Health, weight loss
Posted: October 2, 2012 at 2:19 pm
See original here:
Health, weight loss
NASM Offers Fitness Professionals Pursuit of Excellence Scholarship Award
Posted: at 2:19 pm
Partnership with California University of Pennsylvania provides full tuition scholarship
Chandler, AZ (PRWEB) October 02, 2012
This scholarship award, valued at more than $15,000, provides four recipients with full graduate tuition to pursue a Master of Science degree in Exercise Science and Health Promotion through NASM and CalUs online education program. The curriculum includes four Internet-based specialization tracks for students: fitness and wellness, performance enhancement and injury prevention, rehabilitation science, and sports psychology.
NASM, the global leader in personal trainer certification, corrective exercise and sports performance training, and CalU have sponsored this scholarship award since 2005. Their goal is to provide active and aspiring health and fitness professionals with opportunities to advance their careers through accredited online bachelors and masters degree programs. Recipients have received more than $300,000 in tuition grants from NASM and CalU since the award was created.
NASM strongly emphasizes academic excellence for professionals who are working to be leaders in the health and fitness, athletic performance and sports medicine industries, said NASM President Andrew Wyant. The Pursuit of Excellence in Health and Fitness Award rewards students who desire to further their education with longtime partner CalU and our industry-leading, online exercise science degree programs.
Dan Cordell, a 2011 recipient, said he made a personal goal to receive the Pursuit of Excellence in Health and Fitness Award after earning the NASM Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) certification in 2004. A personal trainer with seven NASM specializations, Cordell completed his bachelors degree in Sports Management-Fitness and Wellness from CalU in 2010. After receiving the Pursuit of Excellence scholarship, he earned his masters degree in Exercise Science and Health Promotion in December.
NASM and CalU provided me with a holistic approach to health and fitness that I believe in and enables me to advance professionally, Cordell said. Im engaged in creating health prevention and personal fitness strategies for underserved populations that will increase their fitness and wellness levels. Im grateful for the scholarship and this opportunity to give back to people who want to be healthier and more active.
Applicants for the Pursuit of Excellence in Health and Fitness Award must possess a bachelors degree and have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) for all undergraduate and graduate courses to date; plan to enroll in a CalU online masters degree program for the January 2013 start date; and intend to pursue a primary professional career in the health and fitness industry. Completed application packets for the 2013 Pursuit of Excellence in Health and Fitness Award must be postmarked by Nov. 10, 2012. To learn more or to download an application, visit http://www.NASM.org/pursuitofexcellence.
About NASM
Since 1987, the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) has been a global leader in providing evidence-based certifications and advanced credentials to health and fitness professionals. In addition to its NCCA-accredited fitness Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) certification, NASM offers a progressive career track with access to Advanced Specializations, Continuing Education courses, and accredited Bachelors and Masters Degree programs. The NASM educational continuum is designed to help todays health and fitness professional enhance their career while empowering their clients to live healthier lives. To learn more, visit: http://www.NASM.org or call 1.800.460.NASM.
Read more here:
NASM Offers Fitness Professionals Pursuit of Excellence Scholarship Award
Should judges have a ‘cooling-off’ period before post-retirement jobs? – Video
Posted: at 2:19 pm
Follow this link:
Should judges have a 'cooling-off' period before post-retirement jobs? - Video
Prudential trio address advantages of stable value funds in retirement portfolios
Posted: at 2:18 pm
NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Today, the Stable Value Investment Association (SVIA) will kick off the industry associations Fall Forum and Annual Membership Meeting -- Searching for Success: Stable Values Place in Defined Contributions Plan -- in Washington, D.C. at The Fairmont Hotel.
This year, SVIA members will explore the major challenges facing plan sponsors and stable value providers as they work to ensure defined contribution plan participants have sound investment choices that can help them achieve their retirement savings and investing goals, said James King, client portfolio manager, Strategic Relationships, Prudential Retirement. King began his tenure Jan. 1, 2012 as Chairman of the SVIA Board. Prudential Retirement is a business unit of Prudential Financial, Inc. (PRU).
King, Bill McCloskey, vice president, Product Management, Prudential Retirement and Robert Tipp, managing director and chief investment strategist for Prudential Fixed Income Management will address the membership during the three-day forum. McCloskey will offer an overview of the stable value market from an insiders view and Tipp will provide members with a global economic outlook for fixed income in investments.
As of June 30, 2012, Prudential Retirement has more than $98 billion in Stable Value retirement account values, including more than $58 billion in Institutional Stand-Alone Third Party Stable Value.
The SVIA is a non-profit industry organization dedicated to educating retirement plan sponsors and participants about the importance of saving for retirement and the contribution stable value funds can make toward achieving retirement security.
"Stable Value is a core competency for Prudential, King added. We're committed to the business and we are delighted to provide a product that helps our clients create retirement stability and security for their participants."
