Under Sandro Rosell, Barcelona has won titles in La Liga, Cope del Rey, Champions League and the Club World Cup.

Luca Bruno/AP

This is the third installment of Inside the SuperClubs: Barcelona. This week's Sports Illustrated features an in-depth look at the club and its global appeal.

BARCELONA, Spain -- You never know who you might meet on the road. Sam Lardner is (among other things) a Dartmouth alum, a descendant of sportswriting legend Ring Lardner, a professional musician, a former FC Barcelona ice hockey player and a one-time board member of the foundation started by Bara soccer deity Johan Cruyff.

A full-time resident of Barcelona since 1997, Lardner is in an ideal spot to observe the bustling political scene at FC Barcelona, which is "owned" by its 180,000 members who vote in elections for the club president every four years. Lardner took his son to London last year for the Arsenal-Barcelona Champions League game, and on the way back, they saw Bara president Sandro Rosell, the man in charge of the storied club with the most successful soccer team of this era.

"Rosell flew back on easyJet," said Lardner, mentioning the European budget-airline equivalent of Southwest Airlines. "I was very impressed by that. Rosell to me is doing a discreet and serious job. I know what's going on in his mind. He's got to clean up a big old mess."

When Rosell was elected as Bara's 39th president in 2010 with more than 60 percent of the vote, the club had a net debt of $558 million, owing in part to bank loans to help pay for transfers. That figure may not be quite as scary as it looks, in part because Bara is such a big revenue generator (as noted in this excellent Swiss Ramble piece), but the debt was still out of whack compared to what it should be.

"When we won the election, the biggest criticism was the financial aspect of the club," said Rosell, leaning forward in a chair in his office at the club. "We had an enormous debt with the banks outside of the financial ratios that Bara needs. It was a priority getting the debt under control and in relation to revenue. We've worked hard to cut costs and increase revenue in order to repay the bank debt -- and without being less competitive, while still winning trophies, we've reduced our debt by 15.5 percent. In one season we went from being 430 million [$558 million] in the red to a 364 million [$472 million] net debt."

In addition to cutting costs, Rosell worked out a deal with the Qatar Foundation, which became Bara's first paid shirt sponsor in a $225 million transaction.

Rosell, 48, has the air of a big-time politician, which is exactly what you have to be as the Bara president. But he also has a connection to the club that goes back to childhood. Rosell's father, Jaume, was club secretary of Bara in the early 1970s, and young Sandro was a diehard fan who became a club social member at age 4.

Read the original post:
Grant Wahl: Inside Barcelona: Rosell's success as president

Under Sandro Rosell, Barcelona has won titles in La Liga, Cope del Rey, Champions League and the Club World Cup.

Luca Bruno/AP

This is the third installment of Inside the SuperClubs: Barcelona. This week's Sports Illustrated features an in-depth look at the club and its global appeal.

BARCELONA, Spain -- You never know who you might meet on the road. Sam Lardner is (among other things) a Dartmouth alum, a descendant of sportswriting legend Ring Lardner, a professional musician, a former FC Barcelona ice hockey player and a one-time board member of the foundation started by Bara soccer deity Johan Cruyff.

A full-time resident of Barcelona since 1997, Lardner is in an ideal spot to observe the bustling political scene at FC Barcelona, which is "owned" by its 180,000 members who vote in elections for the club president every four years. Lardner took his son to London last year for the Arsenal-Barcelona Champions League game, and on the way back, they saw Bara president Sandro Rosell, the man in charge of the storied club with the most successful soccer team of this era.

"Rosell flew back on easyJet," said Lardner, mentioning the European budget-airline equivalent of Southwest Airlines. "I was very impressed by that. Rosell to me is doing a discreet and serious job. I know what's going on in his mind. He's got to clean up a big old mess."

When Rosell was elected as Bara's 39th president in 2010 with more than 60 percent of the vote, the club had a net debt of $558 million, owing in part to bank loans to help pay for transfers. That figure may not be quite as scary as it looks, in part because Bara is such a big revenue generator (as noted in this excellent Swiss Ramble piece), but the debt was still out of whack compared to what it should be.

