Podcasts about SRC

In this month’s edition of #LesterInYourLounge, Lester Kiewit broadcasts from Bellville South, Glenhaven, and speaks to Dr. Llewellyn MacMaster for a powerful conversation about the past and present of the community. Dr. MacMaster, former SRC president at UWC, member of the Cape Crisis Committee, theologian, and retired minister, reflects on his journey from student activism during the turbulent 1980s to decades of service in ministry and academia. Together, they paint a picture of Bellville South’s role in the struggle against apartheid and explore how its legacy continues to shape the community today. Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit is a podcast of the CapeTalk breakfast show. This programme is your authentic Cape Town wake-up call. Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit is informative, enlightening and accessible. The team’s ability to spot & share relevant and unusual stories make the programme inclusive and thought-provoking. Don’t miss the popular World View feature at 7:45am daily. Listen out for #LesterInYourLounge which is an outside broadcast – from the home of a listener in a different part of Cape Town - on the first Wednesday of every month. This show introduces you to interesting Capetonians as well as their favourite communities, habits, local personalities and neighbourhood news. Thank you for listening to a podcast from Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit. Listen live – Good Morning CapeTalk with Lester Kiewit is broadcast weekdays between 06:00 and 09:00 (SA Time) https://www.primediaplus.com/station/capetalk Find all the catch-up podcasts here https://www.primediaplus.com/capetalk/good-morning-cape-town-with-lester-kiewit/audio-podcasts/good-morning-cape-town-with-lester-kiewit/ Subscribe to the CapeTalk daily and weekly newsletters https://www.primediaplus.com/competitions/newsletter-subscription/ Follow us on social media: CapeTalk on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CapeTalk   CapeTalk on TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@capetalk   CapeTalk on Instagram: www.instagram.com/capetalkza  CapeTalk on X: www.x.com/CapeTalk  CapeTalk on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dan, Andrew, Simon & Tony get their heads around Cardiff earning back-to-back bonus point wins and riding the play-off wave to South Africa, as well as previewing the Rags' SRC play-offs and going over some possible departures ahead of next season. #Welshrugby #Walesrugby #Cardiffrugby #Cardiff #CarvMun #URC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we are joined by Rob Rees from the SRC podcast to chat all things Super Rygbi Cymru and the Gwent teams season so far. Plus a look back on a feeble Dragons performance away to Ospreys and a tribute to the legend Dan Lydiate as he hangs up his boots at the end of the season. #Dragons #Welshrugby #SRC #URC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dan is joined by Frazier, Harley & Steve to go over Cardiff's win at Judgement Day and look ahead to Munster, the Rags topping the SRC, and all the latest news including the possibility of Jockey joining Wales. #Welshrugby #Walesrugby #CardiffRugby #CardiffCentral #URC #CarvMun Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#gtalksradio x NEW INC present: Secret Riso Club, an artist-run space that serves as a resource for independent publishing, art book production, art project development, as well as for exhibitions and distribution. The use of print & design as a tool for social change, creativity, and community empowerment drive the work and programming. Rooted in the values of collaboration, equity, and artistic expression, SRC strives to cultivate an environment where individuals from diverse backgrounds can come together to learn, create, and connect. SRC is run in collaboration between Gonzalo Guerrero and Tara Ridgedell. The space features a bookstore with publications from independent artists and publishers across the world, a workshop space for classes in bookmaking, printmaking and community building, and a print production studio with access for printers and artists. Tracklist: DjRUM — Frekm, Pt1 Discovery Zone — Supernatural Kassie Krut — Reckless Nabihah Iqbal — This world Couldn't See Us Marie Davidson, Soulwax — Work It (Soulwax mix) Blonde Redhead — (I Am Taking Out My Eurotrash) I Still Get Rocks Off datadata — I JUST GOT MY PERIOD Photo Credit - https://www.instagram.com/dfmcneil/ Special series @gtalksradio at NEW INC brings together the diasporic approach of gtalks! radio and the experimental ethos of NEW INC, the first museum-led incubator for art, design, and technology founded by the New Museum in 2014. Each episode is a peek into the practice of storytellers through different mediums. Curating advice and visibility for communities navigating the emerging landscape of art, technology, and entrepreneurship. Between conversations, featured guests share a playlist of their most played recent tunes, as a sonic backdrop to their creative process. The show is recorded in the NEW INC office, reimagined as a vessel for dissecting the intersectionality of art, design, and technology through individual conversations. The series' jingle is the work of composer and sound artist Etienne Mason, known professionally as MAYSUN. MAYSUN, recognized for his unique fusion of drumming and immersive soundscapes, has crafted a piece that features a sampled string riff from the Uyghur Sataer, ساتار. This riff was recorded by Gulnihal during her recent visit to Kashgar, China. SRC IG: https://www.instagram.com/secret_riso_club/ SRC Website: https://secretrisoclub.com Radio IG: www.instagram.com/gtalksradio/ Dublab: www.dublab.com/shows/gtalks-radio Sound Artist: www.instagram.com/maysun.music/

