Brigham Young Cougars linebacker Ezekiel Ansah (47) blocks a pass by Washington State Cougars quarterback Jeff Tuel (10) in Provo Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012.
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Since the inception of the Bronco Mendenhall era at BYU, the Cougars have been notorious for slow starts and playing from behind ? especially at the beginning of the year. After two first downs on the opening drive of Thursday's season-opener against Washington State, an eerily similar feeling began to sweep over LaVell Edwards Stadium when BYU's punt team made its way out onto the field.
As one familiar feeling started, however, an equally foreign one popped up into the air as a broken-up pass went skyward and was picked off by BYU's Uona Kaveinga for the first big play of the game. One big play is all it takes for some teams to put their foot on the gas and get rolling.
That was definitely the case for QB Riley Nelson and the BYU offense. Nelson connected with Cody Hoffman for nearly a 30-yard gain only a couple plays later and following a big run by Michael Alisa the Cougars were inside Washington State's 10-yard line.
Nelson took a three-step drop from the 7-yard line and floated a pass to Skyler Ridley in the back corner of the end zone for the first score of the game and of the season.
One of the biggest question marks for BYU this season was with Nelson and the passing game. Last year he proved his worth as a playmaker and a leader, but this year he will try to make his mark through the air. In Game 1, Nelson looked more comfortable in the pocket and delivered accurate throws, ending the night with 285 yards and two touchdowns.
The offense did slow down in the second half, only recording two field goals that made the score look respectable and not a complete blowout.
Last year the Cougars looked to be waiting for the big play to happen. Tonight was a complete reversal. They looked sharp and, more importantly, they looked aggressive, looking to make big plays happen.
From Bad to Better, and it only took 2 years! I have been a nanny off and on for the last 5 years. I took my first nanny job during my second semester of college. I had been babysitting since the age of 13, and at this point, I had taken 3 Child Development classes as well as volunteered at a local Day Care Center. I used Care.com and Sittercity.com to find a nanny job. I had posted my profile with background and driving checks on file. I had received numerous responses and answers to all of the jobs that I had applied to, and thought things were going great. I narrowed the replies down to 3 families that I thought were offering the perfect gigs.
Family 1: A work at home mom and a dad who worked outside of the home about 60-70 hours a week. They had one 8 month old son. They needed someone to come Monday-Thursday from 8:30am-5:30pm. They were offering $11 an hour with 4 paid sick days a year, and 2 weeks paid vacation a year (one week of my choice, and one week of theirs). They lived in a safe neighborhood within walking distance to a local library, local Park, Gymboree, Toddler Play Center, and a Children?s Museum. Family 2: Mom and Dad both worked outside of the home. They had one 4 and a half month old daughter. They needed someone Monday-Friday 9am-5pm. They were offering $12 an hour, no paid sick days, one week paid vacation. They lived in the same neighborhood as I, probably only 5 miles away from me. They were offering to buy the nanny a membership to the local Zoo, the local Gymboree, and the local YMCA. Family 3: Mom worked outside of the home while dad worked in a home office and traveled about 15 days of every month. They had a 6 month old daughter. They needed someone Tuesday-Saturday from 7am-4pm. They were offering $11 an hour, 3 weeks paid sick days/vacation days a year, and lived in the same neighborhood as Family #1.
I chose to work with Family 3, mainly because I felt as though I had really connected with not only the parents, but also the baby. They were offering what I was asking, and the schedule seemed to really work for me. I started the job, and everything went great?for about the first month. At the beginning of month two, dad began traveling more, and mom?s job was becoming more demanding. They asked if I?d be interested in becoming a live in, and I agreed upon the agreement of an increase in pay. I moved in the following week, and my pay had increased to $14 an hour. Mom started working 12 hour days, and we saw dad about a week every month. I became very connected to the child, and it was almost as though I was a parent to this baby as her actual parents were rarely around. It wasn?t long until I was responsible for this baby during every moment she was awake. Weekends and weekdays started to blend, and I was feeling trapped. I dropped all of my classes that semester, and it got to the point where I was never away from the baby. About 11 months into the job, it had become too much. I needed space, I needed me time, I just needed to get out.
After a week of finding the time, I was finally able to sit down with the mother and father. I expressed my concerns, and they had told me they agreed. They also chose this time to tell me that they were expecting their second child. (How they found the time, I will never know!) They told me that they felt as though I wasn?t a good match for their family. I was shocked, devastated, angry. I wasn?t a match for their child? I was with her every second of every day. I loved her as though she was my own. I couldn?t imagine not seeing her everyday. While I was the one to start the conversation, I didn?t expect to take such a shocking turn. They let me know that they would only need me for one more week. MB?s parents had decided to move in with them and help raise their grandchildren. Parents and I had agreed that I would still be able to see the little girl, and I accepted it. I worked the following week, and received my final paycheck. I wasn?t given a thank you for time/services, I wasn?t given any sort of bonus, I wasn?t even told goodbye by the parents.
I tried to contact the family numerous times that following month, and still to this day have never heard back from them. I felt like I had lost a part of me. I miss that little girl so much, still to this day. Since I left that job, I have been working as an Infant/Toddler Class instructor at many local Recreation Centers. I taught classes such as Baby Sign, Music and Movement, Baby Yoga, Focus and Flexibility, Mommy and Me, Ballerina Babies, and a few others. I did this job for about a year, before I decided to go back to school. Upon reaching the decision to go back to school, I decided to go back to a career as a Nanny. I began the strenuous search for a job, interviewed with many families. This time around, I made my requests very clear, demanded the use of a contract, searched more for a family who practiced parenting styles similar to mine.
After 3 months of searching, I finally found the job that worked for me. I now work for a family with a 6 month old baby girl. The parents both work outside of the home. We have a mutual trusting relationship. We have a respect for each other and are working together every day to raise this amazing baby. I have no complaints over my new job. I have been here for 3 months now, and have not had a bad moment in this job. They have accepted me into their family. I work M-F 7am-3:30pm. I am invited to their weekly family game night. I occasionally babysit for them outside of my scheduled work hours. I get a month off every three months paid. After 2 years, I have found my happiness. - Anonymous
In the first major legal challenge to a planned NFL stadium in downtown Los Angeles, a coalition of environmental activists and community advocates filed suit Thursday claiming that a state law intended to assist the project is unconstitutional.
Developer Anschutz Entertainment Group and supporters of the project ? dubbed Farmers Field ? had successfully lobbied for passage of the law, which fast-tracks legal challenges to the stadium's environmental impact report by imposing deadlines and requiring such lawsuits to begin at the Court of Appeal level.
But a group known as the Play Fair at Farmers Field coalition is arguing that the state Constitution protects its right to file challenges to the environmental review in county Superior Court. Its suit also says the review process established by the California Environmental Quality Act cannot be superseded by the newer law.
Coalition attorney Dan Stormer called the law an unfair attack on the environmental review process. The suit asks the court to void the law.
AEG spokesman Michael Roth said he had not read the lawsuit and could not comment on specifics. But he accused the coalition of trying to "undermine the state's legislative will" and said he was "highly confident in the legality" of the law crafted for the project.
The coalition wants more traffic- and air-pollution-control measures, as well as increased support from AEG for low-income housing in the area. Extended delays from legal challenges could hurt the city's chances of getting an NFL stadium, which is proposed for a site next to the AEG-operated Staples Center and the L.A. Live residential and entertainment complex.
Maria Elena Durazo, head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, defended AEG's expedited environmental review process, noting that many jobs are at stake. The City Council is expected to vote on the environmental report for the stadium proposal in September.
? Just don?t call it a ?staycation?: Travel + Leisure magazine will host its Global Bazaar at the Lexington Armory over the weekend of September 28. Four separately themed sessions promise global shopping and performances, plus exciting food and drinks from celebrity chefs like Morimoto and Michael White. Tickets are $75?$125 via Ticketmaster. [Grub Street]
? Celebrate the New Year ? Rosh Hashanah, that is ? with ?Gefilte Talk? on Thursday, September 6, at the Center for Jewish History. Mitchell Davis will moderate a panel discussion on culinary traditions, and there will be a tasting of classic and updated gefilte dishes. Tickets are $15. [Grub Street]
? Just a handful of blocks from the increasingly briny Lower East Side, seafood joint Bait and Hook is opening at Second Avenue and 14th Street. Has downtown seafood already, ahem, jumped the shark? [EV Grieve]
? The West Village?s Monument Lane is transitioning to an all-American wine list, to better complement their commitment to local ingredients and American cooking. Share their patriotism by helping drink off the excess old-world bottles at their series of four-course wine tasting dinners, held every Wednesday in September (5, 12, 19, and 26). Tickets are $92 plus tax and tip at Brown Paper Tickets. [Grub Street]
? The proprietors of 4th Avenue Pub and Fulton Grand have expanded their beer-bar mini-empire into Williamsburg with the opening of the Graham. Stop by for happy hour: $2 off everything before eight. [Zagat]
? The Lower East Side?s caf?-gelato shop Stellina has reopened after a months-long renovation, just in time for the tail end of ice-cream-cone season. [Eater NY]
? Are you a slave to Seamless or more of a PB&J kind of luncher? Food Republic wants to know: They?re conducting a survey of lunch habits, looking to definitively find out how long is too long to wait at a food truck, among other questions. [Food Republic]
? If you love to cook but hate to shop (or just don?t have time) the newly launched Blue Apron may be for you. The website will deliver subscribers ingredients for three meals that can be prepared in under 45 minutes every week. [Grub Street]
Ann Romney reaches out to hug her husband Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney after she addressed the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Ann Romney reaches out to hug her husband Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney after she addressed the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
President Obama runs to take the stage during campaign stop on the campus of Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo., on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012. Obama is making a two-day swing through the country to visit colleges. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie addresses the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A delegate bows her head in a moment of prayer at the end of the second session of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) ? The Republican National Convention is finally in full-throated roar, cheering presidential nominee Mitt Romney's name at every turn in a long-sought show of unity.
A soft-sided portrayal of the Republican candidate as husband and father, painted by his wife on the stage, combined with a parade of gleeful Obama-bashers Tuesday as the GOP seized its moment after days of worry about the hurricane that simultaneously roared ashore in Louisiana.
Romney made his debut at the convention two days before his own speech, rousing the crowd into cheers as he took the stage briefly to share a kiss with his wife after she spoke.
Ann Romney's prime-time speech was in large measure an outreach to female voters as she declared her husband "will not let us down" if elected president.
AAA??Aug. 30, 2012?11:01 AM ET Isaac knocks out power to half of Louisiana Associated Press??Associated Press
A sherriff's vehicle sits in flood waters caused by Isaac, Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012, north of LaPlace, La, off Lake Pontchartrain. Isaac's maximum sustained winds had decreased to 45 mph and the National Hurricane Center said it was expected to become a tropical depression by Thursday night. The storm's center was on track to cross Arkansas on Friday and southern Missouri on Friday night, spreading rain as it goes. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
A sherriff's vehicle sits in flood waters caused by Isaac, Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012, north of LaPlace, La, off Lake Pontchartrain. Isaac's maximum sustained winds had decreased to 45 mph and the National Hurricane Center said it was expected to become a tropical depression by Thursday night. The storm's center was on track to cross Arkansas on Friday and southern Missouri on Friday night, spreading rain as it goes. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Chuck Cropp, center, his son Piers, left, and wife Liz, right, wade through floodwaters from Hurricane Isaac Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012, in New Orleans. As Isaac made landfall, it was expected to dump as much as 20 inches of rain in several parts of Louisiana. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Danessa Lee, left, comforts her granddaughter Ashanti Lee, 12, after their family was rescued in Pearlington, Miss., by law enforcement officers and first responders using boats, Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012, during the nonstop rain from Isaac. A number of residents of the small community were trapped by the rising waters and had be rescued or waited until the low tide when waters receded so they could walk out. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Residents of the Riverbend Nursing Center wait to be evacuated to higher and safer ground as Hurricane Isaac makes landfall, Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012, in Jesuit Bend, La. Plaquemines Parish ordered a mandatory evacuation for the west bank of the Mississippi below Belle Chasse because of worries about a storm surge. The order affected about 3,000 people, including residents of the nursing home. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Carlo Maltese and his dog Pin ride in a boat after being rescued from his flooded home as Hurricane Isaac hits Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012, in Braithwaite, La. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Nearly half of Louisiana is without power as Tropical Storm Isaac moves inland.
The Public Service Commission says 901,000 homes and businesses around the state ? about 47 percent of all customers ? are without power Thursday.
In neighboring Mississippi, utility companies say they are working to restore power to more than 150,000 customers in south and central parts of the state.
Isaac's center bypassed New Orleans and its newly fortified levees as a hurricane Wednesday but flooded areas to the city's north and south, where people had to be evacuated or rescued. It weakened slightly to a tropical storm but was still packing strong winds and torrential rain as it moves slowly across Louisiana.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? The U.N. chief jolted his Iranian hosts for a nonaligned nations meeting Wednesday by pointing out "serious concerns" in Tehran's human rights record and urging cooperation with the world body to improve freedoms.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had signaled he would not shy away from criticism of Iran during his visit to the Nonaligned Movement gathering in Tehran, but the sharp comments appeared to catch Iranian officials off guard just hours after his arrival.
"We have discussed how United Nations can work together with Iran to improve the human rights situation in Iran. We have our serious concerns on the human rights abuses and violations in this country," he told a news conference as he sat next to Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, who frowned at the remarks.
Iran's opposition groups had urged Ban to use his appearance in Tehran as a platform to criticize Iran's ruling system over its crackdowns on political dissent, including the house arrests of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi.
While in Tehran, Ban also could raise sensitive issues such as demands by U.N. nuclear inspectors for wider access to various sites, including a military base near Tehran suspected of being a proving ground for explosives experiments that could be used to test nuclear triggers. Iran denies it seeks nuclear arms, but Western nations and allies fear Tehran's uranium enrichment labs are moving close to warhead-grade material.
U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said in his talks, Ban expressed frustration that "little tangible progress" has been made in talks between Iran and world powers over Tehran's nuclear program. No date has been set to resume negotiations after several rounds over the past months.
Iran says it wants talks to continue, but also claims that the current gathering in Tehran shows that Western efforts to isolate Iran have failed.
In Vienna, the U.N.'s nuclear agency has created a special Iran Task Force of nuclear weapons experts, intelligence analysts and other specialists focused on probing Tehran's atomic program, according to an internal document shared with The Associated Press.
Iran is seeking to use the weeklong meeting of the 120-nation Nonaligned Movement to promote its position that its nuclear program is peaceful and its uranium enrichment is within the U.N. treaty rules. The meetings are capped by a two-day summit that begins Thursday.
Ban's visit is being interpreted by Iranian media as a blow to Western attempts to isolate the Islamic republic in defiance of Israeli and American calls to boycott the meeting.
Tehran is also seeking to win support from the nonaligned bloc, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the U.N. member states, for its nuclear program. A visit to Natanz uranium enrichment site in central Iran by participating leaders has not been ruled out.
Ban met Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad later Wednesday.
Khamenei called on him to take action over Israel's nuclear weapons, according to Khamenei's website, calling this "a big danger to the region." Israel has never acknowledged having nuclear weapons but is widely believed to have a large arsenal.
In advance, Ban also said he would discuss the Syria crisis with Iranian leaders, who remain staunch allies of Bashar Assad's regime. The U.N. chief has in the past called Iran a major player capable of mediating in regional conflicts, including Syria's civil war.
Nesirky, the U.N. spokesman, said that in his meetings in Tehran Ban "urged the leadership ? the president, the Supreme Leader, the speaker of parliament ? to really reach out to the Syrian leadership and impress on them the really urgent need to stop the violence and to create the conditions that are necessary for a political process."
Iran plans to propose the formation of a three-member nonaligned team, plus two neighbors of Syria, to help resolve the crisis there, Iran's state media quoted prominent lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi as saying.
The proposed troika will include Egypt, Iran and Venezuela plus Iraq and Lebanon. Boroujerdi, who met Assad during a visit to Syria last week, said the Syrian president said he would welcome the Iranian plan.
Khamenei told Ban that the solution is to stop weapons shipments to the Syrian rebels, or as he put it, "irresponsible groups inside Syria," according to his website.
A senior Iranian official gave details of the plan Iran is proposing at the summit.
"Iran's proposal ... is a cease-fire and the implementation of a three-month mechanism for national reconciliation talks in this country," the official IRNA news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian as saying Wednesday.
Anti-regime fighters have dismissed any role for Iran in such a plan. The rebels and some others say it has little hope of succeeding. Also, the United States has rejected Iranian participation in international meetings on the Syrian crisis.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland urged Ban to press Iran over Syria. She said Iran does have a role to play: "It can break with the Assad regime and stop providing material support and arms and advisers and all of these kinds of things," she said.
___
Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer contributed to this report from the United Nations.
LG has been teasing its upcoming Optimus G smartphone for weeks after promising LTE phones that would be "second to none" and now we finally have the full specs. When it arrives in Korea next month it will be the first with LTE mounted to a quad-core CPU, thanks to the 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 at its center. The display is also groundbreaking, featuring LG's fully integrated touch technology -- sounds like its new in-cell touch to us --for a thinner screen and bezel. It's a True HD (1280 x 768) IPS LCD, and LG claims when it's turned off the 3mm bezel and body of the phone match the screen when it's turned off. Just the leaks indicated, it also has 2GB of RAM, a 13MP rear camera, 1.3MP front camera and 2,100mAh battery, all while measuring only 8mm thick.
The only bad news so far? It will arrive in Korea next month (and on NTT Docomo in October or November as the L-01E in black and red, seen after the break) with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, not Jelly Bean. The software will be as we've seen on other high-powered LG units like the Optimus Vu, with the addition of a "live zoom" feature on video and Dual Screen Dual Play mirroring for external displays. The real triumph for LG however, is its ability to vertically integrate technology from its various units to create the device. LG Chem provided a battery that is the first to offer a lifespan of 800 cycles, while LG Display created the screen and partnered with LG Innotek on the G2 Touch Hybrid Display unibody tech that eliminates the gap between the glass and the LCD panel. A worldwide launch is promised later in the year, although we'd expect to hear more soon at IFA 2012.
Back to the gold standard? There's not enough gold in the coffers.
By John W. Schoen, NBC News
Tapping a popular idea to restore confidence in the dollar, the Republican Party is expected to call for a commission to look at the idea of returning the U.S. to the gold standard.
To make that happen, they're going to have to?find a lot more gold.
The idea, which has gained currency since the Federal Reserve flooded the financial system with money following the Panic of 2008, will be floated as a proposed plank in the party platform, to be voted on this week at the GOP convention in Tampa, Fla.
Proponents of the idea point to the creation of a Federal Gold Commission shortly after Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, when double-digit inflation was crippling the U.S. economy. Today, the fear is that massive government spending and more than $1 trillion in monetary expansion by the Fed will spark a new wave of inflation in the future.
?People believe we need to do something about the Fed; we need to do something about inflation,? said Marsha Blackburn, a Republican congresswoman from Tennessee and GOP platform committee co-chair. ??When things you are doing aren't working you start looking at options, just like Reagan did."
The idea of restoring the link between the?dollar and gold that was severed 40 years ago got some traction earlier in the presidential campaign?from candidate Ron Paul, a Republican congressman from Texas, who continues to support?the idea.
"It is horribly unjust to force the American people to do business with a dollar that is continuously debased by the Federal Reserve," he said at a recent hearing on monetary policy.
No one disputes that the swollen national debt poses a threat to the long-term health of the?economy. Some Fed policymakers have recently expressed concerns about the possible side effects of another round of financial pump-priming that would further expand the central bank?s balance sheet.
?I do worry that we're facilitating debt buildup in the U.S.,? said James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. ?This is the wrong time in the global situation to be building up a lot of debt. You?ve just seen the terrible consequences in Europe from doing that, so I do worry about that."
Though the demise of the gold standard played out over decades, President Richard Nixon officially broke the link between gold and the dollar after the 1971 oil crisis sparked a surge in demand for gold redemptions from U.S. trading partners. Since then, the value of the currency has been set by daily fluctuations on a global market where values can change in a fraction of a second.
?Back in the 1950s, and before that, when you were making economic decisions on a quarterly basis you could move slowly,? said Ralph Silva, director at Silva Research. ?Today you?ve got to make decisions on a quarter-of-a-second basis.?
Popular support for a return to the gold standard is fueled, in part, by nostalgia for a simpler time.
?If we could turn the clock back maybe 150 years then it?s possible for the U.S. dollar to be linked to gold,? said Moorad Choudhry, treasurer of the corporate banking division of RBS. ?I think it?s absolutely nonsensical. It won?t work. There?s a very good reason (the U.S.) unhooked it in 1971. It?s because their deficit didn?t enable them to maintain (the gold standard) with their supply of gold.?
That problem would be an order of magnitude worse today.
The U.S. holds?8,133 metric tons of gold reserves, according to the World Gold Council, or about 261 million ounces. At current market prices of about $1,667 an ounce, those reserves are worth roughly $435 billion.
That would cover less than 3 percent of the $15.9 trillion in Treasury debt outstanding. To back its entire debt, the U.S. would somehow have to acquire pretty much all of the worlds? reserves -- estimated at 31,353 tons, or just over a billion ounces.
But that?s just the money owed holders of public debt. On top of that $15.9 trillion, the U.S. would have to be willing and ready to exchange gold for the additional $10 trillion supply of money, from paper currency to bank deposits, denominated in dollars. ?
That was one of the reasons cited by Reagan?s gold commission when it recommended against the idea in March 1982.
?Most of us believe that even if other countries with substantial gold stocks and the major gold-producing countries were to agree with us on a restoration of an international gold standard, the United States -- and the system as a whole -- would confront an as-yet unsolved problem of the vast quantity of dollars world-wide with potential claims to gold convertibility,? the commissioners wrote in their final report.
Below, Rep. Ron Paul, (R-Texas), discusses a return to the gold standard with CNBC.
The Psychology Department at Eastern Illinois University (EIU)
has an opening for a full-time (9-month) Assistant Professor, tenure-track faculty position beginning August 2013. Duties include teaching
graduate courses in school psychology (primary) and undergraduate courses in psychology, maintaining an active research program, supervising
graduate student theses and practicum experiences, and participating in service to the department and university.
EIU offers
NASP-approved specialist-level school psychology training with a generalist orientation. Research is an important component of our training
program; all students are required to complete a thesis. Faculty research and professional involvement are also required. The EIU program
has been in place for over 40 years and has been an important source of practicing school psychologists in Illinois and across the country.
The program typically enrolls 10-12 students each fall with a total of approximately 30 students across the three-year program.
The
EIU Psychology Department has 18 full-time faculty members, including four who hold doctorates in school psychology. The department serves
approximately 450 undergraduate majors and offers, in addition to the school psychology specialist degree, an M.A. in clinical psychology.
Candidates are expected to have a doctoral degree from an APA-accredited or NASP-approved program, although ABD candidates will be
considered. Other requirements include demonstrated evidence of teaching excellence at the college/university level and a commitment to
research and scholarly work. Three years of professional school psychology practice in school settings and eligibility for Illinois
certification or NASP certification are preferred.
Electronic applications are preferred, but paper applications are welcome.
Applicants should send an application letter, vita, three letters of reference, and available reprints to:
Assege HaileMariam, Chair
( ahailemariam@eiu.edu) School Psychology Search Committee Department of Psychology
Eastern Illinois University 600 Lincoln Ave. Charleston, IL 61920
Review of applications will begin on December 1, 2012
and will continue until the position is filled.
Eastern Illinois University is an equal opportunity, equal access, affirmative action employer committed to achieving a diverse community.
New maps may reduce tourism impacts on Hawaiian dolphinsPublic release date: 27-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Tim Lucas tdlucas@duke.edu 919-613-8084 Duke University
DURHAM, NC Over-eager eco-tourists intent on seeing spinner dolphins up close may inadvertently be disturbing the charismatic animals' daytime rest periods and driving them out of safe habitats in bays along Hawaii's coast.
Scientists at Duke and Stony Brook universities have developed a promising new tool that may help to limit repeated human disturbances and help reduce their negative impacts on the dolphins.
"Using the maps produced through this study we can identify the bays where the effects of human activities on spinner dolphins should be monitored most closely, and where immediate conservation actions are required," said David W. Johnston, research scientist at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment.
The researchers' tool shows that only a small number of bays 21 out of 99 in a study area along the western coastlines of the main Hawaiian islands were suitable habitats for resting dolphins. Knowing this, "conservation efforts can be focused on specific areas of importance," Johnston said,
"We may be able to minimize detrimental effects on dolphins by putting restrictions or preventative measures into place in a relatively small number of bays, rather than limiting access to dolphins along the entire coast," said the study's lead author, Lesley H. Thorne, a lecturer in marine science at Stony Brook University, who received her PhD from Duke in 2010. "That benefits tourists and tourism operators as well as the dolphins."
In the study, the researchers used the geographic coordinates and key environmental factors such as water depth and calmness, the size and proportions of the bays and distances from deep-water foraging grounds for hundreds of spinner dolphin sightings made in the study area between 2000 and 2010. The results appear August 27 in the online, open-access peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE. It's available at http://bit.ly/PMtBGp
Spinners are small dolphins famed for their graceful aerial movements and balletic spins. They are found in tropical and subtropical oceans around the world and some divide their time between daytime rest periods in shallow, protected bays and nighttime foraging in more exposed waters.
Distinguishing between sightings of resting and active dolphins was key to defining critical habitats, Thorne said. While socially active spinner dolphins are more tolerant of humans' presence, resting dolphins will leave the safety of a bay and retreat to less suitable open waters if humans repeatedly disturb them.
"Sleep is essential for most animals," added Johnston. "When deprived of their necessary 'zzzz's,' they gradually show a decreased ability to process information and remain attentive to environmental stimuli. In technical lingo, we call this a 'vigilance decrement'."
Spinner dolphins are no exception to the rule. The researchers say dolphins that experience human harassment every day during their rest periods never fully recover their vigilance decrement. Their ability to forage successfully and detect the presence of nearby predators is also degraded, and their ability to produce sounds to communicate and navigate may also be impaired, he said.
Scientists and conservationists have long worried that spinners' popularity with tourists and overlap of their resting habitats with popular ocean recreation destinations may be placing them at risk. Reports of interactions have increased sharply in recent years, but few published studies have examined the detrimental impacts these interruptions may have on the animals, especially at the population level.
"It would be next to impossible to survey spinner populations and human activities in every bay that might be a resting habitat," Thorne said. "We're talking about hundreds of bays in the Hawaiian islands alone."
"Using predictive models, such as the maximum entropy spatial modeling approaches we've produced, is a much more cost-effective method," she said. "This type of modeling has only recently been applied to the study of marine mammals, but our study suggests it may be especially useful."
Thorne and Johnston plan to test their models by conducting similar studies of spinner dolphin distributions and habitat use in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and other sites in the Pacific islands region. Results from those studies, they said, could confirm the new models' usefulness.
Johnston and Thorne's co-authors on the PLoS ONE study include Dean L. Urban, professor of landscape ecology at Duke's Nicholas School, and Lars Bejdar, associate professor at Murdoch University, Australia, and adjunct assistant professor at Duke.
The data on spinner dolphin sightings used to develop the models in the study were provided by a team of eight additional co-authors from Murdoch University, the Pacific Islands Photo-Identification Network, the Cascadia Research Collective, the Hawai'i Marine Mammal Consortium, the Hawai'i Association for Marine Education and Research, the Dolphin Institute, the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Hilo, UH at M?noa, and Marine Mammal Research Consultants.
###
"Predictive modeling of spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) resting habitat in the main Hawaiian Islands," L.H. Thorne, D.W. Johnston, D.L. Urban, J. Tyne, L. Bejder, R.W. Baird, S. Yin, S.H. Rickards, M.H. Beakos, J.R. Mobely Jr., A.A. Pack, M.C. Hill. PLoS ONE, August 24, 2012. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0043167
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
New maps may reduce tourism impacts on Hawaiian dolphinsPublic release date: 27-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Tim Lucas tdlucas@duke.edu 919-613-8084 Duke University
DURHAM, NC Over-eager eco-tourists intent on seeing spinner dolphins up close may inadvertently be disturbing the charismatic animals' daytime rest periods and driving them out of safe habitats in bays along Hawaii's coast.
Scientists at Duke and Stony Brook universities have developed a promising new tool that may help to limit repeated human disturbances and help reduce their negative impacts on the dolphins.
"Using the maps produced through this study we can identify the bays where the effects of human activities on spinner dolphins should be monitored most closely, and where immediate conservation actions are required," said David W. Johnston, research scientist at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment.
The researchers' tool shows that only a small number of bays 21 out of 99 in a study area along the western coastlines of the main Hawaiian islands were suitable habitats for resting dolphins. Knowing this, "conservation efforts can be focused on specific areas of importance," Johnston said,
"We may be able to minimize detrimental effects on dolphins by putting restrictions or preventative measures into place in a relatively small number of bays, rather than limiting access to dolphins along the entire coast," said the study's lead author, Lesley H. Thorne, a lecturer in marine science at Stony Brook University, who received her PhD from Duke in 2010. "That benefits tourists and tourism operators as well as the dolphins."
In the study, the researchers used the geographic coordinates and key environmental factors such as water depth and calmness, the size and proportions of the bays and distances from deep-water foraging grounds for hundreds of spinner dolphin sightings made in the study area between 2000 and 2010. The results appear August 27 in the online, open-access peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE. It's available at http://bit.ly/PMtBGp
Spinners are small dolphins famed for their graceful aerial movements and balletic spins. They are found in tropical and subtropical oceans around the world and some divide their time between daytime rest periods in shallow, protected bays and nighttime foraging in more exposed waters.
Distinguishing between sightings of resting and active dolphins was key to defining critical habitats, Thorne said. While socially active spinner dolphins are more tolerant of humans' presence, resting dolphins will leave the safety of a bay and retreat to less suitable open waters if humans repeatedly disturb them.
"Sleep is essential for most animals," added Johnston. "When deprived of their necessary 'zzzz's,' they gradually show a decreased ability to process information and remain attentive to environmental stimuli. In technical lingo, we call this a 'vigilance decrement'."
Spinner dolphins are no exception to the rule. The researchers say dolphins that experience human harassment every day during their rest periods never fully recover their vigilance decrement. Their ability to forage successfully and detect the presence of nearby predators is also degraded, and their ability to produce sounds to communicate and navigate may also be impaired, he said.
Scientists and conservationists have long worried that spinners' popularity with tourists and overlap of their resting habitats with popular ocean recreation destinations may be placing them at risk. Reports of interactions have increased sharply in recent years, but few published studies have examined the detrimental impacts these interruptions may have on the animals, especially at the population level.
"It would be next to impossible to survey spinner populations and human activities in every bay that might be a resting habitat," Thorne said. "We're talking about hundreds of bays in the Hawaiian islands alone."
"Using predictive models, such as the maximum entropy spatial modeling approaches we've produced, is a much more cost-effective method," she said. "This type of modeling has only recently been applied to the study of marine mammals, but our study suggests it may be especially useful."
Thorne and Johnston plan to test their models by conducting similar studies of spinner dolphin distributions and habitat use in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and other sites in the Pacific islands region. Results from those studies, they said, could confirm the new models' usefulness.
Johnston and Thorne's co-authors on the PLoS ONE study include Dean L. Urban, professor of landscape ecology at Duke's Nicholas School, and Lars Bejdar, associate professor at Murdoch University, Australia, and adjunct assistant professor at Duke.
The data on spinner dolphin sightings used to develop the models in the study were provided by a team of eight additional co-authors from Murdoch University, the Pacific Islands Photo-Identification Network, the Cascadia Research Collective, the Hawai'i Marine Mammal Consortium, the Hawai'i Association for Marine Education and Research, the Dolphin Institute, the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Hilo, UH at M?noa, and Marine Mammal Research Consultants.
###
"Predictive modeling of spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) resting habitat in the main Hawaiian Islands," L.H. Thorne, D.W. Johnston, D.L. Urban, J. Tyne, L. Bejder, R.W. Baird, S. Yin, S.H. Rickards, M.H. Beakos, J.R. Mobely Jr., A.A. Pack, M.C. Hill. PLoS ONE, August 24, 2012. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0043167
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
A pair of Elvis Presley's?underwear, complete with stains, will be sold at an auction in Manchester, England, next month, the BBC reports. Presley wore the undies at a 1977 show before the auction house acquired them from Presley's father Vernon. The dirty drawers could fetch up to ?10,000, or around $15,800. (Check out a photo of the skivvies at RollingStone.com.)
Also up for auction are Presley's personal Bible, which was given to him in 1957 and contains handwritten notes, and 16mm home movie footage taken by Priscilla Presley. The Bible is expected to go for ?25,000, or around $39,500.
Omega Auctions will stream the auction live on Sept. 8.
FX's "American Horror Story: Asylum," the second installment in Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk's scary anthology series, has been ramping up its promotion in the past few weeks with various creepy teasers making the rounds. Now, EW can bring you four EXCLUSIVE new pieces of key art from the wild new season, set within an insane asylum. Click through to see all four images and get ready to shudder.
Web design has become the keyword these days. Every business needs a large amount of publicity because there is stiff competition. With the advent of the Internet age, it?s got therefore become vitally important to use all the accessible tools of marketing, such as blogs, websites, posts and even video and also social networking sites. If your company is an online business, the need for internet based marketing solutions is even more. The best policy is usually to hire a professional Search engine optimisation or search engine Optimization Company which can offer a wide range of web related marketing services, such as web designing, e-commerce option, lead generation, corporate personality, link building and much more. But before any such decision is actually taken, it must be remembered that there are plenty of bogus websites out there, which are run by spammers who?re just running a con. These people often fool those looking for SEO support. Again, there are several web marketing companies that make use of what is commonly referred to as black hat marketing strategies, just like meta data and spin and rewrite posting. These are usually regarded unethical. Besides, repeated and mirror publishing is also not regarded as acceptable as per universal or international requirements. Because your ultimate goal will be to get your internet site as much publicity and also coverage as possible, about the major search engines like Google, you need to ensure that the company which you hire for Search engine optimization purposes does not use any black head wear or unethical method of marketing for your website or perhaps company. This could genuinely negatively affect the corporate identity. In reality, it could even resulted in the termination of your listing and visibility within the major search engines like Google which usually immediately strike lower any such unethical websites. There are plenty of acceptable method of improving the chances of success in business, whether you are in New York or Arkansas or Chicago, because all you would need will be Web design Miami, Web design New York or Website design Chicago. You should check the history and profile from the SEO company you are selecting. Hopefully, the company may also provide some of their portfolio, as an example of just what the company has done with regard to other companies.
Easy Cash Code
You can even look for an SEO company that could look after your ecommerce New York business. No matter what be the type of firm or business you own, there are several time-tested marketing strategies, which will absolutely increase traffic to your website and hence bring more prospective customers at your doorstep. As an example, most of the Web design Miami companies will be using techniques like enhancing the graphics and basic look of your website, by adding better pictures, colors, backgrounds and other special features similar to analytics or stats to help you keep track of that?s visiting your website along with from which source. Besides, these SEO businesses also specialize in producing targeted or specialized niche customer set for a person. This can be done by using subscriber list and social networking sites. Simply by aggressive article marketing that will back-link to your website and then adding these articles to the top article directories can do a world of impact on your business.
For more information about Easy Cash Code review please visit the website.
Job Title???????? :?????????? Sr. Business Process Analyst--(ORACLE, PROCURE TO PAY)
Location???????? :?????????? Sunnyvale CA.?
Duration???????? :?????????? 1 YEAR
Need Locals only Phone then In person
?
The position we are hiring for is a Senior Business Process Analyst responsible for developing and supporting business process solutions for Procure to Pay processes with specific focus on supporting Accounts Payable, Expense Reporting, and Procurement processes and systems.
?
Scope of this role includes supporting corporate strategic and organizational initiatives such as new business models, company acquisitions and system upgrades.? The ideal candidate must have the ability to manage projects and changes in business process and systems through extensive collaboration with both internal and external customers and must work well in a highly complex global organization.
?
This position will report to the Director, Business Process and Program Management within Finance and through matrix reporting support the Procure to Pay Global Process Owner.
?
Duties/Responsibilities
?? Assist GPO in overall management and ownership in enabling the
?? implementation of systems with comprehensive considerations of user
?? requirements, system integration, project scope and timelines.
?? Sets and manages project timelines and priorities and drives team and
?? self to meet established deliverables.
?? Understand internal business operations in order to develop solutions to
?? drive decision making.
?? Elicit requirements by using interviews, document analysis, requirement
?? workshops, business process descriptions, business analysis, task and
?? workflow analysis.? Offer guidance and recommendations to business
?? partners as needed to ensure clarity of understanding and alignment of
?? goals.
?? Critically evaluate information gathered from multiple sources, identify
?? gaps, reconcile conflicts, decompose high-level information into
?? details, and distinguish user requests from the underlying true need.
?? Assist in the development of business cases, project charter, business
?? requirement documents, test scenarios, user acceptance testing,
?? roadmaps, quarterly and annual prioritization of initiatives, weekly
?? team status meetings, and global updates to key business partners.
?? Identify areas for improvement.? Develop, analyze and review new and
?? existing business processes, specifying requirements and identifying
?? solutions which scale while insuring compliance in not compromised.
?? Develop training material, process documentation, change management
?? communication and material.
?? Partners with and coordinates cross-functional team, communication, and
?? execution.? Must anticipate and respond to staff, customers and
?? cross-functional team.
?? Work with various teams within IT, including development to ensure
?? comprehension and feasibility of requirements.
?? Proven liaison between functional users and IT.
?
Skills
?? This position works cross-functionally with other process teams to
?? insure end to end process alignment. They will interact closely with the
?? Business Process Owners (BPO), Subject Matter Experts (SME's) and also
?? the Global Process Owner (GPO), Shared Services and IT.
?? Key responsibilities are to translate business requirements into the
?? best solutions to optimize the overall business process.? Solutions must
?? ensure internal requirements align with business process and systems.
?? High level of interaction and coordination with the business to ensure
?? smooth and efficient operation of the business using a diplomatic,
?? professional and service-oriented approach.
?? Must be able to partner and work closely with all stakeholders in the
?? organization to support changes.
?
?
Skills/Qualifications
?? Operational experience from a functional perspective within Procure to
?? Pay.
?? Ability to apply best practice solutions.
?? Contributes to the development of innovative ideas.
?? Works under consultative direction and pursues course of action to
?? achieve desired results.? Must be able to work independently with
?? minimal direction.
?? Solid appreciation for the importance of internal controls, as well as
?? reporting requirements.
?? Must have strong analytical skills to identify and interpret potential
?? business process issues and problems.? Strong problem solving skills.
?? Strong project management skills in order to organize and implement
?? business process solutions; ability to track and document project
?? deliverables.
?? Exhibit ownership of tasks and see them to closure.? Self starter, able
?? to learn quickly and to multitask in a fast-paced environment.
?? Ability to make quick, well-informed decisions to avoid project delays.
?? Excellent attention to detail yet ability to understand the big picture.
?? Results-driven individual who does whatever it takes to succeed and
?? loves a challenge.
?
Experience
?? Bachelor's degree or equivalent (Business, Accounting, Computer Science
?? or related field preferred).
?? MBA a plus.
?? A minimum of 10 years experience in business analysis and/or project
?? management.
?? Strong analytical and judgment skills.
?? Experience with ERP systems (Oracle required). SAP experience a plus.
?? Must have excellent written and verbal communication.
?? Experience in business process consulting environment, implementing
?? enterprise systems desirable.
?? Ideally would have experience with a large-scale system implementation
?? and/or process re-engineering initiative.
?? Proficient using MS Office software (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access).
Senior, retired Maryland Park Police horse selected based on reliability and personality
In an effort to draw attention to our equine volunteers, as well as recognize a local business that PETS and the Prince Georges? County Equestrian Center, Showplace Arena rely on, PETS has begun the ?PETS/R&D Cross Horse of the Year Award.?
R&D Cross, of Southern States, is a landmark Upper Marlboro store that has helped supply the program?s feed and horse care needs for many years. Recently R&D Cross assisted PETS with acquiring and installing heavy duty metal fencing panels for the horse?s turnout area. This fencing helped cut down on the amount of labor it took each year to repair the turnout and make it ready for the horses? return each riding season.
The 2012 winning horse is ?Herbie?.? A 30-year old, bay Quarter horse, Herbie came to the PETS program many years ago after being retired from the Maryland Park Police. During his time with the program he has become the most reliable mount for the riders we serve. His disposition allows instructors to use him with young, limited, timid first time riders and more experienced independent riders. His personality shows an eagerness to work as well as get along with the other horses in the program. His nature and popularity have led him to be used in every lesson.
2012 Horse of the Year winner ?Herbie? with (left to right) Liz Yewell (P.G. Equestrian Center), Instructor Chris Blegen, PATH Certified Head Instructor Debbi Bly, Herbie, Volunteer/Rider Greg Griffin, Instructor Mary Jane Coolen, Instructor Clara Carey, PATH Certified Instructor Kim Molhoek, Program Director. (PETS photo)
Voting for the PETS/R&D Cross Horse of the Year was done by ballot at the Equestrian Center barn as well as online at PETS? Facebook page. Eligibility was that each nominee had to be used in the year?s riding season. The top two horses were then forwarded to the instructors for the final selection based on the horse?s performance and reliability this season.
?
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 27-Aug-2012
Share ] 
In an effort to draw attention to our equine volunteers, as well as recognize a local business that PETS and the Prince Georges? County Equestrian Center, Showplace Arena rely on, PETS has begun the ?PETS/R&D Cross Horse of the Year Award.?
