text:
Q: if statement dealing with boolean variable I want my if statement to print out student or non student based on a boolean variable isStudent but I am not quite sure how it works. When I enter boolean isStudent it automatically initializes the variable false? And when I try to use isStudent == true nothing prints out but if I use isStudent == false it prints out student and non student. Can someone explain why it does that and if I did this right?
   public class Test {

public static void main(String[] args) {
        boolean isStudent = false;
            if(isStudent == false){
                System.out.println("Student");
                System.out.println("non-student");
            }
        }
    }

A: When you have this code:
if(isStudent == false){
   System.out.println("Student");
   System.out.println("non-student");
}

Everything inside the curly braces { } is executed if the condition is true. You want an else statement
if (isStudent){
  System.out.println("Student");
} else {
  System.out.println("non-student");
}

A: what you are looking for is called an else statement it would look like this
 public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) {
        boolean isStudent = false;
            if(isStudent)
            {
                System.out.println("Student");
            }
            else
            {
                System.out.println("non-student");
            }
        }
    }

heres another way without else since you asked but not a preferable way.you make a default string and declare it as a non student and it will only change if it is a student.
 public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) {
        boolean isStudent = false;
        String student = "non-student";
            if(isStudent)
            {
                student = "Student";
            }
            System.out.println(student);

        }
    }

this might help
if-else

A: isStudent == false is no more than a logical negation: it's equivalent to !isStudent.
The clearest way you can write what you want to do is
if (isStudent /* == true is implicit*/){
    System.out.println("Student");
} else /*all other possibilities*/{
    System.out.println("non-student");
}

A: After the below statement, the value of isStudent is false.
boolean isStudent = false;

In the next step you are checking if isStudent is equal to false.. which is true and the statements inside the block ({...}) will be executed, which prints the strings..
 if(isStudent == false){

Also, default value of boolean variable is false.

A: Also instead of using:
if(isStudent == false)

you could also do:
if(!isStudent)


It looks like a great low budget build!
I particularly like the turquoise kitchen appliances. They look like the whole unit was taken out of a '60's or '70's vintage RV.
As far as sealing the dog house and transmission cover, butyl tape is one of the best to do the job--take them off, lay a line of tape along the edge, and then screw it back down.
As far as sealing the windshield, it depends upon where it is leaking--is it leaking because the gasket is allowing water to leak betweeen the glass and the rubber or between the rubber and the metal? If you want to do a quick and dirty job of it get some butyl rubber caulk and apply it all the way around the gasket making sure it covers both the glass and metal side of the gasket. The best way is to determine where exactly the leak is occurring. It may not even be the windshield but something higher up in the front cap.
Right click, select copy image location, click picture tab above, paste url, done.
No right click on a phone.
I am also not sure where the leak is coming from yet. I was driving in the rain and snow for a few hours before a drip ran down the inside of the windshield.
Thanks for the tip on the butyl tape. I will go grab some.
I use the photobucket app to upload images and it'll give you the IMG handle you need to post to forums.
Loving the shorty. Definitely the route I plan to go.
If it took some time for the leak to appear on the inside of the windshield it is more likely the leak is coming from some place other than the seal around the glass.
Look upstream for the culprit. Check all of the lights and all of the seams around the front cap. It doesn't take much of an opening to cause water to dribble down.
If you end up taking the lights off to check them for the leak reinstall with a little butyl tape.
love the color and style of your of your kitchen.... where did you get it??? i want one!


Is it just me, or do these months seem to go by faster and faster? We're already in April! Before we know it, it'll be May and we'll be celebrating Mother's day. So, since it's only a month away, it's time to start thinking about our sweet moms and some gift ideas for them!
I love to give handmade gifts, especially with Jade's help. We made a cute little handprint coaster for David for Christmas this last year, and I thought making a set of them would make the perfect Mother's day gift! These DIY handprint coasters are not only inexpensive, but are seriously incredibly easy to make. And they're totally adorable!
To make these cute coasters, you just paint the kiddo's hand and press it on the tile. Easy peasy! Let the handprint dry for an hour or two. Then spray a few light coats of a clear protective glaze on top to make it waterproof. I like to use Rust-oleum's Triple Thick Glaze. Let them dry completely overnight.
Flip the coasters upside down and add a vinyl bumper in each corner. I got mine at Home Depot where the furniture pads are. They're perfect for making the coasters stay in place better on a table and not slip around too much!
Stack up your coasters and tie a pretty bow around them!
My mother-in-law is getting these for Mother's day (so if you're reading this "grammy," you already know what you're getting!) and are going to be so cute on their table!
The best part is how imperfect they are. She'll get to have Jade's sweet little handprints forever!
Are you making any gifts for Mother's day?
Hope your weekend is lovely, friends!
These are so cute! My daughter is sitting next to me right now and is very interested in this crafty gift project! I have never tried that triple thick glaze spray!!
Thanks, friend! I was hoping my hubby would get the hint and make these with Jade for ME…buuuut I don't think that'll happen. 😉 Oh well! Hope your week is fab!
Thank you, Ann! Haha, you're so right! It's a good thing our families are supportive, right? 😉 Hope your week is great!
These are so cute! I love handprint projects. These would be an adorable Mother's Day gift.
Pingback: 20 Handprint Crafts for Mother's Day - Wife. Mom. Geek.
I love doing DIY stuffs as well! I find it the sweetest gift for those people you love. I have done a personalized pillow for mom last mother's day. And I feel happier because she is using it each day.


text:
The 2011 Paris–Nice was the 69th running of the Paris–Nice cycling stage race, often known as the Race to the Sun. It started on 6 March in Houdan and ended on 13 March in Nice and consisted of eight stages, including a time trial. It was the second race of the 2011 UCI World Tour season.

The race was won by  rider Tony Martin, after holding onto the leader's yellow jersey which came from a time trial stage win on stage six. Martin's winning margin over runner-up and fellow German Andreas Klöden () – winner of the fifth stage of the race – was 36 seconds, with 's Bradley Wiggins completing the podium, 41 seconds down on Martin.

In the race's other classifications, Rein Taaramäe of  won the white jersey for the highest placed rider under the age of 25, and 's Heinrich Haussler took home the green jersey for amassing the highest number of points during stages at intermediate sprints and stage finishes.  rider Rémi Pauriol won the King of the Mountains classification, with  finishing at the head of the teams classification.

Teams competing

22 teams were invited to the 2011 Paris–Nice. The teams were:

Stages

Stage 1
6 March 2011 – Houdan to Houdan,

Stage 2
7 March 2011 – Montfort-l'Amaury to Amilly,

Stage 3
8 March 2011 – Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire to Nuits-Saint-Georges,

Stage 4
9 March 2011 – Crêches-sur-Saône to Belleville,

Stage 5
10 March 2011 – Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise to Vernoux-en-Vivarais,

Stage 6
11 March 2011 – Rognes to Aix-en-Provence, , individual time trial (ITT)

