Dragon--that quintessential baddie of folklore and mythology--takes center stage in this month's featured Art Print. Although Saint George is clearly the hero of Peter Paul Rubens' iconic painting, it is the pitch-black, scaly, fire-spewing beast he is attempting to slay that inspires fascination.
Dragon references first appeared in the Near East between the Fifth and Fourth Century, B.C., and have continued to this day. Nearly every culture in the world has its own dragon lore and iconography.
"Dragons are awe-inspiring patchwork creatures found in the myths and legends of cultures all around the world.... Despite their differences, many of the mythical dragons found throughout the world all began as vague serpentine ideas modeled after real creatures, beginning with a snake or some other fearsome reptile. Over time, they acquired more definite and exotic shapes as they absorbed the hopes and superstitions of the local people and borrowed the traits of local animals." (livescience.com)
Yet, not all dragons are the loathsome and feared beasts of Western and Christian mythology, in which they represent Satan, evil and the vanquishing of paganism. Many Asian cultures revere the dragon, such as in China, where dragons are symbols of power, happiness and fertility. Despite the dragon being a product of the ancient world, its image and allure are still inspiring artists today.
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
"So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings."--J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit.
Although many Christian saints could claim the title "Dragon Slayer," it is Saint George who gets all the glory. The Legend of Saint George and the Dragon, which originated during the Crusades, is as follows: A ferocious dragon was terrorizing a kingdom. The dragon demanded to be fed one maiden per day, or it would destroy the land with its scorching flames and putrid vapors. When all the maidens had been consumed, the only one left was the king's only daughter.
Now, as Saint George was traveling the land, he heard tell of the dragon and its hold on the people. He decided to confront the dragon and put an end to its terror. Traveling the land, he came upon the dragon's cave, where the princess was being held. The dragon rushed from its cave, where he found the knight on his steed. The two battled until George plunged his spear into the dragon, slaying it and saving the princess.
The Flemish Baroque master, Peter Paul Rubens, painted his version of the popular subject while visiting Italy. "This work was made in Ruben's youth ... and is a perfect example of the monumentality of his paintings from that period, with strong, forceful figures. Also characteristic of his work from that time are the use of directed light and very dynamic compositions, as can be seen here in the strong diagonal placement of the horse, which practically divides the canvas into two parts."
Ruben's painterly technique serves the energy of this scene, as the dragon struggles to remove the spear piercing its gaping mouth. The symbolism of the white steed rising over the black serpent could not be clearer: the victory of good over evil.
Source Citation (MLA 7th Edition)
Carroll, Colleen. "Mythology in art." Arts & Activities Apr. 2013: 19. Fine Arts and Music Collection. Web. 16 May 2013.
Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA324397521&v=2.1&u=22054_acld&it=r&p=PPFA&sw=w
Gale Document Number: GALE|A324397521
Showing posts with label Healthcare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Healthcare. Show all posts
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Cummins Partnering with Castlight in Effort to Improve Health CareQuality and Reduce Costs for Employees
Health Care List - Health Care Professions List - Healthcare Mailing List, a photo by Thomson Data LLC on Flickr.
Through Castlight's health care management suite, users are able to access valuable information on the cost and quality of medical providers and procedures, empowering them to make well-informed decisions on the care available to them.
An ardent supporter of employee health and wellness, Cummins offers a wide variety of programs to help its workforce take control of their health care. When it launched a consumer-driven health plan (CDHP), Cummins determined that incorporating a Health Care Transparency solution would not only help employees uncover low-cost, high-quality care, but could also drive engagement in other benefits initiatives such as its wellness programs.
"Our business is powered by our employees and we believe that healthy, productive and informed employees are key to our success," said Jill Olds, Director, Global Benefits Strategy, Cummins Inc. "By adding Health Care Transparency from Castlight to our benefits program, we can further engage our employees and their families in their health care and empower them to become better health care consumers."
With Castlight, employees can find cost-effective health care providers, services and facilities. In addition, the Castlight tool will help cross-promote Cummins' nurse helpline, maternity management program and Virgin HealthMiles rewards program. Cummins also plans to integrate Castlight with its pharmacy partner to provide richer data on pharmacies and prescriptions.
"Cummins has long been a visionary in how it approaches employee benefits and in understanding the importance and impact of engaging employees in their health care," said Giovanni Colella, M.D., co-founder and CEO, Castlight Health. "Forward-thinking employers like Cummins are helping pave the path to Health Care Transparency by showcasing how innovative new benefits offerings can improve outcomes and reduce costs for their employees." About Cummins Cummins Inc., a global power leader, is a corporation of complementary business units that design, manufacture, distribute and service diesel and natural gas engines and related technologies, including fuel systems, controls, air handling, filtration, emission solutions and electrical power generation systems. Headquartered in Columbus, Indiana, (USA) Cummins currently employs approximately 46,000 people worldwide and serves customers in approximately 190 countries and territories through a network of approximately 600 company-owned and independent distributor locations and approximately 6,500 dealer locations. Cummins earned $1.65 billion on sales of $17.3 billion in 2012.
Source Citation (MLA 7th Edition)
"Cummins Partnering with Castlight in Effort to Improve Health Care Quality and Reduce Costs for Employees." Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week 18 May 2013: 123. Health Reference Center Academic. Web. 16 May 2013.
Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA329470905&v=2.1&u=22054_acld&it=r&p=HRCA&sw=w
Gale Document Number: GALE|A329470905
Monday, May 21, 2012
Winners on winning
FROM A DISTANCE, the rewards of winning a writing contest can seem pretty clear-cut: A book is published; a writer receives some cash. But the benefits of coming out on top aren't always so obvious. We caught up with five recent winners of book-publication prizes to find out what the money, exposure, and validation from the literary community has meant to them and their careers.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Elana Bell, winner of the 2011 Walt Whitman Award for Eyes, Stones.
The award has allowed me the opportunity to connect with and have my work read by poets whom I greatly admire--Naomi Shihab Nye, for example.... Winning the award was like a steroid shot. It has given me some courage to begin applying for college-teaching positions, to create a website, and, even more important, to take the risk of realizing some long-term artistic visions. I also have visions of the work I want to do as an educator: I think creative writing can be used as a tool when working with people from regions in conflict. Winning the award gave me confidence to develop that curriculum and pedagogy.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Khadijah Queen, winner of the 2010 Noemi Book Award for Poetry for Black Peculiar.
Winning the award did give my work a lot more exposure. I was asked to do several paid readings and solicited to submit to literary magazines.... I used much of the prize money to pay a bill, honestly, but once that was paid, I was later able to fund my way to attend two summer writers retreats where I made important new connections and deepened old ones.... I felt the work was validated, which was important to me because of its experimental nature. This book is much bolder in style and content than my first book. It felt good to have that boldness rewarded.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Douglas Light, winner of the 2010 Grace Paley Prize in Short Fiction for Girls in Trouble.
