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When I wrote my first article on Corinthian Colleges Inc. (NASDAQ:COCO) last Thursday night, Corinthian: Five-Bagger or Value Trap, I was really quite attracted to the stock and seriously considering investing. I still had some doubts and told readers I'd keep researching. The article was successful in getting a discussion going and many fresh topics were brought up in comments that I intend to address in this article. I was also somewhat disappointed then that I wasn't able to give a definitive recommendation on Corinthian stock, but now with this additional information and some careful deliberation, I'm comfortable recommending going long. My goal is for this article to supplement my last article so that my analysis is complete and fully actionable for investors.
At the end of my last article, I was a little uncertain as to whether I personally would invest in Corinthian and I didn't actually give a recommendation. You probably already noticed from my disclosure at the top that I am now long Corinthian. After considering what is publicly known now and the likelihood and consequences of various potential events in the future, I decided to liquidate my existing positions and put my entire portfolio into Corinthian stock. So know as you read my bullish, yet hopefully realistic points that my money is certainly where my mouth is.
I'm sure many of you gasped or thought me a fool when you read that I'd put all my money in Corinthian - a stock that is extremely risky by many qualitative standards. The company is now certainly in an extremely adverse situation - it is being investigated by the SEC, faces class action lawsuits from angry shareholders, could be forced to post a letter of credit for close to $200M, has liquidity issues, and so on. While these are all very real risks that could debilitate the business, I believe the risks as a whole have been overstated and priced into the stock, making actual downside on stock price pretty limited.
Letter of Credit
The Department of Education has been reviewing the company's 2011 and 2012 composite scores. Since the original calculation disagreement, executive management at Corinthian performed a new 2011 and 2012 calculation using ED methodology and calculated a score of 1.0 for 2011 and 1.5 for 2012. If either of those scores is accurate, the company will not be required to post a letter of credit at all. If the score of .9 for 2011 that the ED originally calculated sticks AND 2012's score is 1.4 or less, the company will have to post the letter of credit for about $175M.
I summarized the letter of credit fiasco in my last article but I've got some updates on that front. The latest official update from the company came with its Q3 results when CEO Jack Massimino said the following:
The Department of Education is in the process of reviewing our revised fiscal 2011 submission, which excludes discontinued operations, as well as our fiscal 2012 submission. The department is reconsidering whether we should be required to post a letter of credit, taking both fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2012 into account. In March, the department sent us a letter requesting additional information on several issues related to our fiscal 2012 submission and we have responded to their request. I stayed in touch with higher level department officials since this process began, and we've provided them with written expert opinions and other information in support of our position. In addition, at the time of our previous call, we had agreed with our banks that while the composite score issue was pending, we would not draw additional amounts on our credit facility. However, since the issue remains unresolved, we have reached a new agreement with our banks to draw upon the facility to satisfy short-term cash needs and then to repay as our cash position improves. We'll continue to keep you apprised of important developments as we move forward in the process.
I contacted Investor Relations seeking a clarification of the composite score situation but wasn't able to get anything. Since an 8-K hasn't been filed, I expect the Q4 release on 8/20 to include a similar description of progress. A formal decision from the ED probably won't be announced but Massimino will recount the company's recent efforts. A decision from the ED would be too important to hold off on announcing until the earnings release. It will have to be announced soon after the company gets the information, so it will most likely come in an 8-K and its timing is unpredictable. A decision was supposed to already been made by the end of January this year, so I don't think investors will be in the dark much longer.
Again, all the indicators say the decision could go either way. The company has secured a letter of credit if need be, but also been actively persuading the ED. Since it's up in the air, I wanted to think critically about what would happen in either scenario.
If the ED accepts either of the company's new calculations and extinguishes the letter of credit requirement, this will be a huge catalyst for stock appreciation. This has been the single largest issue weighing on the stock and good news would make the company's future much more visible for investors, save the company about $2M annually on the letter of credit and allow the company to keep developing 100-125 new programs annually which has been the company's main source of growth. More important than any material results on the business, letter of credit avoidance would be a reason to buy the stock again. Most investors need more than just an attractive valuation to buy shares. They want good news or positive sentiment to confirm their bullish thesis and this would certainly help in that area. It almost reminds me of what happened to Bridgepoint Education (NYSE:BPI) stock when the company announced its Ashford University received initial accreditation from WASC last month on July 10. The stock shot up 30% in a single day and has since rallied 6% higher despite reporting disastrous new student enrollment numbers this quarter. It just goes to show you the power of the 'dust settling' in an industry that has certainly been plagued by plenty of uncertainty.
If the ED rejects both of the company's composite score calculations and reaffirms the letter of credit requirement, there will be negative repercussions, but it won't destroy the business. Corinthian already has the letter of credit secured in case it needs it. A letter of credit typically only costs about 1% annually or $1.75M in this case, a small fraction of Corinthian's annual cash flows. The company will also be placed on provisional certification which will come with additional monitoring from the ED and make it more difficult to develop new programs. Since COCO depends on rolling out 100+ new programs annually for enrollment growth, provisional certification would hurt growth. The company would still be able to get programs out but 100+ would no longer be a realistic target. Based on a 10-K from Education Management Corp (NASDAQ:EDMC), another for-profit education company that is already provisionally certified and has had to post a letter of credit, provisional certification lasts for at least 3 years and the letter of credit requirement lasts for at least a year and could be discontinued or not from there depending on the company's future composite scores. The letter of credit would also limit the amount the company can draw on its credit facility, making liquidity more of an issue. The sanctions will certainly be a real burden while they last but it's important to recognize that COCO is not just doomed to bankruptcy by this alone. In fact, I think a bankruptcy is rather unlikely. Corinthian still has very strong cash flows and has drastically improved its balance sheet by about $120M in the last year. It seems like the company didn't have much trouble securing the letter of credit and I think the company could obtain further leverage if necessary. If FCF returns to $100M+ like it very well could, liquidity won't be much of an issue at all.
Class Action Lawsuits
A few class action lawsuits seek damages related to the SEC investigation that was publicly disclosed a few months ago. I failed to notice these suits in my initial analysis because the company hasn't said a word about them. A commenter first mentioned the issue and I was able to get some information from various news feeds. One such suit describes its case as follows:
The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operational, and compliance policies. In particular, it is alleged that the Company made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (A) defendants manipulated federal student loan and grant programs in order to appear compliant with federal regulations enacted in June 2011; (B) defendants violated said regulations by engaging in deceptive recruiting and enrollment practices; and (C) the Company engaged in systemic grade falsification in order to appear in conformance with said regulations.
On June 10, 2013, the Company disclosed it was under investigation by the SEC. Shares of Corinthian stock fell to a close of $2.46 per share, following a close of $2.79 per share prior to the disclosure.
To be honest, I don't know whether Corinthian is guilty of said practices. I do know, however, that the SEC investigation is also largely attributable to the ED composite score situation. The SEC had held correspondence with Corinthian last year regarding the composite score situation and I think that played a part in the subpoena this year. Corinthian shed about $28M in market cap when the SEC investigation was made public. If that is used to determine damages in the class action suits as this press release implies, it's a burden the company's balance sheet can bear at this point. If the SEC investigation leads to something bigger than class action payouts, the damage could be much more serious, but that's impossible to predict at this point. The class action lawsuits still seek a lead plaintiff and I haven't heard anything from the company regarding them, so there is a chance they will fall through.
Anyone who has looked at Corinthian's performance of late has to admit that management has done an absolutely tremendous job dealing with all the issues that have plagued the company. This isn't just talk either; Massimino and his team's successes are evident in the numbers.
As I mentioned in my last article, cohort default rates were increasing rapidly at the company's schools and got dangerously close to the federal cap of 25% for the 2009 federal fiscal year. Management implemented a 'multi-faceted cohort default prevention program' and in just one year, the company's weighted average CDR dropped down 69% to an industry-leading level that was half the national average for 2010.
In 2009, a quarter of Corinthian's students were ATB (Available to Benefit). Around then when word got around that the government could possibly stop offering financial aid to ATB students, the company switched gears and began targeting new programs towards non-ATB students. More recently when change went into effect, the company launched the GED Advantage program to help ATB students get their GED for free and effectively become eligible for Title IV funds. The company also anticipated the enrollment decline and took the initiative to decrease expenses by $150M annually which was achieved just last quarter. Now, as other schools that catered to ATB students close in large numbers across the country due to large enrollment declines, Corinthian's schools are taking in many of the former students from these schools and non-ATB new student enrollments are projected to be up an impressive 5% for fiscal 2013.
