September 2010 Baltimore Beacon

FREE

I N

F O C U S

VOL.8, NO.9

F O R

P E O P L E

O V E R

More than 100,000 readers throughout Greater Baltimore

Taking multiple trips of a lifetime

Wanderlust afoot As Winship has found, one “trip of a lifetime” often whets the appetite for more.

For Carroll and Phyllis Yingling, residents of Charlestown Retirement Community in Catonsville, each summer brings the opportunity for another adventure.

Carroll, 80, is a retired United Methodist pastor, and Phyllis, 79, is a retired teacher of hearing impaired students. They just returned from a 10-day trip to England that took them from the North Sea to the Irish Sea — on foot.

They trekked for 84 miles, following the route of Hadrian’s Wall, built by the Roman emperor Hadrian to keep Scottish barbarians out of Roman Britain. Each day the Yinglings walked from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the equivalent of playing 36 holes of golf a day for 10 days, according to Carroll.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CARROLL AND PHYLLIS YINGLING

By Carol Sorgen Through years of family vacations and Girl Scout camping trips, Betsy Winship dreamt of one destination: Italy. This past spring, Winship was finally able to cross that goal off her “bucket list.”

“It was amazing,” said Winship, 63, who lives in Roland Park. Over the years, Winship and her late husband, Bob, had vacationed regularly in Williamsburg and Mexico using the time-share condominiums they owned.

But between making sure they took advantage of the time-shares, and the fact that they were raising two daughters, a European vacation “just wasn’t something we were in a position to do,” said Winship.

So when several of her friends suggested going to Italy together this year, Winship — whose daughters have both now graduated from college — decided the time was ripe.

The group’s 11-day trip covered Italy’s high spots — Rome, Florence, Venice, Verona, Capri, the Amalfi Coast, and Winship’s favorite, Pompeii.

“The history and preservation of Pompeii, of the whole country, really, was just fascinating,” said Winship.

Now that Winship has crossed Italy off her must-see list, she’s turning her sights to her next dream destination: She hopes to visit Ireland with her daughters to explore their Irish heritage.

“There’s so much in the world to see,” she said.

5 0 SEPTEMBER 2010

I N S I D E …

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

A fishing expedition to remember; plus, best fishing hotspots in Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia page 22

ARTS & STYLE

Carroll and Phyllis Yingling recently returned from an 84-mile walking vacation along Hadrian’s Wall in northern England. From trekking in foreign lands, to visiting friends in far-flung locales, travelers are discovering a wide variety of dream destinations.

Local acting troupe turns audience into sleuths; plus, a lawyer-turned-photographer’s up-close view of the world, and some recently published memoirs page 26

Needless to say, this was not a packaged tour. The Yinglings planned the walk by themselves, though a tour company reserved their nightly stays in bed-andbreakfasts along the way.

This was far from the Yinglings’ first walking vacation. In fact, it was the tenth anniversary of their first such trip, undertaken to celebrate Carroll’s 70th birthday.

For that “trip of a lifetime,” Carroll and a friend spent 33 days walking 500 miles across northern Spain, following the pilgrimage trail known as Camino de Santiago de Compostela, or The Way of St. James. Phyllis joined the pair for the last two days of the trip.

Subsequent walking trips have taken the

Yinglings to the Alps, to Haut Provence in France, through the Napa Valley, and elsewhere in Great Britain.

The couple is drawn to this type of travel because it combines their love of culture, history and nature, in addition to being good exercise. (Indeed, just getting in shape for the trips keeps the Yinglings fit year-round).

Part of the couple’s enjoyment is planning each new trip. “You get psyched up,” they said. “You start thinking, ‘What’s next?’”

And while they’re still catching up — and giving their knees a rest — from their See TRIPS, page 23

FITNESS & HEALTH k Surgery center concerns k Best time for workouts

4

LAW & MONEY 14 k Pros and cons of emerging markets k No need to fear bond bubble VOLUNTEERS & CAREERS 20 k Hospital help needed STAT PLUS CROSSWORD, BEACON BITS, CLASSIFIEDS & MORE

2

SEPTEMBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Organizing advocacy As I write this, we are just about a governmental presence in the form of month away from the primary elections. aging and/or disability departments — For weeks now, candidates will find their dedicated profor county and statewide posigrams crowded out by other tions, and their supporters, demands if spread among a have been knocking on doors variety of health and social in my neighborhood, somewelfare agencies. times stopping by more than I tell candidates I raise this once, to discuss their posiboth as publisher of the Beations, invite discussion and con and chair of the Maryland ask for votes.

Commission on Aging — a When they’ve asked me if I statutory commission charged have any particular issues I’d FROM THE with recommending actions to like to discuss, I always raise PUBLISHER strengthen statewide prothis one: In this period of de- By Stuart P. Rosenthal grams for older Marylanders. clining revenues and tight budgets, how strong is your support of local and state programs that assist low-income seniors and persons with disabilities?

Furthermore, in the effort to make governments more efficient (which in general I support), I ask if candidates are opposed to or in favor of moves being made or discussed around the state to close down agencies and departments “of aging” and divide up their responsibilities?

I’m concerned that older adults — the fastest-growing age group in Maryland, which only in recent years has obtained a

I have noted before in my column that Maryland will have a greater proportion of residents 65 and over in 2030 than Florida does today. Two years ago, the number of Marylanders 65 and over hit 1 million, and the total is growing fast.

The vast majority are healthy and actively engaged in taking care of their own needs and in “giving back” by helping their families and communities.

But, naturally, a rising number are also in need of assistance over time. And current political and fiscal realities, I fear, are conspiring against planning for and addressing this growing need.

Beacon The

I N

F O C U S

F O R

P E O P L E

O V E R

5 0

The Beacon is a monthly newspaper dedicated to inform, serve, and entertain the citizens of the Greater Baltimore area, and is privately owned.

Subscriptions are available via third-class mail ($12), prepaid with order. MD residents add 6 percent for sales tax. Send subscription order to the office listed below.

Publication of advertising contained herein does not necessarily constitute endorsement.

Signed columns represent the opinions of the writers, and not necessarily the opinion of the publisher.

• Publisher/Editor ....................Stuart P. Rosenthal • Associate Publisher..............Judith K. Rosenthal • Vice President, Operations........Gordon Hasenei • Director of Sales ................................Alan Spiegel • Assistant Operations Manager ..........Roger King • Managing Editor............................Barbara Ruben • Contributing Editor ..........................Carol Sorgen • Graphic Designer ..............................Kyle Gregory • Advertising Representatives ............Ron Manno, ........................................................................Steve Levin • Staff Writer......................................Mary C. Stachyra

2009 Outstanding Publication Award

The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915 (410) 248-9101 • E-mail: info@thebeaconnewspapers.com Submissions: The Beacon welcomes reader contributions. Deadline for editorial is the 1st of the month preceding the month of publication. Deadline for ads is the 1st of the month preceding the month of publication. See page 31 for classified advertising details. Please mail or e-mail all submissions. © Copyright 2010 The Beacon Newspapers, Inc.

In an effort to help combat these forces, the Beacon is proud to announce the creation of a new website — www.MarylandAdvocates.org. This site is our contribution to the efforts of many individual and organized community advocates, and county commissions on aging, that focus on the needs of older Marylanders.

Through my role as chair of the commission, I have seen how important and numerous such advocates are, but also how we lack the means to communicate easily with each other — to share ideas and organize effectively for political action.

Our hope is that this website — whose motto is “Aging with Strength” — will become such a tool.

Like many other interactive websites, it has “message boards” on which any registered member of the site can express his or her opinion and start a “thread” of conversation.

It has the ability to send out “action alerts” to all members as well, encouraging members to take steps to support (or oppose) legislation or other moves at the state or county level.

For example, our first action alert, instituted by the Beacon, recently disseminated a “candidates’ pledge” asking current candidates for public office to support existing senior programs and offices on aging in Maryland. (Click on “Action Alerts” on the home page to send copies to your local candidates.)

The site has a long way to go, I am the first to admit. But I believe it can make an impact if advocates for senior programs will register for and participate in it.

I urge you to visit the site and use it. If a group you participate in has an open meeting, event or rally coming up, please inform us of it through the site so we can post it on the calendar.

If you have a position paper you want to share, or an action alert you’d like to distribute, send us that as well.

Again, our goal is to facilitate conversation and interaction among advocates for older adults in Maryland. The site itself doesn’t represent any single group or take positions per se.

I know there is a danger inherent in this effort: People who don’t truly share your goals can usurp such a website and render it meaningless or even antithetical to our intent.

But I feel it is worth a try, and hope that you will help us make it meaningful.

One final word: Don’t forget to vote! And do your research first. I recommend the primary and general election voters’ guides of the League of Women Voters, which present the candidates’ own words explaining their positions on various issues.

View the primary guide online at www.lwvmd.org starting August 17.

Letters to the editor Readers are encouraged to share their opinion on any matter addressed in the Beacon as well as on political and social issues of the day. Mail your Letter to the Editor to The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, Md. 20915, or e-mail to barbara@thebeaconnewspapers.com. Please include your name, address and telephone number for verification.

Dear Editor: As a 77-year-old senior who is somewhat of a Christian and who reads the Bible sometimes, it would be my pleasure to remind Sally A. Marrow (Letters to the editor, August) that God doesn’t look on outer appearance but on the heart (Samuel 16:7).

On being proud, James informs us in James 4:6 that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Moreover, Matthew 7:1 informs us “Judge not that you be not judged.”

God is the only one who can make us well. That is why folks go to church in the first place.

Leo A. Williams Baltimore Dear Editor: I write to protest the articles headed “Dear Pharmacist” by Suzy Cohen. A pharmacist is a person qualified to dispense prescription and over-the-counter drugs marketed by pharmaceutical companies in a drug store. Those medicines have been rigorously tested for approval by the FDA as safe and effective.

Instead, Ms. Cohen routinely recommends herbal “remedies,” not approved by

the FDA, as superior. Anyone has the right to believe in alternative medicine, but we don’t call them pharmacists. Or doctors.

Anthony B. Mauger Via e-mail Suzy Cohen responds: My training with the American College for Advancement in Medicine and the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, my pharmacy degrees, and my career as a licensed pharmacist for the last 22 years fully qualify me to discuss human metabolic pathways and how various substances affect them.

Our blockbuster medications happen to start out as herbal remedies that are good for you.

Scientists who work for drug companies tamper with Mother Nature’s molecule, so they can get a patent on the unique chemical, and then they sell it to you at high prices from the pharmacy.

Natural remedies have been shown in clinical trials to work as well as, or better than, approved medications. Furthermore, FDA-approved doesn’t equal safe. An approved drug will get recalled when enough people die, as we have seen time and again.

Today, thanks to the brainwashing of Big Pharma, people have become narrow-minded in their scope of what heals the body.

3

BALTIMORE BEACON — SEPTEMBER 2010

I have diabetes, but I also have Bravo Achieve. And that’s what matters.

Learn how Bravo Health can help you better manage your diabetes today.

Bravo Health offers a variety of Medicare Advantage plans that help members take charge of their health care, manage their conditions, and get on with living life.

Now, Bravo Health is pleased to introduce Bravo Achieve (HMO) — a plan designed to provide specialized benefits and help individuals with diabetes lower their risks of serious health complications.

Here are just a few of Bravo Achieve’s benefits: Z $0 monthly plan premium

Z SilverSneakers® gym membership

Z $0 diabetic drugs

Z Nutrition counseling

Z $0 diabetic supplies

Z Predictable costs and low copays

For more than a decade, Bravo Health has been serving the needs of Medicare beneficiaries like you. Call today to find out if you are eligible to join Bravo Achieve.

Call 1-800-831-6271 to speak to a Sales Representative.

(TTY 1-800-964-2561 for the hearing impaired.)

Schedule a one-on-one in-home appointment today and learn more about Bravo Achieve.

w w w. m y b r a v o h e a l t h . c o m

Bravo Health plans are offered by subsidiaries of Bravo Health, Inc., Medicare Advantage Organizations with Medicare contracts. The benefit information provided herein is a brief summary, but not a comprehensive description of available benefits. Additional information about benefits is available to assist you in making a decision about your coverage. Special eligibility requirements may apply. To enroll, you must be diagnosed with diabetes. Enrollment is open year round. This is an advertisement; for more information contact the plan.

Y0015_10_0016

4

SEPTEMBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Health Fitness &

NOT HEAD OF THE CLASS The CLASS Act’s long-term care insurance pays only minimal benefits IS IT A HEART ATTACK? How to tell if chest pain is a heart attack or something more benign FIGHTING BIG DOCTOR BILLS A medical negotiation company may be able to bring down your costs PAIN PRODUCTS Ease muscle pain with medicated patches, salves, OTC pills and more

Lax infection control at surgery centers

By Carla K. Johnson A new federal study found that many same-day surgery centers — where patients get such things as foot operations and pain injections — have serious problems with infection control.

Failure to wash hands, wear gloves and clean blood glucose meters were among the reported breaches. Clinics reused devices meant for one person or dipped into singledose medicine vials for multiple patients.

In the study, state inspectors visited 68 centers in Maryland, North Carolina and Oklahoma. Thirty-two of the centers were in Maryland.

The findings, appearing in Journal of the American Medical Association, suggest lax infection practices may pervade the nation’s more than 5,000 outpatient centers, experts said.

“Disappointing” results “These are basic fundamentals of infection control, things like cleaning your hands, cleaning surfaces in patient care areas,” said lead author Dr. Melissa Schaefer of the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention. “It’s all surprising and somewhat disappointing.”

The study was prompted by a hepatitis C outbreak in Las Vegas believed to be caused by unsafe injection practices at two now-closed clinics.

It’s the first report from a push to more vigorously inspect U.S. outpatient centers — a growing segment of the healthcare system that annually performs more than 6 million procedures and collects $3 billion from Medicare.

Procedures performed at such centers include exams of the esophagus, colonoscopies and plastic surgery.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement that her department is expanding its hospital infection control action plan to include ambulatory surgical centers and dialysis centers.

Inspectors used a new audit tool focusing on infection control. At each site, inspectors followed at least one patient through an entire stay. Inspections weren’t announced ahead of time, but staff were notified once inspectors arrived.

The new study found 67 percent of the centers had at least one lapse in infection control and 57 percent were cited for deficiencies. The study didn’t look at whether any of the lapses actually led to infections in patients.

Better practices in Maryland Overall, the centers inspected in Maryland complied better with infection control practices than those in the other states.

For example, while 21 percent of the facilities in North Carolina and 30 percent in Oklahoma did not follow correct hand hygiene practices, only 11 percent of the facilities in Maryland had such lapses.

In Maryland, blood glucose meters were not cleaned and disinfected after each use 9 percent of the time, but proper procedures were not followed 43 percent of the time in North Carolina and 53 percent in Oklahoma.

“These people knew they were under observation, had the opportunity to be on their best behavior, and yet these lapses were still identified, some of which potentially are very dangerous and have been

warned against explicitly,” said Dr. Philip Barie of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. Barie was not involved in the study but wrote an accompanying editorial in the journal.

A few centers in the study hadn’t been inspected in 12 years. State agencies have the main responsibility for making sure centers comply with federal standards, but states often fall behind.

In the Nevada outbreak, officials notified 63,000 patients that they might have been exposed to blood-borne diseases. Nine cases of hepatitis C were linked to the clinics; more than 100 other cases also may be related.

States now are required to use the new audit tool to inspect centers participating in Medicare. Of surveys using the tool so far, 61 percent of centers have been cited for an infection control deficiency.

The new findings will cause centers to “redouble our efforts to improve patient care,” said Dr. David Shapiro of the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association, a trade group. “Any incident is one too many.”

— AP with additional reporting by Barbara Ruben

Workouts before breakfast burn more fat

By Maria Cheng Running on empty may not be such a bad idea after all.

Though many athletes eat before training, some scientists say that if you really want to get rid of more fat, you should skip the pre-workout snack.

Several studies suggest that exercising while your body is low on food may be a good way to trim excess fat. In a recent paper, European researchers found that cyclists who trained without eating burned significantly more fat than their counterparts who ate.

Burn fat instead of carbs Muscles usually get their energy from carbohydrates, which is why athletes like Lance Armstrong and Michael Phelps scarf down enormous amounts of food before a race.

