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

21-06-2012 14:28 Win/Wins and Empathy! Success for entrepreneurs Julie Melillo Life Coaching. Request rates, speaking presentations or appearances by filling out the form on the web site above.

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Find a life coach - Video

I once had a preconceived impression of life coaching as a New Age concept, so I was quite surprised to discover that I knew a life coach. I have worked with Barbara Marchand on any number of projects that involved such decidedly down-to-earth organizations as the Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce and the Alameda Welfare Council.

I have always known Barbara as level-headed, practical and honest. When she asked me if I would be interested in trying some coaching, I had to re-evaluate my whole idea of it.

When I first started talking with Barbara about this, I had just learned that my mother-in-law had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. The family was in the process of sorting out her living arrangements, medical care and financial situation, all the while grieving the future loss of a vibrant and brilliant woman. Because my mother-in-law had always been fiercely independent and (justifiably) proud, this turn of events completely sideswiped us.

I was unfamiliar with the process involved with consulting a life coach, I wasn't sure whether what I was going through was even an appropriate direction to pursue. My understanding of what I would address during the coaching process would be to try to organize my time and resources, or to try to get in the routine of regular exercise or eating right. How would those principles apply to processing the painful, frightening truth of what we were going through?

I have plenty of sympathetic ears and shoulders because we are by no stretch of the imagination the only people going through the ageing process with our parents. I consider myself to be extremely fortunate to have a support network to help with the unfamiliar emotional terrain.

I am discovering, however, that there are actually very practical, organizational facets to this process. For example, I was trying to determine what government programs might be available to my mother-in-law.

I discovered on the Internet that there are any number of government programs, but the qualifications for each of these programs differ in infinitesimal ways. I found the language on these site deceptive and unwieldy.

Before long I felt as if I would never make progress on this relatively small project I had been assigned, much like being the poor sap that catches the ball in the middle of the game, with no idea of what the rules are or what team I'm on.

Like any team coach, Barbara is not on the playing field. She is able to watch the "game" from a distance, and see the directions available to me. With a gentle nudge, she points out what she can see, and then the obstacles fade away. It might be a simple suggestion to call an organization to ask for help, or it might be a way to sort out the information that I have to be able to make heads or tails of it.

One of the most important tools that Barbara has given me is to write things down. I should I say she has reminded me that I already have this tool. This might involve a writing note about a conversation with a medical professional, or jotting down a question that has come up that I need to find the right person to ask. It might mean simply writing down the way I feel at any given time about the process.

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Facing Life Challenges with Life Coaching

Fit Business Insider has just launched a metabolic training certification to help fitness professionals develop their personal training skills. The certification was developed with leading metabolic training expert B.J. Gaddour.

Elizabethtown, KY (PRWEB) June 19, 2012

Fitness business consulting firm Fit Business Insider has just launched a new metabolic training certification. The certification was developed with the help of personal trainer B.J. Gaddour, the fitness industrys leading expert in the field of metabolic training.

Perhaps most widely known to the public as Mens Health magazines go to resource for metabolic training information and training programs, Gaddour has been a wildly successful trainer and fitness guru in recent years.

While Gaddour is now one of the leading experts in the field of fat loss, he notes that his journey to the top of the fitness industry started at square one.

I got interested in fitness because I battled obesity when I was younger, Gaddour explains. Because of that struggle, I have taught myself everything I possibly could about burning fat. I have come to the conclusion that these metabolic workouts do the trick when it comes to fat loss.

While Gaddour has long seen the value of training for fat loss, not all personal training businesses emphasize these results. You would be surprised how many trainers just give rote workouts without any real strategizing for burning fat," notes Fit Business Insider co-owner and CEO Pat Rigsby.

What we are doing, with the aid of B.J. Gaddours expertise, is teaching trainers how to separate themselves from the pack by offering the one thing clients seek more than anything else: fat loss, says Rigsby.

Gaddour concurs, adding that it is very important to distinguish yourself as a personal trainer. In my opinion, the best way to carve out a niche for yourself in the fitness industry is to produce great results but do so in a new, fun way people cant get elsewhere.

