PARK CITY, Utah, Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Fitness resorts have become a very profitable trend due to the success of popular NBC reality show "The Biggest Loser." What many of these resorts have been lacking is an attention to detail in the realm of location and staff expectations. Since partnering with Westgate Park City Resort and Spa, One Fitness Camp seems to be ready to fulfill all the desires that had once been left untouched by other fitness resorts.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120925/CG80919)

Westgate Park City Resort and Spa is located in the secluded mountain town of Park City, a town where the seasons change seamlessly, so fitness activities are easily varied year round. The founders of One Fitness Camp decided upon the location so that participants in the camp were able to not only lose weight and get fit, but to also custom-tailor fitness plans to be most beneficial to the personal routines and desires of each person that attends. Westgate Resort presented the perfect location for their goals as a fitness resort. The varying fitness activities that are often based around the weather ensure that participants never even have a moment to think about getting bored or complacent with their routine.

One Fitness Camp, a weight loss camp, has also put a great deal of thought and research into their staffing requirements. Their aim is to make an impact on not only a person's health and fitness goals, but to understand and overcome any psychological, medical or other health-related issues that may be attributing to difficulties in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. For this reason, their staff includes fitness instructors, nutritionists, chefs, counselors, chiropractors and spa specialists. This gives One Fitness Camp the "Best All Around" award for fitness camps worldwide.

"Our purpose with One Fitness Camp is to put all the pieces together to form the number ONE weight loss camp," says Wayne Larsen, Partner & Fitness Director at One Fitness Camp. "Aside from the beautiful surroundings, and lavish accommodations, OFC has the programming and education component that changes lives. Our intent is to help people adopt a more healthy lifestyle, not just eat well and exercise while they are at camp, but teach and inspire them to be healthy, and feel better both physically and mentally."

In addition to everything One Fitness Camp offers for their regular every day packages, they do have a promotion going on: 10% off their weekly price for the first fifty people that sign up for the ultimate get fit get away.

Media Contact: Diana Gonzalez One Fitness Camp, 888-592-2267, diana@onefitnesscamp.com

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Westgate Resorts To Join Forces With Up-And-Coming Fitness Camp

Sept. 26, 2012, 4 a.m.

Fitness Perfection Health and Fitness Club Dubbos Bec Stubbs, manager Andrew Bassett, Natasha Newell, Cris Clark, Elise Walker and Cassandra Wills. Photo: LISA MINNER

A DUBBO fitness club has a brand new look after completing its two-month-long renovation.

West Dubbo's Fitness Perfection Health and Fitness Club opened its revamped doors on Saturday and introduced the new changes as well as its group fitness programs.

The renovation involved the weights area to be moved to a new location, where the 25-metre swimming pool had been before it closed in July. The old weights area has become a ladies-only area.

The old pool deck has a wide selection of strength and conditioning equipment.

The free weights area is also on the deck, with more weight machines downstairs where the pool used to be.

A wall now separates the hydrotherapy pool and the weights area, which is used for swimming lessons and people with sports injuries, but any member is invited to use it.

Gym manager Andrew Bassett said the renovation was necessary for the future direction of Fitness Perfection.

"Our services are inclusive to absolutely anybody, no matter how experienced they are in a gym," he said.

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New look in health and fitness unveiled at Dubbo

Chocolate Mousse made with healthy stealth ingredients such as dates and avocado, is served at the National Institute of Health and Fitness. The institute teaches people how to change their lives to become more health conscious.Chocolate Mousse made with healthy stealth ingredients such as dates and avocado, is served at the National Institute of Health and Fitness. The institute teaches people how to change their lives to become more health conscious.

Weston Fuller, National Institute of Health and

During the 1980s and early 1990s, the National Institute of Fitness was the place to lose weight and feel great. Owners Marc and Vicki Sorenson compiled an impressive track record at the Southern Utah resort for helping people shape up and overcome health issues such as diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. NIF's sensible approach included hiking in red rock canyons, exercise classes, hearty meals of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and daily seminars from Marc Sorenson, who has a doctorate from Brigham Young University in education with a health emphasis.

