SportsCollege Sports
No. 4 Michigan tops Indiana, aims for No. 8 Ohio State
By: Larry Lage, AP Sports Writer
Gregory Shamus

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - NOVEMBER 17: Nick Eubanks #82 of the Michigan Wolverines celebrates a first half touchdown with Tarik Black #7 while playing the Indiana Hoosiers at Michigan Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- The Michigan Wolverines looked like they were peeking ahead to playing Ohio State, turning an expected rout into a closely contested game.
Karan Higdon ran for a go-ahead touchdown early in the third quarter and Jake Moody set a school record with six field goals, helping No. 4 Michigan beat Indiana 31-20 Saturday.
"When you're in playoff mode -- that's our mindset right -- playoff wins are big," coach Jim Harbaugh said. "Wins against Big Ten teams in late November are huge."
The next one would be bigger if Michigan can pull it off.
The Wolverines (10-1, 8-0 Big Ten, No. 4 CFP) close the regular season against the ninth-ranked Buckeyes, needing a win to reach the Big Ten championship game for the first time. If Michigan can win a road game in the series for the first time since 2000, it will be another victory away from likely earning a spot in the College Football Playoff.
"We understand the tradition and the meaning behind it," said quarterback Shea Patterson, who will make his debut in the rivalry on Saturday in the Horseshoe.
The Hoosiers (5-6, 2-6) were competitive against Michigan as they have been lately, losing in overtime twice in the previous three meetings, but came up short again.
"Went toe to toe with them and it was a one-possession game in fourth quarter," coach Tom Allen said. "That's really all you can ask for. You just got to find a way to finish these out."
Indiana led 17-15 at halftime and finished with more yards (385) than anyone has had against Michigan's top-ranked defense this season. The Hoosiers also forced Michigan's offense to stall in the red zone and settle for field goals.
Patterson was 16 of 28 for 250 yards with one touchdown, a 41-yard throw to Nick Eubanks in the second quarter. He threw his first interception in more than a month and had nine carries for 68 yards.
"Their quarterback is a difference-maker," Allen said.
Indiana's Peyton Ramsey was 16 of 35 for 195 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Ramsey also ran for 51 yards. Stevie Scott had 30 carries for 139 yards scored a touchdown -- extending his single-season, school-record total to nine -- and lost a fumble for the Hoosiers. Scott has 1,033 yards rushing, the most by a true freshman at Indiana.
"This performance definitely showed to the nation that we can compete with anybody," Scott said. "We've got the talent here. We just have to finish strong."
Indiana: After a strong performance against a team that has been winning big, the Hoosiers should feel better about their chances of beating Purdue to become bowl eligible.
"I'm proud of our team's fight," Allen said.
Michigan: An injury may be a factor against the rival Buckeyes. Michigan defensive end Chase Winovich left the game midway through the third quarter after appearing to hurt his left shoulder. Harbaugh said Winovich's X-rays and CAT scans were negative.
Harbaugh said Berkley Edwards, who primarily plays on special teams, had a concussion. Edwards was put on a backboard and taken off the field on a cart after being hit by Cam Jones, who was ejected for targeting. Harbaugh said Edwards was taken to a hospital as a precaution, adding he was able to talk, respond and move.
READY, KID?
Moody had only handled kickoffs before finding out just before the game he would be replacing Quinn Nordin, who wasn't feeling well. The freshman made all six of his attempts, converting on field goals from 29 to 33 yards.
"It was an incredible experience," Moody said. "The guys out there made it really easy for me with the snaps and the hold."
RED ZONE WOES
Moody had an opportunity to set a school record because Michigan's offense often stalled in the red zone. The Wolverines scored only one touchdown in seven drives that went inside the Indiana 20, settling for six field goals and having the first half end before being able to stop the clock for another snap.
Indiana: Hosts the rival Boilermakers, needing a win to earn a spot in the postseason.
"We're back to where we were a year ago," said Allen, whose team lost 31-24 at Purdue last year to end the season with five wins.
Michigan: Plays at Ohio State, hoping to win for the second time in 15 meetings.
How quickly did Harbaugh plan to shift his focus to the Buckeyes?
"Pretty quick," he said.


"5 X Worse than Irene"
3 Cheshvan 5772
(H/T Global Disaster Watch)
The deadly snowstorm on US East Coast killed at least six people and left more than three million homes without electricity.
Snowstorm damage 'five times worse' than Tropical storm Irene - The idea of snow in October - no matter the amount - was far-fetched enough that when forecasts late last week began calling for several inches of snow, many throughout Connecticut were skeptical. Even the most panicked meteorologists, though, weren't aware of just how stunningly powerful this weekend's freak winter storm would be.
On Sunday night, the president and chief operating officer of Connecticut Light and Power, laid things out in perhaps the most eye-opening way for a state only beginning to move on from Tropical Storm Irene.
The damage from the storm was "five times worse" than that delivered by Irene. More than half of customers throughout the state remained in the dark. Early this morning, the number of outages had begun to slowly recede. CL&P, which had more than 800,000 outages earlier in the day, reported 772,155 at 12:15 a.m. -- still an astonishing 62 percent of customers. Even as the number of outages began to drop, the total early today was still higher than it was at any point following Tropical Storm Irene. At 12:15 a.m. there were 45 cities and towns throughout the state completely in the dark, including Monroe, Oxford, Seymour, Redding, New Fairfield and Washington. There were also outages for 97 percent of customers in Newtown, 92 percent in Bethel, 87 percent in Ridgefield, 75 percent in Brookfield and 55 percent in Danbury. Emergency shelters and warming centers are open throughout the state Sunday night so residents without power won't have to brave potentially record low temperatures in their homes. 45 transmission lines and 15 substations are damaged. Officials said it could take days -- or more than a week -- before all power is finally restored.
"This is THE LARGEST NUMBER OF POWER OUTAGES WE HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED," more than Tropical Storm Irene. "We are expecting extensive and long term power outage. This is a historic storm, NEVER BEFORE in anyone's recollection or anyone's review of history has such a storm hit the state so early." School closures are likely because many bus routes remained blocked and school buildings without power. Strong winds with gusts as high as 29 mph have lead to more power outages. As snow falls from tree limbs, the branches snap back, breaking power lines. Damage to 164 ATT cell phone towers will result "degraded service" beginning this afternoon. Two-thirds of the flights at Bradley International Airport were back on normal schedules. In Danbury, 64 percent of the city is without power. "I would term it a catastrophic situation." More than 200 roads are closed in the area. There were hundreds of accidents reported across the state caused by a combination of slippery snow, downed trees and poor visibility. Saturday's storm, which didn't garner significant attention from meteorologists until Thursday night, SHATTERED OCTOBER SNOWFALL RECORDS THROUGHOUT NEW ENGLAND and left more than a dozen towns either mostly or entirely without power throughout the state.
Introducing Rabbi Sholom Gold
30 Tishrei 5772
Rosh Chodesh 'א Cheshvan
Check out his website - rabbisholomgold.com .
Message from Binyamin at end of year 5771
There are a few new messages that need to be translated. I started with a short one. (Q & A to follow)
Message from Binyamin
There will yet be very big things. And what more is there to say!? At long last, what we have been talking about for seventeen years is beginning to take place. It’s not ‘beginning,’ because the process already started some time ago. And still, with all the troubles and with all the falls, with the money as well as the bizarre and difficult things from nature, also wars in every place and riots everywhere, and seeing the sheker, that it ascends and rises more and more, being exposed more and more, in every corner, in every place. With all this, at the moment that there is a drop of calm – a majority of the people return to what was. They don’t think about teshuvah. They don’t think about drawing closer to Hashem. They’re returning to the same nonsense, to the same concepts which are just the sheker of olam hazeh, and therefore, much greater troubles are coming now and almost without a break between them. [Sanhedrin: “If you see troubles pulling like a river, etc.”] Until Hashem will repair all the true Jews. In Egypt, it took a whole year, all the plagues, with breaks between them, but for us, there won’t be a lot of time in between one and the next – like now.
Like we said once, you’ll look above and it will come from below; you’ll look right – it will come from the left. Now, it’s from the right as well as from the left, from above and also from below, and from one side and also from the other side - from every place. It’s impossible to know where to look and what to think.
For the not-intelligent people who are still planning for the future six months ahead when there will be some social gathering or in hopeful expectation of some trip that they will make abroad. So, I ask very much from them: To see the truth, that it’s impossible to know what will happen from moment to moment, and now, especially, it will be what it will be, very difficult for those who do not trust in Hashem. For those who do trust in Hashem and are truly waiting for Mashiach….and truly weep over the Shekhina’s suffering, it will be the greatest joy.
So, those who understand what I’m saying, I bless you that all of us together will receive our righteous Mashiach in mercy and happiness. And to those who don’t understand what I said, I pity you and pray to HKB”H that nevertheless, he will save you in power.
(Re-posting due to problem with Blogger)
New Messages in English
You can read new messages from the autistic children here.
Is this IT?
Could this be the spark that starts WW3? Tuesday is Erev Hoshanah Rabbah.