But if you haven’t eaten before exercising, your body doesn’t have many carbohydrates in reserve. That forces it to burn fat instead, scientists say.

“When you exercise [after fasting],

your adrenalin is high and your insulin is low,” said Peter Hespel, a professor of exercise physiology at the University of Leuven in Belgium. “That ratio is favorable for your muscles to oxidize [break down] more fatty acids.”

Hespel said that people who exercise without having eaten burn more fat than they would if they had grabbed a bite beforehand.

In a study published in April, researchers at the University of Birmingham and elsewhere assigned seven people to cycle three days a week, followed by an intense session an hour later without eating. Another seven people followed the same regime, without the instruction to fast.

Though members of the group that didn’t eat performed worse on the intensive training, they burned a higher proportion of fat to carbohydrates than the group that ate.

The results were published by Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.

In a 2008 study, Hespel and colleagues tested the effects on men who did en-

durance training without eating versus those who ate. In the athletes who hadn’t eaten, the researchers found a spike in the amount of proteins needed to process fat, meaning their bodies had been primed through fasting to burn more fat.

Hespel recommends people do this kind of training before breakfast, since eating carbohydrates interrupts the process of metabolizing fat for about six hours afterward.

Might help diabetics, too Though he and colleagues have primarily studied the effects of exercising without eating in young, healthy people, he thinks the method could also help people with problems like diabetes.

Because exercising without eating produces muscles that are better at absorbing glucose — which is important for preventing diabetes — Hespel theorized the strategy would also help diabetics control their insulin levels.

Other experts said that even though people may burn more fat this way, it is

mostly fat within the muscles that will be lost and won’t make a big difference to people trying to lose weight.

“When you exercise [without eating], fat is broken down more quickly in the muscle,” said Andrew Greenberg, director of the Obesity and Metabolism Laboratory at Tufts University.

“You may enhance how you burn the fat in the muscles, but it doesn’t affect your overall body fat,” Greenberg said. He said more intense exercise may prompt the body to burn more fatty acids in other regions of the body, but that a lot of training would be required to see a big difference.

For recreational athletes interested in maximizing their exercise regimen, some experts recommend a regular training session where you deliberately do not eat beforehand.

“Science is finally catching up with what smart runners have always known,” said Ron Maughan, a professor of sport, exerSee BURN FAT, page 5

Fitness & Health

BALTIMORE BEACON — SEPTEMBER 2010

From page 4 cise and health sciences at Loughborough University in Britain.

“If you have a long, hard run without breakfast once a week, that hard run will train you to burn fat,” he said. “And for the rest of the week, have plenty of carbohydrates so you can train hard.”

“I think it’s actually a pretty bad idea,” said Dr. Alexis Chiang Colvin, a sports

medicine expert at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York who has worked with professional football and hockey teams.

“If your blood sugar is low, you could wind up getting dizzy and you might not be able to exercise as well as if you were wellnourished,” she said. Colvin recommended having something small like a banana before training.

She also warned the strategy might make people more prone to injury, and that eating was important so the body

would have enough nutrients to recover from a bout of exercise.

Hespel acknowledged the method wasn’t for everybody and that aside from the pain of struggling through an exercise session while hungry, there are other potential pitfalls.

We provide resources, referrals, & one-to-one support for caregivers “Caregiving can be lonely. Receiving support from someone who has been there is invaluable.” – Brian M.

BEACON BITS

Aug. 26

GRIEF SUPPORT GROUP

For those grieving the death of a loved one, a grief recovery seminar and support group will meet on Thursday, Aug. 26, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Valley Presbyterian Church, 2200 West Joppa Rd., Lutherville, Md. This free, non-denominational Christian series will meet for 13 weeks. For more information, call the church at (410) 828-6234.

Serving Greater Baltimore City

I N F O R M AT I O N F R E E ★ ★

F R E E

I N F O R M AT I O N

Address________________________________________________________________ City______________________________________State______Zip________________ Phone (day)________________________(evening)________________________ E-mail_________________________________________________________________

Check the boxes you’re interested in and return this form to: The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915 or fax to (410) 248-9102.

BB9/10

★

*for qualified medical assistance recipients

F R E E

Best of all, are services are FREE TO YOU if you qualify for Maryland Medical Assistance.

Name_________________________________________________________________

I N F O R M AT I O N

410-664-5810

❏ Gout Studies (see article on page 11) ❏ Healthy Aging Study (see ad on page 10) ❏ Knee Arthritis & Sleep Study (see ad on page 11) ❏ Knee Osteoarthritis Supplement Study (see ad on page 11) ❏ Physical Therapy Study (see ad on page 11)

F R E E

e provide transportation to our licensed center, where One Day we provide educational and FREE Trial with physical activities, trips, meals this ad.* and assistance with medications and transportation to medical appointments. Open Monday thru Call us for more information Friday, we have a on-site nurse, podiatrist and social worker.

Health Study Volunteers

★

W

I N F O R M AT I O N

Do you (or someone you love) need assistance during the day?

F R E E

Maryland’s annual “Renn Fest” gets started on Aug. 28 and runs through Oct. 24. Step back — way back — in time and take in period-specific sights, performances and food. The Renaissance Festival is held at 1821 Crownsville Rd. in Annapolis. For more information, call 1-800-296-7304 or visit www.rennfest.com.

I N F O R M AT I O N

MARYLAND RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL

★

Aug. 28+

❏ Charlotte Hall (see ad on page 19) ❏ Lighthouse Senior Living (see ad on page 25) ❏ Meadows at Reisterstown (see ad on page 17) ❏ Oak Crest (see ad on page 22) ❏ Park View at Catonsville (see ad on page 16) ❏ Park View at Columbia (see ad on page 16) ❏ Park View at Dundalk (see ad on page 16) ❏ Park View at Rosedale (see ad on page 16) ❏ Park View at Snowden River (see ad on page 16) ❏ Quail Run (see ad on pages 26) ❏ Renaissance Gardens (see ad on page 9) ❏ Roland Park Place (see ad on page 19) ❏ Woodholme Gardens (see ad on page 13) ❏ The Woodlands (see ad on page 26)

I N F O R M AT I O N

Now in its third year, Baltimore Fashion Week features designs from more than two dozen local, national and international designers. The event will be held from Aug. 19 to 22 at the Sheraton Baltimore North, 903 Dulaney Valley Rd. in Towson. For more information, call (443) 7087886 or visit www.baltimoresfashionweek.com.

Housing Communities ❏ Charlestown (see ad on page 22)

F R E E

CALLING ALL FASHIONISTAS

For free materials on housing communities and health studies, just complete and clip this coupon and mail or fax it to the Beacon.

F R E E

Aug. 19+

MAIL OR FAX FOR FREE INFORMATION

★

St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson presents a free prostate cancer screening on Wednesday, Sept. 22, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. You may be eligible if you’re between the ages of 50 and 70 (40 and up if African American or high-risk). Appointment required. Call for eligibility: (410) 337-1479.

★ F R EE I N FOR MATION ★ F R EE I N FOR MATION ★ F R EE I N FOR MATION ★

★

FREE PROSTATE CANCER SCREENING

More than 13 years of geriatric care management experience.

F R EE I N FOR MATION ★ F R EE I N FOR MATION ★ F R EE I N FOR MATION ★

Sept. 22

Beverly Parsons, LCSW-C

I N F O R M AT I O N

Howard County residents can sign up for a new program that provides healthcare services like primary care, discounted prescription drugs, emergency treatment, inpatient hospital care, and on-site health coaching for as little as $50 a month. For more information, visit www.healthyhowardplan.org or call (410) 988-3737.

The Center for Aging Families at The Counseling Center 602 Providence Road • Towson, MD 21286

I N F O R M AT I O N

LOW-COST HEALTHCARE IN HOWARD

410-583-7443

F R E E

Ongoing

“When you postpone breakfast to exercise, it is possible you might eat more afterwards,” he said. “People exercising [without eating] need to respect all the normal strategies of weight control like not overeating.”

— AP

✃

Burn fat

5

6

Fitness & Health

SEPTEMBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Learn lifesaving CPR in only 60 seconds

By Dr. Tyler Vadeboncoeur A relatively new technique of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) — known as continuous cardiopulmonary resuscitation, compression-only CPR or hands-only CPR — is easy to learn, remember and do.

Because of its simplicity and effectiveness, it can replace conventional CPR (which involves mouth-to-mouth breathing) in many circumstances.

Hands-only CPR simply requires hard (two inches deep), fast (100 per minute) compressions administered to the center of the chest. The compressions circulate oxygenated blood to sustain the brain and body in the early minutes of a cardiac arrest.

In 2008, the American Heart Association (AHA) endorsed hands-only CPR in cer-

tain situations. If you as a bystander see an adult suddenly collapse, the AHA advisory statement says: • If you are not trained in CPR, you should provide hands-only CPR. • If you are previously trained and feel confident in your ability to provide rescue breaths with minimal interruptions to chest compressions, you can perform either conventional CPR or hands-only CPR. • If you are previously trained and are not confident in your ability to provide conventional CPR, you should perform handsonly CPR.

CPR doubles survival By promoting hands-only CPR, healthcare organizations are hopeful that more Up to

$25 off purchase Senior Discounts Free Delivery

with new or transferred prescription Valid only at Towson Pharmacy. One coupon per customer. Not valid with any other offer.

Store coupon expires 9/30/10.

• Prescriptions • Vitamins • Canes & Walkers • Greeting Cards • Home Health Care Products • Compounding/Special Order

410-823-1818 • Fax 410-823-1888 32 West Road, Ste 100 •Towson, MD 21204

89

Buy 1 get 1 free Towson Health Mart private label product Valid only at Towson Pharmacy. One coupon per customer. Not valid with any other offer.

Store coupon expires 9/30/10.

% of our rehab patients return home

After surgery, illness or injury, you want to get home and back to your life as quickly as possible. Choosing the right medical and rehabilitation team will strongly impact your recovery. ManorCare offers state-of-the-art equipment, trained therapists and nurses, similar to a hospital setting. Our team offers alternatives for patients making the transition from hospital to home by using an intensive approach that teaches lifestyle adjustments to promote independence.

Come tour ManorCare, see our staff in action and receive a complimentary tour package. We will also show you our outcomes that are targeted to getting patients back home.

c 2010 HCR Healthcare, LLC

Providing post-hospital skilled nursing and rehabilitation care.

ManorCare – Dulaney 410-828-6500 ManorCare – Roland Park 410-662-8606 ManorCare – Rossville 410-574-4950 ManorCare – Ruxton 410-821-9600 www.hcr-manorcare.com

ManorCare – Towson 410-828-9494 ManorCare – Woodbridge Valley 410-719-1240

bystanders will step up to help cardiac arrest victims.

An estimated 300,000 Americans have a cardiac arrest outside of the hospital every year. When a bystander administers CPR, the likelihood of survival can double or triple.

Unfortunately, bystander CPR doesn’t happen often enough. Estimates suggest that bystander CPR occurs for only onefourth to one-third of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.

There are many possible reasons why this number isn’t higher. Too few people have been trained in CPR, and studies show that those who have been trained in conventional CPR forget the details within months.

Given the panic in a cardiac arrest situation and poor recollection of training, conventional CPR is a challenge to perform.

Additionally, bystanders can be reluctant to do mouth-to-mouth breathing and can be afraid that they will do something wrong, causing harm to the victim.

Hands-only CPR overcomes many of these obstacles. There’s little to remember. No compression-to-breathing ratios.

The squeamish factor goes away with no required breathing. And it is simpler and less time consuming to teach.

What to do in an emergency If you see an adult suddenly collapse who is not breathing normally, shake the person and ask loudly if he or she is OK. If you don’t get a response, call 911 or, better yet, have another bystander call. Then start rapid, firm compressions in the middle of the chest.

Don’t take the time to check for a pulse.

In 2005, AHA guidelines dropped the pulse check for lay rescuers because it is too difficult. Even doctors and nurses have a difficult time finding a pulse under stressful conditions.

If an unresponsive, adult, sudden-collapse victim is not breathing normally, start hands-only CPR. In fact, many cardiac arrest victims are still gasping but need CPR. The best immediate care is to keep the heart pumping without delay.

There are situations where conventional CPR is still the first choice. Children benefit from breathing and chest compressions.

Conventional CPR also is recommended for adults in the event of drowning or an overdose that results in cardiac arrest.

Remember that continuous chest compressions are better than doing nothing at all, even in these circumstances.

To see a demonstration of the technique, see the Mayo Clinic’s Medical Edge video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5huVSebZpM. Another good Web resource is www.azshare.gov You can learn the basics of hands-only CPR in 60 seconds. It’s a minute that could one day help save a life.

This Medical Edge column from Mayo Clinic is an educational resource and doesn’t replace regular medical care. To submit a question, write to: medicaledge@mayo.edu, or Medical Edge from Mayo Clinic, c/o TMS, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, NY 14207. © 2010 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc.

BEACON BITS

Sept. 8

ROSH HASHANAH UNDER THE STARS Celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, on Wednesday,

Sept. 8, at Oregon Ridge Park. The park opens at 4:30 p.m. and family services begin at 6:00 p.m. Bring a picnic, blanket and lawn chairs. Admission is free and all are welcome. For tickets, call (443) 524-0284 or visit www.RHUnderTheStars.com.

Maryland’s Finest Private Duty In-Home Care

• All employees are experienced, carefully screened and insured • Available 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year • Licensed by the State of Maryland; OHCQ Certified Mention the Beacon for these special offers.

No Cost Comprehensive Initial Assessment Performed by our registered nurse A $200 value

5% OFF 24 Hour Care

2% OFF Our General Services Private Pay Clients Only

By

410-466-7111 visit us online at www.RMGHealth.com

Fitness & Health

BALTIMORE BEACON — SEPTEMBER 2010

Healthcare reform’s long-term care option

By Kimberly Lankford Q: I understand the new healthcare reform law offers some long-term care benefits. Should I drop the long-term care insurance policy I bought a few years ago?

A: Don’t drop your long-term care policy, especially if you’ve been paying premiums for several years.

The national, voluntary long-term care program included in the healthcare reform law will provide some money to help cover long-term-care expenses. But it offers much less coverage than the average cost of care, and could leave you far short if you’re depending on it to pay your longterm care bills.

Starting next year, employees of companies that choose to participate will be automatically enrolled in the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act and will pay for it through payroll deductions, unless they opt out.

Other workers and the self-employed will be able to enroll on their own. Retirees are not eligible to sign up.

Benefits help a little After paying premiums for five years (and you must have worked for three of those five years), you’re eligible for a cash benefit of about $50 per day if you’re unable to perform two or three activities of daily living, such as walking, bathing or dressing, or if you are cognitively impaired. (The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is still working out the details.)

That benefit could help a bit, but it falls far short of covering the actual cost of

long-term care — which currently averages $219 per day in a nursing home, or $168 for eight hours of care by a home health aide.

The Department of Health and Human Services hasn’t set the premiums yet, but the American Academy of Actuaries estimates that they could average as much as $125 to $160 per month (or as little as $5 per month for those below the poverty line).

The high-end estimate is about the same price that a relatively healthy fifty something would pay for a private long-term care policy providing about three times that daily benefit for three years. (A study by actuarial consulting firm Milliman found that only 8 percent of long-term care claimants who had policies with a three-year benefit period exhausted their benefits.)

On the other hand, there are some unique benefits to CLASS coverage. One is that you can’t be rejected for coverage because of your health. So it could help people with medical conditions who don’t qualify for private long-term care insurance.

Also, it covers many services that aren’t eligible for benefits under most long-term care plans, including homemaker services, home modifications and transportation, that could help you stay out of a nursing home.

For more information about private long-term care insurance, including new strategies for lowering the premiums, see the article “Long-Term Care You Can Afford” on the Kiplinger magazine website: www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/l ong-term-care-you-can-afford.html). © 2010 Kiplinger. All rights reserved.

Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc.

BEACON BITS

Aug. 26

LESS STRESS

Learn how to de-stress using techniques such as guided imagery in a free program at the Reisterstown Senior Center, 12035 Reisterstown Rd., on Thursday, August 26 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Contact Judy Finifter at (410) 887-1143 for more information.

Ongoing

ARTHRITIS DRUG INFORMATION

The Arthritis Foundation recently published a new booklet, “Essential Guide to Arthritis Medications,” which provides the facts about nearly 300 prescription and over-the-counter medications. For a copy, call 1-800-365-3811.

