April 2014 | Baltimore Beacon

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Retirees are hardly retiring

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PHOTO COURTESY OF GAIL LIPSITZ

By Carol Sorgen For Jeff and Marie Halka, retirement was both a matter of choice and circumstances. The couple — who spent most of their individual careers working for Maryland state government — were becoming increasingly involved in the care of their elderly parents.

Already living in Anne Arundel County and commuting to their Baltimore jobs, the Halkas decided to “upsize” so Jeff’s mother could move in with them.

“That left us even further from our jobs with a longer commute,” they said.

Commuting issues aside, however, Marie, who is 63, acknowledged that she was ready to leave the workday world behind her and officially retired in March 2013. Jeff, who is 65, followed her lead four months later, though he said, “It wasn’t a decision I went into lightly.”

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L E I S U R E & T R AV E L

Virginia’s small towns and their many year-round festivals; plus, news for cruisers — new ships and attractions, and mind-stimulating offerings page 26

Planning is key Nor should it be, say experts on the topic. “You wouldn’t start a business without a plan,” said Boston-based psychologist, transition coach and author Dorian Mintzer. “You shouldn’t head into retirement without a plan either.” (Mintzer does acknowledge that not everyone gets that choice; sometimes retirement is forced upon you.)

As the population ages and the number of retirees grows, retirement planning that focuses on more than just the financial aspect is becoming such a hot topic that even major institutions have hired gerontologists to help their clients navigate the sometimes murky waters.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, for example, recently appointed Baltimorebased Cynthia Hutchins as director of gerontology. Hutchins not only has a background as a financial advisor/retirement specialist, but also recently earned a graduate degree in gerontology from the University of Southern California.

“Preparing for retirement today also means having meaningful discussions about longevity, how to smoothly transition into retirement, what it means to go from being a son or daughter to being a caregiver, and how to plan for the unexpected,” she said, adding that planning for retirement is both an ongoing and evolv-

Recently retired from a career in public relations, Gail Lipsitz now has more time to go hiking with her son David, who is a professional guide. In addition to preparing finances, planning your time, from classes to exercise to a possible encore career, is crucial, according to retirement experts.

ing process. “You may put a plan into place, but you should always have room for a course correction. This is an everchanging, dynamic stage of life.”

Mintzer, author of The Couple’s Retirement Puzzle, whose website (www.revolutionizeretirement.com) features a free monthly online interview series with leading retirement experts, recommends that while you’re still working think about what role work plays in your life.

“Does it give your life meaning? A sense of purpose? Camaraderie with your coworkers?” she asked. “Many people don’t really understand what work has meant to them, apart from a paycheck,” she said.

Then ask yourself, “What are you retir-

ing to?” Retirement itself used to be a “destination,” Mintzer explained, but today it is more likely to be a transition. “The concept of retirement is changing, and you need to explore what retirement actually means to you. What are your expectations of retirement?”

For the Halkas, their expectations are influenced in large part at the moment by elder care. Still, Marie has developed a new hobby in screenwriting and is working on a project with a partner, while Jeff, an active outdoorsman, is happy “doing yard work ad nauseum,” he laughed (though he also volunteers at his former office for the time being).

See RETIREMENT, page 24

ARTS & STYLE

A transformative Jekyll and Hyde by the Vagabond Players; plus, a Jewish Museum of Maryland exhibits explores the popularity of mah jongg page 31

FITNESS & HEALTH k Older driver accidents down k A safer pain pill

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LAW & MONEY 16 k Money advice from the pros k Tips for filing your tax return VOLUNTEERS & CAREERS k Helping adult learners

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PLUS CROSSWORD, BEACON BITS, CLASSIFIEDS & MORE

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APRIL 2014 — BALTIMORE BEACON

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A man of valor Editor’s note: Some readers may remember This was all the more admirable because my columns about my parents’ transition to as- he came from parents who had largely sisted living. I am sad to say that dropped the Jewish practices my father, Leonard Rosenthal, they had been raised with. But passed away in Austin, Texas, he was always seeking spirituon March 5. This month, in lieu al and ritual elevation in his of my usual column, I would like own personal life. to share the tribute I gave at his Because chaplains serve funeral. troops of all faiths, he also Our dad was a first-born found himself conducting son, and perhaps partly due to Protestant and even Catholic that fact, he was a leader — services on occasion, taking determined and responsible the opportunity to share les— and also a fighter. He FROM THE sons from the parts of Scripfought for what’s right, he PUBLISHER ture we share that the solfought for his family, and he By Stuart P. Rosenthal diers could appreciate and fought against life’s troubles, take comfort from. both for himself and for others.

He was popular with the ladies, and had As a child, he faced anti-Semitism at dismissed my mother, nine years his junior, school — name calling, rock throwing, after their first date, when she was only 18. threats and beatings — so he learned to But when he was reintroduced to her a few box and wrestle so he could defend himself. years later, what I call the “Gigi effect” was at He joined ROTC in high school, and work, and he was immediately smitten. She when he joined the Army, he was troubled was also raised without Jewish ritual pracby the fact that his base had no Jewish tice, but they both decided to have a kosher chaplain. So he talked his way into becom- home, and their devotion to the Sabbath and ing an assistant to the chaplain so he could keeping kosher helped bring my brother lead services and make sure there was Arnold and me back to traditional Judaism. provision for the Sabbath, Jewish holidays After college, Dad went to work in the and kosher food. meat packing plant founded by his grand-

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father (who was a cantor and kosher meat During this time, it was really my mom slaughterer, and who also started the first who was in need of help with daily activikosher market in Fort Worth, Texas). At ties, and he chauffeured her to doctor apthe time, the plant —which provided both pointments, helped prepare meals, did the kosher and non-kosher beef to the com- shopping and much of the cleaning of their munity and to communities around the apartment. country — was run by his father.

When he came down with pneumonia a Dad played second fiddle for many few weeks ago, at the age of 93, he went to years, but then became its president just the hospital where he (and we) fully exas competition from the big companies pected him to recover. In the hospital, he was forcing their independent plant, and acquired a couple of additional infections others like it, out of business. (which hospitals are known for nowadays), So he reinvented himself as a business but continued to fight the good fight. broker — helping others buy and sell small In the process, he charmed all the nurses businesses of all sorts. When he retired from and aides, who fawned over him and always that business, he started up and ran several raced to answer his help calls. He was just nonprofits, together with my as dearly loved at the commother, that helped older munity where he lived, workers who wanted to rejoin where he would put on his the workforce. They taught tie and suspenders daily and them computer skills, how to go down to meals, attend write resumes, and trained events, and even go shopthem for employment in the ping and to doctor appointcontemporary workplace. ments so attired and wearing It was also at that time, a jaunty hat. when I spoke to Dad about Just 10 days ago, he was my thoughts of leaving the attempting physical therapy practice of law and going in his hospital room to keep into business, that he sugup his mobility, after lying gested I consider the senior in a hospital bed for two Leonard J. Rosenthal market as a growing niche. 5/22/1920 – 3/5/2014 weeks. He did leg exercises He also referred me to the in bed, and tried to walk a Senior Beacon of Austin, Texas, where he few steps and sit up in a chair. I think it was and my mother were on the board of direc- the difficulty of those attempts that made tors. I credit him with helping me find what him start to realize he might not get back was to become my passion. the strength to resume his former life.

In his later years, Dad suffered from a Dad, for all these reasons, you have alnumber of physical challenges: He started ways been a role model to almost everyone to lose his voice gradually, to the point who met you. You showed us all how we can where he was able only to whisper. The face reality, fight against all odds, and always paralyzed vocal cord that caused this also keep our pride and our devotion to G-d. caused him to lose the capacity to safely Every Sabbath, you read Proverbs 31, swallow food or liquids, requiring the in- “A Woman of Valor,” to our mother with stallation of a stomach tube through which tremendous feeling, as you both looked he could be nourished with liquid food. deep into each other’s eyes.

When the community where he and my Dad, you were a Man of Valor, and we mom then lived said he could not remain will miss you. there with a feeding tube because they weren’t capable of providing that service, he learned how to handle his feedings himself, and did so five times a day for years.

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BEACON BITS

Apr. 5

CAREGIVERS MINI CONFERENCE

Learn about resources to make caregiving easier for you. Guest speakers will discuss basic legal considerations, safety for the older driver and proper hands-on care techniques. Light breakfast and beverages will be served. The free conference will be held at Catonsville Senior Center, 501 N. Rolling Rd., Catonsville, on Saturday, April 5 from 8:45 a.m. to noon. For more information, call (410) 887-0900.

BALTIMORE BEACON — APRIL 2014

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Health Fitness &

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BACK TO SQUARE ONE Back pain is often overtreated; exercise and OTC drugs may help most ADDICTION FACT AND FICTION Separating prescription pain medication myths from reality SAFER PAIN RELIEF Naproxin carries lower heart risks than its rivals, like ibuprofen COUCH POTATOES REJOICE Try simple exercises that can be done from the couch or during TV breaks

Accident rates decline for older drivers

By Joan Lowy Safety researchers expressed concern a decade ago that traffic accidents would increase as the nation’s aging population swelled the number of older drivers on the road. Now, they say they’ve been proved wrong.

Today’s drivers aged 70 and older are less likely to be involved in crashes than previous generations, and are less likely to be killed or seriously injured if they do crash, according to a study released last month by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

That’s because vehicles are getting safer, and seniors are generally getting healthier, the institute said.

The marked shift began taking hold in the mid-1990s and indicates that the growing ranks of aging drivers, as baby boomers head into their retirement years, aren’t making U.S. roads deadlier.

Fatality rates drop generally Traffic fatalities overall in the U.S. have

declined to levels not seen since the late 1940s, and accident rates have come down for other drivers as well.

But since 1997, older drivers have enjoyed bigger declines than middle-age drivers (those 35 to 54) as measured by fatal crash rates per driver, and per vehicle miles driven.

From 1997 to 2012, fatal crash rates per licensed driver fell 42 percent for older drivers and 30 percent for middle-age ones, the study found.

Looking at vehicle miles traveled, fatal crash rates fell 39 percent for older drivers and 26 percent for middle-age ones from 1995 to 2008.

The greatest rate of decline was among drivers age 80 and over, nearly twice that of middle-age drivers and drivers ages 70 to 74.

“This should help ease fears that aging baby boomers are a safety threat,” said Anne McCartt, the institute’s senior vice president for research and co-author of the study.

“No matter how we looked at the fatal crash data for this age group — by licensed drivers or miles driven — the fatal crash involvement rates for drivers 70 and older declined, and did so at a faster pace than the rates for drivers ages 35 to 54,” she said in a report on the study’s results.

Elders driving more, too At the same time, older drivers are putting more miles on the odometer than they used to, although they’re still driving fewer miles a year than middle-aged drivers.

This is especially true for drivers 75 and older, who lifted their average annual mileage by more than 50 percent from 1995 to 2008.

“The fact that older drivers increased their average mileage… may indicate that they are remaining physically and mentally comfortable with driving tasks,” the institute said.

When older drivers reduce the number of trips they take, it’s often because they sense their driving skills are eroding. They

compensate by driving less at night, during rush hour, in bad weather, or over long distances.

By 2050, the number of people in the U.S. age 70 and older is expected to reach 64 million, or about 16 percent of the population. In 2012, there were 29 million people in the U.S. age 70 and over, or 9 percent of the population.

“The main point is that these 70- to 80year-olds are really different than their predecessors,” said Alan Pisarski, author of the authoritative “Commuting in America” series of reports on driving trends.

“They learned to drive in a very different era. They are far more comfortable driving in freeway situations.

“This matters immensely for the future, because we are seeing dramatic increases in older workers staying in the labor force and continuing to work and commute well past 65.”

For more information from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, see www.iihs.org.

— AP

Placebo effect strong with migraine meds

By Lauran Neergaard Talk about mind over matter: A quirky new U.S. study suggests patients’ expectations can make a big difference in how they feel after treatment for a migraine.

Boston researchers recruited 66 migraine patients in an attempt to quantify how much of their pain relief came from a medication and how much was due to what’s called the placebo effect — the healing power of positive belief.

More than 450 headaches later, they reported that it’s important for doctors to carefully choose what they tell patients about a powerful medicine: The message could help enhance its benefits, or blunt them.

“Every word you say counts, not only every gram of the medication,” said Harvard University professor Ted Kaptchuk, who led the new study with a team at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital.

Lies for a good cause?

Here’s how it worked. First, the patients

who suffer regular migraines agreed to forgo pain relievers for several hours during one attack, recording their symptoms for comparison with later headaches.

Then for each of their next six migraines, the patients were given a different pill inside an envelope with a different message. Sometimes they were told it was an effective migraine drug named rizatriptan, a positive message. Other times they were told it was a placebo, a dummy pill, suggesting no benefit. Still other times they were told the pill could be either one, a neutral message.

Sometimes the doctor’s message was true — they were told they got rizatriptan and they really did. Sometimes it was false because researchers had secretly switched the pills.

Mixing up the possibilities allowed researchers to tease out how the same person’s pain relief differed from migraine to migraine as his or her expectations changed.

Of course the real migraine drug worked far better than the dummy pill. But

remarkably, people who knew they were taking a placebo still reported less pain than when they’d left their migraine untreated, the researchers found.

Especially surprising is how expectations can also reduce the effectiveness of a drug. Patients’ reports of pain relief more than doubled when they were told the migraine drug was real than when they were told, falsely, that it was a fake, the team reported.

In fact, people reported nearly as much pain relief when they took a placebo that they thought was the real drug as they did when they took the migraine drug while believing it was a fake.

Placebo benefit is real “The more we gave a positive message to the patient, the bigger the placebo effect was,” Kaptchuk said.

He said that effect probably isn’t purely psychological, saying the ritual of taking a medication may trigger some subconscious memory that could leave people feeling better even if they knew they’d

taken a fake drug.

Scientists have long known that some people report noticeable improvements in pain and certain other symptoms when they’re given a placebo — which can be a sugar pill or sham surgery or some other benign intervention. Some studies even have documented that a placebo actually can spark a biological effect.

But scientists don’t know why the placebo effect works or how to harness its potential benefit.

The new research is an interesting attempt to answer some of those questions, at least for one kind of pain, said Dr. Mark Stacy, vice dean for clinical research at Duke University Medical Center, who wasn’t involved with the work. And learning how much of an impact it makes could help design better studies of new drugs, to ensure the phenomenon doesn’t skew the results, he added.

For now, it shows “the power of positive thinking may be helpful in taking care of your migraine,” he said.

— AP

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APRIL 2014 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Back pain often overdiagnosed, overtreated

By Daniel DeNoon What doctors call “routine” back pain can really, really hurt. Surprisingly, the best treatment is usually quite conservative —over-the-counter pain relievers, ice and heat, and gentle exercise. Yet for decades, many doctors have been ordering more and more unnecessary tests, narcotics and referrals for surgery.

“Most routine back pain will improve on its own with conservative therapy in three months, often shorter than that,” said Dr. Bruce E. Landon, professor of health are policy at Harvard Medical School.

“Even more importantly, when we do more aggressive things — such as injections, imaging, and surgery — the longterm outcomes don’t change at all. These things have very little impact on what is going on, and they have the potential to make things worse.”

The trend of overdiagnosis and overtreatment is getting worse, according to a new study by Landon and his colleagues. They analyzed nationally representative data from 1999 through 2010 on nearly 24,000 outpatient visits for acute, new onset or chronic flare-up back pain to see if these people were treated according to established, evidence-based guidelines.

