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Can Drag and Kill Your Fundraising
Fund: Storm Ventures, Inc.
Posted by MajorKatorino on 2016-07-26
Be careful not to be dragged into time buying tacticsPRIVATE: Members Only (313 Characters)
Alex Mendez & Team
Fund: Storm Ventures, Inc.
Posted by Anonymous on 2011-03-25
Had the opportunity to pitch Alex Mendez and a few of his associates. Alex was interested in the business idea and you could tell right off the bat. The team asked well informed and thoughtful questions and gave us a bit of extra time to go through some of the finer details. After the meeting they followed up within a reasonable time-frame.
In the end, Storm decided to forgo the opportunity. Of the VCs we pitched, I was disappointed as I could see Alex being a very strong contributor and supporter.PRIVATE: Members Only
Fund: Storm Ventures, Inc.
Posted by Anonymous on 2009-12-21
Had a call with Ben Choi and Juwul WIlliams, to which Ben conveniently didn't show up. The conversation really didn't have much depth to it. From the get-go, we probably shouldn't have been talking.
To be fair for the firm though, if they excel at anything, it's their lackluster sheen.PRIVATE: Members Only
Storm / Sanjay Subhedar
Fund: Storm Ventures, Inc.
Posted by Curious on 2009-02-17
I am interested in feedback on STORM...PRIVATE: Members Only (325 Characters)
Good Investor
Fund: Storm Ventures, Inc.
Posted by Anonymous on 2008-07-07
I joined a Storm backed company after they did the "A/B" round for a small software firm. They have been extremely supportive and professional.
Alex Mendez is a true professional and a gentleman. His operational experience gives him a perspective often lacking with "quant-only" players.PRIVATE: Members Only
Ryan is a Very Helpful and Nice Guy
Fund: Storm Ventures, Inc.
Posted by haiying on 2008-05-13
I pitched my company to him and it was a great meeting. We were early for them and I ended up taking angel money. Since then we have been engaged in many conversations about business model and I have received lots of help from Ryan: sending me related market news, connecting me with domain experts, and introducing partner companies upon my request. He is really a nice guy and very helpful even though Storm didn't invest my company.PRIVATE: Members Only
Fast In; Fast Out
Fund: Storm Ventures, Inc.
Posted by Anonymous on 2007-12-31
Very efficient pitching Storm; you'll know from the body language in the first meeting if there's a deal to be had -- we made the mistake of taking the partner's meeting after getting the vibe -- that Storm wasn't going to do the deal. Sanjay is upfront; quick to respond; and could be a good board member. Avoid Tim Danford he was obnoxious and unprofessional.PRIVATE: Members Only
Believe in People / Team
Fund: Storm Ventures, Inc.
Posted by marklee on 2007-12-31
I have had solid experience working with Tae Hea Nahm, Ryan Floyd, Ben Choi, Tim Danford, and other Storm members. My last company OSA Technologies was invested by Storm in 2000 when the fund was just started. They helped guided and supported the company through the challenging period of 2000-2004, until our successful M&A exit to Avocent (NASDAQ: AVCT) for over $100M USD.
After spending 2 years at Avocent, I decided I wanted to come back to do another startup again, and launched DeviceVM in July 2006.... Storm team was first to support us and gave us a termsheet, even though our business plan was still in relatively early stage. Ryan and Ben have provided solid advice and networking help. We have just closed our series B with continuing support from the Storm team.
Fund: Storm Ventures, Inc.
Posted by bootstrapper on 2007-06-22
Storm prides itself on operators, primarily coming from Stratacomm which was acquired by Cisco. The founders came from both and they've been doing M&A and deals long before VC and seem very sharp and straightforward.PRIVATE: Members Only (455 Characters)
Quality Folks
Fund: Storm Ventures, Inc.
Posted by Anonymous on 2007-06-16
I've had the chance to pitch to the Storm guys in the last half year, and what I liked was the rational, informed approach they took. I assume this comes from the operational background of all the partners (and associates), as others have pointed out already. While they did not in the end offer us a term sheet, if they had offered, I would likely rather have taken their investment over the couple of other much more prominent firms that did offer. As an early entrepreneur, I've slowly come to understand the standard advice to separate the "help" from the "money", and superficial domain expertise is almost always more harmful than no domain expertise at all, but the Storm guys always struck me as knowing what they know, knowing what they don't know, and knowing where and when they can add value. That, to me, is the kind of firm you want on your board. To the comments about them misappropriating the Mobio business plan with EIRs, there's a reason why vc's can't sign nda's-- because there are precious few truly unique ideas out there; most entrepreneurs know that good ideas are a dime a dozen, and it's rare to come across a good idea that a handful of other folks aren't already working on.. it's all about execution, and that's where people like Storm really shine.PRIVATE: Members Only
Fund: Storm Ventures, Inc.
Posted by mc7z on 2007-06-15
I have worked with the Storm team over the last year. They bring real entrepreneurial help based on operational experience. The fund has not been around as long as other Tier1's, but they know what they are doing.PRIVATE: Members Only
Straight Shooters
Fund: Storm Ventures, Inc.
Posted by jasonlk on 2007-05-17
I have known many of the Storm partners since pre-Storm and they invested in my current company as a fund, and as individual investors in my last company.
To me having straight shooters as your investors is criterion #1, as there are inherent conflicts of interest in the venture process. The Storm partners are all ex-operational guys, and the first funds were with a lot of their own money. So compared to most VCs, you will always know where you stand.PRIVATE: Members Only (209 Characters)
Storm's EIR's, Conflicts of Interest
Fund: Storm Ventures, Inc.
Posted by Anonymous on 2007-05-15
i have dealt with both their VCs and EIRs, and I agree with the other "beware" comments. They like to start companies in-house and usually just do meetings with outsiders as market research for existing stealth EIR deals you don't even know about (yet). Look at their track record. Cat's out of the bag!PRIVATE: Members Only (68 Characters)
Mobio Backed or 'Founded' by Storm?
Fund: Storm Ventures, Inc.
Posted by Anonymous on 2007-05-15
Sounds like a typical case where a VC likes an idea and then goes ahead and implements it.PRIVATE: Members Only (441 Characters)


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Zac Rosscup is Emerging as a Key Member of the Cubs' Bullpen
Heralded early in the season, the 2015 Chicago Cubs' bullpen ran into a spot of trouble a couple weeks ago. After suffering some key injuries and experiencing some serious ineffectiveness, we were reminded that relief pitcher performance is notoriously fickle, and just as susceptible to player injury as any other position. Yes, the bullpen has been met by some adversity, but that often means an opportunity for new arms to emerge.
After Justin Grimm and Neil Ramirez hit the disabled list a couple weeks back, we've seen several fringy pitchers (Brian Schlitter, Edwin Jackson, Gonzalez Germen, etc…) get a shot at proving they belong in a key bullpen role. Each has had his moments (Germen look very good at times), but none has inspired a great deal of confidence in high-leverage situations.
Zac Rosscup, on the other hand, has.
Called up on April 14 to aid an ailing bullpen after not making the team out of Spring Training, Rosscup has done everything he could have to make a solid second impression on the men in charge of roster decisions. On the year, and after another clean inning last night, Rosscup has pitched 8.2 innings in relief, boasting a stellar 11.42 K/9, 1.04 BB/9, 1.04 ERA and a 2.45 FIP. Although all of those numbers are more than solid, the key take away for Rosscup is the increased control.
For a guy without elite velocity and with just two primary pitches (fastball, slider), control and command has always been critical for Rosscup, even though he has great raw stuff and deception. Unfortunately, that has been his greatest challenge. In 2013, Rosscup was first called up to the Cubs and pitched 6.2 innings with an unacceptable 9.45 BB/9. In 2014, he followed that up with 13.1 innings of 8.1 BB/9. Needless to say, no one can be successful in the big leagues issuing so many walks.
2015 has been different though, and it isn't without explanation. Over at BP Wrigleyville, Rian Watt took a look into the new and improved Zac Rosscup to try and determine what may have changed. According to Watt, Rosscup has been using his slider far more in 2015 (36.96%) than he ever did in 2014 (23.02%) or 2013 (25.44%). Furthermore, that slider has come in at roughly 3 miles an hour faster in 2015 (86.38 mph) than it did in 2014 (83.22 mph) and 2013 (83.73 mph). There is a whole lot more in Watt's article, so I urge you to take a look, and let yourself get a little excited. If nothing else, Rosscup deserves the attention.
It's true that 8.2 innings is a small sample, so all of the necessary caveats apply. Still, the eyes see a quality reliever, and the numbers say there's something there. Rosscup's always had elite strikeout totals in the minor leagues, so there are reasons for optimism here.
For now, I am glad to see the 26-year-old lefty find some success, and even happier that he found it exactly when the Cubs needed it most. Hopefully, he can keep it up throughout the season and be a big part of the bullpen going forward.

