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We are here to assist. Call 732-955-6838, Email
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© 2013 by Rah Rah Routines
H-E-L-L-O
The Perfect Score Blog
At Rah Rah Routines, we live by safety, education, and technique as the three pillars of our company -- the values we stand by in order to provide our coaches and athletes with the best in cheerleading, dance, and tumbling services.
We believe passion plus technique is the formula to achieving "the perfect score" and excellence. We take pride in being a company that takes the lead in "having fun while being serious" about injury prevention, safety training, and perfection before progression.
Our Mission is to create and sell high-quality, innovative cheer routines, activities, and products that safely educate our clients, vendors, and communities, all while in a positive, hard working, and enjoyable environment. Our Vision is that our teachings provide cheerleaders living in the Northeast with the necessary tools to excel as athletes, students, professionals, and role models.
#RahRahStaffLove
Christina Hernandez
Founder & Head Choreographer
Christina is a cheerleading and tumbling aficionado who has led senior-level all star teams to multiple local, regional and national titles and has more than 25 years of experience as a Pop Warner, high school and all star cheerleader. She is contracted to work as a tumble instructor at several cheer and dance organizations in New Jersey, and is a longstanding choreographer for reputable recreation, high school, and all–star competitive teams throughout the Northeast region. She is a member of the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators (AACCA), USASF, and NFHS. Christina is USASF certified in Building and Tumbling Levels 1-5, and assists USASF in credentialing other all star coaches. She is a certified Varsity judge for all-star competitions, and a freelance writer for Cheer Professional magazine.
Camp Instructor
Jennifer, a former high school and college cheerleader, is a well-rounded cheer coach experienced in high school and all star levels. During her college career, she coached her former high school team, and continued to lead them for the next six years. Coaching at the high school level inspired her to earn her teaching certification in English and Special Education. Since becoming a teacher, she has continued to coach at various high schools throughout NJ with teams that have won local, state and national titles. She has coached nationally ranked all-star teams. Jennifer continues to coach at the high school level - advancing skills and creating and cleaning routines.
Erin started cheering at age 14 for Vernon Township High School and was recruited to cheer at Elmira College, where she received four Top 10 finishes at NCA Collegiate Nationals and four regional titles. She served as captain of Elmira all-girl cheerleading for two years. She later coached at Southern Tier Stars, and took over as head coach at Horseheads High School, when the squad was named Northeast Regional Champion at the US Finals. After moving to New Jersey, Erin coached at Whippany Park High School and started Cheer Pride All Stars in Whippany. She is also a nationally certified Cheer Ltd. judge who has judged at regional and Cheer Ltd. Nationals in Myrtle Beach multiple times.
Camp Instructor & In-House Music Producer
Timm began school and all-star cheerleading at 12 years old. In his sophomore year, his high school team won the Virginia Cheerleading State Championships. That same year he competed at the Cheerleading Worlds with FAME Allstars for the first time. Since then, he has competed at the Cheerleading Worlds four times, placing seventh in 2014 and 2015. He was a coach for his former high school Varsity and JV team for one year, leading the competition team to a second place win at States. Timm is also passionate about cheer music and began mixing at age 13. He currently cheers on the international team at Top Gun in Florida.
Jessica has been with Rah-Rah Routines for three years. She has over 10 years of cheer experience. She cheered 4 years for Franklin High School in NJ before joining Cheer Academy All-Stars (now known as Evolution All-Stars) for three years. In college, Jessica cheered at for George Mason University. Jessica excels in tweaking and cleaning up routines. She was a figure ice skater for nine years before making the switch to become a cheerleader in high school.
Katie spent 13 years as a competitive cheerleader and was a member of the World Cup Shooting Stars for six years. She is a five-time medalist at the Cheerleading World Championships and was a member of the 2015 World Championship Team. Katie was the captain of the 2016 Shooting Stars and was also recognized as Shooting Star of the Year. She has just completed her first year of college at the University of Oregon on their Acrobatics & Tumbling team as a student athlete on a full scholarship. With this strong background, Katie brings extensive stunting, tumbling, and cheerleading knowledge to our team.
Alicia has been a cheerleader since the first grade. She was on a recreational football cheerleading team for eight years. She was co-captain of her Junior Varsity team during her freshman year of high school along with making the Varsity Cheer Team. She cheered all four years of her high school career on both the recreational football and recreational competition teams. She was voted captain of her high school's Varsity Football and Competition Cheer teams her senior year. She has also served as a junior coach for the many recreational cheer programs in her town including the Hillsdale Hawks, River Vale Raiders and Pascack Valley Tribe.
Junior Camp Instructor
McKenzie is a student at Midland Park High School, and a member of the Waldwick Midland Park High School Varsity cheerleading squad. She began cheering at a young age, and later became an all-star cheerleader at Star Athletics in NJ. Her love for cheer also led her to junior coach the Midland Park Junior Football Cheer Association, where she was the lead choreographer for the junior and senior cheer routines. She also choreographed the senior dance competition team for the organization.


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Time to Move On — Democrats Are Wasting Their Time On Impeachment
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TRADITIONALLY use this Memorial Day break to meet with their constituents at town hall meetings, getting a sense of the mood outside the Washington Beltway. We suspect there's an anxious mood because of health care, trade tariffs and signs of a softening economy — but there simply isn't a great clamor to impeach President Trump, despite his personal unpopularity and his distortion of Robert Mueller's conclusions.
WE REITERATE OUR THEME: If you want Trump ousted from office, campaign against him and vote against him in November of 2020. But there's no chance of convicting him in a Senate trial — there aren't remotely close to the 67 votes required to do so. If House Democrats reject this reality and choose the spectacle of impeachment proceedings, their progressive base might be thrilled, but Trump will have his foil: a "witch hunt" that could boost his re-election prospects.
THIS WON'T BE EASY FOR NANCY PELOSI: Yesterday's refusal by Mueller to clear Trump of obstruction of justice has prompted several Democrats running in 2020 to urge impeachment proceedings, but Pelosi knows that could backfire politically. We think her fallback position is as follows: more subpoenas and hearings, and a shift in focus to Trump's tax and financial records.
REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE DEMOCRATS MAY UNCOVER in the next few months, there's no escaping the certainty that Mitch McConnell's Senate would quickly dismiss a House impeachment referral. So it's time for the Democrats to move on, in our opinion, and focus on other issues; it's futile to moan about Mueller's insistence that he couldn't indict a sitting president.
THERE ARE TWO MORE PRESSING ISSUES: First, a trade war that's worsening, with a growing likelihood of major new U.S. tariffs on European goods on everything from German autos to French wine, which will add more uncertainty to the global economic outlook. Second, there's still the issue that launched the Mueller probe — overwhelming evidence of Russian meddling in the 2016 election — and there's no clear plan to combat it in 2020.
THE HOUSE SHOULD FOCUS ON THOSE ISSUES: A House impeachment — certain to fail — would simply be a capitulation to the left wing, raising the threat of a divided party; Joe Biden sided with Pelosi yesterday and backed away from impeachment, enraging the progressives. The Democrats are united on one goal — ousting Trump — and to choose the impeachment option could actually help Trump win re-election.
CORRECTION: Thanks to several sharp-eyed readers who emailed yesterday — obviously we meant to say that if inflation picks up because of massive tariffs, the possibility of a rate CUT could become less likely. One reader said she expects one rate reduction in the second half, not two, which seems about right.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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After our awful experiences down south in Galle, Bee & I were so keen for our holiday to improve. I mean we were actually missing Kuwait so that's how you know that our holiday wasn't going well!
