apneas along with arousals and awakenings and improved sleep efficiency.
When low level (6 cm H2O) PSV was compared to ACV in patients with acute or chronic respiratory failure who were near extubation, ACV was associated with improved sleep architecture with increased SWS and REM sleep.61 However, when Cabello and coworkers62 compared automatically adjusted PSV to clinician-adjusted PSV and ACV in nonsedated patients, there was no difference in sleep between the groups. This may be due to clinicians adequately matching ventilator settings with the patient's underlying pulmonary mechanics or a different population with less carbon dioxide retention.
Switching modes of ventilation during sleep may be unnecessary as long as overventilation and ineffective patient effort are prevented. When PSV settings are congruent with the patient's effort, sleep improved and requirements for pressure support and positive end-expiratory pressure actually decreased.63 This was further supported when proportional assist ventilation (PAV) was compared with PSV in sedated patients; PAV was associated with better patient-ventilator synchrony, less arousals and awakenings, and improved sleep architecture than in the PSV group.64,65
Instituting management strategies based more closely on patient-ventilator mechanics, rather than tidal volume or respiratory rate, may improve sleep quality. Further studies are needed in various patient populations to confirm that PAV may be a superior mode of ventilation for decreasing arousals related to ventilator asynchrony, as well as comparison studies in the ICU with nasal intermittent positive-pressure ventilation (NIPPV).
Any agent that acts on or through sleep regulatory neurotransmitters, modulators, or their receptors can impact sleep architecture. Abrupt withdrawal from chronic medications, including recreational drugs, can cause severe sleep disruption and delirium. In critically ill patients, it is difficult to ascertain a single drug's effect on sleep architecture. Pharmacokinetics may be altered due to variable volume of distribution, renal and hepatic clearance/metabolism, and the confounding adrenergic effects from acute stress.66,67Table 2 summarizes the effect on sleep architecture and mechanism of action of drugs that are frequently used in ICU patients.
Ach = acetylcholine; AED = antiepileptic drug; BzRA = benzodiazepine; DOPA = dopamine; 5HT = serotonin, serotonergic; MAOI = monoamine oxidase inhibitor; NE = norepinephrine; NSAID = nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug; SE = sleep efficiency; SNRI = serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor; TCA = tricyclic and tetracyclic antidepressant; ↓ = decrease or reduce; ↑ = increase.
Benzodiazepines and opiates are commonly used in the ICU, particularly in patients on mechanical ventilation. However, sedation does not imply normal or quality sleep and can have negative effects. Although intermittent low doses of benzodiazepines decrease sleep latency and increase TST, they also increase spindle activity (stage 2 sleep) and cortical arousals and decrease SWS.14 At higher doses, a dose-dependent suppression of cerebral function occurs manifested by diffuse slowing or delta waves followed by a reduction in EEG amplitude and ultimately a lack of electrical activity and death.68,69 Benzodiazepines activate CNS GABA type A receptors and are thought to cause acute brain dysfunction by altering other CNS neurotransmitters, such as norepinephrine and glutamate that potentially induce delirium and impair sleep.70–72
Although there are clear indications for sedation in the ICU, further exploration is required to determine if prolonged sedative-induced sleep facilitates or impairs recovery and which agent is optimum.73 Excessive sedation is known to increase days on mechanical ventilation and prolong ICU stay.74,75 Short-acting agents, such as propofol (Diprivan; AstraZeneca; Wilmington, DE), do not induce better sleep quality in ICU patients than lorazepam (Ativan; Wyeth/Baxter; Deerfield, IL).76,77 Although studies have not evaluated the direct affect on sleep, dexmedetomidine (DEX) [Precedex; Abbott; Abbott Park, IL], a novel α2-specific agent, produces better anxiolytic effect plus analgesia while maintaining a higher degree of arousability without respiratory impairment or hypotension when compared to propofol or lorazepam.78,79 Randomized trials are needed to evaluate whether DEX may be a better agent to use in critically ill patients to promote sleep and more effective sedation.
