Supergreens Green Drink

Bravery and humility - often at the heart of fairy tales - are qualities that can inspire all of us to be the best that we can be. And, with the doom and gloom of the economic crisis, we were primed and about ready for a miracle. People want to feel hopeful again.

Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III safely landed a US Airways flight 1549 with 155 passengers and crew onboard in the Hudson River when the plane encountered problems after takeoff. Everyone survived. A spokesman for the U.S. Airline Pilots Association says that Sullenberger acted 'very calm and cool, very relaxed, just very professional.' Apparently he was the last one off the plane, walking down the aisles two times to make sure no one was left on board. Now that's a hero.

The challenges you face and crises you endure may not be quite so dramatic. But there are lessons we all can learn from the passengers and crew who stayed calm and pulled together on that Airbus A320 flight:

1. Realize that support is a valuable tool. Reaching out to others when you need encouragement helps you make it through what seems like an impossible situation. In an emergency, hold out your hand to a stranger. Confide in friends and family as you work through difficult circumstances. Getting a second and objective opinion from a family therapist or life coach will provide you with insight and direction. Join an ongoing group or attend a weekend retreat to share concerns and gain new perspective. Or find a workshop through your local university extension or mental health center. Spending time with others will validate your emotions and make you feel better.

2. Express your gratitude often. One airplane passenger, on a rescue raft in the frigid cold, went up to Sullenberger, grabbed his arm and said 'thank you on behalf of all of us.' Those are the moments in life that create a lasting impression. Try it yourself. Say thank you to a family member, a friend or a colleague. You'll see that others will feel more valued and you'll benefit from putting your appreciation into words. Studies show that gratitude helps you attain a better mood, increased self-esteem and a greater sense of connection to the world.

3. Develop stress relievers. If you have endured an extraordinary physical or emotional experience, take time out for yourself. By regular exercise, good nutrition and proper rest, you'll be taking better care of your body. Attend to your mind and your spirit as well. Practice techniques of deep breathing, relaxation or your own form of meditation. Set aside quiet time and do what it is that gives you personal pleasure. Relax and have fun as you bring more balance into your life. Look at it as investing in your emotional bank account. You'll generate positive memories that you can draw on when you need them.

4. Recognize an acute stress reaction. After an event where you could have died, it's natural to have a greater appreciation for life. Subsequent to a traumatic event, on the other hand, an immediate emotional reaction can turn into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This is more likely to occur for those who have suffered a previous trauma, a weak support system, a history of addiction or depression. If your symptoms persist - sleep disturbance, sadness, fears, irritability, flashbacks or nightmares - don't hesitate to make an appointment with a mental health professional.

5. Be as prepared as possible ahead of time. Sullenberger was ready - he's a former air force fighter pilot, an expert in safety reliability methods and has 40 years of flying experience. Although you may not need training for an emergency landing, you can be equipped for what lies ahead. If you're making an important presentation at work, setting guidelines for your kidult who can't find a job and is moving back home or talking to your dad about giving up the car keys, learn as much as you can about the issues. Research the subject, write out talking points, get feedback from those whose opinions you value.

As you look back, how have you dealt with trauma in the past? And how has this changed you? Take the specific strategies that you learned and apply the most effective ones again and again. Look at the ways you can continue to build on your internal and external strengths. A double bird strike disabling two engines is a highly improbable set of circumstances. Yet there are many extraordinary situations we cannot predict. Hopefully you won't ever have to brace for a crash landing. But being prepared never hurt anyone.

© 2009, Her Mentor Center

It appears that almost everyone is speculating on what the new rule on Executive Compensation in the banking and insurance industries will be.  As compensation consultants, we are obviously eager to learn what new thinking and constraints will be imposed, since these will obviously have a significant impact on the advice we will provide to our clients in the future. 

Executive Compensation is an extremely complicated subject, in which one well-intentioned action can have huge and often unintended consequences.  Therefore, we kindly request that you take the time to read the attached articles which discuss Executive Compensation issues, and at least consider some of the ideas that we put forward, while determining how to rein in excessive and often risky compensation practices.  

I would like to make a few additional points for your consideration:

1. Circuit Breakers vs. Clawbacks.  If the pay plans have qualitative tests that must be met before any payment are made (such as loan quality), it is much easier to stop any payments via “circuit breakers”, than trying to get the money back after it has been paid (“clawbacks”).  In reality, given the general distrust that many have for the banking industry's previous record of excessive compensation, having both circuit breakers and clawbacks provide extra levels of protection.  The circuit breaker stops payments if they are undeserved, and provides the mechanism to get an award back if it is paid in error, or if performance deteriorates.

