text:
Over the last decade, nearly one million Indian students were granted visas to study in the United States. Every one of them appeared before an American visa officer for an interview. If you have applied for a U.S. visa, you too have come face-to-face with one of us. Have you ever wondered who the visa officers are that will approve or deny your visa?
When I was a child, I did not dream of becoming a visa officer when I grew up. Even as a young adult, first majoring in literature and then taking up teaching, it did not occur to me that I would one day sit on a high stool behind a glass window at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and adjudicate visas. But for the last nine months, I have been doing just that -- almost 100 interviews a day.
I mention this by way of reminding you that visa officers are people too. We come from a variety of backgrounds. We once were lawyers, teachers, IT professionals, even fire fighters. But at some point in our lives, we took the Foreign Service written test, passed the day-long oral exam, and, after extensive training, became diplomats. Most of us are on our first or second tours.
We joined the Foreign Service because we are interested in other cultures. Most of us are here because we chose to come to India. We visit the Taj Mahal; we read Chetan Bhagat's novels; we watch Delhi Belly; we love butter chicken. We want to be here, and we enjoy talking with you.
A lot of us studied Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, or Bengali for several months before we came to India so that we can conduct interviews with applicants who do not speak English. We might not be fluent or flawless, but we can ask a few basic questions: What is the purpose of your travel? Who do you know in America? How long do you plan to stay? Usually, we can understand the answers; when we do not, we ask our Indian colleagues to translate.
Every day in New Delhi, eight or nine officers interview hundreds of people seeking visas to the United States. Because we try to serve as many applicants as we can, the interviews are quite short -- only two to three minutes. A lot of the information that we need is already there in your application, but we like to hear from you, personally, about your travel plans. Sometimes, visa applicants bring stacks of documents, and they seem disappointed when we do not look at all that paperwork. But the idea of a personal interview is to speak with you face-to-face -- not to examine documents.
Our job is to uphold the law. Sometimes that means denying a visa. If you apply for a tourist visa, but we get the idea from the interview that you are really going to work at your uncle's pizza shop, then we will not issue the visa. Students who only apply to one school and cannot explain their choice are also unlikely to be granted a visa. It is important that your intentions match your visa category.
Many visa applicants pay consultants to prepare their applications. Although some consultants might provide helpful information, many do not. Remember that you alone are responsible for the accuracy of the information in your application. False information on the application or fake document packages could result in permanent ineligibility.
If you are a student, we expect you to be credible and qualified. You should be prepared to talk about why you chose the university that you plan to attend, and you should be able to explain how you will pay for your studies. It should be easy for us to believe that you will finish the degree at the institution you have selected, and we must be convinced that full-time study is the primary purpose of your travel.
It is best to apply early, but not before you have heard from your first-choice school. (Your visa will be annotated with the name of the school listed on your I-20 form at the time of your interview.) You can apply for a visa up to 120 days before your program is scheduled to begin. However, you may not enter the U.S. more than 30 days before the report date for your course. If you are applying for graduate work, be sure to apply as early as you can, as sometimes administrative processing is required that might delay the issuance of your visa.
Nearly 104,000 Indians are currently studying in the United States. Like you, they were nervous when they faced the American visa officer behind the glass. The situation, admittedly, does not put one at ease. However, if you know yourself to be a credible, qualified student, then you should have nothing to worry about. Take a deep breath, relax, and remember that the person behind the glass is there to help you. We are regular people too -- just like you.
For free and accurate information about how to apply for a U.S. visa, please visit the U.S. Embassy New Delhi website or the Department of State Travel site.
Pablo in Spain writes:
I have received an email from the US Department of State saying that I have won the Diversity visa Lottery and asking me to send money via Western Union to an agent of the U.S.Embassy in London (Name Sandy Batty; address: 25 Grosvenor Square, London W1A 2LQ). It is clear to me that it is a scam, although it is well constructed and uses the logo of the USA.gov and of the U.S. Department of State.
I have not found in your web how to report such a scam, so I use this blog to report it. I understand the scam is made against non-US citizens, but since it is on your behalf I think you should be informed. Hope you catch the bad guys. Sincerely,
Abdul S. in Ohio writes:
Monica, Very well written...the part i liked the most is 'and remember that the person behind the glass is there to help you. We are regular people too -- just like you.'
Thanks for sharing this...
Hayford A. in Ghana writes:
Thanks man,for enlightening us on things like this.most of us are ignorant about how to apply for the US visa;making a lot of people go through a lot of ordeal in the hands of people.thanks Mr Benjamin.
Ayman Elsayed M. in Egypt writes:
S.S. in India writes:
Monica I agree with your statement to some extent "We are regular people too -- just like you". But the thing is that you guys don't put yourself in our shoes and definitely have pre-disposition towards visa denial unless the student is going to one of the top 10 universities. I have never heard a case of a student who is going to University of Southern California is denied a F-1 visa. I have been denied visa twice for going to polytechnic university of NYU even with a scholarship of 7000 $ annually, so how does this sound. Does this sounds like bye bye India I ain't coming back here.
All I wanted was higher education to make my folks life and my life a litter better and comfortable but which now we have been denied that opportunity all thanks to US Embassy at New Delhi. I had applied to 8 universities out of which I got admit to 3 universities do you guys really think we Indians have of cash which drooling out of our pockets. Applying to 8 US universities requires quite a money which is hard to get by which you might have noticed if you are hard earner like us. Now I feel sorry for my parents who blindly agreed to spend 100000 for applying to US universities including GRE preparation and paying for the exam all of which went down the drain or should I say paying for your salaries.Let me ask you a question of all the students who went to US for higher studies how many of them have come back after finishing their studies to India or their home country. So why put up this farce of taking visa interview which doesn't even make sure that he/she is truthfully going to US for study purpose only. Now you guys must have been thinking look buddy we don't really care if you're poor or rich, we got your money now buzz off, let other sucker behind you come in.
Do you think by reading chetan bhagat novels, visiting taj mahal and munching on butter chicken will help you get to know us better, sorry buddy you're greatly mistaken. Does everyone or just anyone has the courage to apply for higher education in US:NO, is it a child's play to convince parents to send us to foreign land to study and spend their life earnings on us: NO. It is nothing short of moving the mountains to convince them but what would you know "You are regular people too -- just like us"
Ayanfodun S. in Nigeria writes:
Wat r u doing to all dis fraudster using ur site.cause a message was sent to mi dat i won greecard lottery and at end weget to know it is not real.i was ask to pay $410 to one embasy agent .sir fie solution to di U.S is more dan a state to destroy.
Elikem Fred D. in the U.S.A. writes:
I am now going to apply for the visa coming this fall so i need help.
Michael S. in Egypt writes:
Hello Monica ,
First of all I'd like to thank you that you talked in this issue , Most of people see that the USA Consular Officers are very mysterious and they don't give direct information that really helps and somethings like this . By this article I think you begin to break this attitude .
I am Michael S. ,23 years old from Egypt and I've just finished the 6th year in the faculty of medicine . Just I will tell you my story with the US Embassy and I will feel great if you replied and explained this to me .
From 3 years ago I applied to WAT program and I signed a contract with the place I was going to and I did online interview with the manager and accepted me so everything was ok , Then I went to the embassy with documents from my college that I have still 3 years of study and I must come back to continue it and documents indicate that I have money and apartments to live in and everything and They refused me without explaining anything !!
The second time was in this year after finishing my 6th year of study and I have an obligatory year of training here without it I can't practice medicine in Egypt so I also have to come back and last year I traveled to London last year and this year I wanted to visit USA so I applied again and I showed him all things and proves that I will not work there and don't need to and I will come back and I have to !! .. but he also refused me !!
Really I am upset of this and I don't know why this happens , Now I have really negative impression about this .. I hope that you got my message and I hope that you take your decisions in more accurate manner .
Thanks In advance .
best regards ,
Nayeem Adnan Z. in Bangladesh writes:
Being a Bangladeshi student I'm interested to get I20.Can you help me about the matter?
Walid in Algeria writes:
I am honored to send you this inquiry, I'm obtained a Bachelor of Laws, I have one year of experience in the administration I also study lawyer.
I want to travel to America to study and develop myself. What's the best way to get a visa?
Yours Faithfully.
Nadia in Algeria writes:
I have visited the USA as a turist 3 years ago .I want to go to study there but I didn't get the visa again, I am a teacher and I want to teach at the university in Algeria so I need to have a high degree in the USA.I am 50 years old.
Is my age a problem to study in the USA UNIVERSITY?
Joy in Nigeria writes:
I received an email from the U.S department of state telling me that i have won diversity visa lottery. They also ask me to pay the sum of 410 dollar via western union transfer to the following addres; 25 Grosvenor sqare, London W1A 2LQ (account name; Sandy Batty). Is this real or scam?
Slaven B. in Croatia writes:
I need help money. I offer much. I offer All things but heavy showing end explaining. I borrow money for travel in London U.S. Ambasy bacause am I poor man end I ve stucked in my past end stayed with out money. I have problem bu I resolving all problems in United States. I have projectes big amount.
