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Backgrounder #2760 on Economy
January 22, 2013
January 22, 2013 | Backgrounder on Economy
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was created in 2010 by the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and imbued with unparalleled powers over virtually every consumer financial product and service. With rulemaking and enforcement now underway, there is ample evidence that agency operations represent a radical departure from long-standing regulatory standards. The CFPB's actions are constricting the availability of financial products and services and raising costs—all of which will undermine business investment and consumer credit. Immediate reforms are necessary to impose accountability on the bureau. Ultimately, the CFPB should be eliminated and replaced by coordinated oversight of various enforcement functions among other financial regulators.
The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), created by the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, is living up to its billing as one of the most powerful—and unaccountable—federal agencies ever created.[1] After just 18 months—and with a staff exceeding 1,000 and funding of $600 million—the bureau is restructuring the mortgage market; devising restrictions on credit bureaus, education loans, overdraft policies, payday lenders, credit card plans and prepaid cards; and amassing unverified complaints with which to assail creditors and bankers. This inordinate control over consumer finance is constraining credit and harming the economy.
Prior to passage of Dodd–Frank, authority for some 50 rules and orders stemming from 18 consumer protection laws was divided among seven agencies.[2] Title X of the act consolidated this authority within the CFPB, while granting the agency unparalleled, radical powers over virtually every consumer financial product and service.
The bureau was designed to evade the checks and balances that apply to most other regulatory agencies. Its very structure invites expansive rulemaking,[3] as does its misappropriation of the emergent theory of behavioral economics that drives bureau decision making. It deems consumers prone to financial irrationality and thus ill-equipped to act in their self-interest. Consequently, the CFPB is compelled to intervene in consumers' personal financial transactions.
Government interference in the financial market does not come without consequences. In the case of the CFPB, the rule of law is being supplanted by regulatory whim, producing deep uncertainty in the consumer financial market. And, the new regulatory strictures will increase consumers' costs and reduce consumers' choices of financial products and services.
Lawmakers must curtail the bureau's unconstrained powers. Outright elimination of the CFPB is the best option. Consumer protection can be advanced instead through better coordination among financial regulators. Proceeding toward bureau dissolution, bureau funding should be controlled by Congress, and the vague language of the CFPB's statutory mandate must be tightened to stop bureaucrats from defining—and expanding—their own powers.
The CFPB became operational on July 21, 2011, but was limited by statute to enforcing existing rules for banks and credit unions (with more than $10 billion in assets) until a director was confirmed by the Senate.
To launch the bureau, President Barack Obama appointed Elizabeth Warren[4] as a "special advisor." The President subsequently dispensed with the confirmation process required in the statute by appointing former Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray as director, claiming the action was a "recess appointment"—though the Senate was not in recess.[5] Bypassing the Senate confirmation process eliminated one of the very few means of bureau oversight held by Congress.[6]
With a director in place, the bureau is authorized to supervise "larger participants"[7] in nonbank services. The CFPB has identified six such services for regulation, including debt collection; consumer reporting; prepaid cards; debt relief; consumer credit; and money transmitting, check cashing, and related activities.
Reflecting the overly broad nature of its powers, the agency may also supervise any nonbank financial product or service that it considers to be a "risk" to consumers, or one engaging in "unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices."
Although established within the Federal Reserve System, the bureau operates independently, and with virtually no oversight.[8] CFPB funding is set by law at a fixed percentage of the Federal Reserve's operating budget. This budget independence limits congressional oversight of the agency, and its status within the Fed also precludes presidential oversight. Even the Federal Reserve is statutorily prohibited from "intervening" in bureau affairs.
As with much of Dodd–Frank, a panicked Congress empowered the CFPB without a full understanding of the housing market collapse, the failure of major financial firms, and the resulting shock to the economy. In reality, most consumer financial products and services were not a major factor in the financial crisis. Indeed, many of the Dodd–Frank provisions have long ranked high on activists' wish lists, and the crisis provided a convenient opening to restrain the finance sector in a regulatory headlock.
The bureau is empowered by statute to take action against "unfair, deceptive and abusive practices" in financial products and services. Legal standards for "unfair" and "deceptive" exist,[9] but the CFPB is not necessarily bound by prior interpretations. However, the concept of "abusive" is unfamiliar in regulatory law. As outlined in Title X, the bureau's authority to craft rules and enforce against "abusive" practices is particularly vague:
The Bureau shall have no authority … to declare an act or practice abusive in connection with the provision of a consumer financial product or service, unless the act or practice
One must ask just how the CFPB is to determine consumer "ability" or the requisite degree of consumer "understanding" for a population of more than 300 million Americans using thousands of different financial products and services. Concerns about arbitrary enforcement are not assuaged by the testimony of the bureau director who told lawmakers that
the term abusive in the statute is … a little bit of a puzzle because it is a new term.... We have been looking at it, trying to understand it, and we have determined that that is going to have to be a fact and circumstances issue; it is not something we are likely to be able to define in the abstract. Probably not useful to try to define a term like that in the abstract; we are going to have to see what kind of situations may arise.[11]
Thus, the bureau intends to regulate virtually the entire financial sector without defined and fixed standards.
Predicating regulation on "consumer understanding" and "consumer interest" represents a "radical" departure from the duty of care long imposed upon banks, according to experts such as John D. Wright, chief regulatory counsel of Wells Fargo & Co.:
This part of the Act introduces new more subjective standards that appear to require banks to conduct customer-specific inquiries by obtaining information about each customer's financial circumstances and needs, even for mass-marketed commodity products like checking accounts and credit cards.… A requirement for a suitability determination will add significant costs to the delivery of banking products and services, and will create incentives for banks to offer plain vanilla products with a limited menu of features. [12]
That appears to be precisely what bureau architects intended: force banks to act as advisors rather than expect consumers to determine which products and services will best meet their individual needs. It is the essence of the nanny state. It helps to explain why the bureau is asking consumers to reveal their "common money mistakes" so it may develop "better ways to help others avoid these mistakes in the future."[13]
Identifying the "risks" to consumers from financial products and services is listed in Title X as a primary function of the CFPB "[i]n order to support its rulemaking and other functions." The bureau sets regulatory policy based on "likely risks" associated with buying or using a financial product or service; consumers' "understanding" of such risks; and the extent, if any, to which the risks "may disproportionately affect traditionally underserved consumers."
The problem: There is no definition of "risk" in Title X. The CFPB is thus free to define its powers without the checks and balances that typically protect citizens from government overreach.
According to the bureau's 924-page Supervision and Examination Manual, "Risk to consumers is the potential for consumers to suffer economic loss or other legally-cognizable injury (e.g., invasion of privacy) from a violation of Federal consumer financial law."[14] Bureau staff is directed to gauge this risk potential based on "the nature and structure of the products offered, the consumer segments to which such products are offered, the methods of selling the products, and methods of managing the delivery of the products or services and the ongoing relationship with the consumer."
In other words, the bureau will act based on a supposition of future harm rather than actual violation of the law.