As of December 31, 2011, the SVIA members managed over $646 billion invested in stable value funds by more than 25 million participants. The SVIAs 75 member companies represent all segments of the stable value community, including public and private retirement plan sponsors, and numerous insurance companies, banks, and investment managers.
Stable Value products are issued by either The Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company (PRIAC), Hartford, Conn., or The Prudential Insurance Company of America (PICA), Newark, N.J. Both are Prudential Financial companies. Each company is solely responsible for its financial condition and contractual obligations. Guarantees are contingent on the claims paying ability of the issuer.
Prudential Retirement delivers retirement plan solutions for public, private, and non-profit organizations. Services include state-of-the-art record keeping, administrative services, investment management, comprehensive employee investment education and communications, and trustee services. With over 85 years of retirement experience, Prudential Retirement helps meet the needs of over 3.6 million participants and annuitants. Prudential Retirement has $244.8 billion in retirement account values as of June 30, 2012.
Read the original here:
Prudential trio address advantages of stable value funds in retirement portfolios
New Book Reveals How to Turn IRAs and 401(k) Plans Into Lifetime Retirement Paychecks
Posted: at 2:18 pm
OXNARD, Calif., Oct.2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --A new book from one of the nation's most experienced retirement experts answers two of the most important financial questions retirees and soon-to-be retirees will ever face:
With the decline of traditional defined benefit pension plans and the rise of self-directed retirement plans including 401k plans, addressing these questions is one of the most important challenges facing individuals, employers and the entire retirement industry today. Many surveys show that older workers and retirees are struggling with these questions and need help. And Steve Vernon delivers much needed help with his latest book, Money for Life: Turn Your IRA and 401(k) Into a Lifetime Retirement Paycheck.
Money for Life is an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand book that outlines specific action steps and includes illustrations and graphs to support Vernon's points. The book shows in simple terms the three methods for generating a "retirement paycheck" from retirement savings. It explains the pros and cons of these methods, as well as their many varieties and permutations, to help soon-to-be retirees understand just how to generate the money they will need to live comfortably in retirement. One critical factor is the amount of the "retirement paycheck," which can vary widely depending on the method chosen to generate retirement income. This understanding will remove the mystery and frustration around this critical retirement planning decision.
Money for Life also includes these unique features:
Money for Life delivers these powerful messages:
"Workers and retirees usually don't learn about the variety of viable methods to generate a retirement paycheck," says Vernon. "In fact, many people only hear about one or two methods, often from financial planners who have a financial stake in their decisions. Americans want choice in most everything they buy, and that's particularly important for their retirement security."
The book also addresses the behavioral finance issues by debunking common myths and misperceptions about generating retirement income.
This exciting new book provides critical help for boomers who are approaching their retirement years as well as their financial advisors. It's also a great tool for employers and retirement plan sponsors who want to help their employees and participants better prepare for retirement.
About the Author
Steve Vernon, FSA, has more than 35 years of experience as a consulting actuary, helping Fortune 1000 companies design and manage their retirement programs. He provides trusted, unbiased guidance on retirement planning through his regular blog column for CBS MoneyWatch and his four previously published books. For more details on his experience, books, and services, visit Steve's website, http://www.restoflife.com. Steve can be reached directly at steve.vernon@restoflife.com.
Read the original:
New Book Reveals How to Turn IRAs and 401(k) Plans Into Lifetime Retirement Paychecks
Investors Underestimate Retirement Savings Opportunities Says E*TRADE Survey
Posted: at 2:18 pm
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
More than one third of adults in the U.S., 37 percent, are interested in working with a professional to help manage their retirement accounts but dont think they have enough savings and investments to do so, according to a survey released by E*TRADE. The survey found that many Americans are unaware or overwhelmed by their options for retirement savings.
E*TRADE has a long history of empowering individuals to take control of their financial futures and planning for retirement is a key component, explained Lena Haas, SVP, Investing and Retirement at E*TRADE. By providing investors with simple ways to make informed decisions in their retirement planning we are helping them avoid unnecessary expenses and focus on reaching their financial goals.
E*TRADE offers a wide range of free tools and educational resources to help investors plan for retirement. For one-to-one retirement planning support, E*TRADE has Rollover Specialists and a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC) in every branch and available over the phone. Recently, E*TRADE launched the OneStop Rollover, an online program that makes it faster and easier for individual investors to invest their 401(k) savings from a previous employer into a professionally-managed portfolio with a low minimum of $25,000. Investors can access E*TRADEs OneStop Rollover at http://www.etrade.com/retirement, where theyll also find tools like the Retirement Calculator to create or review their current retirement plan.
Additional key findings from E*TRADEs survey include:
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of E*TRADE from August 20-22, 2012 among 2,399 adults ages 18 and older. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Jaime Stein (646-521-4418; jaime.stein@etrade.com.)
