text:
Center for Telemedicine Law
1301 K Street NW, East Tower, 9th Floor
Washington DC 20005-3317
202.230.5090 Main | 202.230.5303 Fax
July 8, 2005
The Honorable Arlen Specter
Chair, Appropriations Subcommittee
on Labor, Health and Human Services
& Education
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Tom Harkin
Ranking Member, Appropriations Subcommittee
on Labor, Health and Human Services,
& Education
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senators Specter and Harkin:
On behalf of the more than 200 individuals and telemedicine organizations listed below and the health communities that we represent, we are writing to urge you to support a programmatic increase in the funding of an additional $10,000,000 for such programs and activities, including $2,500,000 for a minimum of 10 telehealth resource centers which provide assistance with respect to technical, legal and regulatory, service delivery or other related barriers to the deployment of telehealth technologies, $5,000,000 for network grants and demonstration or pilot projects for telehomecare, and $2,500,000 for grants to carry out programs under which health licensing boards of various States cooperate to develop and implement policies that will reduce statutory and regulatory barriers to telehealth. As you are aware, telemedicine offers both underserved and hard to reach communities much needed expanded access to quality health care services.
Congress has often expressed support for telemedicine services and has passed additional telehealth provisions as part of the Health Safety Net Amendments Act. Unfortunately, Congress financial support for the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth (OAT) has declined in recent years and the provisions authorized by the Health Safety Net Amendments Act have not yet been funded.
An increase of $10 million would help improve access in underserved areas of the country by restoring funding for OAT and providing support for the Health Safety Net Amendments Act telehealth programs. Specifically, the increase allocates $5 million for grants to fund the telemedicine networks and demonstration projects for telehomecare, $2.5 million for grants to coordinate state licensing programs so that underserved and hard to reach communities have properly trained health care professionals, and $2.5 million for telemedicine resource centers.
This is a small amount of money for a very important purpose. Without this support, the stability of the existing telemedicine services in this country will be severely threatened. OAT provides critical technical assistance to telehealth projects throughout the country.
We thank you for your support of this important issue. Should you have any questions or need more information about the increase in funding for the telehealth services provided in your state, please do not hesitate to contact any of the individuals or organizations listed below.
Jackie Eder-Van Hook
Executive Director
The undersigned support an increase in programmatic funding for the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth:
Bob Waters
Executive Director
Home Care Technology Association of America
Washington, D.C.
James N. Thompson, M.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Federation of State Medical Boards
Dallas, TX
Jeremy Bonfini
Intel Corporation
Consumer Health Access Through Technology Coalition
Washington, D.C.
Val Halamandaris
National Association for Home Care and Hospice
Washington, D.C.
Jonathon Linkous
Executive Director
American Telemedicine Association
Washington, D.C.
Alan Morgan
Interim Executive Director
National Rural Health Association
Washington, D.C.
Laura J. Redoutey
Nebraska Hospital Association
Lincoln, NE
Curtis Rooney, J.D.
Senior Associate Director
American Hospital Association
Washington, D.C.
Terry Rabinowitz, M.D., FAPA, FAPM
Associate Professor of Psychiatry and of Family Medicine
Clinical Director of Telemedicine
Director, Psychiatric Consultation Service
University of Vermont College of Medicine and Fletcher Allen Health Care
Burlington, VT
Nancy J. Sharp, MSN, RN, FAAN
Telehealth Issues Consultant
American College of Nurse Practitioners
Bethesda, MD
John Zauher
Director, Telemedicine Serves Partners in Health Telemedicine Network
St. Vincent Healthcare
Billings, MT
Joseph DIorio
Manager TeleHealth Solutions
Peabody, MA
Nancy Brown, MLS
Project Director
Telemedicine Research Center
Portland, OR
Dr. Denise Henry
Telemedicine & Telehealth Technologies
Southfield, MI
Scott Echerer
Rural Telemedicine Cooperative, Inc.
Lexington, SC
Sally Davis
Program Director/Telehealth
Marquette General Health System
Marquette, MI
Ann Bailey Bynum, Ed.D.
Director, UAMS Rural Hospital Telehealth Program
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Little Rock, AR
Leo C. Loevner
Chief Operating Officer
T-Med Behavioral
Fairfax, VA
Loretta Schlachta-Fairchild, RN, Ph.D., CHE
President & CEO
iTelehealth Inc.
Frederick, MD
Joseph L. Ternullo, CPA, JD
Associate Director, Telemedicine
Partners Healthcare System
Lynnfield, MA
Timothy C. Cox
Northland Healthcare Alliance
Bismark, ND
John Edwards
Executive Chairman
The Telework Coalition
Washington, D.C.
Donna K. Hammack
Chief Development Officer
Saint Elizabeth Health Systems
Lincoln, NE
Dolores E. Battle, Ph.D.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Rockville, MD
J.R.B. Hutchinson, M.D.
Atlanta, GA
Gail P. Barker, MBA, Ph.D.
UltraClinics Inc.
Tucson, AZ
Daniel A. Schonwald
Chief Operating Officer
Professional Corporation of Psychiatry, Inc.
Oklahoma City, OK
Joseph Tracy
Executive Director of Telehealth
University of Missouri Health Care
Columbia, MO
Karen Edison, M.D.
Chair Dermatology
Co-Chair MU Center for Health Policy
Medical Director of Telehealth
University of Missouri Health Care
Columbia, MO
Weldon D. Webb
Office of Rural Health Programs
University of Missouri School of Medicine
Columbia, MO
David A. Fleming, M.D., FACP
Associate Professor of Medicine and Director, Center for Health Ethics
Department of Health Management and Informatics
University of Missouri School of Medicine
Columbia, MO
Jan M. Sunday
Director Healthcare/Telehealth SBC SW
SBC Communications, Inc.
Hurst, TX
Craig D. Frazier
Vice President, General Manager Extended Care Solutions Group
McKesson Corporation
Springfield, MO
Marjorie Walsh
Director, Patient Care Services
VNA, Western Pennsylvania
Butler, PA
Brett Orris
VNA Medical Equipment and Supplies
Butler, PA
Cindy Clark
Director, IS
VNA, Western Pennsylvania
Butler, PA
Raymond E. Helms, MPH
ComfortCare Home Health & Hospice
Chesapeake, VA
Imelda Angat, RN
Director of Patient Services
ComfortCare Home Health & Hospice
Chesapeake, VA
Gary Bowers
Executive Director
Western North Carolina Health Network
Asheville, NC
James A. Leja Ph.D.
Associate Dean of Graduate and International Studies
College of Health and Human Services Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, MI
Steven C. Trout
Executive Director
Southern Consortium for Children
Athens, OH
Chris Jones
Programmer Analyst IV
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Winston-Salem, NC
Stuart M. Speedie, Ph.D.
Professor and Director Fairview University of Minnesota Telemedicine Network
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN
Robin Keith
Nevada Rural Hospital Partners
Reno, NV
Jane Smith Patterson
Executive Director
e-NC Authority
Raleigh, NC
Ron Jacobson
Regional President
Avera St. Lukes
Aberdeen, SD
Mary DeVany
Avera McKennan Telehealth Network
Sioux Falls, SD
Catherine S. Britain
Telehealth Alliance of Oregon
Portland, OR
The Telehealth Alliance of Oregon
Portland, OR
Sylvia Temlitz, MA, RN, CHPN
Home Care/Hospice Director
Lakeview Medical Center
Rice Lake, WI
Joy Tkachuck
Program Manager Videoconferencing/Telemedicine Network
Allina Health System
Minneapolis, MN
Peter J. Kragel, M.D.
East Carolina University Telemedicine Center
Greenville, NC
Kathy Apple
Executive Director
National Council of State Boards of Nursing
Chicago, IL
Kristin Hellquist
Director of Policy and Government Relations
National Council of State Boards of Nursing
Chicago, IL
Gregory L. Smith
Greg Smith and Associates
Manhattan, KS
John Rao
Secure Medical Inc.
Tempe, AZ
Jana Lindsey, RN
Shriners Hospitals for Children
Honolulu, HI
Katherine Yvette Vigil
Telemedicine Director
Shriners Hospitals for Children
Salt Lake City, UT
Jan Smith
Montana Healthcare Telecommunications Alliance
Billings, MT
John Heard, Ph.D.
Vice President
A.T. Still University
Kirksville, MO
Kay Thiel
Business Administrator
High Plains Rural Health Network
Brush, CO
Teresa A. Dolan, D.D.S, M.P.H.
Professor and Dean College of Dentistry
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
Rex E. Gantenbein, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Rural Health Research and Education
College of Health Sciences, University of Wyoming
Laramie, WY
John M. Boehme
Associate Dean for Academic Computing and Information Sciences
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Winston-Salem, NC
Dale C. Alverson, M.D.
Medical Director
University of New Mexico Center for Telehealth
Albuquerque, NM
Harold M. Maurer, M.D.
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE
Jana Katz-Bell, M.P.H.
Chief Administrative Officer Center for Health & Technology
University of California-Davis Health System
Sacramento, CA
Kathy J. Chorba
Telemedicine Program Operations Manager
University of California-Davis
Sacramento, CA
Fred Eastman
Project, Programming & Administrative Services Director
Midwest Rural Telemedicine Consortium
Des Moines, IA
Thelma McClosky Armstrong
Eastern Montana Telemedicine Network
Billings, MT
Marta J. Petersen, M.D.
Utah Telehelath Network
Salt Lake City, UT
Karyn Sowa
REACH Montana Telemedicine Network Coordinator
Benefis Healthcare
Great Falls, MT
Jack King
Executive Director
Northcentral Montana Healthcare Alliance
Great Falls, MT
Lisa Cone
Managing Director for Homecare
Cerner Corporation
Overland Park, KS
Rob Sprang
Kentucky TeleCare
Lexington, KY
Ryan J. Spaulding, Ph.D.
University of Kansas Medical Center
Kansas City, KS
Lisa J. Roberts, Ph.D.
Cindy Uselman
RN Manager, Grants and Program Development
Tri-County Hospital
Wadena, MN
Daniel R. Plotkin
eHealth Program Administrator
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
Jose C. Polido, DDS, MS
Head, Division of Dentistry
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
Mark M. Urata, M.D., DDS
Director of Craniofacial Surgery
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
Kathy Scott, RN, BSN
Tillamook Home Care Services
Tillamook, OR
A. Corrie Hall
Chief Operating Officer
Kare-In-Home Health Services
Biloxi, MS
Linda Russell
Agency Director
Home Health Services of Self Regional Healthcare
Greenwood, SC
Nancy J. Sharp, MSN, RN, FAAN
Health Policy Consultant
American Nephrology Nurses' Association
Bethesda, MD
Ellen S. Phillips, MSW
Executive Director
Visiting Nurse Association of Wallingford, Inc.