Stage 7
12 March 2011 – Brignoles to Biot,

Stage 8
13 March 2011 – Nice to Nice,

Classification leadership progress

References

External links

Paris-Nice
Paris-Nice
Paris–Nice
Paris-Nice

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
/ Marvel
Thor: Love and Thuder
Marvel: Future Fight
Marvel: Contest Of Champions
DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Matt Ryan Breaks Down That Big Gwyn Davies Reveal
By Nicole Drum - November 17, 2021 10:50 pm EST
While beloved character John Constantine departed DC's Legends of Tomorrow at the end of Season 6, actor Matt Ryan stayed on as the new character, Dr. Gwyn Davies. In this week's episode, "Deus Ex Latrina", viewers find out a good bit more about Davies and the reason he has pursued time travel. Now, Ryan is breaking down the revelation about his new character and how his is a story "that needs to be told".
Warning: spoilers for this week's episode of DC's Legends of Tomorrow, "Deus Ex Latrina" below.
In the episode, Davies ends up having a heartfelt conversation with Zari 1.0 (Tala Ashe) in which he reveals that, during World War I, Davies and another soldier had to deliver a letter to a specific unit. Unfortunately, that soldier was killed and while Davies survived, the unit he was meant to deliver the letter to was also killed. Among the dead was a man named Alun a man, it turns out, was Davies' love. The pursuit of time travel is Davies' way of trying to go back and save them, but as time goes on – and Davies struggles to succeed at time travel – he thinks he's being punished by God instead. For Ryan, Davies' story is an important one to tell.
"Portraying a person who goes through this huge development and discovery and opening in himself, it's a story that needs to be told," Ryan told TVLine in a recent interview.
Ryan went on to explain that Davies will have a long road to self-acceptance and reminds that Davies comes from another time, one in which the social mores were different but even for that, there are elements in Davies' story that people today deal with as well.
"The interesting dichotomy of him being religious and his love for a man, there's a huge conflict there that a lot of people go through today," Ryan said. "And telling that story in the framework of 1925 and a man who's tightened by the ropes of society is a really interesting way to explore that. I just felt like that's a really important story to tell, and if we can mine that and get under that, then that's a really good thing."
DC's Legends of Tomorrow airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
What do you think about the big reveal about Dr. Gwyn Davies? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.
Marvel Studios Movies and Series Coming in 2022: Full MCU Schedule
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Hawkeye Deleted Scene Flashes Back to Clint Barton's Past for Pivotal Lesson
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Chocolate Mud, Lemon Butter…..mmm Red Velvet!!!!
You would be forgiven if you started licking your lips when walking around the Warralily Estate and you get a 'wiff' of these aromas. In fact, you have stumbled on the location of a home based business called Warralily Cakes.
I first thought I would write a blog on the top 10 tips of property investing or the 5 biggest pitfalls to avoid. Instead I'm going to pose a question, a question that I had to answer before deciding to invest? WHY? Why are you considering investing in property and what is the overriding factor driving you to do so? Do you see a niche, or a bargain or a new property hot spot ready to take off?
So, you have chosen your little patch of dirt, now it's time to choose the house and more pertinent to this blog, it's time to choose your builder.
This decision can be a challenging one as you certainly won't lack for options in what is a very competitive market place. Depending on budget you could pick from over two dozen builders display homes at Warralily and in the Greater Geelong region.


text:
Q: If $A$ is an $n$ square matrix of rank $n-1$ then show that $\operatorname{adj}A \neq 0$ If $A$ is an $n$ square matrix of rank $n-1$ then show that $adjA \neq 0$
My attempt:
Since $A$ is an $n$-rowed square matrix of rank $n-1$,therefore at least one $n-1$ rowed minor of the matrix $A$ is not equal to zero. But every $n-1$ square minor of matrix $A$ is equal to in magnitude to the cofactor of some element in $|A|$. Hence at least one element in $|A|$ has its cofactor non zero. Therefore at least one element of $adj.A$ is not equal to zero. Hence $adj.A \neq O$.
Please provide me alternate proof of above problem. Thanks.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Ben Chew
Ben Chew is a sports editor/writer based in Portland, Oregon after working in television as a sports reporter at KIEM-TV and as a radio host/producer with SportsTalk Cleveland
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Minor League Hockey Fight Turns Into Epic Bench-Clearing Brawl
With the NHL officially back, it appears that minor league hockey will once again be taking a backseat to the professional league. They are probably a little upset and this video might be proof. Over the weekend, an American Hockey League game between the Grand Rapids Griffins and the Rockford IceHogs provided an epic bench-clearing brawl for the world to enjoy...
College Player Hits Full-Court Buzzer Beater — Complete With Announcer Freak Out
Lindsay (an NAIA college) was facing Georgetown College and trailed by two points with less than three seconds on the ticker. The game appeared to be over with Georgetown at the free throw line attempting to push the lead to three. However, the Georgetown player misses his free throw attempt and the ball bounces into the hands of Lindsay senior guard Chase Spreen who fires off a prayer from the op
Aquarium Diver Performs Ray Lewis Dance Underwater, Probably Scares Fish to Death
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Hockey Goon Slashes Opponent Across Chest and Almost Kills Him
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Inflatable Ball Ride on Mountain Goes Just As You'd Expect If You're Expecting 'Not Well'
Normally, inflatable ball rides are pretty safe but when you mix a snowy mountain and a steep cliff, things can go wrong in a hurry.
Listen to a College Basketball Announcer Freak Out Over an Easy Layup
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Alamo Bowl Streaker Finishes Run With Heisman Pose
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Watch Sharky, The Break-Dancing Hockey Mascot, Bust Some Sick Moves
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Alabama Fan Cries After Receiving BCS Championship Game Ticket as Gift
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Not Since Caddyshack 2 Have We Seen Such an Embarrassing Golf Performance
The game of golf is not simple by any means and sometimes just making contact with the ball can be a chore for amateur players. In this video, a young female golfer being coached by the camera operator is attempting to drive the ball out of the rough and back onto the fairway...
Watch This Massive Youth Football Player Truck Over an Opponent
In every youth league, there is always that one kid who bigger and stronger than everyone else. You know, the one with the handlebar mustache at age 9. This video is a perfect example of what happens when that kid is given the chance to run with the football against smaller opponents.
Kentucky High School Mascot Fight Gets Out of (Giant Furry) Hand
If we had to grade this mascot fight on a scale of 1-10, it would probably come in at about a 9.5.
No 'Love' — Caroline Wozniacki Mocks Serena Williams During Exhibition Match
The old saying goes "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" but we're not sure if tennis star Serena Williams will be flattered by Caroline Wozniacki's imitation of her during a recent exhibition match in Brazil.
College Basketball Player Unleashes the Greatest Free Throw Ever
During a recent game against Western Carolina, Appalachian State's Brian Okam stood at the free throw line for his second attempt. It's pretty much the only thing he did correctly. The standing part. Possibly the dribbling. It's all down hill from that point on.
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The Greatest Soccer Ball Juggler Ever Has Some Moves to Show You
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QB Does His Best Work From His Knees — Like Your Mom
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As part of the pregame festivities of an Ecuadoran first division soccer match between LDU Quito and Barcelona Guayaquil, two parachutists were paid to drop onto the field. One of the parachutists, Jose Sislema Merello, was supposed to land in the middle of the field in a designated runway spot...


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Dermatology Research Advances, Volume 1: (Allergic/Communicable/Genetic Skin Diseases)
Yan-Hua Liang (Contributor)
In the 21st century, there has been a vast explosion in new information relating to the art and science of dermatology as well as fundamental cutaneous biology. Furthermore, this information is no longer exclusive to the interests of the small, but growing, specialty of dermatology. Clinicians and scientists from a wide variety of disciplines have recognized the broad implications of cutanous lesions in systemic diseases. At present, there is a multidisciplinary and worldwide interest in the progress of dermatology. It is difficult for most fully-booked physicians to spend too much time on searching secondary data for the textbook mentioned; this kind of literature-searching job is very time-consuming and remains somewhat incomplete. It should be very helpful to have textbook-matched handbooks with expanded information from topic-oriented experts. With these factors in mind, we have undertaken this series of books which are specifically oriented toward the advances of dermatology. The scope of the series is purposely broad, with books ranging from pure basic science to practical, applied and clinical dermatology. Thus, while there is something for everyone, all volumes in the series will ultimately prove to be valuable additions to a dermatologist's library. The book consists of 22 chapters prepared by authors from 9 countries between five continents. The organization of this international editorial group has ensured global opinions, avoided regional bias and racial preferences. The topics covered in this book are the core of dermatology: from the fundamental changes of skin biology to newly developed technologies and treatments. What makes this book quite unique is the inclusion of Chinese medicine, telemedicine and biologics.
Contributor: Yan-Hua Liang
Imprint: Nova Science Publishers Inc
Packaged Dimensions: 178x254mm
Publisher: Nova Science Publishers Inc


