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Release Date: 1977 |
I'm editing some of it, but comments would be appreciated.
Album Rating: 5.0thanks for the review, I'll be buying this soon. Been meaning to get into marley for a while now.This Message Edited On 01.09.08
This is probably his best album.
This is one of those albums that I can just put on at any time and enjoy. Good review as well.
Yeah, I don't have to be in a particular mood to enjoy this, like I have to be for Wilco or Animal Collective. I can enjoy this at anytime.
I love Bob
Yeah how has this not already been reviewed :confused:?
You did it justice though, good review.
Album Rating: 4.5Decent review, though I disagree that Rastaman Vibration is 'unremarkable.' Bob is my favorite artist though, so that has something to do with it. Natural Mystic is currently competing as my favorite Marley track ever, though it's a tough competition. I'll vote...
Album Rating: 4.5Good review, incredible album. There isn't a bad track on here, and its the perfect starting point for people who want to venture beyond his GH album, and find more of Bob's undeniable genious work.
I can't believe this wasn't reviewed already.
Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound OffGreat album!
the heathen rocks all
I own this on vinyl, even though I've never listened to it.
^^you definitely should.
though I disagree that Rastaman Vibration is 'unremarkable.'
Album Rating: 4.5that's how it is for me with Kaya....but Catch a Fire is amazing.
Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound OffGood and fair review of a quite simply stunning album. This is my favourite Bob Marley album and it sounds as fresh, majestic, inspiring and as timeless today as it did when it was first released in 1977. If this was the only album that Bob ever did, hell, if "Exodus" was the only song he ever wrote, he would IMO still be a legendary genius and an all time great! As it is he literally had dozens of fantastic songs, a good number of which (at least 9) are on this album. To me the first part/side (the first 5 songs) of this album is the best side to be found in any genre of music, period. Frankly, anyone who does not have this album in their record collection - and listen to it regularly - should have their head examined (hee hee).
Such a classic. So proud to own this one on vinyl.
"the mostly unremarkable Rastaman Vibration"
CRAZZZZY!! Insanity, Rastaman Vibration is an absolute classic to the core. This is just an insane thing to say. Who the Cap Fit? War? Johnny Was? Positive VIbration? Crazy Baldhead? Rat Race? Jah Live for God's sake? Everything else on the album? For this alone this review is embarrassing and really calls into question the integrity of the reviewers.
To other reviewers, Bob Marley has zero unremarkable albums. They are all masterpieces. Every album, every song.
Album Rating: 5.0WERE JAMMIN!
Album Rating: 5.0Definitely a 'desert island disc'.
If you're a reggae fan, I'd also recommend checking out Burning Spear and Toots and the Maytals.
Album Rating: 3.5exodus are better
Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


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Forum Post: 10 Reasons Why The Reign Of The Dollar As The World Reserve Currency Is About To Come To An End
Posted 8 years ago on March 27, 2012, 6:51 p.m. EST by Wondrous
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
"The U.S. dollar has probably been the closest thing to a true global currency that the world has ever seen. For decades, the use of the U.S. dollar has been absolutely dominant in international trade. This has had tremendous benefits for the U.S. financial system and for U.S. consumers, and it has given the U.S. government tremendous power and influence around the globe. Today, more than 60 percent of all foreign currency reserves in the world are in U.S. dollars. But there are big changes on the horizon. The mainstream media in the United States has been strangely silent about this, but some of the biggest economies on earth have been making agreements with each other to move away from using the U.S. dollar in international trade. There are also some oil producing nations which have begun selling oil in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, which is a major threat to the petrodollar system which has been in place for nearly four decades. And big international institutions such as the UN and the IMF have even been issuing official reports about the need to move away form the U.S. dollar and toward a new global reserve currency. So the reign of the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency is definitely being threatened, and the coming shift in international trade is going to have massive implications for the U.S. economy…"


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Jewish World Review Nov. 12, 2012/ 27 Mar-Cheshvan, 5773
Obama's second chance
By David Shribman
JewishWorldReview.com | More than a half-century ago, after he defeated Richard M. Nixon in one of the closest presidential races of all time, John F. Kennedy was persuaded to fly from his Palm Beach retreat to the vice president's Key Biscayne redoubt as a symbol of national unity. The two men were far closer than Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are, but still there was some awkwardness in the gesture, which had been cooked up by former Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy and former President Herbert Hoover.
The two, both Navy men who went to Congress in 1946, met amid palm trees and flashing photographers' lights, and perhaps no one noticed then what is so obvious now from the aging footage of the event, that the victor, whose breakthrough came in the first presidential debate earlier that autumn, wore a dark suit and that the vanquished wore a gray suit, tantalizingly like the one that allowed him to fade into the background so disastrously at the WBBM-TV studio in Chicago.
The president-elect began with a question that nagged at his mind, asking his opponent: "How the hell did you carry Ohio?"
Perhaps in a few days Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney will meet, for in truth the nation needs a robust symbol of unity far more in 2012, when the two candidates differed on so much and assembled coalitions that opposed each other with such anger and distrust, than it did in 1960. Kennedy and Nixon were -- despite the folklore that now portrays the contest as a titanic struggle between bitter rivals and competing world views -- more alike than different.
The campaign just completed will be remembered for the struggle for Ohio, but also for its intensity, its nastiness, its price tag. The two combatants fought fiercely. They obscured their own records and distorted their rivals'. Their allies portrayed their opponents as monsters in a Manichaean struggle of good versus evil. In that, as in so much else they said, they were wrong.
Tuesday -- "America's choosing day," in Walt Whitman's characterization of the election of 1884 -- the nation whispered that it wanted to continue on the Obama path but shouted that it wanted to do so with a different pace, in a different tone, with a different result.
Now Mr. Obama is no longer the man of hope and change but a scarred and realistic president whose people gave him a second term and a second chance in the hope he might change.
Now Mr. Obama -- no longer the charmed prophet floating above the political landscape -- has a new beginning. But he will have difficulty claiming a mandate, and the animating question of American politics now is what he will do with his new beginning and what he must do to govern with anything approaching effectiveness.
The heavy turnout, perhaps a result of one of the many unintended consequences of the Citizens United decision, is almost certainly an indication of the urgency and intensity Americans feel about the problems that Mr. Obama didn't tackle or solve in his first chance: Slow economic growth. Stubbornly high unemployment. Terrifying consequences of the imminent fiscal cliff, of the unaddressed entitlement crisis, and of the smoldering crisis that is apparent in every household but reported in almost no news outlet -- insufficient pensions and savings to carry hard-working, middle-class Americans into retirement.
If people were waiting 45 minutes to vote in Richland Township in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and as much as twice as long in parts of Virginia, it very likely is because they have waited for years for politicians to address these problems.
Mr. Obama's victory was muted compared to his 2008 triumph. His supporters will say that this is the natural consequence of both expectations that were deeply unrealistic and of an economic crisis that was alarmingly persistent. But Mr. Obama was elected the first time on the jet stream of optimism, and even his strongest admirers concede privately that Mr. Obama soared as a candidate but stalled as a president.
The American people gave Mr. Obama a new start, but in awarding him a second term they changed the terms of engagement. Not so much four more years, they seemed to say, as four different years.
If the American people felt otherwise, they would have elected Mr. Romney -- or given Mr. Obama a bigger victory. Despite the numbers, this was a grudging victory, delivered by a nation that no longer wants its leaders to hold grudges.
In the last day of his last campaign, Mr. Obama returned to Iowa, where his unlikely rise to power began with an astonishing caucus victory in the winter of 2008, and there he spoke of his "movement for change." Hours later, the voters' verdict indicated that Americans do want change, just as they did in 2008, but also a change in the way the president conducts business. The margin of victory this time, smaller than it was four years ago, is a signal that its chief executive's performance was acceptable, but only barely so.
Two months after that remarkable 1960 meeting in Key Biscayne, newly inaugurated President Kennedy, seemingly awed by the challenges he faced, stood before both houses of Congress and delivered a sobering State of the Union Message.
"We cannot afford to waste idle hours and empty plants while awaiting the end of the recession," the 35th president said. "We must show the world what a free economy can do -- to reduce unemployment, to put unused capacity to work, to spur new productivity, and to foster higher economic growth within a range of sound fiscal policies and relative price stability."
So, too must Barack Obama's America.
Four years ago it seemed as if Mr. Obama had begun a new era of progressivism, fueled by a new generation of Americans who had turned away from conservatism. This morning that seems far less certain.
Four years ago it seemed as if Mr. Obama were asking big questions and positing big answers. This morning, even in the glow of his re-election, he seems the prisoner of those big questions and chary of big answers. The question now is how Mr. Obama, flush with fresh victory but sobered by his challenge, will change, and whether Washington can change with him.
Comment by clicking here.
David Shribman, a Pulitzer Prize winner in journalism, is executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
David Shribman, a Pulitzer Prize winner in journalism, is executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
© 2011, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Distributed by Universal Uclick, as agent for UFS.


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Maurice Lacroix - Eliros - Maurice Lacroix Watch Eliros Mens (ML-1405)
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AMPLIFY Business Pitch Competition
Girls in Tech and Vator
Thursday, November 18, 2010 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (PST)
Event Details
It's time for women with great ideas to ignite their company's visibility and growth!
