The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees spent its annual retreat Saturday weighing the numerous pressures it faces in the greater world of higher education, including less state support, higher costs for students, fewer research dollars, and the uncertain but inevitable future of online education.

More particular to UK are issues such as a new way of budgeting, a housing boom, and a large and talented freshman class met with a nervous campus community that's facing another round of budget cuts.

Last year, the retreat helped determine that President Eli Capilouto needed to focus on undergraduate education, more residence halls and new academic facilities. Capilouto said the discussions with the board will be added to conversations with other parts of campus, including faculty, staff and students.

"What we're trying to do is serve as a bridge to our constituents ... the intersection of all these conversations, we think, will be useful in shaping the way we go."

One of the big issues will be online education. Vince Kellen, UK's Chief Information Officer, who was recently promoted to senior provost for academic planning, analytics and technologies, pointed out that many of the nation's elite universities are surging ahead in online education with Massive Open Online Courses, known as MOOCs, although it's not yet clear how or whether they will be profitable.

Capilouto said online education is already happening in pockets all over campus, but there is no centralized program.

"It's the fastest-growing segment in higher education," he said. "Where do we fit in all this?"

It's clear that trustees want Capilouto to figure that out.

"This is technology going on today," trustee Bill Britton said to Capilouto. "Be my leader what's going to be here five years from now? Do we have a plan for the next three years, five years, for what we're going to do for online education? It's here; we can either embrace it or get run over by it."

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At annual retreat, University of Kentucky trustees discuss money and online education

10/13/2012 7:30:00 AM RHSto battle elements, coaching distractions at GNCcross country meet Jeremy Mayo Sports Editor

The Great Northern Conference cross country meet takes place this morning at Edgewater Country Club in Tomahawk. It will be the culimination of a long week for the RHS cross country team.

The Hodags enter today's meet knowing it will be one of their final races under coach Josh Jaeger, who will be taking a teaching position in Crandon next month.

As for the race itself, the Hodags will look to bounce back from a tough race on the same course one week ago, but today's race may take a different feel with heavy rain in the forecast.

Jaeger to step down

As the River News reported online Wednesday, Jaeger is coaching his final races as the head coach at RHS. He told his team Tuesday that he accepted a teaching position in Crandon. His final day at RHSwill be Nov. 2.

"They took it hard, but a lot of them understand the decision I made and why I made it,"Jaeger told the River News. "We talked a long time about that (Tuesday) night and I told them when you hit a point in your life where you have to make a decision, it may greatly impact a lot of people, but you need to make the decision that is best for you and your family."

Jaeger is a Crandon native and resides there with his wife and two young children. He admitted the news did not come at a great time for the team, before one of its biggest races of the year, but said he the decision had to be made.

"Plain and simple the timing is just horrendous,"Jaeger said. "I knew that coming in, but I made a decision based on what I think is in the best interest of my family and my children. My goal as a parent is to be there for the two children I helped bring into this planet.

"I don't get to see my kids as often as I would like. I strap them into my wife's vehicle at 6:30 a.m. every morning and I don't get to see them until after 6 p.m. every night. I see my kids probably two hours a day and this new job in Crandon would allow me to see my children more."

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RHS to battle elements, coaching distractions at GNC cross country meet

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMLYBJb5kvs

12-10-2012 16:02 Samir Becic, health and fitness expert and founder of the Health and Fitness Revolution, sits down with Houston Mayor Annise Parker in an open interview for Health and Fitness Sports Magazine about Healthy Houston initiative, the medical center, police force, education, and the Mayor's hobbies.

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Samir Becic Interviews Houston Mayor Annise Parker for Health and Fitness Sports Magazine - Video

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Texas 4-H through Prairie View A&M Universitys Cooperative Extension Program and UnitedHealthcare announced a new partnership to promote healthy living and empower youth to help fight the nations obesity epidemic.

The partnership, called Eat4-Health, is activating thousands of 4-H youth ambassadors to make healthy choices for themselves and encourage friends, families and people in their communities to make positive changes through training, creative programs and educational events. It currently spans 10 states, including Texas.