When the company's schools were up for reaccreditation, the accreditor would often find issues at the schools that threatened continuing accreditation at the school. Management recognized the disastrous potential results of accreditation loss and improved the company's internal auditing system. Average reaccreditation findings has drastically dropped from 2.8 to .91 in just a little over a year.
I just really like how management addresses issues and gets results quickly and efficiently. I think many investors take this for granted when they analyze the company. Considering all the issues that still face the company, effective management probably remains the single most important determining factor to the success or failure of the company (as is usually the case but even more so here). Even just looking at the biggest issue now in the composite score dispute, management has made serious efforts to avoid the letter of credit and provisional certification. Massimino stayed in touch with the ED informally and the company met with the ED and presented expert opinions and its own calculations using ED methodology. The company prepared for all possible outcomes, securing a letter of credit way in advance and strengthening its balance sheet as much as possible. By the way, that's why there haven't been share repurchases. I mentioned in my last article that I was concerned that the company didn't have a buyback plan in place at a time when the stock was ridiculously cheap. Well, the company is using its cash flows to strengthen its balance sheet instead in preparation for an adverse ED decision. I'll take $120M in reduced debt over buybacks at an unpredictable time like this. We'll see what the ED decides but it's hard to argue that executive management could've done a better job preparing for it.
This was an issue brought to my attention in the comments of my original article. You may have heard the name Leon Panetta before. He served as Director of the CIA and Secretary of Defense for a few years each during the Obama administration. He's clearly a very powerful man with connections in the White House, just where Corinthian could use some representation. Panetta actually served on Corinthian's Board until 2008 when he was appointed by Obama. With the company's Q3 release a few months ago, the company announced that Panetta would be rejoining the Board. Less than 2 months later on July 16th, the company announced that Panetta would be leaving the company:
In a letter to Jack Massimino, Corinthian's Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Panetta stated, "As I indicated to you at the time you asked me to rejoin the Board of Corinthian, I was struggling with a large number of commitments, requests and obligations on my time. Unfortunately, they have demanded a much greater time commitment than I had anticipated and made organizing my life more difficult." Panetta further explained, "Based on the obligations that I have described, I have come to the difficult conclusion that there is no way I could do justice to myself and to my role as a board member and that it would be both unfair to you and Corinthian to think that under the present circumstances, I could devote the time needed to effectively serve as a board member."
Mr. Panetta expressed his continuing support for Corinthian and its mission, stating, "I believe in and support the educational role of Corinthian in delivering educational opportunities to those that otherwise would never have a chance to succeed. It is also obvious that the role of Corinthian is going to be continuously challenged legally and administratively because of what appears to be a slanted and misinformed attitude toward this form of educational opportunity. To counter that challenge will of necessity demand a great deal of time and attention on the part of each and every board member. . . . As I have told you, I have the greatest respect for you, your leadership, and your dedication to the mission of Corinthian and I believe that with you and the rest of the board at the helm, your mission will be supported because it is right and you will continue to be successful."
In commenting on Mr. Panetta's resignation, Mr. Massimino said, "We regret that Leon's other commitments make it impractical for him to continue as a board member. We had looked forward to his continued guidance. However, we understand that the demands on his time are extraordinary and wish him success in his important endeavors."
I initially thought what most commenters on my original article did: that Panetta's untimely resignation was the result of serious unethical practices at Corinthian's schools or some other internal issues. I'm by no means counting this out, but let's at least consider Panetta's official reason. Panetta attributes his resignation to 'commitments, requests, and obligations on his time.' I don't think it is so far-fetched to think that maybe this was actually his true reason for leaving. The first time he left, commitments in the form of an appointment from President Obama caused him to leave. Just because he isn't still working under Obama doesn't mean his working life is over. Panetta and his wife founded the Panetta Institute for Public Policy years ago, an educational nonprofit through the University of California. Panetta resumed working actively at the Institute in February of this year after his stint as Secretary of Defense. So it's not as if he doesn't have a day job. In addition to that, he also serves as a public speaker. In mid-June just a month before his resignation, he gave the commencement speech at Santa Clara University. So he was clearly busy before he even returned to the Board in May. Then comes the big blow. In early June, a story was released that Panetta accidentally revealed the Navy SEAL unit identification that took down Osama bin Laden at a 2011 ceremony attended by "Zero Dark Thirty" filmmaker Mark Boal. Some politicians said that Panetta had reason to be discreet at the ceremony and that he deserves blame for it. The White House's reputation took a hit after the news came out and Panetta probably had to lay low for a while. He rejected countless interviews. An ongoing DoD assessment/investigation continues without results yet, but Panetta has probably been involved in that as well. While it is very unlikely that Panetta is legally liable for his actions, this situation has probably hurt the reputation of the Panetta Institute and been a very large 'commitment'- the kind of commitment that makes someone want to settle down and lay low and rethink that second job they just accepted. Also, when Panetta resigned, I'm sure Massimino and the board asked him to reassure investors by making an encouraging statement about the company. He did and maybe it's not from the heart, but if Panetta was really so disgusted with the company to leave, do we really believe he'd agree to write a statement like that? Massimino also said that Panetta visited Corinthian's schools and got updated on the company before he accepted the job, so it wouldn't make sense for him to accept the job in the first place if he didn't like what was going on internally at Corinthian. I'm not saying I absolutely believe Panetta's resignation letter, but I am definitely much less worried now about this issue than before I knew the whole story.
Many of Corinthian's campuses are located in California. California presents opportunity because of the consistent demand surplus for California's community colleges. Almost 600,000 students are turned away by California's community colleges every year and the gap is expected to increase. 94% of Corinthian's students are in Diploma or Associate's degree programs so its schools serve as a viable alternative to community college for these students. As I already mentioned, many other schools that have thrived in the past in California as alternatives to community college are now closing, decreasing Corinthian's competition and providing a new stream of former students from these institutions.
I'm Not Alone
After I wrote my last article, I got some good feedback from Lisa Rapuano of Lane Five Capital. Lisa has co-managed investments with Bill Miller in the past and has her CFA and a degree from Yale. Her firm manages close to $100M and owns more than $5M worth of Corinthian stock.
Paul St. Pierre, the Vice Chairman of the Board, bought about 100,000 shares at $2.52 per share in November of 2011. Since then he has received a good deal of restricted stock, most of which has vested already. He hasn't sold or disposed of a share since his purchases in 2011 and his holding is now worth more than $1M.
Risk-Reward Tradeoff
My decision to invest so heavily in Corinthian was mostly driven by the simple fact that I think my potential upside greatly outweighs my downside. I mentioned in my last article that Corinthian could very well make over $100M in FCF again. The company made as much as $200M just a few years ago and $100M would represent only slight margin improvements and a small percentage of the projected $1.6B in revenues for 2014. The turnaround in enrollments is already clear and if a free cash flow recovery were to follow, the multiple on the stock would expand, probably to double digits and Corinthian could be worth $1-1.5B compared to a current enterprise value of about $220M. I could see as much as a 580% return in just a few years. There's also been rumors that Corinthian could be acquired and it does appear to be an attractive acquisition target. In that case I'd make a pretty premium quickly. A typical acquisition price is an EV/EBITDA of 10. Corinthian stock now trades at an EV/EBITDA less than 2.
On the other hand, my downside is pretty limited by the company's tangible book value which now sits at $184M, just 3% less than market cap. I don't know of any other company as profitable as Corinthian is now that is selling for TBV. It's a metric that usually doesn't even enter the discussion unless a company is losing money hand over fist. Worst case scenario, Corinthian gets killed by these lawsuits and a letter of credit requirement and the company gets liquidated. Some of book value would go towards damages for the lawsuits but some of that $184M would be left for shareholders, leaving me with a less than complete loss.
600% upside compared to about 60% downside makes Corinthian very, very attractive for me and that's why I went way long.
I know I'm accepting a good deal of risk but I also know that there's a good chance I could make a lot of money here. I feel that Corinthian stock is just the sort of hated, fundamentally sound company with triple digit return potential that I once thought a myth left for Peter Lynch and Seth Klarman's books. Now that I've found such an opportunity, I want to make the most of it and that's what I've literally done by going all in. It could work out or not, but I think the risk-reward tradeoff is greatly skewed in my favor. If you have some tolerance for risk, I'd recommend buying shares while they're cheap here.
Disclosure: I am long COCO. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.


