Top 7 Tips for Keeping Your Payroll Information Organized - daydaily

Written on June 30, 2013 ? 3:40 am | by guest writer |

A small business?s payroll department is an important part of its business operations. Whether it?s run by one person or a large staff, an organized flow of finances keeps the business going strong. There?s no room for disorganization when it comes to payroll because even the smallest of mistakes can end up costing the company dearly.

There are several considerations that can help a small business keep their payroll information organized. Maintaining organization can help streamline the payroll process, resulting in happy employees and payroll staff.

Organized payroll means employees get paid without delay.

Payroll Organization Tips for Small Businesses

• Organize Personnel Files.Organization of important employee files might sound like something that would automatically happen, but small businesses don?t always have access to extra staff members or additional work time to keep personnel files organized and up to date. One thing that can help is to organize as files are added to, rather than wait for work to pile up.
• Keep Employee Records Secure.Part of the organization process includes keeping employee payroll records secure. All files, whether stored as hard copies in the office or stored online, should not be easily accessed by anyone outside of the payroll department besides the business owner.
• Simplify Policies.Policies, while well-intentioned, can complicate and confuse things. A business owner should ensure that policies regarding paid vacation, days off, expenses, and commission are concise and simple to promote streamlining during the processing of payroll.
• Go Paperless.Good records are vital to an organized payroll system, but a paper trail isn?t. With all the advancements in technology, there?s really no reason for a business to keep hard copies of everything. Going paperless with employee payroll can improve organization by reducing physical paperwork.
• Create a Payroll Calendar.A calendar that displays important tax dates, quarterly and year-end activities, as well as the creation and distribution of reports will help the payroll department keep other payroll activities on track with the year-round calendar.
• Enlist the Help of a Payroll Service.Small business owners who find themselves overwhelmed with office operations can keep things organized and reduce stress by enlisting the assistance of a payroll service. In addition to having a software program that makes payroll easier, the business will also have access to tech support and customer service.
• Include Mobile Access.A good payroll service will make it possible for the business owner and payroll department to take care of business from a remote location via remote access.

An organized payroll calendar ensures important tasks are completed on time.

Use a Payroll System that Functions with Other Bookkeeping

As business owners set out to streamline their payroll process, it?s wise to incorporate practices and tools that will improve overall bookkeeping. Payroll is one cog in the wheel, and it makes good business sense to ensure that any changes made to a business?s payroll practices will work with the rest of the business finances.

These tips can help small businesses that wish to organize this aspect of their business operations know where to start and what to consider as they begin.

Mary Ylisela is a writer and small business coach who encourages clients to work smarter, not harder, which includes streamlining operations such as payroll.

Source: http://daydaily.com/2013/06/30/top-7-tips-for-keeping-your-payroll-information-organized/

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Our unlikely man in Moscow takes on Putin over human rights, spying and Snowden

Yuri Kochetkov / EPA file

U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul leaves the Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters in Moscow, Russia, May 15 2013.

By Jim Maceda, Correspondent, NBC News

MOSCOW -- As fugitive National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden evaded capture in Hong Kong and fled to Moscow, disappearing in an airport transit lounge, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul was on the front lines of efforts to arrest him.

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According to multiple accounts, McFaul tirelessly worked the phones and social media, focusing pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to "do the right thing" and hand over the 29-year-old?former NSA-contractor. Putin ? typically defiant ? refused.

It was an odd, confrontational role for a diplomat ??but then again, McFaul isn't a typical one.

Ever since the former Stanford University academic and Russia expert arrived?? about a year and a half ago ??in the Spaso House, the traditional residence for U.S. ambassadors, McFaul has been a lightning rod for Russian anger against the West, and specifically, America.

McFaul, a laid-back, 49-year-old Californian as fluent in Los Angeles Lakers basketball as he is in strategic nuclear arms, likes to say he is "no Cold War soldier."

But he hadn't even unpacked his bags when Russia?s main, Kremlin-controlled TV station Channel One ran a lead story about a group of opposition leaders lining up outside Spaso to meet the man who wrote a book titled "Russia?s Unfinished Revolution."

The reporter suggested McFaul had been appointed by President Barack Obama to finish that business.

McFaul has taken it all in stride: the angry chants of "Down with the U.S. Embassy" at pro-Putin demonstrations; the growing anti-Americanism of Putin?s third term as president; his crackdown on U.S. institutions like USAID and Voice of America; the evisceration of the anti-Putin movement and the jailing of its key leaders.

Recently, there has also been a?tit-for-tat over human rights, with Russians accused of abuses being banned from travel to the United States and Americans prohibited by the Kremlin from adopting Russian children.

Above it all is Russia?s military and financial support for Syrian strongman President Bashar Assad.

But, while many in the Obama administration have been criticized for doing little in the face of Putin?s surge, McFaul has turned into a prodigious blogger and tweeter, slowly winning over the hearts and minds of young Russians with his jovial chatter ??he often tweets in Russian.

For example, the tweet below in Russian says: "President Putin on Snowden: 'the faster he chooses the final destination point, the better it will be for us and for him.'"

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At the same time, McFaul also knows how to pick his fights. When a group of so-called "private security" agents raided the offices of the non-governmental organization For Human Rights and forcibly evicted 71-year-old activist Lev Ponomaryov, leaving him covered in cuts and bruises, McFaul took to Twitter and called the move "another case of intimidation of civil society."

The Putin regime has responded in kind. In May, just as the U.S. ambassador had launched the#AskMcFaul hashtag, a question-and-answer session on Twitter, he was bombarded with questions -- too many to be unplanned -- about the news that Russian authorities had detained a U.S. Embassy employee named Ryan Christopher Fogle.

Fogle allegedly tried to recruit a Russian intelligence agent for the CIA. McFaul managed to ignore the online harassment and focus for a full hour on the positive: good cooperation in law enforcement; the "reset" in U.S.-Russia relations; and his love of the opera. Fogle was later released.

And, this week, even as his boss, Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns, was named point man for U.S. efforts to arrest Snowden, McFaul has unleashed his rapid-fire tweeting during the latest stand-off over Snowden?s fate. ?

Reacting to Putin?s claim that he couldn't extradite the American because there was no such treaty between the United States and Russia, McFaul fired off this reminder: "Over last 5 yrs US has returned 1,700 Russian citizens to Russia w/ 500+ of them being criminal deportations" ??a?shrewd talking point followed by more chatter about basketball.

