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Am I the Next Step in Human Evolution?
Discussion of everything related to the Theory of Evolution.
Moderator: BioTeam
Am I the Next Step in Human Evolution?
I think I am the next step in human evolution. I will list some of the reasons that I believe this:
- I age much slower than anyone else I know. My bone structure, amount of facial/body hair, and social reasoning ability are all at the level of a 17 year old, whereas I am currently 20 years old. I have always lagged behind my peers physically and I have reason to believe that this will continue throughout my lifetime causing me to live and retain youthfulness for longer. Recent studies have found specific mutations in many different species that produce this slow-aging effect; it has been found in humans aswell but is extremely rare.
- I am more intelligent than most other humans. My intellect has granted me the title of "gifted", and has often left me feeling out of place with people my age. I think in very theoretical terms and am very capable with logical thinking. My mind works faster than I can express myself, thus leading to difficulty in conversation and writing, but causing me to excel in other areas such as math and computer programming.
- I am much taller than the average human. I am 6'4" which is a full foot taller than the mean of 5'4". I can draw parallels between less intelligent, (and now extinct) stocky Neanderthals and the taller, more intelligent (and very successful) Homo Sapiens.
- My immune system is superior. I spent a period of 6 months in South-east asia where everyone was wearing breathing masks due to rampant disease, and people were constantly getting sick. I got strep throat for a couple days but was otherwise healthy the whole time. I wasn't playing it safe at all, everyone else who I was with got sick for long periods of time at one point or another. That's the only time I've been ill in many years. The last time I got sick before that was when I was a child still in grade-school.
- My metabolism is much faster than most people. I (used to) eat greater amounts of food than a lot of people (even overweight people) and never seemed to gain weight. I've always been incredibly lean. Plus, I digest food faster than I've been told I should. I believe that superior uptake of minerals and nutrients into my cells may also contribute to the slow aging I described earlier.
- I am many times stronger than I look. As I've said, I'm very lean and I don't have a lot of muscle mass. But I often surprise people with my level of strength and have even beaten boxers and other strong-looking people at arm wrestling and other feats of strength. A recent study on mice have found a mutation that allowed certain mutants to run up to 50% faster and for 20 minutes longer than orinary mice (20 minutes is a long time for an animal who's maximum recored lifespan is 4 years). They didn't require any more food and looked very much the same as the normal mice. Maybe this isn't the same, but its evidence that simple genetic mutations can produce vastly superior physical traits.
- My eyesight is greater than average. I've never acually been tested exactly (because it's been beneficial and never a problem), but I'm able to see things and read signs much further away than people even with "perfect" 20/20 vision.
I believe that human evolution is shifting towards a human of greater intelligence and longevity and I'm pretty sure I'm a stepping stone above the rest in the advancement of human evolution. I would like to share this with someone - preferably an evolutionary biologist or someone with equal knowledge of evolution. I would be happy to take part in studies to further human knowledge in this area, but am unsure about how to approach something like this. All I'm looking for here is input and discussion on this subject, and similar stories if anyone out there has one. Thanks for your time.
late pubescence and bighead, combination not seen often, is it?
If you're so intelligent, are you already finished with University at your age? Did you do already some real research or just chating online?
If you're so intelligent, you could use metric system as rest of the world. Anyway, I'm about 1.95 m (so probably even taller than you ) and I'm not even extra tall in comparison to other people.
yep, I've spend 3 months in Japan during the bird-flu break and didn't get sick either. I'm usually dressed little less than others, does that make me superior? Not really, just little weatherproof.
Since my childhood I've been said I must have tapeworm, since I eat so much and am so slight Am I superior? Cool! Although I think that's rather disadvantage.
Cis or trans? That's what matters.
I had a lot of things typed up, but decided against it. There were also a lot of tangents. I will sum it all up into a sentence or two for each part. And do not take offense.
Aging slowly - Can be good or bad, but there is no evidence to suggest it is good, or that you are aging slowly. It also has to occur on a large scale, it will be unnoticeable otherwise. So it is irrelevant.
Intelligence - You lack other abilities which seem to be what our species requires. Intelligence is great for science, and therefore us if you accomplish anything, but it is irrelevant to us as a species otherwise. If you have both, that's great for society, if you do anything with it.
Height - Good and bad, as well. Being taller seems to come with more cardiac problems, the heart works harder, though it more noticeable in those with gigantism. Being taller is irrelevant. Someone shorter than you can be more adaptive, and therefore you are maldaptive and inferior. Having more of something doesn't mean you are better.
Immune system - Can be good or bad, having a superior one. Some theories suggests, for instance, have a tapewarm is an adaptive quality, because it lowers our immune system. It is believed that our immune systems are too powerful, currently. There are other theories with other parasites, bacteria, etc along with it. The immunology subject is really too large to be summarized to something this short (For instance, taking immunology in college would take you at least two semesters, depending).
Metabolism - Great, but can be good or bad. If the temperatures for the planet drop ~10C, that's bad for you, because you need more weight, in general. Granted, humans live in houses/shelter. But still. There are other reasons for having some weight, but more for the ability to put on weight. Those with that capability are more adaptive than you. The reverse can be true, too. Reiterating... that's not a step in evolution.
Strength - Irrelevant, again. It is impossible to say whether it is adaptive or maladaptive. It is great to have, but is it a progressive step, something that would become the norm in humans? Who knows. Unless there is a life-threatening reason for it, it won't matter.
Eyesight - Is great, but irrelevant unless having a better eyesight than 20/20 is required. Again, not a step.
Evolution is more complicated than simply having better of something that we currently have. Unless there is a reason for having it, none of it matters. It does not mean you are superior to anyone. You could be inferior to someone shorter, less strength, etc.
Also, there are no steps in evolution in that way you use it, as everyone is a step toward evolution. It just matters what traits are needed to survive or not. Furthermore, nothing in evolution is fact or for certain. There is also no need to evolve, no force exerted by us or any other factor, nothing. It simply happens because the traits allow that individual to survive. Nothing is decided, either. Humans can be selective for traits, picking what they want, but as for evolution, it is irrelevant.
As for a personal touch - My father has a high IQ. My brother does as well. They are both considered geniuses. My mother is gifted. My IQ is superior to my family. My father is an engineer and major in the U.S. Army Reserve. My brother... is lazy. He does nothing but play video games. That is not a quality someone should find attractive. He is trying to go to community college in the spring, so at least that is a good thing.
As for myself, I am a lot of things, as stated in my sig. I enjoy science. I also enjoy anthropology. Intelligence is something I do not lack, but while great for my work and etc, what relevance does it have to being a new step in evolution? Of course, as I stated, all things are a step, but in particular, what is so great about my intelligence that it would be what our species depends on? Not much, really.
I am of average height, but I do not need to be taller, there is no reason for it. My immune system is fine, I rarely get sick, but does it make that much of a difference? I am not sure, really. Not as far as evolution is concerned, that is.
My metabolism is fine, but I put on weight. There's reasons for it I won't discuss at the moment, but does having a higher metabolism matter that much, without a reason for it? Not in our society.
And I could go on with all the traits that I have, all of them coming down to... Are they required for survival or not? Do my traits mater in the long run?
As a species, some anthropologists debate on whether we are evolving or not. Obviously we are, it's always happening. But what I mean is how much of change. There isn't really a need right now for any trait over the other. We're pretty stagnant as a species. If we were out in the wild, evolution would be more obvious. But currently, with all that we have, there's not that many large changes. Nothing that would majorly matter. At least in my opinion.
I guess it could all be down to... Why do you think any of those traits would be beneficial to a species?
I am a biologist, biological anthropologist, physicist, theoretical physicist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist... I am a scientist. Dammit, Jim, stop pestering Dr. McCoy!
Re: Am I the Next Step in Human Evolution?
I've only recently discovered that I fit the profile of a gifted person. I've spent most of my life isolating myself from others because I felt different and have always assumed I was bad or wrong or something. It turns out that almost every social problem I've ever had was due to the fact that my mental age was far ahead of my peers; if you google "problems gifted children face" you'll find basically the definition of my entire childhood. I've never been able to fully utilize my potential because of many of these problems, but that doesn't mean that I don't have genetically impressive mental capabilities. I haven't finished university; I actually dropped out because I found my classes too easy. I already know a lot of the information they teach in many subjects up to the 3rd year level and find it nearly impossible to sit through the really slow-paced lectures. I'm currently in the process of setting myself up as an entrepreneur and am planning on finishing my education on-line so that I can move at the faster speed that I naturally work at.
