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Mid-Am Named Fast Growing Show

September 16, 2005 - 09:27

The Mid-American Horticultural Trade Show (Mid-Am) was named one of the fastest growing shows in 2005 by Tradeshow Week , which lists 50 of the fastest growing shows in the United States and Canada. The Mid-Am Trade Show will be honored at the Third Annual Tradeshow Week Fastest 50 Event in Las Vegas, Oct. 28-30, 2005.

The Mid-Am won the same award in 2004. The winners are selected based on 50 percent total net square footage growth and 50 percent of net growth between 2002 and 2004.

“Mid-Am is very excited about making the Fastest 50 list,” said Rans Baldwin, CAE, managing director for Mid-Am. “This award is a testament to our loyal exhibitors, many of whom have expanded their presence at Mid-Am when we moved to a larger facility. We’d especially like to thank the thousands of buyers who attend Mid-Am every year. Their support has made Mid-Am a true success story.”

The Mid-Am Trade Show has been steadily growing for 33 years, attracting growers, landscape service providers, retailers and suppliers every year. Since its inception in Illinois in 1973, the show has moved to five locations through the years. In 2004 the show moved to Chicago’s Lakeside Center at McCormick Place, enabling the show to grow by more than 65 percent, Mid-Am stated.

Mid-Am will feature a new look for the 2006 trade show scheduled for Jan. 18-20, 2006, at Chicago’s Lakeside Center at McCormick Place. The show’s theme “Breaking New Ground” will be evident throughout the show, which will include scenic garden lounges highlighting the latest plant and garden ideas on display. There will also be daily product demonstrations and more. For more information about the show visit http://www.midam.org

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Left to right: Berenice Sánchez, Godwin Ojo, Nnimmo Bassey, Joseph K. Towett, Tom Goldtooth and Marlon Santi.  (Photo: Stephen Leahy/IPS) By Stephen Leahy *

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 12, 2011 (Tierramérica) - A new coalition of indigenous peoples and local communities called for a moratorium on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) programs, a key part of the negotiations for a new international climate treaty that took place over the last two weeks in South Africa.

The new Global Alliance of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities against REDD and for Life issued a statement stating that based on "in-depth investigations, a growing number of recent reports provide evidence that indigenous peoples are being subjected to violations of their rights as a result of the implementation of REDD+-type programs and policies."

"Indigenous peoples and local forest communities will not place our lives and lands in the hands of corporate polluters," said Tom Goldtooth, executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, based in the United States.

Berenice Sánchez of the MesoAmerican Indigenous Women’s BioDiversity Network in Mexico added: "We demand an immediate halt to all REDD and REDD+ programs in the world. It is a new form of colonialism."

 Deforestation currently contributes 15 to 20 percent of global emissions of the "greenhouse gases" that cause climate change, such as carbon dioxide (CO2).

(Also, check out this passionate speech to the COP-17 delegates from Anjali Appadurai, a student at the College of the Atlantic in Maine, who addressed the conference on behalf of youth delegates. Just after her speech, she led a mic check from the stage — a move inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protests.)

According to the United Nations, REDD is an effort to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development. REDD+ goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation, and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

"This is not a solution to climate change," Sánchez told Tierramérica. "The same extractive industries are involved and it allows them to continue raping Mother Earth."

Sánchez, Goldtooth and many other indigenous and other members of civil society spent the previous two weeks participating in the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 17), which began in the eastern South African city of Durban on Nov. 28.

But as civil society representatives, they are only observers; it is the 193 countries here that negotiate all agreements.

The organisers of COP 17 decided to extend the talks for an additional two days, until Dec. 11, in a desperate attempt to make as much progress as possible towards a global agreement to combat climate change.

REDD is being promoted as a financial tool that could mobilise 10 to 30 billion dollars annually to protect forests from deforestation, and would be included in the elusive international agreement that will replace or extend the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period ends in 2012.

The UN-REDD Programme, created to assist developing countries prepare and implement national REDD+ strategies, has approved a total of 59.3 million dollars for national programs in 14 partner countries.

Under the proposed REDD programs, countries and industries looking to reduce their carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels - the main cause of climate change - would pay to protect forests in tropical regions.

Trees take carbon out of the atmosphere and sequester or trap it for as long as the trees live. Under REDD, forest owners and communities offer carbon credits on an open market, and a steel, cement or coal-fired power company in the North could purchase those credits instead of reducing its carbon emissions.

Virtually all countries attending COP 17 want an international agreement on REDD to kick-start a flow of private and public capital they believe will protect forests and biodiversity, reduce carbon emissions and bring money and jobs to local people.

Seven Central African countries, seven donor partner countries and the European Commission issued a Joint Declaration of Intent in Durban to underscore the urgency of accelerating the implementation of REDD+ in the Congo Basin, the second largest tropical rainforest in the world.

Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and Rwanda pledged their commitment to scaling up REDD+ implementation, with financial support from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Henri Djombo, minister of Sustainable Development, Forest Economics and Environment of the Republic of Congo, expressed the hope that "important financial resources" would be made available in early 2012.

And the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced on Dec. 8 that Guatemala has taken an important step by recognising "wider land rights for indigenous peoples and local communities."

"Originally, forest incentives only recognised officially registered properties, even though most community and indigenous peoples hold their land under traditional, customary land tenure arrangements," said Josué Morales, director of the National Forest Institute of Guatemala.

The newly proposed mechanism "now clarifies and recognises landholders through all types of law: historical documents, supplementary titles, property, land tenures and indigenous territories. This is very significant for REDD+, which in many countries is challenged because indigenous peoples and forest-dependent communities face insecure land and tenure rights," added Morales.

But according to Heriberta Hidalgo, an indigenous representative from northern Chile, "It is an attractive fantasy that REDD will help indigenous people secure land tenure."

"REDD will promote plantations, we will lose our access to forests and their foods and medicines, and then we will lose our traditional knowledge," she said.

Land ownership is one factor that makes REDD extremely complex.

In addition, it is difficult to measure carbon in forests and determine whether emissions reductions are "real and verifiable." There is also a widely recognised need to include "safeguards", or legal requirements that will ensure local people, forests and biodiversity are protected.

"Without good safeguards, private investors won't invest. Without real, measurable and sustained emission reductions, investors won't invest," Peg Putt of the non-governmental Ecosystems Climate Alliance told Tierramérica.

Putt's organisation favors REDD+ but wants REDD+ done right, which means very strong safeguards. But countries like Brazil, Indonesia and others have argued against strong safeguards as impractical and expensive.

In preliminary REDD projects in Mexico, the safeguards are not being followed. Indigenous peoples are supposed to be informed and give their consent, but that is not happening, says Sánchez. "Some people and communities have been told they would get a lot money and went out and got loans. Now they are indebted - and what can they do but sell their land," she said. "REDD is a mask for giant land grabs."

"We aren't duped by this," said Marlon Santi, former president of the powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE). "Indigenous peoples have 40 years of experience with big corporations like Texaco, Shell and Rio Tinto, who promised a good life for us and destroyed our lands and communities," Santi told Tierramérica.

But not all indigenous and community groups agree with the REDD moratorium. Some groups, like the Coordinator of Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon River Basin (COICA), still want to explore if there is a way to safeguard REDD and get the revenue, Goldtooth said.

"Some others are already participating. But the moratorium was a consensus decision amongst those of us who are here," he added.

Rich countries are pushing hard for REDD in Durban, but there is no carbon market for forests, said Kate Dooley of FERN, an NGO with offices in Belgium and the United Kingdom.

In fact, the entire carbon market is falling apart, Dooley said. "Carbon prices have collapsed in Europe. Banks have shut down their carbon credit desks."

The European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) represents 97 percent of the global carbon market, and cannot trade in forest carbon until 2020 by law, she told Tierramérica.

For his part, Wally Menne of Timberwatch South Africa remarked that the UN climate talks "continue to churn out proposals for all kinds of cockeyed schemes that carefully circumvent actually reducing the emission of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel-powered industrial activities."

