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The Human Services major prepares students to work with children, adolescents, and adults within a variety of settings. The major emphasizes interrelationships among individual growth and development, family structure, and the larger social setting. Students become familiar with the history of the helping professions, with various approaches to the development of social policy and with the structure of the social service system in the United States.
Human Services majors graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree. The program prepares them to work in direct service or administrative support in the not-for-profit, public and private sectors.
Human Services majors may take positions in such areas as child welfare agencies, health care, community advocacy, group residences, and recreational programs. Human Sservices majors interested in professional study may enter graduate studies in social work, psychology, counseling, public administration, criminal justice and arts therapy.
The Human Services program places emphasis on the connection between practitioner-researcher. It provides the student a theoretical foundation, coupled with training in research, and applied agency based experiences.
Students can work closely with faculty in areas of aging, poverty, children and adolescents, crime, mental illness, etc. The Human Services program at MSMC is an exciting major that prepares the student for agency-based work opportunities and graduate school. Undergraduate students are also provided the opportunity to further develop research interests by working with the Center on Aging and Policy and/or the Center on Adolescent Research and Development at the College.
The Human Services major is eligible to apply for the MSMC/Fordham Social Work collaboration program (3:2). This is a joint program where the student completes three years at the Mount and two years at Fordham University. Upon completion the student will hold a bachelor's degree from the Mount and a master's degree in Social Work (MSW) from Fordham.
The pre-requisite for beginning upper-class courses is the completion of Introduction to Social Work SW/HSR 103. It is expected that all courses be completed in a satisfactory manner. College-wide policies regarding minimum GPA for graduation are followed.
Human Services majors have interned in a variety of settings including: school-based programs, working with individuals with lifelong disabilities, county social welfare agencies, nursing homes, domestic violence programs, addictions and substance abuse agencies, pre-school programs, court systems and adolescent programs.
There are numerous career options in the field of Human Services. Our graduating students are working in the area of: mental health, mental illness, developmental disabilities, addictions, child and adolescent programs, programs for older adults, and wellness programs.
The shift in demographics indicates there will be an increase in opportunity for individuals in the helping professions. With life expectancy increasing, it is predicted there will be a need for trained individuals in the area of children services, family services, aging and gerontology, substance abuse and addictions. The career outlook for individuals in the area of human services is one of growth and opportunity.


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Augusta Health Internal Medicine
Specializing in Adult Care
Our Board Certified Internal Medicine Practitioners and experienced support staff are prepared to mange the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of adult diseases.
- Wellness and Preventative Care for patients ages 17 years and older
- Women's health care including pelvic and breast exams
- EKG testing
- Comprehensive laboratory services (at the center of Augusta Health lab with satellite lab options)
- Acute illness care (sick visits usually seen same day)
- Minor emergencies (lacerations, sprains and strains)
- Immunizations (influenza vaccines, maintenance medications)
- Work related injuries
- Allergy and asthma care
- Case Management (coordination with home health, hospice, etc.)
Our Lexington office provides Primary and Specialty Care Services. This includes an Internal Medicine Practice, Family Medicine Practice, Outpatient Laboratory Services, Bone Density Testing, and Direct Access to Augusta Health Physician Specialists.

subset: commoncrawl


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Samantha Alvelo has thanked God for saving her young life after a train rolled over her three decades ago in Havelock, but she has always wanted to thank Joe.
Samantha Alvelo has thanked God for saving her young life after a train rolled over her three decades ago in Havelock, but she has always wanted to thank Joe.
She finally got that chance on Friday night.
Alvelo completed a decade-long search for the railroad worker she credits with saving her life when she talked with Joe Dunn on the phone on Friday night.
�I got to say what I felt all those years to the person who stood out for me that day and saved my life,� said Alvelo, who lives in York, Pa. �It felt so good speaking to him over the phone. It felt like I had accomplished something really good in my life. It just felt so important to me to let him know that what he did, I appreciated it.
�There were so many other people that benefited from his heroic actions that day, and for his quick thinking, the fact that he didn�t freeze up, the fact that I�m alive and that there are other people that benefited from that. There�s hearts that weren�t broken because I got to live and that, to me, deserves for me to say thank you. Face to face, over the phone, I just wanted him to know that I was grateful for that action.
�He had a very happy tone to his voice. I don�t think that he ever expected to hear from me again, but in many ways I think it touched his heart to know that I went out of my way to seek him. That�s what I felt.�
The Incident
Alvelo has no memory of the May 14, 1982 incident that almost took her life. She was 18 months old and playing with her 2-year-old cousin, Shaniena Tampakov, on the railroad tracks near their home on Railroad Street in Havelock.
Coming up the tracks, engineer Gerald Johnson was at the controls of a fully loaded Southern Railway train with Dunn as the conductor. Dunn had unsuccessfully tried to get off the run through Havelock that day but there he was aboard the 100-car train moving at 20 mph when he and Johnson noticed something on the tracks ahead.
�By the time we realized it was children, I
didn�t think we were going to get stopped,� Dunn said.
Johnson hit the brakes on the locomotive and sounded the whistle. Dunn said he bolted from the engineer�s cab onto the platform. Waving his arms, he frantically shouted, �Get out of the way! Get out of the way!�
Tampakov was standing at the edge of the tracks, but Alvelo was sitting between the rails as the 71,000-ton engines came upon her. It became apparent to Dunn that the children were going to be struck by the grab iron, or cowcatcher, a low metal skirt just inches off the ground that is designed to clear the tracks ahead of the locomotive.
�I hollered for her to lay down and she laid down just like I hollered,� Dunn said of Alvelo. �If she hadn�t, it would have cut her in two. It would have clipped her head right off.�
Tampakov, on the side of the rails, was knocked clear of the train after being struck in the jaw by the step assembly. Alvelo, though, disappeared below the train as the two locomotives eventually screeched to a stop. Rescuers found the toddler unconscious under the rear axle of the second locomotive.
�My mom said that she was so afraid that I had passed away because I wasn�t moving,� Alvelo said. �She was too afraid to come underneath the thing to come and get me. I can�t remember who it was that went under and scooped me out, but I was still breathing. That�s all I�ve ever known.�
Alvelo had just a few scrapes but was otherwise OK, as was her cousin Tampakov, both in the clutches of relatives at the scene.
Eddie Ellis, managing editor for the Havelock Progress who was on the scene that day, dubbed the incident in a headline in the next edition of the paper �The Miracle on Railroad Street.�
�The thing that struck me at the time was that the gentleman (Dunn) on the train had the presence of mind to tell the child to lay down,� Ellis said from his Florida home. �I think a more normal, human reaction would have been to be frozen with terror. He took action and told the child what to do and the corollary to that is the child did what the man said and that was the reason that I considered it to be some sort of miracle at the time.
�The story was received very warmly by the community because it was an actually amazing occurrence that could have certainly ended a lot different than it did. It could have ended in the death of the child, but it didn�t, so we were struck by the miraculous nature of the thing at the moment that it happened.�
The Search
Alvelo learned she had survived being run over by a train at age 12 from her mother. It didn�t strike her until she grew older and had a daughter of her own how close she had come to death and how she needed to thank the man responsible for saving her.
�I kept thinking how lucky I was. It didn�t really dawn on me until I got older that �Wow, you went under a train and you could have died,�� Alvelo said. �It really doesn�t hit you when you�re that young. When you get older, you�re kind of like �Man.� I�ve frozen up over sillier things. I could not believe him standing there and not freezing up. That�s why it consumed me wanting to say thank you so much.�
She started her search for Dunn about a decade ago with little more than the story relayed to her by her mother and a newspaper clipping.
�I�ve been looking for him since I was about 23 years old because I started having a desire to meet this person that basically saved my life,� said Alvelo, now married at age 33 with four children. �Because of his quick thinking and the Lord having him at work when he wasn�t supposed to be, it all came together, and for me it meant so much to be able to say to him �thank you for saving my life and thank you for your quick thinking. Because of you I was able to be alive and get married and have children all because of somebody�s quick thinking.� To me, that is my hero.�
But, Alvelo�s searches kept coming up empty. On Feb. 23, she contacted the Havelock News, explaining the story that was included in the newspaper�s special 50th anniversary of Havelock section and asking for help in finding Dunn. The paper searched phone books and social media websites, and contacted officials with Norfolk Southern. The railroad company obtained a phone number and the newspaper called Dunn, who now at age 67 had retired and was living in Vanceboro.
The Reunion
Dunn picked up the phone Friday night and soon a woman�s voice was on the other end.
�Oh my gosh. I�ve been trying to find you. How are you?� Alvelo said to Dunn.
�I�m doing good for an old man, I reckon,� Dunn replied laughing. �I tell most people I can still see my shadow.�
The two began to talk about that day in 1982 in which their fates collided on the railroad tracks in Havelock.
�From what the paper clip said I got knocked unconscious, but aside from that, you telling me to lay down saved my life, because God knows what could have happened if that train would have got me the wrong way,� Alvelo said to Dunn.
�Well, if you hadn�t laid down, it would have probably cut you right in half,� Dunn told her.
�Amen on that and you saved my life and I�ve been wanting so many years to just meet you and thank you and everything. I�ve been spending so many years thinking about you because to me you�re my hero,� Alvelo said.
Dunn quickly put aside that notion.
�Well, I�m not a hero,� he told her. �My thing is it had to be the Lord telling me to tell you that because I don�t think that fast, never have. I�m kind of slow, so it had to be the Lord that told me to tell you to do that because on my own I probably wouldn�t have gotten it out fast enough even if I was thinking it, but I was amazed that I just said lay down, and you did.�
�Yes, yes, and that was nothing short of the Lord, but I�ve always said to my mother, �To me he�s my hero because he saved my life. My life wouldn�t have been spared if it hadn�t been for him� and because of you I was spared,� she replied.
Dunn told her that the train�s engineer, Johnson, died about a decade ago, while Alvelo explained that Tampakov was also married with two teenage sons living in Maryland.
They exchanged phone numbers and hoped to plan a face-to-face meeting this summer. Alvelo said she wanted Dunn to meet her husband and children and hoped that Johnson�s family could also be there.
Alvelo said talking to Dunn made her feel like a part of her life had been completed.
�We all just want to embrace him and thank him and present him with an award, and we want to present Mr. Johnson�s son with a gift and let his children know and his family know what a hero he is as well because thanks to their quick thinking we got to grow up,� Alvelo said. �We got to get married. We got to have children, and that means the world to me. There couldn�t have been a gift other than my mother having me that could have been a greater gift given to me.�


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She would rather prostitute for money, than to prostitute for hypocrisy of the upper class. She would rather lie beneath a drunken fool with no morals, then to lie beneath layers of cowardice in a man she should call husband. She would rather ugliness in form in front of her, than have it creep up from crevices of hidden selfishness.
Ruhab seriously needs to study the Quran and Sunnah with tafseer.


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Well as you know, last time we started a study on the subject of gambling...this seductive and destructive dream. And I was unable to finish it, so we want to do that this morning.
At the close of the service I had some interesting reaction last Sunday morning. One friend came to me and said, "Well, I just want you to know that that was utterly irrelevant to me." And I said, "Well good." I mean, I'd like to preach on a lot of sins that are utterly irrelevant to folks. But...in fact, he said, "I did enjoy the music though."
He was followed immediately by another person who came to me and said, "That sermon was relevant to me. It was only a couple of months ago that I buried my brother who committed suicide over a gambling debt."
And I think those two anecdotes illustrate the issue at hand. I could preach a sermon as I have in the past on homosexuality that would have some relevance to people, it would have great relevance to other people and perhaps no relevance to some. But sins have their way of finding people and there are people who in our own congregation have been touched and are being touched deeply by this issue.
As we learned last time, gambling is a serious evil in our land. It effects the vast majority of the people in our nation. Up to 95 percent of Americans have gambled and it has devastating effects.
We closed our discussion last time by understanding that the success of gambling is based on certain sins. If those sins didn't exist, gambling wouldn't either. The sins that support gambling are materialism, greed, discontent, exploitation, laziness, distrust of God's provision, disdain for the virtues of labor, irresponsible stewardship and indifference to those in need.
Now those are not the only sins connected to gambling, those are just the sins that feed it. You will also find that where there is an escalating preoccupation with gambling, there is usually an escalating involvement with every other kind of sin. Those are the sins that attend the explosion and gambling, but there are many others that go along with it, as we pointed out last time. And nothing frankly is more indicative of the corruption of our government than legalizing gambling. And nothing is more characteristic of organized crime than illegal gambling. And the combination of both provides a legitimacy and an availability to a sin that is very, very destructive of moral character and even of the fabric of a nation. Our declining moral character, our dissolution as a nation is manifest through this epidemic of gambling.
And as I noted last time, the church hasn't made a big issue out of it, but it ought to. The church has to be faithful to address this disturbing sin. The early church certainly did. I want to give you some excerpts from a sermon. This sermon was preached in Latin originally in North Africa, probably around Alexandria when Rome was the power in North Africa. It was preached in the second century. It has stayed in existence until now, been translated into English and gives us a great insight in to how the second century church viewed gambling.
The sermon begins like this...we don't know who the preacher was...:
"Christians: great and abundant is the Lord's mercy." Then he says this, "Satan's temptations are numerous, but the principle ones among them are idolatry, fornication, theft, extortion, greed, fraud, drunkenness, impatience, adultery, murder, jealousy, false witness, lying, envying, wrath, slander, heresy and a thousand other crimes like them. And of this number is gambling." Pretty contemporary list, wouldn't you say?
"The game of dice is an obvious snare of the devil," the preacher said. "He precedes over the game in person, bringing to it the deadly venom of the serpent and even inducing ruin which when it is seen to be nothing, a great let down is brought about in the players. I ask you, O Christians, why is the former the case? This hand has been purified from its sins which were committed prior to conversion and the same hand has been admitted to the Lord's table, having received by God's mercy that which concerns the salvation of the soul. The same hand that rolls the dice is lifted up to the Lord in prayer. What shall we say when the very hand with which we make the sign of the cross on our forehead and with which we consume the Lord's table is involved again in the devil's noose from which it formerly had been delivered? I speak of this hand which is always given over to gambling, causing its own ruin and damnation. This hand is accustomed to the unbridled passion of gambling because gambling is like the devil's hunting sphere and those who play the dice are wounded with an irresistible allurement.
"It is at the gambling table," the preacher said, "I tell you, it is at the gambling table where the devil slyly watches for the moment when he shall surprise the players and immediately rejoice in his triumph over his victim. I tell you, it is at the gambling table where one loses his possessions and enormous sums of money. The loss leads him into court battles and insane passions of theft. O noxious gamblers, you are pernicious and filled with indolent iniquity. O cruel hands which turn their own arms against themselves, ruining with disgraceful zeal the estate which their ancestors have amassed by the sweat of their brow. O savaged hands that run to the dice, guilty and indefatigable, applying themselves day and night without leave. You damn yourselves by your sin, yet after you have committed it you do not stop."
The preacher says, "The gambling board is the devil's snare and the enemy's trap which indices greed but in actuality brings utter ruin. By gambling men become poor, squandering their own riches. Stop being a dice player and start being a Christian before Christ beneath the gaze of the angels and in the presence of the martyrs, cast your money upon the altar of the Lord, distribute your money to the poor before you allow it to be squandered by your unruly passions and trust your stakes to Christ who is always victorious. Divert all your fortune and surplus for the necessities of the church. Deposit your gold and silver and your riches in heavenly treasure. Snatch your hands back from the game and turn your heart away from its allurement. Keep the darkness of the enemy out of sight and keep your hands pure from the sacrifices of the devil. Break away from these unruly customs and pursue being a self-controlled Christian. Apply yourself to wisdom and teach yourself in the counsels of the gospel. Lift pure hands to Christ, no longer look upon the dice. Amen."
Pretty strong sermon, huh? St. Augustine said, "The devil invented gambling." John Calvin outlawed gambling in the entire city of Geneva. Martin Luther said, "Money won by gambling is not won without self-seeking and sin."
Now we talked last time something about the issue of gambling, but I want to speak today with regard to the biblical principles that we must bring to bear upon it. To understand the immorality and sinfulness of gambling completely, we need to grasp some biblical principles.
Before I give you those principles, first of all, I want to speak to an issue that always comes up when gambling is discussed and that's the issue of casting lots. Some people want to justify gambling as a modern counterpart to casting lots and they say that casting lots was done biblically and therefore the Bible affirms the role of gambling.
Well I want to answer that and it's worthy of careful thought because we have to understand it. It is true that lots were made of a sheep's knuckle bones and functioned very much like dice, ancient dice and modern dice. In the ancient world sometimes these bones were used in gambling and they were different shapes and sizes and the roll of those bones yielded a certain result with a certain meaning. In the ancient world those bones were not only used in gambling but sometimes they were used in non-gambling games, like children use dice in games they play today. But the association with gambling was fixed in ancient times. And so we do understand that people can assume that casting lots would be some form of gambling, and since God used it therefore gambling is all right.
But any study of gambling and the Bible must then deal with the issue of how we are to understand this matter of lots. Is casting lots an example of biblical gambling and did God condone by that the use of lots for us to gamble?
Let's look at that in Scripture for just a moment. The Israelites did use the casting of lots to determine the divine will. It was used, for example, in the Old Testament to make decisions, according to Exodus 28 and Leviticus 8. Lots were cast in the Old Testament to identify the man Jonah who caused the storm in Jonah chapter 1. Remember they were trying to decide who was to blame for the storm and they cast lots and it pointed toward Jonah. Lots were used to select Saul as king in 1 Samuel chapter 10. Lots were used in the Bible to choose soldiers for battle in Judges 9, to divide the land. And you see that repeatedly in the book of Numbers and a couple of times in Joshua. Lots were used to select animals for sacrifice in Leviticus 16:7 to 10.
In the New Testament lots were cast to select Mathias to replace Judas and that is recorded in Acts 1:21 to 26. And the only other place in the New Testament where lots were used is at the foot of the cross where the soldiers used lots to gamble, as it were, to roll the dice who would get which part of Christ's clothing.
Lots were also used to determine who had committed a sin in 1 Samuel 14. They were used to identify the holder of loot in Joshua chapter 7 remember when Achan had stolen the loot and buried it in his tent. Lots were used to distribute the sons of Aaron into the priesthood and also to determine the priestly rotation in office according to 1 Chronicles 24. And lots were also used to determine who had the privilege of living in Jerusalem according to Nehemiah chapter 11.
So, we're simply affirming the fact that lots were used to determine certain things. At no time, mark this down, in the using of those lots was anyone ever putting something to risk. The use of those lots was not costing anyone anything so it was not a gambling use of lots. Furthermore, Proverbs 16:33 is the key verse that defines all of this. Proverbs 16:33 says, "The lot is cast into the lap but its every decision is from the Lord." The lot is cast into the lap, they would put it into the garment and shake it around in the garment, but every decision is from the Lord. Lots were simply a way by which a sovereign God providentially revealed His will. Very much like the way He used the urim and thummim which was on the breastplate of the high priest in some fashion to reveal His will, God used lots in order to show people His will. When a decision needed to be made and there was difficulty in understanding the mind of God about it, God intervened providentially to control how those lots fell in such a fashion as to reveal His will. It was the sovereignty of God that determined the lay of the lot.