Ongoing

COLON CANCER SCREENINGS

The Cancer Prevention Program offers free colon cancer screenings for Baltimore County residents 50 or older who meet income eligibility guidelines and do not have health insurance for such screenings. Call (866) MD-COLON or visit www.baltimorecountymd.gov/go/cancerprogram to find out more.

Aug. 27+

MARYLAND STATE FAIR WRAPS UP SUMMER

Sad but true, summer’s almost over. Enjoy the remaining days of the season at the Maryland State Fair from Aug. 27 to Sept. 6 at the Timonium State Fairgrounds. For more information, visit www.marylandstatefair.com.

Seni Citiz or Disc en ount s

Call All State Plumbing First! ✓ NO EXTRA CHARGES ❏ (For Weekend & Night-Time Calls) ✓ SINKS TO SEWERS ❏ Job Too Big, Or Too Small) ✓ (No FINANCING ❏ (Easy Payment Plans Available)

Baltimore City 410-485-0300 Baltimore County 410-247-7900 Howard County 410-730-1131 Anne Arundel County 410-766-2700

50 OFF ANY $

SERVICE CALL Can’t be combined with other offers.

Expires 9/15/10 LICENSED & FULLY INSURED

Free Hearing Tests set for

Greater Baltimore Area Free electronic hearing tests will be given from Monday, August 23 through Friday, September 3 at select locations in Greater Baltimore.

Tests have been arranged for anyone who s uspects they are losing their hearing. Such persons generally say they can hear but cannot understand words. Testing with the latest computerized equipment will indicate if you can be helped.

Everyone, especially adults over 55, should have an electronic hearing test at least once a year. If there is a hearing problem, hearing tests may reveal that newly developed methods of correction will help, even for those who have been told in the past that a hearing aid would not help them.

If you suspect you have hearing loss, call for a free hearing test appointment. Our Licensed Professionals are trained to determine if you have a simple problem like wax impaction or a more serious condition. We will be the first ones to tell you if you don’t need a hearing aid. If you do have a hearing loss, we will explain your test results and provide you with a list of options.

Free hearing tests available only at a location listed below.

Two weeks only: Monday, August 23 – Friday, September 3.

Beltone Hearing Aid Centers Call Now to schedule your FREE hearing test Anne Arundel Co. Catonsville Balt. East 410-590-5572 410-753-4663 410-256-7700 Harford Co. Owings Mills 410-838-2800 410-356-4567 Towson/Lutherville Southern MD 410-560-2580 410-474-1363 www.beltone.com • Outside Metro Area • 1-800-808-3277 (EARS)

7

8

Fitness & Health

SEPTEMBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Is that pain in your chest a heart attack?

That dull burning in your chest doesn’t seem to be going away, and even feels like it’s getting worse. Is it a heart attack, or something else?

It’s a vexing question, one that millions of people — and their doctors — face each year.

What’s the problem? Chest pain can stem from dozens of conditions besides heart attack — from pancreatitis to pneumonia or panic attack.

More than six million Americans with chest pain were seen in hospital emergency departments in 2009. Only 20 percent of them were having a heart attack or an episode of unstable angina, a warning sign that a heart attack may happen soon.

A small percentage had another poten-

tially life-threatening problem, such as pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lungs) or aortic dissection (a tear in the inner layer of the aorta).

Some were experiencing “regular” angina, which occurs when part of the heart isn’t getting as much oxygen-rich blood as it needs during periods of physical exertion or emotional stress. Most of the six million, though, had a condition unrelated to the heart or arteries.

Wide variety of symptoms The other tricky problem with heart attacks is that different people experience them in different ways. Some have classic chest pain. Others have jaw pain or back pain. Still others become breathless, or ex-

Affordable and Dignified

Cremations $850

* (Reg. $925)

410-777-5295

Simplicity Cremation and Funeral Services Thomas Allen, Funeral Director • 18 years experience

www.simplicitycfs.com

*when you mention this ad

Ask about No-Cost, Pre-Need Counseling

tremely fatigued, or nauseated.

Chest pain is only one of the possible signs of an impending heart attack. If you notice one or more of the following signs in yourself or someone else, call 911 or your local emergency number right away: • Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, burning, tightness, or pain in the center of the chest • Pain, numbness, pinching, prickling, or other uncomfortable sensations in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, or stomach • Shortness of breath • Sudden nausea or vomiting • Lightheadedness or dizziness • Unusual fatigue • Heat/flushing or a cold sweat • Sudden heaviness, weakness, or aching in one or both arms Doctors use several pieces of information to determine who is, and who isn’t, having a heart attack. The most accurate are blood tests for markers that show damage to the heart muscle, such as creatine kinase and cardiac troponin.

But since it takes awhile for blood levels of these proteins to get measurably high, the best early methods are an electrocardiogram (ECG) to measure electrical activity in the heart, plus your story and description of your chest pain and other symptoms.

Here are some things your doctors will want to know about what you’re experiencing: • What is it that you are feeling (pain, pressure, tightness, etc.)?

• Where is the discomfort?

• When did it start?

• Has it gotten worse or stayed the same?

• Is the feeling constant, or does it come and go?

• Have you felt it before?

• What were you doing before these feelings started?

Clear answers to these questions go a long way toward nailing down a diagnosis.

A stabbing pain or one that hasn’t changed for hours is less likely to be a heart attack, while pain centered in the chest that spreads out to the left arm or jaw is more likely to be one.

Better safe than sorry Unlike an achy knee or crabby lower back, chest pain isn’t something to shrug off until tomorrow. It also isn’t something to diagnose at home. Don’t play doctor — go see one, fast, if you’re worried about pain or discomfort in your chest, upper back, left arm or jaw; or suddenly faint or develop a cold sweat, nausea or vomiting.

See CHEST PAIN, page 9

HELP FOR FEET & LEGS Dr. Stuart M. Goldman, Podiatrist Fellow, American College of Foot & Ankle Surgeons Board Certified in Foot & Ankle Surgery by the American Board of Podiatric Surgery Marquis Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare, Who’s Who in the World

Special focus on conservative (non surgical) treatment of foot & leg pain.

• Bunions • Hammertoes • Flat Foot • Burning Feet • Leg Cramps • Ingrown Nails

• Heel & Arch Pain • Fungus Nails • Surgical Failures • Corns & Calluses • Morton’s Neuroma • “Growing Pains”

• Peripheral Neuropathy • Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome • Warts & other Skin Growths • Arthritis and Tendinitis of the •

• Sleep Interference from •

Foot & Ankle Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy

•

Leg Pains Walking Limitations from Leg Pains Foot & Leg Symptoms of Spinal Stenosis

• Diabetic Foot Management including “Comprehensive Diabetic Foot Exam” We welcome patients with persistent symptoms despite other medical or surgical care to come in for evaluation and treatment.

Dr. Goldman, who has been included in Marquis Who’s Who in America, has published many articles (1997-2008) on

Peripheral Neuropathic Symptoms including numbness, burning, cramping, difficulty standing, walking or sleeping.

Approximately 60% of diabetics and 40% of nondiabetics receive relief of neuropathy symptoms, within 3 days to 3 weeks!

Medical Staff: Sinai Hospital, Northwest Hospital, GBMC Medicare • BlueCross/BlueShield • Aetna • Bravo • Hopkins Medical Assistance & most other insurances

4419 Falls Road, Suite A Baltimore, MD 21211

4000 Old Court Road, Suite 301 Pikesville, MD 21208

HelpForYourFeet.com

(410) 235-2345

Fitness & Health

BALTIMORE BEACON — SEPTEMBER 2010

Chest pain From page 8 Call 911 or your local emergency number to summon an emergency medical crew. It will whisk you to the hospital in a vehicle full of equipment that can start the diagnosis and keep you stable if your heart really is in trouble.

There are oh-so-many reasons to delay calling for help. I’m too young (you aren’t — even 20-somethings can have heart at-

tacks). I’m in great shape (a heart attack is sometimes the first sign of heart disease).

I have a family to take care of (all the more reason to get to the hospital fast). I don’t want to bother anyone (you’d be a bigger bother with advanced heart failure, or dead).

What if it isn’t a heart attack? You will be evaluated as if you are having one and, when it is ruled out as the cause of your symptoms, your doctors will look for the real cause.

They won’t be angry with you for crying

Evaluating your symptoms More likely to be a heart attack:

Less likely to be a heart attack:

Sensation of pain, pressure, tightness, squeezing or burning

Sharp or knifelike pain brought on by breathing or coughing

Gradual onset of pain over the course of a few minutes

Sudden stabbing pain that lasts only a few seconds

Pain in diffuse area, including middle of chest

Pain clearly on one side of the body or the other

Pain that extends to the left arm, neck, jaw or back

Pain that is localized to one small spot

Pain or pressure accompanied by other signs, such as difficulty breathing, a cold sweat, or sudden nausea

Chest pain is serious business. If you think yours might be due to a heart attack, take action right away. The sooner you are checked out, the sooner you can get the kind of artery-opening therapy that can protect your heart from permanent damage. © 2010 President and fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc.

BEACON BITS

Aug. 28+

WINE FESTIVAL

Enjoy live jazz performances, arts and crafts, winery tours and wine tastings Saturday, Aug. 28 and Sunday, Aug. 29 at Linganore Winecellars/Berrywine Plantations in Mount Airy. Festival hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and admission is $15. Linganore is located at 13601 Glissans Mill Rd. Call (410) 795-6432 or visit www.longanorewines.com for more information.

Sept. 23

BOOMERS AND THE COMMUNITY

Learn about aging in place, estate planning, fraud, personal safety and other topics at the conference “Aging in America: Are You Ready for Boomer Shock?” It will be held on Thursday, Sept 23 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Martin’s West, 6817 Dogwood Rd., Baltimore.

Speakers include representatives from the Maryland Dept of Aging, Howard County Police Dept. and the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration. The program, sponsored by the Chesapeake region chapter of the Community Associations Institute, also includes exhibitors and lunch. The cost is $15 for homeowners. Registration is required. For more information, visit www.caimdches.org, call (410) 540-9831 or e-mail contact@caimdches.org.

Have You Had Your Yearly Eye Exam?

Pain that lasts for many hours or days without any other symptoms

Pain or pressure that appears during or after physical exertion or emotional stress (heart attack) or while you are at rest (unstable angina)

Pain reproduced by pressing on the chest or with body motion

We provide eye exams & eyeglass services in your own home or facility.

Contact us for more information or to schedule your appointment:

— Harvard Heart Letter

Mom always said that smiling is good for you.

Thanks to Renaissance Gardens, we both have a reason to smile.

We’re Renaissance Gardens, the extended care neighborhood at Charlestown in Catonsville and Oak Crest in Parkville. Here, Mom gets the compassionate care she deserves—all in a community that’s as warm, vivacious and as full of life as she is.

Remember, your loved one doesn’t have to be a current resident of Charlestown or Oak Crest to live here.

Call today for your free Information Kit.

443-926-4435 or info@mobileopticalinc.com www.mobileopticalinc.com

A Cost-Effective Alternative to a Nursing Home or In-Home Care Our 10 area locations offer a safe, homelike environment for those who require health care supervision and support services due to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, stroke, diabetes and other chronic conditions.

Available 7 days a week, including holidays. Medicaid,VA and private insurance accepted.

Visit us at www.activeday.com

Medical Adult Day Care

Call for a tour and ask about a free share day

1-800-981-9747

1-800-917-2919

TheCareExperts.com 6758079

wolf. Instead, they should congratulate you for taking action (if they don’t, we will) and work with you to get at the root of your chest pain and ease it.

If the cause was indigestion, a panic attack, or another possibly recurring condition, the emergency department doctors and your primary care physician can help you interpret what your body is telling you.

Assisted Living | Dementia Care | Short-Term Rehabilitation | Nursing Care

9

Annapolis (410) 573-9100

Arbutus (410) 242-8900

Baltimore (410) 646-0345

Dundalk (410) 282-2756

Harford County (410) 273-2060

Mt. Clare (410) 752-8787

Parkville (410) 663-9501

Pasadena (410) 255-2879

Randallstown (410) 922-8600

Timonium (410) 560-6717

Harford now in Belcamp 410-273-2060

10

Fitness & Health

Health Shorts Fighting huge medical bills Trying to make sense of a medical bill is like trying to understand the federal tax code. Neither task is for the untrained or faint of heart.

So if you think the bill for your latest afternoon at the doctor or hospital visit is wrong or excessive, a medical negotiation company may be able to help you bring that sky-high bill a bit closer to earth.

Medical negotiation companies rely on trained investigators and negotiators to review medical bills, identify charges that

SEPTEMBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

might be incorrect or excessive (based on so-called usual and customary charges), and negotiate with doctors or hospitals to lower the charge.

The service isn’t free; most companies take a percentage (in the vicinity of 25 percent to 35 percent) of whatever savings they manage to get for you.

You can find a company that specializes in reducing medical bills by doing an Internet search for “medical bill negotiation service.” Unfortunately, the Yellow Pages don’t routinely list such companies.

— Harvard Heart Letter

Walnuts keep arteries healthier If you want to make your arteries healthi-

Studies on Aging: Johns Hopkins University Are you 70 years or older?

Investigators from the Division of Geriatric Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Campus are looking for individuals aged 70 or older to participate in a research study that is looking at the aging process.

Tests would include measurements of strength, walking speed and questions about your physical activities. We may also request a blood draw and urine sample.

You will be paid $10 for participating depending on the study and we can conduct the study in your home. No travel required. If you choose to travel to Bayview, a parking pass will be given to you.

For more information, please call our study coordinators at Bayview:

410-550-9016 or 410-550-2113 We look forward to hearing from you!

er, exercise can’t be beat. Interested in something a little less energetic? You could try adding some walnuts to your diet.

Researchers with Yale University’s Prevention Research Center asked two dozen men and women with type 2 diabetes to supplement their usual daily diets with 2 ounces of walnuts — about 30 shelled walnut halves — for eight weeks, then switch to a walnut-free diet (or vice versa).

A test of blood flow through an artery in the forearm before and after each eightweek trial showed that walnuts improved the flexibility of the artery, an important measure of arterial health (Diabetes Care, February 2010). Weight, cholesterol levels, and blood sugar didn’t change from one diet to the other.

This is just the latest in a string of studies showing that walnuts and other nuts should be thought of as an integral part of our diets, not as a guilty snack. Eating walnuts and other nuts has been linked with protection against heart disease, especially sudden cardiac arrest, while eating almonds has been shown to improve blood sugar levels.

At more than 150 calories an ounce, you don’t want to go overboard with nuts, or the extra pounds you pack on could cancel out any benefits. Nuts can also deliver a lot of salt.

The best way to add nuts to your diet is to use unsalted nuts in place of meat in pasta and other dishes, add them to salads and

soups, or munch them in place of chips or crackers. Walnuts, almonds, peanuts, pistachios, cashews, hazelnuts...all fill the bill.

— Harvard Heart Letter

Best strategy to quit smoking A federally funded study that compared five different medication strategies to help people stop smoking concluded that the combination of a nicotine patch and a nicotine lozenge was the most effective strategy.

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin enrolled 1,504 adults in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Participants admitted to the eightweek intervention smoked at least 10 cigarettes (half a pack) per day.

They were randomly assigned to one of six therapies: nicotine lozenge, nicotine patch, or bupropion (Zyban) alone, or the patch plus lozenge, bupropion plus lozenge, or placebo. (Another commonly used medication, varenicline (Chantix), was not included.) All participants also received six individual counseling sessions.

The researchers assessed smoking rates at one week, eight weeks, and six months after participants’ quit dates. Although all medication strategies made it more likely than placebo that participants would stop

Trouble Using A Cell Phone?

We have the answer.

The Jitterbug J is a hearing aid compatible (M4/T4) cell phone that is easy to use and easy to read. The Jitterbug helps you stay more connected with your friends and family, and feel safe and secure. You could be approved for a FREE Jitterbug cell phone from Maryland Relay if you have hearing and/or vision loss.

Call today for an application.

If you qualify, you’ll enjoy these exclusive benefits: s FREE Jitterbug Phone, FREE Accessories, FREE Services, FREE Activation s Affordable plans start at just $1499* s 24/7, Live U.S. Based Customer Service Maryland Relay is a program provided by the State of Maryland.

