text:
https://www.thehour.com/entertainment/article/Home-births-on-the-rise-by-20-percent-8124343.php
Home births on the rise by 20 percent
@white=[c] Leanne Italie Associated Press
Published 8:00 pm EDT, Thursday, July 14, 2011
NEW YORK -- One mother chose home birth because it was cheaper than going to a hospital. Another gave birth at home because she has multiple sclerosis and feared unnecessary medical intervention. And some choose home births after cesarean sections with their first babies.
Whatever their motivation, all are among a striking trend: Home births increased 20 percent from 2004 to 2008, accounting for 28,357 of 4.2 million U.S. births, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released in May.
White women led the drive, with 1 in 98 having babies at home in 2008, compared to 1 in 357 black women and 1 in 500 Hispanic women.
Sherry Hopkins, a Las Vegas midwife, said the women whose home births she's attended include a pediatrician, an emergency room doctor and nurses. "We're definitely seeing well-educated and well-informed people who want to give birth at home," she said.
Robbie Davis-Floyd, a medical anthropologist at the University of Texas at Austin and researcher on global trends in childbirth, obstetrics and midwifery, said "at first, in the 1970s, it was largely a hippie, countercultural thing to give birth outside of the hospital. Over the years, as the formerly 'lay' midwives have become far more sophisticated, so has their clientele."
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which certifies OB-GYNs, warns that home births can be unsafe, especially if the mother has high-risk conditions, if a birth attendant is inadequately trained and if there's no nearby hospital in case of emergency. Some doctors also question whether a "feminist machoism" is at play in wanting to give birth at home.
But home birthers say they want to be free of drugs, fetal monitors, IVs and pressure to hurry their labor at the behest of doctors and hospitals. They prefer to labor in tubs of water or on hands and knees, walk around their living rooms or take comfort in their own beds, surrounded by loved ones as they listen to music or hypnosis recordings with the support of midwives and doulas. Some even go without midwives and rely on husbands or other non-professionals for support.
Julie Jacobs, 38, of Baltimore, who has multiple sclerosis, said she "chose midwives and hypnosis because I wanted to surround myself with people who would support me as a birthing mother, rather than view me as an MS patient who would be a liability in need of interventions at every turn."
Her first two children were born in a freestanding birth center operated by midwives. After the center closed, her third child was born at home in 2007. "If I had been in a hospital I probably would have had C-sections for all three," she said. "With the first, I would have been terrified to try a home birth. After the second one I was like, hey, I can't necessarily walk in a straight line, but I can do this."
Some home birthers cite concerns over cesarean sections. The U.S. rate of C-sections in hospitals hovers around 32 percent, soaring up to 60 percent in some areas. In some cases, there's a "too posh to push" mentality of scheduled inductions for convenience sake.
Gina Crosley-Corcoran, a Chicago blogger and pre-law student, had a C-section with her first baby and chronicled nightmarish pressure from nurses and doctors to abandon a vaginal birth with her second. She followed up with a third child born at home in April.
"I do think there's a backlash against what's happening in hospitals," she said. "Women are finding that the hospital experience wasn't a good one."
In Portland, Ore., acupuncturist Becca Seitz gave birth to both her children at home, the first time in 2007 because she and her husband were without insurance.
"It was never on my radar, until we couldn't afford otherwise," she said. "I'm granola, but not that granola. It cost us $3,300, as opposed to over $10,000 in a hospital."
Her midwife was prepared with the drug Pitocin, oxygen and other medical equipment.
"They were both born over the toilet," she said. "It was a nice position. It's a way that we're used to pushing."
Dr. Joel Evans, the rare board-certified OB-GYN who supports home birth, said the medical establishment has become "resistant to change, resistant to dialogue, resistant to flexibility."
"Women are now looking for alternatives where they can be treated as individuals, as opposed to being forced to comply with protocols, which however well meaning, have the impact of both medicalizing childbirth and increasing stress and anxiety around delivery," said Evans, founder and director of the Center for Women's Health in Stamford, Conn., and an assistant clinical professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
By some accounts, in 1900, 95 percent of U.S. births took place at home. That slipped to half by 1938 and less than 1 percent by 1955.
Today, most midwife-attended births take place in hospitals in the U.S., and many midwives are licensed nurses. But there are also close to 1,700 midwives who practice outside of hospitals, said Davis-Floyd. In 27 states, so-called "lay" midwives who lack nurses' training but are licensed and certified as professional midwives can attend births legally.
Some women chose home births after learning about it from TV shows or documentaries. The show-all "House of Babies" on Discovery Health Channel from 2005 to 2009 was filmed at a Miami birth center run by a midwife. Actress Ricki Lake screened her movie, "The Business of Being Born," around the United States in 2007 after giving birth at home to her second child. The film also showed Lake's filmmaking partner, Abby Epstein, documenting her own frantic taxi ride to a New York hospital after abandoning her home birth because the baby presented feet first, with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck.
Michael Robertson, 27, of Poulsbo, Wash., knew nothing about home birth before watching the TLC series.
"I just really had my mind set on a water birth, like on the show," she said. "It looked so cool, so relaxing."
She had two babies at home, but opted for a planned hospital delivery for her third child due to complications. She's glad she had the choice. "If you don't know your options, you don't know what's out there to begin with," she said. "I don't think an OB will say to you, 'Hey, did you know there was this thing called home birth.'"
Most studies of home birth have been criticized as too small to accurately assess safety or distinguish between planned and unplanned deliveries, according to researchers Kenneth C. Johnson and Betty-Anne Daviss.
In 2005, they published a study in the British Medical Journal based on nearly 5,500 home births involving certified professional midwives in the United States and Canada. The study, considered one of the largest for home births, showed 88 percent had positive outcomes, while 12 percent of the women were transferred to hospitals, including 9 percent for preventive reasons and 3 percent for emergencies.
The study showed an infant mortality rate of 2 out of every 1,000 births, about the same as in hospitals at the time, Davis-Floyd said.
"Women who are truly educated in evidence-based maternity care understand the safety and the multiple benefits of home birth," she said.


Home · Property Management · Landlord Quick Tips : Are Tenants Or Landlords Responsible For Maintenance?
Are Tenants Or Landlords Responsible For Maintenance?
Who is responsible for rental property maintenance, the landlord or the tenant? While there are landlord maintenance obligations under state law, tenants also have maintenance responsibilities. Discover what landlords and tenants each must do to keep a rental looking its best, below.
Landlords are responsible for maintaining "habitable" rental properties. This means keeping the major systems of the rental unit — heat, water, electricity, general cleanliness and sound structure — in good working order. The habitable requirement applies to common areas of an apartment complex as well as rental units. State and city codes define the specific requirements landlords must follow when renting apartments. If there's a question regarding what a landlord's responsibilities are, look to these codes to provide exact information for landlords.
If something goes wrong, landlords are expected to resolve the problem in a timely repair. As long as landlords attempt a timely fix, tenants should be understanding. Maintenance personnel are not always available on short-term notice, so delays may be unavoidable.
If landlords fail to make repairs that were requested, tenants can legally withhold money from the rent until the problem is fixed. Tenants can also hire someone to repair the issue, then deduct the repair cost from their next rent payment and provide the landlord with a receipt for the repairs.
If a landlord delays a repair that is subject to state or city codes, tenants can seek redress through local authorities. This could lead to an inspection, which may result in fines being levied on the landlord or an order to make the repair immediately.
Landlords must give notice when they need to enter a rental property. Generally, 24 hours' notice is acceptable. In emergency cases — for instance, if there's a broken pipe — landlords can enter without giving notice.
Other than keeping major systems in working order and responding quickly to repairs, landlords must either perform exterior maintenance or specify within the lease that tenants are responsible for exterior maintenance.
Under law, tenants are responsible to repair or replace anything they broke. Examples include broken windows or holes in the wall. If tenants spot signs of damage or pests in the unit — anything from water damage to rodents — they must inform the landlord, so the landlord can mitigate the problem. A simple phone call or email to the landlord can suffice for timely notification of these issues.
Throughout the rental term, tenants must keep the unit in a clean, habitable condition. Tenants must dispose of trash and keep the exterior of the unit tidy. When moving out, tenants must return the property to move-in ready condition.
Rental property maintenance laws vary by state; some states provide few legal obligations for landlord maintenance while other states require landlords to do more. The lease will specify who is in charge of landscaping and snow removal. Landlords may take care of these duties, especially for large complexes. Or, landlords may mandate that tenants shovel the snow or mow the lawn.
To stay up to date with landlord requirements and get advice on how to best manage your rental property, consider becoming an American Apartment Owners Association member. Member benefits include discounted landlord-tenant forms, tenant screening services, educational webinars on property management or landlord responsibilities, and discounts on goods and services. Join AAOA today to find success as a landlord.


