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The CMT Music Awards took over Nashville, Tennessee last night to celebrate country’s biggest stars. Gregg Allman was born in Nashville, and while his music was deeply rooted in blues rock, the Allman Brothers Band singer/songwriter/organist had enormous influence on country music as well. The CMT Music Awards opened with a tribute to Allman, who passed away less than two weeks ago.For the opening number, Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley, Jason Aldean, Darius Rucker, and Derek Trucks performed a beautiful rendition of “Midnight Rider,” a Gregg Allman staple. The celebratory occasion also called for Trucks, who played guitar in the Allman Brothers Band from 1999-2014, to perform on Duane Allman‘s 1957 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop – the guitar Allman used to lay down the inimitable solo in “Layla” by Derek & The Dominoes. He played this majestic instrument through Duane Allman’s Fillmore East amplifier that Derek now owns.Watch Charles Kelley, Jason Aldean, Darius Rucker, and Derek Trucks perform “Midnight Rider” at the 2017 CMT Awards below:
We usually think of commencement as college’s end, but the word actually means the beginning, since everyday life is what follows. In this video, seven renowned Harvard instructors give their takeaway advice on how to thrive in the wider world, how to chart a fulfilling future, and how to give back along the way.
Atul Gawande, associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at HSPH, spoke with Tom Ashbrook of NPR’s “On Point” about health care and health reform on Jan. 4, 2011. Republicans in the House of Representatives are bringing forward a vote to repeal the reform law, which was passed last March, but Gawande says that “repeal would be a return to stalemate.” Without the new law, he said, by 2019 health insurance will cost “roughly double” what it does now for a family policy and that the federal debt will continue to balloon.Gawande also appeared on Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” Jan. 5 to discuss his book, “The Checklist Manifesto,” which has just been released in paperback.
Who they are:Presidential candidate Gates McGavick is a junior from Seattle, Washington, studying English. He has been very involved in dorm life; currently, he is the president of Keough Hall, and he has previously served as the student senator for Keough. Junior Corey Gayheart is running as McGavick’s vice president. A native of Fairborn, Ohio, Gayheart has served as senator for St. Edward’s Hall, as class council representative and as a student ambassador for the department of development. He is majoring in political science.Top priority: Improving dorm lifeWhile McGavick’s and Gayheart’s main effort to improve dorm life — repealing the three-year housing requirement — does not seem feasible, their proposed “solutions-based” plan to approach the administration includes some changes to work on “bolstering dorm life.” Their plan to tackle the housing requirement includes working on building a waiver system in the event their attempts to appeal are unsuccessful. The waiver system has the potential to be problematic, as students may feel “other-ized” at the prospect of being fit into a box to gain the waiver, but it does show they are trying to stay realistic with their goals and preparing a back-up plan. They also cited the need for repairs in many of the dorms. “There are literally buckets hanging from pipes,” McGavick said of the state of some dorms. Improving water quality and getting rid of pests, including bats and bugs, in affected dorms are also priorities to make the dorm experience more equal, McGavick said. Best idea: Improving the blue light system on campus With the help of Campus Safety and the Notre Dame Security Police (NDSP), McGavick and Gayheart plan to evaluate the current blue-light system, an emergency-call-station system with a few locations on the outskirts of campus, including by the lakes and near Twyckenham Drive. In addition to improving the position of and making repairs to current blue lights, the ticket also wants to look into adding more locations around campus, including in areas that are frequented more often by students. Worst idea: Hosting student government members from other universities Working and collaborating with student leaders from other colleges could be a very fruitful idea, but hosting those students on campus and planning tailgates for them hardly seems to be the most productive use of student government resources, especially for a