Wallingford, CT
Beth A. Shambaugh, RN, BS
Executive Director
Visiting Nurse Association of Central Pennsylvania, Inc.
Harrisburg, PA
Carl W. Taylor
Assistant Dean
University of South Alabama
Mobile, AL
Thomas E. Norris, M.D.
Vice Dean for Academic Affairs, School of Medicine
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Cara Towle, RN, MSN
Director, Telehealth Services, School of Medicine
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Carolyn Neiswender
Memorial Home Care Services
Yakima, WA
Anthony J. Zizzamia, Jr.
Executive Director
Liberty Home Care
Wilmington, NC
Keith Crownover
Director, Home Health Services
Siemens Health Services, Inc.
Altoona, PA
Jeffrey C. Bauer, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President
ACS Healthcare Solutions
Tuscon, AZ
Sherri Lazear
Business Manager
Viterion TeleHealthcare, LLC
Tarrytown, NY
Louanna L. Theurer
Grant Administrator
University of Utah Burn Center
Salt Lake City, UT
Scott Feindberg
Senior Gratns Manager
Peabody, MA
Tami Siedler
AVP Operatoins
Selfhelp Community Services
New York, NY
Jake A. Levy
CareKeeper Software, Inc.
Atlanta, GA
Michele A Quirolo
Visiting Nurse Association of Hudson Valley
Mt. Kisco, NY
Doug Karr, MHS
American Teleradiology Nighthawks
Edgewater, MD
Meryl Weinberg
Executive Director
NYCHHC Health & Home Care
New York, NY
Gail Jurasek
Executive Director
North Country Home Health & Hospice
Littleton, NH
Sharon Meister, RN Ms
Mercy Homecare and Hospice
Clinton, IA
Cynthia Clark
Quality Manager
Carondelet Home Care Services
Overland Park, MS
Cindy Campbell
Nobitas, Inc.
San Diego, CA
Deborah E. Seale
Executive Director
Telehealth Networks & Programs, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
Springfield, IL
Barbara A. Nelson
Advanced Home Health Care, Ltd.
Burlington, IA
Gene Tischer
Executive Director
Associated Home Health Industries of FL, Inc.
Sarasota, FL
Carolyn Hutcherson
Executive Director
American College of Nurse Practitioners
Washington, DC
Joanne Handy
President and CEO
Visiting Nurse Association of Boston
Boston, MA
Denise Waibel-Rycek, RN, MS
Chair, Government/Reimbursement Committee
Nebraska Association of Home and Community Health Agencies
Lincoln, NE
Maureen Cormier
Director of Quality
Hallmark Health VNA
Malden, MA
J. Steven Cline, D.D.S., M.P.H.
Epidemiology Section
Division of Public Health
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
Raleigh, NC
Francine Wheelock, PT, MPA
Director Program Development and Rehabilitation Services
HealthReach HomeCare & Hospice
Waterville, ME
Pamela A. Steding
CHRISTUS HomeCare
San Antonio, TX
Greg Beck, MHA
Program Manager
Clarian Health Partners
Indianapolis, IN
Kathleen F. Rose
Vineyard Nursing Association
Oak Bluffs, MA
Joseph H. Pickering, Jr.
Executive Director
Community Health and Counseling Services
Bangor, ME
Michelle Hosler, RN, BSN, PHN
SunHealth Home Care
Sun City West, AZ
Vivian Leigh McLaughlin
Director of HealthCare Innovations & Grant Programs
Providea, Inc.
Dorothy J. Brown
Home Care Director
Rapid City Regional Hospital, Home Care Dept.
Rapid City, SD
Rose Higgins
iMetrikus, Inc.
Carlsbad, CA
Jeffrey C. Bauer, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President
ACS Healthcare Solutions
Dallas, TX
Joan Altomonte, P.H.N., M.A.
Director of Patient Services
YAI Home Health Services
New York, NY
Margaret Warden
Visiting Nurse Association of Utica & Oneida Co., Inc.
Utica, NY
Kathleen Quinn, RN, BS
Director of Patient Services
Living Resources Certified Home Health Agency
Schenectady, NY
Linda Barkan, DPS
Able Health Care Service
Nina M. Antoniotti, RN, MBA, Ph.D.
Program Director
Marshfield Clinic TeleHealth Network, Marshfield Clinic
Marshfield, WI
Ellen S. Phillips, MSW
Executive Director
Visiting Nurse Association of Wallingford, Inc.
Wallingford, CT
Beth A. Shambaugh, RN, BS
Executive Director
Visiting Nurse Association of Central Pennsylvania, Inc.
Harrisburg, PA
Roberta Greengold
Executive Director, Home Health Services
The Brooklyn Hospital Center Home Health Services
Brooklyn, NY
Barbara Knott
VP of Home Care
Schervier Nursing Care Center
Bronx, NY
Rick Pollack
Executive Vice President
American Hospital Association
Washington, D.C.
Linda Rashba, RN, MS
Saint Francis Hospital Certified Home Health Services
Poughkeepsie, NY
Suzann VanBuskirk, BSN, RN, CNN
American Nephrology Nurses' Association
Pitman, NJ
Joan R Price RN, PNP, AE-C
Nurse Educator
Pittsburgh, PA
Marcia P. Reissig, RN, MS, CHCE
President & CEO
Partners Home Care
Waltham, MA
Dave Hickman, RN, FACHE
Director of Clinical Integration
Mercy Health Network
Des Moines, IA
Kim Pestour, RN, BSN, MS
Lutheran Long Term Home Health Care Program
Brooklyn, NY
Anne Calvo
Winthrop University Hospital Home Health Agency
Mineola, NY
Jay J. Weil, III
Chief Financial Officer
R&R Home Care, Inc.
Mandeville, LA
Lyn R. Tindall, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Lexington, KY
Catherine Pignatello
Nyack Hospital Home Care
Nyack, NY
Paula Knoll
Director of Clinical Services
Fulton County Nursing Service
Gloversville, NY
Laurie Chichester
Vice President Home Care
Metropolitan Jewish Home Care
New York, NY
Jayne OLeary, RN
Director, Performance Improvement/Staff Development
Winthrop University Hospital Home Health Agency
Mineola, NY
Marianne Grady, RN
Director of Long Term Health Care Program
Winthrop University Hospital Home Health Agency
Mineola, NY
Miriam Burns
Director of Government Relations
Selfhelp Community Services, Inc.
Brooklyn, NY
Dianne Newberry, BSN, MHA
Statewide Manager Case Management/Home Care Coordination
Centura Health at Home
Denver, CO
Jane Qiu
Director/Social Worker
Selfhelp Prince Street Senior Center
Flushing, NY
Karen OKane
Assistant Vice President Continuing Care
Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center Home Health Agency
Patchogue, NY
Martin Kosich, DDS, MD
Director of Public Health
Greene County Public Health Nursing Service
New York
Justine DiPalma
Social Worker
Selfhelp Queensview/North Queensview
Long Island City, NY
Mary Hayes
Program Director
Selfhelp Queensview/North Queensview
Long Island City, NY
Dale F. Andres, D.O.
Executive Committee Chair
Midwest Rural Telemedicine Consortium
Des Moines, IA
Lois Moses
Vice President Quality Improvement
VNA of Staten Island
Staten Island, NY
Rochelle Eggleton
Director of Home Health
Lourdes at Home
Binghamton, NY
Nat Gist
TeleMed Consultants
Richmond, TX
Rick W. Hartwig
Regional Director
OMNI Home Care
Oviedo, FL
Rachel Epstein, LMSW
Program Driector
Selfhelp Austin Street Senior Center
Forest Hills, NY
Julia J. Hopple
VNA President
VNA Home Health WellSpan
York, PA
Mary Myers, MBA, RN
Telehealth Consultant
Digital Visual Innovations, LLC
Hickory Corners, MI
John W. Allen
Good Samaritan Health System
Kearney, NE
John J. Ayoub
Vice President, Mission Integration
Good Samaritan Health System
Kearney, NE
Mardi Jones
Vice President, Continuing Care
Caritas Health Services
Bardstown, KY
Lesley Bollwitt
Director of Grants and Special Projects
Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation
Kearney, NE
John Mengenhausen
Horizon Health Care, Inc.
Howard, SD
Scott Weatherill
IT Supervisor
Horizon Health Care, Inc.
Howard, SD
Victoria G. Hines
President and CEO
Visiting Nurse Service of Rochester and Monroe County, Inc.
Webster, NY
William Belecz
Vice President, Information Systems
Visiting Nurse Service of Rochester and Monroe County, Inc.
Webster, NY
Timothy Ashe
Vice President, Clinical Operations
Visiting Nurse Service of Rochester and Monroe County, Inc.
Webster, NY
Linda Winter
Business Development
Phonoscope Health Network
Houston, TX
Nat Gist
Business Development
Phonoscope Health Network
Houston, TX
Niké Luqman
Business Development
Phonoscope Health Network
Houston, TX
Ted Viens
Special Projects Engineer
Phonoscope Health Network
Houston, TX
Jennifer Yu
ESL Teacher
Selfhelp Prince Street Senior Center
Flushing, NY
Karen Chen
Community Worker
Selfhelp Prince Street Senior Center
Flushing, NY
Andrea L. Devoti
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Neighborhood Health Agencies, Inc.
Robert Lodge, LCSW
Training Specialist Sunshine National Training Center, Office of Care Coordination
Veterans Health Administration, North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System
Lake City, FL
Dan Van Roekel
Sioux Valley Telehealth
Sioux Falls, SD
Sioux Valley Telehealth
Sioux Falls, SD
Denise Waibel-Rycek, RN, MS
Director, Home Care Services
Good Samaritan Hospital Home Care
Kearney, NE
Patricia M. Kelleher
Executive Director
Home and Health Care Association of Massachusetts
Donna Grimm
Community Health Professionals
Van Wert, OH
Linda Michielson
Director of Public Health
Wayne County Public Health Service
Wayne County, NY
Lois Schuller
Sioux Valley Visiting Nurses
Sioux Falls, SD
Maria Dixon
Selfhelp Community Worker
Selfhelp Community Services, Inc.
Maspeth, NY
Donna DelCiclo
Program Director
Selfhelp Community Services, Inc.
Maspeth, NY
David Crespo
Selfhelp Community Services, Inc.
Maspeth, NY
Norma Rivera
Senior Aide Outreach
Selfhelp Community Services, Inc.
Maspeth, NY
Shari Deutscher
Social Worker
Selfhelp Community Services
Queens, NY
Hawaii Board of Nursing
Utah Board of Nursing
Laura Poe
Executive Officer
Utah Board of Nursing
South Dakota Board of Nursing
South Dakota
Gloria Damgard
Executive Officer
South Dakota Board of Nursing
South Dakota
Iowa Board of Nursing
Lorinda Inman
Executive Officer
Iowa Board of Nursing
Arkansas Board of Nursing
Faith Fields
Executive Officer
Arkansas Board of Nursing
The Nurse Licensure Compact Administrators (NLCA)
Margaret Donahue
Vice President, Community Programs
St. Marys Hospital for Children
Bayside, NY
Joseph A. Tracy
Center for Telemedicine Law
Washington, D.C.
Nina Antoniotti, RN, MBA, PhD
Vice President
Center for Telemedicine Law
Washington, D.C.
Jana Katz-Bell
Center for Telemedicine Law
Washington, D.C.
Karen Rheuban, M.D.
Board Member
Center for Telemedicine Law
Washington, D.C.
Curtis Rooney, J.D.
Board Member
Center for Telemedicine Law
Washington, D.C.
Rob Sprang
Board Member
Center for Telemedicine Law
Washington, D.C.
Ryan J. Spaulding, Ph.D.
Center for Telemedicine Law
Washington, D.C.
Dr. Janet L. Grady
Principal Investigator, Nursing Telehealth Applications Initiative
Chairperson, Division of Nursing
Mount Aloysius College
Cresson, PA
North Carolina Board of Nursing
Polly Johnson
Executive Officer
North Carolina Board of Nursing
Raleigh, NC
Vivian Matias
Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehab LTHHCP
New York, NY
Dr. Dev A. Brar
Nightingale Home Health Care
Carmel, IN
Christine Sakuda
Information Officer
Hawaii Primary Care Association
Honolulu, HI
Texas Board of Nursing
Austin, TX
Kathy Thomas
Executive Officer
Texas Board of Nursing
Austin, TX
Susan A. Randolph, MSN, RN, COHNS, FAAOHN
American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc.
Atlanta, GA
Joyce Dombrouski
Vice President of Nursing
St. Patrick Hospital
Missoula, MT