There are more than a few women that are ready to tie the knot. Do you have any conditions that would stop your walk down the aisle? According to a recent survey by ForbesWoman and YourTango, 75 percent of women would not marry someone who is unemployed while 65 percent of them would not marry someone if they themselves were unemployed.
This survey is quite intriguing due to the fact that more than 91 percent of the women surveyed said they would marry for love and not money.
Do you think that women are sending out a mixed message? We care about money, but we do not care about money. With the economy being a bumpy ride, shouldn't we be a little more open if the love of our life is not working? After all how many fabulous men come around that actually want to introduce you to your nephew or niece? Probably not too many.
Here is a situation that one of my clients was in: she was madly in love with a great guy. She thought he was the one, her soulmate for life. Due to the bad economy, Mr. Soulmate lost his job and she became the sole bread winner of the household. This new found situation made things extremely tense between the two of them, they started arguing about money and were not even married yet. To make a long story short, the wedding never happened and Mr. Soulmate is now married to someone else while my client is looking for love.
On the flip side, another couple was about two years into their marriage when the man lost his big-time job in film. Years later he is still not worried about finding steady work since his wife has money. It tends to be a sore spot mainly for her since he is lounging around the house.
It boils down to this: you should have the money conversation. It is one of the main reasons why some relationships don't work out. If one of you in the relationship is unemployed it puts the money conversation on the table. There are some couples who never talk money before they tie the knot, because it is not a priority. Money is a priority, so do not push the difficult conversation to the side. That could end up being a disaster for the two of you in the long run.
First you have to tackle your thoughts about money. When you were growing up, you developed thoughts about how money works from your environment. You are bringing all of those thoughts into your relationships. For instance, do you think that men should make more money than women? If you do not have your own money coming in, do you feel less than your partner? The list goes on and on.
Be honest with yourself about your thoughts and fears about money. Once you know where your thoughts and ideas come from you can have better communication with your partner about how being unemployed will effect your choices together.
If you find yourself in the predicament of deciding whether or not you will get married due to one of you being unemployed, what always works is listening to your gut. It is for better or worse. The worst is having to confront this issue, but doing so only makes it better for you in the long run.
I definitely see mixed signals here. "I'll marry him because I love him, but, not if he doesn't have a job." Really? Sounds like marrying for money. Myself, I don't work. I stay home with my daughter. But I'm getting married in 5 weeks.
In reference to the above comment, why on earth would you marry someone that's unemployed. That means absolutely no stability whatsoever, and what if the person doesn't even care to look for a job. I know I would never marry someone that didn't have a job, that would be ridiculous.
While you can fall in love with someone who is unemployed, you can't live off of LOVE. Unless you are willing to be a sugar daddy/momma marrying someone who is unemployed is bad timing. Wedding are expressive and children even more so. I would love for my husband to be a stay at home dad realistically we could not keep the lifestyle we are accustomed to with my salary. A marriage should be a life time commitment, you can post pone it until your significant other secures job.
@adtirey you are seeing this from a different perspective. Because u are a stay at home mom AND a woman, it's ok to be "unemployed" because guys expect to be the breadwinner of the house. However for ladies, especially ones that don't hold important or big $ jobs, they expect the guys to be the breadwinner of the house. If your fiance were to be a stay-at-home and u were the working one, I don't think you would like that. Women for the most part marry for love, not money. Generally this means whether you would like to marry the rich guy you don't love or the poor guy you do love. If I love the guy, I don't care if he's poor but I would also hope for him to have a job so that we both can contribute to the household. So in the case of the article example, if the guy is unemployed, he should think about getting a job first before he thinks about marriage. The lady should wait for the guy to find work before getting married.


text:
Q: Не инициализируется структура Си

Когда я просто инициализирую структуры к нулю внутри "мэйна" все в порядке всё работает.
Но когда когда этаже структура является вложенной в другую структуру, оно выдаёт ошибки:

Если это делат даже не просто в структуре а в функции где я создаю объект даной структуры, всё еще выдаёт туже ошибку.

Подскажите чем это вызвано и как всё-таки привести вложенную структуру к нулю.

A: Для начала поймите что си и с++ 2 разных языка, хоть и синтаксически похожи.
Для инициализации структуры таким образом как вы хотите в ваших вариантах, существует только 2 правильных:

*

*Инициализация на месте:

struct private {
   /* поля.... */
};

/* Обратите внимание на тип структуры в скобках. */
struct private spriv = (struct private) { 0 }; /* заполнить все поля нулями */

*Агрегатная инициализация, или так сказать инициализация исключительно указанных полей:

struct private spriv = (struct private) {
    .someField = 0,
    .someCopyOfField = 23,
    0 /* Остальные поля заполнить нулями */
};

A: Не позволяет такого синтаксис. Вы втором случае Вы пытаетесь инициализировать переменную в объявлении структуры. А оно так не работает. Нет в С конструкторов, поэтому и такая конструкция не работает. Даже так не работает
struct private {
    int a = 0;
    int b = 1;
};

Но никто не мешает сделать так
struct private p = {0};

и все будет работать. Даже если есть вложенные структуры
в третьем случае Вы простите компилятор переменной присвоить ноль... а оно так не умеет. Самый надежный способ - позвать memset
memset(p, 0, sizeof(struct private));

Главное быть осторожным и не перепутать 2 и 3 параметр и не искать размер указателя, вместо размера структуры.
А первый пример работает, потому что там объявляется уже переменная (которая имеет место в памяти), а не структура (которая по факту чертеж памяти).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
// The MIT License (MIT)
//
// Copyright (c) 2016 Jesse Sweetland
//
// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
// of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
// in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
// to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
// copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
// furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
//
// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
// all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
//
// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
// IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
// FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
// AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
// LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
// OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
// THE SOFTWARE.

using System;

namespace Platibus.Utils
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Helper extension methods for working with URIs
    /// </summary>
    public static class UriExtensions
    {
		/// <summary>
		/// Ensures that the path of the specified <paramref name="uri"/> contains a trailing slash
		/// </summary>
		/// <param name="uri">The URI</param>
		/// <returns>Returns the specified URI with a trailing slash</returns>
	    public static Uri WithTrailingSlash(this Uri uri)
		{
		    if (uri == null) return null;
		    if (uri.AbsolutePath.EndsWith("/")) return uri;
		    return new UriBuilder(uri)
		    {
			    Path = uri.AbsolutePath + "/"
		    }.Uri;
	    }

        /// <summary>
		/// Ensures that the path of the specified <paramref name="uri"/> contains a trailing slash
		/// </summary>
		/// <param name="uri">The URI</param>
		/// <returns>Returns the specified URI with a trailing slash</returns>
	    public static Uri WithoutTrailingSlash(this Uri uri)
        {
            if (uri == null) return null;
            if (!uri.AbsolutePath.EndsWith("/")) return uri;
            return new UriBuilder(uri)
            {
                Path = uri.AbsolutePath.TrimEnd('/')
            }.Uri;
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Suncor provides support in a variety of forms including sponsorships to non-profits, donations to registered Canadian charities through the Suncor Energy Foundation (SEF) and support for employees giving back to their communities.
Suncor and the SEF proudly contribute to registered charitable organizations in Canada and internationally that align with our community investment funding priorities.
Suncor supports non-profit activities and events that align with our community investment funding priorities through sponsorships and non-charitable donations: financial assistance, in-kind contributions, product donations and event sponsorships.
Our employees are passionate and proud about giving back to the communities where they live and work. Their involvement makes a difference in helping to build sustainable communities.


text:
Ben Parker
Driver Says Log Thrown At Tractor-Trailer Caused Route 3 Crash In TyngsboroA tractor-trailer crashed on Route 3 early Wednesday morning and the driver says it's because someone threw a log at his truck.
Firefighters Save Woman From Roof Of Burning Lawrence HomeA woman was saved from the top of a burning home in Lawrence early Wednesday morning.
Accused Killer's Ex-Girlfriend Testifies In Bella Bond Murder TrialTaryn Devlin said she and Michael McCarthy dated as teenagers in South Boston, and said they used to find out-of-the-way places to drink and use heroin.
Fire Tears Through Revere Homes Damaged In 2014 TornadoFire destroyed two homes and damaged five others in Revere early Tuesday on a street where a tornado hit three years ago.
Dorchester, Roxbury Communities On Edge After 4 Shootings In 4 HoursFive people were shot overnight in four different locations in Roxbury and Dorchester--though Boston Police say they don't believe any of the shootings were connected.
Search For Missing Duke Student From Franklin Continues Into Fifth DayMichael Doherty, 20, had just come home on summer break from Duke University, where he is a junior mechanical engineering major. He was last seen leaving a party on Phyllis Lane by himself around 1:30 a.m. Sunday.
Gov. Chris Sununu On NH Opioid Crisis And President Trump's First 100 DaysWBZ NewsRadio 1030's Ben Parker sat down for a one-on-one interview with New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu at the State House in Concord Thursday to discuss the battle on opioids in the Granite State and President Trump's first 100 days in office.
4 Men Stabbed Overnight In East BostonThe emergency call came in around 2 a.m. for the stabbings at the corner of Saratoga and Meridian Streets.
Winchester Students Chosen For 'Once In A Lifetime' Carnegie Hall PerformancePractice has paid off for a group of Winchester High School students who will get the chance to perform on an iconic stage.
Ultra-Runner, Recovering Addict Finishes 24-Hour Charity RunHenry Ward ran the Belmont High School track from 6 a.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Tuesday to raise money for scholarships for programs to fight addiction--about 350 laps in all, or roughly 85 miles.
Patriots Day Reenactment Brings Revolutionary War To LifeHundreds gathered at the Lexington Battle Green to celebrate the origin of Patriots Day early Monday morning.
UMass Boston Students, Faculty Protest Budget CutsRecent budget cuts were protested at Wednesday's Board of Trustees meeting.
Security Officials Run Through Various Scenarios Ahead Of Boston MarathonThose low-flying helicopters you might see over the city Tuesday are just a part of the intense security preparations for next week's Boston Marathon.
Commonwealth Avenue Bridge At BU To Be ReplacedStructural defects are the reason the Massachusetts DOT says they're replacing the 52-year-old Commonwealth Avenue Bridge at Boston University.
Man Dead Of Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound, Apparent 'Booby Traps' Found After NH House ExplosionOfficials said one person was found dead in the basement of a home that exploded Monday evening, as authorities said the incident did not appear to be accidental.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Abstract: This paper introduces a systemic approach to the description and modelling of buildings. Basic properties of buildings are discussed. A critical analysis of some proposals for building product models based on object-oriented modelling is made. The analysis shows that ontology, including systemics, can contribute to the theoretical background of building modelling by clarifying concepts like property, system, part-whole, level and space. Some areas for future study are proposed.


text:
Q: Aws s3 Multi Region Access point get image url for best latency I've tried for an hour getting the url of images uploaded to my buckets, which i can get i've created replication rules for 2 different regions.
My question is how can i get the url of the image uploaded in both region buckets (Multi-Region-Access-Point), but the one which gives the best latency. how should the url look like ?