Examiners are also expected to determine the likelihood that a supervised entity will not comply with federal consumer financial law, and forecast whether a firm's supposed risks will decrease, increase, or remain unchanged. But predictions are speculative, by definition, and have no place in a regulatory context. Rather than enforce fixed, objective regulatory standards, the bureau will customize criteria by which firms will be variably judged. Companies could be penalized for conduct that they had no reason to believe was improper. Just how such a system comports with traditional notions of due process remains to be seen.
The bureau's estimation of risk largely determines whether a financial firm is subjected to ongoing "supervision."[15] Supervision is no small matter. The bureau is empowered to require a firm to divulge documents and records, and submit to ongoing scrutiny of its entire framework of policies and practices. Bureau procedures also call for background checks of company officers, directors, and key personnel. Bonding requirements may be imposed. None of which is triggered by an actual violation of law. Indeed, the bureau may initiate supervision of any financial product or service if it has "reasonable cause to determine … that such [firm] is engaging, or has engaged, in conduct that poses risks to consumers."[16]
To date, the agency has designated "consumer reporting companies" that have $7 million or more in annual receipts as "larger participants." That represents about 30 credit bureaus (and related services), accounting for 94 percent of the annual receipts from the entire consumer reporting sector.[17] The bureau also has designated debt collectors with more than $10 million in annual receipts as "larger participants." The estimated 175 firms that would exceed the threshold represent an estimated 63 percent of annual receipts in the market.[18]
This approach to risk-based supervision turns the rule of law on its head. The bureau will unilaterally decide what constitutes a risk and impose new burdens on a financial services firm—for conduct that may or may not be improper if practiced by a different service provider at any given time.
Since its inception, the bureau has launched dozens of investigations and issued more than 100 subpoenas demanding data, testimony from executives, and marketing materials amounting to millions of documents.[19] The bureau is not required to possess evidence of wrongdoing before initiating a probe.
The CFPB opens an investigation by issuing a Civil Investigative Demand (CID), which is a form of subpoena, to require testimony, documents, and responses to written questions. While the investigation itself is nonpublic, a petition to modify or set aside the CID will be made public by the CFPB.[20]
A CID recipient has only 10 days to confer with bureau staff if it intends to seek modification of a subpoena. As noted by the law firm of Venable LLP, that is hardly sufficient time to assemble a legal team, evaluate the CID, consult with relevant IT and business personnel, and craft a response.[21]
CID recipients may have counsel present for on-the-record testimony before the bureau, but the opportunity for counsel to make objections is limited.[22]
A petition to modify or set aside any of the investigative demands must be submitted within 20 days of receiving the CID.
CFPB staff may confer in secret, but the decision on a petition to modify a CID rests solely with the director. The rules contain no provision for judicial appeal of the director's decision.[23] A firm's only alternative is to refuse to abide by the CID and raise objections before a judge after the bureau seeks a court order to enforce its demands.
CFPB officials tout the bureau as a "data-driven" agency.[24] They emphasize that bureau policies and priorities are based on research and analyses of financial products and services, with particular emphasis on discerning "risk to consumers."[25] Measuring various aspects of a market may be beneficial, of course. But not all data collection leads to credible conclusions. Nor does data, in and of itself, determine sound policy.
Consider the CFPB's use of complaint "data," which officials identify as the "start and end" of the bureau's rulemaking and enforcement,[26] and which Cordray has called the agency's "lifeline."[27] Staff has been instructed to utilize complaint data as "indications of potential regulatory violations, including unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices."[28]
The CFPB initially solicited consumer complaints about credit cards. The collection of mortgage complaints was launched last December, followed by complaints about checking accounts, savings accounts, CDs, and student loans in March.
Each complaint is catalogued on the agency's website, including the name of the accused, the nature of the alleged offense, the date of the complaint, and the zip code of the complainant (whose identity is not revealed). In addition to providing public access to this raw data, the bureau reports the complaints to various federal and state regulatory agencies, and also issues periodic reports.
For all the consequential uses to which the data is put, however, the complaint data is not verified.[29] The CFPB is crafting regulations and commencing supervision and enforcement actions based, in part, on consumer allegations that are never checked for accuracy.
There is also no way to determine whether a complaint relates to dissatisfaction with or misunderstanding of legitimate terms of service—as opposed to actual wrongdoing. The system relies on individuals to categorize their complaints, but the limited number of broad categories invites mischaracterization. Nor is there any way to distinguish whether a complaint is made because a company failed to offer an adequate remedy to the customer, or the customer simply rejected a reasonable response.
Moreover, the database lacks statistical validity. The manner of reporting does not ensure that the complaints represent the experiences of the population as a whole. Consequently, any of the policies derived from the data are not applicable to the general population.
The complaint data also lacks context. The bureau reports the total number of complaints by type, but gives no indication of the size of the market. For example, a total of 23,400 credit card complaints have been submitted to the bureau (as of September 30, 2012),[30] but there are 383 million credit card accounts.
Thus, the complaints only represent 6 percent of credit card customers.
Such a system exposes financial firms to unwarranted reputational harm and lawsuits. For example, the aggregation of unverified complaints by zip code may expose firms to claims of lending discrimination or "disparate impact"—which CFPB officials have pledged to aggressively pursue.[31] Congress authorized creation of a complaint database, but set no data quality standards. Perhaps lawmakers assumed the CFPB would manage the data in a more responsible fashion.
The bureau's authority to prescribe rules and regulations is vast. Title X even instructs the judiciary to grant ultimate deference to the CFPB in the event of territorial squabbles over financial regulations among various regulatory agencies.[32]
As of this writing, the CFPB has issued 21 final rules. Three of those directly regulate financial products and services; nine establish enforcement and supervision procedures; six adjust thresholds for regulations; two make corrections; and one delays implementation of a rule. Another seven rules are pending. The bureau also has solicited comment on education loans, overdraft programs, payday loans, credit card plans, and prepaid cards—all of which will lay the groundwork for rulemaking.
Six pending rules relate to an overhaul of mortgage lending. Until they are finalized, however, the housing market is plagued by uncertainty. Confusion also reigns. For example, the bureau has proposed multiple changes to "Regulation Z" (Truth in Lending Act). However, the bureau has not assembled all the various amendments into a single document. Some of the proposals even conflict. As noted by the National Association of Federal Credit Unions, in a comment letter with 15 other trade associations: "These proposals cross-reference provisions in each other, making it difficult to tell what each references and what Regulation Z would look like if all of these proposals are finalized."[33]
A review of some of the bureau's actions to date exposes alarming regulatory excess:
Mortgage Lending. Mortgage "simplification" is one of the 400-plus regulatory requirements called for in the 2,300-page Dodd–Frank act. But many of the more confounding complexities in the credit world are a result of legislative and judicial dictates rather than private-sector fine print.
The Dodd–Frank act requires the bureau to devise an "integrated" form to disclose the terms of a mortgage application (the Loan Estimate) and mortgage closing (the Closing Disclosure).
To that end, the CFPB has released a proposal for a more "consumer friendly" mortgage process. The previous loan form had been five pages long; the new one proposed is three. The proposed closing form remains at five pages. But the agency's proposed requirements to implement the new forms and related rules run 1,099 pages.