Vator.tv, a leading social network for entrepreneurs and innovators, and of news and information through VatorNews, has partnered with Girls in Tech, a social network enterprise focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of like-minded, professional, intelligent and influential women in technology.
Together, we are hosting our first-ever Amplify Business Pitch Competition - Awarding women-led startups, which will be held on November 18, 2010 in San Francisco.
Our keynote speaker is Esther Dyson, an active angel investor in a variety of start-ups, for-profit and otherwise, around the world. She also operates as the Internet's court jester, a person of no institutional importance who somehow manages to speak the truth and to be heard when and where it matters. She does business as EDventure, the reclaimed name of the company she owned for 20-odd years before selling it to CNET Networks in 2004.
Her primary activity is investing in start-ups and guiding many of them as a board member. Her board seats include 23andMe, Airship Ventures, Boxbe, Voxiva, Eventful, Evernote, IBS Group (Russia, advisory board), Meetup, Midentity (UK), NewspaperDirect, Yandex (Russia)…and WPP Group (not a start-up). Some of her other direct IT investments include Flickr and Del.icio.us (sold to Yahoo!), BrightMail (sold to Symantec), Orbitz (sold to Cendant), Medstory and Powerset (both sold to Microsoft), Plazes (sold to Nokia), Tacit (sold to Oracle), BlogAds, BrightHouse, ChoiceStream, Dopplr, Dotomi, Linkstorm, Mashery, Organized Wisdom, Ovusoft, PatientsLikeMe, Resilient,Technorati, ThingD, Vizu.com and Zedo. Indirectly, she is an investor in Amee.cc and Wesabe.
Business plan pitch competition is now closed. But you can see the competition here: AMPLIFY
|Keynote Speaker
Eric Ries Author,speaker, consultant at The Lean Startup.
He work full time with entrepreneurs of all stripes, trying to change the way startups are built. Learn more at the blog, Startup Lessons Learned. Before The Lean Startup he worked as a Venture Advisor at KleinerPerkins Caufield & Byers. He is the Co-founder at IMVU and worked as a CTO, VP Engineering there.
|Judges and speakers
Bambi Francisco Roizen CEO and Founder, Vator, Inc.
Vator was a side project of mine that was a mere concept while I was a columnist/correspondent at Dow Jones MarketWatch. It was originally started to help me vet the many startups pitching me while I was a journalist.And, it was designed to ensure that those I couldn't cover would have a platform for others to find them. I left in April 2007 and launched Vatortv in June 2007. At Dow Jones, I covered Internet trends and investments across the public and private sectors. I was a morning business anchor for KPIX (the local CBS affiliate in San Francisco), and reported on MarketWatch's business magazine show on CBS. In the 'mid-90s, I worked as producer at CNN's financial news network, where I created, launched and produced business shows, including one on IPOs and new ideas.
Adriana Gascoigne CEO and Founder, Girls in Tech
Adriana is the Vice President of Marketing at SecondMarket, the global marketplace for illiquid assets. She is responsible for SecondMarket's marketing, branding strategy, event production and digital media efforts. She assists in formulating the strategic direction and branding of the company as well as public relations efforts. Prior to joining SecondMarket, Adriana worked at a variety of technology start-ups spearheading marketing, communications and analytics. She worked at hi5, SocialGamingNetwork (SGN), Jambool's SocialGold, GUBA as well as Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide as the Vice President of 360 Digital Influence and Edelman as the Vice President of the Digital Group. In March 2007, Adriana launched Girls in Tech, an organization focused on the empowerment, engagement and education of women in tech. She is an "Intel Insider," serving as a brand and product advisor for Intel. She is an advisor to a variety of start-ups including Involver, DooChoo, and Change.org. In 2009, Adriana launched SmittenWithMittens, a 501 (c) 3 providing fair trade mittens, clothing, uniforms and resources to orphans in developing countries.
Maha Ibrahim General Partner, Canaan
Maha Ibrahim is a technology trend spotter with deep operational experience. She joined Canaan's Menlo Park office in March 2000 and focuses on digital media, networking and wireless investments. Maha loves to work with some of the nation's smartest entrepreneurs to build innovative companies from the ground up. A thought leader with deep insight into which business models will disrupt the status quo and propel companies to market dominance, Maha has won numerous industry awards, including The Silicon Valley Business Journal 40 Under 40 award, and is frequently invited to speak at digital media conferences. She has served as a judge for startup competitions at Web 2.0 Expo, Digital Living Room and Under the Radar. At Canaan, Maha helped to negotiate and manage a partnership between Tacit Networks and Brocade, and established Canaan as a lead investor in Mobilitec and Mino Wireless. Maha also led the firm's investments in PicksPal and Watercooler, both leading community applications via social networking platforms.
Anurag Nigam CEO, BuzzBox
He is the President & Board Director of Sand Hill Angels, a group of 60 Silicon Valley angels investing in innovative technology companies. He has been an active angel investor for the last 8 years putting his money into 40+ companies including 3Tera (bought by CA), Modcloth and XGraph. His investing interest range from consumer internet to medical devices. Anurag took part in starting 6 different startups. He was on the founding teams at Cerent Corp (bought by Cisco) and Siara Systems (bought by Redback Networks). Anu switched into the consumer internet space and was an investor & founder of hi5.com. He is currently the founder and CEO of BuzzBox.com, a near-time personalized news service for people who want to stay informed without being overwhelmed.
Cynthia Ringo Managing Partner, DBL Investors
Cynthia is a Managing Partner of DBL Investors, an investment firm focused on delivering strong financial returns together with positive social, environmental, and economic impact, which she joined in April 2008. She currently is a board observer for LiveScribe and a board member for Solexant. She was formerly a Managing Director of VantagePoint Venture Partners from 2002 to 2008 where she was Group Leader of the Communications, Systems, Internet and Media Practice. Prior to VantagePoint, Cynthia served as the CEO of Coppercom, a next-generation telecom equipment company. Cynthia served on the board of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE) from 2000 to 2004, and as Chair of the Board for 2001 through 2003. Winner of 2000 FWE's Entrepreneur of the year Award. Advisor to Astia and SD Forum.
Bipul Sinha Principal, Lightspeed Venture Partners
Bipul Sinha is a Venture Capitalist at Lightspeed and focuses primarily on Internet and software sectors, with a particular interest in advertising technology, social media, digital media and software infrastructure. He has over fourteen years of operations and technology investment experience.
Cathy Brooks What began for Cathy as a career telling other people's stories has evolved into a journey of helping others tell their own stories for themselves. A "classically trained" Journalist, Cathy's passion for communications began with her first job ripping wire copy and has evolved to encompass nearly every platform and aspect of media – from reporting and editing to management, talent casting and guest booking. Cathy also has curated content for several leading technology industry conferences including LeWeb and several events produced by The Guidewire Group. It was after engaging as an activist for LGBT equal rights, however, that Cathy began to explore the influence of personal stories in people's professional lives. Through her San Francisco based consulting firm, Cathy now helps companies and individuals navigate new technologies with the purpose of leveraging these platforms to tell stories. Through workshops and consulting services, Cathy walks clients through the story-telling process and towards the deep engagement that comes from authentic communication. Every week Cathy brings these discussions to life on Social Media Hour, a live talk show on which industry leaders and average folks share their experiences and stories. The program, for which Cathy is Executive Producer and Host, puts technology in human terms, and lets the audience interact via text chat and phone.
Noah Doyle Noah has been an entrepreneur and investor for over 20 years. As an angel investor prior to forming Javelin Venture Partners, Noah has supported over a dozen start-ups including Keyhole (Google), Cantametrix (Gracenote), Amae Software (Verint), Nuvon, Aquea Scientific, Ritter Natural Sciences, Emdigo, Magnacash (Yaga), and i-mint India. Noah most recently directed the enterprise product line for Google's geospatial products, Google Earth and Google Maps. Prior to Google, Noah managed the Sales and Corporate Development functions at Keyhole, Inc., the venture capital backed company that created the first Web hosted digital earth model and was acquired by Google in 2004.
Cindy Padnos Founding Managing Director, Illuminate Ventures
Cindy Padnos is the founding Managing Director of Illuminate Ventures, focusing primarily on Internet, SaaS/cloud computing, digital media, technology-enabled services and mobile communications investments. Cindy currently serves as a director of privately held companies BrightEdge, CalmSea, Wild Pockets and Xactly Corporation. Prior to founding Illuminate, Cindy was a Director of Outlook Ventures where she was one of three investment professionals responsible for committing the firm's $140M fund. During her tenure with the firm she participated in numerous new and follow-on financings, including sourcing more than half of the firm's new investments. Cindy took an active role within the firm and the portfolio – codifying the firm's investment sector thesis, establishing a CMO knowledge exchange between portfolio companies and facilitating Outlook's annual investor meeting. Immediately before joining Outlook, Cindy's long-standing relationships within the VC ecosystem allowed her to "apprentice" in the industry as a venture consultant, working with several top-tier venture capital firms and their portfolios. Her work ranged from interim CEO assignments to new investment due diligence.