Intelligence and the system of measurement I use have absolutely no correlation. I am Canadian, and we do use the metric system, however for some reason when we talk about our height we still use the imperial system. I am 1.93 metres tall, so yes you are slightly taller than me, well done. You say you aren't tall compared to others? 95% of the world's population is shorter than 190cm, which means that you and I are in the tallest 5%.
Japan is a first-world country with vastly superior medical technology and expertise compared with Malaysia. Plus the bird flu really wasn't the only concern while I was there, disease was everywhere and hygiene was terrible. But I only mentioned that trip because that is the only time I've been sick since I was a young child, and I wanted to explain the situation a little. I wasn't trying to impress anyone by saying I survived a trip to South-East Asia.
How is that a disadvantage? Having efficient nutrient intake is a very advantageous ability. There are some people that gain weight, and are unable to stay healthy despite eating healthy and exercising. I don't really do either and yet I've got very low cholesterol, have a healthy body-mass index, low blood-pressure, etc. That doesn't seem like an advantage?
Re: Am I the Next Step in Human Evolution?
Not at all! The only reason I came here was to have a discussion, the more you disagree the greater the learning opportunity. I'm glad you took the time to write so much.
Aging slowly isn't necessarily good for animal species, since overpopulation can lead to food shortages and eventually extinction of a species. This may eventually be the fate of humankind as well, but I'm optimistic and can see our species overcoming these limitations. Regardless, when I say "evolutionary step forward" I'm talking about desirable genetic advancements. Things that we would wish on ourselves. I suppose that this doesn't exactly fit with the Darwinian definition of evolution, but we are a very different species than the other animals of this planet. How we evolve now (at least the way I see it) is really not for survival any more, but for our own betterment as individuals. If I look like a 30 year old when I'm 40, I will have much better chances of finding mates and passing on my genes. As for the lack of evidence that I myself am aging slowly, you're right, I don't really have any. I've recently watched a TED talk by Cynthia Kenyon who has discovered a simple genetic mutation existing in many species that has the potential to almost double lifespan (not just by delaying death, but actually slowing the aging process altogether). She found that certain human populations have this mutation and are generally the ones living to be older than 100. I don't know for sure if this is relevant to the evolution of humankind, but I'd like to think it is.
When you say I lack other abilities, what are you referring to? Was it the fact that I said that I have difficulty with conversation and writing? I guess I should have explained a little bit. I write better than most people I know, but I dislike it because there is no certainty whereas in mathematics and computer programming there is a clearly defined right and wrong. I also generally think of multiple things to write but can only get one thought down before another few ideas crop up. So even though I can write well, I don't write to the standard I wish I could. And as for conversation, I have amazing discussions with the few people I know who are intelligent enough to keep up with me, but most people just make small-talk and really aren't that interesting, it's them who I have trouble talking to. Again, you mention that it's irrelevant for us as a species, but is it really? We have put ourselves on a path that seems very likely to end in the extinction of most species on earth, including us. The only foreseeable way off of this path is for us to figure out how to overcome it. We need to learn and discover and think to survive. We may one day expand to other planets in order to combat problems like overpopulation and dwindling resources. Even before we can accomplish this we will likely need to find solutions to other issues that will plague us further in the future. These are things that we need great intellect for, and I believe that we need to become smarter as a species to make these dreams a reality.
You're totally right, the height thing really doesn't have many evident advantages. I guess I just mentioned it because it's one more thing that sets me apart, and I'm really just curious if it has any ties to the other traits I've mentioned. I wasn't trying to say that I'm better I was just looking for input as to whether or not this was significant.
I confess I don't know a whole lot about immunology, but I have a hard time believing that one can have too powerful an immune system. The greater the immune system, the fewer the diseases, the higher the rate of survival, no?
Yes, if the temperature of the planet drops 10 degrees, then a lot of **** is going to go down. We and all other species on earth are adapted to the current environment, so if that happened there would be problems for every species. However, I should point out that I live in Canada where it is very cold, and I have no problem surviving. Humankind has overcome the problem of cold through superior intellect. But having a higher metabolism is beneficial in the current environment, and in the current society. It allows me to live a more relaxing lifestyle while still being able to attract mates and reproduce frequently (not that I am reproducing frequently, but you see my point). Modern society values health and body-shape, and therefore those that are naturally healthy and lean have greater Darwinian fitness. Beyond this though, high metabolism is just good for health and life, it increases energy during the day, makes for better sleep at night, and helps prevent excess fat build-up.
I can't see a way that having greater strength with less required energy or training is maladaptive. You say its great to have, so therefore wouldn't it be something that people would look for in mates? I don't believe that there needs to be life-threatening reasons for natural selection. Mating choice plays a prominent role. But when it comes to life-threatening situations, when would having superior natural strength put you at a disadvantage? If you fall off a cliff but grab on to the edge just in time, that extra strength could save your life. Or in a war, where thousands of people die, those who are stronger are much more likely to survive. Strength may not play the biggest role in natural selection, but it is definitely a factor.
You're right, better eyesight is not required. But it is helpful. I'm sure it means the difference in many driving or hunting accidents. Even if a few people live because of better eyesight then it has affected the evolution of the species.
I understand that evolution is complicated, but the general trend in evolution is betterment of the species through mutation. You seem to define evolution as something that increases the survival of the species as a whole, but there is more to it than that. If a single individual has greater chances of reproduction because of a genetic mutation, then that mutation can and will play a role in the future evolution of that species (as long as that trait can be passed along).
People with exceptional intelligence are often underachievers who have trouble functioning in society. I've been the same way for a lot of my life. This is due mostly to the fact that society is built a certain way for a certain group of people, and if you don't lie within that group you are going to struggle. One analogy would be to let a family of monkeys raise a human child. That human child has the capability of being much more intelligent than the monkeys but it will probably grow up have serious mental issues and won't ever be able to live up to its full potential. This is much more extreme than a gifted human being raised in and around average humans, but it still works.
Anyway, I've probably gone into way too much detail in this reply. Don't feel that you need to respond in kind, I just enjoy discussing these things.
Two of you here claim superior intelligence. I have a question for you about longevity.
Longevity has two components – genetic and environmental. IamAnAlien said
"I believe that human evolution is shifting towards a human of greater intelligence and longevity".
How do you know how much of the apparent increase in life span is due to genetic changes (product of evolution) and how much is due to environmental conditions (lessening of negative selection pressures)? Isn't it just as possible that if you were to transplant a newborn from 300 years ago into today's society, he/she would live much longer than average of our time?
I don't claim superior intelligence, but tests suggest I am. I know that I know more academics and etc than most people, but I don't think I am more intelligent. I hate even saying I am smart, because unless prompted, I act like a goofball. I don't take life seriously unless there is a reason.
As for the quote you selected from Alien - What reason would intelligence and longevity have for being traits that are being selected for? I, personally and many anthropologists believe, that we are at a point currently where we are, reiterating, stagnant. We will see localized changes, but nothing as a species. And with so many people of varying intelligence who are allowed to breed, why would intelligence become a trait? We're not competing. The same can perhaps be said of an increased lifespan, where does it matter? If you live to 100, what does it matter? It does nothing for you or anything else, especially for women since they can no longer reproduce. And as Cat says, to which I vehemently agree, there are environmental factors to account for. I think currently it is mostly environmental. And how often does a person reach the oldest age they can before succumbing to any disease or anything else? I don't think it matters much anymore, how long a person lives.
As for Cat - Nothing much at all, except for they may be slightly shorter, but it wouldn't be noticeable really, IMO. I cannot speak about the difference in genetics, I tried to look for it while typing this, even speaking to some of my colleagues, and we cannot decide what would be different. There are small changes, such as immunology, etc. But we don't think you'd notice anything. And there are vaccines and etc today. Like I said earlier, many anthropologists feel we are stagnant. But at the same time, evolution on a large scale is slow. And the way we are, it slows it even more.
I am a biologist, biological anthropologist, physicist, theoretical physicist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist... I am a scientist. Dammit, Jim, stop pestering Dr. McCoy!