text:
Must-sees beside the sea
Thriving eclectic cuisines
More than a Stage
At our Tourist Offices
Dublin's grand old hotels
Start planning ahead
It starts here!
The exciting Dublin food scene
Dublin's best cocktail bars
Start planning your visit!
Sightseeing & transport ticket
Helping you discover the city
Visiting on a shoestring?
3 Day for the price of 2 Day P...
15% off
Trinity College, Dublin 2
Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774), one of a long line of distinguished graduates of Trinity College. He lived most of his adult life in London writing such favourites as the novel The Vicar of Wakefield, the poem The Deserted Village and the play She Stoops to Conquer
Dust off those wellie boots people – festival season is fast approaching!
Delicious food, from budget bites to Michelin stars
After hours Dublin comes alive in a whole new way. Click here to find out more

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Game Face
Is Sportsmanship in the Eye--or the Color--of the Beholder?
About two months later, on the day before Thanksgiving, visitors to the heavily trafficked sports-news Web site CNNSi.com were asked to choose "the biggest turkey" in American sports in 2000. With more than 25,000 responses tallied, the 4x100-meter relay team of Jon Drummond, Brian Lewis, Baltimore native Bernard Williams, and "world's fastest man" Maurice Greene was polling a close second to Atlanta Braves relief pitcher and outspoken bigot John Rocker, with 24 percent of the vote to Rocker's 25. Hockey player Marty McSorley, who was criminally charged in Canada for nearly killing an opponent on the ice and is now serving the longest suspension in NHL history, was a distant third with 9 percent of the vote.
How does a group of Olympic champions wind up in this Hall of Shame next to a flamboyant racist and an unusually vicious hockey goon? How did they slide from the apex of athletics to the pit of national derision in eight weeks?
In fact, the descent only took about 20 minutes: 15 minutes of post-race celebration on the track, and a few minutes more on the podium while receiving their medals. As they took their victory lap around Stadium Australia, some of the runners stripped to the waist. They struck poses. They flexed. They wrapped American flags around their shoulders, then their heads. Williams made funny faces. While "The Star-Spangled Banner" played, Greene stuck out his tongue and Lewis balanced his medal on his forehead.
Americans found a lot not to like in those 20 minutes. Newspaper columnists across the country gave several explanations for our collective distaste: the runners disrespected the flag; they forgot what the Olympics are all about; they gave life to the embarrassing image of the Ugly American; they embodied the narcissism and ethic of self-promotion that is corroding sport from the top down.
Drummond, Lewis, Williams, and Greene were not the only American Olympians who behaved in ways that angered or embarrassed a lot of viewers back home. Swimmer Amy Van Dyken spit in her competitors' lanes before each race and publicly suggested that her chief rival was doping. Her teammates' pre-race trash-talking--"We will smash them like guitars," swimmer Gary Hall said of his Australian rivals before his U.S. team lost the 4x100 freestyle relay to those same Aussies--wasn't exactly the epitome of the Olympic spirit either. So why did the track foursome become the goat of the Sydney Olympics, if not American sports in 2000 period?
The swimmers are white, the runners are black, and this is America. Maybe race has something to do with it.
This is not to say that everyone who was annoyed, embarrassed, or offended by the squad's display merits a scarlet "R." All kinds of people took the team to task for taking its celebration over the top, including the runners themselves. They apologized for their behavior at the press conference following their medal ceremony, and they haven't stopped apologizing since. "We just lost our minds, basically," anchor runner Greene said during a national teleconference two weeks after the victory. "We weren't thinking about what we were doing."
Even so, ignoring race is like ignoring gravity. The idea of race, of differences in human worth and rules for social interaction related to the color of a person's skin, is one of the basic "laws" of American social structure. Its influence on our behavior screams out from our history, and as phenomena like racial profiling by the police and redlining by lending institutions make clear, it continues to profoundly shape our behaviors and perceptions today. If you want to understand why an object follows a certain trajectory through the American social universe, you have to consider the tug and pull of race.
The faces may be new, but the issues are not. Most sports fans would agree that on-field celebrations have become more common, more elaborate, and more focused on the individual in the past few decades--and many of them don't like the trend.
As it happens, this shift in celebratory style has coincided with the increased prevalence of African-Americans in most of America's most popular professional sports, including baseball, football, and, especially, basketball. Some observers see this connection as purely coincidental. They point a finger at the big money and media attention thrown at today's sports stars, at a younger generation they consider brash and unmannered, even at a broader decline in civility in American culture as the sources of the trend.
Others, however, including a number of prominent African-American scholars and social critics, see a definite link between the rise of the black athlete and the spread of flamboyant celebratory styles in sport, and thus at least the possibility of racial prejudice in the backlash against this trend. "It's the showmanship, it's in your face, it's fuck you . . . it's all of that," Nelson George, author of Elevating the Game: Black Men and Basketball, told The Washington Post in 1994. "It's a black male thing that comes right out of the street, school-yard ball, intimidation. It comes from the same root."
In 75 Seasons, a 1994 documentary commemorating the 75th anniversary of the National Football League, sociologist Harry Edwards offered this explanation for what he views as a strong connection between race and athletes' celebratory stylings: "You have a situation where a black individual has paid the price and has achieved success. But when that success is achieved, they find that the vehicles of expressing how they feel about that are insufficient, and so they begin to innovate. And so when you see this continual creativity coming from black athletes--the high fives, spiking the ball, dancing in the end zone--what you are witnessing is the creation of a vehicle to express that joy for which there is no mainstream language."
Indeed, most of the players credited with--or blamed for--injecting new forms of celebration into the game of football have been African-American. New York Giants wide receiver Homer Jones was the first to spike the ball in the 1960s; wide receiver Elmo Wright of the University of Houston was credited with creating the end-zone dance around 1970. In the three decades since, pro football has been replete with black athletes who stick in our minds not just because of their play, but because of their riffs on the theme of celebration--Butch Johnson's California Quake, Ickey Woods' Ickey Shuffle, Jamal Anderson's Dirty Bird, and, of course, the collected works of Deion Sanders.
Does this mean disgruntlement over excessive celebration in sports is a racial issue? Are white fans and viewers who complain about Sanders' end-zone routines reacting, at least in part, to the color of his skin?
According to New York University historian Jeffrey Sammons, recent efforts to restrict celebration in college football offer some insight into these questions. In 1995, the football-rules committee of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) extended its guidelines on unsportsmanlike conduct to include a prohibition on "excessive" celebration. In essence, players who drew too much attention to themselves while celebrating on the field risked a penalty.
More than most rules, this new proscription would require players, coaches, and referees to exercise their own judgment. After all, who's to say when an expression of emotion becomes excessive or unsportsmanlike? In conjunction with the change, the NCAA produced a 21-minute video, called College Football: A Celebration of Teamwork, that was distributed to teams and officials across the country. In it, former University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley, then chairperson of the rules committee, explained the regulation as an effort to protect the integrity of the sport: "Taunting and showboating threaten to ruin teamwork and the spirit of football. The game is plagued by a wide variety of actions that go beyond the bounds of sportsmanship." After a rules- committee meeting early in that year, according to a Dallas Morning News report, Dooley characterized the lack of a crackdown on "excessive" celebrations as "the biggest problem facing college football today."
The new rule was immediately controversial. Some sportswriters characterized it as the outgrowth of a generation gap between old-school "conformists" and new-school "individualists," and Jerry Falwell's Liberty University filed suit to protect a player's "right" to pray on field. (The suit was dropped when the committee clarified that prayer would not be penalized.)
Others saw signs of prejudice, an open- ended effort to target behavior associated largely with black players. The video, in an effort to clarify the boundaries of acceptable behavior, juxtaposed footage of athletes celebrating in ways that would draw a penalty under the new rules and in ways that would not. Most of the former showed African-Americans, Sammons notes, and "most of the violations, be they by blacks or whites, are more based on style--a style associated with blacks, which is often characterized as choreographed and unnatural." A Celebration of Teamwork, he adds, also featured the commentary of "two old white guys"--one of them Dooley--"acting very Southern, making judgments about what is largely the behavior of black athletes."
Three years later, the NCAA released an updated version in which the old Southern white guys were replaced by white Denver Broncos star John Elway and two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin, an African-American. But by then the controversy over the original video had laid bare and made raw a racial divide over acceptable expressions of emotion in the sport. At best, the experience suggested that the culture gap between most whites and blacks extended to the field of play, where ideas about the boundaries of sportsmanship are inevitably shaped by personal experience. At worst, the video revealed continued efforts by some whites to cut down to size blacks they perceived, consciously or subconsciously, as a threat to their authority and the integrity of their beloved institution.
Sammons' own view falls closer to the latter. Efforts to curtail "excessive" celebration in college football, he says, are not simply a benign extension of cultural differences in the field of sport.
"Culture has become a surrogate for race. Any time the behavior of blacks can permit [white] people to vent their feelings against them, full advantage is taken of it," Sammons says. "This is just a way of marginalizing certain blacks, and people can justify it by saying that color doesn't have anything to do with it."
