LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Transamerica Retirement Services announced today that it has received 38 Best in Class ratings by retirement plan sponsors in Chatham Partners second quarter post-conversion customer satisfaction survey. The survey measures the overall quality and management of Transamericas plan installation process according to the first-hand experiences of retirement plan sponsors.

Transamerica is focused on helping people retire with confidence, and Chatham Partners survey of plan sponsors helps us fine-tune the services we provide. With the survey, we continuously monitor key drivers of satisfaction, which help us deliver a best in class experience during the first stages with new clients, said Stig Nybo, president of Transamerica Retirement Services. We are pleased that our newest clients continue to give Transamerica high praise for exceeding their expectations.

The Chatham Partners post-conversion survey is integral to Transamericas efforts to consistently monitor its plan installations as part of its process for continuous advancement. The survey respondents manage the retirement plans of small- and mid-sized U.S. businesses.

Transamerica received Best in Class ratings from retirement plan sponsors in the following areas:

Overall Impressions of Transamerica

Overall Impressions of the Conversion Experience

Conversion Project Manager

Management of the Conversion

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Transamerica Retirement Services Receives 38 “Best in Class” Ratings in Chatham Partners’ Post-Conversion Customer ...

By JOEY JOHNSTON | The Tampa Tribune Published: September 24, 2012 Updated: September 25, 2012 - 1:15 AM

He's the Tallahassee Kid.

University of South Florida senior quarterback B.J. Daniels once dressed in garnet and gold. He did the Tomahawk Chop. He dreamed of becoming the next Charlie Ward. He actually lived for seven years on Florida State University's campus, where his father was a dormitory director.

In time, he grew into one of Tallahassee's greatest high-school athletes.

He was the city's favorite son.

And now he's the enemy?

"It's got a little circus aspect to it, doesn't it?'' Daniels said. "It won't have anything to do with what happens between the white lines.''

When slumping USF (2-2) faces No. 4-ranked FSU (4-0) on Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium, Daniels' presence makes it part-soap opera, part-grudge match. And in some cases, it compromises the loyalties.

"We hear it 10 times a day,'' said Daniels' father, Bruce. "So many people say, 'I'm a Seminole, but I'm pulling for B.J.' "

Daniels, trying to right USF's ship after a horrific 31-27 loss at Ball State last weekend, said he won't be nervous. He has been here before. On Sept. 26, 2009, the Bulls weren't given much of a chance, particularly because a season-ending injury to Matt Grothe forced USF to start Daniels, a redshirt freshman. How crazy was it? Before the game, Daniels remembers staring up at the seats where he once cheered for FSU.

Excerpt from:
For Bulls' Daniels, FSU game nothing personal

Almost half of China's ultra-rich saw their wealth shrink in the past year as the Chinese stock markets slumped, according to an annual ranking of the country's 1000 richest individuals, with those in the solar and textile sectors the hardest hit.

The average wealth of the country's richest fell 9 percent from the previous year to $860 million, while the number of billionaires fell to 251, from 271, the 2012 Hurun Rich List showed.

Of the wealthiest 1,000 individuals, 469 saw their wealth shrink, 291 saw their wealth grow, while 114 stayed the same. There were 150 new faces in the list this year.

Beverage magnate Zong Qinghou, who topped the list in 2010, regained the top spot with a personal fortune of $12.6 billion, thanks to his 80 percent holding of soft drinks brand Wahaha which reported net profits of over $1 billion last year.

Entertainment and real estate tycoon Wang Jianlin, who topped the rankings last year, slipped to second place with personal wealth of $10.3 billion. Wang shook up the entertainment industry earlier this year, with his $2.6 billion acquisition of U.S. cinema chain AMC Entertainment - the largest-ever international acquisition by an individual on the rich list.

But wealth in the solar and textile industries waned. Qiu Guanghe of garment maker Senmir, who placed at 58, saw his wealth plunge by 60 percent to $2.2 billion. While Zhu Gongshan, chairman of GCL-Poly - the world's largest producers of polysilicon and wafers used in solar panels, who ranked at 168, had his wealth decline by nearly 60 percent.

China's solar sector has been suffering from a sharp decline in profitability due to slumping global sales and high domestic competition, while growth in the mainland textile sector is slowing under weak demand both domestically and externally.

Adding to these pressures has been the dismal performance of China's stock market (Shanghai Stock Exchange: .SSEC), which is down 8 percent this year, after declining more than 20 percent in 2011.