*The writer is an IPS correspondent. This story was originally published by Latin American newspapers that are part of the Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a specialised news service produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment Programme and the World Bank. (END)

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ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force had great expectations for the Expeditionary Combat Support System when it launched the project in 2005. This accountants' silver bullet, the Air Force predicted a year later, "will fundamentally revolutionize the way the Air Force provides logistics support."

The new computer-based logistics technology would replace 420 obsolete, inefficient and largely incompatible "legacy" systems with a single, unified means of tracking the hardware of warfare. And it would be done for a mere $1.5 billion, combining three off-the-shelf products from Oracle Corp and modifying them only enough so that they could work together.

Seven years and $1.03 billion taxpayer dollars later, the Air Force announced in November 2012 that it was killing the project. ECSS had yielded "negligible" value and was "no longer a viable option," the Air Force said. It would have taken an estimated $1.1 billion more to turn it into a system that could perform about one-quarter of its originally planned tasks, and couldn't be fielded until 2020.

An August 28, 2013, report on the project, commissioned by an undersecretary of defense, filled in more of the blanks. The original promise of ECSS "was an exaggeration not founded on any true analysis," it said. The plan was "ambiguous"; the Air Force failed to determine what ECSS would replace and what it would need to succeed.

That seven-year exercise in waste was not an anomaly. It was the norm for the U.S. Defense Department's effort in recent years to upgrade the way it keeps track of money, supplies and people. Burdened with thousands of old, error-filled record-keeping systems - estimates range from 2,100 to more than 5,000 of them - the Pentagon is unable to account for itself, and thus for roughly half of all congressionally approved annual federal spending.

Multiple attempts

To fix that, the Defense Department has launched 20 or more projects to build modern business-management systems since the late 1990s. At least five were subsequently killed as complete failures after billions of dollars were spent on them. Nine projects now under way or already implemented carry an estimated total cost of $13.9 billion to build and operate, according to the Defense Department comptroller's office. All of those in use can't do everything they were supposed to do and are hooked to legacy systems they were supposed to replace.

The Defense Department inspector general said in a 2012 report that just six of these so-called Enterprise Resource Planning projects under way had racked up cost overruns of $8 billion and delays ranging from 1.5 to 12.5 years. With each failure, a pattern emerges: An off-the-shelf product with a proven track record in the private sector is chosen and then modified to the point where it doesn't work properly.

"On every single one of the ERPs, they go out and customize the shit out of it to make it do what the legacy system did the same way the legacy system did it," said Mike Young, a former Air Force logistics official and now a consultant on defense logistics and accounting.

Reuters has found that success is likely to remain elusive unless the Pentagon can change the way it goes about fixing its accounting problems. Interviews with scores of current and former defense officials, contractors and Pentagon watchers, as well as a review of dozens of reports by oversight agencies, show that the Pentagon is continually thwarted by a lack of accountability for failures, rivalry among and within various branches of the department, resistance to change, and an incentive to spend.

With its efforts to build reliable accounting systems in disarray, the Pentagon isn't likely to meet a congressionally mandated 2017 deadline to be audit-ready. All other federal agencies are audited annually, in accordance with a 1990 law, and with rare exceptions, they pass every year. The Pentagon alone has never been audited, leaving roughly $8.5 trillion in taxpayer dollars unaccounted for since 1996, the first year it was supposed to be audited.

In previous installments of this series, Reuters has exposed the staggering costs and harmful effects of the Defense Department's chronic accounting dysfunction. Persistent pay errors hound soldiers, sapping troop morale, while an impenetrable tangle of logistics and personnel systems can hinder commanders' ability to know who and what are available for deployment. And the lack of reliable accounts - Pentagon staff routinely insert billions of dollars a year of false accounting entries to cover missing information - conceals huge sums lost to waste, fraud and mismanagement.

In response to questions about the Pentagon's modernization efforts and the findings of this Reuters investigation, the office of Undersecretary of Defense Robert Hale, the Pentagon's comptroller, emailed a written statement that said: "I note with disappointment that these articles misrepresent the efforts of a group of hard-working government workers who, despite furloughs and sequester and turmoil, have successfully provided financial services during two wars."

"Wishful thinking"

The Pentagon has for years kept lousy books with impunity. The 2009 law requiring the Defense Department to be audit-ready by 2017 provides for no penalties if it misses the deadline. Senators Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, and Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, introduced legislation earlier this year that would, among other things, limit new weapons programs, if the Pentagon misses the target. The bill has attracted co-sponsors, but otherwise has gone nowhere in the Senate.

From 1995 through 2002, Senator Charles Grassley pushed through an amendment to the annual defense appropriations bill requiring the Pentagon to account for its expenditures by following one seemingly simple procedure: match each payment to the expense it covered. The order was ignored, and Grassley gave up. "The goal was for the practice to become self-sustaining," Grassley said in an email to Reuters. "It was wishful thinking."

Rivalry and turf issues among and within each of the military services also thwart comprehensive fixes to the bookkeeping mess. Each branch has insisted on building from scratch its own systems for basic accounting, logistics and personnel, roughly tripling costs. The Army, Navy and Air Force also routinely disregard department-wide standards and rules imposed by the secretary of defense's office in order to preserve their own ways of doing things.

That's what happened to the Defense Integrated Human Resource System, which was intended to replace the scores of payroll and personnel systems that cause so many pay errors. Competing demands from military services ultimately rendered the system useless, and it was killed in 2010 after sucking up $1 billion.

High turnover takes a toll, too, as Pentagon personnel are shuffled into new jobs every few years, reinforcing what people involved in many projects said is a lack of personal investment in successful outcomes.

In 2009 - when the Air Force was four years into it ill-fated ECSS project - Jamie Morin became Air Force comptroller, succeeding John H. Gibson II, who now is vice president of the defense-support division of aircraft maker Beechcraft Corp. As the service's top financial official, Morin would have been a primary user of ECSS. Less than a year after the project's collapse, the Obama administration nominated Morin to head the Pentagon's Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation.

At Morin's October 2013 confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, none of the members asked him about ECSS or another troubled Air Force modernization project under his watch, the Defense Enterprise Accounting and Management System. In a written response to questions from Reuters, Morin said: "In testimony and reports, we have indicated that the Air Force is on a well-designed, albeit aggressive path toward meeting ... audit readiness goals."

The Air Force replaced a brigadier general and a civilian executive after the ECSS project was killed, an Air Force spokeswoman said, without providing further details. But at the time, it blamed the failure mainly on primary contractor Computer Sciences Corp, saying the Falls Church, Virginia, company lacked the necessary capabilities.

David Scott Norton, an accounting systems specialist who worked for Computer Sciences Corp on the project, disputed that, saying the problem was high turnover. Contractor personnel "who talked to the client in the beginning didn't implement the system," he said. Air Force personnel, too, were "always moving in and out. That just doesn't work. You needed a dedicated team."

Three-pronged attack

The Pentagon's inefficient method of pursuing efficiency has been on full display in the Army, which, among other efforts, has been building three separate new systems to handle accounting.

It launched the Logistics Modernization Program, or LMP, in 1998 with Computer Sciences Corp as the primary contractor. The Global Combat Support System - Army, or GCSS-A, began in 1997 and used Northrop Grumman as contractor. And the General Fund Enterprise Business System, meant to be the Army's new central accounting system, began in 2005, using Accenture as contractor.

The three projects, each overseen by different agencies within the Army, with three different primary contractors, at different times bought licenses to use the same off-the-shelf software package, SAP's Enterprise Resource Planning package. Each team then modified the software to create its own version to fit specific needs without making sure they worked together, people involved in the projects said.

In 2008, as work on all three projects was under way, the Army office that oversees acquisition of information systems issued a report, obtained by Reuters, faulting the Army for building a "fragmented portfolio of ERP systems that have developed along independent paths. ... The Army cannot trace its business processes from factory to foxhole" without incurring additional "huge integration and operational costs."

The report recommended that the Army halt work and consolidate the three systems. Doing so, it said, would save between 25% and 50% of the estimated $4.7 billion construction and operating costs of the three separate systems.

Backers of each project objected, according to people involved, and the report's recommendations were ignored.