The Yalkut Shimoni (Yeshayah 59) relates the following:
“Rabbi Yitzchak said, at the time of the revelation of
Mashiach, the kings of all the nations challenge one another. The king of Persia challenges the king of Arabia, and the king of Arabia goes to Aram to seek their counsel. The king of Persia arises again and lays waste the whole world, and all the nations of the world are distressed and frightened and fall on their faces and they are seized by pains like birth pangs. Yisrael too is distressed and frightened and asks, ‘Where shall we turn?’ And Hashem answers them, ‘My children! Do not be afraid. All that I have done, I have done only for your sake. What are you afraid of? The time of your redemption has come.”
US on global alert for Iranian reprisal that may jeopardize Shalit releaseA worldwide advisory published in Washington Wednesday, Oct. 12, warned UScitizens to beware of Iranian-instigated terrorist attacks following the uncovering of an Iran-directed plot to assassinate Saudi Arabian ambassador Adel Al-Jubeir and bomb the Saudi and Israeli embassies.
Iranian radicals look for a limited clash with the US
The motivation for the foiled Iranian-instigated plot to murder the Saudi ambassador to Washington at his favorite eatery, Café Milano in Georgetown, is revealed by debkafile's Iranian sources as a bid by a super-radical faction at the top of the Iranian regime to draw the United States into a limited military clash. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei approved the plot when his son and heir Mojtaba, 42, and the Al Qods Brigades commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani presented him with their "grand plan.
Big US airlift drill starts Monday. Fresh Hamas demands for Gilad ShalitThe United States launches a large-scale strategic airlift exercise over the Middle East Monday, Oct. 21. Tuesday, the day of the Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange for Gilad Shalit, the giant transports carrying command and combat units will practice swift emergency landings in Israel and Saudi Arabia. The US, Israeli, Egyptian and Saudi armies are on high military preparedness amid warnings of terrorist attacks to disrupt the prisoner exchange and avenge US charges of an Iran-instigated plot to murder the Saudi ambassador.
(More on all the above at Debka.)
Moadim l'Simcha!!
Something to Think About Before Yom Kippur
8 Tishrei 5772
From The Book of Our Heritage by Eliyahu Kitov
“…one who habitually sins and overcomes his habit through repentance, and uproots that sin from his being and totally abandons it, is said to be as desired by G-d as one who offered a rich sacrifice on the altar---and his reward is exceedingly great. The more that a sin has become a part of a person, the greater the reward for repenting.
The same is true concerning a place, a time, or an age. For example, if one sees a place where people are prone to commit a certain sin, know that this particular sin is the greatest source of accusation against them. Hence, repentance from this sin is more important that any source of merit that might exist and is more highly regarded by G-d than any good deed. If they will repent this sin, their repentance will assist them in overcoming all other trangressions. But, if they do not repent, even if all their other acts are good, then they will be considered to be like one who immerses himself in a mikveh for purification while holding an impure object in his hand!
If there is an entire generation which is known for a particular trangression, then the sensitive among them should rectify that particular failing more than other failings, for their repentance will tip the scales on behalf of all the others who will emulate their behavior and also repent."
G'mar chatima tova. Shabbat shalom and Chag Sameach!
Message - "5772" End
Lipi's Message - "I am very sad"
14 Elul 5771
I am very sad. Very sad that in days so difficult and dangerous, the Jews are busy with disputes. The Jews are busy with falsehood. The Jews are busy with severe sins. The Jews are busy with the Golden Calf, with the lusts and materialism of the Egel. I am sad, very, very much, that Am Yisrael doesn't understand that this is the end, that we are standing before a very huge and difficult war, not only in Israel, but also the world.
The changes in This World in all of this world, from two years ago, are really astonishing. Changes that are hard for us to digest. And there is, for the majority of the people in the world, a will not to believe that the world, in fact, is not the same world it was ten or twelve years ago.
We, the Jews, are standing before a huge birur - a clarification. Also, the whole wide world stands before a huge birur. But, especially important to me - the Jews.
And the Jews, in general, the majority, don't want to believe that the end has arrived. Like two thousand years, approximately, we have been wandering around the world, in exile, sometimes living in a very good way, materialistically, and sometimes a life in a situation of very high spirituality, but usually, the two don't go together. And therefore, the situation today is one of materiality. And there are very many Jews who are of the opinion that the materialism and spirituality can co-exist. But, that can't be. Materialism and spirituality, which is closeness to Hashem, cannot co-exist. Under absolutely no circumstances. And now, at this moment, without waiting, every Jew must choose. Whether he wants the materialism or the spirituality. But both of them, impossible. They must choose only one from the possibilities. And materialism is not only silver and gold, it's also faith in other powers, foreign powers. And this is to believe in low powers. But, there are Jews who believe that low powers have like saved them. (i.e. IDF, American political support, etc.)
And spirituality is closeness to the Holy One, blessed be He. And to live a life of spirituality - that is to say, to live all the time the will of Hashem, every day and every night and all your life. If he is a spiritual person - that's what there is in his head.
And now will be the big choice, this Rosh Hashanah. Every Jew is choosing where he wants to be. Whether he wants to be with the Golden Calf, which means the death of spirituality and materialism forever, G-d forbid, or whether he wants spirituality, which is proximity to Hashem forever. [I Kings 18: 21 - "And Elijah drew near to all the people and said, 'Until when are you hopping between two ideas? If the Lord is God, go after Him, and if the Baal, go after him.'"]
It's the end, it's the end. We are drawing near the end at the speed of lightning. Many Jews have awakened from their slumber. And every one who chooses materialism and distance from HKB"H, suddenly at the end, he will understand that maybe, actually, not maybe - of course, that he made the biggest mistake of his life, And this he will understand at the end before death, and then he will die, G-d have mercy.
I very much warn all the believing Jews about lashon hara. Because slander is possible, G-d forbid, to bring down the holiness from Am Yisrael. Woe to you, woe to you. The punishment is too great even to explain to you.
I bless all the Jews for a good year, a year of redemption and salvation, that every Jew and Jewess, boy and girl, will receive our righteous Mashiach in mercy and joy.
[Quoting tractate Chovot Halevavot... "Love of this world and love of the world to come, they are two problems, one to the other. Fire and water, that can't co-exist."]
Message - "5772"
Daniel's Message, 28 Elul 5771
Am Yisrael, I want to wish you shanah tovah, but how can I wish you shanah tovah; this is my problem. What can I say that I haven't already said? But, let's begin and I will tell you what is in my heart and what I know from various sources.
Am Yisrael, truly, truly, the world as we have known it is finished. It's finished. Everybody can see it. He only has to want to accept the truth and to see that it's impossible to continue with the drunkenness that's been until now. It's finished! Do you hear? It's finished! There are here and there traces of what once was, but it's finished.
In the world, the Shechina is disappearing from all the lands and is gathering in Eretz Yisrael. What are you still doing there? What else are you benefitting from there? The exile is finished, the world of unnecessary materialism is finished. What else do you have there?
This World is being revealed as one big lie; everything is a lie. You see it already; everyone sees it already, but don't want to accept it.
It's finished because it's impossible to continue with a world of falsehood, that a person is not able to believe in anyone or anything, impossible.
Even a person who doesn't believe, G-d forbid, in HKB"H, has to believe in something. At least, to believe that his friend is honest with him, that his Prime Minister is honest with him, wants the good of the citizenry, but this, too, is no longer. They've revealed themselves, all over the world, as liars who only want to suck from the little guy all the money that he has and after they've sucked it all from him, they throw him in the trashcan.
But, Am Yisrael, Am Yisrael, you feel it, that in the near future, now, now, now, 5772, there will be huge things, unbelievable things. Indeed, for those who know the prophecies, it won't come as a surprise. Those who put their trust fully in Hashem, it won't be a surprise for them. They will come through it much more easily, but those who don't have a clue, who don't have real faith and trust in HKB"H, and it doesn't matter if they are Shabbat observant or not Shabbat observant, they won't be able to get through it.
The situation is bad. All the institutions that we put faith in, have been revealed as empty and full of falsehood, who don't have the good of the citizen at heart or at will or at service, only falsehood.
Leave the lie, return to HKB"H, trust in Him, know in truth that only He is omnipotent, the "Hakol Yachol." That He directs us in this world to the world to come, to the world of Mashiach, a complete world, calm, that only goes up and up in spirituality, ascending, ascending, ascending in the direction of HKB"H.
And after this, the seven thousandth, that will be something so wonderful that we don't know how to describe at all, hard for our imaginations to understand it.
Am Yisrael, I suggest to you, in truth, I can't tell you more, but now, I will say this in preparation for Rosh Hashanah: Am Yisrael, those who are in exile and those who are in Eretz Yisrael, return to HKB"H, those who are abroad, return, return to Eretz Yisrael, with all that is happening, it is the most secure place.
The Zionists? There are no more Zionists. There are various Jews that are sitting in the Knesset who are stam evildoers, decidedly not Zionists. Erev Rav, Amalek, evil ones. No longer Zionists. They're dead, all of them, and if there are here and there some old ones who still remain from then, he's also no longer Zionistic. He's either Amalek or Erev Rav. There are no Zionists, only evildoers, like all the gentiles in the world.
The Chareidi community is full of Amaleks and Erev Rav, so return to Eretz Yisrael, to the Holy Land. At least to demonstrate to HKB"H that we are ready to return home, that we want the redemption already, that we want to sit on the ground, not in the State of Israel, but in the Land of Israel, upon the ground that is holy.