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John Betts - Fine Minerals > Home Page > Minerals For Sale > Natural Uncut Diamond Crystals > Diamond Crystals for Jewelry
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All diamonds sold on this web site were purchased from legitimate sources not involved in funding conflicts and in compliance with the United Nations Kimberley Process requiring all uncut rough diamonds to be sealed in tamper-proof containers at the point of origin to prevent smuggled conflict-diamonds from tainting the shipment, and a Kimberley Process Certificate is on file at the U.S. Department of Commerce. The owner, John Betts, hereby guarantees that these diamonds are conflict-free, based on written warranty of Kimberley Process.


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Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, February 18, 2008
HAY RIVER - An asbestos scare closed a Hay River high school almost all of last week.
However, testing found no sign of the hazardous material and Diamond Jenness secondary school is scheduled to reopen Feb. 18, according to Michael McLeod, the minister of Public Works and Services.
The concerns arose when a Public Works and Services maintenance worker was checking heating pipes on the Feb. 9 to 10 weekend.
McLeod said the worker noticed a small amount of material on a ceiling tile below an elbow in a pipe where insulating wrap had become damaged.
There was concern the loose material may have been asbestos.
Principal Greg Storey was informed of the finding on Monday morning, Feb. 11.
"They felt there was a health concern from what they saw," Storey said.
That morning, Storey contacted officials from the department and the Workers' Compensation Board on the issue.
The principal said, at the time, no one could say the school was safe and he decided to send everyone home, staff and students included, late that morning.
The school has approximately 360 students and staff.
It was originally thought the closure would be for a day or two.
Testing was done on air quality and the material itself, McLeod said.
"I'm quite happy to see there were no contaminants in the air and the students were not put at risk," he added.
McLeod said there are 115 pipe elbows in the school, adding that samples were taken from all of them for testing.
Asbestos was sometimes used in buildings of Diamond Jenness' vintage, which opened in 1973, the minister said.
"We have to take precautions," he said.
Asbestos has been linked to cancer and lung problems.
All 115 pipe elbows on water and heating pipes in the school were checked last week. The wrapping on 14 elbows was replaced when cracks were found. All the elbows were also sprayed with encapsulating glue.
A Workers' Compensation Board official and the Public Works and Services' asbestos co-ordinator visited the school Thursday to ensure the work was done properly.
As of Thursday, McLeod said the department had completed all the tests it needed to do, but was planning even more testing late last week.
Parent Michele Stephens, who has three children at the school, said she was alarmed about the potential of asbestos in the building.
She wants to see the test results before sending her children back to the school.
"You've spooked me. Now you have to convince me it's safe," she said.
Stephens said the department should hold a public meeting or post the results somewhere so parents can see them.
"We need to know that our kids are safe," she said.
Taylor Reid, a co-president of the school's student council, is not worried about going back to the school after the asbestos scare.
"They wouldn't let us go back if there was anything wrong," the Grade 12 student said.
Reid doesn't think students are too worried about the situation, adding most were excited to get some time off school.
The 17-year-old is not worried about the four-and-half days of lost schooling.
"We'll get caught up."
The closure has raised the issue of the school's need for a mid-life retrofit.
McLeod and Education Minister Jackson Lafferty visited the school in late January to discuss the proposed project.
"There are a lot of issues with the building," said Storey.
A proposed $27-million retrofit would be for health and safety deficiencies and to bring the school up to modern building codes.


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NAIPR Message
Class A ARIN Clones
- From: Jim Fleming (JimFleming at unety.net)
- Date: Thu Jul 3 13:47:43 EDT 1997
- Next message (by thread): Class A ARIN Clones
- Previous message (by thread): Request for Comment on gTLDs Pursuant to Administrative Procedure Act
On Thursday, July 03, 1997 10:07 AM, Stephen Sprunk[SMTP:spsprunk at paranet.com] wrote: <snip> @ @ >2.) Must have no more than 4096 PI IPs already, unless it is a new @ >startup than based on projected size of startup broke down on RFC2050 specs. @ @ I don't quite understand your added wording here... If it's a new startup, @ it won't have ANY PI IPs. My intent was to automatically disqualify people @ who already have large PI blocks (like, say, BBN who has 3 A's and a dozen @ B's) from getting anything from the "New ISP" block. @ Maybe companies with /8s ("Class A's") should be encouraged to become registries and lease out some of their space, just like ARIN. As long as new private companies like ARIN are going to be getting into this business, there is no reason that existing companies can not participate. John Curran of BBN is on the proposed Board of ARIN. <http://www.arin.net> Maybe he can comment on whether BBN would be willing to allow allocations to be made from their stock-pile of addresses. Yes, routing may have to be adjusted but there could be other benefits. Holding 3 /8s is over 1% of the total IPv4 address space and a higher percentage of the usable space. The U.S. Government via the Department of Commerce and the Federal Trade Commission will eventually have to determine whether these sorts of allocations give companies an unfair advantage in the market place. That can only happen AFTER companies determine their costs of renumbering and the costs of obtaining allocations. Rather than have regulation BEFORE the fact people have campaigned for review after the fact. Companies have to add their costs of participating in these forums into those costs. -- Jim Fleming Unir Corporation


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The massive profit write-downs taken last week by
So the construction group's write-downs and earnings warning were delivered by a fresh CEO,
Like King, Little – who has been running Toll for 25 years – wants a board seat at the logistics group (possibly as chairman) after he retires next year, and appears likely to get one.
But Toll investors watching the fallout at Leighton must now be wondering if – had King remained on Leighton's board either as chairman or as a director – he would have allowed reviews of projects that had been bid and developed while he was CEO to go ahead, given they had opened a can of worms.
Although Leighton investors have felt the pain of a 13 per cent drop in the group's stock price since the write-downs last week, at least they know the company's management team and board are aware of Leighton's problems, which include impairments on its joint venture with Al Habtoor in the Middle East, and are trying to deal with them.
At Toll, investors hoping for a fresh look at the books are unlikely to get it.
Toll's chairman, Ray Horsburgh, is a strong supporter of Little, describing him as "the leading transport and logistics executive of his generation" and arguing that on a recent marketing trip in North America Little received solid backing for his plans to return to the board after retirement. (Toll has said Little will return after an "appropriate" period but has not confirmed how long that will be or what position Little will return to.)
Horsburgh also claims he would face questions from shareholders if Toll's board let Little go "completely".
But other investors are firmly against Little's return to the board, arguing it makes it difficult for the company to find a new CEO keen to implement their own strategy for the company given the previous boss will still be hanging around.
Corporate governance specialists agree that deciding what to do with long-term CEOs – particularly those such as Little, who have played key roles in building the companies they run – is a tricky issue.
At some companies, CEOs are welcomed back.
But they agree it is generally not in the best interest of investors for CEOs to take board seats after retiring, because they can stop the incoming CEO from overhauling the business and making changes to the previous executive's strategy.
Some argue any association between an outgoing CEO and a company, even a consultancy, is a bad idea.
Mr Luscombe is believed to have clashed over strategy with his predecessor,
Meanwhile, the new CEO of
While there may not be enough opposition to Little's plans to return to the board to vote his appointment down at the group's annual general meeting, some investors say they will avoid companies where they perceive an ex-CEO has too much lingering influence.
One leading investment group says it will only consider buying stocks in companies that have ex-CEOs on boards (or a person who holds the title of both chairman and CEO) if there is a strong lead director on the board who supports shareholder concerns, such as US home builder NVR. The US Fortune 500 company was founded by Dwight Schar, who is now its chairman, but is considered to be counterbalanced by independent lead director John Troups.
Toll's investors have found plenty to like about Little during his reign. He is considered to be good at executing business plans in detail, and skilled at spotting acquisitions and integrating them. He has also been an avid promoter of the Toll brand, and enthusiastic about the company's potential.
But Toll's appeal to investors – as well as its share price – has begun to wane in recent years, with some questioning the logic of its overseas acquisition strategy.
Investors worry Toll's purchases of businesses overseas have been made at the expense of expanding its domestic operations into mining logistics and online shopping, where it could use its transport services to deliver purchases made on the internet. Investors are also concerned about the amount of goodwill Toll has built up on its balance sheet, pointing out it has not been accompanied by a strong increase in profits, leaving the company vulnerable to write-downs.
And they have queried changes to the company's divisional structure, complaining it makes it difficult to understand what is happening in the company's international businesses compared with its local operations.
Unlike Leighton, Toll doesn't have specific projects that are likely to blow up. Nor does it have a controlling shareholder like Hochtief, the German construction group that owns 54 per cent of Leighton.
Hochtief is believed not to have questioned Leighton's risk management practices as strongly as it might have done because it was keen to keep making money out of its subsidiary while it was struggling with weak markets of its own in Europe.
And Little has a greater personal stake in Toll than King did in Leighton (King was paid mostly in cash, to the concern of corporate governance specialists), now owning just over 5 per cent of the company, making him the second-biggest shareholder behind UBS.
Still, a new CEO examining Toll's books might be unhappy with the carrying value of some of the acquisitions made by Toll, and be keen to write them down. If Little is on Toll's board, he may not want his acquisition strategy under scrutiny.
The "please explain" letter that Leighton received from the Australian Securities Exchange last week after its profit warning should raise red flags with other companies that may not be keeping a close eye on the day-to-day performance of their operations.
Although corporate lawyers do not expect Leighton to be referred to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for further investigation – in part because the regulator has only a limited amount of money for expensive and time-consuming investigations – it appears Leighton is on shaky ground by not announcing a trading halt until April 7 to sort out its books, a month after it had reassured investors it was on track to meet its earnings targets.
Lawyers say the ASX will consider the timing of Leighton's trading halt – which was made two business days before the earnings warning – and question whether it should have gone into a trading halt earlier.
With Leighton having changed chief executives at the start of the year, the company has some justification for the argument that it was waiting for the results of newly commissioned reviews before announcing the results to the market.
But David Stewart, Leighton's new chief executive, is a former group managing director of Leighton subsidiary John Holland, and had been chief operating officer since 2009.
Meanwhile, Peter Gregg has been on the Leighton board since 2006, and chief financial officer since 2009, while David Mortimer has been on the board since 1997, and chairman since 2007.
Consequently, none of Leighton's top executives can claim too much ignorance of emerging problems.
Given that no hint of the problems was made to investors until late last year, Leighton's executives are either doing their job badly – or need some lessons in public speaking.
The Australian Financial Review