Join host Carol Pankow as she dives into the complexities of Order of Selection (OOS) in vocational rehabilitation with two expert guests: Theresa Kolezar, Director of Indiana Combined, and Chris Pope, Director of the State Monitoring and Program Improvement Division at RSA. In this episode, they break down: ·      Why agencies implement OOS due to financial and staffing constraints ·      Key regulatory requirements and compliance considerations ·      Strategies for managing and eventually lifting OOS ·      Indiana VR's data-driven approach to decision-making and communication ·      RSA's insights on fiscal forecasting and policy compliance If you're in the VR field, you won't want to miss this insightful conversation on planning, stakeholder engagement, and using data to overcome challenges.   Listen Here   Full Transcript:   {Music} Chris: As you know, we have 78 VR agencies and only eight of them have a closed priority category, and only one of those eight have all priority categories closed.   Carol: So by going back and saying hey you gotta look at this other side of the house and really analyze what's happening. It will give you the full picture, than what is playing into what's happening over here on the fiscal side of the house.   Theresa: For the majority of folks. They were maybe even having somewhat of a positive impact because we were able to get them processed, get them in sooner. And you know, there's obvious benefits that go along with lower case load sizes.   Intro Voice: Manager Minute brought to you by the VRTAC for Quality Management, Conversations powered by VR, one manager at a time, one minute at a time. Here is your host Carol Pankow.   Carol: Well, welcome to the manager minute. Joining me in the studio today is Theresa Kolezar, director of Indiana Combined. And Chris Pope, director of the State Monitoring and Program Improvement division at the Rehabilitation Services Administration. So, Theresa, how are things going with you in Indiana?   Theresa: Oh, we're doing well. Thanks. So happy to be here.   Carol: Thanks for being here. And, Chris, how are things going for you in D.C.?   Chris: Things are cold in D.C. at the moment, Carol, but we're hanging in there.   Carol: Yeah, not as cold as Minnesota.   Chris: I knew you were going to say that.   Carol: Yeah. I'm like, wow, we're 14 below people. Well, there has been a lot happening with the VR program over the past decade, and we certainly have had our ebbs and flows with funding and staffing. And as of late, the fiscal pendulum has been swinging, VR programs have been experiencing a tightening of the belt, so to speak, and discussions about the order of selection have been ramping up. And so for our listeners, order of selection is a process required under the VR regulations. When a VR agency does not have enough resources, whether it's funding staff or both, to serve all eligible individuals, and it's designed to prioritize services for those with the most significant needs. But over the years, order of selection really has sparked a lot of tension. And for some it's seen as just another layer of government red tape adding to the stigma around bureaucracy. Others argue that it undermines the very spirit of the rehab act by limiting access to services instead of promoting inclusion. Critics point out that it can widen service gaps. It leaves individuals with moderate disabilities without support, even though they still face serious barriers to employment.   And for our counselors, order of selection can bring its own challenges, including the emotional burden of explaining to clients why they can't receive immediate services. And for clients, being placed on a waitlist can feel disheartening and frustrating. And at the same time, agencies are grappling with a harsh reality. There's limited resources. Tough decisions have to be made. So how do we balance fairness, inclusion and the constraints of funding? And that is the question at the heart of today's conversation on order of Selection. So, Theresa, I've been a fan of yours for a long time. I think you bring a really thoughtful approach to almost every difficult situation in VR, and you been around a while, so I definitely want to pick your brain about your thoughts and approach on the topic. And Chris, I'm really count on you to bring the facts from an RSA perspective on what needs to happen with the Order of Selection. So let's dig in. So, Theresa, can you just tell us to start out with a little bit about yourself and your journey into VR?   Theresa: Sure. I probably have the least interesting journey, but maybe the most classic. I went from straight from undergrad to graduate school to get my masters in rehabilitation, got my CRC that same summer, and I entered the rehab field initially with a nonprofit, CRP, before coming to Indiana VR in 2004. So I've been with the VR program for a little over 20 years. Made my journey starting from a VR counselor and now director with, as you can imagine, a lot of other roles along the way. And I think I'm a fairly tenured VR director with almost nine years under my belt in this role.   Carol: Yeah, definitely you would be. Because I remember being told when I left, I had six years, you know, and people were telling me usually the lifespan of a VR director is about five years because the job is tough. So you're definitely one of our longer term folks. So, Chris, how about you? How did you venture into the VR world?   Chris: Thanks, Carol. Well, similar to Theresa, my graduate degree in rehab counseling, I became a CRC and began my career as a VR counselor with the State of New York in the general agency at the time, for about four years. And I've been with RSA now for a lucky 13. Just had my 13th anniversary. And in that time have served in a variety of roles. So, yeah, really happy to be here and now leading the division that's responsible for all of our formula grant.   Carol: Yeah, it's super cool. It's been fun to watch your career, Chris, as  you have grown. I remember one of the very first conferences you presented at, and I believe you were still, you know, more kind of on the staff level. And I thought, who's this guy? You were up there, you just had such a great presence about you. And I'm like, he's going somewhere. And you have, it's come true.   Chris: Thanks, Carol.   Carol: So let's talk about the realities of Order of Selection. It's not something that can be implemented at the snap of a finger. And so I want to start with you. What are those factors via our leaders need to take into account.   Theresa: Yeah. You know it's hard I feel like I sort of came to terms with it because it's it didn't feel so much like something we had to choose or decide upon, but more something we had to do. if your circumstances are such that you don't have the resources to serve everyone. So in Indiana, we enter the order in 2017, and I believe that was the first time in our history, as far as I know, it came after years of trying other things, you know, implementing strategies to improve our capacity, stretch our resources. And just a few examples. Implementing efficiencies, changing to our staffing structure, changing our minimum VRC qualifications to a bachelor's degree, and a whole lot more. And those strategies were definitely focused for us at that time around staffing resources. But there were also some fiscal unknowns or concerns because right around that time, the 15 earmark requirement was also, you know, kind of hitting us. And we were trying to figure out how to shift those resources. So the strategies we did pre they were definitely helpful. They were effective, but we still were left with a deficit. You know, we still had high caseload sizes. It was taking way too long for new referrals to get an intake appointment. Our VRC turnover rate was much higher than is optimal. Ultimately led us to identify that we were not able to provide the full range of ER services to everyone who was eligible, and therefore we needed to enter the Order of Selection.   So we started planning for that probably around nine months prior to. The implementation and when I was making my talking points, there's a lot that you have to do, right, to prepare for Order of selection. So discussion with our internal leadership, our VR council, our stakeholders, our staff conversation with RSA, drafting that state plan amendment, getting that out for public comment. We took a couple extra steps and met with our other workforce partners because we thought, hey, they may get more referrals here. We may want to tell them why and what's going on over here and what this means. And then we of course, you have to develop written procedures, adapt your case management system. And then we also wanted to be really careful with our messaging to applicants. So we drafted some materials that we wanted our intake counselors to share and get that consistent message out there and, of course, training our counselors. So I think the nine month runway was probably a fast track Approach, thinking about all those steps. You want to do it right? You want to be planful. But at the same time, once you identify that this is a need, you usually need it to happen pretty quickly.   Carol: Absolutely. I know for me, when I was a new director in Minnesota, I actually faced this. And Minnesota Blind had not been on an order for many, many, many, many, many, many years. And being a little naive, you know, coming into VR going, we have this situation, you know, I'm thinking this all can happen super fast. It does not. But I found for me, really getting grounded in understanding our data was so important because I see these things all going on. But you had to put all the pieces together, get your fiscal side of the house and what's going on and how you're making expenditures and investments in different things and what's happening with that. But what also is happening programmatically, the people that are coming in and the characteristics of your caseload and all those different things, you had to put it all together to really get the complete picture. And for me, I know I had to do that rather quickly. So it becomes super important to have people around you. If you are not that person you know, that can pull all that data and present it in a way so you can really see the picture of what is happening and kind of unfolding in the state.   I think it just so foundationally because I know I have this little list at my desk of people that have called me looking at needing to go on order selection or thinking they're going to need to. And we have over a dozen states that have outreached in the last two months. And part of my advice to them has been back, you know, you have to get grounded to and what was your data telling you? Because you can't just base this all in sort of an assumption or something. You've got to be grounded. So I always think that that's a really important piece to start with. Now, Chris, I know from a regulatory perspective there are items that are absolutely critical for VR to have in place when you were considering Order Selection. Can you help us with that? Because I want to make sure people aren't making a mistake, you know, as they're kind of thinking through the process.   Chris: Definitely. There are several regulatory requirements, and before we address those, I thought I could provide just a little bit of context at the moment of where we're at with Order selection across the country. As you know, we have 78 VR agencies and only eight of them have a closed priority category, and only one of those eight have all priority categories closed. So this is significant progress over the past several years, I'd say since the passage of WIOA in 2014, in the past, as many as a fourth of our VR agencies had at least one closed priority category. And I can say that when RSA meets with congressional committees and other stakeholders, they often ask us for a status check on Order of Selection, and I can tell you that they respond really positively when we share that very few VR agencies are unable to serve all eligible individuals. Further, since RSA and our federal partners approved, the latest state plan would be the 2024 to 2027 state plans, RSA has approved one VR agency's new order of selection, and at the moment, we have 2 to 3 VR agencies that have submitted paperwork and are pending implementation.   Carol: You might have a few more. Chris now coming because I have I have my list of people calling. I mean really we do have 12 now on the list, so I expect maybe some more outreach.   Chris: Yep. So in terms of all of those regulatory requirements, like you said, VR agencies need to have a few things in place as they consider implementation. These include a comprehensive fiscal forecast, cost containment policies if necessary, and assessment of staff resources. And as Theresa talked about, consultation with the State Rehabilitation Council, so that fiscal forecast needs to address six data points. Average case costs, the projected number of new IPEs, the current number of IPEs, the projected number of applicants and the cost of any assessment services that might be needed to determine them eligible for the program. Projected increase or decrease in the cost of providing VR services to these groups of people, and projected income, or in any other budget resources that may become available. The fiscal forecast produces that data, Carol, that you were talking about, that demonstrates whether or not the VR agency can do the following four things. Whether the agency can continue to provide services to all individuals currently receiving services under their plans. Provide assessment services to all those individuals expected to apply to the program over the next fiscal year. Provide services to all individuals who are expected to be determined eligible in the next fiscal year. And finally, that fiscal forecast needs to include data that demonstrates that the VR program will continue to meet all of the various program requirements, like that 15% reserve requirement that Theresa discussed. So in terms of creating an Order of Selection policy, there are about five things that the VR agency needs to include in that actual policy.   First is it's priority categories, including the regulatory definition of what significant disability means, how the VR agency will determine which individuals have the most significant disabilities. And that definition must build on that regulatory definition of significant disability. The policy needs to address whether the agency has elected to serve individuals outside of the order of selection, who may require specific services or equipment to maintain their job or to keep employment, was one of those new requirements. The policy must indicate how the VR program will provide information and referral services to individuals who may be placed on a waiting list. And finally, the policy needs to describe how the agency will carry out the order, how it will be implemented so, in effect, how the waitlist will be managed and how the VR agency will decide when to open all of those other priority categories. I was happy that Theresa also mentioned that VR agencies need to ensure that their case management system can fulfill the administration of the order. And we like to see in the policy some discussion of what tracking mechanisms VR agencies will use to account for such things as cost, staff time and caseload sizes. So in other words, sort of that real time data analysis that That informs whether the order continues to be necessary or whether it can be lifted.   Carol: Awesome. I'm sure people are probably, as they're listening, taking copious notes. So folks need to know that there also is always a transcript that goes along with the podcast. So if your wrist just broke, you will be able to just take a look at the notes and get all those things. That is super helpful. Chris, I wanted to ask as a follow up, so that people that have outreached so far, those states that have outreached are you seeing? Is it a fiscally related issue? Is it a staffing? You know how sometimes the states are really struggling with having appropriate staffing? I know it's only been a few, but do you know kind of what that looks like if it's based on more of the fiscal end of things, or is it they don't have capacity because they don't have any staff?   Chris: It's been a combination of all of those things, Carol. So we're seeing agencies with limited fiscal resources, whether that be state appropriated funds, their inability to kind of fully leverage the federal award. It may be retention and recruitment of VR counselors. It could also be sort of capacity of providers, whether those are community rehab providers or contractors who provide VR services. And oftentimes it's other things that kind of just contribute to those as well. And what we're hoping to see in those justifications that VR agencies submit is a real data informed discussion of those factors, like real time data in terms of both fiscal data and performance data. So the money and the people.   Carol: Yeah, I can't underscore that enough, because I know the folks that have reached out to us a lot of times they tend to talk about, you know, their hair is on fire about this thing. And then I'm always bringing  back. So if they're all focused just on the fiscal. But I said, what's happening in your program, what's going on? And that has been very interesting as people are talking about. And then they call us back. They go, you know, the characteristics of the individuals coming in the case characteristics, kind of pre-COVID to now is different. And so we're finding clientele coming in has many more needs, and so the cost of the case are so much greater. And they hadn't realized it until they went back in. They just knew something was going on with the people, but they didn't understand what. So by going back and saying, hey, you got to look at this other side of the house and really analyze what's happening. It will give you the full picture. And then what is playing into what's happening over here on the fiscal side of the house. So I think for, you know, we've all said it, the data is super important. I just want to underscore that. So Theresa, tell us a little bit about your journey with Order Selection in Indiana and your current picture what's happening?   Theresa: I echo the data conversation, that's critical, and you really have to justify the need for the order. So we did all of that really before we even probably got to that, that nine month runway that I spoke of. But from there, our next step was to get our internal leadership approval. And there were hesitancies, which is understandable. We really had to work to articulate and help them understand the challenges that we were facing. Again, justifying using that data that we were not able to provide the full range of services to everyone, while also meeting the range of other expectations, you know, timeliness, getting people in the door in a reasonable period of time. And we really had to work to articulate the negative impact of having these ongoing high caseload sizes and the cycle that we were in with staff turnover. It just felt like we were getting deeper and deeper into right into a hole and further and further away from optimal capacity. So ultimately, we presented the Order of Selection as one something that is federally required for our agencies, you know, not able to provide that full range of services. And then two, a lever of sorts that would enable us to maybe pause or slow some of that growth in participants, giving us the space to get out of that cycle to rebuild our foundation, which for us primarily at that time, was fixing our long standing staffing capacity challenges. But for those experiencing fiscal deficits, of course, that focus would look very different. Once we got leadership support, we moved as quickly as humanly possible. And now on the other side of it. I'm thrilled to share that we have now opened all of our priority categories. We released the last 200 or so from our waitlist just this past October, so we were in and out of the order in about a seven year period in Indiana.   Carol: I love that. I like that you said you want to project, you know, the ways to get kind of out of the order to open the categories and do that. I know for states that have contacted us, that's one of the pieces of advice I've been giving. I'm like, okay, you're thinking about the right now, but you also have to think about the future because that is everyone's biggest worry. You're going to do this thing and it's never going to go away. People are going to be in a waitlist forever. You're never putting strategies in place to come out on the other side of that. And I know for me in Minnesota, that was very much part of what I had to do. And given the circumstances we had at that time, I had this plan and I said, if you all can hang with me, I believe by about 2018 or so, end of 17-18, we're going to be on the other side of this, which actually ended up playing out and coming true. And so you've got to not only like react to your current situation, but you want to be thinking thoughtfully about what are those things that you can put in play so that you aren't just going to stay there? This is the lever we're pulling and we're going to be here forever. So I really like that you said that. I know, Theresa, when you and I talked earlier, Order selection can often be treated like a bad word in the VR world, and it is loaded with a lot of stigma and frustration. But at its core, you know, when you and I were chatting and, you know, you just boil it down, it really is a mechanism. It's a tool required by law to prioritize services when resources are limited. And so if we can't do everything for everyone, it's a system that outlines how to make those tough decisions. What are your thoughts about Order of Selection and how we can maybe shift the conversation to reduce the stigma and see it for what it is? It can be this necessary lever to balance fairness amongst those limited resources.   Theresa: Yeah, that's probably one of the trickiest parts in communication. Communication, right. Communication. Communicating with stakeholders about Order Selection will probably always be challenging. It's a challenging thing, but I think there's a couple of things that were really helpful. And one is sharing a game plan to address the underlying resource challenges. Is a helpful approach, right. Making sure that there's game plan. This isn't the end result, right? This is going to enable us to make this shift and again kind of get out of the cycle. We also found it helpful to share the federal requirements. So just very factually, if you can't serve all you have to prioritize certain populations first. And the Order of Selection is the prescribed process for complying with that. And I think it's a good process for doing that. It's effective at making sure the prioritization happens. Additionally, we also share data throughout our process on the percent of eligible individuals who were impacted. And what that showed is that the majority of individuals were actually not impacted. You know, relatively speaking, a pretty small percent of folks ultimately went on a wait list. And, you know, you could even argue, and I think we did a couple of times that for the majority of folks, they were maybe even having somewhat of a positive impact because we were able to get them processed, get them in sooner.   And, you know, there's obvious benefits that go along with lower case load sizes. So we often relay that only about 10% of eligible individuals were going on a wait list, and 90% were meeting that criteria for those with a most significant disability, which was our open category for a good bit of our seven years. I will say people were a little wary of that stat. They kind of had a hard time believing that, and I think that it's because that term MSD or most significant disabilities, it definitely has meaning. But also we found it could be a little bit misleading. You know, people thought, oh, to be MSD, someone must look like this, right? And we actually found that those meeting that MSD criteria were really a more inclusive group than maybe that term people would perceive that term to imply. And that was just another educational opportunity for our stakeholders and our referral sources.   Carol: I like that you talked about the communication piece around all this, because that really is important. It's almost as important as all of the plans you're putting in place. All the things that Chris told us about that need to go in developing that communication plan, that goes along with how you discuss this out amongst all the stakeholders and such, is super important. I know, Chris, do you have any insights on this part, on the stigma or anything you wanted to share?   Chris: I guess I just had a couple thoughts on like the element of fairness that you talked about in dealing with fairness and at the same time limited resources. So I guess I would just say that order of selection is only one of the cost containment measures afforded to VR agencies through the law and through regulations. And there are other things, too, that VR agencies may want to consider, and that's comparable services and benefits. How we inform people and refer them to other workforce development programs. Those may be our partners or others. How we balance what VR Agencies by in terms of services and what we provide in-house in the cost kind of associated with both strategies. One of the other things that RSA often considers VR agencies to look at when we're talking about implementing an order is kind of carefully evaluating the need to require additional assessments when the law allows and promotes the use of existing information. So sort of not overdoing that eligibility determination process because that often comes with cost. Right. And then finally VR agencies should also be reassessing sort of their routine practices and policies that result in increased cost. That may not always be necessary. So we're really looking at kind of the entire fiscal picture of the program, not just those VR service costs that are provided to eligible individuals.   Carol: That's good. I'm glad you brought all of that up, because we often do talk about these other factors. And I asked people, are you also looking at what are you getting bang for your buck? And not that we're trying to bang on vendor communities, but do you have vendors where people never like they're never done with service, they never graduate, they never get to the end? I mean, maybe it's looking back at that and going are the ways in which their training really working for your clientele? Maybe not. Maybe you need to circle back and work with them or have a parting of the ways and think about that. I also like the thinking about really leveraging our partners. I mean, the whole rehab act, when it was redone, you know, and we had the 2014 WIOA comes out of that. We always had partners, but I don't think we were very good at leveraging what things are they doing. And I feel like some of this stuff is duplicative. You know, why are we offering these same sort of trainings that are now at the one stop that people can access and go to those courses or whatever, you know, types of things that they're offering. So it does force you to take a look at that and really actually live in to WIOA and leveraging the partnerships and the funds across all these systems. I like that. Thank you Chris, for saying that. Order Selection also has to be a super thoughtful process. And so, Chris, I know you talked about the data points that folks should look at. Theresa, what are the data points you look at regularly? And I like it because some directors talk about kind of they're reading the tea leaves to complete your fiscal forecasting, or there's some other things that you like to do.   Theresa: Oh gosh, yeah, We could talk all day on fiscal forecasting. But to just kind of be brief, you have to look beyond just what did we spend last year and apply that and assume that. And I think if you don't have programs talking to fiscal sometimes that is the fiscal assumption. Right. By fiscal staff being made. So with the pendulum swings that we tend to see in VR, which of course are highly driven by trends and applicant and participant counts, you really need to have a very layered approach to forecasting. This is where, again, that program knowledge and fiscal knowledge, it's essential that they're paired up. Just a few things to consider would be beyond the basics right. What is your data show? What are your trends? Show. But what's in your state plan? What are the goals? What are the initiatives that you have in place? There may be a fiscal impact to those, right? There may be a staff resource impact to those. So for instance, a very obvious example in our state plan, we have some goals around increasing enrollment in post-secondary training. There's some fiscal impact there. We need to know what that is, how to apply that, and then really have an understanding of our ability to sustain that goal into the subsequent years.   Again, the applicant and participant growth trends are super important. So keep your eye on and then any impact of any other outreach or collaborative partnerships that might be contributing to some of that program growth. You know, more people served generally is going to mean more expenses. And then just quickly, from kind of a fiscal standpoint, something that might be a little bit unique beyond, again, all the basic essentials of fiscal forecasting is we really have to account for carrying over a certain portion of our dollars. And that really comes down to making sure we don't have, you know, disruptions and services and can comply with this period of performance requirements. So we find in Indiana that, you know, carrying over like 20 to 25% works well for us, ensures that we can continue authorizations past 9/30 and not have that challenge of waiting until ten/1, you know, to encumber new funds. And that just keeps the flow of services going. So I'll just add that as maybe a nuance that others aren't always thinking about.   Carol: Yeah, I appreciate that because I think that having that strategy I did too, as a director, wanting you have your sweet spot of what you like to have in that carry over, because it really does promote that consistency when you have that hard start and stop, and especially in an era of continuing resolutions, you know your whole strategy with how you're flowing into the next year and how all that's going to work. You need to think about that piece for sure. Now, I know a big problem has existed around priority categories and the most significant disability designation. And many programs have three categories, but almost 90% of the customers are in category one, which makes it difficult, you know, when you're implementing an Order of Selection. How did you address that in Indiana?   Theresa: Yeah, that's exactly what we saw. And we balanced this by a couple of key strategies. One is that we did not release anyone from the waitlist until a little over two years into our process. That's  kind of how we, how bad of a cycle we were in. And again, it's a lever. It's  that dial. We had some targets like caseload sizes, retention rate that we were tracking as a gauge to when we could start moving people off that waitlist. So just for example, average caseload size is getting to under 100, turnover being less than 20%. So those were some indicators to watch to start releasing folks. Another strategy that was really helpful is that we opted to do larger releases each quarter instead of kind of smaller, more frequent releases. And this gave us the opportunity to really have our staff know that it was coming the same time each quarter. They could carve out time because it is a lift on top of the day to day, right? You've got to reach out to folks multiple times. You've got to schedule them for meetings. You've got to get IPEs in place. And then with those reviews of the, you know, again, we might look at like 2 to 300 people to see, can we take 300? Can we take 200? Is it somewhere in the middle? How does that break down across your 26 offices? And inevitably each quarter, one office got hit with a high number. And then there were a few that had very little. So we also had to weigh that and see where we could balance our resources to make those work. You know, at the end of the day, you ultimately have to release more people from the waitlist than new people who came in as eligible that quarter in order to get ahead of it. So that was another data point that we looked at.   Carol: Did you find that actually learning kind of through Covid, a lesson, you know, with working remotely and all of that, did that help as you're looking at distributing across the 26 areas? Because you can I mean, and I've talked to other directors about this now you can work with people. Maybe you're in this part of the state, but you can work with other folks as well to keep them moving. So maybe there isn't this huge one off, it's just got 200 people and the other offices get one, you know, they don't have any. Did you find some ability to flex that around the state?   Theresa: Absolutely. That's exactly what we did. So those offices that were hit hard, of course, they were also the offices with the highest number of vacancies. It just seemed to be how it fell every quarter. So absolutely, our region managers really did it. We have five of those five regions. They really did an excellent job troubleshooting that, you know, we helped where needed. But they for sure did that looking across offices in their region and even across the state. We also have about 7 or 8 working lead counselors, kind of floater counselors. So we were able to deploy them to the areas with the highest need. And then as we progressed through the order, we had a pretty robust outreach process. As we were getting ready to release folks, we ended up centralizing that a little bit to take some of that load off of our field staff as well. So, you know, you kind of have to adjust as you go. Move your resources where you can. But absolutely, we found that to be a great strategy.   Carol: Chris, you have any thoughts on that about the priority categories and the most significant disability? I just wondered because I know folks struggle with that. You were looking contemplative, so I thought maybe you might have something to add.   Chris: My philosophy with a lot of things, Carol, has always been less is more. And you mentioned that most of our agencies have three priority categories. And if I were able to say this is a requirement, that would probably be what I would say. But, you know, VR agencies have flexibility to develop more than three. I would just caution that as you get more complicated, things get more complicated for applicants to understand and for VR counselors to implement. So again, I would just say that the law requires that the significant disability category be identical to what's in the rehab act and the regs, and that that most significant category needs to build upon that. So we often see agencies talking about more functional limitations, more services being needed, more time needed to help the person reach their employment goal. So the more specificity there, the better is. I think that helps VR counselors kind of understand where to place people when they're determined eligible.   Carol: Yeah, that's really good advice. Now I know, Theresa, also, you have talked about wanting to bust the myth that nobody gets off the waitlist. And how can we better do that?   Theresa: I can't tell you how many times I've heard that in Indiana, and that was part of the a lot of the grief is that there was this thought that we'll never get out. So we know that's not true. The facts are there. You know, there are many states. And Chris shared, you know, 25% down to less than ten. So less than ten states. So we know it happens. There are states who've done it. I don't know if we do enough to highlight that to kind of our stakeholders, you know, at large and celebrate that. So maybe that's part of the answer. You know, we have those actual examples. That's an important part of the communication to internal and external stakeholders. The other piece here is outlining the conditions that need to be in place to progress, to opening more categories, to ending the order, and then people can see you hitting those target milestones. They may start believing that, oh wow, there's some actual notable objective progress here. We are getting closer to the end. This does seem doable.   Carol: Yeah, I think going back to that communication strategy for sure can help. I know with our SRC, and I had laid out the plan like I had all these points that we needed to do to kind of get through our struggle. And as things were met or we were able to achieve other savings in certain areas without impacting, you know, a quality of a service. Man ,it was great. Like no stone was unturned as we did that. But I wanted to be super transparent. Here's all the things. And I kept a little chart, like, here was this savings, or here we met this thing so people could see we were actively working a process all the way through, versus okay, we are pulling the lever and the lever is just staying closed down. That's it. They don't see the other end. All that work that's being done behind. So what is your best advice for state directors contemplating pulling the lever?   Theresa: Well, we definitely looked at it as that lever or that dial, and we felt that that gave us an opportunity. We really would not otherwise have had to take action on addressing a really significant foundation or core issue while slowing down that incoming train a little bit and refocusing our resources, staffing and fiscal building adequate resources and capacity. It's an ongoing effort. It never ends. It's one of the more difficult things, probably, that we do, but it's so critical to carrying out services in general, let alone good quality services. And it requires a very thoughtful plan and a lot of simultaneous strategies. You know, all the strategies we implemented from salary adjustments to, you know, creating those working lead counselors I mentioned, we developed a layer of case coordinators to take on some of the case management aspects. I think some states call them rehab techs. Lots of gaining of technology, you know, modernization and efficiencies and then some. Right. It ultimately helped us with two really big systemic needs. And one was getting cancer caseload sizes to manageable levels and reducing our VRC turnover. I mean, those things are gold when it comes to staff capacity.   Carol: Now, Chris, I don't want to steal your thunder, but what I'm going to say to folks too is call RSA. Like, reach out to your liaison and talk to them about your situation. You want to start those conversations because the worst thing I would think is you're a state liaison at RSA and you just get this boom, we want to do it. We need to go on March 1st and today is January, you know, 24th. You want to have that partnership all the way along. And I know, Chris, you can speak a little more to that for sure.   Chris: Carol, you know, we often talk about with clients early and sustained engagement. And I would encourage VR agencies to take the same approach with us at RSA. Reach out early and keep that conversation going. The order of selection approval process is going to be iterative. In 99% of times, RSA will have feedback and will have questions, and we'll want to see justifications be made as strong as possible. So to your point, Carol, our ability to approve orders of selection overnight is not possible. Theresa talked about sort of a nine month on ramp. I wouldn't say it's going to take that long on our end, but it will take at least a couple of weeks. And the stronger the justification we receive, the better. Again, I would just say that consider all of the flexibilities that the Rehab Act offers to VR agencies when it comes to managing the program, in addition to implementing an order. And we talked about some of those before, but they could mean cost containment from financial participation to preferences to instate services, to looking at the administrative costs that you might pay for providing services, your staffing capacity, and really leveraging the ability of your SRC. To advocate for the program, we often talk about the return on investment of the VR program, and it really is unlimited. Our program offers a lot of flexibility to be creative, to help people meet their career goals, and that's kind of the best thing we have going for us to argue for the sustainability of the program moving forward.   Carol: Yeah. Excellent points. The SRC can do so much more than we can do, really, and a lot of venues and have a different voice and a seat with the governor. You know, they're appointed by the governor. They have a different mode of communication that they can use that we cannot. So we definitely don't want to forget about them. All right guys, so we're coming to a conclusion. Any last parting thoughts from either of you for our listeners?   Theresa: Well, I'll just add, I think we've touched on a lot of great lessons learned in communication. Number one, really important. And we've hit on some ideas and strategies around that. And then the second, having that game plan, it's  critical so that we're all viewing Order of selection, not as that end result right, or that indefinite status, but as that lever or that dial that can be adjusted to address the situation at hand and then get back on track, get out of the order, be able to serve everyone who needs those services.   Carol: Awesome. I really appreciate you both and appreciate having this conversation. And for our listeners who were taking notes, because I know you guys read the transcript because that will help you with all of that. You can go back through and highlight the things you need to do. Thanks so much for being here today. Appreciate you.   Theresa: Thank you.   Chris: Thanks, Carol.   {Music} Outro Voice: Conversations powered by VR, one manager at a time, one minute at a time, brought to you by the VR TAC for Quality Management. Catch all of our podcast episodes by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening!