To receive an application call 800-552-7724 (Voice/TTY) or visit www.mdrelay.org. *Rate plans do not include government taxes or assessment surcharges. Prices and fees are subject to change. Standard usage rates apply while you are calling LiveNurse or calling Jitterbug Operators on your Jitterbug. The Jitterbug phone is created together with worldwide leader Samsung.

Jitterbug is a registered trademark of GreatCall, Inc. Samsung is a registered trademark of Samsung Electronics America, Inc. and its related entities. Copyright ©2010 GreatCall, Inc.

See HEALTH SHORTS, page 11

Fitness & Health

BALTIMORE BEACON — SEPTEMBER 2010

Health Studies Page

11

THE PLACE TO LOOK FOR INFORMATION ON AREA CLINICAL TRIALS

Study investigates new gout medications

By Carol Sorgen Henry VIII, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson all suffered from a painful condition known as gout.

Gout results from deposits of needle-like crystals of uric acid in connective tissue, in the joint space between two bones, or in both. These deposits lead to inflammatory arthritis, which causes swelling, redness, heat, pain, and stiffness in the joints.

For many people, gout initially affects the joints in the big toe. It also can affect the instep, ankles, heels, knees, wrists, fingers and elbows.

Risk factors for developing gout include genetics (18 percent of people with gout have a family history of the disease); gender (gout is more common in men) and

Health shorts From page 10 smoking, the combination of a nicotine patch and the lozenge worked best.

Participants receiving this combination who eventually relapsed took longer to do so, on average, than participants who relapsed while on the other treatments.

— Harvard Mental Health Letter © 2010 President and fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc.

Better prostate cancer treatment Doctors are reporting a key advance in treating men with cancer that has started to spread beyond the prostate: survival is significantly better if radiation is added to standard hormone treatments.

The prostate study has the potential to change care right away. About 20 percent of the nearly 200,000 men diagnosed with the disease each year in the United States are like those in the study — with cancer

age (it is more common in adults).

Other factors include being overweight, drinking too much alcohol, exposure to lead in the environment, and eating many foods rich in purines — including liver, other organ meats and certain seafoods — which can lead to a build-up of uric acid in the body.

Certain medicines and conditions can also increase the risk that some people will have high levels of uric acid in their body.

Diuretics, for example — which are taken to eliminate excess fluid from the body in conditions like hypertension, edema, and heart disease — decrease the amount of uric acid passed in the urine.

Risks associated with gout Besides its debilitating effects, re-

that has spread to the area around the prostate.

“It is this group of patients in whom many of the deaths from prostate cancer occur,” because the condition is usually incurable, said study leader Dr. Padraig Warde, a radiation expert from the University of Toronto’s Princess Margaret Hospital.

These men are treated with drugs that block testosterone, a hormone that helps prostate cancer grow. Only about half also get radiation because of concerns about urinary problems it can cause.

Even though these treatments have been used for decades, few studies have been done to establish their value alone or in combination.

The new study assigned 1,200 men to get hormones plus radiation or hormones alone. After seven years, 74 percent of men receiving both treatments were alive versus 66 percent of the others. Those on both treatments lived an average of six months longer than those given just hormones.

Serious side effects occurred in less than 2 percent of men in either group. The study was sponsored by the National Cancer Institute of Canada.

—AP

Do You Have Osteoarthritis Of The Knee?

The University of Maryland is conducting an investigational research study to determine if an herbal supplement is useful for persons with osteoarthritis of the knee.

You may be eligible if you: Have been diagnosed with OA of the knee.

Are at least 40 years old.

And are in good general health.

Participants will be seen at Kernan Hospital located just off I-70 and Security Boulevard. Parking is free.

Call 1-877-861-6037 now to see if you are eligible.

You will be compensated for your time.

searchers have now found that gout is associated with a higher risk of heart attack and cardiovascular (CV) disease. This increased risk is present both in gout sufferers who have other risk factors for CV disease — such as diabetes, smoking, and obesity — and those who do not.

Recently published research has also

shown that women with gout have a 40 percent higher risk of suffering a heart attack than women who do not have the disease. Previous research has focused primarily on men with gout.

Health Trends Research in Northwest See GOUT STUDIES, page 13

Seeking Men and Women The University of Maryland & Veterans Affairs of Baltimore are conducting a research study to better understand FALLS in aging individuals.

With your participation you will receive:

• Health evaluation • CT scans of waist, hip, and leg • Balance and strength testing

410-605-7179 Mention code: FALLS You must be at least 65 years old and in good health.

You will be compensated for your time.

Knee arthritis pain?

Volunteers are needed for a research study conducted at Johns Hopkins Bayview

To study sleep in pa ents with osteoarthri s of the knee. To par cipate, you must be 50 years or older.

Both good and poor sleepers are needed. Parking, and tests are provided at no cost. Compensa on is provided.

Call 410-550-7906 and/or visit the website at

www.SleeplessInBaltimore.com Principal Inves gator: Michael T. Smith, Ph.D. Protocol NA_000118021

Approved 08/24/2009

12

Fitness & Health

SEPTEMBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

WHEN IT COMES TO SUPPORT, WE JUST CAN’T GET ENOUGH. Deb Kirkland, Maryland Survivor

BREAST CANCER AFFECTS THE LIVES OF THOUSANDS OF MARYLANDERS EVERY DAY. BY PARTICIPATING IN THE KOMEN MARYLAND RACE FOR THE CURE,® YOU MAY BE HELPING SOMEONE IN YOUR OWN NEIGHBORHOOD. THAT’S BECAUSE MORE THAN 75% OF REVENUE DEVOTED TO OUR MISSION SUPPORTS LOCAL PROGRAMS. SO JOIN US AT THE RACE, AND SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BREASTS!

!

Register online at komenmd.org

by Wednesday, September 15th and your Race T-shirt will be mailed to you!

Fitness & Health

BALTIMORE BEACON — SEPTEMBER 2010

13

Try these products to ease muscle pain Dear Pharmacist: overexertion and strains for up to eight I moved some furniture last weekend hours. and my muscles are still Icy Hot Medicated Patchsore. This happens every es: Menthol usually comes in time I exert myself. cream form, but these patches My muscles aren’t as recontain menthol in a patch that silient as in years past. causes a unique sensation on What can I do or take? the skin for up to 8 hours. — M.J. Kink-Eaze MSM Salve: Dear M.J: This contains menthol and 10 Regular muscle pain is fairtimes the amount of MSM ly easy to remedy. If it were found in other products. It me, I’d take a hot bath with could help improve flexibility, Epsom salts and a few drops of DEAR relieve muscle spasms, minor PHARMACIST lavender essential oil. I might joint pain, achy muscles and

By Suzy Cohen also take ibuprofen, or natural knee pain because the MSM Zyflamend by New Chapter. goes right through the skin.

The pharmacist in me wants to share Available at www.stages-of-life.com. some OTC products that can help temCapsaicin: This is the active ingredient porarily. Let’s talk about them and how in chili peppers. You can buy it at pharmathey work: cies nationwide. I suggest the patches or OTC painkillers: The three most popu- roll-on for ease. These work fabulously lar options here are acetaminophen with repeated applications.

(Tylenol), ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) and Dear Pharmacist: naproxen (Aleve). These reduce inflammaWhen I called a big online store to tion within an hour or two. I recommend ask a question about a supplement they you take these with food. sell, they wouldn’t answer me because Keep in mind, acetaminophen is harder they said the FDA had threatened them on the liver, while ibuprofen and naproxen with fines or jail. affect the stomach and intestines more, so Further, I read that the Diamond ask your pharmacist which is better for you. Nut Co. was threatened by the FDA Natural anti-inflammatories won’t work because they advertised that their walas quickly. These include omega 3 fish oils, nuts were good for your heart, since krill oil and bromelain (from pineapples). they contain omega 3s.

Bengay Moist Heat Therapy Pads: Yet, in your book Drug Muggers, you These non-medicated, odorless pads are recommend Coenzyme Q 10 for the air-activated and they get nice and toasty drug mugging effect of statins. Just how on your skin. They help ease muscle/joint protected is your freedom of speech? aches or pain associated with PMS, —E.F.

Gout studies From page 11 Baltimore is currently conducting clinical trials to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of investigational medications for the treatment of acute and chronic gout.

These are the first new treatment options in more than 40 years, according to Health Trends’ medical director Dr. Boris Kerzner.

Study participants will receive either the investigational medication or conventionally prescribed medications. No placebos will be given.

Health Trends Research is located at 2700 Quarry Lake Drive, Suite 240, in Baltimore, Md. Compensation is available for participants.

For more information, call (410) 484-9400, e-mail htr@healthtrendsresearch.com, or visit www.healthtrendsresearch.com.

Dear E.F.: Dietary supplement companies cannot recommend that you buy their Coenzyme Q10 to take with statins, but I can.

The FDA regulates the labeling of drugs and dietary supplements (which must be “truthful and non-misleading�), as well as all marketing and advertising literature associated with the sale of these items.

But I’m not a drug or dietary supplement manufacturer, nor do I sell these products. Therefore, what I say about drugs and dietary supplements is not labeling, nor is it marketing literature. What I write is an opinion column.

I believe that statin users should probably supplement with CoQ10 to counteract statin’s drug-mugging effect, which is

well-documented in clinical studies.

As for walnuts, the FDA did approve a very specific health claim in 2004 for walnut manufacturers.

They can’t sway a bit from the FDA approved language, however, so maybe Diamond Nut said it the wrong way.

My column always ends with a disclaimer to make sure people know that my advice is my opinion. It’s what I truly believe, based on clinical studies, personal research and 22 years as a pharmacist.

This information is opinion only. It is not intended to treat, cure or diagnose your condition. Consult with your doctor before using any new drug or supplement. Suzy Cohen is a registered pharmacist. To contact her, visit www.dearpharmacist.com.

7E 6ALUE 9OUR

'OOD (EALTH !T .EIGHBOR#ARE WE TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLE IN YOUR HEALTHCARE 7E WORK WITH YOUR PHYSICIANS TO PROVIDE AN UNSURPASSED CONTINUUM OF CARE

%XPERIENCE THE .EIGHBOR#ARE $IFFERENCE

Westminster House Apartments Choose affordable housing for seniors, right in the heart of Baltimore's cultural district...in historic Mount Vernon... only steps from concerts, theater, the library, local churches, grocers, shops and fabulous restaurants.

Why look anywhere else? Call today!

410-837-0180

www.westminsterhouseapts.org 524 North Charles Street (utilities included, underground parking available)

s &2%% 02%3#2)04)/. $%,)6%29 s !LL PRESCRIPTION AND -EDICARE $ PLANS ACCEPTED s 2ElLLS AVAILABLE HOURS A DAY BY PHONE OR ON LINE s #ONVENIENT 'REATER "ALTIMORE !REA ,OCATIONS

OFF

9/52 &)234 .%7 OR 42!.3&%22%$ 02%3#2)04)/.

&OR A LOCATION NEAR YOU CALL #!2%

,IMIT ONE PER CUSTOMER .O CASH VALUE

&OR )NTERNAL 5SE /NLY 3TORE .O

$ATE 2EDEEMED

WWW NEIGHBORCARE COM

14

SEPTEMBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Money Law &

WILL THE BOND BUBBLE BURST? Bond prices will eventually decline, but BlackRock’s chief investment officer is still bullish on bonds and says pressure to raise interest rates is low NEW OVERDRAFT RULES AT BANKS New overdraft rules mean consumers need to opt in for most coverage — but there are less expensive options, such as linking to your savings account or credit card

Weigh risk vs. return in emerging markets When the stock market plunges, noth- Less affected by economic crisis ing falls faster than emerging markets. In Despite such growth, labor costs in 2008, the MSCI emerging emerging markets are still markets index plunged 53 much lower than they are in percent. That compares to a the U.S. and other developed loss of “only” 37 percent that countries. year for the broad-based What’s more, the global fiStandard & Poor’s 500-stock nancial crisis has left emergindex. ing markets in much better But emerging-markets gains fiscal shape than most of the have more than atoned for developed world. While the their stomach-churning losses.

U.S. and much of Europe face Over the past 10 years through gigantic budget deficits, SAVVY SAVER mid-July, the emerging markets many emerging markets are

By Steven T. Goldberg index has returned an annualawash in cash. ized 10 percent compared to an The risks in emerging marannualized loss of 1 percent for the S&P 500. kets, however, shouldn’t be underestimatEven the risk-averse can profit from the ed — particularly for older investors who right investment here. can’t wait decades for their investments to The healthy gains have come about be- grow. There are a few factors to consider cause of the explosive growth in many of here. the countries that comprise emerging marFirst, almost all emerging markets lack kets. China’s economy, for instance, has the stable democratic governments engrown roughly 10 percent annually for the joyed in the developed world. The potenpast 30 years. tial for severe political unrest, including

civil wars and revolutions, is real.

Second, we complain in the U.S. that corporate accounting often leaves much to be desired. But that’s nothing compared to what an investor in emerging markets stocks faces. Corporate accounting in countries like China is opaque.

Furthermore, when you buy a stock in an emerging market, you often end up with the government as the majority partner.

Nonetheless, I don’t think the answer is to avoid emerging markets. Markets pay hefty rewards to stocks in countries where things are improving — even from a very low base.

In addition, the recent market nervousness has left emerging markets cheaper than usual. Price-earnings multiples in emerging markets average about 13 based on projections for the coming 12 months.

That’s about the same as price-earnings ratios in the U.S., where earnings are growing at a much slower pace.

Best funds to buy now The best way to invest in emerging markets is through mutual funds or exchangetraded funds (ETFs). ETFs are simply funds that trade like stocks.

I recommend avoiding individual emerging-markets stocks. Their uncertainties are too great. The same problem exists for funds that invest in only a single country.

For aggressive investors, Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF (symbol VWO, telephone 1-800-635-1511) is the simplest and cheapest way to invest in this sector.

It’s an index fund that tracks emerging markets. Stocks are weighted in the fund based on their market values (share price multiplied by number of shares outstanding).

Vanguard charges just 0.27 percent annually for this ETF. The only problem is that the fund exposes you to the full risk of investing in these volatile markets.

T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets, 1-800See EMERGING MARKETS, page 15

New financial reform law means changes

By Daniel Wagner Two years after the global financial system nearly collapsed, a vast revamping of regulation has been signed into law. The measure targets the risky banking and oversight failures that led to the last crisis. The goal is to make another crisis less likely — and if it does happen, less costly for taxpayers.

Most of the new rules won’t take effect right away. The Obama administration has a full year, for example, to empower a Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection that is being created.

Regulators will take months to study dozens of issues in the 2,300-page law before drafting rules. Among them: Should the government limit the size of banks?

How should stockbrokers be held accountable for advice they give to clients? How can credit ratings be made more reliable?

All of that means the real-world impact of the law will depend on how it’s interpreted by regulators — the same regulators who were blamed for failing to head off the financial crisis.

Still, the bill is now law. And regulators

must enact rules consistent with Congress’ blueprint.

This article, and a follow-up to appear in the October Beacon, take a look at some of the elements of the massive new law — and what’s missing from it.

New consumer watchdog A new agency will oversee consumer products and services, from mortgages to check cashing. It will regulate many nonbank companies, such as payday lenders.

Before the crisis, no regulator with financial expertise oversaw the most reckless mortgage lenders.

The regulator will police companies that dominate consumer finance, such as credit card companies and the biggest banks.

The agency will write rules and ban products it deems unsafe, such as mortgages that require payment of interest only.

It can ban confusing language in documents. And the agency can punish companies that don’t comply.

The agency’s rules apply to community banks, too. But its enforcement won’t. In-

stead, existing regulators will oversee the community banks’ compliance. (Yes, the same regulators who failed to protect consumers before the crisis.)

Community banks weren’t involved in the risky investing that shook Wall Street.

But they issued some high-risk mortgages that consumers couldn’t repay. And their lending practices caused the previous banking crisis — the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s.

The biggest loophole is for auto dealers that provide loans financed by banks. The bureau can’t scrutinize or punish them. It can’t even ban misleading fine print.

The agency won’t police companies the SEC regulates, such as stockbrokers.

Some other groups that won exemptions from the consumer agency’s oversight: Mobile-home sellers, real estate brokers, accountants and insurers.

Overhauling mortgage rules The law also revamps the mortgage system to protect consumers and discourage risky lending.

