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'First lady' of L+M lent sympathetic ear to unhappy patients
New London - Verna Swann, Lawrence + Memorial Hospital's veteran patient relations manager, just wanted a $50 dining room set.
This is the modest reason Swann gives now for joining the hospital staff as a floor secretary - the position now known as health unit coordinator - on Dec. 6, 1967. She was 18 years old, with two young children at home, and her machinist husband wasn't making enough to buy the coveted set at Wayside Furniture in Waterford. She decided she would work for one year to save up.
It was a time when African-Americans worked mostly in housekeeping and food service jobs, she says. But Swann, armed with the business classes she aced at New London High School, was determined to find secretarial work.
Inquiring at the hospital, she was told there were no openings. But a friend who worked as a floor secretary there told her she was alone on the understaffed 3 to 11 p.m. shift. She accompanied Swann the next time Swann went to check on openings.
Told once again they had no spot for Swann, her friend intervened: "Oh yes, you do!"
Forty-five years later, the "first lady" of L+M, as her co-workers fondly call her, will retire as patient relations manager, a position she debuted nearly 25 years ago.
Swann grew up the middle child of five, the daughter of sharecroppers in Cove City, N.C. Her family moved to New London after a visit with relatives turned into a permanent stay, and Swann's mother preceded her in an L+M career, working in housekeeping. After earning $1.25 an hour for two years as a floor secretary, Swann worked her way up the ranks as an emergency room interviewer - now known as a registrar - a billing clerk, an insurance counselor, and the front-desk receptionist.
For 18 years, Swann's was the first face you'd see when you walked through the hospital's main, and at that time only, entrance.
When William Christopher became president of the hospital in 1988 and began looking for ways to improve L+M, Swann, with two decades of workplace knowledge under her belt, stepped up.
"You know, I'm kind of embarrassed when they're walking out the door talking about how terrible we are, and we have families over here who are waiting to hear from the surgeons about their loved one in the operating room," she recalled telling him. "I was like, that's kind of scary, because they're probably thinking, 'What kind of hospital am I trusting with my loved one in surgery?'"
After visiting hospitals across the state to research similar departments, Swann went full-time in the hospital's brand-new patient relations department the following year.
Swann acted as go-between for hospital staff and disgruntled patients, straightening out miscommunication, coming up with improvement plans for the future and relaying survey feedback to the staff. If someone had a complaint, they lodged it with Swann.
Public relations director Mike O'Farrell called it "arguably the hardest job in the hospital." But Swann can't remember a day when, even with the 5 a.m. alarm, she woke up not wanting to go to work.
"Here's a woman who for the last, I don't even know how many years in this job … all she hears is patient complaints," said Nicole Porter, the nurse manager who oversees the hospital's emergency department and has worked with Swann for 18 years. "I've never seen anybody handle that type of stress and negativity on a daily basis with such grace and compassion. She never loses her cool, always is the epitome of the patient advocate.
"It's just a testament to her that she's been able to maintain the respect of both sides," Porter said. "I don't even know how she does it."
On her way in, Swann usually can't make it to her second-floor office without being stopped in the hallway for a conversation; a two-minute trip to the restroom usually turns into a half-hour affair, punctuated by conversations with patients, families and co-workers alike.
O'Farrell roughly calculated that Swann has averaged 125 calls a week for 24 years, and 250 faces a day in 18 years at the front desk over the course of her career.
And that's not to mention her celebrity outside the hospital walls. On trips to Stop & Shop in Waterford with her late husband, Swann would take a separate cart so her husband could buy groceries in peace.
But Swann never minded it.
"I'm delighted that people want to talk to me," she said.
At home, Swann acted as a caretaker for her husband during a 12-year illness, while also caring for her mother. Paul Swann died two years ago, and Ophelia White died two months later.
She recalls leaning on her co-workers then; others recall her resiliency, always showing up to work, never letting her grief affect her responsibilities.
After so many years as a caretaker both at home and at work, at 65, Swann says she's finally ready to leave. Her last day is today.
"I just kind of felt like I needed a change in my life," she said, "and I felt like I wanted to do it while I still felt young enough to do it."
Still, she speaks of her retirement plans in terms of gratitude and giving back. She plans on volunteering at the hospital's new cancer center when it opens as well as continuing her husband's work with Meals on Wheels.
Though her colleagues - the ones who say she was the backbone of L+M - would vehemently disagree, Swann insists her career was not one worthy of accolades.
"I just did what is natural to do, and that is to respect people, help them, care for them," she said. "Same as they did for me."
Stories that may interest you
UPDATED: Developer outlines plan for Smiler's Wharf project
More than 300 people filled the Stonington High School auditorium Monday night for the start of a public hearing on the controversial Smiler's Wharf project.
Grasso Tech grads told: 'The world is in our hands'
The class of 2019 of the Ella T. Grasso Technical High School graduated Monday evening.
Paddleboarding in Groton
Paddleboarders move thorough the water as a group gathers on a dock along Groton Long Point on Monday, June 17, 2019.
Norwich boaters press City Council for action on marina conditions
Boaters added their voices to the anger and frustration expressed by city officials about conditions and lack of amenities at the Marina at American Wharf prior to the City Council vote Monday night.


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About Us
Pensa is a strategic product design consultancy. We bring our clients closer to their customers by understanding people, the products they use and the context in which they use them. It's not just what we do, it's what we love to do.
Our process is about the essentials done right. We learn about the consumers' desires, observe their actual behaviors and determine their unmet needs. Through this approach, we discover opportunities that we then develop into products with clear and meaningful benefits. All along, we never forget the details. We engineer our customers' products while keeping in mind their price point, schedule and manufacturing capabilities.
Our experience spans a broad range of industries including housewares, home healthcare products, medical devices, hardware tools, childcare products, and office furniture and consumer package goods. Pensa was founded in 2005 by Marco Perry and Kathy Larchian.
Pensa designs products that people want to buy and love to use.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Improve color accuracy and increase savings with ink-management solutions.
By Ray Smith
For years, ink-management systems have been available to printers in the form of solutions for ink mixing. Most print shops evaluating these systems are looking for help with color matching in production. While color matching is a very important aspect of these systems, the incredible control and cost savings that an ink-management system brings to overall print-shop operations are actually the most valuable benefits.
When is the best time to invest in a mixing system? Incorporating this technology makes sense for shop owners faced with any of the following scenarios:
• The shop can no longer rely on pre-mix colors to satisfy all of the print jobs.
• The ink technician has trouble hitting target colors by mixing standard, pre-mix colors.
• The pre-mix colors are getting too expensive to re-order.
• It's difficult to manage ink inventory.
• The shop needs to know the real ink usage and costs of the individual print jobs.
Color correct
Mixing systems (Figure 1) provide more accurate color compared to mixing and matching standard inks because the mixing-system components are created with single pigments. Standard pre-mixed colors, on the other hand, consist of multiple pigments in each color.
When a shop mixes color using standard inks, the final mix is multi-pigmented, causing color shifts and subtle differences that make it difficult to repeat when needed (Figure 2). For example, creating a green in a mixing system with a yellow and blue will generate a consistent and bright green. However, with off-the-shelf colors, the yellow may have some red pigment in it. When mixed with a royal blue (also containing red pigment), the result will be a very dull green.
A mixing system provides color accuracy because the components are always the same and it is easy, mathematically, to predict the outcome. This alone saves on labor cost, time loss, and ink waste.
In addition to these benefits, the overall component costs of mixing systems make it possible to make custom colors and reduce costs. For instance, a pigment and base system will create a color utilizing small portions of the premium component (pigment concentrate) and larger amounts of the value component (base) (Figures 3A and 3B). The shop can therefore create a standard ink for a fraction of the cost compared to buying the finished color direct from an ink manufacturer.
Did you enjoy this article? Click here to subscribe to the magazine.