Ezra Roizen is a digital media investment banker with Ackrell Capital, a boutique investment bank. He is also an advisor and commenter on emerging ventures. He focuses on digital media, e-commerce and mobile companies. Prior to banking, Ezra co-founded and was CEO of Montclare Technologies Inc. He also co-founded and was director of business development for Convoy, which is now part of Sybase. Ezra is the Chair of the UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business Alumni Council.
Neal Hansch Neal Hansch brings over fifteen years of experience in venture capital, technology operations and investment banking. Before joining Rustic Canyon in 2005, Neal worked in the Corporate Development group at Macromedia, where he was responsible for executing worldwide M&A transactions and strategic equity investments. Prior to Macromedia, Neal was at Technology Crossover Ventures, where he focused on investments in the software, networking infrastructure and e-commerce industries. He has also worked in Product Marketing at webMethods (Nasdaq: WEBM), a leading enterprise application integration company, and co-founded WebAssist.com, a start-up that provides popular software extensions for Web development tools. Neal began his career as a financial analyst in the Software Group at Robertson Stephens, where he worked with clients such as BEA, BroadVision, HNC, Hyperion, Informatica and Intuit. Neal received his M.B.A. with distinction from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where he was a Deutschman Venture Fellow. He also received bachelor degrees in Economics and Psychology from duke university.
Ben Choi Ben has a wide-angle view of the world. And it's not just because he's a published amateur photographer. Born in Peoria, raised in San Francisco, and educated in Cambridge, Ben looks at everything in life from multiple angles. Ben focuses on investments in the web-enabled consumer services and e-commerce sectors. He currently serves as a director on the boards of KidZui and TheWrap.com and is a board observer for Course Hero, Mozes, and SAY Media (formerly VideoEgg). Ben joined Maveron from Storm Ventures where his board involvement included Ad Infuse (acquired by Velti), Adgregate Markets, BooRah (acquired by Intuit), DeviceVM, Marketo, Mobio, and YieldBuild. Ben began his career in venture capital at RRE Ventures, where he invested in Massive, an in-game ad network purchased by Microsoft in 2006 for over $200 million. He also served at the strategic venture capital arm of the CIA, In-Q-Tel.
Event Agenda
The one-day single-track summit will include business pitches from female
8:00 - 9:00 AM – Check in. Coffee, juice and breakfast provided for early arrivals who want to mingle and network prior to the event.
9:00 - 9:30 AM – Introduction from Bambi Francisco and Adriana Gascoigne (Introduction to the judges)
Segment 1: Enterprise - VC judge panelists include Noah Doyle (Javelin Venture Partners), Cindy Padnos (Illuminate Ventures), Anu Nigam (Sand Hill Ventures)
9:30 – 9:45 AM – Pitch #1
9:45 – 10:00 AM – Pitch #2
10:00 – 10:15 AM – Pitch #3
10:15 – 10:30 AM – Pitch #4
10:30 – 10:45 AM – Pitch #5
11:15 – 12:00 PM – Keynote interview. Esther Dyson, Angel Investor, will be interviewed by Cathy Brooks. Esther will join us via Skype.
Segment 2: Consumer - VC judge panelists include Maha Ibrahim (Canaan), Cynthia Ringo (DBL Ventures), Bipul Sinha (Lightspeed Venture Partners),
1:00 – 1:05 PM – Bambi introduces judges
1:05 – 1:20 PM – Pitch #1
1:20 – 1:35 PM – Pitch #2
1:35 – 1:50 PM – Pitch #3
1:50 – 2:05 PM – Pitch #4
2:05 – 2:20 PM – Pitch #5
2:35 – 3:05 PM – Keynote #2: Eric Ries, author of blog, Startups Lessons Learned.
Segment 3: Combined consumer and enterprise - VC judge panelists include Jorge Calderon (Springworks), Noah Doyle (Javelin Venture Partners), Neal Hansch (Rustic Canyon)
3:05 – 3:10 PM – Bambi introduces panelists
3:10 – 3:25 PM – Pitch #1
3:25 – 3:40 PM – Pitch #2
3:40 – 3:55 PM – Pitch #3
3:55 – 4:10 PM – Pitch #4
4:10 to 4:20 - Networking break
4:20 – 4:45 PM – Winner announced, Concluding remarks
4:45 – 5:15 PM – Networking
Amplify is brought to you by:
Amplify is sponsered by:
Media Partner:
When & Where
835 Market Street #700
San Francisco,
Thursday, November 18, 2010 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (PST)
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Girls in Tech and Vator
About Girls in Tech
Girls in Tech is a social network enterprise focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of like-minded, professional, intelligent and influential women in technology. As young women with the capacity to inspire, we made it our personal desire and passion to create and sustain an organization that focuses on the collaboration, promotion, growth and success of women in the technology sector.
Created in February of 2007, 'Girls in Tech' (GIT) was founded by Adriana Gascoigne. GIT and was born out of a need to provide a place for women to cultivate ideas around their careers and business concepts involving technology.
Girls in Tech aims to offer a variety of resources and tools for women to supplement and further enhance their professional careers and aspirations in technology. Some of these resources include, educational workshops and lectures, networking functions, round table discussions, conferences, social engagements, and recruitment events.
If you are interested in speaking to someone at Girls in Tech Corporate, please email firstname.lastname@example.com
About Vator
Vator (short for innovator) is a community and resource for entrepreneurs. Founded and run by veteran and award-winning journalist Bambi Francisco, Vator consists of Vator.tv, a leading platform for entrepreneurs and innovators to effectively broadcast to and communicate with the entrepreneur and innovator community while at the same time reach the broad audience across the social Web through Vator's syndication. Vator.tv has more than 50,000 members and high-tech companies, using the service to effectively communicate with their partners, investors, media and customers. VatorNews is Vator's video business network on entrepreneurship and innovation with 275-plus contributors.


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Neurobiology of Affective Dysfunction - Emotion Expression Study (FACES)
The purpose of this study is to assess affective flattening and blunting in patients at clinical or genetic risk for developing schizophrenia, with schizophrenia, and healthy controls. Video and audio are recorded and static images are photographed to analyze for facial muscle usage using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS). Speech samples are also processed for emotional content and word choice. Emotion recognition tasks, quality of life, and depression scales are completed to correlate facial expressivity to outcome measures. The procedure lasts 2 hours and compensation is $40 for time and travel.
Principal Investigator: Christian Kohler, M.D.
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There is bad news, good news, and uncertain news on the California state budget stalemate.
You may recall that California is $26 billion in the hole for the coming fiscal year, about 30 percent of the proposed budget. Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown wants the legislature to place on the ballot a proposal for voters to decide whether to extend three temporary tax increases for five years to close about half of the gap.
The rest would be achieved by spending cuts, a sizable portion of which the legislature enacted yesterday.
Now the rest of the news:
The bad news, for Governor Brown at least, is that so far he hasn't been able to gather enough votes in the legislature to place the issue on the ballot June 7th. The Governor believes that a public vote by that date would give the legislature time to complete the rest of the budget mess one way or another by June 30th, the end of the fiscal year.
To do that, two-thirds of the members must pass enabling legislation, but with all the Republicans opposed, Brown remains 2 votes shy in each house. No dice, for now.
The good news is that 5 Republican senators are in tedious negotiations with the governor. The even better news for those hoping to see an end to the stalemate is that the leaderships in each house have been working behind the scenes to help forge common ground between the governor and the Reform 5 (as they call themselves), particularly on pension reform and a state spending cap.
The uncertain news is that even if the Republicans in the Senate reach agreement with the governor, there's no guarantee that the same will happen with Assembly Republicans. Equally uncertain is what the voters will say if the issue even gets on the ballot, although a Field public opinion poll released yesterday shows strong support for continuing the temporary taxes--for now.
We know this much news: time is running out for all sides. The election can be pushed back to as late as June 28, which gives the legislature a little more time. If the proposed ballot issue never sees the light of day, California's next few years will turn incredibly dark.
For now, we wait for more news.


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Once in the clubhouse, Williams decided to have some fun with Gordon Beckham and manager Ozzie Guillen.
"I wanted to have some fun with Gordon, and I knew he had been worried about some things even though I had talked with him previously about it. He was eating in the lunch room and I was sitting there and I called him over."
What Williams did not know was that Paul Konerko has just been giving Beckham a hard time, saying, "This is about the time when Kenny gets ansy and decided to just throw Beckham into the deal to get it done."
So Beckham heads off with Williams. The duo walks into Guillen's office and closes the door. Guillen is shocked.
"First off, when you walk in on the trading deadline every player is looking at you out of the corner of their eye," said Williams. "So I walked in and called him over, and he had this look like, 'No, really?' And I called him into Ozzie's office and Ozzie didn't know anything about it but he saw Gordon walk in and then he saw me walk in and close the door behind Beckham and he went 'No!' and the other coaches went 'No!.'
"Ozzie closed the door, and I sat Gordon down on the chair and I said 'Well, I really would like to say one thing to you before I get into the nuts and bolts of this stuff.' I said 'That at-bat you had last night, where you pushed across that run, was one of the best at-bats you've had all year and I just want to say nice job.' And I shook his hand and he said, 'Is that it?.'