Once finalized, the new forms will entail major changes to lenders' operations, including revising forms, IT systems, and policies. The CFPB estimates the costs of new software and employee training to be $100 million. The pending reform ranks as lenders' greatest compliance concern, with 48 percent citing it as a "high" concern and an additional 33 percent citing it as a "medium" concern, according to the annual survey by QuestSoft, a regulatory consultancy.[34] "Factor in the CFPB's position that consumers who do not receive proper disclosure should have the right to walk away from a loan, and it is no surprise that disclosure compliance is the top concern," said QuestSoft President Leonard Ryan.[35]
Redesigning the mortgage documents apparently required the assistance of Kleimann Communication Group, Inc., a self-described "small, agile, woman-owned" business, at a cost to taxpayers of nearly $900,000. The Kleimann Group performed "qualitative testing" of various loan formats with 92 consumers and 22 lenders in Baltimore; Los Angeles; Chicago; Albuquerque; Des Moines; Philadelphia; Austin, Texas; Springfield, Massachusetts; and Birmingham, Alabama.
According to the bureau, both forms have been designed to "reduce cognitive burden." The 533-page chronicle of the bureau's feat—"Know Before You Owe: Evolution of the Integrated TILA–RESPA Disclosures"—includes insights such as, "We found the most effective way to reduce confusion surrounding the APR [annual percentage rate] was to clarify that it was not the interest rate by adding the simple statement: 'This is not your interest rate.'"[36]
Rather than empower consumers through disclosure, the bureau has taken the position that "too much information has the potential to detract from consumers' decision-making processes."
Of particular concern is the bureau's treatment of the annual percentage rate (APR), which many borrowers use to compare loan costs. The APR, as a single percentage figure, represents the actual yearly cost of the loan over its entire term. It includes the interest rate, as well as other fees associated with the transaction, such as mortgage insurance, processing fees, and discount points.
The APR has long been prominent on government-mandated disclosure documents. This time around, the bureau's proposed rules relegate the APR to the last page, but added additional costs to the calculation without direction to do so from Congress. Consequently, the APR will be larger. But that could pose major problems for consumers. Higher-cost APR loans are subject to additional rules under the Home Owners Equity Protection Act (HOEPA) as well as some state laws.[37]
The new regulations also prohibit balloon payments, i.e., smaller mortgage payments every month, followed by a single, one-time payoff at the end of the loan. Late fees also are capped, which will likely prompt lenders to vigorously enforce payment deadlines and use of collection agencies. The bureau also is restricting loan-modification fees, which will likely limit lenders' options for customizing loans.
In sum, the bureau's notion of "improving outcomes" will likely result in fewer mortgage options for consumers and higher borrowing costs.
Mortgage Servicing. The bureau has issued more than 560 pages of proposed rules for mortgage servicing, which encompasses the collection of mortgage payments, maintenance of escrow accounts, loan modifications, and foreclosures, among other functions. Many of the provisions would micromanage the timing, content, and format of various disclosures.
The proposed rules coincide with provisions of a settlement between states and the five largest mortgage-servicing banks that had been accused of mistreating borrowers. Bureau officials are hyping the proposed regulations as the solution to the wave of foreclosures in recent years.[38] Lenders will indeed face more requirements in processing a foreclosure, but that won't save borrowers who, for a multitude of reasons, cannot afford their payments. It will make mortgage servicing more time-consuming and costly.
The burden of such rules would fall disproportionately upon community banks, which have far fewer resources to reconfigure services. To the extent that the CFPB's regulatory onslaught overwhelms small banks, their larger brethren will benefit—becoming all the more powerful as community banks close. That is the very outcome that Dodd–Frank supposedly was enacted to prevent.
Of particular concern are the proposed obligations on servicers' dealings with a delinquent borrower. The bureau seems to think it is the responsibility of servicers to rescue such borrowers from their predicament. For example, servicers would be required to inform borrowers about financial "counseling," while also being prohibited from initiating a foreclosure sale until the delinquent borrower has exhausted his or her options and appeals.
Another proposal would prohibit servicers from obtaining "forced-place" insurance upon a finding that the borrower has failed to maintain property insurance as required. Instead, servicers would be required to give borrowers two opportunities to produce proof of insurance over 45 days before charging for insurance, as well as provide advance notice and pricing information to the borrowers and allow them to obtain their own replacement insurance. In other words, borrowers who have violated the conditions of their mortgage by failing to maintain home insurance must be given a second chance (or third or fourth) to honor the terms of their mortgage agreement.
Such requirements effectively rob lenders of control over the loans they make. It is no wonder, then, that more banks are exiting the mortgage-service business.
Qualified Mortgage. Of enormous consequence to the fate of the housing market is how the bureau defines a "qualified mortgage." The definition is central to a provision of Dodd–Frank that requires lenders to determine a borrower's "ability to repay" any loan "secured by a dwelling." Once finalized as a rule, the qualified mortgage will act as the standard for loan terms that lenders can reasonably expect a borrower to repay. Billions of dollars in loans and millions of mortgages are on the line.
Too broad a definition would expose lenders to costly litigation from borrowers who default. But an overly stringent standard would make it much harder for consumers to secure a mortgage and thus jeopardize the fragile housing market.
Under this "ability to repay" regime, the lender—not the borrower—can be blamed for a loan default. Dodd-Frank allows homeowners to sue lenders if they cannot make their payments and face foreclosure. Such standards effectively require banks to act as personal advisers or intermediaries despite long-held legal precedent that they are not fiduciaries in retail banking.
How does a lender guarantee that a customer understands the terms of a loan? Will there be a test? And, in the event a bank deems customers' understanding as deficient, is that bank at risk of violating fair lending laws? CFPB officials have emphasized that they will aggressively monitor firms to ensure that financial products and services are available to various racial, ethnic, and gender groups in direct proportion to their share of the population. Thus, lenders are trapped in a Catch-22: To abide by the "ability to repay" rule could mean not meeting the race and gender quotas, or vice versa.
Disclosure and clarity-of-loan terms are important, of course. But rather than simply assist consumers in understanding the terms of service for financial products, the bureau is effectively controlling the type of loans available.
Prepaid Cards. General purpose reloadable cards (GPRs), have exploded in popularity. According to one recent study, the amount consumers loaded onto the cards will increase from $28.6 billion in 2009 to $201.9 billion in 2013.[39] Consumers obviously find the cards useful.
One would not know it from the stance of CFPB officials, who are eager to impose the same degree of regulation that has made checking accounts and credit cards more costly—and induced consumers to turn to prepaid cards. In its notice of proposed rulemaking, the CFPB claims to be "particularly interested in learning more about this product." Yet even before "learning more," the bureau has already decided to propose new regulations,[40] which would impose many of the same requirements on prepaid cards that currently apply to credit cards—which would raise costs.
Prepaid cards are available with a variety of terms and fees that vary by issuer. Those options are beneficial to consumers—and particularly so to the "unbanked" and "underbanked" users who heavily rely on the cards. To the extent that regulators impose service conditions and requirements, fewer firms will offer the cards, while the cost of those that remain will rise. Innovation of this nascent product will be inhibited, as well. Indeed, the bureau also intends to regulate mobile devices that access consumer accounts—a grossly overbroad use of its powers.