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Home » » Commercial motor vehicle operators
Items Tagged with 'Commercial motor vehicle operators'
FMCSA extends comment period on ADS-equipped trucks and buses
Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has extended until Aug. 28 the deadline for comments on an advance notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the integration of automated driving systems in commercial motor vehicles.
Annual CMV brake inspection event set for Sept. 15-21
Greenbelt, MD — Commercial motor vehicle inspectors throughout North America will perform brake system examinations Sept. 15-21 during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's annual Brake Safety Week.
FMCSA seeks comment on definition of 'agricultural commodities'
Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is seeking input on whether it should clarify or revise the definitions of "agricultural commodity" or "livestock" in its hours-of-service regulations for commercial truck drivers.
FMCSA seeks to delay two provisions in final rule on CMV driver minimum training
Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is seeking a two-year extension for the compliance date of two provisions in its final rule on minimum training requirements for entry-level commercial motor vehicle drivers, according to a proposed rule published in the July 18 Federal Register.
FMCSA extends comment period on possible pilot program for younger interstate CMV drivers
Washington — In response to a request from the American Trucking Associations, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has pushed to Aug. 14 the deadline for comment on a potential pilot program that would allow 18- to 20-year-olds to operate commercial motor vehicles interstate.
Lawmakers introduce bill calling for speed limiters, set at 65 mph, on all new large trucks
Washington — Bipartisan legislation recently introduced in the Senate is aimed at limiting the speed of heavy commercial trucks to 65 mph by requiring new trucks to be equipped with speed-limiting devices.
FMCSA requests CMV stakeholder input on driver 'detention time'
Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is asking for stakeholder input on how detention – the time a commercial motor vehicle driver spends during loading and unloading – affects roadway safety.
July 31 new target for proposed rule to amend trucker hours-of-service regs, DOT says
Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is now eyeing July 31 as the publication date for a proposed rule the agency says would add flexibility to hours-of-service regulations for commercial truck drivers, according to a Department of Transportation regulatory update released in June.
Proposed changes to trucker hours-of-service regs expected 'in short order,' FMCSA administrator tells Senate
Washington — The publication of a proposed rule intended to add flexibility to hours-of-service regulations for commercial truck drivers is expected soon, on the heels of a recent delay, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration head Raymond Martinez said during a June 19 hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
FMCSA delays publication of proposed rule to amend trucker hours-of-service regs
Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has delayed until further notice the publication of a proposed rule intended to add flexibility to hours-of-service regulations for commercial truck drivers.