"'That's it,' I said.
"He had a sigh of relief. Ozzie had a sigh of relief and started cursing at me, and then I walked back into the lunchroom and Konerko says "You won't believe this but about one minute before you walked in, I told Gordon that this is about the time in the show when Kenny Williams says 'To hell with it, I'll give you Gordon Beckham.'" So when I walked in there and called him out, it was perfect timing. We had a little fun with it."
UPDATE: Merkin's has more.
Video: CSN (1:47), Trib (3:50).


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Class Notes - 2000s
Charlton "Chuck" Bonham JD was appointed director of the California Department of Fish and Game.
Catherine Brinkman JD is a shareholder at Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt in Portland.
Román Hernández JD is the Hispanic National Bar Association's representative to the American Bar Association House of Delegates.
Cam Tredennick J.D. is on the board of directors of 1in6, an organization that offers outreach, education, and services to men with histories of unwanted or abusive childhood sexual experiences. He is a senior associate at Western Rivers Conservancy in Portland.
Jeremy Aliason JD is on the board of College Horizons, a nonprofit that offers college and graduate admissions workshops to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawai'ians from across the United States.
Jules Bailey B.A. is the state representative for Portland's inner east side.
Elizabeth Howard JD received Oregon State University's College of Agricultural Sciences Alumni Luminary Award. She is one of Oregon's foremost authorities on federal and state water quality regulation policies and their agricultural impacts.
Bryan Kirkpatrick JD is a partner in the firm of Stolowitz Ford Cowger.
Andrew Over BA is director of community and business relations for Regence Blue- Cross BlueShield of Oregon.
|Arts & Sciences June 21-24, 2012
Megan Cahn B.A. returned to Portland in 2006 and earned an M.P.H. from Oregon State University in 2010. She is now pursuing her doctorate at Oregon State. She looks forward to reconnecting with classmates—especially former Residence Life staffers and Italy 2000 program participants— at this summer's reunion.
Heather Christie BA received her M.A. in intercultural service, leadership, and management in 2008 from the School for International Training in Vermont. She then returned to her home in Colorado, where she now works for Colorado Mountain College coordinating a federal TRIO program. (TRIO programs are designed to identify and provide services for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.) In her free time, she skis, rides a little red horse, sings the blues, and spends as much time in the woods as possible. She plans to marry Joe O'Malley in July, after a raucous reunion in Portland.
Jeff Crowl B.A. wants you to know that this year's reunion is going to be awesome. The ink on his M.BA in sustainable business from Bainbridge Graduate Institute will be drying, and he couldn't think of anyone with whom he'd rather celebrate than his classmates. He can share stories about eight years in the mortgage business, years of addiction recovery coaching, and time spent learning more about local living economies. He'd really like to hear about you, your story, and how your journey led you from Palatine Hill and back again this June.
Sean Gehrke BA lives in Los Angeles, where she is pursuing a PhD in urban education policy from the University of Southern California. She is a Dean's Fellow in the Rossier School of Education and works as a researcher in the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis. See also Marriages and Unions.
Marie Knapp BA '03, M.A.T. '07 and Ben Levy B.A. live in a purple house in southeast Portland. Knapp works as a special education teacher at Centennial High School in Gresham. Levy works as a cardiac nurse at Providence Portland Medical Center. See also Births and Adoptions.
Bradley Maier J.D. joined the board of trustees of Oregon Ballet Theatre. He is senior counsel at Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt.
Tom Stephenson BA returned to "the glorious rain, the green, and affordable housing of Portland" after a few years of quality control at a rock quarry in California. He has worked in Lewis & Clark's information technology office since 2006 and is president of the Lewis & Clark College Support Staff Association, Local 4912. Living with a PhD candidate and the world's cutest Weimaraner keeps him busy. He will be at his 10-year reunion this summer. "If I knew your name 10 years ago, I would love to see you there."
Karstan Lovorn JD volunteered for the Galapagos Preservation Society and the Darwin Animal Doctors for three months in the Galapagos Islands. While in law school, he studied animal law and continued his activism. Lovorn, still an activist, is currently exploring other interests, including sailing and engineering.
Kathleen Hitt JD is the conservation director of the Mount Shasta–based Siskiyou Land Trust, which recently completed the purchase of 5,600 acres in the Scott Valley to be preserved for elk; bald eagles; and Chinook and coho salmon.
Jessica Stern BA is the program manager for Business for Culture & the Arts in Portland. She is a member of Lewis & Clark's Board of Alumni.
Nicholas Bookman BA and David Roon B.A. started 2012 by scrambling through the rough, rutted 2,000-mile length of the Indian subcontinent in an auto-rickshaw. For more information about their adventure, visit their website.
Mark Burrell BA won the 2010 Army Journalist of the Year award.
Deborah Lee JD joined International Justice Mission as a volunteer legal fellow in February 2011. She lives in Kigali, Rwanda. Prior to joining IJM, Lee worked for five years as a prosecutor in the sex crimes bureau of the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in Phoenix, Arizona.
Peter Moolenaar JD, a partner at Dioguardi Flynn in Scottsdale, Arizona, joined the board of Sun Sounds Foundation, an advisory and fundraising arm for Sun Sounds of Arizona. The organization provides audio access and information to people who cannot read print because of disabilities.
Elisa Dozono JD is the board president of the Oregon Asian Pacific American Bar Association for 2011–12. She is an associate at Miller Nash.
Meghann Paddock BA, JD '10 joined P. Mars Scott Law Offices in Missoula, Montana. Paddock will concentrate in general practice with an emphasis in family law.
|Arts & Sciences June 21-24, 2012
Ho'onani Andermann B.A. lives in Honolulu, where she develops software that helps physicians provide quality care to chronic disease patients at the point of care. She is excited to be part of the alumni reunion planning group. See also Marriages and Unions.
Jessica Asai JD is a regional representative of the Oregon Asian Pacific American Bar Association for 2011–12. She is a civil rights investigator with Oregon Health & Science University's affirmative action and equal opportunity department.
Scott Devlin BA works as a pharmacy technician at Oregon Health & Science University. He studies biochemistry (the major he never declared) at Portland Community College. He plans to attend graduate school in nursing, physician assisting, or pharmacy. He recently celebrated a four-year anniversary with his partner Rob Dowers, a radiography student at Portland Community College. Devlin is anxious to reconnect with classmates at the five-year reunion in June.
James "Jay" Flint J.D. is the director for the Sunset Empire Transportation District, Clatsop County's public bus system.
Connie Kong J.D. is treasurer of the Oregon Asian Pacific American Bar Association for 2011–12. She is a law clerk for the Honorable Marco Hernandez.
Tim Main B.A. received his M.P.H. from the Colorado School of Public Health and leads a community-based participatory research project involving childhood grief at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is well connected to his Lewis & Clark classmates in the Denver area and is excited to be part of planning his five-year class reunion.
Robert "Bobby" McHugh B.A. began his career in the music and nonprofit advertising world after graduation. In collaboration with an award-winning director, he runs a small media company and produces a variety of TV campaigns as well as music videos for labels like Sub Pop and Fuzed Music. McHugh recently finished a contract with World Famous, a boutique motion graphics and creative agency. He lives in Seattle and looks forward to seeing lots of classmates at the class of 2007 reunion in June.
Bernadette Dieker Nunley JD is secretary of the Multnomah Bar Association Young Lawyer Section. She is an attorney with the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office.
Yevgeniy "Gene" Pavlenko B.A. works as a stock analyst at a Portland-based investment bank by day and as a residential developer by night. He looks forward to seeing all his brilliant classmates from 2007 at the five-year reunion.
Tanya Sloan B.A. is a senior associate director of alumni and parent programs at Lewis & Clark. She is working with a group of classmates to plan a fantastic reunion for the class of 2007. A potter, Sloan is remaking her basement into a ceramics studio. She lives in southwest Portland with partner Brian Webb BA '05 and two feisty cats.
Duke Tufty J.D. is presidentelect of the Multnomah Bar Association Young Lawyer Section. Tufty is an attorney with Davis Wright Tremaine.
Amber Case BA was a keynote speaker at SXSW Interactive in March. Her topic was "Ambient Location and the Future of the Interface." Case has been profiled in numerous publications, including Forbes and Wired. She has also given a TED talk called "We Are All Cyborgs Now." In 2010, she was featured in Fast Company as one of the most influential women in technology. Case is the founder of Geoloqi, a tool that helps mobile app developers create location-based apps for smartphones.
Brian David B.A. and Emily Quayle BA '09 cofounded a small nonprofit in Nicaragua aimed at improving rural education across the country. Their organization, the Education Study, helps other nonprofits make educated decisions about the programs and methods they employ in Nicaragua. For more information, visit the website.
Damien Hall JD was elected chair of the Oregon Convention Center Urban Renewal Area Advisory Committee. Hall is an attorney with Jordan Ramis. He was also appointed to the City of Portland's 2011 Charter Review Commission.