ticket that claims to prioritize “making student government more fiscally responsible” in their platform. Most feasible: Reforming senateMcGavick and Gayheart brought up several potential changes for student senate: moving the meetings to Monday nights to streamline the flow of information for Tuesday hall council meetings; allotting time for public comments at the end of senate meetings; increasing the training for incoming senators; and ending closed senate meetings. These goals are all extremely feasible. Not all will reap the same amount of benefits, but some — especially ending closed senate meetings and better preparing senators for their positions — could have a big impact on how senate functions as representatives for the student body. Least feasible: Repeal three-year housing requirementThe three-year housing requirement has already been passed for approval by the Board of Trustees; vice president of student affairs Erin Hoffmann Harding has announced the University is in the midst of seeking funding for two new residence halls in preparation for this requirement, which starts for the class of 2022. McGavick and Gayheart have said they would take a “solutions-based” approach, but with the plan already so far in the works, it seems extremely unlikely the administration will backtrack on such an enormous decision. Bottom Line: A different kind of experience, transparency and realistic goalsHaving both served as hall senators — and McGavick currently serving as a hall president — the McGavick-Gayheart ticket brings a slightly different kind of leadership experience than most student government tickets in the past. They said their experience requires a more day-to-day kind of accountability, which is underlined by their advocacy for more transparency in student government, including ending closed senate meetings. While some of their ideas — specifically repealing the new housing requirement and standardizing the Moreau experience — seem lofty and impractical, most of their platform is extremely realistic, which would increase their potential impact on student life.Tags: 2018 student government, Gates McGavick, McGavick-Gayheart, platform, Student government
John Daily | The Observer A scan from the front page of The Observer Vol. 33 No. 28, published Oct. 4, 1999, featuring Brown as the leprechaun.Born and raised in Milwaukee, Brown said he hadn’t considered Notre Dame until a graduate he met during his senior year of high school suggested he apply. Brown was accepted, but said his enthusiasm was curbed by the cost of tuition, especially after he was offered a full ride to Marquette University.“I talked to the pastor of the church I attended at the time [about choosing] between Marquette and Notre Dame, and he said, ‘Go with your heart,’” Brown said. “I said, ‘My heart to Notre Dame.’”Once on campus, Brown said he dove into the Notre Dame experience, playing inter-hall football and getting involved with dance groups. He even started his own dance group, First Class Steppers.Brown said he cheered at football games but hadn’t considered trying out to be the leprechaun until his roommates gave him the idea in the fall of his sophomore year. He initially brushed off his suggestion but said he started thinking about it when his application to study abroad the next fall was turned down. In the spring of 1999, he tried out.“Afterwards, I felt good,” Brown said. “I felt like I had a good time. If nothing else, this was fun. At the time, there were two spots for leprechaun [Varsity and Olympic]. And I said, maybe I’ll get the second spot, the Olympic spot. … That night, they posted the results outside the Joyce Center, and it said ‘Michael Brown: Varsity leprechaun,’ and it was crazy. It was kind of a surreal experience.”Brown was named Varsity leprechaun in April of 1999 and filled the role for the next two years.Though he had tried out for fun, after he was chosen for the role, he quickly saw the impact it had and the excitement it caused among his friends and family, he said.“You see, it spread nationally,” Brown said. “Because I was the first African-American leprechaun, it became a story in itself. I wasn’t going out to prove a point or make any kind of statement, I was just going to do something fun. But you quickly saw the significance of it nationally. It was a whirlwind from day one. I got calls from local papers and local television stations, but then it really got real, if you will, when USA Today contacted me for an interview. Then Sports Illustrated and Jet Magazine did a story on it — and growing up, I was a really big Jet Magazine person.”Brown said one of his favorite parts of the job was interacting with fans.