Cotton Mather(??), again that American Puritan, said, quote: "Lots being mentioned in the sacred oracles of Scripture are used only in weighty cases and as an acknowledgement of God sitting in judgment and cannot be made the tools and parts of our common sports without at least such as appearance of evil as is forbidden in the Word of God," end quote. There is no fate, there's no chance, there's no luck in using biblical lots, it was simply a means that God used to reveal His will. And after Pentecost the casting of lots was never again used as a means of determining God's will. There God had sent the Holy Spirit. He has given us His written Word as a source of His moral will. The practice of casting lots is no longer needed.
One thing, however, is very clear. Casting lots was not gambling, nor can the practice of gambling be justified in any way from the biblical use of lots. The soldiers, for example, who were casting lots for Christ's robe at the foot of the cross were not gambling because none of them had paid to play. No soldier was taking any risk, nor was he getting an advantage at someone else's loss who was in the game. No one was going to win at another's expense. They were simply trying to determine who got the robe. This example of casting lots would be similarly to what we call today drawing straws. And even though the word "lottery" comes from the word "lot," casting lots and contemporary lotteries are qualitatively different activities. The former is based on the working of God's sovereign purpose through His providence, and the latter on an imagined luck.
Now, let me give you the principles. Principles why gambling is wrong...one, it denies the reality of God as sovereign by affirming the existence of luck or chance...it denies the reality of God as sovereign by affirming the existence of luck or chance. Luck is an anti-God idea. By the way, there's no such thing as luck. The only real Luck I ever saw was a Chinese family that I knew in Los Angeles. That's true. Luck is non-existent. Luck is an anti-God idea. Scripture clearly and repeatedly teaches that God is the sovereign of the universe and that as the sovereign of the universe He both miraculously, that's by suspending natural law, and providentially, that's by operating through natural law, controls every detail of the outworking of the events of this universe to achieve His own purpose. He is sovereign, He is in control of everything. Nothing happens by chance. There is no such thing as chance. There is no such thing as luck. They are non-existent. They are the fabric of human imagination who wants to deny there is a God who is sovereign.
In Psalm 103:19 it says, "The Lord has established His throne in the heavens and His sovereignty rules over all." You can see that in Psalm 47 verse 4 it is even God who determines how much of an inheritance every person gets. In Deuteronomy it is God who gives you the power to get wealth. In Daniel chapter 4 verses 17 and 25 it is God who lifts up rulers and puts them down. It is God who is the sovereign of the universe.
But most notably I would draw your attention to Isaiah chapter 65 verses 11 and 12, these are worth writing down. Isaiah chapter 65 verses 11 and 12 help us to understand how God views this matter of gambling. It says in verses 11 and 12, "But as for you who forsake the Lord, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for fortune and who fill cups with mixed wine for destiny, I will destine you for the sword and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter." Let's stop at that point.
This is a most interesting portion of Scripture. God says for you who spread a table for fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for destiny, I will destine you for the sword and you will all bend down, or bow down for the slaughter. You'll bend over to be decapitated by Me. Why? Because you spread a table for fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for destiny. Spreading a table means bringing food to an idol. Filling bowls of mixed wine means bringing wine to an idol. And the two gods that the people of Israel were worshiping, one was the god Fortune and the other was the god Destiny. If you want another name for destiny it's luck or chance. God says because you are bowing to luck and chance, I'll decapitate you. Fortune comes from the Hebrew word gad and it means luck. Destiny comes from the Hebrew word Meni and it means bad luck. Gad usually means good luck, Meni means bad luck...m-e-n-i in the English alliteration. So they were worshiping the god of good luck and the god of bad luck and they were bringing offerings to the god of bad luck and offerings to the god of good luck. Gad combined as Baal-gad means "lord of luck." And they were worshiping Baal-gad, the lord of luck, as a part of their ancient worship of Baal, Joshua 11:17, Joshua 12:7, Joshua 13:5. In Numbers 13:10 gad, Gadiel literally, Gadiel means god of my luck, or my luck god. And they were worshiping the god of good luck and the god of bad luck, faith in luck and faith in God are mutually exclusive ideas. In Isaiah 65:12 that I just read you, pronounces judgment on those who worship the false gods of luck.
To believe in luck is to believe that God doesn't exist or that God's not sovereign. If God does exist and He does, and since He is all powerful, all knowing, He is the creator and the sustainer of the universe, He is the one who upholds everything by His own power and brings to pass His own will, there is no such thing as luck. It is non-existent and chance is non-existent. Things don't just happen randomly by chance. Chance is nothing. It's non-existent.
They tell us, these very educated scientists, that the whole universe came into existence by chance. That is a level of idiocy that is beyond description because that is to say that the whole universe came into chance from absolutely nothing because chance is nothing. But if you believe that everything in this universe came into existence from nothing, and that it all just happened because of luck, or chance, if you'll buy those odds then go to Las Vegas because gambling is a certainly clear corollary to that view of the universe. But if you know that God created the universe, every molecule of it, every atom of it, every component of every atom of it and that He created it all precisely the way He wanted it, sustains it the way He wants to sustain it and directs it to the ends for which He has made plans, if you understand that there is no such thing as luck or chance, then why would you gamble? Chance stands in direct opposition to a purposeful creation. It stands in direct opposition to a creation ordered and directed by the sovereign God of the universe. Chance is the personification of anarchy. It's the personification of nihilism. God is in control of everything. Chance is non-existent. Luck is non-existent.
When people say to me off the cuff, "Good luck," I'm prone to sermonize. Don't say "good luck," that's nothing. You might as well say "nothing." Chance is only another word for human ignorance. Gambling is a kind of a secularized divination based on non-existent chance. It's superstitious witchcraft. We're talking about some pitcher for the Dodgers who has been wearing the same undershirt the whole season, it's his lucky undershirt. And they...I think it was Vin Scully was saying, "Not so lucky if you have the locker next to his."
Life is not a gamble. There is no such thing as luck. There's no such thing as chance. Rabbits can keep their feet. God is in control of the non-Christian's life, God is in control of the Christian's life and God is in control of life itself. Depending on luck and chance is a philosophy which deifies nothing. It's a form of idolatry and Israel was doing it. They were worshiping the god of good luck and the god of bad luck, unbelievable.
Our God is a sovereign God and He reigns in heaven above and on earth below. And worship of idols is detestable to Him. And believing in luck and chance is idolatry. Whatever you have is not by chance. Whatever you have is from God. Whatever you don't have, God didn't give you. Whatever you do have, He gave you. If He's withheld from you, it's according to His purpose. If He's given to you, that's according to His purpose also. And in the end it works into His plan.
Second point, gambling is not good stewardship of what God has given us. In fact, it's not stewardship at all. Gambling is not good stewardship of what God has given us, in fact it's not good...it's not even stewardship at all. The Bible teaches us, and here's the bottom line on this point, "The earth is the Lord's and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it," Psalm 24:1, everything is God's. Everything is God's. Everything in the whole universe belongs to Him. It doesn't belong to us, it belongs to Him. And it all is to be used for His glory. "Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God." Everything is to be for His glory.
Psalm 50, listen to verses 10 to 12, "Every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains and everything that moves in the field is Mine. If I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you for the world is Mine and all it contains." Everything is His. He owns it all. It's all His. And we have it put into our trust to be used to bring Him honor.
The illustration of this that is most notable is found in Matthew chapter 25, and I want to have you turn to it for a moment. We don't have a lot of time this morning because we want to have time for the Lord's table and we will, but this passage needs to be addressed because it teaches such a good point. Matthew 25, Jesus in verse 14 gives a parable of some stewards who were given some property to manage by the estate owner, the homeowner, land owner. And he was going away and he wanted to see how they would manage what they were given. And when he came back, you remember the story, he gave to the first one five talents, now those would be a measurement, a talent was a measurement of silver usually. So he gave him five talents. Gave another one two, verse 15. And another one--one. And he went away to see what these guys did with the stewardship.
And immediately verse 16 says the one who received the five talents went out and traded. Went out and went to work. He went out and did some business, buying and selling and whatever, investing, whatever he did and doubled his money. And the next guy took the two, did the same thing. The one who received the one talent went away and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. He didn't do anything, he just buried it in the hole and just kind of hung around.
Well the man came back and, of course, he rewarded the ones who had demonstrated such good stewardship. In verse 24 the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, "Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed." And I think he exaggerates the case here, how tough this guy is, expecting something out of nothing. "And I was afraid and went away and hid your talent in the ground, see you have what is your's. I didn't lose it. I didn't lose it, it's here, I buried it real deep in a secret place so nobody could get it, here."
You say, "Well, you know, it's...hey, I mean, he could have lost it. Maybe this is okay. Maybe this is passable." Well verse 26, "His master answered and said to him, You wicked, lazy slave." And there is the point. Why didn't he multiply the amount? Because of what? Laziness. Every...every opportunity was provided for him with a little bit of effort to multiply that and it was not enough for the master that he hadn't lost it, that didn't gain him any ground at all. He said, "The least you could have done was taken a walk to the bank and put it in there and I would have had some interest." So verse 28, "Take away the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents."
And then verse 30, "Cast out the worthless slave into the outer darkness in that place where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." He sent him to hell.