Before the crisis, lenders funneled trillions into the overheated housing market.

Many lenders didn’t care if borrowers couldn’t repay because they quickly resold the loans to investment banks.

Banks bundled the loans, then sliced them into bonds. Investors, such as insurers and pension funds, bought the bonds.

When borrowers stopped paying, those investors suffered deep losses.

The biggest change: Lenders must verify that borrowers can afford their mortgages. The lenders can be punished if they fail to review borrowers’ income and credit histories.

Any company that pools loans into mortgage investments must keep at least 5 percent of the investments on its books. That way, banks know they will lose money if they sell too many investments backed by poor-quality loans.

Low-risk mortgages, such as 30-year fixed-rate loans, will be exempt. Lenders can resell all those loans. This could enSee FINANCIAL REFORM, page 15

Emerging markets From page 14 638-5660, is another good fund. Manager Gonzalo Pangaro and a team of analysts around the world actively manage the fund. They try to beat the index without taking undue risks.

Over the years, the fund has produced about the same returns as the Vanguard fund despite a higher expense ratio, 1.32 percent annually.

Either of these funds is fine, but don’t overdo emerging markets. Putting 5 or 10 percent of your stock money into an emerging-markets fund makes good sense.

Overloading your portfolio with emerging markets is an invitation to disaster.

For many older adults, I think there’s an even better fund. It’s Matthews Asia Divi-

Financial reform From page 14 courage lenders to put more homeowners in such “plain vanilla” mortgages.

The bill doesn’t include a fix for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Those two companies are at the heart of the mortgage finance system.

They buy mortgages from lenders and resell them to investors. When their investments lost money, the government had to intervene. The bailouts have cost taxpayers $145 billion so far.

Now banned: Bonuses for brokers based on the cost of a mortgage. These payments encouraged brokers to stick borrowers with higher rates and fees.

More power for the Fed The Fed will be the lead regulator for the biggest, most interconnected financial companies — those whose failures could threaten the system. But its independence

15

Law & Money

BALTIMORE BEACON — SEPTEMBER 2010

dend, 1-800-789-2742. As its name implies, it invests only in Asian emerging markets and concentrates mainly in dividend-paying stocks.

The fund lost 26 percent in the 2008 meltdown and exhibits about the same volatility as the S&P. However, over the past three years, it has returned an annualized 7 percent while the S&P has lost an annualized 9 percent.

The fund is fairly new, but the firm has been around for decades and specializes in Asia. The fund yields about 3.5 percent from dividends.

Steven T. Goldberg (steve@tginvesting.com; 301-650-6567) is a freelance writer and investment advisor in Silver Spring, Md. He welcomes reader questions. Send them to: Steven Goldberg, c/o The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915-2227.

was also reined in, to an extent: The Government Accountability Office will conduct a one-time audit of the emergency lending programs the Fed used to stabilize markets during the crisis. The audit will include the Fed’s discount lending to banks.

The Fed’s emergency lending powers will be more transparent and subject to greater oversight. During the crisis, the Fed used this authority to craft huge bailouts behind closed doors. It withheld details about programs that rescued individual companies.

The overhaul bans lending programs designed to save individual companies.

The Fed must also disclose details of the programs, typically a year after they expire. And the Fed can’t invoke its emergency powers without the Treasury secretary’s permission.

Look for more information about the new law in next month’s Beacon.

— AP

BEACON BITS

Sept. 28

GET YOUR LEGAL PAPERS IN ORDER Attorney Heather Wirth will help one-on-one with such legal docu-

ments as advance directives, powers of attorney and living wills at the Mt. Carmel Senior Center, 17038 Pretty Boy Dam Rd., Parkton, on Tuesday, Sept.

28. You must sign up in advance for this free service. Call Barbara Franke at (410) 887-1923.

Ongoing

SBA OFFERS INFORMATION FOR WOMEN The U.S. Small Business Administration has developed “MY BIZ for Women,” an online tool to provide business information and as-

sistance to women entrepreneurs. The site highlights the best government resources for starting and growing a small business, finding capital and contracting opportunities, links to other agencies and resource partners, business counseling and more. Visit the site at www.SBA.gov/women.

Bernard I. Pollock, Attorney Elder Law, Estate Probate, Real Estate Law

• Living Will/Medical Directive........................................$175 • Wills..............................................................................$150 & up • Power of Attorney ............................................................$150 • Deeds (includes all recording fees)............................................$700 • Planning for Nursing Home (Medical Assistance)..$400 & up

410-342-6733

www.bernardpollock.com 3129 Eastern Ave. • Baltimore, MD

GET GUTTERS THAT NEVER CLOG! PROBLEM

RISK

SOLUTION

Traditional gutters clog with debris.

Cleaning out gutters is dangerous.

LeafGuard will never clog — guaranteed.

ELDER LAW, ESTATE AND SPECIAL NEEDS PLANNING

Medical Assistance Planning Asset Protection Guardianship

Powers of Attorney Advance Medical Directives/ Living Wills

Trusts/ Estate Planning Administration Disability Planning/ Special Needs Trusts

OUR GUTTER SYSTEM HAS EARNED THE GOOD HOUSEKEEPING SEAL.

50 % OF F LABOR ASK ABOUT O OUR NO INTEREST PLANS!* *With approved credit. Not valid on prior sales or with other offers.

Certain restrictions apply. Offer expires: 9/15/10

LeafGuard Gutters never clog. Guaranteed.

JASON FRANK,ESQ.

KANDACE SCHERR, ESQ.

MARY O’BYRNE, ESQ.

NOT PICTURED LAURIE S. FRANK

1400 FRONT AVE., SUITE 200 · LUTHERVILLE, MD 21093 Salisbury, MD · Columbia, MD

410-337-8900 · 1-888-338-0400 www.frankelderlaw.com

410-793-1622 888-759-9494

TBA1

16

Law & Money

SEPTEMBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Worried about bond values? Read this

By Mark Jewell Listen to top investment strategists, and you’d think it’s almost certain that investors have set themselves up for a fall by flocking into bonds.

Although traditionally considered a safe haven, bonds aren’t without risk. Yet any fixed-income fizzle won’t be as painful as the late 2008 crash for stocks, the thinking goes.

The reality is that bond prices will eventually decline because current near-zero interest rates have nowhere to go but up.

When the Federal Reserve eventually raises interest rates, prices for existing bonds with locked-in rates will drop.

That’s because investors will be able to buy newly-issued bonds that pay higher interest. For example, for each single percentage point increase in rates, expect the price of a bond maturing in five years to suffer a roughly 5 percent decline.

"%34 6!,5%

The price decline could more than offset the typically modest interest income from the bonds, hurting investors in bonds and bond mutual funds alike.

It could shock safety-minded Americans who have sought refuge from volatility by shifting out of stocks and pouring about half a trillion dollars into bonds over the past year and a half. It’s this steady inflow that has several money managers, including bond fund managers, sounding the alarm for fixed-income.

After all, higher inflation and interest rates could quickly erode retirement savings for legions of investors who might fail to resume taking an appropriate level of risk.

Comforting thoughts Yet there are reassuring words from Curtis Arledge, a chief investment officer for BlackRock Inc., who guides strategy for the

New York-based company’s $589 billion in actively-managed fixed-income assets.

Arledge’s take on the biggest current risk to bonds: “I’m not trying to be the great bond bull here, but I think people are just too worried about rates.”

He acknowledges higher rates will eventually trim already tiny yields. For example, yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury slipped below 3 percent in June for the first time for more than a year and remained there through August. Similarly, the yield on the 2-year note reached a record low of 0.50 percent in mid-August.

But investors willing to take on more risk are finding more buying opportunities. The spread between Treasury yields and those for higher-yielding corporate junk bonds has lately topped 7 percentage points, the biggest spread in more than six months. Safer investment-grade corporate

-/2%¨

!FFORDABLE ,OCATIONS 3ERVICES

% Affordable Living For Those 62 or Better %

Anne Arundel County U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì ÕÀ >Vi À> V \ {£ä ÇÈ£ {£xä U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì -iÛiÀ > *>À \ {£ä x{{ Î{££ Baltimore City U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì Ã > ` /iÀÀ>Vi\ {£ä ÓÇÈ È{{ä U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì `ëÀ }\ {£ä x{Ó {{ää Baltimore County U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì >Ì ÃÛ i\ {£ä Ç£ {È{ U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì Õ `> \ {£ä Ónn x{nÎ U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì Õ iÀÌ \ {£ä ÈÈÎ äÈÈx U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì À> >À > ` }\ {£ä Î £ nÎÇx U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì ,> `> ÃÌ Ü \ {£ä Èxx xÈÇÎ U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì , Ãi`> i\ {£ä nÈÈ £nnÈ U / Ì Þ ÕÃi ­/ Üà ®\ {£ä nÓn Ç£nx U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì />Þ À\ {£ä ÈÈÎ äÎÈÎ U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì 7 ` >Ü \ {£ä Ón£ ££Óä

Eastern Shore U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì >ÃÌ \ {£ä ÇÇä ÎäÇä Harford County U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì Ý \ {£ä x£x È££x U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì i À\ {£ä n Î ääÈ{ Howard County U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì > > ` }\ {£ä Ç È {Î U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì Õ L >\ {£ä În£ £££n U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì - Ü`i , ÛiÀ\ {£ä Ó ä äÎn{ U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì V ÌÌ ÌÞ\ {£ä ÓäÎ xä£ U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì V ÌÌ ÌÞ \ {£ä ÓäÎ Óä È U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì iÀà \ Îä£ {nÎ ÎÎÓÓ Prince Georges County NOW! *55 or * *>À 6 iÜ >Ì >`i ÃLÕÀ}\ Îä£ È Çnx Better U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì >ÕÀi \ Îä£ { ä £xÓÈ U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì >ÕÀi \ Îä£ { ä ÇÎä

:Xcc +('$)+-$.+00 fi <dX`c J\e`fiC`m`e^7j_\ck\i^ig%Zfd kf `ehl`i\ XYflk \c`^`Y`c`kp i\hl`i\d\ekj Xe[ kf XiiXe^\ X gi`mXk\ kfli% Professionally managed by The Shelter Group. www.thesheltergroup.com The Shelter Group is committed to Equal Housing Opportunities for people of all races, religions, ethnic groups, and disabilities and all other groups protected by federal, state, or local law.

debt has been yielding about 2 percentage points more than comparable Treasurys.

Those heftier yields for riskier fare come after corporate bonds offered stocklike returns last year, rebounding from negative territory in late 2008. The 2009 results capped a decade when bonds uncharacteristically outperformed stocks.

But even with the recent surge of cash into bonds, Arledge isn’t worried about a bubble. His key points: Investors are seeking safety, not returns: Investment bubbles typically build as money pours into the riskiest areas within an asset. Think of investors who rushed into stocks of fast-growing Internet companies in the late 1990s, and avoided steadier dividend-paying stocks as well as bonds. The tech stocks eventually tanked.

Arledge argued the risk of a bond bubble is low because the bulk of the flow into fixedincome recently has gone into safe, lowyielding fare such as Treasurys, rather than into junk bonds — fixed-income’s equivalent to the most volatile types of stocks.

He noted that nearly 60 percent of the flow into fixed-income funds has gone into defensive bonds like short-term Treasurys and other government debt.

“The preponderance of flows have not been into products that have a lot of interest-rate risk,” Arledge said. “People are avoiding them.”

Rate-raising pressure remains low: The Federal Reserve has held interest rates near zero since December 2008. But with the economy still slow, policymakers are in no rush to head off the risk that low rates will eventually fuel inflation. The Fed pledged in June to maintain record-low rates for an “extended period.”

Many expect rates to rise by next spring, but not Arledge. He figures that probably won’t happen until at least late next year.

“The Fed doesn’t need to tighten credit yet, because credit is being tightened already everywhere else” because of the slow economy, he said. “I think this condition is one that lasts years.”

Borrowing is down: If the overall level See BOND VALUES, page 17

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

ONLINE SERVICES DIRECTORY

The Maryland Community Services Locator website, www.mdcsl.org, is an online directory to help professionals and community members find community services in a variety of areas — from substance abuse to family assistance and more. Call (301) 405-9796 or visit the website for more information.

17

Law & Money

BALTIMORE BEACON — SEPTEMBER 2010

Overdraft protection is changing at banks The new overdraft rules for new check- sumers in some types of overdraft protecing accounts went into effect on July 1, and tion plans for their bank accounts. the ones for existing accounts These plans allow banks to kicked in on August 15. approve a check or debit The new rules are spurring charge to a customer’s aca raft of mail from banks urgcount — even if the charge ing consumers to “opt in” — causes the customer’s balance and often warning of potento go negative — and then astially dire consequences if sess an overdraft fee of as they don’t. much as $39.

What are these new rules, Banks argue that the plans how will they affect conare a consumer service, presumers, and what should you venting customers from being MONEY do about them? embarrassed (or harmed) by a MATTERS Responding to consumer By Kathy Kristof denied charge at a restaurant complaints about burgeoning or gas station, for example. overdraft charges, the Federal But consumers complained Reserve announced that it would bar that they had no idea they could spend banks from automatically enrolling con- more than they had in their accounts when

using a debit card because they were enrolled in the plans without their knowledge, and the overdrafts were “approved” (and triggered big fees) without their being alerted that the account had insufficient funds.

The Federal Reserve rules do not stop banks from covering overdrafts. But they bar banks from charging overdraft fees on ATM and point-of-sale debit purchases unless the consumer has actively enrolled in the overdraft protection service.

Bankers say consumers should opt in to overdraft protection to avoid having a charge denied for insufficient funds.

“This is not a one-time opt-in at the point of sale,” said Nessa Feddis, a spokeswoman for the American Bankers Assn.

“It’s a general opt-in. If you don’t do it, you

could have a debit purchase denied.”

borrowing $5 trillion less,” he noted.

“Total borrowing is actually shrinking.”

Meanwhile, the government continues to find buyers for bonds at low prices. “We don’t have a bubble. We have too many government bonds relative to total borrowing,” Arledge said.

aggregate bond index, a broad benchmark for many fixed-income funds that historically has held more corporate than government bonds. The shift is the result of rising government borrowing and declining corporate bond issuance.

Arledge advised that investors look to bond managers with wide leeway to buy

bonds of varying durations and credit quality, rather than going with funds confined to a single safe fixed-income niche.

Investors who have sought refuge by loading up on safer short-term debt, he said, “will start to say, ‘I need more yield, if we’re going to be in this environment for a long time.’“ — AP

Bond values From page 16 of borrowing in the economy were high, it would pressure the Fed to raise rates to prevent a surge in corporate and consumer debt like the one that helped fuel the financial meltdown.

But that’s not happening, despite the government borrowing binge that’s drawing so much attention now.

Arledge argued many have forgotten that the rise in government debt continues to be offset by reduced private borrowing by corporations issuing bonds and individuals taking out consumer loans.

From 2003 through 2007, private borrowing grew around $3.3 trillion a year, Arledge said. But borrowing has reversed course, and the total has been shrinking by some $1.9 trillion a year since the start of 2009.

“Yes, the government has been borrowing $1 trillion more, but everybody else is

Where to find higher yields Arledge predicted 10-year Treasury yields will remain low at 3 to 3.5 percent over the next three to six months. He figures investors who have embraced government bonds may eventually tire of low yields and venture into higher-returning corporates.

It’s an important consideration, because many bond funds that once were broadly diversified are now heavy on government bonds and light on higher-yielding corporates.

For example, government debt now makes up about 75 percent of the Barclays

Adults 62+ – Make Your Move!

Less expensive options There are other options, and most of them are far less expensive than allowing the bank to approve an overdraft at $39 a pop.

Consumer advocates suggest that you link your checking account to a savings account or a credit card. This type of arrangement typically results in a charge that is a fraction of what overdraft protection plans cost, said Leslie Parrish, senior researcher at the Center for Responsible Lending in Washington.

For instance, most banks will charge a one-time fee of $5 to $10 to transfer money from a linked savings or credit card account See OVERDRAFT RULES, page 19

BEACON BITS

Aug. 23+

HOPE AND HEALTH Take part in an interactive discussion on the role of spirituality on

wellness, facilitated by an outreach nurse with Franklin Square Hospital and sponsored by the Baltimore Dept. of Aging. Upcoming sessions include ones at the Ateaze Senior Center, 7401 Holabird Ave, Dundalk, on Monday, August 23 at 11 a.m. and at the Jacksonville Senior Center, 3101 Paper Mill Rd., Jacksonville, on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 10:30 a.m. Call (410) 887-2594 for more information and additional dates.