Dan Corder spoke to Funanani Tshisudi, the SRC’s Postgraduate Academic Chair, about the realities on the ground and the solutions being considered.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Student Representative Council (SRC) of UCT has called for a task team that will look into the accommodation crisis and historical debts of students at universities. Access to the university's upper campus was restricted, and some lectures were disrupted on Monday morning, as students protested over alleged lack of accommodation and students -- who can't register due to historic debt. A number of students have allegedly been sleeping at SRC offices due to a shortage of accommodation. Andile Mbanjwa reports...

On this episode of the AMSSM Sports Medcast, host Dr. Jeremy Schroeder, DO, is joined by Dr. Erin Hammer, MD, MPH, who received the Best Overall Research Award at the 2024 AMSSM Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD. The study focused on the use of Guardian Caps and whether they were associated with a lower risk of sport-related concussion (SRC) during practices and games among high school football players. In this conversation, Dr. Hammer discusses her award-winning research, which was recently published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, and also shares her personal advice for those looking to get more involved in scholarly research. Registration is now open for the 2025 AMSSM Annual Meeting in Kansas City, which takes place from April 22-27. Learn more and register now at annualmeeting.amssm.org.   Research Article Links The Association Between Guardian Cap Use During Practices and Sport-related Concussion Risk in High School American Football Players bjsm.bmj.com/content/59/4/257 2024 AMSSM Annual Meeting Research Podium Presentations journals.lww.com/cjsportsmed/fulltext/2024/03000/2024_amssm_research_podium_presentations.11.aspx

On this episode of the AMSSM Sports Medcast, host Dr. Jeremy Schroeder, DO, is joined by Dr. Erin Hammer, MD, MPH, who received the Best Overall Research Award at the 2024 AMSSM Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD. Her study focused on the use of Guardian Caps and whether they were associated with a lower risk of sport-related concussion (SRC) during practices and games among high school football players. In this conversation, Dr. Hammer discusses her award-winning research, which was recently published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, and also shares her personal advice for those looking to get more involved in scholarly research. Registration is now open for the 2025 AMSSM Annual Meeting in Kansas City, which takes place from April 22-27. Learn more and register now at annualmeeting.amssm.org.   Research Article Links The Association Between Guardian Cap Use During Practices and Sport-related Concussion Risk in High School American Football Players bjsm.bmj.com/content/59/4/257 2024 AMSSM Annual Meeting Research Podium Presentations journals.lww.com/cjsportsmed/fulltext/2024/03000/2024_amssm_research_podium_presentations.11.aspx

John Maytham speaks to Shanicka Snyders, a UCT SRC member, who has been directly involved in assisting affected students. She shares insight into the realities on the ground, the SRC’s ongoing engagements with university management, and what students need in order to move forward.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Free: DATA, SRC, ANX, GRIO, TPX, TBLD, RAI Premium: WOSG, BBGI, W7L, SPSY Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A pandemic, inflation, interest rate swings—the housing sector has seen a lot of tumult in recent years. What does the residential real estate market look like today? An Atlanta Fed housing expert attempts to explain in this episode of the Economy Matters podcast.

In this episode, Arun Sreeranganathan, principal at Stress Engineering Services, sits down with co-hosts Heather Allain and Marc Cook to discuss creep in the context of chemical facilities. They chat about: the definition of creep, homologous temperature, creep in plastics, contrasting creep with SRC, How the ASME code handles the subject, creep curves, sources for creep info, how creep data is developed, using uniaxial data to design for multiaxiality in equipment, and methods for determining remaining life from creep.   Corrosion Chronicles is produced by Association Briefings. 

Donald Trump holds a free-wheeling press conference, just in time for Dan's return to the show after a week at trial.Catholic Charities has two featured guests during the hour, each from St. Raphael Counseling: Rachel Gerle, St. Raphael client and Dr. Michelle Connor Harris, Director of SRC.

✨ 台南唯一頂級豪宅 #上曜The King ——台南湖美富豪區的巔峰之作 https://theking.tw

✨ 台南唯一頂級豪宅 #上曜The King ——台南湖美富豪區的巔峰之作 https://theking.tw

This week, hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot welcome Andy Cirzan, their favorite collector of offbeat holiday music, for their annual celebration of all things strange and festive.Join our Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3sivr9TBecome a member on Patreon: https://bit.ly/3slWZvcSign up for our newsletter: https://bit.ly/3eEvRnGMake a donation via PayPal: https://bit.ly/3dmt9lUSend us a Voice Memo: Desktop: bit.ly/2RyD5Ah Mobile: sayhi.chat/soundops Featured Songs:Unknown, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," Unknown, Unknown, UnknownThe Beatles, "With A Little Help From My Friends," Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Parlophone, 1967Herman Apple, "Let It Snow," (Single), Unknown, UnknownJohnny Dollar, "Truck Drivers Lament," (Single), Chart, 1970Vin Bruce, "Christmas on the Bayou," (Single), Swallow, UnknownRed Ellis and the Huron Valley Boys, "Christmas Is Not Far Away," (Single), Unknown, UnknownBuddy Thornton, "Ole Santa Is Coming to Town," (Single), Four Star, 1953Unknown, "EZ Listening," (Single), Unknown, UnknownThurmon McKinney, "Santa & the Truck Driver," (Single), MCW, 1974Bobby Allen & the Exceptions, "Lonely Christmas Tears," (Single), Soul Sound, UnknownGene Adkins & the Tune Toppers, "What Christmas Is," (Single), SRC, 1952Jimmie Davis, "Christmas Choo Choo," (Single), Decca, 1953Unknown, "Sleigh Ride," Unknown, Unknown, UnknownJimmy Wheeler, "Snowflakes Falling On My Head," (Single), Unknown, UnknownMimi Rogers, "Snow Blossoms," (Demo), Unknown, UnknownOriginal Sons Of Christ, "Christmas Comes But Once A Year," (Single), Unknown, UnknownClyde Lasley, "Santa Came Home Drunk," (Single), Sundown, 1967Cordell Jackson, "Rock N' Roll Christmas," (Single), Moon, 1956Cordell Jackson, "Beboppers Christmas," (Single b-side), Moon, 1956Unknown, "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer," Unknown, Unknown, UnknownMick Jagger, "Strange Game," From the Apple TV+ Original Series Slow Horses, Polydor, 2022See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

【鳴森大苑-鳴森苑】 39-48坪 民生社區生活圈 SRC靜闊景觀地標 預約｜https://msdy.8sms.tw/ 賞屋專線｜(02)2748-5555 接待會館｜台北市松山區延壽街105號 —— 以上廣告由九八新聞台製播 —— 主持人：阮慕驊 來賓：資深產業記者 呂國禎 主題：美中新熱戰 AI曼哈頓計畫 節目時間：週一至週五 5:00pm-7:00pm 本集播出日期：2024.12.13 此集影片YouTube連結 https://youtube.com/live/HaahoJORqZE

✨ 台南唯一頂級豪宅 #上曜The King ——台南湖美富豪區的巔峰之作 https://theking.tw

【鳴森大苑-鳴森苑】 39-48坪 民生社區生活圈 SRC靜闊景觀地標 預約｜https://msdy.8sms.tw/ 賞屋專線｜(02)2748-5555 接待會館｜台北市松山區延壽街105號 —— 以上廣告由九八新聞台製播 —— 主持人：阮慕驊 來賓：富蘭克林投顧副總經理 梁珮羚 主題：川普將赴紐交所敲鐘！對明年美股的意義？ 節目時間：週一至週五 5:00pm-7:00pm 本集播出日期：2024.12.12 此集影片YouTube連結 https://youtube.com/live/xOiXPKJJsn0

✨ 台南唯一頂級豪宅 #上曜The King ——台南湖美富豪區的巔峰之作 https://theking.tw

【鳴森大苑-鳴森苑】 39-48坪 民生社區生活圈 SRC靜闊景觀地標 預約｜https://msdy.8sms.tw/ 賞屋專線｜(02)2748-5555 接待會館｜台北市松山區延壽街105號 —— 以上廣告由九八新聞台製播 —— 主持人：阮慕驊 來賓：淡江大學財務金融學系副教授 段昌文博士 主題：2025該怎麼投資？ 節目時間：週一至週五 5:00pm-7:00pm 本集播出日期：2024.12.11 此集影片YouTube連結 https://youtube.com/live/iKxWsLniSto

✨ 台南唯一頂級豪宅 #上曜The King ——台南湖美富豪區的巔峰之作 https://theking.tw

【鳴森大苑-鳴森苑】 39-48坪 民生社區生活圈 SRC靜闊景觀地標 預約｜https://msdy.8sms.tw/ 賞屋專線｜(02)2748-5555 接待會館｜台北市松山區延壽街105號 —— 以上廣告由九八新聞台製播 —— 主持人：阮慕驊 主題：台股又現下跌陰影？密切觀察兩條線能否守住！ 節目時間：週一至週五 5:00pm-7:00pm 本集播出日期：2024.12.10

✨ 台南唯一頂級豪宅 #上曜The King ——台南湖美富豪區的巔峰之作 https://theking.tw

【鳴森大苑-鳴森苑】 39-48坪 民生社區生活圈 SRC靜闊景觀地標 預約｜https://msdy.8sms.tw/ 賞屋專線｜(02)2748-5555 接待會館｜台北市松山區延壽街105號 —— 以上廣告由九八新聞台製播 —— 主持人：阮慕驊 來賓：統一期貨分析師 盧昱衡 主題：12月開門紅！聖誕老人行情可期？ 節目時間：週一至週五 5:00pm-7:00pm 本集播出日期：2024.12.09 此集影片YouTube連結 https://youtube.com/live/D80aVXwsWXw

Jesse Shapell came on for an absolutely pitchfork style episode and the best closer to a season we could imagine. You'll love it. Go to barbocino and eat pizza with him.////LIST////Insula, Azores, 'Chao de lava AA,' 2022 //SRC, Etna Bianco, 2021//Clos Marfisi, Corsica, 'Ravagnoli,' NV////Support the show

In this episode, Jan-willem Rensman, Fellow at Fluor and subject matter expert in Metallurgy and Welding, joins co-hosts Heather Allain and Marc Cook for an in-depth discussion on stress relaxation cracking (SRC). Together, they cover topics including: defining SRC and understanding where and when it occurs, the differences between SRC and creep, managing residual stresses in welds, and offering design and fabrication strategies to prevent SRC. The conversation also touches on shop versus field weld considerations, selecting appropriate welding techniques, SRC guidelines in design codes, recommended resources for design standards, and methods for SRC detection and repair.   Corrosion Chronicles is produced by Association Briefings. Show notes References which contain guidelines for SRC mitigation: API TR 942-B (2017). Materials, Fabrication, and Repair Considerations for Austenitic Alloys Subject to Embrittlement and Cracking in High Temperature 565°C to 760°C (1050°F to 1400°F) Refinery Services, American Petroleum Institute, Washington, DC. Fahrion, M. E., Brown, J. C., Hassell, J. C., & Birke, A. (2003, March). Technical basis for improved reliability of 347H stainless steel heavy wall piping in hydrogen service. In NACE CORROSION (pp. NACE-03647). NACE. Penso, J., & Shargay, C. (2021, July). Stress Relaxation Cracking of Thick-Wall Stainless Steel Piping in Various Refining Units. In Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference (Vol. 85345, p. V004T06A044). American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Rensman, J. W., Spindler, M. W., & Shargay, C. (2023, July). Stress Relaxation Cracking, A Misunderstood Problem in the Process Industry. In Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference (Vol. 87486, p. V005T06A060). American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