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text:
The official Sooner sports site, soonersports.com has posted a very nice memorial page for Jack Mildren with comments from his teammates, coaches, administrators and some of his more well-known opponents. Dr. Tom Osborne said,
I have always respected Oklahoma football, and it's because of leaders like Jack Mildren.
See what others had to say about Jack at
Oklahoma Remembers Jack Mildren


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Forrest Bondurant (Tom Hardy) has a reputation in Franklin County, Virginia, for being invincible. It's a reputation that, combined with a steely man-of-few-words gaze, has helped him succeed in the moonshine business he runs with his brothers, big lug Howard (Jason Clarke) and scrappy wannabe Jack (Shia LaBeouf). They run a modest business, deliver to black and white customers and sell to the generally amiable local law enforcement. But then Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce) shows up, wearing the mantle of some kind of legal office but really charged with bringing all the bootleggers in the area to heel and getting a cut of their profits. Forrest isn't having any of that, and thus begins a bloody war with Rakes and his men.
Meanwhile, Maggie Beauford (Jessica Chastain), a former show girl, comes to town seeking a quieter life and ends up tending bar at the Bondurant family filling station and restaurant. While Forrest isn't a man of many words, his gazes seem to suggest that he likes her for more than just serving drinks — and Maggie's gazes suggest the feeling is mutual.
Also meanwhile, Jack wants to be a big-shot bootlegger so badly he picks up a bullet shell as a souvenir after a shootout conducted by sharp-suit-wearing city criminal Floyd Banner (Gary Oldman). He pushes Forrest to let him do more in the operation and make the endeavor bigger. He is also trying hard to woo Bertha Minnix (Mia Wasikowska), daughter of a local Mennonite (it appears from their dress) minister.
There's a lot of story packed into this movie and a lot of solid acting talent as well. There are also some neat details — about the corruption of the alcohol control agents, about the tensions between local law enforcement and federal law men, about the different societies that bump up against each other in Franklin but don't seem to interact. Lawless is full of possibility. Possibility not turned into actuality, unfortunately.
Perhaps all that story is too much. Shear off the bit about the showgirl on the run or a subplot about Jack's friendship with Cricket (Dane DeHaan), who was crippled from rickets but has become a wiz at customizing cars with suped up engines, and maybe the movie could have gotten its arms around the core gang-versus-gang story a little better. The movie is based on a book, the historical novel The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant, that is based on the author's family. You can see the remnants of the family story-telling in the movie — I kept waiting for this character or that plot thread to tie into the bigger narrative. But if you think about the pieces of the movie — great-aunt Maggie was a showgirl in Chicago — as lore brought to life rather than part of a fully realized story, it makes sense that the movie would be choppy and characters would be introduced but never fully realized.
But while this is fine for telling a story about your ancestors at Thanksgiving, it makes for a movie that feels under-baked. C
Rated R for strong bloody violence, language and some sexuality/nudity. Directed by John Hillcoat with a screenplay by Nick Cave (based on the book The Wettest County in the World by Matt B ondurant), Lawless is an hour and 55 minutes long and distributed by the Weinstein Company.


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Hall in the Bow with sofas in U, transformável in couple bed, complete Kitchen at EB with stove, Refrtigerator and microwaves and complete WC at BB. In the Stern, under cockpit a cabin with two single beds.
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Boat in excellent condition of maintenance.
The Company offers the details of this vessel in good faith but cannot guarantee or warrant the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of the vessel. A buyer should instruct his agents, or his surveyors, to investigate such details as the buyer desires validated. This vessel is offered subject to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal without notice.
Edificio Goncalves Zarco, Loja 8
Doca de Alcantara