The best option going forward would be outright elimination of the CFPB through repeal of Title X of the Dodd–Frank financial regulation statute. This does not mean returning to the old regulatory model, whereby different agencies applied different standards to similar products and services. Instead, a council representing the various financial agencies—staffed and paid for without new spending—could conduct coordinated oversight of various enforcement actions to ensure universal coverage.[41] Immediate relief requires the following reforms:
The current structure of the CFPB, with its lack of accountability and absence of oversight, invites regulatory excess. Along with its unparalleled powers and approach to regulation and enforcement, the bureau's actions can be expected to chill the availability of financial products and services. The CFPB's paternalistic view of consumers also means fewer choices and higher costs for credit. This will undoubtedly leave families and entrepreneurs without customized options with which to invest and build wealth.
Consumer protection against fraud and other misdeeds is certainly necessary, but the bureau is on a regulatory tear that extends well beyond what is reasonable. The obvious two questions to consider are: (1) Can consumers expect the federal government—with a national debt of $16 trillion—to do a better job of managing individuals' finances than the individuals who know their own circumstances and preferences? They cannot. (2) Are regulators any less "biased" than consumers in their financial preferences? They are not.—Diane Katz is Research Fellow in Regulatory Policy in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation.
Show references in this report
[1] For example, Representative Spencer Bachus (R–AL), former chairman of the Committee on Financial Services, described the CFPB as "one of the most powerful and least accountable agencies in all of Washington." See News release, "Chairman Bachus Comments on Legal Challenge to Dodd–Frank Act," House Committee on Financial Services, June 21, 2012, http://financialservices.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=300403 (accessed January 10, 2012).
[2] Those seven agencies are: the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, the National Credit Union Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
[3] Diane Katz, "CFPB Wields New Powers with Director," Heritage Foundation WebMemo No. 3476, January 30, 2012, http://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/2012/pdf/wm3476.pdf.
[4] Warren reportedly pitched the idea of a consumer protection agency to then-Senator Barack Obama's office in early 2007. She outlined her regulatory goals in: Elizabeth Warren, "Unsafe at Any Rate," Democracy, No. 5 (Summer 2007), http://www.democracyjournal.org/5/6528.php?page=all (accessed January 10, 2013).
[5] Proponents claimed that the President was forced to act after some Republicans threatened to block any nomination unless changes were made to the agency's structure.
[6] A lawsuit challenging the appointment is pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. A ruling against the Administration could jeopardize all rules and regulations promulgated during Cordray's tenure.
[7] The official designation of all "larger participants" has not been finalized. In authorizing the bureau to define these "larger participants," Congress has allowed the agency to determine the parameters of its regulatory authority.
[8] The bureau can only be overruled by the Financial Stability Oversight Council, composed of representatives from other financial regulatory agencies, if bureau actions would endanger the "safety and soundness of the United States banking system or the stability of the financial system of the United States." Any veto of bureau action would also require the approval of two-thirds of the council's 10-member board.
[9] For example, the Federal Trade Commission Act was amended in 1938 to prohibit "unfair or deceptive acts or practices."
[10] The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Title X, Subtitle C—Specific Bureau Authorities, Section 1031(d), http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/111/hr4173/text (accessed January 14, 2013).
[11] "How Will the CFPB Function Under Richard Cordray," transcript of hearing before the Subcommittee on TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, January 24, 2012, http://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/01-24-12-Subcommittee-on-TARP-Financial-Services-and-Bailouts-of-Public-and-Private-Programs-Hearing-Transcript.pdf (accessed January 11, 2013).
[12] John D. Wright, "Dodd–Frank's 'Abusive' Standard: A Call for Certainty," University of California, Berkeley, Center for Law, Business and the Economy, 2011 Spring Symposium, http://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/bclbe/Dodd_Frank_Abusive_Standard_Paper.pdf (accessed January 11, 2013).
[13] Barbara Mishkin, "CFPB Wants to Hear About Consumer Mistakes," CFPB Monitor, June 7, 2012, http://www.cfpbmonitor.com/2012/06/ (accessed January 1, 2013).
[14] CFPB Supervision and Examination Manual, Version 2, October 2012, http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201210_cfpb_supervision-and-examination-manual-v2.pdf (accessed January 11, 2013).
[15] The CFPB describes supervision as "a comprehensive, ongoing process of pre-examination scoping and review of information, data analysis, on-site examinations, and regular communication with supervised entities and prudential regulators, as well as follow-up monitoring. For most depository institutions supervised by the CFPB, periodic examinations will be conducted. For the largest and most complex banks in the country, the agency has implemented a year-round supervision program that will be customized to reflect the consumer protection risk profile of the organization. The agency has implemented a risk-based nonbank supervision program that will include conducting individual examinations and may also include requiring reports from businesses to determine what businesses need greater focus." See CFPB, "Supervision," http://www.consumerfinance.gov/jobs/supervision/ (accessed January 11, 2013).
[16] Title X—Bureau of Consumer Financial Protections, Sec. 1024. Supervision of Nondepository Covered Persons.
[17] News release, "Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to Supervise Credit Reporting, CFPB, July 16, 2012, http://www.consumerfinance.gov/pressreleases/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-to-superivse-credit-reporting/ (accessed January 11, 2013).
[18] Ibid.
[19] Associated Press, "A Look at Some of the Ways the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Enforces the Law," September 12, 2012.
[20] Jonathan L. Pompan and Alexandra Megaris, "What to Expect When You're Under a CFPB Investigation—Negotiating the Scope of the CID," Venable LLP, October 1, 2012, http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/199248/Consumer+Trading+Unfair+Trading/What+To+Expect+When+Youre+Under+A+CFPB+Investigation+Negotiating+The+Scope+Of+The+CID (accessed January 11, 2013).
[21] Ibid.
[22] Ibid.
[23] Loeb & Loeb Financial Reform Task Force, "CFPB Announces Rules Governing Investigations," CFPB Alert, August 2012, http://www.loeb.com/files/Publication/75d89162-5207-4b24-9d22-8185396ed0a0/Presentation/PublicationAttachment/2e238460-8c8a-4f93-9b56-1314a8b53ae2/CFPB%20Announces%20Rules%20Governing%20Investigations%20-%20August%202012.pdf (accessed January 11, 2013).
[24] News release, "CFPB Unveils Credit Card Complaint Database," Consumer Bankers Association, June 22, 2012, http://www.cbanet.org/Advocacy/CFPB%20Resource%20Center/2012/06222012_CFPB_Report.aspx (accessed January 11, 2013).
[25] News release, "Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Releases Report Showcasing 2012 Highlights," CFPB, July 30, 2012, http://www.consumerfinance.gov/pressreleases/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-releases-report-showcasing-2012-highlights/ (accessed January 11, 2013).
[26] Title X, Subtitle A—Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, Sec. 1013.
[27] Kate Davidson, "Trying to Stay Above Politics: A Conversation with Richard Cordray," American Banker, March 23, 2012, http://www.americanbanker.com/issues/177_58/cordray-cfpb-supervision-enforcement-consumers-UDAAP-UDAP-1047798-1.html (accessed January 11, 2013).
