Your Expert Guide to Buying Safer Flooring

The good news is that industry is introducing a new standard for high-traction backing on consumer floor mats. So, if you buy them, look for "NFSI-Certified" on the label. This means the mat has been independently tested and found not to slide when you step on it. The most slip-resistant material remains rubber, by the way. But black rubber on vinyl can cause permanent stains, so the consumer needs to select products that are labeled by the manufacturer to be non-staining.

The main thing is to look for the labels, which are starting to appear in the United States and Canada. It doesn't cost you anything to be informed, and you can use your buying power to bring safer products to the market. Manufacturers will come around.

If you're installing new tile, or any type of flooring for that matter, it is important to select the right type of product for a given location. Just because a certain flooring material will work indoors does not mean it will be suitable for outdoor applications. Ceramic tile is a good example of this. Most ceramic tile is designed to perform within a narrow temperature range and if exposed to freezing temperatures will crack, break or become loose, thus leading to a potential slip or trip hazard. So, make sure to check that the tile you buy is intended for your use.

After that, one option is to shrink the size of the tiles and add more grout lines. That reduces the potentially slippery surface and increases the rough, higher-traction surface. Of course, it also raises another issue -- smaller tiles and more grout lines mean more maintenance. So, whatever size of tile you choose, look for greater slip resistance and a higher static coefficient of friction.

Most outdoor falls take place on un-level surfaces such as cobblestones or patio stones, because of holes or raised nails in wooden patio decks, and so on. The most common -- believe it or not -- are trips over parking stops like those used in retail shopping centers. Ice and snow are also a problem but most elderly people tend to either avoid going out under such conditions or take great effort in reducing their stride and walk more slowly as to reduce the risk of falling.

The commercial world of stores and businesses has more square footage and higher traffic, so it uses a lot of tile-type floors. Still, just like you do in your own home, business owners have to maintain the flooring, provide adequate lighting, and remove clutter and cords.

The thing that's different at home is that a dog might be around the corner. It is common for people to trip over their pets. Professionals in the assisted living industry recommend putting a bright colored pet sweater, vest or collar on pets to make them more recognizable, especially when they are sleeping on the floor. A collar bell or jingly pet tags can help to provide audible cues as to the location of a pet as well.

"Grid ceiling systems are commonly used in commercial buildings, schools, and other interior structures. Such ceiling systems are created by suspending a T-bar grid from the building's structural ceiling and filling the T-bar grid with ceiling tiles. The T-bar grid is made up of interconnected T-bars that form grid openings for the ceiling tiles, which, when dropped into the grid openings, are supported on the T-bars' bottom horizontal T-walls. The most common dimensions for the grid openings are the two foot by two foot and four foot by four foot for supporting similarly sized ceiling tiles, however, other grid opening dimensions are possible for accommodating different ceiling tile sizes, for example five foot by five China Porcelain tile. Ceiling tiles used in grid ceilings are typically acoustic tiles for enhancing the acoustical environment of the interior space below the grid ceiling.

"Customarily, luminaires are provided in the grid ceiling system for general illumination. Luminaires adapted for this use are called troffers, and are typically fluorescent luminaires having fluorescent light sources, however, other light sources, such as incandescent and HID lamps are sometimes used. Troffers are sized in correspondence with the grid openings of the T-bar grid and are mounted in selected grid openings instead of a ceiling tile. (The number and distribution of the troffers on the grid ceiling depend on the type of troffer used and the general lighting requirements of the space.) Parabolic troffers and lens troffers are currently the most common luminaires designed for T-bar grid mounting; however, other types of troffers are commercially available, for example, troffers with a secondary perforated reflector under the lamps.

"The physical dimensions of the lamps, lamp sockets, and optical components used in conventional troffers require that the troffer have a minimum height. While the height of commercially available troffers varies, most have a height of at least three inches. Thinner troffers have been designed for T-5 fluorescent lamps, which have a relatively small diameter, but the component dimensions of such troffers would still impose a lower limit on the height on the troffer. Generally, troffer heights less than about 11/2 inch would be difficult to achieve.

"The height of a troffer can have important implications in the shipment, installation, use, and ultimately the disposal of the troffers. For example, the height of the troffer determines its volume and the greater the volume the greater space and packaging material that will be needed to ship the troffers. The presence of the troffers in the grid ceiling must also be taken into account when determining the space required between the grid ceiling system and the building's overhead structural ceiling. The space between the top of the troffers and the structural ceiling has to be adequate to accommodate HVAC and fire alarm systems, sprinkler piping, and other utilities in the building. Use of conventional troffers, which have a depth that causes the troffers to protrude significantly above the grid ceiling, adds to this space requirement.

This added space requirement can be meaningful in terms of building construction costs. For example, a reduction of three inches in the requirement for the space above the grid ceiling will translate to three inches less in the requirement for the separation between the building's structural floors and structural ceilings. This can, in turn, result in less material required to construct the building due to a reduction in overall building height. Or it can possibly allow for an additional floor being added to a high rise building. For example, a three inch saving in the space above the grid ceiling will allow a floor to be added to a 40-story high rise building normally having a structural floor to structural floor dimension of 10 feet."

Stunning home offers ocean views from every room

Watch the waves crash against the rocky shore, view the seals basking in the sun or simply admire the sunrise over the vast horizon. With spectacular ocean views from every room the stunning architecturally designed home on Ocean Boulevard in income-tax-free Rye, NH is an amazing find. Just a short stroll from Wallis Sands beach, the pristine home has been expertly designed for the location and a contemporary luxurious oceanfront lifestyle.

Sitting high above the rocks on a large lush lot bordered by fragrant beach roses and stonewalls; the shingle-style home is a gem in the prized beachfront neighborhood. The private yard is pure perfection with verdant landscaping including a lush lawn, mature trees, blue stone walkways, a patio and an array of flowering plants that invite butterflies and birds.

The professional landscaping, weather-resistant exterior and fabulous architectural details of the home create a visual delight enhanced by the natural beauty of the seacoast.

The luxurious three-bedroom home has a sense of relaxed elegance. There are marvelous architectural details at every turn from the expansive full-length mahogany oceanfront-covered porch to a Carrara marble fireplace and red oak floors with Brazilian rosewood inlay, this gorgeous home is truly special.

Entering the large front foyers, a visitor is greeted by a striking bridal staircase with carved and tapered balusters. Straight ahead is a heart stopping view through to the ocean. The red oak floors gleam, the wide openings between rooms are accented by subtle custom moldings and there is an abundance of natural light. Formal columns provide visual definition, but allow for an open floor plan and incredible ocean views at every turn.

The expansive oceanfront living room and gracious dining room are superb for entertaining or everyday living. Multiple sets of French glass doors lead out to the full-length oceanfront covered mahogany porch, allowing for seamless indoor/outdoor living. Subtle architectural details accent the large space including a Carrara marble gas-log fireplace that is highlighted by a custom designed mantle and Brazilian rosewood inlay that adds a special touch to a beautiful hardwood floor.

The eat-in cook’s kitchen is a dream with cherry cabinets, gorgeous granite countertops, a center island, like-new stainless steel appliances including double wall ovens, built-in wine rack, large pantry, tumbled marble tile backsplash, ceramic tile floor and of course ocean views. There are double windows framing astonishing ocean views in the breakfast area. Add in a door directly out to the patio and barbeque area for easy casual dining and entertaining.

The first floor also features a handsome study that could also be converted to a first floor bedroom. A lovely full bath with attractive ceramic tile is conveniently next door.Heading up the remarkable staircase is a treat as the landing features another inlay accent and the numerous windows bathe the staircase in natural light. There is an open and bright landing area with a door that leads out to a balcony overlooking the lovely flower garden.

Upstairs are three bedrooms, each with a private balcony and offering ocean views. The first charming guest bedroom offers a cozy balcony and a large cedar closet. The second sunny guest room has a larger balcony and walk in closet. The two bedrooms share a luxurious large bath with a whirlpool tub, a separate water closet and linen closet.

The master bedroom suite is impressive with two sets of glass doors out to a mahogany balcony offering one of the most spectacular ocean views on the Seacoast. There are even “his & hers” walk-in closets. The master bath is an oasis of beauty and comfort with a double cherry wood vanity, whirlpool tub, separate shower, separate water closet and bidet. The room is immaculate and the palette of tile colors, woods and accents echo the natural tones of the beach and oceanfront.

The upstairs features extensive closet storage and a nice laundry room complete with a sink and folding area.There is also a fabulous freestanding carriage house with the neatest two-car garage imaginable, including a vinyl matt floor covering and built-in storage. Upstairs the carriage house offers a surprising professional office that would be perfect for the busy executive that requires private home office space. The professionally finished, flexible year-round space is heated and air-conditioned.

Recently built, the home offers an extensive list of high-end amenities including central air conditioning, high-efficient hydro-air heating, central vacuum, a security system, an irrigation system and a generator.

The city is set to witness the transformation of traditional games like goti and hopscotch into professional pursuits

Remember how as a young boy you thought that your trouser pocket was meant only to carry marbles. You stuffed it with them. You kept adding to your proud collection; those little glass spheres, some clear, others with different colours in them. How many times have you held the blue or red marble to the light to see the world look so different? Marbles were favourites.

The game was simple and could be played anywhere. Dig a small hole or draw a circle on the ground, choose the Floor tiles, and you were ready. There was a time when it was usual to see boys shooting marbles all over the neighbourhood.

Like so many aspects of childhood, playing marbles and other forms of amusement are rapidly becoming extinct. Fondness for old-fashioned, traditional games is not just about being nostalgic or foolishly sentimental. There are groups who have begun to show concern and have chalked out elaborate plans to revive the game. A professional goti tour is slated to begin with the Cochin Open Professional Tournament in Kochi sometime in August this year.

