Biodiversity and biogeography of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic mollusca
For many decades molluscan data have been critical to the establishment of the concept of a global-scale increase inspecies richness from the poles to the equator. Low polar diversity is key to this latitudinal cline in diversity. Here weinvestigate richness patterns in the two largest classes of molluscs at both local and regional scales throughout the SouthernOcean. We show that biodiversity is very patchy in the Southern Ocean (at the 1000-km scale) and test the validity ofhistorical biogeographic sub-regions and provinces. We used multivariate analysis of biodiversity patterns at species, genusand family levels to define richness hotspots within the Southern Ocean and transition areas. This process identified thefollowing distinct sub-regions in the Southern Ocean: Antarctic Peninsula, Weddell Sea, East Antarctic—Dronning MaudLand, East Antarctic—Enderby Land, East Antarctic—Wilkes Land, Ross Sea, and the independent Scotia arc and subAntarctic islands. Patterns of endemism were very different between the bivalves and gastropods. On the basis ofdistributional ranges and radiation centres of evolutionarily successful families and genera we define three biogeographicprovinces in the Southern Ocean: (1) the continental high Antarctic province excluding the Antarctic Peninsula, (2) theScotia Sea province including the Antarctic Peninsula, and (3) the sub Antarctic province comprising the islands in thevicinity of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.
Wheat quality down on last year’s level
The Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) has confirmed that the latest results from this year’s Cereals Quality Survey suggest the quality of wheat has dropped compared to last year.The latest Cereal Quality Survey results update is based on analysis of 25,000 wheat sample results. These show that there has been a fall in average GB Hagberg, protein content and specific weight. Average moisture content showed an increase, as anticipated following the July and August rainfall.The latest Hagberg estimates for 2007 show an average of 241 seconds in Great Britain, significantly below last year’s average of 294, but only 0.9% lower than the previous three-season average of 243 seconds.Nabim Group 1 wheat currently has an average moisture content of 14.5%, specific weight of 76.5 kg/hl, a Hagberg falling number of 250 seconds and protein content of 12.8%.
Press release: New government measures to update crematoria provisions
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Peter Van Oot named NEDA Volunteer of the Year
Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC,Attorney Peter D Van Oot of the law firm Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC has been named Volunteer of the Year for 2011 in the eleven northeast states by the Northeast Economic Development Association. The award will be presented at NEDA’s annual meeting on October 24 at the Sheraton Hotel in Burlington. ‘Pete Van Oot worked tirelessly to promote economic development in southern Vermont during his many years in Brattleboro,’ according to Jeff Lewis, executive director of the Brattleboro Economic Development Corporation. ‘His focus and leadership helped the organization create a dynamic strategy that addressed widespread economic decline in the region. Under his leadership BDCC developed a CEO council, a robust public policy activity, annual plan reviews, and led a transformation of board membership. BDCC now annually exceeds its goals for economic development and its own financial stability. Based on Pete’s work with the board, BDCC is now leading a regional strategy project looking to address long-term job and population loss, and the prospective loss of the region’s largest employer.’ For the past several years, Van Oot has been transitioning from Brattleboro to the firm’s Lebanon office, where he has recently worked with the Green Mountain Economic Development Corporation. ‘The GMEDC is the economic development engine for the east-central and Upper Valley regions of Vermont,’ explained Joan Goldstein, executive director. ‘Pete has brought that same deep level of commitment to his role on the board at GMEDC. Leadership of this type ought to be recognized, and I am pleased that NEDA saw it the same way we did.’ The Volunteer of the Year Award recognizes an individual who serves without pay to promote effective economic development. Criteria include service to community, region, and/or organization; demonstrated leadership, and long-term commitment. At DRM, where he is a director, Van Oot advises commercial clients, utilities and institutions on significant policy issues, permits and transactions that require a range of expertise in corporate, environmental and real estate law. He co-chairs the firms Regulated Entities Group. He has been selected by his peers for recognition in The Best Lawyers in America, is recognized among New England Superlawyers and earned the AV Preeminent Peer Rating from Martindale Hubbell for environmental law. He is also recognized in Chambers USA 2011: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Outside of his professional duties, Van Oot serves on the board of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce and GMEDC. He has served as president of the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation and is a former member of Vermont Governor James H. Douglas’ Jobs Cabinet and the Brownfields Advisory Committee to the Vermont Legislature. He is a member of the Vermont Community Foundation, has been chair of the United Way of Windham County and was a member of the board of World Learning, Inc. The Northeastern Economic Developers Association consists of over 500 professional economic developers, appointed and volunteer economic development officials, and others committed to sound economic development practice, in the eleven northeastern states and the District of Columbia. (Specifically, these states include Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.) NEDA provides professional development education, publishes information about best professional practices, and supports the pursuit of individual economic development education throughout the Northeast. Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC is a full-service law firm with more than 60 attorneys and six offices in Vermont, New Hampshire and New York. DRM provides legal services to local, national and international clients in practice areas that include bankruptcy and business restructuring, business law, captive insurance, energy and telecommunications, family law, health law, intellectual property, labor and employment, litigation, real estate and land use, environmental law, tax law and trusts and estates. The firm represents clients in legislative, regulatory and public affairs through the Government and Public Affairs group. DRM is the law firm member for Vermont of Lex Mundi, the world’s leading association of independent law firms.
