Because Creative Loafing Political Editor Wayne Garcia would be far too modest to tell you himself, I’m reporting that this here blog, “The Political Whore,” won first place in the category of Blog-Affiliated last night in the Sunshine State Awards, the Florida-wide prizes given out by the Society of Professional Journalists/ South Florida. New Times Broward Palm Beach’s “The Juice” and the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel’s “Broward Politics” came in second and third, respectively.
And Wayne wasn’t alone in bringing back first-place honors for the Loaf. Food Editor Brian Ries won the top spot in Food/Beverage Writing for “Anywhere But Here,” his story on the lack of healthy food options for Florida families on public assistance. The Miami Herald and MIAMI Modern Luxury took second and third places.
Brian also took a third place in Criticism for his review of MJ’s tapas menu when it was under the direction of Domenica Macchia. And CL’s theater critic, Mark E. Leib, took second place in the same category for his review of the innovative American Stage production of Hamlet. The Naples Daily News‘ Harriet Howard Heithaus took the first-place spot.
Finally, the entire staff of Creative Loafing won kudos for our website, cltampa.com, placing third in the News Web Site category. I like the judges’ citation: This is not your typical news site. cltampa.com represents a new way of presenting news and information to its reader/user. Through a simple design, Creative Loafing offers a wide collection of headlines from just as many distinct sources. (Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers and the Orlando Sentinel took first and second in this category, respectively.)
More judges’ comments follow after the break.
Judges for this year’s Sunshine State Awards hailed from SPJ chapters in Chicago, Pittsburgh and Washington, as well as from Florida. Here’s what they had to say about “Political Whore”:
Comments: Don’t let the title fool you: Aside from local and national politics, this blog takes on a long list of hot-button topics ranging from the economy to “Octomom.” And with a quick-hit style that includes podcasts and embeded video, it’s never boring.
And on Brian Ries’ “Anywhere But Here”:
Comments: Addresses what may be the most critical socio-economic and health-care issue of our time. The piece leaves open the promise of further reporting - and editorializing- about the need for better nutrition among all Americans, mainly the poor.
Vatican Ambassador nominee Miguel Diaz
By Peter Schweitzer
PoHo contributor
President Obama must’ve been in the mood for breaking new ground in Presidential appointments this week. First, he chooses a Latina, Sonia Sotomayor, for the Supreme Court, and then taps another Hispanic as his ambassador to the Vatican.
Miguel Diaz is a 45-year-old theologian who had served as a consultant to Obama’s presidential campaign. It’s an interesting appointment in that these appointments are usually given to politicians or those who contributed significantly to a president campaign. I can’t recall another such appointment given to a theologian. It’s a smart political appointment that demonstrates his desire to reach out to Catholics and Hispanics. It’s shrewd in that it’s an apolitical appointment. Diaz is a theologian, an academic who has not played any significant role in politics.
As a Catholic theologian, Diaz publicly supported Kathleen Sebelius, another Catholic whom Obama tapped as Health and Human Services Secretary.
| Your Androgynous Name Is: Dee Marcellus |
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By Grant Rimbey
Green Community contributor
The term “sprawl” was coined in 1956 and is defined as unplanned greenfield (undeveloped land) development on the periphery of urban areas that is generally single-use, single-story, low density, inexpensive to build, and requires little knowledge or expertise to create. Sprawl gobbles up our farmlands and woodlands while increasing dependency on fossil fuel, fosters obesity because you have to drive everywhere, diminishes the natural environment, decreases the feasibility of mass transit, all while failing to create a “sense of place” or build community.
There was once a time in America (before the second World War) when sprawl didn’t exist. The ascent of sprawl to the predominant development form in the United States is based on many criteria:
· Government loans for WW2 GI’s that provided mortgages aimed at new single-family suburban construction
· WW2 military-industrial assembly methods applied to the construction and planning of communities
· The favoring of simple single-use zoning over complex mixed-use zoning
· The Modern attitude of “out with the old, in with the new”
· Government subsidies for highways (road creation and widening), parking lots and gasoline
· The demonization of mass transit and affordable housing
· The ease and affordability of greenfield development versus complicated urban infill
· The increasing segregation of society by income and race (the abandoning of cities for the suburbs)
· The “back to nature” or “garden city” myth that coincided with the abandoning of cities (the popularity of the S.U.V. is rooted in this)
· The erosion of public confidence in the skills of the planner based on post-WW2 planning mistakes
· The creation of communities that were developer-led, not planner-led
· The favoritism of private and corporate control over citizen input for community plans
· The misconception that everyone in America wants to or should own a single-family suburban residence
· Creating sprawl is easy and cheap, and doesn’t require expensive consultants like town planners or architects
An excellent primer on the phenomena and history of sprawl in America is the book Suburban Nation, the Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream by Duany, Plater-Zyberk, Speck, (2000). This book is a mainstay of the planning and architecture group “Congress for the New Urbanism“.