subset: commoncrawl


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It's easy to see why 20-something Laurel would want to switch places with her twin sister Audrey, the title character of "The Pretty One." Mousy and painfully shy, Laurel lives at home with her widowed father; she's secretly dating a high schooler, dresses in her late mother's retro clothes and spends her days painting replicas of masterpieces. The perfectly-coiffed Audrey, on the other hand, moved out long ago. She owns a house, works in real estate and has a suave older boyfriend.
So when the twins get into a car crash and Audrey dies, Laurel decides not to correct people when they confuse her for her sister. She'll just continue to live Audrey's life and blame any weirdness on her post-crash amnesia.
It would take a lot of charm for "The Pretty One" to overcome that creepy premise, but the movie doesn't have it.
Zoe Kazan does her best. The actress plays both Audrey and Laurel, and she tries mightily to add some cuteness to Laurel's embarrassing awkwardness, but the results are mixed. Laurel has to fake her way through all kinds of interactions, from her relationship with a married man (Ron Livingston) to her job to seeing her best friend, Claudia (Frances Shaw). But most of the movie is spent on Laurel's relationship with Audrey's tenant, Basel (Jake Johnson), who lives next door. Audrey and Basel had a contentious relationship, and yet he doesn't balk when his landlord is suddenly sweet and romantically interested.
When it comes to assumed identities, part of the drama comes from the fear of being unmasked. Yet as strangely as Laurel acts, no one suspects a thing. If she wanted to, she could go on living as Audrey forever. Where's the tension in that?
Other threads of the plot are similarly anemic. Laurel believes that Audrey is the only person who truly understood and loved her, and yet the surviving twin never seems to deeply mourn the loss. Yes, she attends a Twins Without Twins group meeting and yes, she places her hand over the reflection of herself in the rearview mirror, but that's about it. We never feel her grief. It would appear that all it took for Laurel to forget about her closest friend is a cute new neighbor.
The film's one bright spot is Johnson, who's turning into an unlikely leading man. From "The New Girl" to "Drinking Buddies," he always seems to be playing an aspiring curmudgeon, and yet there's something endearing and natural about him.
For all its intimations about finding one's true self and the complicated setups for a big misidentification, "The Pretty One" is just another romantic dramedy.
One and a half stars. R. Contains language and sexual situations. 90 minutes.
Ratings Guide: Four stars masterpiece, three stars very good, two stars OK, one star poor, no stars waste of time.
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Most Reverend
In this month of August, as many of us turn our thoughts to the last days of summer vacation and returning to school, the Church focuses our attention upon one of the great celebrations of the liturgical year, which is the celebration of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Mary has much to teach us about rest and contemplation, especially how to place what truly matters at the center of our lives.
While August in Texas means heat and time to head back to school, in Rome the month of August means a month of vacation for much of the population. It is as if the entire country takes a collective sigh of relief and heads to the mountains or the beach. The heart of the month is August 15, or Ferragosto. This is a day of rest and relaxation, when families enjoy time together.
We will quickly recognize the date as the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The secular Italian state has never been able to completely separate itself from the deep Catholic roots and Catholic culture present among the people. It is significant for us that the day upon which we celebrate Mary's definitive entrance into heaven serves as a day of rest for the people.
Here in America, and especially in Texas, we have a very strong work ethic. This is something to be proud of and pass on to future generations. At the same time, we can fall into a trap of always working. Where work itself becomes the most important thing we do, and begins to define who we are. Work is important, but there is more to life than work.
In a recent interview conducted by Peter Seewald with Pope Benedict XVI, found in the book Light of the World, the Pope comments on the idea that we must be continually active and busy. The Pope states: "One should not feel obliged to work ceaselessly… Not becoming totally absorbed in activism means maintaining consideration, discretion, deeper examination, contemplation, time for interior pondering, vision, and dealing with things, remaining with God and meditating about God." The Pope made these comments in relationship to his work of serving the Church, but these words are very important for us as well.
Pope Benedict XVI points to the necessity of assessing everything in the light of Christ. Constant and continual work can lead us to the view that we are truly in charge of our own lives, that we are the ones who provide for ourselves, and we can forget what is truly important, what has lasting value, what is eternal.
Vacation and rest provide time for reassessment of our lives. Vacation is a break from our normal routine. Far from simply recharging our batteries, so we can do more work when we return, vacation can be a time to put the most important things first. This is where the Blessed Virgin Mary and two celebrations in the month of August can help us.
On August 5, we celebrated the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. After the Council of Ephesus declared Mary to be the Mother of God in A.D. 431, something miraculous occurred in Rome. Pope St. Sixtus III had a dream, and it was revealed to him that he was to build a church where it snowed. It did indeed snow on the Esquiline Hill … in the hot, sultry month of August. As Texans, we can truly appreciate how extraordinary it would be if it snowed here in August, and no less so in Rome. The church was built and the miraculous snowfall is still commemorated every year with the dropping of white rose petals — truly a sign of our communion with that first event.
The second event concerning the Virgin Mary which we celebrate in August is the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. This was definitively defined by the Church in the year 1950 by Pope Pius XII in the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus (The Most Bountiful God). The definition states: "The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heaven." While this teaching of the Church was defined rather recently, it would be a mistake to believe that this truth has not been held in the hearts and minds of the faithful.
The Assumption of the Virgin Mary is one of the most popular subjects of the grand mosaics found in the churches of Rome. The truth of the Assumption is made visible in sacred art in the mosaics of St. Mary in Trastevere and in St. Mary Major. We see in the definition of the dogma and the artistic life of the Church a beautiful harmony.
We see the same harmony in Scripture and Tradition. Scripture tells us of the life of Mary, especially that she held the mysteries of Christ very dear and "pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19). The early Church never forgot Mary, as is evident in the Holy Land in Jerusalem, where one can find the Church of the Dormition of Mary, as well as the sites connected to Mary in Nazareth and Bethlehem.
The later mosaics of the Virgin Mary in the city of Rome point to the life of prayer of the Church made visible in sacred art. The event of the Assumption was believed and became part of the life of the Church. This is an example of something I like to call "Lex Credendi, Lex Orandi." That which is believed finds its expression in our life of prayer. We believe and we pray.
This brings us back to our starting point about rest, vacation, and seeing life in the light of Christ. We believe that Mary dwells with her Son, Jesus Christ, in heaven. Therefore, her example is more than just one among many, but truly serves as a way to believe, live, and pray as a Christian. Mary took time to ponder the mystery of Christ. She lived in the work, but was not absorbed by it. She knew temptation, but never allowed anything to separate her from the love of God.
Even in the midst of the heat of August in Texas, let us follow the example of our mother, Mary. Let us find rest in the Lord, and put Him first in all things.
In this edition, you will also see a section dedicated to my mother and her life and profession as a maternity nurse and instructor. There is an especially beautiful letter written by Nicki Prevou. On behalf of Dad, and all of the family... I want to take this occasion to thank so many people for their outpouring of support and prayer. For those who wrote individual notes... You will be hearing from me personally. God bless you and thanks to all. Mom's life and death and Vigil and Mass of the Resurrection is a living example of the Paschal Mystery and the Communion of the Saints.
May God continue to bless you and your families, and please be assured of my prayers.
In this month of August, as many of us turn our thoughts to the last days of summer vacation and returning to school, the Church focuses our attention upon one of the great celebrations of the liturgical year, which is the celebration of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.


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College presidents say no to unions for athletes
WASHINGTON — A national organization representing college and university presidents on Friday disputed a federal ruling that students who receive college athletic scholarships are essentially employees of their schools and thus entitled to join unions and exercise collective-bargaining rights. But labor organizations took the other side of the issue.
"Student-athletes participate for their own benefit; they do not render services for compensation," said the 1,800 member American Council on Education. They "are not employees and therefore not subject to the National Labor Relations Act."
Ahead of a midnight deadline, the council filed a 30-page friend-of-the court brief taking strong issue with the ruling earlier this year by a National Labor Relations Board regional director that allows college athletes at Northwestern University to unionize. It was one of several briefs filed on both sides of the debate.
The full labor board is weighing the case.
Northwestern University asked the labor board to overturn the ruling, saying that its Chicago-region director "overlooked or ignored key evidence that Northwestern presented showing that its student-athletes are primarily students, not employees."
Instead the regional director's decision "relied incorrectly on a common-law definition of employee that considered the amount of control an employer has over an employee," said Northwestern, which is located in Evanston, Illinois.
In its own brief, the fledgling College Athletes Players Association argued that Northwestern football is a commercial enterprise from which the university derives substantial financial benefits. "They are entitled to representation...the regional director's decision should be affirmed," the union said.
At its core, the players' union said, "this case involves the same questions that arise in every representation case: Do the players perform services for the university? Do they work under the university's supervision and direction? Do they receive compensation for their work?"
Answering in the affirmative, the players' union said that under federal law, the players are entitled to vote on whether to unionize "and to pursue a collective voice to address their working conditions."
The Northwestern college athletes on scholarship did hold an election in the spring. However, the ballot box was sealed pending a final NLRB decision.
In other voices in the case:
—The AFL-CIO labor union asserted in its brief that the Northwestern football program "functions as a largely autonomous commercial enterprise that is affiliated with and generates revenue for the university. There is no question that the players...'work for' the Northwestern football program in much the same way as professional athletes."
— Republican members on the House Education and Workforce Committee, led by its chairman, Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., urged the labor board to rule against the college athletes' union. "The profound and inherent differences between the student-university and employee-employer relationship makes employee status unworkable both as a matter of laws and in practice."
— Republican members of the Senate Labor Committee also sided with Northwestern, saying in its court filing, "Congress never intended for college athletes to be considered employees under the National Labor Relations Act, and doing so is incompatible with the student-university relationship."
— A coalition of unions representing major league professional baseball, football, basketball and hockey players filed its own brief supporting the players, noting that Northwestern, a member of football's Big Ten, should be able "to negotiate clearly delineated contract terms" with the university "that respect each other's vital concerns and include a fair and effective dispute resolution mechanism."