Subscribe to our YouTube channel for free here: https://sc.mp/subscribe-youtube A drunk man arrived at a police station in Taiwan, "confessing his live" in his drunken stupor to a police officer. The hilarious conversation went viral on Chinese social media.
Justin and Robbie talk about 3 of the products in Grin's development portfolio that they brought with them to the 2016 Taipei Bike Show, namely a hub motor, motor controller, and battery pack.
Taipei Post Office (Chinese: t 臺北郵局, p Táiběi Yóujú; Minnan: Tâi-pak Iû-kiȯk) or Taipei Beimen Post Office (臺北北門郵局, p Táiběi Běimén Yóujú; Minnan: Tâi-pak Pak-bûn Iû-kiȯk) is a four-story building located close to Beimen (lit. "North Gate") in Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan. It is a third-degree historic site of the Republic of China. It was constructed as a building with two huge wings and one small front opening. With the large open ground immediately behind the main building, the total ground floor is about 8,000 square metres. It is the headquarters of Chunghwa Post in Taipei. Some of its space is used as the Taipei Campus of National Chiao Tung University. Chunghwa Telecom used to have one of its operation centres here, but since the telecom business has divided into different sections, the original space was transferred to the National Chiao Tung University.
Jus keep on keep on bein strong.


Merge your love with this Irresistible Mother's Day Delight Gift Basket and send it to your dearest Mother. This Basket carries Assorted Dry Fruits 200gm, Haldiram Assorted Sweets 200gm, Haldiram Badam Lachha 200gm, Haldiram Methi Mathri 200gm along with a Best Mother Award Badge. Note: There might be a slight change in the displayed design of Basket.


3 is offering free Spotify on the go if you sing along with the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 or Sony Ericsson Vivaz on a two-tier contract.
Spotify Premium costs a tenner a month for advert-free streaming and use of a mobile app. Sign up for a 24-month contract, then text Spotify to 39000 for your two free months. If a piffling two months isn't enough for you, the HTC Hero comes with free Premium access for the full 24-month contract.
Son Eric is promoting the offer with a series of travel-themed playlists by popular musicians. Choose from auto-tuned chanteuse Ellie Goulding, Dairy Lea-faced warblers Keane, banjo-pickin' folkniks Mumford and Sons, unforgivably coiffed dreariness merchant Erik Hassle, the horribly named but actually quite good Courteeners, dadrock survivors the Stereophonics, and Scots songstress Amy MacDonald, who looks like an angel but sings like Vic Reeves. The highlight is the place-name-based offering from electro-wibblers Delphic. It's got Vienna in it.
Click here for more musical technology excitement, and check out our playlist celebrating Crave's musical headlines.


Description : Discover the history with more useful stats and insights on the business name Cacheous before purchasing the domain.
Product : Cacheous is a brandable business domain name for sale for $2,095. It falls under the following categories: Financial, Marketing, Shopping .
Cacheous is in the .com extension. TLDs may be used for diffrent purpose. Example: .com extension inherited from "commercial" and used for generally commercial activities, .net extension inherited from "network" and used for generally internet activites etc.
Facebook social media handle www.facebook.com/cacheous is available.
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Instagram social media handle www.instagram.com/cacheous is available.
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Anyone who comes across Chad McDonald can attest that he is a class act.
The Battle Creek native recently concluded his senior season as an alternative captain for the Ferris State University men's hockey team. He holds a 3.94 GPA and is set to graduate this spring with a B.S. in Business Administration, an A.S. in Legal Studies and a Certificate in data mining. Away from campus, he tutors teammates, trains youth hockey players in his hometown and volunteers with organizations that help those with disabilities.
All together, McDonald's accomplishments and contributions to his community have made him a national finalist for the Senior CLASS Award for Division I men's hockey.
"I couldn't do that without the opportunity of playing Division I hockey and if the coaches wouldn't have reached out and had faith in me," said McDonald. "Sure, there has been a lot of hard work to put in to achieve those, but I also couldn't do it without teammates and coaches... I wouldn't have been able to score without a teammate, get a good grade without a good professor or do any of it without the support of my parents and my sister. I wouldn't have been able to do it by myself."
The Senior CLASS (Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School) Award finalists were chosen in January by national media. The winner will be announced during the NCAA Men's Frozen Four, determined by a combination of fan votes and those from the media and Division I head coaches. The fan voting ended Tuesday, and McDonald led the 10-player field with nearly 50 percent of the vote.
The 2017 Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Student-Athlete of the Year, McDonald said the importance of education and community service were two things ingrained in him at a young age by his parents.
"I grew up with a mom that was an educator at Battle Creek Public Schools, now she's a principal at Kalamazoo Public Schools, and she made sure we understood the importance of education," McDonald said. "You need to do well in school or sports are out the window. School, I wouldn't say it comes easy to me, but I enjoy it and I enjoy bettering myself."
McDonald recorded at least 19 points in every season of his four-year Bulldogs career. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound center saw his junior campaign cut short with an elbow injury he suffered in the WCHA Final Five, and he bounced back to post a 10-goal, 10-assist season as a senior.
As a Division I hockey player, McDonald said that he always has felt an obligation to serve as a role model.
"One thing that I can tell you that I've tried to live my life on, when I was a young kid growing up in Battle Creek, I thought the world of Division 1 hockey players," McDonald said. "When I saw one, it was 'Wow!' One thing I always told myself was that if I get there, I will treat the youth like how I would have wanted to be treated back then."
McDonald said he received offers to play in the ECHL, but he is putting his dream of playing professionally on hold as he is set to take his LSAT in June so he can get into law school.
"If I would have played (professionally), I would have put (the LSAT) off and so it was one of those things where I looked at it as a risk vs. reward," McDonald said. "The one thing about college athletics is you have to have a backup plan... It doesn't matter how much money you can make - you have to have a backup plan... I'm looking to play overseas. Not ready to give that up yet. I think I've sacrificed so much - friendships, relationships, school dances - and put in too much for me to give it up."


The feature lets you send clips of up to three minutes long to a Skype contact.
If you want to reach someone but they're not online, then a new Skype feature could come in handy. It lets you send a video message to your contacts, so they'll see it when they next log on.
The feature is part of the latest version of Skype -- I had to upgrade to get it -- and will work on Skype for Mac, Android and iOS. But not Windows. That's right, Microsoft has left out its own operating system. Anyone using Skype on Windows will be able to view the messages by clicking a link, but they won't be able to send them.
Skype has confirmed to The Verge that the feature will hit Microsoft's desktop OS by the end of April though.
Video messages can be up to three minutes in length, but you'd better have something really worth saying to expect to hold someone's attention for that long. Each user gets 20 free messages, then to continue using the feature you'll have to sign up to Skype Premium, which costs £3.44 a month.
We've known about the feature for a while, as it was revealed in an update to Skype's terms of service last year, but this is the first time you've been able to try it out for yourself. It's a bit of a bummer if you're using Windows. I'd say Microsoft dropped a bit of a clanger with this one.
What do you think of the feature? And what about Windows being left out? Let me know in the comments, or on Facebook.


Getting exposure is an important part of having a successful business as a home remodeling contractor. Marketing plays a central role for contractors looking to grab a piece of what was a projected 338.6 billion U.S. dollar industry last year alone.
Rob Krohn, vice president of marketing for Epcon Franchising, supplied Small Business Trends with 10 solid contractor marketing tips you can use to drum up business.
He started our discussion by suggesting contractors dig deep into their pockets so they can spread the marketing net wide.
This should be based on yearly sales numbers. You need to make sure that you set aside this money in good times and downturns both according to Krohn. He says that many contractors make the mistake of cutting back on marketing in downturns and even good markets because they don't think it's necessary when things are going well.
There's no way around these modern-day digital business cards.
It's not an either/or proposition when it comes to digital versus more old school advertising methods. Contractors should have an online and social media presence working side by side with other techniques like print ads. Krohn also says that if you can afford it, working with public relations professionals is a good idea.
You need to make a good first impression to stay ahead of the competition, however, you can't skimp on this important visual aspect.
This will help you to look unique. What's more they can be reused over and over again.
Krohn also suggests that marketing isn't a place to focus on cost-saving.
If you need to outsource all of your marketing needs, you should appoint someone in your office to be the point person for all the information and queries from outside. This person will need to know all about your campaigns and what you expect from them. They'll also need to be able to monitor the outsourced efforts.
Krohn uses the homebuilder industry he works with to illustrate a point on lead time which works well for home renovation contractors too.
Whether you're planning on marketing online or through printed media, you need to brand yourself as a contractor. People will remember a professional logo whether it's in social media or being used on business cards.
Having a professional logo designed by a graphic artist is a good investment.
Whether you plan on using a website or social media business templates, knowing something about search engine optimization is important. It's best to hire a professional who understands how to get the most from keywords and links to position your website properly on places like Google.
Make sure they have good credentials so your website is easily found by clients looking for your services online.
A budget is important for it will also help you determine your earnings right from the onset.
I find that contractors generally know they need a website, but don't know how valuable it is to their business. They see the cost as a luxury rather than a necessity, and look for a lower cost provider to get a cheaper website online. What they need to consider, really for all business owners but I feel like contractors particularly, is how many new clients would they need to get from the website to make it a worthwhile investment? For contractors, those doing remodels, etc. it generally isn't that many new clients and the majority of home owners are researching vendors online before calling.
In my opinion, a contractor can't afford not to get a great website.
Great Advice Rob. Don't forget to letter your work trucks and equipment for added branding!
Good tips for contractor marketing. I also suggest contractors proactively build their online reputation since most homeowners will search "[company name] reviews" after deciding on the contractors that they are going to call for an estimate. By building and marketing a 5-star reputation, a contractor can render their competition virtually irrelevant.
My experience with contractors is that they are hands on professionals that love their craft. They are energetic and always in motion. They rarely have the patience and time to apply to digital marketing, especially web sites and search engine optimization. SEO is a zero sum game. Only one company can be at the top. It is important that a contractor assess their level of commitment, their ability and willingness to be focused on it, or their willingness to pay someone that does have the focus, skills, and time. Trying to do it half way is a great way to throw money down a hole. I think that is one reason inside edge (www.ourinsideedge.com) has been as successful as it has.


