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New York: January 29, 2001
Keynote Speaker:
Nitin Desai, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs
Roy Prosterman, President, Rural Development Institute
Jaimie Cloud, Director, Sustainability Education Center at The American Forum for Global Education
Malcolm Bale, Sector Manager, Rural Development Unit, East Asia and Pacific Region, World Bank
Introducing the Panelists:
Brian Halweil, Research Associate, Worldwatch Institute
Dr. Mahnaz Ispahani, Deputy Director of Human Rights and International Cooperation, Ford Foundation
Program is followed by a Question and Answer Session
Nicholas Platt
Good evening. I'm Nick Platt. I'm president of the Asia Society and I'm just delighted to welcome all of you here. The Society is honored to host this evening's event, "Feeding Ourselves: Strategies and Solutions to End Hunger in Asia." This is being held in conjunction with the opening of a major photo exhibition on hunger in Asia by the renowned Japanese photographer Hiroji Kubota. This program is part of Asia Society's new and exciting initiative entitled the "Asian Social Issues Program," a public-education initiative which looks at critical social challenges like poverty, environmental degradation and human rights violations in various parts of Asia and considers the solutions and the responses that are being generated in the region to address these challenges in a sustainable and a coherent manner.
This evening's panel event examines the critical issue of hunger that exists across the globe, as well as relative solutions and the commitment and vision that is required to address this challenge. Major funding for this evening's event was made possible by generous grants from the Ford Foundation, Ward Woods, NHK Joho Network, Ronald Anderson, David Hirsch, and Fuji Film. We'd also like to thank State Senator Roy Goodman for making possible a grant from the New York State Offices of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and also Magnum Photos for helping to organize and support Mr. Kubota's work.
I hope you'll all join us after this panel event for a reception and a viewing of the photographs that will be held at the Asia Society offices across the street on Park Avenue. Mr. Kubota, where are you? Please stand and take a bow. We're delighted you're here. I've long been an admirer of your work. That said, I would like now to welcome Dr. Mahnaz Ispahani, the Deputy Director of Human Rights and International Cooperation at the Ford Foundation, who will preside this evening and introduce the speakers. Mahnaz, the floor is yours.
Thank you, Nick. I will be brief because I think we have a very interesting and important discussion ahead, but would like to add my welcome to Nick's this evening. Hunger, as we all know, is not a new phenomenon, nor is famine, but, as Amartya Sen says, it is intolerable in the modern world. We live in an age of potential abundance of food, of wealth, and of innovation, where it is actually possible to feed all of us in the North and the South and the city and in rural communities.
Obviously, the problem of hunger is an urgent one, but when we begin to consider the strategies and policies to combat it, to eradicate it, the choices are very complex. The issues raised, and which I'm sure you will hear about today, from land rights and use to biotechnology, from the type and extent of government regulation to public action, from the connections of hunger to population growth and to the environment, to the rootedness of hunger in economic and in social inequalities, particularly as they affect poor women, I think these are issues that require solutions based on political will, cultural and environmental knowledge, and the costing out of the costs and benefits of scientific innovation.
Our main speaker today is Mr. Nitin Desai. I'm very pleased to introduce him. He has a distinguished record of public service, which you can read about in the bio that you have with you. He began his career first with the government of India and then continued at the United Nations. He has served in many capacities. Since 1973, in India's Planning Commission, in its Ministry of Finance and most recently as Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs at the UN.
Nitin Desai
Ms. Ispahani, Mr. Platt, ladies and gentlemen, it's a pleasure for me to be here to participate in this panel which the Asia Society has organized on ending hunger in Asia on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition of photographs by Hiroji Kubota. We've been looking at those photographs and they truly are stunning and astounding. We're also meeting at a very sad time for one part of Asia, the part I come from, which has had to cope with one of the most horrendous earthquakes that it has known, ever, and we still do not know how bad the situation is likely to be. So at this time, when we meet on this issue of hunger in Asia, our hearts should also be with the people particularly in Gujarat who are at the moment suffering from this great catastrophe which has hit them, and deserve not just our sympathies, but our help, also--more substantial material assistance.
The theme that we have before us for today is essentially on hunger in Asia, one of the most densely populated, but also one of the fastest-growing parts of the world. My job as a keynote speaker is like that of an overture in music--not to try to spell the full problem out, but to basically list the themes which I'm sure the other speakers will pick up and elaborate with far greater competence than I possibly could.
The evidence is well known. The part of Asia that we normally talk of when we discuss agriculture is not actually the geographic Asia. When you hear the term "Asian statistics on agriculture, " it actually refers to Asia east of Afghanistan. Asia west of Afghanistan is grouped together always with North Africa, into something called the "Near East." I don't know near to what, but it's called "Near East," and this is the normal terminology. So, most of the numbers that you hear when they say "Asia," they really mean Asia east of Afghanistan. The greater part of this mass, which has a little over 3 billion people, is essentially a rice-growing, rice-consuming area, with some wheat-growing, wheat-producing areas to the western and northern fringes. It has an agricultural ecosystem which is truly unique, monsoon-dependent, stretching out over virtually the entire year in terms of the crop cycles.
Amongst these 3 billion people, in terms of the latest assessments made by the FAO, something like over 500 million are undernourished. The numbers can be broken down. Most of them, as you would expect, are in two countries, China and India. Most of the population happens to be in these two countries, China and India. But something more can be said about these numbers. First, the trends. Over the past 20 years, the extent of hunger in Asia has come down. If we look at the numbers which the FAO projects, then over this time period, the extent of hunger in Asia as I've defined it, has come down from, roughly 32% of the population in '79-'81--let's say 1980--to around 17% of the population in the period '96-'98, which is a very substantial achievement and it's more or less reflected in most parts of Asia. Second, the depth of hunger. This is one of the other things that we tend to look at, also, in our statistics now--not just how many people do not have a diet which is adequate in terms of daily dietary energy requirements, but also how far are they below this? This assessment has also been given by FAO and one sees that basically, for most parts of Asia, particularly the very densely populated countries of China and India, what one is talking of is a relatively small deficiency in the daily kilocalorie requirements amongst the people who go hungry.
If we look at the trend a little more closely, one finds that the greater part of this gain was realized in the '80s, and that in the '90s, progress has been significantly slower. In fact, the year 2000 was a year when, in South Asia, per capita food availability actually declined and we also had, in the late '90s, the experience of this terrible famine in the DPR Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. So it's not as if the broad picture that I described of declining hunger necessarily is something that one can take great comfort in. You must also recognize something else. This is what the numbers were: 32 to 17. But when one starts looking at it a different way, what we call anthropometric measurement, actually going and looking at children, particularly, and seeing what the weight relative to age and height is, and plotting that, then the numbers look very different. If you look at the anthropometric measurement of undernourishment, Asia has very high numbers, numbers much higher than the incidence of kilocalorie deficiency which I just gave. In places like South Asia you get numbers like 50% of the children are underweight. Even in Southeast Asia, you get numbers like 30% are underweight, and that's the sort of number you get in sub-Saharan Africa. China is a bit lower. And this is a puzzle. Why should this be, even now--these are not old data. These are data for the '90s, late '90s. Why is it that despite these numbers, which show that more people seem to be in a situation where they're getting enough food, why is it that the anthropometric measurements do not necessarily show the same results? They show similar trends, but not as much.
Perhaps the answer lies in the measurement. Perhaps, in a sense, a small person is not necessarily a weak person. But there may be other factors, like the intra-family distribution of food and this is one which we may have to look at. Just to give you a sense of this, I want to just describe to you one case. One of the very interesting things that the FAO has done is they actually went and observed some people for 24 hours, or days, and then tried to write a description of a particular person's diet, and then analyzed that. The story I'm going to read to you is about a Pakistani adolescent girl, Tahira Khan. Her name is obviously not her real name. Tahira Khan is a newly married 15-year-old in an isolated hill community in Pakistan. In the morning, she fetches water to boil for chai tea, which she drinks with milk and sugar. She and her mother-in-law prepare the family breakfast. After the men leave for the fields, Tahira eats her share, generally one parotta, which is a type of pancake, made of whole-wheat flour and ghee, which is clarified butter. Once or twice a week, she also has an egg fried in ghee. She and her mother-in-law spend most of the day on household chores, and in the afternoon, Tahira eats one chapati--a light, white bread--with a vegetable preparation made of potatoes and eggplants. When the men return from the fields, Tahira serves the evening meal, and then eats herself. This is usually, one chapati and, again, some vegetables. As the village is difficult to reach, the family depends on the gardens for most of their food, so the variety is limited. When her diet was analyzed, she probably has an adequate level of protein, but of low quality, because it comes mostly from the wheat. Pulses would improve it, but she doesn't get enough of that, and she, of course, has a very low intake of fat. Her limited diet is a concern because she is still growing and, in particular, she needs more calcium for herself and her children. When one analyzes her diet, what one finds is that she had a diet which is roughly in the region of around 1,600 kilocalories, as against what she should have, which is around 2,200.
The reason I'm reading this story out to you is essentially to reflect something else, that hunger is more than a matter of simple food availability. Hunger is also how food gets distributed. How food gets distributed amongst people within a country, which is largely a matter of entitlements--do people have the income to be able to buy the food which is available--and how food gets distributed within the family. Let me mention here that in the aggregate, Asia right now produces enough food to insure everybody a diet which is adequate in terms of daily energy supply requirements. The problem is that there are 500 million people who do not have the income which would allow them to buy the food which is available in Asia, and within families there's a story of tight rations. There are problems of how food which the family consumes is distributed amongst these people [family members].