In the golden years of planner John Nolen (see my previous CL post), city officials hired very talented town planning experts like Mr. Nolen to create a master plan and governing code for their cities. The plan was created based on input from workshops attended by citizenry and local leaders and orchestrated by the planner. Only after the plan and code was created and refined were capable builders and developers invited to build this collective, well-thought, and sustainable citizen vision.
Compare this process with how sprawl is created: a developer buys land from a farmer (who views the land as his retirement fund). Without concern for existing roads, nearby retail or schools, the land is re-zoned from agricultural to residential. The developer then clear cuts the land and obliterates the ecosystem that existed on it, and they hire a questionably qualified but inexpensive “subdivision planner/designer” who is either the developer themselves, the civil engineer, or a relative or friend, and proceeds to build a low density, inexpensive tract home community. Ironically, the subdivision is often named for the ecosystem it destroyed, i.e. “Big Old Oak Preserve”. If it’s “exclusive”, it has a wall around it. The developer sells the lots in his subdivision and then moves on to the next former pasture that he can purchase for a steal. Because there’s no master plan, bigger vision, or citizen input guiding any of this (other then the easily revised comprehensive plan), the residents of the new subdivision and their neighbors are often left to fend for themselves regarding clogged roads, lack of nearby schools, office and retail, compromised natural environment, crazy drives, etc.
At the state level, our land development industry remains addicted to sprawl as seen by their tacit support of State Bill 360. Under the (I’m being hopeful) well-intended guise of “directing growth from sprawl towards urban infill the intent of this bill was to streamline the permitting process, concentrating development in cities, and creating construction jobs”, but the bill has a big flaw. The bill eases local review of all development in “urban serve areas”, the problem is that the bill naively defines “urban” density as 1,000 people per square mile or less than one person per acre, which can be considered “urban” only in places like Alaska. Hillsborough County has an “urban service area” that encompasses much of the county so this bill exposes most of the county to the worst kind of sprawl, one that doesn’t have even a respectable local review process as minimal protection. Whether by intent or ignorance, bad bills like this actively perpetuate the sprawl mentality.
As the fight rages on against sprawl locally many in the trenches forget that there IS such a thing as “good growth,” it’s just not common in our county, or even our state. I believe it is possible for human and natural environments to exist side by side without mutual degradation. To change our course from sprawl towards good and thoughtful growth (which sometimes means not building) we’ll have to abandon the sprawl mentality that’s destroying our quality of life and our state; and it may require removal of some of the sprawl that’s already created (a new green industry?). In future posts I will discuss alternatives to sprawl, some call it Sustainable Urbanism, or Transit Oriented Development (TOD), or Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND), or SmartGrowth, or New Urbanism (CNU), or just Sustainability. No matter the term, the underlying principles remain the same.
As an entrée to these posts, I will share an excellent video created by the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), which is the leading international organization promoting walkable, neighborhood-based development as an alternative to sprawl. The team of First + Main Media from Julian, CA and Paget Films from Buffalo, NY, produced this award-winning documentary film that shows how re-imagining our cities and suburbs to be sustainable and walkable will benefit everyone, and everything.
By Ben Luongo
PoHo contributor
The Marion County School Board has ruled on the Code of Student Conduct, which now requires students to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, after a meeting last week. For months, the school board debated the proposed change to the code which wouldn’t require students to stand. Veterans from the area attended the meeting to protest the proposed change arguing that not standing for the pledge is disrespectful. The only leeway in the code allows students not to stand as long as they have a note from their parents.
The school board decided to remove the “standing clause” last year after a federal court ruling did not require students to stand. However, this change was met with pressure for the past couple of months from local veterans and possible lawsuits.
Are we comfortable with requiring our students to stand?
It has always been a controversial debate where freedom of expression meets respect for nation, and this particular debate is more complicated because it concerns our children. We want to teach and guide our children the best we can, which means that we often need to assert our authority over their actions. However, should we intervene in this case?
First, this isn’t a case of parents providing guidance for their children, this is a case of the school requiring the students to act a certain way. I realize that the parents have an option of writing a note excusing their child from participating in the pledge, but we should ask ourselves if the school should have any authority on the political behavior of students what so ever.
