Almost every day, as I prepare for various radio shows, I read headlines with the words “unexpected” or “surprise” in them. It seems that just about every piece of data that is released, the actual outcome is different from what the experts or certainly the reporters were planning on.
So why is everything a surprise? Why didn’t anyone see the result coming, especially when the data makes sense after the fact? My experience tells me there are a couple of reasons why.
The first reason is that so many of the articles written today are based on surveying or polling economists or other experts. Often I will see a headline that says something to the effect, that consumers “probably” increased purchases last month according to the expertssurveyed. Probably? How can you make a decision for a portfolio today based on information that contains the word “probably?”
Now I ask myself, what is the purpose of this story when nothing is based on facts but rather a group of opinions? If the actual data comes out and doesn’t match the average of the economists surveyed, then it is a surprise. Economists participate because if they get close to predicting correctly they get quoted in the article.
Second, it seems some of these writers have to print something because they get paid for writing and other websites are doing the same thing. It seems a shame that we have come to the point where a story needs to be put out even if there is incomplete information as the premise.
The point I’m trying to make is that while the market reacts to headlines, it is important that your decisions are based on facts. The strategy you develop is the one you need to stay with no matter what the headlines say.
The market itself has gotten away from using to determine pricing. Everything lately has been based on whether or not the news is bad enough to warrant additional quantitative easing from the Federal Reserve. If fundamentals mean nothing then all you are investingin is the betting on the actions of a small group of men and women at the Fed.
Scary thought.
One of the problems with sticking with fundamentals in a “bad news is good news” world is that good fundamentals are often seen as bad news. In the end, however, good fundamentals will always make for a good long-term investment. Today, for example, we are looking at blue chip companies that have consistent, or increasing dividends and very little, if any, debt.
Also, we look at companies that will continue to survive in an inflationary environment. No matter how bad the economy gets there are certain things that people will always purchase.
Toothpaste, toilet paper and deodorant (we hope they continue buying anyway) are examples of products that are needed during recessionary times. Drugs (the legal kind) and overall health care companies are usually strong in recessionary times, at least for a while yet.
And, finally, food and energy, will always be in demand regardless of economic conditions. These are tough times to invest with confidence especially when companies are doing things that violate our trust. Instead of companies being too big to fail, I am starting to believe that there are some companies that are too big to trust.
Gary L. Rathbun is the president and CEO of Private Wealth Consultants, LTD.
Rathbun: Just the facts, Ma’am
Common plant offers remedy for spider bites
By MARIE EYE
After waking up one morning with an itchy ankle, I looked down and saw two distinct red fang marks about one-sixteenth of an inch apart. I nonchalantly assumed aspider had gotten me during the night.
Then it became very itchy. Two days passed and it became even more itchy! When I looked next, yellow blisters had formed and the whole bite area had become bright red. Black 
tissue started to appear in the center of the wound — dead cells, called necrosis.
At that point, the itch was out of control and I could feel an annoying sting in the deeper tissues.
Concerned, I started researching. In this area, only a few spiders can cause that kind of skin damage, including the brown recluse and the wolf spider. Wolf spiders are very unlikely to end up in your bed at night because they are mostly garden spiders. Brown recluses, onthe other hand, tend to roam in search of food and can accidentally end up in bedsheets or a shoe.
Because of our climate, they are rare; however, due to this year’s warm winter, it would not be a stretch to assume their population has grown. All the indications were there, so I researched what to do based on this assumption.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends staying calm. That’s a start. It then advises identifying the type of spider if it is possible to do so safely. In my case, it was not possible. The CDC then recommends washing the bite area with soap and water and doing a simple first aid technique called the RICE method (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation), with specific instructions to not attempt to remove venom. Of course, the CDC also advises seeking professional medical attention immediately.
It all seemed like sound advice, but I wanted to know more. I wanted to stop the progression of the venom before it did too much damage. It soon became clear that modern medicine does not have an answer.
There is no known antidote for the brown recluse bite in America, and those bitten must simply let the venom take its course, watching the area closely and keeping the wound clean to prevent secondary infection.
I called a friend, a specialist in herbal remedies, who told me to use the plantain weed. I followed my friend’s instructions. I made a poultice — chew a leaf, apply the chewed leaf to the bite and bandage it. It is supposed to work by pulling the poison out of the wound, so the sooner you use it the better.
Miracle! In less than a minute, the itch and the sting disappeared and I was left with a peaceful and refreshing sensation on my ankle. I spent the next three days chewing plantain and applying it to the bite.