You say, "Well, boy, I mean, he didn't lose what he had." No, but the point was he should have made something of it. God is not content that we just keep what we have, He wants us to use it for His honor and His glory. I'll tell you something, if that servant was sent to hell just for keeping what he had and not multiplying it, what's going to happen to the person who wasted what he had?
When God gives you a stewardship of resources in life, He expects you to use them for His glory. "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." Moreover, 1 Corinthians 4:2 is required of stewards that a man be found...what?...faithful. You certainly can't gamble, you can't bring your offering and bow before the god of destiny or the god of fortune or the gods of luck and expect that to be a stewardship to God's glory. Everybody who gambles loses their money. The few who win a little usually lose that later on. The worst stewardship of God's gift possible is to throw it away at some god called luck, that's idolatry and bad stewardship.
Third principle, gambling displaces and demeans the God-given place of work...gambling displaces and demeans the God-given place of work. God has designed work as a blessing, you understand that? The old saying, "Idle hands are the devil's plaything" is true. God didn't just give us work because it was...it was good for Him, He gave us work because it was good for us because fallen people need to be preoccupied with something other than temptation. Genesis 3:19 God laid it out, "By the sweat of your brow you'll eat your food." You're going to have to go to work, it's for your benefit, the battle for bread. Proverbs 12:11 says, "He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment."
Now t here's not a better example of chasing fantasies than gambling which causes people to disdain work and throw away their money like fools. Now you can even do it by phone on the Internet, throw away money you don't have and get so badly in debt that you may never be able to extract yourself.
Proverbs 13:22, it says, "A good man leaves an inheritance to his grandchildren." Instead of wasting your money chasing the god of chance, you ought to be setting it aside so that as a good man you have something to leave to your children and your grandchildren.
Work is a command from God. It's a gift from God. It's a good gift. Ephesians 4:28 says, "Let the one who stole steal no more but let him work with his hands, providing for himself and those around him." Colossians 3, as we saw last Sunday night in our discussion of work, talks about how we're to work as if we were working for the Lord Himself. Second Thessalonians says if you don't work, you shouldn't eat. First Timothy 5:8 says if a man doesn't work and provide for his household, he's worse than an infidel, an unbeliever.
Irresponsibility in the realm of work is an abdication of what it is to be human, to say nothing of abdicating and disobeying the duty that God has given to us. God's world is a place of order and purpose, it's not a place of undefined chaos being run by the gods of luck. And God has designed for us to work and that we should be blessed by that work. He's designed for us to use our reasoning capability and be blessed through the application of that reasoning ability. By those means He would meet our needs and we would enjoy the goodness of life.
Fourthly, gambling is driven by the sin of covetousness...gambling is driven by the sin of covetousness. Gambling violates directly the tenth command which is not to covet, Exodus 20:17, Deuteronomy 5:21. Gambling exists because the sin of greed feeds covetousness. It betrays discontent with God's provision. Luke 12:15, Jesus said, "Beware and be on your guard against every form of greed for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions."
Did any of you see that thing on happiness the other night on 20-20? John Stossel's report where he interviewed all the people who won the lottery who were so miserable...they were miserable, their marriages had broken up, their families were a mess, and all their friends hated them because they wouldn't give them any of their money. And John Stossel was giving the report on happiness and somebody said to him, "Are you happy?" And he said, "No." A man's life doesn't consist in the abundance of things he possesses. I mean, we're warned about that repeatedly over and over and over again. Whatever you have is what God has provided for you. And whatever you don't have is what He hasn't provided for you.
But gambling makes a persistent appeal to covetousness and is fundamentally opposed to the unselfishness which was taught by Jesus Christ and by the New Testament. The attempt inseparable from gambling to make a profit out of the inevitable loss and suffering of others is certainly the antithesis of loving your neighbor as yourself. If we're ever going to curb gambling, we're going to have to curb covetousness...pretty formidable task. Greed, materialism, love of money, they flourish in a gambling environment. Gambling built on covetousness is an act of unfaithfulness to God because it assumes that God has not given us what we ought to have. He hasn't given us enough and it assumes that more is a good thing. Is it?
Listen to Proverbs 30 verse 7, "Two things I asked of thee, do not refuse me before I die." I only want two things in life, he says. "One, keep deception and lies far from me...keep deception and lies far from me." I want the truth. I want truth. That's a noble request. Much like Solomon seeking wisdom. Here's the second one, "Give me neither poverty nor...what?...riches. Feed me with the food that is my portion. You know what I can handle, You know what You want me to have, give me that. If You give me too much, I'll be full and deny You and say...Who is the Lord? I don't need Him. Or if I have too little I'll steal and profane the name of my God." I know myself and if I have too much I'll be proud and boastful and I don't need God. And if I have too little, I'll be...I'll be tempted to steal and I'll become a thief.
God knows you and He knows me and He knows what we need and He knows what we can handle and He knows what tests He wants to bring into our life and He's defined the stewardship and the character of that stewardship for each of us. I don't want yours, and I hope you don't want mine.
Fifth, gambling seeks gain from the loss of others. Gambling is a violation of the eighth commandment because gambling in the end steals. You might as well break into the house and take what they have. It steals from the losers. It is fundamentally a violation of the command to love your neighbor. It takes money from others. It strips families of resources. It increases debt. It leads to poverty. It leads to suicide. Twenty percent of addictive gamblers have attempted suicide and the suicide rate of the spouses of compulsive gamblers is 150 times the national average. Gambling is pursuing prosperity at another's expense, exploiting the poor and the undisciplined. Teaches greed, covetousness, and attacks the ethics of hard work, saving, self-denial, capital accumulation, exalt Hedonism, and on demand gratification.
So gambling is seductive. It lures people in. And Paul says some things are permissible but not beneficial. Some things are permissible but I won't be brought under the power of any. Gambling is so seductive. Forty percent of white collar crime in America is caused by compulsive gamblers. Gambling is a choice, it's a bad one...it's a bad one. It destroys individuals. It destroys marriages. It destroys families. It destroys society.
Well, for anyone to support it, including United States Government, is a travesty on moral and social responsibility. The government might as well sell drugs. Gambling is the result of post-modern pessimism. The hopelessness of practical atheism that says there's no God, no hope, no future, no reason, no rationality, just luck...that's...that's something we can thank evolution for. There's no God. It's all just luck. And so the senselessness of gambling makes sense. It succeeds in a mood of despair and hopelessness, a mood of moral relativism and atheism, but it doesn't belong with biblical Christianity. It is a sin to be avoided and, bless God, a sin to be forgiven.
Father, we come to You now as we close this service, a time at Your table, asking that You would forgive the sin of gambling in the lives of any of us where that sin exists. Wash it away and give strength over that in the future. Help us to understand the biblical issues that are involved in this. Lord, this sin of gambling is but one of a myriad of sins. For some of us it doesn't relate, like the sin of homosexuality, or the sin of robbery, or whatever, but, Lord, there are sins that we do relate to. We all have our areas, our arenas of spiritual war in the heart and we come now to this, Your table, knowing that this is the time to confess those sins, to repent of those sins, to turn from those sins, to affirm a new devotion to walk with You in obedience so that we might be blessed, that we might bring honor to Your name. We know we can't take the bread and the cup, the Apostle Paul said, if there's any sin, so may we examine ourselves right now so that we can partake in a worthy manner. We confess our sins and seek Your forgiveness.
And, Lord, for those who have struggled with gambling, forgive them, Lord, and restore them and give them strength over that seductive habit that they may be good stewards and worshipers of the true and living God, the only God, the God who sovereignly controls everything. In the name of Your Son we pray. Amen.
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As a music lover, I thought I'd give Grand Rounds a vintage vinyl feel. So please make sure your phonographs are ready to go. Thanks to Dr. Val Jones and Dr. Nick Genes for the invite.
Song List
QD: News Everyday - Rise in Antidepressants Called into Question:By ACP Internist This post highlights how perscriptions for antidepressants by non-psychiatric professionals has increased over more than a decade.
How to Prevent Drowning: By Healthline A straightforward read on risk for and prevention of drowning.
If You Can't Say Something Nice" By Table for One This post looks at the difficulties doctors face in presenting bad news to patients and their families.
Song List
Dislocated Shouler - Relationship Realignment: By In Sickness and In Health Injury and illness can press on the dynamics of a relationship. This post looks autonomy and dependence.
OCD Perfectionism and Social Anxiety Treatment: Tweet Your Way To Better Health How the use of social media can lessen anxiety disorders in children and adults.
High Profile People Who Live With Mood Disorders: By Dr. Deb This short video shows just how many high profile people have mood disorders - and helps to take stigma out of mental illness.
Song List
Nine Signs You Should Fire Your Patient: By Insureblog Well written post on when patients might need to get the boot.
Unintended Consequences of Changing the Current 510K System for Moderate Risk Devices: By Health Business Blog Looks at the approval process of medical devices and how they are enough safegaurds in place.
The Ship of State Capsized by a Silver Tsunami of Greedy Geezers: By Health AGEnda A well written argument regarding the recent Wall Street Journal op-ed that reported that medicare patients see their doctors more than non-medicare patients.
Bad Language: Words One Patient Won't Use (And Hopes You Won't Either): By Prepared Patient How certain words can shift the focus away from what patients really need.
US Rumor and Hospital Report: By Not Running a Hospital A gloves-off review of the annual hospital review from US News and World Report.
A One Song Album
Die Taal: By Bongi : This post looks at speaking English at Grand Rounds.