Re: Am I the Next Step in Human Evolution?
In my point of view you're just a bumptious human.
The most difficult step is first step.
Cyrus The Great ,Most powerful and well known Iranian emperor
am I the next step in human evolution
When we have all these companies playing with chemicals and altering the food for us and the animals that supply us with products which we depend on to live, we have to include this also as a factor for your so called "Evolution". I see chemicals introduced into all kinds of livestock, our foods and even our baby formulas that tamper with our biological make up more and more. I say you can not say we are "evolving" when we ourselves are tampering with factors,including our food, our environment, ourselves, that interrupts this process that most of you guys so valiantly defend with your pride. If we have "evolved" into anything, it would be we have to be a disease to the Earth. We are continuously striving for this "God status" of all knowing with immortality , when all along forgetting where we came from. We truly are a species with amnesia. We have also forgotten what science is all about. It is quite simply, the finding of what is truth and what is false in our rationing. And whats more, we are a poor example of "Evolution" but yet our schools and our so called "scientists" refuse to look at what is obvious because of, in my opinion, pride. There is so much that we would have to rewrite and admit that we are so wrong. What happened to the old saying "To err is human"? I do not have a fancy college degree nor do I have vast knowledge in any scientific field and I am very thankful for that. I am not caged and boxed in, nor do I have a perimeter which I have to limit myself to think. I am a free thinker who, once again; in my opinion, a true scientist. I have no quarrels to admit if I'm wrong or not. I want to know the truth. I want to know the true hows and whys and not some BS that some college professor told me. I refuse to believe that we came from nothing, that all of this immense universe just happened. Does the Chaos Theory apply here? In every thread that I read on here, I noted many, many factors that no one even thought to include in their replies. And the biggest and foremost factor is US. We have tampered with so much that we have diluted and tainted our own rationing to the point that the big debate of "Evolution or Adaptation " is irrelevant. Why is it that we can look at statue and realize that intelligence created that. Then we can look at a canyon and realize there is no recognizable pattern there therefore, nature created it. Why is it that we know the odds are slim to none, as to throw letters up in the air and when they hit the ground a word would form...let alone a complete sentence or better yet a book and whats more a library. But yet you want me to believe that outta of random circumstances, and by pure chance, DNA contains all the information that a cell structure needs to form a living, animated being. We know better and our logic rationalize this, and we have that ability to logically think this through. We have that kind of processing power to figure that out. But it seems that our damned prides just get in the way to even toy with the notion that something more intelligent than us could might have actually created all of this. No... we have this need, built into us, (the God gene) to think that there is no one or thing out there that is smarter then us. Uncanny, to think that science refuses to acknowledge a higher intelligence but yet strives for that very thing. To all "scientists",in every field, I challenge you to find out how "Evolution" created all this incredible library of info that it takes to create Life. And then if you luck out on that, figure out what actually caused the "Big Bang". There are so many Lorenz Attractors in both of these questions, that it would be the ultimate achievement for any and all.
I have no problem with what you said, Ski. In fact, I feel that way a lot of the time.
And to keep this short, the M-Theory is what is believed to caused not just one big bang, but many. That said, what developed these dimensions for the M-Theory? It''s continuously coming to the same question. "What preceded this?"
I am a biologist, biological anthropologist, physicist, theoretical physicist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist... I am a scientist. Dammit, Jim, stop pestering Dr. McCoy!
The M-Theory is an excellent proposal to try and tie up the loose ends, so to speak. But as you, and I for that matter, asked; What preceded this? What caused these strings to collide to began with. And what is actually contain with in these different dimensions. What I'm trying to get at is... what does an eleven sided cube look like? LOL I completely agree with parallel dimensions and with that, the possibilities of existing beings to occupy these dimensions. If I was building something, I would need some type of skeletal structure that would reinforce my structure so it would not collapse within itself. I believe theses strands collide all the time, by the decisions we make. But, thats on a spiritual level, which I feel that is thoroughly involved within these inner dimensions that are put forth. If we can come up with these ideas, whats wrong with being able to say that other beings can come up with the same idea. And if thats the case, maybe their intelligence is way far more advanced then ours. Its the same as saying I know this one guy and his thought process is way more then I can fathom. Am I jealous or do I feel inferior to him? Maybe, but I would want to learn from him. I feel it is time we realize that we need to start to look at things more closer in the obvious way. If we look back into history, it is arrogant for us to say that past civilizations weren't as advanced as ours. They have built massive monuments that have with stood from their time to ours. Their structures incorporate technologies that still baffle us. Now, what do we have? Mt. Rushmore? And 3000 yrs from now, if the Earth has not ravaged Mt. Rushmore, they might be able to look at it and say intelligence built that. I have looked into things deeply and tried to say well we'll figure out how they did it. Science will solve this one, but we are still no closer on this than we were when we first looked at them. If we could open our minds up a lil more and include the factor that they might have been more advanced then we give them credit or that they might have had a lil help from other sources. We would see that it opens many possibilities. Where is the artifacts and records of this? Good questions. But I read, everyday, about how governments and churches have shut down this dig and have confiscated this find and denied this dig. This is our world and need to know and have these artifacts so we can start understanding ourselves and the universe we live in better and more completely. All I really ask for is for all to not think just inside the box but also outside, also. If we propose and accept the possibilities of new dimensions then whats wrong with the thought of manipulation of these dimensions also. Are we not tampering with genetics? Maybe someone else was tampering with dimensions long before we were thought up, oops sorry...before we evolved. LOL Just a thought.
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Thomas Alvin Templeton, Kenosha, W( (1965-2014)
April 12,1965 - April 11, 2014
Thomas Alvin Templeton, Jr., 48, of Kenosha, WI, a former Janesville area resident, passed away unexpectedly at his home on Friday, April 11, 2014. He was born on April 12,1965, in Stoughton, WI, the son of Thomas A. Sr., and Phyllis (Brown) Templeton. He grew up in the rural Janesville area, and graduated from Parkview High School in 1983. Thomas was employed by Lynch Automotive in Burlington. He enjoyed working on and painting automobiles, watching NASCAR and the Packers. Thomas was always willing to help out anyone in need of help, no matter the time of day or place.
Thomas is survived by his fianc�e, Anne Aument; his son, Nicholas; his daughter, Brianna; sisters, Chris and her son, Ben, and Jennifer and her son, Ethan; brother, Joel (Patti) and their son, August. He was preceded in death by his father in 1975; his mother in 2000; and his cousin, Bart Willing in 2001.
Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Friday, April 18, 2014, at HENKE-CLARSON FUNERAL HOME, 1010 N. Wright Rd., Janesville. Pastor Philip Ramsey will officiate. Burial will follow in Bethel Cemetery. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Friday at HENKE-CLARSON FUNERAL HOME.


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Meijer supercenter slated for Janesville in 2016
JANESVILLE—They call them hypermarkets and supercenters. These big-box stores sell groceries but also carry goods you'd find in a department store.
Janesville is slated to get a new one in 2016.
Michigan-based Meijer (pronounced like Meier) plans on moving into Wisconsin, and Janesville is on its list, the company's CEO announced Friday.
Meijer plans a distribution center in Pleasant Prairie and stores in Wauwatosa, Oak Creek, Kenosha and Grafton in 2015 and in Janesville, Sussex, Greenfield and Waukesha in 2016.
"We expect to concentrate a lot of our expansion the next few years in Wisconsin," said Hank Meijer, quoted by the Milwaukee Business Journal. "As a company, we'll probably be opening 10-12 stores a year, and a significant number of those will be in Wisconsin each year for the next several years. We'll be looking at a lot of other communities beyond Milwaukee."
The Gazette was not able to reach Meijer officials for comment.
Meijer officials had an initial meeting with city of Janesville staff, said Gale Price, manager of building and development services for the city.
The company has not chosen a site, although location was discussed, Price said.
Price could not reveal a possible location because Meijer hadn't authorized it, he said.
Meijer's typical supercenter is 192,000 square feet, Price said. That's close to the 194,000 square feet of the Janesville Wal-Mart Supercenter.
Any building over 25,000 square feet or any site over five acres requires a conditional use permit, and the city would guide Meijer through the approval process, Price said.
Meijer sites typical include gas stations, Price said.