[28] CFPB, Supervision and Examination Manual, Examinations 3, October 2011, http://www.consumerfinance.gov/wp-content/themes/cfpb_theme/images/supervision_examination_manual_11211.pdf (accessed January 11, 2013).
[29] The CFPB Consumer Complaint Database states: "We do not verify the accuracy of all facts alleged in these complaints, but we do take steps to confirm a commercial relationship between the consumer and the identified company." See CFPB, Consumer Complaint Database, http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaintdatabase/ (accessed January 11, 2013).
[30] CFPB, "Consumer Response: A Snapshot of Complaints Received," October 10, 2012, http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201210_cfpb_consumer_response_september-30-snapshot.pdf (accessed January 11, 2013).
[31] CFPB Bulletin 2012–04 declared that the bureau will pursue actions against lenders even if discrimination is unintentional. The bureau is also required to examine the diversity policies and practices of firms, and financial institutions are required to track and report on credit applications made by women and minority-owned businesses and by small businesses.
[32] Title X—Bureau of Consumer Financial Protections, Sec. 1022. Rulemaking Authority.
[33] Steve Van Beek, "Joint Comment Letter to CFPB: Drop Proposed Change to APR; Where is Full Reg Z?" National Association of Federal Credit Unions Compliance Blog, September 14, 2012, http://nafcucomplianceblog.typepad.com/nafcu_weblog/2012/09/nafcu-comment-letter-to-cfpb-drop-proposed-change-apr-where-is-full-reg-z.html (accessed January 11, 2013).
[34] News release, "TILA/GFE Reform, Fair Lending and RESPA Tolerances Rank as Mortgage Lenders' Greatest Compliance Concerns," QuestSoft, April 17, 2012, http://www.questsoft.com/downloads/QuestSoft_PR_Compliance_Concerns_12-0417.pdf (accessed January 11, 2013).
[35] Ibid.
[36] Kleimann Communication Group, Inc., "Know Before You Owe: Evolution of the Integrated TILA–RESPA Disclosures," July 9, 2012, http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201207_cfpb_report_tila-respa-testing.pdf (accessed January 14, 2013).
[37] Letter to the CFPB from the Consumer Mortgage Coalition, the Mortgage Bankers Association, and the Community Mortgage Banking Project, September 7, 2012, http://www.housingwire.com/sites/default/files/editorial/respatila090712.pdf (accessed January 11, 2013).
[38] In a press release announcing the proposed regulations, for example, Cordray claimed the new rules would prevent foreclosures. "Millions of homeowners are struggling to pay their mortgages, often through no fault of their own," he said. "These proposed rules would offer consumers basic protections and put the 'service' back into mortgage servicing. The goal is to prevent mortgage servicers from giving their customers unwelcome surprises and runarounds." News release, "Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Proposes Rules to Protect Mortgage Borrowers," CFPB, August 10, 2012, http://www.consumerfinance.gov/pressreleases/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-proposes-rules-to-protect-mortgage-borrowers/ (accessed January 11, 2013).
[39] Pew Charitable Trusts, "Loaded with Uncertainty: Are Prepaid Cards a Smart Alternative to Checking Accounts?" September 2012, http://www.pewstates.org/uploadedFiles/PCS_Assets/2012/Prepaid_Checking_report.pdf (accessed January 11, 2013).
[40] "Electronic Fund Transfers (Regulation E)," Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 101, May 24, 2012, p. 30923, http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=CFPB-2012-0019-0001 (accessed January 11, 2013).
[41] David C. John, "How to Protect Consumers in the Financial Marketplace: An Alternate Approach," Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 2314, September 8, 2009, http://s3.amazonaws.com/thf_media/2009/pdf/bg2314.pdf.


text:
Auditorium's new life proceeds with baby steps
By RICK GERSHMAN
Published February 16, 2007
Every race actually does begin with a single step. So by that reckoning, the D.W. Waters Career Center's auditorium fund is off to the races.
It's just going to be an extremely long race.
The Jefferson High School Alumni Museum donated $2,000 Tuesday to a fund established to renovate the auditorium on this Highland Avenue campus.
While every bit helps, the auditorium is expected to cost close to $2.5-million to renovate.
So it's a small step. But it kicks off an effort that Waters principal Veronica Knight calls most worthy.
This campus, which originally housed Hillsborough County's first high school, is just four years shy of its 100th birthday.
It's been a couple of junior high and high schools over the years and has spent almost a half-century as the original Jefferson High.
This is where the Dragons played sports, sang and cheered after the school bell rang.
These days, as central Tampa's career center, its purpose is entirely utilitarian.
Waters is a learning center for high school-age students who struggle with traditional schooling and are behind at least a grade.
Before she was an American Idol finalist, Jessica Sierra studied cosmetology here. But she never sang here, because there's nowhere to sing.
This isn't a place of music, of theater, of sports.
There are no extracurricular activities, no opportunities for school spirit or for these students to assemble.
When the school recently put on a talent show, Knight said, it did so in "sections," because the cafeteria can only fit about a third of the 300-plus student body.
And the auditorium? It's a wreck, left out during an $8-million campus renovation in 2002. The auditorium renovation originally was expected to cost an additional $1.2-million.
"It's probably around $2.5-million now, but our students are very deserving," Knight said, tearing up as she spoke.
"This was not built to be a career center like the other ones were. Our students are deserving to let their talent show."
Unfortunately, with small donations such as that from the alumni group, there's no indication Waters has any hope of renovating its auditorium any time soon.
The project is not on the school district's five-year plan, where new classrooms and schools are the top priorities.
Though working toward a new auditorium is a long road, it's one worth traveling, said Wynelle Gilbert, curator of the JHS Alumni Museum. Grass roots initiatives like this can pay off, and she has proof.
"Our committee went to work to save the school building when Jefferson closed in 1967," she said.
"We started a museum, we began to collect memorabilia, we sold snacks, we sold bricks from the campus to graduates."
The alumni association worked to keep the building from being torn down, Gilbert said, and eventually it persuaded the district to do the $8-million renovation.
Now, the grads just have to do something about that pesky auditorium.
A few ideas have potential, such as selling the original auditorium's chairs for $50 each, which helped get the ball rolling.
But no one's under any illusion that this will go quickly.
"It'll take years," Gilbert said. "This will be a long, drawn-out process."
Said Knight: "It's going to take a lot of nickels and dimes to make it happen."
Rick Gershman can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com or 226-3431.

subset: commoncrawl


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text:
Scandinavian heritage
It would be difficult to live in our small corner of New York state without soon learning how strongly our way of life has been shaped by the history and culture of the Scandinavian countries.
Recently, the Norden Clubs of Jamestown have requested their members to write up memories of their families' lives in Scandinavia, and often of their journey from Northern Europe to Chautauqua County, and their lives in North America, even if some of it happened outside our immediate area.
This week, I'd like to feature a review of the resulting book: "Our Scandinavian Heritage."