“The date has not been finalised. But it will be in August. We know that there are some serious players in Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha and Thrissur. In Kochi some of us are players. We hope to follow it up with a Travancore Royal Goti Challenge and the Malabar Classic Goti Tour this year itself. All these events will be professionally organised and managed,” says Sijin B.T., founder of Synergians, an NGO formed by a group of professionals engaged in various social responsibility activities.

Marbles is one of the world’s most popular street games. It is also known by other names such as goli and goti. “This is just a part of our initiative to revive and promote traditional sports. We have begun an effort to package a few such games such as goti, hopscotch and seven tiles. Now our prime focus is on redesigning goti as a professional game, seeing as it is considered a children’s game and even stigmatised in some societies.

More than preservation or revival of a traditional game, the Synergians embarked on this venture more as part of social commitment. “We believe that sport has the power to transform individuals. Sport is also a business and an employment opportunity but unfortunately in our country it remains, cricket being an exception, still an unexploited industry. We thought we should move away from established sports and provide a new platform. Instead of depending on government assistance, games that require very little investment, like goti for example, can be effectively promoted,” explains Jibu Gibson, joint-founder, Synergians.

Their first attempt was to revitalise hopscotch, a traditional game also known as vatu kali or akku kali. “Hopscotch is very popular worldwide. We know that celebrities such as Michelle Obama, Helen Mirren, Jennie Finch and others are hooked on to this game. Our version is called Hopzz, a blend of hope and hop. We have not attempted to promote it as a competitive sport but rather as an exercise regimen. It is supposed to be an effective cardiovascular exercise with properties of resistance exercise and is good to build leg muscles, offers flexibility and balance and helps develop coordination,” says Sijin.

Click on their website http://www.tilees.com/.

Septic cleaning company charged with dumping waste in yard

The owner of a sewage cleaning company has been charged with cleaning a man's septic tank and twice dumping the waste on his property.

Tom Vasiliou and A&B Sewer and Drain were charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with two counts of violation of the Water Quality Act, a third-degree felony.On Sept. 15 and Oct. 1, 2012, employees of A&B Sewer cleaned the septic tank of a resident at 7221 W. Rose Canyon Road and then dumped the sewage material they had just collected into an adjacent field owned by the same person, according to charging documents.

The property owner said Vasiliou asked for permission to dump the sludge and he agreed.But Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said Vasiliou, who has held a permit to haul and dispose liquid waste since 2002, should have known better.

The alleged illegal dumping was discovered because of an anonymous citizen who saw what was going on, took pictures and submitted them to the Salt Lake Valley Health Department.Gill praised the citizen and noted that he has a special interest in environmental cases. Gill specialized in environmental crimes when he worked as a prosecutor and his office has an Environmental Task Force.

It's not just the major oil spills that need prosecuting, but smaller acts of crimes against the environment, he said, adding that the public needs to be educated to prevent them from happening."It's really important to ask our citizens to be on the lookout for that," Gill said.

The public also needs to realize that the smaller acts of abuse against the environment aren't "your typical crime" but can have a long-lasting negative effect on the environment as much as a large oil spill, he said.Vasiliou said he traditionally took the grease from septic tank and sewer line cleanings to a local oil company and other parts to South Valley Sewer, according to charging documents.

 In the nineteenth century, New York City was full of Ceramic tile. You can see what that meant in this horrific image of a dead horse rotting in the street where kids were playing. But then there was a revolution that transformed New York into an experiment in urban trash planning.

Anthropologist Robin Nagle has just published a book about NY's sanitation history called Picking Up. She pored over decades of the city's records to piece together how exactly this filthy urban center was cleaned up. Below, you can see a late-nineteenth century sanitation worker in New York, sweeping up trash that would ordinarily have been left outside to decompose.

There was a police corruption scandal in the early 1890s that was so spectacular the Tammany political machine could not control the reaction. So they were kicked out of office in the mayoral elections of 1894. A guy named William Strong took over as mayor, and he swore to appoint people of integrity as his commissioners. For street cleaning, he first reached out to Teddy Roosevelt, who basically said, ‘What, are you nuts? Nobody should do that. That’s an impossible job. I’m not going to do that.’ So Roosevelt took over the police department, which was also in dire need of reform.

Mayor Strong reached out to a Civil War officer, a veteran and a self-titled “sanitary engineer” and a bit of a showman, named George Waring. He asked Waring to take over street cleaning, and they had a conversation that Waring later recounted to the press in which he said, “I’ll do it under one condition – you leave me alone. If you want to fire me, of course, that’s your right. But I will appoint and hire the people I feel are best for the job, not because they’re people you want to do favors for.

The mayor agreed and Waring immediately gave the department a hierarchical, military-type structure that is still in place today. This made people immediately responsible for very clearly defined tasks, like someone was assigned to sweep from this corner to that corner 10 blocks down, and they were going to do it inside these eight hours, and this cart was going to follow and the driver of the cart had these set hours. If there were any problems, the officer immediately in charge of that crew would have to answer for them, and then the officer above had to answer for the larger regional work.

Square’s expansion in Canada ‘beyond expectations’

If there’s anything Jack Dorsey has learned from bringing his mobile payment company Square Inc. to Canada roughly five months ago, it’s that most food trucks aren’t equipped with winter heaters.

When Mr. Dorsey first launched Square three years ago, the San Francisco-based company soon discovered many of the early adopters of its mobile credit card reader service were food trucks and other small outdoor businesses.

Since launching in Canada in October, Square has noticed the average size of a Canadian transaction using its service is $120, compared with an average of $70 after five months of operations in the U.S.

The discrepancy can likely be explained by the strong adoption of Square by brick-and-mortar retailers in Canada — Square’s technology is sold in Best Buy, Future Shop and Apple Store locations — where average transaction values are higher, compared with in the U.S., where there are more smaller transactions from individuals, thus dragging down the average.

While he waits for the weather to warm up, Mr. Dorsey said Square’s Canadian expansion — the first international market for the company — has gone “beyond expectations.”

“We’ve been really surprised and also impressed by the growth in the country,” Mr. Dorsey said in an interview with the Financial Post.

“When we first announced the company and when we first announced what we were doing, we found immediate resonance all over the United States, and we had a lot of interest from Canada. We’re happy that just really took root right away and we’re seeing an amazing velocity, and even more so than the U.S., and I think it really speaks to the power of local businesses.”

Regularly touted as one of the hottest startups in the technology industry, Square produces a small credit card reader that plugs into the headphone jack of a smartphone or a tablet, enabling even the smallest-scale business owners to accept credit card payments. The service offers free registration and Square takes a 2.75% fee from each transaction.

While Square officials declined to provide specific Canadian user numbers, its overall user base has grown from two million individuals and businesses in October to more than three million today, and Square is now processing US$10-billion in sales each year.

“We’ve always built the technology where we want something that works for the smallest customers — such as someone selling something on Craigslist or at a yard sale — all the way up to the largest organizations in the world, like Starbucks. It truly levels the playing field.”

Square’s technology supports Visa and MasterCard credit cards, however it does not support the chip and PIN technology employed by many of the credit cards and debit cards issued by Canadian banks and financial institutions.

Mr. Dorsey said Square is always looking to expand its offerings to incorporate services its customers want, but could not speak to any immediate plans to offer chip and PIN integration. “Our mindset and our philosophy is that we’re going to accept any form of payment that comes over the counter so that the merchant can always make the sale and buyer always gets what they want,” he said.

“There’s a lot of different payment devices in the world and they constantly evolve — sometimes in the right ways, sometimes in the wrong ways. But it’s a question of making sure we support where people are going to, and as we see more and more adoption of new technologies, such as chip and pin or chip and signature, we will build for that.”

While Square’s service is currently only available for devices running Apple’s iOS platform and Google’s Android software, Mr.A ridiculously low price on this All-Purpose indoortracking by Gordon. Dorsey didn’t rule out the possibility that the company might consider building a version of the service that works with BlackBerry 10, the new operating system from Canada’s smartphone maker, Research In Motion Ltd.A car parkingguidance is a mechanical device that multiplies parking capacity inside a parking lot., now known as BlackBerry.

That night, the defense had one of its best performances of the season in a convincing victory at Dartmouth. It allowed Quinnipiac to enter the postseason on a positive note. Rested and healed after an ECAC Hockey first-round bye, the Bobcats (24-5-5) are recharged for a best-of-3 quarterfinal round series with Cornell starting tonight at 7 (WQUN-1220.) All games are at High Point Solutions; Saturday’s game will be broadcast live by NESN.

In a season that’s brought enough firsts to fill a scrapbook, including the program’s first Cleary Cup, the opportunity to truly make history begins now. Quinnipiac,A smooth and lanyard not only looks bright and clean. which clinched its first NCAA berth since 2002, can wrap up the No. 1 overall seed and a spot in the East Regional in Providence,You've probably seen ultrasonicsensor at some point. R.I. this weekend.

“We were lucky enough to lock a playoff spot up pretty early,” senior captain Zack Currie said. “We had a lot of other stuff to play for along the way. But we’ve been looking forward to this a good amount of weeks now. For a lot of us, it’s our last kick at the can.”

Goaltender Eric Hartzell, a Hobey Baker Award candidate and shoo-in for the ECAC’s Ken Dryden Award, rightfully gets his share of attention. But Quinnipiac’s defensive core, led by Currie and fellow seniors Zach Davies, Loren Barron and Mike Dalhuisen, helped it finish the season as the nation’s stingiest at 1.59 goals-allowed per game. Junior Zach Tolkinen,We professionally produces and export all types of polishedtiles at low price. sophomore Danny Federico and freshman Alex Barron complete the unit. Defense wins championships. That core group will be tested in the postseason.