As far as prizes go, the money was substantial. Unfortunately, the financial demands of life are even more so. I thought of using the money to cover my mortgage for a couple of months, or maybe using it to buy a new computer. I even contemplated tossing my responsibilities and taking to the road for a bit. Instead, I launched a new project that was beyond my expertise: theater. I used the money I'd won to book a sixty-seat theater in lower Manhattan and stage an evening of actors performing stories from my collection, all set to the lush, captivating music of a four-piece band. If I gauge the event on number of books sold, then the production was a failure. I sold eight books. But against all other metrics, the night was a grand success. The theater sold out, the actors and musicians were brilliant, and everyone is still talking about how great the night was. And as a direct result of the production, I received a grant to turn one of the stories from the collection into a short film.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Katie Umans, winner of the 2010 Saint Lawrence Book Award for Flock Book.
I don't think I'll do anything especially career oriented with the prize money, which I'll receive with the publication of my book this summer, but I'll probably spend a small portion of it on new poetry books. I think it's really important to purchase a good share of new poetry books and support authors, especially as I root for my book to be bought by others! However, all funds ultimately help a writing career by buying time and peace of mind--which both mean the chance to write more.... I couldn't say whether alerting journals in my cover letter that I have a book coming out has affected their decision to publish or not publish my poems. I still get accepted sometimes and rejected sometimes. I have had journals accept poems and then offer to try and push up publication to align with the release of the book, which is nice.... I still have a day job and don't feel like I have the credentials to seek a fulltime, stable, teaching job, which I'd eventually love to do. What winning the prize did do is seal off the first book as a finished work. No more tinkering, no more tweaking, no more writing new poems and feeding them to the manuscript like it's an insatiable monster. I feel like I've shed many earlier versions of myself as a poet by casting off that book. You are proud of your first book, but you also want to move on from it as a writer.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Diane Simmons, winner of Ohio State University Press's 2010 Prize in Short Fiction for Little America.
The prize has, to my surprise, changed the way I understand myself as a short story writer. Previously I thought of my stories as stand-alones, each a world unto itself. I was shocked when readers of the collection seemed to view it differently, discussing how the stories were "linked," even assuming that I had written them in some carefully thought-out order. I value my stories more now; I see more in them, see connections I didn't understand before. Which leads me to this thought: Many of us look to short stories as a stepping-stone to the grand prize--the novel. That's fine. But maybe, too, our stories, if we are lucky enough to have them all read in one place, create the longer, fuller work we aspire to.... I used the prize money to promote the book, primarily by going out West, where the stories are set, to do readings and signings.... I've heard from several agents, but don't quite have my present project ready to show. I haven't heard from any magazines [soliciting work], but I do believe the rejections are getting much more respectful!
Source Citation
"Winners on winning." Poets & Writers Magazine 40.3 (2012): 57+. Academic OneFile. Web. 21 May 2012.
Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA288873935&v=2.1&u=22054_acld&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w
Gale Document Number: GALE|A288873935
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Elana Bell, winner of the 2011 Walt Whitman Award for Eyes, Stones.
The award has allowed me the opportunity to connect with and have my work read by poets whom I greatly admire--Naomi Shihab Nye, for example.... Winning the award was like a steroid shot. It has given me some courage to begin applying for college-teaching positions, to create a website, and, even more important, to take the risk of realizing some long-term artistic visions. I also have visions of the work I want to do as an educator: I think creative writing can be used as a tool when working with people from regions in conflict. Winning the award gave me confidence to develop that curriculum and pedagogy.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Khadijah Queen, winner of the 2010 Noemi Book Award for Poetry for Black Peculiar.
Winning the award did give my work a lot more exposure. I was asked to do several paid readings and solicited to submit to literary magazines.... I used much of the prize money to pay a bill, honestly, but once that was paid, I was later able to fund my way to attend two summer writers retreats where I made important new connections and deepened old ones.... I felt the work was validated, which was important to me because of its experimental nature. This book is much bolder in style and content than my first book. It felt good to have that boldness rewarded.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Douglas Light, winner of the 2010 Grace Paley Prize in Short Fiction for Girls in Trouble.
As far as prizes go, the money was substantial. Unfortunately, the financial demands of life are even more so. I thought of using the money to cover my mortgage for a couple of months, or maybe using it to buy a new computer. I even contemplated tossing my responsibilities and taking to the road for a bit. Instead, I launched a new project that was beyond my expertise: theater. I used the money I'd won to book a sixty-seat theater in lower Manhattan and stage an evening of actors performing stories from my collection, all set to the lush, captivating music of a four-piece band. If I gauge the event on number of books sold, then the production was a failure. I sold eight books. But against all other metrics, the night was a grand success. The theater sold out, the actors and musicians were brilliant, and everyone is still talking about how great the night was. And as a direct result of the production, I received a grant to turn one of the stories from the collection into a short film.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Katie Umans, winner of the 2010 Saint Lawrence Book Award for Flock Book.
I don't think I'll do anything especially career oriented with the prize money, which I'll receive with the publication of my book this summer, but I'll probably spend a small portion of it on new poetry books. I think it's really important to purchase a good share of new poetry books and support authors, especially as I root for my book to be bought by others! However, all funds ultimately help a writing career by buying time and peace of mind--which both mean the chance to write more.... I couldn't say whether alerting journals in my cover letter that I have a book coming out has affected their decision to publish or not publish my poems. I still get accepted sometimes and rejected sometimes. I have had journals accept poems and then offer to try and push up publication to align with the release of the book, which is nice.... I still have a day job and don't feel like I have the credentials to seek a fulltime, stable, teaching job, which I'd eventually love to do. What winning the prize did do is seal off the first book as a finished work. No more tinkering, no more tweaking, no more writing new poems and feeding them to the manuscript like it's an insatiable monster. I feel like I've shed many earlier versions of myself as a poet by casting off that book. You are proud of your first book, but you also want to move on from it as a writer.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Diane Simmons, winner of Ohio State University Press's 2010 Prize in Short Fiction for Little America.
The prize has, to my surprise, changed the way I understand myself as a short story writer. Previously I thought of my stories as stand-alones, each a world unto itself. I was shocked when readers of the collection seemed to view it differently, discussing how the stories were "linked," even assuming that I had written them in some carefully thought-out order. I value my stories more now; I see more in them, see connections I didn't understand before. Which leads me to this thought: Many of us look to short stories as a stepping-stone to the grand prize--the novel. That's fine. But maybe, too, our stories, if we are lucky enough to have them all read in one place, create the longer, fuller work we aspire to.... I used the prize money to promote the book, primarily by going out West, where the stories are set, to do readings and signings.... I've heard from several agents, but don't quite have my present project ready to show. I haven't heard from any magazines [soliciting work], but I do believe the rejections are getting much more respectful!
Source Citation
"Winners on winning." Poets & Writers Magazine 40.3 (2012): 57+. Academic OneFile. Web. 21 May 2012.
Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA288873935&v=2.1&u=22054_acld&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w
Gale Document Number: GALE|A288873935
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
THE BEST & WORST CITIES FOR MEN 2012
RANKING AMERICA'S CITIES
OUR ANNUAL STATISTICAL REPORT CARD REVEALS WHICH CITY RANKS AS AMERICA'S TOP METROPOLIS FOR MEN. HOW DOES YOUR HOMETOWN STACK UP?