It's worthwhile, really worthwhile to return. And those who are not able, return to HKB"H. He will bring you on eagle's wings. Only those who truly put their trust in Him, only those who truly believe in Him and trust in Him and know that He is "Hakol Yachol." (He can do anything.)
We are entering now, with G-d's help, to 5772. All the signs are that this is the year of redemption, all the signs in every place. All the prophecies show that we have a huge chance that this is the year of redemption.
And if, G-d forbid, not, then of course, this is the year that the world turns upside down, because the world can't continue like it is. The world has deteriorated very quickly. It cannot last.
So, Am Yisrael, I wish you shanah tovah, k'tivah v'chatimah tovah, and I request from you, to return home, to actively return to HKB"H with all your heart, with all the essence of the person. Also to return to Eretz Yisrael, not the State of Israel, the Land of Israel.
Shanah Tovah.
We're All a Work in Progress
I don't remember where I originally got this story, but it really struck home with me when I first read it and it has stayed with me ever since. I found it again in my email archives from 2005. It seems especially poignant at this time of year and at this time in history. Enjoy!
There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups. One day in this beautiful shop they saw a beautiful teacup. They said, "May we see that? We've never seen one quite so beautiful."
As the shop owner handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke. "You don't understand," it said. "I haven't always been a teacup. There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over, and I yelled out, 'Let me alone!,' but he only smiled, 'Not yet.' Then I was placed on a spinning wheel and I was spun around and around and around. 'Stop it! I'm getting dizzy!' I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, 'Not yet.' Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked on the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head, 'Not yet.'
"Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. 'There, that's better,' I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Stop it, stop it!' I cried. He only nodded, 'Not yet.' Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening nodding his head and saying, 'Not yet.'
"Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and said, 'Look at yourself.' And I did. I said, 'That's not me. That couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful!'
"'I want you to remember then,' the master said, 'I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened; you wouldn't have had any color in your life. And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't survive for very long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.'"


New York - Garment District
Garment District Office Space For Rent
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The Garment District is also called the Fashion District because of its impressive fashion industry that generates about $14 billion in sales annually. Naturally, it’s widely considered to be the fashion capital of the world. If you’re seeking affordable Midtown office space with plenty of public transportation options, the Garment District might be the right place for you and your business.
Garment District Office Space | Lease Data & Trends
The Garment District has nearly 48 million square feet of office space for rent, with another 7 million under construction. Its central location to several transit hubs makes it a convenient location to accommodate employees commuting from throughout the New York Metro.
With an average asking rent of $65 per square foot, Garment District office space is some of the most affordable in Manhattan. More than 40 percent of available office space is in Class A buildings, with an average asking rent of $97 per square foot. However, Class B office space features asking rents of around $60 per square foot.
The Garment District is less than one square mile in size and rests between Fifth Avenue and the Hudson River. Nearby neighborhoods and business districts include Hudson Yards, Times Square, Chelsea, Korea Town, and notable businesses in the area include Microsoft, The New York Times, R/GA, and the Boston Consulting Group.
Office Space for Rent Price per square foot
Class A $97
Class B $61
What Our Brokers Say about Garment District Office Space for Lease
Despite its small size, the Garment District is home to more than 27,000 people. Travel quickly to and from Times Square and other popular destinations using one of the many transportation options for city and suburban residents. Convenient nearby transportation includes Penn Station, Grand Central Station, and Port Authority. Between these three transit hubs, commuters can access New Jersey Transit, Amtrak, Long Island Railroad, PATH, and Greyhound. In addition to these transit options, city residents can access the Garment District via the 1, 2, 3, 7, A, C, E, N, Q, R, and W trains.
Because of its proximity to Times Square and Port Authority, Garment District has among the worst traffic in NYC and isn’t a particularly bike-friendly area.
Get to Know the Garment District
The Garment District includes plenty of apartment, hotel and restaurant choices. Looking for a delicious and convenient place for a business lunch event? Check out Casa Nonna, Ai Fiori, Savory and Parker & Quinn.
The Garment District is widely known as the ultimate destination for designers, stylists, wholesale buyers, students and, of course, shoppers from all over the world. Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Carolina Herrera, Liz Claiborne and Andrew Marc represent some of the top-notch fashion labels that have office space and production facilities in the district.
Not only does the neighborhood attract those who work in the fashion industry—it’s also a popular destination for shoppers and tourists. As the Garment District’s name suggests, the neighborhood is an excellent place to shop for clothes and the materials to make them. Here are just a few of the most renowned places to shop in the Garment District: M&J Trimming, Louis Vuitton, Urban Outfitters, Mood Designer Fabrics and Lord & Taylor.
Garment District: A Global Hub for Fashion
The Garment District began influencing what people wear and how they obtain their clothing back in the 1800s. Middle-class Americans used to make their own clothing, and only rich people hired tailors to sew for them. During the Civil War, these tailors began collaborating to sew clothing in bulk for the soldiers. At the same time, skilled immigrants began moving to New York City, creating a labor force that could work in clothing factories.
By 1910, approximately 70 percent of women’s clothing came from the Garment District. By 1931, the area boasted the most garment manufacturers of anywhere in the world. Today, the Garment District is known as the fashion capital of the world and offers a huge variety of niche resources such as dress dying services, full production cutting and wholesale fabric manufacturers—all within one square mile. The Garment District is a unique place to do business because it offers opportunities for fashion moguls, young entrepreneurs and recent immigrants alike.


Chuck Jones, animator of Looney Tunes
BY David W Brown
Few animated series have aged as gracefully as Looney Tunes, and that’s in large measure because of director Chuck Jones. He drew relentlessly as a child, a result of a nearly unlimited access to pencils and stationery because of his father’s business ventures. (Each time one of his dad’s companies closed, Chuck and his siblings were given the remainder office supplies.) He never stopped drawing, and would go on to elevate animated shorts as an art form. Here are a few things you might not have known about the man behind Bugs Bunny.
He worked for Walt.
After Warner Brothers closed its animation studio, Chuck Jones worked for Walt Disney. “In animation,” he said in an interview, “asking ‘Walt who?’ would be a very strange thing. It would be like saying ‘Jesus,’ and saying ‘Jesus who?’—he was that important.” (Jones added that poor Walt Lantz, director and producer of Woody Woodpecker, was always overshadowed as the other Walt. “There were no Chucks, which is just as well.”)
He didn’t last long at Disney, though.
“The reason I stopped working [at Disney] was because I saw that nothing happened unless Walt okayed it, and you might have to wait three weeks to get an appointment with Walt to come in and see this sequence you were working on. And it was old stuff to these guys, but not to me. I was used to working at a pace.”
Dr. Seuss was an old war buddy.
During World War II, Jones served with Theodor Geisel in a unit that produced training films for soldiers. They worked on such series as Situation Snafu and Fubar. Army training shorts could be pretty boring, he noted. “The pictures were made by some Army colonel who thought he was a director.” Jones and Geisel made it a point to keep their films interesting and entertaining. As if it’s not weird enough that the guy behind Bugs Bunny and the guy behind the Cat in the Hat were war buddies, they later collaborated with the Navy on other films. The Navy liaison? Hank Ketcham, the cartoonist behind Dennis the Menace.
He didn’t make Saturday morning cartoons...
This might sound weird to anyone under 30, but for a very long time, if you wanted to watch cartoons, you had to wake up early on Saturday mornings. Looney Tunes, of course, was a mainstay. But none of Chuck Jones’s work was made for children on Saturday mornings. “They were always made for theatrical release right up to ’63. None of them were made for television. There’s a perfectly logical reason for it, and it was that there wasn’t any television.” In the 1930s and 40s, he and his team figured the work that they were doing had a total lifespan of three years—first run through fifth run—until finally the films would be worn and retired. Accordingly, they were unafraid to take risks with what they were doing. This often drove their producers crazy. “We got a double pleasure, and that was to make pictures that we enjoyed making, plus making someone else uncomfortable by doing it.
“Because we were so young and had recently left our parents, or teachers, we had very little respect for adults. So we ended up where every creative person is, and that is where you paint or draw for yourself. And we figured if we made each other laugh, hopefully the audience would as well. And it turns out they did.”
...and yet he helped invent Saturday morning cartoons.
In the mid-1950s, KTLA in Los Angeles and WNEW in New York starting running old Warner Brothers cartoons from the archives on Saturday mornings, thus beginning the tradition of programming for children. Animated features at the cinema didn’t last long after that. “We used to kid about it when television was being done... We figured TV might put us out of work, which eventually it did.”
He said of his work at Warners, which was never meant to survive, let alone endure, “We kind of lived in a paradise and we didn’t know it.”
He reportedly considered "What’s Opera, Doc?" to be his greatest work.
If the words “Kill the wabbit!” mean anything to you, then you’re familiar with arguably the greatest cartoon of all time. The 1957 animated short features Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, and parodies Wagner’s operas. (The cartoon’s most famous line is sung to "Ride of the Valkyries.") This wasn’t his only take on opera. He took on Rossini in 1949’s Rabbit of Seville.