Hadji B. in Georgia (U.S.A.) writes:
I remember my interview with the U.S. consular...I would have expected to be interviewed by a visa officer but maybe that day the embassy must have been short-staffed.
Anyhow, it was a very interesting experience because the interview process was very thorough and every question was pertinent.
It is really helpful to be fluent in English before showing for a visa interview: that is also part of the process to realize every detail involved in flying to the United States.
The interviewer gives you different scenarios that you may have not thought of before engaging in the journey. Preparation is everything so as a candidate you have to be able to only answer each question in a satisfactory manner but also express yourself clearly and logically.
Personally, I think that my interviewer that day helped me in many ways: he helped me grasp how many changes I would have to get ready for...and also gave me many pointers on ensuring a smooth process from visa proceedings to arrival in the United States.
The visa process is grueling and has a lot of requirements, but if one is able to provide all the documentation and the financial support necessary for the trip then the result will be positive.
Madan P. in Nepal writes:
Hello Monica,
Really Impressed by your information and explaining about the system and people who approve the visa. in fact truth, as most of the student try their luck without knowing the real situation and most of them try it using one of the consultancy around but they never understand most of them just pretends to provide real info and only some of them can provide the real info. as being the student and travel entrepreneur my suggestion to all the student is to go and ask assistance in nearest Embassy or study center of US government so you could have clear idea and find your University of your Choice so you could get fruitful result in Future.
Cheers to Life !!!
Abhisar D. in India writes:
what an article!! really pleased to hear from visa officer. Now i am sure and confident that i'll definitely got my visa when i want to.
Piyush P. in India writes:
As i have allways belived that the truth path of appearance with right knowledge allways leads you to trust passed verification.
Though i am not a student in USA, but i am a business person travelling through various destinations of USA, i have travelled in USA in year 2000 and again i am travelling through USA in this year 2012, and according to my personal experiences US Consulate have allways trusted the right paths of Indian Citizens for their genuine visits to USA.
Himanshu in India writes:
from an indian prospective getting a visa to us as a student guarantee them a good career opportunity which anyone on this earth would like to have ,there might be 1 million indian students currently studying in us, but see how many had applied and got rejected, i think only indians with high intellect or wealth or both can study in us as tuition cost is very high.
Pranab Kumar D. in India writes:
the authority
sub;- to do field study of american culture
i am pranab kumar d. from india . i am very much impress about american culture and surprise that how it is developed ? i am doing ph.d from burdwan university from history department topic headed by cultural history of southern radha . though topic is not related to modern share with mordern american culture but i want to compare with those culture .
it is my priority to visit USA . but my problem is i cannot afford its expanses of staying .
so need sponsored ? how can i get ?
V.P. in Pakistan writes:
I would simply say in the beginning i though you post is very emotional but in the end i have concluded that this is the post i want to read today.. and i wont be searching anymore because you solve my problem in real manner...Yes Students should look like student and talk like students...thanks a lot
Mira in India writes:
I'm passing this on to my niece. Quite kind of you to have written this.
Nupur in Florida writes:
Hi Monica,
It's been a while since I had my visa interview, however, I clearly remember the experience as if it happened yesterday. I was not so much nervous as I was curious about the questions the visa officer would ask me. However, this was because I had interacted with foreigners before so the concept was not alien to me. I think most students would freeze up speaking with foreigners since they never had the opportunity to do so before.
I learnt from this article that the visa officers have an interest in the culture which places them appropriately at the brink as a result of this job.
The next time I have an interview, I will be sure to ask the visa officer a few questions!
Shikhar G. in India writes:
Nice article! I had two questions :
1. I applied to Musicians Institute, Hollywood which was my first choice school and got through so I didn't bother applying anywhere else. Will this count against me?
2. This might sound strange, but my mother told me to cut my hair before the interview lest they think I am a junkie. Do they really judge guys who have long hair? I really don't want to part with them.
Agnes writes:
This is the best website ever!!!
Autumn May D. in Canada writes:
Well, this post was really a big help for those who want to get student visa. I agree that it is not easy to get a visa. Anyway, thanks for sharing this post. Looking forward for your next one.
Very useful blog. I have a problem related to this. You might be able to help. I have been admitted for 5 years PHD in Indiana(Fall,2013). But my passport is valid till 2018 and not 2019(required). What should I do as in order to get the visa, I need to have a valid passport till 2019. Please help.
Sheila A. in India writes:
That was a reassuring article to read. I have been before the Visa officer twice, the first time to get my Visitor's visa and the second time to renew it. Both interviews were a pleasant experience. Would like to thank the Visa officers for the good experience. Many of us in my family have US Visas and we all had a very good experience. Two weeks ago, my nephew applied for his Student visa and got it.
Your article was very motivating. Thank you.
Deepali in Michigan writes:
What you said is true, but every person applying for tourist visa does not wish to stay back. They have a life where they are staying, they own properties and have investments but may still wish to attend a son's graduation or visit daughter for a couple of months. Person even with both children in states does not wish to stay back,but they are rejected visas just because they are a widow,do no work and children in us and not even bothering to see financial document.
Siddhartha in India writes:
Is the gre score definitely a criteria for getting visa?


text:
My husband and I live with our five children on Kibbutz Ketura in the Arava Desert -- where biblical prophets spoke out against the sins and hypocrisies of the time. As I lay in my little house under the expansive black sky dotted with bright stars, Sarah prepared to stand under bright lights in front of thousands of people at Carnegie Hall. As I slept in the desert, my baby sister was on a stage. Such distance. Such contrast. Yet our connection to one another runs deep. For me, these are moments of God. Two seemingly opposing realities -- separation and intimacy -- co-existing, each fully.
There are many times each week that I think about what my three sisters are doing. I count backwards and imagine where they are at the moment. I'm on kitchen duty -- pulling clean plates off the dishwasher belt after dinner in the dining hall, stacking them as quickly as I can. Counting backwards 10 hours to Los Angeles. Maybe all three are having breakfast at Kings Road Cafe? Maybe Laura, an actress, and Sarah are on the set. Maybe Jodyne, a writer and producer, is at Starbucks, writing on her Mac laptop. I'm watching my preschoolers learning Israeli dances, my heart filled to bursting. Count back 10 hours ... 11 p.m. Maybe they're going to sleep. Maybe out with friends.
When our daily lives somehow intersect -- phone, e-mail, Skype -- I am happy. Lately, I've heard my sisters' names spoken in my workplace here, on Ketura. Sarah and Laura are hosting a fundraiser for The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies -- which is on our kibbutz -- and where my office is located. The institute brings together Palestinian, Jordanian, Israeli, North American and other students for a year of study in order to meaningfully address the most pressing issues of our time -- peace and the environment. It is a place, in this desert of prophets, from which voices still speak out against the abuses of our time. My sisters share these concerns, so I asked Sarah to do a fundraiser. Of course she said yes. She might be famous, but I'm still the oldest and, as our parents say, "head sister." We are very hierarchical that way. To this day, when we ride in cars together, none of my sisters would ever sit up front instead of me.
Sarah asked the whole cast to participate -- which includes our sister Laura -- and, in addition, Roseanne Barr. A fundraiser was born! I am proud of their professional success, but most proud of their goodness. They're mensches.
"Bitch, bastard, damn, s--t." Okay, her menschiness has never taken a traditional form. But the crowds roared. The performer was 2-year-old Sarah. The stage was our living room. The set was our father's lap on one of our giant round sponges -- 1970s artsy chairs -- in orange and beige stripes, upon the bright green carpet of our living room. The audience was our house full of volunteers for the 1972 McGovern presidential campaign, home at the end of a long day before the general election.
Sarah's ear-length, jet-black hair and pale skin emphasized her big brown eyes, and she smiled so that every tiny tooth sparkled. Who wouldn't laugh when this beautiful toddler -- all eyes and smiles -- swore like a longshoreman? A recipe for success? Our mother didn't seem to think so. She rolled her eyes in mock disapproval as our father beamed. We, her big sisters, couldn't believe our luck -- this juxtaposition of adorable and crude. It was genius. We couldn't get enough of it.
We had her perform for everyone. At large family gatherings, our Nana would say, "don't let her say that," but stood -- transfixed, smiling -- like the rest of us. Nana didn't always love what came out of Sarah's mouth and knew exactly whom to lay into when she went "too far" -- her son, our father. One Saturday afternoon, Sarah sat in the family room, tush on heels, her elbows leaning on the yellow plastic coffee table. Nana stood in the doorway and said, "Sarah, what are you coloring?"
Sarah (focused on her work): "A house."
Nana: "Guess what? I brought some brownies for you."
Sarah (still focused on her work): "Shove 'em up your a--, Nana."
Nana: "DONALD!"
Throughout the years Laura, Jodyne and I loved to make Sarah perform. Even when she was a preteen she was the size of a 9-year-old, so the juxtaposition of cute and inappropriate still worked. A long-time favorite was "Time Warp" from the "Rocky Horror Picture Show": "...and do the pelvic thru-ust, until it drives you insay-ay-ay-ay-ane. Let's do the time warp again,..." One night, the four of us performed it as a sister act at the local White Horse Tavern. The audience -- rural New Hampshire diners out for an evening -- stared in, well, horror.