Endorsed by both U.S. and international experts, these guidelines: • Call for treatment with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS, such as ibuprofen and naproxen) or acetaminophen (Tylenol and generic).

• Call for referral to physical therapy when appropriate.

• Advise against early referral for imaging (such as MRI and CT scans) except in rare cases where “red flags” suggest something other than routine back pain.

• Advise against prescribing narcotics.

• Advise against early referral to other physicians for injections or surgery.

Guidelines often ignored The study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, revealed that doctors were increasingly ignoring these guidelines. During the study period: • Use of NSAIDS and acetaminophen went down, from 36.9 percent of visits in 1999-2000 to 24.5 percent of visits in 20092010.

• Prescriptions for narcotic pain relievers went up, from 19.3 percent of visits in 1999-2000 to 29.1 percent of visits in 20092010.

• Referrals to physical therapy remained low at 20 percent of visits.

• Referral to other physicians went up, from 6.8 percent of visits in 1999-2000 to 14

percent of visits in 2009-2010.

• Referrals for CT or MRI scans increased from 7.2 percent of visits in 19992000 to 11.3 percent of visits in 2009-2010.

“It is hard to not do anything aggressive, especially when you are having a lot of pain,” Landon said. “So people ask for these more advanced things and, unfortunately, doctors are often willing to prescribe them because that’s the path of least resistance.”

This path of least resistance for primary care providers is a treasure trove for surgeons, specialists and pain clinics. In the United States, healthcare for back pain adds up to about $86 billion each year.

When people with routine back pain are referred for MRI imaging, they’re eight times more likely to have surgery.

When people with back pain ask for offguideline treatments, it takes time to understand their expectations and to explain how conservative treatment is better suited to their situation. Doctors may not feel they have that kind of time, noted Dr. John Mafi, See BACK PAIN, page 5

BEACON BITS

Mar. 26

TRANSITIONING TO MEDICARE Are you ready to

enroll in Medicare? The Baltimore County State Health Insurance Assistance Program offers a workshop on transitioning to Medicare on Wednesday, March 26, at the Essex Branch of the Baltimore County Public Library. Another session will be held on Tuesday, April 22, at the Cockeysville Branch. Register now by calling (410) 887-2059 or emailing medicareinformation@baltimorecountymd.gov.

Mar. 28

BETTER NUTRITION Join Joe and Emily Brillon as they dis-

cuss how to “Eat Smart & Stay Strong.” Learn what a portion is, what the best foods to eat are and why it is important to have a “colorful” plate. The talk will be given at the Catonsville Senior Center, 501 N. Rolling Rd., Catonsville, on Friday, March 28 at 9:30 a.m. For more information, call (410) 887-0900.

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CAREGIVER SUPPORT Baltimore City offers

a family caregiver support program.

Call (410) 396-4932 for more information.

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tive exercises and structured group processes. For more information and to preregister, call (410) 435-2600.

Mar. 25

WHAT’S YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE? Get your blood pressure screened at the Arbutus Senior Center from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25. The center is locat-

ed at 855A Sulphur Spring Rd. For more information, call (410) 887-1410

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chief medical resident at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Mass., and first author of the study.

“It is hard to reason with people when they’re in a lot of pain,” he said. “I’m in favor of the honesty route. I tell people with first-time back pain that narcotics don’t necessarily help and, frankly, they are a risk. Instead of reaching for the narcotics, I suggest that if they start with the acetaminophen or ibuprofen and get rest and use ice, the vast majority of the time this will get better on its own.”

Landon noted that it takes five or 10 minutes to explain things as Mafi suggests, but it takes only 10 seconds to order a test or write a prescription.

“The way our healthcare system is set up right now makes it hard to do the right thing,” Landon said. “Orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons and pain medicine doctors get paid for doing things, not for counseling.”

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From page 4

Katz, professor of medicine and orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School, recommends in “Low Back Pain,” a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School: Cold and heat. At the beginning of the flare-up, start with ice or cold packs. After 48 hours, switch to gentle heat.

Rest. If you’re in severe pain when sitting or standing, bed rest can be helpful.

But limit it to a few hours at a time, for no more than a couple of days.

Exercise. An exercise program can help the healing process during an acute flare-up, prevent repeat episodes of back pain, and improve function if you have chronic low back pain. Work with your doctor or physical therapist to develop a suitable exercise plan.

Medication. Over-the-counter pain relievers, such as acetaminophen or an NSAID like aspirin, ibuprofen or naproxen, are usually all that’s needed to relieve acute low back pain.

They work best when taken on a regular schedule, rather than after the pain flares up.

If these strategies don’t work, talk with your doctor about more advanced options for treating low back pain.

Daniel DeNoon is executive editor of the Harvard Heart Letter. © 2014 President and fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc.

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Health Shorts Heavy drinking ages men Middle-aged men risk a faster mental decline as they age if they’ve been drinking heavily for years, new research suggests.

The study of about 5,000 British civil servants found that, over a decade, the added decline was the equivalent of about two extra years of aging (for a combined measure of mental abilities like reasoning) and about six years for memory. The heavy drinkers’ abilities were compared to those of men who drank moderately or abstained.

It’s no surprise that heavy alcohol consumption can affect the brain, but the study focuses on an age range that has received

much less attention from alcohol researchers than the elderly and college students.

Researchers found no such effect in women, but the study included too few female heavy drinkers to test the effect of drinking the same amount as in men, said Severine Sabia, a study author from University College London.

She said it was not possible to identify a specific minimum level of consumption at which the risk begins in men.

Her study used data from over 20 years.

Using questionnaires, researchers calculated the men’s average daily intake of alcohol for the decade up to when they were an average of 56 years old. Then, they tracked decline in mental abilities over the following decade from tests administered every five years.

Accelerated decline was seen for the heaviest-drinking group, which included 469 men with a wide range of alcohol intake. The minimum amount was the equivalent of about 13 ounces of wine a day or

APRIL 2014 — BALTIMORE BEACON

about 30 ounces of beer. The maximum was about three times that.

— AP

New drug for Type 2 diabetes The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new diabetes drug from Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca that uses a novel approach to reduce blood sugar.

Farxiga is a once-a-day tablet designed to help diabetes patients eliminate excess sugar via their urine. That differs from older drugs that decrease the amount of sugar absorbed from food and stored in the liver.

The drug is the second product approved in the U.S. from the new class of medicines known as SGLT2 drugs. Last March, the FDA approved Johnson & Johnson’s Invokana, which also works by eliminating excess sugar through patients’ urine.

The agency cleared Farxiga tablets for

patients with type 2 diabetes. The approval marks a comeback for the drug, which was rejected last year after studies raised concerns about links to bladder cancer and liver toxicity.

Ten cases of bladder cancer were found in patients taking the drug in clinical trials, so Farxiga’s label warns against using it in patients with the disease.

A panel of FDA advisers said that the uptick in cancers was likely a statistical fluke, and not related to the drug. But the FDA is requiring Bristol and AstraZeneca to track rates of bladder cancer in patients enrolled in a long-term follow up study.

The companies will also monitor rates of heart disease, a frequent safety issue with newer diabetes medications.

The most common side effects associated with Farxiga included fungal and urinary tract infections. The drug can be used as a stand-alone drug or in combination with other common diabetes treatments, such as insulin and metformin.

— AP

Four bogus weight-loss aids Makers of a weight loss additive called Sensa will return more than $26 million to consumers to settle federal charges that the company used deceptive advertising, claiming that consumers could lose weight by simply sprinkling the powder on their food.

Sensa Products LLC promoted the powder through major retailers like Costco and GNC and with infomercials on the Home Shopping Network and other television networks. The company sold a onemonth supply of Sensa for $59 and urged consumers to “sprinkle, eat and lose weight.”

Federal Trade Commission officials said the company used bogus clinical studies and paid endorsements to rack up more than $364 million in sales between 2008 and 2012.

The government’s settlement with California-based Sensa is part of a broader crackdown on four companies peddling weight-loss products — including food additives, skin creams and dietary supplements.

“The chances of being successful just by sprinkling something on your food, rubbing cream on your thighs, or using a supplement are slim to none — the science just isn’t there,” said Jessica Rich, director of FTC’s consumer protection office.

The FTC will also collect $7.3 million from LeanSpa, a company that promotes acai berry and “colon cleanse” weight loss supplements through fake news websites.

Also swept up in the January action are skin cream maker L’Occitane and HCG Diet Direct, which sells unproven hormones for weight loss. The companies will together return about $34 million to consumers to settle the federal charges.

See HEALTH SHORTS, page 7

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BALTIMORE BEACON — APRIL 2014

Health shorts From page 6 Regulators acknowledged that they were able to collect only a fraction of what the public paid for the products in recent years.

In the case of Sensa, FTC officials said much of the revenue was quickly spent on advertising, including infomercials.

— AP

Antioxidant supplements may carry risks Antioxidant vitamins are widely assumed to be cancer fighters, even though research in smokers has found high doses may actually raise their risk of tumors.

Now a new study may help explain the paradox. Swedish scientists gave antioxidants to mice that had early-stage lung cancer, and watched the tumors multiply and

become aggressive enough that the animals died twice as fast as untreated mice.

The reason: The extra vitamins apparently blocked one of the body’s key cancer-fighting mechanisms, the researchers reported.

The scientists stressed that they can’t make general health recommendations based on studies in mice, but said their work backs up existing cautions about antioxidant use.

“You can walk around with an undiagnosed lung tumor for a long time,” said study co-author Martin Bergo of the University of Gothenburg. For someone at high risk, such as a former smoker, taking extra antioxidants “could speed up the growth of that tumor.”

Antioxidants are compounds that help protect cells from certain types of damage, and antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables certainly are healthy. The question is the health effect of extra-high doses in pill form.

Studies in people have shown mixed re-

sults, but haven’t proven that vitamin supplements prevent cancer. A few have suggested the possibility of harm. One study in the 1990s found beta-carotene increased the risk of lung cancer in smokers. Nor are smokers the only concern: A 2011 study found Vitamin E supplements increased men’s risk of prostate cancer.

As for people who already have cancer, the National Cancer Institute says: “Until more is known about the effects of antioxidant supplements in cancer patients, these supplements should be used with caution.”

But biologically, scientists couldn’t explain why antioxidants might harm. The

7

report in the journal Science Translational Medicine is a first step to do so.

The research doesn’t examine whether antioxidants might help prevent tumors from forming in the first place — only what happens if cancer already has begun.

The researchers gave Vitamin E, in a range of supplement doses, or an antioxidant drug named N-acetylcysteine to mice engineered to have lung cancer.

The antioxidants did prevent some cell damage. But doing so also prevented a wellknown tumor-suppressing gene named p53 from getting the signal to do its job.

— AP

BEACON BITS

Apr. 2

ARTHRITIS FACTS Learn all about arthritis, the latest in treatments and coping tools

on Wednesday, April 2 from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Ateaze Senior Center, 7401 Holabird Ave., Dundalk. For more information about this free presentation, call (410) 887-7233.

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Potential risks include, but are not limited to, loosening, dislocation, fracture, wear, and infection, any of which can require additional surgery. For additional information on the Oxford® knee and the Signature™ system, including risks and warnings, talk to your surgeon and see the full patient risk information on oxfordknee.com and http://www.biomet.com/orthopedics/getFile. cfm?id=2287&rt=inline or call 1-800-851-1661.

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APRIL 2014 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Pain pills and addiction — fact and fiction

By Holly Thacker When it comes to prescription pain medications, there’s a lot of misinformation out there. Whether you’re searching for information about how such drugs can help you relieve pain, or reading the latest tabloid tale of a celebrity addict, separating fact from fiction can be tough.

Dr. Richard Rosenquist, chairman of pain management at the Cleveland Clinic, debunks six common myths about prescription painkillers, such as oxycodone

and hydrocodone.

Myth 1: The more you take, the better they work.

More does not equal better. It’s true that in the short term, after a severe injury, for example, two pills may be more effective than one at relieving pain.

But over time, taking too much backfires. Research suggests pain medications may do something to desensitize the way your brain and spinal cord interpret pain signals, Dr. Rosenquist noted.

“You develop a tolerance to the medication over time,” he said. “Sometimes, if you take chronic pain medications for a long time, your pain may actually get worse.”

Myth 2: If you take them for a valid reason, you can’t get addicted.

It can’t happen to me. I’m a good citizen.

I’m a normal person. I couldn’t possibly get addicted. Thinking this way is dangerous.

Even if you start taking a prescription pain medication for a legitimate reason, you run the risk of addiction. This has nothing to do with moral character and everything to do with the highly addictive nature of these drugs.

Myth 3: Everyone who takes them gets addicted.

On the flipside, just because you take a prescription painkiller does not mean you will become addicted.

It depends largely on your own personal risk of addiction. That’s why Dr. Rosenquist and others in pain management screen for risk factors: a family history of addiction, a personal history of alcohol and drug abuse, or certain psychiatric disorders.

“If I’m considering prescribing opioids, I’m going to do drug screening and make sure you’re not taking recreational drugs,” Dr. Rosenquist said. “If somebody uses recreational drugs, the likelihood they’re See PAIN PILLS, page 11

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

NEWSLINE FOR THE BLIND A free audio newspaper service is available for the blind and visu-

ally impaired. Call (410) 659-9314 and press 3.

Apr. 26

IN THE MOOD FOR DAY TRIP Arbutus Senior Center invites you to join them on Saturday, April 26, for a trip to Frederick to see In the Mood, a musical revival of

‘40s and ‘50s music. Tickets are $60. Call (410) 887-1410 to reserve a spot.

Ongoing

COGS AND DOGS Visit the “Cogs & Dogs” exhibition on Saturdays at Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower through Saturday, April 26. Baltimore-based artists

Patty Burgee and Sydney Hopkins come together in a joint exhibition. Burgee’s work captures her favorite four-legged friends on canvas; Hopkins’ creates abstract forms using ink, oil, and watercolors. Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower is located at 21 S. Eutaw St. The tower is open every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information on the “Cogs & Dogs” exhibition, call (443) 874-3596 or visit www.bromoseltzertower.com.

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BALTIMORE BEACON — APRIL 2014

9

Naproxin carries lower risks than its rivals

By Matthew Perrone Federal health officials say the pain reliever in Aleve may be safer on the heart than other popular anti-inflammatory drugs taken by millions of Americans.

A Food and Drug Administration review said naproxen — the key ingredient in Aleve and dozens of other generic pain pills — may have a lower risk of heart attack and stroke than rival medications like ibuprofen, sold as Advil and Motrin. FDA staffers recommend relabeling naproxen to emphasize its safety.

The safety review was prompted by a huge analysis published last year that looked at 350,000 patients taking various pain relievers. The findings suggest naproxen does not carry the same heart risks as other medications in the class known as nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs. The agency released its memo ahead of a public meeting last month where outside experts discussed both the new data and whether naproxen should be relabeled.

The agency is not required to follow the group’s advice, though it often does.

If ultimately implemented, the labeling changes could reshape the multibilliondollar market for drugs used to treat headaches, muscle pain and arthritis.

The change could make Aleve and other naproxen drugs the first choice for patients with a higher risk for heart problems, according to Ira Loss, a pharmaceu-

tical analyst with Washington Analysis.

But he added that all NSAIDs will continue to carry warnings about internal bleeding and ulceration — a serious side effect that is blamed for more than 200,000 hospital visits every year.