Second, what do we hope to accomplish by requiring students to stand. The Pledge of Allegiance is an expression of loyalty and devotion to the United States. Can such an expression be sincere if it is coerced?
The protestors that wanted the “standing clause” to remain argued that standing was a sign of respect. However, what are children learning about respect when the school doesn’t respect the personal wishes of a child. Shouldn’t respect go both ways? Can’t a child be respectful during the pledge when not participating in it? What is disrespectful is assuming that all children naturally feel devoted or loyal to the country.
Sincere loyalty and love of country requires an understanding of what happens in the nation and reflecting on it. Typically, children don’t have much civic experience or a firm understanding of government or politics. Requiring children to pledge allegiance to a country that they may be too young to fully grasp is presumptuous. In other words, should we assume children have the maturity to devote loyalty and pledge allegiance to anything let alone force them to do it.
The Marion School Board may have good intentions but the community needs to reflect on the role that the school plays in our youths’ national convictions.
photo credit: Tom Hagerty for Lakeland Local
Post from: Lakeland Local
Originally Published as Above the Field| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E | |
| Lakeland | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 3 |
| Palm Beach | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 3 |
Post from: Lakeland Local
Originally Published as May 30 Lakeland 7 - Palm Beach 6This is the first in what we hope to be a long series of “Mission Notes” on the Lakeland Flying Tigers. Wayne Koehler’s extensive stats on the local Florida State League team give him a special perspective…
May 30th to June 2nd series at Palm Beach….
FLYING TIGERS - Lakeland enters this series with a 18-22 record and is in 4th place in the North Division, 10.5 games behind Brevard County. The Flying Tigers lost three of four games against Jupiter in their first inter-division series of the season, winning the opener 9-3 before dropping three straight to the Hammerheads. Lakeland is 9th in the Florida State League (FSL) with a .239 team batting average and 5th in the FSL with a 3.47 team ERA.
THE CARDINALS Palm Beach brings a 20-27 mark into the series and is in last place in the South Division, 10.5 games behind first place Fort Myers. The Cardinals have won four straight, taking a four-game series from Daytona. Palm Beach ranks 8th in the FSL with a .242 team batting average and 6th with a 3.59 team ERA. The Cardinals are 15-5 when leading after seven innings and 3-17 when trailing after seven.
THE SERIES This is the first meeting between the Flying Tigers and Cardinals. Last season, Palm Beach took five of the eight games in the series. The four-game set in Palm Beach turned out to be memorable as each of the first three games went 10 innings and three of the last four were decided by just one run.
LAKELAND PROBABLES May 30 - Thad Weber: rain has shortened his last two outings going just 2.0 innings in his last start on May 26 before rains suspended that game. Weber, who has 8 strikeouts and 1 walk over his last 10.0 innings pitched, has three outings with 7.0 IP including a scoreless stint on two hits against Tampa on May 29
May 31 - Charlie Furbush: lost his last start working 4.0 innings against Jupiter on May 27. Furbush surrendered two earned runs on five hits in that game. He has five starts with 5.0 innings pitched
June 1 - L.J. Gagnier: has had two wins in his last three starts including a 5.0 inning stint on May 27 against Jupiter. He has had four outings with 6.0 or more innings pitched with a season-high of 6.2 innings on May 12 at Dunedin
June 2 - Andrew Hess: Suffered his worst outing in his last start, allowing 9 hits and four runs in 4.0 innings against Jupiter on May 28. Prior to that game, he had three starts with 6.0 innings pitched in each, including a stint allowing two runs on four hits at Tampa on May 21.
LAKELAND MANAGER ANDY BARKETT Barkett is in his second season with Lakeland with an 85-92 record (67-70 in year one). In his rookie season as manager, he led Oneonta to a 44-32 record in the New York-Penn League in 2007.At left, Andy Barkett is interviewed by Kris Keprios of Central Florida Sports Marketing
LAKELAND INSIDE THE NUMBERS
16-1 when leading after seven innings
0-21 when trailing after seven
7-9 on the road this season (11-13 at home)
2-6 in one-run games
11-3 when out-hitting its opponent
4-19 when being outhit
3-0 when the two teams have the same number of hits
17-3 when scoring four or more runs
1-19 when scoring three or fewer runs
1-6 on Fridays and 1-3 on Sundays
Best day of the week is Wednesdays with a 6-3 mark and are .500 on remaining days.
CARDINALS INSIDE THE FSL Adron Chambers ranks third in all of minor league baseball with a FSL-leading 7 triples and Shane Peterson ranks 8th at .316 and is 3rd with 55 hits.