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Golden Raisins, Hunza, Organic, 5oz, Live Live & Organic
Quick Overview
Enjoy these Himalayan raisins right out of the bag as a high-energy snack! Sometimes golden raisins are called "sultanas." Perfect for snacking, baking, and mixing into yogurt. Raw Hunza Fruits and Nuts are grown 6,000 to 9,000 feet above sea level using ancient organic farming methods. Mountain side terraced orchards are irrigated with mineral-rich glacial melt waters from the highest elevations. Over the millennium of time this natural process has produced two-foot thick topsoil, saturated with life giving nutrients containing calcium, copper, gold and iron. Unsulphured, no preservatives and no chemical fertilizers are ever used. Hunza Fruits and Nuts are allowed to attain full ripeness and bold flavor "naturally" before being hand picked and dried under the sun and crisp, clean mountainous air.
Nutritionists have long touted the health benefits of raw foods. The "Raw" logo indicates that the food was not heated above 118 F, which is the temperature at which many beneficial enzymes are believed to be destroyed. Raw foods contain more usable nutrients than their "cooked" counterparts, along with being easily absorbed by the body.


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UPDATE: Death toll at 13 in Navy Yard shooting
A defense contractor went on a shooting rampage Monday inside a building at the heavily secured Washington Navy Yard, spraying bullets in the hallways and firing from a balcony onto workers in an atrium below. Thirteen people were killed, including the gunman.
Police said the gunman, 34-year-old Aaron Alexis of Texas, used a valid pass to get onto the base before launching the attack, which unfolded about 8:20 a.m. in the heart of the nation's capital, less than four miles from the White House and two miles from the Capitol.
Alexis died after a running gunbattle inside the building with police, investigators said.
"This is a horrific tragedy," Mayor Vincent Gray said.
Investigators said the motive was a mystery. The mayor said there was no indication it was a terrorist attack, but he added that the possibility had not been ruled out.
For much of the day, authorities said they were looking for a possible second attacker who may have been disguised in an olive-drab military-style uniform. But by late Monday night, they said they were convinced the attack was the work of a lone gunman, and the security lockdown around the area was eased.
"We do now feel comfortable that we have the single and sole person responsible for the loss of life inside the base today," Washington Police Chief Cathy Lanier said.
It was the deadliest shooting at a military installation in the U.S. since Maj. Nidal Hasan killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 in 2009 at Fort Hood in Texas. He was convicted last month and sentenced to death.
President Barack Obama lamented yet another mass shooting in the U.S. that he said took the lives of American "patriots." He promised to make sure "whoever carried out this cowardly act is held responsible."
The FBI took charge of the investigation.
At the time of the rampage, Alexis was an information technology employee with a company that was a Defense Department subcontractor, authorities said. Valerie Parlave, head of the FBI's field office in Washington, said he had access to the base as a defense contractor.
The dead ranged in age from 46 to 73, according to the mayor. A number of the victims were civilian employees and contractors, rather than active-duty military personnel, the police chief said.
Alexis had been a full-time Navy reservist from 2007 to early 2011, leaving as a petty officer third class, the Navy said. It did not say why he left. He had been an aviation electrician's mate with a unit in Fort Worth, Texas.
A convert to Buddhism who grew up in New York City, Alexis had had run-ins with the law over shooting incidents in 2004 and 2010 in Fort Worth and Seattle and was portrayed in police reports as seething with anger.
Witnesses on Monday described a gunman opening fire from a fourth-floor overlook, aiming down on people on the main floor, which includes a glass-walled cafeteria. Others said a gunman fired at them in a third-floor hallway.
Patricia Ward, a logistics-management specialist, said she was in the cafeteria getting breakfast.
"It was three gunshots straight in a row — pop, pop, pop. Three seconds later, it was pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, so it was like about a total of seven gunshots, and we just started running," Ward said.
In addition to those killed, eight people were hurt — three of them shot and wounded, according to the mayor. Those wounded were a police officer and two female civilians, authorities said. They were all expected to survive.
The FBI would not give any details on the gunman's weaponry, but witnesses said the man they saw had a long gun — which can mean a rifle or a shotgun.
The Washington Navy Yard is a sprawling, 41-acre labyrinth of buildings and streets protected by armed guards and metal detectors, and employees have to show their IDs at doors and gates. More than 18,000 people work there.
The rampage took place at Building 197, the headquarters for Naval Sea Systems Command, which buys, builds and maintains ships and submarines. About 3,000 people work at headquarters, many of them civilians.
Todd Brundidge, an executive assistant with Navy Sea Systems Command, said he and co-workers encountered a gunman in a long hallway on the third floor. The gunman was wearing all blue, he said.
"He just turned and started firing," Brundidge said.
Terrie Durham, an executive assistant with the same agency, said the gunman fired toward her and Brundidge.
"He aimed high and missed," she said. "He said nothing. As soon as I realized he was shooting, we just said, 'Get out of the building."'