Ongoing study may stop Resolving decade of concerns The FDA meeting is the latest chapter in an ongoing safety review of NSAIDs that stretches back to 2004, when Merck & Co Inc. pulled its blockbuster pain reliever Vioxx off the market due to links to heart attack and stroke.

Vioxx was part of a subset of newer NSAIDs designed to be easier on the stomach. But in the wake of the Vioxx recall, the FDA beefed up warnings about heart safety risks on all drugs in the class, including Motrin, Advil, Aleve and Celebrex. Pfizer’s Celebrex is the only drug from the same class as Vioxx that remains on the market.

Current labeling warns that taking NSAIDs long-term can increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. Patients and doctors are advised to take the drugs for the shortest time period possible.

But FDA staffers now say that labeling should be changed “to reflect the more favorable cardiovascular risk profile of naproxen.”

Bayer spokesman Chris Loder said in a statement that naproxen’s safety and efficacy is “based on clinical trials, observa-

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

tional studies, and clinical and real world use for more than 38 years.” The Germanbased conglomerate was one of a halfdozen pharmaceutical manufacturers presenting at the February FDA meeting.

JOIN THE BALTIMORE COUNTY HOME TEAM

The Home Team is a community-based volunteer program serving homebound Baltimore County residents 60 years of age or older who lack social supports and are at risk of social isolation. Eligible clients are matched with a volunteer who provides friendly in-home and telephone visits. For more information, call (410) 887-4141.

The FDA also disclosed that it is considering halting a long-term study comparing the safety of naproxen, ibuprofen and Celebrex, the prescription painkiller from Pfizer.

Given that recent data show a lower rate

of heart attack and stroke for naproxen, FDA staffers say patients in the trial are being “exposed to an undue risk.”

Launched in 2006 by Pfizer, which makes both Celebrex and Advil, the PRECISION study is expected to be completed by late 2015. The company said in a statement that “current evidence does not support” changes to the labeling of its drugs.

Celebrex was New York-based Pfizer’s fourth-best-selling drug last year, with sales of $2.92 billion.

— AP

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Principal Investigator and Medical Director, Dr. Majid Fotuhi, is conducting a clinical study evaluating the effects of two dietary supplements, Fruitflow w® (Tomato extract) and Resveratrol (Grape extract) on memory, blood flow to the brain, and fitness.

To be eligible you must: t #F CFUXFFO BOE ZFBST PME t )BWF NJME NFNPSZ DPNQMBJOUT t #F JO HPPE IFBMUI BOE IBWF B primary care physician Compensation will be provided to eligible participants for their time and also for referring other participants who enroll.

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Health Studies Page

APRIL 2014 — BALTIMORE BEACON

THE PLACE TO LOOK FOR INFORMATION ON AREA CLINICAL TRIALS

Can a blood pressure drug keep you strong?

By Carol Sorgen Have you lost strength and mobility as you’ve aged? That’s not uncommon. According to WebMD, for approximately the first 30 years of our life, our muscles grow larger and stronger. After that, however, we begin to lose muscle mass and function, a condition known as age-related sarcopenia or sarcopenia with aging.

People who are not physically active can lose as much as 3 to 5 percent of their muscle mass per decade after age 30. Even if you are active, however, you will still experience some muscle loss. In general, sarcopenia typically accelerates around the age of 75 (though it can happen earlier or later).

Muscle loss has multiple symptoms, such as weakness, slowness and fatigue.

Older adults with muscle weakness have a

higher risk of falls and disability. In addition, the loss of independence for older adults can lead to a poorer quality of life.

The reasons for muscle loss can be attributed to one or more factors, including medical and neurological conditions, cognitive decline, non-supportive social and/or environmental settings and frailty.

Frailty is a multi-system syndrome of age-related decline that is characterized by weakness, weight loss, fatigue, low levels of activity and slowness. Frail older adults have a higher risk for serious complications such as hospitalization, disability and even mortality.

Treating muscle loss The primary treatment for sarcopenia is exercise, specifically resistance or strength

training.

Recently, however, investigators from the Johns Hopkins University Older Americans Independence Center (JHU OAIC) found that losartan, a medication commonly used to treat high blood pressure, slowed the strength decline seen in older mice. In addition, the drug allowed the skeletal muscle of injured mice to heal faster. Losatran’s brand name is Cozaar.

As a result of those findings, the researchers are currently conducting a study to see if losartan can do the same for older adults and prevent the decrease in strength associated with aging.

Losartan is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of high blood pressure, heart failure and to protect the kidneys in diabetic patients. Currently, losartan is not FDA approved to prevent the decrease in strength associated with aging, however.

According to the researchers, interventions such as losartan that can prevent the decline seen in frailty have the potential to improve function and help older adults maintain their independence and a good quality of life.

Taking part in the study In this study, participants will be asked to take losartan or a placebo to see if losartan can help prevent loss of muscle strength. Those randomly selected to take losartan will receive a 25 mg tablet of losartan daily for eight weeks, then increase to 50 mg daily for another eight weeks, and finally increase to 100 mg daily for the last eight weeks of the study.

Participants will be randomly selected to take losartan or a placebo. Those in the placebo group will a pill with no active ingredients to take for 24 weeks total. The study will take place over 24 weeks at the Clinical Research Unit on the Hopkins Bayview Medical Campus.

You may be eligible to participate if you are age 70 or older and experience problems with strength or walking. The study doctor will assess other criteria to make sure that you’re eligible to participate.

If you take part in the study, you may receive at no cost study medication, study-related care from a local doctor and reimbursement for time and travel.

For more information, call (410) 550-2113 or visit www.MuscleLossTrial.com.

BEACON BITS

Apr. 26

A FESTIVAL FOR WOMEN

WomenFest will be held on Saturday, April 26, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Gary J. Arthur Community Center. This free health and wellness event, presented by the Howard County Department of Citizen Services, features award-winning cookbook author Jackie Newgent and her new book, The With Or Without Meat Cookbook. There will be more than 90 vendors and exhibitors, important health screenings, and seminars. WomenFest will be held at the Gary J. Arthur Community Center at Glenwood, 2400 Route 97, Cooksville.

For more information, call (410) 313-5440 or visit www.howardcountyaging.org/WomenFest.

Mar. 22+

FELL’S POINT HAUNTED PUBWALK

Step through the doors of some of Fell’s Point’s most haunted pubs for this fascinating tour of the historic maritime neighborhood. The tours are held at 7 p.m. on Saturdays; tickets are $20, drinks not included. Meet outside of Max’s Sidebar, 735 S. Broadway. For tickets, visit www.baltimoreghosttours.com.

Have You Fallen?

Seeking Men and Women to participate in a research study at the University of Maryland & Veterans affairs of Baltimore to better understand balance and the prevention of falls in aging individuals.

you will receive: • Health evaluation • Balance, step, strength, and/or flexibility exercises • Compensation for your time If interested call: 410-605-7179 & Mention code: LIFT Baltimore VA/University of Maryland Gerontology Recruitment Line *You must be at least 65 years old and in good health *Participants will be seen at the Baltimore VA Medical Center and University of Maryland School of Medicine *You will attend approximately 41 visits for 1 to 4 hours of time per visit

CaLL Today!

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health

BALTIMORE BEACON — APRIL 2014

Pain pills From page 8 going to use pain medications inappropriately is really high.”

Not everyone gets addicted, but everyone who takes painkillers for an extended time period will experience symptoms of withdrawal when they stop. It’s a natural reaction.

Myth 4: There are no long-term consequences.

Addiction is not the only risk that comes with prescription pain medications. When taken for extended periods of time, they also can harm your body’s endocrine system and throw your hormones out of whack, affecting everything from your libido to your risk of osteoporosis.

“There are a lot of bad things that can happen, but people don’t always hear you when you describe them,” Dr. Rosenquist said.

Myth 5: You should avoid painkillers altogether.

Obviously, there’s plenty of scary information about painkillers. However, there are certainly legitimate uses.

In addition to treating the pain from acute injuries, a small fraction of chronic pain patients see improvements in both pain levels and function from taking pain medications, especially when other pain management techniques fail for them. For most people, though, prescription pain

meds should be a short-term treatment at most.

Myth 6: Pain medication can fix your pain.

This may be the biggest myth of all.

Pain medications simply mask your symptoms; they don’t treat the root cause of your pain. That’s why Dr. Rosenquist focuses on how you function rather than just how you feel.

Are you moving better? Are you able to get back to work? These are important questions about function.

So is the question of whether you’ve been making efforts to get better. For example, have you been following doctor’s orders and doing physical therapy to recover from an injury? Have you been losing weight if you’re suffering from weightrelated back pain?

“If you’re not doing the other things you need to do, I’m not going to keep prescribing those drugs,” Dr. Rosenquist said. “On their own, they’re not therapeutic.”

For more health tips and information, visit HealthHub from Cleveland Clinic at www.health.clevelandclinic.org.

Source: Cleveland Clinic WhatDoctorsKnow is a magazine devoted to up-to-the minute information on health issues from physicians, major hospitals and clinics, universities and health care agencies across the U.S. Online at www.whatdoctorsknow.com. © 2014 Whatdoctorsknow.com. Distributed by Tribune Content.

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BEACON BITS

Apr. 6+

FARMERS’ MARKET RETURNS

The 37th annual Baltimore Farmers’ Market & Bazaar reopens Sunday, April 6, 7 a.m. to sell-out, approximately noon. Browse and purchase produce, meats, dairy, spices, preserves, fresh baked breads and flowers, in addition to freshly prepared meals and handcrafted art from local artisans. The market is located on Saratoga St. between Holliday and Gay Streets, underneath the Jones Falls Expressway (JFX). For more information, call (410) 752-8632 or visit www.promotionandarts.org.

Apr. 17

YO-YO GUY COMES TO ARBUTUS

Dick Stohr, aka “That Yo-Yo Guy,” will be performing Yo-Yo tricks at the Arbutus Library, 855 Sulphur Spring Rd., on Thursday, April 17 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Stohr has set six Yo-Yo World Records, has been a Yo-Yo contest judge for world, national, regional, state and local contests and has a collection of more than 2,000 yo-yos. The event is free. For more information, call (410) 887-1410.

Diabetes Research Study 50-80 year old men & women with Type 2 Diabetes are needed to participate in an exercise research study at the University of Maryland/Baltimore VA Medical Center.

Call 410-605-7179.

Mention code: EPC-DM.

12

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APRIL 2014 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Stay fit with these simple couch exercises Can’t muster the motivation to get up off the couch and exercise? Try “couchersizing” — staying on or near your couch and exercising during commercial breaks.

“A growing body of literature connects the amount of time you spend sitting to illness and even death. Minimizing long periods of inactivity, like exercising during commercial breaks, can help reduce the risk of injury and may even help you live longer,” said Kailin Collins, a physical therapist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass.

You can work many different muscle groups while seated upright on a couch.

Want to get your heart rate up, work your oblique muscles in your sides, and whittle your waist? Try twisting your torso from side

to side for the length of a commercial break.

You can even exercise while lying on the couch: with your legs in front of you, squeeze the quadriceps for a count of 10, then relax and repeat several times. Or try leg lifts while on your back to build abs, or side lifts to strengthen hip muscles.

Get your doctor’s OK first, then consider trying some of these exercises during the typical 3-to-4-minute TV commercial break:

1. Sit to stand Why it helps: This exercise works the quadriceps in the front of the thigh and gluteal muscles in the buttocks, which helps protect your ability to get up from a chair, out of a car, or off a bathroom seat.

“In addition, it’s possible to use repeated

repetitions of this exercise to get your heart rate up,” said Collins.

How to do it: Go from sitting to standing to sitting again, 10 times in a row. Rest for a minute, then repeat.

2. Calf stretch Why it helps: “Keeping your calves optimally flexible can keep your walking stride longer, reduce your risk of tripping over your toes, and reduce your risk for common foot injuries such as plantar fasciitis,” said Collins.

How to do it: Sit on the edge of a couch with your feet flat on the floor. With one leg, keeping your heel on the floor, lift and point the toes toward the ceiling, so that you feel a stretch in your calf muscle. Hold for 30 seconds, then do the same with the other leg, three times per leg.

blades together, but not up (don’t shrug).

Hold for 10 seconds, then repeat 10 times.

5. Hand squeeze Why it helps: “Keeping your grip strong makes it possible to turn a door knob, open a jar, and grasp a gallon of milk,” said Collins.

How to do it: While seated upright, hold a ball (the size of a basketball) over your lap with both hands, then squeeze the ball as if you’re trying to deflate it. Hold for a few seconds, then release. Repeat 10 times, rest, then do another set of 10 repetitions.

You can also improve your grip strength by squeezing a small rubber ball in one hand.

Better yet, walk across the room during commercials, swinging your arms.

6. Bicep curls

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3. Stand on one leg Why it helps: “Balance gets better if you practice it, which can decrease the risk of falling,” said Collins.

How to do it: Holding on to the back of a chair for stability, lift one heel toward your buttocks. Hold for 30 to 45 seconds, three times per leg. To improve your balance on unsteady surfaces, try this with shoes off on a balled-up beach towel.

4. Shoulder blade squeeze Why it helps: “This can help prevent that rounded, shoulders-forward posture that can develop from many years of sitting, especially at a computer,” said Collins.

How to do it: Pinch your shoulder

Weak biceps make it difficult to lift groceries or push yourself out of a chair. Curls can keep your muscles strong and supple.

With a physical therapist’s supervision, sit on an exercise ball or chair holding a one- or two-pound weight at your side, palm inward. Slowly bend one elbow, lifting the weight toward your chest. Keep your elbow close to your side and rotate your palm so it faces your shoulder. Pause.

Slowly lower your arm, rotating it back again. Aim for eight to 12 repetitions. Repeat with your other arm.

— Harvard Health Letter © 2014 President and fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc.

BEACON BITS

Mar. 31

PLAY BALL!

The Orioles’ home opener against the Boston Red Sox takes place on Monday, March 31, at 3:05 p.m. at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. For tickets, go to www.orioles.com. (At press time, single-game tickets for the opener were not available, but keep checking. Full and partial-season plans are available.)

Apr. 1

ASSISTIVE LISTENING DEVICES

Advanced Hearing Group offers practical solutions for common communication obstacles in this program at the Seven Oaks Senior Center on Tuesday, April 1 at 11 a.m. The center is located at 9210 Seven Courts Dr. Sign up by calling (410) 887-5192.

BALTIMORE BEACON — APRIL 2014

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health

13

14

Fitness & Health | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

APRIL 2014 — BALTIMORE BEACON

How to get back in the exercise groove

By Karen Collins Q: I got too busy to exercise for a few weeks. Have I lost all that I worked for, or can I pick up where I left off?

A: How quickly you lose fitness depends on long you have stopped, and how fit you are to start.

The more fit you are and the longer you’ve been exercising, let’s say at least several months, the more slowly you lose aerobic condition and strength. You may

lose some ground after two or three weeks of not exercising, but you probably are still ahead of where you started.

People new to exercise, however, can end up back where they started in endurance and strength after a month or less.

If you are ready to return to your former physical activity and it’s been more than a couple weeks, start back with an easier workout than where you left off. Tune in to how your body feels, and adjust to a pace

Treating Difficulty Standing or Walking, attributed to Arthritis, Spinal Stenosis, Neuropathy, Poor Circulation or Poor Balance I am a patient who had severe foot pain for 2 years, with no relief in sight....by the end of the 4 days I was 85% pain free in both feet. I thank God for Dr. Goldman and his passion for research in healing people with foot and leg pain.