The RISE-UP project is a transformative initiative to revolutionize rehabilitation services for underserved populations, focusing on racial and ethnic minorities. Dr. Mari Guillermo and Dr. Mark Tucker, Project Directors at San Diego State University's Interwork Institute, highlight how this project seeks to drive systemic change through state agency partnerships and tools like QA Advisor Plus. RISE-UP strives to reshape vocational rehabilitation and improve employment outcomes nationwide by fostering equity, inclusion, and access.   Listen Here   Full Transcript:   {Music} Mark: QA Advisor Plus, a tool that agencies can use to check their RSA 911 data for errors and to help facilitate or expedite analysis of their own data.   Mari: How do we close this gap? Where are people not being served, what populations specifically are not being served? And the emphasis is on systems change because we can't improve these outcomes without really looking at what needs to change within that system.   Mark: So we hope that when you see information about the survey coming out, that you take a few minutes to fill it out and can provide us with information both about what they see as needs related to serving underserved populations. But also, we're asking folks to identify any promising practices that they're aware of with respect to providing effective services to underserved populations.   Intro Voice: Manager Minute brought to you by the VRTAC for Quality Management, Conversations powered by VR, one manager at a time, one minute at a time. Here is your host Carol Pankow.   Carol: Well, welcome to the manager minute, Dr. Mari Guillermo and Dr. Mark Tucker, are co-project directors with San Diego State University Interwork Institute. And they are joining me in the studio today. So how are things going in San Diego, Mari?   Mari: Uh, well, it's warming up. It's going to be in the 90s by tomorrow, but it's also the start of the semester at San Diego State University. We're in our second week, so things are still trying to settle down, but it's been quite a good busy two weeks for sure.   Carol: Oh, good for you. Well, I was in San Diego back in June and I'm going, okay, why isn't it warm here now? It was warmer in Minnesota than it was in San Diego. It was so crazy with that kind of, I don't know, marine layer or whatever hangs out. Yeah. How about you, Mark? How are things going for you?   Mark: Going well, yeah, That marine layer in June we that's like a typical thing June Gloom we call it. And then we pay the price in September. September is usually warm for us, but we'll get back to our normal San Diego weather in October.   Carol: Nice. I do love your fair city though. It is really awesome. Well, I thought, and I'm so glad I could get you two because I've been trying to snag you. I think I've been talking to you since last December, but now is finally the sweet spot. I thought it was super timely that we talk about the project given you're at the end of year one. October is also National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and I really think the project that you guys are embarking on could have a significant impact on the employment arena for underserved populations. As a little side note, we're super happy as part of the George Washington University team to be a partner on this project. So I want to give our listeners just a little bit of background. Over a year ago, RSA competed a discretionary grant, and the grant was specifically related to section 21 of the Rehab Act, as amended by WIOA, which requires RSA to reserve 1% of the funds appropriated each year for programs under titles three, title six, and seven to provide grant, contract or cooperative agreement awards to minority entities and Indian tribes to carry out activities under the Rehab Act. Secondly, minority entities and Indian tribes to conduct research training to or a related activity to improve services provided under the act, especially services provided to individuals from minority backgrounds. Or thirdly, state or public or private non-profit agencies or organizations to provide outreach and technical assistance to minority entities and American Indian tribes to promote their participation in activities under the Rehab Act. I learned a whole bunch. I know for our listeners, you're getting a whole history lesson, but I thought this was cool. And so under this priority, the department provides funding for a cooperative agreement for a minority entity or an Indian tribe to provide training and TA to a minimum range of 5 to 15 state VR agencies over a five year period of performance, so they are equipped to serve as role models for diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in the workforce system by implementing policies, Practices and service delivery approaches designed to contribute to increasing competitive, integrated employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities from underserved populations. And the other cool part is that you also need to contribute via our research and really good practices that promote access, and this will be really of great benefit across the whole country. So I'm super excited. Let's dig in. So, Mari, typically our listeners like to know a little bit about our guests, your backgrounds. So can you tell a little bit about yourself and your background?   Mari: Yeah, I'm originally from Hawaii, born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. I moved to San Diego in the late 80s to as a graduate student in the rehabilitation program at San Diego State University. So since moving to San Diego, I haven't moved very far from San Diego State University and our rehab counseling program. I'm currently faculty in our graduate program, but I've been with the Interwork Institute since its beginning, when it was started by doctors Fred McFarlane and Doctor Ian Champion, and just worked with some incredible number of leaders in our rehabilitation field. And upon graduating from the master's program, I started working with Doctor Bobby Atkins. And for those of you who few of you who are not familiar with Doctor Atkins, she is a leader. When we look at all diversity initiatives and in fact, when we look at section 21, that was started with her groundbreaking research looking at the involvement and participation of African Americans in vocational rehabilitation. But I worked with Doctor Atkins upon graduating from the program in the capacity building projects funded by this same pool of money. And Doctor Atkins was the national director for the Rehabilitation Cultural Diversity Initiative, which then morphed over into the Rehabilitation Capacity Building Project. So I worked with her from the 90s. All the way up to like 2015 I think is when the project ended. So a lot of the work that we are doing in Rise Up really builds on the foundational work that we did with Doctor Atkins back in the 1990s. So it's an incredible honor.   Carol: I think that is very cool. You've come full circle. Oh my gosh, I love that. I had no idea. And for our listeners too, I just want to say a word about Doctor Fred McFarlane. Fred had passed away this summer. Fred has been a good friend to many, and many of our listeners have benefited from Fred's work with the NRLI and the Leadership Institute. Fred was the founding person developing that and really did such an amazing job touching so many VR professionals over his career. And his legacy definitely lives on. So I just I needed to say that because Fred is definitely missed. So, Marc, how about you? Why don't you tell us a little bit about your background.   Mark: Sure, I've got a Master of Science in rehabilitation counseling, and I'm a certified rehabilitation counselor. And in fact, you know, when I was applying to the graduate program in rehabilitation counseling, Fred interviewed me. Uh, that was a few years back. But that...   Carol: Yeah, 1 or 2.   Mark: Yeah, but he was there right at the start for me. And then kind of in the profession, I got my start in community based non-profit agencies and then from there joined the Rehabilitation Continuing Education program for region nine at Interwork and SDSU in the early 2000. And when I was there, was involved in all kinds of different technical assistance, training and research projects, while also kind of teaching in an adjunct capacity in the Rehabilitation counseling graduate program at SDSU. And then eventually the Rehabilitation Continuing Education programs transitioned into the Technical Assistance and Continuing Education centers. So I continued doing that same type of work with what were called the TACE centers, and then in 2014, joined the Rehabilitation Counseling Program faculty at SDSU full time. So that's sort of where I spend a lot of my time. But I still continue working with, you know, Interwork. The two are just so intricately joined. It's really difficult to be part of one without being part of the other. So I continue doing work at Interwork. One of the recent projects that Mari and I were both involved in a few years back was the California version of the Promise Projects. It was a 5 or 6 years of work with transition age youth who were recipients of Supplemental Security Income. Presently, I'm the coordinator of the Rehabilitation Counseling program at SDSU, and do that while maintaining connections to a variety of projects at Interwork.   Carol: Yeah, you're always wearing about 40 hats. I always think of you, Mark, as being the data guy though, too, because you love the data. I mean, everybody likes data, sort of but you love the data. I mean, you've done some really amazing things with our national data.   Mark: Thank you. I enjoy that. I appreciate being able to bring that to a lot of the projects that I'm involved in. Yeah, you're right. I think I find it fun maybe at times where other people are like, oh, we'll leave that to somebody else.   Carol: Yeah, absolutely. Oh my gosh. So why don't you guys tell us a little bit about your project? I know it's called Rise Up. Maybe you can tell our group like what's that stand for? Everybody's got their fun acronyms and what you're trying to accomplish.   Mari: The name really captures the overall vision for this project, and we have to give a shout out to Doctor Chaz Compton because after several failed acronyms, as we were writing the proposal, it was Chaz who came up with the name. And RISEUP stands for Rehabilitation Improvements in Services and Employment for Underserved Populations. And so that really captures what we're aiming to do, improving the services and in the process of improving services, improving the outcomes for underserved populations, in competitive integrated employment, in careers, in academic achievements and accomplishments now underserved populations. There's many ways we can look at that, but RSA has defined it for us and it concentrates on race and ethnicity. So it encompasses individuals who are black, Latino, indigenous, Native American persons, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and other persons of color. And so that is the specific focus for this grant and the population that we hope to impact ultimately with the work that we do with the state agencies. An important component of the project is the partnerships that we aim to build with ten state agencies. And that partnership is really important because while we think about this work is okay, we'll do training and technical assistance and all these different topics and how it intersects with these different populations based on evidence based practices and promising practices. But we can only do so much with training and technical assistance. We really have to look at, okay, how does this then translate into the work that goes on in the agency and not just in the agency? How does that look at the different levels within the agency? How a director would translate the training will look different than how a counselor or a technician would translate. We hope that it complements each other, but everyone has a different role in this process. And that's the other part of the project, is that we want to really look at the whole agency and all the different levels, and being able to provide that support to them where they need it. And really looking at how do we close this gap? Where are people not being served, what populations specifically are not being served within a state or a section of the state? And the emphasis is on systems change, because we can't improve these outcomes without really looking at what needs to change within that system. And there's different components that we're going to be incorporating into the project in our partnerships with the state agencies to look at what are the strengths and weaknesses within your agencies and what are the opportunities and gaps. And while there are big challenges that we all are aware of, there's also some great things going on and we want to highlight that, and we believe we'll be able to find that also within each of the state agencies.   Carol: I like a couple of things about what you just said. Well, I like it all, but a couple things stick out to me because holistically, we've seen it as we do TA and as people put in new initiatives in place. If you really get the whole agency going in the same direction, it is the rise or fall of that project for sure, because maybe the director is all in, but the mid-level managers and the counselors are like, I don't even understand what's going on. You're asking us to do this other thing? I don't get it. It seems weird. It's extra. I don't want to. I'm not going to. And then it doesn't happen. And so you really have to get everybody in sync. So I think you're smart to look at the whole organization and how everybody interprets the information and the training and how it actually gets implemented, because it isn't the director implementing it. It's the boots on the ground folks, it's your counselor. You need your line folks engaged and involved and giving you feedback and understanding what's happening. So that I think that is brilliant. Secondly, the data I think it's been interesting and I think Mark, it's some of the work that you've done over the last couple of years that I've known you as well, that as people start to get better about looking at their data, I think folks were looking really high level, not getting into the real intricacies and seeing the maybe the disparities that are happening in employment as you start looking at different races and ethnicities and who's getting what kind of work and what those outcomes are. And then we've seen states be completely shocked, like we didn't know we have a huge problem in this area. So I think getting at the data is super important. So I know, Mark, you and I had spoken to and you talked about this special wrinkle, and we're not using wrinkle in a bad way. It was in a good way. But you have a contractor called Encorpe and they're bringing something special to the project. Tell us a little bit about that.   Mark: Sure, and this relates a bit more to the data aspects of the project that we were just talking about. So Encorpe is a partner on the project. It's an organization that's headed by a couple of individuals with considerable experience with the public VR program, and they offer a tool that's known as QA Advisor Plus. So this is a tool that agencies can use to check their RSA 911 data for errors and to kind of help facilitate or expedite analysis of their own data. So users of the tool can run custom queries on their data. They can do things like track changes from quarter to quarter in things like population served on a variety of measures that might include things like applications or eligibility plan services, competitive integrated employment outcomes. Those are the kinds of things that are of interest, particularly to us as part of the Rise Up project and built into this project is that Rise Up will pay for one year of QA advisor Plus for participating agencies if they elect to use it. So agencies aren't required to use QA Advisor Plus if they don't want to. We have other strategies for helping and assisting with data analysis if they elect not to use it, but that's there as an offer. Rise Up will cover one year of the cost of that service. And I think one of the things that we're trying to get at is that through the project is to kind of help facilitate kind of long term attention and ongoing attention to things like population served and differences in services and outcomes, and to use that for more data informed planning, in our case, particularly around underserved populations. But agencies can certainly pretty easily extend that out to other groups of interest or other aspects of the rehabilitation process. That may not be maybe the central focus of what Rise Up is doing. And one of the things I sort of want to underscore here is that the project is intentionally designed to make considerable use of data that the state agencies are already gathering and reporting to RSA anyway. So if agencies are interested maybe in participating in Rise Up, but they're like, oh, I don't want there to be like an additional heavy burden on my data folks or my direct service folks. Our intention is that things will be fairly light with respect to those kinds of demands, because we'll take advantage of existing data that's already being gathered, and then we'll either use QA Advisor Plus or some of our own staff to assist with the analyses.   Carol: That's the beauty of this project really, I love that because it isn't like you're going, okay, state, we're knocking on your door to like, come and do this thing. And then you need to add like ten positions to pay attention to this. And I think it's great because I got a chance to look at that QA Advisor Plus. I saw the Encorpe guys at, CSAVR and they were like, hey, do you want to see a little demo of this? I was like, oh my gosh, I know as being a small blind agency director, we had one data person who's doing a million things, and so we were very surfacey. We got a little bit of stuff, but it was really hard. You have one person there doing a million things, and so that tool, I liked how it kind of rose up little things. It had that cool feature and it would just flag something for you to go like, hey, what's going on in this particular area? That would have been so lovely because I know a lot of our programs are small, so you might just have a half a position or one position that's working in this area. They don't have a whole team that's got all this really developed deep skill set in there. I just think having that added resource is amazing and could really take that level of sort of your data analytics to a whole different place than what you've been able to do so far and not, you know, not disparaging anybody's current skill level at it. It's just that people don't have time because there's so many demands. So when you can add like a feature to help with analyzing that data, it really is a great gift. So who are your agencies that are currently participating in the project?   Mari: So we've had initial conversations with a number of agencies, and certainly there were a number of agencies who had written letters of commitment when we wrote the grant, and that was really important. I don't want to mention the states yet until we have agreements in place out of respect for the agencies, our goal is to have by the end of year two, our goal is to have six agreements in place and by the end of year three, another four. So that will be a total of ten. But we've already started to have that conversation and people are at different starting points, right? And trying to map out how will this make sense and be of value to your agency and mapping that out in an individualized agreement with each of the states? So maybe we'll be invited for a second visit a year down the road, and I can at least give you a few more names more specific than what I'm giving you now, Carol.   Carol: No,  that's totally fine. Absolutely. I wasn't sure if, you know, like, are you needing some people? Because sometimes our listeners are like, hey, I want to be part of that project. I want to be in.   Mari: No, absolutely. And we're more than happy to talk to agencies throughout this whole process, because really the intent is we targeted ten agencies because we want to make sure that with the resources that we have available to us, that we use that in a way to really make that impact, to really try to get to that systems change because again, change doesn't happen overnight and it doesn't happen on a zero budget, right? But the hope is the lessons that are learned from the ten agencies in this work will be relevant to the rest of the country.   Carol: That's what I've loved about all of these different discretionary grants that RSA has put out, because I've been talking to people for the last year, and there is such cool things being done and demonstrated that now they're sharing out, you know, with other people and just that wonderful plethora of ideas. It makes it super fun. And everybody gets really excited planting the seeds of a different way of looking at things and doing things. So you are at the end of year one, and I love it when I talk to all our grantees that have gotten these grants, like, what have been your challenges this year?   Mark: I would say some of the challenges that we've encountered are things that it's not like they're not doable. It's just that they're the time and process demands are, you know, things have sort of taken longer, I guess I've started to come to kind of expect it. But still, when you're anxious to kind of get going and get rolling, these things sort of surface as challenges or frustrations. And so some of them are, I think, very predictable things like fleshing out the project staff, developing and executing subcontracts. I think Mari, she's nodding her head often. It's a little bit more complicated or involved than you think it might be. We've been working on things like establishing the technical infrastructure for the project, information management, information sharing systems, and we have a website that's in development that will ultimately use to share information coming out of this project, with many more than just the ten state agencies that we work intensively with. So there will be kind of dissemination of project learning far beyond those ten. We've been comprehensively surveying the literature related to underserved populations in VR, and it's not really just a challenge. It's just kind of a time consuming thing that we're kind of working our way through. We are going to be implementing a national survey of state VR staff around both challenges and opportunities related to serving underserved populations and the instrument development process is always a little time consuming, and you get a lot of feedback and you make revisions and there's several feedback and revision stages. So that's something that will be surfacing in the near future. That's just it's taken time, but we'll get there. Or going through things like the human subjects institutional review process, just to make sure that everybody's, you know, treated well and treated ethically. So those are all, you know, just things that have moved along or are moving along and we're squaring them away. But for those of us who are like, would like to just get going, all of that process stuff at the beginning is a little bit of a challenge. One thing that I think the team is wrestling with a little bit, and this is something that I think were a challenge that we will contend with going forward, and I've got confidence that we'll be able to address it, but it's just going to require some thought is that, you know, as Mari indicated earlier, the underserved populations of interest are defined by race and ethnicity. And we know already from looking at our data over a long period of time that our clients, like everybody else, often are multiracial, and they check a whole bunch of boxes So we're not going to necessarily be able to look at clients who are folks don't fall neatly into very convenient categories, right. So I think we're going to have to be very sensitive to that dynamic in the process and probably develop multiple ways of looking at race and ethnicity, so that we don't kind of miss any really important lessons that are coming out of this project.   Carol: Absolutely. And regarding that national survey, is there something our listeners can do to be of help in that or something they should be looking out for?   Mark: We're still in the process of piloting it like we want to get it right before it goes out, but we will be working with one of our project partners, which is CSAVR, to disseminate this national survey. It'll be an electronic survey, and it's really designed to go to VR staff at all levels. Like we talked about earlier, involvement of folks, feedback from folks at all levels in VR system really important. So VR staff at all levels, folks like SRC members will be disseminating it through CSAVR. And we would encourage everybody to, you know, I know we survey ourselves all the time in society here in the US. But this one is important. And to me and I think to the overall intent of the project. And so we hope that when you see information about the survey coming out, that you take a few minutes to fill it out and complete it. It will be anonymous. It won't be linked back to you. So we hope people will respond candidly and provide us with information both about what they see as needs related to serving underserved populations. But also, we're asking folks to identify any promising practices that they're aware of with respect to providing effective services to underserved populations. I think both of those types of information can be really helpful to us in terms of planning out the future of this project, designing effective training, effective technical assistance efforts. So we see it as one way of kind of triangulating that information. We will look to triangulate it with other forms of information, but really critical to kind of building some of the key infrastructure to the project.   Carol: Good.   Mark: Yeah.   Carol: And we definitely can be a help to in passing out the word when the survey comes out. I know Chaz, he'll be like, Carol, can you get that out in our email groups too? We have lots of different ways. We communicate out. We have different COPs. We've got lots of mailing lists and such, so we can help kind of promote the word to get at the different groups of folks. So you get kind of a wide range of participation. So I know, Mark, you've alluded to a few things that really you've learned so far this year. One, because always year one's a learning year because people don't fall neatly in boxes. Are there any other kind of learnings you've had from year one so far, or Mari, too. either of you?   Mark: Yeah, I'm going to defer to Mari on this one.   Mari: We've learned a lot. And when you say, what have you learned so far? It's almost what has been confirmed. The whole reason why this funding opportunity is available because there's a gap there, right? And so what the conversations that we've had with agencies is just confirmed that there's a lot of work that we need to do and that we need to do better. But every agency is at a different starting point. Who they consider underserved will vary from state to state, or even from city to city within the same state. Right And where those gaps and inequities occur will also vary. For some states, it's just getting the outreach to communities to that door exists in their area, to certain populations dropping out before they even reach the point of developing an EIP, and other agencies are seeing where the EIP is developed. Things start to roll out and then for different reasons that we want to dig into, we lose people, you know, in certain populations compared to the overall populations being served. And so one of the things we are learning is that we really need to direct the training and technical assistance to where each agency wants to start, but also helping them and working together using that data that Marc talked about to confirm or not confirm whether these actual inequities at different points in the process are occurring. And then of course, the environment and the climate that agencies operate under impacts what they're tackling, something that we've heard repeatedly. And I'm sure, Carol, you've heard often, is the staffing challenges that our state agencies are experiencing upwards to 40% of unfilled positions, and that will certainly impact the work and the progress and the impact when we start to work with the agencies. Some agencies are further along in the process where they've really looked at the data from their comprehensive statewide needs assessment and saw a hole there and actually started to develop a goal to address that. And so they've already have that beginning understanding and now are at the stage of, okay, what do we do with this information? What kind of training and technical assistance can we provide our staff, and how can you help with this. And getting us to move the needle, at least move the needle forward, right? And I know we're going to get a lot of new information or confirming knowledge from the national survey, but also using that national survey to start the conversation with each of the individual agencies. You know, how does this national data look for you? Is it true or how different it is? And so I think we've learned a lot, and there's a lot more that we're going to unravel in this process.   Carol: I love it. The CSNAs, you know, I think states for a long time did it as a check the box. We have to do the thing. We're going to contract to somebody to do the thing. Here's the thing. It's 300 pages. All right. We put it on the shelf. It's in the electronic folder. But I have noticed this over the years we've been doing the QM work. People are really taking the CSNA and actually paying attention to it and starting to put all the dots together, linking that as the basis for then what flows into the state plan flows into goals and priorities and really connecting and spending more time. The thing I've been very hopeful of is spending time with direct staff so that they understand the whole process, because staff will hear about this stuff, but they don't really understand it or what is that about? And now people are linking like, here's why we're doing all of this. We're actually finding out what's the situation in our state, and we're taking this and we're putting together goals and priorities within our state plan based on this data, this information. So it all links together, because I think people feel like everybody's just doing these random activities, but they actually all come together.   Mari: Yeah.   Carol: So that I have seen as a change, definitely in the five plus years I've been doing TA work now, I've seen a big swing and I've loved it, because now people are digging down in the organization and including not just your executive leadership and middle managers. They're including the line staff and having them have an understanding of what's going on so that they can understand their contributions to this overall big picture. So I love that.   Mari: Yeah, and we learned that from the Cal Promise Project We had this whole large, comprehensive database and our team were able to put together, I guess, reports of here's what the data is looking like, here's how your region is being impacted, and the transition specialists, the people who are meeting with the families and with the students, like we've never seen this before. We're always feeding data to our supervisor. Our boss is always asking for data, and so we give it to them. But we never know what happens to it. And now it makes sense. This is how my work is impacting people.   Carol: Absolutely. It's mind blowing to the staff because when you go out, you're talking and you're like, okay. They're like, well, why is Congress doing all this crazy stuff with our money or whatever is going on? I always tell them, I go, the only way your story can be told because they don't know all your anecdotal, really neat. You got Joe, a job like this is awesome and it's a great career and you know, all this great things are happening. They don't know any of that. They only know by the data you put in the system. And when you put data in the system, that isn't very good. That's the picture, the story that your agency is telling. This is the only way for other people to make decisions. You just see this. Aha. Like people are like, oh well this stuff actually does matter. And it is being used for something and then they can figure it out. And I love it when you get down in regional levels because then they go like and they'll know what's going on. Sometimes up here the management's like, oh they're trying to figure out what's happening in that region. Talk to the staff. They see boots on the ground, what's going on. So the data confirms what's been happening in that area. And then the whole agency having that conversation, it's really exciting and super empowering and energizing. I feel like for their customers and what's going to happen for their people, I love that. The other thing I was going to say, Mari too, is we've been seeing a slight improvement in staffing levels. Now it seems like things for some reason, because we work with a load of states and we talk a lot about this particular issue, the staffing levels, it's been leveling off with that whole people leaving, leaving, leaving, leaving, leaving. And now I've had a couple agencies in the last year where they were sitting at 25, 30% now. They're at 5% and 8% turnover. Like there have been significant changes because of all of the things they put into play to not only get staff, but to keep them, to retain them. So we've been trying to do some efforts on our end and we can't say it's all us, you know, but people have been putting a lot of strategy into this, and it's really fun to see on this other side, this more encouraging landscape for the staff out there.   Mari: Wow, that's great to hear.   Carol: Yeah. So I'm hopeful for you guys as you're carrying this out. So now what are your plans for year two as you go into year two? What are you guys hoping to accomplish this year?   Mark: I think it'll be a busy year for us. I think one of the major efforts, you know, we've already kind of alluded to a little bit, which is get the national survey out there to get that information back, have our team kind of start analyzing the results. We'll use that data. As I said before, we'll triangulate that with other information sources that we have our team working on. You mentioned comprehensive statewide needs assessments and state plans. Our team is doing an analysis of that specifically through the lens of underserved populations to see what can be gleaned from those statewide reports. And they're triangulating that also with kind of other forms of published literature around underserved populations. So there's a lot of kind of building that kind of database of information will be focused on executing agreements with the first of the agencies that are going to be involved with kind of the intensive phases of Rise Up, while at the same time kind of establishing the groundwork for agencies that we will add to the Rise Up group, you know, to as we work towards our goal of getting to up to ten state agencies. And then I think as we work with each of the agencies, kind of to begin to identify the populations that they want to focus on for, you know, kind of sustained efforts to enhance getting folks in the door, getting them into plan, getting them services. The outcomes will also begin to kind of roll out. You know, one aspect of Rise Up will be training. Some of it will be technical assistance. That will be kind of systems change focused efforts. We'll begin to roll out initial training. Some of those will focus on topics like cultural humility And then we'll be using the literature search, the national survey, consultation with the agencies that we're working with to lend direction to the development of additional trainings that will be kind of targeted towards all levels of the organization. And then within the agencies that we begin to work with, we'll also begin kind of identifying the targeted and specific areas of need for technical assistance that will be unique to each of the agencies. So I see those as kind of the major tasks that will be kind of getting into in the beginning of year two and then kind of sustaining through the next year.   Carol: That is super exciting. I'm really excited about this. I would love to talk to you guys too, again at the end of like next year to see where things are at. Now, I understand you to, I believe, or somebody coming to CSAVR and people may want to chat with you. Is there a way folks could reach out to you if they are interested in talking to you about the project?   Mark: Sure.   Mari: Yeah   Mark: Yeah, so we will be at CSVAR, our project coordinator, Letty Vavasour will be there. Mari will be there. I will be there. So we're certainly kind of approachable there. As we mentioned before, CSAVR is a project partner of ours, and we mentioned encore. I think they're going to be there as well at CSAVR. And one other partner we haven't mentioned, but we should give them some credit, is a major partner with us is the George Washington Center for Rehabilitation Counseling, Research and Education. They're also a project partner with us and will be instrumental in kind of our efforts. So CSAVR is one place where folks can connect with us. Our team is working on a website, so we should have that up kind of in the near future. That's another way to get a hold of us. Email is always a good way to get a hold of us. I'm easy to get a hold of by email at MTucker at SDSU.edu and Mari is MGuillermo@SDSU.edu. So those are kind of really easy ways to get Ahold of us. And then of course Interwork Institute and the VRTAC-QM, we're sort of housed right there and involved in a number of those projects going on there so folks can track us down through Interwork or the QM.   Carol: Excellent. And, Mari, would you mind, Mari, would you spell out your email address? Just in case, because like me, it's like, how is that spelled?   Mari: And for those of you who know Spanish, my last name is Guillermo, which is William in Spanish, but it's m g as in George. U I L L E R M as in Mari o at SDSU.edu.   Carol: Excellent. Thank you. I really appreciate you taking the time. I'm super excited. And I wish our listeners could see like, the excitement on both of your faces about this project because it makes me like, super happy. I mean, the project couldn't be in better hands. You guys always do really good work out of Interwork, and I'm really excited to see what comes. So let's definitely chat again down the road.   Mark: That would be great.   Carol: Thanks for joining me.   Mari: Absolutely. Thank you Carol.   {Music}   Outro Voice: Conversations powered by VR, one manager at a time, one minute at a time, brought to you by the VR TAC for Quality Management. Catch all of our podcast episodes by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening!