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Continual coverage of the trial of Drew Peterson for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.
5:50 p.m. Testimony done for the day
Nicholas Pontarelli's testimony has concluded and court is done for the day. Testimony is scheduled to resume Thursday morning.
5:15 p.m. 'I was in shock'
Kathleen Savio's next-door neighbor Nicholas Pontarelli wasn't allowed to testify that he didn't see any scratches or scrapes on her arms the afternoon before prosecutors believe she drowned in her bathtub.
Pontarelli is testifying about what happened the weekend Savio, who he called a "second mother," was found dead in 2004.
He said on Monday night, he and other family members entered Savio's home after Drew Peterson called a locksmith to the house.
Pontarelli saw an open carton of orange juice with the cap off on the kitchen island, which he closed and put it in the refrigerator.
"She was the type of person who would put it away and would be on the kids about putting stuff away," he said.
He entered the bathroom where Savio died after his mother screamed and saw her body but didn't touch anything on the tub, Pontarelli testified.
"I just kind of stood back; I leaned back against her bed," he said.
Then he left the house. "I was in shock."
The next day, Pontarelli said he saw Peterson, Peterson's wife, Stacy, and Peterson's son Stephen enter the home and remove items. Peterson owned the home with Savio.
4:50 p.m. 'The issue has been resolved'
Judge Edward Burmila has returned to the bench.
"The issue has been resolved, and the juror will remain seated," he said.
Nicholas Pontarelli's testimony has resumed.
4:40 p.m. Juror knows witness on the stand
Judge Edward Burmila stopped the proceedings and ordered attorneys and a juror to meet him in his chambers after one of the jurors said he knows the witness now on the stand, Kathleen Savio's next-door neighbor Nicholas Pontarelli.
The juror said during jury selection that his father works at Bolingbrook High School.
While the attorneys were at the bench after an objection by defense attorney Joel Brodsky, the juror called the bailiff over and spoke to her.
The bailiff approached Burmila after the sidebar was over and the judge then asked that the jury be taken out and that attorneys and the juror meet him in his chambers. Burmila said that the juror said he recognized Pontarelli.
4 p.m. Jurors complain about loud courtroom printer
Jurors in the Drew Peterson case have complained to the judge that a printer used by Peterson's defense team in the courtroom is so loud that they can't hear witness testimony.
Judge Edward Burmila — who told the lawyers about the complaint, which he received through a note jurors gave a bailiff — told the defense team to stop printing documents during testimony.
"It is loud, I have to say for the record," Burmila said.
2:50 p.m. Doctor: Savio was not more likely to fall
Kathleen Savio's physician, Dr. Vinod Motiani, took the stand and testified that Savio had no conditions that would make her more likely than normal to fall.
"She was at no more risk than any other person," he testified.
Savio had complained previously about dizziness, but it was nothing out of the ordinary, Motiani.
"She didn't complain out of the usual of the dizziness… it is a very routine complaint that we face in our practice," he said.
Peterson's defense team contends Savio slipped and fell in her bathtub, perhaps because of some medical condition, leading to her drowning in 2004.
1:55 p.m. Savio's death 'raised my suspicions'
Master Sgt. Bryan Falat testified during cross examination by defense attorney Joseph Lopez that he had expressed his view while at Kathleen Savio's home the night her body was found that "this could possibly be a homicide."
Falat said the circumstances of Savio's death "raised my suspicions right away" and that he searched the home for "anything that could tell me why Ms. Savio was deceased."
But under questioning from Lopez, Falat testified that he did search the home carefully for any evidence but found nothing obvious.
"You looked carefully?" Lopez asked
"Yes," Falat said.
"And thoroughly, right?" Lopez asked
"We were only in the house for approximately a half hour," Falat said.
11:55 a.m. Investigation wasn't thorough
During questioning by the defense, Bryan Falat — who testified in 2010 about his concerns with how the Kathleen Savio death investigation was handled — hesitated when asked whether he did a thorough investigation.
"I'm sure there was a lot more stuff that could have been looked for that I wasn't trained on," he said.
The trial is stopping for a lunch break. Testimony is scheduled to resume at 1:15 p.m.
11:40 a.m. Peterson was 'cooperative, jovial'
Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Bryan Falat told jurors he was a trooper temporarily assigned to the agency's investigations unit at the time of Kathleen Savio's death and had assisted on only two prior homicides.
He said he assisted Sgt. Pat Collinsin interviewing witnesses and then was told by Collins that they would interview Peterson at the Bolingbrook Police Department, where Peterson worked.
"I advised Sgt. Collins that I did not think it was a good idea to interview Sgt. Peterson at the Bolingbrook Police Department and that we should take him back to District 5," Falat said. "We don't usually interview people where they're comfortable or where they work."
He said Peterson was cooperative as they interviewed him in the department's lunch room.
"For most of the interview, Mr. Peterson was cooperative, jovial," Falat said. "He said they owned a house valued at $300,000 and it was now his."
The following day, Falat said he and Collins interviewed Stacy Peterson at her home and said he was told Drew Peterson would be present.
"I told Sgt. Collins that I did not think it was a good idea that Drew was in the same room as Stacy during the interview," he said. "We never interview two people in the same room."
11 a.m. Investigator to take the witness stand
The next witness is Illinois State Police Investigator Bryan Falat. He was one of the first officers to arrive at Kathleen Savio's Bolingbrook home after her body was discovered.
He testified at a pretrial hearing in 2010 that he thought the initial investigation was inadequate.
10:30 a.m. No call to police after hit man talk
During questioning from defense attorney Joseph Lopez, Jeff Pachter admitted there was no record of his alleged hit man conversation in November 2003 with Drew Peterson, that Pachter doesn't know how to plan a murder, and he never went to police.
He also acknowledged that Peterson never specifically asked him to "kill" Kathleen Savio, nor did Peterson provide a picture or an address for Savio.
Pachter said Peterson was a jokester and never again mentioned the hit.
"I didn't know what to make of it," Pachter said.
Lopez suggested that Pachter wants to write a book and make money from the Peterson case.
10:15 a.m. Witness says Peterson looking for hit man
Drew Peterson's former co-worker, Jeff Pachter, testified this morning that Peterson offered him $25,000 to find a hit man "to take care of" Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio.
Under the plan, Pachter would find someone to do it, negotiate the price and keep whatever was left of the $25,000. Peterson said he would go to Great America in Gurnee on the day of the hit so he would have an alibi.
Pachter said he called Peterson in July 2004 and Peterson told him, "I no longer need (that favor) anymore." Savio drowned in March 2004.
Pachter testified that Peterson told him Pachter would take the hit request to "his grave."
9:45 a.m. Hit man testimony expected
Witnesses today include Jeff Pachter, who is expected to testify that Drew Peterson allegedly offered him $25,000 to find someone to kill Kathleen Savio in 2003.
Pachter, who worked with Peterson at his job as a cable outfitter, said during a pretrial hearing that he went on ride along with the Bolingbrook police sergeant in November 2003 at Peterson's request. During the ride, Peterson -- who knew Pachter had a gambling problem -- offered to pay him $25,000 to find someone to kill Savio.
"He asked if I could find someone to take care of his third wife," Pachter said. "He told me that she used to have a drug problem and she worked at Red Lobster."
Pachter said that Peterson wanted to know when it would be done, so he could come up with an alibi. For example, he considered being at Great America that day, when he would cause a fight so there would be a record of him being in Gurnee.
"He told me this was something that I would take to my grave," Pachter said.
8:30 a.m. Case of the color-coded jury
Faced with tedious delays caused by prolonged sidebar squabbles, Drew Peterson's jury has found a way to add a little splash of color to the proceedings.
In a rare display of jury camaraderie, the majority of the panel has been wearing the same color each day to court. On Tuesday, 12 of the 16 jurors donned green clothing, after sporting red, blue and black on designated days last week.
The fashion statement has sparked great interest in the courthouse, where observers are trying to figure out what message — if any — can be deciphered from the show of sartorial solidarity. Even veteran trial lawyers say they've never seen anything like it in the Chicago area.
"There's no doubt they're doing it," said defense attorney Sam Adam Jr., who has been doing TV commentary on the trial. "It means they're talking, and it means they're getting along."
These are not the first jurors, however, to dress alike.Lewis"Scooter" Libby's jury showed up wearing hearts on their shirts on Valentine's Day five years ago, and terror suspect Jose Padilla's panel donned red, white and blue in honor of Independence Day 2007. Both men were later convicted by their respective juries, though Libby was later pardoned.
Fifteen years ago, defense attorneys in New York asked for a mistrial after the jury began wearing identical colors to a death penalty case. The lawyers worried the matching attire meant the panel had surrendered individual opinions about the case, but when questioned by the judge, the jurors said they merely coordinated colors to release tension. The panel later convicted Avi Kostner of killing his children but declined to give him the death penalty.
There are no such worries from the defense team in Joliet.
Peterson attorney Joseph Lopez, in fact, has suggested that the Will County jurors have adopted a daily color scheme in homage to Lopez and his wife, Lisa, who is also on the defense team. The couple, who dress in coordinating ensembles each day, gravitate toward tailored shirts in bold colors such as hot pink and electric yellow.
While no one else seems to be publicly embracing the Lopez theory, Adam believes it's still a good sign for the defense. He says he's never had a client convicted by a seemingly happy jury and that prosecutors should be concerned about the color coordination.
"They have to be thinking that if this jury thought they were going to convict a man of murder, they wouldn't be worried about color schemes," Adam said.
The prosecution — several members of which coincidentally (or not) wore bluish shirts Tuesday — declined to comment on the jurors' clothing.
6:30 a.m. Patholgist doubts Savio fell
The head injury Kathleen Savio apparently suffered in her bathtub wouldn't have knocked her out, a state-hired expert testified Tuesday, and other bruising found on her body was of a severity typically seen only in car accidents.
Jurors in the Drew Petersonmurder trial on Tuesday heard testimony from Dr. Mary Case, a pathology professor and chief medical examiner ofSt. Louis County, Mo., who was on the witness stand as a state-paid private consultant.
Prosecutors are still working to convince jurors that the 2004 drowning death of Savio, Peterson's third wife, was a murder. Savio's death in her Bolingbrook bathtub was initially treated as an accident.
That changed when Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy, disappeared in 2007. Savio's body was exhumed, and two new autopsies were performed. Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, was charged with Savio's murder three years ago.
Jurors took notes as Case testified that it was "very unusual" to find a horizontal laceration on the back of Savio's head when a bathtub fall would typically cause a vertical laceration.
She testified that a single fall from a standing position would not have generated enough force to knock Savio unconscious or account for three bruises near Savio's hip.
"I don't see anything in that tub that would cause that head injury," Case testified. She also said an abrasion found on Savio's backside couldn't have come from the bathtub.
Prosecutors believe Peterson held Savio in a chokehold until she was unconscious and then drowned her in her bathtub. He then allegedly struck her on the back of her head, possibly with his police baton, to make it look like an accident.
Also Tuesday, prosecutors succeeded in their fight to let jurors hear testimony from Jeff Pachter, a former cable contractor co-worker whom Peterson allegedly offered $25,000 to find someone to kill Savio in 2003.
Judge Edward Burmila said he would allow the testimony about Peterson's alleged attempt to have his wife murdered because it is possible evidence of intent in this trial.
The prosecution, however, cannot argue later that Peterson tried to put a hit on Savio, only that Pachter's testimony showed Peterson wanted her dead, Burmila said.
Pachter previously testified during a pretrial hearing that Peterson told him he wanted Savio "taken care of" because she knew a secret that could cost him his job on the Bolingbrook police force.
But Pachter testified he didn't take Peterson's $25,000 offer seriously, even though he owed a bookie $1,000 at the time. Peterson drove him past the Red Lobsterrestaurant where Savio worked, Pachter testified, but didn't give him her name or any other information about her.
On Tuesday, prosecutors continued to struggle in the courtroom. Burmila issued a corrective statement to jurors and told them to disregard testimony after small missteps by State's Attorney James Glasgow.
"We have another instance where ... the witness gets up and says something and the state says, 'Well, jeez, I didn't think she was going to say that,'" an annoyed Burmila said.
There were so many objections, sidebars with the judge and oral arguments that jurors heard only about 40 minutes of testimony Tuesday morning.
The entire day was taken up with Case's testimony.
Burmila said that due to what he'd previously called the "glacial pace" of the trial, he was adding an extra day of testimony on Monday. So far, testimony has been heard Tuesdays through Fridays with Burmila hearing his regular court call on Mondays.
Prosecutors plan to call Illinois State Police investigator Bryan Falat, who raised questions about how the original Savio death investigation was handled.