Grow and Protect Your Retirement For a complimentary consultation return the completed coupon by mail or fax.

❒ How do I get free rollover of my retirement plans (IRA, 401(k), etc.) and receive ❒ ❒ ❒ ❒ Two Bedrooms from $949

Select 1 Bedrooms from $779

7.2% growth on my income?* How do I protect my assets from probate courts, nursing homes etc.?

How do I lower my personal and Social Security taxes?

How do I avoid paying up to 65% tax on my retirement plans. (IRA, 401(k), etc.)?

Other concerns ____________________________________________________

Your name:__________________________________________________ Address: ____________________________________________________ City:_____________________________ St_________ Zip_____________ Phone: ___________________________________ Age: ______________ Mail to:

Dr. Michael Okolo-1 MBA, MS, CEP, PhD

Retirement Asset Protection Corporation

RAPCO

600 Reisterstown Rd., Suite 200C • Pikesville, MD 21208

R

410-602-8484 office • Or Fax to: 410-602-5084 300 Cantata Court • Reisterstown, MD 21136 www.firstcentrumcommunities.com

www.RetirementEstatePlanning.com E-mail: DrOkolo1@RetirementEstatePlanning.com

Retirement Asset Protection Corporation

R R

R

R

Come Retire With Us

*limitied time offer

18

Law & Money

SEPTEMBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

You’ll start feeling better the minute you see how much you save on generic prescriptions.

If you or your family are taking prescription medications, you may want to try generics. Generics are safe and effective, FDA approved, and work the same way that name brands do, but cost up to 80% less. Speak to your CVS Pharmacist to learn more.

Donndra Kee-Pearce, CVS Pharmacist

07658RXM08

Law & Money

BALTIMORE BEACON — SEPTEMBER 2010

Overdraft rules From page 17 into your checking account. That would cover all of the overdrafts made in a day.

If you triggered five overdrafts, for example, this would still just cost $5 to transfer the money versus $195 ($39 times five) with a traditional overdraft program.

If the money was transferred from a credit card you’d also face interest charges, but those charges are likely to be minimal if the overdraft is repaid quickly.

There are other options out there, too.

Jim Kelly, chief operating officer of ING Direct, said his bank offers a better deal. If you set up an overdraft line of credit at ING to cover your ING checking account, there’s no transfer fee.

In this case, you are simply charged for the money you use at a 7.25 percent inter-

est rate. Someone who borrowed $100 for 10 days by overspending on a debit card would pay about 20 cents’ interest, he said.

Customers do have to apply for such an overdraft line of credit, and have decent credit to get it, Kelly said. If they don’t have that line of credit set up, the bank declines charges when there are not sufficient funds in the account to cover them, but doesn’t charge customers to do it.

“The bulk of our customers don’t use it.

But it’s a convenient way to access an affordable credit facility if you do,” he said.

Some rules remain unchanged The new Federal Reserve rule will not stop all overdraft charges, however, even for those who do not opt in to overdraft protection programs.

That’s because the agency will allow banks to cover “regular” payments and deb-

BEACON BITS

Sept. 19+

GAMES AND GIZMOS AT THE WALTERS The Walters Arts Museum will host “Walter Wick: Games, Gizmos

its, such as the automatic payment for your mortgage or gym membership, and charge a fee if that payment causes you to overdraft.

In addition, the Fed did nothing about one of the practices that consumer groups find particularly egregious — that of “reordering” how transactions are processed from highest amount to lowest amount, regardless of the order that they reached the bank.

Banks have said this practice is a service aimed at ensuring that customers’ most important payments, such as the rent, are covered.

But consumer groups say it’s a thinly veiled plot to boost the number of overdraft fees the banks can charge by draining the account with the biggest transactions first, increasing the chance that your

19

other transaction, no matter how small, will trigger additional overdraft fees.

If you are among the 20 percent of consumers who occasionally overdraw your checking account, you should become familiar with the terms of your bank agreement.

“Understand your account terms and shop around,” Kelly said. “Fees can make such a huge difference in the cost of operating an account. If the consumer is subjected to ‘gotcha’ fees, it can completely change your financial picture.”

Kathy M. Kristof, author of Taming the Tuition Tiger and Investing 101, welcomes your comments and suggestions but regrets that she cannot respond individually to letters or phone calls. E-mail her at kathykristof24@gmail.com. © 2010 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

LAWYER REFERRAL SERVICE

The Howard County Bar Association offers a Lawyer Referral Service to citizens who need legal services. For assistance, or if you would like to volunteer your legal services, call (410) 313-2035, email hcbaexec@verizon.net or visit www.howardcountybar.org.

and Toys in the Attic,” a retrospective of the author and photographer’s works.

The exhibit will include 55 large-scale photos selected from his books that challenge readers to solve visual riddles or puzzles. The exhibit will open on Sunday, Sept 19 and continue through Jan. 2, 2011 at the Walters, 600 N. Charles St. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and free for those under 17. For more information, call (410) 547-9000.

Sept. 20+

SAFE CYBER DATING

Join the Baltimore Dept. of Aging and Planned Parenthood for an informational seminar on staying safe while looking for love online.

The program will be held at several senior centers, including Cockeysville Senior Center, 10535 York Rd., Cockeysville, Monday, Sept. 20 at 10 a.m. Call (410) 887-2594 for more information and additional dates.

Life is Simply Better Here!

Roland Park Place is a unique boutique-style continuing care retirement community in the heart of northern Baltimore City.

410-243-5700 TDD: 1-800-735-2258

830 West 40th Street Baltimore, MD 21211 www.rolandparkplace.org

A Not-for-Profit Life Care Community

20

SEPTEMBER 2010 — 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 e-mail to info@thebeaconnewspapers.com.

Showing patience with patients in the ER success — that he became a PAVER trainer, teaching others the skills to become ER volunteers themselves.

Fellow volunteer Fran Hogan said Cohen is a role model for her and others.

“He’s very punctual, always there to help, and on the go all the time,” she said. “I’d give him an ‘A’ for the job he does.”

A people person After six years, Cohen transferred to the hospital’s orthopedic wing, but found his involvement with patients there wasn’t as much as he wanted. So back he went to ER, this time to the radiology department.

Two days a week, for around six hours a day, Cohen shuttles patients back and forth between ER and radiology. The circumstances require him to make use of some of his trademark volunteering skills, such as patience and empathy.

Cohen also gets to utilize those skills in training student technicians at the hospital. “I show them how the ER works and teach them what I have learned,” he said.

There have been many changes in the ER since Cohen first began volunteering.

Just recently, for example, the Emergency

Are you online? So are we!

Would you like to receive a monthly e-mail containing links to the online version of each month’s Beacon, as well as occasional special offers and announcements?

Just enter your e-mail address at TheBeaconNewspapers.com/signup Also – www.facebook.com/BeaconNewspaper

PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. JOSEPH MEDICAL CENTER

By Carol Sorgen Lutherville resident David Cohen, 68, has retired not once, but twice. The former vice president of sales and marketing for several health maintenance organizations (HMOs) first left the workforce when he was 50, but found he wasn’t quite ready to stop working altogether.

He headed back to work in his field.

But five years later the time had finally come to retire for good.

An avid car enthusiast, Cohen was attending a meeting of a car club when one of the other members mentioned that his wife was a nurse at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson.

“I was bored out of my tree, and I wanted to do something meaningful,” said Cohen.

Volunteering seemed like the answer.

Cohen started his volunteer career at St. Joe in the then-newly organized PAVER — patient advocate volunteer emergency room — program. He did everything from cleaning rooms, to bringing the patients food or water, to taking them for X-rays, or simply holding their hand.

The program was such a success — and Cohen such an instrumental part of that

David Cohen volunteers two days a week at St. Joseph Medical Center’s emergency room. He also trains student technicians and has helped out in the hospital’s orthopedic wing.

Department has become the first Baltimore-area ER to offer patients wait time information via the Internet.

Patients can visit the website, www.ShorterERWait.com, to see computer-generated wait times based on current information, which is updated every 30 minutes.

Car show helps kids Cohen’s altruistic endeavors extend beyond St. Joe. He is also the owner of the largest indoor car show on the East Coast — the East Coast Indoor Nationals — the proceeds of which are donated to Toys for Tots.

Held the first weekend of December at Timonium Fairgrounds, the show is a display of all-American hot rod and custom muscle (high-performance) automobiles.

Cohen himself is the owner of a 1948 Pontiac Torpedo hot rod.

“I’m a firm believer in giving back,” said Cohen, explaining what has kept him at St. Joe for more than a decade and motivates him to organize his annual car show.

“I had a nice career and I did well, and I know from my professional experience in healthcare that you can’t run a hospital without volunteers.”

Though Cohen admits that he gets

“squeamish” at the sight of his own blood, “I can stand there all day long and look at doctors and what they’re doing. And in the ER, you’re going to see some things,” he added.

Volunteers needed St. Joseph Medical Center offers a variety of volunteer opportunities, both in patient care — such as in-patient unit volunteers, patient transportation and diagnostic area volunteers — and in non-patient environments — such as information desks and reception areas.

There are also opportunities for those with special skills and interests, such as photography, filing, computer data management, proofreading, organizing and preparing mailings.

As much as possible, effort is made to match each volunteer’s interests, experiences and skills with the needs and priorities of the medical center. The hospital also tries to accommodate a variety of schedules and physical abilities of its volunteers.

For more information on volunteering at St. Joseph Medical Center, call (410) 3371490 or e-mail Cheryl Slaski, volunteer development coordinator, at cherylslaski@ catholichealth.net.

Please tell our advertisers, “I saw you in the Beacon!”

Volunteers & Careers

BALTIMORE BEACON — SEPTEMBER

21

Change careers successfully in midlife Second verse — not the same as the first.

Hannon also includes a useful Q&A with Journalist Kerry Hannon remixed that each career switcher, probing what motivatold pop hit in a column she ed them to change and the leswrote for U.S. News and sons they learned along the way.

World Report, “Second Acts.”

She also asks her subjects to A specialist in careers, retireoffer their advice to others conment and personal finance, sidering a major career leap.

Hannon has traveled the I talked with Hannon about country interviewing people the book recently. Here’s an who’ve made successful caedited Q&A. reer transitions at midlife — Q: What motivates peooften into very colorful and ple to change careers at happy new lives. midlife?

Now, Hannon has crafted RETIRE SMART A: Almost everyone I spoke her research on career transi- By Mark Miller to was spurred to make a tion into an important new change by a crisis that remindbook, What’s Next: Follow Your Passion ed them how fleeting life can be. For many, and Find Your Dream Job (Chronicle it was 9/11. For others, it was the death of Books, 2010). It’s an indispensable guide someone close to them that made them to anyone hoping to pull off a midlife rein- stop and pause. But the real success stovention, and an excellent companion to an- ries were folks who had planned — they other key book on this subject, Marc didn’t act impulsively.

Freedman’s, Encore: Finding Work that Q: What are some of the common eleMatters in the Second Half of Life (Public ments you found among all these folks?

Affairs, 2008).

A: The most important thing that struck Hannon tells the stories of 16 career- me is that these people were all supremely switchers who’ve turned dream careers confident in what they were doing. They into reality. They include a cop who be- never second-guessed themselves, even came a Nashville music agent, an East when things got difficult.

Coast TV producer who moved to the PaThey always had a clear sense that they cific Northwest to launch his own winery were doing the right thing. They are all and a former corporate executive who now working longer hours than before, but it runs Rhode Island’s largest non-profit doesn’t seem to matter to them. serving the homeless.

Q: What kind of preparation are

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

HELP FIND A CURE

CurePSP is an international nonprofit whose mission is to help people with rare brain diseases and to fund research to find a cure. CurePSP is seeking volunteers to help compile listings of community resources via Internet searches, facilitate on-line support groups, and organize fund raising and public awareness events. Training and administrative support are provided. Contact Trish Caruana at (410) 785-7004 or caruana@curepsp.org.

Ongoing

MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR COMMUNITY

Talented? Motivated? Over 55? Baltimore County’s Retired Senior and Volunteer Program (RSVP) wants volunteers like you to address challenging social problems at nonprofit organizations and agencies throughout the County. RSVP can assist you in finding a meaningful volunteer opportunity that fits your passion and your schedule. Call (410) 887-3101 for more information.

Ongoing

HELP PROTECT CONSUMER RIGHTS

The Maryland Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division is looking for volunteers to be trained as complaint mediators and to provide information over the Division’s Consumer Hotline. Bilingual capabilities a plus. The office is located at 200 St. Paul Place. For more information, call (410) 576-6519.

Ongoing

KIWANIS CLUB NEEDS VOLUNTEERS

The Kiwanis Club is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world — one child and one community at a time.

To volunteer your services for the Towson/Timonium chapter, call (410) 321-6746.

Ongoing

VOLUNTEER AT ST. AGNES

St. Agnes Hospital volunteers provide valuable services in both clinical and non-clinical areas. To learn more about volunteer opportunities, call (410) 368-2817.

people doing before they make a major career change?

A: Most did a lot of research on whatever field they wanted to move into. Many did volunteer work to get a foot in the door. Tim Sheerer, who left a six-figure Wall Street career to open his own Italian restaurant, started out by volunteering in the kitchen of a restaurant to see if it really was for him.

I think volunteering is a really important way to test the waters. Steve Brooks wanted to get out of the TV news business and start his own winery. So he moved to the Pacific Northwest and volunteered at harvest time for winemakers.

Q: Is money a motivator for midlife career changers?

A: Almost never. Even for people who needed the income, career change is about doing something they love and that can have an impact on their lives and others.

These are people who want to give back — the reward isn’t financial.

But the people who make successful career switches did take the time to get their finances in order. Income never comes in as quickly or at the level that you expect, so you need to plan in some time for some failure.

Cliff Stevenson went from being a mortgage banker to teaching social studies — and that kind of move isn’t unusual. He took a huge pay cut, but first he sat down with his wife and got his family on board.

They downsized their home and took the time to see where they could cut back.

Q: So, are these transitions only for people of means and who are in control of their finances?

A: When I started this book, I was looking at disenchanted baby boomers who were ready to do something different. As time went on, it turned to include people whose jobs no longer existed and needed to reinvent themselves.

The lessons here apply to anyone. But people who have a severance package or a partner to provide financial ballast certainly have an easier time doing this.

Mark Miller is the author of the new book, The Hard Times Guide to Retirement Security. He publishes http://retirementrevised.com, recently named the best retirement planning site on the Web by Money Magazine. Contact him with questions and comments at mark@retirementrevised.com. © Tribune Media Services, Inc.

Baltimore City Health Department Senior Community Service Employment Program • Employment training for seniors • Be placed in non-profit or government agencies to train for a new job • Earn $7.25/hour while training • Required to train a minimum of 20 hours per week • Must be 55 or older, unemployed and a resident of Baltimore City

For more information, call

410-545-7290 or 410-545-7291

22

SEPTEMBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Travel Leisure &

Patricia Owens visits a Paris market in her “trip of a lifetime.” Read more on p. 23.

Going on a fishing expedition, with help

By Victor Block To me, fishing has always been a casual affair. Pack a sandwich and cold beer, impale a worm on a hook. and you’re in a winwin situation: Battle with nature, catch a fish and bring home dinner. Or return home empty-handed but reassure my wife, and myself, that I still had a pleasant and relaxing day in the sun.

To experienced guide Keith Barker, fishing is a very different story. It begins with meticulous planning and preparation.

Consult tide charts, check the water level, and consider a list of other variables I wasn’t even aware of.

Advise customers about details ranging from how to dress to proper hand wash-

ing. For Captain Keith, that means scrubbing with biodegradable soap so the fish don’t get your scent.

Then he applies “fish attractant” to the bait, a substance whose use to me seems somewhat unfair, especially when I learned his favorite brand is called Kick’n Bass.

Finally, Barker suggested we get an early start. When he told us to meet him at 5:30 a.m., I realized we have very different definitions of that word.

My long-time friend Tim and I signed up for a half-day guided fishing excursion to see if we could improve on our usual catch during annual outings in this area.