B.J. Gaddour notes that one of the most significant measures a fitness business owner can take is to seek out the kinds of resources that can help them grow as trainers. It is my sincere hope that this metabolic certification will help people achieve personal training success.

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Fit Business Insider, a Fitness Business Consulting Service, Launches Metabolic Training Certification

State workers will have to pay more for their retirement benefits and work more years before claiming them, according to changes to the states retirement plan that the General Assembly approved Thursday.

Working longer means state workers would withdraw less money from the states $25 billion retirement fund a taxpayer-supported fund that accountants estimate will run out of money sometime over the next 30 years if no changes are made. Having state workers pay more an extra $567 a year from the average public employees paycheck means taxpayers will pay less.

The changes plug the retirement systems projected $15 billion shortfall by making it nearly impossible for state workers to get a retirement check and a paycheck at the same time a practice critics refer to as double dipping.

This is a retirement system. And retirement system means that you retire. Its not an annuity that all of a sudden I get to a point where I can collect it, said state Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, one of the authors of the bill. We want these people to retire. ... Its not a second income.

Lawmakers killed the controversial TERI program, which allows state workers to retire and return to work for up to five years while they earn both a salary and a retirement check.

Lawmakers also made it much harder for public-sector employers to hire retired workers back to their old jobs. Under the new law, retired employees who return to work would have to forfeit their retirement checks once they earn $10,000 in salary in one year.

And if those public-sector employees state and local government workers plus teachers want to buy so-called service time to retire early, the price is about to go up significantly.

The S.C. State Employees Association supported the bill but said the TERI and return-to-work programs are not the bogeyman that lawmakers made them out to be.

TERI is an incentive to get quality employees to come and work for the state, said Carlton Washington, the associations executive director.

TERI will be phased out over five years. The return-to-work changes and the service time requirements, which allow workers to buy credit for additional years of service, will not go into effect until Jan. 2, 2013. That gives current state workers who are close to retirement six months to make up their mind.

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Retirement system changes OK’d

LONDON, June 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

With more accidents on the road, work related accidents and slips, trips and falls being reported than ever before, the Accident Advice Helpline has revealed the 6 top tips to help victims successfully make Personal Injury Claims.

1. Write everything down

For victims of accidents, it is important to keep as much information as possible. Claimants need to get the names and addresses of everyone who was involved in the accident, including any witnesses. If the victim is incapacitated to the point that they cannot do this for themselves, then someone else needs to take control of the situation and get these details written down.

Keeping a note of all medical appointments attended, diagnoses, prescribed medication and details of all symptoms will also help in pursuing personal injury claims. It can be a good idea to start a diary or journal, noting down events of importance or the development of new symptoms when they happen.

2. Take photos where possible

It is said that a picture tells a thousand words, and never has that been truer than in the world of personal injury claims law. A few years ago, it would have been very unusual to expect the prosecution to be able to produce photographs of a vehicle collision, a poorly maintained pavement that caused a trip or other pictorial evidence to support their case. However, with so many people owning mobile phones with cameras on board these days, it is easier than ever for people to snap a picture of the situation as it happens. Victims with photographic evidence will find the defence has far less room for manoeuvre and therefore their claim can be processed much more quickly and smoothly than it would without the images.

3. Keep everything in a folder or file

If there is one thing that the Accident Advice Helpline has learned through its years of involvement in the personal injury claims industry, it is that these processes are easier if you stay organised. With this in mind, its' a good idea to start a file or folder for your personal injury claim as early on as possible. Even if the victim doesn't file things in any sort of order, just having all the necessary paperwork in one place will inevitably take the stress out of making a claim.

4. Prove it

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Top Tips When Making Personal Injury Claims

PASADENA

Swing dance on June 23 planned at St. Philip

St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church will present its third annual music ministry fundraiser, the "Sing 'n' Swing! Dance and Dinner" on June 23. The event will be held in Holy Angel Hall, 1363 Cordova St. The event starts at 6 p.m. with a dance lesson and ends at 9:30 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased in advance from the Parish Center. For more information, call 626-795-9691.