Friday's announcement came as a surprise to city staff, said Price and City Manager Mark Frietag.
"That's wonderful news. We're excited to hear they're coming to Janesville. I don't have any other details to provide at this time," Frietag said.
Staff members were calling their Meijer contacts Friday to learn more, Freitag said. Price said he had no success Friday afternoon.
Meijer did not ask for economic assistance, and the city does not give incentives for retail developments, Price said.
Meijer would draw shoppers from surrounding communities as well as Janesville, Price said.
"They're a regional shopping kind of player, so if you think about where our regional shopping is, most of those retailers like to compete against one another," Price said.
Forward Janesville President John Beckord said big, new taxpayers are always welcome here, but he knew no details.
A UW-Whitewater economics professor questioned whether another grocery store would boost the local economy.
"I don't think there's a pent-up demand for groceries in Janesville," professor Russell Kashian said. "No one who can afford it is going without food."
Kashian said there might be room for a new store if a lot of Janesvillians were driving to other cities to shop, and if the new store keeps them in town.
But if Janesville already has enough grocery stores, then ultimately, one or more of them would be forced to close, Kashian said.
Beckord suggested that kind of analysis would need to take into account growth of the local market, and he said the local economy appears to be gaining steam.
Existing stores might make changes to distinguish themselves in the marketplace—going all-organic or offering free delivery, for example—Kashian said. Or some might try lowering prices.
It's difficult to compete with big chains on price, however, Kashian said, because grocery profit margins are small.
"Eventually you'll have a bit of a price war," Kashian said, but after a store closes, prices would rebound.
"It's more competition, no doubt about that," Beckord said.
The lure of a new store probably would attract shoppers initially.
"I'll probably end up shopping there, just to see what it is," Kashian said.
Price said he had shopped at Meijer in Illinois and loved their produce.
Forbes magazine rates Meijer as the 19th largest privately held company in the United States, with revenue in 2013 of $1.5 billion and 74,000 employees. It has 204 grocery stores and supercenters in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky.
Hendrik Meijer opened his first store out of his barbershop in Greenville, Mich., more than 75 years ago. Today, brothers and co-chairmen Hank and Doug Meijer lead the company.
Meijer touts itself as the pioneer of "one-stop shopping." Its stores have evolved through the years to include fresh produce and meat departments, pharmacies, electronics departments, garden centers and clothing, according to its website.
Last updated: 6:16 pm Friday, March 7, 2014


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Fatal crashes in Darien, Whitewater lead to two deaths, one OWI arrest
Two separate fatal crashes on Sunday afternoon in the towns of Darien and Whitewater left a 65-year-old Illinois man and a 40-year-old Whitewater woman dead, a juvenile hospitalized, and included the OWI arrest of a 50-year-old Whitewater man, according to a news release from the Walworth County Sheriff's Office.
The first accident occurred at 3:46 p.m. on County Highway C, about three-tenths of a mile west of Clowes Road near the Rock County line in the town of Darien.
Walworth County deputies found Stephen P. Schmitz, 65, of Wheeling, Ill., had been driving a 1999 Ducati motorcycle eastbound on County Highway C when he struck a guardrail. Schmitz and the bike slid into oncoming westbound traffic and were struck by a 2003 Dodge minivan. Schmitz died at the scene.
The driver of the mini-van is identified as Tina L Langnes, age 46, of Lake Geneva.� Her passengers included Adrian J Eller, 29, of Janesville, and a juvenile boy and girl. None of the persons in the van required medical attention.�
The second accident, a two-car crash, occurred at 4:53 p.m. on Wisconsin Highway 89, south of Island Road in the town of Whitewater.
Initial investigation showed Melissa J. Patrick, 40, of Whitewater, was driving a 2005 Ford Freestyle SUV southbound on Wisconsin Highway 89 and was slowing to enter a driveway when her vehicle was hit from behind by a 2014 Chevy Malibu. The crash forced the SUV into a ditch, where it overturned. Patrick was ejected from the vehicle during the rollover. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Patrick's female juvenile passenger was taken by ambulance to Fort Atkinson Hospital with moderate injuries.
The driver of the Chevy Malibu is identified as Craig Michael Seefeldt, age 50, of Whitewater. Charges of OWI-Homicide, OWI-Causing Injury, and Reckless Driving-Endangering Safety have been referred to the Walworth County District Attorney's, according to the release. Seefeldt remains in the Walworth County Jail at this time.�
The Sheriff's Crash Investigation Unit responded to both crashes and they remain open and under investigation at this time.


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Are law schools doing enough to prepare graduates for today's technologically-oriented legal environment? If they are not teaching courses in e-discovery, they should be, says Bill Hamilton, a National e-discovery partner at Quarles and Brady LLP in Tampa, Fla.
"Legal practice habits change slowly, and this is a rapidly changing new environment," said Hamilton, who is also the E-Discovery Dean and Department Chair at Bryan University, where students can earn a graduate level certificate in E-discovery. In addition, he is the Director of the E-Discovery Law Project at University of Florida, Levin College of Law.
In days past, students would learn how to think like a lawyer in law school, but they would learn their practical skills from experienced attorneys during their first years in practice.
Now, ironically, the newer graduates who have had courses in e-discovery are often coming to the table with a greater skill set than more seasoned attorneys. "The vast majority of practitioners in the field do not have sophisticated e-discovery skills because it was a change that happened while they were in practice," said Hamilton.
Hamilton believes that some law schools do not spend sufficient time on e-discovery, burying the topic in a few days of Civil Procedure. However, e-discovery knowledge is crucial. "In 2007 at University of Florida, we conceived it as a survival course," he said. Law students at University of Florida have the opportunity to partner with Catalyst Repository Systems (www.catalystsecure.com), a company that makes cloud-based e-discovery software, to complete real-life exercises in e-discovery.
Changing tides for law school graduates
Diversifying legal departments
Litigation consequences of unpaid internships
Though law graduates do not always intend to practice traditional law, Hamilton said that it would be "highly advisable" for law students to enter the practice of law with a knowledge of e-discovery, either through their law school if courses are available or through outside courses.
What to do if e-discovery classes are not available in your law school? Lobby for it, advises Hamilton. "There are adjuncts in each city that would love to teach it; there is no reason a law school can't bring in an adjunct to teach it once a year."
Hamilton said that discovery in today's legal climate is no longer a back room support function. He's recently taught an e-discovery training course at a law firm for litigators.
"The locus of truth seeking has moved from trial deposition to early e-discovery process. These skills are absolutely mandatory to have a handle on to win cases and to keep up with technology, to understand the revolution that is taking place, as we speed through this era by litigation being done more by machine and less and less by humans," said Hamilton.
E-discovery has paradoxically made it more difficult to find traditional jobs in the workplace, though a host of new opportunities have opened up for law graduates skilled in these areas, including work with vendors and in the government and even project management.
Nick Dorman will be entering his third year at University of Florida Levin College of Law. This summer he is working for a law firm, working with plaintiff's complex litigation and getting a crash course in e-discovery. As he's learned quickly, "It's pretty crucial to have a solid understanding of e-discovery," noting that many of the younger attorneys have a more in depth understanding of these concepts than their older counterparts.
In general, though, Dorman doesn't believe that law schools adequately prepare their students for being litigators. "There clearly needs to be more practical experience incorporated into the JD program itself," he said, such as apprenticeship-like opportunity.
As he wanted to stay on the front lines of current legal trends to make himself more marketable, Dorman took advantage of the e-discovery courses at his law school, learning a whole range of e-discovery principles and working with documents in a simulated litigation via Catalyst Insight and Predict. "The class was evenly split between learning the law around this area and actually doing practical exercises in this area," he said. "I think you can learn most things on the job, most people do, but it is certainly a leg up."


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Does union ruling signal watershed moment for college athletics?
Here we are, in the middle of March Madness, awaiting the Badger men's basketball team's Sweet 16 match-up against a strong Baylor squad tonight, and a decision Wednesday by the regional director of the National Labor Relations Board threatens to upset the entire college sports industry.
Peter Sung Ohr said in a 24-page decision that Northwestern University football players "fall squarely" within the broad definition of employee and thus have the right to unionize.
Unions have been battered by dwindling membership and legislative losses in recent years, so it's no surprise advocates cheered this ruling.