In the end, Snowden may well escape, finding asylum in Ecuador or elsewhere. But it won?t be for lack of effort from America?s unlikely man in Moscow, battling ??and taking the knocks ??from behind the scenes.

Jim Maceda is an NBC News correspondent based in London, currently on assignment in Moscow.?

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BlackBerry CEO Confirms No BB10 Update For The Aging PlayBook Tablet

Here's a Friday morning PSA for you BlackBerry PlayBook owners: if you were feverishly clutching your tablet in hopes that BlackBerry would finally update it with a shiny new OS, you can finally put them down. BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins just confirmed during the company's Q1 earnings call that the BlackBerry 10 won't be coming to your aging doodad. Tough break, folks.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/CL83eqPTJ3I/

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Understanding The Benefits Of Green Coffee Bean Extract

You will save your dollars, but it will take longer to see the savings. So precisely what happens for green coffee beans to end up being the aromatic, oily, dark brown pinto beans that are simply just ground and brewed to generate a walk? If you prefer roasted and as being a particular kind of roasting, such as French roast, it is possible to still get a pretty good deal on specialty coffee beans in bulk if you shop around.

Green beans extract have now grown being pretty popular after it had been featured on the Dr Oz tv show in 2012. If you select coffee delivery, then you certainly should think about asking others to get coffee too. It's a 'fat burner' and yes it was recommended by Doctor Oz!

Want to appear healthy and fit? Yet dry hulling methods develop a lower quality product. The first thing you may become aware around this coffeemaker is its trendy stylish design.

Roasting pinto beans is a hugely transformative process, involving endothermic and exothermic processes (heating and the release of heat), resulting chemical reactions, and drastic physical changes. It is simply filled with natural ingredients that have been proven to give plenty of benefits towards the body including allowing you to lose weight faster than in case you werent while using product. Yes, but the actual amount needed to become consumed in order to receive the anti-cancer benefits by humans is unknown.

By the end from the study, the test subjects averaged a 10.5 % loss in weight without a alternation in diet or exercise habits. D., who led your research, pointed out that type 2 diabetes, the most typical form of diabetes, is surely an increasing global medical condition. If we understand a shop's goal/brand, then it can be easier to determine what precisely the venue is advertising and why we might be more inclined to visit one shop over another.

However, in order to get the most effective deal, you need to buy coffee beans wholesale, and not in small quantities. Actually, in a lot of different ways, it's indeed good for have Grind and Brew coffee maker within the household. Is there truly a coffee antioxidant?

And there's usually a second oven meant to clean the air of each of the pollutants, which adds for the gas used along with the CO2 emissions. Green coffee bean extract. Espresso roasting - After fourteen minutes of heating, each of the sugars in the beans are burned and caramelized. Green pinto beans: unroasted coffees (the freshest pinto beans available).

It has been proven to inhibit tumor growth which will help prevent the oxidation of LDL cholesterol that will lead to atherosclerosis. What studies did reveal is that about 90% of people in the age of 35 lose enough muscle every year burning off one more 4 pounds of excess fat. Shade grown beans are unique because they're not hybrids, which are sun-dependent, and so they do not use advanced agricultural production methods.

About the Author:
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Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Understanding-The-Benefits-Of-Green-Coffee-Bean-Extract/5186082

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Hikers rescued trying to reach 'Into the Wild' bus

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) ? Three hikers, one slowed by an ankle injury, signaled a passing military helicopter with a mirror for rescue from the Alaska wilderness when they tried to reach a bus made famous by the book and movie "Into the Wild," a U.S. Army Alaska official said Friday.

It's the second rescue this summer of people making a pilgrimage to the abandoned Fairbanks city bus situated north of Denali National Park and Preserve.

The rescue, which was first reported by the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, happened Tuesday after the three hikers became stranded by the raging Teklanika River.

A CH-47F Chinook helicopter from Fort Wainwright was on a training mission west of Healy when the hikers spotted it, U.S. Army Alaska spokesman John Pennell said.

"As they were coming along, I guess, the Stampede Trail, the hikers signaled for them with mirrors and other stuff," Pennell said.

The helicopter, piloted by Chief Warrant Officer Rafael Calderia, landed and checked the hikers.

"One of the females had a twisted ankle, but I guess what was really keeping them in place was the water level of the Teklanika River," Pennell said.

The hikers told the members of the U.S. Army Alaska Aviation Task Force that they had crossed the river on Monday, but water levels had risen within a day to impassable conditions. They also had run out of food on Sunday.

The military crew assessed the situation, and the helicopter returned to Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks to refuel and to receive permission from the state's Rescue Coronation Center to take the hikers out.

The clearance was given to pick up the hikers.

"They loaded them onto the Chinook and flew them out to where their car was parked on Stampede Road and told them, 'Go report it,'" he said.

Pennell said recently a military crew rescued people from a plane crash after they were contacted by radio, but using mirrors is a different story.

"I would imagine it's fairly out of the ordinary," he said.

The hikers reported the incident as instructed to Alaska State Troopers, who encouraged them to take Nichole Pickering, 25, of Florida, to a nearby clinic to check her leg injury.

In May, three German hikers trying to reach the bus on the Stampede Trail, near Healy, located about 10 miles north of the entrance to Denali National Park and Preserve on the Parks Highway, also had to be rescued.

They told troopers the river they crossed getting to the bus had become impassable for the return due to high, swift-running water. The hikers had proper gear but only enough food for three days, troopers said.

Troopers flew the three hikers to their vehicle at the end of Stampede Road.

The green and white bus, used for years as a shelter for hunters, has become a destination for those seeking to retrace the steps of Chris McCandless.

"The Bus," as it has become known, has been the source of multiple rescues since it was made famous, first by Jon Krakauer's book published in 1996 and then by Sean Penn's 2007 film, both of which chronicled the life and death of McCandless, a 24-year-old Virginian who hiked into the Alaska wilderness in April 1992 with little food and equipment and spent the summer living in the bus. McCandless was found dead in the bus almost four months later after starving to death.

Since the book and movie came out, troopers have rescued numerous hikers who hiked out to the bus but could not return due to high water in the Teklanika River. A woman from Switzerland drowned in the river three years ago on the trail to the bus, but it was unclear whether she was hiking to the bus or just hiking in the area.

Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters says the bus is a destination like anywhere else in Alaska, and noted they have been involved in farm more rescues of people trying to hike Flattop Mountain in Anchorage.

Like anything else, some people are fine, others have issues.

Getting rid of the bus wouldn't help.

"Even if you remove the bus, I'm pretty confident somebody would do some kind of makeshift memorial or people would just go out there anyway," Peters said. "And it's one of those things whether it doesn't matter whether it's a structure or not, it's the infamy."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hikers-rescued-trying-reach-wild-bus-164000442.html

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Consumer spending rebounds, jobless claims fall

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer spending rebounded in May and new applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, suggesting the economy remained on a moderate growth path.

Other data on Thursday showed contracts to buy previously owned homes surged to their highest level in more than six years in May, keeping the recovery anchored in the face of tighter fiscal policy.

"Economic growth is not over the top, that's for sure," said Chris Rupkey chief financial economist at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in New York. "We expect, however, economic growth will be strong enough to bring unemployment down at an acceptable pace."

The Commerce Department said consumer spending increased 0.3 percent last month, reversing April's 0.3 percent drop. The increase was in line with expectations.

When adjusted for inflation, consumer spending rose 0.2 percent last month. However, the so-called real consumer spending for April was revised to show the first contraction in six months.

This suggests second-quarter consumer spending growth could slow a little bit more than economists had previously anticipated and hold back overall economic growth.

Consumer spending grew at a 2.6 percent annual pace in the first quarter.

Some economists pared their second-quarter gross domestic product estimates. Barclays cut its GDP forecast by 0.4 percentage point to a 1.4 percent annual pace, while Morgan Stanley trimmed its estimate to 1.5 percent from 1.6 percent.

The economy expanded at a 1.8 percent rate in the first three months of the year.

In a separate report, the Labor Department said initial claims for unemployment benefits fell 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 346,000. The four-week moving average for new claims, which irons out week-to-week volatility, fell 2,750 to 345,750.

The claims report signaled little change in the pace of job growth. Employment growth has averaged 189,000 jobs per month so far this year.

"It appears that the underlying pace of layoffs remained stable during June. The other half of the employment equation, hiring, also likely held steady," said Guy Berger, an economist at RBS in Stamford, Connecticut.

DATA TONE IMPROVING

Recent data, including housing, regional factory activity, business spending plans and consumer confidence, have pointed to an economy that is regaining its footing after stumbling early in the second quarter.

That is broadly supportive of the view the Federal Reserve expressed last week that the downside risks to the economy's outlook have waned. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. central bank could start scaling back on the pace of its monthly bond purchases this year.

U.S. stock were trading higher in morning trade. The dollar touched a session high against the yen, while prices for U.S. Treasury debt pushed higher.

The economy's stabilizing tone was underscored by a report from the National Association of Realtors showing signed contracts in May to buy previously owned homes surged to their highest level since December 2006.

While part of the jump in pending home sales reflected a rush by buyers to lock in deals before mortgage rates climbed higher, it was also a sign of underlying strength in the housing market.

The NAR's Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed last month, increased 6.7 percent to 112.3.

The improving growth theme held as other details of the Commerce Department report showed income grew 0.5 percent last month, the largest gain since February, after nudging up 0.1 percent in April. That reflects a steady pace of job gains.

Households also saved a bit more last month, lifting the saving rate to a five-month high of 3.2 percent.

There was also a bit of inflation in the economy last month, pointing to some pick-up in demand.

A price index for consumer spending inched up 0.1 percent in May after declining two straight months. A core reading that strips out food and energy costs also rose 0.1 percent after being flat in April.

Over the past 12 months, inflation increased 1 percent, well below the Fed's 2 percent target but up from a 0.7 percent reading in the period through April.

Core prices were up 1.1 percent from a year ago, the same as in April. While that suggested some stabilization after a long period of disinflation, it matched a record low reached only a few times since the series started in 1960.

Falling healthcare costs have pulled core inflation lower, but Bernanke said last week that those prices should turn higher as he made the case for a likely reduction in the Fed's bond-buying stimulus later this year.

One Fed official, St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard, has said Bernanke should have waited for clearer signs inflation was turning higher before laying out the case for less Fed stimulus.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Additional reporting by Doug Palmer and Paige Gance; Editing by Neil Stempleman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jobless-claims-fall-346-000-latest-week-123245963.html

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Facebook ad products director to join online-payment firm Square

By Alexei Oreskovic and Gerry Shih

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc's director of advertising products has been hired by Square in a significant coup for the young online-payments company.

Gokul Rajaram starts work at the San Francisco-based company next week as lead product developer, overseeing Square Register, the firm's point-of-sale product for retailers, Square said on Thursday. The product allows retailers to use an Apple iPad computer tablet as a cash register.

Rajaram will also work on other products, Square said.

Rajaram oversaw the development of products for Facebook's advertising business, which accounts for about 85 percent of the social networking company's revenue. Facebook has been under pressure to prove the effectiveness and long-term potential of its advertising services, as its stock remains far below the $38-a-share price of its May 2012 initial public offering.

With consumers increasingly accessing Facebook on smartphones, Facebook has transformed its ad business over the past year, placing greater emphasis on mobile ads that appear directly in users' newsfeeds.

Mike Hudack, who worked on Rajaram's team and was focused on measuring the effectiveness of Facebook's ads, replaces Rajaram as head of product management for Facebook Ads and Pages.

"Gokul has played a valuable part in building our advertising business. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors," Facebook said in a statement.

Shares of Facebook were up 2.2 percent at $24.70 in afternoon trading.

Square, one of Silicon Valley's most closely watched private companies, has made several high-profile hires in recent months as it attempts to live up to a lofty $3.25 billion valuation. It recently released a slew of new hardware and software, including a card reader stand and an e-commerce website.

Retailers are central to Square's growth plans. Customers using iPads make up nearly half the $15 billion in payments that Square says it processes on an annualized basis.

Rajaram joined Facebook in 2010, when the world's largest social networking company acquired his startup firm, Chai Labs. Preceding that, he was a product management director for ad services at Google Inc.

(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Bernadette Baum)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-ad-products-director-join-online-payment-firm-165745493.html

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NASA's Voyager 1 craft enters unfamiliar space

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? New research pinpoints the current location of NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft: It's still in our solar system.