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Dr. Amy Platt: Breaking The Cadence Of School
Aug 31, 2022 | Podcasts
Dr. Amy Platt is delighted to be the Head of School at the Paul Penna Downtown Jewish Day School. Amy is passionate about excellent instruction and working with teachers to be the talented professionals they are destined to be. Amy holds a PhD and an MA from the University of Toronto. When Amy is not at work she can be found on long-distance bike rides, pondering the larger issues facing education.
Show Highlights
Podcast tips for an effective way to tell your school's story.
Intentionally create impactful school life for your community with partnerships and social action projects.
Address the twofold cultures within every school to develop a unique, independent experience.
Master rigor and resistance by breaking the cadence.
Highly effective leaders approach the day with this mindset.
7 values of building school culture defined by our place in the world.
Build on success with stakeholders by creating relationships.
"What the teachers have found is that when we break the cadence and we keep the kids engaged, excited and happy, their ability to keep pace with their curriculum and maybe even move faster. They know that they sometimes have less time because all of these great things are happening with respect to school life. It keeps them moving quickly. It keeps them on their toes and it keeps them really engaged with their learning."
- Dr. Amy Platt
Dr. Amy Platt's Resources & Contact Info:
Middle-School – Paul Penna
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Read the Transcript here.
Breaking The Cadence Of School
Daniel: At the end of each show, I ask a thought experiment. If you're new to the show, here's the question. You're building your dream school. You're not limited by any resources. Your only limitation is your imagination. How would you build your dream school or be your three guiding principles? I love this thought experiment because it asks Ruckus Makers to dream big, to dream without limitation. Maybe it's unrealistic to build that school. But what if you could take some of those components and actually make it a reality? That's the beauty of the question. Plus, it's really interesting to talk to high level educators and people outside our industry to see how they would go about the business of building a school. Today, one of my favorite Ruckus Makers in the world, Dr. Amy Platt joined me on the show because she did this. Her dream was to add a middle school component to her K-6 building. She's here to unpack what it was like to build that school. What was the vision that drove the energy behind it? The stories she had to tell, the relationship she had, the build to make it an easy win for the community. Sit back and relax. You're here to get super duper inspired on today's show, and I'm so glad you're here. Hey, it's Daniel, and welcome to the Better Leaders Better Schools podcast. A show for Ruckus Makers, those out of the box, leaders making change happen in education. We'll be right back after some messages from our show's sponsors.
Daniel: Take the next step in your professional development with Harvard's Certificate in School Management and Leadership. Learn from Harvard Business and Education School faculty while you collaborate with a global network of fellow school leaders. Programs run October 12th to November 9th, 2020 to apply by Friday, September 30th for our upcoming cohort at BetterLeadersBetterSchools.com/Harvard. Are you automatically tracking online student participation data during COVID? Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using Teach FX because it's one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID. Especially for English learners and students of color. Learn more about teacher facts and get a special offer at Teachfx.com/BLBS. All students have an opportunity to succeed with Organized Binder, who equips educators with a resource to provide stable and consistent learning, whether that's in a distance, hybrid or traditional educational setting. Learn more at OrganizeBinder.com.
Daniel: I am joined by one of my favorite Ruckus Makers of all time, Dr. Amy Platt, who will talk about her literally building her dream school and a bunch of other interesting things that I think you'll find useful and helpful and inspiring. But Dr. Amy Platt is delighted to be the head of the school at Paul Penna Downtown Jewish State School. Amy is passionate about excellent instruction and working with teachers to be the talented professionals they are destined to be. Amy holds a PhD and a master's from the University of Toronto. When Amy is not at work, she can be found on long distance bike rides, pondering the larger issues facing education. Amy, welcome to the show.
Dr Amy Platt: Welcome. It's so nice to be here. Danny, we've rescheduled this a few times, so it's great to finally make it work.
Daniel: My friend JB says you can't make up real life, so I think that's happened. But here we are and we're going to record something wonderful for the Ruckus Maker listening. Since we're talking about recording and you let me know, I didn't know this. In between rescheduling, I guess you have started a podcast for Paul Pena. Tell us about the why of starting the podcast and how is that journey going for you?
Dr Amy Platt: The podcast is great. It has been something I've been thinking about for a long time, probably inspired by you and the Mastermind. I remember many years ago one of our fellow Ruckus Makers, Demetrius, talking about a podcast that he had at his school as a way to really help tell the story of the school. What we're going to talk about today is the building of the new middle school. One of the things we've thought a lot about this year is what all of the stories of middle school and how do we tell them in different ways? We spend some time at the beginning of the year thinking about what were our main messages that we wanted to make sure we got out to our school community to help them understand what the middle school was about, what retention could look like through grade eight, what it looked like to share with the the greater downtown community kids who might be interested in joining the school so that they could be on this pathway to graduate from grade eight. And then the larger community of donors and people who wanted to help support our mission, to make sure that we had the funds to do this all in a really valuable way. The podcast seemed like a great way to tell the story. At the same time, we have a wonderful young communications coordinator, and her background is a radio and television degree, and she knows lots about radio and podcasting. She had been wanting to do some podcasting. One of our board members and probably the chief champion of the middle school, so much of his business revolves around podcasting. He's really become a niche podcaster and sort of a business sector. When all that came together, we launched the Pop Up podcast this fall. We drop episodes generally every two weeks. We've created a content calendar for the year, aligned with different holidays, events at the school, key enrollment points, things that are important and helpful. The episodes are all under 22 minutes, and if you listen to them one and a half times, they're really bite size and easy to listen to on a subway ride or a dog walk or just around. And it's just been a great way to have conversations with different people in the community. Highlight teachers, students, our Israeli emissaries. It's just been a really, really great and successful experience for us.
Daniel: I'm going to hit subscribe once we stop recording here. I can't wait for that. I don't want this to turn into a podcast about podcasting, but I do have one more follow up question which just would be so that the voice of the podcast is that you do bring in faculty, do you bring in students? And then the follow up question to that would be for the Ruckus Maker listening, who hears you? Okay, this is a way to tell my community story because everybody's telling a story?And if it's not you architecting it, then it's somebody else. And so maybe what's been the biggest challenge you didn't predict in terms of getting a podcast off the ground.
Dr Amy Platt: The voice of the podcast is me. Jay, who's our board champion, he's sort of the narrator, he's the whatever, the moderator of the podcast. I'm almost always there with him and then we invite different people to be with us to tell the story we're looking to tell. Every podcast has some guests. We've had students, new students to the school, one podcast. We highlighted a great math project that the Grade six students had done. We had the math teacher and two grade six students. The we're recording this in early May, the last podcast we dropped connected to Israeli Independence Day, and we have two young Israelis who spend a year serving in the school. So they, along with a teacher and the vice principal, were guests on the podcast. The next podcast will be about our school musical. It was the musical director who was the guest on the podcast. So that's sort of how we're organizing it right now. I'm almost always there to make sure that I'm sort of weaving together the information, and then we're bringing in special people to share little pieces of the story of the school.
Dr Amy Platt: My advice about building a podcast would be make a plan so it feels like a good idea, but time quickly passes and if you don't know what it is you want to do and who you want to bring and you don't have content ready to go, every two weeks will come and go very quickly. What I love about what we've done is we don't just meet to podcast, we meet once a month to say, "Okay, what is the plan for the podcast for the next six weeks? "We're now planning out from now until the end of June. We'll break for the summer and then we'll come back again in early September. We have a plan. We have somebody whose professional role it is to produce the podcast, and that involves making sure we have the guests, creating the questions, prepping the questions. It's not just something you can do. You really need to prepare for it. So that's what I didn't expect was the time it would take to prepare the podcast.
Daniel: A lot of design and intentionality and getting that runway is an important piece. Like you said, we're recording in May, but this show doesn't drop until September m and I love that because it allows me then to focus on other projects and the business of running BLBS. I really appreciate that. Last thing about podcasting, too. It can change your life. Amy. I found out three weeks ago that Better Leaders, Better Schools is a top 0.5% podcast globally! Almost out of 3 million shows. And the school leadership series, that one's nothing to laugh at either. That's a top 3% show. I just wanted to celebrate those two recent wins I found out regarding the shows. Let's talk about designing this school. Correct me if I'm wrong, Paul Pena had mostly an elementary. Could tell us the grade levels that it spanned, but you wanted to add a middle school component to it. Tell us what was the reason behind that?
Dr Amy Platt: Helping out has almost always been a K-6 school. It's important to know as part of this story really, because in some ways it was an emotional obstacle for people to overcome that. There were three or four years in and around maybe 2008 to 2012 that Paul Pena had tried in middle school before and it had a really emotional impact on the community when that closed. For me to show up in 2017 and start talking about a middle school again was hard for a lot of people to understand. People who are part of thecommunity love it. They choose the school because it speaks to them and their values. They love its location in the city. They love the urban feel. They love the intentionality of the values. They love what it stands for, and they love how it prepares their kids when they leave. But they also love that it ended at grade six and they had these options for middle school. My "why" was really clear. I believe that a K-8 elementary experience is an optimal experience. There's definitely research to support that. I believe that kids don't need additional transition in their school life at a time in their development that is so tumultuous, and that in order for kids to really learn to be leaders, it helps them to be in a place for middle school where they've grown up. They know people, people know them, and they can really aspire to leadership roles as opposed to starting in a new school in grade six or grade seven, having to really establish themselves, make new friends, get to know teachers. And before they know it, it's time for high school. And they've missed that beautiful soft spot of middle school leadership. Also, in the context of this community, I really wanted to help prepare kids for high school, whether or not that was our local Jewish high school or independent schools or the wonderful public schools we have. I felt that we would better serve our community by doing the work of preparing kids for high school on our own. In terms of living our values, being able to live our values through those identity, solidifying years of the early teen years were important and that we couldn't do the work we really needed to do when we graduated kids at the end of grade six, we needed a little bit more runway to do some really important work around values based education. The "why" was super, super clear. What was less clear was the path to get to a decision to open the school and that that was really the work of my first four years.
Daniel: Gotcha. Well, here you are building it now. Talk to me about intentionally creating school life.
Dr Amy Platt: We did a lot of work to make the decision to open the middle school, and that took about 18 months. And in doing that, we had to articulate vision over and over and over again. A piece of that vision that we had to articulate was about school life. This is being recorded in May at the end of the first year of grade seven. It will launch in September, the first year of an inaugural new graduating class. And these kids have had a wonderful school life. The middle school is small but not too small. It lives in its own satellite space about a block and a half away from the main school. And so that space in and of itself creates some elements of school life. The kids are there. They're sort of in this encapsulated middle school. They come back to the main school for gym, they come back to the main school to use the chapel. We're starting at the end of spring 2022, bringing the kids back together with elementary kids for assemblies. We're doing a field day, those kinds of things that will now come back together. Building school life has been about thinking carefully about which teachers we brought into the school and what was the energy we wanted from the teaching faculty and what was their expertise, both in the classroom and outside of the classroom. Some of those key pieces of school life have been social action projects connected to our student council. How do we find people who have strong value sets around repairing the world and helping our community? Our school musical has been a huge piece of school life, so this is something we had tried to launch with our Grade six class in 2020, and of course there was no spring musical in 2020 and we've gone back to that. Having all of the middle school involved in this musical, performing it on a stage on June 1st, all of those things are just amazing and have been a key piece of school life. The third piece has been, how do we get the kids out of the building? One of the things we've talked about as an administrative team and a faculty and something I think is scalable or transferable to other makers far beyond my community, is this idea of breaking the cadence. Again, thinking back to planning the podcast we've planned. A school year to say how does each week break the cadence? We've thought about what field trips look like? We partnered with a local environmental organization to take the middle school kids on three full day local outdoor outings in our local parks, our local ravines. Toronto's home of an amazing park called Hyde Park. People can look it up. We took them on a winter day. They were cold, but they came back to hot chocolate and we're happy. We are going to take the kids at the end, beginning of June, for an end of year trip to Ottawa, Canada. Thinking about how we get outside? How do we continue to see the world? But how do we break the cadence and what does that mean? On this day that we're recording, the kids are on a walking tour of a neighborhood near our school. If I think about next week, there's a student council event that will break the cadence. We brought interest based clubs into school. That broke the cadence because every week, not every week, but on certain weeks, they'd have an hour and a half dedicated to interest based clubs in mixed groupings. So just breaking the cadence. And then there were weeks where we said breaking the cadence is actually doing nothing. Middle school has been so busy that just a week of full classes with no interruption suddenly felt like a break in the cadence. I think that's what we've done to really build school life.
Daniel: You're breaking your own cadence at that point. I love that example, too, because it illustrates what a powerful guiding or propelling question and how it can set the constraints for the type of school experience that you want to create. And you illustrated that through a number of examples. So that was really helpful. I appreciate that. It also connects to developing a unique culture. Is there anything you'd like to add in terms of what it means to develop that unique culture?
Dr Amy Platt: I think the culture of the school is twofold, and there's the faculty culture and then the student culture. One of the things that has been so interesting in developing a unique student culture is this idea that when we get to middle school, we are actively recruiting new students. We love that we have full kindergarten classes and very high retention, but it's natural for there to be some attrition in a private school. When we get into the grade four or five or six, we're actively looking for new students to bring into their school. We talk about Hebrew language not being a barrier. The kids spend an hour and a half a day in Hebrew language instruction, but we've upped, staffed our Hebrew teachers so that there are extra Hebrew teachers around to help students new to the school who are beginners at Hebrew language, learn, catch up and be able to keep pace with their class. But I think what we've done has shaken up the social setting. Paul Penna is a small school, it is one class per grade. Right now we're bringing in kindergarten classes at 25. Next year's grade six class will be 25. We're a big small school, but a small school nonetheless. When we bring in new school, new students, we shake up that social dynamic. And I think that creates a really unique student culture. I think the other thing that makes the school super unique is our downtown location. We're located at a key intersection in the middle of a very big city. Our podcast is called Corner of Spadina and Bloor because we're so defined by our location in space. I can imagine that Ruckus Makers listening from other big cities can picture busy downtown intersections and imagine a school there. So the school is located in the school wing of a community center. The middle school is located a block and a half away in the second story of a retail building, the kids in the main school have most recesses on the roof of the building, and daily they play on a university field. We're located right in the heart of the University of Toronto campus. Our middle school kids have what we call off campus lunch once or twice a week, where instead of eating lunch in their classroom, they go out. They have to stay with partners. They have boundaries, but they've got 50 minutes to go and explore Bloor Street, which is an eclectic street of food. They come back with pizza and donuts and shawarma and all sorts of food. And so that also makes the school super unique and it builds independence. My daughter is currently a fifth grader in the school. She'll go into sixth grade next year, and our friends marvel that she takes public. Kids at home from school with her friends. She's not on a school bus. Most days she's not picked up by a parent, caregiver or grandparent. But she and two or three friends ran out the door. They run into 7-Eleven. They grab a snack. They walk to the subway station and they take the bus home from school. And that's what makes this culture so unique and that's why one of our values we talk about seven values, but one of our seven values is place because we're so defined by our place in the world.