“Hartzell is the best player in our league and maybe one of the four best in college hockey,” Pecknold said. “But those guys do a nice job in front of him. They clear rebounds, they block shots, they puck up sticks. We don’t have a Bobby Orr type back there, but we’re seven deep. We play six, but all seven have contributed and been really good.”

While defense has always been Cornell’s calling card, the offense is peaking at the right time. The Big Red, behind senior forward Greg Miller, have scored four goals in six of the last eight games, all wins. That includes a two-game road sweep of Colgate in last weekend’s first round.

Rich Amalgams of Fascinating Personal Detritus

Alison Jacques Gallery is present ing Michael Bauer's inaugural exhibition at the gallery, a new series of oil paintings entitled Slow Future-H.S.O.P.-Opus. He employs an extraordinary range of mark-making in them - from heavy impasto to fine-brush doodles - layering diverse narrative clues as if engaged in some ardent form of reverse archaeology. In the middle of large canvases, Bauer builds rich amalgams of fascinating personal detritus, suspending tangled recollections of historical trivia, friends' anecdotes, forgotten bands, maligned painters' mistakes, and so on. All his paintings are fundamentally portraits, but they are portraits of memories.

Bauer loves titles - the more deliberately obscure and diverse the better - and this series is no exception. The 'slow' ofSlow Future refers to his pace in working, building layer upon layer, organically but never systematically, and because one of the things Bauer has always valued about painting is that it's slower than other media. H.S.O.P. is an acronym for the Hudson River School of painting - a 19th century fraternity of American landscape painters who hold no significance for Bauer other than the fact that they've become unfashionable and he likes the idea of "colonizing their memory". He fundamentally disagrees with the notion that painting itself has become obsolete and, by annexing a school devoted to it, seeks to re-emphasize that painting remains not only central to his future, but to the future. Opus is a typically self-deprecating Bauer addendum, a tongue-in-cheek nod to the fact that he doesn't see this or any other of his series as fitting into an ordered theory or composition.

Bauer usually adds some kind of coding system to his paintings' surfaces, alluding to a faux structure at each of their premises. These have recently taken the form of colour-coded punctuation, but in most of the paintings here the only graphic notations he uses are deliberate red herrings: Bauer has painted small flags in their corners, chosen not because of any personal geographic or historical relevance, but because they are from lesser-known nations that he didn't recognise and are often confused with more prominent countries. What's particularly appealing to Bauer is that any flag, known or unknown, carries so much invented history. So, in addition to these being framing devices or heraldic elements for each painting, he wants them to function as "traps of meaning" in the context of all the other clues in the works.

Investigating failings - both Bauer's own and those of other painters - is another central element of this exhibition. As an adolescent he copied the more expressive elements of "an awful Pointillist painter (his) dad collected" and returns to that here, relishing overused and flawed techniques from this and other artists, and, as he says, "focussing on their stupidities". Bauer has also brought more figurative elements into these new works, notably hands and feet, because he was never any good at rendering them as a young artist. Beyond revisiting failures, he uses his own unconscious acts in these works, often deliberately drawing with a brush "while (his) mind is somewhere else". He then invests time responding to these 'mistakes' in very particular, attentive ways. So, whilst Bauer isn't the slightest bit interested in rectifying them, the process of embracing and creating a kind of recycled beauty from the inappropriate and the rejected is absolutely central to his endeavours. Attempting to create resolved works would be disingenuous to Bauer's practice and to what he believes about painting, and one of the enduring fascinations in these works lies precisely in their remaining unfathomable. As Higgie puts it, 'A painting is not, and never has been, an explanation...it will always choose to hide as much as it reveals'.

“This exhibit began as an urge to share our studies in a spirit of community, encouraging relationships among artists working in a realist mode in New York,” wrote GCA student Anthony Baus in an email. “It is also seen as an opportunity to educate the general public, to give them insight into the working methods and practices of contemporary artists striving to acquire the foundation of a classical education.”

Founded by New York-based realist painter Jacob Collins, the Grand Central Academy of Art instructs students seeking a traditional art education. The academy models itself on the progressive methodology of historic ateliers. Each stage of drawing, painting, and sculpture fits into a larger curriculum built to give students the skills necessary to create classically inspired works.

“This exhibit began as an urge to share our studies in a spirit of community, encouraging relationships among artists working in a realist mode in New York,” wrote GCA student Anthony Baus in an email. “It is also seen as an opportunity to educate the general public, to give them insight into the working methods and practices of contemporary artists striving to acquire the foundation of a classical education.”

Founded by New York-based realist painter Jacob Collins, the Grand Central Academy of Art instructs students seeking a traditional art education. The academy models itself on the progressive methodology of historic ateliers. Each stage of drawing, painting, and sculpture fits into a larger curriculum built to give students the skills necessary to create classically inspired works.

Cruise industry braces for rough waters after Triumph

As weary passengers made their way home from the Carnival Triumph’s ill-fated cruise Friday, travel agents and industry analysts say they haven’t seen an immediate dip in bookings or prices. But if photos and videos of the squalid conditions on board percolate across social media, the impact could linger — and bring back memories of last January’s Concordia disaster, in which a Carnival-owned ship ran aground and capsized in Italy, killing 32.

“It’s still too early to tell” whether would-be cruisers will be turned off by the aftermath of an engine room fire on the Triumph, which had left the ship adrift in the Gulf of Mexico since Sunday, says Steve Loucks, spokesman for Travel Leaders Group, a network of independently owned and operated travel agencies in the U.S.

Loucks said his company hasn’t fielded any cruise cancellations over the past week and says cruise bookings so far this year are up nearly 10% over last year, when the Concordia accident “certainly had an impact.”

Since that disaster, “our agents have been fielding questions about what safety procedures the cruise lines have in place,” Loucks says. “After the Concordia, new safety measures were implemented, and we believe something similar will happen after the (National Transportation Safety Board) investigation. But the big difference here is that there was no loss of life.”

As for prices, “when rates in the Caribbean are already under $100 per person per night, it’s hard to see prices going much lower,” Loucks says.

Michael Driscoll, editor of the industry newsletter Cruise Week, said Carnival canceled a one-day sale this week and will be hit harder than other cruise lines by the Triumph story, in part because because its Carnival brand draws a high percentage of first-time cruisers.

Carnival also owns Costa Cruises, the company that operated the Concordia, as well as Princess Cruises, Holland America, Cunard and P&O. A third Carnival ship, the Splendor, lost power at sea in 2010 and was towed back to port under similar conditions to those on the Triumph.

Driscoll said Friday’s aftermath “hasn’t been as bad as some people in the industry had feared. We all expected to see a flood of photos and videos” documenting such indignities as exploding toilets and four-hour waits for food, but so far, the social media response has been fairly muted, he said.

Matthew Jacob, a cruise industry analyst with ITG Investment Research, noted that Carnival’s stock price “took a fairly sizable hit” following the Concordia disaster, dropping from $34.28 the day before the accident to under $30 but has since rebounded. But declining net yield, or revenue paid per passenger, led to discounts of 10% or more the following summer, noted Jacob.

The cruise industry “had to play catch-up, but heading into 2013, the outlook was pretty positive. Demand was healthy, and net yields were rebounding,” Jacob says.

Carnival shares fell 47 cents Friday to $36.88, or nearly 1.3%. For the week, shares are off nearly 6%. On Thursday, investment bank Goldman Sachs, citing Carnival’s guidance about the fallout from Triumph, lowered its 2013 outlook for the company, saying it would be hurt by lost income and bad public relations.

The Triumph accident, like the Concordia, coincides with “wave season,” a two- to three-month period when agents push summer cruises with advertising and special promotions and offer last-minute discounts geared to sun-starved Northerners.

“Cruise prices are extremely dynamic, so if bookings slow, they’ll respond,” added Jacob. “Social media could play a much bigger role this time, but the bottom line is that the protocols Carnival had in place seemed to work. It’s a different story than last year, when the issue was negligence and there was a loss of life.”

The cruise industry has grown exponentially in recent decades. In 1980 there were 1 million passengers worldwide. This year, projections put the number at 20 million. This week’s Triumph troubles raise questions about whether the industry has grown too big and too fast to be truly safe.

Cruise industry expert Andrew O. Coggins, Jr., doesn’t think so. One reason: Cruise ships are governed by International Maritime Organization regulations and not by the laws of the country in which they’re registered.

“(The industry) is strictly regulated. Ships are foreign-flagged because of labor and cost issues. But the safety certification comes from independent classification societies and that’s what enables ships to get insurance,” explained Coggins, a professor of management at Pace University’s Lubin School of Business in New York.

A number of high-profile ferry disasters brought even stricter regulations in the 1990s, such as the requirement that all ships install sprinkler systems — with no grandfather clause for older vessels – if they were to remain in service.

But other safety issues relate to the ever-growing size of new ships. When the 102,000-ton Carnival Triumph sailed into service in 1999, it was among the first ships too large to transit the Panama Canal. Now, ships are plying the oceans that are more than twice that size. Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas weighs in at 225,282 tons, for instance.

Driscoll said the biggest ships afloat also command the highest prices because of strong consumer demand. But “there’s always a question of how much bigger can they get?” said Coggins, and whether colossal size and safety are compatible when it comes to matters of crowd control in the event of a disaster.

As for the passengers of the Triumph, “They were lucky because the (sprinkler) system worked. It put out the fire. Engine room fires, especially those severe enough to require evacuating the engine room, usually result in loss of the ship. Had the system not worked the 4,000-plus people onboard would have been forced into lifeboats in less than optimal sea conditions.”

Another worry: “Passengers who disembark from the Carnival Triumph today are highly likely to get sick in the days ahead,” said Tony Abate, vice president of operations at AtmosAir Solutions in Fairfield, Ct.