Since last summer, the long-running spacecraft has been exploring uncharted territory where the effects of interstellar space, or the space between stars, can be felt. Scientists don't know how thick this newfound region in the solar system is or how much farther Voyager 1 has to travel to break to the other side.

"It could actually be anytime or it could be several more years," said chief scientist Ed Stone of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the mission.

Stone first described this unexpected zone at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union last year. A trio of papers published online Thursday in the journal Science confirmed just how strange this new layer is.

Soon after Voyager 1 crossed into this region last August, low-energy charged particles that had been plentiful suddenly zipped outside while high-energy cosmic rays from interstellar space streamed inward. Readings by one of Voyager 1's instruments showed an abrupt increase in the magnetic field strength, but there was no change in the direction of the magnetic field lines ? a sign that Voyager 1 has not yet exited the solar system.

Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, were launched in 1977 to visit the giant gas planets, beaming back dazzling postcards of Jupiter, Saturn and their moons. Voyager 2 went on to tour Uranus and Neptune. After planet-hopping, they were sent on a trajectory toward interstellar space.

Voyager 1 is about 11 ? billion miles from the sun. Voyager 2 is about 9? billion miles from the sun. The nuclear-powered spacecraft have enough fuel to operate their instruments until around 2020.

In the meantime, scientists are looking for any clues of a departure. Given the time it takes to process the data, mission scientist Leonard Burlaga said there will be a lag between when Voyager 1 finally sails into interstellar space and when the team can confirm the act. Then there's always the possibility of surprises beyond the solar system.

"Crossing may not be an instantaneous thing," Burlaga said. "It may be complicated."

___

Follow Alicia Chang at http://twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-06-27-NASA-Voyager/id-2b26bb17925c4bb9a5ad020e08511fdd

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Mapping out how to save species

June 27, 2013 ? In stunning color, new biodiversity research from North Carolina State University maps out priority areas worldwide that hold the key to protecting vulnerable species and focusing conservation efforts.

The research, published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, pinpoints the highest global concentrations of mammals, amphibians and birds on a scale that's 100 times finer than previous assessments. The findings can be used to make the most of available conservation resources, said Dr. Clinton Jenkins, lead author and research scholar at NC State University.

"We must know where individual species live, which ones are vulnerable, and where human actions threaten them," Jenkins said. "We have better data than in the past -- and better analytical methods. Now we have married them for conservation purposes."

To assess how well the bright-red priority areas are being protected, researchers calculated the percentage of priority areas that fell within existing protected zones. They produced colorful maps that offer a snapshot of worldwide efforts to protect vertebrate species and preserve biodiversity. More maps are available in high resolution on the Saving Species blog.

"The most important biodiversity areas do have a higher rate of protection than the global average. Unfortunately, it is still insufficient given how important these areas are," said co-author Dr. Lucas Joppa with Microsoft Research in Cambridge, England. "There is a growing worry that we are running out of time to expand the global network of protected areas."

Researchers hope their work can guide expansion of protected areas before it's too late.

"The choice of which areas in the world receive protection will ultimately decide which species survive and which go extinct," says co-author Dr. Stuart Pimm of Duke University. "We need the best available science to guide these decisions."

Jenkins' work was supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Blue Moon Foundation and a National Aeronautics and Space Agency Biodiversity Grant.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/ZRUnmtmr1A8/130627130951.htm

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Broader health law exemption for Native Americans (The Arizona Republic)

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MARC travel awards announced for the AAI 2013 Introductory Course in Immunology Meeting

Public release date: 26-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Gail Pinder
gpinder@faseb.org
301-634-7021
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology

Bethesda, MD FASEB MARC (Maximizing Access to Research Careers) Program has announced the travel award recipients for the American Association of Immunologists 2013 Introductory Course in Immunology meeting in Philadelphia, PA from July 13-18, 2013. These awards are meant to promote the entry of students, postdoctorates and scientists from underrepresented groups into the mainstream of the basic science community and to encourage the participation of young scientists at the American Association of Immunologists meeting.

Awards are given to poster/platform presenters and faculty mentors paired with the students/trainees they mentor. This year MARC conferred 4 awards totaling $7,400.

The FASEB MARC Program is funded by a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health. A primary goal of the MARC Program is to increase the number and competitiveness of underrepresented minorities engaged in biomedical and behavioral research.

POSTER/ORAL PRESENTERS (FASEB MARC PROGRAM)
Nicole Arnold, University of California, Riverside
Alexandria Bobe, The University of Chicago [AAI member]
Dr. Amanda Masino, Huston-Tillotson University
Jose Suarez-Martinez, Michigan State University [AAI member]

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FASEB is composed of 26 societies with more than 100,000 members, making it the largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the United States. Our mission is to advance health and welfare by promoting progress and education in biological and biomedical sciences through service to our member societies and collaborative advocacy.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 26-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Gail Pinder
gpinder@faseb.org
301-634-7021
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology

Bethesda, MD FASEB MARC (Maximizing Access to Research Careers) Program has announced the travel award recipients for the American Association of Immunologists 2013 Introductory Course in Immunology meeting in Philadelphia, PA from July 13-18, 2013. These awards are meant to promote the entry of students, postdoctorates and scientists from underrepresented groups into the mainstream of the basic science community and to encourage the participation of young scientists at the American Association of Immunologists meeting.

Awards are given to poster/platform presenters and faculty mentors paired with the students/trainees they mentor. This year MARC conferred 4 awards totaling $7,400.

The FASEB MARC Program is funded by a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health. A primary goal of the MARC Program is to increase the number and competitiveness of underrepresented minorities engaged in biomedical and behavioral research.

POSTER/ORAL PRESENTERS (FASEB MARC PROGRAM)
Nicole Arnold, University of California, Riverside
Alexandria Bobe, The University of Chicago [AAI member]
Dr. Amanda Masino, Huston-Tillotson University
Jose Suarez-Martinez, Michigan State University [AAI member]

###

FASEB is composed of 26 societies with more than 100,000 members, making it the largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the United States. Our mission is to advance health and welfare by promoting progress and education in biological and biomedical sciences through service to our member societies and collaborative advocacy.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/foas-mta_3062613.php

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Marc Rich, 'King of Oil' pardoned by Clinton, dies at 78

By Alice Baghdjian

LUCERNE, Switzerland (Reuters) - Billionaire Marc Rich, who invented modern oil trading and was pardoned by President Bill Clinton over tax evasion, racketeering and busting sanctions with Iran, died on Wednesday in Switzerland aged 78.