He had to persuade his old friend that How the Grinch Stole Christmas would make a great show.
“I had known Ted during the war, but it had been 15 years... I had really wanted to do something of his, and Charlie Brown was one of the only works I knew doing a Christmas special.” Jones thought that Dr. Seuss was the natural person for such an annual tradition. “So I called up Ted, so I ask him would he be willing to think about doing it? He was anti-Hollywood, very much, because when he left after the war they pirated a lot of his stuff and took his credits off of his features... He did some documentaries—one of which won the Academy Award and someone else took it. So he was pretty sour about that.” How did he persuade Geisel? “I told him this was another field—this was television!—and he didn't know much about televisions either.”
Ironically, a banking consortium agreed to sponsor the show, which helped Jones sell the Christmas special to the networks. Jones later noted that Dr. Seuss’s publisher should have sponsored the show, because the cartoon doubled sales of the book that year, and they haven’t slowed since.
He was once, under protest, the vice president in charge of children’s programming at ABC.
In 1972, he was hired by ABC TV to be its vice president of children’s programming. “I’m guilty of a lot of sins,” he said, “but that is one I’d just as soon forget.” How did he get the job? “I complained so much about children’s programming that these guys called my bluff. They said come over and do something... well that was a very good idea except nobody listened to me.” He didn’t last long. “I didn’t want to be vice president. I wanted to go back to doing drawings.”


How this 300-year-old city is leading on U.S. sola...
How this 300-year-old city is leading on U.S. solar, energy-water, and climate action
« Fighting for the planet, one methane comment at a time
Investing in a strong foundation for energy resilience in Texas »
By EDF Staff / Published: April 24, 2018
By Kate Zerrenner, Jaclyn Rambarran
On May 5, 2018, the city of San Antonio will officially be 300 years old! On that day in 1718, the Presidio San Antonio de Béxar (a Spanish fort) was founded. The city’s tricentennial celebration will culminate in a weeklong celebration of history, art, and culture the first week of May.
San Antonio is a unique place that should be honored in Texas and beyond. In addition to its strong Hispanic heritage, the city boasts a large military population, straddles the border between eastern, western, and southern U.S., and claims to be the birthplace of breakfast tacos.
This growing city also has a powerful role to play in the future of Texas and the United States in terms of climate change and air quality, as evidenced by its initiatives around renewable energy, the energy-water nexus, and climate action. With all this in mind, let’s take a moment to celebrate not just San Antonio’s momentous birthday, but also its impressive efforts to ensure the sustainability of the city going forward.
Leading in Texas solar
The Alamo City has taken great strides to incorporate more renewable energy sources into its electricity generation mix, hitting 20 percent of its overall capacity in 2016, four years before the city’s target year. Texas advocates have commended San Antonio’s municipally owned electric and gas utility, CPS Energy, for the way it values the long-term benefits of solar to the community.
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In fact, San Antonio recently jumped to number six on a list of U.S. cities with the most solar, due to a growth in solar capacity of 37 percent in 2017. The city was also one of 18 with a “Solar Star” designation for averaging more than 50 watts of solar per person. In total, there are 1,400 installments throughout the city, including community solar, utility-scale farms, and rooftop panels.
Through its utility, San Antonio is choosing to invest in clean energy over expensive retrofits for dirtier energy sources, which in turn helps reduce power sector pollution and better protects the vibrant community that resides there.
Energy-water nexus
A major part of San Antonio’s culture is the river that runs through downtown. The San Antonio River first brought settlers to the area, and the city was built around it, creating one of the city’s most popular destinations: the River Walk. San Antonians don’t get their water from that river (it comes mainly from the Edwards Aquifer), but in this dry South Texas town, water is central.
San Antonio has long been a leader in water conservation, and in recent years, it’s been leading the pack on the energy-water nexus, where the two sectors intersect. Because the city has local control over both its electricity and water, as well as a water-smart population, it has embodied best practices that can be adopted and applied to other cities’ energy-water challenges. Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) new case study, Capitalizing on energy-water nexus opportunities at the utility level, can help other cities learn from San Antonio’s example.
Specifically, other cities can follow San Antonio Water System’s (SAWS) and CPS Energy’s collaborative efforts, which have included:
engaging in joint rebates,
conducting joint audits of customer’s facilities, and
conducting audits on one another’s systems in order to identify opportunities for enhanced efficiency.
Additionally, designating at least one staff member at each utility as the lead for fostering collaboration opens up more opportunities for energy-water programs. Beyond rebates and communication, SAWS and CPS also acknowledge there are non-monetary costs when customers do not conserve energy and water, including negative effects on the environment and human health. The recognition of these costs has manifested in demand management programs in San Antonio, which reward the partner utility for reducing or shifting its energy demand during peak times, or conserving water during a drought.
San Antonio climate action plan
Following its sustainability plan of 2016 and the City Council’s resolution in support of the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, the city last year announced development of its first climate action and adaptation plan, called San Antonio Climate Ready. CPS Energy and the University of Texas at San Antonio will lead an 18-month multi-stakeholder process to create a comprehensive climate action and adaptation plan for the city. EDF staff will participate in the process officially as technical advisors.
An important aspect of this climate plan is that it seeks the input of stakeholders throughout the city, a majority of which are in generations-deep Hispanic communities. These communities’ input is essential for preserving the city’s unique culture, while ensuring that it remains strong into the future. To that end, the city has created a technical working group on equity to ensure that the input of people most vulnerable to climate change is considered as the plan goes forward.
When the plan is completed, San Antonio could join Austin as the only two Texas cities with designated climate action plans.
San Antonio can serve as an example to how to strive for integrated, inclusive, and innovative approaches to how we mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change, while protecting our resources and preserving our local cultures. We wish San Antonio a very happy 300th birthday and look forward to helping achieve the city’s clean energy and climate ambitions. ¡Feliz cumpleaños San Antonio!
This post originally ran on our Energy Exchange blog.
Photo source: Flickr/Tim Pearce
3 energy-water nexus lessons from the state of Texas
Clean Energy and Job Creation Go Hand-in-Hand in San Antonio
Why Do Latinos Support Action on Climate Change?
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Pantheon in paris
Blue all shadeswhite, with silver trimmings Beads: The students had heavily vandalized the recently refurbished center, the cost of the damages might be near 1 million euros.
The outermost dome is built of stone bound together with iron cramps and covered with lead sheathing, rather than of carpentry construction, as was the common French practice of the period. InMarigny commissioned Jacques-Germain Soufflot to design the church, with construction beginning two years later.
Green and yellow Ritual implement: Brown, with Opal and coral. In his speech, President Jacques Chirac stated that an injustice was being corrected with the proper honouring of one of France's greatest authors. Brass bell; a fan ornamented with peacock feathers Sacrifices: The Pantheon has its own drainage system to deal with the rain that falls through the Oculus.
Founded init houses the main part of Law School. It is believed that this is the orisha that watches over the cadaver when it is laid to rest. Castrated goats, hens, pigeons, and guinea hens Taboos: Kirchliche Baukunst des Abendlandes. However, initiation into his cult is becoming a rare phenomenon.
Past scholars and Olorishas have argued that it originated in Egypt or the desert areas.
Oba has no roads. When she cries, she does so out of joy: For more information and to book a tour during your stay in the Eternal city: Paul's Cathedral in London. No less vast was its crypt. Inthe broad frieze below the dome with its false windows was "restored," but bore little resemblance to the original.
The Government tried unsuccessfully to sue the group for the intervention. Genevieve was finally completed incoinciding with the early stages of the French Revolution. White with silver trimmings Beads: The administration stopped the clock from working by removing one of its parts.
As far back asthis site was chosen by King Clovis - the first Frankish Merovingian King - for a basilica to serve as a tomb for him and his wife Clothilde. Concealed flying buttresses pass the massive weight of the triple construction outwards to the portico columns.
The foundations were laid inbut due to economic problems work proceeded slowly. Mary of the Martyrs but to most people it is simply known as the Pantheon. The cross of the dome, which was retained in compromise, is again visible during the current major restoration project.
It houses the Economics Graduate School.Panthéon: Panthéon, building in Paris that was begun about by the architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot as the Church of Sainte-Geneviève to replace a much older church of that name on the same site. It was secularized during the French Revolution and dedicated to.
The Pantheon boasts 16 massive columns for the inner area of the Portico. There are many famous monuments all over the world modelled on the Pantheon in Rome such as; such as the US Capitol Building, the Pantheon in Paris, Santa Maria del fiore in Florence and the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C.
REDUCED PRICE. Under 26 YO for not a national of a Member State of the European Union. With eight hundred years of excellence to build on, the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, a descendant of the Sorbonne and the Faculty of Law and Economics of Paris, is one of the largest universities in France today.
A neo-Classical church situated in the Latin Quarter and 5th arrondissement of Paris, from here, on the top of Montagne Sainte Geneviève, you'll get a pigeon's eye view over the whole city! In early life, the Panthéon was an abbey, built in commemoration of Saint Genevieve (the patron saint of Paris).5/5().
The Panthéon (Latin: pantheon, from Greek πάνθειον (ἱερόν) '(temple) to all the gods') is a building in the Latin Quarter in Paris, jimmyhogg.com was originally built as a church dedicated to St. Genevieve and to house the reliquary châsse containing her relics but, after many changes, now functions as a secular mausoleum containing the remains of distinguished French citizens.
