Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Posted on May 17, 2012 11:04:55 PM
Editor’s note: CNN conditions expert Dr. Otis Webb Brawley is the chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, a world-renowned cancer expert and a practicing oncologist. He is also the author of the book, “How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Ranks About Being Sick in America.”
A: The U,S. Preventive Services Task Force is a group of medical experts who assess the scientific literature on an issue, such as ovarian cancer screening, before making a recommendation. They do influence how doctors practice medicine.
The statement recommends against routine ovarian cancer screening because they find the evidence of harm associated with screening is greater than the evidence of benefit.
Unfortunately we do not have a good screening test for ovarian cancer, the fifth leading cause of cancer death in women. We need something as effective for ovarian cancer screening as pap smears are for cervix cancer screening.
It is a surprise to many that a screening test could be considered more harmful than helpful. The problem is routine ovarian cancer screening starts a cavalcade of medical procedures associated with harms that are greater than the ultimate benefits. Importantly, it is not that there is no benefit to ovarian cancer screening. The problem is there is not a “net benefit.”
The blood test CA 125 is elevated in about half of women who are known to have ovarian cancer. If effectively treated by surgery or chemotherapy, the CA 125 level in the blood goes down. It has been used for nearly three decades to follow progress in treatment.
This test was suggested for screening in the late 1980s. Screening is doing a test in asymptomatic patients who are not suspected of having the disease but are at risk because of age and gender. Very early on, many thought CA 125 would not work well as a screening test.
A teacher gave me this example more than 20 years ago and it still holds. It is dense in numbers, but I think it is followable. It illustrates how a public health physician thinks of a screening test and the trouble with CA 125.
A group of investigators tested the CA 125 blood test for screening in a group of 915 women average age 55, and a total of 36 or 3.9% were abnormal (a level greater than 35 U/ml). These women were evaluated for ovarian cancer and followed. Ultimately none had ovarian cancer.
What if one was to screen 100,000 women? That means 3.9% of the 100,000 or 3,900 women will have false positive findings. Using U.S. cancer incidence data, 13 women in the 100,000 would have ovarian cancer in a given year.
Given that most of the 13 women will be diagnosed with incurable advanced ovarian cancer, a fair assumption is six of the 3,900 will be diagnosed with a potentially curable ovarian cancer.
Given that CA 125 is positive in half of ovarian cancer patients, one would reasonably estimate that three of the six women with curable disease would be identified. That is three potential cures in the more than 3,900 women screened.
Of the 100,000 women, we expect 148 will die of cancer and nine of the 148 will be die because of ovarian cancer within a year of the screen.
That might sound worthwhile at face value, but lets look at the harms of screening. Most of the 3,900 women will get further testing. This consists mostly of ultrasounds and CAT scans. Several hundred will need to get laparoscopy or more invasive abdominal surgery for evaluation.
This is the area of greatest concern. One survey shows 14% of women over the age of 65 have complications after abdominal surgery. Surgical complications cause death in 1% to 2% of women over 65 and one-half of 1% of women over 50, Several hundred women will get abdominal surgery.
When done as a routine test it is quite easy to see that ovarian cancer screening could actually cause the death of more women than the number of women saved. Most of the women who have bad outcomes will not have ovarian cancer.
The gold standard for proving effectiveness of a screening test is a prospective randomized clinical trial comparing a screened group to a group that is not screened over time.
The U.S. National Cancer Institute began such a study in 1993 and published the result in 2011. The trial included 78,216 women aged 55 to 74. It randomly assigned 39,105 to screening and 39,111 to usual care. After an average of more than 12 years of follow-up, the groups had no difference in the ovarian cancer death rate. This means that the trial showed no evidence of routine screening saving lives.
CA 125 is not a good test for ovarian cancer screening, and ovarian cancer may not be a good cancer for screening. What we need is a test that flags fewer people who do not have the disease as suspicious of having the disease. It would be even better if the test found more than half of the women who have the disease. Screening also works better in cancers that tend to stay localized for longer periods of time. Many ovarian cancers spread throughout the abdomen very early in the life of the cancer when the tumor is still very small.
It is important to note that the task force addressed routine screening. The test can be appropriate for screening a woman known to be at high risk for ovarian cancer because of a family history. The test may also be appropriate in assessing a woman who has lower abdominal discomforts.