“The biggest concern for these passengers is that they were trapped inside the ship for so long,” said Abate. “The inside of a cruise ship is a space that’s designed to have an air ventilation system to dilute contaminants, and that was knocked out.

In the past, some cruise ships have become floating incubators of illnesses such as norovirus “even when ventilation systems are functioning properly,” says Abate.

Meanwhile, reactions from Triumph passengers on whether they’d hit the high seas again were mixed.

Sharon Ward, of Bay City, Texas, was on her first cruise as part of a 45th high school reunion. She praised the Carnival crew and discounted other passengers’ horror stories with “there’s a lot of people you just can’t satisfy. Life happens.”

But Anna Ward, a Wichita, Kan., homemaker and student, said she “probably won’t” board another ship.

“How do I get on a cruise and not think that that is not going to happen,” she said. “I’d be on my guard the whole time. “

Now that the ship is safely in port, Carnival can begin working in earnest on damage control.

“This is the second (incident) in two years on Carnival. It isn’t something you want to get a reputation for,” said Ernest DelBuono, referring to the 2010 power loss on the Carnival Splendor. That cruise was nicknamed “Voyage of the Spammed” after its stranded passengers were reduced to eating Spam dropped off by a helicopter.

The crisis manager with Levick, a Washington, D.C., communications firm, said the cruise line needs to thoroughly evaluate operational systems on all its ships and provide fair compensation for passengers whose vacations were ruined.

“They need to be reassuring everyone that ‘We’re going to fix this,’ and if it does happen again, ‘Here’s what we’re going to do,’” he said.

Potential cruisers made skittish by this week’s relentless coverage of the Triumph’s woes may give greater scrutiny to individual lines before booking, DelBuono said. But overall, he doesn’t think the incident will have a long-lasting effect on the cruise industry.

Coming to terms with Tasmania’s forgotten war

Some dark secrets run so deep that they slip from view. The hole left in our collective conscience is gradually plugged, with shallow distractions and awkward half-truths. Questions, if uttered, pass unheard. An uneasy and enduring silence prevails.

This was the first and only properly declared war fought by the British on Australian soil. Initiated by Governor George Arthur on November 1 1828, it was waged against an enemy once dismissed as a meagre scattering of “savage crows”. But the first Tasmanians were an enemy so committed to driving the settlers from their ancestral lands that neither ad hoc massacres on a lawless frontier, nor the ravages of disease that swept ahead of muskets and poisoned flour seemed capable of quelling their determination.

As their numbers fell, Aboriginal resolve seemed to increase. They simply could not give up their land.

This is a story about the consequences of such resolve and the marks it has left on the history and identity of today’s Tasmanians.

I have spent nearly 30 years seeking solutions to the injustice that persists for the Aboriginal community in Tasmania. Attitudes in Tasmania remained unaffected by what seemed pyrrhic victories. The Aboriginal community remained alienated from contemporary Tasmanian society, which in turn resisted the facts of the bloody history that we shared.

These were not simple prejudices, they grew out of penetrating mythologies, rooted in the oldest and most profound of themes; cultures in collision and the inexorable triumph of power.

My thesis: that a hand guided by a thousand years of European history held every pen and wielded every musket used in the campaign against the First Tasmanians. While the nations of Tasmania had lived in splendid isolation on their island for millennia, the invaders had already survived an eternity of war.

The story of Tasmania’s war is not part of the state’s ever-changing tourist brand. It is the one truth that can never be uttered – the source of an ancestral curse. There is a terrible history lurking beneath the surface of the island’s placid lakes. It stalks the shadows of each rainforest glade and casts a disquieting hue across the lurid vistas of wilderness upon which our fame is built.

Tasmania’s history is one of shameless deception that outraged even the citizens of the day. When the war was won a veil was drawn and a chapter closed. Saint and sinner could join in sombre lament. With inevitable necessity the Native threat had been banished.

To live in Tasmania today is to exist in the eye of a quiet, relentless storm. The island, politically and aesthetically, is a quintessential green. It is a destination of choice for Australians seeking an escape from the clutter of urban life. The cleanest of air and mildest of climates bestows on its small population a gourmet life; where fine wine and culinary delights accompany a thriving culture of literary and visual arts. These reassure both visitor and resident alike that, of all the places in the world, this must be closest to heaven.

Within a year of the first European settlement the die had been cast and the fledgling colony took its first confused steps toward conflict with the Tasmanian Aboriginal nations whose land it was to over-run. On 3 May 1804, the British at Risdon Cove had their first encounter with a large group of Aborigines. According to Henry Reynolds, the group, which included women and children, was “probably on a hunting expedition”. Frightened soldiers (some say drunk) fired on them in the commanding officer’s absence. Estimates made at the time of the carnage ranged as high as 50 killed.

In the coming decades, as the number of livestock grew, settlers demanded more land; inevitably increasing the number of destructive encounters with Aboriginal tribes. This culminated in Governor George Arthur issuing a series of proclamations placing the colony under martial law and calling for Aborigines to be expelled by force from the settled districts “by whatever means a severe and inevitable necessity may dictate”. James Boyce argues that the popular interpretation and overall effect of these proclamations was to provide legal immunity and state sanction for the killing of Aborigines wherever they could be found. The resulting slaughter became known as the Black War.

The thought of an ethnic cleansing in Tasmania fatally challenges the notion of an “Australia fair”. This might be Tasmania’s darkest secret, but it is also the least-kept. Raphael Lemkin, the Jewish scholar who first coined the term “genocide” in 1943, referred to Tasmania as a textbook example. The subject remains a disputed one. Henry Reynolds has long held that the term should not be applied in Tasmania.

Yet, the tolerance of active killing, forced exile and permanent detention are all consequences of Tasmanian policies between 1828 and 1864. The last detention facility at Oyster Cove was only abandoned when its inhabitants, left to die in miserable conditions, had reduced to a single old woman. Benjamin Madley, from Yale University’s Genocide Studies Program, concluded an exhaustive 2008 study thus, “Tasmania under British rule was clearly a site of genocide”.

Despite voluminous colonial documents and a wealth of visual records from the time, the Black War remains absent from Australian national remembrance. There was no glorious victory, no legendary loss on a far-flung beach. While our national imagination has churned heroes from slaughter on the fields of France during the Great War, the first war that Australians ever fought entrenched Tasmanian Aborigines as the archetypal enemy within.

This stands in contrast to the long European experience of war, where enemy and ally are fluid identities, and where treaty and reparation are the established guideposts of national relations. In Tasmania the standing of Aboriginal nations was simply swept from the table with an unspoken agreement that it should be raised no more.

Tasmanian colonial artists struggled with the unseemly haste by which any further discussion of the Black War was ceased.

In the early 1830s, John Glover presented his audience with a fanciful memorial to mark the end of conflict. Warriors who, armed with long spears, waddies and firesticks, had slain settlers and burned their barns and crops to the ground just months before, danced and sang in the whimsical scenes he created. They seem cast as a grotesque footnote to colonial accomplishment.

Others artists such as Thomas Bock and John Skinner Prout continued this sentimental acknowledgement. Their portraits provide a unique visual record of the ancestors of today’s Aboriginal community who had died before the introduction of photography to the colony. But this visual record offers little clue to their experience of war.

It was an ageing engraver and minor painter named Benjamin Duterrau who stood alone in his desire to directly confront the seriousness of the Black War. Arriving in Hobart from London in 1832, just months after its end, he was quick to produce a series of engravings, reliefs and portraits on the subject. These characterised a cast of “noble savages” that he would use to play out the drama of Australia’s first epic history painting. The Conciliation embedded an enduring melancholy into the mythology of Tasmanian wilderness, depicting a scene in which a hollow treaty is struck between the governor’s agent, George Augustus Robinson, and the last resistance fighters to oppose British rule. Robinson had travelled with a small group of Aborigines, including a woman called Truganini, traversing the whole island on foot in an effort to contact each of the tribes remaining free on their country. His mission was to end the war and spread his Evangelical Christianity to the survivors.

Dutterau’s painting of The Conciliation presents a complex tableau. It reveals his passion for Raphael and a theme recently revisited by the French revolutionary painter Jean-Jacques David with his painting The Sabine Women, first exhibited in 1799.

Duterrau is known to have had an intense interest in Raphael’s School of Athens and his Cartoons. He utilised these references to invest various characters in the composition with gesture, emotion and passion – among these, incredulity and suspicion. Raphael also supplies allusion to the Apostles as founders of the Christian church. In this way Duterrau describes a tense scene where the war is brought to an end with pious authority. The Aborigines find themselves under a new jurisdiction and are saved from their own ignorance, as the Apostles had saved Jews and Gentiles two thousand years before.

Elements found in David establish a counterpoint in the composition, as the Aboriginal woman known as Truganini pleads with outstretched arms for her reluctant husband to accept the truce. This emblematic figure recalls a similar one in The Sabine Women where Hersilia, wife of the Roman leader, Romulus, also intervenes with an appeal for peace.

Duterrau was aware that Robinson had deceived the Aborigines and that the treaty was immediately discarded by the governor once he had the fighters under his control. The wisdom of Truganini’s husband was proven and their fate was sealed. These are scenes hung heavily with the European history of moral conflict. An origin for David’s figure can be traced to Satan, Sin and Death, an earlier painting by William Hogarth. This work was created as an illustration to Milton’s gothic masterpiece Paradise Lost, a biblical epic of the Fall of Man, the Temptation of Eve, and expulsion from the Garden of Eden. It is an archetypal gothic tale, with Satan the greatest tragic hero in English literature – mingling humanity with hubris and rebellion.

Milton’s epic had a huge influence on the development of gothic literature, running to at least 60 editions between Duterrau’s birth and his arrival in Hobart. Its influence is most notable in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, where the creature reads Paradise Lost and suffers at its revelations.