College sports rake in billions of dollars annually, while scholarship players get their educations free but otherwise aren't paid. Supporters for the union bid reasoned Northwestern treats football as more important than academics for scholarship athletes. Ohr agreed with that argument. He pointed out that a football player's life is much more regimented and controlled than that of the average student and can involve focusing on football for 50 or even 60 hours per week.
If you don't think this could have major repercussions on schools across the nation, consider the answer Badger football coach Gary Andersen offered to the first question he got from the audience during Wednesday night's Forward Janesville banquet.
Andersen noted his degree in political science, and with that education, "I learned to keep my mouth shut."
Later asked whether he thought college athletes deserved stipends, he again mentioned his poli sci degree and added that it's an interesting topic, "But I don't think the system is broken."
Whether Wednesday's ruling signals a break in the foundation of how schools fund college sports remains to be seen. Northwestern University officials say they will appeal to Washington, D.C., labor authorities. Stay tuned.
Greg Peck can be reached at (608) 755-8278 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.
Greg Peck can be reached at (608) 755-8278 or email@example.com. Or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.


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Delavan City Council to consider developers agreement for downtown hotel
DELAVAN—A key piece of Delavan's downtown redevelopment may finally be in place.
Delavan House Hotel, which has remained vacant for nearly a decade, has been sold, and its new owner, Sean Patel, hopes to have the business open by May 1.
Patel, a Chicago-based businessman, is part of a family group that owns the Super 8 in Delavan and a number of other hotels in southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois.
At a meeting Tuesday night, the Delavan City Council will consider a developer's agreement that would provide up to $250,000 for fa�ade improvements and renovations to the main floor of the building. The agreement also could provide tax reimbursements to the hotel's owner.
The goal is to help the developer succeed and to translate that success to the rest of downtown, Delavan City Administrator Denise Pieroni said.
The hotel at 215 E. Walworth Street has been vacant since 2004. The five-story, 60-room, 41,000-square-foot building is at the center of downtown, and city officials and planners have identified it as a crucial part of redevelopment efforts.
Earlier this year, the city hired Vandewalle & Associates to create a strategic plan for the downtown.
The plan referred to the hotel as the "largest building and highest profile property in the downtown."
It's vacancy was a "barrier to economy grown and vibrancy" and bringing the hotel back to an "economically productive use would be an enormous boost to the district," the plan reads.
Downtown businesses and residents identified the hotel as "high priority" in redevelopment efforts, according to the plan.
The previous owners of the building, Midwest Hotels, lost it to foreclosure in 2009.
In July 2012, the Stonecrest Income & Opportunity group bought the building out of foreclosure.
Last month, Best Hospitality bought the building. The company is made up of Patel and three other family members.
Patel said he saw the building as a "good opportunity."
He plans to do more than $1.5 million in renovations on the first phase of the project.
Patel already has been through the downtown design review process that approved redoing the front of the building in brown and tan.
Tonight, the council will consider a two-part developer's agreement with Best Hospitality for the hotel.
The city is in the process of applying for a grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation of up to $250,000.
The money, which requires a 75 percent match investment, could be used to reimburse the developer for project costs related to fa�ade improvements or renovations to the main floor of the building, according to a memo from Pieroni.
The money would be in the form of a loan. However, payments would be waived each year the hotel, restaurant and retail space on the building's main floor were in use, the memo said.
The second part of the agreement would allow the developer to be eligible for reimbursement of taxes generated from new development.
The hotel is in the downtown incremental financing district. A TIF is a financing tool that allows municipalities to attract private investment through property improvements and other incentives.
The cost of those improvements and incentives are charged to the district. As the district's property values rise because of new investment, the increase in property taxes is used to repay the municipality's costs.
In this case, the developer would have to run the hotel year round, invest a minimum of $1 million in the building in the next two years and use a percentage of the first-floor space for a restaurant and other retail, according to the memo.
In return, the developer could be reimbursed up to 80 percent of new taxes generated from the hotel. The amount would depend on the overall financial health of the TIF district.
The goal of the developer's agreement is to create positive partnership between the developer and the city, Pieroni said.
The success of the hotel is an important part of the success of downtown, Pieroni said.
"We have to do what we can to make it financially feasible," she said.


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The hot trend in defined-benefit pensions last year involved companies offloading some of the risk involved in their plans by doing lump-sum buyouts or annuity purchases. So far in 2013, announcements of such risk transfers have subsided, but consultants said they expect a robust number of transactions, especially lump-sum buyouts, this year.
Companies' de-risking moves are occurring amid widespread underfunding of pension plans as persistently low interest rates boost plan liabilities, limiting the positive impact the stock market rally has had on plan assets. The situation improved during the first quarter of this year, but many plans remain significantly underfunded. Mercer put the funded ratio for S&P 1500 companies' plans at 82% at the end of March, up from 74% at the end of last year.
The underfunding means some companies have had to make sizable cash contributions to their plans. Meanwhile, hikes in the premiums that plan sponsors pay to the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. have increased the cost of operating such plans.
In 2012, Ford, General Motors and Verizon were among the companies that made headlines with sizable transactions aimed at reducing the amount of risk posed by their defined-benefit pension plans. Ford offered lump sums to 90,000 retirees and former employees who were vested in the pension plan. General Motors offered lump-sum buyouts to 42,000 retirees and transferred its obligations for about 110,000 retirees to Prudential by buying a group annuity for $25 billion. And Verizon used $8.5 billion in plan assets to purchase an annuity from Prudential and transfer its obligations to 41,000 of its retirees.
Consultants said that while they expect more annuity purchases this year, the total is unlikely to approach last year's given that the GM and Verizon annuitizations were so huge.
"There may be a jumbo transaction out there waiting, but you certainly won't see those every year," said Sean Brennan, a principal in the Financial Strategy Group of consultancy Mercer. "We expect something lower than last year by a large margin but higher than what we've seen in the past, prior to 2012."
Jason Richards, a consultant in the Retirement Risk Management Group at Towers Watson, predicted this year's annuity purchases would be in the $50 million to $1 billion range, rather than the multibillion-dollar deals done by GM and Verizon.
Annuitizations usually involve retirees, while companies tend to offer lump-sum buyouts to vested former employees who have not yet retired. The trend of companies offering buyouts is still going strong.
"You'll see a lot of plan sponsors moving in that direction," Mercer's Brennan said.
Richards estimated 150 to 200 companies did lump-sum buyouts last year. He expects significant volume this year but said it may fall short of last year's total. Companies that offered buyouts last year aren't likely to repeat that offer again this year, he said, but noted that some companies are considering routinely offering lump-sum buyouts when vested employees leave the company.
In buyouts administered by Towers Watson last year, on average 60% of plan participants accepted the offer, Richards said, adding that one reason the take-up rate is low is that companies have a hard time finding some former employees. "The day a person leaves, you know where they are, you're communicating with them, and they're in a situation to think, 'What do I want to do with my retirement savings?'" said Richards, pictured at left. "For that reason, we're seeing a lot more plan sponsors thinking about offering the [lump-sum] option to actives when they leave."
With interest rates still low by historical standards, companies may be reluctant to undertake transactions for fear rates will soon move higher, leaving them having priced near the low in rates. But the low rates also mean it's cheap to borrow, and borrowing to finance a de-risking may alleviate companies' concerns about the timing of a transaction, he said.
"If rates rise, my debt that I have outstanding just went down in value, and if I want to, I can get rid of that more cheaply," Richards said.
Mercer's Brennan added that getting the data together for a lump-sum offering, including the current addresses of former employees and calculations of the benefits they're owed, involves considerable effort. Last year, some plan sponsors wanted to offer buyouts but found their data was not in good enough shape for them to do so, he said. "In 2013, plan sponsors are saying even if we don't want to pay these lump sums today, we want to be sure we've done everything so we can pull the trigger when we want to," he said.
Companies also have to consider how removing a chunk of assets and liabilities from their plan will affect the asset allocation, Brennan noted.
The recent news that a U.S. District Court judge awarded class-action status to a lawsuit challenging Verizon's purchase of annuities to cover 41,000 of its retirees isn't expected to discourage other employers from undertaking such transactions.