Kristyn Jones, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for financial information management, said that if the Army were to start over, "we probably would have chosen a different path." She said one of the biggest challenges was getting workers to adapt to it. She and others involved in building GFEBS said many of the thousands of Army workers who would use the new system referred to their required training sessions as entering "the valley of despair."

Gary Winkler, the Army program executive who oversaw acquisition of computer systems for the Army from 2007 through 2011, said developing the three projects separately, without coordination, hurt all of them. They "all go through these stovepipe approval processes without considering what is going on to the left or the right or behind," he said.

As a result, the systems had to be linked through a costly network of pipelines - 282 such pipelines among the new and legacy systems, according to the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. "If you draw all of the connections, it looks like a bowl of spaghetti," Winkler said. The systems must be continually tweaked because when one element requires a software update, for example, all the pipelines and other linked systems have to be updated, too.

When the Logistics Modernization Program, intended to streamline supply lines and better manage inventory, was eventually fielded in 2010, it was deficient in so many ways that the Army had to add an "Increment 2," which won't be ready until September 2016. This has increased the projected cost of building and operating the LMP to $4 billion from $2.6 billion, according to Army figures.

"The current system does not support certain critical requirements, including enabling the Army to generate auditable financial statements by fiscal year 2017," the GAO said in a November 2013 report.

The second Army project, GCSS-A, had an original completion date of late 2015; late 2017 is now the target, for an estimated total building and operating cost of $4.2 billion, compared with the originally projected $3.9 billion.

Lastly, GFEBS, after an investment of more than $760 million, was fully fielded around the world in 2012, one year behind schedule. The Army touts it as a success, saying on its website: "The system is transforming the way the Army does business by enhancing the information available for leaders and managers across the Army."

But this success is limited. GFEBS can't track basic transactions - for example, payment of an electricity bill for an Army installation. To do that, it relies on legacy systems it was meant to replace. And because some legacy systems are unable to communicate with GFEBS, operators of those systems have had to revert to manually preparing spreadsheets to pass on data from thousands of Army posts.

Not exactly sexy

Bookkeeping has never been a priority for the military. "They don't train contracting officers or disbursement officials at West Point," said a former senior Pentagon official who was involved in modernization efforts.

For years, winning the Cold War was the primary directive, with little consideration for cost. More recently, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan overshadowed concerns about rising defense spending, bad bookkeeping and attendant waste.

John Hamre became Defense Department comptroller in 1993, three years after Congress passed the law requiring that the Pentagon be audit-ready by 1996. He didn't think upgrading accounting systems was vital to the Pentagon's ability to fulfill its mission. "Would I like a better accounting system? Absolutely," said Hamre, who left his post in 1997 and now is chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board and chief executive of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan, nonprofit think tank in Washington, D.C. But, he said, "we're getting military missions done every day. We just don't use accounting for that."

Many of the people interviewed for this series involved at all levels of the Pentagon's accounting modernization program said that until recently, lack of interest or attention from the very top - from secretaries of defense and the civilian secretaries of the individual military services - has meant that no one steps in to impose order and consistency.

"You cannot just throw money at an ERP system and expect it to work unless somebody at the top says 'You're going to work together, and you're going to get it done,' " said Norton, the former Computer Sciences Corp employee.

President Barack Obama's three defense secretaries to date - Robert Gates, Leon Panetta and, now, Chuck Hagel - have spoken out strongly both publicly and inside the Defense Department about the importance of meeting audit-readiness deadlines. Panetta in 2011 set an even tighter deadline, ordering that a major portion of the department's books be audit-ready by 2014. Officials have since acknowledged that the deadline won't be met, and that the department plans to conduct an audit more limited in scope than what Panetta ordered.

The secretary of defense is empowered by law to order the military services to clean up their bookkeeping, adhere to Defense Department accounting rules and hew to common standards for building new accounting systems. But he doesn't control the purse-strings - Congress does - so he "can't say to the military services, 'You can't have the money' " if you don't make this work, said Richard Loeb, a former Office of Management and Budget official and now an adjunct professor of government contracting and fiscal law at the University of Baltimore law school.

Congress has enabled the Pentagon's institutional bias against change. "I think we do, all of us, bear some share of responsibility - myself included," said Representative Robert E. Andrews, a Democrat from New Jersey on the House Armed Services Committee. "If I were to go home and start explaining that I was proposing a bill related to getting the Defense Department accounting systems to work right and the importance of accounting, they'd be asleep about half way through the first sentence."

Nuts and bolts

The Defense Logistics Agency, which buys, stores and distributes supplies for the U.S. military, has built a $2 billion-plus accounting system to make itself audit-ready.

It's a failure.

In a March 2013 report, the Defense Department inspector general said the so-called Enterprise Business System was so compromised by fundamental errors in its construction that its data couldn't be used to produce the standard financial statements required for an audit. Fixing the system to meet the Pentagon's basic accounting requirements "would be cost prohibitive," the report said. The DLA is using it anyway.

Fixing logistics is important - both to save money and to ensure that supplies are on hand when needed. The private sector realized that a long time ago. In recent decades, companies like Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Best Buy Co have raised supply-chain management to a precision science that saves huge sums.

By contrast, the Pentagon's fragmented logistics systems "have contributed to longer lead times, excess inventory and stockpiling, duplicative activities and systems, inadequate performance measurements, and increased costs," according to a 2011 report by the Defense Business Board, a group of business leaders that advises the secretary of defense's office.

The board found that the department uses more than 1,000 separate logistics systems, and that in 2010, logistics cost $210 billion, or about 30% of that year's defense budget.

Department-wide, duties are shared between the DLA, handling ordering and storage of supplies, and the U.S. Transportation Command, or Transcom, which handles delivery. Each has its own administration and computer systems, and each of the military services operates its own depot maintenance, supply, delivery and logistics accounting systems.

The Defense Business Board recommended combining all of the various logistics systems to "achieve significant budget savings, allowing the Department to preserve funds for force structure and the modernization of military capabilities."

No action was taken on the board's recommendations. "I have nothing for you on this," William Urban, a spokesman for the secretary of defense's office, said in an email response to questions about why the recommendations were not adopted.

Beneficial ignorance

Defense Secretary Hagel and other top Defense Department officials have argued that the impact of the budget sequester - automatic across-the-board spending cuts written into the 2011 congressional budget agreement - would be disastrous for the nation's defense capabilities if allowed to continue. Congress heard: The latest budget deal would restore a big chunk of the cuts that would have occurred in 2014 and 2015.

But lack of reliable numbers on how the Pentagon spends the money it receives undercuts arguments for protecting higher spending levels. "You have the (military) service chiefs pissing and moaning on the Hill because they have to take the sequester," said Franklin Spinney, a former senior analyst in the Pentagon who has written extensively on Pentagon weapons acquisition and spending priorities. But "they don't have a clue what that's going to cost."

There is no doubt that bad bookkeeping conceals movements of money that in some instances are illegal. The Antideficiency Act of 1884 forbids anyone to commit U.S. funds to purposes not explicitly approved by Congress - a way to prevent federal officials from writing government checks for anything they want. The law includes civil penalties - officials responsible for violations can be demoted or dismissed - and also provides for criminal prosecution.

But because the Pentagon has never been audited, it is impossible to determine the frequency or extent of violations. In its annual Antideficiency Act Report for 2012, the GAO reported that the U.S. Special Operations Command illegally diverted more than $136 million over six years to pay for a helicopter development project. The Special Operations Command concluded that there had been "no willful or knowing intent on the part of the responsible parties" to break the law, though it issued a "letter of admonishment" to a senior civilian employee.

The right way

The Pentagon isn't incapable of fixing its broken business operations. For decades, the Mechanization of Contract Administration Services, or MOCAS (pronounced "moh-KAZZ"), which handles payment of nearly all of the Defense Department's most complicated contracts, caused some of the department's biggest headaches.

It made erroneous payments and spewed out inaccurate data. Much of this was because contract data, long strings of alphanumeric code, had to be entered by hand. Typos were rife. As much as 30 percent of the transactions it processed had to be redone, often by hand. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service, which operates MOCAS, said the system currently handles $3.4 trillion in active contracts.

In 1994, the Pentagon launched the Standard Procurement System to rationalize procurement by replacing MOCAS and at least 10 other contract payment systems. By 2002, the new system was years behind schedule, and the estimated cost of building and operating it had risen to $3.7 billion from $3 billion. When tested, it crashed. The Pentagon killed it.

Faced with having to rely on MOCAS indefinitely, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service decided to tweak it. Funding for an upgrade was limited, so DFAS relied heavily on its own workers, who knew MOCAS inside and out. It also hired as consultants retirees who had spent much of their careers working with the system.

MOCAS runs on COBOL, one of the earliest computer languages, and it lacks many of the options and preferences that make modern applications like Microsoft Word so easy to use. The MOCAS update team built an add-on to make MOCAS more user-friendly. It acquired another add-on that allowed electronic invoices and other data from contractors to flow directly into MOCAS. By eliminating paper invoices, they reduced the error rate to a tiny percentage.

The fixes worked so well that in 2008, the Defense Contract Management Agency, one of MOCAS's main users, posted a "Happy 50th Birthday" wish to it on the agency's website.

According to users, the 55-year-old system now handles tasks with lightning speed and an extremely low error rate.

But that success is hollow. The Pentagon remains saddled with other contract-payment systems. And MOCAS is not an accounting system; it must transmit data back to scores of accounting systems across the department for each transaction to be entered in ledgers. Many of the accounting systems are old and require manual data entry, so entry of transactions may lag behind MOCAS by a month.

Piecemeal fixes that don't address overarching dysfunction reduce even further the chances the Pentagon will be audit-ready by 2017. Worse, said Charlie Murphy, a longtime member of Senator Grassley's staff, the Defense Department will have added billions of dollars in new technology that failed to deliver. "Supposedly," Murphy said, "there's a maestro that's going to make them all play like a symphony."

(Edited by John Blanton)


WARC-Truncated: length

text:
Wanted Level in GTA III Era

From Grand Theft Wiki
Revision as of 06:36, 20 October 2009 by Mdietz007 (Talk) (Six Stars)

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A Wanted Level tells the player how much he/she is wanted by law enforcement. As the player's wanted level increases, more powerful forms of law enforcement will pursue them. In GTA III era games, wanted level is measured on a six-star scale. Committing several minor crimes in quick succession - such as beating people up, destroying cars, etc - will earn the player one star. Continuing to commit crimes or resisting arrest will often lead to a second star, and so on. Committing serious crimes (for example, throwing a grenade into a large crowd of bystanders) often earns the player multiple wanted stars outright.

If the player has one or more wanted stars, nearby Police will give chase and attempt to arrest the player - bringing up the message "Busted". An arrest is executed by either knocking the player onto the ground and holding him at gunpoint, or by opening the player's car door and holding him at gunpoint. In both cases, the player has no choice but to give up. If arrested, the player is transported to the nearest police station and is released some time later minus some money and their weapons.

A players wanted level can be decreased various ways. A one-star wanted level will disappear on its own if the player "lies low" for a while (stays out of sight and commits no more crimes). Higher wanted levels can be lost through picking up Police Bribes (each one reduces the player's wanted level by one star), running a vehicle through a Pay 'n' Spray or going to airport and buying a plane ticket to another city in San Andreas.

It is notoriously difficult to survive higher wanted levels without the use of Cheats, available only in GTA III and subsequent games.

  • In all GTA III Era games, there are cheats to raise and lower wanted levels.
  • In GTA Vice City, upon being Busted, the voice of the player's lawyer, Ken Rosenberg, can be heard persuading the police to let the player go: "Officer, do you really think my client is capable of that?".
  • GTA San Andreas contains a cheat to prevent the player from ever obtaining a wanted level. However, the player can still get attacked at police impound stations.

A wanted level is cumulative and it is possible to reach a six-star wanted level by simply gunning down a lot of pedestrians, but some crimes are more serious than others, and some can earn more stars outright.

One Star

At a one star wanted level, any police patrols that spot the player will give chase and attempt to arrest him/her. Officers will attempt to knock the player down with their fists (in GTA III) and nightsticks, but do not shoot unless threatened (in GTA San Andreas, if you are holding a gun or a thrown weapon, officers will shoot at you, and also if you run over an officer but don't kill him). An exception to this rule is if you are inaccessible to the police officer; for example if you are standing on top of a vehicle, he will pull out his gun and start shooting. Police cars will follow the player, but they can be easily outrun. If the player stays out of sight and does not commit additional crimes, a one-star wanted level expires on its own. If the player is on foot, police will exit their vehicle and chase you on foot. Only one police officer will give chase on foot at a time even if there are multiple officers in the vicinity.

A one-star wanted level is attained by committing the following minor crimes. Many of these will not immediately result in a wanted level unless a police officer is around to witness them or multiple offences are committed in quick succession:

  • Attacking and/or killing bystanders
  • Damaging or destroying a vehicle
  • Attacking or shooting a police vehicle (always results in a wanted level even when out of sight, doesn't trigger with the Police Maverick or FBI/Army vehicles)
  • Crashing into a police vehicle (crashing into an empty/parked police car will not result in a wanted level)
  • Firing a weapon in public
  • Revving a chainsaw in public
  • Carjacking and stealing parked vehicles (no wanted level is given is the vehicle is locked, including police cars)
  • Attempting to steal a police vehicle (all games except GTA: San Andreas)
  • Driving a vehicle with the alarm going off
  • Selling multiple ice cream cones during Distribution (GTA: Vice City)
  • Robbing stores for the minimum amount of cash (GTA: Vice City)

Two Stars

At two-stars, the police start actively searching for the player. Officers now shoot to kill, including when you're unarmed, and each patrol car is occupied by two officers. Officers in cars now give chase rather than simply follow behind and often try to overtake or spin the player out. On water, armed police boats give chase.

Two wanted stars are attained by:

  • Aiming a gun at a police officer
  • Killing or wounding a police officer
  • Destroying many cars at once
  • Killing many people in a short space of time
  • Crashing into a fuel pump
  • Displaying a firearm inside a police station in San Andreas, a melee weapon will not warrant a wanted level
  • Destroying any aircraft in San Andreas
  • Trespassing in the Washington Beach Police Station

Three Stars

At a three-star wanted level, pursuing police vehicles become more aggressive, driving at maximum speed, and the police also begin to set up armed roadblocks on main roads. A police helicopter is also called in to assist and its crew follows the player, putting a spotlight on the protagonist (at night), and shoots at the player via an invisible machine gun on the fuselage if they get a clear shot and yell various humourous remarks ("Hey, I can see my house from here!" or "SHE'S OVER THERE, SHE'S A GUY!!!) over a loudspeaker. Police officers begin to deploy spike strips to puncture the player's tires. In GTA San Andreas, if you are on foot and a police car spots you, one of the two officers will use a shotgun instead of a 9 mm. Additionally, in Vice City and Vice City Stories, undercover 'Vice Squad' detectives armed with Uzis and driving Cheetahs also give chase.

Three wanted stars are attained by:

  • Continuing to retaliate against law enforcement (evading capture or death by any means)
  • Continuing to cause collateral damage (killing civilians and destroying vehicles)
  • Entering police impound garages in GTA San Andreas
  • Trucking hot goods in San Andreas

Four Stars

At a four-star wanted level, police driving becomes yet more aggressive and SWAT teams join the chase. SWAT members wear body armor and are armed with Uzi sub-machine guns. Roadblocks now consist of the heavier and larger SWAT vans, making them more difficult to ram through. The pursuing police helicopter fires at the player more frequently and, from GTA Vice City onwards, rappels SWAT members down to the player's location. In GTA San Andreas, the police helicopter is often joined by a News Chopper, and military jets now pursue and attempt to shoot down the player if he/she is flying an aircraft.

Four wanted stars are attained by:

  • Continuing to retaliate against law enforcement
  • Continuing to cause collateral damage
  • Entering a city not yet unlocked in the storyline in GTA San Andreas
  • Blowing up an AI controlled full-winged Dodo in GTA III and GTA Vice City
  • Blowing up the police helicopter which appears at a three star wanted level (not to be confused with the player-operable Police Maverick)
  • Entering the restricted area of El Banco Corrupto Grande in GTA Vice City

Five Stars

At five wanted stars, the FBI takes over the chase and completely replaces local police on the ground and the streets begin to clear of civilians (In GTA Liberty City Stories, however, there are still lots of pedestrians in the streets). Four-man teams of heavily armed and armored FBI agents drive armored cars and SUVs and make for formidable opponents. The FBI agents are armed with AK-47s and 9 mm handguns in GTA III and MP5s in later games. Their driving is even more aggressive and they usually opt to ram the player's vehicle head on at high speed and then batter it to pieces before he/she can recover. In GTA III, the pursuing police helicopter is joined by a second, and both stick to the player doggedly and fire at the protagonist whenever they get the chance. The roadblocks now consist of FBI vehicles, which are easier to ram through ,but the FBI's MP5s tear through most vehicles fairly quickly. The waters are saturated with Predators at this wanted-level. Trespassing inside a military base will release a five star wanted level and cops swarm in and attempt to kill the player.

Five stars are attained by:

  • Continuing to retaliate against law enforcement
  • Continuing to cause collateral damage
  • Flying into restricted airspace, such as that over a military base in San Andreas
  • Trespassing into a military base in San Andreas

Six Stars

At six stars, the National Guard will take take over from the FBI and will give chase in Barracks OL trucks and Rhino tanks, making travel in ordinary vehicles extremely hazardous. Civilians have almost completely disappeared from the streets at this point (In GTA Liberty City Stories, however, there are still lots of pedestrians in the streets), and the soldiers drive with total disregard for anything but ramming the player into oblivion. Roadblocks now consist of Barracks OL trucks. At six stars, police helicopters rule the skies, the sea is thick with police boats and in addition to the army, police officers are everywhere - appearing from all directions in large numbers. If the player cannot get to a Pay 'n' Spray with a suitable vehicle, stealing a tank or taking to the skies in a helicopter and trying to pick up police bribes around the city are often the only practical options for reducing a six-star wanted level. The Army soldiers carry M16s in GTA III, and MP5's in any other game. Unlike in the story mode where enemies often miss, the soldiers almost never miss, and a gunfight is considered suicide as the army will take the player down very fast.

Six stars are attained by:

  • Continuing to retaliate against law enforcement
  • Continuing to cause collateral damage


text:
Today's Sports

  • WHS seniors make most of their...

    For Zack Anglin and Anthony Sarcione, they just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play baseball their senior year.

    The first-year players joined Patrick Spoonamore, Jordan Perkins and Richard Moore as the teammates spent the end of their senior year on the baseball diamond.

    “I got away from the sport, but I got back into it and I enjoyed myself. I wish I had played my whole high school career. It was a good experience,” Anglin said.

    “This has been the best experience that anyone could have,” Perkins said.

  • Williamstown girls earn spot in...

    When Hannah Scroggins and Shelby Beckham started their AAU basketball season, the girls were looking forward for the chance to play in the national tournament in Florida.

    Their team, the Basketball Club of Kentucky Firebirds, earned a trip to Disney World, the site of the national tournament, with a second-place finish in the Kentucky AAU tournament in March. The national tournament is July 15 through 20. The Firebirds are a 10 and under team.

  • Williamstown girls take on new...

    Coach Mark Wilhoit has been able to rely on his daughter, Tori, and Chelsea West for the last four years.

    Wilhoit and West have started for Williamstown’s girls’ basketball team since they were in seventh grade and now the duo will be counted on for leadership.

    “Chelsea and Tori have stepped up as leaders,” Wilhoit said. “That’s a big thing I’ve preached to Chelsea. Her mental approach to the game has changed. Tori leads by example. I think throughout the season, people will see them step up.”

  • Mason prepares to play...

    Storm Mason has been working with the Williamstown basketball team this summer, preparing for his final year wearing the orange and black of the Demons.

    While he has been focused on the Demons, Mason has also been preparing for a trip to Austria, as part of the People to People sports ambassador program.

  • GCHS seniors end time on...

    When the Grant County High School softball team’s season came to an end, the team’s seniors still took pride in knowing that they played their hardest while representing Grant County.

    “It meant a lot to play for Grant County. When I first came into the program, we weren’t the best by any means, but we became known as a powerhouse,” Alesa Collinsworth said. “We made our mark and were part of a team that made a difference and turned the program around.”

  • Sports Shorts

    GCYFL holds fall registration for football and cheerleading

    The Grant County Youth Football League will hold registration for their fall league on July 11. This is for football and cheerleading.

    The signups will last from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will be held at the Grant County High School football field house.

    The registration fee is $65 plus a $15 equipment fee, which is refundable when all equipment is returned at the end of the season. Family discounts are available.

  • Baseball careers come to a close...

    The GCHS baseball seniors wanted to keep playing, delaying the inevitable end of their high school careers.

    “Now that it’s over, it hit me hard,” Alex Gregg said. “I’m used to playing summer ball and getting ready for the next year, but now I’m not. It’s hard.”

    “I’m sad that six years of work is over, but I’ve got to get ready for college and hope for the best,” Dillon Adams said.

  • Legends take Kentucky Open State...

    The 13-under Legends select team knew they were facing an offensive powerhouse in the championship of the Kentucky Open State Tournament.

    The Legends faced the South London Cardinals, a team that averaged 20 runs per game and that hadn’t played a full seven innings in the tournament. But, the Legends came away with a 5-4 win on June 21.

    “The championship game finish was as exciting as any game we’ve played,” coach Greg Carr said.

  • Braves backcourt gains...

    The summer after making it to the eighth region tournament, the Grant County boys’ basketball team is working hard to get back.

    The Braves have played 24 games in a three-and-a-half week span with six more games scheduled and coach Ron Kinmon hopes the experience they’re gaining now will pay off when next season starts.

  • NRA Youth Sportsfest teaches 148...

    On June 20, 148 campers from the Northern Kentucky area joined together at the ninth annual NRA Youth Sportsfest, sponsored by the 5th District Federation League of Kentucky Sportsmen.

    The day featured outdoor events such as fishing, archery, trap shooting, turkey calling and a trapping clinic.


text:
Photoshop Madness Meets Designing Women

by Staff

... continued from the previous page.

Mary of Time, space and quality

... part of the 18th Annual Designing Women issue

Educated at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Mary GrandPre began her career as a conceptual illustrator for local editorial clients. Her concerns for light, color, drawing, and design came together in evocative, ethereal pastel paintings evolving toward a style she now calls "soft geometry".
      From there she climbed up the ivory tower of graphic design (See her Wikipedia Bio!!) Recently, she was featured on the cover of Time Magazine for her work with the Harry Potter Series and also worked as a visionary in the environment/scenery development in Dreamworks animated film Antz
click for video or screen capture See for more details!

Melinda Beck : lovable fun

... part of the 18th Annual Designing Women issue

How can you not just fall in love with the art of Melinda Beck!
      Melinda Beck is an illustrator, animator and graphic designer based in Brooklyn, New York. She received a BFA in Graphic Design from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1989. Her various portfolio galleries are not to be missed. Also see her Facebook ; an interview with Shiny Squirrel; a little photo of Melinda ; and her wonderful little Saturday morning cartoon you can share with the kids!
READ THIS REPORT Full story at Melinda's web site:
click for video or screen capture See her Google Image Search for a little more WOW

strawberryLuna : Female Designers

... part of the 18th Annual Designing Women issue

We loved our visit to strawberryluna and we think you will too, not just for this article, but a whole lot more!
      Strawberryluna is Allison & Craig, a pair of designers, illustrators, and screenprinters as well as music and film nerds based in Pittsburgh, PA. Allison says : "... the correct way to spell our studio name is “strawberryluna”. All one word, all lower case. Full on. When it’s good, you don’t need to shout."
READ THIS REPORT Full story : strawberryLuna : Female Designers
click for video or screen capture See for more details!