Daniel: Yeah, that corner. I'm really enjoying our conversation regarding building this dream school and adding the middle school component to it. We're going to pause here just for a quick message from our sponsors when we get back. I want to talk about rigor. We're building this dream school, how that relates to the academic experience of your students. Take the next step in your professional development with Harvard's online certificate in School Management and Leadership. Learn from Harvard faculty without leaving your home. Grow your network with fellow school leaders from around the world as you collaborate in case studies of leaders in education and business programs run October 12th to November 9th, 2020 to apply by Friday, September 30th for our upcoming cohort at BetterLeadersBetterSchools.com.Harvard. During COVID every teacher is a new teacher. That's why innovative school leaders are turning to Teach FX whose virtual PD is equipping thousands of teachers with the skills they need to create engaging, equitable and rigorous virtual or blended classes. To learn more about Teach FX and get a special offer. Visit Teachfx.com/BLBS.Today's show is brought to you by Organized Binder. Organized Binder develops the skills and habits all students need for success during these uncertain times of distance learning and hybrid education settings, organized binder equips educators with a resource to provide stable and consistent learning routines so that all students have an opportunity to succeed, whether at home or in the classroom. Learn more at OrganizedBinder.com. We're back with Dr. Amy, and she is building her dream school. Paul Pena was the K through six. Now they added something. Next year we'll have the eighth grade component. So congrats on that. Amy, let's talk rigor and the academic component of your school and how you go about thinking about it. One thing I consider too, and this might not be true in your staff, but I know often when leaders want to break the cadence, so to speak, those are your words. Sometimes staff members are like, "Oh, I've got so much to do, so much to cover." And they start wrestling with that because it's challenging the way they view education. I'm curious how the staff responded, but also how you integrate rigor into the academic experience.
Dr Amy Platt: Rigorous, so key. In the last five years, rigor has been really something I have been incredibly focused on from kindergarten through grade eight. We've talked about rigor with our staff. When we thought about what were the key messages about this middle school that were so important for the world to know? High school preparedness was one of them, and you can't be ready for high school without rigor. We identified a few different ways that we could make sure that the middle school remained vigorous and prepared kids for high school. One of the key places has been in math. We've looked at our math curriculum, starting from kindergarten in numeracy in particular, and said, "How can we push that curriculum?" We don't want to advance the whole math curriculum, but for lots of reasons. In Ontario, advancing the numeracy curriculum was important. The leap from grade eight to grade nine math in Ontario is a really big leap. There's an unspoken curriculum. It's not written in the Grade eight curriculum, it's not written in the Grade nine curriculum. And there's just sort of this assumption that kids will come into Grade nine with a set of math skills ready to go. We've identified what those skills are and we've backed up. Our goal is that when we get to grade eight next year or this year, this one will drop. Our grade eight will finish their Grade eight math year, learning the first numeracy curriculum of Grade nine. We've intentionally said we want to teach some grade nine, we want to create a rigorous math experience. We want the kids to feel really confident and be really competent when they go into high school math. We know that that is a place that helps kids. Defining their own academic ability is how they're doing in math, and we want to build up their confidence. The other thing we've been able to do is partner with a local credit granting organization. Our grade eight students this year are taking Grade ten history as an after school course so that when they graduate from Paul Pena, they'll already have one high school credit. This will allow them perhaps to take a spare when they're in grade ten, but more likely it will allow them to take additional electives. They'll have Grade ten history under their belt and they'll be able to use that space in their schedule. The other thing we're doing with that course is that we're we're able to work with the credit grantor and some curriculum that they've developed to add an additional Jewish content so that for our kids, for whom grade eight will be the end of their formal Jewish education, they will get some Canadian Jewish history as part of that Grade ten history credit that they otherwise wouldn't get. We feel like we're just giving them a little bit more knowledge to go out into the world with. So that feels exciting. But knowing that most of our graduates are going to be taking Grade ten history as an after school program through the school, it's really pushed us to say, "What do we need to do with our social studies to make sure that the kids have the skills that they need to engage in that kind of learning at that level?" And so that has also pushed us in terms of rigor and that with our language program, English, Hebrew and math, but in particular English, Hebrew and French, but in particular Hebrew, knowing that some of our kids are going to go on to our Hebrew high school has really pushed us to say, "How do we make sure that they're ready to be in classes with kids from other Hebrew elementary schools throughout our city, and that they show up well and proud and confident and competent with their Hebrew school skills?" We've looked carefully at our Hebrew program and we're really thinking again from kindergarten through grade eight, what's that scope of learning to make sure that our kids are really ready?
Daniel: Was there any sort of staff resistance or obstacles that you had to overcome when it comes to this focus on rigor?
Dr Amy Platt: There's definitely no resistance around a focus on rigor. The teachers are excited to teach a rigorous curriculum, and they're really well supported. We have a lot of staff. There's a lot of resource support. There's other teachers there to help the kids who might need additional support and really allow the classroom teacher to focus on the whole class and enrich the experience for those who need an enriched experience. I would say that where sometimes faculty get concerned is this idea of I have a big curriculum, how am I possibly going to cover it all? Especially when we're pulling periods for field trips or for guest speakers or for the play. But I think that what the teachers have found is that when we break the cadence and we keep the kids engaged and excited and happy, their ability to keep pace with their curriculum and maybe even move faster is there so that the kids are engaged and happy and they're learning. They know that they sometimes have less time because all of these great things are happening with respect to school life. And so it keeps them moving quickly. It keeps them on their toes and it keeps them really engaged with their learning. What we're seeing is we're able to complete our curriculum. And there's been places where we've trimmed our curriculum where we've said, "You know what, they don't need that." Mostly in the area of social studies, we've been able to say, "What are the basic social study skills? What is the key information that the kids need to make sure that they're successful in being social studies learners?" We've taken some of that learning time to create some other value specific curriculum, especially around Israel. And so that's been exciting for the kids to understand and get to know and it keeps them engaged.
Daniel: Beautiful. You've obviously experienced a ton of success and next year will be the eighth grade inaugural year. What does it mean for you to build on the success you've achieved?
Dr Amy Platt: I'm just so excited to see what will happen when kids leave us and go to high school. I'm excited to see how prepared they are, how socially well adjusted and integrated they become, and then use those successes to tell our story into the future. I want to see a graduating class of 20 kids, and I hope that we can see that within the next 3 to 5 years. I'm just capturing the great stories and finding ways to put them out into the world. I think that's how we're going to build on our success by doing what we do, continuing to do it really well, and making sure that our current community and our prospective community know who we are and what that looks like. And as we start to have kids who go into high school and university and feel deeply connected to Paul Pena, I think we'll be able to tell wonderful, wonderful stories about the influence that a Paul Pena education has on the young adults in our community. And for me, that's super exciting.
Daniel: It is. You've been a mastermind member in the past, and I love it. If you don't mind sharing a little bit about that experience, what did that mean to you?
Dr Amy Platt: I love my time in The Mastermind. I think very fondly of Wednesday nights, and I feel sad that I had to give it up. It's funny to the Ruckus Makers out there who are also parents, you think that it can never get busier than little kids, but you can actually outsource little kids and big kids need a lot more parental support. For me, it just became too much in the evenings. The kids just needed me too much. I couldn't be where I wanted to be. But I do miss it. And I miss the people. I miss my friends that I made in the Mastermind. I wonder how people's professional journeys are unfolding. The Mastermind was a professional sounding board for me often about this middle school project when I wasn't yet ready to go to my actual school community. I often would take the stories, the vision, the ideas, the challenges, and I would bounce them off the mastermind when it was my turn for the hot seat and I would get lots of great ideas that I was able to move forward with. The mastermind also created a situation in which I was reading professionally in an incredibly meaningful way. Danny, you pick excellent, excellent books and the arc of books that you would pick over any given year all fit together. So that was incredibly valuable to me, was doing that reading, thinking about how that reading influenced my professional life, and then discussing that reading with you and my colleagues and seeing how those readings influenced other people. In some cases bringing those readings back to my own faculty and saying, "What does it look like for us to have our own reading group around this particular text or an excerpt from a text?" So that was really wonderful. Any forum where everyone in a group really thinks Brené Brown is terrific as a group, I want to be in. I just loved that it was a place where we could be vulnerable, we could talk about vulnerability. I always felt like it was a Brenévibe, and that always made me really professionally happy.
Daniel: Thank you. Oh, wearing the Brené vibe is a badge of honor, for sure. You've been on the show before. You've answered the questions I usually end with. I've created a different one for you, Amy, that you are a highly effective leader, so I love for you to consider what's something that you, Amy, might label as ordinary for other school leaders, it might absolutely be a game changing idea?
Dr Amy Platt: I think what I label as ordinary and for other people might be a game changing idea is the way to build really strong and authentic relationships. As a school leader, I recognize that my stakeholder pool is many students, families, faculty, board members, community members, donors. What I really strive to do is have authentic relationships as much as I can with as many people as I can. I'm very good at remembering people's names, and my husband always finds it amazing that I can pull names out of my head that will meet people on the street and that I remember their name. I know the name of every student in my school and their siblings. I know their parents' names. They know faculty members' names. I remember names. And so that is a discrete superpower and it serves me well, but I think it is indicative of my ability to really know people and meet them where they are and get to know them in a deep and authentic way and love building relationships. And so I would encourage other school leaders to really think about what it means to have authentic relationships with many stakeholder groups, and that if we can start from a place of real relationship, then there are so many things that we can achieve.
Daniel: I think it was Dale Carnegie who said "the sweetest sounding word in the entire English language is somebody's name." Back to Bernie, too. It's about seeing and hearing people. I know who you are. I recognize you. You're important to me and that kind of thing. Amy, thank you so much for being a part of the Better Leaders Better Schools podcast. Again, of everything we discuss today, what's the one thing you want a Ruckus Maker to remember?
Dr Amy Platt: I didn't expect this to be what I would say, but I think it would break the cadence. Whether or not you're with faculty or students or even within your own family life, what does it mean to break the cadence? How can that add value to your organization?
Daniel: Thanks for listening to the Better Leaders Better Schools podcast Ruckus Maker. If you have a question or would like to connect my email Daniel@betterleadersbetterschools.com or hit me up on Twitter at @AlienEarbud If the Better Leader is Better Schools, a podcast is helping you grow as a school leader. Then please help us serve more Ruckus Makers like you. You can subscribe, leave an honest rating and review or share on social media with your biggest takeaway from the episode. Extra credit for tagging me on Twitter at @AlienEarbud and using the hashtag #BLBS. Level up your leadership at betterleadersbetterschools.com and talk to you next time. Until then, "class dismissed."
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There is nothing more indulgent that staying in a top-notch hotel in the city that you live in. Let's face it, how many people (apart from those seeking sexual gratification or justifying it by being honeymooners) would splurge £300-£400 on a room for a night in central London when they could let their oyster card take the strain? Hell, you could even get a cab home to somewhere remote like Surrey* for much less. (*I say this tongue-in-cheek as a bona fide Zone 1 dweller).
So, when One Aldwych kindly suggested I review their London hotel in Mid August, I jumped at the chance. It's a pity it wasn't on one of those stultifying, hot and sultry days earlier in the month as I could have done with the luxury of air conditioning on tap. Excellent by the way. I'll say this early on. There's nothing like checking into a room and discovering it too hot or too cold and then realising you require a technological wizardry with the room thermostat control. This one was darn easy to master and worked like a dream. I had my slightly-cooler-than-the- average room in quicker than norm time and slept like a baby because of it. Top marks. You see, it's the little things that make the biggest of differences.
But lets concentrate on the hotel's ambience, the amenities hotel has on offer and the staff service. One Aldwych is situated in a prime location Aldwych and The Strand and boasts floor-to-ceiling art nouveau windows to watch the passers-by from the haloed sanctity of the very comfortable, very chi-chi bar with the only thing missing – a low-key piano player. A bar that offers an array of cocktails provided by award winning bar staff mixologists who can mix a mean martini or champagne cocktail as we'd find out. It's location means that it's in the heart of theatre land and its restaurants and minutes from the Delauney. As if you needed to seek out restaurants when in a hotel that has both Axis and Indigo. But more of these later. One Aldwych's location is a spot so 'dans le vent' that Me Hotel built a ginormous hotel on the opposite corner and staked a joint claim on the territory. But it appears to have only done One Aldwych and its superior reputation a favour.
I'd first got to know One Aldwych from stints in its interior during London Fashion Week where there's more than a fair share of preening, prancing and swooshing going on. Regular One Aldwych guests must think, 'What the hell is going on? Who are these people?' as a variety of women in heels, laden down with phones & tablets and men with more attitude in their Nikes than the women's combined quota of Louboutins, strut up and down in the glowing pink and yellow tinged mirrored lifts ( the real stars of the show – who can resist a pic?) to various suites. This time, I took it in my stride. My flip-flop'd, easy going, relaxed Friday stride.
Checking in was a breeze. Welcoming, polite staff informed me about my room, the bar and restaurants and the health club. Deep joy! The pool, a sauna, a steam room and an all-over, relaxing massage (£95) awaited me. This was no London Fashion Week rush job. I checked into my executive room on the 4th floor overlooking the competition (ie The Me Hotel) and with the sharp Shard in the distance. As one would expect, the bathroom with it's excellent lighting was the first thing I checked out, laying out the ton and a half of toiletries I'd carted with me. No need for most as it was, as hand & body cream, shower gel, shampoo & conditioners were all there winking at me. I then unpacked my over-packed overnight bag so the huge wardrobe space with miles of shelving looked a little less empty. Checking out the mini-bar (well, it would have been rude not to), there was the usual temptresses of gin, vodka, wine and brandy but this was good girl day. I was there to do an afternoon of 'health'. One afternoon in a l-o-n-g time of none was required. I put my iPod on shuffle (after phoning down to reception for an iPhone 5 converter lead – they had one) and put on my huge toweling robe before shuffling down in the lift to the Health Club. That's one photo I wouldn't wish to capture.
One Aldwych has a beautiful, blue, twinkling, modernist pool in the basement with luxury changing rooms to boot. I swam (probably less than the two kids in lifebelts who shared the pool) and then finished up in the steam-room by way of a short burst in the dry heat sauna. It's a mystery to me why I prefer the dense heat and dripping wet of a steam-room yet cannot abide sultry weather that brings on my asthma. Contrary Mary as ever, I guess. But the steam room is a haven. It makes a body feel clean. I mean really clean. Toning my face in the changing rooms later, the steam had deep cleansed my skin. Result. I felt the benefit for days afterwards. It was time for the massage. The masseuse used a relaxing aromatherapy oil with added mango butter to condition my skin as her firm hands got to grips with my knotted back. "I am not liking this right side," Tatjana said in her Eastern European accent while tsk'ing disapprovingly, '"It is very tense." "You're telling me," I thought. It was only much later when I slept that I realised that she'd released knots as I slept flat on my back, dead to the world. The King Size bed and high tog yet lightweight duvet helped. As did the temperature and change in pace. This was just what I had needed to relax.
After the massage, I could have snoozed but my guest arrived to join me for cocktails and dinner. We chatted while we changed for dinner, like a pair of giggling school girls before we sauntered down in the lift with our perceived air of cool & ladylike. But more or our antics over cocktails and dinner later in part 2.
Little special touches like the macarons placed ever-so strategically on the bedside table to welcome you, notes left by the gracious staff, advice on the best local theatres and offbeat productions and fresh fruit left on the table only helped to make this stay special and comfortable. One Aldwych seems to give a very personal touch for such a grand modernist hotel.
Rooms at One Aldwych start from £264 (incl VAT) base don two people sharing a room. An Executive Room (like the one above) starts from £300 (incl VAT) based on two people sharing. The Lobby Bar is open Mon-Fri 8am-Midnight, Saturday 9am-midnight and Sunday 9am-10.30pm.