Five years after the NCAA controversy, there remain indications--some subtle, some quite stark and vicious--that race influenced the way at least some Americans reacted to the post-race behavior of the Olympic relay team.
During an October press conference, team captain Jon Drummond said that in the week following the race he received nearly 200 e-mails a day, the "large majority" of which were hostile. "I mean name-calling," he said. "It was very bad. I was disappointed that it got that severe and people could be that crude. [There were] racial overtones. It was horrible."
Asked in an interview for this article what he had meant by "racial overtones," Drummond summarized the content of the messages in three phrases: "ignorant nigger," "typical nigger behavior," and "a disgrace to the black race."
It would be unfair to cast these extreme slurs as indicative of the thoughts and feelings of most Americans. Still, there were other signs, much subtler and open to some interpretation, that race crept into the way many perceived the team's celebrations. Most intriguing are the associations made by some of the journalists who took the runners to task. Denver Post columnist Woody Paige described the foursome's victory lap as "a combination of WWF wrestling, a strip show, Saturday night in a bar and a 'whazzup' Budweiser commercial." The Hartford Courant'sJeff Jacobs opined more forcefully, "[W]hy did they make jackasses of themselves? . . . Because somewhere along the line, our Olympic credo stopped being, 'Citius. Altius. Fortius.' Somewhere along the line, our motto became, 'Yo, yo, yo, in yo face!' One morning we woke up and 'Oh, say can you see' no longer were the words heard at our sports stadiums. 'Who let the dogs out?' had become our national anthem." Sticking with the hip-hop motif, a Washington Times columnist wrote, "[Maurice] Greene says he sat crying in the stands watching the 100 in [the 1996 Atlanta Olympics] after failing to make the team because of a pulled hamstring. I'm sure through his tears he saw people getting their medals. He didn't see people behaving like they were filming a rap video."
To most people, the comparison between Drummond's e-mails and such mainstream-media commentary is clear: The former are racist, the latter are not. But note that those columnists associated behavior they considered inappropriate with some emblem of African-American culture or style. This connection between what is assumed to be characteristically "black" behavior and the shaming of America on the Olympic stage could be construed as a form of racial prejudice, if not an outright insult. It's light years removed from the likes of "typical nigger behavior," but the implications are not unrelated: We can't take that type of African-American anywhere, lest they embarrass us in front of the neighbors.
To explore this connection further, I asked several prominent academics who have written on race and sports if they thought race played a role in the condemnation of the Sydney relay team. All did, but opinions differed on exactly how race factored in.
University of Colorado sociologist Jay Coakley sees a clash of cultures at work: "I think race probably played a role, but not necessarily in the form of racism. Race was certainly related, and the historical experiences of African-American men in our culture was related to the way those young men chose to present themselves. My sense is that African-American men in sport are seriously concerned with the issue of respect, and gaining respect through their performance. When they win a major competition, they assume that their accomplishment will earn them respect and give them the right--not the right, but the privilege--of celebrating. And they celebrate in a way that reflects their experiences and the cultural context of their lives."
Coakley contends that whites react to these celebrations in part because they expect successful African-Americans to be more humble. "People generally find overt expressions of hubris distasteful," he says. "But when African-American athletes do it, there is a greater likelihood that whites will define it as overly ungracious because [they think], After all, look at all they've been able to achieve. It's a white response to how they think previously oppressed people ought to define and react to their achievements."
Richard Lapchick, director of Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society in Boston, took this explanation a step further, arguing that deep-seated racial fears probably inflate the intensity of this distaste. "I think that when a group of athletes who happen to be African-American, and who happen to be physically large and muscular, do something like this, it's an intimidating thing for a lot white people." Why? Lapchick is blunt: "Because white people have historically been afraid of black people. It's fear of the unknown. It evokes a lot of imagery."
Gerald Early, a professor of English and African-American studies at Washington University in St. Louis, elaborated on that fear in a 1998 essay for The Nation on the intersections of race and sports in contemporary America. Discussing a Sports Illustrated article on the "disappearance" of white athletes from professional basketball, football, and track, Early wrote, "[W]hat the SI article said most tellingly was that while young whites admire black athletic figures, they are afraid to play sports that blacks dominate, another example of whites leaving the neighborhood when blacks move in. This white 'double-consciousness'--to admire blacks for their skills while fearing their presence in a situation where blacks might predominate--is a modern-day reflection of the contradiction, historically, that has produced our racially stratified society. To be white can be partly defined as not only the fear of not being white but the fear of being at the mercy of those who are not white."
In one of the many odd twists of American race relations, black athletes who annoy white fans and viewers often face a second wave of hostility from black fans who might otherwise have been less critical their behavior. The Sydney relay team was no exception.
Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. addressed the origin of this phenomenon in an essay titled "Cosby and Effect" that appeared in The New York Times in 1989, when Gates was at Yale: "Historically, we blacks have always worried aloud about the image that white Americans harbor of us, first because we have never had control of those images and, second, because the greater number of those images have been negative. And given television's immediacy, and its capacity to reach so many viewers so quickly, blacks, at least since Amos 'n' Andy back in the early 1950s, have been especially concerned with our images on the screen."
Athletes appear particularly vulnerable to this double whammy--in no small measure because, in this day of 24-hour sports news, white Americans are more likely than ever to be watching when black athletes are perceived to have screwed up. But it also reflects the leadership role other African-Americans ascribe to those athletes, whether the athletes like it or not. In September, when the black-oriented Web site Africana.com asked visitors, "Who do most blacks look to for role models?," sports figures finished first with more than 34 percent of the vote, outpolling parents and family members, entertainers, professionals, community leaders, and politicians.
Kenneth Shropshire, a sports attorney, University of Pennsylvania professor, and author of the 1996 volume In Black and White: Race and Sports in America, wrote a column for Africana.com criticizing the Sydney relay team--not for attracting so much attention, but for doing so in a way that "did nothing but bring more attention to the individuals on the team." He pointed to Australian track star Cathy Freeman, who waved the flag of her Aboriginal people during her victory lap. "[I]n the same way that Cathy Freeman was representing Aborigines, they were representing African-Americans. . . . [B]ut you let us down," he wrote.
In an interview, Shropshire says he believes his view is widely held by African-Americans. "I got e-mails from blacks in the U.S., as well as from Africa and the U.K., that they were feeling 'heat' from whites because of that event," he says. "[The white reaction] was some version of, 'This is my view of blacks. Here's confirmation of some of the negative views I have.'"
Back in Baltimore after the Olympics, Bernard Williams seems unfazed by the imbroglio, ready to get on with his education and a promising career as a world-class sprinter. Williams, a 1997 graduate of Carver Vo-Tech High who now majors in sociology at the University of Florida, became a professional athlete after the U.S. Olympic Trials in July. (Contrary to popular misconception, track has been a professional sport for more than a decade, and athletes typically receive bonuses of tens of thousands of dollars from their sponsors for wins in major championships like the Olympic Games.) A mid-October feature story in The Sun depicts Williams back in his mother's West Baltimore home, taking congratulations from neighbors and passers-by as he runs errands, treatment typical for a local made good on the international stage.
West Baltimore, however, is not Middle America, and the warm homecoming begs the question: After so much vitriol and embarrassment, how will Williams and his teammates be remembered outside their personal circles, in the popular rendering of American Olympic history?
In an odd way, the experience of boxer Mike Tyson seems instructive here. In 1992, Tyson was convicted and incarcerated for raping a young black woman in an Indianapolis hotel room. Few people contested Tyson's guilt, yet many African-Americans could not shake the feeling that the former heavyweight champion was also, somehow, a victim. In a 1992 Newsday piece, Gerald Early, while blasting Tyson as "incontestably silly and immature," explored this sympathy, in words that ring true today for the Olympic relay team and, perhaps, for all African-American athletes accused of going too far:
"For a people who know historically that black individuality and assertion are often a kind of cultural crime if not an actually statutory transgression, and for a people who understand the vulnerability of their heroes, the precariousness of their public figures, and who constantly feel the anxiety that the white public is simply waiting for one of them to fall, this sense of protectiveness toward Tyson is not only not surprising but, in its way, rather touching. That the virtues and ideals which constitute male heroism differ for blacks and whites is clear, sometimes painfully and divisively so. What black folk know their heroes will teach them, in the end, is that nothing is free and someone or something will always make you pay."
Thanks For the Memories (12/23/2009)
2007: I had a borderline awful time in Bucharest—and I kind of miss it
Vini Vidi Vito (4/8/2009)
Vito Simone came to Baltimore, saw opportunity, and conjured a real estate fantasy
Preacher, Teacher, Forger, Spy (4/16/2008)
From Bounty Hunter to Bible Thumper, Pastor Anthony Hill Presents a Paradox
Ask Questions First (5/9/2001)
Carroll County Aims to Head Off School Violence Before It Strikes
812 Park Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 523-2300
All parts of this site Copyright ©2014 Baltimore City Paper.