What this leads to is some categorization of who are the hungry people in Asia. Who are the vulnerable? In terms of categories in all parts of the country: children, women and the elderly. In terms of occupations: nomads, artisans, landless laborers, small farmers, people living on the fringes of the informal sector in urban areas. Where are these people who are vulnerable to hunger? Typically in ecologically stressed areas--dry lands, mountains, coastal areas, somewhere deep in the interior. When do they suffer most? Typically in periods of production stress, when you have a severe drought or immediately before the harvest comes in, when local food stocks are always at their lowest. I've given this description of the evidence as I call it, because I think this is what should help us to define what measures are required, what the structural reforms required are, what the strategies required are.
The first category of strategies that one should look for are what I would loosely describe as food nutrition interventions, interventions which seek to modify the way in which available food and nutrition is distributed amongst the people in the country. This has to refer not just to the big, big area of energy and proteins, but also micronutrients, because micronutrient deficiencies in things like iron, iodine, vitamin A, vitamin C and calcium are also very widespread. The sorts of things that one can do here, which governments have tried, is to modify the distribution of food which would take place under normal circumstances. I will just list them and I hope that the panelists later will pick up some of these.
One, typically, food-for-work type activities. Whenever you get a drought, then you organize food-for-work activities so that the people who are in need of food are given work which allows them to buy food which you presumably get from other parts of the country or abroad. I would say one of the success stories of Asia, particularly in South Asia, has been the way in which a very organized system of famine relief has been put in place so that it has not had a major famine--the types of cases of famines which you got in pre-independence days. I was involved a bit in the 1987 drought and the whole system kicks in fast. You don't wait until people are dying of starvation. You start moving with food-for-work schemes when people can go out for work. You don't wait until they are starving, as they do in many other parts of the world. But I hope somebody else will pick up some of these themes.
The second, food for work is typically something that you do in situations of special stress, when you have a major drought which affects an area. Not that that's the only time you need to do it. In many parts of India it has been used also under normal circumstances like an employment-guarantee program so that people who have a deficiency of employment in their dry season or the agricultural off-season have a source of income. This is not as if it's strictly only a drought-relief measure. It can be a part of the welfare policy. Through the UN, through the World Food Programme, we do support a lot of this type of activity, food-for-work activity.
Third, food supplementation, particularly for vulnerable groups, like children, women and elderly. This is a major class of interventions which can be done--a midday meals program for children in schools to ensure that they get at least one nutritious meal a day. Supplemental feeding programs to take care of micronutrient deficiencies. Supplemental programs to deliver extra nutrition to pregnant and lactating mothers. This is what I call food supplementation, and it has an important role.
Fourth, overall a system of either outright subsidies or publicly managed distribution to ensure that poor people have access to food at affordable prices, what's often called a public-distribution system or a food subsidy. Many of my colleagues in the economics profession don't like it, but I promise you, it plays an important role in ensuring food security for a lot of households. The challenge is to design it so it doesn't get misused.
There are other areas that one can talk of: Nutrition surveillance and education, and related areas of health and sanitation. Take sanitation. There is a study in India which shows that improving water supply does more for children's health than supplemental nutrition because, by reducing diarrheal diseases, their uptake of nutrition from water consumed increases so much that you really don't have to have the supplemental nutrition and there are studies which show that this is probably often a better intervention than direct supplemental feeding. There is an example of Thailand, which did this. Early in the '80s, it identified around 286 districts and if you look at them, they're all remote districts--way up in the north, bordering on Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, and deep, way down in the south. They identified these, they studied them, and they put in a program--not food for work, but supplemental feeding, nutrition education, production of nutritious foods--with dramatic results. What we're talking of is between '82 and '92. In anthropometric terms, undernourishment declined from 35% to 8%. Moderate undernourishment from 8% to 2%, and severe undernourishment from 2% to practically nothing. This is from '82 to '98. So it can be done and this is something that was done in Asia.
These are all measures to improve the distribution of food, but if you look at the longer term in Asia, and particularly if you look at some of the material which has been put here in the article by Gordon Conway, which Lester Brown has often written about, if you look ahead, it's not clear that Asia does not have a production problem. It's not clear that what we have had over this green-revolution period which has helped us to sustain the food economy, which has helped to maintain the availability of food so that the governments have to focus mainly on issues of distribution and entitlement, will remain. I'm sure that many of the panelists will pick up what are the prospects for a substantial expansion of food production in Asia in order to keep hunger away.
Our present trends--we believe that we can meet the Food Summit target of having the people end hunger by 2015. But much more is going to be required than just food-distribution policies. Trade can be only a marginal element in meeting Asia's food needs. They are too large. We've got 3 billion people, half the population of the world. One cannot design a food production system in land-surplus countries and expect to move what would be astronomical quantities of food across the seas into these Asian countries. Asian countries will have to basically grow their own food. I'm not talking of the Near East, some of the smaller population countries with oil wells, which is a different matter. But the Asian countries that I'm talking of, which is monsoon Asia, rice Asia, will have to depend essentially on their own production.
The key areas of concern here are, one: land and water management. Asia's land availability is way below the world's. So in the world as a whole, we have roughly one and a half hectares per person. In Asia you have something like between 0.3 and 0.5 hectares per person. It's lower than, say, Europe. So you have an extremely low level of land availability. There are severe problems of water stress, much of which has been described here in the prefaces, the preface to the book by Mr. Hiroji and water stress may be the key problem in Asia in the future. Yet, we need intensification. So one great challenge is, can we really have an integrated management of our land and water systems in Asia so that we maximize the productivity and do what Gordon Conway describes as a doubly green revolution--a green revolution which is green in that it produces more, but a green revolution which is green in that it also conserves and protects the resource base. He describes it as a doubly green revolution. So there's one great challenge. There are experiments, there are examples where this has been done, and this is one area we need to look at, along with some ownership issues, both on land and water.
Second, markets. The message of liberalization has been given in Asia. It's certainly liberalizing very rapidly. But I do not believe that Asian countries can rely essentially on the international trade for meeting their food needs. Nothing against liberalization, but I would say that the primary focus of agricultural policy in Asia must be food security, rather than just creating efficiency. This, for an economist, is a heretical view, but I do believe this. I'm not sure that the focus of policy in Asia should be in terms of creating efficiency. It should be in terms of long-term food sufficiency and long-term resource management, because I do not think that neither Asia nor the world can have an Asia dependent on the rest of the world for feeding itself.
Finally, the other area which we will have to focus on is issues of technology, clearly issues of technological research, and that has certainly been one of the major advantages and gains of international cooperation for the past decades--the whole CGIAR mechanism, which has released between 70 and 100 new varieties. The capacities available in the Asian countries for agricultural research are substantial, but there are problems cropping up. I don't know how many of you saw the article in the New York Times on Saturday, "Rice Genome Breakthrough." It's interesting. Read this article. Two private companies have decoded the rice genome, sequenced the rice genome. They're still a long way from actually using it for manipulating this, but the worrying thing here is the privatization of this knowledge. The whole system of agricultural research on which not just Asia's but the whole world's food security depends was a publicly funded, publicly available research system. You would not have had the maize breakthroughs you got in the United States in the 1920s with this. You got it with public research on hybrid maize, and that's true even in Europe. The great breakthroughs of agriculture in the 20th century have come from public research, publicly funded. One of the fears many of us have is the decline in support for such publicly funded research; the privatization of what should be public knowledge.But are we really gaining in terms of more, quicker results through privatization? What's the difference between this and the public project to decode the genome? Two years. The public project will have the same information available by 2003. It's two years' difference, and those two years, this leads to privatization. Even more disturbing that they're not really interested in rice. They decoded the thing because they want to use the genetic information from rice to improve the crop varieties which are of interest in the industrial countries. So they're not even really interested, it appears, in rice itself, but in using this information for crops which are really meant for other purposes. It's the equivalent in series of making redder, rounder tomatoes. It's, in some sense, almost an abuse of biotechnology. So there are problems here, problems of fealty which will have to be looked at. I would say that this is going to be the difficult area of policy in the years to come.
I believe between this, food and nutrition policy, agricultural production policy are the complex things we are to get right if we are to meet the problem of hunger in Asia. I do not want to go on at this point and I really would look forward to listening to this. Let me just conclude by inviting you to look at the photographs of Mr. Kubota. They're very, very interesting. They are photographs of the people in Asia working in the fields, the land in Asia, the markets in Asia, and a few photographs, even, of the rubbish heaps in Asia and I think this is what we need to look at, because in the final analysis, this is not about numbers. This is about people, their livelihood, their security, and their well being. So I hope that we can address these issues in a compassionate, meaningful way which really addresses the concerns of the people like Tahira that I was talking about. So I thank you very much and I look forward to listening to your comments.