Searching for good Photoshop images and tutorials amongst all the total madness out on the web Don't let Photoshop Madness get you down!

There are always lots of spectacular Photoshop images and visuals out there! Share them! We'll be back shortly with MORE Photoshop Madness ... and please -- BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU SURF ... but when you do find a great Photoshop practitioner, or a good Photoshop tutorial, please share it with us! If you create Photoshop Tutorials yourself, please post your info here so you can be considered for a Photoshop Fave!

Of course, some of our favorite editions of Photoshop Madness can be found in the legacy Photoshop Tips & Tricks web site!
See the last edition of Photoshop Madness

GO Photoshop (Designing Women) Madness

And, thanks for reading

Fred Showker

Don't forget ... we encourage you to share your discoveries with other readers. Just send and email, contribute your own article, join the Design Cafe forums, or follow DTG on Facebook!

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text:
Hope Network Opens Training Plant

August 9, 2002
| By Katy Rent |
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GRAND RAPIDS — Hope Network West Michigan has started an industrial operations center to better get the jobless into jobs.

The 40,000-square-foot site, located at 4080 Roger B. Chaffee Blvd., marks a significant expansion in HNWM’s facilities, which now total 130,500 square feet devoted to work services available to people with developmental disabilities.

On board to help celebrate the grand opening were Mayor John Logie; Jim Tuinstra, executive director of HNWM; Verne Barry, former Faith Inc. president; and Bruce Ryskamp of Zondervan Books.

HNWM has contracts with more than 20 local businesses. The work is primarily packaging and packaging assembly. The operation has averaged $350,000 a month in subcontracted work, but the workload is steadily increasing. Since 1995, the per-month average has quadrupled, and recent months have been around $500,000. This steady growth has resulted in the need for additional space.

When the Faith Inc. program joined with Hope Network, the need for expansion became even more pressing.

“To make the Faith program viable, we need to provide work experiences for 90 to 100 people,” said Tuinstra. “In addition we want to give people with developmental disabilities more opportunities for work experience. The Roger B. Chaffee site will be a transitional step as they move on to jobs in the community. Many people start in our facility on South Division in work training. This site will be a step up, providing more bonuses and other incentives for promotions.”

He said everyone involved should benefit from the expansion.

“This is a positive move in many ways. We expand opportunities for homeless workers in the Faith program. We increase the variety of work available to people with developmental disabilities. And we can serve more community companies through our subcontract work,” said Tuinstra.

Participants in the Hope Network employment program receive the training and experience needed to prepare them for competitive employment while earning competitive wages, and businesses get subcontracting work done efficiently and cost-effectively.

In May, Nicholas Plastics presented a Superior Performance Award to the Hope Network West Michigan/Kent Vocational Options program. The program for young adults with developmental disabilities completed nearly 400,000 assemblies without a single reject and provided 100 percent on-time delivery. Tuinstra said he wants that type of work record to be the norm for the agency.

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Plane Windows That Dim

December 23, 2005
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ZEELAND — Gentex Corp. is taking its business to new heights by manufacturing passenger cabin windows that dim for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, set to take off in 2008.

"It's an opportunity for us to offer technology that has, to date, only been used in automotive (and transfer it) in to the aerospace industry," said Connie Hamblin, vice president of investor relations and corporate communications at Gentex. "It's a unique technology, and Boeing is the first aircraft manufacturer to take advantage of this."

Gentex will supply the window assembly as well as the electronics that control the dimming of the window to PPG Aerospace, a Huntsville, Ala., aircraft window manufacturer that has been awarded a contract by Boeing.

Boeing spokeswoman Lori Gunter said the dimming technology, also used in rearview mirrors, will improve the aesthetics of the cabin space by giving passengers more options than a too-bright window or a view-blocking shade such as they have now.

"Today's option is either open window or closed window, and somebody always ends up unhappy," she said.

Boeing wants to eliminate that issue with the 787 Dreamliner and provide a more enjoyable traveling experience through many changes in the cabin. Hamblin said the windows will be controlled by a switch adjacent to the passenger. All windows can also be controlled by the flight crew, in case the need should arise.

The windows are similar to auto-dimming rearview mirrors, but of course without the mirrored/reflective surface. The windows are constructed with two pieces of glass with transparent conductive coatings on the inner surface of each glass sheet. The coating comes in contact with the electrochromic gel, which, when electricity is applied, changes from clear to dark with various stages in between. Passengers on the aircraft will have five settings from which to choose.

While aircraft manufacturers have been looking for a solution to the window problem for a while, there has not been technology that fits the specifications until now. Hamblin said that Gentex has been working on the project with PPG Aerospace for more than a year and a half.

Though Gentex has been developing technology with the dimming glass for years, Hamblin said this is the first opportunity to expand outside of the automotive industry.

"We've always been looking for different opportunities to deploy this technology; this happens to be the first application that happens to present a very good business case for us," she said.

In the first five years, Gentex is expecting $50 million in incremental revenue to be shared between PPG and Gentex, with the Zeeland company receiving the majority. There are 185 Dreamliners ordered to date.

"We expect that we should have good margins on the product," Hamblin said. "The goal is to expand it, not only with Boeing as a customer, but with other aircraft manufacturers."

Hamblin said the new 300,000-square-foot facility that Gentex is building across from its headquarters on Centennial Street should suit the needs of the expansion. The company is not planning to hire new employees.

Hamblin said the new product is an example of the company's ability to grow and diversify.

"I think it shows people that we are creative and that we're able to do more than just one thing," she said. "We do have the capability to expand into other markets and we'll continue to look into other opportunities."

Though Gentex is expanding into other markets, it is not leaving behind the automotive industry. Despite hardships in other areas of the industry, Hamblin said Gentex has been increasing sales of the auto-dimming mirrors.

"It's a bright spot in the automotive industry," she said.

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Change in moving plans for Metro Council

January 18, 2009
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After an 18-month search for new office space, the Grand Valley Metro Council agreed last May to a 10-year lease for 7,500 square feet on the third floor of the Riverview Center at 678 Front Ave. NW.

Now, as it turns out, the council isn’t moving there. But no one at the regional planning agency is all that disappointed.

Instead of moving to the third floor at the Riverview Center, the Metro Council will set up shop on the building’s second level.

The U.S. Postal Service occupies the third-floor space the council was supposed to lease and was scheduled to move down to the second level and take over the space the Internal Revenue Service recently vacated. But the postal service has to cut expenses by 10 percent this year so it decided to stay put and save the moving costs.

Metro Council Executive Director Don Stypula said his agency has to reconfigure its offices to meet a different layout on the second floor. But he added that the council will still have the same amount of space, and dropping down a floor has reduced its moving expenses.

“We will save a substantial amount of money from where we are,” said Stypula of savings that could run as high as $50,000 annually.

The Metro Council has been in the Trust Building, on the southeast corner of Ottawa Avenue and Lyon Street, for nearly two decades. The agency had hoped to be in the Riverview Center in March, but it may be a few more months before a move can be completed.

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Great Lakes 4x4. The largest offroad forum in the Midwest - View Single Post - *SOLD* 350 Heads
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Heads have the numbers 33382 and C135 on them, off the motec website it shows

333882.....74-80...350/400......76cc chambers

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Lets give this another week, and see if we can't get some more entries
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He looks like he makes really good choices in life.
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Old November 9th, 2005, 08:14 AM   #17
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Join Date: 11-06-05
Location: Canton , MI
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Originally Posted by Sol Goode
Jays design would look better on shirts & hats. They both look good, but I think Jays is cleaner.

Plus his reminds me of the Made in Detroit gear shift
I still vote for # 2....

It would be nice if we could use both....#1 design on the stickers , hats, and
shirts... and put #2 design on the web site.....

Last edited by CHEROKEE666; November 9th, 2005 at 08:28 AM.
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Public charter
Okemos, MI
Students enrolled: 694
Before care: No
After care: No

5 stars
Based on 24 ratings

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24 reviews of this school

Michigan Connections Academy 5

Posted October 22, 2014
- a parent
I am so glad we made this decision to put our 3 boys in this school. The teachers have been such a great help and with it being our first year, it was a bit of an adjustment. I am so happy we did this and the boys are learning so much more than they did in their public schools. No distractions and the kids are on task and learning so much. Would highly recommend this school. Looking forward to the upcoming Field Trip. :) Parent

Michigan Connections Academy 5

Posted June 18, 2014
- a parent
To the person that said the reviews are an "inside job", believe me, they are not! I have 5 students enrolled in Michigan Connections Academy and the school is truly amazing! It is more advanced than most regular schools, but they also have a lot of help available for struggling students. If you are truly that against this school, I suggest you post a legitimate review or keep your posts to yourself. And if you question whether or not I'm truly a parent feel free to look me up on Facebook. Jacqueline Duncan. Also, if anyone would like to speak to a parent to get more information, feel free to contact me! :) Have a great day!

Michigan Connections Academy 1

Posted June 17, 2014
- a parent
I'm very disappointed in these reviews. It's obvious the majority of them were written by staff and employees. Any discerning parent can read right through that. I don't doubt the school is decent, but when the reviews are an inside job, it makes it very questionable. SMH. Very disappointed.

Michigan Connections Academy 5

Posted April 30, 2014
- a parent
Our school is great. My daughter can learn and get help when needed. The teachers go above and beyond. My daughter could not get help in public school if she did not understand something. Also it is so great to be able to see what your child is struggling in or doing good without having to wait til conference. Being able to see grade book. Also I can feel my child is safe, no bullying and no worry of crimes. With social media so much in our childrens live it help with the fact their is not the socializing in school with the online schooling. My child learns the same as in the building school but with more care from the staff and with me aware of her struggles and strengths. Being able to do school anywhere with internet access is also a plus, that way school is not interferring with your life as an adult or parent either. It would be great if they had apps for school that could also be done on tablets, ipads, etc.

Michigan Connections Academy 5

Posted April 29, 2014
- a parent
This school is awesome. I can go on and on forever about how happy and excited I am to ALL of the things my son is learning. It is fun and challenging all in one.

Michigan Connections Academy 5

Posted April 17, 2014
- a parent
This was one of the easiest decisions that I as a parent could make for my children. I am able to see what they are doing in school and see what there grades are at all times. They have a lot of resources that I did not see in a regular b&m school has. The teachers are willing to work with each family to ensure that the student is getting it.

Michigan Connections Academy 5

Posted September 12, 2013
- a parent
MICA is a 'dream come true' for any parent who seeks alternative schooling for their children. When first enrolled, we were somewhat nervous, after all, there had never been this type of school available in Michigan before. It was a totally new concept for us and with it came some insecurities. These vanished quickly when the girls excitement grew as they learned to appreciate and value their education. Within weeks, our daughters HUGE disappointment of leaving the local district turned to visible JOY in learning. To see our then 5th grader's eyes light up because she actually understood the concept of division, after spending the year prior not having a clue, was the first of many signs that we had made the right decision. Both of our daughters stated that the quality of learning with MICA was FAR above what they'd experienced in brick and mortar schools. Their enthusiasm resulted from many things never before known to them. Teacher support, live lesson sessions, one on one's whenever needed, and portfolio assignments are just a few of the new concepts that added to our daughters successful learning in MICA. It is by far the best school option available to Michigan students today.

Michigan Connections Academy 5

Posted September 04, 2013
- a parent
I think that Michigan Connections Academy is a great school. My child just started going there this year and has had a great time since he started going there. Teachers are great and so is the administration team. Connections academy is always open and my child can go to school any time day or night. He has learned more in the last few days then he had at this other high school. He is also learning at this own pace.

Michigan Connections Academy 5

Posted September 02, 2013
- a parent
How exciting when your child loves to wake up and go to school. Even if it's only a few feet from his bed! My son gets a better education with Michigan Connections Academy because the teachers give one on one attention and there is no outside influence to push him on the wrong track. I see how much more knowledge he has compared to the kids his age in public schools and I know I made the right decision. No bulling, no fighting for a good education and no unnecessary teachings. He can go at his own pace and enjoy the topics that are more interesting to him in depth if he wants. And don't get me started on the awesome ability to vacation when we want, take days off when we want and sleep in if we want! It's so nice to not have to worry about buses or how long he has to stand in line for lunch or all the school clothes or supplies he needs. Connections provides everything he needs to get the best education for free, we even got a computer with all the software! I am amazed on how smart my son is now and it really shows up with his MEAP testing and ScanTrons. He is learning more with MICA then he ever did in a public school! Thank God for MICA! It's the best decision we've ever made!

Michigan Connections Academy 5

Posted August 28, 2013
- a parent
MI Connections Academy is the answer to my prayers. The staff is wonderful, the curriculum is among the best I have ever seen. I love the way the classes are tailor made for each individual student taking their learning style into consideration. MI Connections Academy is a cutting edge technological school that provides every student the chance to go on to become great adults. Not only do they work with the children but they become involved with each family through webmails and telephone calls and the teachers actually become a part of your family. When you contact them there is no waiting in line for a long time to receive an answer. The children are not bullied and made to feel inferior to others but are encouraged to be their very best. Our children have the awesome opportunity of staying home and learning while developing great family values. Connections has many opportunities for families to meet together for field trips and other functions. It is like getting the best of all worlds. Your children receive a high quality 21st century education, opportunities to go on outings, they can go on vacation with the family at any time and still access their classes online.

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About GreatSchools

Our mission is to help millions of parents get a great education for their kids. is an independent nonprofit and the leading national source of school information for families. 1999 Harrison Street, Suite 1100, Oakland, CA 94612

©1998-2015 All Rights Reserved. GreatSchools is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization | Ad Choices

Michigan Connections Academy
3950 Heritage Ave., Okemos, MI  48864
(517) 507-5390
Last modified Michigan Connections Academy is a Charter school that serves grades K-12. It has received a GreatSchools rating of 4 out of 10 based on academic quality.
Michigan Connections Academy Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 24 reviews. Top


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Public district
Portland, OR
Students enrolled: 506

5 stars
Based on 15 ratings

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12 reviews of this school

Rock Creek Elementary School 5

Posted August 12, 2014
- a parent
My daughter attends Rock Creek elementary, right now she is in 2nd grade, she really loves it, the academics are really great.

Rock Creek Elementary School 5

Posted December 09, 2013
- a parent
My three kids range in age 27, 18, 11...they all have attended Rock Creek. We've been there since 1991, in this neighborhood for all those years. The elementary school is the best. All the teachers and office ladies have been some of the most caring and loving people you'll ever come across. They all love [our] their "kids" and their jobs. The kids come out of the school with a great foundation for the coming years. They care and will go out of their way to help each and ever student! Everyone is family and I've never seen so many parents wanting to volunteer for a school. I couldn't have chosen a better school. Rock Creek is my school and I'm proud to have been a part of it all theses years!

Rock Creek Elementary School 5

Posted July 25, 2013
- a parent
My children have gone to this school for the past two years and they will be attending this upcoming year as well. I wish more schools were like this one. Rock Creek's parents and volunteers did an outstanding job last year in making sure that the budget cuts did not affect the children tremendously. Rock Creek's principal is a superb individual and he should be applauded for all his hard work and dedication in this school. Some of the office ladies are not so friendly but with all the good work of the teachers, volunteers, parents and principal. you hardly notice them.

Rock Creek Elementary School 5

Posted December 07, 2011
- a parent
My son has been attending Rock Creek since April 2010 and has thrived ever since he started here. The teachers, staff and new principal are very interested in the kids and their development. They truly have the kids' best interests at heart and want to see them succeed. I am so thankful that he is learning life long lessons here to help him become the best that he can be. I cannot emphasize how much I truly appreciate everyone at this school.

Rock Creek Elementary School 5

Posted April 13, 2011
- a community member
this is the best school ever! I only went here for k-4th grade because I had to move, but in all the time I went here it was amazing! It was a shame to se Mr. Horne Leave, but the school was still great! This was by far the best elementary school I ever went to! Send your kids here!

Rock Creek Elementary School 5

Posted November 05, 2008
- a parent
I love this school! Like every parent I had many concerns sending my little girl off to a new school. She came back from school the very first day with many new things she had learned! Ms. Hesson is amazing and a very caring teacher indeed! My little girl jsut loves her and we are thrilled with the progress she has made in less than 3 months!

Rock Creek Elementary School 5

Posted October 20, 2007
- a parent
Rock Creek rocks! At least that is how my daughters would say it. We love the teachers and are pleased with the quality of care and instruction.

Rock Creek Elementary School 5

Posted December 29, 2005
- a parent
My daughter just started here this year and so far we have been very impressed with this school. There is a lot of parent involvement, they have attended a couple of field trips already this year and my daughter loves her teacher. I would recommend this school to anyone new to the area.

Rock Creek Elementary School 5

Posted August 13, 2005
- a parent
Rock Creek is a wonderful school. My son was in Ms. Pizzuto's class (first grade) last year and she is an excellent teacher and has made a world of difference. He has learned so much and enjoys going to school each and every day.

Rock Creek Elementary School 5

Posted March 07, 2005
- a parent
This school is a great one. They include every one and in addition exept all races and religion. This school is great at keeping there students happy and well taught. They have many fun events that all students are welcome to join and have some terrific programs like D.A.R.E.. They also make sure the students are at there level or above. If your child is not quit at standerd they make you and your child feal as if you are still perfect. My daughter loved it there from the events, the teachers and all the wonderful programs. There is also a very educated program called science camp for 5th grade students and my daughter had a ball! She came back wishing to go again, and with all her new facts she felt like she could be a scientist! The academic program is super! I recomend very strongly! great schools= great students!

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Our mission is to help millions of parents get a great education for their kids. is an independent nonprofit and the leading national source of school information for families. 1999 Harrison Street, Suite 1100, Oakland, CA 94612

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Rock Creek Elementary School
4125 NW 185th Ave, Portland, OR  97229
(503) 533-1875
Last modified Rock Creek Elementary School is a Public school that serves grades K-5. It has received a GreatSchools rating of 9 out of 10 based on academic quality.
Rock Creek Elementary School Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 15 reviews. Top


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Steve Skrovan and the "Unreasonable Man"

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By Sara Schieron

Steve KrovanSteve Skrovan was a stand-up comedian when he met Henriette Mantell. Mantell had worked for Ralph Nader's office in the late 70s and had stories about the bizarre and incredible requests Nader would get from people around the country. At that point, Nader's political celebrity revolved around his consumer watch-dogging. Nader had dedicated his career to implementing the health and safety standards we take for granted today: seat belt laws, wholesome meat, worker safety laws, the list is pages long.

But Skrovan and Mantell didn't begin exploring the story of Ralph Nader as a documentary first (it would become the film An Unreasonable Man). Comics by trade, Skrovan and Mantell began their look at Nader to fulfill a development deal for a sitcom.

Why a sitcom?

Even before I was a writer, I thought, "That's a good setting for a show: a public interest office where you have quirky people coming in." A lot of sitcoms are a ploy to get disparate people into one room. That's kind of a key. So that office setting seemed like a natural. And 15 years later, I'm in Los Angeles, and I'm a writer for Everybody Loves Raymond, and I get a development deal. I'm looking for an idea, and I run in to Henriette, and I ask her if she did anything with her Ralph experience, and we started talking and collecting funny anecdotes, and she started introducing me to some of her friends from that time.

I even wrote an outline for the pilot, but during the course of this, I was also reading about Nader, and the more I read, the more I was impressed with his accomplishments. I mean, I had lived through them and I was barely aware and intrigued that this one person was behind so many changes. I looked back and found that there had not been one definitive documentary about this man, and with Henriette and her associations, and their access to Ralph and his associates, the documentary idea started taking over the sitcom idea.

Do you still plan to do the sitcom? It could reach a really wide audience. I can see it now: Flashback: "Nader Passes Wholesome Meat Act," "Hot Dogs Impure," "Missiles of Death."

Definitely. I've actually thought more seriously about it since the movie. You'll reach maybe thousands of people in movie theaters. You'll reach more through the DVD, and then, I think we're probably going to be on PBS and maybe start into the millions there, but I know from Everybody Loves Raymond, you can reach more people in one night on TV than you could in 10 years in theaters. So don't be surprised if this comes back.

Looking back on it, the film's probably a necessary thing for me to do. I learned so much more about the subject doing this, so I can write this whole movie off as research. Obviously, the sitcom would be fictionalized; it wouldn't be about Nader. There's a 10-minute-long section of the film that Henriette starts off, talking about the Reagan years and Dupont Circle. That section is the period of time the sitcom would take place in.

So it'd be a period sitcom?

Well, that's the time we'd draw from: the characters in the office, the quirky mail...

The Fed-Ex'd lung?

Yes. That's the section we'd adapt. Tiny story about the hot dogs: It was ongoing, getting footage from footage houses, and what happens is, they give you lists of log lines to choose from. In one list we got there was the log line: "Nader Called Hot Dogs Missiles of Death," and I said, "That's funny. Order that one." And we saw it and it was just a clip of this one guy saying, "I don't believe as Mr. Nader does..." - this was a guy you couldn't cast any better! - "that hot dogs are missiles of death."

I had the footage and it was only later on that I interviewed James Fallows. He was saying, "One time we sat around talking about what to call hot dogs... guided missiles? I can't remember." And I knew it, and I said, "missiles of death," and he laughed and we were able to cut that together. Serendipitous moment.

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What, me worry?

Sep 12th, 2012

As a nationally-acclaimed worry-wort  (*disclaimer: no one has ever given me anything but grief, let alone acclaim for my vigilant worrying) a few weeks ago I did something that I’ve been feeling kind of proud of.

That’s me (not pictured) boldly allowing my baby to ride her bike to school clear across suburbia all by herself without any bubble wrap.

And here I am not pictured again, sending my 4th grader out to meet the school bus alone with little more than a smile and that pack on her back.

I am brave. I am chill and relaxed and so comfortably assured that my children are prepared for their world that I can barely think of anything to worry about.  List? Consider yourself checked.

Vegetables? Eaten.

Sunscreen? Applied.

And oh yes stranger danger and helmets and looking two ways and holding on with both hands we’ve covered you too.  We are good.

And then, an email.  An email from school that came with this title:

Bear Activity confirmed in school district.

Aces.  So much for all that time I dedicated to compulsive preparations because I can tell you this with utter confidence  –  I sent those little lambs out into their environment without a single item that might be useful in self-defense against wild animals.

Unless you count a sharpened #2?

I turn my jittery, flustered attention back to the email and find, not a step-by-step on defeating bears with writing implements, but this helpful tip:

“Please talk to your children about bear safety.”

Um, right-o.  I am sure that tying trash in trees and stomping out campfires works just fine when these not-so-gentle giants are encountered in their woodsy ‘hood, but what could bear safety in the suburbs possibly look like?

I can only assume that it’s a little bit Never accept candy from trench-coat-adorned bears.

And perhaps a smattering of Just Say No, er, to bears.

8 Comments on “What, me worry?”

  1. David said:

    Why does the school district even need to remind you to talk to your kids about bear safety? Didn’t you already have that covered? ;-)

  2. Meredith said:

    Yes, Daphne, how do you not know this? Make loud noises, back away slowly, do not run. Which, except for the do not run part, is different advice from how to deal with mountain lions – much scarier animals!

  3. the mama bird diaries said:

    As a fellow worrier, bears are definitely not on my radar screen.

  4. Kristen said:

    Goodness gracious…. bears, oh my. I love the pictures of the girls. They are beautiful.

  5. Lanie said:

    No bears please. Bring on the bubble wrap. xoxo

  6. Dave said:

    Why are they wasting our kids time in school teaching them pointless things, like how to write in cursive, and not teaching vital life skills, like Bear Confrontation 101?

  7. Grace said:

    I hope the girls enjoyed their one and only day of freedom!! I am sure you will not find a bear frock ty

  8. Grace said:

    Frock-type repellant to wrap them in so it is back to a carpooling they will go!!