The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of CNN, The American Cancer Society, or Emory University.
Posted on May 17, 2012 08:04:55 PM
Peter Tufano does his homework.
Before taking office as dean of Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford last July, the former Harvard Business School professor interviewed more than 250 students, faculty, staff, alumni and others to better understand the institution, and read sociology books about Britain.
Rob Bennett for The Wall Street Journal
Peter Tufano says the school’s 1+1 program is in some ways an extension of the Rhodes Scholars program.
Once in the position, Mr. Tufano moved quickly to make changes. Last fall, he announced a new “1+1″ degree program that pairs an M.B.A. and a master’s degree in another subject at Oxford.
He is also reviewing the curriculum for Saïd’s various degree tracks, including the M.B.A., a step many new deans take upon arrival.
Mr. Tufano, 55 years old, who grew up in rural New York and spent most of his career at Harvard Business School, spoke with The Wall Street Journal about fitting into 800-year-old Oxford, the challenge of engaging alumni at a young business school and financing a business education.
Edited excerpts:
WSJ: Oxford has a reputation of high-minded intellectualism, but many say business school is more vocational. How does Saïd fit into Oxford?
Mr. Tufano: There are two Oxfords: old and new. One is the image of the 13th century college, with high table and robes and Latin grace. But with all those trappings come certain senses of responsibilities as a member of society.
New Oxford includes professional schools and medical divisions. I think there is increasing acceptance that Oxford wants to educate leaders who change the world, who are going to lead business, lead government, lead nonprofits, lead those sectors of the economy that are really going to drive society forward.
It’s most powerful if those two coexist.
WSJ: You’ve spent most of your career at American schools. Are there fundamental differences between U.S. business schools and U.K. business schools?
Mr. Tufano: At the fundamental level, the answer is no. We compete for the same students. They compete for the same jobs. I’m competing globally for the same faculty.
WSJ: U.K. schools are looking for new revenue sources as government funding declines. How has Saïd responded to the declines?
Mr. Tufano: My predecessors had already oriented Saïd toward a nongovernment-funded model. Our tuitions, with the exception of our undergraduate program, are set at market rates, and we have executive education [programs].
[Alumni] awareness is growing. But a 15-year-old school by and large has alums [whose] priorities are to take care of their families, they have student debt. We have some years before the alumni will likely be a major source of support for the school.
WSJ: Last year, to great fanfare, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania came out with a new lifelong learning program for alumni. What does Saïd do in that arena?
Mr. Tufano: Suppose you wanted to build a course that had to be delivered simultaneously to students and alumni. What would that course look like? We’re going to try some experiments.
WSJ: Do you envision an annual symposium on campus? Or a weekly online course?
Mr. Tufano: You’ll have to wait and see. I strongly believe that if we’re going to teach entrepreneurship and innovation, we should be entrepreneurial and innovative. That means we quickly pilot things and then see if they work.
WSJ: Universities don’t generally move quickly. How did you create 1+1 so fast, and why don’t other schools do that?
Mr. Tufano: I can’t say that all change can or should be that rapid. In most cases, you need to make sure not just that the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed, but rather that the fundamental idea is sound. 1+1 is in some sense an extension of the Rhodes Scholars program [in which students] create these remarkable courses of study. We had a tremendous amount of data to suggest that this idea was sound.
We are able to do things at Oxford, paradoxically, because of some of the structural problems facing the U.K. higher education system. In an environment in which the fundamental economic model is changing rapidly, people are more willing to innovate.
WSJ: What impact has the European financial crisis had on Saïd?
Mr. Tufano: Global banks have exited from the student lending business for international students. When you have 90% of your M.B.A.s coming from outside the U.K., this becomes a big problem.
WSJ: Is Saïd offering more financial aid to students?
Mr. Tufano: We can’t, and in truth shouldn’t, substitute scholarships for loans. While there’s a role for both, students in business schools, if we do our job well, will go out and have successful careers. While we don’t want to overburden them, they certainly can carry some debt. We do offer some scholarships, but this doesn’t take away from the fact that we and other schools are in desperate need for the student-lending market to reopen.
Write to Melissa Korn at melissa.korn@wsj.com
Posted on May 17, 2012 05:04:55 PM
LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) – The disappearance has never been solved and has inspired numerous conspiracy theories to this day. When Emanuela vanished without a trace nearly 30 years ago, a witness reported seeing a girl who fit her description getting into a dark green BMW near the music school, adjacent to the Sant’Apollinare church. However, that lead was never corroborated.