It didn’t take all the darkened cells out immediately but it definitely removed the swelling and drained the blisters. I can proudly say now, 11 days later, that it is completely healed and no skin is missing.
The plant works because it contains the iridoid glycoside aucubin, a powerful antitoxin. Its components include vitamin C and salicylic acid, one of the main active ingredients of aspirin.
It is also an antibacterial, an expectorant and vermicide (kills parasitic intestinal worms). And all that time, I have walked on plantain weeds without even paying attention.
Marie Eye offers a variety of personal healing solutions for mind, body and soul, including weight loss, meal planning, physical training, mentoring, meditation and other services.
Kuron: Tecumseh the “Panther Across the Sky”
There’s not much better than leaving the world behind and living for a week as our ancestors did — in the woods. I’ve always loved camping.
Oh, I hear you naysayers who can’t handle a few daddy longlegs prancing about your stall in those plush campsite latrines. But the opportunity to build your own fire, sizzle bacon over it in the morning, and in the evening gaze up at galaxies that hide among city lights simply makes every bite of a mosquito worth it.
One night in 1768, Shawnee tribesmen in the vicinity of Chillicothe, Ohio, anxiously paced around their campfire as they heard the moans of a mother-to-be emanating from a nearby wigwam.
Incredibly, a star shot across the sky just as the cry of new life echoed through the village. Tecumseh, the panther across the sky, had arrived on Mother Earth.
The adventures of this man are legendary. Tecumseh is arguably the greatest leader hisculture has ever produced. Eventually we’ll discuss particulars of his life in our region, but first a few fundamentals should be cited. He was far from any Hollywood Indian stereotype.
Tecumseh had five brothers and a sister. Of all the family members, he certainly garnered the most attention. One brother, known as “the Prophet,” became infamous rather than famous due to his historical antics. Another sibling, Cheeseekau, was instrumental in molding his younger brother into the fiercest of warriors, after their father was killed when Tecumseh was but 6 years old.
Other brothers fought alongside him in frontier conflicts, one being killed at Fallen Timbers.
He treasured his relationshipwith his sister, Tecumapease. After Tecumseh’s marriage to Mamate had soured, his sister raised his son, Paukeesa.
There are plenty of claims of relationships and marriages throughout Tecumseh’s life, but because records are vague they must be viewed with a wary eye. One frequently cited account regards his wooing of a white woman living near modern-day Xenia, Ohio. He purportedly offered Rebecca Galloway fifty brooches of silver to be his bride, but sherefused, not wanting to join his culture.
Physically, Tecumseh was known to be about 5-feet-10-inches inches tall, well-proportioned and generally quite handsome.
One friend said he was “square, with a well-built form for strength and agility.” One woman noted that he was the “proudest man” she ever met, that in his walk he “seemed to disdain the ground he walked upon.”
Aside from this, Tecumseh was defined by his personality traits. Character topped the list. He was not only admired by his fellow men, but by his enemies as well.
Many noted his vision, honor and eloquence.
He repeatedly proved himself to be brave, charismatic, fearless and fair.
On the battlefield he was fierce and disdained cowardice.
Adamantly, he insisted that prisoners be treated humanely. This was evidenced during
the siege on Fort Meigs and again at the River Raisin massacre in Monroe, Mich., where one historian notes that he arrived late to the slaughter of defenseless POWs and “actually put to death, with his own hand, a chief who would not desist from murdering the American soldiers.”
Some people just take things too far, don’t they? One chief almost deified Tecumseh, claiming, “Bullets shot at him would go through his shirt and fall harmlessly inside.”
His humanity, at least in his youth, becomes clear in an account of him indulging a little too heavily in liquor and then encountering a large, powerful man. Tecumseh “became very insulting and annoying,” said the man, so he “tied him to a tree until he became more sober and quiet.”
Tecumseh was not naïve. He often expressed his sorrow over the inevitable loss of his ancestors’ lands to the ever-increasing numbers of Europeans moving west. He strove to at least delay this influx, and perhaps stop it, by uniting all tribes in this common goal. It was
not an easy task, as tribes not yet impacted saw no need to get involved.
But by the time Tecumseh was killed in 1813, he had brought together dozens of tribes. Had he survived and garnered support of hundreds more, the lines on a map of North America just might be otherwise drawn today.
Frank Kuron is author of the War of 1812 book, “Thus Fell Tecumseh.” Email him at [email protected].
Bugle Call: Upcoming events
Some key websites to learn of upcoming 1812 Bicentennial events:
✯ www.warof1812.ohio.gov — Most Ohio events are listed.