"When we won the election, the biggest criticism was the financial aspect of the club," said Rosell, leaning forward in a chair in his office at the club. "We had an enormous debt with the banks outside of the financial ratios that Bara needs. It was a priority getting the debt under control and in relation to revenue. We've worked hard to cut costs and increase revenue in order to repay the bank debt -- and without being less competitive, while still winning trophies, we've reduced our debt by 15.5 percent. In one season we went from being 430 million [$558 million] in the red to a 364 million [$472 million] net debt."

In addition to cutting costs, Rosell worked out a deal with the Qatar Foundation, which became Bara's first paid shirt sponsor in a $225 million transaction.

Rosell, 48, has the air of a big-time politician, which is exactly what you have to be as the Bara president. But he also has a connection to the club that goes back to childhood. Rosell's father, Jaume, was club secretary of Bara in the early 1970s, and young Sandro was a diehard fan who became a club social member at age 4.

Read the original post:
Barça's boss sees success beyond trophies

Nov. 18, 1931 - Oct. 1, 2012

For someone who worked for most of his life as an accountant, Carl Citron had an unstereotypically interesting life.

With his wife, Jane, he traveled the world -- Morocco, Greece, India, Thailand, Vietnam. Later, the couple rented apartments for monthlong stints in the south of France and in California's Napa Valley.

Much of this globe-trotting was driven by the fact that Jane Citron was a cooking teacher and food writer for The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Magazine.

But Mr. Citron was a happy companion in all of it.

"I don't think anyone's ever eaten better," said one of his three sons, Alan, of Fox Chapel.

Mr. Citron died Monday of complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 80.

One of five children, Mr. Citron grew up in Beechview and then Squirrel Hill, where he was valedictorian -- at age 16 -- at Taylor Allderdice High School, now Pittsburgh Allderdice. At the University of Pittsburgh, he earned a bachelor's in business administration in 1951 and the next year a master's in accounting, which he loved.

His son Rodger of New York City said that watching him in his home office working the calculator keys "was like watching a concert pianist."

Mr. Citron married Jane Pachtman, whom he'd begun dating at Pitt, in February 1955, while he was on leave from the Army, which had drafted him near the end of the Korean War. The newlyweds moved to San Francisco for the rest of his Army stint, and it was the time of their lives, living -- and eating -- in an exotic city.

View post:
Obituary: Carl D. Citron / Accountant enjoyed travels, taste of success

NOVATO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Firemans Fund Insurance Company announces the appointment of Robert Haibi to the position of personal insurance distribution and agency management executive.

In his new role, Haibi has full distribution responsibility for personal lines business, focusing on the specialized needs of the high net worth market. He will be based in Chicago, IL.

A 15-year veteran of the insurance industry, Robert has experience in claims leadership, business development, sales, and marketing.

Most recently, Haibi was the senior vice president for the central zone at Chartis responsible for development of sales and marketing strategies for 26 states and sales distribution for nearly 500 captive agents. Previously he was a business development manager for AIG Private Client Group in West Palm Beach, FL. He also worked in claims leadership at Progressive Insurance.

Robert will be a tremendous asset to Firemans Fund with his extensive high net worth experience and broad leadership skills in marketing, business development, agency management, and claims. He understands the specialized needs of agents and brokers serving high net worth clients, said Lee Roth, personal insurance executive at Firemans Fund.

Haibi holds a bachelors degree in business management and marketing from Palm Beach Atlantic University.

About Firemans Fund Insurance Company

Founded in 1863, Firemans Fund Insurance Company is a premier property and casualty insurance company providing personal and commercial insurance products backed by industry-leading claims and risk management solutions. Firemans Fund is a leader in high-net-worth, entertainment, and green insurance. Firemans Fund is a member of the Allianz Group, one of the worlds largest providers of property and casualty insurance, ranked 28th on Fortunes Global 500 list of the worlds largest corporations. For additional information, visit http://www.firemansfund.com.