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AboutThis is Howlin' Hobbit's space on the web where he can comment, critique, give kudos or just rant at will.
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Tag Archives: Ukulele
Small Victories
It's rather a sad state of affairs when the two "big" victories in your day are: 1. Finally sussing out how to configure the text editor on your Android phone so that it's actually… you know… usable. 2. Finding some small, … Continue reading
Posted in Show Biz Tagged Busking, Life In General, Music Biz, Rants, Ukulele Leave a comment
A little bit of press from last month
I don't know if I blogged about this before or if I just tweeted, posted on G+ or otherwise did the "social network" thing. And I'm too lazy and tired to look it up right now. But on the 16th … Continue reading
Posted in Show Biz Tagged Busking, Gig Stories, Just Plain Cool, Photos, press, Ukulele Leave a comment
New progress on an old song
The first song I ever put together a chord solo part for is All Of Me. It's basically playing the melody from within the chords of the song with a few extra twiddly bits thrown in here and there. For … Continue reading
Posted in Show Biz Tagged Jazz, music, personal best, progress, Ukulele 2 Comments
What a difference a day makes
Yesterday's busking was entirely made out of FAIL. I made more mistakes, had more lapses in judgement and just generally fucked up more than even my usual. And that's saying something, I tell you what. I actually managed to lose … Continue reading
Posted in Show Biz Tagged Busking, Gig Stories, Just Plain Cool, music, Music Biz, Pike Place Market, Rants, Seattle, Ukulele Leave a comment
2 days Illin', 1 day thrillin'
I just came through 2 days in a generic NyQuil daze, and ended up with a pretty damn good busking day. It was, at the very least, not half shabby for the little fat guy with the ukulele. One could … Continue reading
Posted in Show Biz Tagged Busking, Ukulele Leave a comment


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CAMP December Newsletter: Page 5
Professor Melman's Research Uses Medicinal Chemistry to Fight Diseases
Professor Artem Melman, of Clarkson University's Department of Chemistry & Biomolecular Science, specializes in synthetic organic and medicinal chemistry with particular emphasis on processes involving transition metal cations. He works on fighting diseases through regulation of iron metabolism, including development of new methods of treatment of cancer through administration of chemical chelators that sequester and excrete iron cations necessary for growth of cancer cells. Resultant iron chelators selectively inhibit growth of cancer cells that are dependent on large amounts of iron without toxic effect on normal cells. In the field of biomaterial research he develops new biocompatible photoresponsive hydrogels using natural carbohydrate biopolymers cross-linked with metal cations which are dissolved through exposure to visible light under conditions that are sufficiently mild to allow survival and growths of livings cells. See Figure 4. Development of these biomaterials paves the road to the use of photolithographic methods for cell cultures and tissue engineering applications. In the field of development of new synthetic methodologies, Professor Melman develops new approaches for in vivo chemical modification of proteins synthesized in cells to monitor their biosynthesis, transport, and binding of other proteins.
FIGURE 4: Biocompatible iron cross-linked carbohydrate based hydrogels allow application of photolithography, a staple technology used in microelectronics, for sophisticated patterning of growing cell cultures needed for tissue engineering.
Professor Melman (who has been at Clarkson since 2008) received his doctoral degree in Chemistry from Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Dyson-Perrins at the University of Oxford, as a lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and as a research fellow at the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive & Kidney Diseases.
Motion of an Adhesive Particle on a Vibrating Substrate and Wave Fields
Professor Cetin Cetinkaya (of Clarkson University's Department of Mechanical & Aeronautical Engineering) and his team have developed a nonlinear model for the motion of an adhesive particle on a vibrating substrate. See Figure 5. The long-term objective of this research program is to develop technologies required for non-contact adhesion characterization and adhesion mapping on the surface of micro-scale objects. They observed that some spherical micro-particles on a vibrating flat substrate not only have their predicted rocking resonance frequencies, but also have other resonance peaks at their doubles. The group determined that the frequency doubling is caused by nonlinear coupling between the out –of-plane and rocking modes of motion, and whirling-like motion that must be present for the doubling effect to occur. Also they found that the work –of-adhesion values (extracted from the experimental resonance frequencies of a set of particles using the developed model) are in good agreement with those reported in the literature. The current focus is on incorporating this mathematical formulation to a particle manipulation system based on surface acoustic waves for surface adhesion mapping at the micro-scale.
FIGURE 5: Schematics of the measurement zone of the base excitation experimental setup (close up).


text: Piggy bank and stethoscope -Royalty Free Image License: Standard LicenseStandard Royalty Free License Piggy bank and stethoscope on white background 363 views Ray Woo An experience stock photographer based in China. The main topics of my works... [more] info Author Page Portfolio: 3124 images. Updates / RSS Network Image updated—November 15, 2013 Keywords banking, concept, diagnosis, equipment, finance, financial, health, healthcare, healthy, heartbeat, home finance, hospital, illness, instrument, medical, medicine, money, objects, piggy bank, save, saving, savings, stethoscope, toy, two, vertical, wealth, white background Image #9200 Size Type File Info Price ( US Dollars $ ) Bloggeejpg4.63" × 6.94" @ 72 dpi333 × 500px2.00 Smalljpg9.24" × 13.89" @ 72 dpi665 × 1000px4.00 Mediumjpg5.55" × 8.33" @ 300 dpi1664 × 2500px8.00 Largejpg9.44" × 14.19" @ 300 dpi2832 × 4256px12.00 End User License Agreement View Cart (0.00) Symbiostock Community Symbiostock CommunityNetwork with illustrators, photographers, and designers. Symbiostock on TwitterSymbiostock news. Symbiostock on FacebookCommunity maintained Facebook hub. Symbiostock.infoSearch images on the Symbiostock network. Symbiostock SearchSearch Symbiostock images and network. Symbioguides.comSymbiostock knowledge base. Symbiostock.comSell your images and network with fellow microstock professionals. ClipArtof.comHigh Resolution Stock Illustrations & Clip Art ClipArtIllustration.comFirst Symbiostock Site, and home of the Orange Man Microstockgroup.comA meeting place for microstock professionals.