Verizon retirees whose pensions were being transferred to Prudential sued to stop the transaction last fall, but a U.S. District Court in Texas refused to halt the annuity purchase. Now the court has granted class certification to the lawsuit. The challenge comes from two different groups of retirees, the 41,000 whose pensions are now paid by Prudential and about 50,000 who remain in the Verizon plan. Some whose pensions now come from Prudential are unhappy that they lost the protection of federal pension laws and the backing of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. Retirees who remain in the Verizon plan argue the company wrongly used plan assets to cover some of the expenses of the annuitization.
Carol Buckmann, a counsel in the pension and benefits group at law firm Osler Hoskin & Harcourt, said Verizon argued for the case to be dismissed, but also supported the class certification. That suggests the company is confident it will prevail in court, she said, because if the case is dismissed, "everyone in those two classes won't be able to sue Verizon on those same issues in any other court."
Further, the lawsuit has made plan sponsors a little more cautious but existing law says companies can annuitize pensions, she said. "The laws are pretty clear in this area."
Buckmann recommends that companies considering a de-risking transaction hire an independent fiduciary whose job is to represent the interests of the plan participants. "Otherwise you have to deal with perhaps conflicting interests and having to reconcile them," she said.
Companies should also disclose the possibility of a de-risking transaction in the summary plan description they're required to send to participants, keep records of their decision-making process, and investigate the financial soundness of the insurer, Buckmann said. "That's also where the independent fiduciary can be helpful," she said.


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Increasing Information For Genetic Algorithm
Discussion of everything related to the Theory of Evolution.
Moderator: BioTeam
9 posts • Page 1 of 1
Increasing Information For Genetic Algorithm
Hello there, I am writing a program in Java to simulate evolution. It all works as in the virtual creatures are better at things over time depending on environment variables and the creatures reproduce by mixing around the virtual genetic information.
What I want to do is really simulate real world evolution. Can someone explain to me how cells or creatures add more information to themselves? As in they get more complicated in closed systems. I don't know myself but is it mutation? or is it an environmental factor?
Re: Increasing Information For Genetic Algorithm
Its probably a combination of both, but I have no idea of the relative importance of the two. Note that the genetic code is to some degree redundant. That is, there are a number of different DNA "codes" which yield the same protein. Two different strings of DNA which yield identical proteins will nevertheless have a different geometry, and will have different abilities to withstand mutation. If it is vital that a particular sequence remain unchanged, the DNA will evolve to the most mutation-resistant encoding, but if adaptability is required, it will evolve to a less stable encoding. I suppose the same concept might be applied to extending or shortening the DNA. I'm not sure if extending or shortening the DNA will always result in a new species.
Re: Increasing Information For Genetic Algorithm
Information content can be increased by gene duplication, which can occur on various scales from the duplication of quite small bits of DNA to entire genomes. The duplicated DNA can then ultimately end up coding for something new (or causing serious problems that will lead to immediate removal from the population).
Rap: DNA does not evolve into mutation-resistant. Simply if the mutation would be lethal then nothing with mutated DNA survives thus it seems like mutation resistant.
Also, the identical DNA strains have identical geometry (whatever that should mean) and, at least in the beginning, they will have the same rate of mutability. But after one of them reaches some point, where it is not functional in original sense anymore, the other one must be preserved, thus looking like mutation resistant (as above), while the first one can freely mutate untill it will get some new crucial function.
Cis or trans? That's what matters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synonymous ... _evolution
and google "synonymous substitution mutability" and "silent substitution mutability" (without quotes)
Re: Increasing Information For Genetic Algorithm
I tried to get this idea through in several prior posts and doesn't seem to take... DNA does NOT mutate or evolve toward a goal!!! If the selective pressure is lifted, that result in diversity. For example, phenotypic diversity of dogs as compared to little diversity in wolves. If the selective pressure is applied to a diverse population, those that survive establish new race, etc.
The latest genetic data from experiments suggests that genes accumulate loss of function mutations over time while new archeological data suggests that in species on the verge of extinction (possibly from gene loss) whole genome duplication occurs that leads to "overnight" so to speak disappearance of one set of species and appearance of new ones. It's also useful to note that many new phenotypes result from loss of function in some gene (usually a repressor) and not due to acquisition of new genetic information...
Re: Increasing Information For Genetic Algorithm
I agree, the paragraph I wrote is not the best, but I don't think its wrong. Applying selective pressure to a previously diverse population is not the only way for change to occur. If a new selective pressure is applied to a previously non-diverse population, the tendency will be for the selection of DNA better adapted to the new environment. That "better" DNA can be encoded as any number of "synonyms", which yield the same proteins, but which may have different susceptibilities to mutation.
If the new selective pressure is constant in time, then any deviation from the "optimum" will be selected against. The most mutation-resistant synonym will be selected for.
If the new selective pressure is short lived, (but extends over a number of generations), and is then replaced by a different one, which is short lived, and then another one, etc., then a synonym which is less stable will be selected for. The species will have more diversity because of this, and will be less likely to be driven to extinction by the changing environment.
Re: Re:
Yeah, so? How is that related?
Cis or trans? That's what matters.
Re: Increasing Information For Genetic Algorithm
That is not true. There is no such thing as "mutation-resistant synonym".
Under constant selective pressure organisms with mutations making them capable of withstanding it will become majority. ANY and ALL mutations beneficial for survival will go on and any ORGANISM (not gene) without any genetic mutations necessary for survival will be eliminated. GENES of that said (dead) organisms will remain in population of heterozygous individuals. Those genes can re-emerge when selective pressure is lifted.
I will give you an example:
You plate some bacteria on Kanamycin and wait. Most of the bacteria will die. However, a few days later you discover few very small colonies appear that are Kan resistant. If you were to investigate the reason for this, you will discover that those bacteria have mutations in ribosomal RNA that make them resistant to Kan. However, there are several possible mutations that cause resistance and any/all of those can be present. Also, such mutations occur REGARDLESS of selective pressure. It's just that they might not be apparent in absence of selective pressure. You would not know that some of your bacteria became Kan resistant until you grow it in presence of Kan...
Also, you are misunderstanding synonymous substitution. It's random as any other mutation. It may affect levels of translation of some genes. If it does so in any great extent, especially if it changes splice site, it will be considered a mutation. So, that part of Wiki is just not true.
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Clifford D. Clapp, Lyons, Wi (1931-2014)
October 5, 1931 - January 21, 2014
Clifford D. Clapp, 82, of Lyons, passed away Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014, at St. Luke's Medical Center, Milwaukee. Born in Lake Geneva, on Oct. 5, 1931, he was the son of Clifford M. and Sarah E. (Storey) Clapp. He lived his early life in Lake Geneva, and graduated from Burlington High School. He served his country in the Army during the Korea War. On June 30, 1956, at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Lyons, he was united in marriage to Joyce Ann Ahler. Following marriage they made their home in the Lyons area, where they raised their family. Cliff was a maintenance/welder for Trent Tube in East Troy. He was a member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Lyons, and a long time member of the Serra Club. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, woodworking, gardening, camping and playing cards.
Cliff is survived by his wife, Joyce; his children: Jeffrey (Susan) Clapp of Waukesha, Dennis (Theresa) Clapp of Burlington, Mary (Jim) Burd of Ashville, NC, Kenneth (Digna) Clapp of Greenfield, Karol (Phil) Koenen of Burlington, and Tony (Andrea) Clapp of Burlington. He is further survived by his grandchildren: Greg (Adrien) Clapp, Becky Clapp, Jessica Clapp, Kristina (Marc-Louis) Paprzyca, Gabrielle Clapp, Kelly Burd, Megan (Forrest) Wright, Peter Koenen, Abigail Koenen, Gracie Clapp, Ella Clapp, Brinley Clapp, Cooper Clapp; two great-grandchildren, Kylin and Easton Wright; two brothers, Dorance Clapp of Springfield, and Raymond (Karen) Clapp of Williams Bay; two sisters, Verneta Hudson of Milwaukee, and Judy (Jim) Slack of Elkhorn. He was preceded in death by his parents and four sisters: Evelyn Quass, Esther Powell, Eleanor Borgan and Betty Fortney.
Memorials have been suggested to St. Joseph's Catholic Church or to L-Arche, 151 S. Ann St., Mobile, Alabama 36604
The family would like to extend a special thank you to the doctors and nurses at St. Luke's Medical Center and all the staff at Fresenius Dialysis for their care and compassion.