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THE EDITOR: Do politicians really have the interests of the country at heart? Are politicians…
Corey Connelly
Osaze’s Easter miracle
Boy, 13, gets life-saving heart surgery
Osaze Badal is an altar server at St Francis of Assisi RC Church, Sangre Grande. He underwent life-saving heart surgery on March 28 during Holy Week. PHOTOS COURTESY THE BADALS
In his parents’ eyes, Osaze Badal is an Easter miracle.
On March 28, in the middle of Holy Week, the Sangre Grande teen underwent life-saving heart surgery at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC), Mt Hope some five years after being diagnosed with a serious defect.
And while he is recovering splendidly from the near three-hour-long operation, it would be months before Osaze can participate fully in football, swimming, athletics and dancing– activities he has enjoyed for much of his 13 years.
“I’m good,” he says of his convalescence.
“I’m not in pain anymore. But I have to hold off on sports because the doctor said I would need six weeks to heal and six months before I could become totally active again.”
Osaze told Sunday Newsday he was extremely grateful for the love and support of his parents, Clifton and Camille Jack-Badal, as well as the team of doctors who performed the procedure.
Jack-Badal, a secondary school teacher, said they were relieved and overwhelmed their son has made it through the operation successfully.
“I am still a little bit in shock but I am overwhelmed. I am praising God profusely,” said Jack-Badal, a devout Roman Catholic.
“I am experiencing mixed emotions but I am thankful that this has happened at the time in which it did - Holy Week.”
Praising the work of the team of doctors, Jack-Badal said she and her husband could not have desired better for their son.
She said the horror stories she has sometimes heard about the EWMSC was a far cry from what they experienced.
Despite the high level of competence and professionalism shown in the handling of Osaze’s case, though, Jack-Badal is convinced there is an inherent spiritual dimension to their son being afforded a new life.
She said the manner in which the events leading up to her son’s surgery unfolded has renewed her faith in divine intervention.
Jack-Badal revealed that Osaze, which means “favoured by God” in Hebrew, turned 13 on March 21 and received the phone call for his surgical procedure– an anomalous right coronary artery reimplantation– four days later, on Palm Sunday.
Osaze Badal at his Sangre Grande home. He says he feels good after heart surgery last month.
Coincidentally, Osaze was born on Palm Sunday, March 21, 2005.
Jack-Badal explained the surgery was to rectify Osaze’s right coronary artery which had become intertwined with his aortic valve.
Now, optimistic that the worst is over, Jack-Badal said she and her husband are humbled by the blessings they have received.
They also have vowed to never take for granted the experiences they share with their two young children.
An energetic, fun-loving teen, the Holy Cross College student was diagnosed as having a bicuspid valve when he was just nine years-old.
According to wikipedia, a bicuspid valve is an inherited form of heart disease in which two of the leaflets of the aortic valve fuse during development in the womb resulting in a two-leaflet valve (bicuspid valve) instead of the normal three leaflet (tricuspid).
Jack-Badal said she learnt, then, the condition was not life-threatening.
“People with bicuspid valve live to a ripe old age and it only bothers them when they are in their 70s.”
She said the condition would have simply required that he visit a paediatric cardiologist, annually, for a check-up.
However, Jack-Badal said nine months after discovering the bicuspid valve, her son started experiencing seizure-like attacks.
“He would stiffen up, gasp for breath and hold his chest in pain. Then we would rush him to the hospital.”
Jack-Badal said she and her husband quickly consulted the paediatric cardiologist (the only one in the country), whom she said, suggested the bicuspid valve would not have accounted for the seizures and discomfort he was experiencing.
Nevertheless, the cardiologist opted to run further examinations, which included an echo stress test and neurological test.
“They were all good so she (cardiologist) put it down to mean panic anxiety attacks.”
But Osaze’s medical issues did not end there.
In his second week at Holy Cross College, last September, he passed out and was unconscious for about 45 minutes.
Osaze was taken to the Arima Health Facility before being transferred to the EWMSC.
Jack-Badal said the doctors did not think the bicuspid valve would have accounted for his blackout but chalked it up to him entering puberty “so the hormone imbalance would sometimes cause pre-teens or teenagers to pass out.”
The doctors also advised that they again visit the paediatric cardiologist, whom Osaze had been seeing for the past five years.
Jack-Badal said when she took Osaze to visit the cardiologist, the doctor did not like what she saw and carried out further tests.
Jack-Badal said when the results came back in November, they learnt that their son’s right coronary artery was being compressed.
She said: “When the cardiologist broke it down for me, it was coming off on the wrong side of where it was supposed to come off and was going between the two valves and being restricted somewhat.
“That is what caused the black-out and that is what has been causing all of his problems all along, which she mistakenly took for panic/anxiety attacks.”
Saying the condition was rare, Jack-Badal learnt that puberty also played a role in masking the condition.
She said the cardiologist also told them that surgery was the only option to rectify Osaze’s problem, since it came with no symptoms and could result in death.
Jack-Badal said she and her husband did not waste any time.
They sought advice from a variety of sources, one of whom advised them to seek a second opinion from a visiting cardiologist.
And as fate would have it, the cardiologist, she said, requested copies of Osaze’s medical report to take to the US for further consultation.
During that time, the Badals had accumulated some funding through barbecues and other events to assist with their son’s surgery.
The also consulted with officials at the Children’s Life Fund, whom they said were extremely helpful both in consultancy and in fast-tracking the procedure.
Jack-Badal said her son was scheduled to have done the surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, in June.
“We got through with the funding and we were going there to do it and bam, out of the blue, unexpectedly, coming out of nowhere, Caribbean Heart Care (Medcorp Ltd) called on (Palm) Sunday and they asked us to bring him in.”
The surgery was performed last Wednesday.
Asked what is her advice to parents who are experiencing a similar dilemma with their children, Jack-Badal told Sunday Newsday: “The best advice I can give to them is to pray and trust that God will work it out and he (God) showed me no less than in Holy Week.”
She said Osaze, an altar boy at St Francis of Assisi RC Church, Sangre Grande, was preparing for the Easter Triduum at the time he got the call to prep for surgery.
“He had the surgery done to save his life and glorify God. He (God) had prepared him to enter into this time of pain and suffering with him. That is the significance of what God did at this time.”
Jack-Badal thanked the priests at the church as well as Frs Trevor Nathasingh and Jason Boatswain for their prayers and support.
She said she also was grateful for the support of staff at Franciscan House and members of the Holy Cross College and Arima North Secondary communities.
Jack-Badal said the family has planned a thanksgiving service for Osaze at St Francis of Assisi RC Church on Sunday.
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A Message from the Dean on Inclusive Excellence
Gillings Equal Opportunity Statement
Diversity and Inclusion Planning
Our Journey to Inclusive Excellence
Diversity Outreach, Recruitment and Programs
A Legacy of Diversity and Inclusion
Minority Health Project
Minority Student Caucus
Minority Health Conference
National Health Equity Research Webcast
Student Affairs / 263 Rosenau Hall / (919) 966-2499
Dean's Office / 170 Rosenau Hall / (919) 966-3215
Business and Administration / 170 Rosenau Hall / (919) 966-3215
Academic Affairs / 170 Rosenau Hall / (919) 966-3215
Barbara K. Rimer, DrPH
Welcome! Since the beginning of the UNC School of Public Health (named the Gillings School of Global Public Health in 2008), nearly 80 years ago, our faculty, students and staff have sought to create and enhance a diverse and inclusive environment, even as we contributed to the social and physical conditions to support health for all. Diversity and inclusion are central to our mission to improve public health promote individual well-being and eliminate health inequities across North Carolina and around the world. In 2011, our school’s leaders created a statement about our commitment to diversity and inclusion. Read it here. In this section, I provide a detailed description about some of our history and activities that show our commitment to increasing diversity, inclusive excellence and reducing inequities. Here’s a very short version.
Short take. Our faculty, staff and students have been committed to increasing diversity and reducing health inequities from the earliest days of the School. There should be no question about it: we are committed to reducing health and other inequities and increasing diversity and inclusive excellence. We do not tolerate discrimination, bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct. In my blog, Monday Morning, I write frequently about these issues, including a post on the toppling of Silent Sam, the confederate monument on UNC’s campus, in August 2018.
The first cohort of health education students at North Carolina Negroes College. Faculty from UNC’s School of Public Health worked with leaders of the historically black college to create the program.
We’ve been working to advance health equity and reduce disparities for nearly as long as the School has existed. In 1945, a joint public health training program was established with North Carolina Central University (then the North Carolina Negroes College). Close partnerships with NCCU continue to this day. At a time when the South was segregated, people in this school were not intimidated by prevailing customs. That spirit is part of our school’s DNA. In the 1960s and 1970s, our faculty were among the most ardent supporters of desegregating what was still a segregated North Carolina.
In 1965, John Hatch, DrPH, who became a Kenan Professor of Health Behavior, was one of the courageous leaders who started the first rural community health center in the U.S. – in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, with Jack Geiger, MD, while Hatch was an assistant professor at the Tufts University Medical Center. It became a model for others across the country. Hear the story in their words. Watch a video about the Delta Health Center.