About E*TRADE Financial
The E*TRADE Financial family of companies provides financial services including online brokerage and related banking products and services to retail investors. Specific business segments include Trading and Investing and Balance Sheet Management. Securities products and services, including IRAs, Rollover Specialists, CRPCs and the Retirement Calculator are offered by E*TRADE Securities LLC (Member FINRA/SIPC). Advisory products and services, including OneStop Rollover, are offered through E*TRADE Capital Management LLC an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A copy of E*TRADE Capital Management's Form ADV Part 2A, which describes, among other things, affiliations, services offered and fees charged, is available at no cost upon request. Bank products and services are offered by E*TRADE Bank, a Federal savings bank, Member FDIC, or its subsidiaries and affiliates. More information is available at http://www.etrade.com. ETFC-G
Important Notices
See the original post:
Investors Underestimate Retirement Savings Opportunities Says E*TRADE Survey
Corporate Insight Launches Retirement Plan Monitor
Posted: at 2:18 pm
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Corporate Insight, the leading provider of competitive intelligence to the financial services industry, has announced the launch of a new subscription research service, Retirement Plan Monitor. This new Monitor service will track the website capabilities and marketing materials that retirement plan sponsors provide to plan participants. Corporate Insight will offer subscribers an unbiased, first-hand view of the user experience by monitoring live accounts that are held by actual plan participants at each firm.
Retirement plan participants are increasingly turning to the web to manage their plan investments. Unfortunately, the resources available to them are sometimes sub-par compared to what many brokerages and banks provide to their customers, explains Drew Maresca, senior analyst for Retirement Plan Monitor. Retirement Plan Monitor will provide firms with an informed look at the online capabilities and participant communications that their competitors provide, along with Corporate Insights analysis of industry trends and best practices. We are confident this will make it easier for our subscribers to create a best-in-class online user experience for plan participants.
Corporate Insight will track a number of the industrys top defined contribution plan providers including:
-- MassMutual
-- Mercer
-- New York Life
-- Principal
-- TIAA-CREF
-- T. Rowe Price
Continue reading here:
Corporate Insight Launches Retirement Plan Monitor
Brocade Helps KACST Deliver High-Performance Connectivity to Global Network of Universities and Research Agencies
Posted: at 2:18 pm
RIYADH, KSA--(Marketwire - Oct 2, 2012) - With a need to create a modern, future-proof network infrastructure to support bandwidth-intensive research applications and data sharing across global universities and research agencies --such as the IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency) and the UNESCO (the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) --King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), the national science agency and laboratory for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has turned to Brocade ( NASDAQ : BRCD ) to deliver a state-of-the-art network infrastructure comprised of high-performance campus networking and load balancing solutions.
Commenting about the reasons behind the upgrade, Eng. Hasan Alhowimel, Assistant of IT Directory and Network Engineer at KACST, said, "Factors such as an increasing number of employees and deployment of bandwidth-intensive applications -- like Oracle ERP, wireless applications as well as external services [to share data with international agencies] -- led to tremendous strain on the underlying infrastructure. We had plans to go wireless to increase user productivity, but were being held back by the limitations of a network that could not deliver the kind of performance we required. The need for a more stable, high-performance network was becoming increasingly obvious to us, and we knew that the success of a number of our future initiatives would depend on a strong and reliable foundation."
The new Brocade campus network environment, deployed by Brocade's local partner Nesma Advanced Technology, spans 16 buildings including the KACST headquarters, which houses the institution's data center. Each building has a Brocade FCX Series switch at the edge connected to a Brocade FastIron SX Series switch with 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) uplinks to Brocade BigIron RX Series core switches in the data center. KACST also deployed Brocade VDX 6720 Switches to provide reliability and performance, while paving the way for the institution to deploy Brocade VCS Fabric technology and private cloud services in the future.
The benefits of the Brocade FastIron SX switches, with industry-leading Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology, were immediately realized. "We found that the Brocade PoE solution not only reduced the cost of cabling, but also greatly simplified integration of our security camera and fingerprint attendance systems," said Eng. Alhowimel.
As part of the wider network upgrade, the Brocade ADX Series of application delivery switches allowed KACST to achieve significant performance benefits from its Web portal. The Brocade ADX switches have also future-proofed the KACST for IPv6 support, enabling a seamless migration to this technology as required.
Since the network upgrade, KACST has seen improved performance and a dramatic increase in the speed of its many applications and Web services. The agency has successfully deployed its wireless network, which effortlessly manages the additional load from personal mobile devices, the security infrastructure and attendance systems.
The implementation has also brought about significant cost benefits. "The cost of the Brocade solution was exactly half that of the equivalent competitive offering, but delivers so much more in terms of performance," notes Eng. Alhowimel.