Bill has robust private and public sector experience and a strong criminal and civil background. He has worked extensively on government investigations and white collar criminal matters, as well as complex civil litigation in federal and state courts. He also served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he led criminal investigations, conducted trials and handled Second Circuit appeals.
Throughout his career, Bill has dedicated himself to the promotion of equal access to justice through pro bono service, particularly in the area of family court, anti-trafficking, and immigration.
Bill spearheaded a partnership among several law firms, corporations and the New York City Family Court to provide free legal advice to pro se litigants. The New York City Family Court Volunteer Attorney Program now has more than 400 volunteer attorneys from 40 major firms and corporations. Bill also helped build a coalition of organizations in a successful effort to secure additional Family Court judges in New York. He was also part of the successful effort to raise the age of criminal responsibility in New York, which, until recently, was one of only two states where 16 and 17 year olds are automatically placed in the adult criminal justice system.
Bill has spoken at numerous conferences and events, including New York Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman's Hearings on Civil Legal Services and the American Bar Association's Equal Justice Conference. In 2014, he attended a meeting at the White House with Vice President Joe Biden and other policymakers on the need for access to legal services in immigration proceedings.
Bill has been recognized for his public service with the Special Leadership Award for All-Around Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility & the Law from City & State Reports (2015); the Above and Beyond Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Service from Sanctuary For Families (2008 and 2015); the Commitment to Justice Award for Outstanding Partner from inMotion (2008); and the Matthew G. Leonard Award for Outstanding Pro Bono Achievement from MFY Legal Services (2007).
Outside of his work at the firm, Bill serves on various committees and non-profit boards, including the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), one of the largest and oldest judicial membership organizations in the country. Bill is currently vice chairman of the Fund for Modern Courts, a non-partisan citizen organization devoted to improving New York State courts, and chairman of Legal Information For Families Today (LIFT), an organization devoted to unrepresented litigants in Family Court.


text:
Q: Number of positive unequal integer solution
Number of positive unequal integer solution of
$x_{1}+x_{2}+x_{3}+x_{4}=20,$ is

Try: Total number of positive integer solution is
$\displaystyle \binom{20-1}{4-1}=\binom{19}{3}.$ (Using star and bar method)
Now for unequal integer solution, First we will find Total positive integer solution.
And subtract the cases where any three are equal and any two are equal and all are equal.
So  Total number of positive integer solution is
$\displaystyle \binom{20-1}{4-1}=\binom{19}{3}.$ (Using star and bar method)
And number of positive integer solution in which all are equal i. e $x_{1}=x_{2}=x_{3}=x_{4}.$  Which is only one quadraplets.
Now if all any three are equal i. e $x_{1}=x_{2}=x_{3}$. Then $3x_{1}+x_{4}=20.$ we have $6\times 4=24.$
If any two are equal. i. e $x_{1}=x_{2}.$
Then $2x_{1}+x_{2}+x_{3}=20.$ So we have $6\times \displaystyle \sum^{9}_{k=1}\binom{19-2k}{1}=6\sum^{9}_{k=1}(19-k)=126\times6=756.$
So Total number of positive nequal inteher solution $$\binom{19}{3}-1-24-756=969-781=$$
But answer given as $552.$
Could some help me How to solve it, Thanks

A: Counting the positive integer solutions of $x_1+x_2+x_3+x_4=20$ with unequal parts, we may assume $x_1<x_2<x_3<x_4$ and multiply by $4!$ in the end.
Now letting $y_i = x_i - i$ for $i=1,2,3,4$ this translates to counting quadruplets $(y_1,y_2,y_3,y_4)$ of non-negative integers with $y_1\le y_2\le y_3\le y_4$ and $y_1+y_2+y_3+y_4=10$. Hence, we are counting partitions of $10$ with at most $4$ parts. These are $23$:
\begin{align*}
10 &= 10 \\
&= 9+1 = 8+2 = 7+3 = 6+4 = 5+5 \\
&= 8+1+1 = 7+2+1 = 6+3+1 = 6+2+2 \\
&= 5+4+1 = 5+3+2 = 4+4+2 = 4+3+3 \\
&= 7+1+1+1 \\&= 6+2+1+1 \\&= 5+3+1+1 = 5+2+2+1 \\
&= 4+4+1+1 = 4+3+2+1 = 4+2+2+2 \\
&= 3+3+3+1 = 3+3+2+2.
\end{align*}
Hence, there are $23\cdot 4!=552$ solutions to your problem.

You could also go one more step and let $z_1=y_1$, $z_i=y_i-y_{i-1}$ for $i=2,3,4$ to translate this to counting the non-negative integer solutions of $4z_1+3z_2+2z_3+z_4=10$. (This amounts to conjugating the partitions and count those with parts of size at most $4$)


Human rights are constantly being threatened. In Kim's North Korea, the news is heavily censored, dissent is punished harshly, and the basic needs of citizens are denied so that the state can maintain a grotesquely outsized military. In Putin's Russia, human rights NGOs are closed down and investigative journalists are murdered. In Museveni's Uganda, opposition candidates are arrested and detained while their supporters face police intimidation. In every corner of the world, there are governments that threaten human rights, often as a matter of policy, sometimes as a matter of expediency. Threats to particular rights, however tragic and outrageous, are in some sense normal; without such quotidian threats, there would be no need for human rights treaties, NGOs, UN monitoring bodies, or international tribunals.
The threat to human rights, however, has recently assumed a different character as the global consensus regarding the very concept of human rights has come under challenge. That the challenge is real--and profound--is apparent in the fact that it is being voiced by more and more voters in western democracies. The very societies that have well-established constitutions guaranteeing a range of individual rights have become battlegrounds where illiberal ideologies contend against the concept of human rights. In at least half a dozen democracies including the United States, election results have called into question the commitment to human rights of a substantial percentage of the electorate. Looming elections may widen the zones of concern.
Human rights are foundational commitments. They supersede--or at least ought to supersede--other policy concerns. A government like Rodrigo Duterte's in the Philippines that seeks to address a serious drug problem by summarily executing suspected drug dealers is violating human rights, regardless of the supposed benefits to society from such a draconian approach to the enforcement of the state's drug laws. A government like Xi Jinping's in China that censors the news and impedes citizens' access to information is violating human rights, regardless of the state's legitimate interest in promoting harmony within a large and diverse population. A government like George W. Bush's in the United States that waterboards prisoners in an effort to get information concerning potential terrorist plots is violating human rights, regardless of any security benefits that torture might provide. Put simply, human rights are what they are meant to be only if they establish limits on the authority of the state in the pursuit of its other policy goals.
But perhaps more to the point of the present threat to human rights is this: What makes certain rights human rights is their universality. One cannot, in assigning rights or making policy, draw distinctions between different groups of people on the basis of gender, race, nationality, religion, or other ascriptive characteristics without violating human rights. Policies that discriminate against Muslims, African Americans, Mexicans, or other religious, ethnic, or national groups violate human rights. Those who advocate such policies, whatever their justification, have parted company with those who defend human rights.
The threat to human rights in the United States lies not only in the fact that many racists, including the Ku Klux Klan itself, supported Donald Trump. The threat also lies in the fact that many who do not think of themselves as racists (and some who, in fact, are not) believed Trump's overt appeals to racism were not a sufficient reason to reject him. It is true that voters in a democracy rarely have the luxury of supporting a candidate who represents their views perfectly. As a consequence, it is always necessary to weigh a candidate's views on trade or welfare policy, for example, against his or her views on national security or environmental policy. But because human rights are foundational--because they define what government policies are out of bounds--the balancing act that voters normally engage in when selecting a candidate is inappropriate when certain policy preferences are being weighed against respect for human rights. That some Americans, acting out of racism, misogyny, homophobia, or xenophobia, rejected human rights completely while others decided that Donald Trump's disrespect for humanity was not a deal-breaker indicates that there is a very real threat to human rights in the United States.


text:
The 2006 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of the 2006 National League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 3, and ended on Sunday, October 8, with the champions of the three NL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—participating in two best-of-five series. They were:

(1) New York Mets (East Division champions, 97–65) vs. (4) Los Angeles Dodgers (Wild Card, 88–74); Mets win series, 3–0.
(2) San Diego Padres (West Division champions, 88–74) vs. (3) St. Louis Cardinals (Central Division champions, 83–78); Cardinals win series, 3–1.
The higher seed (in parentheses) had the home field advantage, which was determined by playing record. The Padres were awarded the Western Division title over the Dodgers due to their winning the season series against Los Angeles 13–5.

The Mets and the Cardinals met in the NL Championship Series, with the Cardinals becoming the National League champion and going on to defeat the American League champion Detroit Tigers in the 2006 World Series.

Playoff race
The NL playoff race was highly dramatic when as many as six teams entered the final weekend of the regular season fighting for the final three playoff spots.  Two of three division champions were decided on the final day of the regular season.