After much negotiation and strife, we hired a driver in Galle and began our journey to Kandy (central Sri Lanka). Along the way we stopped at Kosgoda turtle sanctuary which turned out to be an incredible experience!
We were taken through the sanctuary and the conservation project was explained to us… from how they incubate the eggs to rehabilitate injured turtles. We were allowed to touch the turtles for a few seconds before they went back into the water.
After this great experience, we took it as a sign that our holiday was improving. Hmm… upon arrival to Kandy, we paid our driver the 50% of the total amount as agreed on and told him we could call him to make arrangements for the next day. That was the last we ever saw or heard from him. Yip… he took half the money and split… his phone was turned off and his boss couldn't track him down. We were so distraught… what were we doing wrong? Why was this happening to us? I'm not a person prone to lamentations of self pity but seriously… I'd never had so many bad experiences in one bloody trip!!
I have to say that the people at the place we were staying at in Kandy were AMA-ZING. They sorted us out with a new driver and set about getting us a refund from the runway driver's boss. They welcomed us with open arms, soothed our damaged psyches and took care of us. We really needed the TLC!
We had booked white water rafting and I was so keen to get active again after our crazy escapades climbing up and down Omani mountains. It was a 3 hour drive to Kitulgala which was where the rafting was so we left Kandy early and settled in for a long drive.
What can I say about the rafting other than, it was FANTASTIC! And no you don't need any prior experience or even to be a good swimmer. We rafted for 8km and honestly I could've done another 8km. Yes there were hair-raising moments but as long as you listen to the guides' instructions, it's pretty awesome. Miraculously, our boat didn't capsize at all and we managed to spend a good amount of time rafting, swimming and even some cliff diving (yes I am getting addicted haha!).
We were a group of four: Bee, myself and a German couple. The four guides with us were such jokers, we were constantly trying to throw each other off the boat and they kept trying to dunk us under the water.
It was a truly memorable experience and one that I would highly recommend to anyone heading to that part of the world.
Kandy has the most genuine vibe and it was pleasure to just be out and about in the town. We weren't being constantly harassed or ripped off and I was finally experiencing the Sri Lankan hospitality and kindness that I had read so much about.
Kandy was the perfect antidote to the craziness of Southern Sri Lanka and I felt a bit sad to head off to Colombo to catch our flight back to Kuwait.
On our drive to Colombo (3 hours +), we made a stop at the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage. This was Bee's dream; to meet and interact with elephants. I was relatively indifferent to the whole thing (not because I had elephants in my backyard in South Africa) but because in 2013 I had an incredible interactive elephant experience in Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand). When we arrived at the Orphanage, we paid 2500 rupees each and then the first thing we noticed was the sign with the timings on it. Unfortunate we had missed the infant bottle feeding, something we had really wanted to see. This wasn't due to our tardiness or stupidity but rather, because there is absolutely no information online about the activities or the times they're offered at online. (Note- get there at 9am for the bottle feeding).
Nevertheless, we still managed to get there in time for feeding the other elephants. For 250 additional rupees, you can purchase a basket of cut fruit and feed it to the elephants. Bee enjoyed this part a lot because the elephants had so much of character and personality. They were actually hitting her with their trunks when they wanted more food!
Afterwards, all of the elephants were rounded up and marched off to the river in a long procession. If you wanted to watch the elephants bathing then you could follow. It was a nice sight, seeing all of the elephants together in the water; spraying and splashing each other, generally having a great time.
But as for the experience on the whole… I found it to be rather confusing. Were these elephants being rescued? And from what? Some of them were chained and they seemed rather afraid of their handlers who herded them with sharp sticks. Also, as an attraction, it didn't make any sense. There was no logical flow of how one should experience the attraction; there were few, if any, signs detailing where things were and what to do. Would I recommend this? Not really. I think you would be better off having a more humane elephant experience in another South East Asian country or alternatively, see the animals in the wild at one of Sri Lanka's national parks.
I want to write about all of the amazing things I saw in Colombo but honestly we simply ate and drank our way through the capital city… I suppose one could call it a 'food tour'… but that's just a fancy term for gluttony. Details about that in an upcoming post.
Sri Lanka was the first holiday where I was left wondering how I felt about it. As I waited to board the plane, I couldn't wait to head back to the GCC… to see beards instead of moustaches… to hear Arabic again.. and to feel relaxed. It was the first time I was going back home to relax from a holiday. I remember leaving Beijing in 2012 and Madagascar in 2014… I knew unequivocally that I wouldn't be returning to either place and I could name exactly what I didn't like about the countries/cities. But there were elements that I really liked about Sri Lanka; the pristine beaches, the lush scenery and of course, the food. However, would I return to experience more racism, more frustration and a healthy dose of irritation? Nope. Sri Lanka you were interesting but by no means would I ever want to relive this trip again!
5 benefits when your bestie is from another culture/country!
That was the company that did the rafting and it was absolutely wonderful! I am a little jealous that you will get to have that experience while I am stuck in cold Kuwait. Speaking of which, I never thought that I would miss Kuwait but with all of the bad luck we were having, Kuwait became sort of a haven in my mind! You have to admit, this little country does grow on you though! I really hope you have the BEST time in Sri Lanka!
Thank you do much for the lovely run down of your adenitis in Sri Lanka! I'm in kandy RIGHT NOW, and it's about to be the Sri Lankan New year's. Your henna is Z gorgeous, and I'm just wondering where you had it done, and about how much one should expect to pay? I only haveot days to hunt an artist down before I'm back to the off the beaten track small towns! Thank you for any help you can muster!


Ever wonder if anyone is really listening to what you have to say?
No, I don't mean hearing you talk, but really listening. I can picture my words literally falling on deaf ears. Little harmonies and vibrations traveling into the right ear of an individual and out of the left ear; as if there's only empty space in between.
Ever wonder if someone is interested in what you have to say?
It isn't that hard to tell, not rocket science at all. In fact, you can look at someone and tell if they'd drifted off into their own oblivion living in their other dimension or whether they're focused on you. I don't mean looking into their eyes but paying attention to their body language.
I'm encouraging minimal venting for the remainder of this year. After all, verbally demonstrating anger and frustration without a plan for change is just dead.
I'm not here to entertain the negative vibrational infiltrators of peace (especially not at work).
The more I complain the more I'm feeding the beast. Right?
Stay clear of the "come and vent to me anytime, I'm always here for you" type of people.
Some people just feed off that. Those are the beasts.
And in return all I ask is the same.
You're going to respect me enough to not burden me with all of your gripes and troubles without any solution.
I'm too motivated to dwell on my own pity or anyone else's.


How much is this guy charging you to set you up with leads, etc? Who is the carrier? Why is he pre-screening and then turning over to you to fill in the app?
Right now Golden Rule is the only carrier I know that is consistently approving cases in that time frame. They start you out at 15% commission with no advances.
World can turn a case around quickly, sometimes in a week. Their IMO's will advance 6 months on a 20% (or sometimes higher) commission.
Time claims 70% of their EASE cases are issued in days but I have yet to experience that. More like 6 weeks.
How about hitting the caps lock button before you reply?
Thanks for the reply, He is not actually prescreening, the lead service is, and the lead service charges $8 a lead and if they transfer the interested prospect to my cellphone, its an additional $10. Magically, all the carriers you mentioned are part of the gig. Also, I was under the impression that in order to do business in another state,(the Broker) you must be licensed in that state.
About 90% of my Assurant cases are issued within 4 days. 6 weeks?
Same experience with Assurant. If it's a nice clean case, they turn it around in about 48-72 hours (w/electronic app). Can't do much with them though, their rates are uncompetitive here.