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Double Flip Floor Lounger
No longer available
- Overview
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subset: commoncrawl


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Listen Charles Frazier reads the opening page of 'Nightwoods'
Listen Charles Frazier talks to Euan Kerr about the origins of 'Nightwoods'
Listen Charles Frazier talks about the inspirations for 'Nightwoods'
Listen Charles Frazier moves forward in time
Charles Frazier, author of the best-selling novel "Cold Mountain," is moving forward in time, in his newest book. His novel, "Nightwoods," is a thriller, set around 1960 in a remote community in the forested mountains of North Carolina.
"Nightwoods" opens like this:
"Luce's new stranger children were small and beautiful and violent. She learned early that it wasn't smart to leave them unattended in the yard with the chickens. Later she'd find feathers, a scaled yellow foot with its toes clenched."
Luce is a troubled young woman living alone in a semi-abandoned resort in the Appalachians. Then she becomes guardian of her dead sister's twins -- young children deeply disturbed and mute because of something in their past.
"A lot of the book has to do with Luce learning to deal with these strange children," Frazier said. "Another part of the book has a little bit of a mystery ... element, involving the murderer of her sister."
Frazier became a sensation in 1997 with his first novel, "Cold Mountain," a Civil War tale which won a National Book Award. His second novel, "Thirteen Moons," published in 2006, was set against the forced relocation of thousands of Cherokees known as the Trail of Tears.
Frazier says it's almost by chance that he's become known as a historical novelist. He abandoned work on a contemporary novel to write "Cold Mountain," because he says it was simply a better story.
It also meant a great deal of research, which he says he enjoyed. But Frazier adds it's been good, for the last three years, to be working on something more contemporary.
"I was really happy to get out of the 19th century for a while," Frazier said with a smile. "it's set in my memory, so there wasn't a lot of need to got to the library. It was more of a matter of remembering the physical details of the world."
Important to the details in "Nightwoods" is an undercurrent of violence. Growing up in the southern Appalachians himself, Frazier was aware the threat was always there.
"It would just be one of these things that happened on the spur of the moment, where one guy would stab another one, or somebody would shoot somebody," he said.
Frazier wove that casual violence, as he calls it, into "Nightwoods." He then went to some lengths to build its physical sense. He'd visit locations in the woods where he was going to set a fight.
"I would just stand there and think, 'OK, if this character is going to do this to this character, how would this big tree factor in? How would this little slope factor in?' and then I can see the movements," Frazier said. "Then I can think about how the more character-related or psychologically related elements fit in. But I have to get the physical stuff right first."
All these elements form the framework for Frazier's poetic prose style. He dwells on details, on expanding and expounding. It's a result of polishing and burnishing, writing and rewriting.
"The revisions are every day, and then at the end lots and lots. It's a never-ending thing," he said. "They finally take it away from me at some point, or I'd still be doing it."
Reviewers called Frazier's first two novels American epics, although some described his style as overwritten. But Frazier's fans don't seem to care.
Now on the tour circuit, Frazier says nobody seems upset that he's written a more current story.
"I was in Mississippi last week and a young woman ... came up and said, 'I have a line from "Cold Mountain" tattooed on my back,'" Frazier said. "[She] turned around and showed me."
Frazier said he felt a little odd at that moment "in that I didn't recognize the line," he laughed.
But he later checked the book and found the tattooed line. Because details are important to Charles Frazier.
Frazier speaks Monday evening at 7 p.m. at the Wayzata Community Church.


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New figures and props available this month...
For a great selection of film, comic and TV action figures and collectibles, check out BigBadToyStore.com, BriansToys.com, ToyWiz.com, PastGenerationToys.com, MonkeyDepot.com, and Sekaido.com.
For a great selection of film, TV and pop culture t-shirts and apparel, check out TShirtGurus.com and 80sTees.com.
In anticipation of Warner Bros. remake of Clash of the Titans next month, NECA has unleashed a variety of collectibles. Items hitting retail in March include:
* Perseus Action Figures: NECA's first line of Clash of the Titans action figures features two versions of Perseus, as he's portrayed in the film by actor Sam Worthington; one clean and one who's kicked up some dirt from all that fighting. Both figures stand 7" tall and come with a sword and shield.
* Resin Statues of the Gods: Available in a set of six, the statues capture the movie gods, each statue 7" tall.
* Prop Replicas: Real metal weapons including Perseus' 27" long sword and his 34" long sword from the gods. Also look for a detailed 9 1/2" throwing knife used by Draco in the film and the 10 1/2" baton of the gods.


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It officially became Matt Ryan's turn to be paid. The Atlanta Falcons' quarterback has agreed to a contract extension with $59 million guaranteed and a total value of $103.75 million over five years, according to reports.
ESPN first reported Thursday that Ryan's extension, which goes through the 2018 season, is imminent and will be worth more than $100 million. NFL.com reported the total value and guarantee. The yearly average over the life of the contract is $20.75 million.
MORE: NFL's highest-paid players
Ryan's reported guarantee is the second-highest total ever, behind the $60 million guarantee to the Saints' Drew Brees in the five-year, $100-million extension he received a year ago. The average salary over the life of the extension—if he plays to the end of it— trails only the Packers' Aaron Rodgers' average of $22 million a year.
Ryan is entering his sixth NFL season, the final one on his rookie contract. He led the Falcons to the NFC championship game last season—they lost to the 49ers in Atlanta—and threw for 4,719 yards and 32 touchdowns.
Ryan is the latest quarterback to haul in a huge payday. Since the start of this year, Joe Flacco has signed with the Ravens for six years and $120.6 million and $52 million guaranteed; the Cowboys' Tony Romo signed for six years and $108 million with $55 million guaranteed; Rodgers receivedt $110 million over five years with $54 million guaranteed; and Matthew Stafford received $53 million over three years from the Lions, with $41.5 million guaranteed.
In that group, Brees, Rodgers and Flacco have led their teams to Super Bowl wins.


text:
Evaluation of HepaGam B® in Combination With Antiviral Treatment in Hepatitis B Liver Transplant Patients
This study has been completed.
Cangene Corporation
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
Cangene Corporation
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First received: July 23, 2008
Last updated: October 30, 2013
Last verified: October 2013
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
No Study Results Posted on ClinicalTrials.gov for this Study
|Study Status:
|This study has been completed.
|Study Completion Date:
|October 2013
|Primary Completion Date:
|October 2013 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)


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1 part (Type II) Portland Cement (do not use plastic cement)
1 part (plus up to ½ part more) sifted or screened hydrated Coir Peat (a peat-coconut husk alternative)
1 part (plus up to ½ part more) Perlite or ½ Perlite ½ Vermiculite mix
1. Wearing latex or rubber gloves and a paper mask, mix all dry ingredients. Add just enough water to moisten the mix just until it will hold together when squeezed (like a cookie mix).
2. Pack into a mold of your choice — plastic bowls, foil-lined cans or plastic bowls from the nursery.
When using this basic mix, the bottom and side walls can be no thinner than about 1 ½ inches thick.
3. Using a mold release — a silicone spray or simple vegetable shortening — slather it on the sides and bottom of the molds.
4. Wrap it up in garbage bags and put it in a shady spot.
5. After two to three days, un-mold your work. If you're using plastic bowls or pots, pour hot water over the mold and wait a moment. It should slip right out. If it doesn't, apply a gentle pressure to get the mold out.
6. Finish the process by taking a hard wire brush and gently roughing up the look, following the grain.
7. Wet the piece down, even soaking it. Re-wrap it in plastic to finish the curing.
8. When curing is complete, which takes about two weeks, unwrap and brush it again.
9. Let it air for at least two weeks more before drilling drainage holes and planting.
10. Leech out the lime before planting. Keep filling your piece with water or soak it in a bucket for at least at week after your final curing.
Steve Gerischer was kneeling over a plastic tub filled with a brown concoction. His sleeves were rolled up and he was almost elbow-deep into the mix, but then he paused to smile as he tried to explain what he's doing.
"It's hypertufa, and I love it," said Gerischer, an award-winning landscape designer and president of the Southern California Horticulture Society and the Pacific Horticulture Society.
On this recent sunny day he has taken on the added role of teacher at his popular Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden workshop where individuals pay to get down and dirty while producing a personalized planter.
Hypertufa is not some type of genetically engineered super soy product like the name may suggest. Instead, it's a decades-old technique of replicating porous planters reminiscent of ones found on old farms and in English gardens.
"It's pretty much a made-up name," he explained. "The 'tufa' comes from limestone deposits. If you are familiar with Mono Lake, then you know what tufa is," he says, referring to the unusual rock formations in the lake in the Eastern Sierra.
"The 'hyper' comes from the idea of taking it beyond what it originally was."
Old stone sinks and animal troughs once were used to grow plants, but those have become prized, scarce and very expensive, he said. Instead, gardeners can make containers from hypertufa, which resembles crumbling granite without the hefty weight. The process is pretty simple, and in a few steps, an instant antiquity is created.
Gerischer has been making his own hypertufa for 27 years and has been commissioned to create many of them over the years for clients. He found the recipe in an issue of Pacific Horticulture magazine, but has since tweaked the recipe in order to save money and the environment.
For instance, he's experimented with adding color dyes to the mix, with one of his favorites being goldenrod or yellow. Also, while the original recipe calls for peat moss, a nonrenewable resource that's being used up, Gerischer now chooses to use a coconut husk fiber as an alternative. And it works.
Hypertufas are so durable, Gerischer says the New York Botanical Garden even has some that have been outside for decades.
Thirty students showed up to one of his recent workshops on a brisk Saturday morning. They listened intently to Gerischer explain how relatively easy and fun it is to hand make hypertufa creations. After asking more than a few questions, they rolled up their sleeves and plunged their hands into a mixture of Portland cement, coir peat and perlite. They stirred, they mixed and then they started molding what looks like brownish gray mud pies into a container of their choice. They took their treasures home, wrapped in plastic garbage bags so they can settle and cure for several days before being unmolded.
And then, voila! They're ready to plant with whatever suits them.
John Kenan of Arcadia had taken the class before, but wanted to take it again to make sure he had all the details right.
"This is really fun and my wife wants to have a party where we do this. I wanted to make sure I hadn't forgotten what to do," Kenan says. "I remember for the first couple of days after you've done it, you look at it and ask yourself, 'Is this going to work?' But it does."
Ann Hinch of Azusa was a return customer, too.
"I gave the pot to my son, so I came back to do another one. This way I don't have to clean up the mess," she said with a laugh.
Debbie Santana of Monrovia said while she knows she can buy hypertufa planters, she went to the workshop because "It's kind of something neat to do it yourself.
"I'm here today to have fun and experiment," Santana added.
It would seem that many share Santana's views since Gerischer, who owns Larkspur Garden Design and lectures throughout Southern California, has taught this workshop 43 times at the arboretum alone and there's still a waiting list for future classes.