✯ www.opsail.org — Details of the U.S. Navy’s OpSail tour of the eastern seaboard and Great Lakes. The Niagara and ships of today’s military will be in Toledo from Aug. 22-27, 2012.
✯ www.fortmeigs.org — Numerous activities year-round.
✯ www.riverraisinbattlefi eld.org — Numerous activities year-round. ✯
Chicks for Charity 2012 event to benefit boxing club
Toledo women of all ages will gather July 11 to attend Chicks Mix ’12, a night of mingling and fun.
Proceeds from the event benefit IBC Beat the Streets (International Boxing Club/Institute for Building Careers).
The event is put on by Chicks for Charity, a group that picks a new charity to support every two years.
Women and girls do all kinds of things to raise money during that time, from bake sales to card games, said Sue Hague-Rogers and Rita Mansour, “Chicks in Charge.”
“You have women there that have millions of dollars and you have little girls who have $20 that they’ve worked weeks for,” said Mansour, a partner at Thomas McDonald Partners and head of Mansour Wealth Management.
Martha Vetter, president of R-P Marketing Public Relations, started Chicks for Charity in 2006. Hague-Rogers and Mansour have been involved since then and what began as a group of 100 now has about 1,800 “chicks.”
“It brought the walls down for all those people who may just want to put their toe into it and contribute and feel good, whatever that means,” said Hague-Rogers, senior exhibit specialist for 2020 Exhibits, a local exhibit production company. “The whole idea that it didn’t matter how much you gave, it was really good. It was a spectrum of teaching little girls to adult women the art of giving,” Mansour said.
The group raised $65,000 for IBC in 2011. IBC provides free programming like boxing, sports, leadership training and homework help to give city youth an alternative to drugs and violence. The nonprofit recently collaborated with Beat the Streets, a national nonprofit that promotes wrestling as another alternative. It also recently moved to a new facility on Earlwood Avenue and expanded its services to include more girls.
The kids involved with IBC have continually impressed Mansour and Hague-Rogers.
“Their demeanor and how they greeted you, it was like ‘Wow’,” Mansour said.
Picking a new charity to support every two years is the hardest partfor Mansour and Hague-Rogers.
In the fall, the chicks will select 10 charities from several applicants before narrowing them down to three. A new charity will be named around December.
A charity’s involvement with Chicks for Charity provides more funds and increased visibility.
“A lot of these organizations are more grassroots and they don’t get the exposure,” Mansour said. R-P’s involvement with Chicks for Charity helps, she added.
“Martha and her team will never tell you this, but they put so many man hours, woman hours, chick hours, behind this,” she said.
At Chicks Mix ’12 several items will be up for auction and raffle. These include a one-week stay at a villa in Puerto Rico complete with free surfing lessons and a Chicago weekend with tickets to “Dreamgirls.”
A “College Chick” basket with university essentials is also available. IBC will also present while men tend the bar.
“You can take your daughter, niece, mom. I take my mom every year,” Hague-Rogers said. Six hundred women attended the event last year.
To learn more or join Chicks for Charity, visit www.chicksforcharity.net/become.html. Chicks Mix ’12 is 5:30-9 p.m. at the Toledo Botanical Garden, 5403 Elmer Drive. It costs $37 to attend for general admission and $20 for those 20 and younger.
Tickets are available at the door, although reservations are preferred. Call (419) 241-2221 or email [email protected] for tickets.
To donate to IBC, visit http://www. ibcprograms.org/. Check donations are not made to Chicks for Charity, but directly to IBC. ✯
Rathbun: Let’s get back to independence
As I contemplate Independence Day, I can’t help but think back to our Founding Fathers — what they were like and what they would think of us today.
My perception of them is of rugged individualists who wanted to be left alone to create and do for themselves. They came here to escape tyranny and oppression and knew the price to be self-reliant would be high.
They worked very hard through very harsh conditions. I can’t imagine how difficult it was to settle a chunk of land with nothing but hand tools, a horse and a strong back.
Banks back then were little more than depositories for people to store their money in a safe place. Loans from banks were nothing like they are today and the modern stock market didn’t exist.
There are days when I wish for these much simpler times even though it would be much more work.
Enough of waxing nostalgic. How can we be more independent today?
In advising my clients, one of the first things I recommend is to get out of debt. Especially on non appreciating assets, e.g., cars and appliances but also on personal real estate, like your house.
There are many advisers who will recommend that you mortgage your home to the max for the longest period you can and lock in the interest rate.
The thought process is that we are due for some serious inflation and you will be able to pay off that debt with cheaper dollars in the future.
While mathematically this may be true, there is a psychological aspect tobeing debt-free.