We didn't care. Then, like now, our favorite audience is ourselves. When all four sisters are together, we lie on our mother's bed, with our mother, Beth Ann O'Hara, and stepmother, Janice Silverman, and talk and laugh. The fathers (Donald and our step-father, John) wander in and out, impatient for us to come into the living room with them and the grandchildren (my kids), but we want girl time. We want to laugh in the way we only laugh with each other. Now my older daughters, Aliza and Hallel, pile on as well. It makes us all happy that a third generation is growing to laugh with us.
As kids we were more likely to sing at the White Horse Tavern than in synagogue. We did not have a religious upbringing, and my parents and sisters still marvel at my having become a rabbi. We sisters associated being Jewish with being liberal. That's how the lines were drawn in our New Hampshire culture: Christians celebrate Christmas and vote Republican. Jews celebrate Chanukah and vote Democratic. Liberal values and arts replaced synagogue life. (Most years we joined the Reform Temple but very rarely went, except when my father was social action chair.) The soundtracks of our ranch house -- on a quiet street in the middle and upper middle class North End of Manchester, N.H. --were the records "Pearlie," "Godspell" and "Hair." Our father, a retailer, was a social worker by training and would one day return to it. Our mother, McGovern's personal campaign photographer, later founded New Thalian Players -- a theatre company in Manchester.
Thus we lived anachronistically. It was this worldview that Sarah brought to "Saturday Night Live" when she was only 21. Her big debut was a report on "Weekend Update" in which she recounted the news of her life. This included the now classic joke about me: "My sister Susie got married and they took each other's names, you know? So now she's Susan Silverman-Abramowitz. But they're thinking of shortening it to just 'Jews.'" Silence, then a strong, but evidently uneasy laughter followed. Oh, the days when that caused discomfort. Now her talk is more shocking than that at a bat mitzvah. Let me explain.
After our oldest daughter, Aliza, read and interpreted Torah before her family and community, my sisters -- her aunties -- each stood at the microphone to speak to her. They had all attended her birth, and Sarah described it in detail -- only leaving out the part in which she, Sarah, passed out cold. (Out of the corner of her eye, the doctor noticed that Sarah had turned green, and called out, "She's going down. Somebody grab her." Laura caught her.) Sarah put her arm around her bespectacled niece and said, "When you were born, Aliza, I watched your head come out ... [she went on with some detail, but I will leave that to your imagination] and I thought, "Where did she get those little glasses? With such tiny windshield wipers?" I'm not sure the word vagina had ever before been used -- at least as many times -- in addressing a bat mitzvah on the bimah. I was mortified. And tickled.
It is to Sarah's credit that she makes it to so many family events. She is a hesitant traveler -- to the point where she flew all seven of us to the United States so she didn't have to come to Israel in order to see us. Laura and Jodyne are both coming this year -- Laura for the third time and Jodyne for the second. We hope to persuade Sarah and her boyfriend Jimmy Kimmel to come. But they make appearances in other ways. An obscenely giant box arrived -- as I was writing this! -- full of Chanukah presents for the kids. A gift arrived at the hospital for our son, Zamir, within hours of our arrival, after he suddenly lost his hearing. (He had a progressive hearing loss and will now hear with the assistance of technology.)
Despite not having been here, Sarah is concerned about Israel -- both its well-being and its behavior as a moral actor on the world stage. Recently Sarah e-mailed and asked what Yosef (my husband) and I were doing to make sure Sudanese refugees found sanctuary here. I wrote back with a list of what Israeli organizations were doing on behalf of the refugees here, and how Yosef was involved. I also reminded her not to be too hard on Israel -- Sudan is an enemy state and terrorism is a very real threat, so if Israel is hesitant and cautious, it's understandable. There is a tension between the government's job to protect the nation and the popular desire to take in refugees. The latter urge should, and I believe will, prevail, but the former cannot be ignored.
Sarah wrote back, impressed at all Israel was doing to give safety to refugees (a small example: two Sudanese families live on our kibbutz, and other kibbutzim have welcomed many such families) and said, "God, the U.S. is freaking out over Mexicans -- and all they want to do is clean our houses."
It is fitting that Sudanese seeking refuge live on Ketura, home to the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, where people of many cultures call upon humanity -- like the biblical prophets did on this same land so long ago -- to make the earth a sanctuary for all life. And I am proud to say that at their benefit for the Arava Institute my sisters Sarah and Laura will use obscenity, racism and sexism to proclaim this conviction. Like the ancient prophets did. Sort of.
Rabbi Susan Silverman lives with her family on Kibbutz Ketura. She is the co-author, with her husband, Yosef Abramowitz, of "Jewish Family & Life, Traditions, Holidays and Values for Today's Parents and Children" (Golden Books and St. Martin's Press). She is currently at work on a memoir and theology of adoption called "Blessed Are They Who Dwell in Your House." Her office is located in the Arava Institute's building.
Sarah Silverman, the cast of her Comedy Central TV series "The Sarah Silverman Program," including sister Laura, and Roseanne Barr will star in a live benefit performance, "Comedy Without Borders," on Thursday, Nov. 29, at 8 p.m. at Bovard Auditorium at USC. For more information, call (877) 725-8849.
The Silverman-Abramovitz bat mitzvah album: From left, sisters Susan, Jodyne and Laura Silverman; the bat mitzvah Aliza Abramovitz; her aunt Sarah; and Yosef Abramovitz. The Abramovitz children in front are, from left, Zamir, Ashira, Hallel and Adar.
Ashira, aged 4, blows a balloon for aunts Laura (l) and Sarah.
The Silverman sisters: (top) Susan, Sarah (front), Jodyne, Laura (w/ arm around Jodyne) circa 1979 in Bedford, N.H.
Sarah Silverman at the Arava Institute benefit show 11/27/2007
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
An 18-year-old freshman at Rutgers, Dharun Ravi bragged on Twitter about using a webcam to spy on his gay roommate and his male date, inviting friends to watch a second date. In a New Yorker story, Ravi comes across as immature, attention-seeking jerk, but not a homophobe. The roommate, Tyler Clementi, joked with a friend about a "five sec peep," unplugged Ravi's computer to prevent spying and asked to switch rooms. Then he committed suicide.
Ravi now faces 10 years in prison and deportation to his native India. A New Jersey jury convicted him of invasion of privacy and "bias intimidation," a hate crime. That's prompted a mass rethink. Ten years?
Make the Punishment Fit the Cyber-Crime writes Emily Bazelon in a New York Times op-ed.
According to New Jersey's civil rights law, you are subject to a much higher penalty if the jury finds that you committed one of a broad range of underlying offenses for the purpose of targeting someone because of his race, ethnicity, religion, disability, gender or sexual orientation.
The idea of shielding vulnerable groups is well intentioned. But with the nation on high alert over bullying — especially when it intersects with computer technology and the Internet — these civil rights statutes are being stretched to go after teenagers who acted meanly, but not violently. This isn't what civil rights laws should be for.
It was a "hateless hate crime," writes Jacob Sullum in Reason. "Before the trial the prosecutors offered him a deal that involved no jail time and a chance to avoid deportation, which suggests even they do not believe he should be punished as severely as a violent felon."
I doubt the verdict will stand, if only because the defense wasn't allowed to see Clementi's suicide notes, which were judged "irrelevant." Ravi wasn't charged with causing the suicide, but it was very relevant to the decision to charge him with a hate crime, not just invasion of privacy.
Teens need to know that cyberbullying is a crime, counters Gregg Weinlein, a retired teacher, in an Ed Week commentary.
Too often, teens flip off the word "bully" as childish, knowing that assailants today are much more vicious than the playground bullies of the previous century. Teenagers today must fend off the silent assassins of the digital age, who operate with phones and tablets and plant emotional land mines in social-networking sites. The harassment and text assaults perpetrated by some teenagers should have a criminal connotation if we are to see a shift in how older students perceive and understand this abusive behavior.
In this case, "criminal connotation" means prison and deportation.


text:
Tan Dun
News about Tan Dun, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.
Vanishing Languages, Reincarnated as Music
With a sense of racing against time, composers are conducting field research with the goal of preserving or celebrating lost tongues in their work.
April 3, 2016, Sunday
MORE ON TAN DUN AND: Classical Music , Mother Tongue (Musical Work) , Counting in Quileute (Musical Work) , Music , Folk Music , Language and Languages , Tan Dun , Lim, Liza (1966- ) , Fung, Vivian , James, Kevin (Composer) , Ishi's Song (Musical Work) , Nu Shu (Musical Work) , Tree of Codes (Opera)
Review: New York Philharmonic's Chinese New Year, From Breezy to Languid
Tan Dun's "Nu Shu: The Secret Songs of Women" and Li Huanzhi's "Spring Festival Overture" were on the holiday program at David Geffen Hall.