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Seeing the Word
Seeing the Word is a program of guided reflection that makes it possible to pray with images from The Saint John's Bible - the first handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned by a Benedictine Abbey in more than 500 years.
Visit Seeingtheword.org for program information
Visit our Blog for Online Reflections
Seeing the Word was created in 2009 by Saint John's School of Theology and Seminary in partnership with Liturgical Press. Barbara Sutton, D.Min., is the director of the program, editor of the Seeing the Word Reflection Guides, and author of the Seeing the Word Program Manual. Irene Nowell, OSB, is author of the reflections found in the Reflection Guides.


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Ceramic Ninja Mug
To Perk up Silent Assassins
- Microwave and dishwasher safe
- Safe for the mug, that is
- Your other dishes may not be so lucky
Dressing up like an ordinary ceramic mug is the perfect disguise to infiltrate any workplace. Accidently leave it on your boss's desk, in your co-worker cubicle, or at your significant other's house, and this Ninja mug will gather vital intel on the terrain, communication, and coffee and tea-drinking habits of the inhabitants.
Ninja Mug is a stealthy mug, but it also has manners. It comes with a removable sleeve (with a cutout for the eyes) and a shuriken coaster. Just drop in your sugar and cream, and stir things up with your ninja sword. Unless you like it black, like our little ninja friend here.
Product Specifications
- Ninja Mug
- Perfect mug for any stealth-killing, coffee-drinking machine
- Includes removable mug wrap (zarf), samurai sword stirrer, and shuriken coaster
- Capacity: 10 oz.
- Materials: Ceramic
- Dimensions: about 3.3" in diameter
- Microwave and dishwasher-safe