At the partnership launch in Houston, more than 500 4-H youth, families and community leaders from Harris County came together for a Back to School-Back to Health event to promote health, fitness and healthy living. UnitedHealthcares mascot Dr. Health E. Hound was on hand to lead participants in healthy exercises and participate in gardening activities. Representatives from UnitedHealthcare presented a $30,000 check to Prairie View A&M University officials and 4-H youth to launch the program.

The event took place at The Last Organic Outpost, a Houston area community garden, and featured hands-on gardening demonstrations, healthy-cooking classes and educational presentations by 4-H members on making healthy food choices. Exercise activities included Zumba and swing out dancing classes, a fitness challenge, and swing out dancing routines that encouraged attendees to participate in simple, fun group activities designed to burn calories and promote health. Participating families received bags of fresh produce donated by the Houston Food Bank and Target Hunger.

Establishing healthy habits is a step toward healthy lifestyles, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples said. Private-sector partnerships like Eat4-Health are great examples of how we can help reverse the escalating trend toward obesity and the costly effect it is having on our nation. I commend the Eat4-Health partnership for empowering our youth to make healthy living a priority. This project complements my initiative, the 3Es of Healthy Living Education, Exercise and Eating Right which calls on parents and children to adopt healthy eating choices and lifestyle habits. These positive initiatives benefit our personal health as well as our states economic health.

Eat4-Health builds on UnitedHealthcares successful partnership with National 4-H Council that began last year in Florida, Mississippi and Texas. The campaign is expanding to Arizona, Louisiana, Nebraska, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Tennessee. Each participating state 4-H organization is receiving a $30,000 grant funded by UnitedHealthcare to support healthy-living programs, events and other activities administered by 4-H that encourage young people and their families to eat more nutritious foods and exercise regularly. The partnership in Texas is being administered through the Prairie View A&M University Cooperative Extension Program.

Prairie View A&M University is proud to partner with UnitedHealthcare again this year to promote healthy living among 4-H youth and their families, said Dr. Alton B. Johnson, Associate Dean of the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) and Administrator of the Cooperative Extension Program. We are excited to continue this important work together and use this grant to support 4-H programs that help educate communities about these important messages. Todays event is a perfect example of how we can make a positive impact.

We are fortunate to once again work together with 4-Hers here in Texas to help make a difference in the lives of so many families in the state, said Norine Yukon, CEO of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Texas. UnitedHealthcare and 4-H look forward to continuing this partnership that is harnessing the energy and excitement of 4-H youth to promote healthy living.

Participating 4-H state programs receiving a grant are developing action plans that provide innovative, hands-on learning approaches that target specific community needs in their state. Many of these activities will support healthy-living programs led by 4-H that encourage youth and community participation through events such as health fairs, cooking demonstrations, after-school programs, workshops and educational forums, among others. UnitedHealthcare employees will team up with 4-H at many of these events, assisting with planning and executing projects that lead to positive, sustainable change at the community and individual level.

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Texas 4-H Youth and UnitedHealthcare Launch Partnership at "Back to School-Back to Health" Event in Houston to Promote ...

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12-10-2012 19:41 The space shuttle Endeavour began its 12-mile trek at 2-mph through Los Angeles on its way to retirement at the Science Center. Bill Whitaker reports

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Shuttle Endeavour begins slow trek to retirement - Video

10/10/2012 14:29 VATICAN Synod on the new evangelization, the Church needs women, who often feel discriminated against Archbishop of Brussels: "It 's time to say that, if the Church does not ordain women priests, it is not because they are less capable or less worthy! Quite the contrary." For the Bishop of Rajshahi, Bangladesh, especially in Asia, the Church is called to live and preach evangelical poverty while the Archbishop of Manila invites the Church to learn humility from Jesus " whom "we are called to imitate in His respect for every human person

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - In order to accomplish a new evangelization, the Church needs women, it must focus its work on the answers to the fundamental questions about the meaning of life rather than on "social issues", practise the humility of Jesus, really live evangelical poverty. Suggestions and warnings are alternating at the Synod of Bishops working session this morning, the first of the circuli minores, or study groups.