The EMBO Young Scientists Forum (EYSF) is an annual event that aims to promote research as well as encourage a collaborative environment between European PhD students, researchers, postdocs, and installation grantees. By interacting with their peers and senior researchers, the participants will have the opportunity to socialize with scholars who continuously expand our knowledge of biological systems through cutting edge research. While gaining valuable insight regarding scientific process, the participants will also be able to catch up on the latest developments in diverse fields and share their own work with the community. The specific sub-events comprise informal discussions, and workshops. We encourage all participants to take full advantage of this stimulating atmosphere.
Included in the registration is access to all science sessions, workshops, and round table discussions. The participants are expected to cover their own travel and accommodation expenses.
Congress will be held at the Albert Long Hall, Boğaziçi University South (main) Campus in Istanbul.
For accommodation, we recommend the following hotels which are in the vicinity of the venue and easily accessible by metro line M6 (8 minutes).
You can take a taxi just outside the Arrivals Hall. An average trip takes 30–40 minutes and can cost approximately 70 TL; depending on traffic density the cost can rise by 5–10 TL.
You can also take the subway M1 in the direction of Yenikapı and get off at Yenikapı Station. Then, you should change to M2 in the direction of Hacıosman and get off at Levent Station.
Finally, you should take M6 in the direction of Boğaziçi Universitesi and get off at the terminal station. This trip takes almost an hour and costs 12 TL if you have an Istanbul Card.
You can obtain an Istanbul Card from vending machines at every station in exchange for 6 TL.
Using the Taksim shuttle, you can reach Taksim and then take the subway from there to reach the university.
From Taksim, you can take the subway M2 in the direction of Hacıosman and get off at Levent station. From there, you should change to M6 in the direction of Boğaziçi Üniversitesi and get off at the terminal station.
This trip lasts nearly 50 minutes in light traffic and costs 20 TL. For subway, you will need the Istanbul Card. You can obtain the Istanbul Card from vending machines at every station in exchange for 6 TL.
Using the Taksim shuttle, you can also get off at Levent (Metrocity Station) and then take the subway there to reach the university. From Levent, you need to take M6 in the direction of Boğaziçi Üniversitesi and get off at the terminal station. This trip lasts nearly 60 minutes in light traffic and costs 20 TL. To use the subway, you will need the Istanbul Card, which can be obtained from vending machines at every station in exchange for 6 TL.
Using TEM highway, it can take 50 minutes in light traffic and costs 105–110 TL with the possibility of 5–10 TL rise due to heavy traffic.
From Levent : 59R, 59RS numbered buses can be taken.
Note: For departure times you can download "Trafi" app from both, the Google Play Store and the App Store.
Besides, by using the subway you can reach Bogazici University. Take the M2 subway line to Levent station, then transfer to M6 Levent-Bogazici University subway line and get off at the terminal station.