I haven't written anything with Time (Assurant) in over a year. Decided to give them a shot after the RSD called me a few months back. Rates are not that competitive. I will show them when someone wants more flexibility than I can get with other carriers, or (now) when someone wants maternity. The new plans were not approved in GA until 11/1/06, and I do like the Max in addition to One Deductible.
The first case sat in underwriting 2 weeks before they came back & asked for more information. The guy decided to pull his app.
The second case went to APS. After a month (half of that Time, half the doc) the guy found a job and did not want the health insurance.
Third case was a 35 year old male, slightly overweight, with HBP controlled by meds for 3+ years. They wanted an APS. After 6 weeks (10 days in underwriting after receiving the APS) they issued a counter offer.
During that time I had to keep this guy on the hook, including encouraging him to pay another months COBRA premium, while waiting on Time to make up their mind.
In January I am taking another application on a family where I know at least 2 APS's will be required. I anticipate 2+ months in underwriting, possibly longer.
They are not winning any prizes in GA for competitiveness or turn around.
Paul, good to see you back online. Missed your contributions.
Don't buy shared leads. Especially if you're new to this business.
I am still trying to figure out what the attraction is to an agent. You must think all you will get are laydowns that you can complete while sitting around a pool sipping margarita's.
I got news for you. It doesn't work that way.
If it did I would be recruiting like crazy and sitting around collecting overrides.
I think I have seen some of this guys solicitations before. Slick site.
World doesn't have an online app although they promised one by years end. CGI is virtually out of the business and will be gone within 2 years.
All I am saying is that... to the newbie who started this thread....dont get emotionally charged up about a deal that sounds to good to be true. Assurant will offer this guy a higher contract direct with them, and the only way to earn alot of money is through hard work, and focusing on your prospects best interest. You just cant answer your cell phone and process an application. Carlo is going to have this guy spending $500 per week to start up, and when he fails, Carlo is going to throw him away. He is a newbie, and not a seasoned, slick health agent.
Do what you want...I know Carlo, and I just gave my 2 cents worth. If is seems harsh, or if you dont agree, then disregard it.
John do the math, even you would agree that if you are paying for leads, then paying once again to have them transferred to you to the tune of about $18 per pop, you better be a real slick dude, and know your stuff, and know how to close, and retain the client. That takes a while to learn, and my advice is to not throw away your personal money learning how to do it.


-3.7L V6 Engine, 328 HP, fun to drive! -All-wheel drive -Automatic transmission with manual mode -Sport mode -Clean and well-maintained -Moonroof, premium Bose audio, Bluetooth, in-dash DVD player, heated front seats, GPS. -Rear-view camera with parking sensors. -Please contact me with any other questions about the car's features. iPass equipped for tolls (renter pays toll amounts charged to transponder). Premium fuel only. Please, no smoking or pets in the car. This car should not be used to transport furniture or other heavy items.
I have a parking spot in zip code 60642 that you can use for no extra charge while renting the car. Please let me know if you'd like to use my parking spot, and I'll provide more details.
What a breeze. Hrishikesh was very responsive to messages. He made pickup and drop off a dream. His Infinity G37X is phenomenal in the snow, as well. I highly recommend this rental.
Rishi's car was great! Very smooth to drive and working with him on rental was just as smooth. He was quick in replying back and flexible with returning the car same day rather than next day. Thank you!
Great car! Easy to drive and communicate with owner! A little dirty when we first got in but understandable since how many trips it has been through.


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National Soccer Coaching Seminar
United States Coaches National Rankings
Irish on Instagram
Irish on Twitter
Irish on Facebook
2013 National Championship Commemorative
athletics communication
Prospective Student Athlete Questionnaire
Alumni Stadium
Notre Dame Survives 40-Minute Power Outage, Snaps Three-Game Losing Skid
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame men's soccer team survived a 40-minute power outage at Alumni Field and snapped a three-game losing streak as the Irish defeated visiting Northwestern 2-1 in a non-conference match.
Freshman Justin Detter (White Lake, Mich.) scored both of Notre Dame's goals to register the first multiple-goal game of his career as the Irish improved to 4-5-1, while the Wildcats remained winless at 0-9.
Detter scored his first goal 13:37 into the contest when he headed in Matt Rosso's (Churchill, Pa.) corner kick into the left side of net.
Jun Kim knotted the score less than four minutes later when he fired a shot from 20-yards out off feed from Paul Elkins.
The score remained 1-1 until the 47:40 mark of the contest when Detter drilled a 15-yarder from outside the penalty following passes from Filippo Chillemi (Roswell, Calif.) and Erich Braun (Frankfurt, Germany).
Less than a minute following the goal, the lights on the field went out because of a power outage and the contest was suspended for 40 minutes. Notre Dame, which had been the more aggressive team throughout the contest outshot Northwestern 17-2 in the second half.
The Irish had several opportunities to score, but were denied due to some outstanding goalkeeping by Wildcat goalie Chris Berlin. Berlin made a key save on Braun's penalty kick at the 62:33 mark in the contest. He finished the game with eight total saves, while the Northwestern team got four back saves from members of its team.
The one-goal decision was the fourth straight for the Irish who entered the game having lost three consecutive one-goal contests at home.
The win concludes a five-game homestand for Notre Dame who will travel to Providence, R.I. on Sun., Oct. 8 for a 1:00 p.m. contest with the Friars in a BIG EAST test. The Irish have just two home games remaining during the regular season and now must play five of its seven remaining contest on the road.
Connecticut (0-9-0) 1 0 1
Notre Dame (4-5-1) 1 1 2
SCORING: Notre Dame: Justin Detter (Matt Rosso), 13:37, Northwestern: Jun Kim (Paul Elkins), 17:33, Notre Dame: Justin Detter (Filippo Chillemi, Erich Braun), 47:40
SHOTS: Notre Dame25, Northwestern 9
CORNER KICKS: Notre Dame 10, Northwestern 1
FOULS: Notre Dame 22, Northwestern 19
GOALIE SAVES: Notre Dame 3 (Greg Tait – 3), Northwestern 8 (Chris Berlin – 8)
Men's Soccer Irish Add Transfer Midfielder Dawson McCartney
Men's Soccer Introducing The Class Of 2025
Men's Soccer Fall Season Comes To An End In ACC Semifinals


Rishabh is an IIT Roorkee, MDI Alumni with 4+ years of experience in investment banking & business consulting, having worked with reputed firms like Goldman Sachs and EY. A highly passionate individual, creating 'impact through work' is his greatest source of satisfaction. He and his friend Kushal Bhagat (also, an IIT Roorkee Alumni), co-founded MyAdvo.in, a legal tech company, with an aim to make legal simple, efficient and transparent for both clients and lawyers. Their vision is to create the single largest legal 'network' enabling lawyers, law firms, individuals and startups/SMEs to connect and collaborate.
In a nutshell, we find you the right lawyer. Individuals can choose (1) to ask a free question, which is answered by lawyers specializing in that domain, (2) engage a lawyer directly through our 'find a lawyer' service, which provides relevant information about the lawyer including his areas of expertise, reviews and online activity on MyAdvo. (3) Users can also choose our 'talk to lawyer' service, where a case manager understands the client's legal situation and gets the user an in-person or mobile consultation with a suitable lawyer. For corporates/ SMEs, we have a reverse closed auction model, wherein multiple 'subject matter expert' lawyers send proposals within 1-2 working days, for businesses legal requirements.