In one of the more popular conspiracy theories, it’s been pointed out that two years before the girl’s disappearance in 1981, Turkish national Mehmet Ali Agca shot Pope John Paul II. After Emanuela’s disappearance, her parents received anonymous phone calls from someone promising the safe return of their daughter if the Vatican released Agca.
In the meantime, an anonymous caller told police that Emanuela was kidnapped to keep her father, Ercole Orlandi, quiet, saying that her father had stumbled upon sensitive documents that tied banker Roberto Calvi to an organized crime syndicate. Calvi was known as “God’s banker” for his close association with both the Holy See and its primary banking facility, Banco Ambrosiano.
Orlandi worked in the Vatican’s special events office that organizes papal functions and Catholic celebrations.
Calvi was later discovered in London, where he apparently hung himself in 1982. The apparent suicide was thought to be a homicide after a tipster to police in Italy said Orlandi’s daughter was nabbed to ensure her father’s silence. Emanuela’s father died in 2004.
Another anonymous call to an Italian detective in 2005 said Emanuela was kidnapped on the orders of the then-vicar of Rome, Cardinal Ugo Poletti, and that “the secret to the mystery lies in a tomb in Sant’Apollinare basilica” — specifically De Pedis’ tomb.
De Pedis had been killed in Rome in 1990 and his body was moved to the basilica some time before 1997, presumably either as part of a secret deal for a massive loan De Pedis made to the Vatican or to protect his tomb from being desecrated by rival gang members.
De Pedis’ mistress in 2008 said he was involved in Emanuela’s kidnapping and that the girl was buried under the foundation of a house outside of Rome. Investigators searched that house but found that the concrete foundation was poured the year before the girl’s disappearance and could not have been connected to the crime.
After opening the tomb this week, investigators found De Pedis’ body so well preserved that scientific police were able to confirm his identity through fingerprints. Also inside the crypt were the boxes of bones, according to investigators on the scene.
The church has been used for burials for two centuries. Still, all of the bones will be tested to determine whether they are tied to De Pedis or to Emanuela’s disappearance. De Pedis will not be reburied in the church, the Vatican said.
© 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.
Posted on May 16, 2012 11:03:41 PM
Release Date: 04/24/2012Contact Information: Stacy Kika (For Media Inquiries Only), kika.stacy@epa.gov, 202-564-0906, 202-564-4355
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the public release of a web-based mapping tool developed for Federal agencies to facilitate more efficient and effective environmental reviews and project planning. The tool, NEPAssist, is part of an initiative developed by the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to modernize and reinvigorate federal agency implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) through innovation, public participation and transparency. NEPAssist draws information from publicly available federal, state, and local datasets, allowing NEPA practitioners, stakeholders and the public to view information about environmental conditions within the area of a proposed project quickly and easily at early stages of project development.
“NEPA helps ensure that Federal agencies protect the health of our communities and the natural resources that support our economy,” said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality. “Making this tool available to the public will help make information more accessible, a key part of our effort to increase transparency for projects that impact American communities.”
“NEPAssist helps users identify the possible impacts of federal projects on local environments and communities,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “By making tools like NEPAssist available to the public, EPA is helping citizens to be involved in environmental decisions that affect their community.”
NEPA requires all federal agencies to incorporate environmental considerations in their planning and decision-making through a systematic interdisciplinary process. NEPAssist is designed to help promote collaboration and early involvement in the NEPA process by raising important environmental issues at the earliest stages of project development. The mapping tool can be used by Federal agencies to identify alternative project locations, to avoid and minimize impacts, as well as identify potential mitigation areas.
In October 2011, NEPAssist was selected as a White House Council on Environmental Quality National Environmental Policy Act Pilot Project to improve the efficiency of Federal environmental reviews. CEQ has selected five NEPA Pilot Projects that will employ innovative approaches to completing environmental reviews that can be replicated across the Federal Government. For more information on the NEPA Pilots Program, please visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/initiatives/nepa/nepa-pilot-project.
On Thursday, April 26, 2012, EPA will host a webinar to demonstrate how to use NEPAssist.