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Body Dynamics Maxzorb Raw Mega Nutritional Vitamins 120 Tablets
UPC Code: 669348010050
Weight: 0.56
Retail Price: $0.00
Every Nutritionist knows how important vitamins and minerals are to our health, and they also know our bodies need many other nutrients to absorb and utilize them.
These other nutrients include trace elements, amino acids, cell salts, enzymes, and many others. Since they are all as hard to find in modern foods as the vitamins and minerals they support, any well designed supplement must include them.
We are so pleased to introduce the first supplement that does. By providing not only Mega potent vitamins and minerals, but also every co-nutrient we need to use them, a multiple is finally born that can deliver the benefits only complete nutrition can. Because it's super food/herbal base provides a nearly perfect blend of every nutrient the body requires, the vitamins and minerals are assured of having every co-nutrient they need. This all adds up to a multiple vitamin that works like no other vitamin, and a difference you can feel!
The Body Dynamics Mega Nutritional System contains every element the human body requires. Because of this, all its nutrients are far more assimilable than those found in traditional supplements. In addition to the nutrients listed more than 100 other nutrients are also present. These are provided through the super food and herbal base that consist of Spiralina, Bee Pollen, Ginseng and Alfalfa.
|Four (4) Tablets Contain:
Vitamin A (beta carotene) - 10,000 I.U.
Vitamin D3 (as Cholecalciferol) - 400 I.U.
Vitamin E(mixed tocopherol) - 100 I.U.
B-1 (Thiamine) - 45 mg.
B-2 (Riboflavin) - 51 mg.
B3 (as Niacinamide) - 75 mg
B-6 (Pyridoxine) - 60 mg.
Folic Acid - 400 mcg.
Biotin - 300 mcg.
B-12 (cyanocobalamin) - 180 mcg.
Chlorine Bitartrate - 50 mg.
Pantothenic Acid - 75 mg.
Vitamin C (mag. Ascorbate) - 1000 mg.
Bio-Flavonoids (citrus mix) - 175 mg.
Rutin - 50 mg.
Hesperiden Complex - 10 mg
PABA - 30 mg.
Octacosonal - 6 mg.
Papain - 45 mg.
Lecithin - 30 mg.
RNA/DNA - 50 mg.
Inositol - 70 mg
Lutein - 500 mcg
Digestive Enzymes
Acidophilus - 5 mg
Amylase - 5 mg
Lipase - 5 mg
Bromelain - 5 mg
Betain - 5 mg
Apple Pectin - 5 mg
Carotenoids - 3 mg
Calcium carbonate - 200 mg.
Magnesium - 300 mg.
Iron (amino acid chelate) - 15 mg.
Zinc (gluconate) - 15 mg.
Potassium (chloride) - 50 mg.
Manganese - 2.5 mg.
Copper - 500 mcg.
Chromium Nitrate - 16 mcg.
Selenium (yeast Selenite) - 148 mg.
Phosphorous - 100 mcg.
Iodine (from Kelp) - 150 mcg.
Boron - 2 mg
Essential and Trace Minerals - 1 mg
Garcinia - 100 mg.
Gentiana - 100 mg.
Ginko Biloba - 100 mg.
Spiralina - 10mg.
Bee Pollen - 10 mg.
Ginseng (Siberian) - 10 mg.
Alfalfa - 10 mg.
Other Ingredients: Microcrystalline cellulose, Stearic Acid, Croscarmellose sodium, Magnesium Stearate, Sodium Dioxide.
Contains: Soybeans.
Write a review | Read all reviews
Featured positive reviews:
This FEELS like the best supplement Ive ever taken. Without it, I feel sluggish and take naps during the day. Without, I stay up and my brain seems to function well. I love it..this is my 2nd bottle as the 1st took forever to through. I only took half the recommended dose and I still felt awesome!


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STAMFORD, Conn. -- Fire investigators were seeking the cause of a fire that engulfed a 40-foot-long boat in Avalon Stamford Harbor on Wednesday night and sent noxious smoke into the city, according to the Stamford Advocate.
A sailboat next to the large power boat also caught fire and sank, leading to the rescue of four people by emergency crews, according to the article.
At least 28 firefighters and the Stamford Fire Department's fire boat worked to put out the flames, the Advocate said.


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Kris Jenner Addresses Family Rumors on "Today"
Tackling new rumors about the Kardashian clan, Kris Jenner stepped out for an interview on the "Today" show on Wednesday morning (May 16).
After signing up to do three more seasons of the E! reality show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians", Kris admitted that she's used to the cameras being in her face, telling Matt Lauer, "We really like what we're doing it's an opportunity for me as a mom, I get to wake up every single day and work with my kids."
Speaking of her kids, Kris was asked by Matt about the recent rumors that her daughters wanted to fire her as their "Momager" - which she blamed the tabloids for making up false stories, saying, "The girls and I work together every single day and we have an amazing relationship," adding, "I know when to take that hat off and when to put it on".
Kris also spoke out about trying to get Khloe to take a DNA test to prove she is a Kardashian after nasty rumors emerged claiming that she wasn't, saying, "There was so many stupid things and she was getting so annoyed at the fact that I felt like it would put her mind to rest."
When Lauer asked about whether the relationship between Kim and Kanye West is serious, Kris simply said, "I've stopped commenting about the details in my kid's friendships and relationships... I get nothing but in trouble... He is great and she is happy."
Check out the entire interview of Kris dishing about the latest gossip surrounding her family, then be sure to catch the Season 7 premiere of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" this Sunday on E! at 9/8c.


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For the first time ever, the Lakewood Playhouse LIT program and Metro Parks Theatre program will combine resources for Treasure Island Spring Break Camp for all students between the ages of 9 and 18 interested in theatre. No experience is necessary for beginning and veteran actors alike. Students will take part in the entire production process to stage "Treasure Island," including auditions, tech rehearsal, dress rehearsal, and finally a performance at the end of the week-long camp. Camp runs from March 31 to April 4 and takes place every day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Lakewood Playhouse. Fee is $199, scholarship opportunities available. Register at Metro Parks customer service at (253) 305-1022, or visit http://metroparkstacoma.org (the course barcode is 69248). Contact Mason Quinn for further details: firstname.lastname@example.com or (307) 214-7308.
Experience The Fat Tones at Jazzbones, March 21, 8 p.m. $7 gets you in the door. Their own unique brand of smokin' rhythm and blues paired with clever and often-funny lyrics will get you feeling good from head to toe. After a more than three year hiatus from the studio, the band of three sharp-dressed men – Zach T. Cooper, Bobby Patterson and Bob Ehrgott – is crafting a new album set for release this summer and in the process of hiring an international publicist to help the boys take their music to new audiences and new heights, in addition to hooking up with Fame Walk Productions and top audio/video engineer/producer Dan Humann. For a full roster of their upcoming shows, and how to get their live CD and DVD, is at http://www.thefattones.com.
On Thursday, March 27, guests at Doyle's Public House (208 St. Helens) will enjoy drink and food specials with Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer, a 4.8 percent ABV refreshing ginger beer. From 6-8 p.m. Doyle's will offer Crabbie's Original and Spiced Orange, which recently became available throughout Washington, served chilled over ice with a slice of citrus, for $4 and in a special cocktail the Ginger and Jamey – Crabbie's Ginger Beer and Jameson Irish whiskey – for $7. Be sure and check out Doyle's fine menu, including their Shepherd's Pie of the Month and soup/salad/sandwich of the week. Visit http://www.doylespublichouse.com.
Tony-nominated Ann Hampton Calloway expertly paints a musical portrait of the most celebrated singer of our time in "The Streisand Songbook," March 22 at the Pantages Theater, 7:30 p.m. Celebrating the music of one of America's most powerful and enduring artists, Calloway sings timeless classics from five decades of Streisand's multi-faceted career – a loving tribute to the icon who once described herself as being "simple, complex, generous, selfish, unattractive, beautiful, lazy and driven." Ticket info at http://www.broadwaycenter.org.
Recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee KISS is turning 40. To celebrate, the world's most celebrated costumed rockers will hit the road for 40 dates this summer with fellow hit makers Def Leppard. The tour will kick off on June 23 in West Valley City, Utah before the bands make their way to Auburn's White River Amphitheatre a few days later, on June 29. Tickets for the Auburn show will go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 21, with prices ranging from $32.50 to $149.50. Find further details at http://LiveNation.com.