LOMAS celebrates its 20th anniversary
Robins said the service also maintains a collection of reference materials on many facets of law office administration, from “how-to” guides and office manuals, to impartial evaluations of office equipment and computer software. The Future The Board of Governors recently approved an expansion of the LOMAS staff to include an additional practice management advisor. In January, Judith Equels joined the staff after a career as legal administrator with both large and small firms and as a private management consultant. Equels will focus her efforts on training law office support staff to reduce administrative errors which may lead to the filing of grievance or malpractice actions. “As an administrator and then as a private consultant, I would frequently encourage attorneys and administrators to contact the LOMAS program for help with practice management, office management, marketing, budgeting and personnel issues,” Equels said. “I was always surprised to discover how few Florida Bar members knew about this terrific member benefit service. It was like The Florida Bar’s best kept secret.” Well, the secret is now out and as LOMAS enters its third decade, Phelps said the office will continue to strive to adhere to its original concept of being “the ounce of prevention that prevents a costly pound of cure.” If you would like advice or assistance in the management of your law practice, call LOMAS at (850) 561-5616 or visit the LOMAS section of the Bar’s website. June 15, 2000 Regular News LOMAS celebrates its 20th anniversary To investigate, accumulate, and evaluate practice management information and technologies. LOMAS celebrates its 20th anniversary Mark D. Killian Associate Editor Providing a broad range of practice management information services to members of the Bar, the Law Office Management Assistance Service is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. “Many practicing lawyers lack the preparatory foundation needed to manage or market their law practices effectively,” said J.R. Phelps, LOMAS’ director since its inception. “For the most part, law schools do not teach practice management principles such as trust accounting compliance, docket control, prevention of client conflict of interest, malpractice-avoidance principles, cost-effective marketing and the integration of high-tech equipment into the law practice, all of which serve to reduce malpractice incidences through sound business procedures.” Phelps said LOMAS exists to provide Florida attorneys with those types of assistance. “In a time when information is overwhelming, LOMAS provides probably the highest quality filter to information for Florida lawyers on practice management in the country,” said Charlie Robinson, who sat on the committee which created the LOMAS concept. Robinson said the 14 or so other states which now have practice management programs “look at Florida and J.R. as the granddaddy of the whole concept.” LOMAS fields more than 10,000 calls from Bar members each year on topics such as establishing and maintaining a conflict-of-interest system; maintaining a trust account; effective client communication techniques; effective docket control and calendaring procedures; as well as basic information on how to establish and operate a solo practice. In the Beginning The late Sam Smith, former president of the Bar, in a speech to the Board of Governors in 1978, opined that the Bar should offer “an ounce of prevention that potentially prevents this costly pound of cure,” according to Walter S. Crumbley, chair of the LOMAS Advisory Board. “His comment came during consideration of the 1978 budget when the Bar was considering a request for additional prosecutors for the disciplinary arm of The Florida Bar,” Crumbley said. “Out of this comment and later committee work came the idea to create a membership fees-supported service dedicated to educating the membership on how to run a practice in an economical and professional manner that, hopefully, would slow down the personnel growth within the grievance department.” Tampa’s L. David Shear, president of the Bar in 1979, said LOMAS’ creation was one the proudest moments of his administration. “I had a vision that this program would really benefit lawyers, their practices and the system,” Shear said. “We needed to find some way to assist the practitioner, particularly in the solo and small firms, who did not have a lot of support in terms of operating a practice or running their offices.” Shear praised Phelps’ leadership for providing LOMAS with the “consistency and continuity that probably