More information on the webinar is below:
WHAT: A webinar to demonstrate how to use NEPAssist.
WHO: Members of the media, non-profit organizations, industry, business, and citizens interested in learning how to use the tool are encouraged to participate.
WHEN: Thursday, April 26, 2012, 4 p.m., Eastern Time
HOW: To register for the Webinar: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/177729873
To participate in the audio features, please use the following options:
(1) Dial the toll-free dial-in number: 1(909) 259-0012
(2) At the recorded prompt, enter the Access Code (411-628-234) and the “#” sign.
(3) At the recorded prompt, enter the Audio PIN (Shown after joining the Webinar), followed by the “#” sign.
(4) To disconnect, hang up the telephone.
*** YOU MUST REGISTER IN ADVANCE TO ACCESS THE WEBINAR***
NEPAssist: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/nepa/nepassist-mapping.html
More information on NEPA: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/nepa/index.html
More information on CEQ NEPA Pilot Projects: http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/initiatives/nepa/nepa-pilot-project
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Published by: United States Environmental Protection Agence (EPA) (
yosemite.epa.gov)
Posted on May 16, 2012 05:04:05 AM
Story By: by Barbara Bradley Hagerty
Teresa MacBain walks her dog, Gracie, at a park near her Tallahassee, Fla., home. After a lifetime in the church, MacBain came out as an atheist at an American Atheists’ convention in Bethesda, Md.
Teresa MacBain’s husband, Ray MacBain, says he still believes in God but defends his wife’s right not to.
Teresa MacBain pauses while talking about her ongoing job search. She has been out of work since leaving her position as a Methodist pastor earlier this year.
Teresa MacBain makes breakfast for her son David, 22, while he is home on leave from serving in the Army. MacBain says she is still adjusting to life outside the church.
‘Life Is Just Different’
A few minutes later, Teresa MacBain goes for a drive to the church at the center of her story. She says she has butterflies â this is the first time she’s seen her church since she went public. Its 11:20 a.m., nearly time for the sermon. She’s glad she’s not inside.
“Not because of the people or anything,” she says, “but because if I were in there, I know what I’d be doing. And that would be standing up and proclaiming something that I no longer believe in. So, yeah, I’m relieved that I don’t have to do that.”
Back at home, MacBain doesn’t hesitate when she’s asked what she misses most about her old life.
“I miss the music,” she says. MacBain sang in church choirs and worship bands most of her life, and even though she no longer believes the words, she still catches herself singing praise songs.
She says she also misses the relationships â she’ll often pick up the phone to call someone, then realize she can’t. And she misses the ritual and regularity of church life.
“It’s what I know. It’s what I knew. And I still struggle with it. Life is just different,” she says.
When it’s pointed out that she hasn’t said whether or not she misses God, MacBain pauses.
“No, no,” she says. “I can’t say that I do.”
Posted on May 12, 2012 08:03:58 PM
LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) – Presently, 500,000 tons of pig iron, an intermediate product in the process of steel refining are produced every year in Piquiá de Baixo. Pig iron is produced in blast furnaces by smelting iron ore, using charcoal or coke as fuel and limestone as a purifying agent.
The steel industry depends on supplies from Vale’s iron ore mines. The pig iron is then transported to Atlantic Ocean ports near São Luis, the state capital.
The families there live in modest dwellings with yards bordering on the grounds of the large steel plants. All are suffering health problems from pollution.
On account of the extremely poor quality of the air they breathe and the water they drink, more than 40 percent of the residents of the town suffer from respiratory illnesses, lung diseases and skin lesions.
Taking arms the families are now demanding a transfer to a clean, safe place far away from the steel plants. The majority are farmers, who now can only work land near their homes. In many of Brazil’s mining towns and a number of them are also organizing protests.
The 68-year-old Edvard Dantas Cardeal is the president of the Piquiá de Baixo Residents’ Association, whose members are affected by the smoke, soot and residues generated by the 70 smelting furnaces in the area.
“We are in danger, because we live next to five steel mills. In addition, Vale has a railway station just 300 meters from our homes, where every day hundreds of tons of iron ore are transported across our town, 24 hours a day,” he says.
Andressa Caldas, head of Justiça Global (Global Justice), a non-governmental organization working for human rights, says the situation is emblematic, because the community which has been settled there for over 50 years “is asking to be transferred due to the degree of environmental degradation and toxic pollution it is suffering.”