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Australia can become the "clean food bowl of Asia" as China and other nations in the region seek higher levels of health and safety, says Visy Industries Australia executive chairman
The packaging and plastic bottle manufacturer has announced plans to push its business further north as part of efforts to quadruple Australia's food exports to Asia.
Health and safety was an increasing focus in China and other Asian countries, Mr Pratt said, presenting a huge opportunity for Visy and its customers.
"We can be the clean food bowl of Asia in Australia so if there was an industry that is worth backing, it's the food industry. Australia grows things so well," Mr Pratt told The Australian Financial Review.
"Someone once said there's enough food in the world to feed everyone, it is just getting it there that's the problem. Logistics is a pivotal part of that."
He highlighted the dairy industry. "One of the biggest drivers is around 2 billion Asian people are coming out of poverty and into the middle class. There's an increasing propensity for people over there to access quality food, and protein is important," Mr Pratt said at the opening of a new $50 million Visy recycling facility in Smithfield, west of Sydney on Friday.
"Australia has some of the best dairy in the world and we're optimistic we can support the dairy industry through freight and primary packaging."
Visy exports about 60,000 shipping containers a year. The group, Mr Pratt said, was using its position as Australia's biggest export shipping container user to use its shipping container purchasing power to lower shipping rates for its food customers.
While he declined to name customers that had signed on to use the Freight Forward service, Mr Pratt said it was gaining "good traction" among clients.
"Increasingly in Asia, because of concerns about health and safety, they want a product that is shelf stable and can last, and is tamper-proof, so packaging is important in getting there in an attractive and efficient manner," he said.
"If we can do that we'll help secure the future of Australia's food and beverage industries which make up more than 70 per cent of Visy's customer base."
Visy set up a trading company in Singapore and an engineering services company called Build Run Repair, which built the 100 per cent recycled plastics plant in Smithfield – the only one of its kind in Australia.
"We aim to use these initiatives as a platform to support our customers both here and abroad," Mr Pratt said.
He unveiled the Smithfield factory with his mother,
Mr Pratt said the new facility, at capacity, could take about 2 billion plastic bottles out of the waste cycle.
The $50 million investment in the facility comes on top of more than $1.5 billion already invested in NSW by Visy – the most recent example includes the $500 million expansion at its Tumut mill in NSW.
"That expansion grew our trading exports to China," Mr Pratt said.
The Australian Financial Review


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Selected Community Events
A+ Run For Education and Kids Fun Run
May 4, 2013 7:30 AM
North Boone High School Poplar Grove, Illinois
Race Features: Pull tag timing, Water stations, First aid station, Finish line staffed and supervised, Refreshments after the race, Professional photographer with pictures available online for purchase. Check-in and registration 7:30-8:30 AM at NBHS. All runners will receive a dry wicking T-shirt. Participants in Kids Fun Run will receive a cotton T-shirt. T-shirts and sizes guaranteed to all who register by the early-bird date. Others on first come, first served basis.
Bridget Belcastro, 1-815-765-9274, email@example.com


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The American Slovenian Education Foundation (ASEF) fellowship program provides student financial support, allowing fellows to focus on their research. Fellowships build lasting relationships between ASEF and academic institutions. The purpose of the fellowship is to strengthen research and study exchange between Slovenia and the US with the objective of giving talented Slovenian students the ability to realize their potential to the fullest.
The ASEF fellowship provides funding (travel, housing, and living expenses) for a 10 week summer research visit to a U.S. university or research institution in the area of applicant's field of study/expertise.
Applications are open to full time students enrolled in a higher education institution in Slovenia. A typical applicant is a senior undergraduate, masters, or junior PhD student.
The fellowship provides funding for a 10 week summer research visit to the following research groups:
Applications should include:
All documents (except reference letters) should be submitted by the candidates in the PDF format via the application page.
Letters of reference should be submitted by the reference letter writer at the application page.
The deadline for submitting all the documents is 15 April 2015.
If you have questions about the program or the application process, please contact ASEF at email@example.com.


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Even though the "experts" in Big Education would like for you to believe it is. Why? 3 *reasons, primarily:
- Control
- Job security
- They've been brainwashed into believing it is. Why? See #'s 1 and 2.
One of my favorite professors in graduate school grew up on his grandfather's farm in Saskatchewan, back in the days when a wheat farmer would spend long hours behind the plow. He told us that his grandfather's neighbor spent those hazy hours sometimes reciting Milton's Paradise Lost. He had gotten it by heart. Notice what great difference there is between the phrases "learning by rote" and "getting something by heart"? You cannot do such a thing without considerable intelligence and love.This is, in part, why the Founders of our nation were so much wiser and intelligent than most moderns, elites and members of academia are today. The agrarian lifestyle gave them a perspective (and time to contemplate it) that most moderns simply do not comprehend. It is also why the Founders are under attack by their inferiors in academia. They're jealous. Agrarian or not, the same method of learning is, of course, still available - if you can cut through all the PC idiocy and nonsense coming from the "experts."
And this . . .
Read good books to the children, have them read them also to you, and have them read them on their own. . . . The Good Books are food for a wholesome imagination. They are well-written. They introduce young people to characters they will never forget. They soar beyond easy cynicism or nihilism. They soar beyond the sweaty halls of politics. They may well have villains in them, there may be warfare, but there will not be the creepy relish for bloodshed—no itch for the base, the sick, the bizarre, the filthy, the evil. No girly vampires.And this one will drive the moderns and elitists up the wall . . .
Find textbooks written before 1950—grammar, history, even geography. Then surround young people with beauty and goodness. It is not like going to the moon. It is like looking up at the stars. But will your students be ambushed by the detestable standardized tests? Do not fear. Do not let the confidence men and elixir salesmen fool you. Homeschoolers regularly take those tests apart . . .And finally, this gem . . .
The superintendent has no clothes. The commissars of the Common Core have no clothes. The developers of curricula have no clothes. They are all a great big herd of balding and belly-sagging naked people, swaggering and blustering and ordering everybody around.You may read the rest here. The piece is authored by Anthony Esolen who teaches Renaissance English Literature and the Development of Western Civilization at Providence College.
*Once again, to be clear, I'm speaking in broad terms and realize there are still many good, hard working, dedicated teachers who do not buy into all the PC garbage and control freak aspects of what we're seeing among many other educators. I do believe, however, that the problems are prevalent and it's an uphill battle.


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The Four Masters tell us it was the monks of Drogheda who had expelled him from the abbacy for his own crime.
He had a grant of the abbacy of Holyrood in 1539, when only seven years of age.
Falling into disgrace at court, he was banished to the abbacy of Bonport.
He obtained the abbacy of Crossraguell in Ayrshire, in the year 1549.
Ingulphus was at that very time indebted directly to the Conqueror, his early patron, for his abbacy.
He refused the archbishopric of Naples and the abbacy of Monte Cassino.
The abbacy of St. Bernards historic monastery, where the monks once ate the leaves of the forest, is worth 400,000 a year.
"Thou givest the abbacy to him above us all," said Brenainn.
In 1521 he renewed his efforts to obtain the abbacy of St. Gratian in Arona, which had been refused him ten years earlier.
When Malachy secured possession of the see he remained long enough in Armagh to establish himself in the abbacy.


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The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 11.0805 Friday, 14 April 2000.
Date: Friday, 14 Apr 2000 01:37:08 +0000
Subject: 11.0778 Re: Julius Caesar, Cesario, Ganymede
Comment: Re: SHK 11.0778 Re: Julius Caesar, Cesario, Ganymede
Within the context of the Tarot cards the word tevel meaning 'world'
would end the search for an appropriate meaning - since there are other
arcanae for the characters and events in the play(R&J). Meanings
requiring alternative dotting, letters or historical names all are less
appropriate from this particular point of reference. But Shakespeare, I
agree is never mean about allowing other connotations to resonate.