Reduction in REM sleep can occur with several medications (Table 2), particularly narcotics, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants, and/or vasopressor agents.19,66 Although REM sleep is thought to be necessary for mental well-being, patients most frequently complain of vivid disturbing dreams, confusion, and anxiety (delirium) during the 3rd to 5th days postoperatively coinciding with the resurgence of REM sleep.42 Interestingly, cardiovascular complications (including stroke) also occur most frequently during this time and may be related to the respiratory and autonomic instability associated with REM sleep. The etiology of REM rebound during this time is most likely due to the withdrawal of narcotics. A linear relationship has been demonstrated between decreasing dosage of morphine and increasing REM sleep (Fig 3). The duration before REM sleep returns to normal after prolonged administration of narcotics is unknown.
Melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone, can now be provided as a supplement. Melatonin promotes sleep without inducing daytime sedation or respiratory depression and maintains normal sleep architecture.66,80,81 Shilo and coworkers58 investigated the effect of exogenous melatonin on the sleep in ICU patients with COPD. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, eight patients were given 3 mg of melatonin or placebo tablets at 10:00 pm on 2 consecutive nights. Investigators reported that melatonin increased TST and decreased sleep fragmentation. The placebo data were not shown; therefore it is difficult to establish what change occurred from baseline. A recent study by Bourne and coworkers82 indicated melatonin improved sleep efficiency in patients on mechanical ventilation. They conducted a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 24 patients who had undergone a tracheostomy to assist in weaning from mechanical ventilation. Patients did not receive narcotics or sedatives for > 48 h, and attempts were made to control the ICU environment. Enteral melatonin, 10 mg, or placebo was administered at 9:00 pm for 4 nights. Nocturnal sleep was monitored using the Bispectral Index Sensor. All patients had severely restricted sleep time. Those who received melatonin had a 1-h increase in sleep, although the improvement in sleep efficiency did not reach statistical significance. The effect of melatonin on sleep architecture is unknown because PSG was not used. The 10-mg dose resulted in sustained supranormal plasma levels, and the effect on daytime sleep was not measured.
Side effects of melatonin are uncommon. However, drug–drug interactions may occur, particularly with immunosuppressive agents due to its proimmunologic actions.83,84 Although promising, there is insufficient data to warrant routine administration of melatonin in critically ill patients. Further studies are needed using PSG to evaluate the sleep efficacy of melatonin and dosage in larger randomized trials with various populations of critically ill patients.
Patients with chronic medical problems, such as COPD and obstructive sleep apnea, often have less deep sleep with increased arousals or awakenings.19 Acute illness can exacerbate sleep disruption due to symptoms such as pain, nausea and vomiting, and fever.85 In humans and animals, acute illness is associated with an increased need to sleep.17,19 Data suggest that critically ill patients with higher severity of illness scores have greater sleep disturbance, as well as abnormal electrophysiologic sleep patterns with absent sleep stages and increased low amplitude slow waves.39,40,86 However, the mechanism of this altered pattern is poorly understood. It is difficult to determine from these small studies whether the abnormal electrophysiologic patterns are due to sedation, the inherent effect of acute illness, or a normal adaptive process related to acute illness, particularly during sepsis or acute inflammation.
Sepsis is associated with biochemical changes that affect sleep regulation and sleep architecture. Mundigler and coworkers87 demonstrated that circadian secretion of melatonin is altered in septic vs nonseptic ICU patients. Septic patients maintained a continuous secretion of melatonin, in contrast to normal cyclic variation of melatonin in the nonseptic patients. Melatonin is known to have immunologic properties. In animal models of sepsis, melatonin is necessary for free-radical scavenging, antioxidant properties, and survival from sepsis.19,83,84 The continuous excretion of melatonin noted in septic patients supports the immunologic role of melatonin and suggests that increased sleep is necessary for recovery from illness.
Acute infection in animal models increases SWS and reduces REM sleep. IL-1 and TNF, both released during sepsis, induce a centrally mediated pyogenic and somnogenic effect, as well as enhance the acute phase response to infection by increasing cortisol, WBC, and other inflammatory cytokines.88,89 In healthy human subjects, acute inoculation with rhinovirus and low-dose endotoxin elicited a mild increase in quantity and consolidation of SWS.17,88,89 Additionally, low-voltage mixed frequency or slow waves have been demonstrated in nonsedated critically ill patients who developed sepsis or had positive blood cultures.7 These EEG changes occurred while the patient's eyes were both open and closed and are thought to be consistent with a "dissociative state" of consciousness reflecting neither normal sleep nor wakefulness.7,90 Importantly, these EEG changes preceded the onset of clinical signs of sepsis and may be an early indicator of illness. Other studies do not confirm such a direct relationship of EEG changes with positive blood cultures.11,39,40 In the study by Gabor et al,11 five of seven patients had positive blood culture findings, but SWS accounted for only 2.7% of TST. Other studies show increased low-amplitude slow waves but without positive blood cultures.39,40 This may be related to the clinical course of the infection, prior antibiotic administration, or a focal source of infection.