How fortunate I feel to have found a doctor who could not only diagnose an underlying problem that many specialists missed, but who has been able to find a painless and rapid method of relieving the worst symptoms.

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As a podiatrist with over 30 years experience, I have always focused on non-surgical treatment of foot and leg pain. I find that most people with foot or leg symptoms (arthritic, aching, burning, cramping or difficulty walking) , even those who have had other treatments, including surgery of the foot (or back), can be helped, usually in 1 or 2 visits.

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and intensity that let you exercise using good form.

Some experts say a good guideline for aerobic exercise is to work hard enough that you wouldn’t want to sing, but can still talk. Again, depending on your fitness level and the length of time you stopped exercising, expect it to take weeks or even a few months to get back to your previous fitness level.

Next time you find yourself tight on time, studies show that if you exercise for a shorter period or less often, without cutting it out completely, you can hold your ground.

If you’re getting bored with what you’re doing, or if a change in season ends the activities you’ve been doing, start something new. Participation in different kinds of physical activity can add more benefits than sticking with one form of exercise alone, and it keeps activity fun.

Q: Sometimes I see food labels list “other carbohydrate.” What are they, and is it something I’m supposed to get more of or limit?

A: “Other carbohydrate” is listed on some food label’s Nutrition Facts panel underneath “total carbohydrate” and refers mainly to complex carbohydrates, commonly called starches. (If a food contains sweeteners called sugar alcohols — xyli-

tol, mannitol, sorbitol — they also are included in this group.)

Starches are the main type of carbohydrate in bread, cereal, pasta, potatoes and starchy vegetables like corn. They include carbohydrate from whole grains, but also carbohydrate from refined grains, from which valuable nutrients and phytochemicals have been removed.

Because these starchy foods can also provide vitamins, minerals, fiber and healthful phytochemicals, you’ll probably be eating plenty of these “other carbohydrates” if you are eating the plant-focused eating pattern recommended for heart health and lower cancer risk.

There is no uniform goal for how much “other carbohydrate” we should get. It depends on individual calorie needs, which varies with activity level, age and size.

The American Institute for Cancer Research offers a Nutrition Hotline, 1-800843-8114, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This free service allows you to ask questions about diet, nutrition and cancer. A registered dietitian will return your call, usually within three business days.

Courtesy of the American Institute for Cancer Research. Questions for this column may be sent to “Nutrition Wise,” 1759 R St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009. Collins cannot respond to questions personally.

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Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health

BALTIMORE BEACON — APRIL 2014

15

When your daughter-in-law raises a sissy Dear Solutions: ence as he tries new things. Remember my My daughter-in-law is making me a motto for parents of adult children — “don’t little crazy. My grandson is advise without their consent.”

5 years old, and I can see Dear Solutions: that she’s making him into A friend recently took a little sissy just because me to what she termed a she’s afraid of every activi“classic English restauty he might try. rant,” where they ser ve When I point this or anythe best (her judgment) thing else out to her, infish and chips. stead of listening, she imSo I ordered it, and mediately starts to cry. when it ar rived it was When she married my being served wrapped in SOLUTIONS son she told me she was so newspaper. I couldn’t see

By Helen Oxenberg, glad to have me as a father myself eating it that way MSW, ACSW because she never had one and asked for a plate and (her father died when she silverware. was little). So in that case, shouldn’t They then brought a plastic plate she be happy to get advice from me in- and utensils. When I asked for a regustead of shutting me up by crying? lar plate and silverware, my friend acI get intimidated. How can I get her to tually apologized to the waiter about listen to me when I point things out to my “ignorance.” her? I don’t know what you call it when I’m angry or at least very annoyed a woman uses tears all the time to get at my friend. I know it’s supposed to her way, but I call it being a cry baby. be an authentic English restaurant, — Jim but I didn’t think I needed a passport Dear Jim: to eat there. Am I wrong for being I call it water power, and it is powerful angry at her actions, and which one of since it intimidates you. If you want her to us should apologize? listen to you when you “point things out” — Laura to her, put away the pointer.

Dear Laura: Stop telling her what to do or how to Well to begin with, I agree that today’s raise her child. Try to understand that the news would spoil my appetite also. Howevfather she never had represents the ap- er, your friend should not have embarproval she never had. That’s what she rassed you by apologizing to the waiter. It needs from you, not criticism. When you was quite clear that you weren’t familiar praise her for things she does well, and for with this English custom, and it should just being a decent, loving person, it might just have been explained to you. dry her tears.

I think the apology should come from As for your grandson, you may try going her, and the admission that you were ignowith him to some of those activities that rant of this custom and should have asked make her fearful. Without criticizing her, her for more description of the English you can be a reassuring and protective pres- customs should come from you.

That word on the tip of SM

SM

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Money Law &

GOING, GOING, GONE A wide array of tax breaks expired in 2013, including ones that affect charitable giving, housing and sales tax IMPORTANT TAX CHANGES Higher-income tax filers will feel the biggest pinch from new rules; but good news for those with home offices

Money-saving strategies from the pros We asked a variety of experts to share tips for staving off a tax audit, buying auto coverage, investing a windfall and understanding stock market risk.

Tax audits Frank Degen, immediate past president of the National Association of Enrolled Agents [tax professionals licensed to practice before the IRS]: What’s the most common reason your clients are audited, and how can taxpayers avoid that fate?

Only about 1 percent of taxpayers are audited. What triggers an audit is generally something on the tax return that’s out of the ordinary. For example, if you have a

side business and file a Schedule C, the IRS will flag large losses, particularly if they offset other income.

On Schedule A, large charitable contributions could be a red flag, because now you have to have a receipt for every item. I don’t ask to see every receipt for charitable contributions, but I will specifically ask a client if he or she has receipts for all contributions.

Unreimbursed business expenses are another item you see people get flagged on. If your preparer isn’t asking serious questions about these items, you need a new preparer.

Car insurance

Robert Hunter, director of insurance for the Consumer Federation of America: Name the biggest mistake people make when shopping for car insurance.

People do not shop.

When I was Texas insurance commissioner 20 years ago, I invited 25 people to our office with their auto insurance policies, and I gave each of them our buyer’s guide and a phone. I asked them to make some calls and report back in one hour.

The average savings was $125.

I suggest you get your state insurance department’s auto insurance buyer’s guide, find the example closest to your situation, and look at the premiums. Select the six lowest-priced insurers in your area.

Then go to the website of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (www.naic.org/cis) and get the complaint ratio for the insurers. Drop the two with the highest ratios and get quotes from the remaining four.

How to handle a windfall Sheryl Garrett, founder, the Garrett Planning Network: If I won $500,000 in the lottery to-

•

morrow, what should I do with the money?

First, make sure money has been set aside to pay income taxes, which may be up to $200,000, depending on your situation. Then pay off all your consumer debt.

With the remainder, invest in your ability to earn money — for example, tuition and possibly time off to get an education.

Once you have adequate cash reserves, invest the balance for retirement in lowcost, tax-efficient index funds and exchange-traded funds, and leave it alone. Investments in yourself and your retirement last a lifetime.

Stock market risk Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist for Charles Schwab: How do you know when the stock market has topped out?

If there were any one thing, we’d all be very wealthy. There’s no bell that rings.

But there are warning signs of a pullback, things we’ve seen in the past that suggest an elevated risk.

See PRO TIPS, page 17

&

•

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Say you saw it in the Beacon | Law & Money

BALTIMORE BEACON — APRIL 2014

17

Ways to spend less and enjoy it more

By Anya Kamenetz A new Gallup poll showed that Americans’ daily spending has rebounded to an average of $96 — the highest since the financial crisis in September 2008. That’s not counting normal household bills or big purchases.

By coincidence, I’ve been thinking about how to get the maximum enjoyment out of the dollars I spend. One of my 2014 resolutions is to practice conscious consumption. This means taking the time to buy only the things that will make my life better, and to make better choices: quality items produced ethically, sustainably, with attention to the lives of workers and the health of the planet.

There are plenty of expensive luxury items marketed as “eco-conscious” or “fair trade,” but conscious consumption doesn’t have to mean spending a lot. If you want to join me, here are some ways to save money while getting more pleasure out of what you spend and feeling better about the things you buy.

Buy less. I’m following the mantra, “Reduce, reuse, recycle.” The easiest way to feel better about what you buy is to slow down. Take the time to research purchases and compare prices.

Use an online tool such as Pinterest, or

a physical scrapbook to save ideas for occasions like an anniversary, holiday decorations or school outfits for the grandkids.

A bonus: Research shows that anticipating purchases is part of the pleasure, so if you put it off longer, you’ll get more out of it.

Buy local. When I can, I’m going to try to stick to merchants in my neighborhood. This keeps money and jobs in my city. It forges relationships with shopkeepers that may lead to discounts or better return policies.

And by limiting my choices in this way, it saves time and releases me from what Swarthmore psychologist Barry Schwartz calls the “paradox of choice” — the endless searching for that perfect item.

Share or trade. This applies especially to things that wear out fast, like clothes and toys for kids. We use a subscription service called Spark Box that sends us a new set of developmentally appropriate toys every eight weeks, and we send back the ones that came before.

Our daughter gets the excitement of new toys, and we get extra space in our apartment. Trading toys with friends can have the same effect. (These ideas work for grandparents, too!)

Buy with cash. I resolve to use cash for my weekly coffee habit, and to use the “en-

Pro tips

in initial public offerings and a real surge in mergers and acquisitions. You often see an inverted yield curve, which is when shortterm rates are higher than longer-term yields. And you typically see excessive enthusiasm among individual investors.

Send your questions and comments to moneypower@kiplinger.com. And for more on this and similar money topics, visit Kiplinger.com. ©2014 Kiplinger’s Personal Finance; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

From page 16 One is that interest rates, after adjusting for inflation, are rising. This is the only sign that you could argue is in place right now, and the reason why it’s happening now is that inflation has been falling — you could even argue that inflation-adjusted rates are going up for a good reason, not a bad reason.

Also, you tend to see a significant pickup

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velope method” to allocate money for discretionary purchases like lunch and makeup.

Buy to last. Most of the “fast fashion” brands at the mall or discount stores make clothes in poor countries under dubious circumstances. Not only are they bad for your conscience, they’ll stretch, pill or lose stitches very quickly.

I’ll try to remember that one pair of $95 jeans that lasts 10 years is worth more than five pairs of $20 jeans that sag, fade and wear out over the same period.

Buy used. For durable goods like furniture and housewares, buying used at antique shows, flea markets and thrift stores is not just a way to save money but a good indicator of quality. But shop these outlets with specific goals in mind; otherwise they

can become habit-forming, and you’ll be carting home white elephants.

Used kids’ clothes make sense for a different reason. I can’t always stomach buying pricey designer duds that will be outgrown in a year, but secondhand is much easier to handle. eBay and Etsy are both good resources for vintage kid’s wear..

Choose experiences over things. Research is clear: a nice dinner out with friends will improve your life more than a new blender. If you privilege experiences over stuff, you’ll end up getting more happiness out of the money you spend.

Anya Kamenetz welcomes your questions at diyubook@gmail.com. © 2014 Anya Kamenetz. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

BEACON BITS

Apr. 2

SAVING FOR YOUR GRANDCHILD’S COLLEGE The College Savings Plans of Maryland are hosting a series of

events to build awareness around the opportunity to enroll at current prices for the Maryland Prepaid College Trust. The Trust allows families to lock in future college tuition at today’s prices, and is backed by the security of a Maryland Legislative Guarantee. On Wednesday, April 2, a program will be held from noon to 6 p.m. at 217 E. Redwood St., Suite 1350. For more information, contact Francesca Nelson at (443) 769-1034 or fnelson@collegesavingsmd.org.

18

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APRIL 2014 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Wide array of tax breaks expired in 2013

By Carole Feldman If you didn’t take advantage of a wide array of tax credits and deductions last year, it looks like you’ll be out of luck in 2014.

The Congressional Research Service says there are dozens of temporary breaks that Congress passed at the end of 2012 that have expired as of December 31, 2013.

So they still apply to your 2013 tax returns, but not for the current year.

Here are some of those expired tax credits and deductions that affect individuals:

State and local sales tax Taxpayers had temporarily been given the choice of deducting state and local

sales taxes instead of state and local income taxes. This had been particularly beneficial for taxpayers who lived in states like Florida, Nevada and Texas without an income tax, and for those who made a purchase significant in value.

“Folks aren’t going to see it anymore,” said Craig Richards, managing partner and director of tax services at Fiduciary Trust.

— and pay taxes on it.

“This is something that we’ve seen a lot of our clients utilize over the years,” Richards said.

For many taxpayers, he said, the math worked out better than withdrawing the money, donating it, and then taking a deduction for a charitable contribution. “You can’t get better than not have to recognize income even if you don’t get the deduction,” he said.

For the past several years, taxpayers have been able to get a tax credit for making their homes more energy efficient.

The credit was a lifetime maximum of $500 for such things as insulation, more efficient heating, cooling and hot water systems, doors and windows.

But list that among the tax breaks that weren’t renewed for the 2014 tax year.

Tax credits for certain electric cars continue into 2014.

Housing and energy efficiency

Commuting costs

In an attempt to help people who lost their homes during the housing crisis or who owed more on the home than its value, Congress had passed legislation that allowed homeowners to exclude up to $2 million in mortgage forgiveness from taxable income. That tax break was not extended beyond 2013.

Nina Olson, the national taxpayer advocate, says there’s an important exception — taxpayer insolvency. If the taxpayer is insolvent — defined on the taxpayer advocate’s website as “when a taxpayer’s total debt exceeds his or her total assets” — the mortgage writeoff would not be considered taxable income, she said In another change affecting housing, Congress let the deduction for the cost of premiums for home mortgage insurance expire.

Many workers take advantage of employer programs that allow them to pay for certain commuting costs pretax — the cost is deducted straight from income before any taxes are withheld.

For the 2013 tax year, the amounts for parking and public transportation were equal — $245 per month. But beginning this year, the public transportation pretax benefit drops to $130 per month.

Charitable giving Taxpayers older than 70 1/2 no longer have the option of contributing to charities directly from their individual retirement accounts. This direct contribution allowed seniors to avoid having to declare the amount withdrawn from the IRA as income

Education Students or their parents will no longer be able to take a maximum $4,000 deduction for tuition and required fees to attend an institution of higher education. In some cases, related expenses had included activSee TAX BREAKS, page 20

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Law & Money

BALTIMORE BEACON — APRIL 2014

19

Changes that may affect your tax returns

By Carole Feldman Higher-income Americans are likely to feel the biggest hits from tax law changes when they file their federal returns next month. Taxpayers also will have a harder time taking medical deductions.

But other changes for the 2013 tax year may benefit you. The Alternative Minimum Tax has been patched — permanently — to prevent more middle-income people from being drawn in, and there’s a simpler way to compute the home office deduction.

Also, tax rate tables and the standard deduction have been adjusted for inflation, as has the maximum contribution to retirement accounts, including 401(k) plans and Individual Retirement Accounts.

Higher-income taxpayers The tax legislation passed at the start of 2013 permanently extended the Bush-era

tax cuts for most people, but also added a top marginal tax rate of 39.6 percent for those at higher incomes — $400,000 for single filers, $450,000 for married couples filing jointly, and $425,000 for heads of household.