A NIGHT TO FORGET If the Flying Tigers’ last outing was a movie, it may be likened to The Titanic. Lakeland trailed Jupiter 4-0 after 3-1/2 innings on Thursday before the skies opened up. Consider that the iceberg on the horizon. The game resumed and that’s when the ship hit the ‘berg as Jupiter cranked out 21 hits. Included in the onslaught was Brandon Tripp hitting for the cycle. The damage continued in the regularly scheduled game as the Hammerheads rapped out 14 more hits for a total of 35 base knocks in the two games including seven doubles, a triple and four home runs. It was the most hits allowed in back-to-back games by Lakeland since Sarasota totaled 34 with 17 hits in each end of a doubleheader on Aug. 4, 2004.
GRAND AUDY Audy Ciriaco has hit two grand slams already this season. His first came in dramatic style as it came on a walk-off homer in LakelandÕs 10-6 win over Brevard County on May 16 in front of a home crowd of 4,718. It was the shortstop’s second round-tripper of the game and was Lakeland’s first walk-off grand slam since Kevin Lidle socked one on June 5, 1996 against the Charlotte Rangers. On that opposing team that night was one Andy Barkett who is now the Lakeland manager. Ciriaco’s second grand slam came on May 26 in a 9-3 win over Jupiter.
CARLSON, HRs AND WINS Chris Carlson leads Lakeland with six home runs and the Flying Tigers are a perfect 6-0 in games in which he has hit a homer. Four of his homers have been solo shots while the other two game with one man on.
KEEP IT IN THE PARK, KODY While the Flying Tigers are 6-0 in games in which Chris Carlson homers, conversely, they are 0-4 in games in which Kody Kaiser goes yard.
FLYING HIGHMichael Bertram is 9-for-25 (.360) over his last seven games to raise his batting average 26 points from .219 up to .245 on the season
Chris Carlson is 6-for-13 (.462) over the last four games
Mike Gosse is 5-for-15 (.333) his last five games with three doubles
Justin Henry has a five-game hit streak and is 5-for-19 (.263) during that time and is hitting .298 on the road
Jordan Newton had an eight-game hit streak snapped on May 29. During his streak he hit 13-for-35 (.371) and now has hits in 12 of his 18 games played since joining Lakeland on April 27.
THE GRINCH IS GREEN Reliever Scott Green has not allowed a run in his last four outings and just one run over his last eight appearances.
ROBBIE HOOD Reliever Robbie Weinhardt has allowed just one run in his last five outings and has been scored upon in just two of his 14 appearances this season.
WEBER AND RAIN Staring pitcher Thad Weber has had his last two starts cut short by rain. He started May 15 against Brevard but rains stopped that game after the first inning. In his last start, he worked two innings before Mother Nature ruled once again suspending that game.
MOTHER NATURE 9, LAKELAND 8 Speaking of rain, Lakeland has had nine games postponed, suspended or outright cancelled in the last 17 days, playing just eight times.
BLAST FROM THE PAST Joe Staton set the Lakeland Tiger record for season batting average in 1970 hitting .346 on the season. The all-time Lakeland franchise record was set in 1923 as Bud Ammons batted .360 for the then Lakeland Highlanders.
FSL FUN FACT What do Major League Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Rod Carew and Stan Musial, have in common? Each played in the Florida State League during their minor league careers. Bench batted .248 in 68 games played for the 1965 Tampa Tarpons while Rod Carew batted .303 in 125 games played for the Orlando Twins in 1965. Stan Musial hit .311 in 113 games played for the Daytona Beach Islanders in 1940.
Wayne Koehler has worked in the Florida State League since 1983. He began as the Public Address Announcer for the Winter Haven Red Sox from 1983-84 before moving to the Lakeland press box in 1985-86 as a reporter for the Tampa Tribune. Koehler then moved to the game operations staff in 1987 and has worked in some capacity ever since including 11 seasons as the PA voice of the Tigers. Currently he is a statistical reporter for Minor League Baseball covering the Flying Tigers. His “day job” is as assistant webmaster and staff photographer for Florida Southern College where he has worked since his graduation from the college in 1983. He spend 15 of those years as the college’s director of sports information. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Koehler grew up in St. Petersburg and moved to Lakeland in 1981.
photos credit: Tom Hagerty for Lakeland Local
Post from: Lakeland Local
Originally Published as Lakeland Flying Tigers Mission Notes: at Palm BeachPerceived quality is a brand association that is elevated to the status of a brand asset for several reasons:
* among all brand associations, only perceived quality has been shown to drive financial performance.
* perceived quality is often a major (if not the principal) strategic thrust of a business.
* perceived quality is linked to and often drives other aspects of how a brand is perceived.