The stories were collected and edited by Barbara Ann Hillman Jones, who grew up in Jamestown and who now lives in Indiana. If I've counted correctly, there are 110 stories in the book, told by 66 of our friends and neighbors. Some are several pages in length, while others are only a few paragraphs.
There are more than stories about how grandmother or great-grandmother earned the passage money to come to America, although there certainly are many such stories. There are examinations of Scandinavian values. There are recipes and menus for typical Scandinavian fare. There are explanations of holiday customs, there are love stories, there are war stories, there are histories of famous Scandinavians and much more.
Especially if you are directly part of the Scandinavian heritage of our area I certainly recommend the book to you, but even if you just live in the community and are influenced by the Scandinavian foods which are often served, especially at holidays, or you enjoy the various Scandinavian singing and dancing organizations, or you admire the homemade architectural elements and the beautiful furniture and needlework which are to be found here, the book is easy and pleasant reading, and well worth your attention.
There are various definitions of "Scandinavian" to be found. The most literal would be something coming from one of the two countries which are located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Those would be Norway and Sweden. Other definitions would include Denmark, which borders Germany, and most of its land is located on the Jutland Peninsula. The Danish language is very similar to Norwegian and Swedish, and I'm told that someone who knows only one of the languages can generally understand someone who is speaking one of the others.
All three countries have been ruled at times in their past, by one or another of the others, and there are several essays about what treaty or what inter-marriage of royalty caused one to become a possession of another.
Still other definitions of Scandinavia include Finland, which borders giant Russia, which from time to time has risen up and swallowed the land of the Finns for centuries at time only to eventually have the small, independent-minded nation separate itself once more. Many of the people of Finland bear a strong physical resemblance to Norwegians and Swedes, being generally tall and having mostly blue eyes and pale skin; yet I'm told their language is quite different. I remember once, when my son and I were eating in a restaurant in Hungary, hearing people at a neighboring table exclaiming that their ancestors were Finns, and they could make out many words on the Hungarian menu based on their knowledge of Finnish.
The book in question takes the broadest definition of all, of the word "Scandinavian," and includes all of those four countries, plus Iceland, which was colonized by Norwegians and is now an independent nation, and Greenland, the world's largest island, which was colonized by Icelanders and currently is a possession of Denmark's, although in 2008 the population of Greenland voted to weaken, but not break, their ties to Denmark.
Norway and Sweden have a significant minority of Lapps, especially in their northern reaches, while Iceland and Greenland have Inuit minorities.
Fortunately, Jones hasn't tried to make the stories into carbon copies of her own favored styles of writing. Some of the 66 story tellers enjoy complex sentences, while others write in a simpler style and still others read as though they were originally written in another language – usually Swedish – and have been translated into English with the original syntax still preserved. The result is a sense of many different voices speaking to the reader.
When one begins reading the book, one finds quickly that one knows the houses and public buildings in our community which are being discussed. One has met the writers or their relatives; one recognizes the industries where these people earned their living, etc. But as one reads further, the stories begin to overlap, and you get a sense of how the members of our community are interlaced in their history and experiences. You also get the opportunity to compare the relative ease with which new members of our community were welcomed and can compare it to the violence and the destruction which sometimes occurred in other locations.
One cannot but be impressed by the close ties which still remain between residents of our community and increasingly distant relatives who remain in Scandinavia.
The book focuses on the positive areas of the relationship. Its stories of young women in their mid-teens who crossed the ocean on ships, completely alone, and found jobs and safe and affordable places to live in our area. There must have been the occasional drunken wife beater or the misbehaving daughter, but they haven't found their way into the volume.
"Our Scandinavian Heritage" has 313 pages in paperbound edition, and there is also a hardbound edition and an electronic version. The book sells for $29.99 in hardcover, $19.99 in paperbound edition and $3.99 to read the book electronically.
It was printed by the Xlibris imprint, dated October of 2012. Find it with ISBN number 978-1-4691-9617-6. You can purchase a copy through the Xlibris website, www.Xlibris.com, or through Amazon.com. The editor has a website at which you can read more about the book or purchase a copy at www.phalanxassociatesinc.com.
The last I heard, local sites were being sought as a place to purchase the book, but as of this writing, I have not been told of any. You can phone Yvonne Thorstenson McNallie, who wrote two of the book's entries, at 664-2977 to inquire about purchasing a copy locally.
I consulted the online catalog of the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System and found there are copies available to borrow from Patterson Library in Westfield, and one labeled "for future use" from the Falconer Public Library.
Owning a copy can let you come vastly closer to knowing and understanding your community.
Since our locally created book doesn't fill up the entire column, let's take a look at some other books which might be of interest to you.
Mel Gussow, whose byline has often been seen on theater-based features and reviews in the New York Times and other high-prestige publications, has written a biography of contemporary playwright Edward Albee. The full title is "Edward Albee: A Singular Journey."
If you're like me, you yearn to know how the lives of the great artists of the world have differed from those of ordinary folks. What has happened in a person's life which enables him to produce plays such as "The Zoo Story," "A Delicate Balance," and of course, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" while others struggle to ink out a list of groceries to buy or errands to run?
Albee, who will be 85 years old in about a month, has a gift for laying bare elements of contemporary lives, so that they can be appreciated and understood. I don't recommend his plays for someone who is undergoing a bout of depression because he doesn't buy into the salesman's stories about ourselves. Instead, he sees the possible pitfalls, the choices which people can make which can destroy our self-respect and our drive to make our lives better, and he has a rare gift for showing them on stage so clearly that even the most stubborn sufferer from self-deceit must recognize the truth and the danger of what he sees.
Gussow has done extremely accurate and well-documented research, but he doesn't stop with that. A man who has worked all his life with professional actors, producers and other theatrical figures, Gussow knows the people who have worked with Albee's writings. He knows which actors and directors have gotten away with getting the playwright to change words or add scenes or eliminate speeches, and which elements of his writings were of core importance to him and which simply helped make sense out of the action on stage.
I've seen most of Albee's creations on stage, at least once, but reading this book made me hunger to see them all again. Elements which were once puzzling seem vastly clearer, once one has read the book.
Just as one example, a number of Albee's plays contain elements regarding a baby who may be real and who may be a figment of one or more characters' imaginations. In his masterpiece, "Virginia Woolf," the principal characters are named George and Martha, named for the famous father of our country and his wife. The two have a son who is probably imaginary, although they talk about him and react to him as though he is real.
Gussow tells us that Albee was adopted at the age of two weeks by a wealthy New York City theater owner and manager and his third wife, a dedicated socialite who devoted her life to knowing who could be assigned to sit next to whom at the luncheon table and what shades of what colors were appropriate to be worn after 6 p.m. One gets the feeling that both his parents wanted to be parents, but neither cared much for their child, or even especially thought about him. He should wear the right clothes and go to the right schools, and not distract them from what was really important in life to them. Clearly, he was his own imaginary baby.
The style is easy to read. The language is clear and lucid. It's very easy to get caught up in the writing and to want to read on and on.
If the reader doesn't love serious theater, and if he doesn't understand the role of theater in understanding the world, this isn't the book for him. Learning of the struggles of an artist to steer between the demands of an enormous talent with a clear view of the world and its lackings, and the demands of ticket sales and union contracts and all the demands of the real world, are deeply challenging and exciting to the reader.