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Specific Degree Requirements
5.- Cooperative Master of Public Health
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston offers the Masters in Public Health degree (MPH) at UTEP. This program was developed to provide students with a basic foundation in public health, and an understanding of the unique health problems of the US-Mexico border through course work and applied research. Courses are provided by the University of Texas Houston School of Public Health faculty in residence at the El Paso campus, as well as through interactive television courses taught by faculty at both the Houston and San Antonio campuses. In addition, some upper division and graduate courses offered by UTEP academic departments may be taken concurrently and be considered in fulfillment of degree requirements. The program is fully accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health.
The El Paso satellite program provides students with the opportunity to study and conduct research in a binational and multicultural region. Students are expected to gain a competency in the five basic disciplines of public health (administration, behavioral sciences, biometry, environmental health, and epidemiology) with a focus on border health. Degree requirements include the completion of a minimum of 36 credit hours, including a Masters thesis in which students examine a specific health issue in depth. The University of Texas Houston Health Science Center School of Public Health is the degree-granting institution. For additional information, call (915) 747-8500.
The University of Texas at El Paso
Developed by the UTEP Web Development Team
Revised: April 07, 1999


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Your open-source car dealer online inventory
jT CarFramework was designed and built exclusively for car dealers and auto traders. We are currently serving car dealerships in all continents!
Our policy
The things we get in life can make us a living. The things we give to people can make a life. Never look down on anybody unless you're helping them up.
PronsPro CarDealer Software release
The jT CarFramework Project has been renamed to PronsPro CarDealer Software and, have branched from Intersofts.com. PronsPro system re-factored the entire source code and, added many more resources for dealerships. PronsPro CarDealer Software now has it's on team of engineers, developers and designers which will make the software even better and attractive!
Following jT CarFramework 2 Series, PronsPro CarDealer Software its a car dealership cms website designed and built for dealers of all sizes. The new release includes responsive design, new tools and, optimization of 2 Series tools. It also includes direct integration with AutoChoice24.com, a dealership marketing platform which allows you to create Online Magazines, QR Coupons and, many more without spending a penny!
We will soon be releasing a large solution which provides tools such as online-magazines, FTP import/export, CSV import for AutoTrader, eCar and others and, many more.
What we're up too lately?
We are putting together a complete solution so printing companies will be able to host and maintain their own online designer. What that means? – it means that, we are not only building the actual online-design software but, integrating it with our custom framework (PronsPro). The result will be a full system in which managing and creating templates for your printable products will become easy and reliable!
This will be a system in which you can host all the source yourself which will release you from monthly contracts. Is this the solution for you? Interested to know more? – Check out our demo and featured page!
» Check ECommDS Studio back-office » Check ECommDS Studio front-end listing
Testing our Android App
We are testing the BuyCar.Cheap review app and, we count with your review. Read the QRCode below with your Android to download and install the App!
The car dealer platform
jT CarFramework is a free car dealer platform exclusively designed to support vehicle inventory. It was designed and developed using the latest web technologies to provide the viewer a smooth and pleasant experience.
Multi-language support
jT CarFramework was designed to support multiple languages. Besides the possibility to download language packages shared by other users from our car dealer website, the car dealer software comes with a powerful translator interface to allow you to easily translate your installation to any language.
Easy to use Options Panel
There are a lot of settings available for the administrator to customize the information viewers can see, including currency format. Also, a built-in cms allows for the creation of new content pages and menus. Check out our demo page and see for yourself what this open source car dealer website can do for you!
jT CarFramework 2 Series & BuyCar.Cheap integration
BuyCar.Cheap inventory can be directly exported into your installation of jT CarFramework 2 Series. The export process is automate, in other words, you will have your BuyCar.Cheap inventory export to your system daily which, is processed by jT CarFramework 2 Series automation (cron-job). BuyCar.Cheap inventory can also be exported through FTP using the most known CSV list formats! Learn more at BuyCar.Cheap!
Vehicle management system
jT CarFramework vehicle management system allows you to add new vehicles into your inventory and customize each of them to be attractive in a clean layout. Dozens of feature icons are standard and available to help you increase the visual impact of your offers. Better search filters and a user interface are currently being developed with the help of database experts so, keep tuned…
Affiliate Partnership Program
Interested in becoming an Intersoft partner? The Intersoft's Exclusive Partnership Program (EPP) offers many advantages to our partners through an exclusive partnership agreement. There are no costs in becoming a partner, just advantages. Hard to believe? – Visit out partner page here and see for yourself!
BuyCar.Cheap now online!
BuyCar.Cheap is now available for auto dealership and customers!
BuyCar.Cheap is a powerful auto-dealer listing system which allow dealers to list their inventory, create dealer profile, create online magazines and, many more! It is also optimized for customers to buy and sell vehicles exclusively from dealer through our unique bid system. On it's first 3 days online, more than 20 dealers have registered and currently holding an inventory of 4+ thousand vehicles! Check it out!
Yeah, it's online now!
After months of development and testing, we have made BuyCar.Cheap available to the public. The listing inventory system will be deeply integrated with jT CarFramework 2 Series which will allow exporting and importing the inventory between platforms. Although we have released the new system, there are more tools which will be gradually added to the system!