On top of that, higher-income taxpayers could see their itemized deductions and personal exemptions phased out and pay higher capital gains taxes — 20 percent for some taxpayers. And there are new taxes on high earners to help pay for healthcare reform.

There are different income thresholds for each of these new taxes.

An additional 0.9 percent Medicare tax, for example, kicks in on earnings over $250,000 for married couples filing jointly and $200,000 for singles and heads of household. Same for a 3.8 percent tax on investment income.

But the phase-out of personal exemptions and deductions doesn’t begin until

$300,000 for married couples filing jointly and $250,000 for singles.

Taxpayers who didn’t plan could find themselves with big tax bills come April 15 —

and perhaps penalties for under-withholding.

Confused? “The complexities of the tax See TAX RETURNS, page 20

BEACON BITS

Mar. 26+

SO YOU WANT TO SELL ON EBAY?

This two-part workshop at the Bykota Senior Center teaches you how to sell things on eBay. Part one, from 1 to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26 is an introduction to setting up accounts, navigating the site and taking photos of your items. Part two will take place on Wednesday, April 2 from 1 to 3 p.m. The Bykota Senior Center is located at 611 Central Ave., Towson.

Phone: (410) 887-3094 for more information.

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20

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Tax returns From page 19 code are only affecting those of us trying to read it,” National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson said in an interview. Tax software makes a lot of those complexities invisible to most people.

As a result, taxpayers also might not realize they’re being helped by a wide array of deductions and credits. “They have no idea of the benefits they are getting through the tax code,” she said.

One simplification: Many investors will find it easier to report stock sales if the 1099-B forms they receive contain key details of the sale and the correct basis for computing gains and losses.

Who’s filing The IRS processed more than 147 million tax returns in 2013, down slightly from the previous year. More than 109 million taxpayers received refunds that aver-

aged $2,744, also slightly less than in 2012.

The upward trend of electronic filing continued, with more than 83 percent of returns being filed online. The biggest jump, 4.6 percent, was among people who used software programs to do their own taxes.

The IRS is continuing to offer its Free File option, which is available to taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes of $58,000 or less. These taxpayers can use brand-name software to file their taxes at no cost. Some states also participate.

The agency also has an option for taxpayers of all incomes — Free File Fillable Forms — which does basic calculations but does not offer the guidance that a software package would.

For the 2013 tax year, the personal exemption is $3,900. The standard deduction is $12,200 for married taxpayers filing jointly, $6,100 for singles, and $8,950 for heads of household.

Many credits and deductions were extended for 2013, including several for edu-

APRIL 2014 — BALTIMORE BEACON

cation. Among them: the American Opportunity Credit of up to $2,500 per student for tuition and fees, and deductions for student loan interest and tuition-related expenses. Many of these are phased out at higher income levels.

Schoolteachers will still be able to deduct up to $250 in out-of-pocket expenses for books or other supplies on their 2013 returns, but not thereafter.

Medical and home office deductions Taxpayers may continue to deduct their medical expenses, but it will be more difficult for many to qualify. The threshold for deducting medical expenses now stands at 10 percent of adjusted gross income, up from 7.5 percent.

There’s an exception, though, for those older than 65. For them, the old rate is grandfathered in until 2017.

Among the other changes for 2013, some taxpayers who work at home will

now have a simplified option for taking a home office deduction.

“You can claim this deduction for the business use of a part of your home only if you use that part of your home regularly and exclusively,” the IRS says. So, if you sit at your kitchen table and check work email, it doesn’t qualify.

The IRS said that for tax year 2011, the most recent year for which numbers are available, more than 3.3 million people claimed nearly $10 billion in home office deductions using Schedule C. Most taxpayers claiming the deduction are self-employed, according to the IRS. Until this year, you had to figure actual expenses for a home office, according to Barbara Weltman, a contributing editor to J.K. Lasser’s Your Income Tax 2014. “Starting with 2013 returns, if you’re eligible for the deduction, you can take a standard deduction of $5 per square foot, up to 300 square feet,” she said. The maximum deduction using this method is $1,500.

The IRS says people who take the simplified option will have to fill out one line on Schedule C, as opposed to a 43-line form.

Weltman likened the simplified home office deduction to the IRS deduction for business use of your car. “You can do your actual costs or the IRS mileage rates.” The standard mileage rate for business use of a car in 2013 is 56.5 cents a mile.

— AP

Tax breaks From page 18 ity fees, books, supplies and equipment — but not room and board, transportation or sports, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

Although the tuition and fees deduction expired, there will still be other educationrelated tax breaks available for students and their parents during the 2014 tax year, including a deduction for interest paid on student loans and the American Opportunity and lifetime learning credits.

— AP

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

LEGAL SERVICES FOR 60+

Low-cost legal services to individuals 60 and older who meet financial eligibility are offered by both the Baltimore City and County Bar Association. Get help with wills, living wills, powers of attorney, estates of less than $30,000 and deed changes. For more information, call (410) 337-9100 (County) or (410) 539-3112 (City).

Ongoing

LEGAL SERVICES FOR LOW-INCOME COUNTY RESIDENTS

The Baltimore County Office of the Public Defender provides legal services for low-income clients in criminal and traffic cases. For more information, call (410) 324-8900.

BALTIMORE BEACON — APRIL 2014

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Law & Money

21

22

More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

APRIL 2014 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Careers Volunteers &

Does your organization use senior volunteers or do you employ a number of seniors?

If you do and you’d like to be considered for a story in our Volunteers & Careers section, please send an email to info@thebeaconnewspapers.com.

‘Accidental’ volunteer helps adult learners Center, I realized it was a good organization, and I still think so all these years later.”

Education and life skills Since 1990, SBLC has provided functional literacy, life skills training and career services to Baltimore area residents.

The organization’s mission is to improve the self-sufficiency of educationally disadvantaged adults.

It offers classes in Adult Basic Education, Pre-GED and GED instruction, oneto-one tutoring for adults who are beginning readers, computer classes, career counseling, and academic counseling; and manages the External Diploma Program (EDP), which enables qualified adults to earn their high school diploma by completing independent assignments on a flexible schedule rather than take the GED exam.

SBLC provides services to more than 1,300 learners each year whose ages range from 16 to 83. Maryland has almost 613,640 adults without a high school diploma. In Baltimore City, 38 percent of adults are either unable to read or read below the fourth grade level and over 142,000 adults do not

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have a high school diploma.

“The services the center and its volunteers — more than 100 — provide affect not only the learners themselves,” said Blumberg, “but their families as well, as they are able to become more self-sufficient.”

Throughout the years, Blumberg has served the center in a number of ways, including being board president for five years. He has been active in fundraising, marketing, communications, and advocacy, meeting with government officials and foundation and business Barry Blumberg has volunteered with the South Baltimore Learning Center for the last 16 years. leaders to secure more funding The center, which serves adult learners, needs volfor the center and making adult unteers in a variety of roles, from literacy tutors to literacy a higher priority. office assistants.

While the center appreciates all the funding it receives, Blumproach to any challenges we have faced,” berg is quick to point out that without the she said. “His efforts have done much to efforts of the volunteers, SBLC would help make SBLC the outstanding adult lithave to raise much more money to keep its eracy organization it is.” programs going. “We can do more with less because of all the good works the vol- Many volunteer options unteers do,” he said.

The organization offers numerous volAccording to Susan Fleishman, former unteer opportunities.

SBLC board president and current AdvisoAdult literacy tutors work one-on-one ry Council member, it is Blumberg’s un- with adults with low reading abilities. SBLC derstanding of the importance of educa- provides tutors with a mandatory, free traintion for all — especially for adult learners ing session before being paired with a — that keeps him engaged and committed learner. Tutors work with their learners to to the center and its work.

“He has a thoughtful and caring apSee SBLC, page 25 PHOTO COURTESY OF SBLC

By Carol Sorgen In 1998, Barry Blumberg was a vice president at what was then named Maryland National Bank. Blumberg, who worked in community development for the bank, received a call from the president of the board of directors at the South Baltimore Learning Center (SBLC).

He asked if he could meet with Blumberg to discuss the building — the former 1890s-era Southern Police Station — at 28 East Ostend St. where the center rented space.

“The bank had a first lien on the building, and the mortgage was in default,” the 73-year-old Bolton Hill resident recalled.

“The center wanted to know if the bank could give up the mortgage and donate the building. We thought it was a good idea and made it happen.”

That was the beginning of a long volunteer career with the center, for which Blumberg was honored earlier this month, along with co-honoree Bank of America, at the annual fundraising gala.

“I’ve always had a strong interest in education,” said Blumberg. “As soon as I met the people at South Baltimore Learning

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Volunteers & Careers

BALTIMORE BEACON — APRIL 2014

23

Do older workers take jobs from the young?

It’s a line of thinking that has been used in the U.S. immigration debate and in Europe to validate early retirement programs, and it relies on a simple premise — that there are a fixed number of jobs available.

In fact, most economists dispute this.

When women entered the workforce, there weren’t fewer jobs for men. The economy simply expanded. The same is true with older workers, they argue.

“There’s no evidence to support that increased employment by older people is going to hurt younger people in any way,” said Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research and the co-author with Wu of Are Aging Baby Boomers Squeezing Young Workers Out of Jobs?

“It’s not going to reduce their wages, it’s not going to reduce their hours, it’s not going to do anything bad to them,” Munnell said.

Not enough jobs for everyone?

Still, many remain unconvinced.

James Galbraith, a professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin, has advocated for a temporary lowering of the age to qualify for Social Security and Medicare to allow older workers who don’t want to remain on the job a way to exit and to spur openings for younger workers.

He doesn’t buy the comparison of older workers to women entering the workforce, and says others’ arguments on older workSee OLDER WORKERS, page 25 Alicia Munnell, the director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, says there isn’t any evidence that shows keeping older workers on the job hurts younger ones. She is the co-author of the book, Are Aging Baby Boomers

AP PHOTO/CENTER FOR RETIREMENT RESEARCH AT BOSTON COLLEGE

By Matt Sednesky It’s an assertion that has been accepted as fact by droves of the unemployed: Older people remaining on the job later in life are stealing jobs from young people.

One problem, many economists say, is that it isn’t supported by a wisp of fact.

“We all cannot believe that we have been fighting this theory for more than 150 years,” said April Yanyuan Wu, a research economist at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, who co-authored a paper last year on the subject.

The commonly accepted vision of a surge of workers looks like this: A young post-doctoral student dreams of a full-time teaching job at her university, but there are no openings. An 80-something professor who has remained on the job long past what’s considered “normal” retirement is blamed, The problem with that vision is that there are probably full-time teaching positions available elsewhere, or the person blocking the young grad student from the job is only 40 years old, economists say.

Further, the veteran professor’s decision to stay employed and productive may stir other job growth. He may bring research grants to his university allowing for other hiring, may take on assistants, and may be able to dine out and shop and fuel the economy more than if he weren’t on the job.

None of that would have happened had he retired.

Squeezing Young Workers Out of Jobs?

R EFR ES H & reboot

AT AT R I U M V I L L A G E

Economists fight perceptions The theory Wu and other economists are fighting is known as “lump of labor,” and it has maintained traction in the U.S., particularly in a climate of high unemployment.

The theory dates to 1851 and says if a group enters the labor market — or in this case, remains in it beyond their normal retirement date — others will be unable to gain employment or will have their hours cut.

BEACON BITS

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Retirement From page 1 They have hopes of traveling more often and farther afield, but for now they visit their daughter in New York frequently, meet with friends in both Baltimore and Washington, take in as many shows, art exhibits, and events as they can, and revel in the fact that they’re not as “frantic” as they once were.

“We’re just as busy now as we were when we were working, but we have more flexibility,” they said.

A new view of retirement If health and finances are not an issue (and they do need to be considered), then retirement today looks a lot different from what it has been in the past. Thanks to less demanding work environments and better healthcare, we’re living longer, healthier lives and are not as “worn out” as previous generations of retirees, according to Dr. Judah Ronch, Dean of the Erickson School at UMBC. “We have more vigor and more energy than our parents and grandparents did,” said Ronch. “As a result, we don’t feel the need — or the desire — to view retirement as a life of total leisure. Many of us still want to contribute, whether it’s using our skills in new ways, or developing new areas of expertise and new careers altogether.”

APRIL 2014 — BALTIMORE BEACON

(If that’s the case, Ronch observed, you also need to be prepared to go from being the one in the know to the new kid on the block.)

In the past, retirees often kept busy through volunteering. Ronch sees a shift in that aspect of retirement as well.

“Baby boomers are used to being compensated for their time,” he said. “We may still want to work and earn money, but perhaps in a less competitive environment.

“At one point, retirement was expected of everyone (indeed, it was often mandatory),” said Ronch. “If you didn’t retire, people wondered what was wrong with you.

That’s not the case anymore. Now it’s a matter of what do you want to do versus what is expected of you.”

Ronch advised that when considering retirement, do a “risk-benefit analysis.”

“What will you gain and what will be lost?” he advised asking yourself. He also recommended that you not wait for inspiration to strike. “After that first joy of liberation (you know, that same feeling you had when school let out for the year), you need to work on your plan, or you can wind up with a lot of time on your hand and no meaning in your life,” he said.

“But don’t buy into any one formula,” he continued. “There will be many models of retirement. The story — your story — is still being written.”

Ronch suggested coming up with a “portfolio” of things you like to do (a sug-

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gestion offered by Mintzer as well). Like any portfolio, it should be balanced among the things that interest you, be they travel, work, golf, volunteering, babysitting the grandkids, etc. “It doesn’t matter what it is as long as it matters to you and makes your life meaningful,” he said.

Staying busy That’s exactly the approach Gail Lipsitz took when she retired last December after 27 years as public relations coordinator at Jewish Community Services, which followed a career as a high school and college English teacher.

Lipsitz made a list of every area of her life she wanted to consider after she retired, from de-cluttering her home, to spending time with her mother and her son, to traveling, hiking, teaching parttime, volunteering, seeing friends, exercising and more.

“When I tore the February page off my calendar,” she said, “there wasn’t any white space on it at all (though she admits she hasn’t signed up for that exercise class yet...“but I do walk every day!”). I wasn’t worried that I’d be bored, and I haven’t been,” she said.

She was slightly worried — but not for long — that she’d be “undisciplined,” perhaps sleeping too late in the morning or

not getting enough done during the day.

Lipsitz admits to sleeping about an hour later than she did when she was working, but added that she sleeps so much better now that she doesn’t feel the need to sleep in.

On the other hand, she’s also trying not to overschedule herself either. “It’s good to have some things scheduled every day, but I love the luxury of having time to do what I want, when I want.”

All in all, Lipsitz said whatever reservations she might have had about retiring didn’t come to pass.

“I feel like my life is very balanced and has a lot of continuity...from meaningful activities to ongoing relationships with friends and former co-workers. The main difference is I have the freedom to do so much more, and that’s what I wanted out of retirement...to do more while I still can.

“When I was preparing a few thoughts to give at my retirement party, I looked up the word ‘retire,’” Lipsitz continued. “I didn’t much like the definition, which is ‘to withdraw’ or ‘to remove oneself.’”

Former English teacher that she is, Lipsitz broke the word down into its two syllables: “re-tire.”

“That’s how I think of myself now,” she said. “Like a car, I’ve put on new tires and am ready for a new ride.”