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The verdict on this year's Green Man festival, then: pretty awesome by all accounts. Best festival of the summer? Maybe. One of our bands of the festival, The National, enjoyed themselves too - so much so, in fact, that drummer Bryan Devendorff decided to treat us to a captioned selection of his festival snaps. Enjoy!
1. I spy a hill
2. Terry emerges from the bus
3. In harmony with the land
4. The Dark Lord
5. A security worker at her station. Poised and lovely, like a flamingo
6. Scott and Terry were briefly hijacked by these dudes who were all juiced up on Strongbow
7. Part movie re-enactment, part raver. When I tried sneaking a candid of Terry and this guy, he went all samurai and was like: "Avast! I be searchin' for ye olde M-D-M-Aaaay"
8. A family of elves jives together on the dance tarp, powerless against the music of Peter, Bjorn and John
9. Friend of the woman in pink Spandex (in a squeaky voice): "Shall I hold your fag for ya?"
The woman in pink Spandex: "Aaggghhh...."
Green man: (smiles)
[Freeze frame]
Voice over: "And so I met Muriel, my lover. She wore Spandex; she smoked Silk Cuts. Ours was an affair of the heart..."
10. This picture was taken by Beth of the spectacular Bowerbirds. My brother and I are looking a little bug-eyed here. We were trying too hard to look "serious". You might recognise that other guy from the Starbucks Face of Summer ad campaign circa London 2006