In a dramatic shift in campus politics, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Student Command has lost control of Nelson Mandela University SRC to the Democratic Alliance Students Organisation (DOSA). In this interview with BizNews, Yusuf Cassim, the Democratic Alliance chairperson in the Eastern Cape, says: “We've seen our institutions of higher learning come under increased pressure from radical student movements that have sought to hold students at large hostage. And we believe that this result at Nelson Mandela University bodes well. The DA Students Organisation won 79% of all SRC seats that were available in that election. So it is indeed a landslide victory….. We believe this is one of many dominoes that are going to fall across the country.” Cassim explains why student politics has, over the past decade, played an influential role nationally. He also gives an update on provincial politics in the Eastern Cape, as well as coalition politics in the Nelson Mandela Metro where “dysfunctional governance and poor governance” are taking root.

一、【20240921人間菩提】 隨著時間的流逝，九二一地震邁入二十五周年，歷經四分之一個世紀的重建復興，當年的傷痕幾乎已消逝，然而地震的警惕與教育卻不容遺忘，九二一地震帶給臺灣人的震撼與傷痛，但也凝聚了大家的心，共同撫平傷痛，重建家園。 慈濟基金會編纂處洪靜原主任 ，再次提起當年的歷史記憶。證嚴上人回憶，走過斷崖殘壁，看見傾倒的校舍，而發起要興建禁得起千秋百世的希望工程。在災後認養全臺五十一所學校的重建工作，一律採用耐震防火的SRC。如今巍巍校舍聳立各地，都是因為這一分愛心。 走過歷史，看見天災無情、人間有愛。 上人提醒我們不要小看自然的力量，隨時戒慎虔誠，保持敬畏之心。將佛法精神普遍在人間。慈濟每年參與聯合國氣候峰會，向世界傳遞永續家園的理念，淨化大地要從淨化人心開始，期望人人從自己的力量做起，慢慢改變世界。 二、健康一百分 花蓮慈濟醫院羅慶徽副院長分享隱形殺手: 高血壓也許毫無症狀。偶爾會感覺頭痛，後頸部緊緊的，當血壓非常高時，很可能造成眼、腦、心、腎、大血管的損害，而引起以下症狀：視力模糊、嚴重頭痛、神智不清… 你真的會量血壓嗎?量血壓的722守則、量血壓前的三不一要、如何自我管控血壓~減鈉、限酒、減重、飲食控制、戒菸、運動。 血壓不穩定的因素:血壓計壞掉、服藥不規律、病從口入(食物)、情緒與睡眠。

On Episode 1 of this season, we headed over to the Juke Joint and got Robert Barclay's back story on the past 39 years of the show. Robert gave his background, college history, photography interest, and ultimately the keys to the club as we got to go backstage with the Duke of Juke. For Episode 2, Robert goes into his passion for Tom Waits, venues like The Ark, Slim Harpo, Johnny Bassett, Hasting Street and Gatemouth Brown--and then some!    Tune in Thursday morning for the wrap up with the legendary Blues DJ--and don't forget to join Robert at the Juke Joint on 89.5 FM WCMU every Sunday night at 8pm for his three hour show. Thank you all for listening and Robert for the hospitality.

In this episode of The Better Leadership Team Show, I dive into the transformative power of open book management with Rich Armstrong, a Senior Coach at The Great Game of Business, Inc. SRC Holdings Corporation. He has more than 33 years of experience in improving business performance and employee engagement through open-book management (OBM) and employee ownership, with service as a consultant and as an executive at SRC Holdings Corporation, a 40 Year Employee-Owned Company and one of America's top 100 largest majority employee-owned companies. Rich also served as the President of The Great Game of Business for 17 years, where he co-authored the update to The Great Game of Business 20th Anniversary Edition and his new book ‘Get in the Game: Creating Rapid Financial Results and Lasting Cultural Change' with Steve Baker. This practical, “first-hand” experience has enabled him to successfully apply the practices of OBM and Employee Ownership in both small and large-scale company implementations around the world.In this episode, we discuss the critical role of trust in leadership teams, the true essence of open book management beyond financial transparency, and the impactful history of SRC's turnaround. Learn how financial transparency and education can empower your team, the importance of involving employees in financial forecasting, and the benefits of creating targeted mini games to drive performance. Ultimately, we'll explore how open book management fosters a culture of mutual trust, respect, and proactive problem-solving, fundamentally developing better leaders and driving business success.www.greatgame.comRich Armstrong LinkedinGet in the Game - BookChange the Game - BookThe Great Game of Business 20th Anniversary Edition - Book Thanks for listening! Connect with us at mike-goldman.com/blog and on Instagram@mikegoldmancoach and on YouTube @Mikegoldmancoach

Join hosts Jay and Marina on the second episode of this years Fall semester. Local CSUB News and a book review on, Before Beauty: A Retelling of Beauty and The Beast, by Brittany Fichter. As well as, events going on in the SRC this month and an invitation to join Converge and The Runner. Tune in every week.