The lawyer for the Piquiá de Baixo residents, Danilo Chammas concurs. He pointed out that the town already existed when the steel plants arrived 25 years ago. Now, “coexistence has become impossible, as the local people are forced to breathe iron ore dust mixed with charcoal every day,” he said.
“The families should have been relocated when the steelmaking complex was built; but a move is still the only alternative, and is urgently needed,” he says.
Chammas said the residents are demanding “a greater commitment by Vale to the local people; and the company should contribute resources toward the building of a new settlement far away from the pollution.”
According to the Report on Vale’s Unsustainability, the company “refuses to make reparations for the harm caused these people, or to cover the cost of their resettlement.”
Cardeal also said his community’s demand is a matter of utmost urgency, as they cannot stay there any longer. “We cannot stand it any longer; the steel mills pollute the river that flows through the town, and all we can do is ask God to get us out of this place,” he said.
© 2012, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.
Posted on May 11, 2012 08:02:02 PM
Release Date: 04/12/2012Contact Information: : Elias Rodriguez, 212-637-3664, rodriguez.elias@epa.gov (NY, NJ and Caribbean) or David Deegan, 617-918-1017, deegan.dave@epa.gov (New England)
(New York, N.Y.) The Northeast Diesel Collaborative – a partnership between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, state agencies, and private and nonprofit groups – today recognized four organizations for their outstanding leadership and efforts in reducing diesel emissions. The collaborative honored several agencies and organizations from Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Vermont as part of its second annual Northeast Diesel Collaborative Breathe Easy Leadership Awards Program.
The Northeast Diesel Collaborative, comprising the six New England states, New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, works to reduce diesel emissions, improve public health, and promote clean diesel technology. It brings together the collective resources and expertise of EPA, several state environmental agencies and private sector companies to address emissions from existing diesel-powered vehicles and equipment.
“Pollution from diesel engines is linked to asthma, respiratory problems, heart attacks and even premature death, and is especially dangerous to children and the elderly,” said Judith A. Enck, EPA Region 2 Administrator. “Reducing air pollution from diesel engines has enormous health benefits and translates directly into fewer hospitalizations, less missed days of work and school and a better quality of life for everyone.”
“Diesel emissions in the northeast continue to pose health risks to the residents of the region. The demonstrated leadership and efforts put forth by the 2011 award winners will help bring cleaner air and healthier communities to our region,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office.
The Northeast Diesel Collaborative Breathe Easy awards are given for outstanding service in reducing air pollution to protect human health and the environment. The winners achieve these goals by taking actions such as retrofitting and replacing older diesel engines, reducing idling from diesel engines, developing education and outreach campaigns to promote diesel emissions reduction and promoting cleaner fuels.
The 2011 Northeast Diesel Collaborative Breathe Easy Leadership Awardees are:
Leadership Award in New York
Port Commerce Department, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is being recognized for efforts under its 2009 “Clean Air Strategy for the Port of NY & NJ,” designed to reduce pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions from all port-related sources. The Port Authority incorporated input from local and state agencies, tenants and customers, as well as environmental and community stakeholders into its strategy. Current initiatives underway include the Truck Replacement Program, the Truck Phase Out Plan, and the Ocean-Going Vessel Low-Sulfur Fuel Program. For more information on the PANYNJ Clean Air Strategy, please visit: http://www.panynj.gov/about/port-initiatives.html
“The Port Authority is committed to working with our private and public partners to implement our Clean Air Strategy,” said Port Commerce Director Rick Larrabee. “Reducing air pollution at our ports is an important environmental objective and to achieve this goal, the Port Authority has instituted a multi-prong strategy to reduce emissions across port operations.”
Leadership Award in New Jersey (Honorable Mention):
Transportation Clean Air Measures Program, North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority
Protecting the environment is a key goal in the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority’s mission statement and in its long-range Plan 2035. To further reduce transportation-related air pollutants, the NJTPA has proactively advanced an innovative Transportation Clean Air Measures program. This ongoing NJTPA program was developed to identify clean air efforts not being generated through existing programs. The NJTPA Board of Trustees and a multi-agency advisory committee guide the effort. In addition to reducing emissions, such as particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and greenhouse gases, secondary benefits emerged; including reduced vehicle miles traveled, reduced congestion and fuel consumption, a targeted response to environmental justice issues and increased community awareness regarding noise and air quality. For more information on the NJTPA Transportation Clean Air Measures, please see: http://www.njtpa.org/Plan/Element/AQ/TCAM.aspx
“The success of the NJTPA’s Transportation Clean Air Measures program is the result of our board’s strong leadership on the critical issue of improving air quality,” said Mary K. Murphy, NJTPA Executive Director. “We are continually looking for new and innovative ways to reduce emissions and make our region cleaner, healthier and more prosperous.”