It is very liberating when no one has a claim on you or your property. Owning your own home free and clear is the very foundation of personal property rights.
Personal property rights are the basis of all rights. If you don’t have the right to private property, you don’t have the right to much of anything else.
Secondly, those of you who have listened to me on the radio or read other columns know I am a believer in hard assets. Everyone should have some gold and silver investments.
I also think it is a good idea to own some physical precious metals, just in case. I doubt that the U.S. will ever get back to a gold standard for our currency but it doesn’t hurt to have some insurance in case we hit a serious stretch of inflation.
Thirdly, and maybe most importantly, we need to resist the temptation to look to the government for solutions to our problems. Each of us has the power to take controlof most aspects in our lives and we should strive to do so. You need to make arrangements to take care of any catastrophic needs you may have in the future that can’t be handled quickly and locally.
Don’t get me wrong; I am not predicting the collapse of the economy. Nor am I saying that you should build a bunker in the back yard and stock it with a couple of years’ worth of dehydrated food. What I am saying is think about how independent or dependent you are and what would you do in the event of a problem, either personal or community-wise?
When Benjamin Franklin was asked what he and the other Founding
Fathers had created in the meetings they were holding he answered, “A
republic, if you can keep it.”
Can we keep it? We are definitely at a turning point in history and it is up to us as individuals to keep the republic or lose it. As the German officer Otto Von Bismarck stated, “We march individually but we fight together.”
As you observe July 4 this year, think about where we came from and where we are going and what role do you want to play. Let’s truly celebrate our independence.
Gary L. Rathbun is the president and CEO of Private Wealth Consultants, LTD.
Professor, librarian library collaborate on book
A Lourdes University professor and a local librarian collaborated recently on two projects related to veterans.
Lourdes University professor Holly Baumgartner and Amy Hartman, formerly adult services librarian at the Sylvania Branch Library, created a series of veteran’s writing workshops co-hosted by Lourdes and the library.
They collected the stories into a book, “In Our Boots,” which chronicles the experiences of veterans who served in Iraq, Korea, Vietnam and World War II, according to a news release.
The book is available at the Main Toledo-Lucas County Public Library andSylvania branch and has also been submitted as one of the many memorialized artifacts in the U.S. Army War College Library and U.S. Army Heritage & Educational Center.
New director: Zoos can ‘change lives’
Some children want to be firefighters when they grow up. Some want to be artists or the president of the United States.
Since Jeff Sailer was a child, he wanted to be a zoo director.
Sailer will continue living out his dream as he takes over for Anne Baker as executive director, effective Aug. 1, 2012.
“I’m one of those people that’s been blessed with doing what they have always wanted to do,” Sailer, 37, said.
The decision came after a nearly six-month search prompted by Baker’s decision to retire after six years as executive director, said Zac Isaac, president of the Zoo Board of Directors.
Baker will help Sailer transition into his new position, Isaac said.
“We engaged a search firm, Isaacson Miller, out of Boston and Washington, D.C., and they helped us through the search process,” Isaac said.
A search committee consisting of five board members, the past zoo chairman and three or four other community leaders worked through a process of evaluating resumes and
conducting interviews of the top five candidates, Isaac said. Once they narrowed it down to two finalists, the ZooBoard reviewed both resumes and conducted an extensive interview of each candidate before making the ultimate decision.
Isaac said Sailer is the “right person at the right time with the right experience” for the job with duties that include fiscal responsibility, animal welfare, conservation and education.
“It was [Sailer’s] experience and career, No. 1, also his passion for conservation and education in the zoo world,” Isaac said of the board’s decision. “He’ll bring great leadership
skills as well as great ideas to take us forward and make us an even better zoo than we are today.”
Fascination with animals
Sailer was born and raised in Indiana, where a fascination with animals was cultivated early on through a passion for birds.
Sailer began keeping birds when he was 7 years old. He lived on a small farmwhere his dad kept birds and eachof his siblings had their own hobby,
Sailer said.
“I always kept birds, not so much as pets but more like a garden in that I didn’t name each of them or anything,” Sailer said. “That interest really helped generate an interest in zoos.”
Sailer, being a “precocious youngster,” tracked down the names of the curators at his zoo and wrote letters to them about the birds, to which the curators responded with information. Little did they know the curious bird enthusiast was a 12-year-old boy.
“They were surprised when I showed up (at the zoo) with my father, who drove me,” Sailer said.
Sailer received his bachelor’s degree in biology from Ball State University before attending the University of Florida (UF) for graduate school.
While earning his master’s degree, Sailer traveled throughout the South Pacifi c and supported himself by teaching ecology classes to nonbiology students at UF.