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Photo Coasters
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It is proving to be a taut competition, changing by the game, shifting momentum and all that you come to expect at the highest level of sport.
The Stanley Cup Final?
Not exactly.
Things have a way of turning in a playoff series — just ask the San Jose Sharks. With the Kings holding a 3-0 lead over the New York Rangers in the best-of-seven series, there seems to be far more suspense about the Conn Smythe Trophy, given to the player judged most valuable to his team during the NHL playoffs.
A highly informal survey at this point in the series has Kings defenseman Drew Doughty leading with right wing Justin Williams closing fast, based on his stellar performance in the Final. Williams has one goal and six points in the first three games of the Final.
Williams has eight goals, 24 points and leads the league with a plus-14 rating in the playoffs.
It says something about the depth of the Kings that the league's leading scorer in the playoffs, Anze Kopitar, is not being mentioned in the first or second breath. This is despite navigating against the No. 1 center in the first three rounds, a formidable trio of Joe Thornton (Sharks), Ryan Getzlaf (Ducks) and Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks).
Clearly, Kopitar and his 26 points and center Jeff Carter's 24 points are part of the Conn Smythe conversation too. And who can overlook Marian Gaborik and his league-leading 13 goals, three more than Carter's 10?
The award is voted on by a selected panel of Professional Hockey Writers Assn. members. There are 11 voters, three from the Los Angeles chapter, three from New York and five at large. Times reporters are not permitted to vote, per newspaper policy.
Kings goalie Jonathan Quick was the Conn Smythe winner in 2012 and Ducks defenseman Scott Niedermayer won it in 2007 when the Ducks beat Ottawa in the Final. Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, then of the Ducks, won it in 2003 when Anaheim lost to the New Jersey Devils in a seven-game Final.
"That's an award that a lot of NHLers obviously aspire to have," Williams said Tuesday, sitting with Doughty at Madison Square Garden. "But at the same time when you're presented with it, I think a lot of guys just want to put it aside and look to the big jug. That's pretty much how I can explain it.
"To be even mentioned with these big guys in that conversation is awesome. But, hey, the big one is what matters. Yeah, I want to taste it again."
Kings Coach Darryl Sutter was hard-pressed to find a direct comparison to Williams in his previous coaching stops in Chicago, San Jose or Calgary. Williams, who has been called "Mr. Game 7" by virtue of his exploits in playoff runs, has brought his talents to Games 1, 2 and 3 of the Final.
"Good question. Just trying to think of guys I played with and then guys I coached," Sutter said. "I'd probably have to think about it because there's not one guy that jumps out as the very same. Unique. I'll come up with one, but too much going on there. I'll get you a good one."
Only five defensemen have won the Conn Smythe in the last 30 years — Al MacInnis of Calgary (1989), Brian Leetch of the Rangers (1994), Scott Stevens of the Devils (2000), Nicklas Lidstrom of Detroit (2002) and Niedermayer.
Doughty, who potentially could win a second Stanley Cup title to go with two Olympic gold medals before turning 25, has been the Kings' engine. He played 41-plus minutes in their double-overtime victory in Game 2 against the Rangers. His goal in Game 1 was of highlight-reel quality and then there is his off-the-charts hockey IQ.
He saved an almost certain goal by Rick Nash in the second period of Game 3 by taking a hooking penalty, showing an instinctive presence of mind.
"I think that play in particular, [Rick] Nash a very forceful player for them the last two games, and you're going to have to match his skill set to make a play like that," Sutter said. "Nash is a special player, and so is Drew Doughty. You're talking about two guys that made special plays there."
Twitter: @reallisa


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100% Crinkle Rayon
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,Strai BATIK fabric can vary in tone and shades, so expect that when you purchase this item. Due to the nature of this handmade fabric it can have irregularities such as small smears, spots or smudges. This is in no way considered a fabric flaw. If there is a large pattern, placement of the pattern will vary.
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Bombay Sky Blue Tank Dress
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World Bulletin/News Desk
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff appointed new ministers for agriculture, civil aviation and labor on Friday, the presidential office said, in a Cabinet shuffle that left her economic team intact.
Congressman Antonio Andrade from Minas Gerais state was named agriculture minister, replacing Mendes Ribeiro, who is recovering from brain tumor surgery. Both men belong to the PMDB, Brazil's largest political party and Rousseff's main ally in her unwieldy 17-party governing coalition.
Moreira Franco, until now secretary of strategic affairs, was moved to the civil aviation portfolio, replacing Wagner Bittencourt.
That switch came after criticism of last year's auction of private concessions to run three major airports, including the country's largest in Sao Paulo, which drew smaller and less experienced consortia than the government had hoped for.
Manoel Dias, the secretary general of the PDT party, a minor coalition partner and the party where Rousseff began her political career, will move to the Labor Ministry, replacing Brizola Neto from the same party.
Despite her government's failure to restore solid growth to Brazil's once-booming economy, which grew by a disappointing 0.9 percent last year, Rousseff did not make changes to the economic team headed by Finance Minister Guido Mantega.
Other Cabinet changes are in the works, and Rousseff is expected to name an ally to the newly created ministry of small and micro businesses.
Rousseff, whose approval rating is in the high 70s, plans to run for re-election in 2014 and Cabinet appointments provide an opportunity to appease coalition allies jostling for government posts.Last Mod: 16 Mart 2013, 11:47


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quote:Originally posted by GreatNovus: Hrm... It would be incredibly fitting if I could get somehting in there. After all seeing Kathleen Dalton Woodbury's name on this place helped me decide to join, and I first saw a story of hers in said anthology.
quote:Originally posted by snapper: That's one of my goals, KD, appear in every publication you have. Now, with a day left, with a computer that has a 7 inch screen, a job where I have 450 miles yet to drive today, and a pay rate that is bound to attract some very good writers, can I meet my goal for this one?
quote:It depends on the piece. Sometimes I can tell by reading the e-mail that I probably won't want the story, particularly if the e-mail has errors in grammar and spelling. Even then, I'll read at least the first few paragraphs of the story. If the first few paragraphs of a story make me want to keep reading, I'll read the entire story.
quote:I sit down at the computer, open the web browser e-mail program and the S&S log spreadsheet, log in the stories, and read them. If I know I'm not going to use a story I send it back with a polite rejection. (I still have MZB's rejection paragraphs, but I think some of them are a bit harsh, so I don't use most of them.) The rejection reasons are numbered, so I log the story out with the rejection number and the date.


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Baltimore native Jason Winer knows something about family comedy. He's been an executive producer on ABC's "Modern Family" and won a Directors Guild Award for his direction of the hit series' Emmy Award-winning pilot.
This week, "1600 Penn," a family sitcom about a fictional first family that he co-created, joins NBC's Thursday night lineup. (A sneak preview of the pilot aired in December.)
On Wednesday, Winer and the cast will be guests at the real White House where the series will be screened for President Obama. There will also be a press conference at the National Press Club.
Winer, who has finished shooting all 13 episodes for season one,...


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|image from www.businesscontinuityjournal.com
In looking at educational psychology literature, and is becoming more widely known through research on positive effects of gaming, experiencing failure supports adaptive learning. Rohrkemper and Corno (1988) highlight the problematic duality of failure versus success, where failure is always bad and success is always good. This in fact is not true, where constant success can be detrimental and failure can improve performance (that is, learning from failure). Focusing on how students think, rather than what they know, is one step in the right direction, along with modeling adaptive behavior, and teaching students to understand that tasks and learning can be malleable. In library instruction, this reminds me of what Pegasus Librarian (I believe?) mentioned in regards to providing students with a "dirt-view" of research (I can't find this post, I'm thinking it could have possibly been an episode on Adventures in Library Instruction). But basically, where we show students research takes work and builds on failure, and it's almost hilarious when we show students practiced, perfect searches because that is not how research works at all. Kluger and DeNisi (1996) support this notion of learning through failure by arguing that after doing an enormous meta-analysis of feedback interventions research, the conclusion is that the feedback literature is inconclusive and highly variable based on situations and learners involved. They explain that learners are most successful in learning through discovery, rather than feedback, particularly controlling feedback (ahem, grades).
Brownell (1947) advocated for teaching meaning in arithmetic, typically a rote, "tool subject." You'd think the argument of teaching meaning would be quite clear, especially in 2013, but this debate continues in some ways. We can see the shift in information literacy, it seems there is more agreement now to move away from navigation and clicks ("bibliographic instruction") to teaching students a more holistic understanding of research in "information literacy." Barbara Fister, as always, is very eloquent in how she explains the importance of this. But really this is another avenue to instill resiliency in students, by focusing on higher order thinking (though, higher order thinking is not always appropriate in every context), we truly are looking toward students' process rather than having interest only in final product. As Brownell explains, teaching meaning provides a greater context for students to find value in the particular subject being taught. With all the difficulty librarians can have regarding one shots (this model could/should change) in building connections with students and improving motivation for students to learn aspects of the research process, providing deeper knowledge about why, and not just what and how, can improve the learning environment.
I was going to next talk about how to provide successful feedback, because it is important, but to avoid making this post so long that no one actually reads it, I just want to wrap up with whether in a class (credit-bearing, one-shot) or through more auxiliary approaches, libraries should be places for students to build grit and resiliency through exploring failure. We talk about how orientations are important for students to develop a social connection and feel comfortable somewhere on campus, and this is a very important aspect of retention, but these safe spaces should also provide opportunities for students to take safe risks and learn how to adapt to failure. This doesn't necessarily mean libraries need to gamify the whole library or offer badges as a panacea for solving student retention or student motivation concerns, but these are examples of methods that could prove useful. Setting up other opportunities in the library for students to test out ideas are ways in which to draw them in and instill adaptivity. Hopefully they are also getting opportunities for safe failure in their campus-wide courses, but it's certainly not a guarantee. Libraries should think about how we can provide opportunities for safe risk in a variety of ways, whether it's instruction, programming, collections, or UX. It's one step in figuring out how we can support student retention initiatives on campus and demonstrate value.
Brownell, W. A. (January 01, 1947). The Place of Meaning in the Teaching of Arithmetic.The Elementary School Journal, 47, 5, 256-265.
Kluger, A. N., & DeNisi, A. (January 01, 1996). The Effects of Feedback Interventions on Performance: A Historical Review, a Meta-Analysis, and a Preliminary Feedback Intervention Theory. Psychological Bulletin, 119, 2, 254-284.
Rohrkemper, M., & Corno, L. (January 01, 1988). Success and Failure on Classroom Tasks: Adaptive Learning and Classroom Teaching. The Elementary School Journal, 88,3, 297-312.