Few years ago, my family was in a grave legal situation and we needed to find a lawyer. In our hunt, we realized how opaque and inefficient the legal market is. There are over 6 million cases filed in lower courts of India each year, over 1.5 million lawyers, and yet there is absolutely no information available to find the 'right' lawyer, to judge the competency of the lawyer or the true market price of their service. That is how the idea for building an online network that connects 'clients to lawyers' was born.
We knew that coming from an engineering background, it would be a challenge to make lawyers trust us because the legal community is pretty close knit. I remember one of our early meetings with a lawyer, which basically went something like this, us: "would you like to provide relevant information about yourself, provide free legal advice online and provide proposals through an online platform? Lawyer: "Proposal? Online? information? what the hell are you talking about? Clients come to me" Luckily we did not stop there and today we have over 100 lawyers and 15 boutique corporate law firms registered with us.
'We kept going'. There are many lawyers out there who are willing to be part of the change that is very much required in the legal industry. The journey has just started for us. It is going to take a lot of focus, determination and creative thinking to add value to our users, be it, clients or lawyers.
We have a healthy mix of IIT, DCE grads and lawyers in our team and are currently bootstrapping. We will be actively looking to raise funds in the very near future.
Our team is full of football fanatics, so after a really long day, we turn to FIFA on our play station.
We want to become the single largest client-lawyer network, adding value across the value chain of the legal services industry.
As Steve Jobs said, You can only connect the dots looking backward. Therefore, every experience counts.


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Construction work and risk of occupational disability: a ten year follow up of 14 474 male workers
V Arndt1,
D Rothenbacher1,
U Daniel2,
B Zschenderlein2,
S Schuberth2,
H Brenner1
1German Centre for Research on Ageing, Department of Epidemiology, Heidelberg, Germany
2Occupational Health Service, Workmen's Compensation Board for Construction Workers Württemberg, Böblingen, Germany
Correspondence to:
Dr V Arndt
German Centre for Research on Ageing (DZFA), Department of Epidemiology, Bergheimer Strasse 20, D-69115 Heidelberg, Germany; arndtdzfa.uni-heidelberg.de
Aims: Most industrialised countries have public income maintenance programmes to protect workers in case of disability but studies addressing disability risk of specific professional groups are rare. The objective of this study was to establish a detailed pattern of the nature and extent of occupational disability among construction workers.
Methods: A cohort study was set up including 14 474 male workers from the construction industry in Württemberg (Germany) aged 25–64 years who underwent occupational health exams between 1986 and 1992. The cohort was linked to the regional pension register of the manual workers' pension insurance institution to identify workers who were granted a disability pension during the 10 year follow up. All-cause and cause specific standardised incidence ratios (SIR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using disability rates from the general workforce and from all blue collar workers in Germany as references.
Results: In total, 2247 (16%) members of the cohort were granted a disability pension. Major causes of disability were musculoskeletal (45%) and cardiovascular diseases (19%). In comparison with the general workforce, construction workers experienced a higher risk of disability from cancer (SIR = 1.26; 95% CI 1.08 to 1.47), respiratory diseases (SIR = 1.27; 95% CI 1.03 to 1.55), musculoskeletal diseases (SIR = 2.16; 95% CI 2.03 to 2.30), injuries/poisoning (SIR = 2.52; 95% CI 2.06 to 3.05), and all causes combined (SIR = 1.47; 95% CI 1.41 to 1.53). When compared with the blue collar reference group, increased risks of disability among construction workers were found for musculoskeletal diseases (SIR = 1.53; 95% CI 1.44 to 1.63), injury/poisoning (SIR = 1.83; 95% CI 1.50 to 2.21), and all causes combined (SIR = 1.11; 95% CI 1.07 to 1.16).
Conclusions: Musculoskeletal diseases and external causes are major factors limiting the work capability of construction workers and lead to an increased proportion of occupational disability.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/oem.2004.018135
Working conditions in the construction industry have improved in many developed countries during the past decades but hard physical labour with frequent lifting and carrying heavy weights, static work, exposure to vibrations, climatic influences, noise, and dust still pose considerable strains for construction workers and may deleteriously affect their health.1,2 Construction work is also known for its high risk of fatal and non-fatal injuries. Almost 20% of all work related injuries in Germany occur in the construction industry.3 The annual injury rate (non-fatal and fatal accidents) of 82 per 1000 construction workers is about 2.5 times the average rate of 34.5 per 1000 in all branches of industry.3 Similar figures have been reported from the US4 and the UK.5 Falls are the leading cause of occupational injuries in the construction industry and constitute a substantial proportion of permanent and temporary disability.1,6,7 In addition to accidents, musculoskeletal disorders make up a substantial part of non-fatal injuries and illnesses in construction work.4
Disability pensioning has emerged as an important social problem in recent years.8 Although medical disablement is a necessary precondition for disability pension, the causes of occupational disability are complex and certain non-medical factors, such as sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and lifestyle factors (for example, smoking) have been identified as non-medical determinants of occupational disability.8,9,10,11,12 In addition, work characteristics, like heavy manual work and repetitive monotonous movements, are considered to represent factors of importance for many of the conditions leading to occupational disability.13
There is some evidence that construction workers face a higher risk of occupational disability than workers in less physically demanding jobs.14,15 Heavy physical work, in particular lifting and static muscular loading and uncomfortable work positions, were found to be associated with an increased risk of occupational disability due to musculoskeletal disorders but not cardiovascular or mental disease.9 Previous research also suggested that the risk of occupational disability is higher for unskilled than for skilled workers.14
In a previous report, we examined mortality and morbidity among 5000 construction workers over a five year period and we found a significant increase in risk of occupational disability and a tendency towards an increased risk of all-cause mortality for construction workers in comparison with a white collar control group.16 More specific information, however, would be of utmost interest as our earlier analysis was limited to all-cause disability and did not allow further in-depth cause specific analysis. During the last few years, we were able to enlarge the cohort and to expand the follow up period to 10 years,17 which now enables us to establish a more detailed pattern of the nature and extent of occupational disability among construction workers in Germany. Specifically, we were interested to see whether there are specific risk groups with respect to the underlying cause of disability but also with respect to age, nationality, occupational group, and duration of employment, which would especially benefit from preventive measures. Older workers and workers who have worked for a long period in physically demanding jobs are of particular interest in this context as aging is associated with a decline in work capacity18 and accompanied by an increase in long term musculoskeletal disorders and other chronic diseases.19
The baseline study population comprised 18 760 male construction workers (plumbers, carpenters, painters, plasterers, bricklayers, and unskilled workers/labourers), aged 25–64 years, who participated in a health examination by the Institution for Statutory Accident Insurance and Prevention in the Building Trade in Württemberg (a region with about 5.4 million people in the South of Germany) between 1 August 1986 and 31 December 1992 and who were members of the local manual workers' pension insurance institution. In Germany, almost all blue collar workers, including self-employed craftsmen and itinerant workers, are members of the statutory pension fund. The health examination is part of the routine occupational health surveillance and includes occupational and medical history, a physical exam, pulmonary function test, test of visual acuity, audiometry, and blood and serum analysis. Participation is voluntary but about 75% of all invited workers have participated in the medical examination during the period of recruitment. The participants were representative for the underlying source population of all construction workers with respect to age and nationality, and occupation (taking into account that we had restricted the study sample to the six largest professional groups). The study was approved by the local and regional ethics committees and by the ministry of social affairs Baden-Württemberg.
The cohort was linked to the pension register of the manual workers' pension insurance institution Württemberg to identify workers who have been granted a disability pension during follow up. The linkage was performed at two points in time (June 1998 and March 2000) according to date of baseline examination:
people who entered the cohort between 1986 and 1988 were linked in June 1998 (follow up closing date 31 December 1997)
people who entered the cohort between 1989 and 1992 were linked in March 2000 (follow up closing date 30 June 1999).