text:
G/W (Selesnya)
Score: Unrated
Hey check out my deck [[wg-aggro-15-10-13-1]]
My deck: [[deck-large:wg-aggro-15-10-13-1]]
<div class="deck-list" data-stub="wg-aggro-15-10-13-1"> </div>
This will require TappedOut.js included in your blog.
Checkout @ TCG: $240.15
Checkout @ MTGO: 107.49 TIX
This deck is Standard legal.
Magic the Gathering, FNM is TM and copyright Wizards of the Coast, Inc, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. All rights reserved. This site is unaffiliated. Articles and comments are user-submitted and do not represent official endorsements of this site.
This site © 2014 TappedOut.net, LLC
Contact |
Feeds |
Help |
Terms of Use |
Privacy statement |
DMCA requests |
MTG Format Validator API |
Hosted by Linode!


text: I've been having white mucusy discharge for at least 3 weeks now (just a little quantity, but a few times a day). Nothing really unusual. Today, I noticed that the usual mucusy discharge was also light brown. Just thinking that this might be a sign of dilation or thinning of the cervix. I know you can lose your mucus plug for a while before actual labor begins. But if I start seeing bright red blood, I'm going to get more suspicious because I started having that a day or two before DD was born. I guess it's at least something to mention at my next dr. visit on Thursday. Has anyone ever just had the light brown discharge that didn't turn into full-blown bloody show? Just wondering since it just came out bright red last time I was pregnant.


text:
Herbert W. Drummond, Jr.
Herbert W. Drummond, Jr. was a librarian at California State
University, Sacramento, a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon
fraternity, and collector of California tourist brochures.
Contains personal files, correspondence, and
tourist brochures.
Collection is currently not open for research. Please contact Head, Department of Special Collections and University Archives for information.
Date Span: 1969-1985
Extent: 6 linear feet (7.5
record cartons)
A Visitor's Guide
brochure for Sacramento, circa 1980s.
California State University, Sacramento | University Library | 2000 State University Drive East | Sacramento, CA 95819 | Phone: 916-278-5679
Last Updated: Tue Apr 26 15:44:12 PDT 2011
Comments about this page: firstname.lastname@example.com
Suggestions / Comments on Library Website


text:
July 31st at 12:30pm at Central MN Credit Union in Paynesville and 5:30pm at St. Boniface Church in Cold Spring and on August 1st at 12:30pm at Elk River Public Library and 5:30pm at Central Lutheran Church in Elk River.
We are looking for families who want to purchase a house with an affordable mortgage. In 30 minutes, learn what we do, who qualifies and how to apply. Anyone who will be on the mortgage must attend one a meeting. For more information, visit our website www.cmhfh.org or call Angie at 320-656-8890 x103.
Temp: 20°F (-7°C)
Dewpoint: 13
Wind: 7 E
Weather: Mainly Cloudy
Mon December 1, 2014
Fri December 5, 2014
Sat December 27, 2014
Sat December 27, 2014
Wed December 31, 2014


text:
The sweetest thing a guy can do without bein an ass.
May I kiss you instead of grabbing your ass?
por ILOVEKISSES 09 de Abril de 2005
Giraf kiss
Hell yes I play with dolls.
red lipstick
The nicest,sweetest, thing a guy can do without bein an asshole.
May i kiss you instead of tryin to get in your pants?
por ILOVEKISSES 10 de Abril de 2005
A band from the 70's sporting cabucki theater make up and black leather costumes.They play awesome rock and roll an have survived line up changes and death of a member. the name stands for nothing other than kiss by the way
Wow no one likes KISS like me.
por lindyhatersannomis 28 de Novembro de 2003
- ← Anteriores
- 1
- …
- 10
- Próximos →


text:
Explore Memphis with Southwest Airlines' Spirit Magazine
The first flights to Memphis from Southwest Airlines kick off this weekend and Insiders looking to visit the Birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll can now check out a complete itinerary of must-see attractions, dining and more! Check out great savings and package deals for visiting Graceland and book your flight from select markets, for as little as $89 through Southwest Airlines!
Enter to Win ELVIS Slotomania Goodies
To celebrate the premiere of ELVIS, the world's first social slots game featuring the King of Rock 'n' Roll, Slotomania is giving away awesome bundles of Slotomania goodies to ten lucky ELVIS slots fans! Play "ELVIS" Slotomania today on Facebook while it's open to all for a limited-time.
Cool New Elvis Greeting Card Designs From Paper Style
Paper Style has created a new line of holiday social expressions featuring vintage photographs and artwork of Elvis from the Graceland Archives. These exclusive designs allow Insiders to kick off the season with party invitations and Christmas cards that incorporate the King of Rock 'n' Roll.
Stock Up at ShopElvis' Fall Clearance Sale
Insiders can stock up on those Christmas gifts! The ShopElvis Fall Clearance Sale is now offering huge savings on accessories, collectibles, home decor, apparel, plus you can save an additional 15% in the ShopElvis Outlet!
Celebrate Christmas with the 2013 Graceland Lighting CeremonyElvis Presley's Graceland annual lighting ceremony will take place on Friday, November 22 at 6:00 p.m. The extensive Christmas display includes hundreds of blue lights along the driveway, a life-size Nativity scene, Santa and his sleigh, and much more. The FREE lighting event is open to the public.
Read More
Questions?: email@example.com note: All promotions and offers contained within this e-mail are good while supplies last and are only valid at www.Shopelvis.com.
This email was sent to:
&*TO;Go here to leave this mailing list or modify your email profile.
This email was sent by: Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.P.O. Box 16508, 3734 Elvis Presley BoulevardMemphis, Tennessee 38186-0508 USAPhoto © Alfred Wertheimer


text:
Patients & Visitors
Medical Services
Maps & Parking
Health Library
Physician Portal
Mothers pass on much that is good to their children, but a new study shows there is one gift most would rather not receive - heart disease.
A woman with a strong history of cardiovascular problems is much more likely to pass that legacy on to her children than a father with the same medical history, researchers report in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
In fact, "maternal history of coronary heart disease was almost always related to higher risk in both sons and daughters," says study lead author Dr. Kristina Sundquist, an expert at the Karolinska Institute's Center for Family Medicine in Stockholm.
"If some patients are at a higher familial risk, then they might need more aggressive treatment for other risk factors," explains Dr. Sundquist.
Dr. Sundquist's team used government medical records to track heart disease, hospital admissions, and cardiac-related deaths among all Swedish men and women born after 1932, as well available health data on their parents.
The authors identified about 11,000 men and 3,300 women who had a mother and/or a father with heart disease. Then the scientists compared the medical histories of these individuals with those of children with no parental history of heart disease.
Dr. Sundquist reports that the highest heart risk was borne by individuals whose parents had both suffered heart disease.
Men with this double-parent history were at twice the risk of developing heart disease than men with no parental history of cardiovascular trouble.
Women whose mother and father both suffered from heart disease had an 82 percent higher risk for heart disease compared to women without such histories.
When only one parent had coped with heart disease, it was clearly the mother that passed on the most significant risk to her offspring.
Men and women had a 55 percent and 43 percent higher risk for heart disease, respectively, if their mother had it, too, compared to individuals without this type of maternal history of heart disease.
By contrast, men and women whose fathers had heart disease were at a 41 and 17 percent higher risk, respectively, for developing the problem themselves.
The researchers also found that people with parents who experienced an early onset of heart disease - before the age of 55 in the case of men or age 65 in the case of women - were nearly three times more likely to develop the illness themselves.
Dr. Sundquist says it is not yet clear why mothers are more likely to pass on cardiovascular risk to their kids.
But she offers several possible explanations, including genetic mutation patterns that pass through the maternal line or conditions that might affect the fetus before birth.
These would include factors such as maternal smoking and high blood pressure during pregnancy, both of which have been linked to low birth weight in prior studies.
The home environment might play a role, as well. According to Dr. Sundquist, children typically spend more time with mothers than fathers as they grow, so they may be more likely to pick up unhealthy habits from moms.
This might translate into greater disease risk for children of "mothers [who] are more likely to smoke, or have poor dietary behavior, and lack physical activity," notes Dr. Sundquist.
Whatever the explanation, she advises that patients with this type of high-risk family background get screened for signs of heart disease.
"The implication is that clinical attention should be given to patients whose mothers or fathers had coronary heart disease, but special attention should be given if both parents had coronary heart disease, if mothers had coronary heart disease, or if either had premature coronary heart disease," explains Dr. Sundquist.
Dr. Nieca Goldberg, a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association, says that while the study findings did not surprise her, the take-home message was nonetheless important.
"First of all, this illustrates that our moms' health matters," says Dr. Goldberg, who is chief of women's cardiac care at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
"And I think what's very important is that as part of any standard medical history you should be able to answer the questions about your family's history of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, or stroke, since these diseases run in families," she says.
Always consult your physician for more information.
Mothers Likely to Pass Heart Disease to Children
Evidence Points to Inheritance
Taking a Family History Key
What Is Coronary Artery Disease?
Online Resources
Coronary heart disease, or coronary artery disease (CAD), is characterized by the accumulation of fatty deposits along the innermost layer of the coronary arteries.
The fatty deposits may develop in childhood and continue to thicken and enlarge throughout the life span.
This thickening, called atherosclerosis, narrows the arteries and can decrease or block the flow of blood to the heart.
Nearly 13 million Americans suffer from coronary artery disease - the number one killer of both men and women in the US.
Risk factors for CAD often include:
Controlling risk factors is the key to preventing illness and death from CAD.
The symptoms of coronary heart disease will depend on the severity of the disease.
Some persons with CAD have no symptoms, some have episodes of mild chest pain or angina, and some have more severe chest pain.
If too little oxygenated blood reaches the heart, a person will experience chest pain called angina.
When the blood supply is completely cut off, the result is a heart attack, and the heart muscle begins to die.
Some persons may have a heart attack and never recognize the symptoms. This is called a "silent" heart attack.
When symptoms are present, each person may experience them differently.
Symptoms of coronary artery disease may include:
(Our Organization is not responsible for the content of Internet sites.)
American College of Cardiology
American Heart Association
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Choose To Move, AHA
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Library of Medicine
About This Site | Disclaimer | Privacy | Accessibility | Donations | Site Map171 Ashley Avenue, Charleston, SC 29403 1.843.792.1414 | ©
Medical University of South Carolina