The New York Mets began the season with high hopes of finally ending the Atlanta Braves' string of division titles.  The Mets lived up to their high expectations and roared out of the gate, taking over first place in the division on the fourth day of the season and never looking back. They won seven of their first eight games, and had built up a double-digit lead in the standings by the end of June.  The Mets clinched the division on September 18, and finished 12 games ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies. The Braves finished third, 18 games back. However, the Mets entered the postseason without injured ace Pedro Martínez, and learned the day before Game 1 of the Division Series that projected Game 1 starter Orlando Hernández would be lost for the whole round.

The St. Louis Cardinals' run to their third consecutive Central Division championship pales in comparison to their runs in the previous two seasons. As before, the Cardinals took over the lead in the division early on, overtaking the Cincinnati Reds on June 9. It appeared as if this season would follow the established pattern as the Cardinals steadily built up their lead to as much as five and a half games and a 42–26 record on June 19. The Cardinals began interleague play by being swept by both the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers as part of an eight-game losing streak.  Despite the slump, they did not relinquish the division lead.  The Reds were able to tie the Cardinals in the standings on June 30 and July 1, but the Cardinals regained sole possession of first place the following day and held onto the lead for the rest of the season despite additional losing streaks of eight and seven games. The Cardinals' struggles largely stemmed from the numerous injuries to key players throughout the season, including Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, David Eckstein, Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, and Jason Isringhausen. The title appeared to be well in hand on September 19 with leads of seven games over the Reds and eight and half games over the Houston Astros with just 13 games left to play. The Cardinals then went on another seven-game losing streak just as the Astros won seven consecutive, shrinking the Cardinals' lead to just a game and a half. The Cardinals were able to regain their composure, winning three of their next four and clinching on the final day of the season with an Astros loss to the Atlanta Braves.

The San Diego Padres' playoff run was led by their strong pitching and saw closer Trevor Hoffman overtake Lee Smith as the all-time saves leader. This season also marked the first time in Padres history that the team went to the playoffs in consecutive years. The Padres did not clinch a playoff spot until the final weekend of the regular season and finished with an identical record to the Los Angeles Dodgers, but they were awarded the Western Division title due to the Padres winning the season series against the Dodgers 13–5.

The Los Angeles Dodgers' run to the playoffs was most notable for their streaky play in the second half of the season. The Dodgers started the second half by losing 13 out of 14 games and trailing the Padres by seven and a half games, in last place in the division, and behind eight teams in the wild card race. They immediately followed that streak by winning 17 of their next 18 to put them on top of the division by three and half games, with a better record than all eight teams they had trailed in the wild card race prior to the streak. Their inconsistent play continued as they were swept by the Padres in late August as part of a four-game losing streak, only to follow that up by winning seven consecutive, then losing their next three. The Dodgers finished the season strong by winning their final seven games, clinching a playoff berth in the final weekend over the Philadelphia Phillies and finishing tied with the Padres. The Dodgers were awarded the wild-card spot based on their 5–13 head-to-head record against San Diego, who earned the divisional championship.

Matchups

New York Mets vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

San Diego Padres vs. St. Louis Cardinals

New York vs. Los Angeles

Game 1
Shea Stadium in Queens, New York

The game started off with Mets rookie starter John Maine on the mound as an emergency replacement for Orlando Hernández. Hernández was sidelined with a torn muscle, and ended up missing the rest of the postseason. Maine kept the Mets in the game with only one earned run in  innings pitched. This game was notable for having two runners getting tagged out at home plate in the second inning. With runners on first and second and nobody out, catcher Russell Martin hit a line drive to the wall in right field. Jeff Kent tried to tag up from second base in the event that right fielder Shawn Green caught the ball. Instead, the ball sailed over Green's head. Both Kent and J. D. Drew raced around the bases towards the plate. Green threw to cut-off man José Valentín, who relayed to Paul Lo Duca at the plate. Lo Duca was first able to tag out Kent. Drew, trying to score in desperation right behind Kent, was also tagged out at the plate. Lo Duca almost did not see Drew in time to slap the tag on. Martin would score on Marlon Anderson's double but Carlos Delgado and Cliff Floyd hit solo home runs in the fourth off of Derek Lowe. Lo Duca and Delgado singled in the sixth before scoring on David Wright's double to make it 4–1 Mets. In the seventh, Anderson hit a leadoff single off of Guillermo Mota and second baseman Valetin's error on Wilson Betemit's ground ball put runners on first and third with no outs for the Dodgers. After Julio Lugo struck out, Anderson scored on Rafael Furcal's single. After Furcal stole second, Nomar Garciaparra's two-out double tied the game,. In the bottom of the inning, reliever Brad Penny walked two with one out before Delgado's single and Wright's double scored a run each. In the ninth, closer Billy Wagner allowed a leadoff double to Betemit, who scored on Ramon Martinez's two-out double, but Garciaparra struck out to end the game as the Mets took a 1–0 series lead.

Game 2
Shea Stadium in Queens, New York

Game 2 pitted Dodgers rookie Hong-Chih Kuo against Tom Glavine. In the bottom of the third, outfielder Endy Chávez hit a bunt single to lead off the inning. A wild pitch and subsequent ground out moved him to third before he scored on José Reyes's ground out. In the fifth, the Mets loaded the bases on a hit and two walks with one out off of Kuo, who was then relieved by Brett Tomko. Paul Lo Duca's sacrifice fly gave the Mets a 2–0 lead. In the sixth, the Mets loaded the bases again on two hits and an error with no outs. Mark Hendrickson relieved Tomko and got Endy Chavez to hit into a force out at home. Pinch-hitter Julio Franco's fielder's choice and Reyes's RBI single scored a run each. Wilson Betemit hit a home run in the eighth off of Aaron Heilman for the Dodgers but Wagner pitched a perfect ninth for his second save of the series. The Dodgers were hit with more bad news. Nomar Garciaparra was lost after a leg injury that would keep him off the field except for pinch-hitting duties.

Game 3
Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California

In Los Angeles, the Mets loaded the bases in the first with one out on a walk and two singles off of veteran starter Greg Maddux before RBI singles by David Wright, Cliff Floyd and Shawn Green put them up 3–0. In the third, Floyd singled with two outs before scoring on Green's double. In the fourth, the Dodgers loaded the bases on three singles off of Mets starter Steve Trachsel with one out before rookie first baseman James Loney, starting in place of the injured Nomar Garciaparra, drove in two with a single to center. In the fifth, Marlon Anderson singled with two outs before Jeff Kent's home run off reliever Darren Oliver tied the game at four. After allowing a single to J. D. Drew, Oliver was relieved by Chad Bradford, who allowed a single and walk to load the bases. Pedro Feliciano relieved Bradford and walked Loney to put the Dodgers up 5–4. In the top of the sixth, Shawn Green hit a leadoff double off of Jonathan Broxton. After José Valentín popped out on the infield, pinch hitter Michael Tucker drew a walk. Three consecutive bloop hits from José Reyes, Paul Lo Duca, and Carlos Beltrán scored a run each, making it 7–5 Mets. Chris Woodward doubled to lead off the eighth off of Brett Tomko and scored on Lo Duca's one-out single. After a walk, Takashi Saito relieved Tomko and an error on Carlos Delgado's ground ball made it 9–5 Mets. Aaron Heilman and Billy Wagner pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth, respectively, as the Mets swept a postseason series for the first time since the 1969 NLCS. Former Dodgers Green and Lo Duca finished with two RBI each.

Composite box
2006 NLDS (3–0): New York Mets over Los Angeles Dodgers

San Diego vs. St. Louis

Game 1
Petco Park in San Diego, California

In a pitching rematch of Game 1 of the 2005 NLDS, Chris Carpenter and Jake Peavy both started strong through three innings and it appeared that the pitcher's duel that was expected the previous year would occur this time around. That changed in the fourth inning when Chris Duncan hit a leadoff single, then Albert Pujols hit a two-run home run  into one of the deepest parts of Petco Park. Jim Edmonds then singled, moved to third on Scott Rolen's double, and scored on Juan Encarnación's sacrifice fly. The Cardinals added to their lead on Edmonds's RBI single next inning that scored David Eckstein from third and in the sixth when Ronnie Belliard singled with one out, stole second, and scored on Yadier Molina's single to knock Peavy out of the game. Carpenter, on the other hand, continued his strong pitching performance as he pitched into the seventh inning, allowing just one run to cross the plate when Dave Roberts tripled with one out in the sixth and scored on Brian Giles's sacrifice fly. The Cardinal bullpen, which had been shaky down the stretch, pitched the final  innings of the game allowing just one hit. The Cardinals led the best-of-five series one game to none.

Game 2
Petco Park in San Diego, California

Cardinal starter Jeff Weaver and four relievers combined on a four-hitter to shut out the Padres 2–0. The only runs scored in the game came in the fourth when Preston Wilson hit a leadoff double and scored on a single by Albert Pujols, who reached second on Dave Roberts's throw to home. Pujols moved to third on a groundout before scoring on Jim Edmonds's RBI single. Padres starter David Wells pitched five solid innings in a losing effort.

Game 3
Busch Stadium (III) in St. Louis, Missouri

Game 3 ended the Padres' eight-game winless streak against the Cardinals in the postseason and gave them their first postseason win since Game 6 of the 1998 NLCS. However, they left 14 runners on base. The Padres scored their runs in the third off of Jeff Suppan when he allowed a one-out double to Adrián González and walked Mike Cameron before both men scored on Russell Branyan's double to left, with Branyan reaching third on Chris Duncan's throw to home. Branyan then scored on Geoff Blum's sacrifice fly. The Cardinals scored their only run in the eighth on So Taguchi's home run off of reliever Scott Linebrink.