“Those five years were some of the most rewarding work I’ve ever done,” Sailer said. “I was dealing with people [for whom] biology and ecology were new, so it was excitingto them. I was also getting them when they were out on their own for the first time and in school because they wanted to be there.”
Sailer said each year he had one or two students who, after taking
his class, switched their major to biology or at least decided to get more involved with biology. Sailer credits this to his hands-on approach to learning.
“I always thought, ‘who wants to do a paper or busy work?’ I gave them an option — they could either do a five-page paper or ten hours of volunteering,” Sailer said. “The hands-on stuff got them excited about biology; they got to meet actual scientists doing work. That would be a hook to get people to switch over to biology.”
Sailer’s teaching experience infl uenced his management style in future zoo careers, he said.
“Zoos have an amazing opportunity to do that as well,” Sailer said. “With projects and internships … [zoos] really can change lives.”
Upon receiving his master’s degree, Sailer took a position as curator of birds at the Miami MetroZoo. According to a news release issued by the zoo, because Hurricane Andrew had destroyed most of the bird department facilities in 1992, Sailer helped plan and build a 1.5-acre Asian-themed aviary with a world-class bird collection.
However, Sailer’s experience in Miami was not limited to birds.
“It may have seemed that way on paper, but with the way the zoo was broken up in Miami, my keepers were taking care of other animals in my area,” Sailer said, including rhinoceroses and crocodiles.
In 2006, Sailer moved to New York City to become the curator of animals for the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Central Park Zoo. Shortly after this, Sailer was promoted to director of the Central Park Zoo and later to director of city zoos.
“One of the reasons I went to New York was to get more experience with other animals. I have a great interest in fish, reptiles, amphibians and [many others],” Sailer said. “[Transitioning to director] was even more fun because now I was in the position to provide support to give others the opportunities I had. I really like birds but I really don’t work with birds anymore; but now I get to be the person that allows others to follow the passions they have.”
As director of city zoos, Sailer was responsible for overseeing Central Park, Prospect Park and Queens Zoos, which all together receive about 1.6 million guests a year.
“With every zoo, no matter where it is, you have an amazing amount of responsibility,” Sailer said. “…You have the responsibility for the public coming into the park, you have theresponsibility of animal collections and a staff that is usually putting in 150 percent for 100 percent pay. You have all those different things weighing on you and you want to do right by all of them.”
Sailer said that while it carries great responsibility, his career reaps great rewards.
“I get to see a toddler see their first elephant or see someone fuel their passion for conservation,” Sailer said. “It’s a lot of responsibility and stress, but also a lot of rewards.”
Great opportunity
Sailer said he is very excited to be moving to Toledo, which he said has everything he is looking for in a city.
“It’s a great opportunity and I will enjoy being closer to my family (in Indiana),” Sailer said. “It’s a smaller community where people know each other. … There’s an amazing amount of cultural and entertaining options here, and you don’t see that in a lot of small towns. … I think the region as a whole offers a lot to do, but in a community where everyone knows everyone.”
Once Sailer moves to the Glass City, he said his priorities are the aquarium and penguin projects at the Toledo Zoo because they are both pretty far along in design and are major exhibits that need to be completed.
Sailer also plans to emphasize education and staff involvement in zoo projects. “The education program will receive a lot from me,” Sailer said. “It’s one of the most important mission-related elements in a zoo. With a lot of facilities, it is not given the importance it deserves. [The Toledo Zoo] has a fabulous program, but there is always room to do more.”
One of Sailer’s main focuses in New York City was staff development, allowing the entire staff to take credit for zoo success. This success includes an increased revenue and attendance over the past six years, according to the news release.
“Whenever possible we did inhouse projects and really involvedas much of the staff as possible,” Sailer said. “With some of the animal-related programs, even if there wasn’t a direct role for maintenance and operations folks, they realized how important they were to the program. … They took pride because I pointed out to them that it’s not one-sided, it’s not all about the animal department.
“I’d like to see the same sort of programmatic [approach] here, by finding ways to draw in as many of the departments as possible,” Sailer said. “When the staff is building programs, they’re going to take pride in it because it’s something they built.”
Sailer said the Toledo Zoo staff is one of the positive points about his move to Ohio.
“You can see from the quality of the exhibits and the cleanliness of the parks, this group of employees feels very strongly about their zoo,”
Sailer said.
One of the most impressive and telling aspects of the Toledo Zoo is the longevity of its staff, Sailer said.
“When I was interviewing here, [the board] was telling me how long they’ve each been at the zoo and I was floored,” Sailer said. “Only two people have been here less than five years, and one person had been here for 42 years.”