Duterrau brought Tasmania under the same dark veil. In this analysis, Robinson fits perfectly the role of a tragic hero, alone in the wilderness, miraculously surviving both the rugged landscape and the treacherous Natives. He wrote of his journeys as a terrifying ordeal of the soul requiring virtue, bravery and self-sacrifice. With all the necessary elements of a gothic tale, he challenges the tyrant of war and saves the maiden Truganini (with whom he was romantically linked) from faithless savagery.

In crafting Australia’s first historical epic painting, Duterrau underpinned the drama that had played out on the island of Tasmania as a reiteration of the eternal battle between good and evil, and the profound consequences of betrayal. That he should have chosen such a theme to explore, and drew upon the art of the French Revolution is no surprise. Duterrau’s family history was steeped in war. He was a Huguenot – a French Protestant. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Huguenots had been subject to missionaries, forced conversion, persecution, torture and massacre at the hands of French Catholics. When Louis XIV declared Protestantism illegal in 1685, tens of thousands of Huguenots fled to neighbouring Protestant countries, as their country was no longer their own.

For me, The Conciliation neatly weaves together the histories of French religious conflict and the Tasmanian colonial war against a backdrop of interminable bloodshed across Europe. My experience of the tangible artefacts of war that form the very fabric of monument and landscape in France make it clear that a mature society is one that lives with its past. An enduring legacy of war is to be reminded of past mistakes.

The Conciliation elaborates a theme that seems to have resonated powerfully for an artist of Duterrau’s background. That this might be so takes the events in Tasmania from being an inconsequential flurry on the edge of civilisation and places them among the mainstream of world events. It shifts the Aboriginal nations of Tasmania from anthropological curiosity to players on the world’s stage – with the same international rights to justice.

Catskill Creek

We have been traveling the Hudson River Art Trail, seeing the landscapes that so inspired the great American artists of the 19th Century. But ours have not been the journeys of art historians, but those of geologists. We are privileged to see what the artists could not; we can look into the distant past. Last time we visited Frederic Church’s Persian Revival house Olana and we saw the ice age history of that site. In this journey we visit what may have been Thomas Cole’s favorite scene: that is the view of Catskill Creek from Jefferson Heights just west of the Village of Catskill.

That location was just across Catskill Creek from Cole’s home. He frequently hiked there and composed views. In the foreground there was a great bend in the creek as it flowed by below. That was scenic enough, but in the distance it all got better. Out there was the Catskill Front, the fabled Wall of Manitou, lying on the western horizon. In a recess on that distant horizon, but still close enough to be seen, were the lower stretches of Kaaterskill Clove.

Cole seems to have done a dozen or so paintings at this location. Like any good artist he experimented. He tried out the scene at different times of the day and during different seasons of the year. His art can be called luminism; he liked to place the sun in the far distance and paint its light shining down and across the landscape. He could vary the sun’s color with the time of the day, saving deep reds and oranges for late afternoon. He returned to the site as the years went by and painted changes that had occurred there. Much to his dismay he saw a railroad line put in. He lamented the encroachment of industry on what had been a purely bucolic image. Landscape artists do not celebrate industrial development.

As the generations have passed since Cole’s time, a different sort of development came along: the forests returned. At least the trees did. They grew up and blocked Cole’s cherished view. When we first searched for it, we could not find it; it was hidden by the foliage. When the Art Trail was developed that posed a problem. The trail guide leads visitors to a nearby restaurant site, but you just cannot obtain a good view there. Thomas Cole’s grand scene seemed to have been lost to the very nature he painted so well.

But, very recently, that all changed. At the top of the hill, at Jefferson Heights, a new sidewalk was installed. You can walk it and look to the west and, especially during the winter, you can see Cole’s bend in the river, right in front of you, and in the distance, the Catskills are out there too. It’s not as clear a view as Cole had, but it’s pretty good. We were thrilled when we first found this. We were sharing a moment with Thomas Cole and the whole Hudson River School.

But we also saw this view as Cole couldn’t; we saw it about 15,000 years ago, at the close of the Ice Age. As geologists we get to pick exactly what times we go back to and visit. With our mind’s eyes we can witness those moments. And, for this journey, we picked a very good moment to visit. We wanted to see the Cole view as it was when the ice was melting. But we wanted to see that view on the day when the melting reached its all-time peak. There had to have been a day and an hour when a warming climate was melting an absolute maximum of ice. That was the very moment when more water was cascading down Catskill and Kaaterskill Creeks than ever had before or ever would again. The channels and valleys of these streams strained to contain the flow — and failed.

We stood upon the same Jefferson Heights site, but for us it was that exact moment, 15,000 years ago. Below us a vastness of water was pouring down the creek. It ignored the bend in the river as its flow rose and swelled up to overwhelm the whole valley. What we saw was a horizontal waterfall. The water presented a mixed image, contrasting its own gray brown colors with whitecap whites. This torrent swirled, and foamed, and thundered as it rushed by. The power of the flow was frightening; the sound was deafening. This was the full fury of Nature, displayed in a riotous image.

We looked up, all the way beyond to Kaaterskill Creek. Even in our mind’s eyes we could not travel that far. It must have been much worse out there, with a still greater flow of water coming down that steep canyon. We strained to see and were frustrated that we could not. We debated it and finally convinced ourselves that we were seeing a large rainbow rising above the mouth of Kaaterskill Clove. It was too distant to be sure. We were awed by all that we beheld and we fully understood that we were seeing history in the making. What we were watching was nothing less than the great rising crescendo of an ending Ice Age.

 Judging by its trailer, Stephen Poliakoff’s Dancing on the Edge harbours every emblem of the Jazz Age known to popular art. Elegantly dressed couples carouse in smoke-filled nightclubs to the racket of “Negro orchestras”; women in cloche hats and cylinder dresses pass sleekly by; great houses with retinues of servants fling open their doors to the party-going throng. Amid suggestions of violence, snobbery, intrigue and interracial mésalliance, the dance continues, grimly foreshadowing some of the embarrassments and tragedies that are waiting to unravel once the musicians have packed up and the guests have gone home.

Dancing on the Edge, which starts on BBC Two tonight (February 4), is testimony to the 21st-century’s fixation on the brief period between the end of the First World War and the onset of the second, when a proportion of the nation’s young people – a fairly small proportion, given the unemployment statistics – were allowed the money and the licence to let rip.

But what is it about the late 1920s and the early 1930s that so fascinates everyone from the social historian (see Juliet Gardiner’s monumental The Thirties) and the moviegoer to the cultural websites absorbed by the legend of the “It” girl? Why should the age of No?l Coward, Tallulah Bankhead and Evelyn Waugh’s Vile Bodies possess a resonance that other epochs struggle to acquire?

The answer lies in the odd combination of revolt, sophistication, self-consciousness and changing media styles that gives the age of jazz, shingled hair and the Charleston its distinctive flavour, while emphasising its curious resemblance to our own. Young people had gone around annoying their elders before – Teddy Boys had their ancestors in 1840s London – but in the era of the General Strike they contrived to magnify their dissatisfaction in a way that, to an older generation brought up on the certainties of Edwardian England, seemed downright sinister.

They were a “rebel army”, as the society columnist Patrick Balfour (the model for Waugh’s “Mr Gossip”) put it, whose brothers had died in Flanders, whose parents – here in a cultural landscape marked out by The Waste Land – were hopelessly out of date, and whose lives seemed overshadowed by the prospect of a second apocalypse: the final chapter of Vile Bodies, after all, takes place on “the biggest battlefield in the history of the world”.

Santa Susana situation has improved

After a leaking roof and inconsistent heating and cooling system became problematic late last year, teachers and staff are welcome to a newly-repaired Santa Susana Hall.

According to Ken Rosenthal, manager of construction services for CSUN’s facilities and planning department, the roof had been leaking, and the Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system had to be replaced on the fourth floor.

“The reality is, it’s one of those buildings where we are aware there have been multiple issues,” Rosenthal said.

Last fall, the Facilities and Planning Department undertook the task of addressing some of the worst problems in Santa Susana Hall on the south side of campus across from the Matador Bookstore complex.

The recent rainfall did not penetrate the new roof according to Herman Debose, sociology department chair, whose Santa Susana office was affected by severe water leaks last year.

Other offices on the third and fourth floors that had also once experienced indoor water damage have stayed dry.

Faculty on the fourth floor said they are enjoying their new HVAC system. Each office now has its own thermostat, so occupants can control the temperature more effectively.

The first, second and third floors, however, are still operating on the original, outdated HVAC system, Rosenthal said.

Debose added that thermostats in some offices control the temperature in others, and the inclement situation is compounded when staff members open doors in order to increase visability in the hallways.

“Most people don’t realize it’s all interconnected,” Rosenthal said. “They don’t have a dedicated unit for each office. It’s one big system.”

Another recent change in the building is the sudden removal of the venerable system of ivy that had been growing up both of the interior courtyards’ four floors for years.

Santa Susana Hall is designed with two courtyards connected by a section of hallway containing offices and the building’s elevator. The boundaries of each courtyard are made up by the offices, lined by walkways with a railing at the interior edge. The vines grew up the inside of each of these courtyards in the corners and around the railings.

Without the greenery, the balconies are more exposed, and the railings are left uncovered.

“It looks like a prison now,” said mathematics professor Mark Schilling, whose office is on the fourth floor.

Debose said he felt the removal of the vines would allow more light to get through into the building.

Senior manager of Physical Plant Management, Jason Wang, said the vines were posing problems.

The weight of the plants caused cracks to form in the old railings and provided refuge for vermin like rats or insects, Wang said. They determined it was safest to remove the vines rather than to let the situation continue.

Planned improvements include additional seating on the first floor, new railings that are up to current code and doors with larger windows to improve visibility and make the space more inviting. Wang added the project could proceed as early as this summer.