Game 3 of this series marked ESPN's most recent Division Series telecast to date. The network would not broadcast another postseason game again until the 2014 National League Wild Card Game.

Game 4
Busch Stadium (III) in St. Louis, Missouri

After losing Game 3, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa decided to use Carpenter to start Game 4 in hopes of closing out the Series at home. Carpenter started off shakily, allowing back-to-back one hit singles to Brian Giles and Adrián González and walking Josh Bard to load the bases. Russell Branyan walked to force in a run before Mike Cameron's ground out scored another. Carpenter settled down and pitched six scoreless innings before being pulled in the eighth.

St. Louis answered by loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning off of Woody Williams on a single, walk and hit-by-pitch with two outs before Ronnie Belliard tied the game with a two-run single, but was tagged out at second to end the inning. The game remained tied until the seventh when Albert Pujols drew a leadoff walk and scored on Juan Encarnación's triple. Williams was replaced with Cla Meredith, who hit Belliard with a pitch before allowing an RBI single to Scott Spiezio. Yadier Molina's single loaded the bases before Padre third baseman Branyan's throwing error to second on Carpenter's ground ball scored Belliard and kept the bases loaded. David Eckstein's sacrifice bunt scored Spiezio to give the Cardinals a 6–2 lead. Rookie pitcher Adam Wainwright pitched a scoreless ninth despite allowing two hits to close out the Series and allow the Cardinals to advance to the NLCS for the third consecutive year.

The offensive woes that plagued the Padres in the first three games continued for the Padres in Game 4. The team failed to score after the first, and went a combined 2-for-32 with runners in scoring position in the Series.

It was the final Division Series game televised by Fox, at least for the foreseeable future. While Fox Sports would reclaim partial Division Series broadcasting rights in 2014, all of their Division Series games since have been broadcast on FS1.

This was the last playoff game for the Padres, until 2020.

Composite box
2006 NLDS (3–1): St. Louis Cardinals over San Diego Padres

Notes

External links
2006 MLB Postseason Schedule
NYM vs. LAD at Baseball-Reference
STL vs. SDP at Baseball-Reference

National League Division Series
National League Division Series
St. Louis Cardinals postseason
New York Mets postseason
San Diego Padres postseason
Los Angeles Dodgers postseason
National League Division Series
National League Division Series
National League Division Series
National League Division Series
2000s in San Diego
2000s in St. Louis
National League Division Series
2000s in Queens

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Shale Chambers
Shale graduated from Auckland University in 1984 and has been a principal of various law firms since 1987. Shale is a property and business lawyer to many individuals and small enterprises. He has a particular interest and expertise in trust law and asset planning, and is trustee of many private and investment trusts. Shale also has senior governance experience in large enterprises as a former director of Vector, deputy chair of SOE Metservice and trustee of the Auckland Energy Consumer Trust. He is currently a director of SOE New Zealand Post.
Ron Craig
Ron graduated from Auckland University in 1969 and was a principal in another Auckland city legal firm until moving to set up in Ponsonby Road in 1996 with Shale Chambers. Ron practises in similar areas of law to Shale and Andrew, and shares their interest in and expertise in trust law and asset protection as well as acting for a large number of private and commercial clients. Ron is also a trustee in numerous clients' trust and has a large property and business based clientele.
Andrew Jarvis
Andrew graduated from Auckland University in 1989 and joined Ron and Shale in business in 2005. Andrew has a particular interest in commercial and business related law and enjoys dealing with the sometimes wide ranging interests in Joint Ventures, Franchising and Commercial Leasing arrangements. Andrews experience enables him to add value for national and international corporate entities and small to medium business owners alike.
Chambers Craig Jarvis Ltd. | Level 1, 172-176, Ponsonby Rd | Ponsonby, Auckland


Mrs. Margaret Helen "Betty" Ward, age 90, of 14 Oakland Avenue, Salamanca, New York died early Tuesday morning, November 10, 2009 at the Absolut of Salamanca.
Born on March 5, 1919 in Baltimore, MD she was the daughter of the late Francis and Margaret O'Neil Flaherty. She was married on October 28, 1939 to Mr. Francis Ward who predeceased her in 1972.
Mrs. Ward was employed at the Salamanca Public Library for 13 years.
She was a member of St. Patrick's Church, the Altar & Rosary Society, Newman Reading Group, Charter member of the Mr. & Mrs. Club, Cattaraugus County Living Arts Association, AARP Salamanca Chapter. She enjoyed reading, card playing, and movies.
Surviving are: a daughter, Peggy (Donald) Leiper, Salamanca, New York; 2 sons, Michael (Katie) Ward, Keystone Heights, Fla., David (Kay) Ward, Peachtree City, Ga.; 9 grandchildren; 17 great grandchildren; 6 great- great grandchildren.
Friends may call at the O'Rourke & O'Rourke Inc. Funeral home, 25 River Street, Salamanca, New York on Friday from 3-6 P.M.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held in Our Lady of Peace Parish, Broad Street, Salamanca, New York on Saturday at 10 A.M. with Rev. Patrick Melfi, pastor, as celebrant.
The family suggests memorials to the Salamanca Public Library, Home Care & Hospice, 1225 West State Street, Olean, New York 14760 or the donor's choice.