Burlington, Vermont, has four colleges packed into 10 square miles. Naturally, this means that a certain percentage of the population follows a strict 40-30-30 diet (caffeine, sugar, trans fats) and considers keg stands a core-building workout. But you should never judge a city by its juvenile delinquents. The fact is, most of the men in Burlington could teach a graduate course in healthy living--they're that healthy. And they're also that fit and happy. We know, because we evaluated 100 cities in 35 categories ranging from exercise, employment, and air quality to heart disease, diabetes, and depression, using sources such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the CDC, and the FBI. After weeks of mind-numbing math, we hit "calculate" in the last column of our Excel spreadsheet and determined our final grades for the Class of 2012. Now comes your assignment: Take a little of what makes the top five thrive and apply it to your own life.
BY LAURA ROBERSON
RESEARCH BY JACLYN COLLETTI
The 10 best
1 Burlington, VT
2 Madison, WI
3 Plano, TX
4 San Jose, CA
5 Boise, ID
6 Austin, TX
7 Virginia Beach, VA
8 Seattle, WA
9 Aurora, CO
10 Raleigh, NC
The 10 worst
91 Kansas City, MO
92 Toledo, OH
93 Tulsa, OK
94 Cleveland, OH
95 Jackson, MS
96 St. Louis, MO
97 Detroit, MI
98 Philadelphia, PA
99 Burlington, AL
100 Memphis, TN
For more on the sources for our statistics and to see additional city rankings, go to MensHealth.com/metrogrades.
#1 Burlington, VT
Fight disease head-on
Burlington may be the birthplace of Ben & Jerry's, but it's hardly a town of chubby hubbies. "The obesity epidemic, which has been linked to heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, hasn't hit as badly here," says James Vecchio, M.D., a professor of medicine at the University of Vermont. "We have health-conscious patients." This translates into men who know their health screening options the way other guys know their fantasy football stats. Still, disease prevention is a two-way street in this city. "Our major medical center recently introduced electronic medical records, which will hopefully further boost rates of preventive care," says Dr. Vecchio. Doctors will soon be able to program preventive-care reminders into patients' e-records so they never miss screenings. Ask your M.D. about switching to digital records, and then download the MyChart app, which lets you use your smartphone to view your medical file and any screening reminders.
#2 Madison, WI
Score points for your heart
NBA lockout or not, nets are swishing in Madison, where folks shoot hoops more often than in 98 of the 100 cities we ranked. "The winters are so bad that people would rather play basketball at the gym than football in the snow," says Lamont Paris, an assistant coach of the men's basketball team at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. As a vigorous, aerobic activity, basketball can improve your heart health, which may help explain Madison's impressively low rate of men keeling over from coronaries. To maximize your pickup payoff, "don't just hang out on one end of the floor," says Paris. "Sprint beyond the midcourt line with every quick change of possession. You're varying speed and direction, with explosive bursts and short rest periods. Basketball is essentially interval training."
#3 Plano, TX
Hit the ground running
Plano's motto should be "Happy Trails," because it's home to some of the country's most avid joggers, cyclists, and mountain bikers. "We have about 65 miles of trails, many of which are interconnected," says Renee Jordan, the city's trail system planner.
"Plus, Plano has sidewalks everywhere, so people can jog directly to the trails." Follow the Plano prescription for fitness, and your mind and body will thank you--a Utah State University study found that outdoor runners felt more revitalized than gym-bound runners. No access to trails? Buy a treadmill with a Passport media player, such as the AFG 7.1AT treadmill ($2,000, afgfitness.com). The device communicates wirelessly with your TV to match outdoor video footage with your speed.
#4 San Jose, CA
Talk your way out of trouble
It's not just the weather here that's sunny. Rates of sadness and hopelessness are exceptionally low in this Silicon Valley city, according to CDC data. "People here are highly involved in the tech industry. It's a progressive area," says Brian Sackett, Ph.D., a private-practice psychologist in San Jose. "As a result, there isn't as great a stigma attached to seeing a therapist." If you're feeling blue but hate the idea of therapy, think about it this way: "Something you care about--your marriage, your job--is threatened when you're depressed," he says.
"Initially, therapy doesn't have to be something you do for yourself." Set an external goal, rather than an emotional one, for your first few sessions.
#5 Boise, ID
Grow your own
Harvard researchers recently indicted potatoes as one of the worst foods for your waistline. So how can the Spud State's capital be a hot spot for healthy men? "We have a lot of community gardens," says Nancy Rush, R.D., of Idaho's Central District Health Department. And surprisingly, potatoes aren't Boise residents' primary crop. "People mostly grow greens, squash, broccoli, and lots of tomatoes," she says. "With community gardens, you not only gain access to fresh food, but you also get exercise when you plant, harvest, and weed. Plus, you enjoy the social benefits of working together." Ready to stake out a plot? Search for a garden in your city at communitygarden.org.
((caption)):
Burlington is more than skiing central--it's also America's best city for men.
((caption)):
Madison men seem to have a healthy glow.
((caption)):
Community gardens mean fewer couch potatoes in Boise.
((caption)):
Plano is the wheel deal, with more cyclists than any other city.
Source Citation
"THE BEST & WORST CITIES FOR MEN 2012." Men's Health Jan.-Feb. 2012: 072. Psychology Collection. Web. 1 May 2012.
Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA282110124&v=2.1&u=22054_acld&it=r&p=PPPC&sw=w
Gale Document Number: GALE|A282110124
OUR ANNUAL STATISTICAL REPORT CARD REVEALS WHICH CITY RANKS AS AMERICA'S TOP METROPOLIS FOR MEN. HOW DOES YOUR HOMETOWN STACK UP?
Burlington, Vermont, has four colleges packed into 10 square miles. Naturally, this means that a certain percentage of the population follows a strict 40-30-30 diet (caffeine, sugar, trans fats) and considers keg stands a core-building workout. But you should never judge a city by its juvenile delinquents. The fact is, most of the men in Burlington could teach a graduate course in healthy living--they're that healthy. And they're also that fit and happy. We know, because we evaluated 100 cities in 35 categories ranging from exercise, employment, and air quality to heart disease, diabetes, and depression, using sources such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the CDC, and the FBI. After weeks of mind-numbing math, we hit "calculate" in the last column of our Excel spreadsheet and determined our final grades for the Class of 2012. Now comes your assignment: Take a little of what makes the top five thrive and apply it to your own life.
BY LAURA ROBERSON
RESEARCH BY JACLYN COLLETTI
The 10 best
1 Burlington, VT
2 Madison, WI
3 Plano, TX
4 San Jose, CA
5 Boise, ID
6 Austin, TX
7 Virginia Beach, VA
8 Seattle, WA
9 Aurora, CO
10 Raleigh, NC
The 10 worst
91 Kansas City, MO
92 Toledo, OH
93 Tulsa, OK
94 Cleveland, OH
95 Jackson, MS
96 St. Louis, MO
97 Detroit, MI
98 Philadelphia, PA
99 Burlington, AL
100 Memphis, TN
For more on the sources for our statistics and to see additional city rankings, go to MensHealth.com/metrogrades.