Rich fled the Holocaust with his parents for America to become the most successful and controversial trader of his time and a fugitive from U.S. justice, enjoying decades of comfortable privacy at his sprawling Villa Rosa on Lake Lucerne.

Belgian-born Rich, whose trading group eventually became the global commodities powerhouse Glencore Xstrata, died in hospital from a stroke, spokesman Christian Koenig said. He is survived by two daughters and six grandchildren. A third daughter died previously of leukemia.

"He will be brought to Israel for burial," Avner Azulay, managing director of the Marc Rich Foundation, said by telephone. Rich will be buried on Thursday at Kibbutz Einat cemetery near Tel Aviv.

Many of the biggest players in oil and metals trading trace their roots back to the swashbuckling Rich, whose triumph in the 1970s was to pioneer a spot market for crude oil, wresting business away from the world's big oil groups.

To his critics he was a white-collar criminal, a serial sanctions breaker, whom they accused of building a fortune trading with revolutionary Iran, Muammar Gaddafi's Libya, apartheid-era South Africa, Nicolae Ceausescu's Romania, Fidel Castro's Cuba and Augusto Pinochet's Chile.

In interviews with journalist Daniel Ammann for his biography, "The King of Oil," the normally secretive Rich admitted to bribing officials in countries such as Nigeria and to assisting the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad.

Explaining Rich's route to riches in an interview with Reuters in 2010, Ammann said: "He was faster and more aggressive than his competitors. He was able to recognize trends and seize opportunities before other traders. And he went where others feared to tread - geographically and morally."

A U.S. government website once described Rich more simply, as "a white male, 177 centimeters in height ... wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Customs Service and the U.S. Marshall Service." In 1983, he was on the FBI's 10-most-wanted list indicted for tax evasion, fraud and racketeering. At the time, it was the biggest tax-evasion case in U.S. history.

FLED POSSIBLE LIFE SENTENCE

Rich, who valued trust, loyalty, secrecy and persistence, always insisted he did nothing illegal and among those who lobbied Clinton on his behalf for his pardon were former Israeli Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Shimon Peres.

On learning of the indictment plans, Rich fled to Switzerland to escape the charges, which included exploiting the U.S. embargo against Iran, while it was holding U.S. hostages, to make huge profits on illicit Iranian oil sales.

"Marc Rich is to asset concealment what Babe Ruth was to baseball," said Arthur J. Roth, New York state commissioner of taxation and finance.

He remained under threat of a life sentence in a U.S. jail until Clinton pardoned him during the last chaotic hours of his presidency, a move that provoked moral outrage and bewilderment among some politicians. He never returned to the United States.

Rich's ex-wife, Denise, had donated funds for Clinton's presidential library. The former president later said the donation was not a factor in his decision and he had acted partly in response to a request from Israel. He regretted granting the pardon, calling it "terrible politics."

"It wasn't worth the damage to my reputation," he told Newsweek magazine in 2002.

There was also scrutiny over the role of Eric Holder, now the attorney general and then a deputy attorney general who recommended the pardon.

Rudolph Giuliani, who had worked as a prosecutor on the Rich case before becoming New York Mayor, said in a statement: "Mark Rich committed serious crimes against the United States and then fled the country when he was called to account for his conduct. He should never have been pardoned."

"The fact that Bill Clinton and Eric Holder engineered a pardon for him - without input from me, as the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted him, or Janet Reno, as Attorney General, will forever be a blemish on our justice system," Giuliani said.

'ARTISTRY OF A POOL SHARK'

In one biography, "Metal Men: Marc Rich and the 10-Billion-Dollar Scam," author A. Craig Copetas described Rich as "a beautifully sinister executive who could frame deals with the artistry of a pool shark."

Rich inherited his business acumen from his father, who became a millionaire by setting up an agricultural trading firm after emigrating to the United States.

Born Marcell David Reich in Antwerp on December 18, 1934, Rich started his career at Philipp Brothers, a top global commodities trader after World War Two.

Posted to Madrid in the late 1960s, he found ways to bypass the "Seven Sisters" major oil companies that controlled world oil supplies. Rich was one of the first to loosen their grip, becoming a middle man who bought cargoes of oil from one company to sell to another on a short-term basis, helping give birth to the dynamic market that exists today.

While at Phibro, Rich foresaw the huge price increases imposed by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries in 1973, earning big profits for the firm.

Infuriated by his pay and trading strictures, he left in 1974 along with a fellow graduate of the Phibro mailroom, Pincus "Pinky" Green, and set up Marc Rich and Co AG in Switzerland, a firm that would eventually become Glencore Xstrata Plc.

ANGER AND AMBITION

His aim, according to Copetas, was "to grind Philipp Bros. into oblivion," and he poured all his anger and ambition as well as his charm and gracious client demeanor into the new venture.

It became a highly successful trading firm and a much feared adversary in energy, metals, minerals, grains and sugar markets.

Thomas Gloor worked for Marc Rich for about seven years, starting out in the finance department straight from university and moving to trade futures and options before growing disillusioned with the firm and leaving in 1986.

"Ethics didn't really matter to them. They would trade anything with anyone ... It was all about just making more and more money," he said.

Rich later sold that company, which became Glencore International AG, and set up the Marc Rich Group. Rich was known for charitable donations through his Doron Foundation to Zurich's Jewish community.

Glencore Xstrata Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg said: "He was a friend and one of the great pioneers of the commodities trading industry, founding the company that became Glencore."

As well as his villa on the Swiss lake, Rich maintained houses in Marbella in Spain and in Israel.

Rich described himself as a keen tennis player, skier, alpinist and patron of the arts. Those who knew him said in private Rich was calm and charming with a sense of humor.

In later years, Rich's fortune dwindled after his property portfolio was hit by the Spanish housing crisis.

"I invested a lot of money there and because of the crisis also lost a lot, at least on paper," he told Swiss economic magazine Bilanz. Forbes put his wealth at $2.5 billion.

He also invested with Bernard Madoff, the financier later convicted of operating a huge pyramid scheme. Rich told one magazine that he had had a "strange feeling" about the investment and "got out with everything," although he said he lost some money through "indirect participation".