Such improved performance allows the agency to connect and collaborate with a broad network of universities and research centers across the globe. This permits the sharing of extremely expensive research equipment, which is used for analysis and calculations. Thanks to the new network, KACST now shares the utilization and cost of these systems with other research agencies.
About Brocade Brocade ( NASDAQ : BRCD ) networking solutions help the world's leading organizations transition smoothly to a world where applications and information reside anywhere. (www.brocade.com)
2012 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
View original post here:
Brocade Helps KACST Deliver High-Performance Connectivity to Global Network of Universities and Research Agencies
New Defense Exec Survey: Contractor Performance Falling
Posted: at 2:18 pm
WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Answering an anonymized survey, more than 400 defense executives rated the top 20 defense firms across a wide range of criteria, showing significant deviations in perceptions among executives with different job roles and positions in the industry. This is the second year Defense Industry Daily conducted the survey of its defense procurement readership, analyzing the data to show individual firm trends for each of the measurements. Overall, contractors were rated worse than in 2011, especially in quality ratings.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121002/CG84628)
Starting off on opposite ends of the ratings spectrum, defense IT firms (poor performers last year) and major aerospace contractors (good performers in 2011) both suffered significantly worse ratings this year. These ratings were even worse among engineering executives and those with personal experience with those firms.
Defense contractors tended to perform in sync with other firms in their sector, and the included graph shows how those different defense sectors fared against each other.
"The individual comments people made in the open-ended questions were some of the most informative data we collected," said Defense Industry Daily CEO Olivier Travers. "It was in those boxes that the executives explained their reasoning and the causal links behind their more positive and negative ratings."
Travers noted three interesting developments in the 2012 data: "We found that respondents were more critical of the larger prime contractors; that they were less concerned with ITAR restrictions; and that the entire industry is progressively more disillusioned with the major information technology firms."
The study, a 45-page analysis containing more than 30 comparative charts, examines the different opinion sets in multiple dimensions, including by job role, industry sector, U.S. vs. international respondents and several other factors.
The study identified several segments and individual firms that have large perception problems among key decision makers. In some cases, firms were able to bounce back somewhat from severe negative opinions in the previous year's survey. In both types of cases, the difference between the opinions of those with personal experience with the firm and those who have not personally worked with the firm were useful in showing some of the causes in the perception changes.
The poll was conducted in late August and early September 2012 among the audience of Defense Industry Daily, an online defense procurement trade magazine with more than 300,000 unique monthly users. Information about the report and access to an executive summary can be found at: https://reports.defenseindustrydaily.com/?release.
Tig Tillinghast, Watershed Publishing, 8027854260, tig@watershed-publishing.com
Go here to see the original:
New Defense Exec Survey: Contractor Performance Falling
Versar Awarded A Personal Services Contract In Afghanistan From The US Army Corps Of Engineers With A Maximum Capacity …
Posted: at 2:18 pm
SPRINGFIELD, Va., Oct. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Versar, Inc. (NYSE MKT: VSR) announced today that it has been awarded a new prime contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Middle East District, to provide Afghanistan National subject matter experts to perform on-site construction management support services for assigned projects supporting two USACE Engineer Districts in Afghanistan.
The construction management positions will support the Afghanistan Engineer District North (TAN), based in Kabul, with area and resident offices throughout Northern, Central, and Eastern Afghanistan, and Afghanistan Engineer District South (TAS), based in Kandahar, with offices throughout Southern and Western Afghanistan. These positions will replicate typical foreign national service employee positions obtained by U.S. Government Agencies to support overseas projects and locations. The first task orders under the contract are for $11.7 million for TAN and $4.3 million for TAS.
The Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract is a single award with a maximum four-year period of performance consisting of a base year and three options years. The maximum contract capacity over the entire length of the contract is $170 million. This contract is for Personal Services in exclusive support of the USACE construction mission in Afghanistan.
Tony Otten, CEO of Versar said, "Versar is pleased to be selected by USACE to support this important construction management program and we are privileged to continue our construction management and quality assurance support for reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan."
VERSAR, INC., headquartered in Springfield, VA, is a publicly traded global project management company providing sustainable value oriented solutions to government and commercial clients in the construction management, environmental services, munitions response, and telecommunication and technology integration market areas.
VERSAR operates a number of web sites, including the corporate web sites, http://www.versar.com, http://www.geomet.com; http://www.viap.com; http://www.dtaps.com; http://www.adventenv.com, http://www.charronconsulting.com and http://www.ppsgb.com.
This news release contains forward-looking information. The forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be significantly impacted by certain risks and uncertainties described herein and in Versar's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the fiscal year ended June 29, 2012, as updated from time to time in the Company's periodic filings. The forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and Versar does not undertake to update its forward-looking statements.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120806/NE52646LOGO)