#1 Burlington, VT
Fight disease head-on
Burlington may be the birthplace of Ben & Jerry's, but it's hardly a town of chubby hubbies. "The obesity epidemic, which has been linked to heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, hasn't hit as badly here," says James Vecchio, M.D., a professor of medicine at the University of Vermont. "We have health-conscious patients." This translates into men who know their health screening options the way other guys know their fantasy football stats. Still, disease prevention is a two-way street in this city. "Our major medical center recently introduced electronic medical records, which will hopefully further boost rates of preventive care," says Dr. Vecchio. Doctors will soon be able to program preventive-care reminders into patients' e-records so they never miss screenings. Ask your M.D. about switching to digital records, and then download the MyChart app, which lets you use your smartphone to view your medical file and any screening reminders.
#2 Madison, WI
Score points for your heart
NBA lockout or not, nets are swishing in Madison, where folks shoot hoops more often than in 98 of the 100 cities we ranked. "The winters are so bad that people would rather play basketball at the gym than football in the snow," says Lamont Paris, an assistant coach of the men's basketball team at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. As a vigorous, aerobic activity, basketball can improve your heart health, which may help explain Madison's impressively low rate of men keeling over from coronaries. To maximize your pickup payoff, "don't just hang out on one end of the floor," says Paris. "Sprint beyond the midcourt line with every quick change of possession. You're varying speed and direction, with explosive bursts and short rest periods. Basketball is essentially interval training."
#3 Plano, TX
Hit the ground running
Plano's motto should be "Happy Trails," because it's home to some of the country's most avid joggers, cyclists, and mountain bikers. "We have about 65 miles of trails, many of which are interconnected," says Renee Jordan, the city's trail system planner.
"Plus, Plano has sidewalks everywhere, so people can jog directly to the trails." Follow the Plano prescription for fitness, and your mind and body will thank you--a Utah State University study found that outdoor runners felt more revitalized than gym-bound runners. No access to trails? Buy a treadmill with a Passport media player, such as the AFG 7.1AT treadmill ($2,000, afgfitness.com). The device communicates wirelessly with your TV to match outdoor video footage with your speed.
#4 San Jose, CA
Talk your way out of trouble
It's not just the weather here that's sunny. Rates of sadness and hopelessness are exceptionally low in this Silicon Valley city, according to CDC data. "People here are highly involved in the tech industry. It's a progressive area," says Brian Sackett, Ph.D., a private-practice psychologist in San Jose. "As a result, there isn't as great a stigma attached to seeing a therapist." If you're feeling blue but hate the idea of therapy, think about it this way: "Something you care about--your marriage, your job--is threatened when you're depressed," he says.
"Initially, therapy doesn't have to be something you do for yourself." Set an external goal, rather than an emotional one, for your first few sessions.
#5 Boise, ID
Grow your own
Harvard researchers recently indicted potatoes as one of the worst foods for your waistline. So how can the Spud State's capital be a hot spot for healthy men? "We have a lot of community gardens," says Nancy Rush, R.D., of Idaho's Central District Health Department. And surprisingly, potatoes aren't Boise residents' primary crop. "People mostly grow greens, squash, broccoli, and lots of tomatoes," she says. "With community gardens, you not only gain access to fresh food, but you also get exercise when you plant, harvest, and weed. Plus, you enjoy the social benefits of working together." Ready to stake out a plot? Search for a garden in your city at communitygarden.org.
((caption)):
Burlington is more than skiing central--it's also America's best city for men.
((caption)):
Madison men seem to have a healthy glow.
((caption)):
Community gardens mean fewer couch potatoes in Boise.
((caption)):
Plano is the wheel deal, with more cyclists than any other city.
Source Citation
"THE BEST & WORST CITIES FOR MEN 2012." Men's Health Jan.-Feb. 2012: 072. Psychology Collection. Web. 1 May 2012.
Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA282110124&v=2.1&u=22054_acld&it=r&p=PPPC&sw=w
Gale Document Number: GALE|A282110124
Sunday, April 22, 2012
STORAGE INSIDER: Brocade's SAN Health makes house calls; An expertopinion on SAN performance and configuration isn't far away -- if youuse Brocade switches
It may sound obvious, but the larger a storage network gets, the more difficult it is to keep it well documented and, more importantly, well tuned. Sooner or later, administrators in charge of large storage structures will welcome -- and actually ask for -- an expert opinion on configuration, topology, and performance of their SAN.
Steve Wynne, now technical marketing manager at Brocade (and formerly chief SAN architect for the Asia and Pacific areas) knows that all too well. "Almost every customer I visited asked me to inspect their network," he explains.
Wynne was glad to oblige those requests, but after numerous similar sessions, he decided to write a program to automate the long and tedious network-inspection process. This is how the first version of SAN Health was born, a little more than two years ago.
Brocade was so pleased with the first version that it assigned other resources to help Wynne make SAN Health a sophisticated analytic tool, available free of charge to all customers.
Learning how SAN Health works is fascinating. After downloading this Windows application from the Brocade Web site, you just enter the IP address of one or more switches, and SAN Health will accurately discover the rest of the network using console commands.
SAN Health captures just about any information you will ever need to know for each of your SANs, including name and model of each switch, their speeds, the overall number of ports, which ports are being used, and what devices are attached to them.
The application will also take the pulse of your network, collecting critical indicators such as fan speed, internal temperature, and the status of power supply modules in each enclosure. You also have the option to gather performance statistics, timed according to a custom schedule.
The database captured by SAN Health is then uploaded to Brocade's report-generation servers, where it's formatted into an Excel spreadsheet that contains a summary table of the entire network, a diagram in Visio format, and detailed information on each switch and each SAN.
Depending on the load, customers receive their spreadsheet by e-mail after a few hours. Interestingly, the spreadsheet cells are color-coded to mark areas that need attention. For example, in the test that Wynne ran for me a faulty power supply was colored orange, while a less severe condition -- a zone disconnected from the rest of the fabric -- was marked in blue.
SAN Health reports also include recommendations on what you should improve and how, as well as charts showing performance data. Can't get enough of XML? For the joy of your developers, SAN Health delivers the same detailed data in XML format, too.
Wondering if Brocade is going to use the data collected by SAN Health? Of course it is; those databases are invaluable to better understanding how the switches are used in the field, which helps in planning for new Brocade products and features, Wynne explains.
Despite his new technical marketing manager position, SAN Health is still keeping Wynne busy. "I had to bring up new report-generation servers to cope with the demand," he tells me.
Apparently SAN Health is an offer that customers find difficult to refuse, and understandably so: It's the fastest and most affordable way to get excellent documentation and an expert opinion for your SAN. Unfortunately, it collects data only from switches made by Brocade or by its OEMs. One can only hope that other vendors take note; there are lots of SAN admins desperate for this type of application.