2012 Firemans Fund Insurance Company, Novato, CA 94998

Original post:
Fireman’s Fund Appoints Robert Haibi to Personal Insurance Distribution and Agency Management Executive

Founded in 1991, Capella Education Company is a leader in online education, primarily through our wholly owned subsidiary Capella University, a regionally accredited online university. In addition, Capella Education Company offers online education through Resource Development International Ltd. (RDI), an independent provider of United Kingdom (UK) university distance learning qualifications; and owns Sophia, a first-of-its-kind social education platform that offers students many ways to learn by making credible, academic content available to anyone, anywhere, at anytime. Capella University offers online graduate degree programs in business, counseling, education, health administration, homeland security, human resource management, human services, information technology, nonprofit management and leadership, nursing, psychology, public administration, public health, public safety, and social work; and bachelor's degree programs in business, information technology, nursing, psychology, and public safety. These academic programs are designed to meet the needs of working adults, combining high quality, competency-based curricula with the convenience and flexibility of an online learning format. Currently, Capella University offers 44 graduate and undergraduate degree programs with 149 specializations. More than 36,000 learners were enrolled as of June 30, 2012.

Company:

Headquarters Address:

Main Telephone:

Website:

Ticker:

Type of Organization:

Industry:

Earnings Release Dates:

1st Quarter: October 23, 2012

Originally posted here:
Company Profile for Capella Education Company

1. Attend Russ Petrickas step aerobics class- lets face it, you wouldnt last longer than ten minutes anyway. 2. Heat up, and ravenously devour, a bowl of Easy Mac. 3. Watch Michael Jacksons Thriller music video without holding back your inhibition to dance along to it. 4. Go to Fourth Libe with the intention of studying for your next class, without fail end up seeing everyone you know, and end up not even touching your notes. 5. Go to First Libe with the intention of studying and end up sitting in a corner ordering a cute pair of jeans online. 6. Organize your beloved drawer of festive holiday socks By season. 7. Lay in the bald spot, pondering the greatest woes of the natural world- this is Carleton afterall. 8. Try to determine the best maneuver to get your bike out of the massive heap known as the Sayles bike racks. 9. Write a Top Ten list at the speed of one thing per minute. 10. Maybe, just maybe, walk to class?

Original post:
Top Ten Things to Do with the Ten Minutes Between Class

DIXON At 5 years old, Trirong Khuntangta was carrying herbs back to his school where he learned how to dry and prepare them.

The downtown Dixon building that he converted into the Traditional Wellness Center is a far cry from his boarding school in Thailand, but the lessons he learned still are a part of his everyday work there.

The Touch of Thai owner was looking to go low key and calm when he created his center, he said, although the dizzying array of services provided at 216 W. First St. doesnt necessarily give that impression.

Walking in the front doors, a tea shop serving light breakfast and lunch is to the right. To the left, there might be someone playing the piano or someone on a lunch break getting a 5-minute massage.

Cooking classes will be offered in the back kitchen. Yoga, Zumba and meditation classes are provided upstairs in a large open room with old hardwood floors that also can be rented out for banquets.

The idea behind the Traditional Wellness Center is that having multiple revenue sources gives Khuntangta more flexibility.

Plus, he really enjoys the herbalism part. In addition to light food, his Ginkgo Tree Cafe offers herbal tea.

Herbalism is so complicated, Khuntangta said, as ginger, lemon grass and turmeric steeped in hot water in a glass teapot in front of him. Its not hard, but theres so much.

Khuntangta received his bachelors in political science and masters in international relations, and hes attending Thai alternative medicine school. Hes finished 3 years and has 2 to go.

Thats why he decided to team up with Carol Krueger, a KSB Hospitalpharmacist and fellow herbalist. Krueger actually first learned the trade as well as Tai Chi, yoga and how to give massages from Khuntangta more than 15 years ago.