Today, Walt Robillard and I are giving you a sneak peek at a new project we've been working on. Give it a read (below), or a listen (Above), and check it out, and yeah, that's Walt's killer voice doing the narration.Hobo Recon:Hard Luck and TroublebyNick Cole and Walt RobillardChapter OneHobos in the Wind“This is why we can't have nice things, Troubs!” Hardy shouted across the cargo containers in the yard.            It'd been a while since he'd had to draw the heater, much less fire it. This wasn't the gun he'd normally shuck from beneath his worn patchwork “dirty” military jacket when things went south fast and desperate. The dialed-up M4.  This was definitely the shotty he used for tense negotiations with uncertain characters who harbored bad intentions.Bad intentions was everyday and everyone now days. In these times.He pulled that shotgun from under the coat where it dangled on a single point underarm sling as he ate up the miles and rode the rails. A model 870 SPS Marine Magnum he'd rattle-canned to look more used, weathered, subdued. On the road and the kinda gun a desperate man lookin' for work might use to protect himself in these lawless times. He'd save his sidearm for the real intense gunfights up close that needed more rounds on target. Less fiddling with the firearm when he wanted to put a hurt on someone. The double stack mag held enough, “go screw yerself,” forty-five caliber ACP. Usually good to get out of whatever scrape he and Trouble had gotten themselves into this time behind enemy lines and in service to SOCOM and the Heartland that was all that remained of the U.S.             Trouble—because it wasn't a middle name, it was really… who he was—Troubs had his head shoved into the open cargo container in the shipping yard, using his teeth to strip off the casing around a wire he was working. He had a multi-tool with wire strippers too. The ones all those old EOD guys carried back in the day on their rig and chest plate carriers in the wars in other places not the battleground they found themselves in now… America. Still America regardless of what all factions were involved and especially the ChiComs.The sudden appearance of a Chinese security agent had Trouble stripping wires with his teeth for expediency in order to, “get it done in one, son.”It didn't help that Hard Luck had been muttering that same phrase as he got ready to distribute some hate-spray from the barrel of the rattle-canned 870. Rattle-canned old BDU multicam because that was the way the world was now, and the lands they found themselves in, and was the camo of the day when they'd both started out as Eleven Bravo privates in the last days of the Old Cold War.Not the hot one now.            The unlucky and early security agent was currently dead behind where Trouble was kneeling, large caliber holes bleeding over his gray uniform and onto the wet pavement of the yard.            “Brah, that shot was like Mozart on a motorcycle. That's how we do it, my brother in combat arms!” Trouble quietly exclaimed as he twisted the end of the newly exposed wire, pumped his fist, and continued whatever Def Leppard song he was keeping time to, to get his EOD on like he'd always done. Then he pumped his fist again and bit his lip, hearing some searing unheard guitar solo from long ago. “Need me a little cover while I finish this last bit, Hardy.”            Hard Luck.            SFC James C. Hardy. SOCOM. Eighteen Bravo. Shoulda been a Master Sergeant before retirement. But he spent some unrated time doing dark stuff in uncertain places along the way for shadows that didn't want to come out into the light before America got sold out by those shadows and all that was left was SOCOM to defend the Heartland and give the Chinese and the rest a bad time. There was the 82nd too, even though they were stuck in the irradiated remains of Russian-occupied Poland and fighting for their lives living on dead horses and hate. The Marines held Sand Diego and were officially listed as insurrectionists and traitors, allies of Russia.            But that wasn't true. Not at all.            Eighteen Bravo.  The weapons sergeant within the Special Forces career field, employs conventional and unconventional warfare tactics and techniques in individual and small unit infantry operations. Employs individual domestic, foreign small arms, light and heavy crew-served weapons, anti-aircraft and anti-armor weapons. He is… a master of all weapons.            And don't ask about the Rangers and where they are in the mess we find ourselves in called America's Darkest Hours on a good day. All four Battalions were dead. As they say in SOCOM, “Ain't no Rangers here,” and then those that can, point to where they once rolled the scroll and wink. “They just on the fade.”               Hardy leaned into the shadows beside his own container he was covering from. No use standing in the same spot as his partner. The guy was either going to blow himself up or get trounced by the incoming security responding to the shots. Why risk both of them getting schwacked?            “You were supposed to wait,” Hardy muttered as he scanned the misty and wet dark.            “I was supposed to be a rock star,” Trouble responded, humming metal to himself as he cursed the wire he was working with. “Playing the axe at night; beach, beer, fish tacos by day. Maybe even charm my way to seeing a bikini hanging off the end of the bed post, ya know? Life comes at ya fast, Hardy, but don't worry… Trouble's my name and causin' it is my… game,” he whispered almost to himself as he continued to solve the problems in his hands.            SFC Stephen X. Bach. Eighteen Charlie.  SFC when he shoulda retired at least an E8 just a few years ago as things began to get truly weird and surreal and even the Army lost its mind and lowered standards, painted nails and even let some girls wear the Ranger Tab when no one who's actually earned one thinks they even got remotely close to meeting standard without a lotta help along the way.            Eighteen Charlie. Special Force engineer sergeants are specialists across a wide range of disciplines, from demolitions and constructions of field fortifications to topographic survey techniques.            Trouble was his tag with SOCOM, and it wasn't because he was cool. He caused it on mission more than effectively, on behalf of the teams, and didn't stop back behind the wire when it was generally not needed or in his own best interest.            So… Trouble had run his mouth about the general current state of affairs, and if he wasn't so highly decorated that some of his awards were redacted, and so competent at the delicate art of high explosives… then he might have found himself with an even lower rank and very little retirement in light of the various courts martial and articles of offense.            But he knew real bad guys in high places even there at the end of all things. And so, he'd gotten a chance to walk with some retirement and rank for the last six months of America.            “Then get it done, and don't be that guy,” Hardy growled. Trouble liked to talk it up when things were getting thick.And things were getting definitely thick.Like the song lyrics from long ago Trouble always had running… It was distracting. Not to mention, Trouble had a tendency to sip his own cool aid, or so Hardy thought. “Got more coming.”Matter of fact statement. No drama. It was about to be get-it-on-thirty in the midnight yard of bad decisions and insertion behind enemy lines with assets to deny and mayhem to be caused.            The sound of rushing boots thumping across the wet concrete was getting louder, as was the group barking loudly in Mandarin the way the Chinese do as they approached the x they had no idea they were walking onto. It was funny how the Chinese all ran the same way, or at least, that's how it sounded to Hardy. And it… bemused him. He was a thinker, and he'd never have used that ten-cent word on the teams. But in his mind, that and other words like it… they were there. He was a reader, and a thinker. And so, to Hard Luck all the Chinese seemed to have that same mincing pitter-patter run where they never really stepped it out like they were Usain Bolt intent on not just winning… but winning with icing. It was like watching that cartoon Martian run while trying to nab a, “P-32 ulidium space modulator!”            Or whatever it was.            Of course, the newer generation had no clue about good ol' Marvin, but that didn't mean it wasn't funny.            And…            “Sucks to be them,” exhaled Hard Luck and readied the shotty for sudden thunder.            The Chinese shouts changed to whispers as the pitter-patter running soldiers got to the container group close to the two operators. Hardy knew the trick. Direct the guys into the target, then shift to the radios to keep their opponents guessing as to what came next. Only, the two operators had seen this particular Chinese trick before, as this wasn't the first time he and Trouble had gone up against the Puffies.            Of course, their enemy didn't refer to themselves as Puffies because their units always went about with names to make them feel special. Hardy got the intel on these mooks a couple of weeks ago when Trouble blew up that cargo ship down in the gulf. They'd called themselves Thunder of the Gods and gay stuff like that. Because of course they did. And this was a reference to the People's Liberation Army Air Force's Airborne Brigade.            Which was who they were facing today. This was their operation area on the road to New Orleans.            Now, sounding all that out had been a mouthful for the various teams rolling out of the SRC, and instead of just shortening it to PLAAF, it came out like Puff. The few Puffies that Hardy's unit had managed to capture and talk to, got all sorts of mad about the slur. Which was great when they caught and released a few of them to spread the legend of the Special Reconnaissance Companies SOCOM had deployed into Occupied America. Get the rest of the Puffies all nervous about facing an invisible covert military force hiding in plain sight within the subjugated population.            Ghosts in the night in plain sight.            And deadly ghosts at that.            Some of the SRC teams had even conducted massacres that were simply bone-chilling so the Chinese could have their very own boogie men to be afraid of in the night.            What had Colonel Spear said when he created the Special Recon Teams for SOCOM as it waged its war out of what remained of North Carolina and the battle lines down in Georgia… "Now they will know why they are afraid of the dark. Now they learn why they fear the night."            One of the nerdy Green Berets, an 18 Delta, had told everyone that was a line from Conan the Barbarian. No one cared and all agreed it was as cool as it gets. And if there's anything Green Berets love… it's cool stuff that's super deadly. See the tats since ‘Nam for examples. Cobras, skulls, knives… women.            The Puffies had rightly guessed Trouble and Hardy would eventually come after this cargo depot along the gulf after they'd slagged that cargo ship. So, the Chinese high command out of New Orleans had deployed a company of PLAAF airborne forward in the hopes word would get out, and the “American GI special forces terrorists” prowling the Area of Operations North of New Orleans would come and enter the dragnet the PRC had thrown across much of the South and Southwest of what the maps once called the United States of America.They were anything but united.Most of the States that remained were fighting for themselves with what little was left of their veterans and National Guard. What was known as “Caliphistan” centered around the Midwest out of Michigan, was engaged in a brutal no-holds-barred plains war with the Chinese 3rd Army and being supplied and trained by SOCOM with what could be begged, borrowed, or stolen.California was behind enemy lines except for Marine-held San Diego and some warlord in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and parts of San Bernardino proclaiming an independent nation called Vanistan and being held by heavily armed and mobile militia.They had vans.            Hardy scanned the angles and shadows of the cargo containers past where Trouble was working.            Their night vision had been a step up from what he'd had when he'd been a regular grunt. The overhead lighting shining down on them from gantries and industrial light towers of the cargo yard situated around the cargo docks didn't even factor in to how these new NODs worked out in the dark. Running next gen night vision based on the ENVG-B—still in use—their gear just factored in the lighting and highlighted anything warmer than the surroundings. Complex motion tracking fed into augmented reality, highlighted potential targets and let the soldier see in complex low light conditions.            “Trubs,” Hardy said quietly into his throat mic. “Hooking out to get an angle on our new friends.”            “Gonna leave me here all by my lonesome,” Trouble joked. “You know… I'm afraid of the dark, right?”            “NODs and that red lens you're working ain't enough?” Hardy asked.            Trouble waved the flashlight in the direction of the incoming Puffies. “Seriously, come over here and hold my hand while I finish this. You know how I get.”            Hardy knew all too well, which is why he left his partner alone to finish his chore.            He slipped past several of the containers, then used a small stack of metal frames to vault himself to the top of the nearest CONEX. The cargo containers were the standard variety, so he had to move cautiously as he jumped, then crept across the top of the ribbed metal box. Walk too fast and he'd sound like he was pounding on a metal drum with each footstep. After jumping across several of the boxes, Hardy had a good line of sight to Trouble and several avenues of approach.            The operator leaned into the shadows against the cargo container stack, then removed his cell phone from the sleeve pocket of his patrol parka. Set to lowlight conditions, the EUD—End User Device—was loaded with the latest and greatest ATAK interface, allowing Hardy to act as a battlefield information hub. The screen was already pinging two angles of approach off the trip sensors Hardy had placed when they'd first snuck into the yard.            The fact they were coming at all worried the veteran operator. He scratched the few days' worth of stubble on his chin, trying to figure where they'd botched the insert and alerted this security detail tasked with holding the yards. The Chinese had their own version of EUDs, and if they ran something like the Android Team Awareness Kit, all it would've taken was for Hardy and Trouble to trip a sensor they'd missed, and the soldier responsible for the zone would have called it in.            Hardy shook his head, internally bashing himself for not being more careful. It's why they'd taken to calling him Hard Luck for his call-sign. Throughout his military career and now out in the Special Recon Companies, he'd never found a stretch of bad luck that didn't stick to him. And that included being partnered with Trouble.            That guy was bad luck personified.            Looking up from his EUD, Hardy saw the Chinese first fire team angling on the objective. A single soldier with three more behind him was trying to pie the corner as though this was the first time he'd done it for real. Hardy had to give the Asian kid credit though, he was sticking his QBZ-191 rifle around the corner, trusting the optic to broadcast whatever was past the CONEX to his night vision, so the soldier didn't have to stick his head in the open and get it blown off.            SOCOM's PsyOps guys had made sure all the illegal social media sites still operational were filled with GoPros of Chinese guys getting their heads blown off. Some of them were even real. AI made the rest.            Hard Luck, that internal monologue, that thinking machine he was, a thinking-killing machine who'd even had profound thoughts while running a belt fed two-forty in a hostile combat zone and laying some serious hate, that thinking machine he was always… wondered…            Warfare had gotten weird when advanced sighting devices operated on wireless link tech and rifles could see around corners.            It wasn't… fair. But when was war ever fair. He'd seen enough kids get talked into it only to end up lying in the tall grass by some road a few days later. Just where he'd left them.            No, there was nothing fair about war.            Now that it wasn't close quarters in the dark, he gently let the shotty slide back under his old “down and out in occupied America” hobo-coat and shucked the heater.            The heater.            It wasn't an issued weapon. There were very few issued-weapons for SOCOM, and all the kids and whoever would show up to get trained on them and sent out to die in any of the seven directions the heartland was being attacked from. Plus… shipping and transport weren't easy.            In the SRTs everything went on your back just like the old LRRP teams in Vietnam. And you looked like a hobo so you could pass with all the refugees, transients, and mad homeless displaced by the war, or just… whatever.            You looked like a hobo because you were… a hobo.            The heater was his own personal truck gun he'd dragged everywhere from Bragg to wherever he got stationed along the way.            Everything on it was his. Paid for by his salary. Just in case it hit the fan. Just in case he got invaded at home one night, wherever home happened to be between deployments. Honestly, he'd never thought he'd need it for what he was using it for now.            A domestic insurgency.            But he sure had built it to do the trick.            It was a Daniel Defense MK18 with a ten-inch threaded barrel he could go quiet with. He had jungle-mags ready to go and one stack in. Along the barrel he had illuminate and IR. He'd added a BCM foregrip and done some work with the internals to get it just where he wanted it to run. He had a match grade flat-trigger because that felt best for the tap. The optic was a basic Aimpoint T-1. It didn't look tactical-cool guy but if you knew you knew. The T1 was a great optic system if you needed to keep both eyes open and see everything while keeping the dot on target.            And in the SRTs, outnumbered, behind lines, running gun fights and using everything and being as aware as possible, wasn't just optimal or maximal… it was vital to continued birthday parties.            Hardy lined up his optic to target and let the heater bark. The first round caught the kid in the neck, splattering a good amount of the kid's blood across the CONEX's side panel. The assault took the trio behind the kid by surprise, forcing them to turn and instantly shoot in all directions except up because they weren't fighting Batman. Hardy covered behind the metal boxes, trusting their contents to bullet sponge enough of the bouncing rounds to keep him from getting accidentally blasted.            Then… leaning from cover, Hardy put a trio of shots that tore off the commie soldier's face, before transitioning to the third trooper in the stack. Then he sent more rounds sailing past the number three paratrooper's chin and behind the space at the top of his chest where the armor didn't cover.            And thinking-killing machine he was… he reflected that it was good “commie” was back in use as the dirty word it really was.            It was the truth.            And it was always good to stack them.                       The fourth Chinese paratrooper decided to run for it when he couldn't find the spot the shooting was coming from. In a show of solidarity, he grabbed the trooper who'd just soaked up rounds behind his chest plate, dragging the downed soldier to cover with him.            Probably thinking he was gonna get a medal someday for this.            Poor Schmoe, thought Hard Luck, guy didn't observe the first rule of combat first aid, and it was going to cost him. Now. Hardy lined up the optic dot to the soldier's hip, having already figured out the sight was probably off because he'd been shooting center mass but hitting high. The thinking but really killing machine part of his mind doing that math too… and then his suspicion got confirmed when the rounds punched into the spot on the Chinese soldier's back right behind and beneath his shoulder, once again where their PLA armor didn't cover.            The round tore into the kid's torso, punching him to the ground next to his friend he was gonna rescue and get a medal for, and twenty years after, they'd drink Tsing Taos and celebrate a ChiCom-dominated world they'd made happen, with their little part, and managed to survive as they watched their loud children shout, and their pretty wives dote over them.Now both PLA troopers gasped for air and coughed out blood-soaked ragged Chinese, definitely drawing all sorts of attention to the hate he'd laid on them.Now we wait, he thought.Killing Machine taking over in the night and the dark and the mist.            Hardy jumped across the space to the next set of containers, allowing him to get a better view of the opposite line of advance. “Trouble, how long, man?”            The radio broke squelch in the small earpiece he wore under his hood. “Hard Luck, this is Trouble, coming at you with all the classic rock your ears can swallow!”            Great, Hardy thought. Could this guy really not take anything seriously?            The operator pushed the toggle for his PTT and growled, “Trubs, how long?”            “Closing it up now,” Trouble said. “Moving to zone two, pushing out at the crane, toward the water.”            “Roger out,” Hardy said, cutting the comms.            They'd sand-tabled this. They'd done it many times without each other in other teams not this one and other days better than this. And together, lately, Hard Luck and Trouble were becoming known for this little act of behind the lines terrorism.            Miss USA on the Nightly Free America Broadcast has even noted them in the scramble codes sent to the military and operators as far behind lines as North Dakota and New Mexico where the Chinese ran their death camps night and day, and hope is just a voice in the night right now. Near the end of the broadcast. Her warm voice coming in clear.            “Chris… sleeps until dawn.”            “The number is forty-two.”            “And to all the patriots listening tonight out there in the dark… Our boys with the Raiders and the Packers thank two particular hobos for their roadside assistance at Route Twenty-Four with the Chinese Column moving in on Nashville that was causing many patriots in the area much Hard Luck and Trouble. The supplies are through, and the children have been evacuated back into the Homeland behind the Green Zone. Thank you, boys.”            Then…            “There's a match in Peterborough. No Slack in effect.”            And finally…            “That's the news for tonight, America. Stay in the fight. We aren't done yet. Good night. And now… The Star Spangled Banner. The lights are still on.”            Both men had listened in that night after a long and very hard day on the hump, sleeping in a wet ditch out near a county road. It was cold. They'd said nothing. In the dark a few minutes later, Trouble spoke. He was gonna take first watch as they faded off the hit, avoiding Chinese Air Cav Hunter killer teams that had been roaming the countryside in HINDs.“She sounds hot, Hardy. Like that girl on the White Snake video back in the day. Remember her?”“Yeah,” said Hard Luck with his poncho pulled over him and the shotty in one hand nearby on his pack. “I do.”Pause.Then…“Do you think she's hot? Miss USA.”Hard Luck was fading. Dreaming that dream he never told anyone about.But just before he'd fallen asleep, he said, “I think she's good, Trouble. And that's what makes her beautiful.”And then Trouble might have grunted or said, “Okay.” But Hard Luck had gone to that other world that didn't exist anymore. Yesterday, some call it.But that wasn't now. Now they were in the fight in the supply yard with the PLA airborne thinking they had them right where they wanted them, barking Mandarin radio chatter and thumping hard heavy too-short-step boots and even untargeted fire at ghosts and phantoms in the mist.They were conscripts after all. They were afraid. Afraid of the PRC. And now, down range and right near the boogie men… they were afraid of the hobos that had come for them.            Another fire team of Chinese paratroopers slowly advanced to the corner of the new row of containers Hardy now faced. They mimicked the first group of soldiers, sticking their rifles around the corner to let the optics assume the risk. When they dropped their field of view on the fire team dying across from them, they retreated from the corner and broke out in a heated conversation of harsh whispers.            Yeah, the operator could smell their fear.            Behind the dying paratroopers on the ground Hard Luck had put rounds on target into, a third fire team slowly advanced, careful not to get too close to the fatal CONEX corner. They fanned out, with the tail man in the stack launching a slick matte-black drone.            Hushing-hushing in the way of Chinese battle-speak.            That was smart of them, Hardy thought. Get some eyes in the air and cover the ground quickly to find their targets. What they didn't count on was Trouble sliding in behind them, running his knife out the front of the drone trooper's neck, starting from somewhere near his ear. The battlefield surgery was grizzly, wet work, but Trouble seemed to be totally cool with it, going so far as to gently lay the soldier down and relieve him of his drone controller even as his buddies, soon to be bodies, were eyes forward and fighting for the Fatherland or whatever the godless b******s believed in these days.            With a few deft taps on the screen, Trouble had a good grip on the flight mechanic and stepped back into the shadows, fading from the fire team of Chinese paratroopers. Hardy watched as his wingman sailed the drone across the cargo yard, dropping it in line with the enemy crew close to him. They froze in place, unsure of what to make of the machine hovering in front of them at eye level.            “Hard Luck, this is Trouble. If you wouldn't mind taking advantage of the little distraction I just created, I'd appreciate it.”            There were times when James “Hard Luck” Hardy really wanted to punch his partner straight up in the grill. They all paled in comparison to those times when Trouble just couldn't be serious about an operation. Times like now.            Hardy reached into his pack, pulling a grenade from where it was taped to the inside. He yanked the pin and let the spoon fly. After mentally ticking off a count of One Mississippi, the operator flicked the weapon over the CONEX boxes to land in the middle of the fire team.            The grenade rolled and then popped, its kinetic fury suddenly and obnoxiously ignoring the Chinese soldiers' armor and planting them onto the pavement in piles of ruined meat and shredded gear.To them it was sudden and brutal, and none of the Chinese propaganda about “a glorious war of liberation” matched their violent deaths. The close proximity to the cargo containers funneled some of the blast and over-pressure across the way, startling the final team of Chinese paratroopers on approach to where they thought their boogie men might be. This group stumbled backward behind the cover of the containers, suddenly shouting in their hushed and harsh speech pattern… only to come face to face with Trouble ready to take advantage of their surprise, as they'd retreated to where they thought they might be safe.Trouble's thoughts were synched to “Breakin' the Law” by Judas Priest as he assessed the funnel they'd been forced into. The funnel and area they'd chosen as… safe.“Ain't nowhere safe in America for you,” hissed the operator.            He muzzle-thumped the first man to see he was there, pushing the suppressed Berretta pistol into the soldier's throat. The paratrooper doubled over, coughing and holding his throat after the hit. Trouble lowered himself at the same time, using the stunned soldier as cover. Angling to the side, the predatory operator sent two rounds into the lower torso of the next guy in the stack, dropping him to the concrete. He lowered the pistol to the man recovering from the throat hit, sent a round through the top of the man's boot, then followed him through a series of pain-soaked hops as he tried to recover his balance.            This was a song.            Just like all the ones he'd learned on his guitar as a kid. And they were his sheet music as he moved them about in a fatal dance of lead and death at twenty-four hundred feet per second.            Seeing how quickly things had devolved into chaos, the last man ran into the intersection, probably hoping the smoke and noise of the grenade going off in the intersection would hide his escape. All it did was bring him into Hardy's sight picture, where the concealed operator put a single round into the soldier's leg, adjusting the aim on the scope he needed to re-zero next chance he got. The paratrooper tumbled into the stack of bodies from the first fire team to get murked, a bloody mess on the ground really, screaming as he pushed himself to his back and frantically whirled his rifle in any and all directions.            In a moment of clarity, the surviving para realized the nature of his injury. He expertly pulled a tourniquet from a pouch on his armor, then slid the contraption over his leg before tightening it down.            “Fàngxià nǐ de wǔqì!” Trouble hissed from around the corner. The man had hugged the shadows until he got in position, then slid from the dark holding a confiscated QBZ-191.            The Chinese soldier held his hands out wide at seeing his own style battle rifle pointed at him. He let the rifle slip from his fingers, while glaring daggers at Trouble coming in. As the dark and dirty man advanced, the paratrooper used his good leg to push himself against the other bodies and prop up to a sitting position.            Trouble looked the part of a hobo riding the rails. He had an old-style military trench coat over a hoodie covering his normally unkempt hair. His beard was wispy, with patches of hair not growing in for some reason or another. His dirty military-style civilian pants seemed to have as many stains as they did pockets, lending credence to looking like someone who slept among the garbage. Trouble advanced on a set of well-worn high-top sneakers, complete with the Velcro strap at the top, a look no kid on either side of the Chinese militarized zone would be caught dead wearing.            He got a few yards from the downed soldier, then repeated, “Move the weapon away,” in Chinese. He spoke with the inflection and tone of someone who knew the language intimately, although he'd never be truly taken as a native speaker.            Trouble hovered over the man, both staring at each other over the sound of the paratrooper breathing rapidly after being badly wounded. The man flinched, and Trouble sent a single round center mass of the downed soldier's face. He immediately brought the carbine in line with the hopping foot injury guy, finishing him off with a series of quick staccato shots administered with cold brutality and efficiency.            Weapon up.            Bang bang bang.            Weapon low and ready, scanning dark eyes for who else wants to die next.            “You good?” Hardy asked over the net in the silence that followed.            “Yeah. Guy on his butt was gonna try for the grenade he had on his kit. No sense in both of us dying.”            “Give me a minute to scoop up their EUDs. Maybe the I&R guys can pull something off them,” Hardy said.            “I'll scoop some of these rifles and this sweet, sweet ammo, my brother-man,” Trouble said, holding the Chinese carbine. “Might as well take their NODs too. Haul like this and we could be into some serious cash if we sell it all at the general store.”            “I'll help you take some of it,” Hardy said as they both fell into the work of battlefield scavenging and asset management. “But hey, I ain't carrying a backpack full of rifles looking like a walking Middle East bazaar.”            Trouble laughed and made a cat's low owwwwwwww like he was some rock singer hamming it up just before the bridge in some long-lost metal anthem.            “Recycled due to lack of motivation,” announced Trouble. Both had been graduates of the Darby Queen and Robert Rogers school for wayward boys.            Hardy had already grabbed several of the soldiers' battle boards when his own piped off from inside his jacket.Hardy checked the sitrep from the observers. Then… “Hey. More troops coming in. Gotta rabbit.”            “But, but, all the gear,” whined Trouble. “I can do some stuff with this, Brother.”            “Fine,” Hardy quipped. “You stay and get all the shwag. I'm avoiding the Chinese infantry platoon and jumping back into the water. Discuss division of assets with them and whatever indirect and air support that's all hot and bothered right now at oh-two hundred.”            Trouble scooped up a few more rifles, then fell in step with his partner, catching up swiftly, eyes roving across all sectors each knew was their own. In moments consumed by fog and shadows, just two down and out tramps on the hump to the next refugee camp, work-gang project, handout, UN FEMA camp for indoc and digital ID assignment.Just two shadows in the night.“Time to get wet,” muttered one. “Well, when you put it like that,” hissed the other, each laboring under a huge pack, stepping it out like they were late for a better tomorrow that might just happen. “I am a bit swampy after all that work we just did. Maybe the right thing here is a nice dip in the ocean to cool a man off. Even if it is late.”Sirens began to sound in the distance. Doomsday and mournful. The music of a fallen America.A gunship could be heard in the swamps to the west. Coming in fast. Its echo thundering and reverberating off the bayous and swampy hills.“Got some blood on my hands.”“Bummer, dude.”And then they were gone.For those that wanna buy us a coffee until the next chapter drops. Thank you.CTRL ALT Revolt! is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. We love the SOCOM M1 “The B*****d” because it sure shoots like one. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nickcole.substack.com/subscribe