By Mario Apicella
Source Citation
"STORAGE INSIDER: Brocade's SAN Health makes house calls; An expert opinion on SAN performance and configuration isn't far away -- if you use Brocade switches." InfoWorld.com 11 Oct. 2004. General OneFile. Web. 22 Apr. 2012.
Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA123096794&v=2.1&u=22054_acld&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w
Gale Document Number: GALE|A123096794
Steve Wynne, now technical marketing manager at Brocade (and formerly chief SAN architect for the Asia and Pacific areas) knows that all too well. "Almost every customer I visited asked me to inspect their network," he explains.
Wynne was glad to oblige those requests, but after numerous similar sessions, he decided to write a program to automate the long and tedious network-inspection process. This is how the first version of SAN Health was born, a little more than two years ago.
Brocade was so pleased with the first version that it assigned other resources to help Wynne make SAN Health a sophisticated analytic tool, available free of charge to all customers.
Learning how SAN Health works is fascinating. After downloading this Windows application from the Brocade Web site, you just enter the IP address of one or more switches, and SAN Health will accurately discover the rest of the network using console commands.
SAN Health captures just about any information you will ever need to know for each of your SANs, including name and model of each switch, their speeds, the overall number of ports, which ports are being used, and what devices are attached to them.
The application will also take the pulse of your network, collecting critical indicators such as fan speed, internal temperature, and the status of power supply modules in each enclosure. You also have the option to gather performance statistics, timed according to a custom schedule.
The database captured by SAN Health is then uploaded to Brocade's report-generation servers, where it's formatted into an Excel spreadsheet that contains a summary table of the entire network, a diagram in Visio format, and detailed information on each switch and each SAN.
Depending on the load, customers receive their spreadsheet by e-mail after a few hours. Interestingly, the spreadsheet cells are color-coded to mark areas that need attention. For example, in the test that Wynne ran for me a faulty power supply was colored orange, while a less severe condition -- a zone disconnected from the rest of the fabric -- was marked in blue.
SAN Health reports also include recommendations on what you should improve and how, as well as charts showing performance data. Can't get enough of XML? For the joy of your developers, SAN Health delivers the same detailed data in XML format, too.
Wondering if Brocade is going to use the data collected by SAN Health? Of course it is; those databases are invaluable to better understanding how the switches are used in the field, which helps in planning for new Brocade products and features, Wynne explains.
Despite his new technical marketing manager position, SAN Health is still keeping Wynne busy. "I had to bring up new report-generation servers to cope with the demand," he tells me.
Apparently SAN Health is an offer that customers find difficult to refuse, and understandably so: It's the fastest and most affordable way to get excellent documentation and an expert opinion for your SAN. Unfortunately, it collects data only from switches made by Brocade or by its OEMs. One can only hope that other vendors take note; there are lots of SAN admins desperate for this type of application.
By Mario Apicella
Source Citation
"STORAGE INSIDER: Brocade's SAN Health makes house calls; An expert opinion on SAN performance and configuration isn't far away -- if you use Brocade switches." InfoWorld.com 11 Oct. 2004. General OneFile. Web. 22 Apr. 2012.
Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA123096794&v=2.1&u=22054_acld&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w
Gale Document Number: GALE|A123096794
Friday, April 20, 2012
Threat up for gonorrhea that is multi-drug resistant
Threat up for gonorrhea that is multi-drug resistant
Public health officials are sounding the alarm on the growing threat of multi-drug resistant gonorrhea. What will it take to turn the tide against gonorrhea, the second most commonly reported communicable disease in the United States?
"Though there is no evidence yet of treatment failures in the United States, trends in decreased susceptibility coupled with a history of emerging resistance and reported treatment failures in other countries point to a likelihood of failures on the horizon and a need for urgent action," says Judith Wasserheit, MD, MPH, professor and vice chair of the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington in Seattle and co-author of a new analysis of the emerging threat..sup.1
Gonorrhea is the second most commonly reported communicable disease in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than 700,000 persons in the United States get new gonorrheal infections each year..sup.2 Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacteria that causes the sexually transmitted infection (STI), is wily in its resistance to antimicrobial agents. It developed resistant to sulfanilamide in the 1940s, penicillins and tetracyclines in the 1980s, and fluoroquinolones by 2007. Third-generation cephalosporins are the first-line treatment options now recommended by the CDC..sup.3
Drugs losing ground
The effectiveness of cephalosporins for treating gonorrhea is decreasing rapidly, warns the CDC..sup.4
Researchers with the CDC's Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project have reported a 17-fold increase in elevated minimum inhibitory concentrations, which serve as a measure of drug susceptibility. In the past, national treatment recommendations have been changed to focus on other effective drugs when resistance to drugs has increase; however, there are no other drugs available to successfully treat the infection.
"The bottom line is that gonorrhea is a very complex bacteria, and we've seen it evolve and become resistant to every antibiotic recommended for treatment over the years," says Gail Bolan, MD, director of the CDC's Division of STD Prevention. "In the past, CDC has kept pace with this evolving organism, monitoring for trends in susceptibility and changing treatment guidelines as needed because we had alternative antibiotics to use.
However, public health officials are at an impasse, since there are no new drugs in development, and new options are urgently needed, says Bolan, who serves as lead author of the current analysis. "CDC is working with the National Institutes of Health on a randomized controlled trial to see how effective different combinations of existing drugs are at treating gonorrhea," says Bolan. "We hope to have findings of the trial by next year."
Resistance testing key
Action must take place at all levels of government, as well as public and private research and development entities, to prevent untreatable gonorrhea, says Bolan. One important piece of that response is the need for state health departments and other public and private labs to maintain or re-build the ability to culture and test for resistance, she states. If testing cannot be performed locally, departments should partner with labs that can perform resistance testing, notes Bolan.
The CDC is working with states to build culture capacity through a multi-step process, report Bolan. The first step involves identification of which states have capacity to perform gonorrhea culture. The CDC has worked with the Association of Public Health Laboratories in conducting a survey to identify those sites. Survey findings indicate that only about 5% of the gonorrhea tests performed by surveyed public health labs were culture tests, she notes.
"We also are planning further investigations to find out which states have labs with culture capacity," says Bolan. "We are currently providing technical assistance to labs in areas where gonorrhea prevalence is high to help them re-establish culture capacity."
The CDC also is reaching out to clinicians via state sexually transmitted infection (STI) directors to make sure clinicians are aware of local and nearby labs that offer culture tests, says Bolan. the federal agency is working with local and state STI control programs to develop local response plans in case cephalosporin resistance emerges in their area.
In the meantime, the first priority for clinicians is to treat all cases of gonorrhea with the most effective regimen..sup.1 A 250-mg intramuscular dose of ceftriaxone is considered the most effective treatment in curing gonococcal infections at genital and extragenital sites. One gram of azithromycin also should be given orally to cover other copathogens and to provide another antimicrobial with activity against N. gonorrhoeae at a different molecular target, the current analysis states.