Mass of Christian Burial will take place on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014, at 1 p.m. at ST. JOSEPH'S CATHOLIC CHURCH in Lyons, with Rev. John Baumgartner presiding. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until the time of Mass at CHURCH. Burial will follow the Mass at St. Joseph's Cemetery.
Schuette-Daniels Funeral Home & Crematory
625 S. Browns Lake Drive, Burlington, WI 53105
(262) 763-3434 www.danielsfamilyfuneral.com


text: Transportation should not be a hassle, especially when trying to get to an airport or city destination. Taxi cabs and shuttles can help a passenger travel so they don't have to try and figure out what to do with their own vehicle when flying or going out for the night. Local transportation should be safe and in a clean vehicle, and some may even be luxury rides, depending on the fare you are looking to pay. Most taxi cabs charge by the mile that shows up on a meter inside the car. There are number of terms that everyone should be familiar with so that when they need to do errands or get to the airport, they can be informed about their means of travel.


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Craig girls match program mark with 18th win
Going undefeated in February is certainly the way to enter March Madness.
That's the way the Janesville Craig girls basketball team will begin tournament play after completing a 7-0 February with a 77-47 manhandling of host Madison East on Thursday night.
The Cougars won their eighth straight game and enter regional play with an 18-4 overall record and finished 14-4 in the Big Eight. The 18 victories tied a school record for regular-season victories.
Six players scored in double figures for the Cougars.
"We scored 77 points and our top scorer had 15," Craig coach Kerry Storbakken said. "We're spreading the ball around."
The Cougars dominated the Purgolders (3-18, 2-16) from the start, building a 22-6 lead in the first quarter.
"We jumped on them early," Storbakken said. "That's what we've been talking about; not allowing teams to stay in games. The kids came out with a lot of intensity and set the tone."
Al Hughes led the Cougars with 15 points, including three 3-pointers. Sam Pierson and Alli Calkins each had 12 points, Delaney Schoenenberger had 11 and Annie Schumacher had 10.
Schoenenberger and Schumacher are sophomores. Calkins is the only senior on the roster.
"We started three sophomores and then went sophomore, sophomore (in the rotation)," Storbakken said. "It's like, 'is this a JV or varsity game?'"
The Cougars open regional play next Friday with a 7 p.m. home game against the winner of the Muskego/Kenosha Indian Trail game.
"They are all good friends," Storbakken said of his team. "They have great team chemistry and you can see it on the floor. They're playing with a lot of confidence."


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Martha C. Fox, Rice Lake, WI/formerly Janesville, WI (1961-2013)
August 26, 1961 - November 21, 2013
Martha C. Fox, age 52, of Rice Lake, WI, passed away after a courageous battle with cancer on Nov. 21, 2013, at home surrounded by her family. She was born on Aug. 26, 1961, in La Crosse, WI, to Keith and Lorna (Hanson) Collins. Martha graduated from Janesville Craig High School in 1979. She received her Bachelor's Degree in French and English Education from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1983. She completed her Master's Degree from the University of St. Scholastica of Duluth, MN. She was a lifelong teacher of French and English in the Rice Lake School District right up until her death. On July 25, 1987, she was married to David Fox of Rice Lake. She loved being a wife and mother. She truly enjoyed teaching, cooking, gardening, and entertaining. She had a flair for fashion and was co-owner of Lillian's Clothing Boutique in Rice Lake. She was a Girl Scout leader and active member on many church committees. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she served as student council advisor and varsity cheerleading advisor. She led several high school French trips abroad. She and her husband enjoyed curling, "pontooning" on the lake by their home, and spending time with their many friends.
Martha is survived by her husband, David; her daughter, Erica (fianc� Austin Holmstrom), all of Rice Lake; and her sister, Melanie (Steven) Ryan of Delavan, WI. She is also survived by numerous uncles, aunts, and cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013, at ST. JOSEPH CATHOLIC CHURCH in Rice Lake, WI, with Father David Oberts officiating, with interment in Our Lady of Lourdes Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 3 until 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 25, 2013, at APPLEYARD'S HOME FOR FUNERALS in Rice Lake, and for one hour prior to the service on Tuesday at the CHURCH.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the Pink Ribbon Society of Barron County.


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Walworth County Undersheriff Kurt Picknell running for sheriff
ELKHORN — With 26 years of service in Walworth County law enforcement, Undersheriff Kurt Picknell wants to be sheriff.
In a news release, Picknell announced Thursday he is running for the position after Sheriff David Graves announced last week he plans to retire. Graves has a 42-year law enforcement career, including 14 years as sheriff.
Picknell has served as undersheriff for 14 years.
Graves recommends Picknell for the position.
"Serving in Walworth County law enforcement for the past 26 years has been an honor and responsibility that I have taken very seriously," Picknell said in a news release.
Picknell has worked in law enforcement since 1987 and received various awards for his work, according to the release.
Picknell has a Bachelor of Arts degree and Masters of Business Administration from Concordia University. He also attended the Center for Public Safety School of Police Staff and Command at Northwestern University and the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy.
"I have deliberately prepared myself for and continue my dedication to the citizens of Walworth County. I look forward to serving as your next Sheriff," Picknell said in the release.
Last updated: 9:17 am Thursday, March 20, 2014


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Death Notices from Sept. 20, 2013
Gazette Staff
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Tamla L. Hartwich, 47, Janesville, died Sept. 11 at Mercy Hospital and Trauma Center, Janesville. Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Janesville. Schneider Apfel Schneider & Schneider Funeral Home and Crematory, Janesville, is assisting the family.
Roland H. Kerns, 83, Clinton, died Thursday at Alden Meadow Park, Clinton. Arrangements are pending at Brian Mark Funeral Home, Clinton.
Francis M. Paul, 85, Beloit, died Thursday at home. Services will be noon Saturday at Daley Murphy Wisch & Associates Funeral Home and Crematorium, Beloit. Visitation will be 10:30 a.m. until the time of services Saturday at the funeral home.
Last updated: 11:01 pm Thursday, September 19, 2013


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In today's ever-changing environment, business success requires a company to be able to anticipate opportunities and effectively understand and respond to risks.
Organizations are feeling pressure on all sides to enhance their risk management practices. External stakeholders—such as regulators, ratings agencies, investors, lenders, and trading partners—often seek data or performance metrics related to an organization's risk management framework. They may incorporate this information into their assessments of the organization's resilience and its likely future financial performance. At the same time, various internal stakeholders—such as boards of directors, audit committees, executive management committees, and employees—are exerting greater influence on risk leaders to integrate an understanding of the organization's myriad risks into key strategic decisions.
In 2011, in response to these pressures, Aon plc collaborated with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania to launch the Aon Risk Maturity Index, an online questionnaire that assesses, benchmarks, and tracks the development of different organizations' risk management frameworks over time. It also provides a platform for the collection of global data on corporate risk management practices across a consistent set of parameters.
Analysis of this data provides a clear view of corporate risk management practices. And recent Aon research confirms a correlation between more mature risk management practices and stronger financial results.
What Is Mature Risk Management?
Research increasingly indicates that mature risk management programs are those that support enhanced decision-making by integrating effective risk identification and assessment approaches into an organization's governance structures and management processes. To identify which risk management programs are mature, Aon researchers focused on four fundamental and foundational areas:
- governance and infrastructure, which includes committees, policies, and supporting systems such as technologies that are used to support the risk management process;
- process, which encompasses the tools and techniques that an organization uses to identify, analyze, quantify, respond to, and monitor risk;
- integration, which includes the techniques used to take the risk information obtained and utilize it in key decisions such as planning, merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions, new market/product decisions, supply chain, etc.; and
- culture and communication, which is the organization's culture and ways of discussing risk.
After rating organizations' maturity in these four areas, the researchers were able to determine that companies with a higher-than-average risk maturity typically differentiate themselves in three ways: awareness, agreement, and alignment.
Awareness of the complexity of risk is key to understanding the range of potential scenarios and outcomes related to strategic goals and objectives. Thus, it's vital to defining realistic performance expectations. Organizations with higher levels of risk maturity achieve a comprehensive understanding of the risks to their performance and strategic objectives as they set goals, ensuring that they are well-positioned to respond to those risks. This risk management approach enhances their ability to achieve objectives and enjoy steady performance over time.