Sailer said the variety in his daily duties keeps his zoo career interesting and exciting.
“What’s kept me in this career is that each day is different. Absolutely no two days are the same. … It’s an intersection of dealing with people, animals, weather and the community,”
Sailer said. “You can’t get bored doing that. It keeps your creativity high and keeps you young.”
Miller: Adios y Adios
Marsha Dunaway and Albert Flores were both born in 1948. They both taught at Libbey High School for more than 35 years, influencing thousands of students, including those in my 1985 graduating class. They both devoted much of their lives to community service. They both last week, within two days of each other.
It is dangerous to wax nostalgic about one’s high school teachers, three decades after daily interaction has ended; time has a way of smoothing rough edges. The gauze of sentimentality wraps itself around mundane recollections, muting the complexities that color every student-teacher relationship. Death is an additional scrubbing agent, transforming sinners into saints and saints into supersaints.
Flores was my Spanish language teacher, but he was much more than that. He was the first teacher I remember who wasn’t afraid to pull back the curtain on the education process, to reveal its flaws and limitations. I will always remember how, whenever a student would blow off an assignment or question the importance of a lesson, Flores would lustily sing the anthem from Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall, (Part 2)”:
“We don’t need no education,” he would mock. “All in all you’re just another brick in the wall,” he would grin, and then redouble his efforts to teach the lessons.
I was a middling Spanish student; I loved the vocabulary, never fully grasped verb conjugation. But Flores, who seemed so wise and worldly to me, drilled the lessons again and again and taught me well enough to get me through my the foreign language requirements I later faced at the University of Toledo.
More importantly, Flores encouraged the questioning of authority, a revelatory philosophy that set me on the path to my life’s great interest in journalism.
I won’t raise Flores any higher than that, as I tend to glorify my intellectual inspirations and heroes, but there is this, from his obituary: “Albert A. Flores, 63, of Toledo … attended Heidelberg College where he graduated with degrees in Sociology and Spanish. Later, he obtained his Master’s degree in Gifted and Talented Education from Bowling Green State University. He served as a Spanish teacher for 36 years at Libbey High School. In 2008, he was awarded the Diamanté award for his leadership in the Hispanic community. He sat on the board of the University of Toledo EXCEL program as well as other community services.
He is survived by his loving wife of 34 years, Mary; sons, Antolin (Emily Flores) and Benjamin (Lisa Yearsin Flores), and daughter, Sarah Berlanga. Also surviving are his grandchildren, Hannah Berlanga and Cristian Flores; his sister, Gladys M. Flores, as well as many nieces and nephews.”
Dunaway taught American and world history at Libbey, with methodology far removed from Flores’ jabbing challenges. Reserved but not demure, she brought great context to her lessons, as a gifted storyteller who knew which elements of a tale would most appeal to her audience. That approach was another early puzzle piece in my eventual career choice; there were other teachers who added to the recipe, but they are alive and well and I am superstitious about linking them to a eulogy.
From Dunaway’s obituary: “Marsha graduated from Bowsher High School in 1966 and from the University of Toledo in 1970 with a Bachelor’s in Education. Marsha received her Master’s in Education in 1979. She was an American and world history teacher for 35 years at Libbey High School. Before retiring in 2005, Marsha helped to lead the Small Schools Initiative through the Bill Gates Foundation at Libbey. With her passion for history, Marsha made it her goal to travel throughout the world, with her most recent trips being to Northern Europe and Italy. Marsha was an active member of Olivet Lutheran Church; participating in the choir, Bookworms Group and Women’s Bible Study. Left to cherish her memory is her loving husband of 42 years, Gerald; children, Brian (Heather), Julie (Jason) Eaton; brother, Todd (Kathy) Rogers; grandchildren, Katherine and McKenna Eaton; step mother, Rosie Rogers; mother-in-law, Hilda Dunaway; and many other family members and friends.”
They are not the first of my Libbey teachers to pass away. Fred Wesolowski and Debbie Wilhelms left us long ago, and there are undoubtedly others I would be saddened to learn have died.
Dunaway and Flores’ lives were intertwined by birthdates, careers and dates of passing. And while their infl uence and memories will long live in the hearts and deeds of Libbey graduates, it is another painful reminder that the building in which they and so many others spent much of their lives has been reduced to rubble, nothing more than
bricks ground to dust.
That does not diminish the strength of the many foundations Dunaway and Flores helped build. Their places in the wall are now empty, but they left thousands strong bricks to continue the long, fruitful construction.