In New England, a Breathe Easy Leadership Award was given to Green Space and Recreation Committee, Chelsea Collaborative, Inc., a collaborative effort to reduce exposure to diesel pollution in Chelsea and Everett, Massachusetts. Casella Waste Systems Inc. of Chittenden County, Vermont received an Honorable Mention for replacing diesel refuse trucks with trucks powered by natural gas.
To learn more about this announcement, visit: http://www.northeastdiesel.org.
Follow EPA New England on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/epanewengland.
Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/EPAregion2.
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Posted on May 11, 2012 05:03:42 AM
After two years of sharp declines in hiring, M.B.A. students are having more success landing jobs, and getting them earlier, than during the depths of the financial crisis.
![[MBAJOBS]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MK-BM446_MBAJOB_DV_20110601191743.jpg)
Bruno Mallart
The increase comes as companies become more optimistic about their opportunities for growth, gaining confidence that new hires now will pay off down the line.
While there remain some pockets of weakness in industries such as health care, hiring at many traditional career destinations for M.B.A. graduates, including finance and consulting, are nearing pre-recession levels. Hiring is up by double-digits at consulting firms such as Bain & Co. and Accenture
PLC, compared with 2008 troughs. Similar gains are being seen at financial-services companies, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
and Morgan Stanley
.
Overall, 57% of full-time M.B.A. students in the U.S. had offers by mid-March, compared with 40% a year earlier, according to a Graduate Management Admission Council survey released last month of 905 companies and 127 business schools nationwide. And the improvement continues as the latest school year closes out.
“More companies are wanting to dance,” said Cheri Paulson, director of the center for career development at Babson College’s F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business. The school saw listings for full-time jobs increase 39% over last year.
Consulting firms have reported especially robust hiring as demand—and funding—for their services rebounds. Recruiting for that sector “came back with a vengeance” in the past 12 to 18 months, said Fred Staudmyer, assistant dean and director of career services at Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management. Nearly one-quarter of the school’s graduating class has received offers in the industry.
Boston-based Bain & Co. said it plans to hire more people this year than it did pre-recession, in order to meet new-client demand in areas including energy, financial services and private equity. “And we’ll hire more people next year than we did this year,” said Mark Howorth, the company’s head of global M.B.A. recruiting.
Bain will bring on first-years numbering in the “mid-hundreds” this summer, drawing from a core of 25 business programs, Mr. Howorth said. The incoming class is 40% to 50% larger than last year’s and is “far and away” the largest incoming M.B.A. class Bain has ever had, he added.
Accenture has also picked up the pace. The management-consulting firm hired about 64,000 new employees globally in the 2009-2010 academic year and is on track to add the same number this year. That figure, which includes experienced hires and new graduates, was a record well above the 25,000 figure from 2008.
Though a “relatively small” percentage of Accenture’s new staffers are from M.B.A. programs, Senior Director of Global Recruiting John Campagnino said the company has increased its M.B.A. hiring by about 50% from last year.
Andrew Snyder, who graduated from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business this spring, chose Accenture over five other offers. Mr. Snyder, 29 years old, said he was impressed with the consultancy’s culture and was encouraged that “they had expressed interest in me as much as I had expressed interest in them.” A salary in the “low six-figures” didn’t hurt either, as he turned down offers from multiple consulting firms and government agencies.
Recruiters for finance and accounting jobs have also been busy. According to the GMAC survey, 71% of companies in those fields plan to take on 2011 M.B.A. graduates with an average of 19 new hires per company. That compares with 67%, hiring an average of 14 new employees last year.
The overall number of business-school graduates that Goldman Sachs hired this year was about even with the past two years, but that is still more than 25% higher than 2008 figures, said Sandra Hurse, global head of campus recruiting. She said strong candidates received offers from more companies this year than they did in 2010, but the company hasn’t yet been forced to increase compensation.