Sarah Petersen J.D. is treasurer of the Multnomah Bar Association Young Lawyer Section. Previously, she clerked for the Oregon Department of Justice's Family Law Section and the Multnomah County Attorney's Office.
Masa Yamaguchi JD is a board member of the Japan- America Society of Oregon. He is an attorney with Lane Powell in Portland and an active member of the Oregon Asian Pacific American Bar Association and Oregon's Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce.
Leanne Grabel M.Ed. wrote and starred in the play Badgirls, based on her experiences teaching language arts to adolescent girls at Rosemont Treatment Center and School in Portland. The play was staged at the Pacific Crest Community School in November.
Emily Quayle B.A. and Brian David BA '08 cofounded a small nonprofit in Nicaragua aimed at improving rural education across the country. Their organization, the Education Study, helps other nonprofits make educated decisions about the programs and methods they employ in Nicaragua. For more information, visit the website.
Alexandra Shaphren BA was recognized as the 2011 Outstanding Philanthropic Young Adult at the Central Coast's 20th annual Philanthropy Day award ceremony in Carmel, California. She was honored for her fundraising efforts for the Community Partnership for Youth. Last Setpember, Shaphren ran the Lake Tahoe 50-Mile Ultra Marathon, raising $1,300 and finishing first among women.
Jonah Geil-Neufeld BA works for PAGATIM, an Internet radio company, where he manages a recording studio and hosts a weekly music podcast. He also does freelance web design and helps put the Chronicle on the college's website. In his free time, he continues to pursue his music aspirations. Visit his website.
Jeanette "Etta" Lockey JD joined McDowell Rackner & Gibson. Her practice involves representing utilities in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.


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TCU defeats Houston in final College Classic tilt
HOUSTON -- TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle isn't overly excited about his team's offensive production. He does like his pitching, and the staff delivered on Sunday.
In the last of nine games over three days of the 2014 Houston College Classic, the Horned Frogs defeated Houston, 2-1, on Sunday at Minute Maid Park. The loss was the Cougars' second straight after opening the season with eight consecutive wins.
"We tend to get guys on base and don't get them in," said Schlossnagle. "I'm not impressed yet with our offense. We still have a ways to go."
TCU (7-4), which out-hit Houston, 7-5, scored the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh. Cody Jones singled in Keaton Jones. In the third inning, Keaton Jones scored in a rundown.
Houston scored its run in the fifth inning, with Caleb Barker coming home on Ashford Fulmer's two-out double off starter Tyler Alexander, who was effective in his 4 2/3 innings.
"He was much better with his fastball command today," said Schlossnagle. "I told him one of the downfalls of being the Sunday starter on our pitching staff is when [Brandon] Finnegan and [Preston] Morrison do what they're capable of, I got to rest the bullpen.
"With our offense the way it is, I'm going to have a quick hook."
Alex Young (1-0) earned the win, pitching 2 2/3 innings in relief of Alexander, who allowed only three hits. Riley Ferrell pitched 1 2/3 innings for the save. Jared Robinson (1-1) took the loss in relief of Cougars starter Jared West, who allowed one unearned run and four hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Cody Jones and Kyle Bacak had two hits each for TCU. Frankie Ratcliff had two hits to pace the Cougars, who committed three errors.


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PULSE of the industry
Welcome to our very first issue focusing on the state of the green industry. As we put this issue together, we gave serious thought to information you could use as you look forward to 2005, and set out to compile what we believe is a comprehensive look at all aspects of the industry that will help you plan for the coming year. First, we will profile the current state of the industry, based on data collected in 2004. In the next section, you'll find projections for 2005, as well as predictions and advice from industry leaders. We hope this serves as a strong tool to guide your planning.
Size and Scope of the Grounds Care Market
Commodity markets such as agriculture and manufacturing have long been tracking the size of their industries. By knowing what is produced and tracking cash receipts, dollar/quantity information of commodities can be tracked. However the grounds care industry is more difficult to document because there are no commodities that are produced, just services provided.
Information on the size and scope of the grounds care industry is extremely valuable in terms of political capital. Priority for federal and state support of research, teaching and education is related to the government body's recognition of the economic impact of the particular industry on the country or state. Without this information it is difficult to make a case for supporting one industry over another.
There are tidbits of public information on the size of the grounds care industry out there but not all in one place. Several states have conducted research on the size of turf industry, golf course industry and landscape industry in their state, but no comprehensive national study exists. Industry estimates state that there are approximately 50 million acres of managed turf in the U.S. This places turfgrass third in total acreage among other agricultural crop acreages nationwide. In many states such as Maryland, Pennsylvania, Florida, New Jersey, and North Carolina; turf is the number one or two agricultural commodity.
The joint effort between the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service and the National Turfgrass Federation new turf initiative is intended among many other broad objectives to determine the economic impact of turf management practices on the national and regional economy, but that will be some time before it is completed. In the meantime, here is an overview on what we currently know about the size and scope of the grounds care industry.
Grounds Maintenance Work Force (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2002). Grounds maintenance workers held about 1.3 million jobs in 2002, distributed as follows:
- Landscaping and groundskeeping workers: 1,074,000
- Supervisors/managers: 150,000
- Tree trimmers and pruners: 59,000
- Pesticide handlers, sprayers, and applicators, vegetation: 27,000
This is an increase of about 200,000 grounds maintenance workers since 2000. In a time when unemployment increased in the general population, the grounds care industry held its own.
Landscape and Garden Services:
87,658 U.S. businesses with total annual sales of $20,405.8 million in 2003
Customers plan to purchase most common services in 2004: Mowing (13%), Fertilization and weeding lawns (10%), Landscape maintenance (8%), Tree care (7%), Pest Management of lawn (7%), Landscape installation (5%)
Market Forecast: Based upon U.S. Department of Labor data, landscaping, grounds keeping, nursery, greenhouse and lawn service occupations are expected to have a 1.969% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2002 to 2012. A revenue forecast cannot be provided due to the horizontal nature of this industry.
Landscaping services: Growth market. The number of landscaping service establishments is growing, and as private residential building continues to stay healthy, so does the demand for these services. As of October 2004, The U.S. Department of Commerce stated that the residential housing starts rose 6.4% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 2.03 million units. This sets the stage for a record in housing starts if the trend continues through November and December 2004. Non-residential construction Industry analysts forecast a 2 to 4 percent decline in residential housing starts in 2005.
Non-residential construction market is trending just the opposite of residential housing. Non-residential construction peaked about 2000, and experienced a downturn shortly after. The market has been depressed since then, but analysts expect a rebound in 2005. Just as with residential construction boom, increased non-residential construction will be favorable for landscape installation and maintenance.
Golf Courses
Golf courses include regulation-length courses, par-3 courses and executive-length courses and are categorized as daily fee, municipal or private. The National Golf Foundation defines golf courses in terms of 18-hole equivalents (number of holes divided by 18).
14,827 U.S. golf courses (18-hole equivalents) in 2003
72% are open to public
Golf Courses: Mature market. Although growth rate of new golf course introductions began slowing in 2001 and has remained at historically low, positive growth continues in the total number of golf courses. During the 1990's the annual increase in the number of new golf courses averaged about 340 per year. Between 2000 and 2003 the annual number of new golf courses fell from 266 to 102 in 2003.
This industry grouping includes all fixed-site grounds facilities with the exception of golf courses. For example, parks, schools, universities, resorts and hotels, apartment complexes, municipal/government facilities, office and industrial parks, cemeteries, roadsides, military bases and airports are facilities included in this industry group.
84.4 million acres of national parks in 2003
5,655 state parks comprising 13 million acres in 2002
5,000 park and recreation departments estimated in 2002
93,273 K-12 public schools (14,559 independent school districts), 27,223 K-12 private schools, 4,182 colleges/junior colleges/universities in 2004
3,981,670 miles of highways in U.S. in 2002
19,431 municipal governments and 16,506 township governments
87,900 government units in U.S., including the federal government, 50 state governments and 87,849 units of local government. 38,971 general purpose local governments (3,034 county governments, 35,937 subcounty governments (including 19,431 municipal governments and 16,506 township governments). The remainder are special purpose governments (including 13,522 school district governments and 35,356 special district governments) in 2002.
19,581 public and private airports in 2003
519 military installations in 1995
28,714 sports facilities (professional, college/university, other schools, park & rec.), 775,124 fields comprising 6,826,758 acres in 2003
Institutional Grounds Care: Mature market. This sector, like landscape services, is tied to construction, but its tie is to public and private non-residential construction, whereas landscape services is tied to residential and private non-residential construction.
Commercial Pesticide Sales in the United States: Annual sales of $825 million in 2003.
The commercial pesticide sales data is a fraction of the total pesticide use including agriculture. Regulatory pressures from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are eliminating uses of many products and encouraging manufacturers to introduce new products that are lower risk. Several key older products are reaching the end of their patent protected lives and becoming generic products.
Over the last 20 years, chemical manufacturers have experienced considerable consolidation. For instance, with herbicide manufacturers, there now are only 10 basic manufacturers when there were over 30 basic manufacturers in the early 1980s.
Fertilizer Use in the United States (all uses including agriculture and turf & ornamental).