assisted in making it the permanent fixture it is today.” Robinson, who chaired the committee which recommended Phelps be hired to run the program, agreed. Robinson said Phelps stood out from the rest of the candidiates because of his strong background in management and law firm administration. “His particular emphasis in developing firm policies and procedures is what J.R. is known for,” said Robinson, a former chair of the ABA Law Practice Management Section. LOMAS began operations in 1980 with a focus on conducting educational programs and on-site law office consultations. In the early years, LOMAS produced a significant number of CLE-type programs with paid registrations, in addition to some vendor sponsored technology programs. “Over time, when everyone seemed to agree that the on-site consultations were very valuable to the individual members involved, it was acknowledged that with just one employee — at that time — the Bar was trying to move a mountain with a spoon,” Crumbley said. “At that junction the LOMAS board directed that more focus be placed upon producing programs and less emphasis on on-site consulting.” At the request of Bar sections, LOMAS stopped producing independent CLE programming but made itself available to assist the sections. Crumbley said LOMAS’ priorities also were further directed to favor speaking and teaching engagements and then the production of saleable materials over on-site consulting. Phelps said LOMAS now promotes effective management techniques for both lawyer and support staff in a manner flexible enough to respond to the immediate demands of today’s ever-changing law office environment. “A huge amount of information is shared through telephone conversations, requested items from the Law Office Management reference library, publication of news articles, speeches to local bar associations, training seminars and on-site consultations,” said RJon Robins, an attorney and LOMAS practice management advisor since 1998. “LOMAS also has been asked to take a more active role in the Bar’s grievance process by rehabilitating attorneys experiencing law office management-related problems.” Robins said LOMAS has developed a number of special preventative programs aimed at attorneys whose practices place them in a high-risk group for grievances. Over the Years Phelps said over the years LOMAS’ practice management advice has changed to keep up with the times. “In the 1980s and early ’90s, a tremendous amount of time was spent just teaching basic accounting skills to both lawyers and staff,” Phelps said. “In the pre-personal computer days all accounting was done by hand. Getting bills produced in a timely manner was like pulling teeth.” Today most firms use fully integrated financial software that greatly simplifies the accounting and billing process. “However, as much as things change they also stay the same,” Phelps said. “We still spend time teaching lawyers how to increase revenues and interpret and understand the financial reports their computers generate.” Phelps said trust accounting compliance is the area of practice management that has seen the greatest improvement in the past 20 years. While manual bookkeeping errors were common before computerization, today’s technology makes the process far easier and less problematic. However, Phelps said, that’s only half the battle. “We still struggle to get partners involved in the review and reconciliation process,” Phelps said. “To some degree, I’d like to believe the improved compliance we see with all the Bar rules in Chapter 5 come from the hundreds of lectures LOMAS has conducted on the subject, along with the thousands of `How to Maintain a Trustworthy Trust Account’ videotapes now on the shelves of bookkeeping departments around the state.” Phelps also said he has seen significant changes in firm management. He said partner security and cohesiveness is a thing of the past, and firm breakups, group departures and individual defections are now commonplace. “Twenty years ago, a partner was a partner for life,” Phelps said. “Today — with various levels of partnership, equity, non-equity partnerships, LLCs, LLPs, lateral-hire partners — the bond that held everyone together is crumbling.” Robins said LOMAS’ goals all involve the principal objective of assisting attorneys in bettering their law practices, including: To anticipate trends and problems in law office management and to advise the Bar leadership. To publish and distribute information and techniques relating to practice management. To increase awareness of professional liability and risk management procedures. 