BEACON BITS SING ALONG TO GREASE

Mar. 29

Caroline Center presents the Baltimore premiere of Sing-a-long-a Grease, a unique audience-participation film experience, for one performance only at the Hippodrome Theatre, Saturday, March 29, at 7 p.m. Enjoy the original film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton John with on-screen lyrics that invite you to sing and dance along. This event benefits Caroline Center, a nonprofit workforce development organization that provides tuition-free education and training programs for unemployed and underemployed women in Baltimore City who are seeking to become healthcare professionals. For tickets, go to www.Ticketmaster.com, call (410) 547-SEAT, or visit the Hippodrome Theatre Box Office, 12 N. Eutaw St., Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tickets range from $30 to $65.40.

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Say you saw it in the Beacon | Volunteers & Careers

BALTIMORE BEACON — APRIL 2014

SBLC From page 22 determine their needs and to develop their curriculum. The minimum commitment is two hours per week for one year.

Classroom assistants provide small group instruction for learners and offer individual tutoring to learners that need extra help. Training is not required for this position. The minimum time commitment is one to two class sessions per week for

Older workers From page 23 ers expanding the economy don’t make sense when there are so many unemployed people. If there were a surplus of jobs, he said, there would be no problem with people working longer. But there isn’t. “I can’t imagine how you could refute that. The older worker retires, the employer looks around and hires another worker,� he said. “It’s like refuting elementary arithmetic.�

The perception has persisted, from prominent stories in The New York Times, Newsweek and other media outlets, to a pointed question to Rep. Nancy Pelosi last year by the NBC reporter Luke Russert, who asked whether her refusal to step out of the House leadership (and the similar decisions of other older lawmakers) was denying younger politicians a chance.

A chorus of lawmakers around Pelosi muttered and shouted “discrimination,� until the Democratic leader chimed in herself. “Let’s for a moment honor it as a legiti-

25

one class cycle.

Drop-in lab tutors staff SBLC’s drop-in lab, working with Pre-GED and GED adult learners who are enrolled in SBLC classes.

They work mostly one-on-one with learners, answering questions and helping learners develop specific skills. Training is not required for this position. The minimum time commitment is a two-hour weekly session for one class cycle.

Office assistants are vital in providing administrative support to SBLC staff and

instructors. Office assistants answer phones, take messages, welcome visitors, make copies, prepare mailings, file student materials, distribute fliers in the community, assist with data-base entry, make phone calls and help with other office needs. No training or time commitment is required.

Special events assistants help run various events throughout the year, including the Spring Gala (annual fundraiser) and learner recognition events in the fall and spring. Generally, volunteers contribute

two hours before, during or after the event.

Volunteers can choose from a variety of times to help because SBLC is open Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For information on the services South Baltimore Learning Center provides, or to learn more about volunteer opportunities, call (410) 625-4215 or visit www.southbaltimorelearns.org.

mate question, although it’s quite offensive,� she said. “But you don’t realize that, I guess.�

The heart of Russert’s question makes sense to many. If Pelosi doesn’t give up her position, a younger person doesn’t have a chance to take it. That viewpoint is repeated in countless workplaces around the country, where a younger person awaits a senior employee’s departure for their chance to ascend.

In the microeconomic view of things, Pelosi remaining in her job at the age of 73 does deny others her district’s seat in Congress or a chance to ascend to the leadership.

numbers.

They found no evidence that younger workers were losing work, and in fact found the opposite — greater employment, reduced unemployment and higher wages.

Munnell said, outside of economists, the findings can be hard for people to understand when they think only of their own workplace. “They just could not get in their heads this dynamism that is involved,� she said. “You can’t extrapolate from the experience of a single company to the economy as a whole.�

Melissa Quercia, 35, a controller for a small information technology company in Phoenix, said she sees signs of the generational job battle all around her. Jobs once taken by high schoolers now filled by seniors, college graduates who can’t find work anywhere, the resulting dearth of experience of younger applicants.

She doesn’t see economists’ arguments playing out. Older people staying on the job aren’t spurring new jobs, because companies aren’t investing in creating new positions, she said. “It’s really hard to retire right now, I understand that,� she said. “But if the younger generation doesn’t have a chance to get their foot in the door, then what?�

Jonathan Gruber, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who edited a book on the subject for the National Bureau of Economic Research, said it’s a frustrating reality of his profession — that those things he knows as facts are disputed by the populace. “If you polled the average American, they probably would think the opposite,� he said. “There’s a lot of things economists say that people don’t get, and this is just one of them.� — AP

Older workers benefit all But economists say the larger macroeconomic view gives a clearer picture.

Having older people active and productive actually benefits all age groups, they say, and spurs the creation of more jobs.

Munnell and Wu analyzed Current Population Survey data to test for any changes in employment among those under 55 when those 55 and older worked in greater

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

AARP SEEKS VOLUNTEERS

The AARP Maryland State Office needs volunteers for a variety of opportunities. For more information, visit www.aarp.org or call (410) 895-7614.

Ongoing

LONG-TERM CARE OMBUDSMEN NEEDED

Sorry If We Missed You Last Month!

Due to a misprint in time, we apologize if we missed you at our last Open House. Please plan to join us again this month:

4BUVSEBZ "QSJM t B N UP Q N

Baltimore County Department of Aging needs ombudsman volunteers to visit nursing home and assisted living facilities to advocate for the needs of residents and to promote their rights and quality of life. For more information, call (410) 887-4200.

New Senior Apartments Opening Summer 2014!

Boasting maintenance-free senior living and a lifestyle that’s rich in services and amenities, Heritage Run will offer area seniors exceptional apartment living for one affordable monthly fee that includes: t All basic utilities t Off-street parking t Scheduled transportation

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1-855-515-7513 | www.heritagerun.org 1080 East 33rd Street | Baltimore, Maryland 21218 It is ou o r policy too admit residents withouut regard to raace, color, national origgin i , age, ances estry, es sex, rel e ig el igiouss ccreedd, ha h ndicap or di d sabilityy.

26

More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

APRIL 2014 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Travel Leisure &

Cruise news for 2014. See stories on pages 27-30.

Virginia is a place of year-round festivals

Smoked fish and beans The one-day “shad planking” that takes place every year in Wakefield, about an hour south of Richmond, is both a gastronomic and an olfactory affair.

In the piney woods at the Wakefield Sportsmen’s Club, cigar smoke mixes with the enticing aromas of smoked shad (a fish related to the herring), baked beans, secret sauces and sources of other mysterious scents.

The shad planking, always on the third Wednesday in April, started in the 1930s as a gathering of men who celebrated the start of the fishing season, ate smoked shad, and chewed over politics.

For years, it was an invitation-only confab of largely conservative white males. It

has evolved today to be a rich mix of folks: men and women, young and old, politicians and the apolitical, and curiosity-seekers who mingle in the woods, eat smoked shad, sip whatever’s at hand and gab.

Around 2 p.m., the serving committee shoves out 350 shad that have been splayed and gently smoked on oak planks next to wood embers since 6 a.m. The fish are suffused with a secret sauce created by a local dentist, the late Dr. E.C. Nettles, whose recipe is locked up in a cigar box somewhere known only to a few Ruritanners.

The beans committee stirs a 50-gallon, sluggish concoction of beans, bacon, brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and green peppers that has simmered for six hours, more or less, in an apple butter cooker. Committee members affectionately tend to the beans from lawn chairs arranged in a semi-circle around the cooker.

This year’s Shad Planking will take place April 16, from 1 to 6:30 p.m. More information is available at www.shadplanking.com/planking_info.html.

Tinner Hill Blues Festival

PHOTO BY GLENDA C. BOOTH

Closest to home for Beacon readers is the Tinner Hill Blues Festival, coming up in June. What started 20 years ago as a street festival has now grown to a fullfledged, three-day music party where the Blues permeate the Northern Virginia town of Falls Church.

Much of the town’s 2.2 square miles is devoted to blues of every flavor — boogie-woogie piano, old-time blues, acoustic blues, gospel blues, moanin’ blues and happy blues.

Big Bill Morganfield, the son of blues great Muddy Waters and an award-wining blues guitarist, performed there last year. Groups like Blue Pop and the Plucker, Jackwagon and Sheryl Warner and the Southside HomeMen baste shad, a fish related to the herring, before they smoke it on oak planks at the annual shad planking festival in Wakefield, Va.

PHOTO BY GLENDA C. BOOTH

By Glenda C. Booth Virginia is for lovers — of peanuts, oysters, shad, blues, bluegrass and more.

These and other products are lauded at small-town festivals taking place throughout the state year-round. At upcoming Virginia festivals, you can hear fiddle tunes squeal into the hills and hollers, make peanut butter sculptures and meet the second best oyster shucker in the world.

Together, the events bring out the soul of the Old Dominion through music, food, crafts, parades and even coronations.

The week-long Galax Old Fiddlers Convention every August is the biggest fiddler’s event in the U.S., attracting hundreds of musicians from as far away as Japan.

wreckers may show up this year.

The festival includes a blues brunch, art shows, films, lectures, and the “instrument petting zoo,” where youngsters can try out a variety of instruments.

This year’s festival will take place June 13 to 15. For more info, visit http://tinnerhill.org/blues-festival.

Galax Old Fiddlers’ Convention If you think you’ll like the Tinner Hills festival, brace yourself for near-total saturation in bluegrass and country music — ringing and plinking from fairground camps, erupting on Main Street, and zinging off the stage — at the annual Old Fiddlers Convention in Galax, 320 miles southwest of Washington.

The week-long annual fete sponsored by Moose Lodge 733 always takes place the second weekend of August.

The biggest, oldest fiddlers’ convention in the country, the festival attracts fans from as far away as Oregon, Newfoundland, Egypt and Japan.

Musicians of all stripes take off work from their jobs as farmers, store managers, clerks, welders, mechanics, bank managers, librarians, government employees, postal workers, nurses, lawyers and doctors to play and sing in established bands or in groups formed impromptu.

On stage, several hundred musicians compete for cash prizes in old-time fiddle, bluegrass fiddle, dobro, mandolin, dulcimer, bluegrass banjo, clawhammer banjo, autoharp, guitar, folk singing and

flatfoot dancing. Fans watch from lawn chairs around the stage or the grandstand.

The band of veteran “Kill-basa Bill” (aka William Guthrie), who presides over his camp dubbed “Billville,” rouses people out of their seats with original songs like, “I Met My Baby in the Portajohn Line” and “I Just Don’t Look Good Necked Any More.”

The festival has two climaxes, Friday and Saturday nights, when non-stop competitions take over, and bands with names like “Slim Pickins” and the “Whooping Holler String Band” rip off tunes at breakneck speed.

Each band plays for three minutes (a strictly-enforced limit), the crowd whoops, and the band exits. Next band. Wham, bam, play hard for three minutes, exit. It’s constant, hard-driving music from 6 p.m. until usually past midnight.

For many, the fun of Galax is roaming around the labyrinth of cars, trucks, RVs, buses, EZ pop-up tents, tarps and other makeshift “homes,” and crooning to the harmonies and melodies of pickup bands.

Vendors hawk handmade instruments, guitar strings, CDs, crafts and t-shirts.

Food snob alert: Choices are largely high-cal, downhome dishes like countryfried steak sandwiches, greasy Polish sausages, BBQ, funnel cakes, and blooming (deep fried) onions.

The festival has been held every year since 1935, except once during World War See FESTIVALS, page 28

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Leisure & Travel

BALTIMORE BEACON — APRIL 2014

27

New ships and attractions for 2014 cruises

By Beth J. Harpaz A couple of eye-popping new ships, the ever-growing popularity of river cruising, and efforts to restore consumer confidence are among the headlines in cruise news as 2014 unfolds.

But don’t expect ships to keep getting bigger. Instead, look for theme park-style attractions and new offerings in dining and entertainment. Here are some details.

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), which represents 95 percent of cruise capacity worldwide with 63 member cruise lines, forecasts 21.7 million guests will cruise this year, up from 21.3 million in 2013.

The Caribbean remains the world’s most popular cruise destination, included on 37 percent of global cruise itineraries, followed by a 19 percent share for the Mediterranean.

Better, not bigger More than two dozen cruise ships will launch in 2014 and 2015, but the race to make every vessel bigger than the last is subsiding from several years ago, when Royal Caribbean’s Allure and Oasis set records with capacities of more than 6,000 passengers apiece.

“I think the size of the ships — Allure and Oasis — is as big as it gets,” said CLIA president Christine Duffy in an interview.

Instead, Duffy says, the new emphasis is “on more bells and whistles.”

Two of 2014’s new ships are sure to turn heads. The colorful exterior of Norwegian Cruise Line’s ship Norwegian Getaway, which debuted this winter, features a mermaid cavorting amid turquoise and yellow swirls. It was designed by Miami-based Cuban-American artist David Le Batard, also known as “LEBO.” Getaway will homeport in Miami, and is a sister ship to Norwegian Breakaway — a New York-themed ship that debuted in 2013. Getaway carries 3,969 passengers, has 18 decks, and two unique offerings: the Illusionarium — part restaurant, part magic show — and the “Grammy Experience at Sea,” with performances by Gram-

my winners and nominees, plus exhibits of Grammy-related artifacts.

The most-anticipated new ship of 2014 is Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas, with dazzling first-at-sea attractions — simulated skydiving, bumper cars, and an observation capsule called the North Star.

The capsule, modeled on the London Eye, offers a bird’s-eye view 300 feet above the water. The ship debuts in November.

Meanwhile, the Mediterranean-based MSC Cruises company is hoping to win over Americans with its first U.S.-based ship, MSC Divina, which recently started sailing year-round from Miami to the Caribbean.

Restoring confidence The cruise industry has had a rough few years, beginning with the January 2012 shipwreck of the Costa Concordia, which killed 32 people. In September 2013, the Concordia was finally pulled upright in a complicated engineering feat, but the vessel is still in the waters off the coast of Italy, and its captain remains on trial.

The bad news continued last year when Carnival had several mishaps, with passengers stranded at sea, ships towed back to port, and cancelled trips. The negative publicity depressed prices and revenue for the company.

The incidents even changed the way travelers book cruises. The percentage of cruises booked online had been increasing fast until last year, according to a study released in December by PhoCusWright.

After the Carnival mishaps, “both cruise lines and agents spent more time on the phone winning over tentative travelers and upselling all they could,” according to PhoCusWright. Online cruise bookings jumped 28 percent in 2011 and 26 percent in 2012, but increased just 6 percent in 2013.

To restore consumer confidence, the cruise industry has taken a number of steps, including publishing statistics for crimes that take place on ships, and issuing a passenger bill of rights guaranteeing sanitary conditions, medical care, and refunds in the event of a major power failure.

Carnival is undertaking a $300 million program to add emergency generators to ships, upgrade fire safety, and improve engine rooms. The changes will create redundancies so that if one power source fails, others will be available.

Carnival has also added consumer-friendly offerings like Seuss at Sea, a branded children’s program, and Carnival Live, a recently announced series of onboard concerts that begin this spring featuring big names like Jennifer Hudson, LeAnn Rimes, Daughtry, Jewel and Lady Antebellum.

Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor-in-chief of CruiseCritic.com, said river cruises are “just exploding with new ship launches by Viking, Uniworld, Avalon, AmaWaterways and others.”

Viking Cruises christened 10 new river ships last year and launches a dozen more this year. American Cruise Lines has commissioned four new riverboats. And the newly refurbished American Empress makes its maiden voyage in April on the Pacific Northwest’s Columbia and Snake rivers.