text:
US woman celebrates cloning of 'precious Booger'
South Korean scientists have performed the first commercial dog cloning, making five copies of a US woman's pit bull terrier called Booger. Bernann McKinney flew to Seoul to meet the five puppies born late last month to two surrogate mothers. She paid $50,000 for five copies of Booger created from cells from the deceased dog's …
What's god go to do with it?
Unless her prayers were answered with a $100,000 discount that is...
Take THAT Christians!
So since God clearly intervened in cloning, does that mean the big G's cool with it all and those whappy fundaementalists in Amerika will shut up complaining and actually let their scientists get on with cloning and stem cell research?
"RNL has previously created clones of a "cancer-sniffing" dog and which have now started training."
How very Cyteen. I wonder how long before it gets the "working animal" classification on its geneset...
If this has been reported correctly...
Than a dumb yank with too much money but without the sense to realise that none of the 5 clones are actually the same dog; and then the fuckwit goes on to praise god for the use of cloning... please can we have this person put down?
Still, on a brighter note - with this dog cloning technology the Koreans should never face a food shortage.
Dog more intelligent than woman?
No, this isn't a comment about the dog's possible bionic canine enhancements - it just occurs to me that a woman prepared to pay $150,000 to a group of Korean scientists and then thanks God for it isn't exactly an intellectual! Why pay the money at all if its her super invisible friend? Why not just pay.... Ah... Well, as long as she's breeding dogs and not people - come back eugenics - all is forgiven.
How apt
What a coincidence that on the day my mother informs me she will have to put done our 18-year-old border collie cross alsatian, this story is posted. Perhaps it is a sign that Rab has a chance to come back as long as the funds can support him.
Where would we be without modern science? Prorbably a lot richer and less likely to see the same dog twice...
Au revoir, old friend.
Sigh. Yet another deluded religious nut who gives credit to an imaginary sky-fairy instead of to the scientists who developed the techniques.
Booger Burger
How long before they start cloning the tastiest dogs?
Mine's the one with the hot dog in the pocket.
Let's get it out of the way...
Korea. Dogs. Inbred. Inbread. Geddit? LIke in a sandwich.
Polluting the gene pool in both senses of the term...
1. This woman if obviously so stupid she believes the soul and character of her puppy will return in these clones. How many more idiots will ignore naturally born animals who are waiting in dog pounds for a loving owner with more than air between the ears? This woman's existence is a threat to the human gene pool.
2. Surely cloning may interfere with the natural order of things and possibly introduced defects into the canine gene pool?
Proof that there is a God!
Now all you naysaying athiest/agnostic El-Reg readers know the truth!
... just a shame she didn't ask God's advice before naming the poor mutt. Boogers! I ask you!
@Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse
"with this dog cloning technology the Koreans should never face a food shortage."
Actually, they made 10 clones...
Cloning to go
The eyes of the McDonalds franchise owners in Korea have lit up at this story.
Mines the one next to the burger with the leash hanging out
Either that...
Or the scientists, realising they've failed buy 5 very similar looking pups from near by puppy farms.
Just a thought.
How many hot dogs do you want?
You want fries with that?
Cancer sniffing?
Once it sniffs the cancer, how does it deal with it? Bite it? Maul the sufferers!
It would also be a bit difficult to tell when someone has cancer of the anus...
The woman should get done for cruelty naming her dog that, as well as for having more money than feking sense!
"RNL Bio, which gained the exclusive licence for dog cloning from Seoul National University in June, performed the procedure. The company is taking legal action against a US firm for patent infringement." - wtf? you cant patent cloning of specific animals surely?
plus - oh great - more dangerous dogs on the planet. its wondering why they felt they could spend that amount of cash to get another dog that LOOKS like the old one. we all know your personality and character are defined by how you are raised... not by your genes necessarily
Yeah thank god
I see that science has tapped into a large seam of stupid rich people who want to clone their beloved pets. Good for the scientists although I fail to see what god has to do with it. Maybe she thinks this god of hers has nothing better to do than pander to the neurotic obsessions of ignorant rich old bags.
I hope she enjoys creepy pleasure of owning uncanny facsimiles of her beloved baby, er dog. Other people with more brains will realise their animals are dead and just buy new puppies.
And that is why my two brothers and I all like the same things. /sarcasm
What's the point
It seems a bit pointless to me. Sure the dog will look the same, but the original dog isn't in there!
@Dog more intelligent than woman?
"> Why pay the money at all if its her super invisible friend? Why not just pay...."
Actually, yeh, that's the real question here: is the $100k discount more than or less than the amount she's slapped down into the collection plate every sunday over the years?
If yes, then maybe she's not as dumb as she looks...!
Coat? Ah, yes, it's the five identical ones hanging on the peg over there :-)
<no title>
Saw her on the lunchtime news. No offense meant to her, but from her description of how she reacted to her pet's death, it seemed like she was in desperate need of psychiatric help, rather than being encouraged to not be able to cope, by creating more dogs with the same genetic code as her dead pet.
"clone camels for rich arabs..."
Quoth Ra Jeong-Chang, CEO of RNL Bio in a Daily Mail article...
'For my next project, I will consider cloning camels for rich people in the Middle East,' he added.
WTF, ROTFLMAO, etc.
Look, if there isn't a God...
...then a bunch of Korean scientists *playing* God is the next best thing. And given the price the original tends to ask (your first born son, eternal praise and worship, that sort of thing) $50,000 for the impersonators seems like quite a bargain.
Scuse me, but...
Don't clones still have a short life expectancy as the genes are already knackered from going through the childhood growth spurts?
Admittedly the official verdict on "Dolly" was that she died of lung cancer, which wasn't related to her being a clone, but it wouldn't surprise me if this woman had to watch five copied of her beloved pet die odd deaths over the next five years.
Blimey.. can you imagine the uproar if people start cloning race horses. Red Rum v2 anybody?
camel cloning?!
er...would that be cheaper than simply breeding them?
or would someone have a particular emotional connection to a specific camel?
btw pit bulls are stupid dogs.
Ah yes, definitely religious
Following in fine Christian tradition of spending vast amounts of cash, not on helping the poor and needy, but on injecting the DNA of your dead pet into the a live cell of another animal.
Or maybe she had just finished watching a re-run of that other fine example of Christian thanks and praise - the Oscars.
Ahoy there me hearty Christians - consider ye selves boarded!
@ @ me...
"And that is why my two brothers and I all like the same things. /sarcasm"
erm... i said "plus - oh great - more dangerous dogs on the planet. its wondering why they felt they could spend that amount of cash to get another dog that LOOKS like the old one. we all know your personality and character are defined by how you are raised... not by your genes necessarily" - i said necessarily...
its all to do with experiences in certain aspects of your life. what i am saying is that you can take 2 people - can even be done with twins - and due to the experiences in life they will turn out different.
certain key elements in life can fundamentally change you as a person. the fact that her old dog might not be a baby eating machine doesnt mean the little clones arent the spawn of satan :)
Science getting into Religion's core business
It seems pretty obvious that the woman would believe in God, after all, cloning and religion serve similar purposes – both give you hope for life after death.
All life forms are predisposed to fear death, it's called a survival instinct. One of the primary reasons religion came about was to provide comfort to those who were dying, hence philosophical musings like "Death is not an end, it's a beginning", or religious concepts like Reincarnation. Many religions have even developed a punishment/reward system that claims to reward the faithful with paradise, and punish the wicked with hell. Of course, since "dead men tell no tales", we don't have any firsthand reports of whether any of this is true – all the people who know are dead! Intelligent men through the ages have pondered the mystery of life after death as it applies to religion, and several have come down on the side of religion. Consider Pascal's wager – The consequences of a religious person being wrong (dying and ceasing to exist) are far less than the consequences of an atheist being wrong (dying and being cast into hell) – therefore it is safer from a logical standpoint to be religious.
Anyway, cloning is science's answer to life after death. "Beloved pet gone? Sure religion can comfort you by telling you your pet is in a "better place" - but we can bring your pet back! Yes, it's not the exact pet – it doesn't have your old pet's memories and it's a puppy – but it's Genes are Identical. A clone is almost like a second chance, you can start over with your pet as a puppy and do everything just the way you want to." A pitch like this is hard for a bereaved person to pass up.
To end with a bit of levity, here's an old joke. A rich man passes away, and leaves his dog in his servant's care. When the dog passes, the servant honors his masters wishes and brings the dog to the local parish priest for interment. The priest sadly explains that dogs can't be buried in a Catholic cemetery, as they aren't members of the religion. The servant then exclaims, "But my master has given me $25,000 to make sure his beloved pet was buried! What shall I do?" The priest's eyes light up, saying, "$25,000 to be buried? Why didn't you tell me the dog was Catholic?"
@ Liam
>>erm... i said "plus - oh great - more dangerous dogs on the planet... we all know your personality and character are defined by how you are raised... not by your genes necessarily"
Well, that's consistent.
Pit bulls aren't inherently dangerous as a breed. They're just rather more liable to be fucked with by idiots, in terms of breeding and training, and if they do bite you then you're going to know about more than with many other breeds. But this particular dog was a therapy dog - that's essentially a working dog, requiring a lot of training and testing and certification and all that. Pit bulls are often used as therapy dogs because, guess what, if you don't fuck them up they're very well suited to such a role.
@ the @liam AC
You know, if you're the youngest brother you have 30 - 40% chance of being gay?
@ Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse
Nice one about the shortage
@ the @liam AC
lucky im an only child then :)
@ sarah - fair point. for me its the fact that a pitbull is bred for killing other dogs. it is bread from specific strains to do more damage and cleave more meat from the bone. its like saying a knife isnt dangerous as its never stabbed anyone. but it has the potential to be more dangerous than a spoon etc.
@ "Well, that's consistent" - to be honest sarah - life isnt consistent... i cannot make blanket statements as we all know there are expeptions to almost every rule. i know to a certain extent i seem to contradict myself but im talking about emotions and physical attributes - 2 very different things.
@ "Pit bulls aren't inherently dangerous as a breed" - BUT they are the most dangerous breed though, due to the damage they can do compared to every other breed
i know no animal is born bad - same with humans, for me its the potential in such animals. the fact that i bet almost all bad dog incidents are caused by naughty kids etc still doesnt detract from the fact its dangerous dog in the wrong circumstances or wrong hands. if the dog has a stroke or epileptic fit (which often makes them violent), which dog do you want in your house? a spaniel or a pitbull?
btw - im a dog lover - (not dog 'lover' just to clarify lol) so im not anti-dogs - i just know certain breeds arent really massively suitable for certain situations. and surely there are much better breeds for therapy dogs than a bred fighting dog?
God and the Korean cloners
It was never mentioned, but how many Korean scientists were involved? Three? OMG, the triune being!
I must be God, because I'm the only one who hears when I pray.
Imperfect Clone
Now, they should have first created a clone of the original mother (likely from the micro chimerae, as the original is undoubtedly wormfood now). Then, cloned the target using the original near (genetically) identical maternal clone for surrogacy.
Also, the epigenetics (all of several levels) need to be preserved.
OK, that's two patents the Koreans don't have.... all they built was a DNA clone... *yawn*... hard part is synchronizing all those bitches, or it was before. The rest is just scientific prestidigitation.
@Nicholas Wright
Yum! More Shergar Burgers...
my head hurts
(obviously) devout christian pays 50k for scientists to 'play God' with a dog named from Revenge of the Nerds?
hate much?
The intolerance for those with religious beliefs is a bit thick here, innit? I don't necessarily share the woman's beliefs and I certainly respect everyone's right to have a superiority complex of the sort displayed by too many of the above commenters, but perhaps reversing roles during the Spanish Inquisition wouldn't have made it any better?
Business plan
1. Buy white coat and nerd specs and a couple of test tubes to wave about.
2. A bit of advertising amongst rich Americans.
3. American gives you $100k + picture of dog.
4. Walk around dog pounds/restaurants until you find something close to picture.
5. Phone happy American.
6. Bin the stupid white coat + specs and buy new threads + car.
Good grief...
As if there was a shortage of pit bulls...
God would probably preferred she adopt one from a shelter. Actually for that kind of money, she could have funded a shelter.
It just goes to show you that...
One Good Booger, Deserves Another.
Rumors that she named it Booger Too...
From mormon manacling to dog cloning?
Most read
- Product round-up Ten excellent FREE PC apps to brighten your Windows
- Review Tough Banana Pi: a Raspberry Pi for colour-blind diehards
- Product round-up Ten Mac freeware apps for your new Apple baby
- Analysis Pity the poor Windows developer: The tools for desktop development are in disarray
- Chromecast video on UK, Euro TVs hertz so badly it makes us judder – but Google 'won't fix'


