Utah GOP lawmakers laud sheriffs? stand on gun rights

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Rep. Paul Ray shares a laugh with members of the Utah Sheriffs' Association, which recently sent a controversial letter to President Barack Obama saying Utah law enforcement officials would lay down their lives to protect the Constitution. At the request of Rep. Curt Oda, Millard County Sheriff Robert Dekker read the letter to the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee of the Legislature at the State Capitol Complex House Building, Tuesday January 29, 2013.

Legislature ? Democratic leader questions whether focus on gun rights eclipses other constitutional rights.

Rep. Curt Oda asked a signatory to the Utah Sheriffs? Association to read aloud that group?s letter to President Barack Obama during a committee hearing Tuesday that declared it would stop any attempts by federal agents to seize guns from Utah residents.

Millard County Sheriff Robert Dekker read the letter that said the group of 28 of 29 county sheriffs ? in defense of the Second Amendment ? were "prepared to trade our lives for the preservation of its traditional interpretation."

Oda, a Republican from Clearfield, said he expected the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee would support the "courage" of the letter that drew unabashed support from about 1,500 who gathered on the Capitol Steps Jan. 19 for Gun Appreciation Day while drawing derision from Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder.

"I can almost recite it by heart," said Oda, known for his vocal support of gun rights.

But Minority Leader Jennifer Seelig said she simply couldn?t back the letter?s message.

Seelig, a Democrat from Salt Lake City, was at Trolley Square Feb. 12, 2007, when a gunman entered the mall and killed five people while wounding four others. She was getting her nails done at a salon when she heard the gunshots and had to hide in a storage closet before a swat team killed Sulejman Talovic during the young man?s shooting spree.

Seelig made mention of her experience at Trolley Square ? making sure to thank the sheriff for doing his job and specifically thanking the police at the massacre.

But she felt the letter went too far.

"I am curious about other constitutional rights and how that would fit into your weighing of this issue ? like property rights and the supremacy clause," Seelig said.

But Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, said he was grateful for the sheriffs? stance on guns.

story continues below

"That was a risk on your part and I appreciate it," Ray said.

The issue of firearms is expected to be a hot issue this legislative session in the wake of Obama?s proposals to require tougher background checks, reduce magazine capacity on guns and ban assault weapons.

There is a measure being proposed to make Utah just one of a handful of so-called constitutional carry states where a concealed weapon permit isn?t needed to be in possession of a gun. And a freshman lawmaker, Rep. Brian Greene, R-Pleasant Grove, will introduce a bill that would grant sheriffs the ability to arrest federal authorities attempting to take guns from Utah residents.

The letter, in fact, warns that "no federal official will be permitted to descend upon our constituents and take from them what the Bill of Rights ? in particular Amendment II ? has given them."

But Dekker was less confrontational in front of the committee.

"We?re not going to be standing at the border with our rifles," he said.

Obama?s proposals, which would require congressional approval to take effect, do not call for a retroactive ban or confiscation of firearms that are currently legal.

dmontero@sltrib.com

Twitter: @davemontero

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/55727717-90/committee-federal-gun-guns.html.csp

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Algeria crisis strangling Sahara tourism

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) ? The awe-inspiring dunes and wild mountains of Algeria's Sahara have lured adventure travelers for decades, but their latest incarnation ? as a crossroad for the al-Qaida militants who attacked a natural gas complex ? is likely to make them even more inaccessible.

At least 37 hostages died in the four-day siege deep in the desert. Algeria's government, ambivalent about tourism in the best of time, is expected to impose new restrictions on the vast south, whose residents eke out a living on the few intrepid tourists who arrive.

"The Sahara is an iconic wilderness much like the Himalaya or Antarctica and most agree that Algeria, the ninth biggest country in the world, is the best place to experience the full range of desert landscapes, authentic Tuareg culture, pre-historic rock art, adventure and so on," said Chris Scott, a Sahara guide and author. "It's all there and the people of the south have decades of experience in delivering what tourists want."

Scott just returned from leading a two-week New Year's camel trek through Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, 400 kilometers (250 miles) south of the Ain Amenas gas facility that was attacked.

But he is an exception. The numbers of tourists visiting the deep south dropped from 1,807 in 2011 to 643 last year, according to authorities in Tamanrasset, the main Saharan city. Already, 70 of the 76 tourist companies in the city have closed, and most Europeans planning on coming canceled their reservations after the attack, said Azzi Addi Ahmed, head of the local tourism association.

This is a far cry from 20,000 tourists a year in the 1980s, when restrictions were few and you could travel without the local tourist agencies that are now mandatory.

The region has long been loved by Europeans. The towering dunes and palm-fringed oases that epitomize the desert can be found in Algeria's Grand Ergs. Even farther the south, the rugged wind-carved mountains are dotted with 10,000-year-old cave paintings.

In 1911, a French soldier turned monk made his home among the Tuareg tribesmen and built a hermitage atop the nearly 10,000 foot (2,800 meter) Mount Assekrem in the Hoggar range near Tamanrasset, describing the surrounding peaks as more magnificent than any cathedral.

"My hermitage here is on a summit that overlooks practically the whole of the Hoggar and stands amid wild-looking mountains beyond which the seemingly limitless horizon makes one think of the infinitude of God," wrote Charles Foucauld.

Even then, the southern deserts were perilous: He was killed by marauding Senoussi tribesmen in 1916, and beatified by the Roman Catholic church in 2005.

The Sahara was largely closed to tourists during Algeria's years of civil war and wasn't reopened until the late 1990s when business rapidly picked up as Europeans rushed back to do desert safaris.

But, the government's victories against the militant Islamists in the north forced them to find refuge in the deserts to the south, mainly in northern Mali and Niger, where they engaged in smuggling and then the occasional lucrative kidnapping of foreigners.

Algeria's desert tourism received a major blow in 2003 when a precursor to al-Qaida snatched 32 foreign tourists, though all but one were eventually rescued and business recovered.

All that changed, however, when the overthrow of the Libyan regime flooded the desert with weapons, and a rebellion broke out in neighboring Mali, massively boosting al-Qaida's strength in the region.

"Already a large number of agencies have closed, leaving just those who do it for the love of the business to barely scratch by," said Iyad Gholami of the Assouf desert travel company in Tamanrasset. "We're collateral damage from the security crisis."

Phil Hassrick, who runs the California-based Lost Frontiers adventure travel company, stopped going to Algeria a few years ago.

"We couldn't guarantee the safety of the clients," he said, though back then it was more concern with banditry.

The impact is the most severe on the local Tuareg for whom tourism was one of the few sources of income, aside from smuggling.

Over the past year, the government said it would try to encourage Algerians to travel to the south, including periodic government and company visits, but operators complain that the visits are short, rare and don't involve the weeks of driving or trekking through the mountains desired by foreigners, who paid $1,500 a week to local guides.

In December, the remaining agencies petitioned the government to save the industry.

"At the very least we ask for the erasing of the debts linked to accumulated taxes as has been done for other sectors in difficulty, such as agriculture," Ahmed suggested. Lowering fares to the south on the state-owned carrier, Air Algerie, would be a big help, he said, but fears it may be too late.

"The attack on Ain Amenas is for us the coup de grace," Ahmed said. "It is the death of tourism in south Algeria."

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Schemm reported from Rabat, Morocco.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/algeria-crisis-strangling-sahara-tourism-145054282.html

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Marshall Fine: Movie Review: Stand Up Guys

The waste of talent in Fisher Stevens' Stand Up Guys is criminal. It's the movie equivalent of shooting a man in Reno, just to watch him die.

This tale of three aging lawbreakers -- played by Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin -- is not just clich?d. It's witless, to boot. The script by first-timer Noah Haidle longs for depth, even as it makes Viagra jokes (poor Pacino is forced utter them). It wants to be Tarantino-esque, blending wisecracks with wild violence. Instead, it just stumbles from one scene to the next, a long journey into night that will leave you dazed.

Walken plays Doc, who apparently spends his days painting the same landscape of an L.A. River bridge over and over. But on the day in which the story transpires, he packs up his paints and heads for the prison gates, where his best friend, Val (Pacino), is being released after a lengthy stretch.

Very quickly we get the gist: Doc has orders from their old boss, Claphands (Mark Margolis), to kill Val when he's released, because Claphands also has something he's holding over Doc's head. But Doc's deadline is 10 a.m. the next day, so he's willing to let Val have a memorable final night. Val knows this and is determined to make the most of it.

So let's see: hookers and blow, right? Well, hookers, at the least. And then a lot of driving around -- including springing their old pal Hirsch (Arkin) from the nursing home where he's spending his last days connected to an oxygen tank. Hirsch, their longtime getaway driver, takes them on a wild ride and gets a ride himself, when they head back to the same brothel where Val got his pipes cleaned.

But the sword of doom is hanging over Val -- and Claphands (as stupid and contrived a character name as any I've heard in a while) keeps sending thugs to intrude on his final hours. The joke (allegedly) is that these aging wiseguys have a few violent tricks left up their collective sleeves, which they pull off easily because the thugs are too stupid to expect them.

Arkin jolts the film to life during his brief sojourn on the screen. Pacino and Walken have an easy chemistry, but their material is too stale for them to ever really get any traction. There are moments, to be sure, including one when Pacino muses on mortality, when things feel real for a moment. But only for a moment.

There should be a penalty for assembling a cast this good (it includes Julianna Margulies and Lucy Punch) and then forcing them to work from a script as bad as this. If there were such a thing as movie jail, Stand Up Guys and its creators would be serving life without parole.

Find more reviews, interviews and commentary on my website.

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Follow Marshall Fine on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Marshall Fine

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marshall-fine/movie-review-istand-up-gu_b_2572732.html

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Beer's bitter compounds could help brew new medicines

Jan. 29, 2013 ? Researchers employing a century-old observational technique have determined the precise configuration of humulones, substances derived from hops that give beer its distinctive flavor.

That might not sound like a big deal to the average brewmaster, but the findings overturn results reported in scientific literature in the last 40 years and could lead to new pharmaceuticals to treat diabetes, some types of cancer and other maladies.

"Now that we have the right results, what happens to the bitter hops in the beer-brewing process makes a lot more sense," said Werner Kaminsky, a University of Washington research associate professor of chemistry.

Kaminsky is the lead author of a paper describing the findings, published this month in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

There is documentation that beer and its bittering acids, in moderation, have beneficial effects on diabetes, some forms of cancer, inflammation and perhaps even weight loss.

Kaminsky used a process called X-ray crystallography to figure out the exact structure of those acids, humulone molecules and some of their derivatives, produced from hops in the brewing process. That structure is important to researchers looking for ways to incorporate those substances, and their health effects, into new pharmaceuticals.

Humulone molecules are rearranged during the brewing process to contain a ring with five carbon atoms instead of six. At the end of the process two side groups are formed that can be configured in four different ways -- both groups can be above the ring or below, or they can be on opposite sides.

Which of the forms the molecule takes determines its "handedness," Kaminsky said, and that is important for understanding how a particular humulone will react with another substance. If they are paired correctly, they will fit together like a nut and bolt.

If paired incorrectly, they might not fit together at all or it could be like placing a right hand into a left-handed glove. That could produce disastrous results in pharmaceuticals.

Kaminsky cited thalidomide, which has a number of safe uses but was famously used to treat morning sickness in pregnant women in the late 1950s and early 1960s before it was discovered to cause birth defects. Molecule "handedness" in one form of the drug was responsible for the birth defects, while the orientation of molecules in another form did not appear to have the negative effects.

To determine the configuration of humulones formed in the brewing process, coauthors Jan Urban, Clinton Dahlberg and Brian Carroll of KinDex Therapeutics, a Seattle pharmaceutical firm that funded the research, recovered acids from the brewing process and purified them.

They converted the humulones to salt crystals and sent them to Kaminsky, who used X-ray crystallography -- a technique developed in the early 20th century -- to determine the exact configuration of the molecules.

"Now that we know which hand belongs to which molecule, we can determine which molecule goes to which bitterness taste in beer," Kaminsky said.

The authors point out that while "excessive beer consumption cannot be recommended to propagate good health, isolated humulones and their derivatives can be prescribed with documented health benefits."

Some of the compounds have been shown to affect specific illnesses, Kaminsky said, while some with a slight difference in the arrangement of carbon atoms have been ineffective.

The new research sets the stage for finding which of those humulones might be useful in new compounds to be used as medical treatments.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Washington.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Jan Urban, Clinton J. Dahlberg, Brian J. Carroll, Werner Kaminsky. Absolute Configuration of Beer?s Bitter Compounds. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2013; 52 (5): 1553 DOI: 10.1002/anie.201208450

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/-SRPSXQJGt8/130129130849.htm

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The Difference Between Managing And Directing - Small Business ...

Let me tell you a tale of business.

A small businesses starts out as a one man show, just a guy who ?bought himself a job.? Let?s call our guy Bob. Bob?s got no one to manage and nothing to direct. Just do the work; go home; repeat.

And then it happens: Bob succeeds. Bob?s business starts getting busy, really busy. It?s a nice problem to have but it?s a problem all the same.

Bob realizes something has to give. So he hires Mark. Now Bob is no idiot. He makes sure that Mark is the kind of guy who can handle himself. As a result, things get busier yet.

Feeling he is now getting pretty good at this hiring thing, Bob brings on Jim. Jim is no slouch either, so everything is going to be great. Except it?s not. There are conflicts and details are being overlooked. Customers aren?t as satisfied as they once were. In short, hiring Jim has lead to more headaches.

It?s not that Jim was a bad hire. It?s just that the dynamic has changed. There didn?t used to be any need for coordination. Resources didn?t need to shared. There was nobody to step on anyone else?s toes. Bob realizes that he needs to start managing.

Managing is a completely new skill set for Bob. Bob may be great at what he does but that doesn?t guarantee that he is great at passing on his skills, either with training or documentation. He always did things intuitively but now he has to consciously create systems. But it?s Bob?s company so he sucks it up and starts to learn.

Mark and Jim put up with Bob in his new role as a neophyte manager. It seems like there is a bunch of unnecessary overhead and regulation. Bob?s occasional indecision is disruptive. But hey, it?s a job. Bob?s a good guy, they reason. He?ll figure it out. In our story, he does.

Bob the Worker Has Morphed Into Bob the Manager

Bob has now learned how to go from worker to manager so as the business continues to expand, he starts grooming Mark and Jim for more responsibility. After all, he reasons:

?I was able to step up, so can they.?

Mark and Jim have an easier time of it than Bob. Since Bob laid the groundwork, they just need to learn how he has been doing everything. Bob feels a sense of relief that he finally has some help in shouldering all the management responsibility. Everything will be wine and roses from here on out, he figures.

Except. . .

Mark and Jim still seem to need to be managed. So he tells them how to do their jobs on a daily basis. He assigns tasks like he always used to. Mark and Jim don?t feel comfortable making decisions in this arrangement. So they are always going to Bob for approval on matters big and small. Bob is getting more and more frustrated because he feels like he is doing three jobs, his own and Mark?s and Jim?s.

Bob realizes that the problem isn?t Mark and Jim. Bob?s problem is Bob. He knows he needs to let Mark and Jim do their jobs. He gave them more responsibility but what he failed to give them along with it was authority. Now Bob gets scared. Giving away responsibility seemed okay, but authority? What if they make a mistake?

Let?s Stop Our Story for a Moment

Do you see what is happening here? Bob got good at what his business does before our story began. He learned how to manage as our story unfolded. But if this story is going to continue, Bob has another learning curve to master: learning to direct.

Management has to do with tasks. It is about how to do things, when to do things, and who does those things. It is about delegation, all surrounding the accomplishment of tasks.

You can manage schedules. You can manage materials. You can even manage workers. But it turns out you cannot manage managers.

The reason you can?t manage managers is because the minute you do, they stop being managers themselves. Lots of companies call some of their employees managers. But when you examine how things work operationally, you see that they are not truly managing. The issue is usually not a failure on the part of these would-be managers. No, the problem is they are not allowed to manage.

Bonafide management has two key characteristics: responsibility and authority.

Responsibility can be imposed and it must also be accepted. This usually happens without much fuss. But authority is a different matter. People can be rather stingy about handing out authority. If you want a manager to succeed, it is a necessity that they receive enough authority to carry out their responsibilities. When management fails, it can often be attributed to the lack of adequate authority.

Let?s say that a manager is giving the requisite amount of authority to do their job. So what is their boss supposed to do? The new job of their boss is to direct. How does that differ from managing?

Directing has to do with outcomes. It is about defining results, setting time tables, and providing resources. It is about communicating and mentoring, all surrounding the accomplishment of goals.

A good manager gets workers to do things right. A good director gets managers to do the right things.

It?s not really any harder to direct than to manage but it does require a different mindset. Most managers who rise to become directors?could direct. The question is, will they? Will they stay in that comfortable place of managing or will they make the hard choice to delegate authority and then support their managers?

Bob is at that crossroads. He has had to step up before. How will his story continue? Will Bob rise to this new challenge and become the kind of director that every manager hopes for? Or will he neuter Mark and Jim and never really cede to them the control they will need to step into their new roles?

You are Bob

It is up to you to write your own ending. Of course, it never ends. Business is of an ongoing nature. So do what needs doing, manage what needs managing, and direct what needs directing.

Businessmen Photo via Shutterstock

About Kenneth Vogt

Kenneth Vogt helps entrepreneurial men with a big purpose cut through the fog to change the world. Find free updates of true clarity at Vera Claritas. If you prefer your clarity in 140 character doses, follow Kenneth on Twitter @Kenneth_Vogt.

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Source: http://smallbiztrends.com/2013/01/difference-between-managing-and-directing.html

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Researchers find gene that turns up effect of chemotherapy

Public release date: 29-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Associate professor Claus Srensen
claus.storgaard@bric.ku.dk
45-31-61-98-48
University of Copenhagen

Chemotherapy is one of the most common treatments for cancer patients. However, many patients suffer from serious side-effects and a large proportion does not respond to the treatment. Researchers from the Biotech Research and Innovation Centre (BRIC) and Center for Healthy Aging, University of Copenhagen, now show that the gene FBH1 helps turn up the effect of chemotherapy.

"Our results show that the gene FBH1 is crucial in order for some chemotherapeutics to become active in the body and kill the cancer cells. If we can find a feasible method to increase the activity of the gene, we can use our cells' own resources to improve cancer treatment, says associate professor Claus Srensen who has lead the team of researchers behind the results.

Own gene helps chemotherapy fight cancer

The researchers have used a method called RNA interference to study whether some of the genes in our DNA are important for cancer cells to react to certain chemotherapeutics. "By using the method to remove single genes from cancer cells and then exposing the cells to chemotherapy, we found that FBH1 is important for the effect of the chemotherapy. Actually, the presence of the gene was an absolutely requirement in order to effectively kill the cancer cells with the type of chemotherapeutics we have studied, says postdoc Kasper Fugger who has led the experimental part of the investigation.

Chemotherapy act by exposing cancer cells to a kind of extreme stress when they divide. The result is detrimental damage to the cells' DNA that cannot be repaired, causing the cells to die. The new results show that it is in fact FBH1 that contributes to the formation of DNA damage when treating with chemotherapy and this knowledge can be used to optimize cancer therapy.

Selection of patients for chemotherapy

In the last decade it has become clear that targeted treatment to individual cancer patients is crucial for an effective treatment with least possible side-effects. By assessing the presence of FBH1 in a tumour the doctors can get an indication of whether the patient will benefit from chemotherapy.

"Our results could help indicate that patients with low or no FBH1 in the cancer cells will not benefit from certain types of chemotherapy, but should be administered another type of treatment. So by using the genetic fingerprint of a tumour doctors can adjust the treatment to individual patients, says Claus Srensen.

The next step - finding the FBH1 volume knob

The next step for the research team is to investigate the presence of changes, so-called mutations in FBH1. Identifying mutations rendering cancer cells resistant to certain chemotherapeutics can be used to target the treatment even better to individual patients. Another goal for the researchers is to find a way to turn up the activity of FBH1 in cancer cells.

"Our hope is to find a method to boost the activity of the FBH1 gene in cancer cells since this will make them more sensitive to chemotherapy. Alternatively, we may find a way to simulate an effect similar to that of FBH1, which can be used as additional treatment in order to sensitise cancer cells to chemotherapy. If we achieve this, more patients will benefit from the treatment, says Kasper Fugger.

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[ | E-mail | Share ]

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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.

Public release date: 29-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Associate professor Claus Srensen
claus.storgaard@bric.ku.dk
45-31-61-98-48
University of Copenhagen

Chemotherapy is one of the most common treatments for cancer patients. However, many patients suffer from serious side-effects and a large proportion does not respond to the treatment. Researchers from the Biotech Research and Innovation Centre (BRIC) and Center for Healthy Aging, University of Copenhagen, now show that the gene FBH1 helps turn up the effect of chemotherapy.

"Our results show that the gene FBH1 is crucial in order for some chemotherapeutics to become active in the body and kill the cancer cells. If we can find a feasible method to increase the activity of the gene, we can use our cells' own resources to improve cancer treatment, says associate professor Claus Srensen who has lead the team of researchers behind the results.

Own gene helps chemotherapy fight cancer

The researchers have used a method called RNA interference to study whether some of the genes in our DNA are important for cancer cells to react to certain chemotherapeutics. "By using the method to remove single genes from cancer cells and then exposing the cells to chemotherapy, we found that FBH1 is important for the effect of the chemotherapy. Actually, the presence of the gene was an absolutely requirement in order to effectively kill the cancer cells with the type of chemotherapeutics we have studied, says postdoc Kasper Fugger who has led the experimental part of the investigation.

Chemotherapy act by exposing cancer cells to a kind of extreme stress when they divide. The result is detrimental damage to the cells' DNA that cannot be repaired, causing the cells to die. The new results show that it is in fact FBH1 that contributes to the formation of DNA damage when treating with chemotherapy and this knowledge can be used to optimize cancer therapy.

Selection of patients for chemotherapy

In the last decade it has become clear that targeted treatment to individual cancer patients is crucial for an effective treatment with least possible side-effects. By assessing the presence of FBH1 in a tumour the doctors can get an indication of whether the patient will benefit from chemotherapy.

"Our results could help indicate that patients with low or no FBH1 in the cancer cells will not benefit from certain types of chemotherapy, but should be administered another type of treatment. So by using the genetic fingerprint of a tumour doctors can adjust the treatment to individual patients, says Claus Srensen.

The next step - finding the FBH1 volume knob

The next step for the research team is to investigate the presence of changes, so-called mutations in FBH1. Identifying mutations rendering cancer cells resistant to certain chemotherapeutics can be used to target the treatment even better to individual patients. Another goal for the researchers is to find a way to turn up the activity of FBH1 in cancer cells.

"Our hope is to find a method to boost the activity of the FBH1 gene in cancer cells since this will make them more sensitive to chemotherapy. Alternatively, we may find a way to simulate an effect similar to that of FBH1, which can be used as additional treatment in order to sensitise cancer cells to chemotherapy. If we achieve this, more patients will benefit from the treatment, says Kasper Fugger.

###

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[ | E-mail | Share ]

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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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/uoc-rfg012913.php

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SAG Awards 2013: Complete Winners List

'Argo' once again takes the top honor, and Jennifer Lawrence continues win streak.
By MTV News staff

Jennifer Lawrence accepts her award for Best Actress at the SAG Awards 2013
Photo: John Shearer

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1700859/sag-awards-2013-winners-list.jhtml

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Ethics & OED: Practitioner Discipline at the USPTO July/Aug. 2012 ...

In addition to discussing the impact of the America Invents Act on ethics, specifically from a malpractice standpoint, I will also discuss the enforcement efforts of the Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) during 2012.

An odd order sequencing I know, but with great energy and certainty that I wouldn?t run out of time I set out to ambitiously review the 48 disciplinary actions taken by OED during 2o12. Then as the calendar started to no longer be an alley I thought that perhaps I should work my way backwards.

With this in mind, what follows is discussion of the two disciplinary proceedings undertaken by the USPTO during the months of July and August 2012. There were no OED disciplinary decisions from September 2012.

Hugh D. Jaeger of Wayzata, Minnesota, is an attorney licensed ?to practice in both Minnesota and Pennsylvania. ?He is also a registered patent attorney (Registration No. 27,270). The Supreme Court of Minnesota suspended Jaeger for violating various Minnesota Rules of Professional Conduct for neglecting client matters, signing documents without consent, failing to return client files and failing to cooperate with the disciplinary investigation into his actions. ?In what was essentially a negotiated resolution, the August 11, 2011?Order of the Supreme Court of Minnesota indefinitely suspended Jaeger for a minimum of 120 days and ordered that he be placed on inactive status (i.e., retired) following the end of his suspension period. The Supreme Court of Minnesota Order also notes that Jaeger agreed not to apply for reinstatement to practice in Minnesota and that he would not apply for admission (or readmission) to any other bar in any other jurisdiction. As the result of this Minnesota proceeding Jaeger was also similarly ordered suspended by Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

The USPTO issued a Notice and Order Under 37 CFR 11.24, which gave Jaeger 40 days to respond. No response was forthcoming. Thus, as the result of this?reciprocal disciplinary proceeding, the USPTO suspended Jaeger for a minimum of 120 days. After serving the 120 day suspension, the OED Order suggests that he may request reinstatement pursuant to 37 CFR ? 11.60 for the sole purpose of being placed on voluntary inactive status. The OED order, similar to the Order of the Supreme Court of Minnesota, forbids Jaeger from being restored to active status as a member of the patent bar. ?Thus, for all intents and purposes Jaeger was disbarred.

If you read through disciplinary orders from OED you start to become familiar with the language used and the penalties handed out. This effective disbarment of Jaeger is peculiar in ways, but illustrative of what we see over and over again in other ways. It is peculiar for the Office to invite reinstatement only for the purpose of voluntarily going on inactive status. That, however, seems perfectly consistent with the Order of the Supreme Court of Minnesota. Thus, once again we see that the discipline handed out by the State will be equivalent to the discipline ordered by the USPTO in a reciprocal disciplinary proceeding.

Reading between the lines, and based on a 27,270 registration number, it seems that Jaeger was at or near the end of his career anyway. In order to get this disciplinary matter to go away he essentially agreed never to practice law again. In return the States of Minnesota, Pennsylvania and the USPTO will allow Jaeger to end his practice career as ?retired inactive? rather than disbarred.

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In the Matter of Anthony J. De Laurentis (August 1, 2012)

Anthony J. De Laurentis (Registration No. 24,757) was disbarred on consent from practicing law in Maryland for participating in a conspiracy to suppress completion in three auction sales of tax liens throughout the state of Maryland in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act (15 U.S.C. ? 1). He was not criminally charged, recognized his wrongful conduct and voluntarily terminated his participation in the conspiracy. De Laurentis also fully cooperated in an investigation by the United States Department of Justice that culminated in the indictment and conviction of his co-conspirators.

The USPTO issued a Notice and Order Under 37 CFR 11.24, which gave De Laurentis 40 days to respond. No response was forthcoming. Thus, as the result of this?reciprocal disciplinary proceeding, the USPTO excluded De Laurentis from practice for violating 37 CFR 10.23(a) and (b) as the result of being disbarred in the States of Maryland. Rule 10.23(a) is the one that prohibits a practitioner from engaging in ?disreputable or gross misconduct.?

Rule 10.23(b) lists various things not to do. There are any number of sections of 10.23(b) that, could fit. The closest fits seems to be:

• 10.23(b)(3), which prohibits a practitioner from engaging in ?illegal conduct involveing moral turpitude.?
• 10.23(b)(4), which prohibits a practitioner from engaging in ?conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.?
• 10.23(b)(6), which prohibits a practitioner from engaging in ?any other conduct that adversely reflects on the practitioner?s?fitness to practice before the Office.?

Moral of the Story: Don?t commit a crime!

?

In the Matter of Mark L. Chael (August 1, 2012)

On September 26,2011, the Supreme Court of Illinois ordered that Mark L. Chael (Registration number 44,601)?be suspended from the practice of law for six (6) months for violating Rules of Professional Conduct by attempting to charge an unreasonable fee, by engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation, and by engaging in conduct which?tends to defeat the administration of justice, or to bring the courts or the legal profession into disrepute. According to the Illinois State Bar Association website, Chael ?recorded more than 260 hours of time he falsely claimed to have spent on behalf of one of the firm?s clients during a two-month period.?

?The USPTO issued a Notice and Order Under?37 CFR 11.24, which gave Chael 40 days to respond. No response was forthcoming. Thus, as the result of this?reciprocal disciplinary proceeding, the USPTO determined that there was no genuine issue of material fact. The USPTO further determined that suspension was the appropriate discipline. Chael was suspended from the practice of patent, trademark, and non-patent law before the USPTO for a period of six (6) months for violating 37 CFR 10.23(b)(6) via 37 CFR 10.23(c)(5)(i) by having his license to practice law in the state of Illinois suspended on ethical grounds by the Supreme Court of Illinois.

The USPTO suspension was applied?nunc pro tunc. Discipline imposed?nunc pro tunc is appropriate only if?the practitioner: (1) promptly notified the OED Director of his or her suspension or disciplinaary disqualification in another jurisdiction; (2) establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the practitioner voluntarily ceased all activities related to practice before the Office; and (3) complied with all provisions of 37 CFR ? 11.58. That was found to be the case effective October 17, 2011, thus the six (6) month suspension started effective that date.

Chael was a partner with a prominent Chicago patent firm. He is no longer listed on that firm?s site.

?

In the Matter of Heather L. Mansfield (August 2, 2012)

Heather L. Mansfield of Westfield, New Jersey, was a registered patent attorney (Registration No. 39,157). The Director o f the United States Patent and Trademark Office (?USPTO? or ?Office?) has accepted Ms. Mansfield?s affidavit of resignation and ordered her exclusion on consent from the practice ofpatent, trademark, and non-patent law before Office.

Mansfield voluntarily submitted her affidavit of resignation at a time when a disciplinary investigation was pending against her, thus she is deemed to have conclusively acknowledged that her conduct violated?37 C.F.R. ?? 10.23(b)(5) and 10.23(a) via 10.23(c)(1) predicated upon certain acts that culminated in her guilty plea and conviction of one count of ?Interference with Custody of Children ? Conceal? in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Hunterdon County on January 5,2012. ?This stemmed from charges brought on March 3, 2011, by the New Jersey State Police, for Kidnapping and Interference with Custody. An Amber Alert was authorized and she was apprehended near the Canadian border. See Hunterdon County Press Release.

While Ms. Mansfield did not admit to violating any of the Disciplinary Rules of the USPTO Code of Professional Responsibility, she acknowledged that, if and when she does apply for reinstatement, the OED Director will conclusively presume, for the limited purpose of determining the application for reinstatement, that (i) the allegations set forth in the disciplinary investigation against her are true, and (ii) she could not have successfully defended herself against such allegations.

Source: http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2013/01/27/ethics-oed-practitioner-discipline-at-the-uspto-julyaug-2012/id=33860/

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Alberta brings in policy to allow Sikhs to wear kirpan religious knives in court

EDMONTON - Alberta has come up with a policy to allow Sikhs to wear a ceremonial religious dagger called a kirpan in courthouses.

Under the Justice Department policy, a person must tell security officers they have a kirpan and wear it in a sheath, under clothing.

The blade of the kirpan can be no longer than 10 centimetres.

The World Sikh Organization says Alberta is the first province to bring in such a policy, which is partly based on rules developed for courts in Toronto.

The organization says Ontario is now working on a provincewide policy.

The Alberta rules stem from a human rights complaint filed in 2008 where a man wasn't allowed inside a Calgary court because he was wearing a kirpan.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/alberta-brings-policy-allow-sikhs-wear-kirpan-religious-194403884.html

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Chuck Hagel: Shaped by Vietnam

Obama's choice for defense secretary is a decorated veteran with a deep suspicion of war

What is?Hagel's?background?
He comes from humble stock. Born in Nebraska,?Hagel?grew up poor and constantly on the move. His father was a World War II veteran who had bad health and a drinking problem, and died when?Hagel?was 16. The eldest of four boys,?Hagel?worked to help support the family, and took an early interest in politics. In 1960, he broke with his fellow Catholic schoolboys to support Richard Nixon over John F. Kennedy.?Hagel?was a promising high school athlete, but a neck injury forced him to give up a college football scholarship. He drifted until his number came up in the draft in January 1967.

Where did he serve?
Hagel?initially received orders to go to Germany, but he asked for a transfer to Vietnam so he could fight in the war. Against protocol, he was placed in the same infantry squad as his younger brother Tom. Just four months into his tour,?Hagel?was caught in a mine blast, taking shrapnel wounds to his chest that his brother bandaged up. A month later, in April 1968,?Hagel?returned the favor after their troop carrier hit another mine.?Hagel?pulled Tom from the burning vehicle under heavy fire, sustaining serious burns to his face. (Hagel's?wounds in the two incidents won him two Purple Hearts.) In 2007, he recalled what went through his head when rescuing his brother: "I told myself, 'If I ever get out of this and I'm ever in a position to influence policy, I will do everything I can to avoid needless, senseless war.'"

How did he get into politics?
John Y.?McCollister, a Nebraska congressman, brought the young veteran to Washington in the early?1970s; within 18 months, he was?McCollister's?chief of staff.?Hagel's?ascent in the Republican Party was similarly rapid, and soon after Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980, he was named deputy director of the Veterans Administration. But within six months, he quit in protest against cuts in benefits for his fellow Vietnam veterans. It was his first act of rebellion against the party, but far from his last. "He thinks with the clarity of an actuary," said Michael McCarthy, one of?Hagel's?longtime financial backers, "but decides with the heart of an Irishman."

What was his next move??
He sold his car and joined two friends in investing in an industry no one knew about in 1982 ? a?cellphone?company. It made him millions when it later went public. In 1992 he moved his family from Virginia back to his native Nebraska, where he was elected senator in 1996 in an upset victory after a high-profile endorsement from fellow Vietnam vet Sen. John McCain. But?Hagel?remained a party maverick. After the GOP's poor showing in the 1998 midterm elections, he excoriated the leadership for running?"issueless?campaigns" and "demonizing" ads. In the 2000 primaries, he backed his friend McCain, saying that George W. Bush had "sold his soul to the right wing." Two years later, he became an ever bigger burr in Bush's saddle.

What issue divided them?
The war in Iraq, which?Hagel?opposed from the get-go, earning himself a place on the "axis of appeasement'' compiled by the?neoconservative?magazine?The Weekly Standard.?In 2002,?Hagel?delivered a thunderous speech on the Senate floor warning that "imposing democracy through force is a roll of the dice." The U.S., he said, did not truly understand the factional divisions among Iraq's Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds. He then voted to authorize military action in Iraq ? a vote he attributed to his loyalty to the office of the presidency. As the war spun out of control,?Hagel?became an ever-fiercer critic of the Bush administration. He voted against extending the Patriot Act in 2005, and led opposition in the Senate to the Iraq surge of 2007, calling it the "most dangerous foreign-policy blunder in this country since Vietnam."

Is that why many Republicans now oppose him?
Hagel's?apostasy on Iraq is just one of the ways in which he has infuriated his party's hawks. He has opposed military action to stop Iran's nuclear program, and described the Defense Department as "bloated." He angered pro-Israeli Republicans by complaining about the power of Washington's "Jewish lobby," and alienated social conservatives by comparing them to "Know-Nothings." But arguably his greatest sin against the GOP was befriending Obama. The two bonded in the Senate over their?contrarian?views on Iraq. In 2008,?Hagel?declined to endorse John McCain, which brought a chill to the long friendship between the two Vietnam vets.?Hagel?did not endorse Obama either, but enraged McCain by traveling to Iraq with the Democratic presidential candidate in July 2008.?Hagel?retired from the Senate in 2009, but he will soon return there as Obama's nominee for defense secretary to face confirmation hearings headed by his spurned former ally. "The friendship, I hope, is still there," McCain said in January, "but I have very serious questions about whether he will serve in a way that I think serves America's best national interests."?

The smoking gun on Vietnam
Although the Vietnam War left?Hagel?scarred, for decades he saw it as a righteous cause gone wrong, not an unjustified incursion. That changed in 1997, when the government released tapes from 1964 of Lyndon B. Johnson confessing that the U.S. couldn't win in Vietnam. Johnson had made a "cold political calculation" to stay in Vietnam to secure his legacy,?Hagel?came to believe, and he vowed to "never, ever remain silent when that kind of thinking put more American lives at risk in any conflict." His anti-war views hardened yet further in 2005, when a cousin unearthed long-lost letters his father had written to his family during his service in the Pacific. "If I thought I would ever have a son who would have to go through this," he had written, "I would never get married."?

SEE MORE: Obama's tumultuous first term: By the numbers

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chuck-hagel-shaped-vietnam-123400407.html

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Dewey's Treehouse: Scrapbooking (expensive hobbies, cheap ...

Years and years ago, when Creative Memories was just getting off the ground, I read about them in a magazine and wrote a letter (by snail mail, of course)?to one of the co-founders, asking if their scrapbooks were available in Canada.??She wrote back and suggested I look into becoming a Canadian consultant...because there Weren't Any Then.

Imagine that.

I didn't follow up on the suggestion, for?several different?reasons.? For one thing, I couldn't imagine who (besides me) would be that interested in buying scrapbooking stuff.

Imagine THAT.? Yeah, I know.? It's on my list of big mistakes?to beat myself with.

In the years since then, of course, Scrapbooking as a concept?not only became one of the "standard" womens' hobbies slash places to blow a lot of money, but it teamed up with all the?developments in?Technology (i.e. computers, Internet,?and special scrapbooking gizmos and?software)?to quintuple all the possibilities for page design, embellishment and photo printing.? Every hobby store has a scrapbooking section.? Every dollar store sells scrapbooking paper and stickers.? Scrapbook crafters have not only whole boxes and organizers devoted to this stuff, but whole rooms, sometimes.

But you knew that already.

Am I a scrapbooker?? Just an occasional one.? I've put together small memory books for birthdays, that sort of thing.? I like making cards and gift tags.?But in the last ten years or so, with cameras all gone digital (including ours, and I thought we'd be the last 35mm holdouts), the truth is that we don't actually have that many printed photos around anymore.? It sometimes seems harder to get "real" photos in my hand?these days?than it did when we had to wait for the photo counter to get our pack of snapshots back from the developers...or when Mr. Fixit's home darkroom was still viable.? So any scrapbooking I'm likely to be doing now?is not with family photos--it's more likely to be just for fun, with souvenirs or snippings.

And the other reason that I've shied away from the whole scrapbooking hobby is, of course, the huge amount of money that you can pour into supplies and equipment.? It's enough to drive you to the list of "cheap hobbies" that someone recently submitted to the Festival of Frugality--things like, um, walking.? Or crocheting with?plastic bags.? (Which does have its fans as well.)

Well, I came across an e-book recently by a frugal scrapbooker who really "gets it," as Amy Dacyczyn used to say.? It was free for Kindle when I downloaded it; it's up to $4.99 now, although it's still free for Prime members at Amazon; but considering the amount of money that, as I've said, you could be spending on scrapbooking...and even a nice?magazine is going to set you back at least that much...$4.99 could be money well spent here.? Especially if it actually SAVES you that much money, and it very well could.? The book is Budget Scrapbooking for Beginners, by Phyllis Matthews.

The book is stuffed full of suggestions for alternative materials, alternative sources, using real/found/thrifted materials instead of?printable fake/purchased expensive?ones, and so on.? Even if you prefer some other kind of crafting, I think she covers basics that would apply to quite a few other frugal hobbies and situations...say, making dollhouse accessories, or choosing craft projects for kids.? In the case of scrapbooking, a lot of the hype around buying "real" supplies came out of the scary words "acid free," meaning that the materials you use won't hurt your photos.? Mrs. Matthews points out that only the materials actually contacting your photos, such as adhesives and matting material, need to be acid free; anything else is fair game.? When you think about it, fancy paper, pictures, and writing can come from almost anywhere:? even dollar-store greeting cards.? Where else can you find scrapbooking supplies?? How about the hardware store?? The toy aisle?? The back yard?? The possibilities she opens up go beyond the obvious, and that's what I like most about the book: it proves you can have just as good a time, and produce just as good a finished project, with "found" materials, as you can with the latest and best in hobby-aisle supplies.

The book is illustrated with a few photographs of her own work; a few more wouldn't have hurt, but what's included is helpful.? My one quibble with the editing was the frequent use of the word "affect" when I think she meant "effect," and a few other small distractions of that kind.? I'm also a bit surprised at one of her pages which uses construction paper as a base; in my own somewhat limited experience, coloured construction paper is one of my last choices even for kids' play?projects, as it fades terribly.? Maybe Mrs. Matthews just buys better construction paper, but I'd still be careful.? Oh--and the?other crafting?problem we have around here right now is that rubber cement is becoming harder to find (along with safety eyes, which have just about disappeared, but that's another story). Without a bottle of that around, you may not be able to use some of her suggestions.

But overall, it's a good tour through the hobby room of a good crafter who wants to share her smart strategies as well as her passion.? Well recommended.

Source: http://deweystreehouse.blogspot.com/2013/01/scrapbooking-expensive-hobbies-cheap.html

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AP NewsBreak: Harkin won't seek 6th Senate term

In this Monday, Oct. 25, 2010 photo, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, speaks to reporters following a rally in support of three Iowa Supreme Court justices who are up for retention votes in the November election, in Des Moines, Iowa. Harkin says he will not seek re-election in 2014, The Associated Press reports Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

In this Monday, Oct. 25, 2010 photo, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, speaks to reporters following a rally in support of three Iowa Supreme Court justices who are up for retention votes in the November election, in Des Moines, Iowa. Harkin says he will not seek re-election in 2014, The Associated Press reports Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

CUMMING, Iowa (AP) ? U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin said Saturday he will not seek a sixth term in 2014, a decision that frees a new generation of Iowa Democrats to seek higher office and eases some of the burden Republicans face in retaking the Senate.

Harkin, chairman of an influential Senate committee, announced his decision during an interview with The Associated Press, and said the move could surprise some.

But the 73-year-old cited his age ? he would be 81 at the end of a sixth term ? as a factor in the decision, saying it was time to pass the torch he has held for nearly 30 years.

"I just think it's time for me to step aside," Harkin told the AP.

Harkin, first elected in 1984, ranks 7th in seniority, and 4th among majority Democrats. He is chairman of the health, education, labor and pensions committee, and chairman of the largest appropriations subcommittee.

Harkin has long aligned with the Senate's more liberal members, and his signature legislative accomplishment is the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. He also served as a key salesman of President Barack Obama's 2010 health care bill to the wary left.

"I'm not saying that giving this up and walking away is easy. It's very tough," Harkin said at his rural Iowa home south of Des Moines. "But I'm not quitting today. I'm not passing the torch sitting down."

Harkin's news defied outward signals. Besides being beloved in his party, Harkin has $2.7 million in his campaign war chest, second most among members nearing the end of their terms, and was planning a gala fundraiser in Washington, D.C., next month featuring pop star Lady Gaga.

Although members of his family have been diagnosed with cancer, Harkin said his health is good ? and reported a recent positive colonoscopy. But he said "you never know," and that he wanted to travel and spend his retirement with his wife Ruth "before it's too late."

He also nodded to his political longevity: "The effect of that cascades down and it opens a lot of doors of opportunity" for future candidates, he said.

Indeed, the news creates a rare open Senate seat Iowa. Harkin, Iowa's junior senator, is outranked by Sen. Charles Grassley, who has held the state's other seat since 1980.

Attention will turn immediately to U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, a fourth-term Democrat from Waterloo, long mentioned as a possible Harkin successor. Braley, who was traveling in Iowa on Saturday, did not immediately return requests by the AP for comments beyond an emailed news statement calling Harkin a "mentor" and "progressive force" who leaves "a legacy few will ever match."

Harkin held open the possibility of endorsing a Democrat before the party's primary if the candidate fit the profile of "someone who is progressive, who is a pragmatic progressive."

Although no Republicans have stepped forward, Harkin's news gives the GOP's private huddles new life.

"There are lots of conversations, but it's very early still," said Nick Ryan, an Iowa Republican campaign fundraiser.

U.S. Rep. Tom Latham of Clive is a seasoned Republican congressman, a veteran appropriations committee member and a robust fundraiser who has survived challenges to win 10 consecutive terms. Aides to Latham declined to comment beyond issuing a statement saying the congressman "respects Sen. Harkin's decision (and) looks forward to continuing to work with him."

But with opening a door in Iowa, Harkin has created a potential headache for his party nationally.

Democrats likely would have had the edge in 2014 with the seat, considering Harkin's fundraising prowess and healthy approval. A poll by the Des Moines Register taken last fall showed a majority of Iowans approved of his job performance.

Democrats hold a 55-45 advantage in the Senate, requiring Republicans to gain six seats to win back the chamber. But Democrats have more seats to defend in 2014_20 compared to only 13 for Republicans.

And the president's party historically loses seats in the midterm elections after his re-election.

Seats in other states will be tough for Democrats to hold onto. In GOP-leaning West Virginia, five-term Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller recently announced he would not seek re-election.

Democratic incumbents also face tough re-election races in Arkansas, Louisiana, Montana, North Carolina and Alaska ? all states carried by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in November's presidential election.

Since then, Harkin has stepped up his role as one of the Senate's leading liberal populists.

He was a vocal opponent late last year of President Barack Obama's concession to lift the income threshold for higher taxes to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. Harkin instead supported raising taxes on all earners making more than $250,000 a year.

He also endorsed Obama's call for banning assault rifles and larger ammunition magazines in the wake of the Connecticut school shooting last month

Despite Harkin's strong political position, he has faced questions about his and his wife Ruth's role in developing a namesake policy institute at Iowa State University, Harkin's alma mater. The Harkins and their supporters have been pushing for the institute to house papers highlighting his signature achievements, including the ADA and shaping farm policy as the former chairman of the agriculture committee.

Harkin has avoided questions about fundraising for the institute after disclosure reports showed some of its largest donors are firms that have benefited from his policies.

Harkin dismissed that those questions had any bearing on his decision.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-26-Harkin-Iowa/id-25593d51402947cfb4687ee317b0bf82

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Financial aid FAQs - Collegewise

Here are ten of the most common questions I get about financial aid and scholarships, and my answers to each.

1. Should we bother to apply if we don?t think we?ll qualify?

Probably, but here?s the litmus test.? If a family cannot write a check for the full cost of their student?s college education next year, they should apply for financial aid.?? Many people who think they won't qualify actually do.? And some schools may require students to complete the FAFSA for merit scholarships.? You have nothing to lose but the time you spend filling out the forms, which isn?t inconsequential, but it?s less risky than forgoing available financial aid by not applying.

2.? Will applying for financial aid hurt my student?s chances of getting in?

No.? First of all, it?s important to remember that just because you apply for aid doesn?t? mean you?ll get any.? So if you?re in the position of debating whether or not to apply for aid, the chances are that while you may get some aid, it won?t be a large enough amount to ever be held against you.? Still, applying for aid has no negative impact at most schools.? Many colleges are ?need-blind? which means that the admissions officers don?t know whether or not you need aid.? And even at schools that are not need-blind, the admissions office wants who they want.? They see it as their job to pick the right students for the freshman class, while the financial aid office?s job is to decide whether or not those kids get aid.?

3. At what parental income level is it not worth it for a family even to complete a FAFSA?

There is no cut off because there are so many other factors considered (number in the family, student income, assets, number of children in college, cost of attendance, etc.).?? So again, use the litmus test.? If you can't write a check for the entire cost of attendance for the coming year, you should apply for aid.? Use one of the previously mentioned calculators and see if you qualify.

4. What if we know we can pay without aid?? Can that help our student get in?

It can at some colleges, particularly at less competitive private schools.? Most applications will ask if you?re going to be applying for financial aid.? Checking ?No? tells them that you are full-pay.? And if you know you?re capable of paying comfortably without any assistance, you likely wouldn?t have qualified for financial aid anyway.

5. Can a student establish residency at an out-of-state public university and then pay in-state tuition?

In the past, yes.? But in recent years, it has become almost impossible unless the entire family moves out of state.? If you couldn?t afford, or wouldn?t want to pay for, out-of-state tuition, attending an out-of-state college could be a risky thing to do.?? Don?t count on getting in-state residence.

6. What if parents are divorced or separated?? Which parent?s financial information will be used?

The parent with whom the child resided most during the 12 months prior to completing the aid application is called the ?Custodial parent??that?s the parent who completes the FAFSA.? Federal guidelines say that it is the custodial parent whose financial information will be used to determine the parental contribution to college.? It?s important to remember that the custodial parent may not necessarily be the parent who was initially awarded custody in the divorce settlement.?? It is all based on who the kid lived with during the base year.

The aid formula also considers a stepparent who lives with the custodial parent as a natural parent.??? That means the financial aid formula doesn?t distinguish between biological parents and step-parents?it only cares which parent, or parents, the student lived with most during the first base income year.

Most colleges will never ask to see income or asset information from a non-custodial parent.? The FAFSA has no questions about non-custodial parents, and while the PROFILE form asks a few questions, the processor does not take this information into account in providing the EFC.?? On the other hand, if you receive child support or alimony, it will appear as your income.?

7. Can my student declare independence from her parents while she?s in college, and therefore, get more financial aid?

If the college decides that a student is no longer a dependent of his parents, then the college won?t assess the parents? income and assets at all.? But it?s the federal government and the colleges themselves who get to decide who is dependent and who is independent, and it is obviously in their best interest to decide that the student is still dependent.? Don?t get your hopes up.? Most kids who are considered independent are foster kids, or kids who have been legally declared independent from their parents.

8. Is it possible to negotiate with a financial aid office to get more aid?

Sometimes it is.? If it looks like you might not be able to send your student to a school she really wants to attend because of money, or if two similarly ranked colleges offered very dissimilar packages, you might consider calling and asking the financial aid office to reconsider its offer.? However, if you can comfortably afford what the college has determined that you must pay, then there is little chance a college will change its aid package.? You?re not buying a used car here. Financial aid officers aren?t likely to do anything that feels like haggling.? But I?ve seen it work. There are times when making that call can lead to a good outcome, especially if the two schools compete for the same applicants, and if the offers are very different. Approach this like a civil business discussion. Leave your emotions out of it.? Be polite and respectful. If there are substantial differences between the two awards, the college will probably ask to see a copy of the other award.? Offer to provide any additional documentation that might be helpful. And always thank the person no matter what the outcome.

9. What's the best way to find scholarships?

There's no need to pay to find outside scholarships.? The best search sources are available for free at finaid.org and scholarships.com.?

Having said that, I meet a lot of families who have the impression there is oodles of money available from outside or private scholarships. These are little-known awards from private companies, foundations, community organizations, churches and other benefactors. There is money to be had from those sources, and they may be worth applying for, but you won?t likely get a free ride from outside scholarships alone.

The best way to get scholarships is to apply to colleges that may pay.? Financial aid offices earmark a certain percentage of money every year just to lure academically appealing students. This practice is called preferential packaging, and it?s not a dirty secret.?? The better the fit between you and a college, the more likely that school will entice you to attend.

10. Can applying early decision hurt my chances of receiving financial aid?

Yes.? Under a binding early decision plan, colleges don?t have as much incentive to entice you with unsolicited aid because you?re bound to attend if they take you.? And if you?re accepted early decision, you give up the chance to compare offers of financial aid from other colleges.

Source: http://www.wiselikeus.com/collegewise/2013/01/financial-aid-faqs.html

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3-D fireworks of a star: Astronomers reconstruct journey of emitted gas

Jan. 24, 2013 ? In 1901 the star GK Persei gave off a powerful explosion that has not stopped growing and astonishing ever since. Now a team of Spanish and Estonian astronomers has reconstructed the journey of the emitted gas in 3D which, contrary to predictions, has hardly slowed down its speed of up to 1,000 km/s after all this time.

Thanks to the images captured from the Isaac Newton Telescope and the Nordic Optical Telescope in La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain), a European team of astronomers has constructed a three dimensional map of the remnant of a nova, or in other words, what was left of the star after its explosion. The results have just been published in the Astrophysical Journal.

The protagonist of this story is the star GK Persei situated at 'just' 1,300 light years away from Earth. It is also known as Nova Persei 1901 because a strong thermonuclear eruption occurred on its surface on the 21st February 1901. On that day astronomers observed how its brightness suddenly increased to such an extent that it became one of the brightest stars in the skies.

The surprising thing is that the explosion created remaining material made up of gaseous knots, which become visible in 1916. "From then the visual spectacle has been similar to that of a firework display seen in slow motion," claims Miguel Santander, researcher at Spanish National Observatory and coauthor of the study.

After patient work to gather images, the team was able to measure the movements of more than 200 knots as well as the radial velocity using the Doppler effect, which allows to determine if they are getting closer or moving further away from us. In this way the 3D map of the nova was created and its dynamic was analysed.

"Such data are rarely available in astrophysics because as a general rule apparent expansion or, in other words, in the layout of the sky, the majority of objects cannot be seen," outlines another of the authors, Romano Corradi, from the Astrophysics Institute of the Canary Islands.

An unexpected result

In any case, the main result of this work "is that the gas seems to be moving further away in a ballistic or free manner and is hardly slowing down, contrary to what was thought in previous studies," comments the lead author of the investigation, Tiina Liimets of the Tartu Observatory in Estonia.

Until now it was thought that the gas from the explosion would slow down "significantly" due to the large quantity of matter in its path that the star has expelled previously. However, its speed has remained between a range of 600 and 1000 kilometres per second.

Long before the explosion in 1901, more than one hundred thousand years ago, GK Persei had already undergone a massive transformation from a red giant to a white dwarf. This process expelled its external layers forming a planetary nebula, which is a giant gas cloud within which the nova is now growing in 3D.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Plataforma SINC, via AlphaGalileo.

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Journal Reference:

1. T. Liimets, R.L.M. Corradi, M. Santander-Garc?a, E. Villaver, P. Rodr?guez-Gil, K. Verro, I. Kolka. A three-dimensional view of the remnant of Nova Persei 1901 (GK Per). Astrophysical Journal, December 2012

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/SLhdjgIXI-s/130124123442.htm

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