February 11, 2016, Thursday
MORE ON TAN DUN AND: Music , Classical Music , Lunar New Year , Geffen, David, Hall (Manhattan, NY) , Tan Dun , Nu Shu: The Secret Songs of Women (Musical Work) , New York Philharmonic
For One Night, China's Great Hall of the People Reverberates With Music
On a cold night in Beijing, China's colossal legislative building held a concert by a group of the country's leading classical and popular musicians.
January 13, 2016, Wednesday
MORE ON TAN DUN AND: Tan Dun , Music , Beijing (China) , China National Symphony Orchestra , Great Hall of the People (Beijing, China)
Composer's Personal History Is His Musical Muse
Tan Dun, who composed the score for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," finds inspiration in auditory memories of his turbulent upbringing in China.
October 28, 2015, Wednesday
MORE ON TAN DUN AND: Tan Dun , China , Classical Music
Review: National Youth Orchestra Impresses With 'Symphonie Fantastique' at Carnegie Hall
The orchestra, which includes 110 students from American high schools and colleges, opened with a new piece by Tan Dun.
July 13, 2015, Monday
MORE ON TAN DUN AND: Music , Classical Music , Dutoit, Charles , Carnegie Hall , Berlioz, Hector , Tan Dun , National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America
Peng Liyuan Song Accompanies China's Latest Space Mission
The recording by the wife of the current Chinese president was one of 10 included on a microchip carried in an unmanned spacecraft during its mission.
November 6, 2014, Thursday
MORE ON TAN DUN AND: Mao Zedong , Peng Liyuan , Tan Dun , Xi Jinping , China , Moon , Music , Satellites , Space and Astronomy
Sprawling Love Story, Abridged
A 19-hour Chinese Kunqu epic, stripped of subplots and nonessential characters, becomes a 70-minute opera for a museum garden.
December 3, 2012, Monday
MORE ON TAN DUN AND: Opera , Shanghai Kunqu Opera Co , Chen Shi-Zheng , Metropolitan Museum of Art , Tan Dun
Evoking Forbidden Love and Flying Ancient Armies
At Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center, the Chinese composer Tan Dun conducted a program derived from his scores for three martial-arts films.
August 15, 2011, Monday
MORE ON TAN DUN AND: Classical Music , Tan Dun , Music , Metropolis Ensemble , Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival , Movies
Asia Society Plans Exhibition of Ai Weiwei New York Photos
The exhibition is scheduled to run from June 29 to Aug. 14.
June 20, 2011, Monday
MORE ON TAN DUN AND: News , East Village (NYC) , Ginsberg, Allen , Kaige, Chen , Tan Dun , Art , Photography , Asia Society , Beijing (China) , China
Reviving 'The Peony Pavilion' With Modern Shading
A Chinese opera troupe's condensed version of "The Peony Pavilion," staged in a Shanghai garden, tries to breathe new life into a traditional art form in danger of disappearing.
August 18, 2010, Wednesday
MORE ON TAN DUN AND: Opera , China , Shanghai (China) , Shanghai Kunqu Opera Co , Music , Tan Dun
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text: New Page Posted on 2 August, 2009 by WarmSocks I've added a new page. If you have specific questions you'd like to see addressed, they can be posted in the comments section of that page. The page is open for discussions by all who wish to participate. * * * Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to email (Opens in new window)Like this:Like Loading... Related


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Perfecting produce
PAUL SMITHS – Culinary students at Paul Smith's college are getting a first look at a new variety of squash.
Produce is traditionally bred with the needs of growers and shippers in mind. The plants must be robust, as well as disease and pest resistant, and the produce must have a long enough shelf life to withstand the time and damage imposed by the shipping process.
Cooks around the globe have been an afterthought in this process and are usually forced to work with whatever their supplier can get them. Plant breeders with Cornell University's agriculture program decided to change this. This fall, Paul Smith's students, along with those at SUNY Cobleskill and Monroe and Niagara community colleges, became the first culinarians ever to work with honeynut squash, a curious cucurbit that is the product of 30 years of selective breeding.
Like most solutions, it all begins with a problem. When chefs said the ridges of buttercup squash were too cumbersome when scooping out the fruit's delectable flesh – and yes, squash are fruits rather than vegetables – Cornell scientists responded by cross-breeding that variety with the ridgeless butternut. The resulting honeycup looks like a miniature butternut but tastes like a buttercup.
Even though it just left the farm, the newly minted fruit is already inspiring new recipes.
Sarah Longley, an assistant professor at Paul Smith's, poured a thick, harvest-moon-colored honeynut juice into a wine flute and topped it off with sparkling champagne.
As the frothy head rose to the top of the glass, Longley explained that the primary challenge for a research-and-development chef is to always be in the forefront when it comes to creating new recipes. She pointed to the rim of the flute, which was encrusted in tiny, pumpkin-colored flakes.
"When you juice something, you get the liquids and the solids," Longley said. "I don't like to throw anything away, so I'm looking at all this beautiful pulp and thinking it has to be useful for something. So I took the solids and put them in a dehydrator; then I put them in a high-speed blender to pulverize them. That's where the inspiration came to make the powder."
The result is a hint of rich squash flavor – a fleeting preview to the earthy-sweet honeynut-champagne concoction.
"When you're working with the same ingredient but in a different form, it's bringing the same but different flavor profile, and that creates complexity," Longely said. "So when we're looking at creating dishes, we're always looking at creating layers and complexity in a dish. That's one way you can do it – introduce the same product but in a different form."
Creating different forms is what the plant-breeding program is all about, but it isn't as simple as it sounds. The honeynut actually has deep roots in a squash and cucumber breeding program that began in the 1950s.
Lindsay Wyatt, a graduate student in plant breeding at Cornell, said the breeding process there is still done the old-fashioned way.
"Breeding and genetics work toward improving winter squash fruit and culinary quality," Wyatt said. "First, we'll take pollen from one plant and put it on the flower of another plant. It's nothing that a determined honeybee couldn't do."
Honeybees aren't quite so picky, though. Plant breeders only use plants whose fruit has sought-after traits, like sweet flesh or a smooth exterior.
"When you grow out the next several generations, they have a lot of diversity for different combinations of the traits of the two parent squash, just like how children in a family have different combinations of traits from their parents," Wyatt said. "We just go through the field and find those plants that have the characteristics we're looking for. It's a forced evolution."
Forced evolution has more to offer than easier-to-handle squash. Wyatt said sweeter squash is more palatable and could inspire a surge in produce-related health. Her theory: If plant geneticists can make squash 10 times more delicious, that many more people will want to eat it.
Wyatt said she and her colleagues, under the direction of Michael Mazourek, an assistant professor in Cornell's Plant Breeding and Genetics department, are also striving to make squash that is disease and pest resistant. She explained that a disease called powdery mildew has been the bane of many farmers' crops. It travels through the air and grows on plant leaves, killing them.
"Once the leaves start dying, the plants can't photosynthesize to make the sugar to put into the squash to make it taste good," Wyatt said. "If we can make plants that are resistant to the disease using natural genetic variation by using some parents that happen to have a higher disease resistance, we can combat powdery mildew in a natural way."
Natural is the key word. Wyatt explained that, unlike genetically engineered, or GMO, crops, the techniques employed at Cornell have been used for thousands of years.
"Genetic engineering is when you take a small piece of DNA from one organism and put it into another," Wyatt said. "It's kind of a precision tool, but it also allows you to bridge the species gap and even put a bacteria into a plant."
Squash is only one crop in the works at Cornell. Before too long, student cooks at Paul Smith's might also be slicing, roasting and steaming new species of melons, cucumbers, peppers or snap peas.
Wyatt and her colleagues test for disease and pest resistance by simply walking through the fields and taking note of which plants are free of those things. She said she hopes that level of attention stays with the produce and ends up in kitchens everywhere.
"Plant breeding has a lot of opportunities for creativity, and so does cooking, so we can both be creative toward the same goals," Wyatt said. "If we can educate the students about all the opportunities there are within vegetables, fruits and grains, it can really help with regional food systems to make connections with local growers, who could supply these unique varieties."
Paul Smith's students won't just turn the squash into soups and ravioli, though. Their part of the collaboration is to advise the breeders on what chefs are looking for in the vine-grown fruits.
"We can say, 'You know what? We found that the seeds on the inside are very difficult to get out," said Kevin McCarthy, assistant professor in the culinary arts and baking program. "They're very mushy, like the inside of a pumpkin, and there are certain squashes, like a pepita pumpkin, that they specifically grow for the seeds because the seeds will grow more in a sack. So they can produce a squash that has a seed pouch and all of the slimy seeds on the inside."
Linnea Shumway and Mark Wrigley are Paul Smith's students who have test-driven the new honeynut squash.
"It has a different flavor to it, so it gives you that texture," Wrigley said. "I think it's also easier to work with than other squashes. It takes longer to roast, so its structure doesn't break down as much as a butternut's would."