For the first time since 1999, income from property dropped into second place as the top source of wealth, behind manufacturing. Nick Kounis, Head of Macro Research, Group Economics, ABN AMRO, says this is a reflection of the changing structure of China's economy, away from property towards consumption.

Slideshow: China's Wealthiest Billionaires

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China's Ultra-Rich See Shrinking Personal Fortunes

Samsung Electronics today announced its new lineup of high-performance SSDs designed for use in personal computers. The new series supporting SATA 6.0 gigabit-per-second (Gb/s) interface comes in two tracks; one for general computing purposes and another, an advanced lineup dubbed 'PRO' for serious users.

Samsung's tiered offering for professional and general user environments provides consumers a broader choice of SSDs to best suit their personal requirements.

The unrivaled performance of Samsung's SSDs lies in its MDX controller, which delivers superior performance, high reliability and sustainability that are among the product's proprietary features. The premium class 840 PRO provides 100,000 input/ output per second (IOPS) for random read and 90,000 IOPS for random write. Benchmark test on the overall system performance unveiled a three-fold advancement when applying the 840 PRO in place of a conventional hard disk drive.

Mr. UnSoo Kim, vice president of Memory brand product marketing team, Samsung Electronics, said, "Introduction of Samsung's 840 SSD series delivers considerable levels of advancements to the notebook user environment. As a technology pioneer, Samsung continues to raise the level of performance of SSDs and contribute to the growing global pool of users enjoying the conveniences of high-performance SSDs."

The new 840 series will be available globally from mid October through retail channels.

Source: Samsung

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Samsung unveils new SSD series

In this political season, an interesting new work is being presented at Dillard University, that explores the degree to which we allow ourselves to be defined by and have our lives affected by political ideologies and beliefs.

In The Zeitgeist Chronicles, playwright Stephen Montagne tackles a wide range of ideas and arguments but in this workshop production, more refinement of those ideas is necessary before this work is ready to be further shopped around.

As we are barely a month away from the presidential election, The Zeitgeist Chronicles revisits the so-called Hope and Change election of 2008, viewing it through the eyes of several sets of characters. With a large cast, the storylines cross a variety of racial, socio-economic, political, religious and generational points of view.

Using that election campaign as the backdrop, Montagne creates a fairly compelling group of characters. At the center is a New Orleans family watching its ill and aging patriarch still struggling to survive several years after losing his home and business in Hurricane Katrina. Others include a Southern-born liberal reporter and staunch Hillary Clinton supporter who is interviewing a dying relative, a reformed racist now supporting Barack Obama; a 25-year-old Mormon standup comedian and his Rat Pack era mentor, an atheist now living in a retirement home.

While the play is aiming for a relevancy today, Montagnes framing of his story with the last campaign primaries and all is its most cumbersome aspect. We are not far enough removed from that election cycle for it to be seen fully and fairly from a historical perspective. And without examining the subsequent four years of the Obama presidency, that campaign alone doesnt have the relevance to affect the November 2012 election.

In addition, while the playwright does seek some sense of balance, its clear that he is primarily attempting to be an Obama cheerleader. Ignoring any accomplishments or failures of the current administration, hes not looking for the reelection of President Obama; through the wistful haze of a faux nostalgia, he wants to resurrect candidate Obama, and all that talk of hope and change.

On whichever side of the aisle one sits, this is political discourse about as deep as a Facebook posting or Twitter monologue. The scenes of grown men still acting like boys playing with their Star Wars toys becomes an all-too fitting metaphor.

The common political theme, while intended to give the piece its cohesiveness, is overwrought, and unfortunately overwhelms the more interesting personal stories that Montagne creates.

The most intriguing and perplexing character is Ethan Grey, the Mormon standup comic, struggling with his past and who wants to remain true to his faith while faced with numerous temptations to its moral strictures. Played with conviction by Taylor McClellan, Ethans journey rings true. His interaction with Dorothy, a friend of his mother, makes for some of the most touching moments. This is due largely to Janet Sheas quite lovely performance as Dorothy, a spitfire of an old gal, who has a lot of straightforward wisdom to share with her younger protge.

The wisdom of age also is seen in Spencer Howards portrayal as Terence Thompson, the dying father who sees his family being split apart. It would be easy to play him as a gruff, foolish old man. But Howard shows the spark within the character that is blunt but cuts through layers of bull to make his point. As his two oldest sons, Damien Moses and Martin Bats Bradford also are effective.