Board of Governors to meet in Tallahassee
The continuation of the Bar’s Dignity in Law Program, ethical issues, and legislative matters are expected to occupy the Bar Board of Governors when it meets in Tallahassee January 31.When the Dignity in Law program was launched last year, it was approved for only one year, although it was conceived as a three-year project. As part of the Bar’s 2003-04 budget process, Bar President Tod Aronovitz has appointed a special committee to review the program and make recommendations.“I envision having committee members interview any key players in the Dignity in Law program, review the budgetary impact of the program for this year and beyond, and study any performance measurement completed to date,” committee Chair Jesse Diner wrote to committee members.Other members of the panel are board members James Lupino, David Rothman, Robert Rush, and Jennifer Coberly.The program, managed by rbb Public Relations of Coral Gables, is expected to cost about $750,000 this year, although much of that has been offset by voluntary contributions, and a similar amount next year.The board is scheduled to review and initially approve the entire 2003-04 budget when it meets again early in April.Legislatively, the board expects to get numerous requests from sections for lobbying activities. Sections frequently set their legislative positions during the Midyear Meeting, which runs January 15-17.Under Bar policies, sections are given great latitude in deciding issues they wish to lobby, with the board reviewing those positions to ensure they do not conflict with Bar positions or cause deep divisions among Bar membership. Sections are allowed to take positions opposing each other.On ethical matters, the board will review two Professional Ethics Committee actions.On one, the PEC upheld a staff opinion saying an attorney could not charge a contingency fee for determining the division of a military pension. Normally that would have been determined as part of the divorce — where contingency fees cannot be charged — but in this case the divorce was done in a German court which did not have jurisdiction over the pension.The PEC agreed that a contingency fee would not be allowed under Bar Rule 4-1.5(f)(3)(A).The second case involves an attorney who represented a condominium homeowners association and perhaps some individual unit owners against a developer for construction defects. The attorney now wants to defend the association in individual suits brought by unit owners over the same defects. Bar staff initially said that could be a conflict if the attorney had represented the individual owners as part of the earlier suit, and the PEC agree. But the attorney has since submitted a court ruling, saying there is no conflict, which may make the issue moot.Several rules will come to the board for final approval (see the official notice in this News. ) Those include a rule clarifying how reasonable costs are determined and provides a safe harbor for costs, and a rule broadening the Bar’s rule that generally prohibits attorneys having sex with clients.On other matters, the board is expected to get a report from its Technology Task Force updating work on a proposed Bar Internet portal, which would offer members many free services including legal research. The Program Evaluation Committee also will report on several programs it is reviewing, including the Bar’s professionalism efforts.The board also will appoint two lawyers for three-year terms to The Florida Bar Foundation Board of Directors.The day before the board meets, board members will attend the Supreme Court’s annual pro bono awards ceremony at the court. Board of Governors to meet in Tallahassee January 15, 2003 Regular News
Board of Governors to meet in Tallahassee
What your credit union can learn from Google’s 2018 consumer insights
Google publishes what they’d like to think is a “one-stop shop for consumer trends, marketing insights and industry research. They call it Think with Google, and in 2018 they published a number of consumer habits that should have a dramatic impact on the banking industry. Here’s five key ways these consumer insights should impact your credit union in 2019…Google Consumer Insight #1: ‘People are always shopping’According to the most recent insights “84% of Americans are shopping for something at any given time, in up to six different categories.”This is a remarkable statistic and one that must inform how credit unions operate. We know that the buying journey for banking products and services is typically greater than three weeks, so what this means is that FIs need to provide useful information along the way for consumers and don’t just bank on advertisements to drive quick conversions.Further “nearly 9 out of 10 shoppers are not absolutely certain of the brand they want to buy when they begin looking for information online via their smartphones” which means they are likely open to considering new options, if found along the way during their research phase. This is exactly what Inbound and Content Marketing provides! Helpful content that nurtures a person as they are moving through the consideration phase of shopping.Google Consumer Insight #2: ‘They’re searching with natural language’When people are searching there are using phrases like ‘do I need’ within the content they are looking for. For example, ‘how much money do I need to put down when buying a home?’ could be a search phrase relevant to FIs.It’s important that CUs use this insight to inform the content on the institution’s company website. Find the keywords that best highlight your product or service areas you’d like to target for growth and then create content around those topics that works in natural language search. We also recommend optimizing your locations for local search