Bankgesellschaft Berlin (BGB), HVB Group, HSH Nordbank and Natexis Banques Populaires have been mandated to lead arrange a US$100mn syndicated term loan facility for Moscow Narodny Bank (MNB). The transaction, which has been fully underwritten by the mandated lead arrangers, will be launched into general syndication shortly. The proceeds of the loan will be used for general funding purposes.
BGB, HVB and HSH will act as joint bookrunners, with HVB acting as documentation and Natexis as facility agent.
The tenor is three years. The loan is structured as a single bullet repayment at a margin of 1% per year.
MNB is a UK regulated bank, incorporated in the City of London since 1919. The borrower is 88.89% owned by the Central Bank of Russia and pursues a diverse approach to its asset portfolio. In addition to Russia which contributes around 30% of assets, 45% continue to be held in UK and European jurisdictions with the remaining portion of assets held in the Asia Pacific Rim. MNB has long-term ratings of Ba1 (positive outlook) and BBB- from Moody's and Fitch respectively. The bank is currently working towards a sale.


When it comes to animated fairy tale or love stories, at least here in the west, Disney seems to have cornered the market. Everything ends happily ever after and no matter what good triumphs over evil. What would Shakespeare or the Ancient Greeks think of this? For every day there is a night. Love stories are as much about the pain and hardships of being authentic towards your true feelings. And in 1986, the year Studio Ghibli debuted Castle in the Sky, another film would show the strife and complexity of love, war and honesty. The beautiful shojo masterpiece known as Windaria.
Ask me what is the best animated film from Japan during the 1980s and I will always pick Windaria. Early Ghibli films are great, Akira was amazing and Macross: Do You Remember Love is my version of the Super Bowl, but Windaria is something special. Something very, very special. A product of my beloved Kaname Production, this 1986 gem is a film that is overlooked to the point of being a crime. I see it as an allegory of not following one's truest desires or feelings and letting the environment dictate your life. It reminds me of a quote from an obscure movie about the composer Gustav Mahler, "Do things out of love and not duty, Duty destroys, duty always destroys." And we see this concept through the eyes of two pairs of lovers caught up in a land on the brink of an impending war.
The first set of lovers are the more idealized in the tradition of fairy tale story telling. Princess Ahnas of Itha lives in a seaside paradise. She is carefree and beautiful, but she is also worried. Tensions with the neighboring kingdoms of Paro are begining to escalate. And this becomes a personal issue because she is in love with Jill, the prince of Paro. Neither of our young lovers want to see war and hope to create a bridge of peace, but much like Romeo and Juliet their star crossed love has a difficult road. And when the respective royalty on both sides pass their authoritative powers on, our couple has to decide which decision is of more importance. Is it their love and their hopes for the future, or their duty as members of the royal court to uphold their honors as heads of state?
Complimenting our royal duo is another young couple of more common origins. Izu and Marin are farmers in the neutral territory between Itha and Paro and their lives revolve around selling of their crops. primarily to Itha, and giving respect to their land by praying to the giant tree in their land known as Windaria. The one problem is with Izu, as he desires to be something more than a common farmer. His insecurity and angst shows his feelings that he is not good enough, but for Marin this is not the case. She loves him for who he genuinely is and cares nothing of what others expectations are. Despite this, Izu decides that he must do something to prove he is special and gets involved in the upcoming war. Just how this will this affect his relationship with Marin in the end?
Windaria is a tale of love and responsibility and in many ways is as I have stated above, the inverse of what a traditional Walt Disney film is. Our heroes have to face consequences for their actions and everything does not tie up nicely at the end. It is one of the saddest films I have ever seen, even on a par with Grave of Fireflies, but a little different. Even with all the tragedy, Windaria stands as one of the most beautifully made films in anime and what makes it that way is the gentleness that rides under the current of the madness. What we have is a cautionary tale, much like the true telling of The Little Mermaid, and often times the lessons we learn the hardest often are the ones that eventually make us open our eyes to see the beauty of what you truly have. Never forget the beauty of what you have in front of you and take care of yourself and your environment, because they are interdependent.
I will always hold Windaria high in my regard for the beauty of the story, the music, the haunting yet serene beginning sequence and the tear filled ending. Films like this only come to fruition on rare occasion and their impact is second to none. And lastly, thank you Kaname Production for producing this film. I have always loved the work you all have done and Windaria is a magnun opus you should be most proud of.
afternote: This has been released in the west as an edited film known as Once Upon a Time. I am not here to judge, but from what I have heard and read it is not a genuine retelling. Just be aware in case you come across a copy of this film with an English dub.