This year, Morgan Stanley recruited about as many students for full-time jobs and internships as they did last year, said Keisha Smith, global head of campus and experienced hire recruiting. She said that although the number of students they’ve recruited is up from 2009, it is still not as high as before the downturn.
As more financial-services and consulting companies come back to campuses, competition for M.B.A. talent is also pushing salaries higher—though not quite in line with inflation. The average starting salary is expected to be to $91,433 this year, according to the GMAC survey.
Some companies are also sweetening signing bonuses. The University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business saw that perk increase by one-third to a median $20,000 this year, said Damian Zikakis, director of the office of career development.
Companies outside of consulting and finance also saw an uptick in hiring. For example, General Electric Co.
will hire about 100 students from business-school campuses this year, up from about 80 in 2010 and about 70 in 2009, said Steve Canale, manager of global recruiting and staffing. Mr. Canale said that during the downturn, the company cut back mostly on its direct hires, placed in segments such as GE Capital, rather than the company’s leadership program.
Although Mr. Canale said that he has noticed increased competition for students, so far, that hasn’t caused upward pressures on salaries or signing bonuses.
To be sure, not all companies are clamoring for new talent. According to the GMAC survey, just 68% of health-care and pharmaceutical companies are looking to hire M.B.A. graduates this year, with an average of 11 openings per company. That’s down from 24 spots last year. And just 39% of companies overall are interested in expanding in marketing and sales.
Saloni Desai, a recent graduate of Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management, has been looking for a marketing position or work in the health-care and biotechnology industries since the beginning of 2011. She has submitted about 30 formal applications and received four or five interview offers, but she isn’t yet employed.
But for the most part, schools and students are benefiting from the renewed activity.
The University of Virginia’s Darden has seen a 10% to 15% increase in companies on campus, with firms like MasterCard Inc.
and Novartis AG
now appearing as well as regular visitors like McKinsey & Co. and Danaher Corp.
hiring more freely, said Jack Oakes, assistant dean for career development.
The school read as a positive sign that consulting firms and investment banks were increasing their activity. If companies are willing to spend on outside consultants, Mr. Oakes said that was a good indication they would be willing to spend on new talent, too, he said
As of mid-May, about 85% of Darden students reported job offers, compared with 77% reported at last year’s graduation.
The Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell has also seen a sharp uptick in hiring as companies sign on multiple students rather than just one top pick. Mr. Staudmyer expects “close to 80%” of students are graduating with job offers this spring, compared with a pre-crisis level of 93% to 96%. The job offers in 2009 were in the high 60s, he said.
At the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, 76.5% of M.B.A. graduates have received at least one offer this year, up from 63.3% last year, said Mr. Zikakis. Still, more than 82% of students had offers in 2008, before the downturn set in.
Write to Melissa Korn at melissa.korn@dowjones.com and Joe Light at joe.light@dowjones.com
A version of this article appeared June 2, 2011, on page B8 in some U.S. editions of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Jobs Market Picks Up for Graduates.
Posted on May 11, 2012 02:03:42 AM
Release Date: 05/09/2012Contact Information: Dave Bary or Jennah Durant at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov
(DALLAS – May 9, 2012) The Up With Trees organization in Tulsa, Oklahoma, will receive $23,666 to enable high school aged participants to intern in a six-week Youth Citizen Forestry Program. The students will learn about planting and preserving trees, forestry and horticultural careers and sustainable forestry practices.
“Teaching our youth about the importance of forestry and horticultural careers is necessary to a sustainable environment and economy,” said Acting Regional Administrator Samuel Coleman. “Everything from clean air to clean water starts with protecting and understanding our forests.”
More information on the EPA’s environmental education grant program is available at http://www.epa.gov/education/grants.html
More about activities in EPA Region 6 is available at http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/region6.html
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Published by: United States Environmental Protection Agence (EPA) (
yosemite.epa.gov)
Posted on May 10, 2012 08:03:42 PM
Happily, now that many of the world’s top hotels offer five-star room service, there’s no need to sacrifice haute cuisine for comfort.
Once considered the last resort of weary business travelers (and the subject of Marx Brothers’ comedy), room-service dining has finally come into its own.