When complete, there will be 630 spaces between surface parking and a new parking garage, an enhanced bus staging area, I-15 BRT-branded shelters, next bus arrival signs, new landscaping, a photovoltaic system, electric vehicle charging stations, fuel-efficient and smart vehicle spaces, security cameras and modular bicycle parking facility.

Per a simulation video, the project will maximize open space, minimize heat island effect, have water efficient landscaping, optimum energy performance, include recycled and regional materials, increased ventilation in the garage, open views to increase passive security and 100 percent security camera coverage.

Frank Owsiany, a senior transportation engineer at SANDAG, said the station will include 630 parking spaces because it is a “huge hub,” with more demand expected after full BRT service comes. It will draw commuters from surrounding communities including Poway, Rancho Penasquitos and Mira Mesa.

The facility is near the shared border of Sabre Springs and Carmel Mountain Ranch.

According to Owsiany, the winning bid came in well below the original estimate of more than $19 million and is expected to be completed faster. This is because SANDAG went with a design-bid contract, a first for the agency. This has the same contractor designing and constructing the station. For other projects, a design-bid-build contract was used, so the designer and builder were two entities. This led to an additional bid time factored into projects and many consultations needed between design and construction teams, which led to increased costs and delays.

SANDAG officials met with more than 35 locals on Jan. 16 to explain the project and answer questions, said Tedi Jackson, a senior public affairs representative at SANDAG.

As for Rancho Bernardo Transit Station upgrades that began in August, those are expected to be complete by mid-March, Owsiany said. The $768,000 renovation includes adding bus bays, new shelters and new signage that indicates updated arrival times. The existing landscaped median is being reconfigured to accommodate an eight-bay bus staging area. Until work is completed, the north lot will remain closed and riders are using the 39-space Rodeway Inn parking lot at 16911 W. Bernardo Drive, about a 7-minute walk, in addition to the station’s southeast lot.

Location of Joe Paterno statue remains a mystery

In the months after Paterno’s death, the site along Porter Road had become a makeshift memorial for distraught students and alumni seeking closure. But the university feared the statue became a lightning rod when the Louis Freeh report implicated Paterno and other top Penn State officials in a cover-up of child sexual abuse. The acts were perpetrated by longtime Paterno assistant and now-convicted pedophile Jerry Sandusky.

And so Penn State workers armed with jackhammers and a forklift removed the controversial statue from the public eye as the sun rose on July 22, while much of State College slept. Since then, the questions about where the statue was taken haven’t stopped.

“I get asked about it all the time,” said Lou Prato, a Penn State historian and the former director of the Penn State All-Sports Museum. “I just get asked about it as if I’m supposed to know.”

But Prato doesn’t know. In fact, there may be only a handful of people who can say with certainty where the statue rests — and they aren’t talking.

“The scope of the crime is so horrible, so huge that any mention of the statue just awakens feelings,” Di Maria said. “It’s too sensitive an issue, too horrible of a crime. The feelings are still running very hard.”

“I have to put my art on the back-burner,” he continued. “This thing is all about the children, the victims. That’s the priority. That healing has to happen. I can deal with the loss of the statue.”

But the decorated sculptor, who was born in Sicily, still believes his work will resurface one day. “It may be a while, maybe 25 years down the road,” he said.

When the statue first disappeared into Beaver Stadium, many assumed it would resurface at the All-Sports Museum. But Prato doesn’t see that happening in the immediate future.

Perhaps the university is concerned about safety, he said. Before the statue came down, a plane owned by an Ohio advertising agency flew over State College with a banner demanding the statue’s removal. “That was a real threat,” Prato said. “It wasn’t a joke.”

Still, with no official word from the university a year after Paterno’s death, many are left to simply speculate.

“If they destroyed it, that would be stupid because the trials (for former Penn State President Graham Spanier and administrators Gary Schultz and Tim Curley) haven’t even taken place,” Prato said. “They sure as heck didn’t put it in a tractor-trailer and move it out of the area. It’s probably in some building on campus. And if not, some secretive place.”

Congratulations to Alexander Tsiaras for communicating the beauty and complexity of fetal development. But the message he delivers -- "it's a mystery, it's magic, it's divinity" -- is mistaken.

Just watching a fetus develop, though a vital first step, can't by itself tell us how development comes about. In fact relying on visual appearances, as Tsiaras does, can be misleading. For example, the video states that the sex of the fetus is not determined until after 12 weeks, when you can actually see the difference between the male and female genitals. Yet the fetus's sex is already determined at conception -- by whether or not it inherits the sex-determining gene SRY, which is located on the Y chromosome. This discovery has made possible the use of IVF technology to implant, say, only female embryos -- a life-saving procedure if a couple's male offspring are at risk of some genetic disorder.

In fact -- although you'd never guess it from the video -- a great deal is already known about the actual mechanisms of development. Many Nobel prizes have been awarded for discoveries in this field. Molecular geneticists have identified genes that guide development, as well as their mechanisms of action and their evolution from similar genes in simpler organisms. Experimental embryologists, by transplanting cells or tissues from one bodily location to another, or from one animal to another, have deduced organizational rules by which tissues form. Many of the chemical signals and hormones and receptors that execute these rules have been identified. And contrary to Tsiaras' assertion that development lies beyond the possible comprehension of mathematicians, theoreticians (starting with Alan Turing) have developed computational models to explain how complex biological patterns and structures are organized.

Tsiaras is right when he says that the fetus' movements play a positive role in its development. But when he shows the emerging baby as launching itself from the birth canal with a forceful kick of its legs -- and already having jettisoned its umbilical cord -- he's presenting outright fantasy as fact. It's as if he wants to make a fetus the conscious captain of its own destiny, which it's not. In fact, calling a one-cell embryo a "baby," as Tsiaras does, projects his notion of conscious personhood back to the very day of conception.

When we gaze at the wonders of the natural world, be they growing fetuses or the scenery of Yosemite Valley or the stars over our heads, we should indeed be filled with awe. How could all this amazing beauty and complexity come about? Tsiaras believes that divine guidance must be at work. He not only says so in words, he also reinforces this message by his choice of religious music to accompany the video.

Fetal development is not completely understood, but much is known, and the rest is knowable, and none of it requires divine action. Does it diminish our admiration of Yosemite to know how cyclical changes in Earth's orbit brought on ice ages and glaciers that then carved out those spectacular cliffs? Does it make the night sky less radiant to know how gravity draws clouds of gas and dust into spinning balls of matter hot and dense enough to ignite nuclear fires? On the contrary, understanding how they came about makes them even richer objects of our admiration.

There’s no comfort like this kind of love

Well, I finally did it. I didn’t think it would happen for a very long time, but I recently decided I’d lived alone for long enough, and was tired of coming home to an empty house. I didn’t know if I was ready for that big step just yet, not sure if I was ready for that kind of commitment, but there are just times when you have to take that big leap of faith, and hope it all works out.

I’ve had dogs all my life, and I’ve always been very thankful for that. My family was always fond of dogs and my father was a sort of “St. Francis” when it came to animals. He could approach any pet – even a stray – and it would sense something there and just walk right up to him. I always thought that was pretty cool. I am a lot like my father, though I don’t have that particular ability.

My father was always busy doing something and was rarely home. I don’t have many memories of him just sitting around and relaxing. Having a dog helped him with that. He always seemed very happy whenever he was spending time with the dog, and that works for me as well. I don’t relax easily, and rarely just sit and do nothing. But once in a while I will just sit down on the floor and love the dog up, and the world seems absolutely perfect in those moments.

Dogs help us with a lot of things; processing emotion being one of them. And perhaps it’s one of the most important abilities a dog has, to simply accept and comfort those that care for it. When I was a junior in high school and my mother unexpectedly died, it left a big hole in my life. My father and I were not close then, so being home without my mother there was difficult. Our family dog offered comfort and solace that my father, deep in his grief, could not.

In my 20s, when I was in the middle of building my career, I was abruptly told one day to gather my things and leave. I didn’t see it coming whatsoever and it was quite a shock. My family was young and I felt like I had let them down in huge way. My world seemed like it was crashing around me. Stunned, I went home and collapsed on the floor and sobbed uncontrollably with the dog in my arms for what felt like hours.

Many years later, finding myself separated after more than 20 years of marriage, friends and family were suddenly scarce. I spent an entire summer alone in a big, empty house, struggling to make sense of it all. I spent countless nights lying on the floor crying while hugging the dog, trying to figure out where things went wrong.

And now, a magnet on my fridge proclaims “When all else fails, hug the dog.” Funny how dogs can be such good therapy by just being there. They are such good listeners.

Dogs are also good at reminding you of things you might forget about. Being an enthusiastic and driven person, I have a tendency to obsess about a project and getting it done within a certain amount of time. This can drive other people mad, or at least push them to the point of frustration.

People have the tendency to nag at that time, but dogs never do. They simply walk into the room, push their nose under your elbow, and look at you sweetly while happily wagging their tail. Who can decline such a ridiculously friendly invitation? We are told to try and live in the “now” but dogs are always there. How wonderful they know to come and rescue us from ourselves.

And who has more fun than a dog? The way they enjoy life is something we should all try to emulate. Exploring with abandon, greeting strangers without prejudice, getting all excited about simple, silly things, enjoying a good belly rub. We should all be so happy with so little.

Dogs are pretty important. They have a sense of humor and know how to use it. When I get home at the end of the day, the amazing happy dance we do together is so much better than just coming home and saying “Honey, I’m home!” to a mirror in the hallway.

There is much wiggling, wagging and heavy leaning, as she knows that we are heading out for an adventure as soon as I can clip on her leash. I have to say, I can think of few things as wonderful as an unsolicited face lick or two from a very happy dog.

