Near Gone, Kelly’s Heart Calls Him Back

January 22nd, 2012 No comments

In the early hours of the morning, Chip Kelly changed his mind. When heads hit pillows on both coasts, Oregon’s Kelly, fresh off his third straight B.C.S. berth – and first win – was nearly signed, sealed and delivered to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nearly, of course is key: as with recruiting, nothing is official until signatures meet dotted lines. For as far as Kelly’s discussions moved along with Tampa Bay, his cursive script never met the bottom of a contract; perhaps there’s hope after all, thought a portion of the Oregon fan base, as heads hit pillows. Then again, no Oregon fan could have been upset if Kelly followed the money, not to mention Phil Knight’s personal and professional mantra: Just Do It.

Even if he had left last night, or leaves at some point within the next three years, Kelly’s place in program history is more than secure. He’s the only coach to win 12 games in Eugene, something he’s now done twice. He, along with Bellotti, share all seven of the double-digit win seasons in program history.

Kelly in Oregon lore: built by others – Rich Brooks and Mike Bellotti – the program has taken a step forward under his watch. The Ducks have become the Google of college stock, growing exponentially while other, more historically prestigious programs struggle reclaiming past glory.

So you’d understand why Tampa Bay was interested. And you’d understand why Kelly would reciprocate any interest; the N.F.L. offers Kelly not just a large annual contract, but also the opportunity to put behind the sort of non-coaching business that plagues the day-to-day activities of a college coach.

There’s no recruiting in the N.F.L., which to some college coaching stars might be the league’s most attractive draw of all. There’s no petting the egos of high school juniors and seniors. No milking relationships with high school coaches – or a figure like Willie Lyles.

Speaking of Lyles, the N.F.L.’s enforcement committee focuses primarily on non-sanctioned sock height, noticeable bandanas and overaggressive over-the-middle head shots. Measure that with how the N.C.A.A. pursues a figure like Lyles, the Texas-based runner who factors heavily in Oregon’s past and future, and you can see why Kelly, and others, look at the N.F.L. as the promised land.

It’s an idea that goes beyond merely competing on football’s highest level, which according to reports has long been one of Kelly’s career goals – him and everyone else, it should be added. Some coaches, like a Steve Spurrier, aren’t happy until they’ve tried their hands on the N.F.L.; most come back with their tail between their legs, but they tried.

So what flipped Kelly – what made a done deal into no deal? Fairly simple, really: his heart wasn’t in it. Everything else was, but according to Tampa Bay general manager Mark Dominik, Kelly’s “heart is with college football and Oregon.”

Music to Oregon’s ears, and a disaster averted. And put to bed the idea that Kelly was jumping ship, much in the same way most assumed Pete Carroll skipped town at U.S.C. just as the N.C.A.A. was preparing to drop the hammer on the Trojans’ program.

The only issue with that idea, that Carroll got out of Dodge, was that Carroll had been eyeballing a return to the N.F.L. – a chance to reclaim his good name on that level – for at least two years prior to his eventual departure. He was merely waiting for the right opportunity, one that would allow him to have some degree of power of personnel decisions.

Kelly was going for the fun of it. Well, perhaps fun is the wrong word: the N.F.L. is a lot of things to a lot of people, but coaching in the N.F.L. is the opposite of fun; there’s a reason Bill Belichick, the most successful N.F.L. coach in generations, never smiles. Vince Lombardi only smiled on Sunday nights after victories, when he and his wife would entertain guests with cocktails in hand.

Kelly wanted to go because, with a George Mallory-like mentality, the N.F.L. is there. But his heart wouldn’t be there; as Dominik noted, his heart would have remained with Oregon and college, where Kelly knows his offensive philosophy remains the most devastating attack in the F.B.S.

So Oregon breaths a sigh of relief, and looks forward to a few years of coaching consistency. You forget that the Ducks have experienced precious little coaching turnover for decades, not just at head coach – three since 1977 – but also with assistants. Running backs coach Gary Campbell is closing in on three decades in Eugene, for example.

For a few hours, it seemed as if the program would need to return to the drawing board. This would be completely unlike the transition from Brooks to Bellotti, when Oregon promoted the latter, then Oregon’s defensive coordinator, from within the staff. Or from Bellotti to Kelly – offensive coordinator to head coach.