River cruises are offered around the world, from the Danube to the Mississippi to the Yangtze, but Spencer Brown says this year’s “hot places to watch” include Myanmar and France’s Bordeaux region.

More cruise lines are banning smoking on balconies in addition to cabins. After all, if you’re a nonsmoker, you don’t want smoke from the neighboring verandah See NEW CRUISES, page 28

28

Leisure & Travel | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

Festivals From page 26 II. The 79th will be held from Aug. 4 to 10.

More information at www.oldfiddlersconvention.com.

Suffolk Peanut Festival I could smell peanut butter a quarter mile away as I strolled up to the Suffolk Peanut Festival.

And there he was — a pungent, pudgy, eight-foot Mr. P-nutty, smiling brightly, exuding a rich peanutty aroma, and glistening in the warm sun at the annual Suffolk Peanut Festival.

He was the winning creation of the peanut butter sculpture contest, a competition in which entrants sculpt with a special peanut butter blend.

Southeastern Virginia has saluted the goober, an all-purpose legume, every fall at

New cruises From page 27 blowing back into your room. Disney, Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Crystal are among the lines that no longer permit balcony smoking; Cunard will join them later this year.

But most ships still offer some designated smoking areas onboard, which may include decks, casinos and select clubs.

a four-day extravaganza since 1941. It takes place in Suffolk, 200 miles from Washington, and attracts about 125,000 peanut lovers and non.

Festival-goers kick off events with the Ruritan Club’s all-you-can-eat shrimp fest, plus BBQ and live bands. The peanut queen and her court are chosen.

Other highlights: carnival rides, a demolition derby, a motorcycle rally, arts and crafts, a horseshoe competition, and a cornhole (bean bag toss) tournament.

The 37th Suffolk Peanut Festival, themed “We Are Nutty about America,” will be held Oct. 9 to 12. Visit www.suffolkfest.org/T0.aspx?PID=2 for more info.

Urbanna Oyster Festival It’s “a little historic town with an oyster problem,” announced a pink t-shirt in Urbanna, a Rappahannock River seaport town on the Northern Neck, 130 miles

Food, glorious food Cruise lines keep expanding culinary offerings, with more celebrity chef-designed menus and variety, from ethnic food to vegan and gluten-free dishes. Specialty restaurants also continue to be added, some charging extra and some covered by the basic cruise price.

Norwegian’s Getaway and Breakaway feature menus from Geoffrey Zakarian and bakeries by “Cake Boss” star Buddy Valas-

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www.smrvt.com *All residents must meet specific income guidelines.

Rooftop Restaurant

APRIL 2014 — BALTIMORE BEACON

from Washington, D.C. The area has been known for its oysters for hundreds of years. Writing about the area in 1701, Francis Louis Michel said, “The abundance of oysters is incredible.

There are whole banks of them so that the ships must avoid them. They surpass those in England by far in size; indeed they are four times as large.”

Today’s harvests are not as impressive, but you wouldn’t know it at the Urbanna Oyster Festival. Revelers swoon over savory oysters breaded, deep fried, steamed, boiled, stewed, Rockefellered and frittered. There are oyster lamps, crowns, jewelry, boat tours and reef-building lessons.

Started in 1958, this annual November event was declared Virginia’s official oyster festival in 1988 by the state legislature. It attracts around 80,000 visitors. About 125 food and craft booths line the streets. An

80-unit parade with area marching bands and oyster floats entertains the crowd.

The culminating event is “the official oyster shucking contest of Virginia” on Saturday afternoon. It takes place behind the firehouse, where amateurs and professionals compete to pry open recalcitrant bivalves and artfully display the morsel inside. In six minutes flat, amateurs race to shuck 12; pros, 24.

Urbanna has produced the second best shucker in the world — Deborah Pratt, who snagged that honor in the world shucking championship in Galway, Ireland. Her sister, Clementine Boyd Macon, is tough competition. In Urbanna’s 2013 contest, Clementine beat Deborah. Check them out at www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WfMXAiKfhg.

The 57th Urbanna Oyster Festival will take place on Nov. 7 and 8. For more info, visit www.urbannaoysterfestival.com.

Glenda C. Booth is a freelance writer in Alexandria, Va.

tro. Crystal Cruises’ Serenity has an onboard herb garden where chefs can harvest fresh ingredients. Carnival is introducing a new contemporary upscale restaurant, the American Table, on two ships. Oceania Cruises offers more than 20 classes in its Bon Appetit Culinary Center onboard the Marina and Riviera ships, from regional cuisines to pasta-making.

Jim Berra, head of marketing for CLIA, said the industry is working on improving

technology by upgrading networks and expanding bandwidth.

New apps under development will allow guests to keep track of events onboard and stay in touch with each other via text, just like they do on land, without “sitting there dreading that roaming charge.” The improvements won’t be felt for awhile, though: “We’re in our early innings, but there’s a lot more to come,” Berra said.

— AP

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Leisure & Travel

BALTIMORE BEACON — APRIL 2014

29

Taking cruises that stimulate the mind Want to hear a history professor bring ancient Greece to life or learn how to make a mean shrimp scampi? Look for cruises with great enrichment programs.

The Crystal Cruises Creative Learning Institute lets you use your time to sharpen your mind or your skill set. Passengers can take a series of seminars ranging from personal wellness sessions led by Cleveland Clinic doctors to painting and sculpture classes.

Or, through the Crystal Visions program, you can listen to lectures from wellknown authors, politicians, scientists and others. (Hugh Downs and James Carville have been on past lineups.)

The Conversations program, from the Seabourn cruise line, hosts experts who make presentations and mingle with passengers. Some are knowledgeable about a particular cruise’s destinations and focus

their talks accordingly. On a 19-day Baltic Sea cruise in May, for example, an anthropologist will be on board.

Crystal and Seabourn are luxury cruise lines, and you’ll pay a premium for the experience. Prices start at $10,000 per person for the Baltic Sea cruise. Booking a 12day segment of a 2016 Crystal cruise of the Pacific that includes Creative Learning Institute classes recently started at $4,395 per passenger.

But you don’t have to be on a high-end ship with an intensive enrichment program to feed your brain — or your stomach. Holland America features cooking classes through its Culinary Arts Center, such as demonstrations of how to make jerk chicken on a Caribbean cruise. And prices for Holland America cruises aren’t as lofty as those for the luxury lines. Many

are available for less than $1,000.

Princess Cruises’ ScholarShip@Sea program includes lectures, wine tastings, and art-history presentations (extra charges

may apply for certain activities).

— By Lisa Gerstner and Susannah Snider ©2014 Kiplinger’s Personal Finance; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CRYSTAL CRUISES

The Meadows of Reistertown offers the maintenance-free, independent lifestyle you’ve been looking for in a retirement community.

Many cruise lines offer wine-tasting, cooking, history and other stimulating courses and lectures aboard. The Crystal Cruises Creative Learning Institute, aboard a ship shown above outside Santorini, Greece features lectures from well-known authors, politicians and others.

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APRIL 2014 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Booking a cruise? How to get a good deal

By Susannah Snider Cruise prices are headed up, but you can expect to score value for your dollar if you book early. Cruises are throwing in freebies, such as gratuities, drink cards and hotel stays, said Carolyn Spencer Brown, of CruiseCritic.com. Some luxury ships add free Internet access.

Plan ahead. Want to book a cruise this spring? Start your search now. Cruise lines sell 75 percent of their available cabins for the year by the end of March, said Stewart Chiron, of CruiseGuy.com.

Do your homework (vacation studying is fun!), and you’ll get first dibs on cabins, extra amenities, and more cruise for your cash. On the flip side, last-minute fares are often the cheapest deals, but you’ll be stuck with the leftovers.

Know your seasons. Most vacation destinations have peak and off seasons. The

same rule applies to cruises. If you travel during shoulder season, you’ll get big discounts.

Sail the Caribbean between September and early January (excluding holidays), European rivers from October to December, and Hawaii between September and mid-December. The possibility of lessthan-ideal weather is balanced by smaller crowds and cheaper fares. Or go when school is in session to pay less and avoid other peoples’ kids.

Don’t dismiss luxury. You may be tempted to write off luxury lines, such as Crystal, Silversea and Regent Seven Seas, as too pricey. But with alcohol, gratuities and dining in specialty restaurants often included in the purchase price, they can rival the bargain brands.

Regent makes a case for its luxury ships with its value comparison table at www.

rssc.com/experience/value-comparison.

Or head to independenttraveler.com/travel-budget-calculator to input anticipated expenses.

Repositioning deals For the best deal, hop aboard when a ship relocates. These so-called repositioning cruises might ferry you from Boston to Florida, or from New York across the pond to England. You’ll spend more time on board and pay a reduced fare, but you’ll have to make your own arrangements to get home.

A 13-night repositioning cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas, leaving from Boston in October and arriving in Florida, started at $949 per person. Royal Caribbean ships offer a wealth of activities.

You’ll find mini golf, rock climbing, and exercise classes on the line’s Brilliance of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.

Consider an agent, insurance Call an agent. You want an insider advocate to plan and book for you. A good agent can land you freebies and the best cabin, as well as offer expertise in whatever kind of cruise you’re taking. At www.cruisecompete.com, cruise agents vie to find you the best deal. Or search on www.travelsense.org/agents.

Travel insurance coverage can protect you if lost luggage, a sprained ankle, or a canceled flight derails your plans. Book through a third party, such as Travel Guard (www.travelguard.com).

One place where it makes sense to bite the bullet on insurance: the Caribbean during hurricane season (June 1 through Nov. 30). A storm probably won’t endanger your vessel (ships can sail around them), but it could leave you stranded in a hotel or at an airport.

The cost of insurance typically varies based on the cruiser’s age, destination and insurer. On Travel Guard, we found a $100 policy to cover a $1,500 cruise fare.

Susannah Snider is a staff writer at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. Send your questions and comments to moneypower@kiplinger.com. And for more on this and similar money topics, visit Kiplinger.com. © 2014 Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

BEACON BITS

Apr. 3

MURDER ANYONE?

Join the Ateaze Senior Center on Thursday, April 3, as it hosts a trip to Lancaster, Pa., for lunch and a performance of Anybody for Murder at the Rainbow Dinner Theatre. Tickets are $61. Call (410) 285-0481 to reserve a spot.

TAKE A LIFESAVING STEP

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April 5+

Spend nine days, from Saturday, April 5 through Sunday, April 13, in tropical Costa Rica on this Catonsville Senior Center trip. Visit San Jose, coffee plantation, Guanacaste, Monteverde Cloud Forest, Cano Negro Refuge, Arenal Volcano and cruise on Lake Arenal, all for $2,350/double. Call (410) 744-0170.

Apr. 23+

MEDIA SPONSORS:

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SPRINGTIME IN NORFOLK

Attend the International Tattoo with 850 performers in Norfolk, Virginia, from Wednesday, April 23 through Friday, April 25. Sponsored by Senior Box Office, this trip includes three nights’ oceanfront lodging, three breakfasts and three dinners, for $695/double.

Call (410) 882-3797.

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Arts & Style

BALTIMORE BEACON — APRIL 2014

Style

31

Arts &

Mah jongg soared in popularity starting in the 1920s. Learn more about the game in the story on page 32.

Vagabond’s transformative Jekyll and Hyde Dualty abounds The often befuddling concept of duality appears throughout the play in manners both obvious and subtle.

For one, you have actors playing multiple roles. Even Guyton as Jekyll, reveals his inner Hyde in the waning moments of the second act. Should he kill Elizabeth who has discovered his secret? And in that moment, Moore’s Hyde is also on stage, revealing his inner Jekyll, wanting Elizabeth spared.

Spaulding’s Elizabeth is a portrait in the duality that can occur when one is “afflicted” as her character is by love. How could so sweet and caring a woman as Elizabeth love a beast?

It’s a question Jekyll himself asks her, as this contradiction serves only to reinforce the split within himself, the pain of this realization etched on the actor’s face.

There’s duality in setting, as Jekyll and Hyde takes place in late 19th-century London, and we visit both dismal back alleys and glittering seats of great learning, wealth and power. Again, in the latter, there is also degradation, as seen in the character of Thom Peters’ Dr. Carew, who takes perverse pleasure in the dissecting of a prostitute. Dr. Carew is knighted, he is chief of surgery, he is respected, but in his character, is no better than Hyde.

When Dr. Carew performs his autopsy for his medical students, Ford places them on steps, looking down as though in a surgical theater, and brackets them stage left and right — always there is duality.

Ford’s vision is achieved thanks to some clever use of light (Hyde’s most intense moments, including the murder of Dr. Carew, are bathed in red light) and set design. Portions of the play are told in the form of first person police statements and diary entries.

To create the image of a memory, as in private detective Sanderson

Radio Mass of Baltimore

See JEKYLL AND HYDE, page 33

Gregory Guyton stars as Dr. Jekyll, and Michael Styer is one of four actors who play Mr. Hyde in the Vagabond Players’ production of The

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Two Hilarious Shows Coming to Toby’s!

PREMIERING MARCH 28

Clever sets and lighting On stage, a door is spun on wheels, serving as both the entrance to Jekyll’s home, but also the door to Hyde’s abode.

(Michael Panzarotto)’s report of Hyde’s torture of a prostitute, the incident is recreated

PHOTO BY TOM LAUER

By Dan Collins Nearly 130 years after it was written, Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde continues to spawn stage and film adaptations — more than 120 film versions alone — including playwright and screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher’s version, now being performed by the Vagabond Players.

The Strange Case examines the story of one of literature’s original “mad scientists,” Dr. Henry Jekyll, who creates a potion that splits his light or “serene” side, from the dark — Mr. Hyde.

The phrase, “Jekyll and Hyde,” is now part of the American lexicon, used to refer to someone whose personality greatly shifts depending upon the circumstances.

It’s appropriate, as great shifts are executed, and smartly so, throughout this twohour, two-act production.

Director John W. Ford has assembled a talented cast of actors, all of whom play multiple roles with the exception, ironically enough, of Gregory Guyton who plays only Dr. Jekyll.

Actors Michael Styer, Tom Moore, Thom Peters and Michael Panzarotto all take turns playing Hyde, including a scene where all four appear on stage as Hyde simultaneously. In the moment, they become a kind of Greek chorus of depravity, as they gather around the one female in the cast, Tiffany Spaulding, who plays, among other roles, Elizabeth, Hyde’s love interest.

OPENING JUNE 26

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for this Lenten Season

Cordially invites you to prepare for Easter with us by tuning in to our weekly live celebration of the Mass every Sunday at 9:00 am on WBAL 1090AM Begun in 1946, Radio Mass is a sixty-eight-year-old Baltimore Jesuit tradition. We cater especially to the homebound, nursing facilities, imprisoned, and those who otherwise can’t attend Mass in person.

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APRIL 2014 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Exhibit explores the popularity of mah jongg

By Carol Sorgen Crack. Bam. Dot. If those words don’t mean anything to you, well, it’s obvious you’ve never sat in on a mah jongg game before. But whether you’re a “mahj” devotee or completely in the dark about this popular Chinese game, you’ll enjoy the new exhibit, “Project Mah Jongg,” opening on March 30 and on view through June 29, at the Jewish Museum of Maryland (JMM).