Perceived Quality Drives Financial Performance
There is a pervasive thirst to show that investments in brand equity will pay off. Although linking financial performance to any intangible asset (whether it is people, information technology, or brand equity) is difficult, three studies have demonstrated that perceived quality does drive financial performance:
* Studies using the PIMS data base (annual data measuring more than one hundred variables for over 3,000 business units) have shown that perceived quality is the single most important contributor to a company''s return on investment (ROI), having more impact than market share, R&D, or marketing expenditures. Perceived quality contributes to profitability in part by enhancing prices and market share. The relationship holds for Kmart as well as Tiffany: Improve perceived quality, and ROI will improve.
* A five-year study of 77 firms in Sweden, conducted by Claes Fornell and his colleagues at the National Quality Research Center at the University of Michigan, revealed that perceived quality was a major driver of customer satisfaction, which in turn had a major impact on ROI.
* A study of 33 publicly traded firms over a four-year period showed that perceived quality (as measured by the EquiTrend method) had an impact on stock return, the ultimate financial measure. The study looked at American Express, AT&T, Avon, Citicorp, Coke, Kodak, Ford, Goodyear, IBM, Kellogg's, and 23 other firms for which the corporate brand drove a substantial amount of sales and profits. Remarkably, the impact of perceived quality was nearly as great as that of ROI (an acknowledged influence on stock return), even when the researchers controlled for advertising expenditures and awareness levels.
Perceived Quality as a Strategic Thrust
Perceived quality is a key strategic variable for many firms. Total quality management (TQM) or one of its relatives has been central to many firms for the past decade, and perceived quality is usually the end goal of TQM programs.
Many firms explicitly consider quality to be one of their primary values and include it in their mission statement. For example, one of the guiding principles put forth by IBM's president, Lou Gerstner, is an "overriding commitment to quality." In one study in which 250 business managers were asked to identify the sustainable competitive advantage of their firms, perceived quality was the most frequently named asset.
Perceived quality is often the key positioning dimension for corporate brands (such as Toshiba or Ford) and other brands that range over product classes (such as Weight Watchers, Kraft, and store brands such as Safeway Select). Because these brands span product classes, they are less likely to be driven by functional benefits, and perceived quality is likely to play a larger role.
Further, for many brands perceived quality defines the competitive milieu and their own position within that milieu. Some brands are price brands, and others are prestige or premium brands. Within those categories, the perceived quality position is often the defining point of differentiation.
Perceived Quality as a Measure of "Brand Goodness"
Perceived quality is usually at the heart of what customers are buying, and in that sense, it is a bottom-line measure of the impact of a brand identity. More interesting, though, perceived quality reflects a measure of "goodness" that spreads over all elements of the brand like a thick syrup. Even when the brand identity is defined by functional benefits, most studies will show that perceptions about those benefits are closely related to perceived quality. When perceived quality improves, so generally do other elements of customers'' perception of the brand.
Creating Perceptions of Quality
Achieving perceptions of quality is usually impossible unless the quality claim has substance. Generating high quality requires an understanding of what quality means to customer segments, as well as a supportive culture and a quality improvement process that will enable the organization to deliver quality products and services. Creating a quality product or service, however, is only a partial victory; perceptions must be created as well.
Perceived quality may differ from actual quality for a variety of reasons. First, consumers may be overly influenced by a previous image of poor quality. Because of this, they may not believe new claims, or they may not be willing to take the time to verify them. Suntory Old Whiskey, Audi automobiles, and Schlitz beer all found that making excellent products was not enough to erase consumer doubts raised by previously tarnished quality. Thus it is critical to protect a brand from gaining a reputation for shoddy quality from which recovery is difficult and sometimes impossible.
Second, a company may be achieving quality on a dimension that consumers do not consider important. When Citibank dramatically increased back-office efficiency by automating its processing activities, the expected impact on customer evaluations was disappointing. Customers, it turned out, either did not notice the changes or did not recognize any benefit from them. There is a need to make sure that investments in quality occur in areas that will resonate with customers.
Third, consumers rarely have all the information necessary to make a rational and objective judgment on quality -- and even if they do have the information, they may lack the time and motivation to process it. As a result, they rely on one or two cues that they associate with quality; the key to influencing perceived quality is understanding and managing these cues properly. Thus, it is important to understand the little things that consumers use as the basis for making a judgment of quality.
Courtesy: David Aaker in Building Strong Brands
Sponsored By: +2 Marketing Consultants
x after a Penguins victory in Tampa when he got the most difficult phone call of his life.Back home in Johnstown, his father was dying.