Rich once told Fortune magazine he was a normal person with an image problem. "I've been portrayed in a horrible way," he said, "as a workaholic, a loner, a money machine. It's not a true picture."

Nevertheless, to his enemies he remained a symbol of the monomaniacal pursuit of vast wealth.

"The smoking gun is greed," said Ken Hill, a U.S. Marshall who hunted Rich around the world for more than a decade. "This is what Marc thrived on - the greed of those who had commodities and were in positions of influence and power."

Those who knew him say Rich never lost his appetite for a deal. He traveled to London earlier this month and had a dinner with several old friends, an old acquaintance told Reuters.

"He was doing well. He told me he was doing a little bit of business. 'I enjoy doing business,' he said."

(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom, Ron Bousso, Caroline Copley, Emma Thomasson, Clara Ferreira-Marques, Dmitry Zhdannikov, Emma Farge, Tom Miles, Josephine Mason and David Sheppard; Writing by Peter Millership; Editing by Philippa Fletcher, Peter Graff and Prudence Crowther)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/marc-rich-king-oil-pardoned-clinton-dies-78-210459269.html

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Army to eliminate 10 brigades at U.S. bases in drawdown: Odierno

By David Alexander

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army said on Tuesday it would eliminate 10 brigade combat teams at bases across the United States and cancel some $400 million in construction projects as it cuts about 80,000 soldiers over the next four years.

General Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff, said the move was part of the largest organizational change in the Army since World War Two as the service winds down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and responds to tighter U.S. budgets.

The Pentagon announced plans to cut the Army's overall force structure last year, but Odierno on Tuesday detailed where and how the service would reorganize as it draws down from a wartime high of 570,000 soldiers in 45 brigade combat teams to 490,000 in 33 brigade combat teams by the end of 2017. The reduction represents about a 14 percent drop in force size.

Odierno said the force would eventually drop to 32 brigades, but a decision had not yet been made on the final unit to be cut. He said as the 13 brigades are inactivated, some of the forces would be transferred to other brigades to make them "more lethal, more flexible and more agile."

"The army is ... reorganizing our brigade combat teams, which will reduce the overall number of headquarters while sustaining as much combat capability as possible," he said. "In other words, we're increasing our tooth-to-tail ratio."

While headquarters units would be eliminated, battalions of infantry, Stryker combat vehicles and armor would be shifted to other brigades along with engineering and artillery units, Odierno said.

The cuts mainly affect the active-duty force. The Army Reserve will remain at 205,000 soldiers and the state-based National Guard militia will lose 8,000 soldiers, dropping to 350,000 from 358,000.

Ten brigades would be inactivated in the United States and two in Europe. The two European brigades - both in Germany - had already been announced, one at Baumholder and the other at Grafenwohr.

Brigades would be inactivated at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, Fort Carson in Colorado, Fort Riley in Kansas, Fort Bliss and Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Polk in Louisiana, Fort Stewart in Georgia, Fort Campbell and Fort Knox in Kentucky, Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Drum in New York.

The reorganization of the brigades in the United States and Europe will lead to a reduction of 29,000 soldiers, Army officials said. The remaining personnel reductions would come from other categories of troops, many of who were added temporarily because of the wars.

BUDGET CUTS

Odierno said the reductions in force size were in line with the $487 billion in defense spending cuts over the next decade that were included in the Budget Control Act of 2011, $170 billion of which would come out of Army funding.

The Budget Control Act also included an additional $500 billion in defense cuts unless Congress could agree on a compromise package of spending reductions or revenue hikes to replace them. So far Congress has been unable to agree on an alternative, and the additional cuts went into force this year.

Odierno said if the additional cuts continue in the coming years, the Army would have to look at reducing force structure again, possibly by as much as another 100,000 personnel from active duty, reserve and National Guard.

He said the Army had deferred $788 million in military construction projects while it was undertaking its review and would eventually permanently cancel about $400 billion worth of work.

Odierno said reorganization of the force followed extensive study, including 6,500 hours of simulated combat, evaluation of 34 different scenarios and a visit to 30 installations to look at the potential socio-economic impact.

(Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/army-eliminate-10-brigades-u-bases-drawdown-odierno-231710869.html

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iMore weekly photo contest: Sunsets!

Alright iPhoneographers, our weekly photo contest is back! This week, the topic will be sunsets. It's summer time and we know lots of you are out and about whether it's on a beach, hiking, or doing other fun summer activities. Sunsets are one of the most beautiful things in nature and summer is a perfect time to catch lots of them. We want to see what kind of sunsets you're seeing where you're at.

The contest begins today and ends Wednesday, July 3rd, at 10pm Eastern time.

The prize: A 4-pack of 5x5" DeepSquare Prints of your own photos

In addition to a thumbs up from the iMore crew and all of us yelling about how great of an iPhoneographer you are, you'll also win a 4-pack of 5x5 inch DeepSquare Prints from our friends over at Static Pixels who were nice enough to sponsor this week's photo contest.

Static Pixels will allow you to turn any four of your photos into beautiful DeepSquare prints to hang on your own walls.

The rules

The rules of entry are very simple. The photo must have been taken with an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch (we'll check the EXIF data of the original file to verify) and any edits must have been done with an iPhone or iPad app. No Photoshop, Lightroom, or other external editing programs! If you have external lens accessories such as an Olloclip or other snap-on lens, you are more than welcome to use them.

You can submit as many photos as you'd like, but remember, this is a contest, so make sure you submit your best work!

Resources

Now, before you run off to take your photo, remember that it's not technical skill alone that will claim this prize. Even if you're not the best photographer (yet!), a great eye and a great subject can still get you the win.

However, a little help can never hurt, so make sure you check out our iPhone photography series for some tips.

How to submit

Submitting your photos is easy. just head over to the iMore Photography Forum and post your photos to the official contest thread. Don't forget to state which apps, if any, you used to edit your photo!

That's it! Now go out and shoot!

ENTER NOW

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/4LnTTsTd8L4/story01.htm

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Vietnam vets with PTSD more than twice as likely to have heart disease

June 25, 2013 ? Male twin Vietnam veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were more than twice as likely as those without PTSD to develop heart disease during a 13-year period, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health.

This is the first long-term study to measure the association between PTSD and heart disease using objective clinical diagnoses combined with cardiac imaging techniques.