Gone are the days when hotel guests could expect only defrosted seafood and soggy breakfast pastries on their trays; now, sophisticated dishes made with artisanal ingredients are making their way upstairs.
Some are even whipped up by superstar chefs; at New York City’s Chambers Hotel, for instance, guests can order sublime French-Asian dishes from Má Pêche, the ground-floor restaurant run by David Chang (of Momofuku fame).
Among the many other room-service treats you won’t need to lift a finger to enjoy (unless that finger is helping to hold a fork) are lunchtime specialties like Wagyu-pastrami sandwiches (at the Little Nell in Aspen) and custom-mixed cocktails (at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel).
The delivery is as memorable as the food at Twin Farms in Vermont, where servers light candles, uncork wine and dim the lights for a private romantic dinner.
The pièce de résistance, though, may well be at Le Taha’a, a French Polynesian getaway, where ukulele-strumming canoeists deliver breakfast to guests’ overwater bungalows. Restaurateurs, beware…eating in is the new eating out.
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Chambers Hotel (New York, New York)
Known for its in-house art collection (more than 500 works are displayed in the guest rooms and common areas), the Chambers is similarly famous for the culinary artistry whipped up by its resident chef, David Chang. Má Pêche, on the ground floor of the hotel, is the only midtown outpost of Chang’s Manhattan restaurant empire.
Order a plate of steamed buns –filled either with lobster; maitake mushrooms and chicarrón (pork rinds); or black-bass tartare and gooseberries — and you’ll understand why Chang’s wizardry has won multiple James Beard awards in recent years. Rooms, from $325; 212-974-5656; chambershotel.com.
Waldorf Astoria Chicago (Chicago, Illinois)
Set in Chicago’s historic Gold Coast neighborhood, the Waldorf Astoria, designed by renowned local architect Lucien Lagrange, is one of the city’s most sophisticated lodgings. Every guest room here has a proper dining-room table, where staffers arrange flowers, pull out chairs and serve in-room meals on elegant china.
The room-service selections from in-house Balsan restaurant include sustainably sourced Alaskan king crab legs, poached lobster on the half shell and platters of house-made charcuterie and artisanal cheeses. Rooms, from $395; 312-646-1300; wachicago.com.
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Hastings House (British Columbia, Canada)
Set on an island just west of Vancouver, this seaside country resort has suites with private balconies overlooking Ganges Harbour.
The view makes a perfect backdrop for an alfresco dinner; among the ever-changing menu items offered by the hotel’s chef, Marcel Kauer, is Champagne-poached British Columbia halibut with green peppercorn and spinach risotto. Rooms, from $295; 800-661-9255; hastingshouse.com.
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Le Taha’a island resort and spa (Taha’a, French Polynesia)
Like most of French Polynesia’s luxury resorts, Le Taha’a occupies a private islet (or motu), where most guests stay in individual overwater bungalows.
As if waking up each morning surrounded by the turquoise water of Taha’a Lagoon weren’t stunning enough, having your breakfast pancakes and tropical fruit delivered to your private deck — by a strumming ukulele player in a canoe — is sheer heaven. Rooms, from $850; 689/507-601; letahaa.com.
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Liberty Hotel (Boston, Massachusetts)
Though originally built in 1851 as a prison, this stately building (converted to a hotel in 2007) is now a place where guests feel grateful to do time. In particular, they’re appreciative of the Liberty’s sleek guest rooms, many with sweeping views of downtown Boston and the Charles River.
They’re a lovely setting for enjoying in-house chef Lydia Shire’s New England–style dishes, like crab-cake eggs Benedict, lobster-topped pizza or sumptuous Boston cream cake for dessert. Rooms, from $199; 617-224-4000; libertyhotel.com.
The Little Nell (Aspen, Colorado)
Sure, the in-room dining at this boutique Rocky Mountain retreat is decadent (how about a pre-ski breakfast of lemon-ricotta soufflé pancakes with homemade raspberry syrup?).
But for get-up-and-go types, who like to partake in hotel activities like horseback riding and mountaintop yoga, the folks at Little Nell go the extra mile: Their kitchen staff will pack a gourmet picnic lunch to take along, with options like local Wagyu pastrami on rye or faro salad with nuts and pomegranates. Rooms, from $265; 888-843-6355; thelittlenell.com.
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Got a tip for amazing in-room eats? Share your recommendations in the comments section below.
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