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Personal tales more compelling than political drama in 'Zeitgeist Chronicles'

Canterbury have the utmost respect for Melbourne's `Big Three', but Bulldogs skipper Michael Ennis says his side can't get caught up in one-on-one battles in Sunday's NRL grand final.

Ennis will go head-to head with the best No.9 in the game in Melbourne skipper Cameron Smith - one third of a triple Storm threat which also features Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater.

But the personal duel will take a back seat to team-oriented goals for Ennis - despite the Bulldogs rake acknowledging the importance of keeping Smith quiet around the ruck.

"Coming up against Cameron Smith, obviously he's the benchmark in our position and it's always a good challenge," Ennis said.

"I respect Cameron very highly, he's a terrific player and a terrific fellow, so I know I'll need to be at my best in my side and not worry about what Cameron's going to do for Melbourne.

"If you go into a game like this trying to win personal battles, you're letting your teammates down.

"I've got a role to play in this side and I don't think Cameron Smith or your Cooper Cronks or your Billy Slaters are blokes that can be nullified individually.

"They've got wonderful support around them.

"I know they talk about the big three, but there's plenty of other guys in their side that are terrific players."

But Smith, Slater and Cronk seemingly hold the key, with their play having a mesmerising effect not just on fans, but opposition players as well.

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Ennis not focused on personal battle

By: Kelly Chen

Updated: 9:47 p.m. ET

On Monday we begin American Graduate Week with a panel discussion moderated by senior correspondent Ray Suarez. We hear from several former at-risk students who share their personal stories and lessons learned on how they overcame their situations.

The panel includes:

Victor Rios, a former gang member turned sociology professor who mentors and studies at-risk youth. In an earlier NewsHour interview, Rios explained the importance of having someone take an interest in his life early on. "It was important for me to hear an adult tell me, 'Listen, we know you are a mess-up, we know you are a dropout, but we still believe in you."

Watch his story here:

Adam Steltzner may have led the landing team for the rover Curiosity on Mars, but he almost didn't make it to his high school graduation. Stelzner, now popularly known as the NASA engineer with the Elvis hair, struggled throughout school. "I passed my geometry class the second time with an F plus, because the teacher just didn't want to see me again," he told NPR. When adults told him he'd never amount to anything, he prioritized a life of sex, drugs and rock and roll. It was science -- the constellation Orion, in particular -- that later inspired him to go back to school and pursue engineering.

Stephanie Krauss: At 15, the self-described "punk kid from New Jersey," enrolled in rehab; she left a changed woman. Despite a troubled home life and chronic truancies in school, Krauss managed to pass the GED and by 18, she was a college graduate. She is now the president of Shearwater Education in St. Louis, which re-engages young adults back to school. Of the 75 students at Shearwater Education, half of them are parents, a quarter are actively homeless and a quarter are currently in foster care, says Krauss.

Watch her story courtesy St. Louis TV:

Original post:
Former Dropouts and Their Paths to Success

SIOUX FALLS, S.D., Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Midco Connections, a leader in contact center solutions, has reached a significant milestone. Since 1982, Midco Connections has been dedicated to helping companies boost revenues and increase customer loyalty. Midco Connections call centers, strategically located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Fargo, North Dakota prove that the coveted US based Midwest work ethic and clear speech makes for unsurpassed quality in inbound and outbound call support, email response and live chat. With great people, great training and great results, Midco Connections delivers 24/7/365.

"We are extremely proud of our accomplishments over the past thirty years serving various industries as their branded contact center," said Cordell Brooks, the Vice President of Midco Connections. "The Key to our success is the ability to customize our platform to maximize the service level provided to our clients and their customers; blending quality personal contact while leveraging current technological advancements. As a multi-site operation compliant with both Payment Card Industry (PCI) and Health Insurance Portability and AccountabilityAct (HIPAA) requirements we offer clients the same features and benefits as the largest industry players in a flexible and responsive environment. With the advent of our Fargo, North Dakota center in 2011 we have rounded out our ability to deliver the genuineness and conscientiousness of the Midwest employee coupled with accent neutral speech. We are confident that this business model will continue to ensure our clients' branding success over the next thirty years."