"Edward Albee: A Singular Journey" was published by the Applause Imprint, with a copyright date of 2001. It is marked for sale at $16.95 in paperbound edition. Find it with ISBN number 1-55783-447-4.
Those who love live theater and films know that there are certain actors whose names almost guarantee a performance worth seeing. One of those rare few is Dame Judi Dench.
Few, if any, actors can order up the roles he or she wishes to perform, so they are to a very great extent, dependent upon others to decide to produce a certain play or film, and to choose the actor, however popular or famous, to attempt a certain role.
In 1998, author John Miller wrote a formal, annotated biography of the actor, which she declared to be definitive and excellent. In 2010, she wrote "And Furthermore," to sort of fill in the blanks between Miller's facts. This is not to say the reader gets to know much of her personal life. Rather, she discusses some of her many roles and how she felt about them.
Dench has the word "Dame" in front of her name. That is an honorary title, given by the Queen of Great Britain, similar to a knighthood for a man. Born in 1934 – her 79th birthday will come in a few days – she made her first professional performance in 1957, with Britain's prestigious Old Vic Theatre Company. She claims she intends to work until she can no longer do so, and she would be happy to "drop in the traces," if that should happen.
She has portrayed all the great heroines of classical drama to enormous praise at some of the world's finest venues and has had six Oscar nominations, including one win for "Shakespeare in Love," as well as dozens of other acting awards. Yet she recounts in her book that until she played "M," the officer who orders James Bond off on his many missions, she was largely unknown by the great unwashed public. At a talk-back following the debut of one of her films, she was asked by a member of the audience whether she ever got to do any serious acting. "Oh, now and then," she replied.
While the book contains a great many of her feelings and memories, you won't find much gossip. She was married to classical actor Michael Williams until his death from cancer at age 65, and they had one daughter named "Tara Cressida Williams," but whom everyone including Dench herself calls Finty. Williams was Roman Catholic, and his wife is a Quaker, but she writes only lovingly and mostly professionally about him and their daughter. If there have been quarrels or other disruptions, she chooses to keep that to herself.
So if you want to learn how an Oscar winner finds out she has been nominated, or what one goes through at the ceremony, or how a very short, blondish woman deals with an assignment to play a tall statuesque brunette or elements of an actor's life such as that, this is just the book for you. I had a great deal of fun with it, and found it difficult to put down.
"And Furthermore" was published by St. Martin's Press, in 2010. It has 243 pages in hard-bound edition and is marked for sale at $26.99. Find it with ISBN number 978-0-312-65906-6.
I have another locally written book which just arrived in yesterday's mail, and I'll be tackling it and sharing it with you as soon as I've read and researched it. As I'm always telling you, life is a banquet. Why should you be one of those poor sons of guns who starves for a lack of embracing that richness?


text:
Red king crab
The red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus, is a species of king crab native to the Bering Sea. It grows to a leg span of 1.8 m (5.9 ft), and is heavily targeted by fisheries.
Red king crabs can be very large, sometimes reaching a carapace width of 28 cm (11 in) and a leg span of 1.8 m (6 ft).[2] It was named after the color it turns when it is cooked rather than the color of a living animal, which tends to be more burgundy.
The king crab is native to the Bering Sea, north Pacific Ocean, around the Kamchatka Peninsula and neighbouring Alaskan waters. It was introduced artificially by the Soviet Union into the Murmansk Fjord, Barents Sea, during the 1960s to provide new, valuable catch for Soviet fishermen. The average temperature of the water for general survival of the crab is between 4°C and 10°C. The crabs prefer to be in the lower temperatures but can continue a stable life cycle in the warmer temperatures. The depth at which it can live has a lot to do with what stage of their life cycle they are in; newly born crabs (larvae) stay in the more shallow waters where there is plenty of food and protection for them to survive.[1] Usually after the age of two, the crabs move down to depths of 20–50 metres (66–160 ft) and take part in what is known as podding; hundreds of crabs come together in tight, highly concentrated groups. Adult crabs are found usually more than 200m down on the sand and muddy areas in the intertidal zones. They migrate in the winter/ early spring to shallower depths for mating, but not of their lives are spent in the depth waters, as where they feed for most of their life.[3]
It is the most coveted of the commercially sold king crab species, and is the most expensive per unit weight. It is most commonly caught in the Bering Sea and Norton Sound, Alaska, and is particularly difficult to catch, but is nonetheless one of the most preferred crabs for consumption.[4]
Red king crabs are experiencing a steady decline in numbers in their native far east coastal waters for unclear reasons. Fishing controls set by the United States in the 1980s and 2000s have failed to stem the decline.[5]
In the Barents Sea, however, it is an invasive species and its population is increasing tremendously. This is causing great concern to local environmentalists and local fishermen as the crab eats everything it comes across and is spreading very rapidly. Since its introduction it has spread westwards along the Norwegian coast and also northwards, having reached the island group of Svalbard.[6][7] The species keeps on advancing southwards along the coast of Norway and some scientists think they are advancing at about 50 km (31 mi) a year, though that could be an underestimation.
Despite these concerns the species is protected by diplomatic accords between Norway and Russia, and a bilateral fishing commission decides how to manage the stocks and imposes fishing quotas. West of the North Cape on Norway's northern tip, the Scandinavian country is allowed to manage its crab population itself.[8] Only 259 Norwegian fishermen are allowed to catch it,[8] and they see the king crab as a blessing, as it is an expensive delicacy.
The red king crab has a certain range of tolerance to various environmental parameters.