Delta activity in normal subjects is strongly related to prior wakefulness and sleep deprivation (homeostatic need for sleep). It is unknown how much sleep is required during illness and whether increased delta activity may be due to the homeostatic need for restorative sleep.17 Sepsis may alter sleep by affecting the neurohormonal environment in the CNS or by a more direct affect on electrical activity. REM sleep is the most vulnerable period and associated with more cardiovascular instability. Therefore, it is suggested that during acute illness, the lack of REM sleep may be an adaptive and protective mechanism. Serial PSG or EEG is needed in acutely ill septic patients to determine the changes in sleep patterns related to infection and recovery from illness.19
Sleep in the ICU is perceived by patients to be poor, often associated with fear, anxiety, and nightmares that impair later quality of life. Quantitative and qualitative sleep deprivation occurs and can have negative consequences on physiologic function, particularly immune mechanisms, as well as psychological well-being. Noise, particularly staff talking and patient-care activities, are clearly contributing factors and represent 40% of the source of sleep disruption. Medications such as vasopressors, benzodiazepines, and narcotics can suppress both SWS and REM sleep. Recent studies also indicate that patient-ventilator discordance contributes to poor sleep. Sleep quality may be enhanced by modifying the ICU environment to decrease staff conversation, decrease nocturnal lighting and routine nursing-care activities, as well as selection of a ventilatory mode that is congruent with the patient's effort and with the goal of preventing overventilation.
Although most studies have shown that patients exhibit increased stage 1 and 2 sleep with diminished SWS, a subgroup of critically ill patients demonstrate unidentifiable electrophysiologic sleep with increased delta or slow-wave activity. Whether the excessive slow-wave activity is secondary to sedation, acute illness, and particularly sepsis, and how it may affect recovery from illness warrants further investigation in ICU patients who have higher severity of illness scores, receive ongoing sedation or narcotics, and who require more aggressive supportive care measures. Larger longitudinal studies in various severely ill populations, with concomitant measures of melatonin, IL, and TNF, are needed to delineate the contribution of each of these factors to sleep architecture and the effect on ICU outcomes. Future interventions that target sleep may be a mechanism to modulate the inflammatory response. Melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone with immunologic properties, may have a future role in facilitating sleep.
assist-control ventilation
continuous sedation
γ- aminobutyric acid
intermittent sedation
nasal inter- mittent positive-pressure ventilation
non-rapid eye movement
proportional assist ventilation
pressure support ventilation
rapid eye movement
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor
slow-wave sleep
tumor necrosis factor
total sleep time
I would like to offer a special thanks to Dr. Mark Sanders for his advice and support in the preparation of this manuscript.
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By Lynn Grisard Fullman
A recent email began with a reminder that the Food Detective once had managed to land a recipe for a Florida reader who had been passing through Birmingham when she had discovered Nabeel's Café in Homewood.
"Guess what?" she wrote, "We just got back from a three-week trip to Greece where we had various delicious foods."
"On our way home to Florida," she reported, "it was our usual scenario: we stopped as always at Nabeel's where I saw on the menu the lamb chops Radou."
"I wanted to try them because I love lamb, and we had them during our recent trip to Greece," she continued.
"I tell you, the taste of these baby lamb chops at Nabeel's was so much more delicious and tasty than the ones we had in Greece," she noted before requesting the recipe.
Asked for the details, the café's founder, John Krontiras, recalled how once his entire family had visited his father's "beautiful" village, Zygovisti in Arcadia, Greece.
It was during that trip that Krontiras' cousin, George, told him about the small little village of Radou where, on a snowy day, the family happened upon a small tavern that he described as "really, a hole in the wall."
Although the owners were preparing to close for the day, they were welcoming and began preparing "whatever was available (including) very small rib lamb chops that were perfectly grilled," he remembered, adding, "The family ate the ribs as though they were lollipops."