Wrigley would know. He and Shumway were part of a student team that prepared an entire menu of honeynut-intensive dishes for a Celebration of the Honeynut Squash dinner held at the college Nov. 15. The menu began with an appetizer comparison of butternut and honeynut squash soups, and closed with an Asgaard Dairy Bark Eater Bouche, Honeynut Chip and Vanilla Puree.
The aspiring chefs agreed that working with an entirely new medium gave them a chance to break free from the vines of the common squash and participate in the future of the food industry.
"Since honeynuts are sweeter, when you blend it into a puree it's a lot silkier on your tongue," Shumway said. "All the water in a butternut makes it so you can't get it as smooth. It's kind of like we're sculpting what's to come."
Contact Shaun Kittle at 891-2600 ext. 25 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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From the Director's Desk - January 2014
January 2014
Like many of you, I have had time away over the past month. I have been reflecting on the role of the public library in the abstract, and considering the role of community libraries serving smaller towns, and of course the New Canaan library specifically.
In libraries of all types and sizes, change is our constant. As it ever was, our purpose is to provide access to information and to facilitate the exchange of ideas in a community focused non-commercial space. Over time the way we achieve each part of this mission has changed.
The ways in which we provide access have expanded tremendously. Globalised, digitized information sources mean we can now provide digital news from around the globe in any language, as well as our local and regional papers in print. We have digitized our own special heritage materials, including papers and video content so that it can now be viewed by a larger, wider, indeed global audience.
The way we facilitate the exchange of ideas is changing too. The range and complexity of digital sources has made finding the information like drinking from a fire hydrant. The skills of our library staff to provide pathways to sources one needs, as well as helping to navigate that path. Librarians are needed now more than ever to find the right information.
To provide the level of expert help needed, within the realities of our finite resources, means we are changing the way customer services staff are organized so we can serve our community better than ever. We are a center of lifelong learning, providing a growing breadth of classes and programs.
Change is coming to our library; small changes that you will see when you visit the library and larger changes that will happen over time.
In response to the clearly expressed needs of our community, we are installing more seating for library users who wish to make use of library spaces for work. Many of our regular library users work from different spaces during the week, an office in NY, at home, at the library. Our new work space makes working at the library a better option than ever, with our excellent free wifi and friendly staff available to help you with all your information needs.
At the same time our news and media room (Salant room) will have quieter, comfortable seating for reading newspapers and magazines
There will be a large new bulletin board just to the right of our main doors where everyone in town can post notices for events, groups, help wanted, where babysitters and dog walkers can advertise their services.
In the weeks ahead, we will be making some more positive changes to the way we serve you, with our new one stop customer service point. At this new desk (fully funded by a very generous benefactor) we will look after all your library needs: information / reference; help with choosing or finding a great new book, help to access our extensive and growing digital collections through your device ( iphone, android tablet, kindle etc) including our latest digital service: streaming video.
We are also about to undertake a feasibility study to understand the level of support for a new library building that exists in the New Canaan community. When completed, this spring, the results of this study will provide us with guidance on next steps toward a new facility. Meanwhile, we will work to provide the best possible services, spaces, collections, programs, and classes to all New Canaanites.


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WISC Editorial Agenda 2013 - Our Region
It's time to Advance Now.
Our Climate, Our Schools, Our Government – issues we share and issues we need to focus on in 2013. Add to that Our Region, and here again we have a specific plan in mind – Advance Now. Advance Now is the working title for the five-pronged strategy for economic development in the Greater Madison Region. It's an eight-county, collaborative, job creation, capital attracting, branding and marketing effort that will, if successful, allow us to compete with other regions nationally as well as in the global marketplace.
In the last seven or eight years we've gotten pretty good at talking regionalism, the concept that issues like transportation, job training, health care, natural resources and more transcend municipal boundaries. Now we have to act. We have to advance regional cooperation, economic competitiveness, human capital, innovation and getting the message out and do it now.
That's our agenda…with one addition which we'll tell you about in our next editorial.
E-Newsletter Registration
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Sign up for e-newsletters to get the first taste of Madison Magazine's top stories and more!Read More »


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Official *What did you get in the mail today?* Thread!!!
Un-tea related (yea I said that), I got part of my mom's mother's day gift yesterday. A copy of Sharkwater. Man she's gonna be sooo stoked.
My chado teas came today. Twelve big one ounce samples, largely flavored blacks.
I'm excited!
I got my first tea pot! A cute little white 16oz deal with a metal mesh strainer :)
A surprise package of tea, lipgloss, and candy from Lala!! Thank you!!
Finally got my sampler kit from Dens Tea. It took forever to get here! I love the little booklet that comes with it, very informative.
My Zen Tea order arrived. Ten wonderful 'sample' sizes to indulge on.
Finally got my Whispering Pines order. So excited. It came in a big plastic silver pouch like an oversized tea pouch. I got it just before I had to leave for work but I couldn't resist opening it. Only the first thing I smelled was catnip (to me at least) which wasn't what I was expecting. LOL! I still have high hopes for how they'll taste though.
A lot of tea.
My Pure Aroma order along with 3 samples. What's nice is that if you order in multiples of 10g they send you your order in separate 10g bags instead of combining them into one. ( Great for keeping things fresh or for trading if you find you don't like the tea.)
2 Rooibos Teas from LuxBerry. They're in Winnepeg and offer free shipping of tea within Canada.
Samples of bagged tea and a catalogue from Basilur who are setting up an e-store in Canada which they are hoping to have online in about a month.
A new adaptor for my computer which is good because my old one just died.
My first Golden Moon tea order! Coconut Pouchong with samples of white Persian melon,sugar caramel oolong and peach oolong :D


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Zabar's NY Original Toasting Bagels - 6 per bag (Kosher)
|Free Ground Shipping on Assorted Bagels (3 bags min)
|Free Zabar's "Green" Shopping Bag with Bagels Order (min 3 bags)
Product ID: 911000A
Now $8.98 Was $9.98
Pop 'em in the toaster, top with a schmear, then bite in. Beneath the crispy exterior lies a soft heart - chewy, plump and delicious! Discover just how great a bagel can be with our NY flavors: Plain, Poppy, Sesame. Bag of 6. Kosher. Slice before freezing. Best toasted. Do not microwave.
Click here to see Zabar's Bagels Nutrition Facts (pdf).
Click here to see Zabar's Bagels Nutrition Facts (pdf).


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San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera has been suspended 50 games after violating Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.
Cabrera, the MVP of the 2012 All-Star Game, tested positive for testosterone. His suspension is effective immediately.
"My positive test was the result of my use of a substance I should not have used. ... I am deeply sorry for my mistake," Cabrera said in a release from MLB.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/82719 ... d-50-games
And he openly owned up to it as well...... I guess that's refreshing!


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Welcome to TeaDay Discussion. Hope everyone is enjoying tea today.
Please feel free to stop in and let us know what you are brewing and drinking throughout the day. It's always nice to see photos of your tea and teawares as well, do feel free to show us.
In a few days it will be 2014, and I was wondering what your "Tea Resolutions" may be for the new year. You have 5 votes and please feel free to add your own resolutions, I obviously could not cover everything!
I am looking forward to reading the possible myriad of resolutions.
Brew what you like and like what you brew ... bottoms up!


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Modular Chicken Coop
- Summary
Our natural Western Red Cedar coop is roomy enough to comfortably house up to six chickens. The roost has a corrugated polycarbonate roof that allows plenty of light to penetrate while the base is fenced with steel wire to allow fresh air circulation. With a solid dovetail-fitted design, this coop is easy to assemble, requiring only four screws to attach the nesting boxes. Add a run using the Modular Chicken Coop Run Extension Kit (sold separately) to provide more room for exercise and foraging to ensure a steady supply of fresh, nutritious eggs.
Modular Chicken Coop:
- Hand-built from unfinished rough-sawn Western Red Cedar.
- Naturally rot-resistant cedar will weather to a soft gray and last for many years without any maintenance.
- Black wire mesh walls allow air circulation.
- Waterproof corrugated polycarbonate roof allows light penetration.
- Hinged roof opens up for easy maintenance and egg collection.
- Sloped ramp is asphalt-coated for traction.
- Two built-in nest boxes provide room for up to six chickens.
- Chicken door and hatch lock provide safety from predators.
- Includes winterized window cover.
- Pair with Modular Chicken Coop Run to provide extra space in a safe enclosure.
- Tool-free assembly required for coop; four screws included to affix nest boxes.
Modular Chicken Coop Run (sold separately):
- Hand-built from unfinished Western Red Cedar and black wire mesh.
- Run's modular design makes it easy to expand coop to provide a safe place for your chickens or pets to roam and exercise outdoors.
- Run includes three sides and a roof that add 3 feet of space to coop.
- Hinged roof folds open for easy access to interior from both sides.
- Run can be added to the coop from three directions, at either side or to the back.
- Add more extension kits (runs) to create a custom coop of your desired size.
- Simple assembly required.
- Dimensions & More Info
- Exterior: 45" x 45" x 48" high.
- 135 lb.
Coop Run
- 45" x 45" x 23"
- 48 lb.