The afternoon session yesterday saw a report from Card. Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, centred on the 2010 Apostolic Exhortation 'Verbum Domini', by Pope Benedict XVI dedicated to the Holy Scriptures. "Some scientific conferences on Verbum Domini were held in Rome, in Poland, in America and it is also possible in other places, and the acts are available," The document has had a circulation of more than 200 thousand copies in several languages, worldwide. But the greatest satisfaction, for Cardinal Ouellet, is the growing enthusiasm of the faithful for the Lectio Divina, increasingly practiced in different environments. Formation courses also are offered by the diocese or by the community to support this encounter with God through the Holy Scriptures. Other positive results, continued the Cardinal, include biblical animation, especially in parishes numerous Weeks or Years dedicated to the study of the Bible, organized by local churches, as well as continuous readings of the Word of God. The cardinal also noted that "the world of academia generally reacts slowly to the interventions of the Church Magisterium but the slowness does not necessarily mean opposition or indifference".

The "female question" was raised by Andre Leonard, archbishop of Brussels. Women, he observed are two-thirds of the People of God. "However, many of them feel discriminated against. It 's time to say that, if the Church does not ordain women priests, it is not because they are less capable or less worthy! On the contrary". "It is only because the priest is not only a' minister '- he added - but also a representative of Christ the Bridegroom, who came to marry humanity. We must give thanks for the quality and specificity of the significant contribution of women to evangelization. Strong gestures are needed to clearly state this. Without women who are happy, recognized in their essence and proud of belonging to the Church, there will be no new evangelization".

For his part, Msgr. Gervas Rozeario, Bishop of Rajshahi, Bangladesh, called the "Church leaders" to "let themselves be evangelizes by the evangelical values of the poor." "Evangelical poverty", said the bishop, is "something that the Church is called to live and preach, especially in Asia. As true believers in Jesus Christ, we must learn not only to renounce material goods, but also to appreciate the simplicity and humility of the poor, their happiness in the little they have and their concern for others". "The leaders of the Church - he added - must open their hearts to let themselves be evangelized by the evangelical values of the poor. Such a culture of solidarity with the poor will certainly show us ways to address environmental justice and hunger in the world."

Tones not unlike those of the Archbishop of Manila, Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, for which "the Church must learn humility from Jesus" whom "we are called to imitate in showing respect for every human person: He defended the dignity of all , especially those who are neglected and despised by the world. Loving his enemies, he affirmed their dignity". "The Church must discover the power of silence: faced with the pain, with the doubts and uncertainties of the people, we can not pretend to offer simple solutions."

The Church "clearly states that Jesus Christ and his Gospel primarily provide an understanding of human life in view of the free call of God to eternal life." Was the proposal of Msgr. Mario Alberto Molina Palma, Archbishop of Los Altos in Guatemala. "In this way - he said - it answers the problem of death, which deprives human existence of meaning, consistency and value. This is the premise that allows us, from the pastoral point of view, to deal with all other human problems: in fact the central event of the saving work of Christ is His Resurrection; it is His victory over death and sin, to thereby obtain a new human life beside God. Many of the pastoral efforts of the Church in Latin America have tried to solve the biggest problems facing men and women, leaving the the fundamental questions about the meaning of life in the shadows and without resolving them. The success of Pentecostalism, Christian fundamentalism - he concluded - is partly due to the fact that their leaders have been able to identify the main area in which the meaning of life is confronted with death and sin, capturing the accession of many with a proposal that does not have the same quality as the one that the Catholic Church can offer, which is rooted in theology and spirituality. "

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10/10/2012 14:29 VATICAN Synod on the new evangelization, the Church needs women, who often feel discriminated against

Quantum Healing Team Introduces Martin at Fall Clinic.