- 53 million short tons (N, P, K total)
- Nitrate: 12 million short tons
- Phosphate: 4.6 million short tons
- Potash: 5.0 million short tons
Nitrogen fertilizer is closely tied to the price and availability of natural gas, which is the source of ammonia, the building block for the production of all nitrogen fertilizers. Natural gas prices have been extremely volatile over the last three years. Although gas prices have moderated, they remain approximately 150 percent above the 1990s historic average of $2.40 per-million Btu. In turn, this has forced fertilizer production costs to reach unprecedented levels and caused the curtailment of U.S. fertilizer production.
Part of the problem is competition for natural gas for other uses. With the requirements of the Clean Air Act, it is increasingly difficult to permit, construct and enlarge the nation's coal-fired plants. In the past, power plants primarily relied on coal for energy needs. Now most new power plants rely on natural gas. This increases demand for natural gas and raises the price for other uses such as fertilizer production.
Nursery Plants (includes broadleaf evergreens, coniferous evergreens, deciduous shade trees, flowering shade trees, deciduous shrubs, fruit and nut plants, palms, ornamental grasses, other woody ornamentals and vines, Christmas trees, transplants for commercial vegetable and strawberry production, propagation material and lining — out stock): Annual sales of $3.97 billion in 2003.
The USDA estimated 2003 gross value of sales for twelve categories of nursery products total $3.97 billion on operations exceeding $100,000 in sales in the 17 states surveyed for this report. This is an increase of 19 percent from comparable states since the survey was last conducted for the 2000 crop year. Broadleaf evergreens account for 21 percent of the total sales dollars, followed by deciduous shrubs at 15 percent, and deciduous shade trees at 13 percent. The top three contributing states to value of production are California with 25 percent of the total followed by Florida and Oregon, tied at 16 percent each.
Commercial/Consumer Turf and Grounds Care Equipment in the United States:
99 businesses with annual sales of $535.2 million (2004)
Consumer grounds-care equipment shipments $6.48 billion in 2000
Commercial grounds-care equipment shipments $1.865 billion in 2000
The DB Company estimated the industry at a relatively low $535.2 million based on 99 manufacturers. However, the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute estimated manufacturers' shipments of consumer equipment of walk-behind rotary mowers, rear engine riding mowers, front engine garden tractors, riding garden tractors, walk-behind and hand-held tillers, snow throwers and other outdoor power equipment such as shredders and log splitters for consumer markets and lawn and garden tractor attachments totaled $6.48 billion in 2000. Outdoor Power Equipment Institute data is based on U.S. Bureau of Census Current Industrial Report. Outdoor Power Equipment Institute estimated manufacturers' shipments of commercial equipment (for commercial lawn care, golf course and institutional markets), such as walk-behind mowers, riding equipment and lawn care and maintenance products for golf courses totaled $1.865 billion.
Industry Forecast for 2005
Now that you know a little more about the current state of the industry, you can use that information to guide you as you make plans for 2005. To provide even more help, we've consulted industry leaders to offer their advice and insights. Overall, there are a few trends that several of the leaders we interviewed named as ones that will impact you in the coming year. Most are cautiously optimistic about the economy while pointing to overall industry concerns, such as fuel prices, steel prices and labor reliability. In a survey by the Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS), money and manpower issues were cited as the two biggest challenges facing its members, according to Thomas Shaner, PGMS executive director.
Comments received by the organization of specific recurring problems for grounds managers included "Low wages for permanent staff, leading to high turnover," "Motivating employees to care about more than a paycheck," "Achieving desired results with time constraints due to other duties," "Finding conscientious, qualified manpower." Reflecting a current trend in the green industry as a whole, several respondents also recognized the need to be able to better communicate with Hispanic workers.
Golf-specific indicators are also positive for 2005. As 2004 comes to a close, rounds of golf played are still up for the year, according to the National Golf Foundation (NGF) and the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA). Rounds have been up 2.5 percent through the first two quarters of 2004, but a third quarter decrease of 0.9 percent lowered year-to-date results to +1.3 percent. Coinciding with the national increase in rounds played, golf facility revenues have increased 2.7 percent year-to-date, while revenue per round at public golf courses has increased just under one percent.
The Mid-Atlantic region has posted the strongest gains in rounds so far this year, up nearly 12 percent in 2004 as compared to rain-soaked 2003. Central/South Florida have managed to hang on to a 2 percent gain for the year, even with rounds down 20 percent in August and 30 percent in September due to a fearsome hurricane season. "Four hurricanes and about 30 inches of rain here in Palm Beach County alone have certainly created trying times for golf courses in Florida this year," says Joe Beditz, president and CEO of NGF. "The only saving grace is that the hurricane season comes during our off-season for golf here in South Florida."
"As the economy strengthens, so has spending in golf," adds Mike Hughes, executive director of NGCOA. "This is especially encouraging in light of the extraordinary weather events affecting the Southeast and the Atlantic coast."
The president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA) predicts that golf facilities will increase their interest in course remodeling due to the impact of new equipment technology, competition for rounds, advances in turfgrass management practices and years of use. Owners are embarking on everything from minor "touch-ups" to complete overhauls of their layouts.
ASGCA President Bill Love says that new course construction is still strong in the real estate sector, where new courses are being built in conjunction with housing developments. Yet ASGCA members report continued interest in remodeling. "Older courses are reacting to the challenges of newer ones down the street and are remodeling to respond to, and take advantage of, technological advances," he observes.
Nearly every course 20 years old or more should be evaluated to determine what improvements should be made for it to remain competitive, the College Park, Md., architect notes. And much like residential remodeling, "it's usually wise to develop a master plan, not only to head off problems, but also to budget for the long term. Such a plan also insures a project's vision remains intact through administrative and committee changes," he says.
There are many more segments of the green industry. Below, we have included interviews with experts in each to help offer insight into what is in store next year. We asked each to report on trends in the marketplace for 2005, pinpointing specific strengths and weaknesses. We also asked them to provide their thoughts on the economy, and what advice they would offer you as you plan for the coming year. Here is what they said.
Patrick Maguire, president Geller Sport
Boston, Mass.
Trends: In 2005, we see more of the same. When the economy dipped a few years ago, we didn't really notice a big lag because when the economy is bad, it's a good time for institutions to get things done. A wise financial director is one who realizes that when the economy is slow, that's when you want to get bids — when prices are down. So we saw a trend of building things ahead of schedule; things that were planned for 2005 and 2007, they could get done at 2002 prices.
We noticed that people are doing a tremendous amount of building synthetic turf fields. They are improving natural grass fields, as well, for all sports. They want at least one to play around with, to do their own research of new synthetic turfs. Many of these schools have multiple fields and lots of practice areas. They can often use their synthetic fields for alternate game sites when there is inclement weather.
Better directors have noticed that they need to look at all of their facilities. Find out what their programs are. See what their goals are. Are there enough seats? Do they need to expand or upgrade or even start from scratch? We've noticed in the past few years that for facilities directors to have successful programs, they needed to improve the facilities they have. To do so, they're breaking out projects into different, individual projects. Discreet projects. Not necessarily small, just not attached to another type of project. They are building new tennis and soccer stadiums with their own separate budgets. And they're using lots of specialty people to get those projects done. We've also noticed that directors have been very interested in taking a step back and looking at their entire bank of facilities, making sure that if they're going to dedicate funds, they are dedicating them in the right place. There is a lot of master planning going on.
Economy: We have not noticed in seven years that the economy has a big impact on this market. At some point, there will inevitably be a downward trend but, at least for the next several years, we don't anticipate it. Things have been good in 2004 and will be in 2005. If you want to recruit good athletes, you have to keep up with other (competing) facilities. You have to stay ahead of the game.
Advice: Don't do any planning before speaking to a professional in athletic facilities design. While many facilities and athletic directors know a lot about construction, athletic field construction is very different and a little bit of knowledge can be very dangerous. Talking to a professional will save them time, effort and aggravation, if not money.
Wayne Horman, director of sales and marketing The Scotts Co.
Marysville, Ohio
Trends: I think the industry is in search of something new. New developments. Every year there's a new bluegrass or new ryegrass, but the market is looking for something new that is unique. Something that gives them a competitive advantage. So I think seed companies will be spending more money on research and development in search of it. We're optimistic because of our new products. Our future is about developing grasses that can do more with less. And the industry is going this way, too. It matches what the demand is and desire is of turf managers. So we need to offer the industry something that doesn't cost more to use: varieties that can do more.
We are still very committed to the development of Roundup Ready bentgrass. And we're excited about it because it is the ultimate do-more-with-less product. It's hard to predict when it will be ready to market because it's in APHIS's hands now (for approval). We hope it'll be ready to go in 12 to 18 months. But we're continuing to move forward. We remain optimistic.
Economy: As far as projections, it's difficult. Our industry is dependent on fuel. Oil is $45 a barrel and it affects lots of products in this market, as well as delivery of those products. Interest rates are still down but are inching up, and we've seed some holdback from sod producers because of this. Times have changed because of the speed in delivery of information. This impacts everyone. Interest rates and fuel are the two biggest factors for 2005. We're dependent on these factors to see what happens.