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The folks at the NRA would like to make gun violence a story about mental illness. Which is strange since it reflects badly on whom?
Crazy Is As Crazy Thinks
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Wednesday February 6th, 2013 - 11:26AM
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Unique root-nodule bacteria isolated from Southern African legumes
Tiwari, R.P., Nandasena, K.G., Dilworth, M.J., Law, I.J., Howieson, J.G., O'Hara, G.W., Ardley, J.K. and Yates, R.J. (2007) Unique root-nodule bacteria isolated from Southern African legumes. In: 15th International Nitrogen Fixation Congress and the 12th International Conference of the African Association for Biological Nitrogen Fixation, 21 - 26 January 2007, Cape Town, South Africa.
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Here some suggested organisations that offer expert advice on SN.
private school with full statement-but will LA pay for TA?(61 Posts)
I'm in a fortunate position where my mother has come into money as my nan passed away. Mainstream is failing my dd because of the class sizes. The private school not far from us has a max of 8 in a class.
But would the lea pay for a TA in the private setting?
I have a full school statement for 32.5 hours 1:1 for my dd.
Anyone know if this is possible?
Lesley - indie = independent. He was in a private mainstream school - a very well known one in my area. To your question I do sometimes wonder what happens to sen kids who start at private school at primary level and are later diagnosed. - that is exactly what happened to him. His (and my) experience was awful. I sometimes wonder if anyone from that school reads my posts and realises that I am talking about them.
This private school totally failed my DS. I removed him, home ed'ed him for a year whilst I fought with my LA to the bitter death. He is now in an indie ss fully funded by the LA, as ordered by a Tribunal. My LA hated the indie school he was in - I have a lot of documentary evidence of this. Because of this private school, they hated me from the very start when I first applied and was turned down for SA. But they hate me even more now as I fought them to the death to get the correct provision for him.
I should imagine that the situation for parents putting their children with SEN into Indie MS is probably similar to those deregistering and opting to home educate. The COP pretty much says that if you do that and provide what is deemed an adequate education then you clearly don't need the statement and if you fail to provide an adequate education, then you're not meeting your part of the bargain, so the statement may be withdrawn.
Gosh TOWIELA, your post really makes me think. I've heard some private schools (before my DD was diagnosed) say things like "you don't want a label", or "everyones on the spectrum" etc etc. And i admit that really bothered me. I just wanted to make sure i was looking at all the alternatives should MS fail. But your post really has just sort of stopped my thinking in its tracks as by your own admission you would never have chosen this option had you known your child did have additional needs.
In my case i know my DD has a lot of support so her needs are not mild- tough as it is to admit at her young age. Putting her in a private school would, now i see, probably be more about me then her.
I shall commence the start for a SS i think. I live in a wide authority so i should count my blessings in that respect that i will have more Special schools to choose from as to what fits her needs.
Lesley - I have been told by an indie EP that if my DS had been in a state school, the severity of his needs would have been identified years ago and he would have had a Statement and fully supported by the time he was in year 1. Instead, he is now year 5 and only has just got a Statement after a massive fight with my LA.
I had it all from this indie school - from the original "you don't want a label, I can handle him" - from the SENCO who refused to let me get him privately dx for dyslexia but then promptly retired and handed over her SENCO job to her daughter (this will out me!). This then changed to "we need a diagnosis, he must be tested", and "we want him to repeat year 1" (when the year 1 teacher didn't know what to do), and then onto "we still don't know what to do", and "we want him tested again". Even the outright question from me "is your school the right school for my DS" was met with blank faces and "we don't know". That, in a nutshell, is the story of 4 years of hell as we lurched from term to term - he had SALT, OT and 1:1 support but it still wasn't enough.
I was left not knowing if this school could not cope, or didn't want to cope or my son was even more severe than they ever admitted. It turned out it was all three.
He's at the right school now - primary need is severe dyslexia but with other co-morbid problems. The LA argued at Tribunal that dyslexia was actually a speech and language problem
Good god . Don't worry about being "outted", your post has helped me put things into perspective, thank you for that. I know of many mums in this predicament so know that this could help so many other parents.
Besides, the teachers involved in your story should hang their heads in shame. Your LA should do the same. I hope this isn't the part where I realise we have the same LA!!
Lesley - it's common knowledge on this board that my LA is in my nickname - The Only Way really Is Essex LA
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
SEN CoP:
"8:97 Parents may choose to place a child with a statement in an independent school (whether or not approved under section 347) or a non-maintained special school at their own expense. If parents choose to make such provision for their child, the LEA must be satisfied that the school is able to make special educational provision for the child that
meets their special educational needs before they are relieved of their duty to arrange provision in an appropriate school. The LEA is not required to specify the name of a school in part 4 of the child's statement where they are satisfied that the child's parents have made suitable arrangements but they must, in those circumstances, state the type
of provision. Parents should not be treated as having made suitable arrangements if the arrangements do not include a realistic possibility of funding those arrangements for a reasonable period of time. The LEA are, whether or not a school is named in the statement, still under a duty to maintain the child's statement and to review it annually, following the procedures set out in Chapter Nine." Pg 119
Lesley, I think you have to be a bit disbelieving here, almost cynical. Private schools are varied and deal with a great variety of children. Within the private sector schools are pretty clearly segregated between high achievers and those who are not. The private schools that where you pay for nurturing and care over academic ability do a great job. But you will still as a parent pay for the extra support your dc needs.
Any selective school, even with feeders, will manage out the children who will not contribute to their results. The only way they will keep them is if their parents will commit to support funded by the parents, if they can see a good result at the end for them.
I also speak as a sister of a child who was in a 'special school' (shows my age) where there was no secondary provision. My mum moved to the south west where LEA provisional was more generous, and my DB was sent to a specialist boarding school, funded by the lea.
The problem with that lougle, is that if there as a specialist secondary school in borough, with spaces, very few LEAs would elect to spend the extra money on funding support in the private sector, whether or no that school is appropriate for that child.
Madame, I don't think they will fund the extra support. However, I don't think that's what 8:97 implies.
I think the Statement would show that support as needed, but the parents would need to fund the support because they've elected to fund her education.
I was just quoting the SEN CoP para which shows that a statement must still be maintained, in answer to those who queried if it would be ceased on those grounds.
There was someone on this board (can't remember who tho) who was doing precisely as lougle quotes from the SEN CoP. Their child had a Statement in a private school, the parents funded all the fees & provision and the LA just turned up for Annual Reviews. So the Statement was maintained but at no cost to the LA.
'Lesley - I have been told by an indie EP that if my DS had been in a state school, the severity of his needs would have been identified years ago and he would have had a Statement and fully supported by the time he was in year 1. Instead, he is now year 5 and only has just got a Statement after a massive fight with my LA.'
TOWIELA I understand it was an Indie EP that made this claim but I honestly doubt it is true of your LA. The behaviour of your private school is no different to a number of state schools that I know of and supported in this behaviour by an LA determined be obstructive I really don't think your outcome would have been any different. I think you needn't have regrets about this, at least not in the context of where you live.
Star, the only regrets I have is that I didn't swing everything into action years and years earlier and that I believed the indie mainstream school when they repeated to me year after year that "they could handle it". The final few meetings I had with them (year 3) when, by then, it had all gone pear-shaped but they hadn't told me it had, were unbelievable. If he had been in the state system, it would have been picked up much much earlier and he would have been in the "system" from a younger age.
With regards to the LA, yes, their behaviour would have been the same state or private because of exactly who the LA is.
I see what you mean!
'If he had been in the state system, it would have been picked up much much earlier and he would have been in the "system" from a younger age.'
This. See, I just don't believe this. Not in a school in your LA. They are
brainwashed trained by the LA and would have denied needs and insisted things were okay for as long as they could get away with it too.
It is farily usual for schools all over the country to deny need until around year 3. The biggest flow of children from mainstream to special schools occurs in years 3 and 4, mainly imo because the children are not small enough for teachers to be able to wield their power over them any longer, not because they ever coped particularly up until that age.
INdeed starllight. my ds' dyspraxia was not picked up at all at state primary, even though he was on action plus. How many pointless IEPs I had to sit through with his targets focussed on him improving his handwriting by 'trying harder'. In fact he was bullied by his teacher for his slow handwriting. poor little sod.
To be fair (not that I remotely want to be fair!) my dd was picked up in year 1 in the state system and same LA. She was totally supported on SA+ throughout primary. But then at secondary, all support was dropped. This was in the days before the Internet (and mumsnet!) so, as I didnt know better, I accepted it. The "system" kicked back in again when she went to FE and my LA were very good - but then as she was a young adult, she came under another part if the "system", not the lying school department of SEN in my LA
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
TOWIELA* that was me (only jst logged on) ds is in a mainstream independent school - the LA has a duty to make sure he receives appropriate education, however there is no duty on the LA to actually provide it themselves (thats the same with any child statemented or not). There is no duty on the private school to provide what is set out in the statement as part 4 names another school so in effect it holds no weight and I couldn't challenge the school if they weren't giving him the provision set out in the statement. (That is why it is really important for the OP to have the private school on board before she enrols her dd - my school is fab in that they will follow the statement) The LA's duty to ensure ds receives appropriate education is just the same as it would be if he was HE but they don't seem to be so keen to check up on HE dc.
1996 Education Act as amended by SENDA 2001 Part IV Chapter 1 section 324 (5) (a) (i) (ii) is where it says you can have a statement but the parents decide the provision relinquishing the LA of their duty to arrange it - it would also come under the bit in the COP that WetAugust mentioned yesterday. The COP itself isn't legally binding the law just says providers should have "regard to the code"
The LA officer comes along to the reviews to make sure he's getting what they deemed he needs, our particular LA officer covers all the private mainstream schools on my side of the county. By ceasing to maintain the statement the LA would effectively be saying ds no longer has any of the needs set out in part 2 and 3. that would be ludicrous. Statements only lapse when dc move from school onto college and then the students have an LDA which contains much of the same information but without the legal status the statement affords. Its worked for us, ds is now in Y11 and the school have always been more than happy to accommodate him. I wouldn't have considered it had they not been so welcoming as they could easily just turn around and decide not to bother.
Private schools are no longer allowed to charge for some types of support, so all those who are paying through their noses should check the legislation - its quite complex and there are several get out clauses but worth seeing if you qualify under the new requirements . See here for a general synopsis
yes you can have statement provision eg one to one provided by LEA but within independent school setitng.
jsut arrange to meet with LEA oficer an explain that you will fund the school fees, but you want LEA to fund what is in the statement. so long as the independent school happy with this too.
had this for dd in early years (she later didnt need the support so withdrew statement) and also currently a friend has this exact situation with a child with recognized syndrome - attending indep school paid for by parents but full time LSA funded by LEA under her statement .
I am in the same boat. I want to send ds to an independent private school. He has 25 hours 1-1 at nursery. We would have been given medical hours last year in my county, but now need a statement as the rules have changed which we are applying for. I have no idea what will happen next. Ds is bright but disabled and we just want the money he'd have for his 1-1 in the state system in the private school.
We've been in this position. Ds spent his time from yr 1 to yr 7 in a private prep. Till yr 4 things were ok. Some teachers really went above and beyond for ds. Then his peer group started to outstrip him academically and developmentally. With hindsight we would have used money to push for a full statement instead and ds should have gone to a specialist school from the beginning.
Like others have said private schools tend to either ignore the special needs kids or get rid of them. My ds got refused from one school. Many parents never get a diagnosis as they know that their child won't even get into the school. DS's school coursed us into dropping his statement on accepting him into the school. Wind on a few years later we had to go though the whole process again, this time with all an ot,salt and ed psyc.
The sad thing that happened over time was ds got left out of things. Now in his current school he is amongst his equals. We don't have to explain to the teachers how to help ds and he is taught in a group of 5.
I feel it's highly unlikely you'll get funding for a 1-1 in the situation. You want it. I would say save yourself heartache and go for a decent set of professionals to get the statement you want.
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President Kirk Schulz recognizes Dr. Juergen Richt at K-State basketball game with Ron Trewyn, Ralph Richardson and April Mason.
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