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Third Circuit Finds Individual Ownership Interest in Corporation Not Required for FCA Liability and Unsworn Testimony Insufficient to Create a Material Issue of Fact
Robert J. Conlan Jr. and Kristen A. Knapp
3rd Circuit, Individual Liability, Summary Judgment
On March 14, 2018, the Third Circuit affirmed in part and vacated in part a district court ruling granting the United States' motion for summary judgment. The case raised three issues: (1) whether an individual without any ownership interests in a company can face FCA liability for the company's failure to perform a required act to qualify for Medicare reimbursement; (2) whether an unsworn statement is sufficient to create a material issue of fact when weighed against facts admitted during a plea colloquy; and (3) whether a defendant corporation is collaterally estopped from contesting FCA liability or damages based on an individual's plea colloquy.
In United States ex rel. Jane Doe v. Heart Solution PC et al., No. 17-2019 (3d Cir. Mar. 14, 2019) the United States intervened in a case involving civil FCA claims against a married couple, the Patels, who had previously been convicted of defrauding Medicare. The couple had submitted forged diagnostic reports to Medicare and performed diagnostic neurological testing without the proper level of physician supervision to qualify for Medicare reimbursement. During her plea colloquy, Ms. Patel admitted key facts. First, when asked if she and her husband "own and operate mobile diagnostic companies known as Biosound Medical Services and Heart Solution PC," Ms. Patel answered "yes." Second, when asked if between 2006 and 2014, Ms. Patel and her husband "falsely represent[ed] to Medicare that the neurological testing being performed at Biosound Medical Services was being supervised by a licensed neurologist, when, in fact, it was not" she responded "yes."
The FCA case sought to hold the Patels and their two companies, Biosound and Heart Solution, civilly liable for defrauding Medicare on the basis of the neurological testing fraud. In its motion for summary judgment, the United States argued that Ms. Patel's plea colloquy established all the required elements of the FCA claim and for that reason summary judgment was appropriate. In their opposition, defendants' relied on an unsworn statement by Mr. Patel, in which Mr. Patel stated that one of the companies, Biosound, had employed the required level of physician supervision from 2006 to 2007 and 2012 to 2014. The district court granted summary judgment.
Only Ms. Patel and Heart Solution appealed. Ms. Patel first argued that she could not be liable for any fraud associated with Biosound because she held no ownership interest in the company. The Third Circuit rejected the argument, holding that ownership interest is irrelevant to determining FCA liability. The conclusion was based on a straight reading of the elements of an FCA claim: falsity, causation, knowledge, and materiality. Ownership is not an element of an FCA claim.
Ms. Patel and Heart Solution then argued the district court erred in not giving any weight to Mr. Patel's unsworn statement. The Third Circuit disagreed, finding that the statement, not being sworn or made under penalty of perjury, was "incompetent summary judgment evidence." Therefore, the Court held that the district court properly ignored Mr. Patel's statement.
The Third Circuit then turned to whether Heart Solution was collaterally estopped from contesting liability and damages regarding the alleged FCA violation based on Ms. Patel's criminal conviction and plea colloquy. Because Heart Solutions was not charged with fraud in the Patels' criminal proceeding, the Third Circuit concluded that Heart Solution "did not have any opportunity, much less a 'full and fair opportunity,' to litigate any issue involved in this appeal." Accordingly, the Third Circuit vacated the lower court's ruling as to the collateral estoppel finding.
A copy of the Third Circuit's opinion can be found here.
Robert J. Conlan Jr.
rconlan@sidley.com
Kristen A. Knapp
kknapp@sidley.com
https://fcablog.sidley.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2022/08/sidleyLogo-e1643922598198.png 0 0 Robert J. Conlan Jr. https://fcablog.sidley.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2022/08/sidleyLogo-e1643922598198.png Robert J. Conlan Jr.2019-03-19 15:48:262019-03-19 15:48:26Third Circuit Finds Individual Ownership Interest in Corporation Not Required for FCA Liability and Unsworn Testimony Insufficient to Create a Material Issue of Fact
November 2021 Third Circuit Adopts the Seventh Circuit's Voluntary Dismissal Standard for Evaluating Granston Motions to Dismiss
On October 28, 2021, the Third Circuit affirmed a district court's grant of the United States' motion to dismiss—over the relator's objection—a qui tam alleging that the defendant had caused hospitals to submit false claims. Adopting the Seventh Circuit's approach, the court determined that in evaluating the government's motion to dismiss over a relator's objection in a declined qui tam, courts should apply the standards for voluntary dismissals contained in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a).
3rd CircuitGranston Memo
August 2021 Finding No Materiality, Court Grants Summary Judgment for Defense in Fraudulent Inducement Case
On August 12, 2021, the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota granted Boston Scientific Corporation's (BSC) motion for summary judgment in relator Stephen Higgins's declined qui tam, which alleged that BSC had fraudulently induced the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve two types of defibrillators that the FDA later recalled.
FDAFraudulent InducementMaterialitySummary Judgment
May 2021 Judge Saris Green Lights FCA Claims Against PE Fund Based on Regulatory Non-Compliance of its Portfolio Company Healthcare Provider for Trial
Late last week, Judge Patti Saris (D. Mass.) issued an opinion on cross-motions for summary judgment filed by a qui tam relator and Massachusetts and a group of defendants that includes South Bay Mental Health Center ("South Bay") and its private equity fund owner, permitting the vast majority of plaintiffs' claims to proceed to the jury. The opinion addresses important questions of law as to each of the elements of the FCA related to claims to Medicaid for services allegedly provided in violation of various state regulatory requirements. However, the opinion is most notable for being the first to hold at the dispositive motion stage that a private equity fund and its principals can act with the requisite scienter and cause the submission of false claims, and thus be exposed directly to the treble damages and statutory penalties of the FCA as a result of conduct by a healthcare provider portfolio company. As such, we may expect it to add momentum to DOJ's stated intent to pursue FCA claims against PE investors in the industry, as we previously reported here.
CausationD. Mass.EnforcementFalsityHealth Care ProvidersKnowledge/ScienterMaterialityPrivate EquitySummary Judgment