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Sometimes we give the least to those who should matter most in our lives—our families. Here's what the modern-day prophets have said to help us turn our hearts toward our greatest joy.
All of the modern-day prophets have taught the importance of families. They understood that our greatest happiness in this life comes from our families. But to achieve this happiness, we have to work to strengthen our families each day. Here are some suggestions from modern-day prophets on how to make your family a happy one.
Keep an Eternal Perspective
Joseph Smith (1805–1844), First President of the Church
"A man filled with the love of God, is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race."1
Harold B. Lee (1899–1973), Eleventh President of the Church
"The most important of the Lord's work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own homes."2
Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994), Thirteenth President of the Church
"There can be no genuine happiness separate and apart from the home. The sweetest influences and associations of life are there."3
Honor Your Parents
Lorenzo Snow (1814–1901), Fifth President of the Church
"I would plead with you, my young brethren and sisters, to honor your fathers and your mothers, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord hath given to them and to you. Be obedient and loving to them."4
Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985), Twelfth President of the Church
"If we truly honor our parents as we are commanded to do, we will seek to emulate their best characteristics and to fulfill their highest aspirations for us. Nothing we could give them materially would be more prized than our righteous living."5
Participate in Family Prayer
John Taylor (1808–1887), Third President of the Church
"Do not forget to call upon the Lord in your family circles, dedicating yourselves and all you have to God every day of your lives; and seek to do right, and cultivate the spirit of union and love, and the peace and blessing of the Living God will be with us, and He will lead us in the paths of life."6
Heber J. Grant (1856–1945), Seventh President of the Church
"I am convinced that one of the greatest things that can come into any home to cause the boys and girls in that home to grow up in a love of God, and in a love of the gospel of Jesus Christ, is to have family prayer."7
George Albert Smith (1870–1951), Eighth President of the Church
"[Do] we want our homes to be happy[?] If we do, let them be the abiding place of prayer, thanksgiving and gratitude."8
Read Scriptures Together
Howard W. Hunter (1907–1995), Fourteenth President of the Church
"Families are greatly blessed when wise fathers and mothers bring their children about them, read from the pages of the scriptural library together, and then discuss freely the beautiful stories and thoughts according to the understanding of all."9
Communicate with Love
Brigham Young (1801–1877), Second President of the Church
"The greatest difficulty that exists in the little bickerings and strifes of [families] . . . arises from the want of rightly understanding each other."10 "Anger should never be permitted to rise in our bosoms, and words suggested by angry feelings should never be permitted to pass our lips."11
David O. McKay (1873–1970), Ninth President of the Church
"We contribute to an ideal home by our character, by controlling our passions, our temper, by guarding our speech, because those things will make our homes what they are."12
Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008), Fifteenth President of the Church
"There are good families everywhere. But there are too many who are in trouble. This is a malady with a cure. The prescription is simple and wonderfully effective. It is love."13
Live for Eternity
Wilford Woodruff (1807–1898), Fourth President of the Church
"We want the Latter-day Saints from this time to trace their genealogies as far as they can, and to be sealed to their fathers and mothers. Have children sealed to their parents, and run this chain through as far as you can get it."14
Joseph F. Smith (1838–1918), Sixth President of the Church
"We are living for eternity and not merely for the moment. Death does not part us from one another, if we have entered into sacred relationships with each other by virtue of the authority that God has revealed to the children of men. Our relationships are formed for eternity."15
Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972), Tenth President of the Church
"The primary function of a Latter-day Saint home is to insure that every member of the family works to create the climate and conditions in which all can grow toward perfection."16
- History of the Church, 4:227.
- Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee (2000), 134.
- In Conference Report, Oct. 1947, 27.
- Deseret Semi-Weekly News, 4 July 1901.
- "Hold Fast to the Iron Rod," Ensign, Nov. 1978, 6.
- Teachings of Presidents of the Church: John Taylor (2001), 148.
- In Conference Report, Oct. 1923, 7.
- In Conference Report, Apr. 1944, 32.
- "Reading the Scriptures," Ensign, Nov. 1979, 64.
- Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young (1997), 175.
- Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young, 174.
- In Conference Report, Oct. 1967, 149.
- "Look to the Future," Ensign, Nov. 1997, 69.
- James R. Clark, comp., Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. (1965–75), 3:256–57.
- "General Conference of the Relief Society," Relief Society Magazine, June 1917, 316.
- "Message from the First Presidency," Ensign, Jan. 1971, 1.


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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More people signed up on the government's new health insurance website on the first two days of December than in the entire first month of the launch of President Barack Obama's healthcare reform, sources familiar with the numbers said on Wednesday.
The sources said about 29,000 people enrolled on Sunday and Monday, surpassing nearly 27,000 for all of October when the opening of the HealthCare.gov website was beset by glitches that led to a public apology by the president and a retooling of the portal.
Obama's administration has been criticized by Republican opponents for not regularly disclosing figures over political concerns.
The improved enrollment figures provide the first evidence that a five-week emergency effort by the administration to fix HealthCare.gov was allowing more people to sign up for insurance in 36 states served by the website. Fourteen states and Washington, D.C. run their own online insurance marketplaces.
The agency in charge of the healthcare policy rollout, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said on Wednesday that it would announce official numbers later in December.
The upward swing is a tentative good sign for Obama, whose job approval ratings plummeted as the website made a disastrous debut on October 1 and millions received policy cancellation notices despite Obama's repeated pledge they could keep their current plans under the Affordable Care Act.
Preliminary government data has also indicated that about 100,000 people chose a health plan through HealthCare.gov during November. Tens of thousands more Americans have signed up through state exchanges.
While enrollment is improving, the administration is still far off track of the 7 million people whom the Congressional Budget Office has said were expected to sign up for private insurance through March 31. Also, insurers say they are struggling to cope with error-filled enrollment forms, a problem that may worsen as more people rush to meet the December 23 deadline to sign up for coverage that starts January 1.
Republicans, who have long opposed the healthcare overhaul commonly called Obamacare as an example of unwarranted government expansion that would increase costs, said the positive news in the numbers should not overshadow the law's shortcomings.
"While the administration is celebrating this small number, their announcement will be cold comfort for the millions who've lost the coverage they liked and the millions more facing higher premiums," said an aide to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky. "And that's all assuming that the insurers are actually receiving the information needed to complete the process - which we still don't know to be true."
Uncertain corporate costs of the healthcare law and other regulations continue to stymie employment and capital spending, according to a survey released by the Business Roundtable, a confederation of top U.S. companies.
Obama, in an economic speech on Wednesday, vowed to keep working on improving the program, his signature domestic policy achievement.
"I've acknowledged more than once that we didn't roll out this plan the way we should have," he said. But he added, "This law is going to work, and for the sake of our economic security, it needs to work."
He said Republicans still wanting to repeal should explain what their alternative to Obamacare is. "You owe it to the American people to say what you are for, not just what you're against," he said.
Reporting by Mark Felsenthal, Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Karey Van Hall and Grant McCool


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Mingzhai Sun and Joshua Shaevitz / Princeton
Click through the top images from Princeton University's Art of Science Competition, which features images of artistic merit created during the course of scientific research.
Worms are a source of wonder in this year's crop of aesthetically pleasing scientific images, served up by Princeton University's Art of Science Competition.
"C. instagram," one of the contest's top photos, features a wriggling network of C. elegans worms on an agar plate covered with E. coli bacteria. Ewwww, right? But when Princeton molecular biology student Meredith Wright looked at the scene through a microscope, she had a different reaction: Cooool!
"I found the pattern on this plate particularly lovely, and was able to capture it with my cell phone by holding the lens of my phone's camera up to the microscope eyepiece," she wrote. "I've since shared the photo on social networking sites and have had friends who've never been interested in biology ask me more about my work because of this photo."
Researchers don't do what they do to create beautiful pictures, but beauty often arises amid the search for scientific truth. That's what the Art of Science program is going for: Images produced in the course of scientific research that have aesthetic merit as well.
This year's theme was "Connections." Andrew Zwicker, director of science education at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, said that some of history's most exciting scientific discoveries have come from making connections between different disciplines.
"For example, with physics and biology, everyday there is a new finding showing that the two are connected in the most fascinating and profound way," he said in this year's contest announcement. "In a similar vein, connecting the aesthetics of laboratory images to their scientific importance has transformed how we look at our data and results. With the 2013 Art of Science competition, we are celebrating all manner of connections."
Meredith Wright / Princeton Art of Science Competition
"C. instagram" shows masses of C. elegans worms on an agar plate. The picture was taken with a smartphone camera through a microscope, and shared via Instagram.
The connections between beauty and truth are reflected in this year's three top-rated images. First prize goes to Martin Jucker's visualization of Earth's wind patterns in shades of red and blue. Michael Kosk's photomicrograph of crushed birch wood took second place. And third prize went to a many-branching visualization of online connections for the websites set up by the plasma physics lab and by the Lewis Center for the arts.
"These two embroidery-like figures visually give us an idea of the similarities and differences of a website devoted to science and one devoted to the arts," said the prize-winning webmasters, Paul Csogi and Chris Cane.
The three prize-winners will share $500, divided into shares of $250, $154.51 and $95.49 in accordance with the aesthetically pleasing golden ratio. Another 40 images are included in Princeton's Art of Science 2013 exhibit, which opened on Friday in the atrium of Princeton's Friend Center. The works were chosen from 170 images submitted from 24 different departments across campus.
Click through our slideshow featuring some of the pictures in the exhibit, and then be sure to visit the Art of Science website and the Art of Science Facebook page for much, much more. And don't forget to share. That's precisely what Meredith Wright hopes you'll do with "C. instagram."
"This image represents the simple pleasure of finding something beautiful when you don't expect to," she wrote, "and it shows how easy it is to connect science with new audiences by simply clicking 'share.'"
More artistic science to share:
- Solid science turns into crowd-pleasing art
- Creepy critters and cool close-ups
- How beauty was found in a slimeball
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the NBC News Science Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with NBCNews.com's stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.