"Just delicious!" is how he described the ribs whose details he managed to wrangle from the proprietor before that night had passed.
The recipe, Krontiras added, is included in his recently released cookbook, "Beloved Family Recipes," whose first printing almost has sold out. Selling for $30, the book – which is more coffee table variety than cookbook – is filled with family stories and snapshots and vivid food photos by Karim Shamsi-Basha.
"I have had so many requests for my recipes over the years and for a long time I have thought about publishing them," Krontiras reported, adding, "A lot of people are buying the book to give as a gift."
"Beloved Family Recipes" is available at the cafe, the Fish Market Restaurant downtown, Alabama Booksmith, Little Professor, Books-A-Million, Western Supermarkets in Mountain Brook and Vestavia Hills/Rocky Ridge Road, Shaia's in Homewood, Sweet Tea Restaurant, Stevan Grebel Center for Dance, the Greek Orthodox Cathedral bookstore and online at www.belovedfamilyrecipes.com.
Krontiras will sign his book Dec. 8 from 1 to 3 p.m. at Books-A-Million in Colonial Brookwood Village.
Nabeel's Café is open Monday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; the adjacent market, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
(Serves 6)
18 small lamb rib chops
4 lemons, cut in half
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup oregano
1/4 white onion, chopped
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil (for drizzling)
1/2 tomato, sliced in 3 to 4 slices
Light grill. Brush lamb chops with olive oil. Squeeze lemon on both sides of the chops.
Mix the salt and pepper and oregano in a bowl. Sprinkle pinches of the oregano-salt-pepper mix on both sides of the lamb chops.
Grill about 2 to 3 minutes on each side and squeeze lemon each time you turn.
While chops are cooking add onions and sliced tomatoes to the grill pan and sprinkle both with oregano, salt and pepper.
Transfer chops onto a platter and squeeze lemon on them.
Nabeel's Café and Market, 1706 Oxmoor Road, Homewood; 879-9292, www.nabeels.com


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StartUpHire is the place to find Systems Administrator- Linux jobs. Review the list of Systems Administrator- Linux career opportunities to the left. These Systems Administrator- Linux jobs represent some of the most rewarding careers available.
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We're looking for an outstanding Sr. Linux Admin to join a top-notch group supporting world class science and technology at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). Zurka Interactive is expanding our team at NRL in Washington DC.9/26/2016 Washington, DC Save This Job
We're here to do great work. Work that we can be proud of. We're here to use technology to make tangible progress in the way things are developed, secured, maintained and enhanced.10/15/2016 Washington, DC Save This Job
Overview Proximetry Poland ltd. is a software manufacturer and a R&D branch of an American company Proximetry Inc. The flag product of the company is AirSync?, a high quality management system enabling dynamic management and control of heterogenic wireless networks. The newest9/5/2016 San Diego, CA Save This Job
Category: Domestic Minimum Experience: 4 years Required Education: Bachelors Degree Job Description This Systems Administrator, based out of our headquarters, will be part of a team of IT leaders who are implementing breakthrough technology to solve some of the world?s hardest9/17/2016 Exton, PA Save This Job
Information Technology Santa Clara, CA, United States Apply Send Jobvite SoundHound is creating and productizing transformative technologies that improve life. Join us. After amassing a global user community well over 265 million strong, a large portfolio of core technologies9/19/2016 Santa Clara, CA Save This Job
his is an outstanding opportunity for a strong Tier II Technician to join Theatro, a successful and rapidly growing venture backed start-up working on the cutting-edge of the IT space, and make a strong and visible impact. You'll work with a team of seasoned and dedicated8/31/2016 Richardson, TX Save This Job
Secure ? Healthcare ? Cloud Summary ClearDATA is seeking talented System Administrators to join our rapidly growing company. This is an excellent opportunity for you to leverage your technical expertise and gain new skills in the world of hosted and managed services while being9/25/2016 Austin, TX Save This Job
FLSA Classification: Exempt Department: Network Operations Location: Palo Alto, CA Reports to: Manager, Network Operations Summary: Ooma is seeking a rock?star to join our Network Operations team to help support our ever? growing customer base. Duties include general Linux9/10/2016 Palo Alto, CA Save This Job