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Hampton & Richmond's summer signing Joe Benjamin has come in from the football cold and is already part of the furniture at the Beveree.
The 21-year-old striker has played for seven non-league clubs since 2010, rarely making more than 10 appearances each time, and he spent a turbulent summer at Carshalton Athletic before signing forms with the Beavers.
And it is the man management style of Beavers' boss Mark Harper and the buzz in the changing room that has convinced Benjamin he is at Hampton to stay.
"I left Carshalton because agreements over the contract were not fulfilled and when they offered me a different deal, I just didn't feel happy and I didn't trust the manager," said the former Northampton Town man.
"When I came out of league football I found it very hard to get settled. I got an injury and I didn't know that at some clubs if you get an injury you only get half your money, and little things like that were different and I found it hard.
"At Hampton, I feel happy and wanted. I want to be here at the end of the season and get us promoted and I want to play for Hampton in the Blue Square South."
A 1-0 opening day win at Hastings and a 3-0 defeat of Hendon on Tuesday – in which Benjamin bagged a brace – has given the Beavers a 100 per cent start to their Ryman League Premier Division campaign.
Benjamin, who is studying sports science through a PFA course at Roehampton University, said: "I am a confidence player. The better I play, the better I feel.
My confidence is high and I don't think the Hendon left back enjoyed his night against me.
"It rubs off on all the boys – if you're winning games the whole team gets confident and you believe in each other and the manager."
Not only does Benjamin exude confidence, he has also become the official DJ in the changing room.
"I am a bubbly person and I like to make people laugh. I play some funky house or dance music before a match to get everyone up for the game," he revealed.
And the Beavers boss has been impressed with Benjamin's influence.
He added: "He has fitted in really well with the lads, his personality stands out and we're always looking for strong characters, not only on the pitch but also in the changing room.
"Fortunately he can back it up on the pitch.
"I know Joe has played at many clubs but I have never seen anything to suggest he will be off soon – although this is non-league football and you never know.
"I'm the type of manager who will involve the players in all decisions. Maybe Joe likes that involvement and feeling part of something."
The Beavers' travel to Canvey Island tomorrow before Thurrock on Monday.


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D.C. United is heading up I-95 to take on the New York Red Bulls, and they want you there! As United aims to win the Atlantic Cup for the 9th time since 2002, the Black-and-Red faithful could be there cheering on their squad!
Currently, there are two deals with DCU supporters groups heading north for the weekend. Check out bus and ticket options from the Screaming Eagles or La Barra Brava and join them in New York to support the Black-and-Red in Major League Soccer's most storied rivalry.
Want to join them?
Screaming Eagles Trip:
Pick Up Locations:
- 1:00 p.m. at RiRa in Clarendon
- 1:30 p.m. at RFK
- 1:30 p.m. at New Carrollton Metro Station
- 3:00 p.m. at White Marsh Park & Ride
Pregame gathering in New Jersey: 5:00 p.m. at O'Donnells Irish Pub in Harrison, N.J.
For more information visit Screaming-Eagles.com
Barra Brava:
Pick Up Locations (Time TBD, no earlier than noon):
- Van Dorn Metro
- New Carrollton
- White Marsh Park & Ride
Should you have questions please email email@example.com or call Jay at 571-212-8890


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THE voice of world cycling, Phil Liggett, says Lance Armstrong swore to his face he didn't dope but the veteran commentator now feels like 'a fool' for staunchly defending the fallen cyclist for so long.
Liggett, who has called 35 Tours de France, says he's had sleepless nights this week following USADA's damning report into the systematic drug taking of seven-time winner Armstrong and his teammates.
Watch tonight's live stream below:
Liggett had previously been a strong supporter of Armstrong's in numerous doping scandals, and even as early as this week, was still questioning the quality of evidence in USADA's "witch hunt" pursuit of Armstrong.
But the withdrawal of Armstrong's sponsors and his resignation as chairman of the Livestrong foundation has finally convinced Liggett of Armstrong's guilt.
"I was inclined (to think) surely he doesn't dope, but now I look a fool, to be quite frank," Liggett told The Daily Telegraph from London.
"Quite clearly he has had a program going, with all the other guys."
"I am like everybody else. I had no idea such an in-depth drug scheme was taking place.
"I spent many hours with Armstrong over the years, but only at functions, doing things for him like MC-ing his cancer events.
"I wouldn't call Lance a friend because you can't get that close to him. But I really thought he was clean, and in 2003, he actually told me to my face, in his own room. So obviously I am devastated."
Liggett was reluctant to fully demonise Armstrong given his massive passion to raise money and awareness of cancer.
Ultimately, however, it was knowing how much Livestrong meant to Armstrong that had this week removed Liggett's doubts that the US cyclist had doped.
"Lance gave us great moments and also raised over half-a-billion dollars for Livestrong, which is the dearest thing to his heart," Liggett said.
"If there were any lingering doubts as far as I was concerned, when Nike and all his sponsors pulled out, but continued to donate to Livestrong, quite clearly a deal was struck.
"We'll donate to Livestrong Lance, providing you leave the company as chairman'.
"That's about the nearest I think we're going to get to a confession from Lance. And if he does confess, that leaves him wide open to a myriad legal entanglements."
Liggett told a cycling website this week were it not for the fact he'd signed contracts to commentate through to 2016, the scandal was so depressing he would have walked away from cycling.
"Having been with the riders...there's never been the slightest inclination these guys have been going back and preparing by taking EPO and human growth hormone."
A giant shadow is now cast over Tour de France winners but Liggett said he firmly believes
Cadel Evans is a clean rider: "I feel beyond a shadow of a doubt Cadel Evans won a clean Tour de France.
"That was a good race and a real race."
Liggett baulks at the talk of amnesty for drug cheats, and feels six-month sentences for people who testified against Armstrong are "derisory".
He feels like professional cycling is now in a new era of strict drug rules, and hopes young athletes coming through will never have been "tainted" by old drug regimes.
"I think we are still in process of cleaning out the back room, but going forward I
feel we are very much in a safer state," he said.
"Looking back (on the past 12 years), how do I feel? I suppose I feel like I have been taken for a ride. Quite literally."
Originally published as Lance made a fool out of me


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Lefthander Jamie Moyer threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Seattle Mariners' home opener Monday and hasn't dismissed the possibility of returning to the mound as an active player.
Moyer, who turned 50 this past November, hasn't pitched in the majors since last May.
"I haven't closed that door yet," Moyer told The Seattle Times. "I don't know when I would make a decision. I really haven't put a lot of thought into it. I'm enjoying my time at home at this point."
After posting a 5.70 ERA in 10 starts for the Colorado Rockies last season, he was released in early June. He then signed minor league contracts with the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays, though he never progressed past Class AAA before being released by the Jays in early July
If Moyer does attempt a comeback, it likely won't happen until next season.
"I've got a garden growing," he told the newspaper. "I've got lettuce I'm eating now and micro-gardens. I'm excited about that. I've got some fruit trees going in. I've got a puppy. So, I'm doing some things I haven't done in a long time. But I haven't discounted potentially maybe trying to come back. But I don't foresee it happening this year."
In a 25-season major league career that began in 1986 and included tours with eight different teams, Moyer is 269-209 with a 4.25 ERA.


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This strategy was developed in consultation with the LGF's Rainbow Partnership members.
The Rainbow Partnership initiative aims to support and build the capacity of the LGB&T voluntary and community sector (VCS) in the North West. There are currently over 270 members of the network (as of January 2009), drawn from across the North West; at the start of the consultation process, there were around 60 members.
Although individual membership is possible, the majority of members represent an organisation. 57 members are voluntary and community LGB&T organisations in the North West. A significant proportion of the rest of the members are public sector bodies.
The Rainbow Partnership is thus a strong and growing conduit for connecting voluntary and public sector organisations, facilitating mutual learning and the identification of common goals. Whilst the membership includes representation from three of the largest lesbian, gay and bisexual charities in the UK, it should be noted that the overwhelming majority of the voluntary and community sector organisations (and hence of the Rainbow Partnership network) survive on the knowledge, skills, dedication and enthusiasm of their members, with financial turnovers of less than £1,000 per annum.
What is clear is that the LGB&T North West Voluntary Community Sector is currently very fragile and under resourced.
There is currently no census information on the size of the LGB&T population within the UK and no plans to introduce this into the 2011 Census. However, the lesbian and gay population has been estimated by the Government Actuaries Department as 6% of the UK population.
Within the North West, this equates to 408,000 people. There are no official estimations of the bisexual population in the UK. However, the LGF estimate that an additional 3% of the population are bisexual, meaning there is a North West LGB population of 612,000.
The transsexual community is estimated by both the Equality and Human Rights Commission and Press for Change (a leading political lobbying and educational organisation for trans people), to be 5,000 people in the UK, increasing by approximately 300 people per year. However, at the consultation event in Blackpool, there were discussions that suggested the trans population is likely to be much higher, as the current estimated figure is calculated on transsexual prevalence alone and does not include those who are not seeking gender recognition. This strategy will use the wider term of trans to ensure that it is inclusive of transsexual, transgender, and other gender identities (see glossary for full definitions).
In October 2007, sexual orientation (LGB) was recognised by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) as an equality strand, whilst trans was included under the Gender equality strand. Historically, however, many people have linked sexual orientation and trans. There are commonalities between the issues and barriers facing the two strands, and the actions needed to support the infrastructure and sustainability of both the LGB and Trans VCS' are similar. This strategy acknowledges these commonalities.
Recent legislation, including the Human Rights Act (1998), Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations (1999), Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (2003), Gender Recognition Act (2004), Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (2007) and The Sex Discrimination (Amendment of Legislation) Regulations (2008), have introduced legal rights, particularly against discrimination, for LGB&T people in England and Wales (and Scotland and Northern Ireland in some cases). Since October 2007, it has been the responsibility of the Equality and Human Rights Commission to enforce these rights.