As some cases of disability pensioning were approved in retrospect, a 4–6 months' lag time interval was necessary to capture all cases which have occurred during a specific time period. No follow up information was available for 4286 workers (23%), who had either moved to a different region or changed employment and been assigned another pension insurance institution. The very strict confidentiality rules in Germany did not allow us to follow these people further. Thus, the final study population comprised 14 474 construction workers who had been successfully linked with the pension register. The pension register provided information regarding vital status and whether the individual was still working, had been retired due to age, was unemployed or under vocational (re)training, or whether a disability pension (permanent or temporary) was granted. In case of multiple temporary disability pensions, only the first disability pension was reported.
The criteria and the legal framework for disability pensioning are under continuous change, but during time of follow up a disability pension was granted when the earning capacity had been permanently reduced by at least 50% because of illness, injury, or defect—irrespective of whether the injury had been work related or not—and when the worker could not be referred to another adequate occupation. A patient applies for a disability pension at the local insurance office, which requests a health certificate from the applicant's primary physician. In addition, a physician employed by the pension insurance institution examines the applicant and judges whether the patient meets the criteria for a disability pension or whether a rehabilitation measure might be appropriate first.
Standardised incidence ratios (SIR) for all-cause and cause specific disability were calculated with the SAS statistical software package20 using age (<40, 40–44, … 60–64), and sex specific annual disability rates during the entire follow up period from Germany ("Old Federal States", the former Western Germany) as reference. The SIR is the ratio of the observed number of incident cases in the study population to the number of cases that would be expected if the study population had the same incidence rate as the reference population. An SIR of 1.0 implies that the rates are the same for the population of interest and the standard population, whereas an SIR >1.0 implies that the rate is higher for the population of interest compared with the standard population. Conversely, an SIR <1.0 implies that the death rate is lower for the population of interest compared with the standard population.
The reference rates were derived from the number of incident disability pensions over the number of insured employees as provided by the annual statistics of the Federation of German Pension Insurance Institutes (VDR).21
Two reference groups were chosen: (1) the general workforce, which includes both blue and white collar workers, and (2) all blue collar workers (including workers from other industrial branches such as metal working industry, chemical industry, transportation, paper and printing, timber, leather and textiles, pit and quarry, and mining), as it is known that blue and white collar workers differ with respect to pattern and risk of disability.
Exact 95% confidence limits were calculated with the SISA software.22 In case of 15 and more observed cases the Poisson approximation was employed.23 Person time under risk was calculated for each study participant from date of baseline examination until closure of follow up. Reasons for censoring before closure of follow up comprised old age retirement, 65th birthday (and not retired), death (before age 65), or unemployment/vocational (re)training (65 is the usual age for retirement in Germany). SIRs were calculated for the total cohort but also for each occupational group (to detect potential job specific patterns), for different age groups (to detect age specific differences), by nationality, and by duration of employment.
Information on cause of disability, which was coded according to the 9th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9), could be obtained for 97.6% of all those who were granted a disability pension. We employed the method described by Rittgen and Becker to adjust for missing information on cause of disability.24 Under the assumption that the availability of the information on cause of disability is neither related to the exposure under consideration (for example, working in the construction industry) nor to the diagnosis, it can be easily shown that the unknown number of diagnosis specific disability pensions can be derived from the known number of disability pensions with this particular diagnosis, divided by the proportion of all known causes of disability among all disability pensioners. Analysing the data without the imputation did not change the overall findings.
The characteristics of the study population are shown in table 1. With over 30%, bricklayers constituted the largest professional group in our sample. Mean age of the study population at baseline was 41.7 years and over 80% of the cohort members were of German nationality, followed by migrants (or their descendants) from former Yugoslavia, Italy, and Turkey. On average, cohort members had worked for over 20 years in the construction industry.
Characteristics of the study population at baseline examination
During follow up 2247 men were granted a disability pension (mean age at retirement 56.1 years), and 761 men were granted an old age pension (mean age 63.4 years). 2765 study members were censored because they got unemployed and/or underwent some vocational training (mean age 51.3 years). In addition, 208 workers were censored because they died before age 65 (mean age 60.0 years). At the end of the follow up 8493 men out of 14 474 (59%) were still working.
The crude disability rate was 2049 per 100 000 person years, however risk of disability strongly increased with age (table 2). The major reasons for occupational disability were musculoskeletal disorders (n = 975; 45%), cardiovascular diseases (n = 399; 19%), neoplasms (n = 170; 8%), and mental disorders (n = 165; 8%). Dorsopathies (n = 523) represented the majority of all musculoskeletal disorders with intervertebral disc disorders (n = 203) and spondylosis (n = 189) as major underlying diagnoses. Although musculoskeletal disorders were the leading cause of disability in all age categories, their proportion among all cases of disability strongly increased with age whereas some other causes like mental disorders, injury, and poisoning were important contributors to occupational disability among young age groups mainly.
Cause of occupational disability by age
In comparison with the general workforce (table 3), construction workers experienced a higher risk of occupational disability for a number of causes including cancer (SIR = 1.26), diseases of the respiratory system (SIR = 1.27), musculoskeletal diseases (SIR = 2.16), injury and poisoning (SIR = 2.52), and all causes combined (SIR = 1.47). More specifically, statistically significantly higher disability rates were found for cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx (SIR = 1.84), chronic obstructive lung disease (SIR = 1.33), arthropathies (SIR = 2.66), dorsopathies (SIR = 1.76), accidents (SIR = 2.49), and other external causes (mainly complications of medical care, SIR = 3.04). Although overall no increased risk for cardiovascular diseases (SIR = 1.09) including ischaemic heart disease (SIR = 0.86) and hypertension (SIR = 0.88) was found, higher risks for disability were observed for the ICD categories "heart failure and other heart disease" (SIR = 1.60) and "diseases of the arteries, arterioles, and capillaries" (SIR = 1.35). Other diagnoses such as cancer of the digestive (SIR = 1.25) and urogenital system (SIR = 1.48), and non-malignant diseases of the digestive system (SIR = 1.20) including liver diseases (SIR = 1.20) and skin disorders (SIR = 1.61) were more common in our sample of construction workers but the differences were not statistically significant. Furthermore, we observed no substantially increased disability risk for cancer of the respiratory system (SIR = 1.02), mental disorders (SIR = 0.95), diseases of the nervous system and sense organs (SIR = 1.02), cerebrovascular disease (SIR = 1.06), and pneumoconiosis (SIR = 0.55).
Standardised incidence ratios (SIR) of all-cause and cause specific disability within the total cohort
When compared with the blue collar reference group, the differences in disability risk were less distinct for most diagnoses mentioned above but still statistically significant for all causes combined (SIR = 1.11), musculoskeletal diseases (SIR = 1.53), in particular arthropathies (SIR = 1.87) and dorsopathies (SIR = 1.25), and accidents (SIR = 1.81).
Table 4 addresses the associations of age, nationality, occupation, and duration of employment with the risk of occupational disability among construction workers. In addition to all-cause disability, table 4 also depicts some details of disability due to musculoskeletal disorders and accidents which appear to represent areas of specific concern among construction workers.
Standardised incidence ratios (SIR) for all-cause disability and disability due to musculoskeletal disorders and accidents by age, nationality, occupation, and duration of employment
Stratifying the cohort by age revealed a widening gap in all-cause disability with increasing age between construction workers and the general workforce. Similarly, duration of employment was a strong predictor for disability risk as indicated by the sharp increase in relative risk of disability with longer employment in the construction industry. When we stratified the sample into workers of German and non-German nationality, workers of non-German nationality showed a statistically significantly lower risk of all-cause disability than German workers (p<0.001). With respect to job title, highest disability rates (all causes combined) were found for bricklayers, plasterers, labourers, and carpenters.