In particular, mature organizations exhibit an understanding of the interrelationships between risks, and they may have begun to study risk correlation via analysis of common risk drivers, among other methods. They are adept at incorporating information from both internal and external sources into their risk management analyses, taking a view of risk that extends beyond their own immediate operational sphere. Finally, they supplement anecdotal and qualitative knowledge of risk with quantitative analysis to increase the accuracy of their understanding.
Organizations with higher levels of risk management maturity typically work around three key fundamental statistical modeling concepts relating to risk for their organization: understanding the organization's ability to take risks; understanding the organization's underlying risk profile through stochastic modeling; and evaluating the efficiency of various risk transfer strategies for the organization. In companies that have successfully incorporated these statistical modeling concepts into organizational decision-making, this approach supports financial objectives and helps with management of volatility in key risk areas. On average, these organizations identify savings of approximately 5 percent of their total cost of risk, or premiums plus retained loss.
Agreement and formal consensus on risk management strategy and expectations. Mature organizations establish formal structures such as risk committees to act as a forum to facilitate the development of a consensus on the organization's risk management strategy. The risk committee tends to be an embedded subset of the executive management structure, but for those organizations with the highest levels of risk management maturity the risk committee tends to be a committee of the board of directors. In such cases, organizations with the most sophisticated risk management practices tend to have their risk committee chaired by a non-executive director, together with a balanced composition of other non-executive and executive directors.
Effective risk committees assist the board in assessing the different types of risks to which the organization is exposed. They also support the board and executive management team in establishing the organization's risk management strategy. They define and set risk appetite and tolerance levels and then exercise strong oversight of management's execution of the overall risk management strategy for the organization. However, achieving initial agreement on strategy is not the end of the process for risk-mature organizations.
Leadership teams at organizations with higher levels of risk management maturity regularly and consistently communicate their expectations about the execution of risk management activities to the organization. Then, after reaching consensus and communicating key tolerances and guidelines to the organization, leadership teams at more mature organizations tend to review and refine their approach on an ongoing basis, outside of an annual review process or other defined cadence. Rather than allowing the consensus to remain static, they continuously re-evaluate the conditions and assumptions underlying the agreed-upon strategy to ensure that the approach is based on the most recent information and current circumstances.
To achieve stable performance over time, an organization must not only set appropriate expectations, but also understand outcomes and how the drivers of those outcomes may impact future performance results. These practices support an organization in its ability to recognize and react to drivers of less-than-ideal outcomes, thus contributing to more stable performance over time.
Alignment of organizational architecture with risk management objectives. Organizations with higher levels of risk management maturity are distinguished by elements of their organizational architecture that contribute to an overall alignment of their workforce to an understanding and execution of risk management roles and responsibilities. These companies use risk metrics to guide employees' behavior and communicate results, incorporate risk management responsibilities into performance reviews, and link incentive structures to risk management outcomes.
Further, organizations at a sophisticated level of risk management maturity are structured to encourage transparency and consistent flow of information regarding negative or unexpected results. More than 80 percent of risk-mature organizations have a culture in which negative predictions are typically shared with appropriate parties on a proactive basis to drive action and learning. In contrast, when less-mature organizations share negative predictions, it's often done on a reactive basis or only at the request of leadership. Best practice is generally considered to be a culture in which employees are encouraged to share negative feedback with their managers, and in which leaders actively seek negative predictions for review and incorporation into improvement efforts and discussion of alternatives. Organizations in which these practices are standard also tend to have reduced barriers to communication and heightened understanding between corporate silos, which encourages cross-functional collaboration.
The most mature organizations typically incorporate concepts around risk and return into their strategic decision-making at the highest levels. A great example is how organizations continue to evolve the extent of risk analysis they apply to capital investment decisions. The basic concepts of risk and return have been around for many years, but we see organizations with higher levels of risk management maturity having greater awareness of the quantitative modeling techniques available to them to support analysis of risks and returns. Simple, rule-of-thumb approaches were long ago replaced by more complex models. Techniques such as sensitivity and scenario analysis, risk adjusted discount rate, and probability analysis are increasingly used by organizations to support key capital investment decisions. In many cases, organizations use a multiplicity of techniques in a complementary fashion.
Correlation Between Risk Maturity and Returns
Using these definitions of risk management maturity, Aon rated 361 publicly traded companies across five continents on a risk maturity index from 1 to 5. Then we evaluated the share price performance of organizations at each level of maturity. The full results appear in the November 2013 edition of the "Aon Risk Maturity Index Insight Report."
In short, this study found that there is a direct relationship between a higher risk management maturity rating and higher relative stock price returns. In the year ending March 2013, companies with a maturity rating of 5 experienced an average 18 percent increase in their share price, while companies with a maturity rating of 1 experienced an average 10 percent decline in share price.
There is also an inverse relationship between a higher risk management maturity rating and lower stock price volatility. As a group, the companies with advanced risk management maturity exhibited 38 percent less stock price volatility than companies with the lowest maturity rating.
Perhaps most notable, the study found evidence of a direct relationship between higher risk management maturity and companies' relative return on equity. During the year ending March 2013, organizations with the highest level of risk maturity had a 37 percent return on assets, while those with the lowest risk maturity score had a negative return on assets, of -11 percent. (See Figure 1, below.)
Organizational Resilience
The report also finds a direct correlation between a higher risk maturity rating and the relative resilience of an organization's stock price in the immediate aftermath of a significant event in the financial markets. Aon's researchers used the Bloomberg Scenario function to subject each company to stress testing around a significant market event, including the 2008 Lehman Brothers collapse, the 2010 Greek fiscal crisis, and the 2011 Japanese earthquake. This analysis indicated a direct relationship between higher levels of risk management maturity and the relative resilience of an organization's stock price.
In each case, the organizations with more mature risk management functions experienced significantly lower negative shocks to their share prices than did companies with less mature risk management. The external market events reduced stock prices of mature companies by 30 percent to 91 percent less than they reduced stock prices of other organizations.
These findings provide evidence for the view that organizations' external stakeholders are leveraging insights into their risk management frameworks and are incorporating them into assessments of the potential financial performance and resilience of organizations. Companies seeking to achieve superior sustainable financial performance are proactively looking to achieve higher levels of risk management maturity and enhanced decision-making by integrating effective risk management practices into their existing governance structures, management processes, and overall culture.
Where to Start
Organizations that actively wish to improve their risk management practices and are wondering where to begin should consider some fundamental starting points. They should consider using a risk maturity tool to gain a baseline understanding of their current capabilities and to help identify specific areas for improvement. Risk maturity tools that specifically help organizations benchmark their strengths and weaknesses in comparison with their industry peers can provide additional insights into competitive advantages and disadvantages.
Once organizations have benchmarked their risk management practices, they should take time to assess and prioritize their ongoing risk management activities based on the insights they've gleaned. These insights can be very advantageous to decision-making around strategy, investment, and allocation of resources.
Companies may also consider conducting a risk framework review, typically using a scorecard-based process, to evaluate their current capabilities. This approach can be easily aligned with COSO and ISO standards, and it is generally considered to be a best practice. A risk framework review provides the strong advantage that it lays the foundation for building new capabilities and provides a roadmap for achieving advanced risk management maturity. After establishing a framework, a company will find that additional risk processes can be implemented, integrated, measured, and communicated throughout the organization to create a continuous, sustainable model for risk management.
Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and is not intended to provide individualized business or legal advice. The information contained in this article was compiled from sources that Aon considers to be reliable; however, Aon does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of any information herein. Should you have any questions regarding how the subject matter of this article may impact you, please contact your Aon team member or other appropriate advisor.
Kieran Stack, managing director of operations and strategy at Aon Global Risk Consulting, provides risk advisory services to multinationals and large corporates with a focus on optimization of cost of risk. Kieran also leads Aon's enterprise risk management and business continuity risk management teams in the U.S. and has global project lead responsibility for the Aon Risk Maturity Index.
Jenna Cavanaugh is a consultant with Aon Global Risk Consulting's enterprise risk management team. In addition to supporting organizations in various risk governance projects, Jenna is also the U.S. lead for the Aon Risk Maturity Index.