1. Balance of Short-term and Long-term Incentives.  Organizational goals typically involve various timeframes, and the incentive plans should reflect the appropriate timing of those targets, such as when objectives overlap fiscal or calendar years.  This can often be handled by measuring “milestones”, which indicate that work is progressing against a longer-term performance target.  Short-term incentives reward annual and short-term achievements, while long-term incentives help to keep the focus on what is important over a longer range.  The size of the award should reflect the value and level of success achieved.

1. Judging Quality, not only Quantity.  Incentives should be based on how good performance is during a specific performance period, particularly when there is a requirement for qualitative measurement over an extended period.  A perfect example of this was the underlying problems with sub-prime mortgages.  Clearly, the quality of those risky loans was not known until defaults began to appear, which generally happened in the second and third years.  Therefore, incentive plan designs must withhold award payments until the effectiveness of a specific activity or level of achievement is known.   For loan origination, the payments should not be at the end of a short period (e.g., monthly or annually), but rather after a number of years (e.g., two to three years). 

1. Penalties, where Appropriate #1.  Within the regulations covering publicly-traded companies, there are very few built-in penalties that are prescribed for excessive compensation.  Under IRC Section 162m, if the compensation is in excess of $1 million, it must be performance based, or otherwise the company loses its tax deduction.  This impacts the shareholders, not the overpaid executives.  On the other hand, the regulations covering not-for-profits (IRC Section 4958/Intermediate Sanctions) contains penalties for both the executives and the board, and also requires that the excess must be repaid; those regulations have “teeth”.  The Sarbanes-Oxley Act does require the executive to “disgorge” the profits or awards they received, if the company’s financials have to be restated.  Other than giving back the award, there is no identified penalty, similar to that called for in the Intermediate Sanctions regulations.

1. Penalties, where Appropriate #2.  Even in the few situations in which penalties are imposed, they only address the recipient, not the maker.  In order to force the Boards and their Compensation Committees to focus in on the plans they approve, it would be appropriate to incorporate penalties, as well as Rebuttable Presumption requirements, similar to those already identified in the regulations for not-for-profit organizations (IRC Section 4958). 

1. Consistency is Critical.  All too often it seems that new rules coming from the government are at odds with existing regulations.  A perfect example is the approval of the compensation package for the new CEO of AIG by the Pay Czar.  The pay package is in conflict with existing IRC 162m regulations and in effect downplays performance while providing much higher salary and stock options with immediate vesting.  The concept of “pay for performance” is the basis of most pay programs within the US.  This emphasis should not be watered down, but enhanced in concept, while eliminating the risky nature of certain performance.  This also requires adding appropriate checks and balances, which would prohibit certain types of “unhealthy” transactions and activities. 

We hope these comments, as well as those in the attached articles, offer some insights which assist the government’s efforts to develop new pay rules.   We would welcome the opportunity to discuss these thoughts with you or members of your staff.  Please do not hesitate to let us know if we can provide any other insights garnered from over 40 years of designing effective incentive programs

If you find that commercial pre-stretched canvas is too expensive or if you are just interested, you can make your own canvases. You can buy rolls of primed or raw canvas in various sizes and qualities. Once bought, the first thing to do is to stretch a canvas of a desired size using stretcher bars.

The stretching process is fairly straightforward. You will need to buy stretcher bars. You can find them in any serious art supply store or on the Internet. Stretcher bars have tongue-and-groove corners and are usually 1.25 or 2.5 inches wide. You can order them in various lengths up to 72 inches.

To make one canvas you will need 2 sets of 2 equal bars. All four bars should fit together tightly and no nails are used. After you have assembled the stretcher, use a T-square to check if the four corners are square.

Now, stretching a piece of canvas involves the following steps:

1) Center the stretcher on top of a piece of canvas that is 1.5 inches larger that the stretcher on all sides.

2) Fold the canvas around a set of two opposing bars. Using a tack (usually included with each set of bars) fasten one side of the canvas to the center of the bar.

Then stretch the canvas by hand or with canvas pliers and tack the other side in the middle of the other bar. A straight line in the form of a crease running from one tack to the other should now be visible.