text:
Legion standings (thru June 16)
Area IV standings
Eastern Division Division Overall
Kings Mountain Post 155 6-1 6-3
Lincoln County Post 455 5-1 7-5
Mint Hill 6-2 9-4
Gaston Post 266-144 3-2 3-2
Huntersville Post 321 4-3 4-3
Union County Post 535 1-2 1-2
Gastonia Post 23 2-6 5-8
Queen City 1-5 1-5
Carolina Heat 0-6 0-6
Western Division Division Overall
Caldwell County Post 29 6-2 12-3
Cherryville Post 100 3-1 4-5
Haywood County Post 47 3-2 3-2
Burke County Post 21 4-4 4-4
Hickory Post 48 4-4 8-5
Henderson County Post 77 3-4 4-9
Asheville Post 70 3-6 3-6
Rutherford County Post 423 2-4 2-4
Shelby Post 82 0-1 12-3
S.C. League V Division Overall
Lancaster Post 31 5-1 ---
Fort Mill Post 43 3-1 ---
Rock Hill Post 34 1-2 ---
Clover Post 38 1-6 1-9
Regular-season games:
(All games at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted)
x-non-division games
Sunday, May 19
x-Caldwell at Lincoln at NL (L 8-5, C 2-1)
Monday, May 20
x-Inman, S.C. at Henderson (I 3-0, I 10-2)
Tuesday, May 21
x-Henderson at Inman, S.C. (I 12-10)
x-Kings Mountain at Burke (ccd.)
Wednesday, May 22
Fort Mill, S.C. at Clover, S.C. (F 7-0)
Henderson at Haywood (ppd., June 30)
Thursday, May 23
Rock Hill, S.C. at Clover, S.C. (R 9-6)
Friday, May 24
Clover, S.C. at Lancaster, S.C. (L 22-2)
Henderson at Rutherford (H 13-2)
Huntersville at Gastonia (H 4-3)
Mint Hill at G-Braves (ppd., June 4)
Queen City at Lincoln (L 12-6)
x-Shelby at Gaffney, S.C. (G 7-6 in 11)
Saturday, May 25
Asheville at Rutherford (R 5-3)
x-Gaffney, S.C. at Shelby (S 6-5)
G-Braves at Union (ppd., June 17)
x-Lancaster, S.C. at Mint Hill (M 12-10)
Lincoln at Kings Mountain (L 10-4)
Queen City at Huntersville (H 9-0)
Sunday, May 26
x-Concord at Shelby (S 3-2)
G-Braves at Gastonia (GB 8-3)
Henderson at Caldwell (C 11-1 in 7)
Huntersville at Lincoln (L 6-4)
Queen City at Kings Mountain (K 12-2 in 7)
x-South Rowan at Shelby (S 1-0)
Monday, May 27
x-Fort Mill, S.C. at Mint Hill (M 13-4)
Rutherford at Burke (R 10-7)
Tuesday, May 28
Asheville at Henderson (A 10-5)
x-Gastonia at Shelby (S 2-0)
x-Kings Mountain at Hickory (H 13-1 in 7)
Rutherford at Haywood (H 9-8)
Wednesday, May 29
x-Belton, S.C. at Henderson (H 15-5)
x-Cherryville at Gastonia (G 8-1)
x-Concord at Mint Hill (M 7-3)
Haywood at Hickory (Hky 23-16)
Lancaster, S.C. at Clover, S.C. (C 5-4 in 9, L 7-2)
x-Lincoln at Caldwell (C 16-1)
Thursday, May 30
Asheville at Burke (A 10-5)
Clover, S.C. at Fort Mill, S.C. (F 8-4)
Hickory at Rutherford (H 8-4)
x-Mint Hill at Shelby (S 9-8)
Friday, May 31
Burke at Hickory (B 10-8)
x-Gaffney, S.C. at Cherryville (G 12-9)
G-Braves at Huntersville (G 9-2)
Henderson at Asheville (A 7-2)
x-Shelby at Gastonia (S 1-0)
Union at Lincoln (ppd., June 26)
Saturday, June 1
Burke at Caldwell (C 4-3)
x-Cherryville at Rowan (R 8-0)
Gastonia at Union (ppd., June 30)
x-Henderson at Greenwood, S.C. (G 7-3)
Kings Mountain at Huntersville (ppd., June 19)
x-Lincoln vs. Mooresville at Rowan (M 6-4)
x-Mint Hill at Concord (C 9-8 in 12)
x-Shelby at South Rowan (Shelby 6-2)
Sunday, June 2
Caldwell at Rutherford (C 8-7)
Gastonia at Kings Mountain (K 7-2 in 7/rain)
Lincoln at G-Braves (L 2-1 in 10)
x-Mocksville at Shelby (M 5-2)
x-Mooresville at Cherryville (ppd., rain)
x-Rowan at Cherryville (C 7-6)
Union at Huntersville (ppd., no date)
x-Wilkes at Hickory (ppd., June 23)
Monday, June 3
x-Caldwell at Wilkes (C 11-3)
x-Gastonia at Hickory (G 9-5)
Henderson at Burke (H 10-5)
x-Mint Hill at Gaffney, S.C. (ppd., June 13)
Tuesday, June 4
Burke at Asheville (B 15-3)
Caldwell at Shelby (C 3-2)
x-Greenwood, S.C. at Henderson (G 8-1)
x-Hickory at Wilkes (ppd., no date)
Mint Hill at G-Braves (G 11-4)
Wednesday, June 5
Burke at Cherryville (ppd., June 20)
x-Concord at Clover, S.C. (Concord 18-15)
Henderson at Hickory (Hend 8-5)
Union at Mint Hill (U 12-9)
x-Wilkes at Caldwell (C 12-5)
Thursday, June 6
Gastonia at Mint Hill (ppd., June 16)
Hickory at Haywood (Hky 12-11)
Queen City at G-Braves (ppd., June 26)
Friday, June 7
x-Cherryville at Gaffney, S.C. (ppd., no date)
x-Hammond, Tenn., at Caldwell (ccd.)
x-Lincoln at Hickory (H 7-6 in 5, 2nd game ppd.)
Mint Hill at Queen City (ppd., no date)
Saturday, June 8
x-Hammond, Tenn., at Caldwell (C 5-3, C 11-0 in 5)
x-Hickory at Kings Mountain (H 8-4)
Sunday, June 9
Asheville at Caldwell (ppd., no date)
x-Hammond, Tenn., at Hickory (H 9-0 in 7, 2nd game ppd.)
Haywood at Shelby (ppd., July 1 DH at Haywood)
Monday, June 10
Gastonia at Carolina Heat (ppd., June 14)
Haywood at Caldwell (ppd., June 25)
Tuesday, June 11
Caldwell at Haywood (H 9-8 in 11)
Clover, S.C. at Rock Hill, S.C. (ppd., June 27)
Kings Mountain at Carolina Heat (K 5-1, K 6-2)
x-Shelby at Bowyertown, Pa. (S 6-1)
Wednesday, June 12
Asheville at Haywood (H 9-3)
Carolina Heat at Mint Hill (M 12-10, M 9-4)
x-Clover, S.C. at Lincoln (L 13-1)
x-Shelby at Brooklawn, N.J. (S 4-0)
x-Shelby at Spring City, Pa. (S 3-2)
Thursday, June 13
Clover, S.C. at Lancaster, S.C. (L 13-0)
x-Gastonia at Cherryville (G 15-14)
x-Henderson at Belton, S.C. (ppd., no date)
x-Mint Hill at Gaffney, S.C. (ccd.)
Friday, June 14
Carolina Heat at Gastonia (G 11-1 in 6, G 6-4)
Cherryville at Caldwell (Cville 6-2)
Hickory at Asheville (H 7-5)
Huntersville at Mint Hill (M 7-6)
Queen City at Union (Q 13-6)
x-Shelby at South Brunswick, N.J. (ccd.)
Saturday, June 15
Caldwell at Hickory (C 10-7)
Cherryville at Burke (B 4-3)
x-Clover, S.C. at Concord (Concord 9-8)
G-Braves at Mint Hill (M 9-4)
Gastonia at Huntersville (H 11-3)
Queen City at Lincoln (L 10-2)
Union at Kings Mountain (K 12-11)
Sunday, June 16
Asheville at Cherryville (C 10-0 in 5, C 6-0)
Caldwell at Henderson (C 3-2)
Hickory at Burke (B 12-2 in 7)
Kings Mountain at Lincoln (K 10-9 in 10)
Mint Hill at Gastonia (M 4-0, M 13-4)
Queen City at Huntersville (H 10-2)
x-Shelby at Lynchburg, Va. (S 12-3)
x-Shelby vs. Big Island, Va., at Lynchburg, Va. (S 5-3 in 12)
Union at G-Braves (ppd., June 17)
Monday, June 17
Haywood at Burke
Queen City at Carolina Heat, 5 p.m. DH
Union at G-Braves, 5:30 p.m. DH
Tuesday, June 18
Burke at Haywood
Henderson at Shelby
x-Hickory at Gastonia
Lincoln at Carolina Heat, 5 p.m. DH
Rock Hill, S.C. at Clover, S.C.
Rutherford at Caldwell
Wednesday, June 19
Carolina Heat at G-Braves, 5:45 p.m. DH (SP)
Hickory at Henderson
Kings Mountain at Huntersville
Lincoln at Mint Hill
Rutherford at Asheville
Shelby at Cherryville
Thursday, June 20
Burke at Cherryville
Fort Mill, S.C. at Clover, S.C.
Haywood at Asheville
Rutherford at Shelby
Friday, June 21
Cherryville at Hickory
Gastonia at G-Braves (SP)
Lincoln at Huntersville
Mint Hill at Union
Shelby at Henderson
Queen City at Kings Mountain
Saturday, June 22
Asheville at Hickory
Caldwell at Burke
Cherryville at Rutherford
Kings Mountain at Mint Hill
Huntersville at G-Braves
Lincoln at Union
Sunday, June 23
Burke at Shelby
Caldwell at Cherryville
G-Braves at Queen City
Haywood at Rutherford
Huntersville at Kings Mountain
Mint Hill at Lincoln (NL)
Union at Gastonia
x-Wilkes at Hickory
Monday, June 24
Asheville at Shelby, 5 p.m. DH
Clover, S.C. at Fort Mill, S.C.
Haywood at Henderson
Rutherford at Hickory
Queen City (home) at Gastonia
Tuesday, June 25
Carolina Heat at Union, 5 p.m. DH
Cherryville at Henderson
Haywood at Caldwell
Hickory at Shelby
Lincoln at Gastonia
x-Mint Hill vs. Wilmington at UNCC, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, June 26
Carolina Heat at Huntersville, 5 p.m. DH
Cherryville at Haywood, 5 p.m. DH
Mint Hill at Kings Mountain
Queen City at G-Braves (SP)
Shelby at Rutherford
Union at Lincoln
Thursday, June 27
Burke at Henderson
Clover, S.C. at Rock Hill, S.C., 5 p.m. DH
G-Braves at Lincoln (EL)
Huntersville at Union
Kings Mountain at Gastonia
Queen City at Mint Hill
Rutherford at Cherryville
Shelby at Hickory
Friday, June 28
G-Braves at Kings Mountain, 5:45 p.m. DH
Gastonia at Lincoln (EL)
Hickory at Cherryville
Mint Hill at Huntersville
Queen City at Union
Rutherford at Henderson
Shelby at Burke
Saturday, June 29
Henderson at Cherryville
Kings Mountain at Union
Queen City at Gastonia
Shelby at Caldwell
Sunday, June 30
Burke at Rutherford
Cherryville at Shelby
Gastonia at Union
Henderson at Haywood
Hickory at Caldwell
Monday, July 1
Shelby at Haywood, DH
Legion pairings meeting in Hickory


text:
Herbalife had a rough start to the week with shares falling early Monday after the New York Post reported that the company would be investigated by regulators.
However, shares rallied, finishing the day in the green after the company said, "Other than the voluntary dialogue with regulators, which we communicated on our January investor day, we are unaware of any other regulatory interest and/or investigation. We are demanding a correction from the NY Post."
The paper initially reported that it obtained documents from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that referenced a law enforcement investigation as well as pending law enforcement action, although no details were provided. Regulatory concerns have been an overhang for Herbalife since December when Bill Ackman of Pershing Square revealed that he had a significant short position in the company, calling its business a "pyramid scheme."
Herbalife (HLF : NYSE : US$35.54), Net Change: 0.47, % Change: 1.34%, Volume: 20,348,138