About Midco Connections

Midco Connections is a wholly owned subsidiary of Midcontinent Media and supports locations in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Fargo, North Dakota. Midco was founded in 1982 as a Telephone Answering Service, and in just a few years it became clear that our customers wanted more than just an answering service they wanted comprehensive customer care offering product knowledge, shipping information, answers to callers' questions, data intake ability and above all excellent customer care. In short, they wanted quality call center services.

Find more information about Midco Connections at http://www.midcoconnections.com

Contact Information Cordell Brooks, Vice President Midco Connections 605-275-5450 cbrooks@midcoconnections.com

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Midco Connections Celebrates 30 Years of Success

Pensionmark continues to be a retirement plan market leader in leveraging technology to enhance employer and individual investor outcomes with the introduction of their revamped website. The enhanced, user-friendly website which was released in August offers greater functionality and a more comprehensive suite of educational tools to help employers manage their retirement plan responsibilities and to help individual investors on their path towardsretirement.

The robust Education Center offers hundreds of online resources including relevant articles, newsletters, videos, webinars, calculators, and more designed to help maximize plan and individualsuccess.

In our connected world it is imperative to provide people with resources that are at their fingertips and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our website was designed to provide that functionality while at the same time encouraging our clients to engage our service team and leverage our expertise, stated Troy Hammond, PensionmarksPresident/CEO.

Pensionmark has already initiated the next phase of the website rollout scheduled to be released later this year which will include additional advisor resources, educational content, and integration with mobile devices. For more information on Pensionmark and to see the new website, visit Pensionmark.com.

To stay connected, Like Pensionmark on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Pensionmark, Follow them on the Employer Twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/PensionmarkEMPL or on the Individual Investor Twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/PensionmarkINDV, or join the Pensionmark LinkedInGroup.

About Pensionmark RetirementGroup

With national headquarters in Santa Barbara, CA, the Pensionmark Retirement Group network represents 21 regional locations across the country with over 650 corporate clients. With offices in California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, Pensionmark has established itself as a national leader in corporate retirement plan consulting. Its network of retirement specialists include defined contribution, defined benefit and terminal funding, not-for-profit, and executive and deferred compensation specialists. Financial advisors at Pensionmark Retirement Group may also be registered representatives with, and securities are offered through LPL Financial, member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advice offered through Pensionmark Retirement Group, a Registered Investment Advisor and separate entity from LPLFinancial.

Link:
Online Retirement Resource

RICHMOND, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is meeting todays challenges to increase student achievement in reading, mathematics, and science by building on the success of the Standards of Learning (SOL). It is encouraging innovation in the classroom, including the use of technology to enhance instruction.

This year, the Center for Digital Education recognized VDOEs Master the Math Mobile Application as the first place winner in the 2012 Digital Education Achievement Awards (DEAA) and Best of the Web Awards (BOW) Digital Application/Project category. DEAA recognizes outstanding contributions at the application, intranet, and infrastructure level, all to the benefit and quality of online education for students, teachers, and the community.

Master the Math is math on the go, Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia I. Wright said. The application engages students in mathematics content on the mobile devices that connect them with their friends.

Launched in September 2011, Master the Math is a mobile educational game that helps students prepare for the SOL exams by reinforcing the mathematics curriculum from grades three through eight. This mobile application features more than 800 questions from 19 released Virginia SOL tests. The application uses practice tests mixed with an interactive quiz presentation incorporating popular TV game show elements to form the multiple choice framework for the app. With its wide range of interactive practice opportunities with sound effects and clues, Master the Math embraces technology to offer exciting ways for students to learn and study. Hints provide a tidbit of information to help point the student in the right direction. Testers also can take a risk with Call a Tutor, who may or may not share the correct answer. By selecting a 50/50, two incorrect answers are eliminated. Each time an exam is selected, different questions are randomly presented. Questions frequently include visual elements, such as formula sheets, diagrams, graphs, and charts. Students have the option of selecting a difficulty level, viewing correct answers either during or after the test, and retrieving their score history.

Master the Math has been downloaded more than 20,100 times and has recently been averaging over 1,000 downloads per day.

About Virginia Interactive

Virginia Interactive, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of NIC, the largest provider of official websites, online services and secure payment processing solutions for state and local government entities across the United States.

About the Virginia Department of Education

The Virginia Department of Education provides support and guidance to the commonwealths 132 public school divisions which, combined, educate approximately 1.2 million students. The department administers regulations promulgated by the state Board of Education and assists the board in carrying out its responsibilities under state and federal education law.

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Virginia Department of Education Wins Digital Education Achievement Award for Mobile App