Rhodes University Management and the SRC today (Friday) marched on the Makana Municipality - as the university was forced to temporarily suspend part of its academic programme, including formal undergraduate lectures, tutorials, and practicals, amid severe disruptions to its municipal water supply. The campus has been without municipal water since Friday, 23 August 2024, and the university has had to provide water via tankers to kitchens, residences, academic buildings, and offices. Speaking to BizNews after the march, the university's CFO Kamlesh Riga describes the magnitude of the crisis, and the effect it has had on individual hygiene, health, and study conditions. He also reveals the real reasons behind the lack of water supply, and lists the contingency measures the university has put in place at great cost. Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here. Join us for BizNews' first investment-focused conference on Thursday, 12 September, in Hermanus, featuring top experts like Frans Cronje, Piet Viljoen, and more. Get insights on electricity and exploiting SA's gas bounty from new and familiar faces. Register here.

How can you continue an adventure after the printed material ends?  The players want to keep going but you're out of adventure to give them.  The story has to end, right?  Not so fast, my friend.  In this episode we talk about tips and tricks to continue the story out to the horizon.   #pf2e #dnd #dmtips #gmtips #aftertheend   Resources: Dragon of Icespire Peak - https://marketplace.dndbeyond.com/adventures/SRC-00041

In this episode of the Economy Matters podcast, an Atlanta Fed housing expert discusses factors at work in residential real estate including interest rates, housing supply, and regional trends in affordability.

The Power of Print in a Digital WorldIn a recent episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur Show, host Josh Elledge interviewed Alysha Burch, the founder and creative director of Square Root Creative, to explore the often-overlooked power of print in today's digital-centric marketing landscape. Alysha shared valuable insights into how print can complement digital strategies, the nuances of effective print marketing, and best practices for creating impactful print materials. This blog post delves into the key takeaways from their conversation, offering actionable advice for businesses looking to leverage print in their marketing efforts.Despite the dominance of digital marketing, print remains a powerful tool for engaging consumers. Alysha highlighted several reasons why print should not be overlooked: it provides a tactile experience that digital cannot replicate, offers longevity as print materials often stay in homes for days or weeks, and garners more trust from consumers who may perceive digital content as less reliable due to online scams and misinformation. Alysha emphasized that print and digital should be seen as complementary, with print reinforcing digital messages to enhance overall marketing effectiveness.Alysha shared several best practices for effective print marketing. Choosing the right paper is crucial; it should match the message and audience, with high-end paper for luxury products and more approachable paper for everyday items. Color psychology is also important, as different colors evoke different emotions and should align with the brand's overall color scheme. The layout and design should guide the reader's eye logically, with clear headlines and engaging visuals. Specialty embellishments like gold foil can add a touch of luxury, and testing and iteration are essential to refine materials before a full rollout. Leveraging data for targeted print campaigns and integrating print with digital strategies can further enhance the impact of print marketing.About Alysha Burch:Square Root Creative is the brainchild of Alysha Burch, a 30-year industry veteran.This full-service agency was established in 2002, when Alysha saw the need for a creative house that delivered effective messaging across all marketing mediums. Her vision was to form a group that could think conceptually, act strategically, and design with purpose. 20 years later, the agency remains independent and solely owned, an inspiration for women entrepreneurs worldwide.A native New Yorker, Alysha utilized her connections and resources to build “a rock-star team of talented individuals.” Together this group of innovative thinkers, master storytellers, daring designers, video mavens, and tech sensations rise to any creative challenge-–pushing the boundaries of every project to deliver work that exceeds expectations. While Alysha's passion, talent, and dedication are the foundation for “the Root,” she's the first to say that teamwork keeps the agency moving forward. This emphasis on a collective spirit has earned her the affectionate title of “Mama Root” – a nod to the family this fearless leader has built.Prior to opening SRC, Alysha worked at top advertising and marketing agencies on Fortune 500 clients including Nestle, Panasonic, and Hasbro. When not running the Root, she can be found downtown with Mylo, her French bulldog (and the office mascot) looking at street art and discovering emerging designers, jamming to old-school hip-hop during boxing class, or enjoying a late-night meal with friends–– that is, if they will wait for her to get out of the office.About Square Root Creative:We are a full-service agency passionate about design and its ability to provoke, inspire and energize. We build strong brands with fresh ideas, engaging creative and the right mix of technology. Our agency is built on integrity, trust and...

GWENDOLYN SYKES, Executive Vice President & CFO at SRC, formerly CFO for the US Secret Service, AND NASA! Gwen has contagious energy, and a passion for people that you feel right away. It's no surprise she's risen to the levels she has, and been beloved by the people she leads! Hop in for this leadership masterclass!!

Today's SWAPA Number is 4,452. That's the peak number of flights per day in the revised June schedule. That's just over 6% more than last year. So today we're going to speak with SRC supervisor, Meagan Nealon, SRC committee member, Dan O'Connor and SRC Chair, Scott Plyler about where the network schedule stands for the summer season, as well as discuss what's upcoming as far as implementation.If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@swapa.orgFollow us online:Twitter - https://twitter.com/swapapilotsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/swapa737

In part 2 of this 2 part episode, I sit down with Sexual Health Education Teacher, Jenny Rabinovich to discuss:Ways that habits, beliefs and knowledge from our childhood carries forward to adult related pelvic floor issues The Sexual Health Education curriculum Middle years and high school focus focus (grades 7-12) healthy vs unhealthy relationshipsconsentsexual decision makingcontraception prevention of sexually transmitted infections.Suggestions for parents (how to ask them what they are learning at school and supplement their learning at home)Jenny is mom to two amazing teenagers and is currently a Sexual Health Education Teacher with the Central Okanagan Public School District and has been for the last 18 years. She has both her Bachelor of Human Kinetics degree minoring in sciences, as well as her Bachelor of Education degree from UBC Vancouver. She has taken numerous workshops with Options for Sexual Health and the Alberta Society for the Promotion of Sexual Health. As a Sexual Health Educator, she teaches all students in grades 4 through 11. In grades 4-6, her teaching focuses on subjects like the physical, social, and emotional changes of puberty, hygiene and personal safety and boundaries. In older grades, teaching focuses on digital awareness, healthy and unhealthy relationships, sexual decision making, contraception and prevention of sexually transmitted infections and, most importantly, consent. LINKS MENTIONED:Sexual Health Resources (School district 23)needhelpnow.caCybertip.caTHANK YOU TO THE EPISODE SPONSORCheck out SRC health for their high quality line of compression shorts and leggings: https://srchealth.com/Use code: THEPELVICFLOORPROJECT for 10% off your orderThanks for joining me! Here is where you can find out how to work with me:  www.pelvicfloorprojectspace.com/Support the showSupport the show