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My first quilting class back in 1990 required many tools. Since I'd been sewing for years, I already had these: a sewing machine, basic sewing supplies (like needles, a seam ripper, scissors, pins, tape measure, and a foot for the free motion quilting), a good pressing surface and a steam iron.
What I still needed were: a self-healing mat, 6″ x 24″ plastic ruler, rotary cutter, marking pencil, safety pins, binder clips, masking tape and a walking foot.
It didn't seem like too much of an investment. I figured that if this quilting adventure didn't work out, I could probably still use them all. (Can I tell you how intrigued I was by that rotary cutting system? Even though rotary cutters had been out a few years, they were new to me in 1990. Believe me, I was never inspired enough to trace dozens of patches from little templates.)
My first quilt wasn't that impressive, but the quilting bug bit me something fierce!
I still prefer many of the same simple tools today. But that hasn't stopped me from checking out every new quilty gadget. In fact, I think I'm quickly becoming a quilt tool and notion hoarder! A quick inventory revealed 7 cutting mats, 3 irons, 4 rotary cutters of various sizes, 5 different OttLites and dozens and dozens of rulers.
I've experimented with just about every marker out there.
(Sadly, in 1997 I had an experience with pencil marks that wouldn't wash out of my quilt top, but the fabric color did.)
With my ever-expanding supply of notions and tools, a better system was needed to organize them all.
An old dresser was the perfect way to combine storage with an ironing station. My husband helped me construct the extra large ironing board that fits perfectly on top.
I'm amazed the number of new quilting tools and notions that are unveiled every year. Luckily, I have the fun task of reviewing them. What could be more fun than checking out all the latest quilting products? How about sharing some of those tried and true products we've found over the last 30 years. To see a sampling of our favorites, check out Quiltmaker's July/Aug '12 issue.
Leave a comment here about a quilty notion or two you can't live without by noon MST on Monday, June 11th. I'll share a few of our favorite notions with 3 winners selected at random.


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NEW YORK—Iran's foreign minister says his country and key world powers have agreed to try to fast-track negotiations over Iran's disputed nuclear program to within a year.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif spoke at the Asia Society shortly after meeting foreign ministers from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
"We agreed to jump-start the process so that we could move forward with a view to agreeing first on the parameters of the end game … and move toward finalizing it hopefully within a year's time." Zarif said.
He added: "I thought I was too ambitious, bordering naivete. But I saw that some of my colleagues were even more ambitious and wanted to do it faster."


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Life span lengthens when mice feel less pain
Metabolism gets healthier in rodents engineered to lack a sensory protein
George Shuklin/Wikimedia Commons
Mice with less pain live longer. When the animals lack a certain pain-sensing protein, their life span increases by an average of 10 to 15 percent, scientists report May 22 in Cell.
With age, many people suffer more frequent bouts of pain, says study coauthor Andrew Dillin of the University of California, Berkeley. He and his team wondered about pain's connection to getting older. "We simply just asked, is pain actually driving the aging process or is it part of the process, just going along for the ride?" Dillin says.
The team studied mice genetically engineered to lack the protein Trpv1, a molecule important for sensing pain. Perched on the outsides of nerve cells, Trpv1 senses scalding heat and spicy chili peppers, among other things. It also helps detect body temperature and influences insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
Mice lacking Trpv1 appeared normal, except


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Welcome to Ruby Tuesday! The Holidays are right around the corner!
I'd like to show you the Holiday Miniature Train Show at the New York Botanical Garden. There's Ellis Island, Yankee Stadium, the Flatiron Building, brownstones in Manhattan and Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Bridge, and so many other buildings and sights of New York City. All the buildings and decorations (except the trains) are made from plant material.
I hope you enjoyed my Ruby Tuesday slideshow at the New York Botanical Garden.
Please sign Mr. Linky below and leave a comment. And try to visit the other participants. You know they love visitors.


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Muir Woods National Park is a scenic national park, home to coastal redwoods, which are the largest tree species in the world. There is a vast, lively ecosystem within the confines of this park, providing visitors with an opportunity to view a range of unique plant and animal species up close and personal. Located just 11 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Woods National Park was declared a national monument in 1908.
It is home to an array of birds, plants and other forms of wildlife. Muir Woods National Park often hosts large groups of visitors and schoolchildren, all eager to learn about the various aspects of nature in a scenic environment. Moreover, this park offers unlimited opportunities to become educated about nature and the environment and the importance of conservation. The forest as a whole is somewhat dark and dense, making it easy for wildlife to be somewhat unseen. However, this is a bustling forest, full of creatures large and small, many of which are nocturnal.
Visitors can enjoy spending time in the Muir Woods National Park year-round, taking advantage of the mild northern California climate. Those wanting to get more involved in the inner working of maintaining the forest can explore the numerous volunteer opportunities, with a range of positions from working with educational groups to assisting with conservation efforts. Muir Woods National Park is one of the oldest and most breathtaking parks in the country and well worth a visit anytime you are in the San Francisco area.
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Tungsten Carbide
Tungsten is an element and has been around since the late 16th century. For a long time, tungsten was primarily used for the advancement of civilization. It is the filament inside the incandescent light bulb and is used for making better cutting tool bits. Tungsten is 4x harder than titanium and 2x harder than steel.
While durable, it is important to take proper care of your tungsten jewelry. You can keep your tungsten shining bright by bringing it to your local Helzberg Diamonds store for a complimentary cleaning and inspection, or at home by using a solution of warm water and detergent-free soap with a soft bristled toothbrush.