As governor, Schafer managed a state workforce of 12,000 people, oversaw a budget of $4.6 billion, and led the state's response to emergencies such as the severe floods that hit the Grand Forks area in 1997.
As chair of the Western Governors Association, Schafer led regional efforts to demonstrate how technology could improve the efficiency and lower the cost of delivering government services such as health benefits and food stamps. He also worked to make telemedicine more available and affordable in rural areas.
Schafer was elected chair of the Republican Governors Association in 2000 and that same year he co-founded and co-chaired the Governors Biotechnology Partnership to increase public understanding and support for the benefits of agricultural biotechnology.
He has had a lifelong interest in conservation and helped arrange the U.S. Forest Service's May 2007 purchase of the 5,200 acre Elkhorn ranch in North Dakota. The site was where Theodore Roosevelt had his home and operated a cattle ranch in the 1880s. It is near the preserved town of Medora-the state's leading tourist attraction.
Born and raised in Bismarck, North Dakota, Schafer graduated from the University of North Dakota in 1969 with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and earned an MBA from the University of Denver in 1970.
Secretary Schafer's grandfather immigrated to North Dakota from Denmark and homesteaded land in Hettinger County that he turned into a wheat and livestock farm. Schafer spent summers there while growing up. He helped his uncles with chores, tinkered with engines and learned firsthand about agriculture.
Before entering public life, Schafer was an executive with the Gold Seal Company in Bismarck, a successful marketer of nationally-known consumer products such as "Mr. Bubble" bubble bath, "Glass Wax" glass cleaner and "Snowy Bleach." The company had been founded by his father, Harold Schafer.
Secretary Schafer joined Gold Seal after he earned his MBA and held a series of management positions with the company before becoming president in 1978. Under his leadership, Gold Seal's sales climbed to $50 million through acquisitions and new product introductions and its net worth tripled. It was sold in 1986. Schafer then went on to launch several new businesses, including a commercial real estate development company, a fish farm and a classic car dealership
After leaving office in 2000, he co-founded Extend America, a venture capital-backed company, to provide wireless voice and high-speed data services to commercial and residential customers in five rural Midwestern states.
He also served as a director of the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation that oversees the historic town's operations and became active in leading several other nonprofit and citizens advocacy groups in North Dakota.
Secretary Schafer enjoys the outdoors and his hobbies include bicycling, hiking, scuba diving and restoring classic automobiles. He and his wife, Nancy, have four children; Tom Schafer, Ellie Schafer and Eric Jones and Kari Jones; and eight grandchildren.
Printer-Friendly VersionPrinter-Friendly Version Email this pageEmail This PageAzua, Dominican Republic
The Dominican city of Azua de Compostela, or simply Azua, is the head municipality of the Azua province, on the south of the country, about 5 km north of the Caribbean coast. It is also called sometimes "Compostela de Azua".
"Azua" is the Taíno name of the region where the old city was founded. In this place, Pedro Gallego (or Pedro Mariscal), a Spanish colonist, developed a farm and he gave it the name of "Compostela" after Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, nortwestern Spain.
The municipality had, in 2010, a total population of 91,345: 46,280 men and 45,065 women. The urban population was of the total population. In this numbers are included the population of the municipal districts that are part the municipality. The population of the city of Azua de Compostela without those municipal districts was 59,319.
The town was founded in 1504 by Diego Velázquez, who later went to conquest the island of Cuba; the Spanish governor of the Hispaniola island at that time was Nicolás de Ovando. The town was in the original region of Azua, where there was a Taíno town and Pedro Gallego had a farm. This place is called now "Pueblo Viejo" (in English, "Old Town"), at about 8 km to the soutwest of the modern city.
The first secretary of the town was Hernán Cortés. He lived in Azua from 1504 to 1511, when he left to Cuba and, later, to conquest México.
Several sugar factories were established around the town and pirates came here to get the sugar and other products.
In 1751 there was a strong earthquake that destroyed the old town and a new one was founded on the right (western) side of the River Vía, where the modern city is now.
Because Azua is on the road that goes from the western part of the island to Santo Domingo, the city was destroyed several times during the Dominican-Haitian War (1844-1856). Two important battles (the "Azua Battles") were fought in the city; the first was on 19 March 1844 and the second on 1849.
The municipality of Azua de Compostela is in a very dry valley (the "Azua Valley" or "Azua Plain") where cacti and other plants of dry regions are common. Farming is possible only with irrigation.
The territory around the city is very flat, with only a few very small hills but there are mountains in the north and northwest of the municipality; those mountains are part of the "Cordillera Central" mountain range. The only river in the municipality is the "Vía", a very small river that flows through the city.
Azua de Compostela is at to the west of Santo Domingo. The limits of the municipality are Peralta to the north, Estebanía to the east, the Caribbean Sea to the south, Pueblo Viejo to the southwest and Sabana Yegua to the west.
Azua de Compostela has a subtropical steppe/semi-arid hot climate (Köppen climate classification : BSh).
The average amount of rainfall for the year in the city is . Most rains fall during the end of summer and mainly in fall. The month with the most precipitation on average is October with of rainfall, followed by September with .
The driest season is winter. The month with the least rainfall on average is February with an average of and the second is January with .
Azua de Compostela is in a hot region; the average temperature for the year is . The warmest months, on average, are July and August with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .
The municipality of Azua de Compostela has eight municipal districts; these are:
Imogen Heap
Imogen Jennifer Jane Heap (born 9 December 1977 in the London Borough of Havering) is a Grammy Award-winning English singer, composer and songwriter. She is known for her work as part of the musical duo Frou Frou.
She has collaborated with many artist including Jeff Beck, Acacia, Frou Frou, Britney Spears and others.
Imogen produced "Ellipse" in her old family house. She recorded the production of it into a movie called "The story of Ellipse: Everything in between". In 2010 she, along with Thomas Ermacora, founded "Bubbletank". It has produced the "Live 4 X" charity events and the crowd-sourced orquestal film "Love The Earth".
She is producing her 4th solo album called "The Heapsongs". All of the tracks are being released when they are finished.
Imogen Heap and Frou Frou songs have been in various TV shows, movies, advertisements, and marching band productions, notably including ", The OC, SNL, Garden State", and "So You Think You Can Dance".
John Stockton
John Stockton was a point guard for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). No NBA player ever had more assists or steals during his career than Stockton.