Michael S. Miller is editor in chief of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Contact him at [email protected]
New Owens president marks first week on the job
Mike Bower started in Ohio, moved to Indiana, then hit Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Dakota.
He’s learned that windmill technicians are rare and valuable, that testifying before state House and Senate hearings is rewarding and that, sometimes, bodies of water expand instead of shrink.
But now he’s back in Ohio. And a homecoming, he has learned, is sweeter than charting new territories.
“Our youth, they’re always looking for something different,” he said. “It’s amazing after living in six states, you find out it’s just as good here in Ohio as it is anywhere else. But it takes moving from one state to another state to another over a period of time to find that out.”
The week of July 1 marked his first few days as president of Owens Community College. Bower has been busy meeting with faculty and department heads, chatting with students and getting accustomed to the area again. While it’s a little too early for concrete plans, he intends to begin his new appointment by keeping collaboration with area universities on his to-do list, along with continuing credit transfer programs and keeping in close contact with students.
Mary Ellen Mazey, president of Bowling Green State University, wrote in a statement that Bower brings a “breadth of experience to Owens.”
“He is certainly well known and respected in higher education. His business acumen and his dedication to student learning and success will serve him well,” she wrote. “There are many opportunities for collaboration between BGSU and Owens, and I look forward to working with Dr. Bower in the future.”
Hard act to follow
Bower is Owens Community College’s sixth president. Chosen from a pool of 300 applicants, Bower will fill the position left open by former president Larry McDougle who retired for health-related reasons in September. The college’s board of trustees announced a national search last year and Vice President of Finance and Administration John Satkowski served as interim president while the board and a search committee tracked down candidates.
McDougle, who served for about a year and a half, brought stability to the campus by attending state meetings with other community colleges, meeting students and making himself approachable to faculty and staff. He also managed to preside over a tight budget without making layoffs, said Dee Talmage, chair of the search committee.
“Larry McDougle is a hard act to follow; we loved him — we adored him,” Talmage said.
The search committee chose Bower for his experience in community colleges and business, his leadership capabilities and his high energy. His teaching experience at an Indiana University branch campus is a bonus, Talmage said, because he can empathize with teachers about how administrative decisions affect the classroom.
“He has the ability to network and is very warm and everyone feels like you can stop and chat with him,” she said. “He’s very open and honest and a very nice, pleasant person to be around.”
Along with the challenge of filling McDougle’s shoes, Bower must face the growing problem all institutions must tackle: shrinking budgets, Talmage said. Cuts in state funding have pushed the 2012 college budget to $97.06 million, down from $103.86 million in 2011, according to information provided by Owens’ spokesperson Brad Meyer.
Although Bower most recently comes from a state that ranks high in economic growth because of oil drilling, he said the tight budget is nothing new because Nebraska state legislatures were frugal. And, thanks to his passion for wind energy, Bower knows all about wrangling on the House and Senate floor.
Devils Lake legacy
Bower testified for four years to secure a $7.1 million wind turbine project at Lake Region State College (LRSC) in Devils Lake, N.D. The structure is a 1.6 megawatt, 385-foot-tall future power source for the campus that will also allow the college to sell energy credits, he said.
Bower also started the college’s wind farm technician program. The classes start simply by challenging students to make it to the top of the wind turbine. He said if they make it, the next step is to send them to the top with tools. If they can achieve that, they enroll in the program and come out with a skill that can earn them a starting salary of about $46,000 a year, he said.
He also initiated the creation of an Office of Institutional Research, led LRSC to a longer-term planning processes, expanded the nursing program by adding a simulation lab learning environment, added a student career adviser role and led the college through a Higher Learning Commission visit in 2011, which resulted in a 10-year continued accreditation status, according to an email from Erin Wood, director of marketing and communications for Lake Region State College.
Aside from academics, Bower kicked off some of the LRSC’s first sports teams. Volleyball, baseball, softball, basketball and golf were new additions under his lead.
Bower said he’s happy to be near Lake Erie, where he can continue fostering his hobby of fishing. But that’s not because Devils Lake didn’t have enough fish. In fact, the lake is expanding at a rate crippling to homeowners and farmers who live at its shore. The body of water has quadrupled in size over the past 17 years, rising by 27 feet and consuming 150,000 acres of land by flooding. The region’s climate became wetter starting in the ’90s and has yet to shift back. The lake has no outgoing streams to drain it, according to accuweather.com.