Read the original:
Traditional with a Thai twist

By: Contributed Report Published: October 04, 2012 Updated: October 04, 2012 - 7:58 PM

The Chesterfield County Department of Parks and Recreation is offering a series of fitness classes this fall at the Bensley Community Building at 2900 Drewrys Bluff Road.

For more information, contact David Potter at 804-275-5321.

To register, call 804-748-1623.

Zumba Come join one of the newest trends in aerobics, Zumba. This cardio-interval class promotes agility and endurance while it tones muscles.

Class will be taught by a certified Zumba trainer. Classes will be held from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays Nov. 7 through Dec. 12. The cost is $45. Course 25704

Daytime Fitness For $35 a month, participants can take as many daytime fitness classes as they want. Classes include aerobics, body toning, Pilates and yoga. Participants must register one week prior to the start of class to ensure class minimums are met.

Aerobics meets from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Monday through Friday.

Body toning meets from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Pilates meets from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. Fridays.

Yoga meets from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Mondays.

View original post here:
Step into fitness this fall with Parks and Recreation

LOS ANGELES (AP) Nguyen Chi Thien, a Vietnamese dissident poet who spent nearly 30 years in communist prisons in his native country, died in a Southern California hospital Tuesday after a long bout of lung illness, according to a close friend. He was 73.

Thien had contracted tuberculosis while in Vietnamese prisons and doctors were investigating a large mass in his lung in the days before he died, his close friend Hanh Thang-Thai said. The actual cause of his death was unclear.

Thien's former translator, Nguyen Ngoc Bich, says Thien is by far the most famous Vietnamese poet of his generation.

"It's like the passing away of a great symbol for the so-called free Vietnam, people who still believe in freedom and democracy for Vietnam," Bich said.

Thien first went to prison in 1960, after telling Vietnamese high school students that, contrary to their textbooks, the end of World War II was not the result of a Soviet attack, but rather U.S. nuclear attacks in Japan.

He was later imprisoned again because of poems he wrote that decried communist oppression. But due to a lack of evidence, he never went to trial.

In 1977, Thien was released from prison long enough to write down poems he had memorized in captivity, a manuscript that became known as "Flowers of Hell."

The poems were published in Vietnamese after he hand-delivered them to British diplomats at their embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam.

When he exited the embassy, security agents were awaiting him and he was promptly sent back to prison.

While he was still imprisoned, Thien won the International Poetry Award in Rotterdam in 1985.

See the rest here:
Vietnamese dissident poet Nguyen Chi Thien dies

Shameem Akthar, yogacharya trained with the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center, takes you through five poses that will help in controlling digestive ailments.

In yoga, for digestive problems most asanas are helpful. You may however have to avoid them when there is an inflammatory condition like ulcer or any perforated condition of the digestive tract.

In fact, to have a gentle yoga practice when you have a digestive problem will soothe the stomach. Even where poses are suggested that apply pressure on the abdomen, care must be taken not to press down into them, but to hold the poses lightly.

Including soothing pranayama practices like seethali (cooling breath) and the alternate nostril breathing (anulom vilom) are also helpful. The most soothing practice, in yoga, for healing digestive disasters, including inflammatory conditions, however is the passive practice of meditation. A ten-minute meditation, lying supine in the corpse pose (shavasana) or as in the crocodile pose (makarasana) will be the best therapy.

In yoga, apart from actual incidents of food poisoning most other ailments are tracked to psychosomatic causes or life-style mismanagement. Having a regular meal schedule, giving sufficient gap between eating and exercising/or sleeping, waking up early, eating dinner early, are some simple tips to maintain a healthy gut.

For more of Shameem's yoga writings visit http://jaisivananda.blogspot.com. Shameem's second book Yoga in the Workplace, with photographs by ace photographer Fawzan Husain, is now available at online shops and bookshops across the country. It is also available as e-book, with Kindle, Amazon.

Read the original here:
Yoga poses to improve your digestion