For us, bringing back a handful of fish from such trips was extraordinary. On the

occasions we got skunked and didn’t catch a thing, there was always that “day in the sun” story. In fact, we had told it so often we had almost begun to believe it ourselves.

Catch and release program We were led to understand that Barker is one of the more knowledgeable guides for people seeking to catch largemouth bass, catfish and other denizens of the Potomac River. So we contacted him and made plans for our pre-dawn departure.

After a drive of about an hour and a half from downtown Baltimore, with Barker’s new and as yet unnamed boat being towed behind, we reached Leesylvania State Park perched on the Virginia side of the Potomac.

The river there is wide, the shoreline lightly built up. Within minutes, the boat was in the water and we were speeding to the first of several of our guide’s favorite fishing spots.

After dropping anchor, our captain gave us a mini-course in the generalities of fishing, and the specifics of how to catch (and release) largemouth bass which, he explained, were guarding their nests of eggs on the river floor just below us.

With catch and release, you have the thrill of the catch, but use a non-barbed hook that allows the return of the uninjured fish to the water.

Barker demonstrated how he prepares

Our apartment homes aren’t the only things with personality.

Meet Alva Holcombe.

Painter. Set Designer.

Really Living since 2007.

See FISHING, page 25

PHOTO BY TIM COSS

For Alva, really living means pursuing her passion for art—not worrying about her house and yard.

Since moving to her Erickson Living® community, she’s discovered a retirement lifestyle that’s as vibrant and inspired as she is. Her spacious apartment home frees her from the hassles of home maintenance and complements her unique personal style. If living is a fine art, then Alva is creating a true masterpiece.

the plastic “soft bait” that resembles crawfish. Barker showed us how to cast, then slowly retrieve our line with little jerks of the rod to make the bait mimic a crawfish looking for a lunch of bass eggs. Then the three of us made our first casts and the hunt was underway.

As the morning wore on, if one fishing spot proved unproductive, Captain Keith moved to another. Tim and I worked hard to put into practice what we had learned, and soon bass were being hooked, landed and released.

Our teacher caught two fish for every one landed by his pupils. He suspended one especially plump specimen below his portable scale and the pointer come to rest at two pounds, 14 ounces, the heaviest of the day.

Throughout the entire trip, Barker demonstrated great patience in sharing his know-how, untangling knots in the line that Tim and I occasionally created, and making us feel less clumsy then we knew we were.

We expressed amazement at his ability to steer the boat, operate an electric trolling motor, keep one eye on us, proffer constant tips and suggestions — and still catch the most fish.

As relative neophytes, Tim and I gained a new appreciation of the knowledge and skill required to be a successful fisherman. We

Learn what really living can do for you. Call today for your free Guide to Erickson Living at Charlestown or Oak Crest and discover how beautiful and affordable your retirement can be.

Catonsville | 1-800-761-9289

6778806

Parkville | 1-800-516-7659 EricksonLiving.com

With the help of a professional guide, author Victor Block caught a dozen fish on the Potomac River in Leesylvania State Park.

Leisure & Travel

BALTIMORE BEACON — SEPTEMBER 2010

Trips From page 1 latest journey, the Yinglings have already started tossing around ideas for their next trip. “We’re looking into Cape Cod,” they say enthusiastically.

But it was the trip to Australia and New Zealand that may rank as their most memorable. “To experience the realization of my goal to see those two countries, alongside my perfect partner, is something I’ll remember forever,” said Sidney.

The City of Light Conquering a new continent For Reisterstown residents Sidney and Mary Joan Levin, their once-in-a-lifetime trip took place two years ago when they traveled to Australia and New Zealand — the only continent they had not yet visited.

Because Mary Joan is the owner of Royal Travel Planners in Baltimore’s Mt. Royal district, the couple has traveled the world.

“But that trip was special,” said Sidney, a real estate broker. It was taken in celebration of the couple’s 50th wedding anniversary.

Mary Joan perhaps took the concept of “trip” too literally, slipping and fracturing her leg the day they arrived. She had to spend the entire vacation in a wheelchair, but says she still felt it was a memorable occasion (in a positive sense).

“From the Opera House in Sydney to the Great Barrier Reef to a South Pole simulation in Christchurch, New Zealand, it was quite a trip,” said Sidney. (The simulation cured Sidney of his desire to visit the real South Pole — “I’ve never experienced such cold!” he said.)

Sidney first got a taste for travel while serving in the Navy in the early 1950s.

“Since then, I’ve visited many fascinating cultures,” he said. Some of the destinations the couple has visited through the years include India, Thailand, Borneo, South America, Europe and Africa. “I’ve enjoyed every trip I’ve ever been on,” he said.

Now that the Levins have reached their goal of stepping foot on every continent in the world, they would like to spend more time exploring the U.S. — especially our national parks.

Patricia Owens’s most recent adventure was to a city she last saw 50 years ago and never thought she’d see again — Paris.

But when her niece proposed taking Owens and her sister (her niece’s mother) on an all-expense-paid trip to Paris, the 81year-old Charles Village resident gave it only a moment’s thought before saying, “Oui!” For 10 days in June, the foursome lived as Parisians do, living in a three-bedroom apartment and getting to know the local patisserie and boulangerie right outside their apartment. This was made easier by the fact that her niece’s husband, Alain, is French.

They also visited some of the quintessentially Parisian sights, such as the Musee d’Orsay, the Tuileries gardens, and the famed department store, Galeries Lafayette. Of the latter, Owens said “It was like the Opera House!”

For a special treat, Owens’s 89-year-old sister hosted the group at an extravagant lunch in the Michelin-rated Jules Verne restaurant, situated in the Eiffel Tower — worth every euro, according to Owens.

The tour group had the opportunity to visit the mayor of a small Turkish village, to dine at a young Turkish woman’s home, and to stay overnight with a Turkish family. Salisbury also took a hot air balloon ride for the first time.

In addition, she was able to catch up with a friend who now lives in Ukraine but met her in Turkey after her tour had finished.

“The highlight of this entire trip was seeing new places with old friends,” said Salisbury.

Still on Salisbury’s must-visit list are Africa, Greece and return visits to Italy, France and Mexico.

“I try to do one big trip a year,” she said, “but I’m getting older and time is running out. I may need to rev up the schedule!”

BEACON BITS

Oct. 3+

TRAVEL TO ISRAEL WITH MPT Maryland Public Television hosts a cultural and educational tour

of Israel with Rhea Feikin from Oct. 3 to 13. Prices start at $3,800. For more information and reservations, call (410) 581-4361 or visit www.mpt.org/travel.

Jan. 11+

VISIT PERU Explore Peru’s ancient civilizations on this trip sponsored by the Community College of Baltimore County from January 11 to 20,

2011. For more information, visit www.ccbcmd.edu/internationaltravel.

Visiting far-flung friends Like the Levins, Zora Salisbury is a wellseasoned traveler, criss-crossing the country to see family members, but also venturing farther afield to such destinations as Italy, Spain, England and Thailand. Her most recent trip was to Albania and Turkey.

Salisbury frequently rents out rooms in her Charles Village home to visiting Johns Hopkins University students and faculty members. As a result, she now has friends in far-flung corners of the world.

In Albania, Salisbury spent two weeks

BEACON BITS

Sept. 18+

visiting a friend of hers serving in the Peace Corps. It was a fascinating look, she said, at a country that has been a democracy for only 20 years.

“I didn’t understand a word people were saying,” Salisbury said, “but I absorbed it all anyway.”

Salisbury likes to dine out when she travels, but being an enthusiastic cook, she also visit local markets and prepares meals for friends if a kitchen is available.

From Albania (after working in a weekend in Bari, Italy, to see another former housemate), Salisbury went on to Turkey where she joined a tour sponsored by Overseas Adventure Travel. She enthusiastically recommends the company for people wanting experiences that are “out of the box.”

BONJOUR QUEBEC

Sept. 29

DINE AT THE CHAMELEON Roland Park Country School’s Kaleidoscope Program offers an evening excursion to Baltimore’s popular restaurant, the

Chameleon, on Saturday, Sept. 29. Owner Brenda Wolf Smith has designed a fourcourse dinner especially for the evening. The cost is $89. For reservations and information, visit www.rpcs.org.

Chesapeake eats 26 pounds of fish per day.

Head up to Canada with the Catonsville Senior Center for this visit to Charlevoix, Quebec. The trip will include a guided tour of Quebec City,

Holy mackerel.

Baie Saint-Paul and three nights on the Island of Coudres. The cost of $715 includes six breakfasts, one lunch and four dinners, as well as transportation and accommodations. Call (410) 744-0170 to reserve your spot.

Sept. 14+

23

MT. RUSHMORE AND MORE Come along on this trip sponsored by Bykota Senior Center to

see the magnificent scenery of Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park and

DISCOVER DOLPHINS.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming from Sept. 14 to 21. The cost for this seven-night, eightday excursion is $2,000 and includes roundtrip airfare, hotel accommodations, meals, admissions and more. Call (410) 337-7350 to reserve your place.

GROUP DINING PROGRAMS: Make your Aquarium adventure deliciously entertaining!

• Dine and Discover • Sea and Tea

Reserve at 410-576-3833 or aqua.org/groupreservations

24

Leisure & Travel

SEPTEMBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

We want to be your Family’s Pharmacy That’s why we give you more.

Our pharmacists are at the heart of everything we do.

They can counsel you on your medications, side effects, drug interactions... even vitamins. We give you more than your medications; we’ll give you the advice you need.

Plus a series of pharmacy benefits like no other drugstore.

LifeCheck

sm

When we fill your prescription, our LifeCheck computer system lets our pharmacists triple check your prescriptions.*

Satellite Link

sm

Since all of our Pharmacies are linked by satellite network, we can access your prescription profile and fill your prescription at any location.* *If on file at another Rite Aid store.

Refills By Phone

Internet Refills

Refills just got easier. Call the Pharmacy number on your prescription bottle, enter the prescription I.D. number printed on the label and we will tell you when it will be ready.

With Internet Refills, you can order your prescription without ever leaving the house. Just go to www.riteaid.com and click “Refill Now”, select Store Pick-up or Mail Delivery and simply enter prescription information.

Rite Advice

Vitamin Program

With every prescription, you will receive written information on the dosage, side effects and potential drug interaction.

Only Rite Aid pharmacists are specially trained to know vitamins. Ask your Rite Aid pharmacist for a personal vitamin profile.

Workers’ Compensation

Flavor Rx

“Being injured on the job is hard enough. Your Rite Aid Pharmacist is here to personally help you along your road to recovery.” Ask us about our Workers’ Compensation Prescription Program.

There are no hassles, no delays and no out-ofpocket expenses.

We make children’s medicines a lot less yucky. Ask the pharmacist to add any of our 20 great flavors to any of your liquid medications.

Leisure & Travel

BALTIMORE BEACON — SEPTEMBER 2010

25

Hot spots for fishing in the mid-Atlantic Knowing how to fish is half the challenge. The rest is figuring out where to drop or cast your line. Below are recommendations for favorite places that experts from each area were willing to share.

Unless you own a boat, excursions like ocean or bay fishing are best done by hiring a captain. For other outings, you can cast from shore or rent a small boat and venture out on your own.

Maryland Fishing opportunities in Maryland range from deep sea fishing to freshwater species that live in tumbling mountain streams.

The Chesapeake Bay is home to about 90 percent of the Atlantic striped bass (rockfish) population, along with bluefish, flounder, white perch and other relatives.

Bountiful catches also are possible in the Eastern Bay — the stretch of water between the Eastern Shore and Kent, Tilghman and Wye islands. Fishing is best from spring through fall.

Many experienced trout fishermen head for the catch-and-release section of the Gunpower River in Gunpowder Falls State Park, just north of Baltimore. That eight-mile stretch provides ideal conditions for rainbow and brown trout.

The surrounding park is an 18,000-acre preserve with more than 100 miles of hiking trails and excellent access to the river.

Always willing to share his knowledge, Barker recommends Mattawoman Creek near Indian Head, off State Route 210, as excellent for novices. Following a spring run of rockfish, the river teems with largemouth bass, white and yellow perch, and lunker catfish.

For more information, call the Maryland Office of Tourism at 1-866-639-3526 or log onto http://visitmaryland.org.

Virginia The waters off Virginia’s shoreline offer fishing similar to that near Maryland. For

Fishing From page 22 came to understand why, during some past outings, we watched with envy as people in nearby boats pulled in a seemingly neverending parade of fish while we waited unsuccessfully for even a serious nibble.

Barker reported that the number of fish caught and released during his guided outings usually ranges from single digits — a rare occasion — to four or five dozen.

We ended up catching and releasing something between those extremes, and took home one or two each for dinner.

Needless to say, we spared our wives the fun of cleaning them, and that’s no fish story.

If you go Keith Barker has fished the Potomac River for over 20 years and lists his guiding priorities as “your safe return, that you have a fun

landlubbers, the James River can’t be beat.

Smallmouth bass abound in the upper James, between Buchanan and Scottsville and as far down as Richmond.

According to one experienced angler, “The lower James is good for everything.”

That includes largemouth bass, trophy blue catfish — for which the current record is over 102 pounds — and fall rock bass and spring shad runs.

For more information, call 1-800-847-4882 or log onto http://virginia.org and click on the “Get Outside” tab.

summer. A bait and tackle store sells everything needed to make a good catch, and shares the latest fishing reports.

A swamp that supports the northernmost natural stand of bald cypress trees in the country at Trap Pond State Park also is home to concentrations of largemouth bass, pickerel, crappie and bluegills.

A choice of rental boats is available, and hiking and bird watching also are excellent. For more information, call 1-866-2847483 or log onto http://visitdelaware.com.

Pennsylvania W. Virginia The confluence of the New, Greenbrier and Bluestone rivers at Bluestone Lake in southern West Virginia has something-foreveryone variety. The New River is considered the best warm water fishery in that state, and holds impressive records for smallmouth, white and striped bass.

Float trips on the Greenbrier River often produce bountiful catches of smallmouth bass. Rental boats are available at the marina on Bluestone Lake, where bluegill, crappie, catfish and several kinds of bass are thick.

The South Branch of the Potomac, which runs through beautiful mountain scenery, is known for outstanding fly fishing, as well as bald eagle sightings. For more information, call 1-800-225-5982 or log onto http://wvtourism.com.

With 83,000 miles of rivers and streams, not to mention 4,000 lakes and ponds, Pennsylvania is a fisherman’s paradise. Trout are

a common prey, and you don’t have to travel very far from the Washington area to seek them out.

Letort Spring Run, southwest of Harrisburg, has perfect conditions for trout, as does the Monocacy Creek north of Philadelphia, where an occasional rainbow in the 10-to-12 pound range is landed.

For those willing to drive a bit further, the well-known but hard-to-pronounce Youghiogeny River, southeast of Pittsburgh and just north of the Maryland border, is outstanding for float fishing. Fly fishermen in the know head for the ninemile all-tackle trophy trout section.

For more information, call 1-800-847-4872 or log onto http://visitpa.com.

All Pet Crematory, Inc. (410) 552-0703 or 1(888) 552-0703 (toll free)

• open directly to the public for private cremations only • caring & professional staff • memorial urns and merchandise available

“Pet Lovers Serving Pet Lovers” | WWW.APCrematory.com

Delaware Despite its small size, Delaware boasts of big fishing opportunities. The Pier at Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes stretches a quarter-mile over the mouth of Delaware Bay and offers year-round angling.

In summer and early fall, that means croaker and spot. During late fall and winter, bluefish and striped bass hang out around the pilings, especially at night.

Flounder show up in late spring and early

and memorable day, and that you catch fish.”

He is part of a group guide service, so if he is not available, he can recommend another equally experienced associate.

Hiring a professional guide isn’t inexpensive. For two people fishing for largemouth bass, Barker charges $350 for a full day, $250 for a half day, plus $25 for fuel, tackle, bait and other necessities. He has room for a third angler for an additional $50.

But it’s money well spent; you may well end up enjoying one of your best fishing experiences ever.

In addition to his invaluable teaching, Captain Keith willingly shares information about his fishing hot spots. Details about their location may be downloaded onto a GPS “SD” card for the technically advanced, and provided verbally for technologically challenged folks like Tim and me.

To contact Barker, call (301) 509-2102 or e-mail him at kwbarkerinc@comcast.net.