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Self Starter – Bart Knaggs, Founder of Capital Sports and Entertainment
Aug 17 2008
I co-write articles for university alumni magazines with my fabulous writing partner Pam Losefsky. You can also see more of our write-ups on the article page of this blog.
Our most recent article for The University of Texas at Austin's alumni magazine, The Alcalde, is on Bart Knaggs (gif). Bart is the founder of Capital Sports and Entertainment which brings us the annual, highly popular Austin City Limits Festival. Here is an interesting quote from his interview:
"There are ways you want to manage opportunities, but mitigating risk, I think takes you down the wrong path." Instead of thinking that you might lose so you'd better prepare for the crash, Knaggs says you must believe you're going to take off, so you'll only prepare to fly. "You have to commit 100 percent to powering the engines and getting up to speed. You have to rally your people, you just have to know you're going to fly."
Bart has two kids. After getting his undergraduate degree, he became a competitive cyclist – "a form of self-employment in which the sacrifice is monumental and the payoff only accrues to an elite few."
One more article in the Self-Starter series will be coming out soon, so sign up for free email updates and you won't miss it!Author: Aruni | Filed under: entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, father, success, success story, working father | Tags: austin city limits, bart knaggs, capital sports and entertainment, self starter, The Alcalde, University of Texas at Austin | 2 Comments »


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Science Friday® is produced by the Science Friday Initiative, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Science Friday® and SciFri® are registered service marks of Science Friday, Inc. Site design by Pentagram; engineering by Mediapolis.
|This week, astronauts on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis captured the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope and docked it in the shuttle cargo bay for repairs. The flight, one of the last trips for the shuttle, will be the last servicing mission for the orbiting observatory. We'll check in with NASA on the progress of the Hubble Space Telescope repair mission, and talk about what new capabilities the HST will have once upgrades are complete.


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First Citizen A for 2013 with Selwyn Manning & Phoebe Fletcher
First Citizen A for 2013 with Selwyn Manning & Phoebe Fletcher
Issue 1: Should the thin blue line be armed after a spate of attacks on Police over the holidays?
Issue 2: What will be the biggest challenge for the Government in 2013? The IPCA Urewera report? The Sky City Casino cronyism report? The Kim Dotcom case or the Supreme Court ruling on Maori water rights?
And Issue 3 tonight: With 7.3% unemployment, 270 000 kids in poverty and the highest inequality ever recorded, what has to happen in the economy for NZ in 2013 for everyone to start prospering?
Citizen A broadcasts on Auckland UHF and will start transmitting on Sky TV on their new public service broadcasting channel 'FACE Television' February 7th February 2013.


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Support Organizations After Thyroid Cancer
What are some good organizations for support of thyroid cancer patients and survivors?
Michelle LeBeau, Thyroid Cancer Survivor and Founder of REACT Thyroid Foundation responds:
There are several organizations available for support but one of the best I have found is ThyCa (www.thyca.org). Their website is full of great content about thyroid cancer and they offer support groups all across the country. There is also an annual thyroid cancer survivor conference where all the top doctors from around the country are present.
Other good organizations are: American Thyroid Association (ATA)(www.Thyriod.org) , Light of Life Foundation (www.lightoflifefoundation.org/).
This question and answer was part of the OncoLink Brown Bag Chat Series, Focus on Thyroid Cancer. View the entire transcript.


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Mike Krzyzewski did not partake in DJ Steve Porter's Auto-Tuned "Duke Worldwide" music video, so we went into the Deadspin recording studio (it's called GarageBand and it's probably on your Mac) and mixed one ourselves.
Since he has the second-least expressive voice in the universe (Bill Belichick is first, of course), Coach K does not make for very exciting Auto-Tune—but since he did allow us to make him say "a smorgasbord of money" over a T-Pain instrumental, we're grateful to him.
The man is about winning. He has 900 career wins, and he's on schedule to surpass Bob Knight's all-time mark (902) against Michigan State on Nov. 15.


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Abidjan Travel Guide
Hotel © fr.zil
Abidjan was once the proud and flourishing capital city of the Ivory Coast, and a jewel in the continent of Africa's crown; however, years of civil unrest and a lack of maintenance have seen the city slowly move away from the reputation it once held as the 'Paris of West Africa'. For those travelling to Ivory Coast, Abidjan will more than likely be your first introduction to the country.
The city is testament to what the country once was and what it could be again. This is evident in the sites such as the Hotel Ivoire, which was constructed in the sixties and hasn't changed significantly since then. Visitors can take a trip down memory lane as the hotel's architecture, furniture and decor are all reminiscent of styles that have long-since passed. Abidjan is arranged along the coast and the shores of a lagoon. Some sites in the city include a popular beach area known as Grand Bassam, the public zoo, a rainforest park in the city called Park du Banco, and Saint Paul's Cathedral.
Become our Abidjan Travel Expert
We are looking for contributors for our Abidjan travel guide. If you are a local, a regular traveller to Abidjan or a travel professional with time to contribute and answer occasional forum questions, please contact us.