The association of age, duration of employment, nationality, and job title with disability caused by musculoskeletal disorders and accidents appeared to be stronger than with all-cause disability although the overall pattern was very similar. Interestingly, however, the association between age and disability due to musculoskeletal disorders seemed to be U-shaped, with highest relative risks among the youngest and the older age groups, whereas relative risk with respect to disability due to accidents was highest among the older age groups and smallest among the younger. For both outcomes, age adjusted relative risk of occupational disability sharply increased with longer duration of employment. Risk of disability due to accidents was highest for plasterers, carpenters, labourers, and bricklayers whereas risk of disability due to accidents was not increased for plumbers.
Most industrialised countries have public income maintenance programmes to protect workers in case of disability8 but studies addressing disability risk of specific professional groups are rare. Construction workers in particular are difficult to study as they frequently change work sites, are often hired for temporary appointments, and frequently change employers.25
The results of our study indicate that musculoskeletal disorders and cardiovascular diseases represent main causes of occupational disability among construction workers. More importantly, however, is the finding that construction workers do not only experience a higher risk of all-cause disability than the general work force but also appear to experience a higher risk of disability than blue collar workers in general. This increase in risk of disability is mainly due to disorders of the musculoskeletal system and accidents. In particular, older and experienced construction workers seem to be at increased risk of occupational disability as the relative risk of disability increases with older age and with longer duration of employment in the construction industry.
Major causes of disability
The identification of cardiovascular disease and musculoskeletal disorders as major causes of occupational disability leading to early retirement is apparently a reflection of both the prevalence of the conditions in the general population and the environment and type of work involved in construction industry.1 Cardiovascular diseases and musculoskeletal disorders have also been major causes of occupational disability in the general population. Over 1.8 million male workers were awarded a disability pension in the area of former Western Germany during the period 1986–99. Among those, 25% were caused by cardiovascular diseases and over 28% by musculoskeletal disorders. In contrast, musculoskeletal disorders caused over 45% and cardiovascular diseases represented approximately 19% of all cases of occupational disability in our cohort of construction workers.
All-cause disability
Several studies reported that blue collar workers are at higher risk of occupational disability than white collar workers.9,10,13 Therefore, our finding that construction workers do not only experience a higher risk of all-cause disability than the general work force (composed of white and blue collar workers), but also a higher risk of disability than the blue collar reference is noteworthy and indicates that construction workers may represent a high risk group for occupational disability. Construction differs markedly from most other types of manufacturing in the extent of the safety and health risks to workers.26 Construction companies rarely provide steady employment and the frequently changing worksite, together with a huge number of small enterprises, makes it difficult to implement preventive programmes to protect the health of these workers.27 Although it has been argued that individual factors (such as alcohol consumption and smoking) as well as environmental factors (such as legislation and labour market) affect the likelihood of disability pensioning,13 the increased disability risk among our cohort of construction workers is presumably also related to work characteristics, such as heavy manual work, repetitive monotonous movements, and the high accident risk. Such work characteristics may increase the risk of occupational disability and fit very well to the observed pattern of diagnoses in our study with its high proportion of musculoskeletal disorders and accidents.8,13 Our results are further supported by data from the US Health and Retirement Study, which found that construction workers are more susceptible to a number of chronic health conditions, such as musculoskeletal problems, chronic lung disease, and emotional/psychiatric disorders, and by a Swedish study, which found that occupational disability was more common both in men with medium and high physical work load (in particular construction and metal workers) compared with men with low physical work load.28,29
Cause specific disability risk
Our data indicate that the increased risk of disability among construction workers is mainly due to disorders of the musculoskeletal system and accidents. There is strong evidence that heavy physical work with lifting, static muscular loading and uncomfortable work positions is associated with an increased risk of occupational disability, particularly musculoskeletal disorders.9,30,31 This pattern is also reflected by the job specific analysis indicating that plasterers, bricklayers, carpenters, and labourers are at highest risk of becoming disabled due to musculoskeletal disorders. Plumbers and painters also experience static muscular loading and uncomfortable positions, but lifting and handling of heavy loads are less common than in the other professional groups considered within our study.32
The hazards of construction work with respect to accidents are well established. Our results show that older construction workers in particular experience a higher risk of occupational disability from accidents. Although there is some discussion whether older or younger workers are at higher risk of injuries, there is sound evidence that in the case of an accident, older workers tend to be injured more severely.33–39
Construction workers are potentially exposed to a number of carcinogenic substances, such as asbestos and silica, and to other substances such as organic solvents and "bystander exposures" present in shared work spaces;40 however, studies addressing cancer risk of construction workers have shown conflicting results.40–44 Our cause specific analysis revealed an increased risk of disability caused by cancer of the oral cavity and the pharynx but not to any other major cancer site when compared to the general workforce. The observed increase in risk of cancer of the oral cavity and the pharynx might be partly explained by the high rates of smoking and heavy alcohol consumption,45,46 but other factors such as occupational exposure to carcinogens (for example, asbestos) and co-carcinogens (such as cement) have been discussed as additional specific risk factors for construction workers.47,48
Age, duration of employment, nationality
Our findings indicate that older workers represent a particularly vulnerable group with respect to risk of occupational disability. Although it cannot be ruled out that older workers are more likely to be warranted a disability pension either due to a lack of alternative job opportunities or by "bridging" those nearly at retirement age into pension, our results suggest that older workers deserve specific attention for future prevention measures (including providing job alternatives in sufficient numbers). This is of specific concern as it is expected that the proportion of older workers in the construction industry will be increasing due to the demographic change and a tendency among young people to work in less physically demanding jobs.
Older construction workers are also those who are more likely to have worked for many years in the construction industry. At first sight, it is therefore not surprising to see a strong positive association between duration of employment—which may also be considered as a proxy for the dose of exposure—and relative risk of occupational disability. However, this dose-response relation persisted even after control for age and thus gives further support to the above mentioned work relatedness of the increased disability risk among our cohort of construction workers.
In our study, migrants from other countries experienced a substantially lower disability rate than German construction workers. This phenomenon may reflect either a healthy migrant effect caused by a selection process in the 1960s when workers from Southern European countries with good physical health were hired to work in Germany or an "unhealthy re-migration effect" in which socially successful, healthier migrants have stayed in Germany while less healthier ones have returned home before becoming manifestly ill.49 Alternatively, formal and informal sociocultural barriers and a different attitude towards the retirement process may be discussed as a further explanation for the difference in disability risk between migrant and German workers. This explanation may be, however, less important as the health status of German and foreign workers seems to differ indeed. For example, we have recently observed a 25% lower mortality rate among migrant workers compared with German construction workers.17
Occupational disability emerged as an important outcome in epidemiological research during the past decade but only a few longitudinal studies have been published so far. The comparison of the disability rates observed in our study population with rates derived from the general population is a first step towards a deeper understanding of the complex process of early retirement because of health reasons. However, the picture is somewhat incomplete as we were only able to address the main diagnosis for each case and we could not distinguish between permanent and temporary disability pensioning. However, 85% of all disability pensions, which were granted in Germany during the follow up period, were permanent. No information was given regarding potential concomitant diseases responsible for disability or for external causes of injury (E-code).