How he got here
Bower served in the U.S. military from 1971-74, worked at the Ford Motor Lincoln Mercury Division in Cincinnati until 1980 and moved on to Thomson Consumer Electronics in Chillicothe, Ohio, and Marion, Ind., until 1994. He taught technical program classes at Ivy Tech State College and management classes at Indiana University’s Kokomo campus through the ’90s. He served as associate dean, and later became dean of Academic Education & Training Programs at Central Community College in Columbus, Neb., until 2001, when he moved to Eau Claire, Wis., to become campus dean at Chippewa Valley Technical College.
He headed back to the Midwest in 2004 for Mott Community College, where he was the executive dean for extension campuses, continuing education and corporate services. His last appointment was in Devils Lake, N.D.
Before finishing his doctoral degree at the University of Nebraska, he had previously earned a Master of Business Administration from the department of business at Indiana Wesleyan University and a Bachelor of Science in industrial supervision at Indiana State University.
Bower, who grew up in Chillicothe, was accepted to The Ohio State University but didn’t have the money to go. He had secured a full ride to earn a two-year associates in applied science degree at Vincennes University in Indiana, so he decided to start there.
He said he can empathize with students concerned about affordable education. Semester tuition at Owens Community College ranges depending on number of credit hours, from $146 for one to $2,827.60 for 24 credit hours for in-state students. Out-of-state students pay $276.56 and $5,438.20, respectively.
“The most important degree I have was from a two-year school,” Bower said. “Why? Because I could afford it.”
Retirement Guys: Answers to top 10 pension questions
Mark and I have talked over the years about the importance of making a pension choice correctly the first time. In almost every pension, a retiree only gets to make the choice once. Once the choice is made it is final, no changes can be made. Yet, right now for nearly 42,000 GM retirees they are getting a chance to make a second choice, a pension “do over” if you will. GM retirees in the GM Salaried Retirement Program only have till July 20 to take advantage of this offer. So here is what those retirees and in fact anyone who may be eligible for a pension should know.
There is no one right choice for all retirees when it comes to picking a pension option. Everyone wants to give a retiree advice and I’m sure in most cases everyone is trying to help. Yet, it doesn’t matter what your poker buddies think, what you heard on TV that ALL retirees should do, what your brother in law who used to be an accountant said, or what the old boss thinks is best. You need to run your own numbers before a decision is made. So our first piece of advice is to slow down and get educated on what makes the most sense for you and your family after the numbers are run by an unbiased professional who specializes in retirement distribution planning.
Here are the basics on what needs to be considered on choosing a pension option:
- What is the age of the retiree? Assuming the retiree elects a lump sum rollover, different IRA rules apply to those younger than 59½ and those older than 70½.
- Are there other sources of income the family has and what are the monthly income needs, now and in the future? The lump sum pension gives the account owner a lot of flexibility to payments. But watch out: Spend too fast and the lump sum could run out.
- Are there other investment assets? In some cases it may be better to pull money from other accounts first and let the tax-deferred account continue to grow.
- How much income should be protected for a surviving spouse? Don’t forget about other potential losses of income like one of the Social Security incomes.
- What is the health of the retiree and his/her spouse? It is also important to take steps to protect the lump sum pension for a health care crisis.
- What are the family’s wishes to leave assets to children or others beyond the spouse? Most traditional pensions focus primarily on the retiree, with survivorship options, but can leave other wishes out.
- Does the retiree want more control over their retirement funds? If a monthly payout is selected, usually access to the lump sum is gone forever.
- What is the risk tolerance? The stock market can be risky and most fixed investment rates are at decade-level lows, so finding the right mix can be tricky if investing isn’t an area you are familiar with.
- What is the expected return on money? We recommend that conservative numbers be run, 3 percent to 6 percent.
- Who should manage the lump sum pension? To avoid a potential 20 percent tax trap you will need to rollover the money and open an IRA with a custodian. Then you will decide what to buy or hire an investment professional to help out.
Once a retiree takes a look at these top 10 pension questions, then the math can be run and a plan can be created to figure out if a lump sum pension or a monthly payout is the best choice. Making a pension decision is an extremely important choice in securing a long and happy retirement and often the choice isn’t as easy as it may seem. Take some time to get educated about how the various choices apply to your own family’s situation. It never hurts to get a second opinion. Don’t assume what everyone else is doing is right for you.
For more information about The Retirement Guys, tune in at 1 p.m. Saturdays on 1370 WSPD or visit www.retirementguysradio.com. Securities and Investment Advisory Services are offered through NEXT Financial Group Inc., member FINR/SIPC. NEXT Financial Group Inc. does not provide tax or legal advice. The Retirement Guys are not an affiliate of NEXT Financial Group. The office is at 1700 Woodlands Dr., Suite 100, Maumee OH, 43537. (419) 842-0550