References
Bolan GA, Sparling PF, Wasserheit JN. The emerging threat of untreatable gonococcal infection. NEJM 2012; 366:485-487.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Gonorrhea -- CDC Fact Sheet. Atlanta, 2011. Accessed at http://www.cdc.gov/std/Gonorrhea/STDFact-gonorrhea.htm (http://www.cdc.gov/std/Gonorrhea/STDFact-gonorrhea.htm).
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sexually transmitted
diseases treatment guidelines, 2010. MMWR 2010; 59(RR 12); 1-110.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Cephalosporin susceptibility among Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates -- United States, 2000-2010. MMWR 2011; 60:873-877.
Source Citation
"Threat up for gonorrhea that is multi-drug resistant." Contraceptive Technology Update 1 May 2012. Health Reference Center Academic. Web. 20 Apr. 2012.
Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA286520714&v=2.1&u=22054_acld&it=r&p=HRCA&sw=w
Gale Document Number: GALE|A286520714
Public health officials are sounding the alarm on the growing threat of multi-drug resistant gonorrhea. What will it take to turn the tide against gonorrhea, the second most commonly reported communicable disease in the United States?
"Though there is no evidence yet of treatment failures in the United States, trends in decreased susceptibility coupled with a history of emerging resistance and reported treatment failures in other countries point to a likelihood of failures on the horizon and a need for urgent action," says Judith Wasserheit, MD, MPH, professor and vice chair of the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington in Seattle and co-author of a new analysis of the emerging threat..sup.1
Gonorrhea is the second most commonly reported communicable disease in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than 700,000 persons in the United States get new gonorrheal infections each year..sup.2 Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacteria that causes the sexually transmitted infection (STI), is wily in its resistance to antimicrobial agents. It developed resistant to sulfanilamide in the 1940s, penicillins and tetracyclines in the 1980s, and fluoroquinolones by 2007. Third-generation cephalosporins are the first-line treatment options now recommended by the CDC..sup.3
Drugs losing ground
The effectiveness of cephalosporins for treating gonorrhea is decreasing rapidly, warns the CDC..sup.4
Researchers with the CDC's Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project have reported a 17-fold increase in elevated minimum inhibitory concentrations, which serve as a measure of drug susceptibility. In the past, national treatment recommendations have been changed to focus on other effective drugs when resistance to drugs has increase; however, there are no other drugs available to successfully treat the infection.
"The bottom line is that gonorrhea is a very complex bacteria, and we've seen it evolve and become resistant to every antibiotic recommended for treatment over the years," says Gail Bolan, MD, director of the CDC's Division of STD Prevention. "In the past, CDC has kept pace with this evolving organism, monitoring for trends in susceptibility and changing treatment guidelines as needed because we had alternative antibiotics to use.
However, public health officials are at an impasse, since there are no new drugs in development, and new options are urgently needed, says Bolan, who serves as lead author of the current analysis. "CDC is working with the National Institutes of Health on a randomized controlled trial to see how effective different combinations of existing drugs are at treating gonorrhea," says Bolan. "We hope to have findings of the trial by next year."
Resistance testing key
Action must take place at all levels of government, as well as public and private research and development entities, to prevent untreatable gonorrhea, says Bolan. One important piece of that response is the need for state health departments and other public and private labs to maintain or re-build the ability to culture and test for resistance, she states. If testing cannot be performed locally, departments should partner with labs that can perform resistance testing, notes Bolan.
The CDC is working with states to build culture capacity through a multi-step process, report Bolan. The first step involves identification of which states have capacity to perform gonorrhea culture. The CDC has worked with the Association of Public Health Laboratories in conducting a survey to identify those sites. Survey findings indicate that only about 5% of the gonorrhea tests performed by surveyed public health labs were culture tests, she notes.
"We also are planning further investigations to find out which states have labs with culture capacity," says Bolan. "We are currently providing technical assistance to labs in areas where gonorrhea prevalence is high to help them re-establish culture capacity."
The CDC also is reaching out to clinicians via state sexually transmitted infection (STI) directors to make sure clinicians are aware of local and nearby labs that offer culture tests, says Bolan. the federal agency is working with local and state STI control programs to develop local response plans in case cephalosporin resistance emerges in their area.
In the meantime, the first priority for clinicians is to treat all cases of gonorrhea with the most effective regimen..sup.1 A 250-mg intramuscular dose of ceftriaxone is considered the most effective treatment in curing gonococcal infections at genital and extragenital sites. One gram of azithromycin also should be given orally to cover other copathogens and to provide another antimicrobial with activity against N. gonorrhoeae at a different molecular target, the current analysis states.
References
Bolan GA, Sparling PF, Wasserheit JN. The emerging threat of untreatable gonococcal infection. NEJM 2012; 366:485-487.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Gonorrhea -- CDC Fact Sheet. Atlanta, 2011. Accessed at http://www.cdc.gov/std/Gonorrhea/STDFact-gonorrhea.htm (http://www.cdc.gov/std/Gonorrhea/STDFact-gonorrhea.htm).
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sexually transmitted
diseases treatment guidelines, 2010. MMWR 2010; 59(RR 12); 1-110.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Cephalosporin susceptibility among Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates -- United States, 2000-2010. MMWR 2011; 60:873-877.
Source Citation
"Threat up for gonorrhea that is multi-drug resistant." Contraceptive Technology Update 1 May 2012. Health Reference Center Academic. Web. 20 Apr. 2012.
Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA286520714&v=2.1&u=22054_acld&it=r&p=HRCA&sw=w
Gale Document Number: GALE|A286520714
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Business Communication
Siemens Business Communication Systems, Inc. has written a prescription for health care providers trying to find a remedy for outdated information systems, information overload and poor communications capabilities.
Siemens' health care intranet solution features consulting services, an information delivery system via push technology and Web-based paging, and hardware and software. The software runs on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT.
Elizabeth General Medical Center (EGMC) in Elizabeth, N.J., and Northeast Health Systems in Beverly, Mass., are implementing the package. In each case, IS wanted to build an intranet but didn't have the in-house resources to do so.
EGMC expects big changes as a result of its intranet. "We'll be making the intranet the front end to the electronic patient record. Once clinicians have access to a patient's electronic record, they can make better decisions and get better outcomes, like reduced hospital stays," says Vijay Sontay, CIO at EGMC.
Plans aren't as ambitious out of the gate at Northeast Health Systems, given that the outsourcing firm it uses for clinical systems has not yet Web-enabled its offerings.
***** 
(Web-Page) http://computer.tutor2008.googlepages.com/tutor2 
leonard.wilson2008@hotmail.com
Siemens' health care intranet solution features consulting services, an information delivery system via push technology and Web-based paging, and hardware and software. The software runs on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT.
Elizabeth General Medical Center (EGMC) in Elizabeth, N.J., and Northeast Health Systems in Beverly, Mass., are implementing the package. In each case, IS wanted to build an intranet but didn't have the in-house resources to do so.
EGMC expects big changes as a result of its intranet. "We'll be making the intranet the front end to the electronic patient record. Once clinicians have access to a patient's electronic record, they can make better decisions and get better outcomes, like reduced hospital stays," says Vijay Sontay, CIO at EGMC.