What are you worth? What is anything worth – and who decides?
In name, we live in a capitalist system. As this article and the plot of this series unfold, we will discover that this is not so, but for now, let's go with the assumption.
At root, the answers to those questions is simple and well-known. The value of a good or service depends on two things – supply and demand. How easy is the thing to obtain and how many people want it? Low availability and high demand drives the value (price) up. High availability and low demand drives it down. So in theory, value is determined collectively. We may not collaborate, and we vote with our wallets, not ballots, but when left alone, the system is essentially democratic.
I have written a book. What is that worth? As its creator, I think it is worth £50 per copy. I should be earning what Daniel Craig gets paid for a film – it probably takes about as many hours and equivalent preparation and skill. I might think that amount would be fair, but I know it isn't going to happen. More people will watch "Spectre." There are other books about money. James Bond has brand value and I don't – at least not yet. On Kindle, the book is £3.99 because there is a reasonable chance people will pay that.
In 1906 at a country fair, 800 people participated in a contest to estimate the weight of a slaughtered and dressed ox. Individual estimations varied widely, but statistician Francis Galton, a half-cousin of Charles Darwin, observed that the median guess, 1207 pounds, was accurate to within 1% of the true weight of 1198 pounds. This is the wisdom of crowds; we are smarter collectively than we are alone, it seems.
This, essentially, defines free-market economics. The system assumes that the collective has the right to determine what my book, or my time, or any other commodity is worth. Steve Jobs was worth gazillions because his creations were more widely desired than mine. I have to live with that. That is how our society determines what is fair. We elect our governments on the same basis.
You might feel that your government provides cause to doubt collective wisdom. You may see people paying money for worthless tat. (Christmas is in the frame as I write this). Galton's observation seems not to apply. It doesn't even come close.
Estimating the weight of an ox is values-neutral. You might care whether you are right or wrong, but you don't desire the ox to be lighter or heavier than it is. When it comes to money, what it is and how we use it, that is no longer the case, and the primary reason for this is very obvious. We are emotional creatures. Our politicians play on our feelings – they encourage us to fear that another party will damage us economically or that immigration will make us unsafe. Marketers and advertisers are highly skilled at making us acquisitive, playing on our weaknesses, our greed, our fear that we might be left out or left behind. Our wisdom is subverted.
Individually, our decision-making is driven by our emotions. However much you like to think of yourself as balanced and rational, decades of social psychology experiments show how vulnerable we are to distortions. There is an evidence base documenting how we make our decisions first and rationalise them after. Even without that, a little honest self-reflection tells you how your emotions work when faced with chocolate, that wizard little technical gizmo, the attractive car or the attractive girl/guy. If we are lucky and/or self-disciplined, our wisdom may increase over time.
The errors in Galton's crowd were averaged out. In most situations the emotional influences cause us to be as collectively misguided as we are individually, because most of us are subject to the same weaknesses. We are influenced by the same culture and information channels, affected by our peer groups and our families. The individual distortions to our thinking have corresponding collective outcomes.
A familiarity with Spiral Dynamics and Integral Values systems would tell you that all of the above also changes with stage of development. RED is impulsive, our inner 3-year old, driven towards instant gratification – and doesn't mind borrowing to have it. BLUE/AMBER is a little more grown up and has grasped that deferred gratification may benefit us, and that saving up is a good idea. BLUE/AMBER also knows that there are rules about fairness to others. AMBER can wait longer or work harder for better outcomes. Sometimes. Our ORANGE internal strategist will look to maximise the benefits. ORANGE is self-expressive, but with some regard not to anger others too much. GREEN takes more account of caring, sharing, and fairness, and wants us all to feel good.
These dynamics all play out in the Values that we might claim to hold. I may see your orderly rules as the constraint to my inventiveness and creativity. You may see my care for others as a demand on your income that limits your freedom to consume. For every person who wants to see their money spent on education and health care, there is another who wants to decide for themselves, asserting their right to a better house, a private school for their children, or a yacht.
Because of this, Values systems feed into Value. The more people want better houses, the more the price of houses will rise. The free-market system which sits beneath capitalism would in theory take account of this. It would lead to increased house-building that satisfies demand. The more people want to give priority to elder care, or health, or education the more of these services would be provided. What could possibly go wrong?
We know that something is wrong. Is it something wrong with people, or with the system? I suggest that the answers are yes and yes. And also no and no.
We must deal with history, circularity, and complexity.
The circularity begins in the fact that our systems have arisen based on the values at the time in history each system's features were developed. The RED system created land ownership, aristocracies, and historical fiefdoms based on who could grab the most and hold it. BLUE/AMBER embedded ownership in law (whether private or state) and drove accounting rules. ORANGE expanded notions of corporate ownership; those who invest in companies are not merely the suppliers of money, they are owners with priority rights to determine corporate governance. BLUE/AMBER and GREEN are both embedded in our systems of government. BLUE taxes support the state to meet our collective requirements such as defence against RED predation and the benefits of schooling obedient young people for the factories, and subsequently educating the supply of skilled workers for the ORANGE system. GREEN taxes enable the state to care for the less able, the sick, and the elderly.
Each of these Values perspectives is alive and well in Western Democracies. The balances will look different when comparing UK with US, France with Germany but the mechanisms are the same. Even former communist countries with a very different route map based on total state control are now arriving in a similar place.
These forces become circular because they are now our Life Conditions. They are what we live in and they are what our Values are adapted to. The core of our economic existence is still ORANGE. When we decide whether to have no-longer-robust Grandma live with us we do not have a free choice. We cannot all afford to build a Granny annex onto their house. We are affected by her capital, her income (personal pension or state). We balance her needs against our own aspirations and what it means for the children. Whatever our GREEN aspirations or our BLUE/AMBER duties, ORANGE constrains our choices. Is there something wrong with those who don't give Granny house room? What assumptions are we all entitled to make about who picks up the tab for a care home? Is there something wrong with all of us that we are struggling so much with how to care adequately for society's elders? These are judgments that you might make and it would be affected greatly by your own Values stage. Hence my yes and no answer.
How we think – or thought – built our systems. The fact that we now recognise elder care to be a problem suggests that the systems themselves might be at fault, though it also reflects a demographic shift. But I repeat my yes and no equivocation because it is not as simple as that. Elder care is one of a hundred examples I might have chosen, all of which affect our lives in varying degrees, asking questions of us and our societies. You may have a drug-dependent relative or a special-needs child. You may be an entrepreneur in business with brilliant and beneficial products or services to offer. You may be the professional carer dealing with the former or a supplier whose business in turn depends upon the latter. It's complicated and complex. Do you realise that you are not objective? How does the system accommodate all of these dynamics in such a way as to express the value of each element? How does it deal with your biases and mine?
What might TEAL look like?
Since it is a fundamental principle of entry into Second Tier that we have visibility of all the stages, we have to meet the challenge of turning Values into Value.
If our current systems were created from the mind-sets of earlier stages, what kind of system should we be creating now to reflect the new mind-set?
We know, or at least should know, that we have to rise above earlier stage conflicts. ORANGE turned greedy and we blame that on fat-cats and bankers, but many people thought they could prosper by trading up the property ladder. Very few of us are immune, unaffected by fear or material desire. Many of us are equally inclined, even if in smaller ways, to use money for power and control over our existence and sometimes over others. Blaming others is not only a cheap and unproductive response; it is a cop-out. It feeds a victim mentality. The system will not change unless we do.
Nor can we rewrite history. Revolutions are generally destructive and few of them have ever benefited "the people," particularly in the short term. New RED dominance generally replaces old RED dominance sooner or later. It doesn't change until the Values systems do. Inequality of land ownership goes back centuries. If your country, like mine, has a monarchy or aristocracy, this reality is built into the entire societal fabric, and even if not, you have the equivalent legacies of your industrial empire-builders, your oil barons, or whomever. We cannot solve present problems by fixing the past, only by creating the future.
So the next stage demands a system which enables us to manage the complexity, open up the constraining circularity and unwind the history. The free market economy has not yet existed. It was prevented from arising by pre-existing power and ownership structures. It has been distorted by cartels and artificial shortages. Governments are caught in the same mythologies as everyone else, and then further influenced, pressured and in some cases bribed into support of the status quo. When they don't support the status quo, we don't vote for them. Regulators lag behind the inventors of new monetary schemes. Powerful computers embed and operate manipulative systems. Any wisdom that crowds might possess is buried beneath this mountain of systemic confusion, baggage and corruption. There is no free market and no societal determination of value.
This is not an unsolvable problem, but there is no silver bullet. The simplistic responses are to prosecute (or execute) the privileged, to write "better" laws enforced by greater governmental control or even to smash the system. This only creates new power structures, jobs for lawyers and systems that are even more in the way of a self-organising, self-regulating marketplace. Like it or not, our big cities would collapse without the system, unable to bring in food, incapable of dealing with waste, descending into BEIGE collapse, in which the main survivors would be the RED gangs. We have to grow out of such thinking, and raise ourselves above the level that created the problems.
A comprehensive solution is possible. It means, in Integral terms, an all-quadrant, all-levels design.
We have the knowledge to do this, and many of the required elements are available – from sustainability practices to alternative currency models, to sacred economics and commoning, to new corporate governance systems and revised ownership structures. We have to deal with our internal drivers. We need a direct relationship between money and value. We need an economy based on goods and services, not on speculation, and we don't need high systemic debt levels.
Visitors to my website, www.reinventingcapitalism.org can view or download my outline list of the 36 proposals that would seed this conversation. Each requires fleshing out into a plan. That will take work. Each quadrant needs to gel internally and all four need to be brought together. But there will be paradoxes and contradictions because there are polarities to manage, not fixed choices to be made. The world is too complex for us to manage in the old cause-and-effect ways. It always has been too complex to manage in those way, but in slower, less globalised times we could maintain the comforting illusion that it was possible. Creating a basis for human economic self-organisation is now an essential, not an option.
As human numbers have grown and societies have become more complex, our intelligence was embedded into systems and processes. That worked for a while and the systems may still be supportive. But they must not be our masters and they can only embed thinking, whereas we need, just as much, sensing, intuiting, and feeling. Our decision-making has been appropriated by, and/or surrendered upwards to those furthest from the action, the few required to decide too much with too little awareness, for the many. Wisdom has been taken away from, or surrendered by, the crowd.
Sustainability calls for more direct relationships between people and the things in life that we value. Care requires an ability to respond to what we see and to what the individual asks for. We need fewer intervening layers, not more of them. We need greater empowerment for individual choice because the intelligence and awareness need to be at the locus of daily decisions, in touch with the effects and able to respond to whatever shifts the decisions produce. The crowd needs to be given back its responsibility, to experience the learning curve of sensing more and making its own decisions. Teal money systems can and must enable this as the means of reconnecting Values to value. What this takes and how it affects organisational existence will be the subject of future articles in this series.
Jon Freeman is a strategic thinker and consultant specializing in systemic organizational redesign in support of conscious, values-led and purpose-driven culture change. He is also a Spiral Dynamics trainer and practitioner, and author of Reinventing Capitalism: How we broke money and how we fix it, from inside and out.
When did it have it?
Very thought-provoking article, Jon. Thank you.
Oh, John. How clear your assessment is! I thank you that we are learning the what…but the how is slower to emerge.
Thanks so much for this amazing article, Jon. I am getting ready to release a book on the experience of time and money from a developmental perspective. It's an early-on conversation for those in business who have little to no awareness of integral or constructive-developmental theory. I wish I had read your book or your articles beforehand as I would loved to have included some of your brilliant quotes in this book. Perhaps I will write a blog at some point where I can point to your work. Look forward to reading the subsequent articles and your book.
Also, so appreciate your passion for the emerging future in the context of money.


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text:
Susanne Fülscher (* 1961 in Stelle) ist eine deutsche Schriftstellerin und Drehbuchautorin.

Leben
Sie studierte Germanistik, Romanistik und Pädagogik. 1987/1988 besuchte sie die Journalistenschule Axel Springer und schrieb für Zeitungen und Zeitschriften. Sie schreibt Kinder- und Jugendbücher sowie Drehbücher für das Fernsehen, darunter für die Serien Marienhof, Lindenstraße und Verliebt in Berlin. Ihre Jugendbücher erscheinen in Übersetzungen in Dänemark, Finnland, Estland, Kroatien, den Niederlanden, Spanien, Italien und in der Türkei. Sie ist nach eigenen Angaben verheiratet und lebt und arbeitet in Berlin.

Werke (Auswahl)
 Lügen &  Liebhaber, Fischer TB 2000
 Hals über Kopf ein Star, Arena 2002
 Nie mehr Keks und Schokolade, Arena 2002
 PS: Ich mag sie trotzdem, dtv 2003
 Baggern Verboten ! - My secret life...., dtv 2004
 Die Kussagentur, Carlsen 2005
 7 × Liebe, dtv 2005
 Ich und die Perlweißkuh, Carlsen 2006
 Küsse & Café au Lait, Carlsen 2006
 Schöne Mädchen fallen nicht vom Himmel, dtv 2006
 Moppelig total verknallt, Carlsen 2007
 Leben, frisch gestrichen, List 2008
 B.cool, Carlsen 2008
 Mia und das Mädchen vom anderen Stern, Carlsen 2009
 Mia  legt los!, Carlsen 2009
 Mia und der Traumprinz für Omi, Carlsen 2010
 Mit Opa auf der Strada del Sole, List 2010
 Mia und das Liebeskuddelmuddel, Carlsen 2011
 Mia und der Großstadtdschungel, Carlsen 2012
 Küssen kann schon mal passieren, Carlsen 2012
 fabelhafte Fritzi Liebeschaos und Gedankensalat, Carlsen 2013
 Mia  und das Schwesterndings, Carlsen 2013
 Mit Opa am Canal Grande, Carlsen 2013
 Dann kaufs dir doch, Carlsen 2018
 Wo die Liebe hintanzt, Piper 2019
 Limonensommer, Piper 2020
Mia und das große Halligalli der Gefühle, Carlsen 2021
slip mig!, carlsen 2021