PASADENA

'Great Women of the Bible' at First Lutheran

Historic First Lutheran, 808 N. Los Robles, announces Pastor Christopher Schaar's summer preaching series, "Great Women of the Bible" every Sunday at 10 a.m. Many people believe women are an overlooked minority in the Bible, but this series shows nothing is further from the truth, according to the church. All are invited. For more information, call 626-793-1139 or visit historicfirstlutheran.org.

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE

LCPC to present 'Americana' concert

La Canada Presbyterian Church will give three cheers to the red, white and blue at the "Americana Concert," a program of patriotic music and other beloved American tunes on Sunday, July 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary. Emcee Tyler Wright, president and CEO of the Crescenta-Canada Family YMCA, will provide inspirational and comic commentary, and recite patriotic poems.

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Observing the Faiths: June 22

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXir0prOUbU

21-06-2012 12:22 The Office of Citizenship and Service-Learning is pleased to provide videos from three of the sessions of the spring, 2012 Faculty/Staff Development Conference, Beyond the Borders: The Future of Service-Learning. This sessions features Jean Strait presenting "Uniting Online Education with Service-Learning."

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Uniting Online Education with Service-Learning - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztjsZMop7hk

21-06-2012 15:14

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Shannen Doherty Commercial - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqFGwUdu83E

21-06-2012 19:57 The Centre for Online Learning Excellence (COLE) is a new and exciting Open Universities Australia (OUA) initiative that seeks to develop and advance online learning innovation, quality and capability for OUA students, partners and the tertiary education sector more broadly. The education landscape in Australia is rapidly changing, and in particular, student numbers taking up online education are growing rapidly. Utilizing contemporary knowledge and learning analytics, COLE will work with its partners to tailor education to students' learning needs and preferences. It will take a collaborative approach to research, trials and evaluation of new and emerging technologies and online learning methodologies. COLE is currently working on a range of strategic initiatives to aid OUA and it's partners in applying research outcomes, enabling technologies and innovative learning and teaching practices to support student engagement, add value to their experiences and assist in their success.

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Centre for Online Learning Excellence (COLE) at Open Universities Australia - Video

When the University of California dangled a $30,000 incentive to thousands of professors in 2010 inviting them to create UC-worthy online courses, just 70 responded, and only a few classes materialized.

Faculty members at California State University were similarly skeptical and warned of "Walmartization" last year as trustees charged each campus $50,000 to help fund "CSU Online."

It turns out that California professors' wariness of online education is shared by faculty across the country, according to a survey released Thursday by Inside Higher Ed, an online publication widely read by academics.

Of 4,564 faculty members surveyed across all types of colleges and universities, 66 percent expressed concern about the quality of online education, saying they believe what students learn is "inferior or somewhat inferior" to what they learn in a classroom. Just 6 percent thought online courses were better.

Another 58 percent felt "more fear than excitement" about cyber-learning.

Yet despite the professors' negative assessments, 60 percent said they had recommended an online course to a student - a reality that lends the new study its name: "Conflicted."

"The challenge is: 'How do we meet the obvious demand for online education but do it in a way that addresses faculty concerns about quality?' " said Jeff Seaman, a researcher with Babson Survey Research Group that conducted the survey for Inside Higher Ed.

Online education is exploding in popularity. About two-thirds of schools nationwide now offer courses, including virtually all community colleges, said Seaman, whose earlier study found that 6.1 million students across the country had taken at least one online course in 2010, up from 1.6 million students in 2002.

Skeptical faculty members say they are not blind to the pervasiveness of online instruction or its inevitable rise. But they caution that courses taken by computer are best suited to certain subjects - lower level math, say - that require the absorption of facts rather than intense interaction among people sharing ideas.

"I'm not against online learning. I'm against the idea that you can substitute what happens in a high-quality liberal arts classroom with an online program," said Wendy Brown, a UC Berkeley political science professor.

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Online education has teachers conflicted