We're somewhat optimistic for green industry growth in 2005. When interest rates go up and oil goes up and it rains all the time and rounds of golf go down, it's horrible for our industry. We can't have that again. But Scotts had a good year 2004 despite the bad (rainy) weather in the East and Midwest. And we're still looking at a good 2005. From a seed standpoint, 2004 started out really well and we had a great 9 months, but then it slowed down. Sales weren't there in the fall, not just for our seed company, but for others as well. What will come into play in 2005 is how turf makes it through the winter and new housing starts. We see 2005 very similar to 2004.
Planning: I think when it comes to grasses, anticipate a price increase for the good, more elite, grasses. However, prices on ryegrasses are going to be flat. If urea prices stay up and fuel stays up, the price of shipping will go up, too. Remember to look at fuel prices for equipment, too, when planning your budgets.
Rick Elyea, director of golf marketing Tee-2-Green Corp. and Turf Seed, Inc.
Hubbard, Oregon
Trends: More and more varieties are becoming available that are more efficient and make better use of water and fertilizer. Seed developers realize that the water issue is only going to get worse and the quality and amount of water available for golf courses will see even more constraints in the coming years. It's going to become just as important to have turf that can tolerate water that is poor quality such as effluent water and water with a high salt content. So it's important to get that research done now.
There is also a trend to develop varieties that have better disease resistance and are less susceptive to diseases such as gray leaf spot and brown patch.
Economy: I see some growth in 2005. The new construction market is climbing up again in the golf market. Renovations of old courses will increase to keep up with new facilities as equipment (golf balls and golf clubs) continues to change.
Planning: As you plan for next year, take a look at all varieties offered to you. Look at the benefits of each, and consider what kind of performance you'll need as well as special characteristics like disease resistance. Some varieties were developed for specific situations. Do your research. When comparing varieties, make sure you are comparing apples to apples. Sometimes paying 5 to 10 cents more per pound actually saves you money on a cost per acre.
Michael Rivers, director of commercial division
Rain Bird
Azusa, Calif.
Trends: When I think about trends, I think of water management and the need to use water efficiently. Water is a finite resource, and there are increasing demands on that supply. I think irrigation often gets targeted (as at fault for water waste) because we are some of the most obvious uses of water. Water-efficient products are a huge trend and focus in this market. All of the professionals involved in irrigation and even who use it need to be aware of intelligent water use and be part of the solution. We need to work to change the perception that we are part of the problem because we're part of the solution. I think we're doing that through research and development and with all of the water-efficient products on the market. And it's no longer just something available for high-end or large users. The Green Industry as a whole must pay more attention to this topic to ensure our viability. I'd rather have us lead in this area rather than have policy forced on it. We have to be proactive.
Another trend that lends itself to smart irrigating is use of a central control. There is a focus on this and self-adjusting control, evapotranspiration (ET)-based irrigation. Our technology has advanced to the point that this type of control is accessible to a greater number of people than ever, and that's pretty exciting and a major trend in regards to product.
Market: We feel pretty positive about the market. 2004 has been a good year, and we have a very positive outlook for 2005 as the economy continues to strengthen. We are planning for industry growth. Professionals have a real opportunity to enhance their designs and projects by using (water efficient) products. They can and should be taking advantage of enhancing the whole picture. Sometimes they get too caught up in looking at the cost instead of the overall benefits. I would encourage them to take another look at products that are available. We need to educate them on the benefit of efficiency. I wish we could flip a switch and turn everything over to water efficient products over night. It's going to be years before it fully changes. But I think there will be major shifts soon, especially on the control side because that's where technology has improved the quickest.
Economy: Indicators for the economy are positive. It seems to be strengthening. We are cautiously optimistic.
Dave Zerfoss, president Husqvarna
Charlotte, N.C.
Economy: Being intimately involved with OPEI (Outdoor Power Equipment Institute) and as chairman, I have seen the statistics and we predict a very healthy growth level in 2005 for commercial units. We anticipate double-digit growth. The growth in 2004 was 18 percent total for equipment. And I believe we can expect double-digit growth for at least 5 years. This is driven by a couple of factors: Babyboomers are maturing and want someone else to take care of their lawns; a general trend of time compression; and a global desire for nice lawns. We also predict more entrance into this business market because when you have so much growth, it brings new business people into marketplace.
Trends: The trend will continue for improved technology in the equipment market. Cleaner, quieter and more efficient equipment is on the way. There will be more focus on ergonomics and vibration. It's a transfer from Europe where there are vibration ratings of products. There will be more user standards, lower emissions. Everyone is working toward that to meet standards. With up to 70 percent less emissions, all of these improvements take tremendous investments.
Challenges: There is a key issue right now and that's hiring and training employees. A focus on human assets. It's a challenge today to get productive employees. To help with this, we feel we want to provide more training online, and that's what we've done. Our training is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to assist customers. We also offer maintenance information online. We're going to be expanding these programs, because we feel it's important to have the right support.
Planning: I believe that as you plan, you need to plan for growth in a very positive way. There is a real technology in thinking. To move forward, companies need to make a bold declaration. Think about the future and where you want to go. You may even need to reinvent yourself. If you can't differentiate yourself from your competitors, you won't be able to compete. You'll become the same as the others. Develop what differentiates you. Look at what if instead of what was.
Advice: Take stress out of your business. Focus on what makes you money: It's services you perform. So you need to look at how your time is being used. Narrow your focus instead of being all things to all people. Decide where you want to be. Don't look at how you want to decide, but how you want to prosper.
Joe Fahey, vice president of marketing Echo, Inc.
Lake Zurich, Ill.
Trends/concerns: Landscape contractors in this market need to be aware of what's going on with handheld equipment right now. We are in the middle of one of the biggest issues that has hit this industry in recent memory, and that's emissions regulation. Although we've been talking about them for a long time, on Jan. 1, 2005, they hit their lowest limit. The impact is enormous because manufacturers have had to change technology to achieve these regulations. The end-users need to understand the new technology involved. Now more than ever, your clientele needs to know the facts. There is a lot of misunderstanding in the marketplace regarding technology, the future and its impact. So I advise everyone involved in handheld equipment to know your facts. Our biggest concern is that the rumor mill has it that 2-stroke technology is dead. But landscape contractors need to know that this isn't true and that they need to do their research before buying equipment so that they don't end up with something that doesn't meet requirements or that they won't want down the line. You can make wiser choices by knowing the facts.
Economy: Things are a little on the worrisome side right now from the manufacturing standpoint. Raw material prices are going up with gas and steel. We are worried about the weakening dollar as well as the trade deficit. These are issues that have so far had minimal impact, but could be serious depending on how they are handled.
Planning: I think that the growth of the commercial landscaper will continue. The trend toward homeowners having professionals do their lawns will also continue. Weather is always the X factor, but I think you should prepare for a solid year in 2005.
Steve Stansell, marketing manager, lawn care
Syngenta Professional Products
Greensboro, N.C.
Trends: I think in general people are taking a more outside view of their homes. We're seeing a lot of interest in having a nice premium lawn and landscape. There is a growth in hiring a professional to give you that look. Right now, we're working toward helping lawn care operators (LCOs) to reduce turn and keep customers. They can do so by offering more services. Professionally-applied fungicide is a great growth opportunity for LCOs. It gives you a way to offer the improved lawns that homeowners are looking for. Also, there is a trend to seek out more information. Using the latest technology like our Greencast Web site (www.greencastonline.com) lets them stay ahead of any diseases in their area. It provides the information they need to treat both preventatively and curatively, thus reducing their turn rate, giving the homeowner more satisfaction.
Economy: We're optimistic about the market. It's been growing. Home building is up. Size of lawns and homes are up. I think there will be overall growth. We're forecasting 3 to 5 percent. While some expenses are up, most people are realizing as much net income as they did before, encouraging specialized services. However, I think the do-not-call list is changing the way LCOs are going to market to develop business. LCOs are trying to figure out new ways to attract customers. If they can reduce turn rate by 5 to 10 percent, that's the same as growth.
Planning: I don't see input costs from equipment and labor getting any easier. Fuel costs are up. Maintaining good labor will always be an issue. Not having consistent, quality employees works against you when you're trying to provide a premium experience and reduce your turn rate.
Dennis Schwieger, vice president Jacobsen, A Textron Company
Charlotte, N.C.
Trends: The No. 1 trend is that zero-turn mowers are going to continue to be the fastest growing machine in the entire industry. I don't see anything that even comes close to that. It's got a growth rate above 20 percent on a compounded growth basis. Industry market research indicates that consumers are a much bigger proportion of the buyers on this than many had expected. Lot of landscapers are buying zero-turns, too, but consumers are as well. The biggest factor in this growth is productivity. None of us have as much time as we used to have. So we are compelled to save time, and zero-turn mowers cover ground quickly.
We're also going to see a consolidation on the supply side, even as the industry is growing. And based on the research we've seen, equipment customers will be very, very demanding of reliability and support, whether they are homeowners or commercial cutters.
There will also be a trend to make these machines more versatile. The hydraulic system and 20- to 30-hp engine is there, and it's enough to power something versatile. You'll begin to see attachments that can dig postholes, cut small trenches, provide a power source for hedge trimmers, etc. They have the potential to morph and displace lawn and garden tractors a little bit.