The Sorensons decided to sell their spa in 1994, and the property eventually became the Red Mountain Resort.

Over the years, the couple pursued other interests and organized some fitness retreats.

"But we missed making people well," said Marc Sorenson. "We had some fun at our ranch in Nevada, and taking cruises and traveling in Europe. But when people come to you daily and tell you that you saved their lives, you miss it and want to do it again."

And now they're back. The National Institute of Health and Fitness opened its doors in June as part of the Zermatt and The Homestead resorts in Midway. Guests can enjoy healthy meals, exercise and health classes; hiking the scenic Wasatch foothills, playing tennis, swimming laps in a heated pool, or relaxing in the geothermal waters of The Crater, a natural spring on the Homestead property.

"This is a working spa, not a bunch of ladies sitting around waiting to be pampered," is how Diane Richman of Beverly Hills, Calif., a resort guest in August, described it. "If you're going to lose weight and feel healthy, this is the place to go."

Steve Eddington, managing partner of Zermatt and The Homestead, said the NIHF is considered a "primary pillar" to both resorts. "We want to create destination locations, and this is a cornerstone to helping us accomplish it. We are in one of the most natural wellness areas in the world."

Marc Sorenson said he and Vicki had considered a few different offers in the St. George area, "But then Steve and his wife came and visited with us in St. George, and asked if we could do the same magic as we did before at NIF."

Originally posted here:
New Heber Valley resort is headed up by former health gurus

BEIJING--(Marketwire - Sep 26, 2012) - HP ( NYSE : HPQ ) today unveiled two new HP ProLiant Generation 8 (Gen8) four-socket servers that facilitate customers' move to cloud while delivering increased compute power in less space anda return on investment within three months.(1)

The industry's first four-socket servers to incorporate HP ProActive Insight Architecture, the HP ProLiant BL660c and DL560 Gen8 servers significantly reduce the time spent on maintenance tasks through high levels of automation and continuous monitoring of system health, saving IT staff more than 30 days of administration time a year.(2)

Clients are continuously virtualizing their compute-intensive applications in order to achieve greater utilization and efficiency, and to facilitate the move to private and hybrid clouds. Many clients have virtualized the basic infrastructure and smaller workloads, but a challenge still remains with more complex and higher-end workloads. Clients often face performance bottlenecks, data-center footprint and power limitations, and inadequate memory capacity from traditional two-socket servers.

As building blocks for HP Converged Infrastructure, these multiprocessor servers satisfy the need for high-end compute power that enables clients to extend end-to-end virtualization and provide a foundation for creating private and hybrid clouds.

With a three-to-one server-consolidation rate(3) and reduced server footprint in the data center, the HP ProLiant BL660c Gen8 server offers four-socket density in half the size of the previous generation(4), and reduces total cost of ownership (TCO) by up to 30 percent.(5)

Additionally, the HP ProLiant DL560 Gen8 server provides a space-minimizing four-socket server in a 2U form factor without compromising performance, scalability or expansion requirements.

New server capabilities in a powerful, compact footprint The HP ProLiant BL660c and HP ProLiant DL560 Gen8 servers were designed to drive better performance for complex, virtualized environments so clients can access their data faster, optimize their system to achieve higher-performing workloads and add more virtual machines (VMs) per server. The new servers deliver:

The new servers drive a balance of economics and density for customers, while optimizing application performance to help speed innovation and business growth. For example, ZTE Corporation, one of the world's largest smartphone vendors, needed to break through its capacity limitation and enhance the adaptability of the traditional data center in order to be able to keep up the business rapid growth.

"We needed to modernize our data centers in order to keep up with rapid growth and to ensure continued service to our customers across 140 countries," said Yu Yuan, product manager, ZTE Corporation -- Guangdong NewStart Technology Service Ltd. "We chose the HP ProLiant DL 560 Gen8 server over the competition because it offered increased virtual machine densities to reduce space and cost, while improving performance, which enabled us to develop a platform to build private clouds."