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Firewalls and Internet Security: Repelling the Wily Hacker
Addison-Wesley, 1994 - Computer networks - 306 pages
Getting started; why security?; picking a security policy; strategies for a secure network; the ethics of computer security; warning; an overview of TCP/IP; the different layers; routers and routing protocols; the domain name system; standard services; RPC-based protocols; file transfer protocols; the "r" commands; information services; the X11 system; patterns of trust; building your own firewall; firewall gateways; firewall philosophy; situating firewalls; packet-filtering gateways; applicatio-level gateways; circuit-level gateways; supporting inbound services; tunnels good and bad; joint ventures; what firewalls can't do; how to build and application-level gateway; policy; hardware configuration options; initial installation; gateway tools; installing services; protecting the protectors; gateway administration; safety analysis-why our setup is secure and fail-safe; performance; the TIS firewall toolkit; evaluating firewalls; living without a firewalls; authentication; user authentication; host-to-host authentication; gateway tools; proxylib; syslog; watching the network: tcpdump and friends; adding logging to standard daemons; traps, lures, and honey pots; what to log; dummy accounts; tracing the connection; the hacker's workbench; introduction; discovery; probing hosts; connection tools; routing games; network monitors; metastasis; tiger teams; further reading;; a look back; classes of attacks; stealing passwords; social engineering; bugs and backdoors; authentication failures; information leakage; denial-of-service; an evening with berferd; the day after; the jail; tracing berferd; berferd comes home; where the wild things are: a look at the logs; a year of hacking; proxy use; attack sources; noise on the line; odds and ends; legal considerations; computer crime statutes; log files as evidence; is monitoring legal?; tort liability considerations; secure communications over insecure networks; an introduction to cryptography; the kerberos authentication system; link-level encryption; network-and transport-level encryption; application-level encryption; where do we go from here?; useful free stuff; building firewalls; network management and monitoring tools; auditing packages; cryptographic software; information sources; TCP and UDP ports; fixed ports; mbone usage; recommendations to vendors; everyone; hosts; routers; protocols; firewalls; bibliography; index.
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LibraryThing ReviewUser Review - BrentNewhall - LibraryThing
Highly technical book, naturally, that deals with setting up a secure computer or network. Clear and useful. Particularly interesting for the account of extended attacks on AT&T's system during the first Gulf War. Read full review
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Excellent primer on firewalls. Read full review
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Don't worry, I'm not into Science Fiction and I haven't taken to writing about it. Some folks find it odd that a fellow who has spent most of his life working in the aerospace world is not interested in such things as Martians and flying saucers.
I really am not.
However, I am approaching or "sailing into" another birthday and I try to find humor and meaning as I go through life and hoping my children and friends do the same.
Being a mathematician by education, I do find it entertaining to study what people think about certain numbers and their significance. Again, I will note that I just find it fun and I don't pick lottery numbers based on the significance of numbers.
That being said, I still had to look into the significance of the number 51 this year. Of course, like every other number it is very important (to some people).
In studying the Pyramid's mysterious design, the number 51 is worthy of attention. The slope angle is 51 degrees, 51 minutes. In addition, the Kings Chamber is situated on the 51st masonry course of the Pyramid.
Somehow folks associate the number 51 with a code for the Earth. Okay, that's pretty cool. However, when you consider that Stonehenge, Avebury and Silbury Hill are all located on the 51st parallel, it gets a little scary. These folks think that these prehistoric monuments represent the Sun, Earth and Moon.
You've probably heard of Stonehenge. Avebury is also an arrangement of three stone circles from prehistoric times. Silbury Hill is a mound of chalk in the same area from a long long time ago.
Maybe the fellows who built all these monuments were just bored or having some sort of contest. I really don't think the Martians did it.
I'll just handle 51 in my own way.
My Daddy was in the Navy and he taught us the basic terms associated with boats, knots and Fletcher Class Destroyers. It was interesting for me as a little boy when he would point to a gun on a Revell plastic model of the USS The Sullivans and say, "this was my gun."
My Daddy sat under a gun and fired it when he needed to fire it. He taught me about knots and the square knot is about the only one I remember. I know the "bow" was the front of the ship and the "stern" was the back-end of the ship. I also know if you are looking toward the front of the ship, the "port side" is the left and the "starboard side" is the right.
These terms are important in understanding what I am about to describe because I don't want to use inappropriate words.
With less than a week before my birthday, I have had a couple of notable "sailing experiences." The first happened over the weekend when I was getting to sleep late for a change. It was nice.
As I woke up, I found a small black dog cuddled up to me in the bed. She is a very loving dog and likes the pack feeling when sleeping. I do not mind sleeping with this dog, it's nice to have someone or something or a small black dog to wake up in your arms.
She is a dog; she does not care what you are. Anyway, it seemed she had cuddled up to me with her stern in my face. It is somewhat startling to wake up with the stern end of a dog in your face, but at least she was there. Stonehenge did not cross my mind.
Later in the day, I took my two teenagers and some of their friends to some sort of music concert a few hours away. It was something my son has been looking forward to for a long time.
My son and his friends made a cake to take to the concert. This sounded strange to me, but I found out that many of the aged 16-24 crowd does the same thing. Evidently, this fellow who does the singing throws the cakes into the crowd during the concert.
I know… I know…
It concerned me, but I trust my children and I was going to be close by. As a teenager, I listened to George Jones, Conway Twitty and other country music crooners. A case could be made that some of what goes on in country songs is not necessarily appropriate.
By bringing a cake to the concert, the concert folks give you a couple of special armbands which allow you to meet the singer/cake thrower after the concert and have your picture made with him or get his autograph. My son was thrilled.
He was there about three hours early and standing in line with his special armband on. I was close by and communicating with him.
The concert was over at around 11 pm and I was walking around outside waiting for my son to come out. His sister and friends without the armbands came on out and decided they wanted to go back to the hotel and go to sleep.
This was fine, it was a block away. I volunteered to stay and wait on my son and his friend who were going to get to meet the cake thrower. I stuck my head in and the security guard told me that I could not come in without an armband.
However, I was able to see the cake thrower. He was about 5 and a half feet tall and dressed like a normal college kid. I asked the security guard, "Is that the guy we drove three hours to see?" He said, "Yes." I said, "He sure seems clean." The security guard told me, "He's had a shower."
It made sense with all the cakes flying around.
It was cold, but I decided to sit down on a park bench right outside the auditorium. There was only one way out and I was right in front of it.
I was still communicating with my 16 year-old son who informed me that he was at the end of the line waiting to see the musician/singer/cake thrower.
Why is it our kids are always the last in line?
After sitting on the bench for a while, I figured it out. This fellow who was meeting all of his fans was having his picture made and signing autographs. Well, it seemed that about 70% of his fans were high school aged girls.
These high school aged girls kept coming out screaming about being able to meet "the cake boy."
Then it happened and it happened again and again.
It seemed that this fellow was signing the "port side" bow gun of all these little girls or their undergarment that covered it. They kept coming out and showing these "autographs" to each other.
I got to the point where I was getting embarrassed. I wanted to say, "Please, Please, do not pull your port-side bow gun out right here on the sidewalk.
Why the port side?
That was easy. The cake fellow was right handed and it just made sense when facing another ship, it would be left side you attacked (or wrote on).
My son finally came out. He and his friend were thrilled to get their picture made with the normal looking fellow who throws bakery goods. Honestly, I think he was more thrilled to stand towards the end of the line and watch the fellow "sign autographs."
So if you're turning 51, just be thankful and stand close by on the sidewalk.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Cranks My Tractor
Share this story with friends - it helps me a lot. "Like" the Cranks My Tractor Facebook Site, if you have not already.
Kindle owners, give me a try on the Kindle, it keeps me writing.
Twitter folks, follow me on Twitter (@CranksMyTractor).
Tell 27 people you love them today; something good will happen.
I'm BN Heard and I like semicolons, dogs and using nautical terms my Daddy taught me.
Copyright, BN Heard


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The Carolina Pottery Festival annually features more than 100 local and regional potters showing and selling a wide range of traditional, contemporary, decorative and functional pots.
The Carolina Pottery Festival annually features more than 100 local and regional potters showing and selling a wide range of traditional, contemporary, decorative and functional pots.
There�s a new location this year, as the event, previously slated to take place at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds, will instead take place Saturday at the Cleveland Mall in Shelby.
Festival-goers will be able to chat with the potters about what inspired their work, see pottery demonstrations and get an early leg up on holiday shopping. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the Cleveland County Arts Council.
The festival, which started in 2001, routinely draws between 1,700 and 2,100 people, said festival organizer Vicki Gill, who owns Bluegill Pottery on E. Franklin Boulevard in Gastonia.
So what�s made the event such a draw?
�I think it�s the fact that there are so many different potters with so many different styles in one location,� Gill said. �That�s hard to find unless you would do something like take a drive over to Seagrove or up to Asheville. Even then they�d be spread out.
�It�s the convenience, the quality of work and just the fact that pottery is so appreciated in this state.�
Before you go, take a moment to learn about some of the pots you�ll find at the pottery festival.
Let�s Cook!
Most potters are good cooks, said Bobbie Black of Denver, who made this casserole dish with lid and covered butter dish.
�Part of that is so they can use their own work,� she said. �You�re making things to be used with food, so you try them out.�
Black, who specializes in functional pottery, made the pieces this summer. Both are oven, microwave and dishwasher safe.
�I just try to make things that people can use and things they will use,� she said. �I want people to enjoy them and I just think food tastes better out of pottery.�
Time Well Spent in Front of the Mirror
The expressive face jugs created by Jeff Young of Vale are a result of the potter spending a lot of time in front of the mirror.
�I was making faces in the mirror because I wanted to get the growl and little snarl and all the little things that come with certain faces,� said Young, a part-time potter and a fulltime IT guy. �My wife was standing there, which I didn�t realize, and says �What the heck are you doing?� I guess I got busted.�
But it�s that depth that Young wants to bring out in his face jugs, whether it�s one that looks like a chubby man chewing on a cigar, a face within a face jug or a wig stand-like pot of an agitated man with a wisp of hair. They can be decorated at the holidays, hold floral arrangements and more, Young said.
�A lot of people can use their imagination to come up with some really wild things,� he said. �It�s more than just buying a piece of pottery and letting it sit.�
Combining Art Forms
John and Scottie Post of Hog Hill Pottery in Vale are potters who make folksy pieces and animal figure as well as functional items like bowls and mugs.
They�re also photographers, sketchers and painters who emblazon images they�ve snapped or drawn onto decorative and functional vases.
Case in point � this scenic vase with bronze luster featuring an image of Murray�s Mill, an old gristmill and historical site in Catawba County. They traveled to the site for inspiration and returned to their studio to create a vase in the arts and crafts style of the 1920s.
�We definitely wanted something that was local,� John said. �We like the work to represent the area. We live in a really beautiful place so it�s hard not to be inspired by it.�
Decorative Functionality
Potters can find inspiration almost anywhere, so it should be no surprise that they�re often inspired by the work of their peers.
Take the carefully crafted blue platter with slightly raised sides and handles created by Robert E. Martin of Gastonia. Martin�s appreciation of a similar piece he saw on a trip to the Asheville area some years back motivated him to create his own.
�You see it and get to thinking how I can make it totally different,� Martin said.
It is representative of the utilitarian pots Martin said he loves to throw. While he will make a decorative piece here and there, he said he prefers to make pieces that are functional and practical, sort of like the pottery that came out of north Georgia his grandmother used to have.
�If it�s not usable, it�s really not much use to you,� he said. �I appreciate the fact that you can use it or you can put it on the shelf and appreciate it.�
Always Looking for Something New
Allen Griffin, of Allen Griffin Pottery in Shelby, doesn�t specialize in any one style of pottery. He bores too easily to do the same thing over and over again.
�It keeps me trying new things, new shapes, new colors, new functions,� he said. �It�s all kinds of stuff � face jugs, pitchers and cups and bowls and casseroles. It�s mainly stuff that people can use.�
Ideas can come from anywhere, be it costumers coming into his downtown Shelby studio looking for a specific type of pot to Griffin wanting to make something that�s not normally made out of clay, such as watering cans.
�Once you start doing pottery, you start noticing more,� he said. �You�re more open to different looking things you can take inspiration from.�
Want to Go?
The 12th annual Carolina Pottery Festival takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10. Note the event is taking place at a new location this year � the Cleveland Mall, 2001 E. Dixon Blvd., Shelby. The event features more than 100 local and regional potters selling their works, ranging from traditional to contemporary pieces and functional to decorative and sculptural pots. Admission is $3 for those ages 15 and older. For more information, visit www.carolinapotteryfestival.org or call 704-824-9928.