3) Next, repeat the procedure of 2) with the two other opposing sides of the canvas. A diamond shaped pattern should now be visible.

4) From here on, you continue from the middle of one of the bars and add a tack every 3 inches or so until you reach the corners. At the corners, nicely fold one end of the canvas under the other end and fasten this corner piece onto the bar with another tack.

Do not trim excess canvas. Instead, fold it over the back of the stretcher and tack it down just in case you need to re-stretch the canvas in the future.

5) If you notice any wrinkles in the canvas, you can remove one or two tacks in the right places, pull the canvas taut, and replace the tacks. To remove small uneven areas in the canvas, moisten the back of the area and let the canvas dry.

6) Usually the stretcher bars come with a set of so-called keys, i.e., small wooden wedges. These keys fit into slots at the inner corners of the stretchers and if necessary will further tighten the canvas. However, it is best to wait and see if the canvas actually slackens over time. If so you can pound the keys into slots at that time.
 
Note that nowadays, most artists use staples and a staple gun to fix the canvas to the stretcher. This approach is quicker and more convenient. However, for the sake of permanence and stability, it is still a good idea to use a regular tack in the middle of each of the bars.

Finally, when a painting is finished you may want to loosely place a sheet of cardboard inside the back of the stretcher. This will protect the back of your canvas.

Once you are used to the procedure, stretching a canvas goes fairly quickly. It is quite a bit cheaper than buying pre-stretched canvas. However, there still remains the task of priming the canvas in case you bought a roll of raw canvas. But, as far as stretching a canvas in concerned, this is all there is to it.

The following strategies are offered to help students develop a more efficient and effective memory. This listing is by no means exhaustive, but rather is meant as a place to begin.

1. Take the mystery away.

The first and perhaps most important strategy is to insure that all students understand how memory works and identify their particular profiles of memory strengths and challenges. Then, students should be taught memory management strategies.

2. Give directions in multiple formats.

Students benefit from being given directions in both visual and verbal formats. In addition, their understanding and memorizing of instructions could be checked by encouraging them to repeat the directions given and explain the meaning of these directions. Examples of what needs to be done are also often helpful for enhancing memory of directions.

3. Teach students to over-learn material.

Students should be taught the necessity of "over-learning" new information. Often they practice only until they are able to perform one error-free repetition of the material. However, several error-free repetitions are needed to solidify the information.

4. Teach students to use visual images and other memory strategies.

Another memory strategy that makes use of a cue is one called word substitution. The substitute word system can be used for information that is hard to visualize, for example, for the word occipital. These words can be converted into words that sound familiar that can be visualized. The word occipital can be converted to exhibit hall (because it sounds like exhibit hall). The student can then make a visual image of walking into an art museum and seeing a big painting of a brain with big bulging eyes (occipital is the region of the brain that controls vision). With this system, the vocabulary word the student is trying to remember actually becomes the cue for the visual image that then cues the definition of the word.

5. Give teacher-prepared handouts prior to class lectures.

Class lectures and series of oral directions should be reinforced by teacher-prepared handouts. The handouts for class lectures could consist of a brief outline or a partially completed graphic organizer that the student would complete during the lecture. Having this information both enables students to identify the salient information that is given during the lectures and to correctly organize the information in their notes. Both of these activities enhance memory of the information as well. The use of Post-Its to jot information down on is helpful for remembering directions.

6. Teach students to be active readers.

To enhance short-term memory registration and/or working memory when reading, students should underline, highlight, or jot key words down in the margin when reading chapters. They can then go back and read what is underlined, highlighted, or written in the margins. To consolidate this information in long-term memory, they can make outlines or use graphic organizers. Research has shown that the use of graphic organizers increases academic achievement for all students.

7. Write down steps in math problems.

Students who have a weakness in working memory should not rely on mental computations when solving math problems. For example, if they are performing long division problems, they should write down every step including carrying numbers. When solving word problems, they should always have a scratch piece of paper handy and write down the steps in their calculations. This will help prevent them from loosing their place and forgetting what they are doing.

8. Provide retrieval practice for students.

Research has shown that long-term memory is enhanced when students engage in retrieval practice. Taking a test is a retrieval practice, i.e., the act of recalling information that has been studied from long-term memory. Thus, it can be very helpful for students to take practice tests. When teachers are reviewing information prior to tests and exams, they could ask the students questions or have the students make up questions for everyone to answer rather than just retelling students the to-be-learned information. Also, if students are required or encouraged to make up their own tests and take them, it will give their parents and/or teachers information about whether they know the most important information or are instead focused on details that are less important.