One environmental parameter that requires regulatory function of the red king crab is the season which affects the temperature of the water they live in. Mature female red king crabs must remain in warmer water (near 4°) to ensure the eggs will be ready for hatching, while the male red king crabs stay in relatively cold water (near 1.5°) to conserve energy output. In spring (May), female red king crabs move to shallow coastal areas to moult and spawn, and males join the females in the shallow water prior to moulting. In the summer (mid-June through mid-November), these crabs spend their time in fairly deep water, below established summer thermocline. When the thermocline breaks down, the red king crabs migrate back to intermediate depths where they remain until the female red king crab release the fertilized eggs in the previous spawning.[9]
Although the red king crab has a wide range of tolerance to temperature, it still has an effect on their growth. The organism's growth, their moulting, is slow at temperatures below 8° while at high temperature (12°) they moult fast.[10]
Overall, the red king crabs have a high adaptation capacity in changes of salinity level due to the fact that the crabs retain their vital functions and also their feeding locomotor activities.[11] But there is a difference in the salinity tolerance between juvenile red king crabs and adult red king crabs. Juvenile red king crabs were slightly more tolerant to low concentrations when exposed to reduced salinity because the juvenile's volume regulation is significantly better. Juveniles are consistently hyposmotic to all salinities because they have lower sodium concentration on their hemolymph. Also, the small size of the juveniles' favors a structurally more rigid exoskeleton. The adult red king crabs on the other hand are hyperosmotic in high salinity and becomes hyposmotic in lower salinity. The hyperosmoticity is due to the higher sodium and potassium concentrations in the hemolymph compared to the surrounding water they live in.[12]
A slight fluctuation on the pH level of the water (i.e. making the water more acidic) would have great effect on the red king crab. They grow slower in acidified water (8.0->7.8 pH level) and eventually dying after longer exposure times due to the imbalance of the organisms' acid base equilibrium.[13]
There are several factors, which play a role in the respiratory system of Paralithodes Camtschaticus. The diffusion rate needs to be considered which can be seen through Fick's laws of diffusion and through Henry's Law. Fick's laws of diffusion gives us more insight on the partial pressures of our substance, oxygen and carbon dioxide. This enhances our understanding of the fact that diffusion of gases occurs from an area of high concentration to an area with low concentration. Henry's Law allows us to understand the different physical environments of the air and water and also states that as temperature increases, the solubility of gas decreases.The red king crab has five sets of gills that are used for respiration which are located in the branchial chamber within the carapace. The carapace is a covering that consists of sheets of exoskeleton that overhang the thorax vertically to fit over the base of the thoracic legs. The carapace encloses two branchial chambers which in turn enclose the gills. The gill surfaces are covered in chitinous cuticle, which is permeable to gases; therefore, allowing gas exchange. Internal gills, like other specialized gills, require metabolic energy to pull water over the respiratory surface.[14]:622 To induce a current into the branchial chamber the crab uses back and forth movements of an appendage called the scaphognathite.[15] The water is drawn in from behind the walking legs then expelled from the branchial chambers through the tubes called prebronchial apertures which are located beside the mouth.[16] To filter the water before entering the branchial chamber crabs have branchiostegal hairs which can collect debris.[17] Due to the environment it is exposed to, the posterior gills of the crab can also be cleared of parasites and sediment by increasing the movement of its fifth set of primitive legs.[18]
Each gill has a main axis with a large number of lateral filaments or lamellae that are vascularized. The afferent channel transports blood from the gill axis into each filament through a fine afferent canal to the gill top. Blood returns by way of a minute efferent canal to the gill tip to the efferent channel and passes to the pericardial chamber, which contains the heart. Gases are exchanged in the numerous filaments, and oxygen absorption is especially facilitated by hemocyanin. Red King crab exhibit unidirectional ventilation. This can be described as the flow of water in a U-shaped course; water passes posteriorly from the incurrent opening, an opening in the carapace near the base of the chelipeds, dorsally over the gills, and anteriorly to exit beside the head.
Paralithodes camtschaticus have an open circulatory system with a dorsal, ostiate heart.[19] An open circulatory system has circulating fluid which somewhat passes freely among the tissues before being collected and recirculated. The heart lies in a pericardial chamber, and blood passes through this chamber into the lumen of the heart through two pairs of osti[15] Seven arteries conduct blood from the heart to various somatic regions. Each region branches extensively, and smaller arteries ultimately end in the hemocoel. Venous bloods drains into the sternal sinus, where it is conveyed by channels to the gills for aeration and returned again to the pericardial sinus.
They have a neurogenic heart, which have rhythmic depolarization that is responsible for initiating heart beats.[14]:653 Heartbeats originate in nervous tissue; innervated muscle cells cause the heart to contract when stimulated by nerve impulses. The cardiac ganglion, which consists of nine neurones, attaches to the dorsal wall of the heart. The anterior neurons innervate the heart, whereas the other posterior neurons make synpaptic contact with those anterior neurones. The posterior neuron acts as the pacemaker, but also functions as the cellular oscillator and the central pattern generator. This posterior neuron produces a train of impulses, which excites the other posterior neurones. The heart contracts when the posterior neurones activate the five anterior neurones, which send impulses to the muscle cells. This is how the Frank–Starling mechanism works within crustaceans. The Frank–Starling mechanism refers to the vitally important intrinsic control of the heart; mainly the stretching of the cardiac muscle tends to increase the force of its contraction by an effect at the cellular level.[14]:654 This mechanism is important as it allows the organism to match its output of blood with its input of blood. Because of the stretching between beats, the Frank–Starling mechanism allows the heart to then naturally contract more forcefully, allowing greater flow of blood, which results in the matched heart output to the increased blood received.[14]:654 The Frank–Starling mechanism is more unique and a little different in crustaceans, as it involves the cardiac ganglion as described previously. The stretching of the heart induces the ganglion to fire more regularly and powerfully.
The red king crab blood contains leukocytes and the second most common respiratory pigment called hemocyanin.[15]:488 Arthropod hemocyanin is a distinct variation specific to arthropods and is a metalloprotein that uses copper atoms that are bound to its structure. Two copper atoms are needed to bind one O2 molecule. Because it is a large protein molecule it is found in the blood plasma but is not found in body tissues or muscles. Hemocyanins are named appropriately because when oxygenated their color changes from colorless to blue.[14]:622
The red king crab can grow very large and because of this, the circulatory system takes over a huge part of the gas transport due to the respiratory system's limited ability of diffusional delivery and because transporting respiratory gases around the body determines the efficiency of the circulatory system.[15]:303–306
See also[edit]
|External identifiers for Paralithodes camtschaticus
|Encyclopedia of Life
|Also found in: Wikispecies, ADW
- ^ a b Jørgensen, Lis Lindal (21 November 2006). "Invasive Alien Species Fact Sheet – Paralithodes camtschaticus". NOBANIS.org. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
- ^ Jensen, Gregory (2004). "Order:Decapoda". In Hutchins, Michael. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia 2. Detroit: Thomson-Gale. p. 208. ISBN 0-7876-5362-4.
- ^ Kluce, Michael. "Paralithodes camtschaticus". Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
- ^ "A meal to get your claws into". SeafoodfromNorway.com. 6 February 2006. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
- ^ Blau, S. Forrest (November 1997). "Alaska King Crabs". Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
- ^ Bevanger, Lars (9 August 2006). "Norway fears giant crab invasion". BBC News. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
- ^ Kirby, Alex (29 September 2003). "King crabs march towards the Pole". BBC News. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
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Reward offered for homicide suspect info
A reward has been offered in the arrest of Harry Mapps, 59, a prime suspect in last week's triple homicide in Rye.
The U.S. Marshals on Wednesday joined the public call for citizen assistance in locating Mapps, and offering up to a $5,000 reward for "information leading directly to Mapps' arrest," a press release said.
"We need the public's assistance to bring the perpetrator of this horrific crime to justice," said District of Colorado U.S. Marshal John Kammerzell.
Tips can be given to local law enforcement or to the Marshals' 24-hour tip line, 877-926-8332.
Mapps is a prime suspect in the Nov. 27 incident, where a couple and their grown daughter were shot in their home and set aflame. Mapps' warrants, however, are for identity theft and forgery, connecting him to reportedly cashing checks from the victims.
"This crime may have occurred in a small community but it has garnered the attention of the nation. The capture of this fugitive will be a relief to the family of the victims and we look forward to ensuring justice is done," Pueblo County Sheriff Kirk Taylor said.
Mapps was last seen driving a blue 2004 Chevrolet minivan with Texas license plate 7FSNK.