Albuquerque, NM (PRWEB) October 11, 2012

Founded by award-winning author, Nina Brown, to provide a service of healing and education to communities around the world, S.T.A.R. Clinic hosts conferences, webinars and intensives to inspire and support participants to awaken to human-divinity, wholeness. Brown invited Martin to join the S.T.A.R. team of Healing Practitioners in September 2012 and chose her to be part of a select group of healers who will offer treatments at the Fall Clinic, which will be held at the sacred Santa Ana Pueblo, NM October 19-21, 2012. Part of Martins offering at the Fall Clinic includes sharing the practice of Earthing, which involves connecting to the natural energy of the Earth. For more information about Martins offerings at Ascension 2012: Ancient and New Codes Revealed, visit http://www.crystalsinger.com/starclinic/.

Martin was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, where she also received her MD. She completed her family medicine residency stateside, has been in the United States for 35 years and has been an AAFP board certified family doctor for over three decades. Always a healer, Martin has been blending science, traditional medicine and spirituality over the course of her career. At this time in her practice, Martin says she plans to move into multidimensional work, serving as a translator of many recent scientific discoveries as they blend more and more with the Universe as we know it.

About the Golden Dolphin S.T.A.R. Clinic:

The Golden Dolphin S.T.A.R. Clinic was founded by Nina Brown to provide a service of healing and education to communities around the world. It hosts conferences, webinars and intensives, to help spread the central message of Browns book, Return of Love to Planet Earth, Memoir of a Reluctant Visionary: inspiring and supporting participants to awaken to their human-divinity. For more information, visit: http://www.crystalsinger.com/index.php/golden-dolphins/star-clinic/

Nina Brown Goldendolphins.com 505-559-4441 Email Information

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S.T.A.R. Clinic Announces Wendy Martin, M.D. as Healing Practitioner

Richard Haughton

The London-based contemporary dance company will bring Khans Vertical Road to the Granada Theatre on Sunday, October 14.

Contemporary Dance Group to Perform Sunday, October14

Photos of the terra-cotta warriors, the poetry of Rumi and William Blake, Leonardo da Vincis painting of the Last Supper this is where Akram Khan begins his creative process. We spend a year preparing, the U.K.-based choreographer explained over Skype last week. We create the soil in which the seed will be planted. Two years ago, Akram Khan Company had its Santa Barbara premiere with bahok, a meditation on cultural dislocation and the search for connection. This Sunday, the company returns with Vertical Road, Khans more recent investigation of body, spirit, and the tension between them. Khan spoke to me fromLondon.

The title of this work is Vertical Road. What does the vertical plane represent to you? A lot of our research was done on images and poetry, particularly from the Middle East. Whether we were looking at representations of spirituality in Christianity or in Islam, we saw that there was a common representation of humans below on Earth, and angels and God above in the sky. The orientation was always vertical. Non-spiritual scenes were almost always on horizontal axis. I was just fascinated by the concept ofverticality.

You were also inspired by Rumis poetry. Was there a particular poem that spoke to you? It was one very particular poem. In it, Rumi writes about beginning as mineral and dying and being reborn as vegetable, then animal, then human, and finally as an angel that flies away. So I loved the sense of ascension and transformation. I was inspired by many different ideas and concepts, as well. For example, the costumes for this work are modeled after the terra-cotta warriors of China. I also read an article about how much meteorite dust falls to Earth every year. The author suggested that if we all stood still long enough, wed all be covered in dust. So we play with dust in the show. Dust is closely connected to death for me, and the concept of death became very important in thework.

The eight dancers in Vertical Road come from Spain, Egypt, Algeria, Taiwan, Slovakia, Greece, and Korea, as well as the U.K. Is that internationalism intentional? Its not the reason I picked them. But I wanted one or two dancers from the Middle East because I became fascinated by Rumi and wanted people who embodied this notion of spirituality. Spirituality for me is formless, and a body is form. How do we create a sense of formlessness through the body? This was a huge challenge, but then I saw this one Egyptian dancer perform, and I thought, Thats spirituality whatever he does has a sense ofspirituality.

Im trained in kathak, which is classical Indian dance, but most of my dancers are Western trained. Its fascinating to see the difference between the more scientific Western body and someone who comes from the Middle East. I find that Asian bodies tend to reflect spirituality more readily and clearly than Western bodies because of the culture and the way they areraised.