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Explore Hotel
Enjoy fresh American dishes with Midwestern influences
Terrace Restaurant
Terrace Restaurant lies just off the lobby and serves Midwestern cuisine in a relaxed atmosphere. Order a thick-cut pork chop, a hearty steak or a fresh piece of fish, all crafted with high-quality ingredients by our experienced chefs. Terrace remains open for breakfast, lunch and dinner so you can enjoy a satisfying meal any time of day.
Off Broadway Lounge
Off Broadway Lounge serves premium imported and domestic vodka, rum, single-malt scotch and bourbon. You'll also find beer and an affordable selection of wines. Sip your favorite drink or try a specialty cocktail while playing blackjack, having fun with pull tabs or cheering on your favorite sports team.
Room service
Order room service to experience fresh Midwestern cuisine delivered straight to your door. Savor breakfast in bed, eat dinner while watching your favorite show or treat yourself to a late-night snack.
Terrace Restaurant hours
Mon-Fri, 6 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
Sat-Sun, 6:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
Off Broadway Lounge hours
Mon-Fri, 11:30 a.m.-1 a.m.
Sat, 3 p.m.-1 a.m.
Room service hours
Mon-Sat, 6 a.m.-10 p.m.
Sun, 7 a.m.-10 p.m.


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The news coming out of Shepherdsville City Hall has been wonderful.
The talk of being $4 million in debt has been replaced by discussions on hiring more police officers and firefighters.
How will the good economic news play to the residents of Shepherdsville?
An interesting question.
As has been spoken both in news stories and in editorials over the past two years, there was never $4 million missing from the city's coffers.
No one took money and went to Aruba.
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A Phase III Study Comparing Two Different Anti-HIV Drug Combinations in HIV-Positive Patients Without Previous Anti-HIV Drug Therapy
This study has been completed.
Information provided by:
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First received: November 2, 1999
Last updated: February 19, 2009
Last verified: February 2009
- Full Text View
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- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
No Study Results Posted on ClinicalTrials.gov for this Study
|Study Status:
|This study has been completed.
|Study Completion Date:
|No date given
|Primary Completion Date:
|No date given


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Trowbrdge Area Board chairman Graham Payne is calling on Wiltshire Council to get on and buy the derelict Peter Black's factory.
The former factory has been empty for years and Cllr Payne feels the council should not wait any longer for a developer to take over the site.
GVA Grimley, is the agent acting for the site's receivers and has been marketing the factory for several months, but a buyer has yet to be found.
Cllr Payne suggests that in the short term Wiltshire Council could complete the compulsory purchase, knocking down the factory and turning the land into a car park for people visiting the new St Stephen's Place cinema complex.
Cllr Payne said: "Ever since I became area board chairman I have insisted on putting Peter Black on our meeting agendas to show Wiltshire Council the strength of feeling in Trowbridge over this eyesore which now sits behind a brand new development."
Any developer looking to build there will need to carry out electrical and drainage repair work. As an alternative to a car park, Cllr Payne said the council could do the work themselves and then market the site to potential developers.
A Wiltshire Council spokesman said: "There are a number of parties interested in purchasing this site, including the council itself. Given that the owners are now considering the offers, the council has no reason to consider compulsory purchase."
Bidders will find out if they have been successful at the end of this month.


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At Oglethorpe's annual PASSPORT event last week, more than 150 incoming freshmen got their first taste of college life during the day-long orientation program. The newbies and their parents swarmed campus as they met up with their professors, coaches, and classmates for their first official welcome to Oglethorpe. A second PASSPORT will be held in July for the remaining freshmen class.
Their activities included a campus-wide scavenger hunt, a barbeque lunch, and spending some time with their new advisors. Scroll down to check out pics from the event!


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Posted 6 years ago
(3 items)
I'm colley4211 I found this old river runt and it has no name on it, and I have not been able to find one like. If anyone could help I.D. I would greatly apreciate your help. the lure has a piece of metal inside that kinda looks like a drill bit,but is not and it see saw's up and bown when lure is moved its, about 3" long and 3/4" wide.
Thank you for reading and any info. you might have will be greatly apreciated.


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I need to buy a new laptop that will also have to function as an office desktop (with extra keyboard etc) when not on the move, so weight is an important factor, but it must be able to plug into our office network as well as function as a stand alone. We don't need major graphics or high speed - just a workhorse for MS Office Pro - and all for as little money as possible! My current Dell Inspiron 7500 has proved very good for 4 years but is just TOO heavy to lug to the States when I travel. I'm really not a techie, so any advice on makes / models / and likely price would be really helpful please.
Kate B
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Florida picked up a pair of wins Sunday over UNC Wilmington and Charleston Southern to complete an undefeated weekend as host of the 2013 Lipton Invitational.
Florida picked up a pair of wins Sunday over UNC Wilmington and Charleston Southern to complete an undefeated weekend as host of the 2013 Lipton Invitational. The Gators (12-0) first downed the Seahawks, 9-1, in six innings before topping the Buccaneers, 4-3, for their first extra-innings victory of the season.
The Gators are out to a 12-0 start for the second time in the last three seasons and will look to extend the streak with tournament play at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic next weekend in Palm Springs.
A total of 26 extra-base hits highlighted the weekend for Florida as the Gators posted four run-rule wins, four shutouts and capped the Lipton Invite off with an eight-inning thriller Sunday over Charleston Southern. Florida's pitching triumvirate of Alyssa Bache (10.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 14 K, 1 BB), Hannah Rogers (15.0 IP, 1 ER, 9 H, 13 K, 5 BB) and Lauren Haeger (11.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 15 K, 5 BB) allowed just four runs throughout the tournament, while the Florida offense posted 54 runs during the six weekend games. As a team, UF batted .338, had a .676 slugging percentage and .464 on-base mark throughout its Lipton Invite schedule. Six Gators batted over .400 on the weekend, highlighted by Haeger, who went 4-for-7 (.467) with two doubles and two homers, including the equalizer in the bottom of the seventh to force extras Sunday against Charleston Southern. The Gators next play in California at the Mary Nutter Classic in Palm Springs. UF takes on Loyola Marymount, Oklahoma State, Syracuse, Missouri and Georgia Tech at three-day classic next weekend.


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Moderators: Timko, Fritz, Solty, Booter, Blake_T, Frank Delicious
allsport1313 wrote:Same pretty much, gf loves that disc though.
Beetard wrote:I think that'll be a good disc for you, Tex. If you can learn to throw it pretty far without flipping it, you'll have developed a lot of control and understanding of flight characteristics.
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Todayâs author is Richard Petti President and Co-founder of Modelsheet. For more info http://www.modelsheetsoft.com.
Microsoft has enhanced Excel® in many ways to help build spreadsheets easily and reliably. Every one of us has made spreadsheets for a wide range of applications ranging from sales forecasting, to a scorecards for fantasy football. In order to build our model, we first conceptualize what we need, familiarize ourselves with the necessary algorithms and methods, and then build it in Microsoft Excel®. During this process, we have to be careful not to insert errors or disturb the modelâs integrity as we define layouts and write formulas. When projects get large or complex, building spreadsheet applications can be challenging and time consuming.
ModelSheetâs Spreadsheet Customizer builds Excel® models to your specifications. Simply choose a customizable solution, and answer questions like "What is the time range and time grain of your model?"; "What are your products and product families?"; âDo you want to include some major feature?â (for example, include recruiting expense in a model of employment). At the end, you download an Excel® workbook that meets all the specifications you entered. Thatâs it â there is nothing to learn, no cell formulas to write, and your output report has all the advantages of Excel®. The service shifts the emphasis from building models to drawing insights from them.
The process is 100% automated, so the cost is extremely low for customized spreadsheet solution. Customized spreadsheets are also more reliable, because manual operations are replaced by automated operations. This technology slashes time, cost and bugs.
This service is made possible by âModelSheet Authoringâ, a product we developed to author our customizable spreadsheet solutions. It retains the flavor and syntax of Excel® as much as possible, while gently adding more model structures â like named variables, readable symbolic formulas, time series, and dimensions (e.g. a list of products).
You can read more about customizable spreadsheets at http://templates.modelsheetsoft.com. We aim to take Excel® âwhere no spreadsheet has gone before.â