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Teemu time: Selanne's 3rd-period goal puts Ducks past Red Wings 3-1 in playoff opener
ANAHEIM, Calif. - Teemu Selanne was skating slightly backward when he decided he could still beat Jimmy Howard. He received a pass and instantly flung a pinpoint wrist shot at the net, finding a small opening behind the Detroit goalie.
The 42-year-old Finnish Flash's talents are pretty much timeless, and his timely goal got the Anaheim Ducks off to a solid playoff start.
Selanne scored the tiebreaking power-play goal early in the third period, Jonas Hiller made 21 saves, and the Ducks rolled to a 3-1 victory over the Red Wings on Tuesday night.
Nick Bonino also scored a power-play goal, and Francois Beauchemin added an empty-netter as the second-seeded Ducks hung on in the final minutes of the opener in just their second playoff series in four years.
"That's what we were expecting," said Selanne, in his 20th NHL season. "We know how good they are, and we needed a good, solid effort. We know it's not going to be easy."
Selanne just makes it look that way sometimes.
He came up with yet another huge goal for the Pacific Division champions, putting a perfectly placed one-timer over Howard's shoulder while gliding away from the net. The remarkable feat of skill was his 42nd career playoff goal—and a reminder of Anaheim's wealth of talent despite an unimpressive finish to a fine season.
"It just came into my mind," Selanne said with a shrug. "Usually you try to hold the puck, but it came into my mind that if I got the puck, I'm going to try to shoot."
Game 2 is Thursday at Honda Center.
Captain Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry led a strong offensive effort by the Pacific Division champions, who finished the regular season with the best winning percentage in franchise history. Anaheim also excelled on the power play, little surprise for the NHL's fourth-ranked unit in the regular season.
Coach Bruce Boudreau also looked smart for choosing Hiller over first-year co-starter Viktor Fasth for the opener. Both goalies won 15 games in the regular season, but Boudreau went with his Swiss veteran, who came up with a handful of spectacular saves.
"We wanted to start strong at home, and it's important to get that first one and have some confidence," Hiller said. "We played very solid in our end, and that makes it easier for a goalie. Even the goal they scored was a lucky bounce for them."
Howard stopped 24 shots and Daniel Cleary scored on a power play for the Red Wings in their 22nd consecutive post-season appearance. While Detroit played the Ducks evenly at full strength, Anaheim's special-teams skill decided it.
"I didn't think we were great," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "I didn't think we moved the puck very good. Give them credit. They're part of that equation. ... I thought their team was better than our team today. I thought they controlled the game and had more cycles."
Anaheim missed two of the previous three postseasons, and Honda Center was packed well before the opening faceoff with hungry fans waving orange glow sticks and whipping towels above their heads. The Ducks have won just one post-season round since winning their only Stanley Cup in 2007, and Anaheim is eager for another lengthy run after the current team finally actualized its considerable talent.
The Ducks have been transformed ever since Boudreau took over in the final weeks of 2011, returning to respectability last season before roaring to a 22-3-4 start to this lockout-shortened campaign. Anaheim has been coasting steadily toward the playoffs for several weeks, finishing with the NHL's third-best record and the second division title in franchise history.
Detroit had to scramble down the stretch just to extend its record post-season streak, only clinching a spot in the final game after four straight victories. The Red Wings also had good recent results in Anaheim, where they won consecutive games in late March to snap the Ducks' 13-game home winning streak.
"There was not enough thrown at Hiller, for sure," Detroit defenceman Niklas Kronwall said. "There were a lot of times that we turned the puck over in the wrong area. They're a really good team over there, so we have to do a good job of protecting the puck in our own zone."
The Ducks went ahead midway through the first period when Bonino scored 3 seconds into a power play, tipping Cam Fowler's point shot past Howard for his first career playoff goal.
Detroit evened it later in the period with a power-play goal just 4 seconds after a two-man advantage expired, with Cleary getting credit for his 21st career playoff goal after it apparently deflected off him.
Selanne put the Ducks back ahead after a scoreless second period. Detroit pressed in the final minutes, but Beauchemin wrapped it up with an exceptional empty-net goal, shooting the puck from just outside Anaheim's goal crease.
NOTES: Detroit's playoff streak is the longest active run in North American pro sports. ... The franchises are meeting in the playoffs for the sixth time in 16 years. ... After the Ducks knocked off top-seeded San Jose in 2009, Detroit beat eighth-seeded Anaheim in the second round on the way to the Stanley Cup finals. ... Detroit veterans Todd Bertuzzi and Mikael Samuelsson were healthy scratches. Both veterans were injured for most of the regular season.


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Geometry and CFD methodology
The Standard Cirrus was designed by Dipl. Ing. Klaus Holighaus at the Schempp-Hirth factory and is a 15 m glider without flaps, originally designed
to compete in the standard class. The glider uses an all moving tail plane, is equipped with air brakes on the upper side of the wings, and can carry up to 80 kg of water ballast to increase the flight performance. The best glide ratio for the glider is about 1:37 and the maximum speed is 220 km/h.
By using a digitizing arm and a hand held laser, the 'as built' geometry of a Standard Cirrus - including the airfoils, elevator and rudder - were measured and imported as the underlying geometry for the CFD model. The fuselage of the glider was designed by modifying an existing CAD model of the Standard Cirrus, used to perform a similar study at the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
The Navier-Stokes solver, STAR-CCM+, was used to both create the numerical mesh and to perform the simulation of the glider. To accurately model the boundary layer effects and to capture the important laminar to turbulent transition process, the correlation based γ-Reθ transition model in STAR-CCM+ was applied.
The simulations were conducted in two steps:
• 2D simulations of the airfoil at the outer part of the wing to validate the transition model,
• 3D simulations of the Cirrus glider for velocities ranging from 90 km/h to 160 km/h.
The simulations were validated by comparing the results to wind tunnel data and flight tests respectively. To model the turbulent flow, the k-ω SST turbulence
model was used in combination with the transition model. The Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations were solved in STAR-CCM+ using the segregated solver and the air-flow was modeled as steady and incompressible using a constant density model. All simulations were performed on a Dell power blade cluster running 36 CPU's in parallel.
The laminar to turbulent transition process is important when predicting the performance of gliders. For a glider under normal flight conditions, the Reynolds
number does not exceed 3 million. Below this Reynolds number, the transition process often takes the form of a laminar separation bubble. When this occurs,
the separating laminar layer is followed by turbulent reattachment, just behind a recirculation region. In the figure, an illustration of the transition process on the
upper side of an airfoil is shown.
For the simulations of the Standard Cirrus, this transition process is modeled using the γ-Reθ transition model. The γ-Reθ transition model in STAR-CCM+ is correlation based, and solves two extra transport equations, one for intermittency and one for local transition onset momentum thickness Reynolds number. The only user input required to operate the transition model is the definition of the free-stream edge. In contrast, by solving the RANS equations as fully turbulent, the transition process is ignored and only turbulent air-flow is present in the boundary layer.
Accuracy of the γ-Reθ transition model
To investigate the accuracy of the γ-Reθ transition model, the performance of an airfoil section located on the outer part of the Standard Cirrus wing was investigated in two dimensions. The simulations were validated by comparing the results to experimental data from the low-turbulence pressure wind tunnel at NASA Langley. By performing mesh dependency studies, the required quality of an O-mesh having the smallest number of cells when using the γ-Reθ transition model was investigated in detail. The grids for the dependency study were constructed using a hyperbolic extrusion method in Pointwise and all grids have y+ values below 1. The two dimensional simulations are also compared to calculations performed using the panel codes Xfoil and Rfoil.
As seen in the graphs, the CFD simulations using the transition model compare well to the experimental data. The transition model predicts the lift coefficient
equally well as the panel codes, Xfoil and Rfoil, for the angles of attack between -5 and 5 degrees. For higher angles of attack, the transition model compares
better to the experimental data than the panel codes. However, the transition model is found unable to simulate the occurrence of the stall, and a too high lift
coefficient is predicted in this region. The fully turbulent CFD model can be seen to underestimate the lift coefficient for all positive angles of attack. This is because the pressure around the airfoil is wrongly calculated as no laminar air-flow is present in the model.
The drag predictions for the CFD simulations with the transition model compare better to the experimental data than Xfoil and Rfoil. In contrast, by not accounting for the the laminar air-flow in the boundary layer, the fully turbulent CFD model significantly over predicts the drag coefficients for all angles of attack. The O-mesh with the smallest number of cells that enables the γ-Reθ model to converge for the interesting angles of attack have 600 cells wrapped around the airfoil, a growth rate of 1.05 and y+ values between 0.1 and 1. Further cell count reduction on the airfoil also reduces the range of solvable angles of attack. Also shown is a comparison of the position of the laminar separation bubble.
Standard Cirrus calculations
To simulate the performance of the Standard Cirrus, two CFD models were constructed and calculated:
• One model was created to calculate the lift and drag coefficients for the wing and fuselage of the glider.
• Another model was created to calculate the drag coefficient of the tail section.
A trimmed hexahedral mesh was used to discretize the two models in STAR-CCM+. To reduce the number of cells in the mesh, symmetry conditions were applied and only half the glider was simulated. The required quality for the 3D mesh when using the γ-Reθ transition model was investigated in a mesh dependency study. The outer boundary of the flow domain was created as a half sphere, positioned 50 m from the glider surface and it is constructed using a velocity inlet upstream of the glider and a pressure outlet downstream. To accurately capture the boundary layer flow, 20 layers of hyperbolic extruded prismatic cells were constructed from the glider geometry. Since the y+ value for the mesh scales with the velocity, the grids at high velocities required a smaller distance to the first cell centroid. At high angles of attack, more cells on the wing of the glider are needed to obtain a converged solution. The number of cells in the mesh was thus increased from 28 million to 41.8 million cells for the 95 km/h to the 160 km/h simulation, respectively. The free-stream edge definition for the transition model was specified as 5 mm away from the glider surface. For comparison, both fully turbulent and transitional calculations were performed using the same mesh.
In the picture above, the production of turbulent kinetic energy on the top surface of the glider is depicted. The figure shows the results from the 95 km/h and 160 km/h simulation on the right and left wing respectively. The production of turbulent kinetic energy is a measure of the turbulence in the air-flow and the regions with highest production indicates the location of the laminar separation bubble. On the top surface, the 160 km/h simulation shows that the separation bubble has moved slightly backwards compared to the 95 km/h simulation, also indicating a larger separation bubble.
The bottom surface results show that for the 95 km/h simulation, the transition occurs slightly behind mid-chord along the span of the wing. For the 160 km/h
simulation, the transition has moved slightly forward. Again, the size of the separation bubble is significantly larger compared to the 95 km/h simulation due
to the higher production of turbulent kinetic energy. At the tip of the wings and at the wing to fuselage fairing, the γ-Reθ transition model predicts regions of laminar flow. This scenario is not believed to model the real flow conditions correctly and will be the subject of future investigations using a more refined mesh in these regions.
Also shown is the transition on the tail section and lower side of the elevator with 95 km/h to the left and 160 km/h to the right at zero angle of attack. The
fuselage can be seen to play a significant role in causing transition at the leading edge of the lower part of the fin. There is less turbulence as we go up the fin and
transition occurs later. The drag coefficient of the tail section is found to be Reynolds number dependent and is 10% lower at 160 km/h compared to 90 km/h.
The right plot on the left page shows the comparison of the calculated speed polar for the Standard Cirrus compared to flight measurements from Idaflieg. The simulations performed using the γ-Reθ transition model compare well to the real flight data. For velocities below 100 km/h, the simulations closely match the flight measurements. At higher velocities, the sinking speeds are slightly under predicted. The measured best glide ratio for the Standard Cirrus from the Idaflieg flight tests was found to be 36.51 at 94.47 km/h. From the simulations performed using the γ-Reθ model, the best glide ratio is found to be 38.51 at 95 km/h. The fully turbulent simulations predict the best glide ratio to be 28.96 at 90 km/h. The large deviations in the prediction of the glide ratio when using fully turbulent simulations are caused by the absence of laminar air-flow in the boundary layer of the glider.
It was found that STAR-CCM+ is able to predict the performance of the Standard Cirrus glider well. The simulations performed using the γ-Reθ transition model
improved the results for the lift and drag predictions compared to the fully turbulent calculations for low angles of attack. For high angles of attack, i.e. stalled condition, the γ-Reθ transition model was found unable to converge. By accounting for the extra drag due to the elevator deflection needed to sustain steady level flight and including the interference drag from the cockpit edges, as well as the drag from the tail and wing tip skids, it is expected that the results will be further improved. Future studies should investigate the drag production from the glider in more detail and focus on applying the γ-Reθ transition model for high angles of attack.