Plans aren't as ambitious out of the gate at Northeast Health Systems, given that the outsourcing firm it uses for clinical systems has not yet Web-enabled its offerings.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
A new era for Medicare Supplements: the June 1 changeover for existingMedicare Supplements means a golden opportunity for advisors to betterserve their clients' needs. Med Supps may not be the most complicatedsell, but they're a great opportunity to provide more service to thosewho need it
Fish Oil for Cardiovascular Health | heart_and_arrow, a photo by Fish-Oil-for-Cardiovascular-Health on Flickr.
But wait a moment--is that the case in the insurance industry? Well, we all know it certainly should not be the case, and with such a wide array of insurance products, many producers choose to concentrate on one or two specialties and become experts in those areas. That makes sense. But with just a little bit of effort, you can add another arrow to your quiver--that of Medicare Supplement.
As an insurance producer, and in fact, a senior advisor, you have undoubtedly been asked by your clientele if you have any solution to the morass of Medicare options available today. Your response very likely may have included a phrase such as, "No, I prefer to concentrate on the products we have worked on here, so I don't fiddle with it."
Well, you don't have to "fiddle" with it. Recently one of my friends was included in a company ad announcing that he was among the top three personal producers nationwide in that company's life and annuity production. He got his start in the insurance industry selling Medicare Supplements. But, as his agency has grown, his personal attention has been directed to the life and annuity side of things. So, he just forgot about Medicare Supplement, right? Wrong.
While he continues to enjoy the 6-to-10-year renewal compensation of his previous personal Med Supp production, he also now has two in-house agents to whom he directs his Medicare "leads." Not only directs them, but in fact, refers them. In other words, his agents follow him and work their specialty as well as their own Medicare production.
Pretty smart. Share the goodies. Everybody gains, but more importantly, the customer is not expected to go down the street to an unknown source for his or her Medicare needs--whether they be Medicare Supplement, Medicare Advantage or Medicare Part D.
If you are specializing in meeting "senior" needs in only one or two product lines, you are leaving money on the table, but more important, you are ignoring your clients' Medicare needs, unless you have made an arrangement with a friend or other producers to service those needs. In this day and age, excuses such as "I don't want to learn new tricks" or "It's just too complicated" or "Let somebody else do it" just won't work. Or, at least they shouldn't.
Why discuss this now? Simply because June 1 of 2010 opened up some new and exciting possibilities in the Medicare Supplement business. Every Medicare Supplement sold after that date is a new product. Medicare Supplements sold previous to the June 1 date are "grandfathered" and guaranteed to remain in force as is. But there will be a large number of people who will want to learn about the changes, and some will be interested in changing plans.
Client changes in plans and producers will come about for several reasons. First, the previous agent may have forgotten about the customer after the sale (whoops, no service here). Ignoring the client, perhaps for years, will dearly cost the previous producer. Second, new rates will be all over the map. Some will be higher, some will be lower, but there are sure to be surprises, which a new producer can assess and address. Third, two brand new plans, Plan M and Plan N, will be introduced. These two plans, of which Plan N seems to be the company favorite, are styled to emulate Medicare Advantage plans, with a variety of deductibles and coinsurances.
Above all, the business of Medicare Supplement is not complicated, nor are the new plans, and if you intend to be a "full service agent," and do not want to personally "fiddle" with your client's Medicare needs, create an alliance with a friend, or hire someone and include them in your own agency to follow your business.
As you know, referral is the lifeblood of the insurance industry and between your accounts and a solid, built-in referral system, you essentially service your clients' Medicare needs and put a smile on everyone's face--your client's and, of course, your own. Full service.
Online exclusive
For more information on Medicare changes, sign up for our special Health Care Reform Watch newsletter at www.lifeandhealth insurancenews.com/HCRW.
RON IVERSON IS PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MEDICARE SUPPLEMENT ADVISORS, INC. (WWW.NAMSA.US) RESPONSES AND QUESTIONS CAN BE SENT TO FEEDBACK@SENIORMARKETADVISOR.COM
Iverson, Ron
Source Citation
Iverson, Ron. "A new era for Medicare Supplements: the June 1 changeover for existing Medicare Supplements means a golden opportunity for advisors to better serve their clients' needs. Med Supps may not be the most complicated sell, but they're a great opportunity to provide more service to those who need it." Senior Market Advisor June 2010: 68+. Insurance and Liability Collection. Web. 22 Mar. 2012.
Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA227886209&v=2.1&u=22054_acld&it=r&p=PPIL&sw=w
Gale Document Number: GALE|A227886209
Monday, March 19, 2012
Postcards From the Edge
On a three-month sabbatical from her position as head of an environmental organization, Diane Takvorianhiked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, Peru, and the English countryside with her husband, and then came home to clean her closets and work on her garden.
Richard Zaldivar, founder and leader of an AIDS organization, spent his sabbatical in Spain and Portugal taking photographs, living with monks, and writing a blog. He then returned to handle some family difficulties in the aftermath of his parents' deaths.
Kenny House, who oversees substance-abuse treatment services at a health-care charity, used his time off to visit Italy and Israel, play in several tennis tournaments, and begin recovering from a recent divorce.
All of those nonprofit leaders had a chance to take a break because foundations paid for the costs of taking a sabbatical -- typically providing a salary for the executive director and his or her travel and study expenses.
Organizations are also sometimes given additional funds to compensate the other people who may take over the tasks handled by the leader.
Not only did time away give them a chance to decompress from the stress of their work schedules, as well as to renew their often badly neglected personal lives, but it also gave their organizations an unprecedented chance to groom talented staff members for leadership opportunities.
"When I came back to the office, people thought I was going to assume the responsibilities I had delegated to them while I was gone, and I didn't," notes Mr. House, of Central Horizon Centers, in Wilmington, N.C., whose sabbatical was paid for by the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Instead, he says, he was able to take on new roles and assignments. His sabbatical, he adds, enabled the group to allow a part-time psychologist, Pamela Morrison, to be groomed as a full-time director of its programs.
Ms. Morrison, who filled in for Mr. House in his absence and handles some of his former duties today, agrees that it would have been much harder to step up to a leadership role if her colleague had been around.
For a few weeks before the sabbatical, Ms. Morrison shadowed Mr. House during his workday.
"Then he left, and he was really just gone. He sent e-mails and letters telling about his sabbatical experience, but never asked us about how things were going," Ms. Morrison says.
The opportunity for total self-reliance, she says, enabled her to trust her own judgment and make substantive decisions that she otherwise would have deferred to Mr. House.
'No Checking E-Mails'
Nobody knows how many foundations and other donors offer sabbatical grants for nonprofit leaders, but the visibility and popularity of sabbaticals do seem to be on the rise, says Sandra J. Martinez, program director at the California Wellness Foundation, in Woodland Hills, Calif., a view buttressed by other grant makers.
Sabbatical programs typically provide funds to cover two or more months of paid leave for a group's executive director, along with money or other assistance to help the organization operate in the leader's absence.