We don’t know each other that well just yet, but we are on our way. She is choosing favorite places to lay down in each room, while I sit nearby and take care of chores. I’m not in any one room for very long though, so sometimes she will just chill out and wait for me to park it. And each morning she lets me know when the mailman has offended us by trespassing on the porch to deposit the day’s mail.

It’s lovely. The house doesn’t seem so big and empty, and having someone to care for again is fulfilling and comforting. She’s a great roommate and doesn’t seem to mind me “hearsing and rehearsing” my lines for a show, or playing music after 11 pm, and loudly singing along.

And if I stay up until 2 a.m. reading Stephen King, there are no complaints. Sometimes I hear her softly snoring, even if the TV show I’m watching is a noisy one. I think it’s safe to say she’s pretty happy and relaxed here in her new home. I am very thankful that we found each other, and to have someone to say good night to from now on.

He didn’t do focus too much one thing, but Wade was everywhere. With only 15 points on 12 shots, he was efficient, defensively hounding, and smart with the ball. He was four blocks away from that most neato of feats, the 5×5. He played like a superstar going 80%, which is what we’ve come to expect from this whole team. Perhaps Wade is finding his niche as that free safety-type player (remember that hit on Collison last year in Indy?) where he just kind of controls things as he can. Maybe the athleticism is slipping, but right now he’s just doing everything in all ways, and it helped lead to some dominance in Oakland.

Esposito recalled for service to Norwalk

Former Mayor Frank Esposito, who served a record seven terms as the city's top elected official, was remembered Monday for his love and understanding of people, decades of public service and accomplishments, and fun-loving personality.

"Public service is not easy, and on the local level, it can be very difficult," said former Mayor Frank Zullo, one of two elected officials who delivered eulogies during Esposito's Mass of Christian Burial in St. Matthew's Church on Scribner Avenue.

City residents who support a mayor's decision don't have long memories, while those who oppose the decision never forget, Zullo said. He said mayors, unlike elected officials at the state and federal levels, are not insulated from their constituents, but must be prepared to justify their decisions to constituents "at every turn."

Still, Esposito won seven elections in a row, serving as mayor from 1987 to 2001, a record Zullo said he doubts anyone else will achieve.

State Rep. Lawrence Cafero Jr., who also delivered a eulogy, said Esposito had "incredible knowledge" of people and human nature, and knew how to bring people together and negotiate settlements. He noted Esposito was not a man of great wealth or lengthy formal education, but his "wealth and success was measured by how much he loved and how much he was loved by others, and, by that measure, Frank was the richest and most powerful man in the world."

The Rev. Walter Orlowski, pastor of St. Matthew's Church, said people always knew where Esposito stood on issues and many city residents remarked at Esposito's wake on Sunday that when they called his office and reached his secretary, Esposito always called back that afternoon. Orlowski said Esposito "understood his role in life: to serve God's people to the best of his ability."

Esposito's accomplishments as mayor included building a parking garage for rail commuters, raising the city's bond rating to the top AAA through sound financial management, leading the effort for a $50 million upgrade to Norwalk's sewage treatment plant and moving the Department of Public Work's garage from Matthews Park so a children's museum and playground could be built on that property, Zullo said.

Zullo said Esposito also designated a new site for the Norwalk Police Department, closed the city dump, which was near Interstate 95 and the last thing visitors saw of the city when entering or leaving it, and supported The Maritime Aquarium at a time when it wasn't that popular. "Frank saw the need for that center and supported it, and thank God because it's one of the rocks of South Norwalk," Zullo said.

"He knew how to work behind the scenes and across the aisle. Keep in mind he did all of this while still maintaining a very reasonable tax rate," Zullo said.

Esposito also had a fun-loving side, which Zullo and Cafero recalled in anecdotes that gave a glimpse into Esposito's sense of humor.

Cafero recalled going with Esposito to Hartford to ask then-Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. for more money for the city and that Weicker, whose idea of a state income tax had been opposed by Esposito, launched into a tirade filled with colorful language. "We could not get out of there quickly enough," Cafero said. "Just as we got out, Frank said, `I forgot my coat in his office,' and he sent me in to get it."

Zullo recalled a time when he and Esposito stood by a table of hors d'oeuvres during a function and a woman walked up and asked who they were. Esposito took both of her hands in his and introduced himself as Frank Zullo. The woman, Zullo said, replied that she had wanted to meet Zullo for a long time and believed that he was the best mayor the city ever had.

Zullo said Esposito, who served in the Korean War and on the city's Common Council and state's General Assembly, dedicated his adult life "to make Norwalk a better place for all of us and for future generations.

Zullo said a good man must die, but his death cannot erase his good name or memory. "All who knew him and worked for him are better for that experience," he said.

Esposito's 90-minute service included the hymns, and his coffin was brought out of the church to an organist's rendition of "My Way," which Cafero said was Esposito's favorite song.

"There's a little piece of each and every one of us that is missing today, and the shine of our beloved Norwalk has lost a little luster," Cafero said. "Rest in peace, my dear friend. We'll see you soon."

Penned under the watchful eye of Peter Schreyer , Kia's global chief of design, the Cadenza's broad shoulders, contoured hood, large wheels and wide stance give it a strong and grounded appearance.  The striking design has a distinctive sport-sedan form, as if the car would be equally comfortable on the Autobahn or carving through the Swiss Alps.

The aggressive "Tiger Nose" front fascia instantly speaks to Kia's brand identity.  Flanking the grille are quad headlights that nestle deeply behind crystalline lenses.  The lower fascia is wide, lending to the Cadenza's imposing stance, and chrome trim accents around the fog lights and grille add to the vehicle's premium presence.  LED positioning lights and available HID headlights provide additional European sophistication.

Perhaps best enjoyed in profile, the Cadenza's silhouette is at once strong and elegant.  The vertical nose is imposing; the long hood is sensuously sculpted to meet the swept-back windshield.  The greenhouse curves gracefully to the C-pillar and is surrounded by a tasteful chrome bezel that flares upward at the rear door, effectively creating a beautiful glass droplet. Beginning just aft of the front-door cutline is a chiseled indentation that sweeps upward, seamlessly transitioning into the tail lights. Classic chrome accents adorn the lower portions of the doors and the treatment continues into the rear fascia.  The 19-inch alloy wheels offered in the Technology Package resemble a jet turbine and add to the Cadenza's athletic stature.

Moving to the rear of the vehicle, the standard LED taillights sit high on the deck and are designed to cut across a large portion of the vehicle, lending to the Cadenza's broad stance.  The twin oval tail pipes accentuate the Cadenza's sporty and elegant design.

The interior of the Cadenza envelops its occupants in a premium environment complete with soft leather upholstery and tasteful accents of wood and chrome.  Ambient lighting and horizontally positioned switch gear radiates an uncluttered and sophisticated aesthetic.  An elegant analog clock centered between the center stack buttons lends a classic feel.  The center console is angled toward the driver for optimized control, and an available large seven-inch high-resolution TFT LCD screen in the gauge cluster showcases a wide range of vehicle information including turn-by-turn navigation and infotainment.  Elegant chrome bezels surround the HVAC and audio controls, air vents and the standard push-button start.  Standard Bluetooth, wood-trim door inserts, one-touch automatic up/down power front windows and power-folding heated outside mirrors with integrated turn signal indicators all enhance the Cadenza's premium image.

Archer facing big decision after KSU bowl

After spending 2011 on the sidelines, the dynamic but diminutive Archer earned first-team All-American honors as a kick returner despite the fact that no opponent has actually kicked to him since early to mid-October. He's been very good as a running back, slot guy and even a decoy, too, scoring 22 touchdowns for the season, at least one in 11 of Kent State's 13 games.

The NFL's underclass deadline for the 2013 draft is January 15, and Archer is going to be tempted by the chance to declare and get paid to play football from here on out.

When NFL teams brought in their scouts for December player evaluation meetings, Archer was discussed. By rule, teams are supposed to scout seniors only during the season. But anybody who turned on the Flashes' tape noticed Archer, and it's no secret that he'd be a prospect worth further study if he declares.

What they'll find -- and have to sort through -- is this: Archer is FAST. He's shifty, and he explodes out of his cuts. He can catch the ball, too, and the return game is something he's used to. The first test is always the eyeball test, and Archer might be generously listed at 5'8, 175. 

That's too small for any NFL mold, and fair or not it probably excludes Archer from having any chance at being selected on the draft's first two days. Archer has shown the ability to break molds -- and ankles -- and the eyes of the NFL will have to evaluate both how and how soon he can contribute at the NFL level. 

The questions they'll ask, either this winter or next, are along these lines: Can he take the type of pounding he'll take in the NFL? Can he protect the passer if he's a third-down back? What kind of system fits him best, from the aspect of learning the system to beating out who's currently on the roster to contributing on multiple special teams? NFL teams don't just want guys with special talents. They want guys who can make their teams better.

A role player in his first two years -- and a player who had just one Div. I scholarship offer coming out of high school -- he probably wasn't on any scout's radar until last October. He sat out last season due to an academic/administrative issues, and NFL teams will certainly look into that if he declares.

What they'll find is that Kent State had 48 players bring home a 3.0 grade-point average or better for the fall semester. Archer was one of them; he was one of 50 who did it last spring, too.

The bottom line on his impending NFL decision is that Archer isn't getting any bigger, and if he's a fourth to sixth-round pick in 2013 he'd probably be the same in 2014, too. The average NFL career isn't very long, and it can be shorter for smaller players whose success is based on speed and avoiding those big hits. Archer's eye-popping season has opened the door to an NFL career, and though his offensive coordinator is expected to be back at Kent State next year, his head coach is gone and most of his offensive line is going, too.