Company Description Anomali delivers earlier detection and identification of adversaries in your organizations network by making it possible to correlate tens of millions of threat indicators against your real time network activity logs and up to a year or more of forensic log7/11/2016 Redwood City, CA Save This Job
Department: IT Operations Team Job Description - Experience in highly available 24x7 production environment - Experience with Linux(Ubuntu), MySQL, Memcache, Nginx, Tomcat, Freeswitch, Nagios, Monit, Puppet, Cacti - Experience with Networking (switch and router configuration)9/13/2016 Irvine, CA Save This Job
Direct Supervisor:Director, US Network Operations Work Location:Northern Virginia (Work from Home) Position:Full Time This position will be responsible for maintaining the systems and network across the company's multi-data center environments with other assigned Operations9/12/2016 Sunnyvale, CA Save This Job
Tracking Code 20120213 Job Description The Managed Services (MS) team is responsible for: Overall management and provision of servers, networks, service management (incident, problem, change), operating systems and databases relating to the WSS ASP / Managed Service9/5/2016 New York, NY Save This Job
Technology / Product Management New York, NY, United States Apply Now SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR Small, autonomous teams. Largely decentralized decision-making. Stack involves MicroServices in Scala. System Administration involves automation using a wide Python/Ruby/Perl/Shell.9/18/2016 New York, NY Save This Job
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text:
- And then there were four……:There are now only four undefeated teams left in all of the Mid-Penn Conference: Bishop McDevitt, Northern, Greencastle-Antrim, and
. Bishop McDevitt should be able to go the rest of the year undefeated. The Hanna/G-A match-up coming up in a few weeks, should they both still be undefeated, will have a big-time effect on playoff seedings for the District 3 playoffs in Class AAA. Susquehanna Township
- Bishop McDevitt over Central Dauphin :McDevitt pulled away from Central Dauphin in the 2nd quarter and never looked back. The atmosphere was electric and standing-room only for the whole game. The game itself was entertaining. Bishop McDevitt was firing on all cylinders. CD needs not to hang it's head though, they are still a good team and should be able to rebound against
this weekend. Altoona and Steel-High put up Basketball Scores: Cumberland Valley hung 72 points on Central Dauphin East last Friday night, bringing their points per game average up to 44.8. Cumberland Valley 's Chris Conway scored two touchdowns to go along with his 158 rushing yards on only 5 carries. Steel-High's Max Ward passed for over 300 yards (345 to be exact) and four touchdowns. Steel-High's Jeff Davis accounted for three touchdowns himself to go with 178 receiving yards. Cumberland Valley Chambersburgis still rolling: Chambersburghad no let-down, as they defeated Cedar Cliff home on Friday night. They got great production out of their running game with Derek Burkhard (188 yards, 1 TD) and Conroy Smith (139 yards, 2 TD's) leading the way. Kudos to quarterback Brian Reese for his leadership as the Trojans have gotten off to one of their best starts in the last several years.


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General: 9 Things That Affect Resale Value
In the history of the automotive industry, resale value has never been more important than it is right now. Think about what you spent or are spending monthly for your vehicle(s). In the event that you need to sell that vehicle in the near or not-so-near future, did you ponder the state of Obama's economic affairs before you bought it?
Did you foresee the earthquake devastation in Japan that caused meltdowns of nuclear facilities near their automotive and automotive parts' plants?
Is there something else on the horizon that we don't know to plan for? I can assure you that the answer is, "yes." But until then, my job is to teach you to be the best automotive planner possible.
Do you know how to gauge resale value for a vehicle? Take note. It's not as simple as it used to be. Over the first five years of new car ownership, depreciation (the amount a vehicle loses value over time), is a car owner's business expense. (1)
Determining resale value is an art. However, if you peruse the web, you'll see a lot of "resale value artists" are providing resale calculators to help you compute your car's worth. SPOILER ALERT: Beware the calculator's canvas. Many of these calculators are weighted toward specific automakers and are little more than rudimentary (rude) ads.