“The experience was amazing,” he said. “You get to interact and engage with so many people. I think back to all the kids that you high-five — not just on game days, but visiting hospitals and community centers — and they’re all excited to meet the leprechaun. You’re high-fiving, you’re signing autographs, you’re taking pictures, you’re part of people’s wedding proposals.”The Notre Dame leprechaun is one of the few mascots in college football for which the mascot’s actual face is visible. Because of this increased visibility, Brown said, the leprechaun is always in uniform.“Because the position is an actual person’s face, you kind of truly embody the position,” he said. “It’s unique, and I think it’s a great honor and a privilege. It’s something I tried never to take for granted.”Brown said he doesn’t recall receiving any backlash or negative reactions based on his race, at least first-hand.“At that time, there wasn’t much social media,” he said. “There was no Twitter, there was no Facebook, there was no Instagram. So people didn’t necessarily have as much direct access to you, number one, and if they made a comment, it wasn’t as public. What my coach did tell me is that there were people who wrote letters, but I didn’t get to see them. … I have heard from some classmates and friends that there were people who were pretty negative about the whole thing, but no one came to me and said it to me directly. It was just really a celebration.”Comparing the role of Notre Dame leprechaun from 1999 to today, Brown said the biggest difference is the increased social media exposure.“Your life is definitely more under a microscope than ever before. … At the same time, it’s an absolutely wonderful opportunity,” he said. “That same exposure is an influence you can have to be positive and spread the spirit of ND even more. I think they’ve got a great opportunity to spread the spirit of ND more than I had the opportunity to do because of the way they can reach so many people — not just in person, but through online channels and social media.”Brown said he wouldn’t pay any attention to tweets like Portnoy’s.“I don’t think it’s something that’s worthy of even taking up any oxygen,” he said. “Number one, a leprechaun is not a real person anyway. It’s a fictional character. And number two, when it comes to being the leprechaun and the mascot for the University of Notre Dame, it’s more about embodying the spirit of Notre Dame, and that’s not limited to a certain height, it’s not limited to a certain weight, it’s not limited to a certain look.”Brown said he sees the time he spent as leprechaun as a particularly formative part of his time at Notre Dame.“I’m just grateful for the honor and the privilege to be able to serve as leprechaun,” he said. “It’s something that I didn’t take lightly, and I really tried to embrace the whole experience and take it all in and not take it for granted.”Brown still works with the University as regional director for the athletics advancement team, and was one of 10 individuals on the panel that selected this year’s leprechauns, which he’s participated in four times since graduating from Notre Dame.Some read the diversity of this year’s team as a political statement on the part of the University, Brown said.“That couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said. “It plays out how it plays out. … Each year, all of the leprechauns had to earn their spots.”Three things, Brown said, are used as criteria for selecting the leprechauns.“I say this often and I’ll say it again — it’s energy, passion, and spirit,” Brown said. “Those have to be ingrained in you as a person because you can’t teach those things.”Tags: African American leprechaun, leprechaun, mascot, Michael Brown, Mike Brown, Notre Dame leprechaun, samuel jackson This year’s trio of leprechauns mascots is the most diverse in University history. Senior Samuel B. Jackson and junior Lynette Wukie are the second and third African Americans to serve in the role, and Wukie is the first woman. Junior Conal Fagan is the first native-Irish leprechaun.Jackson took the field for the first time in Notre Dame’s football face-off with Louisville on Sept. 2. On That same day, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy tweeted a series of racist tweets in response to seeing Jackson represent the Irish.The Observer spoke with the first African-American leprechaun, Mike Brown, who served in the role from fall 1999 to the spring of 2001, on his experience in the position.