text:
Booneville Baptist Association in Manchester, KY needs new carpet for their office.
Ministry Description:
Booneville Baptist Association is a small, rural association in Manchester, KY.
Size of Team Needed: Small team
Housing & Food Preparation:
Can possibly stay and prepare meals at the associational office. Call for information.
Cost Per Person (if applicable): N/A
Materials for Project: Team will need to provide.
Are Background Checks of Volunteers Required for this Project? No
Other Info: Can possibly get the carpet laid if they can get the carpet donated.
Dates of Project: As soon as possible – Spring/Summer 2014


text:
December 3, 2010
The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Houston, Texas (Metro) made good on its pledge to add 100 new bus shelters this year to its network of 2,000 existing shelters. On Friday, the 100th new shelter was lowered into place at the intersection of Cullen Blvd. at Griggs Rd. to serve customers on the 30 Cullen route.
On hand to help Metro mark the occasion were a number of elected officials, community leaders and Metro representatives.
"This is a very exciting day for all of us at Metro," said Chairman Gilbert Garcia. "The installation of 100 new shelters this year encapsulates the new priorities and operating principles established by the new Metro."
Metro President George Greanias echoed the theme that Metro operates a large and varied network of transit services that can sometimes be overshadowed by attention to light rail expansion. "I personally believe that amenities like this bus shelter are an essential part of the service we deliver," Greanias said.
Providing additional passenger shelters aligns with the agency's strategic priority to provide a great transit infrastructure. Additionally, the comfort provided by shelters embodies Metro's operating principle to provide the best possible customer service. Studies show that adding a shelter can boost ridership by as much as 20 new boardings per day at a given location.
Metro has approximately 10,000 bus stops in its nearly 1,300 square mile service area. Roughly 21 percent of those stops, or 2,100, now have shelters.
A variety of factors are considered in determining where to place shelters. Factors include existing ridership levels, proximity to multiple routes and activity centers, customers with special needs and safety concerns.
The funds used to pay for the 100 new shelters came from local monies and federal grants, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and Formula Funding Enhancement Grants.
Fill out the form below to request more info regarding the company/product/service featured in the story.
* Name
* Phone
* Email
Join the Metro E-Newsletters and receive the latest news in your e-mail inbox once a week. SIGN UP NOW!
View the latest eNews
Express Tuesday | Express Thursday | University Transit
Factors in Transit Bus Ramp Slope and Wheelchair-Seated Passenger Safety Nearly 3 million U.S. adults are wheelchair or scooter users1, and as the population ages this number is expected to rise. Many wheelchair users rely upon public transportation to access work, medical care, school and social activities.
Mass Transit Capital Planning An overview of the world-class best practices for assessing, prioritizing, and funding capital projects to optimize resources and align with the organization's most critical immediate and long-term goals.
The Benefits of Door-to-Door Service in ADA Complementary Paratransit Many U.S. transit agencies continue to struggle with the quality of ADA service, the costs, and the difficulties encountered in contracting the service, which is the method of choice for a significant majority of agencies. One of the most basic policy decisions an agency must make involves whether to provide door-to-door, or only curb-to-curb service.
More white papers
The full contents of Metro Magazine on your computer! The digital edition is an exact replica of the print magazine with enhanced search, multimedia and hyperlink features. View the current issue
Copyright © 2014 Metro Magazine. All Rights Reserved.


text:
Health Tip: Risk Factors for Peripheral Artery Disease
When plaque builds up in the blood vessels
(HealthDay News) -- Peripheral artery disease (PAD) occurs when thick plaque accumulates in the arteries (most often in the legs) and restricts blood flow to the heart, brain, other organs and limbs.
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute mentions these risk factors for PAD:
- Being a smoker.
- Being older.
- Having diabetes or a common precursor, metabolic syndrome.
- Having high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
- Having coronary heart disease.
- Having a family history of stroke.
- Coordination of Heart Attack Care Trims Time to Treatment: Study
November 19, 2014
- Home Exercise Boosts Heart Patients' Frame of Mind
November 19, 2014
Learn More About Sharp
Sharp HealthCare is San Diego's health care leader with seven hospitals, two medical groups and a health plan. Learn more about our San Diego hospitals, choose a Sharp-affiliated San Diego doctor or browse our comprehensive medical services.
Copyright © 2011 HealthDay. All rights reserved.


text:
Remember the Fullerton superintendent who pulled the plug on Troy High School's production of The Laramie Project, an oral history of the event surrounding the murder of gay University of Wyoming Student Matthew Shepard? Dr. George Giokarsis? Well, Fullerton Joint Union High School District (FJUH ... More >>
Four years ago, Fred Phelps, the now banished (and the God-who-Hates-Fags-willing soon to be dead) founder of the Westboro Baptist Church, announced plans to boycott a Santa Ana staging of The Laramie Project, an oral history project turned play that documented the events surrounding the 1998 killin ... More >>
Child molesters, Shaheen Sadeghi, serial killers, Dana Rohrabacher and so many more!
Go ahead, call us a bunch of culture-less, lily-white suburbanites with a partiality to flip-flops and right-wing politics. Those kind of labels never cease to amuse us. Because one thing that instantly dooms most of the tired cliches ascribed to OC is the music--the one-of-a-kind frustration, aggre ... More >>
5. Thrice Most teenagers who strapped on a guitar during the beginning of the second Bush administration could can easily call out Thrice as an inspiration for the angry, distorted racket they created in their parent's garage. Knowing what concrete influence their music had on scores of current l ... More >>
When Jacob Bigham hacked into the Troy High School database in April to confirm suspicions student-government adviser Jenny Redmond rigged the election for 2012-13 student officers, it was a bittersweet victory.The snooping reinstated Ryan Daliwal as the rightful student body president, but it also ... More >>
Tracy Flick is apparently alive and well at Troy High School.Brought to life deliciously by Reese Witherspoon, Tracy Enid Flick is a central character in Alexander Payne's 1999 film Election, which is based on Tom Perrotta's novel of the same title. The plot involves a high school student body elect ... More >>
The founder of Friends for Fullerton's Future blog says his war on bad government didn't start with the Kelly Thomas beating, and it's not over yet
Ruben Rodriguez has been sentenced to 18 months in state prison for flashing teen and tween girls walking to North County high schools and junior highs.The 22-year-old Anaheim man pleaded guilty last month to an attempted lewd act on a child under 14 and luring a child with the intent to commit a ... More >>
Picture from Sexy Burger's FacebookDriving home yesterday I saw a new food truck I hadn't seen before pass me on the road. I was sure this was OC's newest luxe lonchera because I noticed the familiar Construction Circle address that many OC trucks like The Lime Truck and others call home base, ye ... More >>
The Orange County Register has a detailed story on a pill-popping Fullerton police officer whose career ended when internal affairs investigators showed up at his Seal Beach apartment and found empty pill bottles and a cop so high he could not speak without slurring.The Reg tells the Todd Alan ... More >>
Dave LiebermanThe Place: Chomp Rockin' Sushi and Teppan Grills, 181 E. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton; (714) 738-3511; chompfullerton.com. The Hours: Mon.-Fri., 3-6 p.m. The Deal: $3 beer specials, sushi and food specials.
UPDATE: Three more girls have come forward to allege the suspect exposed himself to them (see end of post) . . . A 21-year-old Anaheim man has been arrested for allegedly exposing himself to at least nine girls between the ages of 12 and 17 over the last two months.
Flickr user bookgrlAs sad as this is, it's better than CUSD's high school lunch.Earlier this year, the Conseil régional de Bourgogne (Regional Council of Burgundy, France) released a four-year charter called "Qualité de la restauration scolaire"--the quality of school food. It states that at ... More >>
One thing I do miss about my life before the soul-crushing debt, round the clock collector calls and general feeling of numb is my nightly Newcastle. Ironically, it was around the time my financial house was falling down that I noticed the price of six packs, across the board, going up. Actually, th ... More >>
The Fullerton Music Festival
Dont miss these artists at Hootenanny