- Shipping
Shipping Information
UPS can deliver most in-stock items within 4-5 business days.
Shipping Rates
The shipping rate varies depending on your order total and shipping destination. View Shipping Options and Charges.
Next Day Delivery
For an additional charge of $17.50 per address, we can expedite delivery to most destinations. This service is not available for some oversize items, items shipped directly from the supplier (including perishable and custom-manufactured items), out-of-stock items and items to be shipped outside the contiguous 48 states.
Orders received by 9:00 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Thursday will arrive the next business day; orders placed Friday through Sunday will arrive on the following Tuesday.
Return Policy
At Williams-Sonoma, we take great pride in the quality and craftsmanship of our products. Attention to design, materials, safety and construction are our priority. Upon receipt, please inspect your purchase and notify us of any damage; we will arrange for a prompt replacement.
If within 30 days, you are dissatisfied for any reason, you may return your purchase for a refund of the merchandise value. An original receipt or gift receipt is required for all returns and exchanges. Returns with a gift receipt will be refunded in the form of a Merchandise Credit for the amount indicated on the gift receipt. Returns with original receipt will be refunded in the original form of payment, cash and check refunds over $100 will be issued as a company check (may take 14 business days from time of request).
For all cutlery returns (knife sets, single knives, cutting boards, knife sharpeners, and knife storage) please contact us at 888.922.4108 to initiate the return.
We cannot accept returns on monogrammed, personalized, special-order items, custom upholstery, food, items shipped direct from the vendor, or on items damaged through normal wear and tear. Final sale items ending in .97 or .99 cannot be returned.
Made to Order and Final Sale Furniture items are non-returnable, and cannot be cancelled once the order is placed.
For returns of items purchased from your Williams-Sonoma Gift Registry, we will gladly provide a refund or exchange for the merchandise within 90 days of your event or within 90 days of purchase, whichever date is later. View Full Return Policy.


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Topic: Convoluted Mess (Read 1687 times)
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Registered User
Posts: 5
Location: Mesa, AZ
I Love Pizza!
Convoluted Mess
May 16, 2013, 04:55:45 PM »
I'm at a loss as to which way to go! Our restaurant has been doing great for over two years now and we get a lot of positive feedback on our pizza. Lately, we haven't received positive or negative comments and I noticed the crust doesn't seem all that impressive. More specifically - it looks flat. I decided to clean up our recipe book and discovered that since our original kitchen manager and pizza guru retired, the short lived replacement threw away and deleted electronic copies of our dough recipe and re-wrote it to what he was used to without consulting me. After he left and everyone decided his recipe wasn't up to our standards, the cooks tried to recreate what they remembered and unfortunately, the process has suffered.
Therefore, I'm hoping that if I list our "broken" process, I can get some feedback on what's going wrong and why. The taste is the same as it used to be, but the crust isn't acting like it should. Instead of it being a semi-thin crust with a puffed edge, it reminds me of a frozen pizza. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.
Combine the salt, sugar and INSTANT Yeast in the Hobart mixer
Take a small portion of the 90 degree water and whisk it together with the salt, sugar and yeast
Pour the rest of the water into the mixer
Add the flour and oil and mix for 7 minutes
Remove dough and portion into balls immediately
Spread dough balls out on cookie sheet and lightly coat with cooking spray
Cover with plastic wrap and leave out 30 mins
Move to walk-in and typically use within a day or two
Pull from walk-in, run through sheeter, bake
Last Edit: May 16, 2013, 05:05:00 PM by FranInMesa
The Dough Doctor
Tom Lehmann
Posts: 2433
Location: Manhattan, KS
Re: Convoluted Mess
Reply #1 on:
May 16, 2013, 05:10:42 PM »
Here is where I would begin: Add the water to the mixing bowl (70F) into that water add the salt and sugar (no need to mix together) then add the flour followed by the IDY (it does NOT need to be prehydrated), mix the dough for 2-minutes at low speed, add the oil, then mix for 1 more minute at low speed, followed by about 8-minutes at medium speed. If your mixer won't handle the dough at medium speed mix for 15-minutes at low speed, then manage your dough in your normal manner. I'd suggest leaving the dough warm at room temperature for about 90-minutes before you use it on the following day(s). Note: Dough that is formed totally with a sheeter will have all of the unique raised edge characteristics of a poker chip. To get a more pronounced edge, use the sheeter to only open the dough ball up to about 2/3 of the desired finished diameter, then finish opening the dough by hand to the full diameter. Let us know how this works for you.
P.S. Anything that you can share regarding your formula amounts will also help.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Registered User
Posts: 5
Location: Mesa, AZ
I Love Pizza!
Re: Convoluted Mess
Reply #2 on:
May 16, 2013, 05:48:41 PM »
Thank you for your help! Here are the portions:
4 qt Water
1 oz Salt
2 oz Sugar
8 oz Yeast
15 1/2 # Flour
1/2 c Oil
If I could please get some clarification on a part of your suggestion: You said to leave the dough out for 90 minutes prior to using it. So are you saying to pull all the dough out for 90 minutes and then put it back in the walk in? Then if the dough that was pulled out don't all get used have it marked so it doesn't sit out for 90 minutes again? Sorry - I'm a little confused on this.
Registered User
Posts: 70
Age: 68
Location: Tempe AZ
Pizza, not life or death much more important.
Re: Convoluted Mess
Reply #3 on:
May 16, 2013, 05:59:11 PM »
So I have no constructive input but would love to know the name of your restaurant so I could try it.
Science, better than making stuff up since well forever.
Registered User
Posts: 5
Location: Mesa, AZ
I Love Pizza!
Re: Convoluted Mess
Reply #4 on:
May 17, 2013, 03:01:14 PM »
Hey Kevin!
I'd love for you to come down and give me your opinion and try some really awesome food! We make EVERYTHING from scratch.
It's called Poppy's Place and we're located in Tempe on the Southeast corner of Baseline and Hardy. Let me know when you're coming...
Registered User
Posts: 70
Age: 68
Location: Tempe AZ
Pizza, not life or death much more important.
Re: Convoluted Mess
Reply #5 on:
May 17, 2013, 11:19:42 PM »
I live in Tempe, sorry to say I've never noticed your place, but will remedy that soon.
Science, better than making stuff up since well forever.
Registered User
Posts: 5
Location: Mesa, AZ
I Love Pizza!
Re: Convoluted Mess
Reply #6 on:
May 20, 2013, 02:51:06 PM »
Is there any further information you needed on the recipe you asked for? I'm really looking forward to your help!
Last Edit: May 20, 2013, 02:52:58 PM by FranInMesa
The Dough Doctor
Tom Lehmann
Posts: 2433
Location: Manhattan, KS
Re: Convoluted Mess
Reply #7 on:
May 29, 2013, 09:15:38 AM »
Please excuse me for not getting back to you sooner. I have no excuse except to say that your post fell off of my radar. In reviewing your dough formula, converting it into bakers percent it looks like this:
Flour 100% Water 51.6%
Salt 0.4%
Sugar 0.8%
Yeast 3.22%
Oil 1.41%
Comments: The salt level is much too low and that is severely impacting the flavor of the finished crust. I would suggest increasing it to a minimum of 1.75% (4.34-ounces/Call it 4.5-ounces and you'll be good)
The yeast level is quite high at 3.22% (hopefully this is compressed yeast). If my assumption is correct that you are using compressed yeast I would recommend reducing the yeast level to not more than 1.5% (3.72-ounces/Round it to 3.75-ounces). My personal preference is to have the yeast level at 1% compressed yeast (2.48-ounces/Call it 2.5-ounces). As for dough management, here is a very efficient dough management procedure for pizzerias:
1) Add water (75F) to the mixing bowl
2) Add salt and sugar to the water (no need to stir)
3) Add flour, and yeast (in that order)
4) Mix for about 2-minutes or until you don't see any dry flour in the bowl
5) Add the oil and mix 1-minute at low speed, then complete mixing the dough in your normal manner.
6) Finished dough temperature should be between 80 and 85F.
7) Take dough directly from the mixer to the bench for immediate scaling and balling.
Place the dough balls into plastic dough boxes, wipe the top of the dough balls with salad oil and immediately take to the cooler.
9) Cross stack the dough boxes in the cooler for 2.5-hours, then down stack and nest or cover the dough boxes to prevent the dough from drying.
10) The dough will be ready to use after about 18-hours and will remain good in the cooler for up to 72-hours.
11) To use the dough, remove about a 3-hour supply of dough balls from the cooler and allow to temper AT room temperature for 2-hours, then begin using the dough balls to make pizza skins as needed. The dough balls will be fine at room temperature for up to 3-hours AFTER you begin opening them into pizza skins.
12) Any unused dough balls can be opened into skins and placed onto screens and placed in a wire tree rack in the cooler for use later in the day. When placed in the cooler, allow the skins to cool uncovered for 30 to 45-minutes, then cover the rack with a plastic bag to prevent drying.