Here's the top 9 things to think-tank:
(1) BRAND – the first name of your car is the most important one… (And no, I don't mean what you call it while kicking the tires when it runs out of gas or the battery dies). Certain brands (makes) just have a reputation for high resale value. Before you say, "I knew that," consider this…Some brands have high resale value because they have a reputation for high resale value. Huh? Translation: Residual value projections can and are based on consumer's perceptions of long-term value, which then translates in long-term value. Say that fast three times. How many of you have heard how a Honda holds its resale value? Do you know that because you had one that did? You know someone who had one that did? Or an ad agency spent O'billion dollars telling you that it did? Hmm.
The ideal scenario is to find a car that will retain roughly sixty percent of its value over the first three years. These brands usually include Acura, Subaru, Hyundai, Mazda, Toyota, Honda, Infinity, Lexus, Mercedes Benz and Audi. There, something for everyone.
Let's look deeper:
(2) DRIVETRAIN – just because you enjoy shifting gears doesn't mean that most do. Most don't. Period. All-wheel or four-wheel drive? Unless you are planning to get off the grid, all-wheel drive holds better value unless you live where inclement weather makes rear-wheel drive worth the investment (and, hence, reinvestment).
Confused yet?
(3) PAINT COLOR – white, silver and black have the best resale value unless, of course you're driving a sport's car that screams "RED, please!"
(4) TECHNOLOGY – in most cases, less is more. Whereas audio systems and navigation aids are now readily accepted, affordable and available…think twice before you spend 2-grand on rims or a car that will parallel park itself. People in the market for used cars may not appreciate your technological sense of adventure.
(5) ADD-ONS - Beware of adding performance- or aftermarket parts. Voided warranties are usually deal breakers.
(6) EXTERIOR/INTERIOR CONDITION – Exterior paint, dents, dings and rust, and anything in or on the interior in the way of unsightly (stains, rips, burn holes, pet hair or nasty mats) or smelly (old food, new or old tobacco smoke or pet puddles) are also big bones of contention. Spend $200 on clear coat, have your car detailed and last, but certainly not least, remove (before the sun fade) all, "My kid (fill-in-the-blank) at (insert school here) stickers, inappropriately attired females on mud flaps and absolutely anything that ever proved you voted for a democrat.
(7) MECHANICAL CONDITION – Service your car. Keep a record. Rinse. Repeat.
(8) MILEAGE – If you're considering a once in a lifetime road trip—rent a car.
(9) WHERE YOU LIVE – At the beach? Rinse and dry your undercarriage often. In the snow? Rinse and dry your undercarriage often. Salt is salt, regardless the source. Salt equals rust. Oh, and with global warming, if you live below the Artic, maintain your A/C.
I feel a real need to add one more. Sorry, Mr. Cain, I love the number 9, but there's a tenth one I can't avoid… (10) WHO YOU KNOW – get a good mechanic. Study a Kelly Blue Book. And, remember, times are changing. You don't have to buy a feature or a talking car with more apps than your child's iPod. Granted, today, GPS is imperative to many, but before we had that in mainstream mechanics, MAPQUEST still did a dang good job.
Me? I own two Fords. American made. American repaired. American driven. And, my resale value is just fine. Of course, I'm a good mechanic.
Bumper sticker free – CAR MAN (Two on the pavement. Two on the dirt.)
(1) Kelly Blue Book


text:
The Colorado Springs Gazette has reported that eight Air Force lacrosse players have been suspended for violating academy standards, although the specific violation is unknown at this time. The Academy would not confirm which players had been suspended, but there are eight freshmen whose names are no longer listed on the Air Force online roster.
They are midfielders Ben Beath, Andy Bettinger, Scott Hughes, Alex Kauth and attackmen Mac Fife, Ben Love, Pat Harrison, and Riley Seidel. Fife and Love were slated to fill in some key roles for the Falcons this season.
The Academy also didn't confirm whether or not the infractions would result in expulsion from the Air Force Academy.
Inside Lacrosse will update this story as more information becomes available.


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UPDATE: Medical issue may have caused Caledonia driver's head-on crash, police say
GAINES TOWNSHIP -- Emergency crews are responding this afternoon to a reported head-on crash on 76th Street SE west of Patterson Avenue, with rescuers reporting that one person has no pulse.
The crash happened about 1:35 p.m.
Police and firefighters at the scene told police dispatchers that four people were inside the vehicles, including an infant.
Rescuers said a female had no pulse and CPR was being performed.
E-mail John Tunison: email@example.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/johntunison