The California Wellness Foundation, for example, offers nonprofit executives $30,000 for up to six months of leave, with up to $5,000 for professional development to help managers and staff members assume additional responsibilities.
Most foundations that offer sabbaticals encourage a complete communication break between the sabbatical recipient and his or her organization.
"We are straightforward and strict in our guidelines about not doing anything work-related: no checking e-mails, no professional development," says D.J. Vaughn, a fellow with the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, which pays $25,000 directly to its five sabbatical grantees per year to enable them to take three to six months away from the office, a program it has run since 1990. (More typically, grant makers provide money to the organization so it can continue to pay its executive's salary during his or her sabbatical.)
"This program was a brainchild of our trustees, who've seen how nonprofit leaders have been overworked and underpaid," says Mr. Vaughn. "We want to keep the talent within the nonprofit sector by giving people a chance to rest, and to take a look back at the work they've accomplished."
'Confidence Builder'
Sammye Pokryfki, a program officer at the Rasmuson Foundation, in Anchorage, says her organization originally intended to fight executive stress and burnout when it started offering a $30,000, 60-to-180-day sabbatical.
But Ms. Pokryfki says she has seen unintended, positive results for the organizations that gave sabbaticals to their leaders.
"In numerous occasions, a junior executive or deputy director could step up in the role and kind of test the waters, and in a couple of cases, the organization itself realized how much talent they had that they weren't using fully," Ms. Pokryfki says. "It's a real confidence builder to realize they have a well-run organization that can work without the CEO."
Claire Peeps, executive director of the Durfee Foundation, in Santa Monica, Calif., home to one of the oldest sabbatical programs, is now working to survey such efforts around the country.
The research is being conducted with the help of the Evelyn & Walter Haas Jr. Fund, in San Francisco (which supports nonprofit leadership and governance development) and the Barr Foundation, in Boston (which offers a sabbatical as part of its three-year fellowship program for nonprofit leaders in the field of education).
"We'd like to create a compendium of these programs, asking how long they've been in existence, how many grants a year they're making, how many they've made since inception, whether they award funds by application or nomination, and so on," she says.
The basic survey, Ms. Peeps says, will be followed by an evaluation that looks at how well those programs are achieving not just the primary goal of supporting nonprofit leaders, but also the equally important mission of developing leadership among the rest of the staff members.
Work on the project is set to begin this summer, with the analysis of the data beginning in early fall, Ms. Peeps says. She hopes to end up with a document that makes a strong argument in favor of sabbaticals.
It would especially be a boost to nonprofit sustainability, Ms. Peeps notes, if sabbaticals can be shown to help redefine the executive director's role once he or she has returned.
Ideally, she says, time away from the organization enables leaders "to jettison a little of the day-to-day work and take on a more strategic role -- planning, teaching, speaking, the things that would extend their influence."
Benefits for Founders
This broadening of the job can be particularly crucial for founder-led groups, grant makers say.
That was true for Mr. Zaldivar, a community activist who spent many years heading the Wall Las Memorias, an effort to build an AIDS memorial for Hispanic people in east Los Angeles.
After the $1-million monument was finally completed in 2004, he sought and received a sabbatical grant from the California Wellness program. After nine weeks of travel and rest, Mr. Zaldivar says, he came back "a completely different person," able to focus on longer-term dreams and goals for his organization.
He has recently begun planning the first-ever conference focusing on Hispanic faith, culture, and HIV/AIDS -- a project he would not have begun without the rest afforded by the sabbatical, he says.
Ms. Peeps emphasizes that sabbaticals "can be especially illuminating for founder-led organizations," especially those in which a certain cult-of-personality around the leader engenders the fear that the group cannot survive without him or her.
"It's a delicate dance," says Ms. Peeps. "We don't want to promote people leaving their positions, but this process very naturally broaches the conversation."
Like other grant makers, Durfee will not award a sabbatical to a leader who is likely to depart.
"But at the same time, the sabbatical experience has been extremely helpful in building the board and the staff's capacity to undertake a search and know their own core competencies," she says. "And sometimes it gives an internal candidate the opportunity to feel out" the leadership role.
Reluctance to Leave
Despite the benefits, sabbaticals are not always an easy sell, even for those overworked leaders who could benefit most from time away from the daily grind.
Several years ago, the Environmental Health Coalition, an organization in National City, Calif., that Ms. Takvorian founded and has been leading for 27 years, included a sabbatical program in its overhaul of personnel policy.
Under the policy, any employee who had worked 10 years or more would be eligible for a two-month break (in addition to the up to four weeks of annual vacation each worker received).
About a year after the policy was written, Ms. Takvorian says, a colleague pointed out that no one else would take a sabbatical until she did so first.
At that point, Ms. Takvorian applied for a grant from the California Wellness Foundation.
"I can't say that I was a really excited applicant," Ms. Takvorian says. "I was pretty reluctant, and it was more about modeling it for others. What was I going to do with three months? I just felt really overwhelmed with the work, and it just seemed that it would be impossible."
In fact, she says, although she did stay out of the office and out of town for much of her sabbatical, she neglected to delegate one responsibility: training a new employee. "It turned out to be more work than it should have been -- I was coming in once every two weeks," Ms. Takvorian says.
She and the organization also neglected to plan other people's vacations during her absence; at one point, when two key people were out of the office at the same time, a high-profile crisis landed back in her lap.
Given these interruptions, at the grant maker's debriefing after her sabbatical, Ms. Takvorian joked about wanting to do it all over.
"That sense of 'No one is indispensable,' I knew intellectually, but now I know it more on an emotional level," she says.
Sabbatical grant makers emphasize that planning is key to ensuring a successful break.
Since 2004, the Rasmuson Foundation has required each recipient, as well as the interim directors and one or two board members, to plan budget and expense issues, staffing and delegation, and guidelines for how much or how little sabbatical recipients will communicate with the office during the time away.
The program is run with the help of the Foraker Group, a nonprofit-management consultant organization in Anchorage, which aids organizations whose leaders or other staff members have taken Rasmuson's sabbatical grant.
The foundation also insists on a backup plan in case the interim director must leave his or her post for any reason, Ms. Pokryfki adds: "Unexpected things happen."
Certain kinds of unexpected changes, however, are what grantees say they most cherish about their sabbaticals.
Mr. Zaldivar notes, "I came back very mellow, and people would ask me, 'Are you OK?' I'd say, 'What are you trying to say?'"
All kidding aside, he says, he feels more focused and more effective as a leader now that he has had significant time to recharge.
He says he wants to be the "poster boy" to help encourage foundations to consider supporting sabbatical programs. The investment may be tens of thousands of dollars per sabbatical, he says, but in the end the cost will be recouped through the leader's increased energy.
"And it will save lots of money for health-care costs," he adds, quipping, "not to mention, save space in the insane asylums."
By Sandy Asirvatham
Source Citation
Asirvatham, Sandy. "Postcards From the Edge." Chronicle of Philanthropy 14 June 2007. General OneFile. Web. 19 Mar. 2012.
Document URL
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Gale Document Number: GALE|A164950753
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