9. Help students develop cues when storing information.

According to the memory research, information is easier retrieved when it is stored using a cue and that cue should be present at the time the information is being retrieved. For example, the acronym HOMES can be used to represent the names of the Great Lakes - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior. The acronym is a cue that is used when the information is being learned, and recalling the cue when taking a test will help the student recall the information.

10. Prime the memory prior to teaching and learning activities.

Cues that prepare students for the task to be presented are helpful. This is often referred to as priming the memory. For instance, when a reading comprehension task is given, students will get an idea of what is expected by discussing the vocabulary and the overall topic beforehand. This will allow them to focus on the salient information and engage in more effective depth of processing. Advance organizers also serve this purpose. For older students, CliffNotes or other similar study guides for pieces of literature are often helpful aids for priming the memory.

11. Use Post-Its.

The use of Post-Its for jotting down information can be helpful for students who have short-term memory or working memory challenges.

12. Activate prior knowledge.

In order to enhance the likelihood that students will elaborate on new incoming information, teachers should activate their prior knowledge and make the new information meaningful to them. An easy way of accomplishing this task is to ask, "What do you know", "What do you want to know".

13. Give extended time.

If students have difficulty with the speed of retrieving information from memory, they should be given extended time for taking tests so that a true picture of what they know may be gained.

14. Use multisensory methods.

When learners, both young and old, experience something through multiple senses, they are much more likely to remember it. Use a Multisensory approach by engaging as many of the senses as possible when teaching (seeing, touching, hearing, smelling, and tasting).

15. Review material before going to sleep.

It should be helpful for students to review material right before going to sleep at night. Research has shown that information studied this way is better remembered. Any other task that is performed after reviewing and prior to sleeping (such as getting a snack, brushing teeth, listening to music) interferes with consolidation of information in memory.

A ground or support is any kind of surface you can paint on. The choice of ground is in quite important because it determines in part how your painting will be perceived by the viewer.

Your support must satisfy a minimum of conditions. It must accept the paint well (i.e., the paint must stick in one stroke) without absorbing too much of the pigment.

The least expensive oil painting ground is treated paper. It is very useful for practice and even for doing certain commercial work. You can also buy canvas pads. These pads usually contain 10 sheets of medium tooth 5-oz cotton canvas that has been triple-primed with acrylic gesso. The tooth of paper or canvas is the degree of roughness or smoothness of the canvas. You can tape the oil paper or canvas pad paper to a drawing board. Make sure it is secure and does not shift when applying brushstrokes.
 
Next in line are the popular canvas boards or panels which are sheets of cardboard covered with inexpensive white painted cloth. These panels are very popularity because they are inexpensive (particularly when bought in bulk), easy to store, and easy to carry outdoors. They are however not permanent, i.e., they will deteriorate over time.

Good results can also be obtained from un-tempered Masonite or 3-ply chipboard prepared with three coats of gesso on the front and one coat on the back to prevent warping.

You can also use so-called museum board which is on the order of good-quality mat board. This board is quit absorbent but is inexpensive to practice on.

The ultimate ground for oil painting is canvas stretched over a wooden frame. It has wonderful elasticity and resilience, and history has shown that it has very good permanence. Canvas is of course more expensive but when you’re ready this will be your ground of choice and you’ll never want to go back to anything else.
 
You can buy commercially pre-stretched canvas. In fact, there are plenty of brands, sizes, weights, and qualities to choose from. Only experience will teach you which type of canvas is best suited to your style and subject matter.

Canvas cloth is either cotton or linen. The finest canvas and most expensive is made of linen, which stretches better and has a better tooth. Cotton can be a bit difficult to prime.

Look for cloth with an even weave. The canvas texture can be tightly woven and smooth to fairly coarse with an open weave. That means the tooth of the canvas can be fine or coarse and anything in-between.

If you paint a lot, even commercially pre-stretched canvas can become expensive. If so, you can buy rolls of primed or unprimed (raw) canvas. Then with stretcher bars you can create a support of a certain size. If you bought unprimed canvas, you still have to prime the canvas with an oil-based primer.

To save money you may be tempted to work on small canvases. This is not recommended. Unless you are an experienced artist, working on a small ground can easily result in tight, overly controlled paintings. So use supports of at least 16" x 20".