text:
Community Action Agency Conference
Miami, Florida
Good morning and welcome to the Sunshine State!
It's great to be back in Florida!
I am pleased to provide greetings this morning on behalf of Secretary Sebelius. She asked me to convey her warm welcome and her support for the great work you do.
I want to thank Don Mathis, John Edwards, and all of the staff at the Community Action Partnership for inviting me back to talk to you about some of our accomplishments.
I also want to give a warm Floridian welcome to my ACF colleagues: Seth Hassett, Brandy RayNor, and Colleen Rathgeb.
It has been only a few months since our last meeting in San Francisco, but much has changed in that short period of time.
Although the economy is slowly getting back on its feet, the last several years have taken a terrible toll on the families we serve. You know that much better than anyone.
The supplemental poverty measure released in November notes that over 49 million Americans are poor—that's 16 percent of the population.
The percentage of children living in poverty is even more distressing—22 percent, a significant increase from 2009. That doesn't bode well for a strong, competitive America of the future.
The fact is, too many Americans are having to choose whether to buy food or medicine, whether to make the mortgage payment or pay the heating bill.
Fortunately, in many of our communities, these Americans have a community action agency to count on.
Before I continue, I must introduce you to the new Director of the Office of Community Services, Jeannie Chaffin (cha-fin). I think some of you may know her?
A consummate advocate for low-income people and a policy expert, Jeannie has dedicated over 20 years of her life to reducing poverty.
She has worked at a CAA on the ground, lead CSBG and LIHEAP at the state level, worked on policy at the national level, and now, she's leading OCS.
I am so grateful to have her at the Administration for Children and Families and have this opportunity to work with her.
And I assure you, she has hit the ground sprinting!
Since coming to ACF, I've been meeting with people at all levels to gain a better understanding of their needs and aspirations. I will keep working every day to formulate a plan that builds on the strengths of this network, but we will need your continued input.
During the last year, I know that many of you have been concerned about proposed reductions in the Community Services Block Grant for FY 2012. And frankly, so was I.
A couple of days before Christmas, President Obama signed into law a budget for fiscal year 2012, which includes about $713 million for the Community Services Block Grant, with $35 million going towards the Community Economic Development and Rural Community Development programs.
CSBG is essentially funded at the same level as last fiscal year!
Looking at the bigger picture, we now have some certainty about the Federal funding levels for the rest of the fiscal year. I know from experience how important that is.
Of course, knowing our funding levels does not mean this is a time to relax.
Regarding CSBG, if there is one message I would like to convey to you today, it is that we need to work together with a sense of urgency to prepare CSBG for a strong future.
The FY 2012 budget included proposals to increase competition in the CSBG program-- I know that there has been great concern about just what that means.
For us, this new approach is about quality service and accountability.
We are so pleased that the CAA network recently laid out a proposal on accreditation. It shows we're all on the same page about our commitment to excellence-- whether it is CSBG, Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge, or Head Start.
We believe your desire to pursue higher quality service delivery via standards or accreditation is movement in the right direction, and we look forward to meeting with you in the next few weeks to discuss your proposal.
Bottom line is low-income families and communities deserve the very best services available. And taxpayers deserve to know that we are responsible stewards of their funds.
Being an eligible entity for CSBG - and being recognized by the State as a designated Community Action Agency - is about more than the financial resources that come from the block grant.
We need to continue to show that the designation as a CSBG eligible entity is a not an off-hand thing, but a proud indicator of quality and consistent adherence to the highest standards of service delivery, from neighborhood to neighborhood across the entire country.
I've heard comparisons in the past to a "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval."
That means we must look at standards for financial, administrative, board oversight, and community services and make sure our goal is not just "compliance," but greatness.
In this era when some are questioning the whole concept of the social safety net, we have no choice but to prove that we are delivering nothing but the best for our clients. And that what we are doing makes a tangible positive difference in their lives.
We have to keep telling our success stories to the skeptics who would wipe out community action programs.
Stories about people like Jason.
Jason came up hard in Florida's public housing projects, surrounded by crime and violence. But he had a spark in him that his environment couldn't extinguish—he loved school and got involved in all kinds of extracurricular activities.
Things really took off when his mother encouraged him to enroll in the Northeast Florida Community Action Agency's Data Busters summer program.
The program helped him improve his computer literacy skills while he earned money. Hardwick's determination to succeed inspired his mother, and the two attended college simultaneously. His mother graduated from Bethune Cookman College with a degree in nursing; her son followed three years later with a BS degree in economics from Florida A&M.
That's the kind of good you do, and that's the kind of outcomes we all want to see.
That's why this administration has challenged departments across the Federal government to look at new ways of funding to promote quality and accountability.
As such, we need to prepare the CSBG network to meet rising standards as other Federal programs move to do the same thing.
As many of you are aware, Head Start is instituting some bold and historic reforms to ensure that every family and every child get the best Head Start has to offer. President Obama recently announced new regulations that for the first time inject competition into the Head Start grant process.
This is the clearest possible sign that the President is deeply committed to excellence in early childhood education.
Under the new rules, Head Start programs that meet one of seven conditions established by the new reg must compete for funding if they want to continue to operate.
The seven conditions are transparent. They're based on research. And they include standards for health, safety and fiscal integrity.
You might think this new rule is too tough, but I think we all can agree that no reg is too tough or standard too rigorous when it comes to the children and families we serve.
About a third of Head Start grantees are also CAAs, which means that these new rules are going to play an important role in the CAA network over the next few years.
The Office of Community Services and the Office of Head Start are already working together to determine what steps might be needed to help keep Head Start and CSBG strong.
CAAs will have much to learn from the Head Start experience, as we move forward with the President's proposals for CSBG and other projects that use performance management to get the biggest bang for the buck.
We are truly operating in a time in which every dollar is scrutinized, and every expenditure needs to be justified.
Within ACF, we are working to prepare the Community Services Block Grant—and the Community Action Network—for a strong future. We know that this will not be easy. Important change never is, but we are committed to moving forward with a process that includes real input from all of you and from other key stakeholders.
The challenge we face together as leaders in the field of human services is to prepare the network not just for short term sustainability in a difficult budget environment, but to make our programs as effective as possible in the face of contemporary economic challenges and—just as important—demonstrate meaningful results.
I am familiar with the challenging local realities you face as agency leaders, and I admire your dedication and tenacity. You are the last hope for so many. As agency leaders, you motivate, you support, you raise awareness, and block by block, person by person, you change the world.
I want to thank all of you here for standing with ACF and helping us achieve our goal of helping those most in need.
Thank you.


text:
Taylor Fordyce is a modern practice based in the South of England with the objective of providing a first class service to both business and individual clients.
Selachii LLP is a dynamic boutique law firm solving a range of legal problems for clients. The firm has a tenacious and entrepreneurial approach often challenging convention to achieve the client's goals


text:
There's a reason there is an entire genre dedicated to the road trip. Be it the fish-out-of-water factor, the potential for strange adventures, or the natural narrative arc that wandering guarantees, artists have drawn inspiration from traveling since the dawn of storytelling. Local art critic and curator Andy Sturdevant will host Salon Saloon, mixing a talk-show format with a variety of performances. Painter Carolyn Swiszcz will discuss her travels to Miami, Fargo, and her true love, West St. Paul. Violinist Hilary Davis will report on her adventures at this year's SXSW. Punk poet Paul Dickinson will reminisce about traveling throughout America in the back of a van. Rounding out the guests will be actress-comedian Courtney McLean, who will recount tales from the Fringe Festival circuit. Beer specials and the Old Man Orville Band will add even more to your night. Got a story to tell? Pictures to show? Favorite road song? Send them over to firstname.lastname@example.com before the show.
Tue., April 7, 7 p.m., 2009


text:
Quote of note"I don't know if Nate did it on purpose or just instinct. He took the stab right in his arm and saved my friend and me. I'm pretty sure it was his instinct. He didn't want anyone to get hurt. He told everybody to run away. I'm pretty sure he pulled the fire alarm." - Trinity McCool, a sophomore at Franklin Regional High School, talking about student
Rocky Ford Librarian Sarah Mahana planned an ambitious program for distributing "Grumpy Bird" by Jeremy Tankard, this year's selection for "One Book 4 Colorado.
TV Land is rebootingCandid Camera, the hidden-camera series that pioneered the format, paving the way for contemporary hidden-camera shows like MTV'sPunk'dand Lifetime'sBetty White's Off Their Rockers.
Bradley Whitford is returning to his dramatic roots for a guest spot on Law Order: SVU, TVGuide.com has learned.
Bradley Whitford is returning to his dramatic roots for a guest spot on Law Order: SVU, TVGuide.com has learned.
The regular meeting of the La Junta Board of Utilities Commissioners ended with a discussion of Environmental Protection Agency regulations and their continued growth as an economic issue.
I�ve run the Boston Marathon 35 times. I�ve been a member of the BAA Boston Marathon organizing committee for 25 years. My wife has run Boston. My two children have run Boston. The race director, Dave McGillivray, is one of my dearest friends.
- Events Calendar