This week on the Pro Audio Suite, we've taken a deep dive into the evolving landscape of voiceover auditions, with a particular focus on a new directive from the MEAA suggesting auditions be conducted solely via phone. We debate the potential impacts, from audio quality to AI protections, and whether this levels the playing field or sets the stage for mediocrity. Our journey didn't stop there; we ventured into discussions about the surprisingly good quality of smartphone mics, particularly the iPhone, and pondered if the consumer really notices or cares about audio fidelity. The conversation naturally flowed into the realms of audio tech history, reminiscing about anti-piracy measures in CDs and the quirky side of recording hacks. Join us as we explore these topics and more, including: The concept of the "mequalizer" in voiceovers. Potential implications of recording auditions on smartphones for AI training. A look back at anti-piracy efforts, from tape biases to digital watermarking. The fun and frustration of navigating tech limitations with creative hacks. A big shout out to our sponsors, Austrian Audio and Tri Booth. Both these companies are providers of QUALITY Audio Gear (we wouldn't partner with them unless they were), so please, if you're in the market for some new kit, do us a solid and check out their products, and be sure to tell em "Robbo, George, Robert, and AP sent you"... As a part of their generous support of our show, Tri Booth is offering $200 off a brand-new booth when you use the code TRIPAP200. So get onto their website now and secure your new booth... https://tribooth.com/ And if you're in the market for a new Mic or killer pair of headphones, check out Austrian Audio. They've got a great range of top-shelf gear.. https://austrian.audio/ We have launched a Patreon page in the hopes of being able to pay someone to help us get the show to more people and in turn help them with the same info we're sharing with you. If you aren't familiar with Patreon, it's an easy way for those interested in our show to get exclusive content and updates before anyone else, along with a whole bunch of other "perks" just by contributing as little as $1 per month. Find out more here..   https://www.patreon.com/proaudiosuite     George has created a page strictly for Pro Audio Suite listeners, so check it out for the latest discounts and offers for TPAS listeners. https://georgethe.tech/tpas If you haven't filled out our survey on what you'd like to hear on the show, you can do it here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZWT5BTD Join our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/proaudiopodcast And the FB Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/357898255543203 For everything else (including joining our mailing list for exclusive previews and other goodies), check out our website https://www.theproaudiosuite.com/ “When the going gets weird, the weird turn professional.” Hunter S Thompson And don't forget the code trip a P 200. That will get you $200 off your triboof. And of course, austrian audio making passion heard. An email came via our union here in Australia, the MEAA, talking about voiceover auditions. And they want talent to do auditions only on a phone. I can kind of see why they're thinking of that, but the issue I've got is that phones are not that bad. Speaker A: There's too many roadcasters in this conversation. : We got to move away from the default bank in China. Speaker A: So what is the reason, Andrew, did they say? Is it because they think that the crappy quality is going to, well, supposed crappy quality would be my opinion. Going to make people think twice about just using it? : That is correct. It's going to be MP3 from your telephone purposely made bad. : But is it really? Speaker A: I mean we've talked about this on the show before. I mean the iPhone in a micro. Sorry, the microphone in an iPhone is spectacularly good. So what's the point? : Or is it more that the consumer doesn't care anyways? : Meant to be an equalizer so everybody sounds equally mediocre. : The me equalizer is that the Joe. : Meek mediocre, the meequalizer will inherit the voiceover industry. : Or you were saying so that they purposely don't use the audition for the job. : Correct. : Yeah, it's like protection. : I guess it makes sense. I mean, I know in the states people love it when they get their auditions lifted and they don't have to record it again. : Yeah, it happens all the time. : Or you record them anyways and you still use the audition. : Oh, that happens too. So that's fascinating. So did you get a direct answer as to why? Or is it just a mandate don't ask questions? : It kind of came via my agent who's forwarded it from the union. There's also a disclaimer form as well to protect you so that you have to read a disclaimer on your audition saying that my voice cannot be used for AI and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So it's all about AI, but it's kind of like the more I thought about the iPhone thing, particularly iPhone and an iPhone 15, you can get away with using that actually for broadcast, really? : If it's done correctly. Yeah. If you record in a quiet, well tuned environment, you're going to have a very good sounding iPhone recording. Speaker A: Yeah. : A well placed iPhone will sound better than a poorly placed U 87. Speaker A: Absolutely. There you go. Well, so maybe that. Maybe the directive should have been stand on your local street corner and record on your phone. Maybe that should have. : Or just ask Robert. Speaker A: Just listen to the pro audio suite, any episode, just check out Robert and you'll get a good idea of what to do. : You should run the Hoover or the vacuum cleaner while you're doing an. Speaker A: Or you could record in, my know, kids screaming toilets, know all the fun stuff. : There you go. Speaker A: That's right. : Or toilets screaming. Speaker A: Yes. And kids. : Yeah, that's fascinating to me. So what medium are you recording with just to the voice memo app on. : Your phone, I'm assuming. So I used the phone once to muck around with when I bought a rode microphone that plugged into your phone. : Right. : I think I use garageband from memory. I can't remember off the top of my head, but I never record on the phone anyway. But if this is the new directive, I don't really know whether it's going to achieve much because. All right, so someone's not going to use it for the real job, so you're not going to get it stolen. They can still use it for AI. Because if you're training a robot, then doesn't matter what it sounds like. Really? : Good enough to train an AI bot. Speaker A: Yeah. : And then again, the other thing is, of course, send in an audition that sounds like shit. You don't want the person at the other end to go, oh, God, their studio is awful, I won't be using them. Speaker A: Well, this is the thing. Are they going to be told that you're auditioning on your phone or are they just going to get your audition expecting that you're going to be in your booth, in your home? : Well, I don't know. And the other thing is, of course it's a directive here. But I mean, what if I'm auditioning for another country? : Why don't they just take all the auditions and run it through a plugin that makes it sound like crap? : Boy, you could do that as well. : Yeah. Just give it a 4K low pass, be done with it. Speaker A: Yeah. : So just real sounds like a telephone. Speaker A: Yeah. : How about this. Okay, I got it ready. When they post it, they just put a little watermarker in there that goes voice jungle. : Do you remember? This is probably a long, long time ago. But there was a point at one stage they were worried about records being bootlegged and they used to put something. There was some kind of weird frequency. When you tried to record, dub something across, it would have had this weird frequency through it. Speaker A: Oh, really? : Yeah. I think on tapes they tried to do something that would mess with the bias of a tape. : The bias. : You couldn't make a dub of it. And then later in CDs, you found that with the. Remind me of the code spitiff had the Src. There was a setting when you'd master a CD, it would only allow one digital generation to be made and the second digital generation could not be copied. Src or something. What was that called? : Yeah, I don't remember, but yeah, I. Speaker A: Know what you're talking about. : It's a sample bit, like, people would call it sample bit, I think. Speaker A: Yeah. : When you master a CD, you can actually enable a bit that will prevent that disk from being copied. Yeah, I remember that in my recording in like, wavelab or whatever I was using to master or burn the master, you could say, do not make this disk copyable. : And then if you had a professional dat machine, it wouldn't give a crap and it would copy it anyways. Speaker A: Yeah. : Was that connected via AES or via SPDif? : SPDIF or AES, I believe. Well, definitely. No, no. Spdif because Sp Diff carried more metadata than AES, I believe. I don't know that if it was carried over AES, because SPDIF was the. : Consumer protocol and AES was the pro correct protocol. : And then there was another change to it, because then after that, when recordable CDs came out, the music industry wanted its royalties for all the music that was going to get bootlegged. So they made special, more expensive recordable CDs. So that then when you bought a consumer CD recorder, you had to buy these more expensive CDs, like Phillips came out with the 870, and it was a cheap CD recorder, but you could only use these expensive discs. But then everyone figured out that all you had to do was you bought one expensive disc and you put it in the machine and you primed it for record. And then you waited and you just grabbed your fingernails underneath the CD tray and you pulled it out and you switched the disc with a cheap disc and you pushed it in without triggering the closed motor so it didn't notice. Start its cycle up again. Speaker A: Wow. : That's a hack. : And then you could just record on cheap discs and you didn't have to have an expensive recorder, because if not, you were buying like, an HHB or like, a $1,000 CD recorder instead of a $300. Speaker A: Wow. Well, there you go. Wow. Wish I had known that hack all those years ago, but there you go. : And then the other thing that you don't remember on the CD was the pre emphasis bit. That would raise the high end. Right? That's what preemphasis did. It raised the high end a little bit extra. Speaker A: Yeah. : I don't remember why, but I do. : Remember that it had that to compensate for shitty playback systems. : I don't know, because there's the RIA EQ curve on phonographs. : It was almost like. It's like that was pre emphasis. De emphasis. Yeah, scums. That's what they called it. Scms. Serial copy management system. Yeah, they would call it scum because they hated it. That was annoying. : Well, I mean, based on that scum, why don't we have a scum in our daw? So we just hit that when we record. So it sounds great, but no one. Speaker A: Sends it out on CD. Send it. : People are talking about things like this, like trying to find a way to be able to track the media from even where it all goes. So, for instance, if you have a sound effects library, the sound effects can be seen inside of the mix that they are, and then somehow the person gets royalties. I don't know. It's a pretty hard problem to solve. Seems like there's a thousand ways to get around it and only one way to make sure it works. Right? Speaker A: This phone thing, going back to that just for a second, because it's just occurred to me, does it sort of smack of desperation to you that this sort of clutching its straws of sort of like, well, this is the best we can do? Does it feel to you like it does to me that maybe they're just getting desperate with this whole thing? : To me, it smacks of. I didn't know there was that big of a problem with pilfering auditions, that this is necessary. : Yeah, I'm shocked. I mean, I would never have thought of this as a solution, but I would have thought of another way to do it. But this is a super. It's a thing that anybody can do because everybody has a smartphone at this point, and it doesn't fix the fidelity problem necessarily, because you can still record really great sounding files, even more so. : You can now up res stuff. I'm sure this is going to hit for audio, but someone brought me a SD. It was DVD, but it might as well have been a VHs. It just looked like shit compared to all the video that we're used to, right. And took it to AI and it made it look like proper HD. It just interpolated everything, all the missing bits. It just like. I know it would have been here. Here's the nose hair. Speaker A: Yeah. I don't know. I suppose you sort of got to be. These sort of unions and stuff have to be seen to be doing something, but I don't know that they're really doing anything. : I can't see it making any difference. I mean, you've just got to be really careful about who you audition for. They've just got to be trustworthy and they've got to be a signatory of a union so they don't break the law, otherwise they lose their membership to the union. I mean, I can't think of any other way of doing it. There's got to be some kind of way of punishing. But if someone wants to do it, they'll do it anyway. Yeah. : Is it that there's too many desperate voice actors, just desperate to find any kind of work and they just don't care. They just want to get any opportunity to work. So they set themselves up to be. : Ripped off and then next thing you know, they take a gig where they're just, like, reading the dictionary and all of a sudden their voice is cloned, or it's part of a clone that you don't know it's in, and they've just been part of a. Because this is like a big data war is really what it boils down to. And how do you protect your data when your data is just, like, coming off of you like light? Speaker A: Well, I mean, when you think about how many auditions people do every day, how much sort of unused voiceover is actually floating around out there, there must be craploads of it. : So much. Well, did I tell you what we want to do with the echo servers? We don't really want to do this, by the way, so don't worry. But we just thought it'd be funny if we ever just took a recording of all the junk that gets set into echo. Speaker A: Imagine what people check. Yeah. This fucking piece of shit. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. : God damn it. Speaker A: Why does my mic sound like shit? What's going on? Yeah, all that rubbish. Yeah, that'd be hilarious. You could do a rap song out of it or something. Just sound. : There's like a lot of material there. Speaker A: Absolutely, yeah. The source elements. Twelve inch or something. : Echo roulette. Speaker A: Yeah, there you go. Echo roulette. : Echo blue. Speaker A: You could have fun with that. You could actually tell people. You could sort of have a competition. The person who leaves us the best line for our remix wins a twelve month subscription to Nexus or something. There you go. : That would be a really fun one. I mean, right now it's like we don't run the queue manager because it would just fill up in an hour and then the computer would explode. : Yeah. Speaker A: Interesting. There you go. It's funny, isn't it? I mean, AP and I were talking about subjects we were going to talk about today and I was flicking back through our catalog of shows just looking for ideas and it goes back as far as like 2020. We were talking about AI back then. It's been an overriding sort of shadow over the industry for so long, hasn't it? : But in the last two years it has gotten. Speaker A: It's gotten worse. But you can go back to 2020 and we were talking about it then. It's just been this big black cloud hanging over the industry for so long, hasn't it? It's just weird. : Don't worry, there won't be any industry anymore. So it's all, well, God. Speaker A: Oh, that's reassuring. It's crazy, isn't it? Thanks to George's influence, I've been delving into AI a little bit and, man, some of the stuff just images even conjure me up this image and bang, there it is. It's just crazy. : Thing is, I recognize all those images that you post as being AI generated. Speaker A: I'm sure you do. : It has a very distinct style. It's a signature to it, if you know, you know, I guess is what I'm saying. Most people could care less, but yeah. : It'S a slippery slope that we're sliding on down into the depths of God knows where. No work. Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. : Of the slurp. Speaker A: Yeah. Well, who knows? : Yeah. Splash. Speaker A: Well, that was fun. Speaker C: Is it over? Speaker B: The pro audio suite with thanks to tribooth and austrian audio recorded using source connect, edited by and repeaters and mixed by Voodoo Radio imaging with tech support from George the tech Wittam. Don't forget to subscribe to the show and join in the conversation on our Facebook group. To leave a comment, suggest a topic, or just say g'day. Drop us a note at our website, theproaudiosuite.com. #ProAudioSuite #VoiceOverTips #AudioEngineering #SmartphoneAuditions #AITechnology

Today's SWAPA Number is 12. That's how many domiciles Southwest will have once we open Nashville in May of this year. So on today's show, we're going to talk with SRC chair Scott Plyler and SRC member Dan O'Connor about what that means for our pilots and our network. Amy's out sick today so joining me as host is the third member of SRC 3, Meagan Nelan.If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@swapa.orgFollow us online:Twitter - https://twitter.com/swapapilotsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/swapa737

Laura Schellhardt is a Chicago based playwright and adapter. Her original works include Air Guitar High, Auctioning the Ainsleys, The Apothecary's Daughter, The K of D, Courting Vampires, and Shapeshifters, among many others. Adaptations include The Phantom Tollbooth, The Outfit, and Creole Folktales. She is also the author of Screenwriting for Dummies. She's a two-time Jeff Award nominee and recipient of the AATE Distinguished Play Award, the New Play Frontier's residency, the TCG National Playwriting Residency, the Jerome Fellowship, the New Play Award from ACT in Seattle, and a Dramatist Guild Playwriting Fellowship. She has participated in the SoHo Rep Writer/Director Lab, the Women Playwrights Festival at SRC, the Kennedy Center's New Voices/New Visions Festival, the Bonderman TYA Symposium, the Ojai New Play Conference, the Denver Center New Play Summit, the Bay Area Theatre Festival, and the O'Neill National Playwright's Festival, among others. She received her graduate degree from Brown University, under Paula Vogel. She's a former Victory Gardens Resident Playwright and current member of Walkabout Playwrights Collective and she oversees the undergraduate play Schellhardt oversees the undergraduate playwriting program in the Department of Theatre at Northwestern University.   Key Takeaways We all hold many identities and their salience changes with time and context Privilege can be an obstacle when you're not aware of it but it can be a tool to empower others What you practice grows stronger, especially with how you talk to yourself and others What and how you give your attention is one of your most powerful tools  Effort > outcome and process > product There's a difference between safety and comfort and it is important to learn and grow in discomfort Authenticity is a series of choices based on your values and intentions Take yourself seriously but hold yourself lightly Make connections not impressions Guest's Media Recommendations: The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop: How To Decolonize the Creative Classroom by Felicia Rose Chavez (book) Creative Acts for Curious People by Sarah Stein Greenberg (book) __ Find Guest's work: https://communication.northwestern.edu/faculty/laura-schellhardt.html __ For more of Michael's work, visit our website www.incognitotheplay.com or follow us on Instagram @incognitotheplay __ Thanks to Ned Doheny for providing our podcast music! You can find him and his music on Spotify. Editing and co-production of this podcast by Emma Yarger. Email info@incognitotheplay.com with questions or comments about the show!

Business, drones and…robots?!Today we welcome someone who I wrote about during my masters a fair old bit! Sam Watson-Jones started the Small Robot Company. A business aimed at creating a system where per plant farming can treat a field as a million plants instead of a field. This means less requirements for chemical and fertiliser, just where and when it's required…think of it as a very specific variable rate technology! This month unfortunately SRC had to go into liquidation with various investors seeing it as being to far ahead of the rest of the market as is.Sam is now deducting his Nuffield scholarship to per plant precision!Very interesting chat with someone I've been a massive fan of for some time!Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the SWAPA Ride Report for Friday, February 23rd, 2024. The SWAPA Ride Report is your source for headlines, updates, and answers to frequently asked questions regarding your new Collective Bargaining Agreement. This week we answer some frequently asked questions from Benefits, Retirement, Contract Admin and SRC.If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@swapa.orgFollow us online:Twitter - https://twitter.com/swapapilotsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/swapa737

On this Contract 2020 TA Education episode, we'll hear from SRC Chair, Scott Plyler and SRC member, Dan O'Connor about Section 10, Exchange of Flying.00:18    Change in Exchange of Flying and Automation00:35    TTGA Changes02:18    TTGA Over Non-Flys03:55    New Open Time Giveaway Rules05:15    Jetway Trades06:09    ELITT Changes 08:22    DTC Limitations08:38    PNZ10:15    Co-Terminal ELITT11:43    Direct Drop and Pickup Details13:20    Reserve ELITT14:13    ELITT DTCFor more information, visit the Contract 2020 TA Education Resource Center on swapa.org.If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@swapa.orgFollow us online:Twitter - https://twitter.com/swapapilotsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/swapa737

On this Contract 2020 TA Education episode, we'll hear from SRC members, Scott Plyler, Dan O'Connor, and Meagan Nelan about Section 9, Pilot Schedule Planning.01:05    Timeline Changes01:38    Changes in Duty Time02:40    Schedule Quality Asks and Changes03:47    Commutability 04:46    Average Pairing Length Discussion05:30    Red Eye Discussion and Provisions05:57    Line Construction07:03    Collaboration with the Company on Schedule Planning09:14    All Things Co-Terminals13:43    Overlap Correction14:26    Open Time Priority17:23    Legality Changes19:23    ETOPS and International DomicilesFor more information, visit the Contract 2020 TA Education Resource Center on swapa.org.If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@swapa.orgFollow us online:Twitter - https://twitter.com/swapapilotsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/swapa737