Knight and the Ducks would have looked outside the program, and things may have never been the same again. Yes, there’s that Nike money, not to mention the fact that Oregon’s national prestige continues to grow with every passing fall; once nouveau riche, the Ducks are close to joining the old guard.

There will be no new coaching search, though it was close. The program’s climb will continue under Kelly, though Oregon might want to have a transition plan in mind, should he ever be enticed once again by coaching on football’s highest level.

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Anthropology Professor Receives NEH Fellowship

January 22nd, 2012 No comments

Professor Christina Schwenkel of the anthropology department recently received a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship to facilitate further work on her new book, “Revitalizing the City: Socialist Architecture, Postwar Memory, and Urban Renewal in Vietnam.” Professor Schwenkel’s research concentrates on the city of Vinh in north central Vietnam, which was virtually destroyed during the “American War,” and where she lived in an East German-built socialist tenement (Quang Trung) between September 2010 and May 2011. During her time in the housing blocks, she became completely immersed in its culture– eating, drinking, and living among the people, making friends, and compiling the story of their community.

Currently, over half the residents living in the Quang Trung tenements are people who originally moved in during the 1970s, when the structures were new. Contrary to what preliminary research led her to believe, Professor Schwenkel found that the community originally disliked the five-story buildings and saw them as something foreign and incongruous with their space and culture. Over the past thirty years, however, the close quarters of Quang Trung have fostered a public space of community and support that residents now struggle to protect against privatization and impending demolition. Although the housing structures were once denounced as cramped and architecturally Eurocentric, the community of Vinh has come to see them as a kind of local heritage– a place where people were able to put their lives back together and construct a future for themselves in the aftermath of the war. While the first part of her book explores the construction of Quang Trung and its role in presenting the city as a modern socialist internationalist urban space, the second half details the ongoing struggle to adjust to capitalist redevelopment, which threatens to erase Quang Trung’s history and uproot its community.

Why are some old buildings in an impoverished city all the way across the world so important? As Professor Schwenkel points out, since the end of the Vietnam War, Americans haven’t paid much attention to the enduring consequences of the war, nor its impact on human lives in Vietnam. Vinh City provides an important example of what those consequences have been. These old buildings are more than just cement structures; they are symbols of suffering and what it took for a community to overcome that suffering. “U.S. public culture has a habit of quickly forgetting about the victims of our wars and the people who continue to live with the traumatic aftermaths of military violence,” Schwenkel says. Perhaps in recognizing the repercussions of old actions, we may provide ourselves with a greater wisdom in future ones.

Professor Schwenkel’s research, including her fieldwork in Vietnam and archival research in Germany were also supported by the American Council of Learned Societies, Fulbright-Hays, and The UC Pacific Rim Research Program, all prestigious organizations dedicated to supporting international humanities research.

High School Boys Baskeball: The Bee’s Top 20

January 18th, 2012 No comments

THE BEE’S TOP 20

PR previous ranking; records through Sunday

Team W-L PR

1. Sheldon 13-3 2

2. Jesuit 14-4 1

3. Pleasant Grove 17-1 3

4. Sacramento 12-5 4

5. Antelope 16-1 5

6. Foothill 15-3 7

7. Franklin 14-4 8

8. Bella Vista 15-3 9

9. Del Campo 15-3 10

10. Burbank 12-5 6

11. Kennedy 14-4 11

12. Oak Ridge 11-7 12

13. Center 13-4 13

14. Folsom 10-9 14

15. Granite Bay 9-9 15

16. Del Oro 11-7 16

17. Capital Christian 13-4 17

18. River Valley 14-3 19

19. Valley 11-6

20. Whitney 12-6

Bill Paterson

Categories: Education Advisor Tags: Top, Top 20

Thoughts From First Surgery at Rush’s New Hospital

January 14th, 2012 No comments

The ORs in Rushs new hospital building contain advanced communication features such as video conferencing.

Ear, nose and throat surgeon Dr. Guy Petruzzelli spent more time than he’s accustomed to in the operating room Monday morning during one of the first surgeries at the Tower, Rush University Medical Center’s new hospital. Not only didn’t he mind the extra time spent in the room, he considers it a giant step forward in patient care.