13) To use the preopened skins, remove from the cooler and allow to temper at room temperature for 30-minutes, then restretch to size, dress and bake in your normal manner. If you bake on a screen, NEVER EVER dress the preopoend skin without first removing it from the screen, failure to do this will result in the dough locking into the screen openings, making removal from the screen impossible.
You may need to experiment a little with your tempering times to find what works best in YOUR shop, but this should get you pretty close. Try this and let me know if it gives you an improvement, we can always make further adjustments to fine tune the formula and/or dough management procedure.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
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Greetings Volleyball Family - The tremendous success of our teams in Beijing, including the Paralympic Sitting Women's team winning a silver medal last month, now opens this chance to share ideas with everyone on growing our sport together. This weekend, the Youth & Junior Olympic Volleyball Division and the Regional Operations Divisions close out their decades of work as the new USAV Board of Directors and structures begin. One of the changes is to increase grassroots communication and idea sharing on things that grow the game, for youth and seniors, and all versions in between. This blog is one place to exchange thoughts. We will be using MS Sharepoint to allow the commissions and leadership to more easily collaborate. We have sought to get as many medal winning athletes to share their stories in these next months, in person. The fact is currently all but two of the 24 indoor players are playing overseas on professional teams. We will be challenged to solve in some other way. We have medal celebration t-shirts/hoodies available already at http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/Shop.aspx and http://www.em2sports.com/. A thirty minute highlight video of journeys to the medal stand in August is in final production and will be available to USA Volleyball donors as a premium item. If you have any other ideas, let me know as we give every idea great attention and consideration. For now, back to meetings here in Colorado Springs... John
The following comments were made on our previous web platform and have been transferred here to maintain the historical record.
On October 09, 2009 Larry Price wrote
As a coach who has spent a lot of hours driving teams to tournaments, I'd love to have tools available to make that time more productive. Obviously, modern technology makes it possible for the youth in the back seats to watch game film. And there are a variety of volleyball training videos available for purchase. But, I've failed to find video of our national teams. I want my players to see volleyball played the RIGHT way as much as possible. Of course I want them to see individual skills performed by the masters. But, I also want them to see the entire game. I want them to also see the experts in their humanity, they make mistakes too. So, the video needs to show the entire match, not just great plays / hi-lights. Finally, something I'd be thrilled to get a hold of (perhaps subscription?): PODCAST. When I take a team to a tournament out of town, I love to start the day eating breakfast together at the hotel, praying together, perhaps even having a devotion together. I'd love to be able to add podcast to that list. Perhaps a motivational podcast such as Ryan Millar or Reid Priddy talking for five minutes about a challenging play in the gold medal match? And, podcast for myself too. When I depart work, I'd love to listen to a John Kessel or a Hugh McCucheon podcast about coaching.
On October 13, 2009 John Kessel wrote
Larry - We are working to get the most recent NORCECA events online and downloadable to share. I think Reid has podcasts on his "radio" show, but I also have good news on the coaching side. IMPACT gets a new coach off to a good start on motor skill, drill design and such, but then we don't have any more follow up other than CAP. As officials training their group every year or two, even tho the rules change very little, I thought it important to share the newest ideas in coaching - in this blog but also in a webinar. So this Oct 18th, the first Beyond Beijing Coaches Appreciation Webinar is happening for the coaches in the Palmetto/South Carolina USAV Region. Jimmy Peden, their Commish, will talk 10 or so minutes, then my new powerpoint on evidence based vs. belief based coaching will start up with me talking, taking questions etc. for 90 minutes. Got lots of new ideas to cover. I have requests from Kordes in Pioneer, and Hahn from Badger RVA as well as Arizona and Iowa to do the same, and will in the end do them for all 40 RVAs. This then will be recorded and saved on their RVA website. Check back for more info later, or ask your RVA to get yours set up! John
We very much welcome additional new comments, to be contributed below:


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Very interesting that it is that hardy. On the other hand, I suppose brewers yeast had to start somewhere. I have read that San Francisco sourdough culture won't survive outside the Bay area and that coupled with my own experience brought me to my apparently wrong conclusion. So, okay.So, you guys tell me, am I looking for a sour taste from my crust if I am building Naples style? Craig, if I use your times with my sourdough, it will catch me right in the jaw. I like that sort of thing, but I am not just pleasing myself. Educate me on flavor profiles.
..I have read that San Francisco sourdough culture won't survive outside the Bay area ...
I do not doubt that you have read that, I would be interested to read it also, if you can remember where it was.
So, you guys tell me, am I looking for a sour taste from my crust if I am building Naples style? Craig, if I use your times with my sourdough, it will catch me right in the jaw. I like that sort of thing, but I am not just pleasing myself. Educate me on flavor profiles.
The question that I'd like to pose is, if the flavor profile of good Neapolitan pizza is "slightly complex, wheat-forward", why is there such a big preference for natural leavening vs. commercial yeast? If the flour is good and the fermentation process properly managed, I feel pizza made with commercial yeast will sufficiently provide a "slightly complex, wheat-forward" flavor profile. Does SD culture provide flavor and textural characteristics other than sourness that commercial yeast cannot produce?
However, IMO the difference in flavor is not as great as the difference in difficulty.
This is a very interesting statement. There is no doubt that you can handle the difficulty and you always generously post your methods.If I may try to read between the lines here Craig(and please correct me if I'm wrong)....are you suggesting that for us lesser experienced pizza makers, using commercial yeasts can afford a pretty decent flavor for it's lesser skill level use requirements as opposed to the incremental taste advantage one gets with perfecting SD utilization? Thanks!
I wouldnt say it takes any less skill than making a great pie with SD. SD is just more difficult.
IAdmittedly, the bread is spectacular, not really sour much, if at all...but the organizing and extra work gives me new respect for artisan bakers--especially those using a SD culture.
As far as SD being difficult to use, it is only difficult until you know your particular culture. Then, just like commercial yeast, it is a function of time and temperature. As far as the flavor goes...It's good if you like it.
Being new to pizza making but experienced in sourdough breads, I would like to know the general profile of textures and flavors associated with Naples style pizza crust. If I use my homegrown culture, I will have a crust that will be quite sour for proofs longer than 3 or 4 hours. What is generally acceptable?
I notice that many members here use a sourdough culture from Ischia. How do you prevent it from being overtaken by your native regional yeasts? Where I live, I have captured many cultures from diverse regions and have noticed that hardy native cultures eventually dominate after a few months of activity.
Is sourdough worth it? Obviously the consensus is that it is not since most of the world uses commercial yeast.
I have an SF culture that has been living in my fridge for 4 years, and I've never noticed a change in it either. I believe very little of what I read or hear when it comes to SD cultures.


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Should I cut back the IDY more?
Don,Before cutting back on the amount of IDY, I would use colder water in order to achieve a lower finished dough temperature and thereby slow down the fermentation process. If you still have a problem, then you might lower the amount of IDY or use a combination of colder water and less IDY.Peter
I am just throwing in my 2 cents. When it is warmer in our area and I see my dough balls starting to overferment, I place them back into the cooler and then open them cold. Sometimes a colder dough ball is harder to open, but if it is left to rest after partly being opened for a little while that seems to work for me.
Glad they were happy, I was frustrated. We all are all our own worst critics.
Quick follow up. I checked my dough balls about two hours ago and can see bubble activity, so defianately monitering tonight is on order. These balls were made using .1% IDY, 2 % salt, 2% oil, 56% hydration(iced water) and no sugar. They went in the reefer at 4 yesterday. This may mean I mix the dough in the mornings rather than a day ahead.Don
Don;That rest period for the dough to begin fermenting before putting it in the fridge might also be hurting you.Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor


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Appropriate coaching is an important part of being a good coach. Some thoughts about the use of running and other physical punishment follow. I will go back a bit in time to when the term coach was used to move VIPs, who could afford to ride, rather than walk or ride a horse, from one place to another. This concept then began to be used when a teacher worked to move VISs - as in Very Important Students-from their one place of knowledge to another, higher level. The key here is, to be a coach, you have to move people from one place to another - or else you are not a coach. To paraphrase the great coach John Wooden - "You haven't coached them if they haven't learned."
In watching thousands of games, I see players being out-skilled, by a team who could move faster, read better, pass without error, receive the ball and deliver the shot/attack without pause or fault. What does the coach who is being beaten do in their time outs or breaks in the game? Berate their players for being lazy, stupid, careless, sloppy, and other such derogatory terms. When things end, they again chew out the athletes, and then forewarn them to be "ready to run" when the team meets again.
The question is then, when will we coaches start teaching and become REAL coaches? A coach is a TEACHER first, and ALWAYS. The kids know how to run...they don't know how to do the game's skills at game speed. The players may be able to do the technique in pairs, with limited movement - but they cannot PASS and connect to a teammate while moving. What makes a coach stand or sit there on the sideline, screaming in their frustrations, slamming a clipboard, and acting like a two year old wigged out on sugar without a nap? Do they think that is what a real teacher would do in class? If they did, they would be sent back to teaching school until they had learned what a teacher does - they guide, they catch kids doing things right, they demonstrate, they question with a future purpose, they encourage.