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Thursday September 9, 2004 11:44 am
RIM Launches New BlackBerry
Posted by Hector Martinez Categories: Cell Phones
The new BlackBerry 7100t (a.k.a. "Charm") looks more like a traditional phone than its older model, with a new 20-character keyboard: a combination of a telephone keypad and the traditional QWERTY keyboard layout. It will be available for $199.99 exclusively through T-Mobile USA. The design shows that most of the keys have more than one letter. To compensate for this, the device includes predictive software to guess which words the user is typing. RIM hopes to draw in a new market with this newly designed model, but insists that it's still a "BlackBerry."
Read More | USA Today
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- Vitamin Guide
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Choline is a precursor for numerous substances that influence fetal and child growth, particularly brain development. It is required for normal cell division, and it contributes to the protective covering on nerve fibers that helps transmit impulses along the nerves. Choline also helps maintain healthy cell membranes, and is involved with fatty acid synthesis. By aiding in the transport of cholesterol, it helps preserve healthy maternal liver function.
While it's not clear whether a pregnant woman's blood levels of choline can directly affect fetal and newborn blood levels, most of the research supports a link between them. For instance, low choline intake in mothers is associated with a doubled risk of neural tube defects (like spina bifida) and feeding pregnant animals a choline-rich diet results in offspring that have long-lasting improvements in attention, learning, and memory. The diet of lactating animals also influences the choline concentrations in their milk, suggesting that the mother's diet plays a role in the amount of choline available in her breast milk.
Human breast milk differs in the amount and proportions of choline and choline-derivatives than cow's milk and soy-based formulas, and breast-fed infants have choline levels that are two times higher than that of formula-fed babies. It remains to be seen what effects this choline shortage might lead to in formula-fed babies, and if supplementing formula with choline could correct for the difference.
The Institute of Medicine has set an Adequate Intake level of 425 mg per day for non-pregnant women. For pregnant women, the AI level increases to 450 mg per day and for lactating women it's 550 mg per day.
Choline is found in soybeans, egg yolks, butter, beef, salmon, chicken, peanuts, potatoes, cauliflower, lentils, oats, sesame seeds, tomatoes, bananas, milk, oranges, and corn.
Some dietary supplement manufacturers have added choline to their prenatal formulas. Since surveys estimate that 90% of pregnant women don't get enough of this nutrient, it might be worth looking for a prenatal vitamin that includes it.
(J Am Diet Assoc 2010;110:1198–206)
Kimberly Beauchamp, ND, earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Rhode Island and her Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University in Kenmore, WA. She cofounded South County Naturopaths in Wakefield, RI, and now sees patients in East Greenwich and Wakefield. Inspired by her passion for healthful eating and her own young daughters, Dr. Beauchamp is currently writing a book about optimizing children's health through better nutrition.
Copyright © 2017 Healthnotes, Inc. All rights reserved. www.healthnotes.com


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La Maison du Chocolat's famed Eclair Marron ($7.50) shows up every winter, from December until the end of Feburary. Their pâte à choux is as good as it gets, light though rich in butter, piped thin, true to the chocolate shop's elegant style. Inside, pastry cream whipped with fresh chestnut puree until it's voluptuous and smooth in texture. All you taste is chestnut coming in full speed; one eclair is bound to keep you longing for another. As for the rest of the year? Be content indulging in a trio of eclair flavors, including chocolate with a chocolate fondant top, coffee, and of course caramel. The caramel is scented with just a touch of vanilla beans, a subtle layer of flavor that continues to linger after that last bite.
La Maison du Chocolat
Multiple locations in NYC
About the author: Originally from Honolulu, Kathy YL Chan blogs at Kathy YL Chan, where she chronicles her eats and travel adventures between Hawai'i, New York and beyond. She firmly believes that there is always room for dessert.


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Up and down the rolling hills, back and forth, and up over another set of hills, racing to the next winery appointment. But I'm in my bed sleeping, dreaming. Like a summer night after a day of body surfing, when you're lying in your bed and still feeling the surf pound your body, so was this night. I had been back already a few days, from the Tuscan trip, and still I am trying to find one more place, make one more appointment, amidst those vine-laden hills.
The road, SR 222, la strada del vino, will be my midnight ride for the time being. In the dream, I'm going over the hill from Siena, to Castellina or Greve, or Panzano, in search of the meaning of Sangiovese, Chianti and the wines of the region. Why? When there are so many important issues pressing on all of us from so many directions? I don't know. Maybe it's the level I am able to rise to, to address some confusion and wander forth through the jungle in search of beauty, of meaning, of a simpler existence.
Ah, but if only "simpler" meant what it used to mean. If only we could find one or two of the "great ones" from the vineyards set in albero style, climbing, climbing, finding their level under the warm sun in the hills between Siena and Firenze. One here, and another there, Sangiovese, Malvasia, governo, wicker. Greatness. Not yet.
Here we have conical tanks of stainless steel and refurbished concrete vats vying for the awards. There we have spurred cordon (sounding so much better in Italian, cordone speronato, like a wild fish or a medieval weapon) going up against high-density planting of the vines. Now we see lower-temperature, longer-time fermentation compared to flash-warming, to jump-start and decrease green tannins. And that's just the top of the must-cap. Technology and the paradox of choice, the menu of the modern winemaker, are changing how we must look at the final wine in the bottle.
Weeks before, I had been in a wine store walking the aisles, amazed at all the choices from Tuscany and Chianti. Now I am still perplexed, because all of those wines on the racks have a story. A story that 85 or 93 points on a shelf-talker cannot begin to explain, even if those points mean something to anyone, other than the person who was awarding them.
An American, like myself, looks at the scene and says: "Let's discover it, let's map it, let's subdivide it, and let's build from there." The Tuscan land responds: "Sit down, by the terrace, watch the sun set, listen to the bird sing, see the honey bee, drink my wine. Would you like something to eat?"
So, "tackling Tuscany" isn't going to happen. What I expect to be doing in the next few weeks and on into the next year (and beyond) is simply taking it one bottle at a time, one estate, one winemaker, one person. The beauty is, there is so much excellence in the land, that this will be a pleasure. A recent article notes that Italian wine and food in America are experiencing " a golden age". Yes, the light is shining bright and warm, and the time is special for Italians in the world, again.
Mr. Columbus, we've turned the ship around and are heading back into the new-Old World. Back to the hills and the golden rush of light and luster.
Tags: Italy, wine, Travel, chianti, sangiovese, Tuscany, italian wine, Red Wine, italian-wine, italian wine guy, wine guy,


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Charles Dinning
2 Feb 2013 at 19:24
What are you doing on my shoulder.
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Posted 5 years ago
(470 items)
Given to Perley Putnam 1830, he died 1863. left this for his boy's kids .He was a captain of a clipper ship died of of France 1849 with 5 children. The women which got the letter about her husband dieing was one of these kids. She left this with our family. Here is her DAR . Rebbecca A Putnam Pickett


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Another Low for Tobacco: Kitty Litter in Cigars
Bloomberg News exposes the Billion Dollar Kitty Litter Loophole
Mar 1, 2013
Tobacco companies have a long history of secretly adding things to their products that could make them more addictive, appealing or harmful.
Add another example to the list: Bloomberg News reported today that some of Cheyenne International's cigars have a filter containing sepiolite, a clay material used in kitty litter.
Continue reading Another Low for Tobacco: Kitty Litter in Cigars


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Posted 4 years ago
(312 items)
Recently purchased an entire huge collection of vintage costume jewelry, only because the price was right, and there looked to be many cool items in the sealed, clear bag. I'll be posting the better items as i get time, but I'm looking for any help/advice you can offer, as I know absolutly nothing about costume jewelry.
This looks to be enameled, with machine turning!
Thanks,& Cheers


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Eighteen-year-old Bryan Grassie was ordered held without bail Monday following his arraignment on a murder charge in Wareham District Court in connection with the stabbing death of 18-year-old Brendan J. Mahoney of Bridgewater.
Eighteen-year-old Bryan Grassie was ordered held without bail Monday following his arraignment on a murder charge in Wareham District Court in connection with the stabbing death of 18-year-old Brendan J. Mahoney of Bridgewater.
A probable cause hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 11.
Grassie of 16 Bartlett Lane, East Wareham, is accused of stabbing Brendan and his brother Brian P. Mahoney Sunday morning, July 29, at a graduation party. Brian, 19, has been listed in critical condition in Rhode Island Hospital. Brendan died as a result of his wounds Tuesday morning.
Grassie was initially arrested on two counts of assault with intent to murder for allegedly stabbing the two Bridgewater brothers.
Grassie's attorney said he acted in self-defense during his first arraignment.
An affidavit filed in Wareham District Court by state police Monday included witness testimony from other party-goers.
Witnesses maintain that Grassie was intoxicated and confrontational when he came to the graduation party at 11 Priscilla Ave., but that he was walking away from the residence shouting insults to the partygoers prior to the fatal clash.
Another witness states that earlier in the night Grassie had shown him a knife in a threatening "manner."
According to one witness, Grassie said he wanted to "kick their teeth in." Another witness said that when Grassie hurled a homophobic slur at a group of partygoers, four of them, including Brian and Brendan Mahoney, started chasing after Grassie. According to the report, the witness stated that the group, "wanted to beat Grassie down."
According to the report, witnesses state that the Mahoney brothers were leading the charge. The affidavit states one of the four who chased after Grassie says that he ran over a hill to find Grassie facing the Mahoney brothers in a "fighting stance."
The witness says he then observed Brian Mahoney push Grassie against a chain link fence, and then Grassie was tackled by Brendan Mahoney. The witness says he then saw the brothers standing close to Grassie before they ran away yelling that they had been stabbed.
The report states that Grassie's father, Eryk Grassie, told police that Grassie had come to him and told him about the fight. According to Eryk Grassie, Bryan Grassie is on blood thinning medication and cannot get into fights.
A witness quoted in the initial police report watched what he first thought were punches being thrown until he noticed blood on both brothers, and one of them collapsed to the ground. According to the report, "Grassie reportedly stood there for a moment without saying a word, then calmly turned and walked away."
Contact Caitlin at firstname.lastname@example.com