In one of the approximately 60 operations in the brand-new operating rooms at the Tower that day, Petruzzelli used a robotic procedure to remove a small tumor from the back of a patient’s throat. This requires specimen analysis by a pathologist, and prior to the move to the new hospital, Petruzzelli would have needed to leave the operating room (OR) to consult with the pathology department about the results.

But due to new technology available to him and the other surgeons at Rush at the new hospital building, his meetings with pathologists now happen through video communication after the specimen sample is sent to the pathology department in a pneumatic tube, a network of tubes that can propel special canisters with, for example, pathology specimens from surgery, to different locations at the Medical Center. Thanks to the video screens in the OR, Petruzzelli is able to see exactly what the pathologist is seeing under a microscope in real time, and can discuss the results “face to face. That saves precious time, improves communication, and it’s just one of the features of the Tower that had Petruzzelli so excited following his procedure.

“It’s very important for surgeons, especially cancer surgeons, to communicate with the pathologists,” Petruzzelli said. “We can have a conversation with the pathologists about what they’re seeing at that moment and have them describe that to us without leaving the operating room. That is really incredible.”

Petruzzelli also noted one of the other communication features of the new operating rooms. There are four high-definition monitors dispersed throughout the room, allowing everyone there to see what the surgeon is seeing while operating using microscopic video cameras.

“We can set that up these monitors so the surgical assistant, along with the scrub nurse — everyone in the room — can see what’s going on, and they can more quickly anticipate what the needs of the surgeon are,” Petruzzelli said.

Surgeons can also use the monitors for teaching residents and students in the room, and the images can be sent to other teaching hospitals around the world for educational needs.

Everyone viewing Petruzzelli’s procedure Monday morning saw a very safe surgery that was executed well. For that, Petruzzelli made sure to credit the nursing leadership, including the unit director of perioperative services, Leslie Wirtz, RN, and her team, which worked all day Saturday and Sunday to make sure the room’s equipment and other infrastructure was ready for a safe surgery.

“For the magnitude of the transition and change, it was really spectacular,” Petruzzelli said. “Things went very safely and very well.”

Now That You’re Eligible for Filing, What’s Next?

January 13th, 2012 No comments

Image by rkrichardson via Flickr

Now that you’ve made sure you qualify for filing for bankruptcy, consulted a local bankruptcy lawyer, and sorted through all the paperwork, you are finally ready to file for bankruptcy in your local state. A new path of being debt free is finally within your grasp, but there’s one thing left to consider: bankruptcy filing fees. Although somewhat ironic, yes, there are standard bankruptcy filing fees you must pay to file for bankruptcy. However, before you consider other options, try thinking of this filing fee as a one-time payment that can help you reshape your future.

The filing fees are typically paid to your local bankruptcy court. They do not include bankruptcy attorney fees, which are at the discretion of your lawyer. Attorney fees vary due to a number of factors, including location, the complexity of your case, the length of your case, and more.

As of November 2011, bankruptcy filing fees are as follows:

Image via Wikipedia

·         $306 for Chapter 7

·         $281 for Chapter 13

Paying for the Chapter 7 filing fees will immediately discharge most of your unsecured debts, including credit card bills, personal loans, utility bills and medical bills. If your case is approved, most, if not all, of your unsecured debt will be erased, giving you a clean slate and a chance to rebuild your credit score for future financial endeavors. Once your debt is cleared, you are no longer responsible for the debt, and creditors cannot contact you about those debts again.

Paying for the Chapter 13 filing fee will lead a court structured and approved repayment plan that is interest free. This repayment plan will also halt any foreclosures and repossessions on your properties for a period of three to five years, allowing you to keep your homes and automobiles. The bankruptcy filing fee must be made to the clerk at the bankruptcy court upon filing for Chapter 13. After successfully filing for Chapter 13, you must make sure to follow your payment plan and pay on time, you must not incur a large amount of new debt, and you must keep current insurance on assets that act as collateral for a debt. Keep in mind that attorney fees may vary due to factors such as the length and complexity of your case.

Filing for bankruptcy may seem like a long and tedious process. The attorney fees and filing fees you must pay may seem like they are not worth it. However, keep in mind that you are paying a few hundred dollars to clear away thousands of dollars worth of debt. Filing for Ch 7 and Ch 13 bankruptcy may be the best way to get your family out of debt and start over with a clean slate.

Categories: Education World Tags: filing fees