Another limitation of our study is that the range of covariates considered in our analysis was restricted to some basic sociodemographic factors (that is, age, nationality, occupational group) and that the impact of other factors—in particular lifestyle habits—could not be controlled in the external comparison group. Also, it would be of utmost interest to address the role of specific work conditions and other occupational factors. We were able to use two reference groups: general work force and blue collar workers. The latter group has the advantage of being more similar with respect to socioeconomic status and lifestyle factors but simultaneously contains the potential of diluted work related effects (for example, high physical work load).
Main messages
Construction workers do not only experience a higher risk of all-cause disability than the general work force but also experience a higher risk of disability than blue collar workers in general.
The increased burden of disability among construction workers is mainly caused by disorders of the musculoskeletal system and accidents.
The relative increase in disability risk increases with age and with longer duration of employment in the construction industry, indicating that older and experienced construction workers seem to be at particular risk of occupational disability.
The increased risk of occupational disability among construction workers, which is mainly caused by disorders of the musculoskeletal system and accidents, calls for further efforts to sustain the health of construction workers.
Older workers represent a vulnerable group and deserve specific attention for future prevention measures (including providing job alternatives in sufficient numbers).
A common limitation inherent in studies which rely on voluntary participation is the potential for bias due to self selection of the study members. Although our study sample does not differ from the underlying source population of all construction workers in terms of basic demographics, we cannot rule out differences in health status as has been described in a study from the Swedish construction industry27 which reported that non-participants of OSH screening programmes had poorer health than participants. Similarly, we are also concerned about those who quitted the construction industry because of a health reason before the baseline examination took place. This potential selection bias has also been referred to as "healthy worker survivor effect"50 and results from a selection process in that those who remain employed tend to be healthier and presumably experience lower disability risk than those who left employment before the baseline examination.51
Over 77% of all cohort members could be successfully linked to the pension register. Those 4286 workers who have been lost to follow up during the 10 year period tended to be older (mean age 45.0 years) and to be more often of foreign origin (35%). At the time of baseline examination no differences were apparent with respect to cardiovascular or respiratory diseases but findings related to musculoskeletal disorders were more common among those lost to follow up (49% v 39%). This potential healthy worker survivor effect may however yield an underestimation of the true disability risk of construction workers. Despite this potential for underestimation of some effects, our study provides strong evidence of an increased disability risk among construction workers, which is mainly caused by disorders of the musculoskeletal system and accidents and which calls for further efforts to sustain the health of construction workers.
This study was partly supported by the Association of the Workmen's Compensation Board for Construction Workers, Germany. We are indebted to the pension register of the manual workers' pension insurance institution Württemberg (LVA Württemberg) for providing the follow up data.
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Competing interests: There is no conflict of interest for any author of that study and there are no financial or other relationships that might bias the work or interfere with objective judgement.


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Still, Orlando child injury lawyers know that claims against school districts can still be difficult, given the hurdles we must overcome due to the fact that sovereign immunity laws do still apply, though waiver can be found in F.S. 768.28. Claims under this provision are also capped at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident, the only exception being those who press for an individual claims bill through the state legislature.
Further, schools are often protected from legal liability when the negligent act was discretionary (required a judgment call by the employer) rather than operational. Determining whether your case falls into one of those exceptions or is worth pursuing is something you should discuss with an experienced with one of our Orlando child injury lawyers.
Recently in Orlando, the alleged injury of a student in fall 2013 at Jones High School has prompted a personal injury lawsuit against the school board.
For a person with brittle bone disease, running a mile could (and in this case, plaintiff says, did) have serious consequences and cause significant injuries. As noted by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, there are four different levels of severity of the disease, each with unique symptoms, but all leaving the individual prone to bone fractures.
Plaintiff alleged the school district employee forcing her to run resulted in serious and permanent injuries, inflicting pain and suffering, mental anguish and loss of capacity to enjoy life. She further asserted the school's failure to properly train and supervise its employees was a significant catalyst for this. She's seeking more than $15,000 in damages.
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Maya Meissner
The Cedar Lodge
The Cedar Lodge is the first photobook by photographer Maya Meissner, which tells the story of her family's close-encounter with the Yosemite Killer in the late 1990's. The project is composed of collages, photos taken as a teenager, altered family snapshots, and photographs made in and around the hotel where it all happened. Meissner investigates her discomfort, grief, confusion, and separation from the twist of fate through these varied perspectives.
For Meissner's project installation she elected to use the deck out back of the main gallery space, built in 2017 for another installation. On the opening evening her work was accompanied by sound remixed news clips from the time of the Cedar Lodge killings, facilitated by Mink Floyd, a fellow Marfa Open artist. Her work was given spotlight through the use of wheat paste, clip lights, raw lumber, and the radial vacancy of the lot surrounding.
view her site here:
http://www.mayameissner.com/
"Growing up in Northern California with horticulturalist parents, Yosemite National Park was my family's Mecca, and in September of 1998 we took our first pilgrimage there. We stayed at the Cedar Lodge, a roadside motel. I returned to the park years later as a teenager pursuing my love of photography, excited to channel Ansel Adams and the other greats who came before me, in the birthplace of landscape photography. It's hard for me to comprehend human horrors in Yosemite, one of the most majestic natural places on this planet.
In 2014, my mom revealed that during our idyllic childhood vacation a man tried to break into our motel room in the middle of the night. My dad scared him away by yelling; my sister and I slept through the whole thing. Five months after our trip, four women were brutally murdered in Yosemite. Three of the women, a mother and two teenage girls, had disappeared from the Cedar Lodge. The confessed killer was the handyman there.
My mom didn't have the tools to process this encounter and the twist of fate that spared our family, and so the guilt and grief festered within her for fifteen years. Learning that four women were killed in a place I considered paradise was confounding, but that I could have been one of them wasn't something I could shake off or even really understand. I just knew I couldn't keep these feelings building within me, like my mom had. My tool for delving into myself has always been my art.
Through research and the gathering of images, I began to lay out the disjointed narratives that crossed paths at the Cedar Lodge. To understand and illustrate my place within, or rather alongside the tragedy, my connection and my disconnect, I made collages: fracturing, obscuring, and layering images that included the photos that my parents had taken in 1998 and my teenage landscapes. I approached the project from varying perspectives because of my own confusion, but also to illustrate that this wasn't really my story. This is not my trauma; we survived. The trauma I saw my mom go through does not compare to that of the families who lost their sisters, daughters, mothers.
To complete this project, I returned to The Cedar Lodge. I studied it closely and made new images of it. It's terrifying to come so close to a nightmare, but I found that as I put it on paper where I could see it, the history of the place became less of a threat. Yosemite and the Cedar Lodge became beautiful again."
-Maya Meissner


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University requires permission for on-campus protests
Alexa Jurado, News Reporter|August 27, 2019
Photo by Jordan Johnson
The demonstration policy was discussed at the news conference.
An updated demonstration policy adopted this past week expands the requirement for advanced university permission from students to also include faculty and staff.
The policy describes in detail the guidelines for protests by the Marquette community, including where they can be held, what behavior is allowed and how to receive permission. In the past, the demonstration policy only made direct reference to students.
Individuals are allowed to protest in the Alumni Memorial Union with a registered liaison and space reservation from the university. The policy states that registered events in the AMU must be in the "public areas of the Alumni Memorial Union, which includes adjacent green space." Peaceful walkthrough demonstrations in the AMU are permitted without a space registration, given that the participants do not remain in the space.
Students, staff and faculty need advance permission from the university and registered liaison to protest at other areas on campus.
Protestors are responsible for maintaining the state of the space they occupy, and the university can charge participants fees for property damage or cleaning services.
University officials can film, record or take pictures of a protest. The length of a protest is also subject to university discretion based on whether university operations or "the rights of others" are compromised.