Everyone has a seed story. For some of us, it comes from elementary school, where we learned about germination by growing bean seeds in Dixie cups. Many gardeners, however, have built a much deeper, personal connection to seeds by growing and saving seeds that were shared by a parent, grandparent or close friend. To those gardeners, that bean or okra is much more than a plant or ingredient in a delicious summer meal. It’s a connection to the legacy of that plant.Just like each one of us has a history, every variety of seed has a story. The seeds with the most interesting stories tend to be the ones with the most history. Some varieties can be linked to important historical figures, like Thomas Jefferson. Others bring attention to average gardeners who became stewards of lost varieties, like Merle Van Doren of Missouri, who grew the ‘Moon and Stars’ variety of watermelon, which was believed to be lost.As the growing season for summer favorites comes to an end, consider saving seeds from healthy, vigorously producing plants and begin a seed legacy of your own. Here are a few tips from University of Georgia Cooperative Extension to follow when saving seeds.Make sure the seeds are open-pollinated varieties and not hybrids. Hybrids are products of the crossbreeding of two different varieties. Hybrid plants, often mistaken for being “genetically modified,” are bred for traits like vigor, taste, disease resistance or productivity. Hybrid plants, like the ‘Beefmaster’ tomato, produce viable seeds, but the plants will not be reliably similar to the parent plant.Tomatoes, peppers, beans and okra are great plants for first-time seed savers. These plants have flowers that are self-pollinating and seeds that require little or no special treatment before storage. Seeds from biennial crops, such as carrots or turnips, are harder to save because the plants need two growing seasons to produce seed. Plants with separate male and female flowers, like corn or vine crops, may cross-pollinate, making it difficult to maintain seed purity. Corn is wind-pollinated, so a stand of sweet corn can be pollinated by a popcorn variety from a neighbor’s crop a mile or more away. Cucumbers, melons, squash and gourds are insect-pollinated and, because they belong to the same family, Cucurbitaceae, they can cross-pollinate if grown close together. This cross-pollination will not affect the fruit this season, but the resulting seed will often have off-characteristics or flavor.Once you have identified open-pollinated crops, select the most vigorous plants for collecting next year’s seeds. Do not save seed from weak or diseased plants. Some plant diseases can carry over into next year’s garden through the seed.Beans and okra seeds are easy to save. Simply allow the pods to fully ripen and dry on the plant. This usually occurs about a month after you would normally harvest. If you want to shell them to save the seeds, allow them to dry indoors for two weeks. Many people leave the seeds in the pods until the next growing season.Tomato seeds are easy to save, but require a little work. Allow the fruit to fully ripen, then scrape the seeds and the mucous into a glass jar with some water. The mixture of water, mucous and seeds will begin to ferment in a few days, which will separate the seeds from the mucous coating. Stir or swirl the jar a couple times per day and the seeds should sink to the bottom within five days. Pour the liquid out, rinse the seeds and spread them out on a paper towel to dry.Dryness and cool temperatures are key in keeping seeds viable. Store seeds in paper envelopes inside airtight containers or jars. A small amount of silica-gel desiccant added to the container will help keep seeds dry. Refrigeration between 32 and 41 degrees Fahrenheit makes for an ideal storage condition. Label your saved seeds with the name, variety and date of collection.
The taps at Heinzelmannchen. Photo courtesy of N.C. Brewer’s Guild.In case you’ve been stuck in a tent for the last several years, North Carolina has become the unofficial hub of craft beer in the South. That’s not to speak ill of our neighbors—some of my favorite beers come from other states—but North Cackalacky has beer culture oozing into the street. More than 65 breweries and counting with what seems like a new brewery coming online every week (we’re rapidly approaching one brewery per resident in Asheville). The state has decided to celebrate the vibrant beer scene by declaring April to be NC Beer Month. It’s like Arbor Day, but all month long, and about beer, not trees. Yeah, it’s like that.What this means for you, dear beer drinkers, is that April is an excellent time to step out and experience what the northern Carolina has to offer beverage-wise. Events are popping up across the state, brewery collaborations are being released willy-nilly, beer makers are exchanging kegs with each other left and right. It’s like a ‘70s key party, but far less skanky.A couple of things to look for this month from breweries in Western North Carolina: Pisgah (Black Mountain) is re-releasing its Cosmos Baltic Porter, one of the original home brew recipes that got Pisgah started several years ago. Far West breweries Nantahala, Heinzelmannchen, and Headwaters Brewing have worked together to release the collaborative Red Rye Ale, and the new Howard Brewing (Lenoir) is releasing their General William Lenoir Old Ale, based on a handwritten recipe from a Revolutionary War hero that lived in Happy Valley. Finally, we’ll get to know what beer tasted like in 1776.Check out what’s happening at a brewery near you at ncbeermonth.com.Follow Graham Averill’s adventures in drinking and Dad-hood at daddy-drinks.com
27SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr Sarah Herrington’s compassion and dedication exemplifies Service 1 Federal Credit Union’s mission of “Member Driven. Community Focused.”Recently, a member visited the $100 million asset credit union in Muskegon, Mich., because his wife had passed away and he needed to add his name as a guardian for his kids’ accounts.The member came into the branch just as Sarah was about to leave for the day, approached her, and explained his situation. Sarah empathized deeply.To spare the member the stress and confusion of retelling the heartbreaking reason for his visit, she decided to stay late and fulfill his request rather than refer him to a co-worker.Sarah escorted the gentleman to her desk and spent over an hour updating his sons’ accounts while also setting up a representative payee account, which allows him to manage Social Security benefits payments for his children. Sarah created a safe and trusting environment where the member felt comfortable, and made it easy for him to discuss a sensitive matter. continue reading »
Cars parked in parking lot There came a point in my life where I started to be very honest about my truths.I think there are times in our lives where we tend to sugarcoat or even gloss over uncomfortable times.I remember being in high school and living by the “laugh with them and they will get bored” adage. It was all too convenient for the bullies in my school that my maiden name rhymed with whale.Laugh with them and they will get bored.Laugh with them and they will be confused.Laugh with them and it will eventually stop.Honestly? It never worked.Sitting in school I used to dream of the day that I was an adult and that would all just magically go away.People would grow up.They would be far too busy adulting to bully one another.If only that were true.I quickly learned while entering that adult world that the folks who were mean in high school, typically grew up to be mean adults.Not always, but more often than not.I worked at a credit union many moons ago and had a coworker that was one of those people.She was just genuinely unhappy in her own life and it leaked out in her aura. She liked to play a game called “I am going to park really close to Nanci’s driver’s side door so that she can’t get into her car”. I don’t recommend this game.It played out almost monthly like this:Hey, I need to leave for lunch and can’t get in my car. You parked too close.Oh really? You can’t fit in there? Hmm..Rude.Just flat out rude.Not even slathering Crisco and saying a prayer could get me into my car with how she parked.I began to wonder, what causes people to be so petty?What causes that mean spirit?It all comes down to the fact that hurt people, hurt people.There is something that was broken within her.Whether it was recent or something that stemmed from long ago, it was fractured.Rather than fixing that fracture, she chose to feed it.That choice has ultimately caused her to live the way she does.Miserable.It’s hard, isn’t it?Trying to figure out why folks do what they do.I have to admit, I have had a lot of strangers come at me about my weight.On airplanes.In lines.At stores.At work.It seems to be the go-to insult when they have nothing else that they can pick on.I had a woman on an airplane yell from the front of the plane when she realized she would be sitting beside me that she did not want to sit by a “fat woman”.Airplanes are not my favorite in the first place.Stuffing a lot of people in a tin can and placing them nuts to butts is not my idea of a good time.AND, we PAY to do it!This woman insulted me the entire flight until the woman in front of us offered to switch seats.Before I left that seat, I placed my hand on her arm and said to her,Whatever has happened to you in your life to make you so mean, I am sorry.That’s really it, isn’t it?We must accept the fact that we won’t always know why people behave the way that they do.It’s the same with coworkers, members, and even just day to day people that we may meet along our day.I dabble in speaking to groups at events and classes and one of the topics is called “Maybe it’s not about you”It’s about realizing that the actions that may hurts us the most, are not always about us.It’s about looking beyond the attitude to empathize with the story behind the behavior.I wish that when I was younger and dreaming of being an adult that the truth was that once we hit some magical age the bully stage “POOF” disappears.But alas, it doesn’t.We just learn how to deal differently.Sometimes I still use humor to fend off the miserable people that drip their negativity all over my day.Sometimes I call them out in a way that hopefully makes them think.Sometimes I just flat out realize that who they are and choose to be is none of my business. I can correct them. I can talk with them.I can accept themOr, I can walk away.We will always be faced with people in our professional and personal lives that rub us the wrong way.Sometimes it will take “Crisco and a prayer” to get through it and that’s okay.Just make sure the journey you are choosing to take speaks kindly of the human you want to project to the world.Your greatest responsibility as an adult, is to be a better version of yourself each new day. 35SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr,Nanci Wilson Nanci started her credit union journey due to lack of kindness.That fact is what led her to close her bank account and open up at a credit union.Ultimately … Web: https://www.universityfederalcu.org Details