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Naenae Community of Learning
Technical Notes and Definitions
Enrolling at your local school
Helpful information for Enrolling at your local school.
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View a list of Kāhui Ako or enter search terms to find a specific Kāhui Ako or read more information about Achievement Challenges and guidelines.
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Where a school is operating a cohort entry policy students start school in groups (cohorts) at the beginning of each term. A student will start at the school in the term closest to their fifth birthday, or the beginning of a later term. This means that some children, depending on when their birthday falls may be able to start school up to two months before they turn five. The majority of schools in New Zealand operate a continuous entry of new entrants into Year 1 throughout the school year, rather than cohort entry.
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A code assigned by the Ministry of Education to uniquely identify each institution. More often called school number when used in a schooling context.
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Indicates the language in which the students receive education instruction. The options are:
- All students in Māori Medium
- Some students in Māori Medium
- All students in Pasifika Medium
- Some students in Pasifika Medium
- All students in Māori Medium or Pasifika Medium
- Some students in Māori Medium and some in Pasifika Medium
- All students in English Medium
In Māori medium education students are taught all or some curriculum subjects in the Māori language for at least 51 percent of the time (Māori Language Immersion Levels 1-2). In Pasifika medium education students are taught all or some curriculum subjects in a Pasifika language for at least 12 percent of the time (Pasifika Language Immersion Levels 1-4).
The term "ethnicity" refers to the ethnic group or groups to which an individual belongs. The concept of ethnicity adopted by the Ministry of Education is a social construct of group affiliation and identity. The Ministry of Education uses the definition of ethnicity used by Statistics New Zealand, namely:
A social group whose members have one or more of the following characteristics:
Where possible, ethnicity data is presented as a multiple response. Multiple response works by considering each ethnicity a person affiliates with as one data entry. For example, the data relating to an individual who affiliates as both Māori and Pasifika will be included in both categories. They are, however, included only once in the total. This approach is easily undertaken when data is collected in a disaggregate fashion.
Prioritisation of ethnicity is when people are allocated to one of the ethnicities they have recorded that they affiliate with. This usually occurs when data are collected manually and/or aggregate data returns are collected centrally. This allocation is performed using a predetermined order of ethnic groups. Where ethnicity is prioritised it is in the order of Māori, Pasifika, Asian, MELAA (Middle Eastern, Latin American, and African), other groups except European/Pākehā, and European/Pākehā.
European/Pākehā refers to people who affiliate as New Zealand European, Other European or European (not further defined). For example this includes, but is not limited to, people who consider themselves as Australian (not including Australian Aborigines), British and Irish, American, Spanish, and Ukrainian.
Students subject to exclusion are not allowed to return to the school they have been excluded from, but must enrol elsewhere. Only students under the age of 16 can be excluded.
For a school or region the observed number of exclusions is the number of exclusions that actually occurred while the baseline number of exclusions is the number of exclusions that would have occurred if the age-specific rates of the school or region were the same as a standard population (in this case the national population). Exclusions and age-standardisation are discussed more under Student Engagement.
Funding Decile
(see School Deciles)
The proportion of students that remain at school beyond the minimum school leaving age. Students can leave at 15 years-old if they receive an early leaving exemption, or they can once they are 16 year-old without meeting any special requirements. Convention is to measure retention until they are 17 which is beyond the compulsory schooling age and by when the average student will have had opportunity to fully complete senior secondary school.
School Authority
Describes the ownership of schools, that is, State, State-integrated, Private.
School Deciles (aka Deciles and Funding Deciles)
Students from low socio-economic communities face more barriers to learning than students from high socio-economic communities. Schools that draw their roll from these low socio-economic communities are given greater funding to combat these barriers. The mechanism used to calculate and allocate this additional funding is most often known as school deciles.
Schools are assigned a socio-economic score based on five census derived socio-economic factors. Schools are then ranked in order of this score and divided into 10 even groups called deciles. The 10 percent of schools with the lowest scores are considered decile 1 schools; the next 10 percent of schools are considered decile 2 schools, etc. Decile 1 schools have the highest proportion of low SES students, decile 10 schools have the least (NB: this does not mean students from decile 10 schools are 'rich'). See the Schools Directory for a list of each school's decile.
Deciles are also used in many of the education sector indicators as a proxy for socio-economic status.
School Gender
The gender of students that a school caters for, for example, co-educational school, girls' school.
School Type
The type of school is based on the levels students are taught at, for example, Full Primary School (Year 1-8), Contributing School (Years 1-6).
Year levels have been included to help understand school types. Here the year level is current year level, which is the year level of the student's class cohort and the level at which the student spends most of their time at school.
Students on stand-down are removed from a state school for a specified period. The school principal can decide whether a student should be stood-down and how many days the stand-down will last for. Stand-downs, for any student, can total no more than five school days in any term, or 10 days in a school year. Following a stand-down, the student automatically returns to school.
For a school or region the observed number of stand-downs is the number of actual stand-downs that occurred while the baseline number of stand-downs is the number of stand-downs that would have occurred if the age-specific rates of the school or region were the same as a standard population (in this case the national population). Stand-downs and age-standardisation are discussed more under Student Engagement.
Students who are suspended are not allowed to attend school until the board of trustees decides the outcome at a suspension meeting. The school principal can suspend a student, but the school board decides the next step. The board may decide to list the suspension with or without conditions, to extend the suspension, or, in the most serious cases, to either exclude or expel the student.
For a school or region the observed number of suspensions is the number of actual suspensions that occurred while the baseline number of suspensions is the number of suspensions that would have occurred if the age-specific rates of the school or region were the same as a standard population (in this case the national population). Suspensions and age-standardisation are discussed more under Student Engagement.
Year Level
There are two common forms of year level in education data.
Current Year Level (CYL)
This is the year level of the student's class cohort and the level at which the student spends most of their time at school studying.
Funding Year Level (FYL)
Prior to 2008 this was known as Year of Schooling or MOE Year Level. The funding year level measures the number of years of schooling a student has received and provides the Ministry of Education with a method of counting students for funding and staffing purposes. The funding year level for most students is based on the date they first started school.
The funding year level is independent of the way schools are organised and independent of the particular programme of study that a student may undertake. It is therefore possible for a contributing school (year 1-6 current year levels) to have students in funding year level 7, or secondary schools that finish at learning current year level 13 to have students in funding year level 14 or 15.
Student Population
The roll data presented in these tables is from the July roll returns. Ethnic group information in July roll returns is prioritised. International students are treated as a separate ethnic group; therefore subtracting international students from the total roll equals the domestic roll.
Year level information is funding year level, however funding year levels 14 and 15 are included with the year 13 students in the year 13+ category.
Student Engagement
Stand-downs, suspensions, and exclusions
A state or state integrated school principal may consider the formal removal of a student through a stand-down from school for a consecutive period of up to 5 school days. A stand-down, for any student, can total no more than 5 school days in a term, or 10 days in a school year. Students return automatically to school following a stand-down.
While stand-downs impact on actual opportunity to learn they are also a response to a wide range of concerning behaviours including drug and alcohol abuse and violence that are disruptive to the learning of the individuals concerned, and disruptive and unsafe for peers and adults in the school community. Stand-downs can offer an opportunity to reduce tension and reflect on the action which led to the stand-down. As such, if used in appropriate circumstances, a stand-down can be a positive mechanism for preventing escalation. However, its use should be part of a pro-active approach and should be kept to a minimum due to its inherent disruption.