SPH2020, a renewed commitment to diversity and inclusion. In 2010, our School’s leadership engaged in a strategic planning process, SPH2020, in which we asked faculty, staff, students and alumni to weigh in about their vision for the Gillings School in 2020. Hundreds shared their thoughts, and a Diversity and Inclusion Task Force was formed, creating a report that would serve as our roadmap going forward.
We’re still leaders. For example:
O.J. McGhee, MA, Instructional Media Services manager, has served as chair of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Carolina Black Caucus from 2015 to 2018.
Our National Health Equity Research Webcast each fall highlights some of the nation’s most pressing issues in diversity, inclusion and health equity and emphasizes justice- and community-led approaches to fostering health equity research.
Dirk Davis, MPH, PhD candidate, Health Behavior, and May Chen, MPH, PhD candidate, Health Behavior, created the LGBTQ Health Disparities Research Collaborative in 2017 as a place where students and faculty can discuss critical issues surrounding LGBTQ health.
Peggye Dilworth Anderson, PhD, professor of Health Policy and Management, was honored in May 2018 with the University Diversity Award.
In spring 2018, I was appointed to the North Carolina Governor’s newly formed Commission on Inclusion, which advises and identifies policies and measures for the state to promote inclusion and address discrimination, harassment and retaliation based on prohibited grounds.
In February 2019, we celebrate the 40th year of the Minority Health Conference, the largest and longest running student-led health conference in U.S.
Where we are today. Over the past couple years, we have come together as a community to reflect at various times on current events that have shaken members of our community. We’ve supported students leading Black Lives Matter, taken new steps to increase the diversity of our faculty, staff and students, revised our leadership statement about diversity and inclusion, and hosted major events as part of the yearly Minority Health Conference and National Health Equity Research Webcast. We are proud that the Minority Health Conference is the largest and longest-running student-led health conference in the U.S. In 2019, we celebrate 40 years!
Kauline Cipriani, PhD
Becoming more diverse and inclusive. Like most universities and schools, we are not where we’d like to be, and we continue to work even harder to get there. We are not standing still. In the past year, I have written blog posts and spoken out on issues such as zero tolerance for discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying. To repeat, we do not tolerate these behaviors, and they violate UNC policies.
Our campus was roiled by the presence of confederate statue, Silent Sam, and saw its toppling in August 2018. I also have written about that. Just to be clear: I do not believe that confederate statues belong on public university campuses.
I’m delighted that, in February 2018, Kauline Cipriani, PhD, joined the Gillings School as assistant dean for inclusive excellence. Dr. Cipriani is collaborating with people across the School and University to help us become more diverse and inclusive. She is working with our faculty, staff and students and with others across campus, including Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Diversity Officer, G. Rumay Alexander, EdD, RN, FAAN.
Our Office of Student Affairs team is committed to inclusive excellence. Stop by their office Monday through Friday. Trinnette Cooper, MPH, coordinator for Diversity Programs and Recruitment, who works in our Office of Student Affairs, is another excellent resource and holds weekly hours for students.
Trinnette Cooper, MPH
We take seriously our accountability for increasing inclusive excellence and track metrics for faculty, staff and students. We’re also being systematic about ensuring that all MPH students meet critical competencies in this domain.
In Fall 2018, we launched a new MPH concentration on Health Equity, Social Justice and Human Rights, and our Global Health concentration will have a strong emphasis on global health equity.
This is an amazing, welcoming, inclusive and civil community. We welcome people of all backgrounds, skills, preferences and interests to be part of the Gillings School community.
–Barbara K. Rimer, DrPH, Dean and Alumni Distinguished Professor


CBS C.E.O. Les Moonves to Be Investigated Over Sexual Misconduct Allegations
Shari Redstone
“The Nuclear Option”: With CBS Going to Court, Shari Redstone’s “Kabuki Theater” Falls Apart
William D. Cohan
After Les Moonves’s Downfall, CBS Investors Fear the Reign of Shari
If Moonves goes, as seems likely, it will be just a matter of time before Shari tries to merge CBS and Viacom for a third time. And that’s what CBS investors fear most.
Les Moonves in New York City.By Krista Schlueter/The New York Times/Redux.
Hours before Ronan Farrow published his bombshell about Leslie Moonves in the The New Yorker, the stock market had already reached a verdict about the fate of the longtime CBS chairman and C.E.O. After The Hollywood Reporter released a story on Friday afternoon foreshadowing the piece, CBS’s stock fell as much as 7 percent, costing shareholders around $1.4 billion in value. The stock recovered a bit on Friday before falling another 4 percent or so on Monday morning. As one longtime CBS loyalist told me, the market was rapidly calculating Moonves’s value to the company in real time, presupposing the conclusion of his titanic 12-year run.
I respectfully disagree with this proposition. As Charles de Gaulle observed correctly, “The cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men.” Yes, the absence of Moonves may be a factor in some investors’ minds for the rout. But the bigger concern, as it has been for two years, is that Moonves was the final defense against Shari Redstone’s irrepressible plan to recombine CBS and Viacom, against the stated wishes of her nonagenarian father. Only six years after Viacom bought CBS for around $35 billion, in 2000, Sumner Redstone realized that the long hoped-for synergies between the two companies—broadcast television and a once powerful cable network—had failed to materialize and that both companies would be better off on their own. But Shari has been trying to engineer a merger ever since she assumed Sumner’s position as the controlling shareholder in both companies in 2015. Without Moonves as her counterweight, Shari will much more easily be able to swat away the CBS directors who have been steadfastly loyal to Moonves and, as a result, have long opposed the re-unification with Viacom. In other words, investors aren’t calculating Moonves’s value; they are figuring out the burdens of life under Shari and a recombined CBS and Viacom.
CBS shareholders have had a great ride under Moonves. The company’s stock has as much as tripled since he took the helm of the independent public company in 2006. The fate of Viacom, meanwhile, has been much different: its stock has tread water since it returned to independence, down around 30 percent. Viewership at its cable channels, such as Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, has been falling steadily for years. There has also been considerable management turmoil at Viacom, with the exits of longtime executives Philippe Dauman, Tom Dooley, and Carl Folta, among others. The company is in the hands of Shari’s handpicked C.E.O. Bob Bakish. Now, things may get a little hairy. Shari has tried twice in the past few years to force a re-merger between CBS and Viacom and both times her efforts have failed, in large part because the CBS shareholders voted with their feet, so to speak, by selling their stock in the face of the proposed merger. A year ago, after Shari’s second effort to merge the companies began in earnest, CBS stock was trading at around $70 per share. As Shari kept pushing for the merger, the CBS stock fell into the high $40s. It had returned to nearly $60 a share by mid-July after it was clear to the market—thanks to dueling lawsuits in the Delaware Chancery between CBS and the Redstone’s holding company—that there would be no merger this time either.
On Monday, the CBS board of directors decided to keep Moonves in place, for now, as it selects an outside law firm to conduct an independent investigation into his alleged behavior. But if Moonves ultimately goes, as seems likely, it will presumably be just a matter of time before Shari tries to merge CBS and Viacom once more. And that’s what CBS investors fear most. True, Shari would have some purging to do at CBS before she gets her way. She would have to make it clear to Joe Ianniello, Moonves’s likely successor, that there is a new sheriff in town. That shouldn’t be hard to do, especially if Shari makes clear that, if he doesn’t play ball with her, Bakish will be his successor once the two companies are merged. (That may happen anyway.) She will also likely want to continue her ongoing efforts to stack the 14-member CBS board with her loyalists. In addition to her own vote, she has others locked up: Rob Klieger, one of her family’s attorneys, and David Andelman, a Boston attorney who has long been loyal to Sumner. She is in the process of trying to remove Chad Gifford, a respected Wall Street banker, whom she has accused of bullying “intimidating and bullying” behavior. He has long opposed her initiatives to merge Viacom and CBS. If her court filings are any indication, she doesn’t like him. And she is determined to get him off the CBS board, and will probably succeed in doing so. Shari will soon have another ally on the CBS board—Dick Parsons, the former C.E.O. of AOL Time Warner—when the CBS annual meeting is reconvened, after a litigation-related postponement, in August, and another opponent, Arnold Kopelson, presumably leaves the board.
Shari also must resolve the pending litigation between CBS and her holding company. A trial is scheduled for October before Judge Andre Bouchard, where CBS will try to win his approval to issue enough new stock dividends to dilute Shari’s near-80 percent voting stake in CBS down to a still formidable 17 percent. The Redstones, understandably, are trying to block that maneuver. While both sides have the best Wall Street attorneys money can buy, and are certain of the correctness of their legal arguments, the market has long decided that the fight is really one between Moonves and Shari, who, although once allies in their dislike of Dauman, now detest each other. With Moonves gone, there will be less impetus for the blood feud to continue. Look for Ianniello and the CBS board to find a way to settle with Shari, with her getting the better part of that outcome.
With a CBS-Viacom merger back on track, Shari will be in a position to achieve her ultimate goal: to find a tax-efficient way to sell the merged companies to another large corporate entity in the vein of the recently completed AT&T-Time Warner merger. Perhaps the likes of Verizon, or Amazon, or Apple, or maybe even a deflated Facebook might be interested. But perhaps not. It’s quite possible that Viacom will drag CBS down to its level and the combined business will flounder, and find no corporate takers in the market. Rather than wait around and see whether that happens or not, the smart money at CBS is heading for the exits.