and including schema for better voice search results when users are searching with Siri, Google Home, Amazon Echo, etc.Google Consumer Insight #3: ‘They want things nearby and now’This insight ties in directly to the last point about optimizing your website for local search. One of the main differences between local credit unions and larger national bank chains is the local touch. Regional financial institutions tend to have good local branch penetration in areas of service and deep connections within nearby neighborhoods and communities.Use this to your advantage by including content on your website that is well-position for ‘near me’ or ‘open now’ searches, which are increasing by leaps and bounds. With mobile searches that include ‘open + now’ growing 200% in the last year, there’s a ton of space for your local FI to gain traction online.Google Consumer Insight #4: ‘More research = fewer regrets’Again, here we are right back at the Inbound Methodology… and even Google confirms that conducting research is a new and growing phase of consumer behavior. This is where your credit union can shine! Include helpful content that isn’t overly salesy on your website and social media channels. People are ready and willing to learn as much as they can about new products before they make a final purchase decisions. This is especially true for complicated items like financial products and services. So make sure your content is in the mix.Google has also shown through past research that the average banking customer consults 8.9 sources of information before making a new account or product decision. It’s essential that your FI is creating content that will serve as one of these sources of information, or you will quickly be losing market share.Google Consumer Insight #5: ‘Voice-activated-speaker owners welcome brands’With research done from 1500 people who own Google Home or Amazon Echo, Think with Google has determined that these consumers “are open to receiving information that is helpful and relevant to their lifestyle. In fact, one respondent said the ability to purchase things made it feel more like an actual assistant.”What this means for financial institutions is that there is space in voice search for educational resources around making sound financial decisions. You can tailor this content to a specific demographic, or perhaps try to target parents and baby boomers, as these are two populations Google is seeing make huge investments in voice-activated assistants.To learn more visit the FI GROW website or blog and let’s help your financial institution grow 1SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr,Meredith Olmstead Meredith Olmstead is the CEO and Founder of FI GROW Solutions, which provides Digital Marketing & Sales services to Community Financial Institutions. With experience working with FIs in markets of … Web: www.figrow.com Details
How have CUs’ credit card practices changed?
The CFPB is beginning to collect information that will be included in its biennial report on the state of the credit card market. NAFCU is seeking credit unions’ comments on how their practices with regard to credit cards might have changed in the past two years.The bureau is required to review the state of the credit card market by the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD Act). NAFCU, in a Regulatory Alert sent to member credit unions Wednesday, notes that the bureau’s request for information (RFI) seeks commentary including, but not limited to, a review of:the terms of credit card agreements and the practices of credit card issuers;the effectiveness of disclosures of terms, fees, and other expenses of credit card plans; continue reading » ShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr
3 ways to cut back on your food budget
If you’re spending too much money on food, the easy remedy is to eat out less. If you’ve already done that, then you may be looking for ways to cut back on your grocery bill. If you’re having trouble figuring out how to spend less at the grocery store, here are a few things to think about…Only buy food: It can really be convenient to get all your shopping done at one place, and if you’re buying groceries at Walmart or Target, you might be on to something. But if you’re using your local grocery store as the place you always buy things like shampoo or deodorant, you may be throwing money away. Even though you may have to make an extra trip, you can save money by getting those non-food items somewhere else.Don’t shop so often: Every time you go to the grocery store, it can be tempting to grab an extra item or two that isn’t on your shopping list. If you’re shopping once or twice a week, those extra purchases can add up quick. Try to do your grocery shopping no more than once a week, make a list, and stick to it.Pay attention to unit prices: If you buy a 24 pack of Dasani bottled water each week, check out that 36 pack. You may not think you have room for it, but buying those extra 12 bottles could save you a good bit of money when you look at the unit price. But, unlike shopping at bulk stores like Costco, you can’t always count on the higher count items being cheaper at your local grocery store. My local grocer often has a certain brand of sliced cheese on sale, but only the 12 slice packs. When on sale, I can get two 12 slice packs for .75 to 1.00 less than the price of one 24 slice pack. Pay attention to what’s on sale and check those unit prices. 307SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr,John Pettit John Pettit is the Managing Editor for CUInsight.com. John manages the content on the site, including current news, editorial, press releases, jobs and events. He keeps the credit union … Web: www.cuinsight.com Details
Park life
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