Do you train your dancers in kathak, and if so, what do they have to learn? I train them in kathak when I have time. But I dont train them to be kathak dancers; I share with them some principles that I take into my research with my own body. With my body, its inseparable. In their bodies, theyre wearing it like a coat. Technically speaking, I can teach certain things like the sense of turning. A lot of my work is based on the spiral, where the top is turning one way and the hips the other. This tension is like the winding of a cloth. There are a lot of spirals and turns in my work it can be quitehypnotic.

How active are your dancers in the creative process? Theyre very involved. I may give them a task to create a sequence. Then they teach it to me, I adapt it in my own body, and they redo it based on what I did. So its a process of taking it, transforming it, and giving it back. From the beginning to the middle of the creative process, its very open. I only become a dictator toward theend.

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Akram Khan Company Returns to Santa Barbara

Don't Worry, Be Happy. Bobby McFerrin's exuberant song seemed so simple: Happiness will fall upon you if you just stop fretting.

But when Republican presidential candidate George Bush Sr. adopted Don't Worry, Be Happy as his cheerful campaign song, all of a sudden McFerrin was not happy. He was angry.

Truly, happiness is not easy to maintain. Given that the subject of happiness covers almost everything that matters about human existence, it's understandable: Happiness is complicated.

Here are five useful things I've learned writing this series on the psychology, economics, philosophy and spirituality of being happy in difficult times: 1. Happiness can be measured.

Happiness wasn't taken too seriously for most of the past 100 years. Instead, influential thinkers tended to focus on all the things wrong with humans. Two horrendous world wars can do that.

But, in the past decade or so, research psychologists made it clear they could measure people's moods. Neurobiologists could also pinpoint brain patterns associated with wellbeing. And statisticians could collate thoughts about what humans find satisfying.

As a result, happiness has become a subject of scientific research, which is today's quickest route to social acceptability.

That's helped economists, the most politically powerful of academics, to finally take an interest in happiness.

After putting most of their energies into measuring only market activity, some economists have been realizing there are many other ways to chart a society's wellbeing.

It's sparking what could turn into a revolution in social and economic policy.

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Don't worry, we can all be happy

Water exercises offer all the benefits of dry gyms, without the impact, and are especially beneficial for those with weighty issues.

A WATER gym?

Yes, all our equipment is inside the water ... treadmills and all, David Gan nods.

Ive heard of aqua aerobics classes and water workouts but a water gym was something new. Together with two colleagues former competitive swimmer Tan Shiow Chin and fitness enthusiast Fiona Ho I trot off to try a session at the recently opened Water Aerobic Gym in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

A smiling Gan and Khoo Chun-Yi, both sports science graduates, personal trainers and supervisors at the gym, greet us. The place is small, with two pools (one freshwater and the other sanitised by a saltwater chlorination system) and, yes, the fitness equipment were in the pool.

These rust-free contraptions, all imported from Italy, include a hydro bike, treadmills and a moon walker. There are also floatation restraints like the hand paddles, water dumbbells, noodles, kayak paddles and a range of other items.

A former engineer and a keen water sports enthusiast, proprietor Gary Chua decided to start the water gym in April this year. He owns an above-ground pool business and decided to venture into the water gym business as an extension of the pool business. He reckons there is a market for it.

There isnt a fully-equipped water gym in this region but its growing in popularity in western countries, claims Chua, 49. Its also a good way to promote the usefulness of a home-sized pool (6m-9m) that has limited swimming capacity.

Water helps lessen the impact on the joints but gives you the same benefits of a dry workout, and is suitable for pregnant and elderly people. And you dont need to know how to swim.

The first recorded history of water workouts dates back to the early 1980s when American runners, who suffered bone, muscle and joint problems as a result of too much pounding on the pavement, were introduced to water workouts. Using a buoyant belt to hold their bodies in proper alignment, they would run in the pool as a form of training.

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Weight problems? Try the water gyms