Built on HP Proactive Insight Architecture HP ProLiant Gen8 servers redefine expectations and economics in the data center by leveraging HP ProActive Insight Architecture to offer the new four-socket servers unprecedented lifecycle automation. A direct connection to the HP Insight Online portal accelerates problem resolution and reduced unplanned downtime. Through self monitoring, self diagnosing and proactive support, clients can resolve problems up to 66 percent faster.(12)

The rest is here:
HP Introduces ProLiant Gen8 Servers That Enhance Virtualized Performance, Facilitate Move to Cloud

MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Although some Americans will celebrate National Ask a Stupid Question Day on September 28, financial questions plague many people throughout the year. Remind yourself that when it comes to providing for your future, there is no stupid questionthen read on.

"Financial matters can seem intimidating to some people, so they shy away from asking honest questions," said Jim Sathre, Senior Vice President at M&I, a part of BMO Financial Group , "As bankers, we welcome the opportunity to help people get answers to their financial questions."

Here are a few common financial questions:

Do I really need to create a monthly or yearly budget? Yes! Creating a budget prevents you from spending more than you earn. By keeping track of what you spend, you'll be able to see where and how you spend your money, not just how much of it you spend.

How do I start paying off debt? First, stop increasing it. Stick to the budget you just setbe realistic, but if you're paying $90 a month for a gym membership you never use, put that money toward paying down debt. Make a list of the debts you owe and when they must be paid. Next, prioritize them. Start with the debt with the highest interest rate. If the bills are past due, they should be paid first. Delinquent payments negatively affect your credit score, and your credit score affects, well, everything.

Do I have the proper amount in my emergency fund? Simply put, if your "emergency fund" is your credit card, the answer is no. Credit cards are great for things if you have the money to pay them off at the end of the month and even help build your credit score if it needs a boost. An emergency fund prevents you from having to use high interest credit cards unexpectedly. Start building your emergency fund by making it part of your monthly budget. Rule of thumb: it should be able to sustain your living expenses for three to six months.

Should I set money aside for future investments? Planning ahead can save you from tons of stress later. By thinking into the future about what large purchases you may want to make, you can set savings goals to help you earn things you want on your own terms.

"Decide on a fixed dollar amount to set aside from each paycheck to put in a savings account you know you will not touch," recommends Sathre. "When the time is right, you will have accrued interest and saved your money for the perfect house, vacation or new car."

Should I overpay my mortgage? There are many benefits to overpaying your mortgage. You will be able to pay the principal amount of your mortgage and accrue less interest. Keep in mind, though, that you should pay down debts with higher interest rates first.

Handling money can be confusing for anyone, but asking the right questions can lead to financial success. When in doubt, remember that the only stupid question is the one that you don't ask.

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Asking The Right Questions Can Lead To Financial Success

Support will increase Junior Achievement's Economics for Success reach and impact for Canadian students

TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2012 /CNW/ - Junior Achievement of Canada and Economical Insurance are pleased to announce a new national partnership focused on encouraging Grade 8 students to stay in school and acquire the knowledge and skills needed for their future success. Under the new partnership, Economical Insurance is providing $100,000 for volunteer support for Junior Achievement's Economics for Success program delivery in ten locations* across Canada.

Junior Achievement's Economics for Success program is an interactive program that allows students to examine their future and explore different opportunities for their own success. Inspiring volunteer mentors from Economical will visit the classroom and share their experience in order to help equip students with the skills needed to define their own positive future plan.

"Thanks to Economical's investment, Junior Achievement can continue to inspire today's young people to stay in school, become financially literate and become the leaders for tomorrow," said Stephen Ashworth, president and CEO (acting), Junior Achievement of Canada. "Our mentor volunteers from Economical play a crucial role in helping today's students become better prepared for the workforce and be successful in life."