That Shari now has the best chance to not only be her father’s successor but to openly defy his wishes—while he is still alive, no less—is the ultimate irony, as she herself must realize. You can take your pick of the e-mails she has sent her children over the years. In a September 2014 e-mail to her son Tyler, Shari wrote about why she rejected her father’s $1 billion offer to buy her out of the family’s holding company: “Why would I ever give [Sumner] his dying wish of peace when he never gave me any peace during my whole life.” In October 2014, she wrote her daughter, after she had called her grandfather, “I can’t believe you keep calling him when he could not make it any clearer that all of us could drop dead and it would be the happiest day of his life.” That same day, to all of her children, Shari wrote, “It could be [sic] not be more clear that the only people in the entire world who your grandfather doesn’t care about, and [in] fact is willing to hurt, damage, and destroy are the four of us.” Sumner himself appears to have perceived the morbid endgame. In July 2015, after Shari saw her father in Los Angeles, she again wrote Tyler, “your grandfather says I will be chair over his dead body.”


Adventure into the Past — How to Use GhostTowns.com & Credit Card Rewards to Explore Forgotten Towns
In a Nutshell: What good is a vacation if it doesn’t stoke your sense of adventure, inspire your creativity, and leave you with more memories than debt? Most popular destinations are fun once or twice, but the drag of standing in line, sitting in traffic, or laying down excessive amounts of money gets old. For more than two decades, Todd Underwood has guided visitors to memorable trips to some of America’s most remote areas through his website, GhostTowns.com. These towns can include remote locations or flourishing tourist towns. Nearly every state has a ghost town or two to visit, but most ghost towns reside in the southwest region of the US, where settlers moved more than a century ago to seek their riches while mining for precious metals.
Everyone loves a good vacation. If you’re taking the time to read this, chances are you’re sitting at your desk right now, dreaming about your next getaway from the real world.
I’ve been there. But don’t worry, I won’t tell your boss.
Veteran travelers realize the point of a vacation is to escape from the everyday grind of life. So what is the use of visiting the same big-city destinations that have you fighting traffic, waiting in line, and needing a vacation just to decompress after your vacation?
Instead of going to the same places everyone else in your office is going to, why not use those credit card travel rewards you’ve built up to visit a place where the number of stories its buildings tell is greater than its population?
Todd Underwood of GhostTowns.com has spent the better part of the last 30 years mastering these types of trips so he could make them a reality for adventure seekers around the world. The site is an information resource on ghost towns in the American West, complete with interactive maps and photos. And Underwood and his team offer guided tours to many of the historic ghost towns and mining camps of Arizona.
Underwood classifies a ghost town as any place that is a shadow of its past glory and where people once lived, or are still living. This can include remote locations with very little physical structure remaining (referred to by enthusiasts as True Ghosts), or they can be flourishing tourist towns such as Jerome, Arizona, or Calico, California.
These sites can sometimes be relatively intact from their heyday a century ago. From silver mining towns to rural villages, Underwood has visited and explored areas most people think only exist on movie sets. In each area, he maintains the biggest rule among ghost towners — take nothing with you and leaving nothing behind but footprints.
Underwood, a chemistry professor turned pilot, moved to Arizona as a youngster in the 1970s and quickly adopted his father’s love for the Old West.
“We used to get our hair cut at a barbershop called Don’s that also sold metal detectors and made regular excursions to ghost towns,” Underwood said. “It wasn’t long before we bought a pair of detectors and a four-wheel drive vehicle and started trying to find ghost towns.”
Those early trips became a passion for Underwood, who has since visited over 1,000 ghost towns. Today, he hosts tours in Arizona for adventure seekers who want to experience a piece of history without waiting in line or fighting for space to take a picture.
But ghost towns aren’t unique to Arizona and other areas synonymous with the Wild West. Thousands of ghost towns are scattered throughout the country. Some are accessible at any time of year via paved road, and others require more planning, equipment, and expertise to explore.
A Four-Wheel Drive into Areas Otherwise Inaccessible
A trip to a True Ghost is nothing like your average vacation at a theme park. The rocky four-wheel drive off the beaten path of civilization sends dust flying and wind whistling through caves and cliffs uninhabited for decades or longer.
While many experienced explorers need multiple trips through abandoned mines or across rugged terrain to find certain sites, a thriving community of enthusiasts share their experiences and findings to make it easier for newcomers to find what they’re looking for.
Todd Underwood guides adventure-seeking travelers into ghost towns in Arizona.
Some more advanced thrill-seekers use modern technology such as drones to cover more ground and explore areas previously thought to be inaccessible.
“Our website provides two-wheel drive (2WD) or four-wheel drive (4WD) vehicles for each town,” Underwood said. “Generally for 2WD locations, you can take a car or light truck, but 4WD can get you almost anywhere. You may need an outfitted jeep, an ATV, a good pair of hiking shoes, a mountain bike, or more.”
Underwood’s website hosts a gallery of dozens of photos submitted by travelers who visited various ghost towns in the past. Each photograph is a glimpse into a life once lived by settlers who sought new territories to find their fortune.
Despite the fascinating remains from these civilizations, Underwood said the most thrilling part of the adventure takes place before you step foot in any ghost town.
“The best part of visiting a ghost town is the adventure getting there,” he said. “Some sites are inaccessible most of the year whereas some are accessible all year. Some are located on paved highways so there’s not much in the way of a challenge to find them and get to them. Others are very remote and require not only a great off-road vehicle or good hiking skills, but also require the ability to use GPS and other sources to locate the sites.”
“Feel the Spirit of Those Who Were There”
Traveling to a ghost town can require something as quick as a drive down the highway or as long as an all-day hike. As with most things in life, not all ghost towns are created equal.
Some ghost towns contain still intact remnants of their history.
“Visiting Jerome, Arizona, is a simple trip up a paved road that takes an hour or two,” Underwood said. “But getting to most true ghost towns requires a full day of travel. Some ghost towns are remote, but easily accessible, especially in the summer. These would require about a half-day of travel from the nearest town.”
Underwood said some of his favorite ghost towns to visit are Old Hundred, Animas Forks, and Holy Cross in Colorado, and Jerome, Ruby, and Gillette in Arizona.
Old Hundred, he pointed out, requires a treacherous hike on a cliff to get to, but the payoff is the pleasure of taking in the amazing views from the side of a mountain.
“Each town is unique and offers different challenges and rewards,” he said.
Ghost Towns are a Reflection of Our Past
Ghost Towns offer something different for every adventurous traveler and provide an experience no typical tourist attraction can create.
“Ghost towns are a reflection of our past,” Underwood said. “It’s like looking at ourselves through a time machine and seeing the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the human spirit. When you are standing at a ghost town site, you can feel the spirit of those who were there.”
Those sights and sounds are a far cry from the bright lights and big cities most people think about when they consider vacation destinations. Instead, ghost towns give travelers an opportunity to unplug from the busy everyday world and reconnect with a simpler time.
“You can hear the horses trotting and the stagecoach wheels coming through,” Underwood said. “You can hear the pounding of the mills and the piano player coming from the saloon. You can get a glimpse of what life was like for our ancestors and pioneers. Of course, some visit just for the challenge of getting there — to test their skills of finding these lost locations.”
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End Child Hunger in Alabama's five-year review reveals progress toward total food security
By Charlotte Bedsole | 5/11/19 2:17pm
AUBURN, Ala. - As the first outreach initiative of the Hunger Solutions Institute at Auburn University, End Child Hunger in Alabama has reduced the number of children in Alabama suffering from food insecurity in only five years.
One in four children and youth in Alabama suffer from food insecurity. Because Auburn University is a land-grant institution, it was important to focus on the statewide issue of child hunger.
The rate of child hunger in Alabama decreased almost four percent in the last five years, according to Alabama Possible, a statewide nonprofit organization.
End Child Hunger in Alabama’s mission has been to identify, address and implement solutions related to child hunger issues in the state. Since Gov. Kay Ivey launched it in 2013, the initiative has compiled a report, which gives details about their impact through collaboration and intense efforts over the last five years.
“I have had the privilege of being involved with the End Child Hunger in Alabama campaign since its kickoff. The work being done is making huge strides in putting an end to child hunger,” Ivey said. “These are not hungry children in foreign countries, these are hungry children right here in Alabama, in our communities, urban and rural. I applaud everyone involved but especially the Hunger Solutions Institute at Auburn University for working to end child hunger in Alabama and for being a shining example to others across the country."
End Child Hunger in Alabama, or ECHA, is a task force made up of leaders from state government and nonprofit organizations, as well as the education and corporate sectors. Their goals include improving Alabama's food assistance safety net for youth, creating a strong regional food system, generating public will to fight childhood hunger, increasing economic stability, supporting community action to benefit children's health, and preventing obesity.
ECHA's efforts to achieve each of their goals resulted in positive impacts and an increased number of outreach initiatives fighting childhood hunger. The ECHA Five-Year Review gives detailed descriptions of the program's successes, such as efforts to end the summer nutrition gap.