"This study provides further evidence that PTSD may affect physical health," said Gary H. Gibbons, M.D., director of the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which partially funded the study. "Future research to clarify the mechanisms underlying the link between PTSD and heart disease in Vietnam veterans and other groups will help to guide the development of effective prevention and treatment strategies for people with these serious conditions."

The findings appear online today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and in the September 10 print issue.

Researchers from the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta, along with colleagues from other institutions, assessed the presence of heart disease in 562 middle-aged twins (340 identical and 222 fraternal) from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. The incidence of heart disease was 22.6 percent in twins with PTSD (177 individuals) and 8.9 percent in those without PTSD (425 individuals). Heart disease was defined as having a heart attack, having an overnight hospitalization for heart-related symptoms, or having undergone a heart procedure. Nuclear scans, used to photograph blood flow to the heart, showed that individuals with PTSD had almost twice as many areas of reduced blood flow to the heart as individuals without PTSD.

The use of twins, identical and fraternal, allowed researchers to control for the influences of genes and environment on the development of heart disease and PTSD.

"This study suggests a link between PTSD and cardiovascular health," said lead researcher Viola Vaccarino, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the department of medicine at Emory University and chair of the department of epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health. "For example, repeated emotional triggers during everyday life in persons with PTSD could affect the heart by causing frequent increases in blood pressure, heart rate, and heartbeat rhythm abnormalities that in susceptible individuals could lead to a heart attack."

When researchers compared the 234 twins where one brother had PTSD and the other did not, the incidence of heart disease was almost double in those with PTSD compared to those without PTSD (22.2 percent vs. 12.8 percent).

The effects of PTSD on heart disease remained strong even after researchers accounted for lifestyle factors such as smoking, physical activity level, and drinking; and major depression and other psychiatric diagnoses. Researchers found no link between PTSD and well-documented heart disease risk factors such as a history of hypertension, diabetes or obesity, suggesting that the disease may be due to physiologic changes, not lifestyle factors.

Affecting nearly 7.7 million U.S. adults, PTSD is an anxiety disorder that develops in a minority of people after exposure to a severe psychological trauma such as a life-threatening and terrifying event. People with PTSD may have persistent frightening thoughts and memories of their trauma, may experience sleep problems, often feel detached or numb, and may be easily startled. According to a 2006 analysis of military records from the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study, between 15 and 19 percent of Vietnam veterans experienced PTSD at some point after the war.

The study used state-of-the-art imaging scans with positron emission tomography, which measures blood flow to the heart muscle and identifies areas of reduced blood flow, at rest and following stress.

The study was supported by grants from NHLBI (K24HL077506), (R01 HL68630), and (R21HL093665), the National Institute on Aging (R01 AG026255), the National Institute of Mental Health (K24 MH076955), and by the American Heart Association. Support also was provided by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1TR000454) and the National Center for Research Resources (MO1-RR00039).

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/heart_disease/~3/5eQ77U24Akc/130625162233.htm

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U.S. Talks Tough on Leaker (WSJ)

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Immigration bill clears Senate test

FILE - In this April 18, 2013 file photo, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. At the start of a crucial week for far-reaching immigration legislation backed by the White House, the Senate headed Monday for the first test vote on the measure offering the prize of U.S. citizenship to millions and pouring new technology and manpower into the border. (AP Photo/Molly Riley, File)

FILE - In this April 18, 2013 file photo, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. At the start of a crucial week for far-reaching immigration legislation backed by the White House, the Senate headed Monday for the first test vote on the measure offering the prize of U.S. citizenship to millions and pouring new technology and manpower into the border. (AP Photo/Molly Riley, File)

FILE - In this June 21, 2013 file photo, Sen. John Hoeven, N.D., leaves the Senate chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington. At the start of a crucial week for far-reaching immigration legislation backed by the White House, the Senate headed Monday for the first test vote on the measure offering the prize of U.S. citizenship to millions and pouring new technology and manpower into the border. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Historic immigration legislation cleared a key Senate hurdle with votes to spare on Monday, pointing the way to near-certain passage within days for stepped up security along the border with Mexico and a chance at citizenship for millions living in the country illegally.

The vote was 67-27, seven more than the 60 needed, with 15 Republicans voting to advance legislation at the top of President Barack Obama's second-term domestic agenda.

The vote came as Obama campaigned from the White House for the bill, saying, "now is the time" to overhaul an immigration system that even critics of the legislation agree needs reform.

Last-minute frustration was evident among opponents. In an unusual slap at members of his own party as well as Democrats, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said it appeared that lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle "very much want a fig leaf" on border security to justify a vote for immigration.

Senate passage on Thursday or Friday would send the issue to the House, where conservative Republicans in the majority oppose citizenship for anyone living in the country illegally.

Some GOP lawmakers have appealed to Speaker John Boehner not to permit any immigration legislation to come to a vote for fear that whatever its contents, it would open the door to an unpalatable compromise with the Senate. At the same time, the House Judiciary Committee is in the midst of approving a handful of measures related to immigration, action that ordinarily is a prelude to votes in the full House.

"Now is the time to do it," Obama said at the White House before meeting with nine business executives who support a change in immigration laws. He added, "I hope that we can get the strongest possible vote out of the Senate so that we can then move to the House and get this done before the summer break" beginning in early August.

He said the measure would be good for the economy, for business and for workers who are "oftentimes exploited at low wages."

As for the overall economy, he said, "I think every business leader here feels confident that they'll be in a stronger position to continue to innovate, to continue to invest, to continue to create jobs and ensure that this continues to be the land of opportunity for generations to come."

Opponents saw it otherwise. "It will encourage more illegal immigration and must be stopped," Cruz exhorted supporters via email, urging them to contact their own senators with a plea to defeat the measure.

Leaving little to chance, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced it was launching a new seven-figure ad buy Monday in support of the bill. "Call Congress. End de facto amnesty. Create jobs and economic growth by supporting conservative immigration reforms," the ad said.

Senate officials said some changes were still possible to the bill before it leaves the Senate - alterations that would swell the vote total.

At the same time, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who voted to advance the measure during the day, said he may yet end up opposing it unless he wins a pair of changes he is seeking.

Senate Democrats were unified on the vote.

Republicans were anything on a bill that some party leaders say offers the GOP a chance to show a more welcoming face to Hispanic voters, yet tea party-aligned lawmakers assail as amnesty for those who have violated the law.

Among potential 2016 presidential contenders, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida was an enthusiastic supporter of the bill, while Cruz was an outspoken opponent.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated the legislation will reduce the deficit and increase economic growth in each of the next two decades. It is also predicting unemployment will rise slightly through 2020, and that average wages will move lower over a decade.

At its core, the legislation in the Senate would create a 13-year pathway to citizenship for an estimated 11 million immigrants living illegally in the United States. It also calls for billions of dollars to be spent on manpower and technology to secure the 2,000-mile border with Mexico, including a doubling of the Border Patrol with 20,000 new agents.

The measure also would create a new program for temporary farm laborers to come into the country, and another for lower-skilled workers to emigrate permanently. At the same time, it calls for an expansion of an existing visa program for highly-skilled workers, a gesture to high tech companies that rely heavily on foreigners.

In addition to border security, the measure phases in a mandatory program for employers to verify the legal status of potential workers, and separate effort to track the comings and goings of foreigners at some of the nation's airports.

The legislation was originally drafted by a bipartisan Gang of 8, four senators from each party who negotiated a series of political tradeoffs over several months.

The addition of the tougher border security provisions came after CBO informed lawmakers that they could potentially spend tens of billions of dollars to sweeten the bill without fearing higher deficits.

The result was a series of changes negotiated between the Gang of 8 and Republican Sens. John Hoeven of North Dakota and Bob Corker of Tennessee. Different, lesser-noticed provisions helped other lawmakers swing behind the measure.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, likened some of them to "earmarks," the now-banned practice of directing federal funds to the pet projects of individual lawmakers.

He cited a provision creating a $1.5 billion jobs fund for low-income youth and pair of changes to benefit the seafood processing industry in Alaska. Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., issued a statement on Friday trumpeting the benefits of the first; Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, and Mark Begich, a Democrat, took credit for the two others.

Grassley also raised questions about the origin of a detailed list of planes, sensors, cameras and other equipment to be placed along the southern border.

"Who provided the amendment sponsors with this list?" asked Grassley, who is a member of the Judiciary Committee that approved an earlier version of the bill. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano "did not provide the committee with any list. Did Sikorsky, Cessna and Northrup Grumann send up a wish list to certain members of the Senate?"

___

Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-06-24-Immigration/id-f472d2888e42498ca3c4b2b10c952988

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PhilanTopic: Institute for Philanthropy Donor Survey: 'Time to Move ...

(Mary Glanville is Managing Director, Institute for Philanthropy UK. The London-based institute works to increase effective philanthropy in the United Kingdom and internationally by providing donor education, building donor networks, and raising the awareness and understanding of philanthropy.)

In February, the Gates Foundation announced that the Giving Pledge, founded by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates in 2010, would for the first time extend its invitation to philanthropists outside the United States. The pledge, whose signatories propose to give at least half their wealth to charitable causes, welcomed twelve more people to its ranks, bringing the total number of those who have signed the pledge to a hundred and five.

It's a commitment that does not tally with the traditional media-held view of wealthy individuals and their families, a view that portrays the preservation of assets as the primary if not sole consideration. In order to understand what has prompted the apparent urgency and scale of this charitable giving, we asked twenty-two donors in our networks about the rate at which they intend to deploy their philanthropic capital. Their responses were revealing in several respects.

The donors came from many countries and regions -- from the UK, the U.S., Brazil, Canada, Lebanon, and Mexico -- and they or their foundations had philanthropic assets on average of $79,081,250, from which they gave an average of $2,168,050 each year. Half said they would give at least 25 percent of their wealth to charity.

Despite the regional differences, it was possible to discern a common theme in their areas of giving: none of the respondents gave money to the arts, as might be expected, but instead gave to address social issues that they considered among the world's most pressing problems. One donor was particularly forthright on this point, stating that "I generally believe in addressing the needs of underserved poor in the neediest parts of the world, where I have worked for much of my professional life, not the arts or environmental needs so popular among donors here at home, or SOBs (symphony, opera, ballet) -- as much as I love them personally."

Among this group of twenty-two, the four leading charitable causes, by frequency, were education, children and youth, community re-generation, and the environment. Impact investing and technology also were fairly high in the rankings. In addition, there was a notable emphasis on the part of respondents on being proactive and fully engaged in their grantmaking. One donor remarked that "I strongly believe that philanthropy can be more effective when driven by the wishes and strategy of a living donor. Long-lasting philanthropic institutions can become sclerotic and bureaucratic, not always but often. Family foundations may end up with their hands tied by a legacy directed at tackling a social problem that no longer exists." Another highlighted the need to avoid "safe" causes, saying: "I focus on leadership and because my funds are limited support smallish charities with dynamic leadership in unattractive and unpopular fields where it is difficult to raise funds."

Perhaps the most promising theme was the focus on collaborating effectively with other individuals and organizations toward a common goal. One donor put it best, identifying the key elements of such collaboration: partnership, engagement, and empowerment. As he put it:

Partnership: the more we -- civil society, philanthropists, NGOs and activists -- can work together toward a cause, the faster we can move the needle.

Engagement: not only personal engagement, but moral and legal and financial engagement. Empower the organization so they do the best they can to move the needle. Help the executive team to excel in their strategy and operations to achieve their mission and reach goals they have set with their trustees and other constituencies.

What is clear is that making well thought-out, intentional decisions about the rate and timeframe over which assets are deployed can often assist in making one's philanthropy more strategic. It is encouraging to see these issues being raised more frequently between philanthropists across the globe, and it will be particularly exciting to see how donors in emerging markets inform this new vitality in charitable giving. We look forward to seeing and reporting on how the space develops.

-- Mary Glanville

Source: http://pndblog.typepad.com/pndblog/2013/06/time-to-move-beyond-the-status-quo.html

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U.K. government accused of spying on G20 delegates? BlackBerry phones

CAIRO (Reuters) - Yields at an Egyptian auction of dollar-denominated one-year treasury bill rose on Monday, data from the central bank showed. Egypt's central bank said it sold $608.5 million of the bills at an average yield of 3.882 percent, up from 3.844 percent at its last auction on May 13, when the bank sold $1.25 billion of dollar-denominated debt. The central bank received bids worth $940.5 million, with yields on the accepted bids ranging from 3.770 to 3.900 percent. The bills will roll over $526 million in similar one-year bills that mature on June 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-k-government-accused-spying-g20-delegates-blackberry-123552269.html

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