Market: Golf course superintendents seem to be under economic pressure from greens committees or public managers. Some people still care a great deal about the quality of the job. But some say that "all mowers cut, what's the price?" And we're hearing that more and more. They are under pressure and it's going to drive consolidation. I don't see that changing. Quality of cut is still the most important issue, but reliability is right behind that. Then cost.
Professional landscape contractors are concerned with getting higher prices from the market, and equipment better be productive and reliable. If he could cut three more lawns in a day, it's enough to pay for the equipment. Those are the major concerns.
Economy: While economy is coming back, it's not roaring back. It's going to be moderate through 2005, solid but moderate recovery.
John Cloutier, marketing communications manager
Beatrice, Neb.
Trends: Homeowners are stepping up and purchasing commercial products. Still a new category for them as far as awareness and value, but this will continue to grow in long term. What does that mean to landscape contractors? Well, mowing used to be an outside service and is now something they are doing themselves. Even those with properties at an acre and a half are doing it themselves. They are buying mid-mount zero-turns. You might lose some of those accounts.
The theme for 2005 is really about efficiency. You need equipment that covers a lot of area. We don't think landscape contractors are seeing a pot of gold out there to better revenues and profits, but there is potential for growth with increasing efficiencies. But you have to look at everything you do. Does is take double cutting of grass to meet your customers' standards? All businesses will be looking internally to eliminate waste. This is what happens when things slow down a little bit.
I'm not sure manufacturers lowered any prices for 2005 because of steel costs. Probably the single biggest driver of day-to-day costs is that of equipment going up. So look at what machine is going to be most efficient to generate revenue. It's tempting to go to a lower-costing machine, but often the logical choice would be paying a little more to eliminate downtime and increase efficiency.
Economy: All the indicators are that it's going to be a positive year, but nothing says it's going to be extraordinary. Economic indicators are better; not great, but better. There won't really be anything different this year from last year. A lot is weather-driven, and no one has a crystal ball that says whether it's going to rain or not. So we are cautiously optimistic.
Randy Harris, senior marketing manager, Toro Landscape Contractor Equipment The Toro Co.
Bloomington, Minn.
Trends: There is a growing importance of lawn maintenance to landscape contracting firms. Survey results indicate that 44 percent of landscapers who responded say that lawn maintenance is their primary revenue source. In 1998, the same survey indicated that only 24 percent said that lawn maintenance was their primary revenue source.
Another trend is that contracting firms are looking to boost efficiency as other costs go up. Health care costs are rising, combined with increasing insurance prices and fuel hikes, there is no end to watching operating expenses go up and only so much you can pass on to the end-user. One way to offset that is to purchase do-more-faster equipment plus make sure that equipment isn't breaking down. A cheap piece of equipment that is always in the shop is going to cost you more in the long run.
Market: Long term we see continued growth. In our survey, 84 percent of respondents said their revenues also would increase in 2004.
Economy: We are positive. We believe the economic recovery will continue with strong housing starts. We don't see it slowing down. We're pretty bullish on the future.
Planning: Plan for fuel and energy prices to stay high. Hopefully, they've peaked and will come down, but not soon. Steel is at record highs. In the short term, equipment prices will increase over the next couple of years at a higher rate than in the past. Building is considerably higher than it was 18 months ago. In general, plan for higher overall operating expenses. Plan for high health care cost and pay scale increases. Look for different ways to drive down costs, eliminate waste and increase productivity.
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I'm a little surprised to be recommending a tower defense game about the undead for 4-year-olds, but Plants vs. Zombies (from PopCap, makers of Bejeweled and Peggle) is really very special.
For the uninitiated, tower defense games are generally pretty stressful. You have to defend your base against waves and waves of enemies by tactically arming the corridor they use to approach. These attacking hordes often escalate pretty quickly from seemingly manageable to completely flippin' overwhelming, and only the perfect balance of slow-and-steady strategic thinking with cool-as-a-cucumber tactical dexterity will prevail. Stressful, frustrating gaming experiences are not generally recommendable either for my 4-year-old or myself, or really for anybody but masochists.
Then there's the whole zombie angle. I try to shelter my children as long as possible from the mature themes in much of today's entertainment. I don't really want to be explaining what zombies are and why they want to attack our house and eat our brains. (Or more subtly, that zombies don't actually exist...yet!) Call me overprotective or old-fashioned; I just think my boys will have decades to enjoy zombie-related entertainment without my rushing them into it.
That's why I'm a little late to the party on this whole Plants vs. Zombies thing. I avoided it for years because of the tower defense angle. Then, right before PopCap put the game on sale and donated all proceeds to tsunami relief efforts in Japan (I lament not the price I paid, but that my money didn't go to the cause), I decided to download it on iPhone. And downloading anything on iPhone for myself means I'm also downloading it for Alex, my son. But I wasn't too concerned; I knew the game's cartoony style wasn't scary, and I really didn't expect him to be skilled enough to play it.
I was surprised, therefore, when it quickly became his favorite game. Sure, PvZ has PopCap's signature balance and pacing, making the game completely accessible (and highly addictive) to me. But Alex didn't seem to care much about actually playing it. What captured his imagination and attention were the game's artwork, animations, and unexpectedly lovable cast of characters. I had no idea zombies could have such heartwarming backstories, meaningful behavior patterns, memorable voices. Take Flag Zombie, who carries a flag with a brain on it, while chanting "brains." Or Jack-in-the-Box Zombie, who shivers "not because he's cold, but because he's crazy" (according to his in-game bio). Before Plants vs. Zombies, I had no idea the shambling undead could be so...cute.
So though Alex isn't particularly skilled at the game, he doesn't need to be. He just loves the PvZ experience. He has his favorite plants -- the black mushroom who is (in Alex's words) "really, really angry!" or the little potato "who doesn't shoot anything but just explodes...you know he's ready because his red light flashes." Or the purple venus fly trap "because he stays." (Alex's placement of plants leaves something to be desired, meaning most of his plants get eaten pretty quickly, so the fact that he can count on the venus fly trap to eat a zombie whole and survive for a few more paces means the world to Alex.) And those fabulous pea shooters, which he loves because... "they shoot peas." (Ah, the simplicity of 4-year-olds....) He even loves experiencing defeat and hearing his character scream "NOOOOOOO!" as the words "ZOMBIES ATE YOUR BRAINS!" flash on the screen. He can't read, but he once proudly announced to me that the words say, "You losed!"
But PvZ is more than just an accidental kiddie fave. I'm calling it a family game, because it's genuinely absorbed our entire family. With our various iPhones and iPads, I've found we can easily while away an hour or more each playing the game independently. Now, this isn't what I call healthy (hey, even quality screen time needs to be moderated), so as often as possible, either my husband or I will play the game with Alex, which he really, really loves. And when we can't play Plants vs. Zombies?
We talk about Plants vs. Zombies. (And frankly, there's no shortage of discussion topics.)
"Hey Mom, you know that black mushroom? He's a really angry mushroom. He explodes. He leaves a little hole in the ground. He's my favorite."
"Mom, why does the football zombie run really really fast?"
"If the zombies reach your house, it's OK if you have a lawnmower there. The lawnmower will get those guys."
"Remember that time I had FIVE pea shooters in a row?"
Our entire dinner conversation could revolve around PvZ if we wanted. We love to randomly yell "NOOOOOOOOO!" or pretend to eat each other's brains with the telltale "chomp chomp chomp" sound. (Even the baby loves this part.) And when one of us is particularly grumpy, making what we call the Zombie Garlic Face -- that scrunched up expression of disgust the zombies make when they smell garlic -- never fails to lighten the mood.
Occasionally I'll even find my husband and I get drawn into legitimately discussing tactics during conversations started by Alex.
Me: "I wonder what would happen if you put an entire row of garlic. What would the zombies do then?"
Nick: "You'd probably need at least two rows, but it seems like it might be pretty effective."
Me: "But how would the zombies get killed?"
Nick: "I guess you'd need a line of offensive plants on the other side of the garlic."
Me: "I wonder how long that would take to set up. Would you have enough time to get all the garlics planted?"
and so on.
I'd chock it up to our simply being a family of hardcore gamers, except that's not even true anymore. I've barely touched my consoles in a year, and even my husband practically had to hire a babysitter when he wanted to finish Assassin's Creed II. Yet there we are on vacation at a diner in New York, contemplating not the blue whale at the American Museum of Natural History, the three turtles we saw in the pond in Central Park, or the Cannonball Adderley tune we heard a musician playing the subway, but how Newspaper Zombie gets really upset when you shoot through his crossword puzzle.
A lot of the time, I feel bad about playing casual games. They're super-addictive and can eat up hours, days, weeks of your life without tangibly giving a whole lot back. Sure you have a few moments of brainless relaxation and your high score on a leaderboard, but generally you're left wondering where the time went, a vague sense of guilt haunting you. Perhaps that's another reason I avoided Plants vs. Zombies for so long. But now that I have it, I'm genuinely grateful to PopCap. This brilliant game has given our family an elusive, precious commodity: quality time together.