Participants can expect university officials, such as members of MUPD, to be present, according to the policy. The university can also enlist assistance from other law enforcement agencies, including the Milwaukee Police Department.
Students, staff and faculty can face disciplinary actions according to university codes of conduct if they do not comply with the new policy.
"The university felt it was important that all members of the Marquette community be held to the same standards and practices with respect to peaceful demonstrations on campus," university spokesperson Chris Stolarski said in an email. "The policy is designed to ensure the safety and security of students, faculty, staff and visitors."
Neal Wurcherer, Alumni Memorial Union director, said the new policy will serve as a safety measure.
Because the AMU serves the campus community as well as visitors and guests, Wurcherer said students, faculty and staff are expected to remain respectful and uphold Marquette's Jesuit mission and guiding values.
The policy raises questions about the spirit of the First Amendment on college campuses.
"It's a very dangerous policy for the university to adopt," Philip Rocco, an assistant professor of political science, said. "Even though this is a private institution, universities have a responsibility to preserve and protect free expression, and Marquette has a tradition of doing that. I think this is a departure from that tradition."
Rocco attended unionization demonstrations at Marquette last spring. At the protests, community members gathered to advocate for better pay, job security and health care benefits for non-tenure faculty and graduate students through unionization.
Rocco said he regards demonstrations as an effective way of putting pressure on people to respond to situations and to spur change.
"One of the things (large institutions) have to do to adapt to changing conditions and to survive is that they have to learn about the problems that different people face at the institution," he said.
Rocco said the university also has a responsibility to teach students to participate in a democratic society.
"The message this policy sends to students is that you can have grievances and express them as long as you clear them with us, the administration, first," Rocco said. "I think that's a dangerous message."
Sam Harshner, an adjunct instructor in the College of Arts & Sciences, said he thinks the community will see the new policy as a violation of the principle of free speech.
"I think what you will see in coming days and weeks is that the campus and the community is up in arms about this," Sam Harshner, an adjunct instructor in the College of Arts & Sciences, said. "I find it ironic that a university that talks about its students setting the world on fire and being men and women for others would go out of its way to subject their free speech to the authority of the institution."
Harshner helped organize the unionization demonstrations this past spring.
Individuals seeking permission for demonstrations can go to the Office of Student Development for student groups, the Office of the Provost for faculty or the Department of Human Resources for staff.
"Per the policy, they may also request to demonstrate in other campus areas; however, this requires prior approval and may be granted with certain stipulations," Stolarski said in an email. "It is the university's priority to ensure the safety and security of any building's occupants and guests, as well as ensure normal business operations continue uninterrupted."
It is unclear what stipulations for demonstrations could include.
"The university doesn't regulate all kinds of other behavior that can go on. It singles out this particular form of action, which can be anything the university determines to be disruptive. It's not clear, it could be imposed in an arbitrary way. Whatever somebody (in the administration) doesn't like," Rocco said.
The policy makes a distinction between a peaceful protest and a disruptive protest. If a counter protest follows an approved demonstration, the participants are expected to maintain peace and order.
A disruptive protest could include not following closed hours of a building, blocking building entrances, being violent in any way or creating a disruptive volume of noise, to name a few. These kinds of protests will not be permitted, according to the policy. Peaceful demonstrations are permitted, including protests, parades or rallies.
Rocco said he doesn't see a meaningful difference between the university's definitions of peaceful and disruptive protests.
"I think that the university makes a completely erroneous distinction between peaceful protests and disruptive protests, but in reality, peaceful protests are often disruptive protests too," Rocco said. "It's absurd to me. It is an insult to the intelligence of faculty and students on this campus."
Rocco said he disagreed with limiting people's ability to amplify their voices.
"The university did not provide a rationale for this policy. As the faculty, we share governance of this university, (and) we were not involved in this decision in any way, and so it's really hard for us to say even what the reasoning would have been about why this policy was enacted, and I think from the perspective of shared governance, that's a very bad precedent to set," Rocco said.
Harshner said he thinks the university should be catalyzing debate and inspiring people to be passionate.
"Instead, this is an effort to tap down dissent, to tap down free expression of ideas, and it goes along with the pattern the university has had which is that they want to centralize power in Zilber Hall and keep other voices from having a say in what the university policy is," Harshner said.
The university did not comment as to whether the policy change was a result of unionization rallies by faculty and staff members last spring.
Sarah Lipo contributed to this report.
Alumni Memorial Union
Philip Rocco
Sam Harshner
2 Responses to "University requires permission for on-campus protests"
Pat Flannery on August 27th, 2019 11:26 am
Professor Rocco is spot on.
Darla jurado on August 27th, 2019 10:44 pm
I'd like to know in the future the demonstrations that don't get approval and why.
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A few weeks ago I spoke to students at Marquette University School of Law about how I began working in sports. Afterwards, I met individually with a 1L student looking for guidance on what type of sports career she should work towards.
The first thing I asked the student, was about her background. Where did she attend undergrad? What did she study there? What types of organizations and extracurricular activities was she involved with? The reason I asked these questions, was to get a sense of the experiences she gained in her undergraduate studies which make her unique. What did she have that few others share? To me, it is these things that make a person marketable and thus, the assets they should focus upon when searching for a job.
In speaking with this young woman, I learned that she completed her undergraduate studies at a university most recently known for its football prowess over the last five years. She grew up around football, as her father is a former player. Thus, while in college, she found herself working for one of the best football staffs in recent history. She managed to work her way up the program, and ultimately found herself responsible for various aspects of the program's recruiting, including watching film.
She explained the above very matter-of-factly to me, as if it was nothing special or impressive. However, as she explained her background to me, my jaw was nearly on the floor. Her background was amazing. It is something few other men–let alone women–have. Her knowledge of the game of football, ability to breakdown plays through film, experience recruiting players along with her intelligence make her an incredibly attractive candidate for a number of sports jobs.
After going through her background, I thought it was important that I asked her what she ideally would like to do in sports before giving her my ideas. She mentioned that a career in sports media would interest her, as would a career being an agent.
Luckily, she named the one career I believe her unique experiences best suit her for. In my eyes, this woman's background make her qualified beyond belief to become an agent. She knows how to recruit, which is the most important challenge any agent faces. She can read and understand film, which is something most agents do not entirely know how to do. And, she has the personality and smarts to be a successful businesswoman.
After breaking this down for her, it was like we had reached an epiphany. I was able to tell her how her very unique experiences make her an incredibly unique candidate for work as an agent. The wool was pulled from her eyes, and she was quickly realizing that she had a marketable background. She mentioned to me that she never saw her background as something very unique or exciting. However, it certainly is.
The point here, is that we all have exciting and unique backgrounds that make us well-suited for certain jobs. But, how do we realize which things in our lives that we might think are ordinary, but are really selling points for sports jobs?
The first thing I would suggest, is to make a list describing the various points of your background. Go through the history of your background on paper, like I did with the young lady above during our conversation. Write down what you think are even the most mundane things in your background.
After writing the list, brainstorm and write down up to three dream jobs in sports that you would enjoy working in. Do you want to be an agent? A general manager? An NCAA compliance officer? After brainstorming these jobs, write below them the specific experience and traits that these jobs require.
Next, place the two lists next to each other. How can each of your unique experiences address the needs that your dream jobs require? Write a third list with explanations for each of the job positions you listed.
Ultimately, what you are doing here is verbalizing how your unique experiences address the needs of a job you want. Knowing this will allow you to better succeed in an interview process. Likewise, it will help you craft better cover letters. At the smallest level, it will help you find a career that is best suited for you, your experiences and your interests.