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The College of Education has an array of resources available to graduate students to help them successfully earn their degrees. Below, you'll find the information, guidance, and assistance you need to achieve all of your academic goals.
Schedule an appointment with an advisor.
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Find add/withdrawal request forms, FAQs, registration information, and more.
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Does this mean I could get 70+ for my five? I'd sell them in a heartbeat for that - set the money aside, then buy 3 four packs when they finally start selling them.
Holy crapOne finished for over $90!!!!Thats just insane
appears the secondary market is good for Anakin's Clone Wars fighterFive days to go yet.
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Ken Rawson's '57 Chevy
Hot rods have always fallen into two categories: home-built and pro-built. For the hobby guys who build in their own garage, being mistaken for a professional build is a badge of honor. It says "People think your work is so good, you should have either paid a professional to do it, or someone should be paying you to do it."
There are still two categories, but things have changed a bit over the years. The first is that a lot more people can afford to have a car professionally built, and the guys who can't afford it seem to have gone the other way and just slap a vehicle together–rat rods and low-detail daily drivers. As a result, most of the really high-end looking vehicles you see today are built by pro shops, not by some dude and his buddies in the garage with a few basic tools. That's why we were so stoked to see Ken Rawson's '57 Chevy pickup.
"I always wanted to do a truck," Ken told us, "and after a search a buddy found it in the back of a guy's shop, for sale due to divorce." A running, driving truck, it pretty much needed everything, and once safely home, Kenny and a bunch of his friends started in. "Bobby Butler and I burned up two sanders while stripping a couple coats of paint and the factory primer off the entire body," Kenny told us. Once they were done, friend Jay Stanley helped install new cab corners, front fender corners, and the three took turns filling dozens of body trim and miscellaneous holes. The bed was smoothed off, with a tailgate and fiberglass fenders coming from Tuckers Classic Pickup Parts in Las Vegas. Once the bedsides were worked smooth, the body was ready for paint by friend-of-a-friend Gary Gidzinski at D&G Enterprises, getting a deep coat of Spies Hecker Black paint–one of the few things not handled directly by Ken or his friends.
A stock Chevy straight-axle hung on parallel leaf springs under the nose isn't known for superior road manners. Since Ken drives his truck all over, suspension upgrades were in order. The rear suspension was brought down to a reasonable height with a pair of 5-inch lowering springs, 2-inch lowering shackles, and a C-notch to clear a 12-bolt the boys filled with 3.73:1 gears, an Eaton limited slip, and 30-spline Superior axles. Performance driving upgrades include a -inch Ford Bronco sway bar fitted with custom endlinks and late-model Impala SS rotors and Monte Carlo single-piston calipers.
The Sawzall and welder came out for the front portion of the frame, replacing it with a Flat Out Engineering subframe that mounts '90 Corvette upper and lower control arms, spindles, rack-and-pinion, sway bar, 12-inch rotors and 2-piston calipers, damped with Aldan coilover shocks. The result is a ground-hugging suspension that handles like you'd expect Corvette parts to handle, and in fact is so nice to drive, Kenny says the only thing he'd do different is install a matching Flat Out Engineering IRS out back. "Jay handled the fabrication on the frame," Ken told us, "along with custom building the gas tank out back."
Power comes from a Chevy 350 4-bolt filled with an Eagle 383 stroker kit. Internal highlights include 5.7-inch I-beam rods with full-floating pins, Speed-Pro 9.5:1 slugs, and a Crane roller cam spec'ing at 0.508/0.539 lift/228-230 duration. Breathing is by Dart Sportsman II heads with 2.02/1.60 valves, 200cc runners, and 76cc chambers; a Weiand Stealth intake; and 600-cfm Edlebrock carb. Keeping the look subdued, an '89 Chevy serpentine system with wrinkle painted valve covers finish the motor off. A Mallory HEI lights it, and Dynomax ceramic-coated shorties running to Flowmasters exhaust it. Finishing the package is a 700-R4 with a stock Corvette converter and shift-improvement kit by Speedway Transmissions, engaged by a Lokar shifter. Ken uses 18×7 and 20×10 Americans shod in BFG Force T/As to put it to the ground.
For cabin comfort, Ken shaved the head- and armrests from a junkyard '89 Chevy truck seat and had it recovered by a local shop. Friends Robby and Tony helped install the wiring harness and a full set of Auto Meters to keep him apprised of the goings-on under the hood. For a custom steering column, an ididit topped with a late-model Chevy steering wheel keeps him pointed and a Kenwood head unit with speakers under the seat keeps him entertained. Spraying the floor and back wall with Line-X before laying down the carpet and new headliner helps to hold the cab noise down.
Ken finished the truck in about five years with help from his friends and the co-workers from 4Wheel Parts. "I had lots of good times during the build, working on the truck from start to finish with friends, doing what we could ourselves. I'm ready for the next project!"