Auszeichnungen
 1989 Moerser Jugendbuchpreis
 1991 Zürcher Jugendbuchpreis La vache qui lit
 1999 Moerser Jugendbuchpreis

Weblinks

 Persönliche Website
 Kurzbiografie

Einzelnachweise

Autor
Journalist (Deutschland)
Kinder- und Jugendliteratur
Deutscher
Geboren 1961
Frau


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In this quote – as in his work – designer Yves Béhar somehow succeeds in the complicated task of combining lucid and informed analysis with a slightly visionary idealism.
Born in 1967 in Switzerland – "this sense of project integrity comes from my roots" – Béhar moved to California in the 1990s. Here he founded Fuseproject, the multi award-winning company where he works as the lead designer. The brand, which uses the slogan "design brings stories to life", has high-calibre clients including Nike, Google, Louis Vuitton and Pepsi.
Right from the start, intelligent technology was a distinctive trait of Béhar's work. His company worked with the non-profit organisation One Laptop per Child to design the XO Laptop in 2005 – a cheap and durable portable computer that was distributed to primary-school children in developing countries. It made a big impact on education around the world and won much acclaim, as testified by the use of its image on Rwandan banknotes and Uruguayan stamps.
That interest in technology continues in his projects today – Béhar has recently worked with the beauty company L'Oréal to create a wearable UV sensor that tracks sun exposure as a way of reducing the risk of skin cancer. The device takes the form of a small sticker that can be applied to the thumbnail. Battery-free, it monitors real-time data of the wearer's exposure to the sun via a mobile app, and was shown at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
- Let's start from the beginning. What is design for you and what is its role?
Design can provide solutions that make people's lives easier, more comfortable and enjoyable. For me, the designer's role is not only to create a new generation of existing objects, but to truly invent the future and make it manifest in the present. It's about bringing inventiveness into the real world. From this perspective, the entrepreneurial aspect of design is essential.
A large number of companies today are working in response to the more commonplace and obvious demands and needs of consumers. I think there are many undeclared things that people want, but never openly ask for. If you're a good observer, particularly when it comes to the present, you can come to understand some of the new problems that are intrinsic to our times.
When I moved to San Francisco, my work revolved around technologies that had already been developed. However, over time, it became easier to intervene in this area and now, for me, technology has become a design tool like any other, just like wood, textiles and metal. Metaphorically speaking, you can cut, assemble and give technology a specific function, just as you can with a fabric. I see technology as another material that can be shaped.
- And yet you've often said: "I want to get people off their screens." What do you mean by this? Are you talking about the overuse of technological devices?
I think we are all very aware of this problem on a personal level. The information and controls channelled via our phone screens complicate our social lives, making interaction difficult. Through the development of new systems, I want people to be able to manage things automatically, something that doesn't happen when you're forced to check everything on your mobile phone. This is what I mean when I say I want to free people from screens. You can understand or anticipate what consumers want by developing functions based on human behaviour.
- Can you explain this a bit more? Could you give us a concrete example?
A few years ago, I co-founded August with the intention of working on these types of projects. With August Smart Lock, when you go near a door, it unlocks and locks automatically. You don't have to do a thing. You don't even have to worry about finding your keys. You don't have to rummage through your bag, pull them out and physically turn the key in the lock, because the lock recognises the person at the door and opens it instantly. For me, this type of technology is better than the ones we have been used to, because it doesn't interrupt the flow of your life and doesn't interfere with social interaction.
- Let's talk about the lifetime of hi-tech objects. Sometimes, it's often the most innovative products that become out-dated far too soon.
It's true that certain technologies, like smartphones, get old quickly. But there are strategies that can be applied to avoid this problem, or at least prolong the lifetime of objects. This is exactly what we did with August and Jambox [the pioneering wireless speaker that could be updated online – it was produced by Jawbone before that company went into liquidation].
- Another important issue that's often found with technology is its complexity.
I actually think gadgets have been intentionally designed to complicate our lives even further! I believe technologies should run in the background, without requiring constant attention. Most importantly, they shouldn't require any extra work on our part. I'm a great supporter of the fact that technologies should carry out their essential functions discreetly, without the need for screens, using intelligence, expressivity and immediacy to allow people to focus more on each other, allowing them to concentrate on the important things in life, such as human contact.
- That sounds like a goal that's really hard to achieve?
In some ways, yes. We could liken it to the tendency towards minimalism in architecture or design. Making connections invisible, creating structural simplicity is harder than creating something visually complex that's made up of lots of different elements combined. I suppose you could call it 'technological minimalism', in the sense that we still receive the information that technology offers, but we keep it in the background, so it doesn't distract us or interrupt what we're doing.
- Your objectives are certainly challenging. Are you an ambitious person?
My work is developed around important issues. Success for me is not about money but about achieving new and important results; projects that truly change people's lives. This is where my ambition lies.
- Is there anything you're afraid of?
More than being controlled by fear, I think my life is open to possibilities. I don't think there's anything I'm particularly afraid of. I believe in human intelligence and I'm an optimist. You can't be any other way in this sector. I think that mankind will find solutions for even the most complex of problems. However, one thing that does worry me is that we need to find a balance between innovation and environment. We need to help our surroundings prosper, not destroy them. But I see this as a challenge, rather than a fear.
- Which projects would you like to be remembered for?
A television we launched recently called The Frame. For the past 60 years, we've been living with black screens in our homes. We designed a television that doesn't have a black screen when it's switched off; instead, it goes into Art Mode, allowing the user to view works of art by artists from all over the world. The Frame is based on the necessary and in-depth study of something that has been taken for granted and has never really been resolved by designers. I'm proud of the fact that the screen is no longer just used merely for television entertainment, but as an object that allows you to admire beautiful works of art.
- Have you any advice for young designers embarking on your profession?
First of all, they need to develop extraordinary skill in a specific area. My advice is: become good at something. In the first years of school and also of your professional career, it's important to keep focusing on developing as much knowledge about the sector as possible. Then you can start to think about working on multi-disciplinary themes from your own personal perspective. Without this basic preparation, it's unlikely that people will listen to you or that you will play an important role on a team in a multi-disciplinary field – and, after all, this is the future of design.


Taking control of your career. Is the Certified Financial Planner career track for you?
The gig economy - economic freedom and personal autonomy like an Uber driver on the streets of New York City. It can sound liberating and exciting, but it may also seem too daunting, like too much distance from the safe confines of an employer that deposits your check every month, come hell or high water. So what else is there? If you have the motivation, smarts, and a background in finance, math or accounting, consider transitioning to a financial services career. This is the first in a series of financial services careers that may be the right one for you.
The following are the 7 reasons to become a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), one of the most underrated careers for those in search of the ultimate gig.
Choose your colleagues: Mom always said, "you can pick your friends but you can't pick your family!" She was right, and the same can be said for choosing whom to work with as a CFP. You can practice alone or in a firm, in a large firm or with just one partner. While you may choose to go with a firm after you complete your certification, you always have the option to go for it alone. You have the power to choose who you work with and on what terms.
Choose your workplace culture: CFPs can work from home in their pajamas or in a skyscraper in a dark power suit. You conduct business over the phone, over video-chat, or in-person over coffee. There is a wide range of possibilities for the kind of firm you can work for in terms of culture, priorities, and measures of success. Did I mention you can always just work for yourself?
Work/life integration: CFPs, even when they work in a firm, are a business unit unto themselves. You decide when to meet with clients and when you're not available. If you need to take the kids to school, to prepare for visitors in your home or just need a vacation, you have the flexibility to have the work-life balance you always wanted.
Responsibility: Once you are certified to practice, your business is your business. Your clients are your clients. There are some firms where decisions are made at the corporate level, but even then, there are still wide areas of discretion for you to take responsibility for your clients. While you may work with partners and consult with them for advice or best practices, at the end of the day, the buck stops with you.
The "buck" stops with you: all CFPs have the potential to make a good living, and many earn well above average income, especially if you're in it for the long haul. The average national salary is about $75K, and the longer you stay in practice, this number only goes up.
Right brain, Left brain: Do you get bored doing the same thing day after day? This never happens in the life of a CFP. While the job is heavily analytical and requires a mastery of quantitative skills, the best CFPs are just as good with people as they are with a spreadsheet. In fact, to be great, you need to enjoy people and have the ability to explain some of the more complicated concepts related to investments, insurance, tax, and more. Both sides of your brain will get a great workout.
Help a brother (or sister) out: If you like helping people, this career is for you. There are few areas in life that cause more stress in an individual's life than his or her finances. Many find investments, taxes and insurance to be maddeningly complex and opaque, a "black box" that they simply cannot understand. CFPs provide counsel and support in the delicate and important decisions related to personal finance, and in doing so, bring great relief and value to their clients. If you have a desire to help people where they need it the most, this career may be for you!
We could go on, but these are the highlights of why you may want to choose a career as a CFP. If you choose to change careers that of a CFP, you might just find the "gig" you had always wanted.
David Vassar, Ph.D., is the assistant dean for professional programs at Rice University's Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies. A native Texan, Dr.Vassar has spent the majority of his 20-year professional career working with commercial and higher education partners throughout the world, with emphasis on global partnerships. He has an MBA from the Mays School of Business at Texas A&M University and a Ph.D. in Latin American literature from the University of Virginia. He has served in various senior administrative roles at Rice University and the University of Texas System as an advisor to key university leadership and as an academic director for system-wide US-Mexico activities, respectively. Dr. Vassar has also worked for a variety of companies in his career, including oil and gas producers, a petrochemical service company, a brewery and an IT consultancy. In his current role, he manages a wide-ranging portfolio of professional development programs for both nonprofit and for-profit professionals, including those relevant for financial services, business communication and marketing, management and leadership, paralegal studies, computer and data science, engineering, and non-profit management.