A suspension is a formal removal of a student from a school until a school Board of Trustees decides the outcome at a suspension meeting. Following a suspension, the Board of Trustees decides how to address the student's misbehaviour. The Board can either lift the suspension (with or without conditions), extend the suspension (with conditions), or terminate the student's enrolment at the school.
If the student is aged under 16, the Board may decide to exclude him or her from the school, with the requirement that the student enrols elsewhere. This decision should be arrived at only in the most serious cases. If the student is aged 16 or over, the board may decide to expel him or her from the school, and the student may or may not enrol at another school. Again, this decision should be arrived at only in the most serious cases. Excluded (or expelled) students may face difficulties in enrolling in other schools. This may result in students:
Standardisation is a technique which controls for the compositional variation between the groups being compared. Standardised rates give a 'true' comparison of the event being studied.
An example of standardisation is age-standardisation where the age distribution could lead to misleading results. Age-standardisation removes the effects of the different age structure of the different groups (schools, regions, time periods) you are comparing.
Comparison of suspension rates between schools or regions which may have different age structures would be inappropriate, because the age structure of the school or region can affect the number of suspensions and thereby the crude suspension rate. We standardise the suspension rates to take account of differences between the age structures of the schools and regions. This is also done for stand-downs and exclusions.
The two main methods of standardisation are indirect standardisation and direct standardisation.
So more simply with indirect standardisation you apply a national rate to a local population and see which is higher/lower, while direct standardisation involves applying a local rate to a national population. For stand-downs, suspensions and exclusions indirect standardisation is used.
Care should be taken when examining age-standardised rates, especially in the cases when small numbers are involved. When numbers are small, a very small amount of variation in the raw data can lead to a large effect on the age-standardised rate.
Interpretation Issues
From 2004 onwards, for a small number of schools, there was an abnormally large increase in the number of stand-downs recorded as belonging to 'Other' ethnic groups. Investigation of individual records, trends over time for each school, and each school's catchment area indicated a considerable number of records had an ethnic group erroneously coded as 'Other'. A conservative adjustment was made to the data to correct for this poor coding.
Where for a particular school stand-downs in 2012 for 'Other' ethnic groups are greater than one-third of the number of 'Other' ethnic group students for that year, then the following adjustment was made:
This adjustment to stand-down data allows more accurate ethnic comparisons to be made, however, it does stop other ethnic group comparisons being made for dimensions specific to individuals, such as, reason for stand-down.
This same issue existed, and subsequent adjustment was made for suspension, exclusion and expulsion data.
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Sue Paterno defends husband
Coach's wife 'shocked' by Freeh report; family to release own findings
STATE COLLEGE — Breaking more than a year of silence, Sue Paterno is defending her late husband as a "moral, disciplined" man who never twisted the truth to avoid bad publicity.
The wife of the former Penn State coach is fighting back against the accusations against Joe Paterno that followed the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Her campaign started with a letter sent Friday to former Penn State players.
She wrote that the family's exhaustive response to former FBI director Louis Freeh's report for the university on the Sandusky child sex abuse case will officially be released to the public at 9 a.m. Sunday on paterno.com.
Freeh in July accused Joe Paterno and three university officials of covering up allegations against Sandusky, a retired defensive coordinator. Less than two weeks later, the NCAA levied unprecedented sanctions on the program that Joe Paterno built into one of the most well-known in college football.
"When the Freeh report was released last July, I was as shocked as anyone by the findings and by Mr. Freeh's extraordinary attack on Joe's character and integrity. I did not recognize the man Mr. Freeh described," Sue Paterno wrote. "I am here to tell you as definitively and forcefully as I know how that Mr. Freeh could not have been more wrong in his assessment of Joe."
The family directed its attorney, Washington lawyer Wick Sollers, to assemble experts to review Freeh's findings and Joe Paterno's actions, Sue Paterno wrote.
She did not offer details on findings in the letter, "except to say that they unreservedly and forcefully confirm my beliefs about Joe's conduct.
"In addition, they present a passionate and persuasive critique of the Freeh report as a total disservice to the victims of Sandusky and the cause of preventing child sex offenses," Sue Paterno wrote.
Sue Paterno said neither Freeh's report, nor the NCAA's actions, should "close the book" on the scandal.
"This cannot happen," she wrote. "The Freeh report failed, and if it is not challenged and corrected, nothing worthwhile will have come from these tragic events."
Sandusky's arrest in November 2011, triggered the sweeping scandal, including the firing of Paterno and the departure under pressure of Graham Spanier as president days later. Prosecutors filed perjury and failure to report charges against former athletic director Tim Curley and retired vice president Gary Schultz.
Sandusky, 69, was sentenced last fall to at least 30 years in prison in after being convicted in June on 45 criminal counts. Prosecutors said allegations occurred on and off campus.
"The crimes committed by Jerry Sandusky are heartbreaking," Sue Paterno, who has five children and 17 grandchildren, wrote. "It is incomprehensible to me that anyone could intentionally harm a child. I think of the victims daily and I pray that God will heal their wounds and comfort their souls.
Freeh released his findings the following month. His team conducted 430 interviews and analyzed over 3.5 million emails and documents, his report said.
"Taking into account the available witness statements and evidence, it is more reasonable to conclude that, in order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity, the most powerful leaders at Penn State University — Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley — repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky's child abuse" from authorities, trustees and the university community, Freeh wrote in releasing the report.
Less than two weeks later, Penn State hastily took down the bronze statue of Paterno outside Beaver Stadium. The next day, the NCAA said Freeh's report presented "an unprecedented failure of institutional integrity leading to a culture in which a football program was held in higher esteem."
Penn State was given a four-year bowl ban, strict scholarship cuts and a $60 million fine. The NCAA also vacated 111 wins under Paterno, meaning he no longer held the record of most wins by a major college coach.
Since then Spanier, Curley and Schultz have also been charged with obstruction and conspiracy, among other charges. They have vehemently denied the allegations. So has the Paterno family, though they have promised a more detailed response with its own investigation was complete.
Paterno's true legacy wasn't his statue or his 409 wins, but family and players, his widow said.
"The great fathers, husbands and citizens you have become fulfill the dreams Joe had," she wrote to the former players. "All that we want — and what I believe we owe the victims, Joe Paterno and everyone who cares about Penn State — is the full record of what happened."
Paterno died in January 2012 at age 85, about two months after being diagnosed with lung cancer. The way university leadership handled his ouster — over a late-night telephone call — and its handling of the Freeh report and NCAA sanctions remains a sensitive topic for factions of dissatisfied alumni, former players, staff and community members.
Trustee Anthony Lubrano, who joined the board last year after drawing support from disgruntled alumni, has been among more vocal critics who say that school leaders rushed to judgment on Paterno. Critics have also said Freeh's report downplayed failures of Pennsylvania's child-protective services.
"I knew Joe Paterno as well as one human being can know another. Joe was exactly the moral, disciplined and demanding man you knew him to be," Sue Paterno wrote. "Over the years I watched as he struggled with countless personal and professional challenges. Never — not once — did I see him compromise his principles or twist the truth to avoid bad publicity or protect his reputation."
The Paterno family has remained supportive of the football program and Paterno's successor, Bill O'Brien. Sue Paterno has been active in organizing Special Olympics, which was again held on campus last summer; and son and former assistant coach Jay Paterno has done speaking engagements with students and attends sporting events.
The family's response comes a month after Gov. Tom Corbett filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA to overturn the sanctions. The NCAA this week asked a judge to throw out the suit.