There are no guarantees in football on any level. Toledo's Eric Page -- a different player than Archer but a somewhat fair comparison based on his size and college accomplishments -- decided to go to the NFL last year, didn't get drafted, then got hurt after signing with the Broncos, then was released. He spent the fall going to school and rehabbing -- but not making NFL checks.

Governor Deval Patrick wasn’t the only one shaken by former Representative Barney Frank’s very public declaration on Friday that he’d like to serve as interim senator if John F. Kerry resigns to serve as secretary of state.

A former colleague, Representative Edward J. Markey, was rankled by the prospect, friends say, in part because of the inevitable poll that would gauge Frank’s popularity as senator. A high approval rating for Frank could overshadow Markey’s candidacy in the special election campaign that would be needed to fill the seat permanently.

In a statement today, Markey disputed feeling any discomfort over a Frank appointment, labeling the suggestion “completely false.”

Spokeswoman Giselle Barry said: “Representative Markey has full confidence that Governor Patrick will appoint the best person to represent Massachusetts before the Senate seat can be permanently filled.”

Frank and Markey share a history, as they say in life and politics, and it’s not just related to the fact that they started together the same day in 1973 in the Massachusetts Legislature, or then shared 27 years in the US House.

Frank, a Newton Democrat, declared again Friday that he would “absolutely not” be a candidate in the special election, even if Patrick awarded him the job on an interim basis. But he also was similarly Shermanesque about his desire to leave Congress, an opinion he has since changed.

Patrick’s preference Patrick has already said it is his preference to not appoint an interim senator who would also be a special election candidate, believing the same person can’t effectively serve in Congress while also running a statewide political campaign.

It’s one of the reasons the governor is unlikely to give the interim appointment to a sitting congressman, which many state Democrats think would actually give the party a running start in their effort to retain the seat in the special election.

So even as the Democratic Party has coalesced around Markey, Patrick has notably withheld his endorsement. The congressman has already lined up support from Kerry; Vicki Kennedy, the widow of Senator Edward M. Kennedy; and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the group charged with raising money for Democrats running for the Senate.

Yet by not appointing Markey, Patrick may actually be doing him a favor: leaving him free to run without having to give up his seat — or responsibilities — in Congress.

Vertical Turning Adds a Horizontal Ram

Most vertical turning lathes (VTLs) have a single, vertical ram that holds the cutting tool normal to the diameter of the workpiece. The “up and down” stroke of this ram represents the Z (transverse) axis. The “in and out” travel of the ram represents the X (in-feed) axis. This configuration enables the ram to reach the entire OD surface of a workpiece sitting upright on the rotating table. However, when a part has multiple diameters that vary greatly (forming deep waists or wide bulges), the vertical ram can be limited. It may need to use cutting tools in extended holders to reach certain features. Because these extra long tools tend to be less rigid, vibration can compromise accuracy and degrade surface finish.

A VTL with an additional horizontal ram helps overcome this limitation. The horizontal ram can reach past wide diameters to turn difficult-to-access surfaces. It is possible to keep the cutting tool short and stout. More importantly, the part doesn’t have to be moved to another machine to complete those features.

American Vulkan Corp. in Winter Haven, Florida, is one example of a manufacturer that has benefited from acquiring a VTL with both a vertical and a horizontal ram. The new VTL from You Ji is large enough to accommodate a family of steel components that exceeds the capacity of the shop’s other machines. This means that these parts don’t have to be farmed out to job shops in the area.

Because the new VTL has a horizontal ram in addition to the usual vertical ram, this machine can successfully turn surfaces between the wide flanges on the ends of each part. These parts can not only stay inside the shop, but also be completed in one setup. Avoiding multiple setups and refixturing enables this shop to reduce turnaround time on emergency repair work, hold tolerances to the thousandths of an inch and minimize processing time. In addition, the company retains complete control of its production scheduling, quality assurance and process know-how.

These benefits are critical to American Vulkan’s efforts to grow in new market areas. The company, a subsidiary of Vulkan Kupplungs und Getriebebau B. Hackforth GmbH & Co. KG in Herne, Germany, produces flexible couplings that connect diesel engines with devices such as generators, compressors, pumps and gearboxes.

Typical couplings produced by American Vulkan are relatively large—some are 60 to 70 inches in diameter and as much as 80 inches long. Each is a complex, precise assembly of steel and rubber parts. A rubber core, sandwiched within steel housing components, provides flexibility to compensate for radial and axial misalignments between the engine and the device it powers. At the same time, the rubber elements calm vibration, muffle noise and absorb variations in torque. American Vulkan’s parent company in Germany produces all of the rubber components because it has developed the proprietary processes for vulcanizing specially engineered grades of rubber and bonding them permanently to steel. The U.S. firm machines and assembles most of the additional components for couplings shipped to customers in North and South America.

Marine installations, typically on cruise ships, cargo vessels, and ships in the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard, are the most common applications for these couplings. However, the company is eager to pursue sales opportunities in industrial areas, such as power generation units in airports, hospitals, oil platforms and mining equipment. New coupling designs for these emerging markets often call for components with larger dimensions and different features than those found on previous designs.

This situation created a strong incentive for American Vulkan to seek additional capacity in large vertical turning machines. Prior to purchasing the You Ji VTL, the company’s machine tools were limited to workpieces about 20 inches high, says Thomas Lehner, vice president. However, the aforementioned family of steel components required drilling, reaming and tappping at a height of 30 to 40 inches above the chuck of a vertical lathe. Wide flanges at the tops and bottoms of these parts make turning a challenge as well. “We had to outsource those operations to outside machine shops,” Mr. Lehner says.

This contingency created a problem. “In Florida, we just don’t have lot of shops that can process large parts at high precision. The decision was made to bring everything in-house to be more secure when it comes to quality, cost, efficiency and the ability to produce the parts in a timely manner and meet deadlines,” he says.

The new parts in question consist of a series of spool-shaped configurations. The largest are about 40 inches tall with 40-inch diameter flanges on both ends. Accessing the narrower, column-like shaft of the spool between the flanges would require a long, horizontal reach inward from the vertical ram. Using toolholders with long extensions appeared to be the only possible way for the vertical ram to turn the surface with single-point indexable inserts. This proved difficult and produced a less-than-optimal surface finish.

“The long tooling extensions were unstable and produced a lot of vibration,” Mr. Lehner explains. It was obvious that the typical vertical ram on a VTL was inadequate. “If we could come in with a tool mounted on a horizontal ram, machining would be more rigid, and there would be a clean shot to the surface,” Mr. Lehner says.

American Vulkan’s machining facility is home to about a dozen CNC machine tools, including several Okuma horizontal and vertical lathes, a Mazak Integrex 50, a New Century VTL with a 56-inch chuck and a Quickmill VMC. A recent expansion has raised employment to around 50, including service technicians, product engineers and manufacturing staff. The company, Mr. Lehner says, is familiar with most VTL suppliers because it relies heavily on this type of machine for the many large, round workpieces it produces.

Vertical turning is inherently advantageous because it facilitates setup of heavy workpieces, which can be loaded from above and stand on-end in the chuck of the rotating table. Gravity favors this orientation. There is no need to support a workpiece with steady rests and tailstock. Of course, the chief advantage of a VTL is the wide swing for turning large diameters.

In the search for larger vertical turning capacity, the size range sought by American Vulkan narrowed the possibilities right away. However, none of the suppliers had a VTL that was equipped with a horizontal ram. Fortunately, Mr. Lehner had become acquainted with vertical machines from You Ji, a Taiwan-based builder represented by Absolute Machine Tools. In addition to You Ji, Absolute distributes a selection of CNC machines from Tongtai, Johnford and Ecoca.

At the 2008 International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS), initial discussions with Absolute about vertical turning from You Ji assured Mr. Lehner that this builder had solid engineering, machine design and construction experience in this field. Mr. Lehner was also pleased to learn that Absolute maintains a network of regional distributors, including one in Englewood, Florida, not far from Winter Haven. None of the other suppliers of machines in the shop’s size requirements offered this level of local support, he says.

However, the ultimate deciding factor was You Ji’s willingness to design and engineer a horizontal ram for incorporation on one of the builder’s larger VTL models. Adding a horizontal ram would create the first machine of its kind.

According to Mr. Lehner, the machine’s mass and rigidity are key contributors to machining accuracy. “Although the workpieces are very big, the allowable tolerance of the finished part is very small—in the thousandths of an inch,” he says. He reports that the machine routinely holds ± 0.001 inch on TIR, parallelism and angularity. It weighs more than 150,000 pounds and has a footprint measuring 23 by 29 feet. It is 26 feet high.

Rigidity and accuracy are reflected in results on the critical shaft surface of the large spools. For example, turning with the horizontal ram produces a 32-Ra surface smoothness to meet the specification for a ground finish. “Because the finish is achieved with turning on the You Ji, we do not need to do any grinding,” Mr. Lehner says. Special inserts with wiper geometry contribute to this success. That said, certain grinding operations can be performed with live tooling on either the vertical or horizontal ram. ID grinding of bores, for example, is common.

More important, however, is the ability to perform drilling, tapping and reaming operations following turning. As to be expected, many of the large components produced by American Vulkan include large bolt holes that require thread milling using circular interpolation as a CNC capability. Most thread forms must meet critical specifications such as those enforced by various certification programs for maritime, power generation and oilfield applications.

This multitasking capability, in combination with the presence of both vertical and horizontal rams, enables parts to be completed without refixturing. In addition to process flexibility, efficiency and quality benefits, multitasking reinforces American Vulkan’s reputation for customer service. A significant portion of the shop’s work is done on an emergency basis, and there is no time to move a large part from machine to machine or shop to shop. “If a tugboat is down or part of a cruise ship is out of commission, the customer says ‘I need it now. Tell me what to do.’ We put in some overtime and get the part repaired and out the door,” Mr. Lehner says.