“How did a game played by Chinese men become a pastime for Jewish women?” asked JMM Director Marvin Pinkert. “This exhibit not only answers this question, but delivers the answer in a truly exquisite setting. On top of that, it’s fun! Every visitor will be tempted to sit down and play a game of mah jongg at one of our game tables.”

Popular since the 1920s Highlights of the exhibition include im-

ages and items from the mah jongg craze of the 1920s, including vintage advertisements, Chinoiserie, and a colorful array of early game sets distributed by companies such as Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers. Artifacts from the 1930s include an instructional booklet by Dorothy S. Meyerson, a pioneer of mah jongg within the Jewish community, and images of early members of the National Mah Jongg League.

Since the 1920s, the game of mah jongg has ignited the Jewish-American imagination, and its popularity shows no signs of waning, being played everywhere from college dorms to your local Panera Bread.

Introduced to American audiences by Joseph P. Babcock, who began importing sets around 1922, the game was both exotic and beautiful, with its intricately adorned tiles (once ivory, now plastic).

Not everyone took to mah jongg at first.

Critics viewed the game as a “vice” — a gambling game, a time-waster and a potential vehicle for rebellious flapper behavior.

Introduced to America during a peak in immigration restrictions, the game’s foreign associations also stirred both consumer intrigue and stereotypes in the press.

In spite of these reservations, mah jongg was also seen as a community builder. Included in women’s gatherings and fundraisers, it quickly became a fixture in the Jewish communal world, offering relaxation, companionship and a way to raise money for worthy causes.

By 1937, the National Mah Jongg League was formed to standardize the rules of American mah jongg. Funds realized from the sale of the League’s annual rule cards were earmarked for charitable organizations. With thousands of rule cards sold each year, mah jongg became a leading de-

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When many Jewish families moved into the suburbs in the 1950s, the game became a popular social activity and entertainment ritual, passed on from one generation to the next (this writer remembers her grandmother and aunt teaching her the game at the age of 9). 1950s-era mah jongg lent itself to mah jongg-themed aprons, travel sets and images of women in the Catskills enjoying the game.

According to exhibition curator Melissa Martens Yaverbaum, “Each game of mah jongg — with its beautiful rituals and widereaching cultural associations — is a performance of identity, fantasy and memory.

It is much more than a game. It is a powerful and multi-faceted expression of community.”

Original works by fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi and renowned illustrators Maira Kalman, Christoph Niemann and Bruce McCall pay homage to the influence mah jongg has had on design and contemporary artists.

As Miller said, “Mah jongg is a visual universe unto itself, one governed by dragons, directional winds, and cocktails. It was —and still is —social media with a heavy dose of style and history.”

Mah jongg marathon Among the related events hosted by the JMM is a talk on March 30 at 12:30 p.m. by Museum of Jewish Heritage curator Melissa Martens on “Mah Jongg Mania,” and a mah jongg marathon, on April 13, led by Lois Madow, founder of the American Mah-Jongg Association.

The Jewish Museum of Maryland is located at 15 Lloyd St. Admission is $8 for adults; $6 for seniors; $4 for students and free for members. For more information, call (410) 732-6400 or visit http://jewishmuseummd.org/single/project-mah-jongg.

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FROM PAGE 34

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In the post-war years, the game was embraced enthusiastically throughout circles of Eastern European Jewish women and became a favorite activity of bungalow colonies of the Catskills.

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Say you saw it in the Beacon | Arts & Style

BALTIMORE BEACON — APRIL 2014

Jekyll and Hyde From page 31 behind a semi-transparent screen, with the incident occurring in a kind of slow-motion haze.

As audience members, we are all voyeurs to what occurs on stage, but this feeling is enhanced by viewing the violence behind the screen. It’s disturbing, and it’s meant to be — Jekyll and Hyde is a disturbing play as it forces us to question what lies behind our own civilized veneer.

Ford also uses music to great effect; there’s an eerie dichotomy that occurs when a scene of Hyde’s blood lust occurs to the beat of a child’s music box — the innocence of simple notes in stark contrast to the action on stage.

Jekyll and Hyde is expertly choreographed, with scene changes occurring seamlessly as the Vagabond’s diminutive stage is transformed from a drawing room, to a lab, a private surgery, a morgue, a dissecting theater, a bed room, a park, a hotel room and assorted London backstreets.

Skilled acting The actors are similarly skilled in their transference from one character to the next, a change of accent here, an alteration in body language there, carrying Michael Styer from proper London solicitor Utterson in one moment to Hyde the next, Peters from the cowed manservant Poole to the

haughty Dr. Carew, Panzarotto from the honorable Enfield to the murderous Hyde.

With actors playing four, five and even six roles, it’s a testament to their craft that the changes were made so clearly to avoid audience confusion, and often with little or no changes in costume or makeup. The men needed no false teeth, bushy eyebrows or clawed fingers to become Hyde.

Jekyll and Hyde moves at a good clip, scenes are brief and fluid, and there are few if any “look at the watch” moments. By play’s end, one has trouble discerning where Jekyll ends and Hyde begins, and that is, after all, the point. People do not exist in hermetically sealed silos; as Styer’s Utterson observes, there is good even in the most base of human beings, and vice versa.

As Utterson and Guyton’s tormented Jekyll discuss the nature of man, we see yet another duality: Are men ruled by God or by science? Can one’s animal lusts be replaced by what Jekyll calls “serenity?”

What makes this play so memorable, and such a work of art, is that it never takes the “easy route,” painting characters in the bright, blatant, black and white strokes of good and evil. Hatcher’s adaptation ultimately makes the point that all these things — religion, science, good, evil, anger, serenity — exist together, overlapping, often mixing.

What defines us is not our breeding, our education, what part of town we live in, whether we carry a gentleman’s cane or

wear the dress of a streetwalker, but by the choices we make, each and every day, between the selfish and the selfless.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde continues its run at the Vagabond Players, 806 S. Broadway, through March 30th, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

33

Tickets are $15 for both regular admission and seniors on Fridays and $16 for seniors and $18 for regular admission Saturdays and Sundays.

T ickets are available online at www.vagabondplayers.org. Call (410) 5639135 for more information.

BEACON BITS

Apr. 11

CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT

Peabody faculty and students perform a chamber music concert on Friday, April 11, at 8 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church of Baltimore, Charles and Franklin Sts. Admission is $10. The program includes two masterworks

by Ludwig van Beethoven: his dramatic early “String Quartet in C Minor” (Op. 18 #4) and the towering late “String Quartet in C# Minor” (Op. 131). For more information, email music@firstunitarian.net or call (410) 685-2330.

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Across Down 1. Attack the ‘fridge 1. Pro ___ 5. Bonaparte-time island home 2. Heart or tooth symptom 9. Ocean movements 3. Resentments 14. About 75% of the area of a 4. Showed off the new models football field 5. West end 15. Enlist again 6. ___ in the lurch 16. Mentally quick 7. Squirrels, in the fall 17. Spy show that transitioned from 8. Program that put 12 men on the moon black and white to color 9. One up from upsilon 20. Fabulous fabulist 10.

Set afire 21. Cover the shower wall 11.

It has a list of syns.

22. News blurb 12. Palindromic fashion magazine 23. Monitor of the SDWA 13. Give the impression (Safe Drinking Water Act) 18. Divvy up 25. Pick a politician 19. ___ cute (romantic comedy hall27. Mini-series produced by Steven mark) Spielberg and Tom Hanks 24. Not too many 33. Walter Cronkite’s WWII-era employer 26. Talks idly 34. Speed Wagons 27. Speed reducer 35. Patents’ first steps 28. It is uglier than a tree 37. Unkempt hair 29. Like many November mornings 38. Reservation count, on the ark 30. Sound of a sobber or specter 39. Vampire, when traveling 31. Museum piece 41. New Wave director Jean-___ Godard 32. Hot house 42. Veteran of the cola wars 36. Plastic surgeon’s target 44. Artist Chagall 39. Gin joint 45. ___ pig’s eye 40. Song and dance 46. TV Guide’s second-worst show 43. Cover in gravy of all time 44. Keepsake 50. Johnny Carson’s original end time 47. Rip off 51. Pitiful 48. Data bandit 52. “Immediately, nurse!”

49. Non-toxic 55. Got a perfect score 52. Bay-area first responders 57. Second longest bone in the human 53. Poi source body 61. Its original sponsor was Kent ciga- 54. It’s like kissing your sister rettes 56. M*A*S*H’s Hawkeye Pierce and 64. Happy Meal component, generally Trapper John McIntyre 65. Draw with acid 58. Tuckered out 66. Lovers’ destination 59. Ain’t better 67. Dreamers’ opposites 60. Suit to ___ 68. Red-cheeked 62. End of “times” 69. Major conclusion 63. Toddler’s refrain

Answers on page 32.

BALTIMORE BEACON — APRIL 2014

CLASSIFIEDS The Beacon prints classified advertising under the following headings: Business & Employment Opportunities; Caregivers; Computer Services; Entertainment; For Sale; For Sale/Rent: Real Estate; Free; Health; Home/ Handyman Services; Miscellaneous; Personals; Personal Services; Vacation Opportunities; and Wanted. For submission guidelines and deadlines, see the box on the right.

CAVEAT EMPTOR! The Beacon does not knowingly accept obscene, offensive, harmful, or fraudulent advertising. However, we do not investigate any advertisers or their products and cannot accept responsibility for the integrity of either. Respondents to classified advertising should always use caution and their best judgment.

EMPLOYMENT & REAL ESTATE ADS: We will not knowingly or intentionally accept advertising in violation of federal, state, and local laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, familial status or handicap in connection with employment or the sale or rental of real estate.

Caregivers CAREGIVER: EXPERIENCED, COMPASSIONATE dependable and conscientious male GNA/CNA. Available overnight. Excellent references. Reliable transportation. Current GNA/CNA, CPR and First Aid. Call Chris, 706442-3818.

Entertainment LOOKING FOR ENTERTAINMENT for your next luncheon, dinner affair or birthday?

Chuck Fisher, Baltimore County Senior Idol 2012, sings Classic country and songs from your High School sweetheart days. Enjoy a trip down memory lane through songs. All shows catered to fit your budget and needs. Call 410288-5310.

Say you saw it in the Beacon

Financial Services ACCOUNTING, BOOKKEEPING, TAXES – conscientious CPA, 37 years experience, reasonable rates, looking for additional business, personal and eldercare clients. Call 410-6533363.

For Rent GARDENVILLE – Large bedroom & bath on 2nd floor of private home for rent in safe, quiet neighborhood. Reasonable – 410-485-1702.

WE BUY HOUSES FOR CA$H – Call today, 240-670-6797. Iwant2helpyou.com.

For Sale 40 POCKET WESTERNS – Like new, mostly

by Louis L’Amour - $30. Also: Duckpin bowling balls and bag - $20. 410-866-2373.

LOUDON PARK – ONE CEMETERY PLOT with vault, $1,100 (Value $4,000). Call Dee at 410-325-5467.

2 SALVADOR DALI woodblock prints from Dante’s Divine Comedy. Signed and framed.

Asking $900 for the pair. Can email pictures if desired. Call Steve, 410-913-1653.

Home/Handyman Services SANFORD & SON HAULING Trash removal, house & estate clean-outs, garage clean-outs, yard work & cleanups, demolition, shed removal.

410-746-5090. Free Estimates. Insured. Call 7 days a week 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.

BALTIMORE’S BEST JUNK REMOVAL – Clean Outs: Whole House, Emergency, Attics/Basements. Furniture and Junk Removal, Yard Waste Removal, General Hauling, Construction Debris Removal. Free estimates.

10% Senior Discount. Licensed, Bonded and Insured. Call Jesse, 443-379-HAUL (4285).

Personal Services ESTATE SPECIALIST, experts in estate clean-outs and preparing your house for sale.

Trash removal, house cleanouts, light moving, demolition, yard work, cleaning. 410-746-5090.

Free estimates. Insured. Call 7 days, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.

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TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED Deadlines and Payments: Ad text and payment is due by the 5th of each month.

Note: Only ads received and prepaid by the deadline will be included in the next month’s issue. Please type or print your ad carefully. Include a number where you can be reached in the event of a question. Payment is due with ad. We do not accept ads by phone or fax, nor do we accept credit cards.

Private Party Text Ads: For individuals seeking to buy or sell particular items, or place a personal ad. Each ad is $10 for 25 words, 25 cents for each additional word.

Business Text Ads: For parties engaged in an ongoing business enterprise.

Each ad is $25 for 25 words, 50 cents for each additional word.

Note: Each real estate listing counts as one business text ad.

Send your classified ad with check or money order, payable to the Beacon, to:

The Beacon, Baltimore Classified Dept.

P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915-2227 Personal Services

Wanted

LEARN ENGLISH – SPANISH – ITALIAN – FRENCH – PORTUGUESE Conversational.

Grammatical. Private lessons. Reasonable Rates. Tutoring students. 443-352-8200.

OLD AND NEW WE BUY Sterling Silver Flatware, Tea Sets, Single Pieces, Fountain Pens, Lighters, Tools, Cameras, Glassware, Art Work. Toys From Trains to Hotwheels to Star Wars. Call Greg, 717-658-7954.

Wanted

MILITARY ITEMS Collector seeks: helmets, weapons, knives, swords, bayonets, webgear, uniforms, inert ordnance, ETC. From 1875 to 1960, US, German, Britain, Japan, France, Russian. Please call Fred 301-910-0783, Thank you. Also Lionel Trains.

VINYL RECORDS WANTED from 1950 through 1985. Jazz, Rock-n-Roll, Soul, Rhythm & Blues, Reggae and Disco. 33 1/3 LPs, 45s or 78s, Larger collections of at least 100 items wanted.

Please call John, 301-596-6201.

FINE ANTIQUES, PAINTINGS AND QUALITY VINTAGE FURNISHINGS wanted by a serious capable buyer. I am very well educated [law degree] knowledgeable [over 40 years in the antique business] and have the finances and wherewithal to handle virtually any situation. If you have a special item, collection or important estate I would like to hear from you. I pay great prices for great things in all categories from oriental rugs to Tiffany objects, from rare clocks to firearms, from silver and gold to classic cars. If it is wonderful, I am interested. No phony promises or messy consignments. References gladly furnished. Please call Jake Lenihan, 301-279-8834. Thank you.

WE BUY OLD AND NEW JEWELRY, Coins, Silver and Gold, Paper Money Too. Watches, Clocks and Parts, Military Badges and Patches Old and New. Call Greg, 717-658-7954.

CASH BUYER FOR OLD COSTUME JEWELRY – pocket and wrist watches (any condition). Also buying watchmaker tools and parts, train sets and accessories, old toys, old glassware & coins. 410-655-0412.

FINE ANTIQUES, PAINTINGS AND QUALITY VINTAGE FURNISHINGS wanted by a serious capable buyer. I am very well educated [law degree] knowledgeable [over 40 years in the antique business] and have the finances and wherewithal to handle virtually any situation. If you have a special item, collection or important estate I would like to hear from you. I pay great prices for great things in all categories from oriental rugs to Tiffany objects, from rare clocks to firearms, from silver and gold to classic cars. If it is wonderful, I am interested. No phony promises or messy consignments. References gladly furnished. Please call Jake Lenihan, 301-279-8834. Thank you.

BB4/14

Answer: Given a "chance," they are opposite but the same -- SLIM AND FAT Jumbles: EJECT FINAL DEFAME SNUGLY

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APRIL 2014 — BALTIMORE BEACON

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