"I can't say enough good things about this program that I participated in as a volunteer early in my career," said Karen Gavan, Economical's president and CEO. "It's a great program that helps our youth realize their full potential by understanding the importance of budgeting, investments, and business finance and staying in school to better their chances of achieving the standard of living and lifestyle that they aspire to. And our volunteers seem to get more out of the experience than they give from interacting with students and seeing their enthusiasm for learning new skills from someone from outside the classroom."

Junior Achievement is the largest youth business organization in Canada and plays an important role in developing Canada's future leaders by providing them with the confidence and knowledge needed to define personal success, enhance their workforce readiness and pursue their dreams. Last year alone, more than 226,000 young Canadians experienced a Junior Achievement program from over 13,000 committed business mentors. Junior Achievement programs, including Economics for Success, are delivered by volunteer mentors to bring the business world experience into the learning environment.

"Support from Economical will ensure greater delivery, reach and impact of Junior Achievement by building the tools and knowledge for our students," said Stephen. "Junior Achievement is thrilled to be partnering with Economical to make a positive impact on young Canadians in communities across Canada."

About Junior Achievement of Canada

For more than 55 years, Junior Achievement has inspired and prepared more than 4 million youth to succeed. Through partnerships with both large and small organizations, as well as individual business leaders, Junior Achievement of Canada is able to inspire and empower young achievers by providing programs that prepare them for the workforce, educate on the importance of financial literacy and encourage youth's entrepreneurial spirit. For more information, visit http://www.jacan.org.

About Economical Insurance

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Economical Insurance® invests $100,000 to prepare young Canadians for their future success

CHICAGO, Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Although some Americans will celebrate National Ask a Stupid Question Day on September 28, financial questions plague many people throughout the year. Remind yourself that when it comes to providing for your future, there is no stupid questionthen read on.

"Financial matters can seem intimidating to some people, so they shy away from asking honest questions," said Julie Curran, Regional President, BMO Harris Bank. "As bankers, we welcome the opportunity to help people get answer to their financial questions."

Here are a few common financial questions:

Do I really need to create a monthly or yearly budget? Yes! Creating a budget prevents you from spending more than you earn. By keeping track of what you spend, you'll be able to see where and how you spend your money, not just how much of it you spend.

How do I start paying off debt? First, stop increasing it. Stick to the budget you just setbe realistic, but if you're paying $90 a month for a gym membership you never use, put that money toward paying down debt. Make a list of the debts you owe and when they must be paid. Next, prioritize them. Start with the debt with the highest interest rate. If the bills are past due, they should be paid first. Delinquent payments negatively affect your credit score, and your credit score affects, well, everything.

Do I have the proper amount in my emergency fund? Simply put, if your "emergency fund" is your credit card, the answer is no. Credit cards are great for things if you have the money to pay them off at the end of the month and even help build your credit score if it needs a boost. An emergency fund prevents you from having to use high interest credit cards unexpectedly. Start building your emergency fund by making it part of your monthly budget. Rule of thumb: it should be able to sustain your living expenses for three to six months.

Should I set money aside for future investments? Planning ahead can save you from tons of stress later. By thinking into the future about what large purchases you may want to make, you can set savings goals to help you earn things you want on your own terms.

"Decide on a fixed dollar amount to set aside from each paycheck to put in a savings account you know you will not touch," recommends Curran. "When the time is right, you will have accrued interest and saved your money for the perfect house, vacation or new car."

Should I overpay my mortgage? There are many benefits to overpaying your mortgage. You will be able to pay the principal amount of your mortgage and accrue less interest. Keep in mind, though, that you should pay down debts with higher interest rates first.

Handling money can be confusing for anyone, but asking the right questions can lead to financial success. When in doubt, remember that the only stupid question is the one that you don't ask.

See the article here:
Financial Success Comes from Asking Questions

The current zeitgeist in higher education is to leverage technological solutionsgenerally some combination of tele-presence hardware and social networking and crowdsourcing applicationsto deliver courses online. The motivating question asks society to expand the promise of quality education to the masses that expect its provision. A multitude of entities, some of which grew out of brick-and-mortar institutions of learning, others of which branched out of the ephemera of Silicon Valley, are nobly striving to tackle this problem.