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Southbank Centre
Southbank Centre is a world-famous arts centre on the South Bank of the Thames offering a wide range of cultural events. See music, dance, art, performance and spoken word. Take part in free activities and events and enjoy a wide range of restaurants, cafes, shops and markets.
Every year, more than 1,000 musicians and artists perform to 22 million visitors, making this one of the most popular cultural destinations in the country. We hold different festivals throughout the year.
Created in 1951 for the Festival of Britain, Southbank Centre has grown as a festival site, with art and activities inside and outside. We encourage everyone to become involved in the arts in new and creative ways.
This content has been supplied by Southbank Centre
Venue Details & Map
Southbank Centre
- Address
Belvedere RoadLondonSE1 8XX
- Telephone:
- 0844 847 9910
- Email:
- email@example.com
- Website:
- http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk
- Public transport:
- Underground and Rail Stations: Waterloo, Embankment, Charing Cross, Waterloo East. Buses stop on Waterloo Bridge, on York Road, on Belvedere Road and on Stamford Street.
Facilities & Accessibility
- Accessible Bathroom Facilities
- Designated wheelchair accessible public toilet
- Some toilets with handrails
- Accessible Venue Facilities
- Level access, ramp or lift to dining area
- Level access, ramp or lift to restaurant or cafe
- Level access, ramp or lift to the bar
- Level access, ramp or lift to the lounge
- Level access, ramp or lift to the shop
- Accessible Communication Facilities
- Audible alarm system
- Clear signage (colour contrast, large letters or pictograms)
- Hearing loop system
- Information available in audio format
- Information available in braille
- Information available in large print
- Visual alarm system
- Accessible Venue Facilities
- Assistance dogs welcome
- Emergency evacuation procedures for guests with disabilities
- Staff available to assist
- Staff disability awareness trained
- Wheelchairs available free of charge
- Access into the Building
- Assisted wheelchair access
- Automatic doors
- Flat routes from parking area to entrance
- Full, non-assisted wheelchair access
- Ramps from parking area to entrance
- Additional Accessible Facilities
- Accessible baby changing rooms
- Level access, ramp or lift from entrance to reception
- Level access, ramp or lift to garden
- Level access, ramp or lift to information point
- Level access, ramp or lift to ticket issuing point
- Low payment counters
- Low reception or information counters
- Accessible Parking Facilities
- Blue badge parking available
- Designated disabled parking available within fifty metres of main entrance
- Drop-off point for guests available outside main entrance
- Public car park available within two hundred metres of main entrance
- Access Inside Building Facilities
- Accessible lift
- Effective lighting throughout for visually impaired users
- Lift buttons with raised numbers or letters
- Lift with spoken announcements on arrival at each floor
- Ramps with handrail within building
- Ramps within building
- Some routes suitable for wheelchair users
- Some routes with tactile features for visually impaired users
- Steps with handrail within building
- Steps within building
- Attraction Facilities
- Gift shop
- Indoors
- Outdoors
- Patron toilets
- Public toilets
- Booking Facilities
- Coach parties accepted
- Group bookings accepted
- Catering Facilities
- Bar
- Cafe
- Event catering
- Food shop
- Halal options on menu
- Kosher options on menu
- Nut-free option on menu
- Outdoor dining / Beer garden
- Picnic site
- Private Dining
- Restaurant
- Set price menu
- Theatre menu
- Vegetarian options on menu
- Event Facilities
- In house AV available
- Available for wedding receptions
- Breakout Rooms
- Conference rooms / Meeting rooms
- Event facilities
- Licenced for civil marriages
- Civil Partnership licence held
- Raked or tiered seating offered
- Trade vehicle access
- Wedding service
- General Facilities
- Internet access
- Lifts
- On site parking
- Good views
- Wi-Fi access
- Payment Facilities
- Credit cards accepted
- Debit cards accepted
- Free entry
- Group rates available


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- AM FM Radios
- Antennas
- WiFi & Internet
- Audio
- LED Light
- Emergency Supplies
- Closeouts
Prices shown in currencies other than US Dollars are estimates based on current exchange rates. We will charge your credit card in US Dollars on the day your order is shipped, and the conversion to your local currency will be done at the prevailing rate by your credit card issuer.
C. Crane will not mark your parcel as a "gift", declare a value lower than the actual price paid, or otherwise prepare false customs information.
You may have noticed this new acronym popping up on some of our products. RoHS stands for Restrictions on Hazardous Substances, and it's a directive that could have a huge impact on the production and disposal of consumer electronics. First adopted in Europe in 2006 (and later adopted in California in 2007), RoHS restricts the use of six dangerous substances in lots of common electronics. According to the official RoHS compliance Web site (www.rohs.eu), the RoHS symbol indicates that "new electrical and electronic equipment put on the market does not contain any of the six banned substances: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, poly-brominated biphenyls (PBB) or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), in quantities exceeding maximum concentration values."
While some military and medical equipment is exempt from RoHS compliance, the electronics governed by the standard are among the most common you'll find in your home, from radios to MP3 players to cell phones and (increasingly) computers. In practical terms, the standard protects factory workers at the production level, sharply reducing their exposure to hazardous substances. The standard also has a profound impact on the disposal and recycling of electronics, in that disposed substances will no longer have at least six of the most hazardous chemicals formerly found in electronics, and recycled electronics will not expose workers to toxics as they harvest components.
The Sync Digital AM/FM Radio Noise-Reducing Earmuffs are durable, comfortable and easy to use. The earmuffs have 10 memory presets and an AUX jack with auto detect for audio devices. The adjustable, padded headband and padded earpieces make them convenient during long hours of listening and they fold for easy storage. Over 100 hours of battery life on 2 AA batteries (included).
They have a noise reduction rating of 25 decibels so you'll have plenty of hearing protection while operating noisy equipment or while having fun with a scanner radio at the races. C. Crane has tested perhaps all earphone radios available and these ones are very good and currently the best we've found. With the Howard Leight earmuffs you will enjoy your listening experience that much more.
We received our first shipment of the new Howard Leight AM/FM Earmuffs in late 2013. So you won't be surprised or disappointed, we wanted to let you know of two minor issues:
Howard Leight is aware of these two issues and has stated they will be corrected in late 2014. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Earmuffs weight: 9.6 ozs. (without batteries)
|Download Time
|Howard Leight Sync Digital AM/FM Radio Noise Reducing Earmuffs Manual
|04:16 @ 56kBps


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DROITWICH Athletics Club has organised a race along the town's towpaths as part of this year's Salt Day festival.
The event, which will raise funds for the Murray's Muscles charity, will take place on Sunday, September 16 and will be held along with a family walk.
The run will start at 10.30am in Vines Park before finishing at the same location. Runners will get bangers and mash after completing the nine mile challenge and a post-race massage.
Entry costs £14 in advance and £15 on the day.
The family walk will start at 1pm and go from Vines Park to the Gardeners Arms pub. Entry costs £8 for adults and £5 for juniors and includes cream tea at the pub.
Entry forms and more information can be found at droitwichac.co.uk


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Bollywood produces the most movies in the world. Hollywood is known as the planet's entertainment capital. But there is a sleeping giant in the entertainment industry — New York City.
Being the biggest city in the world, New York was the setting of a multitude of shows, but not their home: Seinfeld, Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond all shot 3,000 miles away from where they were located. Even now How I Met Your Mother, Mad Men and CSI: New York film in California.
But within the last decade, there has been a New York renaissance in production not seen in a century.
The television boom over the past 10 years has seen the number of series filmed here more than triple. Twenty-three series filmed in New York City throughout the 2011-12 television season, including, Boardwalk Empire, The Good Wife and Law & Order: SVU.
Besides the shows that film in NYC exclusively, more than 100 television shows and movies have used the beautiful backdrop of New York City over the past year and the city revels in a entertainment production revival.
"With our beautiful city, talented workforce and the assistance offered by our 'Made in NY' program, New York City has surpassed all previous records for film and television production," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
New York is now becoming a first choice when deciding where to film, according to insiders, and at the center of the record boom is western Queens' Silvercup Studios and
Kaufman Astoria Studios and Brooklyn's Steiner Studios.
Kaufman originally opened in 1920 as Astoria Studios, and quickly became the mecca of the silent film era. Upon America's entrance into World War II, the studio was taken over by the U.S. Signal Corps. and became known as the Army Pictorial Center where armed forces training films were shot.
The building eventually fell into disuse and disrepair until 1977's production of The Wiz featuring Michael Jackson. It was fully renovated and revived in 1980 after the sale of the lot to George S. Kaufman. Since its rebirth, some of the biggest stars have passed through the studios doors. Al Pacino, Meryl Streep and Big Bird have called Kaufman Astoria Studio home, while Glengarry Glen Ross, Scent of a Woman and The Cosby Show were filmed there.
Out of a former flour silo rose the next great NYC studio, Silvercup Studios. The Long Island City studio opened in 1983 and quickly established itself as the largest independent, full-service film and television production facility in the Northeast. It has shot such classics as When Harry Met Sally, The Sopranos and City Hall. Currently, the stars of Gossip Girl, 30 Rock and Person of Interest call it home.
The "largest and most sophisticated studio complex outside of Hollywood," Steiner Studios opened in the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 2004. It has played host to Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio and Angelina Jolie. The studio's lot has been used by Sex and the City, American Gangster and Spiderman 3.
The shows may use the studios to shoot much of the show, but filming in the city allows them to use it as a backdrop whenever they see fit. And it's not just a quick exterior establishing shot of NYC, You no longer have to watch a "New York" show like Seinfeld and see the characters walk down the same fake city street in every episode. Instead, you have Alec Baldwin in Rockefeller Center, or Blake Lively in Central Park, or Zach Galifianakis exploring Manhattan, it gives the show an authenticity that is impossible to reproduce on a set.
Seeing the characters outside a pizzeria that you've gone into, brings realism to the show. It's not Central Perk on Friends, it's New Roma Pizza on How to Make It in America.
New York isn't resting on its record breaking laurels, either.
"New York City is a television town, and we're thrilled that we broke records for television production in 2011," said Office of Media & Entertainment commissioner Katherine Oliver. "The mayor's Office of Media & Entertainment is committed to working hard to make sure that the industry continues to grow and expand in 2012."
And it's not just the sheer number of shows being produced, it's good television. Last year, city productions earned 110 Emmy nominations, winning 23 awards.
It's exciting to recognize the locales used during the shows, but even more exciting could be recognizing yourself or one of your friends in the background. In 2011, more than 11,000 extras were hired on the television shows shot in the city.
So, with the productions multiplying exponentially, it may be only a matter of time before you find yourself watching yourself on the screen.