Alabama's summer food service program, Break for a Plate, served a record 3 million meals in 2018. The program has nearly doubled in the last five years as a result of ECHA's actions. Because of this success, the United States Department of Agriculture now uses Break for a Plate as a national example of the best ways to expand food service programs in summer.
“In this five-year review, we are pleased to report that our collective action has shown positive impact in all of our five goal areas,” said Auburn University Hunger Solutions Institute Managing Director Harriet Giles. “Most importantly, we are so heartened to see significantly greater numbers of children having access to and participating in summer feeding, after school and alternative school breakfast programs. However, we readily acknowledge our work will never be complete as long as one child in Alabama goes hungry.”
ECHA will continue to expand their outreach efforts across the state over the next five years, using their goals prioritize action.
To learn more about ECHA and view the full five-year review, visit www.endchildhungeral.org.


Home › Industry Updates › Mortgage Industry › Detroit leads nation in reverse mortgage foreclosures
Detroit leads nation in reverse mortgage foreclosures
Posted on June 17, 2019 by Posted in Mortgage Industry
Michele McCoy always thought she and her siblings would inherit the house she grew up in on Decatur Street on Detroit’s west side.
Her father, a Detroit Police officer, and her mother, a schoolteacher, bought the three-bedroom bungalow in the late 1960s after moving here from Wheeling, West Virginia.
“It would be part of our family legacy because that was the first property my family bought when they moved to Michigan,” McCoy, 55, said.
Michele McCoy of Champaign, Illinois speaks about how her parents, now in their 90s, lost their Detroit home after taking out a reverse mortgage. (Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press)
But that changed after a visit nearly 20 years ago from a door-to-door representative of a reverse mortgage lender.
The house on Decatur now is one of 1,884 reverse mortgage foreclosures in Detroit between 2013 and 2017. No other city in the country has seen more in that span, according to a USA Today analysis of 1.3 million loan records and hundreds of foreclosure cases. The Free Press and USA Today reporters reviewed data and conducted interviews in recent weeks to try and understand why Detroit and other urban communities have borne the brunt of the reverse mortgage foreclosure trend.
Reverse mortgages work like this: Lenders appraise the value of a house and allow homeowners to borrow back money against that market value.
Borrowers can stop making monthly mortgage payments, and they can stay put for life, so long as they maintain the home and pay property taxes and insurance. For years, reverse mortgages required no credit check and government-mandated financial counseling can be as easy as a 20-minute phone call.
Michele McCoy grew up in this house on Decatur St. on the west side of Detroit. (Photo: Joe Guillen, Detroit Free Press)
At the end — a move-out, death or default — the bank calls the loan due, to be paid back either by the sale of the home or an heir or homeowner repaying the loan money. Lenders and their investors make their money through origination fees that can top $15,000 with fees and mortgage insurance, and by charging interest on the loan balance.
Reverse mortgage lenders targeted Detroit and other large urban areas over the last couple decades, sometimes with misleading sales tactics.
Nearly 100,000 of the loans designed for seniors to generate some cash have now failed nationwide, leaving those elderly borrowers to navigate the often-unforgiving foreclosure process
McCoy’s parents, William and Virginia Creighton, took out an $84,000 reverse mortgage in 2000 on the home for repairs. The house needed a roof, pipe work in the basement and a furnace, McCoy said.
The Creightons fell behind on their property taxes and lost the house to foreclosure in 2016. Fannie Mae sold the property the next year to Paramount Consortium, a Warren-based company, for $4,500 — an amount so paltry that McCoy said she wouldn’t share with her parents.
They are now both in their 90s and live in an apartment in Westland. Looking back, McCoy said she doesn’t think her father fully understood the reverse mortgage.
“He was just confused,” she said.
Detroit edged out Chicago — with a population quadruple Detroit’s — to lead the nation in reverse mortgage foreclosures from 2013 to 2017.
What’s more, Detroit has three of the top 10 ZIP codes in the United States for reverse mortgage foreclosure in the last five years. Those ZIP codes are 48221, which includes the University District, and two others nearby, 48235 and 48227.
Detroit was ripe for reverse mortgage lenders in the past couple decades because of its high senior population and the high number of homeowners with equity built into their homes. Even if the city’s homes were declining in value, Detroit was attractive for lenders who could rake in closing costs and other fees.
For low-income seniors who needed help with living expenses or home repairs, a reverse mortgage seemed like an attractive option to secure a new cash flow. Borrowers must be at least 62 years old to qualify for a reverse mortgage.
“You have a large population of homeowners with equity built into their homes,” said Joshua Akers, an assistant professor of geography and urban regional studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. “You have a large senior population that is also looking for additional income.”
Seniors who take out a reverse mortgage are still responsible for their property taxes and home insurance, and a missed payment can trigger a foreclosure. Loans also come due for surviving family members after the death of the borrower. If the family does not cover the loan balance, the lender can foreclose on the property.
The effects of reverse mortgage foreclosures are particularly devastating for seniors. Many are out of the job market, making it more difficult to rebound from losing their home.
“For many Americans, the home is their greatest asset. They’re putting it on the line,” Akers said. “For a lot of these seniors, losing their home is the last thing they had.”
Detroit’s place at the top is emblematic of a national pattern.
Reverse mortgages end in foreclosure six times more often in predominantly black neighborhoods than in neighborhoods that are 80% white.
Even comparing only poorer areas, black neighborhoods fare worse. In ZIP codes where most residents make less than $40,000, the analysis found reverse mortgage foreclosure rates were six times higher in black neighborhoods than in white ones.
Chicago was second in USA Today’s analysis of reverse mortgage foreclosures with 1,846 from 2013 to 2017. Baltimore had 1,516; Miami 1,329; and Philadelphia had 1,027 to round out the nation’s top five.
One Reverse Mortgage, part of the Detroit-based Quicken Loans family of companies, is an industry leader. It made $788 million worth of government-backed reverse mortgages in 2018, the second-highest behind American Advisors Group, which issued $2.7 billion in loans, according to Inside Mortgage Finance, a company that tracks mortgage statistics.
Gregg Smith, CEO of One Reverse Mortgage, said home equity should be factored into seniors’ financial plans. “It empowers the senior to utilize the equity in their home in a way they deem to fit their needs,” he said.
Most of One Reverse Mortgage’s loans, by volume, are in California, Florida and Texas — places with high populations and home values, Smith said. The company was not very active in Detroit from 2001 to 2009. It only originated 17 loans in that time, according to USA Today’s data.
Before finalizing a loan with One Reverse Mortgage, seniors undergo a financial assessment and counseling session where obligations like property taxes and home insurance are explained, Smith said, adding that his company has been up front and clear with borrowers throughout its existence, which dates to 2001.
“From our perspective, I think we do an amazing job with every client and putting them in a position to succeed,” he said.
Mary Jo Homrich, 80, said the reverse mortgage she took out from AAG four years ago on her home in Portage has worked out well.
“I have money I can draw from it if I needed,” Homrich said. “I’m glad that money’s available because I’ve had to have a couple things done to the house.”
Her home was worth about $120,000 and she used the reverse mortgage to pay off a $40,000 debt and obtain a $20,000 line of credit that can be used when she needs it. Homrich, a retired bookkeeper, said she has talked with her children about the loan and makes sure to stay up to date on her property taxes and insurance.
“I’m hoping I can stay here for another 10, 15 years. I plan on staying around,” she said. “It was a good deal for me.”
But in Detroit, housing advocates and legal aid lawyers have seen families suffer as a result of reverse mortgages.
In the mid-2000s, risks of foreclosure often were not clear. Some advertisements for reverse mortgages even claimed that borrowers would not have to make any payments, said Joe McGuire, a staff attorney in Detroit for Michigan Legal Services.
“There was an era, especially during the mortgage boom, where there was pretty unscrupulous pushing of these,” McGuire said.
McGuire said he mainly sees two types of eviction cases stemming from reverse mortgages.
The first type of case involves a borrower who is alive but fell behind on property tax or insurance payments. Those payments previously may have been escrowed into the original mortgage bill. “It’s a big change for a lot of people to go from that to having to pay the property taxes and the insurance themselves,” he said.
The second common instance involves children who lived in the home of a deceased borrower. The house is foreclosed on to satisfy the loan, leaving the senior’s child to go from thinking they were going to inherit the house to getting evicted.
“It’s very disruptive to people,” McGuire said. “With working-class people of color, most of the generational wealth is in the home and that home being passed on.”
Typically, there is an opportunity for families to redeem homes lost to reverse mortgage foreclosure at a sheriff’s sale. The price is based on an appraisal by the federal government and may be less than the loan balance, said Kim Stroud, director of mortgage foreclosure prevention and land contract support for the United Community Housing Coalition in Detroit.
Stroud said UCHC has small loan program that can help with those redemption costs.
Seniors considering a reverse mortgage should make sure to get counseling from an agency certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said Dannielle Laura, interim director of economic opportunity services for the Wayne Metro Community Action Agency.
“It’s easy to think (a reverse mortgage) can be the answer to your prayers,” Laura said. “My advice would be that a little healthy skepticism never hurt anyone.”
Source: Detroit leads nation in reverse mortgage foreclosures
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