Despite the good intentions, the drive to craft a digital classroom may prove a grave misadventure. Delivering courses online drastically reduces the ever-rising cost of obtaining the fundamental building block of an education: the lecture. Moreover, students in the education marketplace are attracted to a budget Harvard, Yale, or Columbia experience, even if it is constrained to a digital simulacrum. But taken together, these two qualities make the actions of the elite institutions to democratize (a term carelessly bandied about) their course offerings troubling for struggling colleges and universities around the country.

Imagine a student evaluating whether to pay for a course load at the hypothetical Blue River College. Slogan: As average as they come. In a world where the best Columbia professors beam their lectures online, where a world-class curriculum is no longer tied to admission to a super-selective school, the incentives for the student to choose Blue River are reduced to non-curricular and increasingly expensive considerations like campus life and the development of interpersonal relationships.

Currently, the student wouldnt be able to get a very marketable degree for their online studies. But forecasts indicate that accredited degrees will soon be available from highly regarded, traditional institutions with a significant degree of online-only coursework. It follows that the provision of online courses by elite institutions will dislocate a significant population of students from traditional educational settings into the virtual netherworld.

Even if this likelihood is empirically tentative, we can still wonder at the philosophical implications. Unfortunately, educational leaders, entrepreneurs in the market, and consumers demanding new products, have failed to see that the problems facing higher education arent borne from a lack of offerings outside traditional institutionalisms, but rather a lack of quality and outcomes deriving from a significant subset of those settings.

In countless colleges and universitiesthe ilk of Blue Rivera latent capacity exists for improved educational outcomes. For example, we might ask, what separates Blue River from Columbia in terms of the value of the education? The primary factor is the quality of instruction, and all the learned skills and bragging rights it supposedly provides. But it is not as though the teachers at Blue River are pedagologically clueless. On the contrary, the percentage of excellent (gold nugget) teachers as a proportion of the total faculty is probably not drastically different between the schools.

What separates the faculties are relative rates of activity in the intellectual development of specific fields of study. In simpler terms, Columbia professors are more published than their Blue River counterparts. From the student perspective, this difference means that in the classroom, the Columbia professor is better able to navigate the intricacies of the topic literature, to elucidate theoretical debates, to explain the significance and seminality of texts. The average Columbia professor has the luxury of calling upon a deeper resource of personal experience in the scholarship of their field, which amplifies the impact of their teaching.

Given these facts, suggesting that the logical solution is for the Blue River student to resort to a Columbia professors online lecture is ludicrous. Even if we concede that the online student and the real-world student might objectively learn the same content, is not the manner in which they learn the material just as worthy of consideration, even if cost comes into account? We ought to be mobilizing the resources currently being thrown at the project of online courses towards a whole different set of priorities.

Namely, how do we provide professors who are less published and less active in their personal research and scholarship the tools to grapple fast moving topic literature? How do we unlock the latent educational capacity of existing institutions rather than trying to spread thin the aura and appeal of schools like Columbiacheapening and commoditizing the whole promise of a liberal education? How can schools like Columbia help to lead such efforts, lifting their lesser peers rather than cannibalizing or undercutting their legitimacy and threatening their survival?

As we are prone to do, we are marching blindly into the fray, relying on philosophically defunct technocrats to deliver on promises far beyond their current reckoning. Asking a better question is the first step to finding a better answer.

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The blind march

CENTER, Ohio, Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A little over two years ago, Celeste Chappell-Bates won an online full-tuition scholarship from Ashford University as part of Project Working Mom. From thousands of applicants, Chappell-Bates was thrilled to be one of only 10 winners nationwide.

"I was absolutely stunned it was a watershed moment between the impossible and the possible," she said about the experience. "I'd tried to complete my degree my entire adult life and so many things kept getting in the way finances being the biggest obstacle and that was taken away in an instant. It was unbelievable, a huge blessing."