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He didn't really believe in the Alliance of Civilizations:
A 26-year-old German-Turkish citizen charged with plotting an attack with explosives on U.S. installations in Germany and attempting to recruit al-Qaida supporters over the Internet is standing trial in Frankfurt.
Prosecutor Michael Bruns told a court Friday at the opening of the trial that the man, identified only as Adnan V. had planned a "seriously threatening violent attack."
Bruns says the suspect had collected small amounts of explosives and instructions for making a bomb at his home in nearby Offenbach, where he was arrested in October 2009.
Bruns says the suspect was planning to "kill innocent people that he viewed as 'unbelievers.'"
The suspect made no statement to the court. His trial continues Aug. 19.
via German-Turk on trial for supporting al-Qaida – World news – Europe – msnbc.com.
Related articles
- German-Turk on trial for supporting al-Qaida (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- German-Turk on trial for supporting al-Qaida (sfgate.com)


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Even if you have not seen his plays performed on the stage or read his novels, you are probably familiar with some of the movies adapted from the work of Ira Levin (1929-2007). I thought I knew his output pretty well until I recently came across a review by mystery author Martin Edwards (here) of a 1973 play by Levin that I had never heard of before. It sounded intriguing and I just had to read it – after all, this was a play from the writer who crafted that superb Edgar-winning thriller A Kiss Before Dying (1953), the supernatural classic Rosemary's Baby (1967), the fantasy and social satire The Stepford Wives (1972) and the Nazi conspiracy chiller, The Boys from Brazil (1976). So what's in Veronica's Room then?
The following review is offered as part of Kerrie's 2012 Alphabet of Crime community meme over at her Mysteries in Paradise blog, which this week has reached the letter V. I also offer it as part of the Friday's Forgotten Books meme run by Patti Abbott at her Pattinase blog.
"Every novel he has ever written is a marvel of plotting. He is the Swiss watchmaker of the suspense novel; in terms of plot, he makes what the rest of us do look like those five-dollar watches you can buy in the discount drugstores" – Stephen King in Danse Macabre (1981)
On top of being a best-selling novelist, Levin was also a popular playwright. No Time For Sergeants (1956) was a smash Broadway hit that made a star of the late Andy Griffith (who then repeated his success in the role for TV and the cinema) while Critic's Choice (1960) had a modest six-month run before being turned into a movie starring Bob Hope; more controversial was the euthanasia drama Doctor Cook's Garden (1967), which had a turbulent journey to its brief run (as detailed by William Goldman in his book The Season) and which was later filmed for television with Bing Crosby; and then of course there was his hugely popular Deathtrap (1978), still the longest running mystery in the history of Broadway. In between these last two came the less well-known Veronica's Room, which is perhaps less surprising given that it was a flop in 1973 and never been filmed either (not hard to understand either given that it really is all set in the eponymous room). It has however had a long-life in smaller productions in a revised version. Here's the blurb:
Students Susan and Larry find themselves as guests enticed to the Brabissant mansion by its caretakers, the lonely Mackeys. Struck by Susan's strong resemblance to Veronica Brabissant, the long-dead daughter of the family for whom they work, the older couple gradually convince her to impersonate Veronica briefly to solace the only living Brabissant, her addled sister who believes Veronica alive.
Once dressed in Veronica's clothes, Susan finds herself locked in the role and locked in Veronica's room.
Susan and Larry are only on their second date but he is already starting to behave in a protective manner – he immediately thinks that the Mackeys may be up to something, perhaps after a family inheritance. Susan is however kinder and more trusting and wants to help. She's also liberated and darn it, doesn't even wear a bra, so also rejects Larry's concerns to prove her independence. She thus changes into Veronica's clothes, told that the poor girl died of TB decades earlier – but her sister Cecilia ('Cissie'), now dying of cancer, has mentally regressed to childhood and believes her to be still alive. Susan is briefed on what to say and the Mackeys, with their charm and Irish brogues, seem merely sentimental. Larry gets taken downstairs for a shot of whiskey and Susan prepares to briefly pretend to be Veronica and help Cissie get her mind at rest. The door to the room is closed – and then, ominously, locked. And this is where everything changes for, like Deathtrap, this is a two-act thriller with a game-changing twist in the middle because when the door re-opens, everyone starts treating Susan as if she really were Veronica after all. And when she protests to the contrary, things get really ugly. It seems that this girl has something of a history and the bars on the windows to her room are not there just for decoration … and everyone insists that it's 1935 instead of 1973!
"That's the way they talk in 1973 … Sort of makes you want to die in '72, doesn't it?"
So what is going on – is this a time travel fantasy in the style of The Twilight Zone? An elaborate prank? Does Susan even exist or was she merely a projection in Veronica's sick mind? Or is an even darker and more sinister game being played – is anyone in fact telling the truth here? These are some of the avenues explored in the second act, all of which is handled with Levin's customary irony and invention. It also manages not to fall prey to what I sometimes think of as the 'hot dog syndrome' with stage mysteries – to wit, they tend to repeat on you. The classic example is Anthony Shaffer's Sleuth, which after a wonderfully clever first act ends with an ultra dramatic curtain, then flips the balance of the characters and in the second half essentially starts the same story all over again from a slightly different point of view. Levin's Deathtrap did this too, turning the earlier MacGuffin of a script for a new mystery play into the actual dramatic crux. Dial M For Murder by Frederick Knott is actually one of the few postwar stage thrillers I can think of that don't suffer too much from the Ouroboros tendency of having endlessly cyclical stories going round and round in repeating circles. In Veronica's Room this is almost entirely dodged with just a hint of this tendency but thankfully reserved just for an ironic coda, so right away Levin gets brownie points for that too.
"You said that I looked like Veronica. We came back here to look at a picture of her. Does any of this ring a bell? Does any of this penetrate the miasma?"
It would be ruinous to say any more but this is a play with a pretty unrelenting pace capped by shocking climax with a couple more small twists of the knife to follow. As with Deathtrap, there is a certain disconnect in terms of the small cast of characters (there are barely more than half a dozen roles), none of which prove to be very sympathetic, which is a bit of a shame really and does hurt it somewhat. But if you are looking for shocks and surprises, this brief drama has plenty to offer none the less.
Thank you again to Martin Edwards for drawing my attention to this play.


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PARIS, January 31- Spanish researchers have created an electronic "tongue" capable of distinguishing between beer varieties and their alcohol content.
The artificial organ was accurate nearly 82 percent of the time, said its creators and could be the first step towards developing robots with a sense of taste.
The taster was made using 21 electrodes, each responsive to different chemical compounds such as ammonium, sodium, nitrate or chloride, according to researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
Exposed to beer, the electrode bundle yielded chemical data that could be analysed for patterns with which to identify the different brews.
It could tell the difference between Schwarzbier, lager, double malt, Pilsen, Alsatian and low-alcohol beer — all the types it was "trained" to recognise.
The "tongue" did not recognise drinks for which it had not been programmed.
"These tools could one day give robots a sense of taste," said a statement on the study published in the journal Food Chemistry.
They could also "supplant panels of tasters in the food industry to improve the quality and reliability of products for consumption."


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In our new Vocabulary Center, we have changed the way wordlists and activities are made. In order to use your old wordlists in the new activities, you can extract the wordlists from your old saved activities with one click. These lists will be immediately available to use in any of the new activities in the "Activities" section.
Go the "My Activities", select the activities, and click the "Extract Wordlist" button. The list will be available immediately. For more instructions, please see "How to extract wordlists from your old activities".
As part of the evolution of our site, the old activity makers will be removed during the summer. But you won't lose these lists. We will automatically convert any wordlist you have created in the old quiz makers, and make it available in our new system.
This new upgraded system will include the ability to save and share activities and scores. Until then, the old quiz makers and the glossary maker will be available on this page.
We welcome any feedback. Thank you for your support!


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No verdict yet in Fort Hood shooting trial
Army psychiatrist is facing numerous counts of premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder
FORT HOOD - The Army psychiatrist on trial for the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood passed on his final chance to address jurors before they started deliberating Thursday, even after prosecutors insisted they hand down a verdict that would allow the death penalty.
Maj. Nidal Hasan is acting as his own attorney but declined to plead his case after prosecutors finished their closing argument. When the judge told Hasan he could begin, he said: "The defense chooses not to make a closing statement."
The Army psychiatrist is facing numerous counts of premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder for the attack, which killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 at the sprawling Army post in central Texas on Nov. 5, 2009.
It was the deadliest mass shooting ever on a U.S. military base.
Prosecutors laid out a detailed roadmap of their case during their closing argument, saying there was no question Hasan planned and carried out the attack.
"The facts I laid out to you give you only one option," the prosecutor, Col. Steve Henricks, told jurors. "The accused without a doubt - without any doubt at all - had a premeditated design to kill."
Jurors began deliberating Thursday afternoon. After about three hours, they asked if they could review the testimony of Sgt. Mark Todd, the Fort Hood police officer who ended the rampage by shooting the gunman. In a statement submitted to the court, Todd testified that Hasan fired at him before he fired back, hit the soldier and then kicked away his gun.
The judge agreed to the review, then she allowed jurors to leave for the evening. Deliberations are scheduled to resume this morning, Aug. 23.
During his brief opening statement two weeks ago, Hasan told jurors that evidence would "clearly show" he was the shooter. He also described himself as a soldier who had "switched sides."
But since then, he has sat mostly silent in his wheelchair. Hasan, who was paralyzed after he was shot during the attack, has raised few objections during the 13-day trial. He questioned only three of the nearly 90 witnesses called by prosecutors, and the only piece of evidence he submitted was an evaluation from his boss that called him a good soldier.
On Thursday, military prosecutors asked jurors for a unanimous conviction on the premeditated murder charges, which would allow them to seek the death penalty - the government's priority in the case.
Henricks repeatedly emphasized the word "premeditation," trying to dissuade the jury - 13 high-ranking military officers - of even considering a conviction on a lesser charge that would take the death penalty off the table.
"There's no doubt the evidence you heard in this case shows he committed the offense," Henricks said.
Henricks said Hasan asked for the highest-tech weapon available when he went to a gun store a few months before the Nov. 5, 2009, attack, and he soon began practicing at a gun range. Hasan also used laser sights, which Henricks said "established intent to kill."
The prosecutor noted the shootings, which started inside a medical building crowded with soldiers preparing to deploy, came the same day Hasan's unit was at that building. Hasan was assigned to soon join the unit in Afghanistan on a six-month tour.
The last witness to testify for prosecutors had said Hasan told her shortly before the shooting, without prompting, the Army would "pay" if he were ever ordered deployed overseas.
"Some things speak for themselves. It doesn't require any evidence - because it's no coincidence - that the accused did his crime on Five November," Henricks told jurors.
Henricks also noted that Hasan targeted soldiers, leaving most civilians unscathed. After Hasan fled the medical building, and civilians outside asked him what was going on, "he tells them it's a paintball gun. It's a training exercise. He's keeping his wits about him even after what happened," Henricks said.
Hasan, an American-born Muslim, has been unapologetic about saying the rampage was necessary to protect Muslim insurgents abroad from American soldiers preparing for combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. But most of his arguments have played out through leaks to the media or directly to the judge, so they couldn't be considered by the jury.
(Associated Press writer Will Weissert contributed to this report from Fort Hood.)
Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pauljweber


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More than a decade ago, Sue Grafton said that the title of her final Kinsey Millhone mystery would be "Z" is for Zero, ending the bestselling series that began in 1982 with "A" Is for Alibi. Or so André Bernard reported in his Now All We Need Is a Title: Famous Book Titles and How They Got That Way (Norton, 127 pp., $11, paperback).
I first wrote about Grafton's plan for the last Kinsey Millhone mystery when I reviewed Bernard's book for the Plain Dealer in 1995. And because Now All We Need Is a Title was widely reviewed, I thought her intention was well known, especially now that it's turned up on Wikipedia.
But I found a surprising comment on the page for Grafton's new "T" is for Trespass on the site Powell's, the great Portland bookstore: "We don't know what Z will be, except that it will be very, very good." So consider this post a reminder: It's "Z" is for Zero. But it comes with a warning: Grafton could get an idea for a novel about, say, a compulsive womanizer who meets a ghastly death involving his hyperactive zipper. Would you really want her to ignore that one so she could stick with "Z" is for Zero?
© 2009 Janice Harayda. All rights reserved.