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Cancer treatment can have a major impact on fertility. Get the facts about fertility preservation options for both men and women — and know how to choose what's right for you.
If you're being treated for cancer, you might have questions about fertility preservation. Find out how cancer treatment can affect your ability to have a child, as well as what fertility preservation steps you can take before you begin cancer treatment.
Certain cancer treatments can harm your fertility or cause sterility. The effects might be temporary or permanent. The likelihood that cancer treatment will harm your fertility depends on the type and stage of cancer, cancer treatment, and your age at the time of treatment.
Male fertility can be harmed by the surgical removal of the testicles or by chemotherapy or radiation that damages sperm quantity, quality or DNA.
Female fertility can be compromised by cancer treatments that involve the surgical removal of the uterus or ovaries. Cancer treatment can also affect eggs, hormone levels, or the functioning of the ovaries, uterus or cervix. The risk of developing premature menopause after certain cancer treatments increases as you age. Older women also are more susceptible to permanent ovarian damage.
The effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy also depend on the drug or size and location of the radiation field. The most severe damage is caused when radiation is applied to the ovaries or testicles and by chemotherapy drugs called alkylating agents.
If you are planning cancer treatment and want to preserve your fertility, talk to your doctor, oncologist or a reproductive specialist as soon as possible. Your fertility can be damaged by one cancer therapy session and, for women, some methods of fertility preservation are typically done during certain phases of the menstrual cycle.
Women who are about to undergo cancer treatment have various options when it comes to fertility preservation. For example:
Other methods of fertility preservation for women still being researched include:
Men can also take steps to preserve their fertility before undergoing cancer treatment. For example:
Another method of fertility preservation for men still being researched is a procedure in which testicular tissue is surgically removed, frozen and later reimplanted (testicular tissue cryopreservation).
Research in these areas is limited. There's no evidence that current fertility preservation methods can directly compromise the success of cancer treatments. However, you could compromise the success of your treatment if you delay surgery or chemotherapy to pursue fertility preservation.
There appears to be no increased risk of cancer recurrence associated with most fertility preservation methods. While there is a concern that reimplanting cryopreserved ovarian tissue could reintroduce cancer cells — depending on the type and stage of cancer — no such problems have occurred in humans.
As long as you don't expose your baby to cancer treatments in utero, cancer treatments don't appear to increase the risk of congenital disorders or other health problems for future children.
However, if you receive a cancer treatment that affects the functioning of your heart or lungs or if you receive radiation in your pelvic area, talk to a specialist before becoming pregnant to prepare for possible pregnancy complications.
Taking steps to preserve the fertility of a child who has cancer can be difficult because he or she might not understand the consequences of impaired fertility. If your child has begun puberty, options might include oocyte or sperm cryopreservation. Your consent and your child's might be required. However, efforts to preserve the fertility of a child who hasn't begun puberty are considered experimental.
If you want to preserve your fertility before cancer treatment, talk to your doctor, oncologist or a reproductive specialist. Your medical team will consider the type of cancer you have, your treatment plan and the amount of time you have before treatment begins to help determine the best approach for you.
The diagnosis of cancer and the treatment process can be overwhelming. However, if you're concerned about how cancer treatment might affect your fertility, you have options. Don't wait. Getting information about fertility preservation methods before you begin cancer treatment can help you make an informed choice.
Original article: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/getting-pregnant/in-depth/fertility-preservation/art-20047512
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Owner: SUV in Ohio crash that killed 6 was stolen
WARREN, Ohio -- Investigators on Monday tried to piece together what eight teenagers crammed into a stolen SUV were up to before the vehicle flipped over into a pond, killing six of them.
Authorities gave few details on where the group of friends had been and why they were out around daybreak Sunday, speeding down a two-lane road. On Monday, the SUV's owner met with police and filed a stolen-car report; police said none of the teens was related to the owner or had asked to use the vehicle.
Whether all the teens knew the SUV was stolen wasn't clear. Neither was their whereabouts before the crash.
While the father of one of the dead said the teenagers were coming home from a sleepover at a friend's house, the mother of another boy killed said that her son and his best friend had lied about staying over at each other's homes that evening. She said she thinks they went to a party.
"If only he had listened," said Lisa Williamson, mother of 14-year-old Brandon Murray. "I told him, 'Don't you go nowhere.' But they're kids."
The SUV hit a guardrail in an industrial section of town and landed upside down in about 5 feet of water, filling up within minutes, State Highway Patrol Lt. Brian Holt said. Five boys and a young woman, ages 14 to 19, were killed.
Two boys smashed a rear window, wriggled out of the wreckage and swam away, then ran a quarter-mile to a home to call 911, authorities said. Brian Henry, 18, and Asher Lewis, 15, suffered only minor injuries.
Investigators said they believe excessive speed was a key factor in the crash, which took place in a 35 mph zone alongside a steel mill near what's known in the neighborhood as "Dead Man's Curve." Authorities did not say how fast the SUV was going. They were also awaiting the results of drug and alcohol tests.
All eight teenagers were from Warren, a mostly blue-collar city of 41,000 near the Pennsylvania line, about 60 miles east of Cleveland.
Friends and family members described the teens as good kids who weren't troublemakers. Williamson said many of them would hang out and stay overnight in her basement to play video games, listen to music and watch movies.
She said her son called late Saturday night and said he was staying at the home of his best friend Ramone White. She said it wasn't until after the accident that she found out that wasn't true.
"It's what we did when we were growing up, too," said Williamson, who was wearing a rubber "Jesus Loves You" bracelet that she took off her dead son's wrist.
Andre Bennett Sr., whose son Andrique was among those killed, said that his son and the others had all stayed over at a friend's house and that a girl offered them a ride home.
Chris Jones, 16, said he used to see most of the victims every day at school and in their neighborhood. He knew all but two in the crash.
"They're not always the best kids. They're not out there looking for straight A's," he said. "But none of these kids should be where they are today. This should have never had happened."
At a prayer service Monday night, Mayor Doug Franklin told about 200 people that lessons can be learned from the crash. He spoke about the young people who died and their grieving relatives.
"They're not unlike any other families and young people throughout our country," he said. "Some bad decisions were made that led to this tragic event."
Five of the dead were trapped inside the sunken SUV. A sixth was thrown from the vehicle and was found underneath it when it was taken out of the water.
State police identified them as the 19-year-old driver, Alexis Cayson; Andrique Bennett, 14; Brandon Murray, 14; and Kirklan Behner, Ramone White and Daylan Ray, all 15. Cayson, Murray and Ray drowned, the coroner said. Autopsies on the others were incomplete.
"All I know is my baby is gone," said Derrick Ray, who came to the crash site after viewing Daylan's body at the morgue. He said he knew that his son, a football player who was looking forward to playing in high school, was out with friends, but didn't know their plans.
None of the teens in the five-seat 1998 Honda Passport was wearing a seat belt, state police said.
Associated Press writers Tom Sheeran in Warren, John Seewer in Toledo, Dan Sewell in Cincinnati and Kantele Franko in Columbus contributed to this report.


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Everybody likes to watch civilization crushed by flaming alien weapons from space, or eaten from the inside out by zombies. But sometimes a dystopia goes too far, getting so bleakly realistic that you can no longer enjoy the carnage. What dystopian stories were like that for you?
Tell us your answers in comments below — you can choose anything from a game or comic, to a movie or book. Pictures, links and video always appreciated!


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With kids heading back to the classroom this August, the Library's highlighting some of the online resources that are especially helpful to young scholars. Students can also find a variety of tools for Homework Help on our kid's website.
Grolier Online has a huge range of resources for elementary and middle schoolers. State report? An entire online book on each state is here! Country report? An entire online book on every country is here! Animal report? An entire online article is here! Grolier Online color codes each essay so that you will immediately know the reading level of each article or book, plus it is easy to navigate. The information is constantly updated (2010 census data is included) and the photos are bright and sharp. This resource is great for kids just learning how to do their own information searches.
Need to write a California Mission report? Is your child studying California native tribes? Well, the Social Studies Fact Cards will get your student off to a good start with the basic information on these topics. Each "card" has the critical information about each mission or tribe written in a way that most second to fifth graders can understand. Additionally, the mission fact cards have a basic floor plan of each mission which will aid your child in making a 3-D model of their own. You can also find other online History/Social Studies resources.
Biography in Context is a great place for any upper elementary through high school students to start when they are writing a report about a famous or not-so-famous person. It has a simple interface where you type in the name of the person, and a range of magazine articles, newspaper articles, and photos will appear. Biography in Context also gives your student information on how to correctly cite each article, an aspect of report writing that is critical as your student embarks on increasingly difficult research projects.
As students progress from simpler informative essays, they move into writing persuasive essays where they will argue for a certain point of view. Often students in middle and high school are assigned to take a controversial issue and argue their opinion. We have an entire resource for this: Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Here a student can look for their issue and read a wide range of well-written essays arguing both sides of the issue along with facts and data to support each viewpoint. This resource will help the student hone their thinking and their writing.
Finally, if your student needs some homework help, we offer live tutors via the web. From 1 to 10 p.m. every day, your child can log into HelpNow from our website and they will be able to text, chat and write to a real person who will help them in any academic subject. Even college students can log in for some one-to-one assistance. All of these resources are available to you and your child. All you need is your library card number and your PIN/password and you can check out these valuable homework resources from your home, work or school. We hope you find them helpful, and best wishes for a successful school year!
Here's a handy check list of just a few of the ways the library can help you learn and make your future brighter.
- Get a Library Card -- Your FREE ticket to hundreds of thousands of books, DVDs, CDs and online articles and tutors.
- Check out great books for your nightly required free reading – and at the library it is really free.
- Need help with your homework? Logon to HelpNow – chat online with professional tutors, free. Having trouble with Calculus or that literature essay needs some editing, tutors are available from 3-10 nightly.
- Need to research the human genome or Asian musicology? Check out our databases at Teen Resource Center and Kids Homework Help web pages.
- Want extra help with learning that second language? Check out Mango Languages and Power Speak.
- Visit your neighborhood library – ask a librarian about all the free services and resources to help you with school.
Google Scholar at the Library
Students and researchers, SFPL is now sharing information about its online resources with Google Scholar.
Library users can use Google Scholar to search and download full-text articles and citations from San Francisco Public Library's collection of more than 30,000 online journals.
Here's how it works:
- Direct your browser to Google Scholar and log in to your Google account.
- On the Google Scholar search page click the link to "Settings" in the upper right-hand corner.
- Over on the left select the link to "Library Links"
- Type "San Francisco Public Library" in the search box and hit enter.
- Check the box next to "San Francisco Public Library – SFPL Full-text" and click "Save."
Now when you search Google Scholar, your results will show which articles are available through your public library.
To access articles online from the San Francisco Public Library you will need your library card number and PIN/password.