To earn the scholarship and make good on her promise to earn her degree, Chappell-Bates submitted an essay about her higher education aspirations. Her entry was selected out of more than 6,000 Ashford University applicants to the Project Working Mom scholarship program, developed by eLearners.com, a Web resource of EducationDynamics.

1st Add 80 Percent of Working Moms Prefer Online Education

Like many working moms, Chappell-Bates found that the online education model best fit her hectic schedule. According to a recent national consumer poll by Penn Schoen Berland on behalf of Ashford University, 80 percent of moms surveyed thought an online higher-education degree program was better tailored to their needs than a traditional program.

Using the online model, Chappell-Bates is preparing to graduate from Ashford with a bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communication. She hopes to make the journey from Ohio to Iowa along with thousands of other online graduates to proudly walk in commencement ceremonies this October.

"I've got my cap and gown, announcements and class ring ready to go!" she says.

Not content to wait until graduation, she's already moving forward with her new career, focusing on broadcast journalism. For the past 14 months she has been interning as a communications manager with a local IT consulting firm and has developed a mentoring program with a local FOX television reporter in Columbus.

"I was at the Jazz and Rib fest in Columbus and walked right up to the FOX news truck, introduced myself to the reporter and said 'I'm going to be your new co-worker.' That began a great mentorship and I have learned a great deal about broadcast journalism. I've been able to take all the preparation from my Ashford courses and evolve them into a real-world broadcast model," Chappell-Bates said.

Chappell-Bates, who after a bitter battle lost custody of her son, became involved with the National Association of Non-Custodial Moms, Inc. and now serves as the non-profit organization's vice president. "My relationship with my son has never been stronger, even though he still does not live with me," she said. "I also married the man of my dreams and added his four wonderful children to my family."

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80 Percent of Working Moms Prefer Online Education Model

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Medtronic and Capella Education Company, a provider of online post-secondary education through its wholly owned subsidiary Capella University, have won a coveted Brandon Hall Bronze Award for Excellence in the Best Use of Blended Learning category.

The Brandon Hall Group gave the award in recognition of the quality product produced by the partnership between Capella and Medtronic. That product was the Field Force Training Institute (FFTI), a global learning program offering virtual and blended training solutions to two of Medtronics businesses: Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management (CDRM) and Cardiovascular. The FFTI consists of new-hire and advanced-training programs for Medtronic employees across the globe. As a blended solution, the program offers some courses that are solely online, while others are delivered partially online in combination with traditional classroom components.

The FFTI programs asynchronous components include self-paced interactive tutorials, which require pedagogically driven decision making. These objectives-based exercises create engaging opportunities for learners to apply knowledge. In addition, interactive tutorials provide safe opportunities to fail, with immediate feedback provided to the learner.

"This years winners should be very proud of their achievements, especially based on the rigorous judging process all submissions underwent, said Mike Cooke, chief executive officer of Brandon Hall Group, Inc. We are honored to recognize the award winners who exemplify a high standard of performance in their organization and demonstrate clear, measurable business results through these innovative programs.

The entries were evaluated by a panel of veteran independent senior industry experts, Brandon Hall Group senior analysts and executive leadership based upon the following criteria:

The quality of the training and the critical performance outcomes were the primary goals for this effort. It was clear from the start that the Capella team recognized this, and were committed to the same high standards. That shared vision and commitment were critical for our overall success. Capella was a true partner and one Id recommend to anyone starting on the journey from traditional classroom instruction to one utilizing virtual, blended training, said Dr. Bob Bodine, program director for Medtronics CRDM Field Force Training.

About Capella Education Company

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 free, 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. For more information about Capella Education Company, please visit http://www.capellaeducation.com. For more information about Capella University, please visit http://www.capella.edu or call 1.888.CAPELLA (227.3552).

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Medtronic and Capella Education Company Awarded for Best Use of Blended Learning