My bet is everyone reading this remembers when they got their first gold star. Decades later we still can remember it - for that good teacher caught us doing it right and paid attention to it. I doubt your school teachers made you do windsprints for misspelling "cat" or pushups for screwing up your chemistry experiment, or sent you to lap the school building because you divided wrong in math. Why not? Because such actions do not TEACH, they are not principles in good TEACHING.
What I am asking today is for each of us to remember before practice what the great teachers did for you when you were in school. Not the coaches, the TEACHERS. The one who made class fun, coming up with creative ways to learn the subject even if it was perhaps boring to some. The one who cared about you as an individual, and took time with you one on one to help you learn a task you were struggling with. The one who taught you new skills, while reviewing at times ones already well known. The one in college who was so educationally entertaining, no matter what the subject matter, that there was always a waiting list to get into that class. The one who may have been demanding, but was NEVER demeaning. In short, the one who showed you how to learn, because THEY were lifelong learners and who gave back to their profession by teaching.
My mom was a first grade teacher for decades of her life...My dad was a dentist who would get up at any hour of the night to help a patient who was in pain. So my role models were strong on the concept of helping people get better. I never saw my dad make people do pushups by the chair before he would treat them, even though they erred by not brushing enough. Nor did I see my mom make the kids run after they erred in any way in class.
Please don't get me wrong, it is not that I am against getting in shape, or running. It is simply that these young athletes need to run while learning skills. They need to sprint chasing balls going out of bounds and saving them. They need to move while passing or receiving the ball. They REALLY need to move between the contacts of the ball, learning/reading to get to the right place and the right time before contact. Most coaches do not teach the game between contacts well, they just comment at contact about the errors they see, even if it was caused by simply misreading or being faked out well. They need to sprint in to the coach each time that they are called in for a team talk -- so they get back on task/to learning sooner and getting in shape at the same time. They just need to get more contacts with the ball and learn skill, not run. They already KNOW how to run, they learned that about 2 years old. They were not born with the sport skill or reading needs that are required to be good at this sport, THAT is what they need to learn, by touching more balls during the precious time called practice. In the matches, too many kids just watch from the sidelines, and even those playing watch, given that there is one ball and so many players. We learn by doing, not by watching.
So at the risk of losing some coaches who did not enjoy their English classes, I will close with several poems. The first was by one of the greatest sports coaches to every ply his trade on the field of play - yet again, John Wooden. I know these words by heart...
No written word
Nor spoken plea
Can teach your team
What they should be
Nor all the books
On all the shelves
It's what a leader
Is himself.
When the amazing slam poet/teacher Taylor Mali spoke on "What Does a Teacher Make," he created a priceless poem that EVERY coach reading this MUST watch and share, so please view him bringing this poem below to life. For you are a TEACHER first and always and must follow those principles. When Taylor says teacher - think coach, for this is what every volunteer and professional coach does every day.
What Teachers Make, or
Objection Overruled, or
If things don't work out, you can always go to law school
By Taylor Mali
He says the problem with teachers is, "What's a kid going to learn
from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"
He reminds the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about teachers:
Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.
I decide to bite my tongue instead of his
and resist the temptation to remind the other dinner guests
that it's also true what they say about lawyers.
Because we're eating, after all, and this is polite company.
"I mean, you¹re a teacher, Taylor," he says.
"Be honest. What do you make?"
And I wish he hadn't done that
(asked me to be honest)
because, you see, I have a policy
about honesty and ass-kicking:
if you ask for it, I have to let you have it.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honor
and an A- feel like a slap in the face.
How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best.
I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall
in absolute silence. No, you may not work in groups.
No, you may not ask a question.
Why won't I let you get a drink of water?
Because you're not thirsty, you're bored, that's why.
I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:
I hope I haven't called at a bad time,
I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today.
Billy said, "Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don't you?"
And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.
I make parents see their children for who they are
and what they can be.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids wonder,
I make them question.
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write, write, write.
And then I make them read.
I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful
over and over and over again until they will never misspell
either one of those words again.
I make them show all their work in math.
And hide it on their final drafts in English.
I make them understand that if you got this (brains)
then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you
by what you make, you give them this (the finger).
Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:
I make a ***damn difference! What about you?
These thoughts I think fit the "coach" of ANY sport - not just our wonderful lifetime team sport of volleyball. The kids deserve great teachers, no matter what they have chosen to play. If a coach choses not to be a good teacher, they can get out of the way and let them PLAY and learn without being coached, like millions of children did growing up... How many great skateboarding, beach volleyball or BMX biking coaches do you know? What, none? Do you know there are tens of millions of athletes doing those sports, yet they have no coach? They coach themselves? Gosh, maybe I am not as important as I thought I was, and I had better get better at teaching my motivated players. What, you want help in motivating them now? Heck they ARE motivated, for they are there at practice, risking in public rather than at home watching TV or anonymously playing video games.
Just shy of 100 years ago, long before those TV and video games existed to take kids off the playgrounds and inside to be less active, Teddy Roosevelt in his "Citizenship in a Republic," speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910
"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
Finally, at the risk of being politically incorrect, for I have an amazing daughter not just a son, I share one last poem, Rudyard Kipling's "IF" for as food for thought, as we are teaching far more than our sport. We are working hard to grow our game and develop amazing leaders.
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
So as always, you can email me at firstname.lastname@example.com or leave your comments below and thanks for getting this far in developing your coaching.
The following comments were made on our previous web platform and have been transferred here to maintain the historical record.
On March 18, 2009 USAV Admin wrote
I should forward a copy of this article to my college baseball coach. We had to run after every loss and our team was horrible because we spent more time running than correcting our mistakes. He tried to correct the mistakes after we were tired. The end result bad words and sloppy play. I hated baseball after loving it for all my life. While growing up in Puerto Rico I remember the great baseball coaches that understood the game and the training principles. If you ever wonder why there are so many great infielders in Puerto Rico just stop by any practice and you will see the reason. We spent countless hours turning double plays and working on defense while players were taking batting practice. We learned to multi task and we also learned that if you did not pay attention you would get nailed by a ball. There was always a ball in play, there was always movement, there was always a ball in the air that needed to be caught. I would have hated baseball if they would have made us run foul poles. They made us run the bases as fast as possible. Practice always ended with a full sprint around the bases or a specific game situation. Guess what we did in our free time. We played baseball with our friends. After we were done playing baseball we played baseball with our other friends. When we went home we watched baseball on TV and we pretended to be in the MLB. Why did I not implement the baseball principle in my volleyball coaching? I guess I was trying to become a better volleyball coach and did not think about the great teachers that taught me how to play baseball. FYI - my wife is bugging me to take my daughter and her friends to play sand volleyball. I have to go. She is as hooked on volleyball as I am. She is coaching a 13s team of girls that feed in to my school attendance zone. Her team loves to play. :)
On April 17, 2009 Trish Sokoul wrote
Man, sometimes it isn't just about the running. Do think the coach above with the team executing perfectly doesn't do any running or wind sprints? My teachers did not make me run sprints for misspelling words, for English class was not an endurance sport. I have watched a similar number of athletic events and rarely see the losing coach behaving as you say they all do. It's wrong to generalize. I also see a lot of highly respected coaches behaving as you explain. Duke's men's basketball coach for one. Are you saying he is not a good teacher? Do you think he doesn't discipline with running? Those players are going to get run -- win or lose. Human emotion is part of sport and shouldn't be dismissed as bad coaching. Some may display it differently or more extreme than others, but showing emotion does not make them a bad teacher. There are a lot of schools with little money anymore to dedicate to athletics. Coaches are often called upon for many other duties and may not have the funding to futher training in a sport that they were simply assigned to. It is a condition of the times. So the reality is to either cut the sports or find some way to make it work. Do you pitch in to fund training for your kids coaches if they are not qualified, or just complain about high taxes? No easy solution, but generalizing running and yelling as a sign of a poor coach is not a solution.
On July 29, 2010 Alyson Jackson wrote
In the early stages, help develop a LOVE for the sport FIRST, a great and inspiring concept! Once in love w/the sport, it's a little easier to take a little toughness, even from a slightly or highly misguided coach. Be positive, keep teaching rather than constantly stopping to punish, GENIUS! Condition w/sport specific tasks that will also make you better at your sport...common sense...lost on many! If anyone tries implementing these ideas, you must come to the same conclusion that I have which is that THEY WORK. I am a better coach because of it and my kids notice...and appreciate it. Have the right mindset, let your passion, instincts, experiences, and mentors guide you. As you are molding your kids, you are also being molded in the process, evolving, ever changing for the better. Thanks to John and all the great minds that he mentions that help us on our journey toward being the best we can be.
We very much welcome additional new comments, to be contributed below:


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"The finest young officer"
In this "Naval Speed Letter" of May 20, 1954, to the Chief of Naval Personnel, Commander Dudley S. Billett states that Lieutenant John K. Koelsch was not recommended for any award for outstanding action while under his command in Korea. LT Koelsch later was awarded the Medal of Honor.
National Archives, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel