Professor Jon Scott, with University of Leicester students.
Students? development of a sense of belonging is key to their success in higher education, a University of Leicester professor will explain in a public lecture.
Professor Jon Scott, of the University?s School of Biological Sciences, will give his inaugural lecture Ut Vitam Habeant ? Student Retention and Success on Tuesday 13 November.
Professor Scott researches both the areas of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and the Neural Control of Movement.
His lecture will present research carried out within the University?s School of Biological Sciences into the issues contributing to student retention and success.
Professor Scott said: ?Universities and the students who study with them both invest substantially in higher education. As the scale of that investment, particularly on the part of the students, has increased and comparative statistical information regarding student achievement has become more freely available and been fed into league tables, so there has been an increase in the attention paid to those metrics.
?Although the stakes have changed, success in higher education for the individual student has always been of considerable significance. Research undertaken within the School of Biological Sciences has been investigating the issues contributing to student retention and success for a number of years.
?In this lecture I want to explore the outcomes of these different projects with particular foci on the concepts of ?fragmented transitions?, the development of a sense of belonging and the ways in which social and academic pressures interact to impact on the individual student?s success in higher education.
?Through the use of video diaries, structured interviews and focus groups we are building up a rich insight into the expectations and experiences of undergraduate students. Across the sector, significant emphasis is placed on the initial induction of students into higher education, recognising the seminal importance of this transition.
?From our work it is clear, however, that the process of ?going to university? is not a simple, linear transition but is a complex, fragmented process that continues through much of the student life cycle and impacts on integration and the development of the individual sense of belonging which underpin student retention. These observations will be discussed with specific reference to current and potential strategies for enhancing student success.?
Professor Scott received a National Teaching Fellowship from the Higher Education Academy for his contributions to learning and teaching in higher education earlier this year.
Last year, he was named UK Bioscience Teacher of the Year by the UK Centre for Bioscience in conjunction with Oxford University Press.
The lecture will be held in Lecture Theatre 1 of the Ken Edwards Building, University of Leicester main campus, at 5.30pm on Tuesday 13 November. The event is free and open to the public
Josh Koscheck's last fight was a loss in May to Johny Hendricks. An injury knocked him off UFC 151 before it was canceled. Now that he is healthy again, he is looking for an opponent. Luckily, Nick Diaz's camp made it easy for Koscheck to come up with someone.
Cesar is calling 4 me the fight Diaz in Feb. Super Bowl weekend! What you guy think? I am DOWN! Don't be scared Homie! #559 lol
UFC president Dana White said that when Diaz comes off suspension, he will need to win a fight before getting a chance at the belt. Diaz lost a tight decision to Carlos Condit for the interim welterweight belt, then was later suspended when his drug test was found positive for marijuana metabolites.
The suspension means a Super Bowl weekend fight is unlikely. Diaz's suspension ends on Feb. 3, the day after the Feb. 2 date of the event that is normally a huge event for the UFC. But even if it's not that weekend, this is an intriguing fight. The amount of trash talking alone will make it fun, as will watching Diaz try to handle Koscheck's wrestling skill.
Do you want to see this fight? Speak up in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.
Big, beefy surround sound systems are usually reserved for dedicated home theaters. But in this multifunctional, lower-level entertainment area, the owners decided to go all-out by equipping it with nine Triad speakers and two subwoofers, creating a 9.2-channel surround-sound system that could blow their socks off.
Nine speakers and two subwoofers do a nice job of wrapping theatergoers in amazing sound, so you?d think they?d be a huge design element of the space. Not so. Stone Glidden in King of Prussia, Pa., mounted all of the speakers between the wall studs as the 2,000-square-foot lower level was being renovated.
The studs were then covered with fabric paneling from Novawall. The fabric is designed specifically for home theaters, allowing sound from the speakers to travel through the weave - while providing an additional 2 inches behind for foam core insulation that helps optimize the room acoustics.
Placing the speakers behind offered yet another advantage for the homeowners: It would protect the gear from the hands of their two young children. ?They really wanted a place where they could have fun but not worry about accidentally knocking over a speaker or spilling something on it,? says Tom Stone, president of Stone Glidden.
It takes a large speaker - and lots of them - to fill a space as large as this remodeled lower level. That?s one of the reasons Stone Glidden recommended a 9.2-channel surround-sound arrangement for the theater portion of the 2,000-square-foot rec room. You?d never know there were that many speakers, though ? until you hear the audio. The sound seemingly emanates from the walls.
The speakers - InWall Bronze/4 LCR models from Triad - were mounted between the wall studs during the construction of the room and covered completely with acoustical fabric. Designed specifically for in-wall installation, the InWall Bronze/4 LCRs feature a rigid, braced enclosure to prevent sound waves from bleeding into adjacent rooms.
The Control4 system selected as the room?s mode of control is just as kid-friendly. Glidden and his team programmed the system so the entire theater could be revved up by just touching one button on a wireless Wi-Fi-enabled Control4 touchpanel. The command activates the Integra surround-sound receiver and Blu-ray player, while firing up the Runco video projector. In seconds, the movie is displayed on a 119-inch Da-Lite screen.
The touchpanel does other tricks, too. The family can use it to have audio and video signals travel from an A/V rack inside a specially constructed closet to the 37-inch Samsung displays in the exercise room and bar - as well as a TV in the kids? play area. Each ancillary entertainment space is equipped with in-ceiling speakers from Niles Audio.
These speakers can also broadcast music, as selected by the family from the Control4 touchpanel, from an iPod dock or the Rhapsody music service available through the Control4 processor. The result is entertainment that flows evenly and seamlessly from space to space and technology that helps the family get what they want where they want it, with nothing more than a touch of a button.
How the brain controls our habitsPublic release date: 30-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Sarah McDonnell s_mcd@mit.edu 617-253-8923 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT neuroscientists identify a brain region that can switch between new and old habits
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Habits are behaviors wired so deeply in our brains that we perform them automatically. This allows you to follow the same route to work every day without thinking about it, liberating your brain to ponder other things, such as what to make for dinner.
However, the brain's executive command center does not completely relinquish control of habitual behavior. A new study from MIT neuroscientists has found that a small region of the brain's prefrontal cortex, where most thought and planning occurs, is responsible for moment-by-moment control of which habits are switched on at a given time.
"We've always thought and I still do that the value of a habit is you don't have to think about it. It frees up your brain to do other things," says Institute Professor Ann Graybiel, a member of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT. "However, it doesn't free up all of it. There's some piece of your cortex that's still devoted to that control."
The new study offers hope for those trying to kick bad habits, says Graybiel, senior author of the new study, which appears this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It shows that though habits may be deeply ingrained, the brain's planning centers can shut them off. It also raises the possibility of intervening in that brain region to treat people who suffer from disorders involving overly habitual behavior, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Lead author of the paper is Kyle Smith, a McGovern Institute research scientist. Other authors are recent MIT graduate Arti Virkud and Karl Deisseroth, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University.
Old habits die hard
Habits often become so ingrained that we keep doing them even though we're no longer benefiting from them. The MIT team experimentally simulated this situation with rats trained to run a T-shaped maze. As the rats approached the decision point, they heard a tone indicating whether they should turn left or right. When they chose correctly, they received a reward chocolate milk (for turning left) or sugar water (for turning right).
To show that the behavior was habitual, the researchers eventually stopped giving the trained rats any rewards, and found that they continued running the maze correctly. The researchers then went a step further, offering the rats chocolate milk in their cages but mixing it with lithium chloride, which causes light nausea. The rats still continued to run left when cued to do so, although they stopped drinking the chocolate milk.
Once they had shown that the habit was fully ingrained, the researchers wanted to see if they could break it by interfering with a part of the prefrontal cortex known as the infralimbic (IL) cortex. Although the neural pathways that encode habitual behavior appear to be located in deep brain structures known as the basal ganglia, it has been shown that the IL cortex is also necessary for such behaviors to develop.
Using optogenetics, a technique that allows researchers to inhibit specific cells with light, the researchers turned off IL cortex activity for several seconds as the rats approached the point in the maze where they had to decide which way to turn.
Almost instantly, the rats dropped the habit of running to the left (the side with the now-distasteful reward). This suggests that turning off the IL cortex switches the rats' brains from an "automatic, reflexive mode to a mode that's more cognitive or engaged in the goal processing what exactly it is that they're running for," Smith says.
Once broken of the habit of running left, the rats soon formed a new habit, running to the right side every time, even when cued to run left. The researchers showed that they could break this new habit by once again inhibiting the IL cortex with light. To their surprise, they found that these rats immediately regained their original habit of running left when cued to do so.
"This habit was never really forgotten," Smith says. "It's lurking there somewhere, and we've unmasked it by turning off the new one that had been overwritten."
Online control
The findings suggest that the IL cortex is responsible for determining, moment-by-moment, which habitual behaviors will be expressed. "To us, what's really stunning is that habit representation still must be totally intact and retrievable in an instant, and there's an online monitoring system controlling that," Graybiel says.
It also appears that the IL cortex favors new habits over old ones, consistent with previous studies showing that when habits are broken they are not forgotten, but replaced with new ones.
Although it would be too invasive to use optogenetic interventions to break habits in humans, Graybiel says it is possible the technology will evolve to the point where it might be a feasible option for treating disorders involving overly repetitive or addictive behavior.
In follow-up studies, the researchers are trying to pinpoint exactly when during a maze run the IL cortex selects the appropriate habit. They are also planning to specifically inhibit different cell types within the IL cortex, to see which ones are most involved in habit control.
###
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Stanley H. and Sheila G. Sydney Fund, R. Pourian and Julia Madadi, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the Gatsby Foundation.
Written by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office
[ | 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.
How the brain controls our habitsPublic release date: 30-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Sarah McDonnell s_mcd@mit.edu 617-253-8923 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT neuroscientists identify a brain region that can switch between new and old habits
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Habits are behaviors wired so deeply in our brains that we perform them automatically. This allows you to follow the same route to work every day without thinking about it, liberating your brain to ponder other things, such as what to make for dinner.
However, the brain's executive command center does not completely relinquish control of habitual behavior. A new study from MIT neuroscientists has found that a small region of the brain's prefrontal cortex, where most thought and planning occurs, is responsible for moment-by-moment control of which habits are switched on at a given time.
"We've always thought and I still do that the value of a habit is you don't have to think about it. It frees up your brain to do other things," says Institute Professor Ann Graybiel, a member of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT. "However, it doesn't free up all of it. There's some piece of your cortex that's still devoted to that control."
The new study offers hope for those trying to kick bad habits, says Graybiel, senior author of the new study, which appears this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It shows that though habits may be deeply ingrained, the brain's planning centers can shut them off. It also raises the possibility of intervening in that brain region to treat people who suffer from disorders involving overly habitual behavior, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Lead author of the paper is Kyle Smith, a McGovern Institute research scientist. Other authors are recent MIT graduate Arti Virkud and Karl Deisseroth, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University.
Old habits die hard
Habits often become so ingrained that we keep doing them even though we're no longer benefiting from them. The MIT team experimentally simulated this situation with rats trained to run a T-shaped maze. As the rats approached the decision point, they heard a tone indicating whether they should turn left or right. When they chose correctly, they received a reward chocolate milk (for turning left) or sugar water (for turning right).
To show that the behavior was habitual, the researchers eventually stopped giving the trained rats any rewards, and found that they continued running the maze correctly. The researchers then went a step further, offering the rats chocolate milk in their cages but mixing it with lithium chloride, which causes light nausea. The rats still continued to run left when cued to do so, although they stopped drinking the chocolate milk.
Once they had shown that the habit was fully ingrained, the researchers wanted to see if they could break it by interfering with a part of the prefrontal cortex known as the infralimbic (IL) cortex. Although the neural pathways that encode habitual behavior appear to be located in deep brain structures known as the basal ganglia, it has been shown that the IL cortex is also necessary for such behaviors to develop.
Using optogenetics, a technique that allows researchers to inhibit specific cells with light, the researchers turned off IL cortex activity for several seconds as the rats approached the point in the maze where they had to decide which way to turn.
Almost instantly, the rats dropped the habit of running to the left (the side with the now-distasteful reward). This suggests that turning off the IL cortex switches the rats' brains from an "automatic, reflexive mode to a mode that's more cognitive or engaged in the goal processing what exactly it is that they're running for," Smith says.
Once broken of the habit of running left, the rats soon formed a new habit, running to the right side every time, even when cued to run left. The researchers showed that they could break this new habit by once again inhibiting the IL cortex with light. To their surprise, they found that these rats immediately regained their original habit of running left when cued to do so.
"This habit was never really forgotten," Smith says. "It's lurking there somewhere, and we've unmasked it by turning off the new one that had been overwritten."
Online control
The findings suggest that the IL cortex is responsible for determining, moment-by-moment, which habitual behaviors will be expressed. "To us, what's really stunning is that habit representation still must be totally intact and retrievable in an instant, and there's an online monitoring system controlling that," Graybiel says.
It also appears that the IL cortex favors new habits over old ones, consistent with previous studies showing that when habits are broken they are not forgotten, but replaced with new ones.
Although it would be too invasive to use optogenetic interventions to break habits in humans, Graybiel says it is possible the technology will evolve to the point where it might be a feasible option for treating disorders involving overly repetitive or addictive behavior.
In follow-up studies, the researchers are trying to pinpoint exactly when during a maze run the IL cortex selects the appropriate habit. They are also planning to specifically inhibit different cell types within the IL cortex, to see which ones are most involved in habit control.
###
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Stanley H. and Sheila G. Sydney Fund, R. Pourian and Julia Madadi, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the Gatsby Foundation.
Written by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office
[ | 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.
Chicago Fire is giving Taylor Kinney a fairly stunning new girlfriend.
Fairly Legal?s?Sarah Shahi is joining NBC?s freshman drama as Renee Royce, a successful business woman and love interest for Kinney?s Lt. Kelly Severide.
RELATED | NBC Orders More Chicago Fire Episodes ? But There?s a Catch
Shahi, who is slated to appear in roughly six episodes, has plays mediator Kate Reed on USA Network?s Fairly Legal. The cabler has not yet renewed the series for a third season.
Stuck in your dorm room on a Tuesday night with nothing to do? Then Fitchburg State University?s intramural program is the perfect choice for you. The 2012-13 season is already underway with softball, ultimate Frisbee and soccer to name a few. Registration is continuing through Oct. 25th for volleyball, basketball, and racquetball. ??It?s never too late to get involved,? says Joshua Costa, one of the program supervisors.
Among the campus?s most popular extracurricular activities, intramural sports are a way to get out of the dorm rooms and make some new friends. The program is open to all students, faculty, and staff members, regardless of competitive or athletic background. ?Intramurals is a judge-free zone,? according to Costa. ?It?s a program for fun, a way for everyone to get away from the books and enjoy themselves.?
This is the fifth year of the coveted ?Falcon Cup championship, which combines points from more than two dozen events. Things will be slightly different this year as the program welcomed a new director, Brittany Rende, last month. ??Every year I?ve been here, the program has progressively improved,? says Costa. ?Brittany will be a great addition to the intramural team, only adding to the improvements we?ve made in the past.?
The intramural season consists of 25 different activities. There are one-day events such as punt-pass-kick and billiards. For those looking for more seasonal sporting events, they also feature sports such as dodgeball, basketball, and broomball, which can last for a few weeks. ?A new sport added to this year?s line up is speedminton, which is a lot like badminton, excluding the net.
?This year we?ve got a great mix of both team activities and individual activities, so even if you don?t have a team you can still participate,? said Costa. At the end of each event the winning team or individual will receive a trophy and an intramural champion t-shirt designed by an FSU student.
In the past, the Falcon Cup champions have received prizes, including Red Sox tickets. ?They also hold bragging rights over the rest of the intramural community heading into next season. And, in a new twist this year, teams winning a sufficient number of events may be qualified to travel to different area colleges and compete against their intramural teams. ??We experimented with this last year when Marlboro College came to FSU for a game of broomball. It went over great with all the participants so it?s definitely something we want to do more of,? added Costa.
For more information on FSU?s intramural program, stop by the Recreation Center and ask for Brittany Rende. To register a team, go online to imleagues.com and look for FSU?s page. It costs $20 to register a Falcon Cup team for the year, or $5 per event.
NEW YORK (AP) ? With only hours remaining before an NHL-imposed deadline to make a deal with the players' association and preserve a full hockey season, all was quiet between the sides.
By Thursday afternoon, the sides were still not in contact.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman already painted a pessimistic picture on Wednesday, saying it was unlikely that a new collective bargaining agreement would be reached by Thursday that would allow the NHL to play a condensed 82-game schedule starting on Nov. 2.
In making its most recent offer to the players, the NHL presented a proposal that included a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenues. But that was contingent on the sides making a deal by Thursday and getting the season under way following a week of training camp.
Talks broke down last week, and the NHL turned down the union's offer to return to the table this week with no preconditions.
Booker, unions partner to attract young minorities to construction
www.rrstar.com
ROCKFORD ? Leaders in construction, education and public housing are increasing efforts this fall to promote careers in the construction trades among minority and low-income youth.
Guidance Software Inc. has announced it has opened its call for speakers and will accept panel and paper submissions on cybersecurity, e-discovery and digital investigations topics for next year's CEIC, the Computer and Enterprise Investigations Conference to be held at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Fla., on May 19-22, 2013.
CEIC is the industry's premier cybersecurity, e-discovery and digital forensics conference, with more than 2,000 digital investigation experts expected at the upcoming conference from corporations, government agencies, law enforcement, technology and service providers, and industry luminaries.
Conference attendees will have access to more than 100 educational sessions presented by a wide range of industry experts. Attendees will have the opportunity to earn CPE credit at every session, earn CLE credits, complete the EnCE exam, the EnCEP exam, renew EnCE status and have access to hands-on lab experience available at no other digital-investigations conference.
"The dramatic increase in new technology and services such as cloud computing and smartphones is complicating the job of digital investigators, IT security teams, and in-house counsel, which is why we stress high-quality educational sessions at CEIC," said Alex Andrianopoulos, vice president of marketing for Guidance Software. "We?ve been fortunate to have the best and brightest present at past shows and are looking for the same caliber of expert for the 2013 show."
The call for speakers is open through Nov. 15, 2012, and submissions will be considered and selected based on three guidelines including overall topic, strong case study content, and practical application tips and tricks. To submit a session for consideration, please go to http://www.ceicconference.com/callforspeakers.htm
Visit the CEIC 2013 website for the agenda and to register at: http://www.ceicconference.com/.
Purchasing and promoting a house is most likely one of the biggest financial transactions you will make in your own life, and it is not one that ought to be taken lightly. An excellent deal of planning and consideration should go in to the procedure, no matter whether or not you are buying or selling, and having an excellent realtor is one of the most practical things that can be done to make sure the whole sale goes without problems. However, discovering an excellent realtor isn?t usually the easiest thing to do, so we?re here to help you with some simple pointers that can help make your search for a realtor a lot easier.
To start with, the most important factor to bear in mind when selecting a realtor is locating one that you trust to do the work adequately while getting you the best deal possible. They must be well-informed as to what state of the present property market in the area, and be able to accurately predict future market fluctuations.
Secondly, there?s the issue of commission. A 6% commission is the recognized standard, but it is important to remember that everything is negotiable -however, if you?re a shrewd negotiator, you may not need a realtor in the first place! The reason commission is essential, although, is that some realtors will not keep a house in the marketplace as long as possible to get the maximum sale price. An extra $20,000 on the sale price does not translate into a much larger commission for them, so ensure that your real estate agent has your best interests at heart.
Finally, it is extremely useful to locate a realtor that you can really get along with. You?re going to be spending a fair amount of time with them over the course of the sale, so you need to make certain that you will not get frustrated with them.
Frequently, one of the best solutions to locate a good realtor is to speak to friends and neighbours who own real property in your area. If they?ve had an excellent experience with their realtor, they are generally quite pleased to provide you a reference to get in touch with them. If that is not a choice, then another option is to find someone who has been frequently rewarded by their broker agent for excellent customer service and sales achievements.
Please contact us at any of our real estate investment websites for more information on this interesting topic. All the best in your search!
Ownership Interest is broken down in to three categories for Real Estate
Fee Simple Absolute - The highest and fullest type of ownership in real property.
Fee - It is a potentially infinite duration. Simple - It has no limits on who may inherit it. Absolute - It will not terminate with the happening of an event.
Defeasible (Qualified) Fee - An interest that is less than fee simple because it has a condition placed on the deed which terminates or overules the Fee.
Life Estate - The interest is tied to either the life of the person who has the interest or someone else's life.
Two things may happen when there is a death in the interest of a Life Estate:
Reversionary Interest - The Ownership reverts back to the grantor when the life interest is terminated by death.
Remainder Interest - Ownership goes to a designated 3rd person upon death or termination of the life estate.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Tamika Catchings finally has the only title that was missing from her incredible basketball resume ? a WNBA championship.
She scored 25 points to help the Indiana Fever win their first WNBA title with an 87-78 victory over the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday night.
Catchings, who was the MVP of the Finals, averaged 24.8 points in the series, which the Fever won 3-1 over the defending WNBA champions.
"When you come into this league, your goal and dream is to win a WNBA championship," Catchings said. "Twelve years later ... it's so sweet right now."
Catchings had won three Olympic gold medals and an NCAA championship at Tennessee in 1998, but never a WNBA one. She had been in a position to clinch at home before. The Fever led Phoenix 2-1 in the best-of-five WNBA Finals in 2009, but the Mercury beat the Fever 90-77, took the series back to Phoenix and won the title at home in Game 5.
This time, Catchings took it home with college coach Pat Summitt looking on in the crowd.
The Fever won even though No. 2 scorer Katie Douglas missed most of the series with a severely sprained left knee. Douglas checked in with 3.2 seconds left to a loud ovation.
Erin Phillips added 18 points and eight rebounds while Shavonte Zellous and Briann January each had 15 points for the Fever.
Minnesota was trying to become the first team to repeat since Los Angeles in 2001 and 2002.
"It was hard being the hunted, as we all know," Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. "There's a reason this hasn't been done in over 10 years. I really felt like if there was a team that could do it, it was our team."
Indiana held Minnesota below 40 percent shooting in all three wins.
"They played good defense," Minnesota guard Lindsay Whalen said. "They contested shots and they made it tough for us to get in the lane a little bit. I think that was the theme of the whole series. They were just tough, and give them credit for the way they played."
Indiana led 63-58 at the end of the third quarter of Game 4. Minnesota cut Indiana's lead to 70-67 on a jumper by Maya Moore, but Phillips scored on a drive past Moore, got a defensive rebound, then found Shavonte Zellous for a 3-pointer from the left corner to give the Fever a 75-67 lead with 4:58 remaining.
Indiana led by at least five points the rest of the way. A 3-pointer by January gave Indiana an 80-72 lead with 1:18 to play. Reeve was called for a technical with 57.6 seconds remaining, Catchings made the free throw and the Fever took an 81-74 lead. Zellous made two more free throws with 27.2 seconds to play, and Fever fans began celebrating.
Seimone Augustus, Minnesota's leading scorer in the playoffs, was held to eight points on 3-for-21 shooting on Sunday. She shot 6-for-30 in the final two games of the series after the Fever switched January over to guard her.
Catchings said January, who was on the WNBA first-team all-defense squad, did her job.
"I think she set the tone," Catchings said. "All her (Augustus') baskets were hard. She used up all her energy in the first quarter."
Whalen scored 22 points and Moore added 16 points for the Lynx, who were vying to become the first team to win consecutive titles since Los Angeles in 2001 and 2002.
Moore picked up her third foul with 6:13 left in the second quarter. Reeve, who was fined for her jacket-tossing tantrum in Game 2, became animated again while disagreeing with the call. As the crowd erupted, Reeve waved hello and made the motion for a technical foul.
This time, Reeve's antics didn't help much as in Game 2, when her team pulled away from a tight contest after her technical foul for a convincing win. Minnesota tied the game three times in the second quarter, but the Fever closed with a 7-2 run, including a 3-pointer by Phillips, to take a 47-42 lead at halftime. Whalen scored 14 points in the first half to keep the Lynx in the game, often scoring on uncontested drives. Minnesota hung tough, despite Augustus shooting 2-for-13 in the first half.
It was right there for the Fever.
"Coming into halftime, we said we have 20 minutes and we're not trying to go back to to Minnesota to close this thing out," Zellous said.
Indiana started the second half on a 9-4 run, including two buckets by Catchings, to take a 56-46 lead.
Minnesota came right back. A driving layup by Moore cut Indiana's lead to 56-54 and forced the Fever to call timeout.
Minnesota tied the game on another drive by Moore, but the Fever responded with a 3-pointer by Catchings and a basket by Jessica Davenport to push the lead back to five by the end of the quarter.
Indiana then closed the deal at home in front of a sellout crowd.
"They made some huge runs at us and gave it everything at us, and I'm just relieved more than anything because we deserve this," Phillips said. "We've been through so much as a team, we've lost in crucial times and we've stuck together. I'm just so proud right now."
What did who know, when did they know it. And why is no one able to give a straight accounting of it that doesn?t conflict with another?
Gee, maybe someone is lying?
As the details of Obama?s cover-up slowly trickle out, we get the feeling by the time this is all done with we?ll find out Obama himself was personally observing the action in between fundraisers.
Now we discover we had drone surveillance of the attack as it happened and did nothing. Maybe we were concerned about innocent civilians protesting a video getting hurt.
Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., left in front of bus, gives a thumbs-up to supporters as he arrives for a campaign rally at the Valley View Campgrounds in Belmont, Ohio, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012, where he talked about economic conditions and the coal industry. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., left in front of bus, gives a thumbs-up to supporters as he arrives for a campaign rally at the Valley View Campgrounds in Belmont, Ohio, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012, where he talked about economic conditions and the coal industry. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Vice President Joe Biden shakes hands after speaking at the Ketterlinus Gymnasium in St. Augustine, Fla., Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Daytona Beach News-Journal, David Massey)
Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. poses with supporters after speaking at a campaign rally at the Valley View Campgrounds in Belmont, Ohio, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012, where he talked about economic conditions and the coal industry. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Vice President Joe Biden holds up a binder while remarking on Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's recent debate gaffe, during a visit to Ketterlinus Gymnasium in St. Augustine, Fla., Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Daytona Beach News-Journal, David Massey)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? One day out from their last debate, Republican Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama are cramming foreign policy and taking a rare break from swing-state campaigning.
Monday's face-off in Boca Raton, Fla., represents one of the last major opportunities for Obama and Romney to capture the attention of millions of voters ? especially that small but sought-after group of voters who haven't yet made up their minds.
Obama was holed up in Camp David in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains, where he arrived Friday to prep for the debate, a 90-minute encounter focused on international affairs. With him at the presidential retreat were a band of top advisers including National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, campaign strategist David Axelrod and White House senior adviser David Plouffe.
Romney planned to spend the weekend in Florida, continuing intensive preparation that has consumed large amounts of his time in recent weeks.
Foreign policy has surfaced as a prominent issue in the waning weeks of the race, elevated by a deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and a restive situation in Syria. Although polls show voters continue to prioritize economic issues, both candidates are aggressively pitching themselves as more competent to be commander in chief.
In an unusually quiet day on the campaign trail, Romney running mate Paul Ryan was the only candidate to be out in front of voters. The Wisconsin congressman plans two events Sunday in Iowa, including one in Sioux City with country singer Mark Wills, plus an evening rally in Colorado.
Still, with a tight race closing in, neither Romney nor Obama can afford more than a few days away from the handful of states that will decide the winner.
Obama planned a whirlwind excursion starting after Monday's debate. Events Tuesday in Florida and Ohio will be followed by around-the-clock campaigning Wednesday in Davenport, Iowa; Denver; Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Then on to Tampa, Fla.; Richmond, Va.; and Cleveland on Thursday, when Obama will also return home to Chicago to vote early as part of the campaign's push for early and absentee voting.
In a sign that the candidates' time has become the most precious commodity, Obama's aides said he planned to sleep Wednesday night aboard Air Force One and would call undecided voters from the airplane between stops.
Pippa Middleton writes about the recognition she has received for her ties to the royal family and the compliments she got for her "bottom" following her appearance at the royal wedding in her upcoming book.
Middleton is the younger sister of Kate Middleton, now known as the Duchess of Cambridge. Pippa Middleton is releasing a new party-planning book titled "Celebrate: A Year of Festivities for Families and Friends." An excerpt from the book appeared in a special 24-page pull out section in You Magazine by the U.K. newspaper The Daily Mail.
The 29-year-old writes, "It is a bit startling to achieve global recognition before the age of 30 on account of your sister, your brother-in-law and your bottom."
"One day I might be able to make sense of this. In the meantime I think it's fair to say that it has its upside and its downside," she adds. "I certainly have opportunities many can only dream of-- but in most ways I'm a typical girl in her 20s trying to forge a career and represent herself in what can sometimes seem rather strange circumstances."
Middleton goes on to say that she is an optimist and focuses on the opportunities she has received since being thrust in the spotlight. Middleton has had a few scandals since getting media attention including topless photos being leaked and a "gun" scandal involving one of her friends.
"The book is designed to be a comprehensive guide to home entertaining, based on my experience in my family's business Party Pieces and work for London-based events company Table Talk," Middleton explains in the excerpt.
The 400-page book will be published by Viking and becomes available on October 30 for $50, according to People magazine.
"I know many of you will pick up the book out of nothing more than curiosity," Middleton writes to readers who might purchase the book because of interest in the royal family. "I can assure you that it feels even stranger to me than it probably does to you to have seen so much written about me when I have done so little to paint a picture of myself."
(Copyright ?2012 OnTheRedCarpet.com. All Rights Reserved.)
VIENNA, Va. (AP) ? President Barack Obama has been wearing a pink wristband in recognition of breast cancer awareness month and his challenger, Mitt Romney, donned a pink ribbon on his shirt during a factory stop in Ohio.
The symbolic gestures are part of a determined competition in the campaign's closing weeks for suburban and working women who could help determine the winner in a series of toss-up states.
Women have emerged as the pivotal voting bloc in the aftermath of the second presidential debate, where Obama and Romney sparred over contraceptives and pay inequality and Romney spoke about reviewing "binders full of women" as governor when he sought to diversify his Massachusetts administration.
Some national polls suggest Obama's longstanding edge with female voters is narrowing, prompting both sides to make an all-out blitz for women.
At the heart of the debate, which is playing out in the suburbs of northern Virginia and in several swing states, is this question: What will most motivate women in the 2012 election?
Romney's pitch is heavily focused on economic issues ? his campaign contends that the vast majority of women will respond to pocketbook issues like paying for gasoline or groceries, the need for more take-home pay and how the federal debt might affect their children.
Obama has emphasized a mix of economic and social issues, warning that Romney's vow to repeal the Obamacare health law would hurt women and the Republican would fail to protect abortion rights.
Shirley Jackson, an 82-year-old Republican from Vienna, Va., said she continues to support Romney but is worried about how women perceive him. Jackson said she recently facilitated a discussion about the election at her local Red Hat Society meeting and was struck by how many women in the group said they were turned off by Romney's opposition to abortion rights.
"He has lost a tremendous amount of support among women because of this decision," Jackson said.
Democrats say Romney's views on women's health should be a deal-breaker. Melissa Skelton, 41, a stay-at-home mom from Vienna, said women's health has overshadowed other issues for multitudes of women ? and would help the president.
"I'd rather live with a president who struggles with the economy but cares about people," she said.
Romney's campaign is mindful that it does not need to win a majority of women because it maintains a healthy lead among men. But campaign officials say they could severely weaken the president's re-election chances by slicing into the 13-point margin Obama had with women voters in 2008 and picking off support in swing states where women form a majority of the electorate.
Obama's team, meanwhile, is trying to take advantage of the president's personal favorability among women and undermine those voters' trust in Romney.
Ads have highlighted Romney's opposition to federal funding for Planned Parenthood and his shifting views on abortion rights, which he supported in Massachusetts but has opposed during his two presidential bids. The Obama ads end with this tagline: "Women need to know the real Mitt Romney." Abortion-themed ads have been on the rise in recent weeks across the political spectrum, more than tripling in the number of occurrences since mid-September, according to Kantar Media Intelligence.
The campaigns are competing for women in several key suburban markets ? including northern Virginia, the Denver suburbs, central Florida and Cleveland's suburbs ? while simultaneously appealing to unmarried women and those with blue-collar backgrounds who have been more vulnerable to the slow economic recovery. Obama won about 70 percent of unmarried women and carried about 60 percent of suburban women in 2008, setting a high bar for the president's campaign.
The intense effort to reach female voters has grown as national polls have shown cracks in Obama's support among women. Four years ago, Obama and Republican rival John McCain essentially split men in 2008 but polls have shown Romney with a double-digit lead among males this time.
"The big gender gap I'm looking at right now is Obama's male gender gap because those men seem pretty cemented in," said Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway, who served as an adviser to Newt Gingrich's presidential bid. "Whereas there's a fair amount of women who remain fluid, either completely undecided or soft in their support for either Obama or Romney."
Romney has sought to distance himself from statements he made on abortion and contraceptives during the Republican primaries while driving home that his economic plan would create jobs for women and their families. Romney's wife, Ann, has been a key surrogate for her husband, vouching for him before female audiences.
In TV ads, Romney offers a moderate image. In one ad, a woman says that Romney "thinks abortion should be an option in cases of rape, incest or to save a mother's life" but says she's "more concerned about the debt our children will be left with." Another spot features women who served under Romney. "He totally gets working women," says Ellen Roy Herzfelder, Romney's former environmental affairs secretary.
Obama reminds voters that the first law he signed was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which prevents restrictions on workers filing lawsuits over pay inequity. Romney has not taken a position on the bill but said he wouldn't repeal it.
At rallies, the president routinely talks about the women in his life: how his grandmother watched men she trained get promoted over her, how education lifted his wife, Michelle, from a modest upbringing and why it wouldn't be fair if his two daughters earned less than their male counterparts when they eventually join the workforce.
___
Follow Ken Thomas at http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas
These days unless you?re going to the University of Phoenix, most people end up with about $25k in student loans after graduating. Tack on credit card, car payments, and living expenses, and you?re staring down the barrel of endless debt and very little saving. With comp day right around the corner, that little voice of reason might be telling you to pay off your student loan in its entirety. But before you do, take a second, should you really pay off your student loans quickly? Well that depends...
Before I continue, let me preface this by saying that I am Hispanic and went to an Ivy league school and graduated with less than 10k in student loans (affirmative action!). I have yet to pay this off, and heres why, it is the cheapest debt I have. My loan interest rate hovers around 5% and making payments that are more than the monthly minimum without my killing my bank account is just enough for me to pay it off in a reasonable amount of time. Besides I have more pressing things to pay off (insert jokes in the comment section about my being mexican and having 50 kids).
Based on my conversations with other people, my case is rare, and most people graduate with at least 25k in debt which would stress even the most chill bro out. So here are a few things to think about when considering paying off your loans:
Federal vs Private loans Always pay off your private loans frst. THese typically have hirer, variable interest rates that you do not want to leave waiting around. Federal loans are more lenient with around 5% interest and grace periods
Credit Cards / Car notes / mortagages If you have any serious long term, high interest rate debt, student loans should not be at the top of your debt list. Especially, with credit card debt. It is the most expensive and damaging form of debt so if you have it, definitely take care of that before tackling any other debt.
Early withdrawal from your IRA The simple answer is NO. The long answer is: Don?t do an early withdrawal from your retirement account. You might be tempted. Its ?free? money, that you could use to easily clear out some debt. But, it doesn?t make financial sense. WIth all the early withdrawal fees you pay and the long term loss of compiled interest on the original balance in the account far outweighs, the immediate short-term gains you?d get.
Smaller Contributions to your 401k Again, the simple answer here is NO. The long answer is don?t reduce your 401k contributions. Especially if your company is matching your contributions. Max this out early on while you can afford to. Later on when you have a family and a home, you will likely have to scale this back so don?t start now.
The main takeaway is If you?re serious about getting rid of debt, the key is to carefully look at where your money is going. You don?t have to get fancy and put together a budget plan. Use something mike mint.com to show you where your money is going. Even putting aside an extra $50 bucks a week will help. Oce you get into the habit of saving and getting rid of unnecessary expenses, it won?t seem like a burden anymore and you?ll be better able to manage your debt. Maybe I should take my own advice and pay off my last 6k...
Angling is probably the very best recreational routines on earth. Catching seafood is a terrific way to relax and appreciate time in the open air naturally. The more effective you will be at sportfishing, the better exciting it really is. This post is loaded with guidelines to help you to be a far more qualified fisherman.
Sportfishing entails a lot of quite distinct equipment, and also you want to ensure that you use it securely. Go into the habit of smoking of holding all your distinct handle (cutlery, hooks, and the like) properly while you are not making use of it. A loosened knife towards the bottom of your vessel can ruin a good sportfishing getaway.
Cast your bait about structures like docks, rocks and logs. Simply because fish are extremely attracted to these locations, so you will certainly be more likely to capture much more species of fish. A good place to discover sea food is close to weed beds, but you will have to be careful to steer clear of getting the range snagged.
Be risk-free whenever you go sport fishing. People have been seriously hurt by fishing and never while using correct security equipment. A good sound pair of gloves to handle the seafood, proper clothes, varying weather conditions, along with the problems of the sportfishing equipment are common things that ought to be considered to get a safe and productive trip.
In case you are concerned that your particular collection may be snagging in the eye of your own rod, there is an great way to verify their finish off. Take a dry cotton tennis ball and massage it round the diamond ring for each vision. If a number of the natural cotton is pulled away on an eyes, then you know it has a tough area and should be replaced.
Before you go out fishing, be sure that your line is not twisted or cut. Once your series becomes tangled, it could set you back valuable time to repair that one could be spending on water. Try to confirm that each of the units that you take in your vacation are operating to complete ability.
Area is every thing when you are sportfishing. Be sure you know while you are sportfishing a place that does not only are there any fish there, but that you will be prepared together with the appropriate techniques, and gear for that certain spot. Seasoned anglers are good individuals to talk to also for locating fantastic areas to travel angling.
One of the things you?re going to have to recall would be that the earlier you get out there and commence your sportfishing, the greater probability you might have at catching one thing. The reason being if you?re the very first man or woman on the market sportfishing then nobody has cut off the fishes? place so there is certainly much more fish that you should catch on your own.
Sportfishing, as was stated before, is really an enjoyable and soothing action. Hanging out outside with friends and relations is the best way to enjoy the saturday and sunday. The key to becoming a great fisherman, is knowing the best way to fish. If you use the advice in this post, you?ll get better at angling right away.
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Google has introduced a pair of new Samsung-manufactured Chromebooks, both of which run the Chrome OS. The 3G edition will retail for $329 and the Wi-Fi version for $249.?
By Matthew Shaer / October 19, 2012
The new Google Chromebook, which is manufactured by Samsung.
Google
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Google this week took the wraps off a pair of ultralight Chromebook computers, both of which will be manufactured by Samsung and outfitted with the Chrome operating system ? not Mac OS or Windows. The newest Chromebook is set to ship at two price points: $249 for a Wi-Fi-only edition and $329 for a 3G version.
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The Wi-Fi Chromebook goes on sale Monday at a range of retailers, including BestBuy and Staples.?The 3G Chromebook, meanwhile, will likely launch a week later; you can pre-order the device at Newegg.com, Amazon, and the Samsung Website.?
The Chromebook gets an 11.6-inch screen ? roughly on par with the smaller MacBook Air ??a 16GB solid-state hard drive, a pair of USB ports, and a listed weight of 2.43 pounds. (The 11-inch Macbook Air, by comparison, weighs?2.38 pounds.)?Users will get a bunch of free Google Drive storage and automatic updates for the Chrome OS.?So how does the latest Chromebook stack up to its competitors??
Well, over at Computerworld, JR Raphael praises the "cloud-centric" operating system on the Wi-Fi Chromebook.?
"Chrome OS eliminates the hassles of manually updating applications over time; the platform's Web-based apps all update seamlessly on their own, just like the OS," Raphael writes. "You don't have to deal with messy drivers and software conflicts or?worry about virus protection, either. And thanks to the nature of the software setup, Chromebooks don't get gunked up and slowed down over time, as more traditional PCs frequently do."
And at Engadget, Myriam Joire calls the Chromebook "a phenomenal device for the price. If you're used to working in the cloud, you're basically getting 80 percent of the entry-level MacBook Air experience for a quarter of the price. Factor in the?Google Now?integration and 100GB of free?Google Drive?storage for two years and this latest Chromebook is a winner."?
Thinking about picking up a Chromebook? Drop us a line in the comments section. And to receive regular updates on how technology intersects daily life, follow the Horizons team on?Twitter @venturenaut.
Many moms think their husbands are terrific dads, but not all have gone through a life-or-death crisis to prove just how amazing the men in their lives are. For Tori Spelling, surviving her recent health scare was a reminder of how lucky she is.
Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 202-872-6042 American Chemical Society
The technology that opened a wealth of new natural gas resources in the U.S. is producing millions of gallons of dirty water enough from one typical gas well to cover a football field to a depth of 9-15 feet. Cleaning up that byproduct of "fracking" is the topic of the cover story of the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News. C&EN is the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.
Melody M. Bomgardner, C&EN senior business editor, explains that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, uses a mixture of water and chemicals injected into the ground to break open rock and release natural gas. Some of that water comes back out of the ground, laden with various salts, minerals, heavy metals and other substances that pose health and environmental risks. The article describes how water treatment firms are responding to that challenge, developing new ways to treat fracking wastewater and competing for business.
Some companies have developed chemical treatments to remove contaminants and microbes from the wastewater, which can then be reused, while others use evaporators to separate fresh water from the brine. Bomgardner notes that treating the wastewater is a special challenge in the Marcellus Shale area of the Appalachian Basin, where wastewater millions of gallons per well must be trucked away for disposal. The cost of disposal is spurring oil and gas companies to adopt these and other technologies that could limit the amount of contaminated water that reaches people, plants and animals, the article notes.
###
The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 164,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.
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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.
Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 202-872-6042 American Chemical Society
The technology that opened a wealth of new natural gas resources in the U.S. is producing millions of gallons of dirty water enough from one typical gas well to cover a football field to a depth of 9-15 feet. Cleaning up that byproduct of "fracking" is the topic of the cover story of the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News. C&EN is the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.
Melody M. Bomgardner, C&EN senior business editor, explains that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, uses a mixture of water and chemicals injected into the ground to break open rock and release natural gas. Some of that water comes back out of the ground, laden with various salts, minerals, heavy metals and other substances that pose health and environmental risks. The article describes how water treatment firms are responding to that challenge, developing new ways to treat fracking wastewater and competing for business.
Some companies have developed chemical treatments to remove contaminants and microbes from the wastewater, which can then be reused, while others use evaporators to separate fresh water from the brine. Bomgardner notes that treating the wastewater is a special challenge in the Marcellus Shale area of the Appalachian Basin, where wastewater millions of gallons per well must be trucked away for disposal. The cost of disposal is spurring oil and gas companies to adopt these and other technologies that could limit the amount of contaminated water that reaches people, plants and animals, the article notes.
###
The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 164,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.
[ | 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.
Professor Jon Scott, with University of Leicester students.
Josh Koscheck's last fight was a loss in May to Johny Hendricks. An injury knocked him off UFC 151 before it was canceled. Now that he is healthy again, he is looking for an opponent. Luckily, Nick Diaz's camp made it easy for Koscheck to come up with someone.![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 30-Oct-2012
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Chicago Fire is giving Taylor Kinney a fairly stunning new girlfriend.
What did who know, when did they know it. And why is no one able to give a straight accounting of it that doesn?t conflict with another?