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- September 22: Mercedes-Benz Musty Smell Lawsuit Filed in Georgia news | 4 days ago
- August 29: Mercedes-Benz AMG GLE43 Vehicles Recalled For Engine Shutdowns recalls | 28 days ago
- August 27: Mercedes-Benz Heated Seats Will Be Repaired After Lawsuit news | 30 days ago
- August 12: Daimler Recalls Sprinter 2500 and 3500 Vans Over Takata Airbags recalls | 45 days ago
- August 3: Smart Fortwo Cars Recalled Over Rollaway Dangers recalls | 54 days ago
2002 Mercedes-Benz S600
electrical Problems
Worst 2002 S600 electrical Problems
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- NHTSA: Electrical System: Ignition1
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Is this early enough notice for you Minnelli fans? Liza hits the road this summer and slowly makes her way to play the Meyerson October 8 and 9. So Dallas gets a double dose of the non-diva diva.
Personally, I hope she plays the heck out of her Pet Shop Boys-produced Results album. That CD is still amazing 21 years later. Her quirky image was even retooled for the videos into a more sultry look as you can see in the video above for "So Sorry, I Said."
Ah, those were the days.


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Speedskating Coach Is Accused of Abuse
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Five Olympic medalists and other current and former members of the U.S. speedskating team filed complaints accusing head coach Jae Su Chun of "unchecked" verbal, physical and psychological abuse.
Nineteen athletes filed a wide-ranging grievance against U.S. Speedskating and 14 signed a complaint with the U.S. Olympic Committee. The Chicago Tribune and Salt Lake Tribune reported on the accusations.
Attorney Edward Williams, who represents the skaters, said the abuse was "outrageous."
The code of conduct complaint accuses Chun of slamming an athlete against a wall and repeatedly hitting him, throwing bottles and chairs at skaters, and repeatedly telling female skaters they were "fat" and "disgusting."
Going Outside Title IX to Keep Coach-Athlete Relationships in Bounds
Coach-athlete "romances" are the dirty little secrets of sport. No one wants to talk about them. Now and then, a high profile scandal rips through the headlines—as when University of North Carolina's legendary soccer coach, Anson Dorrance, was accused of sexually harassing his players.
1 On these infrequent occasions, the glare of the media spotlight forces a brief period of introspection about the proper boundaries of the coach-athlete relationship. Even then, it is mostly the extreme allegations that garner attention—conduct clearly identifiable as sexual harassment, especially if it involves a sexual assault. In the case of Coach Dorrance, the complained-of behaviors were verbal and did not involve physical advances; 2 the notoriety of the case stemmed from the coach's fame and track record and its addition to a small handful of reported court decisions involving coach-athlete sexual harassment in intercollegiate sports.3 Absent headline-grabbing scandals, however, coach-athlete relationships are rarely examined for their impact on womens sports and athlete well-being. This is largely because they do not come within the ambit of Title IX, which sets the agenda for conversations about gender equity in sport.


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|Home > Guides > Migration Guide > Release Notes 2.0.14
These are the notes for the Struts 2.0.14 distribution.
Struts 2.0.14 is a bugfix release for version 2.0.12, which, among others, provided important security fixes for the vulnerabilities described in S2-003 and S2-004.
Struts 2.0.14 fixes two bugs introduced with the fixes for S2-003 and S2-004, keeping the FilterDispatcher from serving built in static resources, and keeping conversion error messages from being displayed.
All users are strongly encouraged to upgrade to Struts 2.0.14.
For prior notes in this release series, see Release Notes 2.0.13


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Stephanie Executive Director/Vice President, Marketing Communication Executive Office Division, New York
There is no such thing as a "typical" day here. I find this to be one of the most rewarding aspects of the job.
I never imagined I'd be working on Wall Street. As a Psychology major, I was under the common misconception that in order to excel in finance—let alone at a firm like Goldman Sachs—I had to be a Finance or Business or Economics major. However, that myth was quickly debunked as I met and interviewed with employees whose undergraduate degrees ranged from history and Spanish to engineering and biology. I realized that while there were indeed many individuals at the firm with finance-oriented backgrounds, there was significant opportunity for those with a liberal arts education as well.
I initially learned about the firm's summer internship opportunities during my sophomore year in college through a recruiting event on campus. I applied through Goldman Sachs' Scholarship for Excellence process and, after about a dozen interviews, was awarded the scholarship and given an offer to join Private Wealth Management (PWM).
After spending a summer in PWM, I expressed interest to my recruiter in joining Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM), specifically the institutional marketing team. I had met with members of the team during my PWM summer and was very interested in what they did. When I was on campus my junior year, I was asked to return the following summer to intern with the institutional marketing team. The rest is history! I was offered a full-time position and accepted it on the spot. I did not interview anywhere else.
Getting Started at Goldman Sachs
When I started at the firm, I was immediately impressed by the work ethic of all those around me. The people at Goldman Sachs are truly committed to achieving excellence in all that they do and their passion to over-deliver and exceed expectations becomes contagious. Furthermore, the collaborative environment fosters strong relationships among individuals and teams, and as a result, creates a truly unique culture. I was particularly amazed by the willingness of individuals to provide advice and offer insight into their respective businesses.
Working in Investment Management
I work on the institutional strategic marketing team within Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM). We specialize in developing marketing strategies to help our sales force position GSAM's products and services. We execute these strategies through a variety of initiatives, including marketing literature, strategic campaigns, product positioning and new product launches, client communications, educational forums, website development and public relations. Our clients are institutional investors including corporations, public pension plans, insurance companies, financial institutions, endowments, foundations and unions.
The most interesting element of my job is the broad exposure that I gain from our group's unique position as a bridge between the investment teams and our sales force. When developing and executing our marketing strategies and initiatives, we engage and coordinate with a number of businesses, including portfolio management, product development, sales, client service, legal and compliance. As a result, we develop strong relationships with individuals across the firm and gain insight into different aspects of their businesses.
There is no such thing as a "typical" day here. I find this to be one of the most rewarding aspects of the job, as I enjoy the dynamic nature of what I do. A portion of each day is spent focused on our strategic initiatives and campaigns while another portion is spent supporting sales and client service professionals by assisting them in responding to client requests and pursuing sales leads. One of the most challenging parts for me is balancing the two – or, what my manager would refer to as our "Inbox-Outbox" workflow.
As with any major marketing initiative, the work we do is very team-based and every person is actively involved. From the idea generation phase to the actual execution of a campaign or event, we work in an extremely collaborative fashion. I've found that the best ideas come to life this way.
Career Development
I've found there to be many resources available at the firm to facilitate my personal and professional growth, including training opportunities, service projects, recruiting trips and mentorship roles. For employees interested in enhancing certain skills or broadening their industry knowledge, Goldman Sachs University provides several training opportunities and educational sessions where senior investment professionals from across the firm give presentations on their respective businesses. I've found these to be an excellent way to expand my knowledge of the business as well as network with colleagues across various areas.
Giving Back
There are a number of ways to stay active outside of your day-to-day role. For example, following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in New Orleans, I travelled with a group of Goldman Sachs volunteers to assist in the Gulf Coast recovery and rebuilding efforts. I've also become an active member of my university's recruiting team and serve as a junior mentor to two summer analysts each year.
For those considering a career in finance, my advice would be to ask a lot of questions! No question is a stupid one, but, at the same time, do your research. You want to demonstrate that you've made a concerted effort to acquire as much knowledge about the business on your own. Leverage others to fill in any gaps or to talk you through challenging concepts. The best way to stay up to speed is to keep abreast of the latest market trends, the economic environment, timely business news and current events. The more information with which you equip yourself, the more prepared you will be to engage in intellectually rich conversations and to ask intelligent questions.