Exceptional Assisted Living Incredibly Affordable Prices Two Maryland Locations Our caring, skilled staff expertly meets your changing needs, whether you are independent, desire modest assistance, or require daily support — all at surprisingly affordable prices.

We also offer The Village, a secure neighborhood for those with Alzheimer’s or other dementia-related illnesses.

Call us today for more information or to schedule a personal visit

HOPKINS CREEK

ELLICOTT CITY

410-918-0400

410-465-2288

1813 Old Eastern Ave. Baltimore, MD 21221

3100 North Ridge Rd. Ellicott City, MD 21043

www.LighthouseSeniorLiving.com Locally & Professionally Managed by The Time Group

26

SEPTEMBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Style Arts &

After he retired from a career in law, Duncan Whitaker transitioned to professional photography. Some of his works are on view at the Evergreen Museum & Library through Sept. 26.

Audience is part of show at ‘Whodunnit’

By Carol Sorgen If you’re an armchair mystery buff, Whodunnit for Hire, a traveling murder mystery troupe in Baltimore, is sure to satisfy your inner Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot.

The three-year-old company not only puts on mystery shows for the public throughout the year, but also is available for hire — hence the name — for corporate and social gatherings such as holiday parties and family reunions.

Founded in 2007 by producer Wendy Newell, Whodunnit for Hire has 12 members who write, act, sing, dance, do “improv” and sell shows. A traditional Whodunnit for Hire show has five actors.

The show lasts two hours and is generally performed around a meal. The cast travels to various locations, such as restaurants, museums, vineyards, hotels, trains, boats — even your living room or board room.

first play when her third-grade class went to see the fifth-graders perform “The Tortoise and the Hare.”

“While my classmates were laughing and cheering, I was struck with an overwhelming sense of understanding; an epiphany,” Newell recalled. “I knew what I wanted to do and have been performing in some capacity ever since.”

Newell, 41, has an undergraduate degree in communications with a theatre minor and an MBA (both from the University of Southern Maine).

In her early 20s, she auditioned for a mystery theatre company, landed a role, and again experienced that feeling of knowing “this is what I’m supposed to do.”

But it wasn’t until she moved to Maryland that she considered starting her own production company. “I did all the legalese, auditioned actors, and was doing shows in April 2007,” Newell said. That first year, Whodunnit for Hire gave seven performances.

This year, the troupe has 17 shows scheduled, with an additional five or six bookings anticipated. “It won’t take too long before we’ll be doing 50 to 60 shows a year,” said Newell.

What audiences find appealing about Whodunnit for Hire shows is the laughing, she said. “Sure, there’s been a murder — but the dead guy gets up and sings and dances before he’s carted away!

“The shows are scripted to incorporate the audience — some even get cast as suspects,” said Newell. Once the dead body is discovered, the audience is encouraged to interrogate the characters.

These portions of the show are improvised. Actors stay in character for the duration of the mystery.

“Whodunnit shows can be solved,” said Newell. “The murderer is not chosen or ‘voted’ on by the guests. We write the shows so that, to catch the killer, a guest must search for clues and interrogate suspects.”

Before the final act, guests fill out a Sleuth Sheet with their guess, and the most insightful response is given the Super Sleuth Award. The cast also gives out Bonehead Awards for funny answers.

Lifelong love of theatre Newell, who lives in Sykesville, saw her

The Woodlands

• Round-the-clock professional staff Assisted Living It’s About Living • On-site therapies 1320 Windlass Dr. • Baltimore, MD 21220 • Diabetic 410-918-2139 • woodlandsliving.org management • Short- and Quail Run long-term admissions Assisted Living When there’s no place like home...

410-529-9400 • quailrun.org

Managed by Quail Run Eldercare Communities

Cars, boats, furniture, antiques, tools, appliances Everything and anything is sold on

Where to play gumshoe The company has several upcoming shows open to the public.

On August 21, at the Bulle Rock Country Club in Havre de Grace, Ghost Walk Murders will be presented. Is this place haunted?

There are things crashing about without just cause. And, now, there are two bodies on the premises. You are a suspect and cannot leave until you help discover whodunnit.

Doors open at 6 p.m. and the dinner and show begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are $50.

Cocktail attire is recommended. Call (410) 939-8887, ext. 5 for reservations.

On Sept. 25, there’s a fundraiser for My Neighbors Foundation at the Woodhall Wine Cellar in Parkton. Doors open for Murder on the Vine at 6 p.m., and the dinner and show begin at 7 p.m.

This Sherlock Holmes mystery has a wine theme. Gather together to learn more about See ‘WHODUNNIT’, page 27

PHOTO COURTESY OF WHODUNNIT FOR HIRE

9900 Walther Blvd. • Baltimore, MD 21234

“This is comedy. I love helping people laugh,” she said. “It is a wonderful thing to help people feel good.”

Needless to say, Newell is an enthusiastic mystery buff herself. She makes regular visits to the mystery section of the library and thoroughly enjoys PBS’s line-up of mystery programs, from Sherlock Holmes to Miss Marple to “Foyle’s War.”

Radio Flea Market Heard every Sunday, 6:30-8 a.m. on 680 WCBM

Wendy Newell and David Elvove perform with Whodunnit for Hire, an acting troupe whose original plays require audience participation to solve mysteries.

Arts & Style

BALTIMORE BEACON — SEPTEMBER 2010

27

Former lawyer finds he has flair for film available for sale in galleries in both the series, which focuses on people who disWashington metropolitan area and Maine, covered their artistic talents after the fulwhere he spends most of his summers. He fillment of other careers. also sells them through his website, Using a Nikon F100 — a “warhorse” of a www.whitakerphocamera, he calls it — tography.com.

Whitaker takes an Through Sept. old-school approach 26, a sampling of to photography. He Whitaker’s photoprefers film to digital graphs is being technology, though displayed at the he does own a pointEvergreen Museand-shoot digital um & Library in camera as well.

Baltimore. “From “I think the combi“Flaming Stairs” Mexico to Maine: nation of capturing Photographs by Duncan Whitaker” pres- an image on film and then having it printed ents 12 of Whitaker’s color photographs in digitally gives the best result in quality,” the sumptuous setting of this former Gild- said Whitaker, who admits that his son has ed Age mansion. told him that his days as a film photograThe exhibition is the second in the Evergreen Museum & Library’s “Second Act” See PHOTOGRAPHER, page 28 PHOTO BY DUNCAN WHITAKER

PHOTO BY DUNCAN WHITAKER

By Carol Sorgen point only by taking photographs at family As a successful lawyer, Duncan Whitak- birthdays and holiday trips. er spent almost 40 years working in the “For some years, I had enjoyed perusing corporate world in Washington, D.C. fine art photography books, but had never When he retired in had any serious 1997, he wanted to thought that I could find something else or should pursue that would occupy the same,” he said. both his time and But with his inhis interest. terest piqued, He performs pro Whitaker took a bono legal work one class in photograday a week, which phy at the Smithkeeps him connectsonian Institute, “Three Dories” ed to the legal and began imworld. But for the rest of the time, “I didn’t mersing himself in the subject by reading want to go to the office each day and sit books, looking at good photography, and around reading newspapers and the like, taking workshops across the country. as some of my former partners have done,” said the 78-year-old Whitaker.

A traditional approach While casting about for a new passion, Today Whitaker’s intimate landscapes are he took some classes in bird-watching and went on several bird walks.

“That didn’t really work out so well,” he laughed. “Bird watching was not for me. I could not distinguish the bird songs, and I soon learned that the smaller the bird, the higher it perched in the trees and thus was more difficult to see.”

But someone on one of the bird walks was taking photographs, and Whitaker thought, “That looks like fun.”

He began to think seriously about photography, which he had done up to that

HARFORD COUNTY SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2 BEL AIR EQUESTRIAN CENTER ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9 SEVERN SCHOOL HOWARD COUNTY SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 CENTENNIAL PARK

‘Whodunnit’ From page 26 purchasing wine for investment and pleasure, but be prepared — a body will turn up and you’ll be asked to solve the crime.

Tickets are $60, and part of the proceeds will help children in the community.

Cocktail attire is recommended. Call (410) 357-4626 for tickets.

On Oct.16, at Temple Emanuel Synagogue in Reisterstown, The Great CLUE Murder will take place. Join the temple’s Sisterhood for a murder mystery and pot luck dinner. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the dinner and show begin at 7 p.m.

Join the Colonel, the Professor and the whole gang as they try to catch a killer.

Tickets are $25, plus a covered dish of food.

Casual attire is recommended. Call Caryn Scher for reservations at (410) 795-2991.

For those who would like to employ Whodunnit for Hire for their own event, there are several fee options. The traditional production costs $1,500, and several shows are available to choose from. Given enough time, the company can write a mystery specifically for your event.

There is also a Whodunnit game for groups who want each of their attendees to play a role, rather than simply watching from the audience. The fee for such games is $400, plus $12 per person.

For more information on Whodunnit for Hire, visit its website, www.whodunnitforhire.com, or call (410) 549-2722.

GREATER BALTIMORE SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30 OREGON RIDGE PARK 410.561.9099 800.272.3900 AMANDA.SCIUKAS@ALZ.ORG

START A TEAM IN YOUR AREA GO TO WWW.ALZ.ORG/MARYLAND

Frederick Business Properties

Country Meadows • Glade Valley Nursing and Rehabilitation Center • Lighthouse Senior Living Panera Bread • Sunrise Senior Living and Brighton Gardens Tony Tank Tribe #149 Improved Order of Red Men

28

Arts & Style

SEPTEMBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

New memoirs shed light on diverse lives

By Mary C. Stachyra “There was never yet an uninteresting life.

Such a thing is an impossibility,” Mark Twain wrote in The Refuge of the Derelicts. “Inside of the dullest exterior there is a drama, a comedy and a tragedy.”

Indeed, that’s why autobiographies make such interesting reading — whether it’s an account of a CBS reporter’s struggle with Alzheimer’s, a rabbi’s escape from Nazi Germany, or Twain’s own highly anticipated memoir, to be published this fall, a century after his death.

Here are brief reviews to whet your appetite for these newly published works.

other, and the rising class of multimillionaires who “rotted the commercial morals of this nation.”

Substitute a few names and dates, and these words could almost have been written yesterday. Yet Twain doesn’t confine his words to mere politics: He also takes the opportunity to settle a number of personal scores.

All in all, the first volume is sure to be a hit with Twainiacs this year as they flock to his boyhood home and the cabin where he wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. (For more on these sites, see “Retracing Mark Twain’s steps in Mo., NY” in the June issue of The Beacon.)

Mark Twain beyond the grave The Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume One (University of California Press, $34.95), is due out in November. Redacted editions have been published in the past, but this complete version reveals a new side to Twain.

The author left specific instructions before his death that the uncensored book should be held for publication for 100 years — until he was “dead, and unaware, and indifferent” — so he could speak his “whole mind.”

And that’s exactly what he does. Beyond the wry quips and down-home humor, there was an angry side to Twain. In 5,000 previously unpublished words, Twain is “literally speaking beyond the grave,” lashing out against American interventionism abroad, politicians like Teddy Roosevelt who “somersault” from one position to an-

Photographer From page 27 pher are numbered.

“He may be right,” said Whitaker. “We’ll see, but I will not give up easily.”

As befits someone who prefers traditional film photography, Whitaker has no use for such digital photo editing programs as Photoshop. “I like my photos to be printed the way they were captured,” he said.

“None of my photos has been manipulated or changed in any way.”

Making the ordinary extraordinary Though he may sometimes “pre-visualize” a shot and wait for just the right moment to capture an image, Whitaker doesn’t pose his subjects or set up a scene in any way.

“I take things as they are,” he said. “I like to take ordinary objects — a cap, a door, a paint can, for example — and capture them in a way that is interesting and evokes a response from the viewer. That’s the challenge.”

Emotional look at early Alzheimer’s In Jan’s Story (Behler Publications, $15.95), CBS reporter Barry Petersen details his wife’s gradual deterioration after she was diagnosed at age 55 with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Jan Chorlton Petersen was a reporter with CNN, ABC and CBS’s “Sunday Morning.”

Out of an estimated 5.3 million Americans who have Alzheimer’s, approximately half a million have early onset or another form of dementia. Yet both these numbers are expected to undergo dramatic growth in the coming decades, placing an enormous strain on the healthcare system.

Petersen’s narration, laced with flashbacks to the early days of his relationship with Jan, draws attention to a terminal illness that attracts comparatively little research money from the government or private sector.

More than a documentary of Jan’s last years and Petersen’s own struggles as a caregiver, it’s a moving love story.

The author reveals plenty of raw emotion through anecdotes about happy mo-

And a challenge well met, as the exhibition proves. “Wet Paint,” for example, one of Whitaker’s most popular photos, is a colorful, yet stark, image of two well-used paint cans resting in front of a newly painted wall.

“The Balloon Man” — like “Wet Paint,” taken in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico — shows the retreating image of a balloon vendor, carrying his multi-colored wares at what looks like the end of a long day.

Neither photo is particularly unusual in terms of what it captures, but the color and composition engender an immediate response, as does the attention to detail.

Whereas someone else might walk by the same scenes, Whitaker sees the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Though some of his photos include people, he tends to focus on details of objects or landscapes. “I think as you get closer to something, whether it’s a cap on a chair or a narrow look at a sand dune, you get a more appealing image.”

The works in the Evergreen exhibition are varied in terms of location, geography

In a self-published autobiography, Time of Terror, Road to Revival (Trafford Publishing, $22 paperback, $32 hardback) Rabbi Jacob Wiener relates his memories of a different kind of tragedy.

Wiener was born in 1917 in Bremen, Germany. His family bore an increasing number of hardships over the years, but the worst occurred on Kristallnacht, “The Night of Broken Glass,” November 9, 1938.

That night, all across Germany dozens of Jews were murdered, tens of thousands of young men were deported to concentration camps, and thousands of synagogues and businesses were burnt to the ground.

In Wiener’s hometown, five people were

killed, including his mother. Stormtroopers raided their house in the middle of the night, demanding to know where her husband was.

She couldn’t tell them, so they shot her.

Because of her “resistance,” it was ruled a “justified death” in Nazi documentation of the event.

Smaller details, however, also stand out, like Wiener’s recollection of a film shown at a school assembly. The film depicted mental patients, prison inmates “who could not walk, talk, stand straight, or move their feet or hands,” and sick people “with bent bodies, grimacing, twisted in all kinds of contortions.”

The film then posed the question: “Should we spend lots of money on these useless vermin?”

While the filmmakers clearly expected a firm “no,” Wiener recalls his own mental response: “We Jews believe in the positive value of every person in this world. No two humans are equal. That is the secret and the result of the diversity of the human race.”

In 1939, Wiener fled to Canada, but over the course of the next several years lost 24 other family members through the Holocaust. He later moved to Silver Spring, Md., and currently volunteers at the Holocaust Memorial Museum as an active 93-year-old.

Despite the nightmare of his years in Germany, Wiener has kept a positive philosophy: “I cannot help but feel that every day of my life has been a miracle.”

Autographed copies of the book are available from the author (jacobgwiener@juno.com, 301-649-6246) or his daughter (mathematician1@gmail.com, 301-649-4561) for $15.

and subject matter, but in each case Whitaker says his photographic goal was the same.

“Working in a world which is complex and often chaotic, I seek to discern the essence of a scene or subject and, through simplification and composition, create a visually interesting and perhaps at times a compelling image,” he said.

“In short, I attempt to render the common uncommon and to convert the ordinary into a new or different visual experience. The key is not what you look at, but rather what you see,” he said.

The exhibition “From Mexico to Maine: Photographs by Duncan Whitaker” is on view at Evergreen Museum & Library,

4545 N. Charles St., until Sept. 26. Admission to the exhibit is free with admission to the museum itself, which is $6 for adults, $5 for those over 65, and free for members, Johns Hopkins faculty, staff and students, and children under 5.

Evergreen’s permanent and changing exhibits can be seen only by guided tour.

The museum is open Tuesday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Tours begin every hour on the hour; the last tour begins at 3 p.m.

For more information, call (410) 516-0341 or visit online at www.museums.jhu.edu/ evergreen.

ments in years past and present sacrifices, and is painfully honest about his drinking, depression and anger.

Readers will no doubt have strong opinions on the morality of another choice Petersen makes near the end of the book, a twist in the love story that emphasizes the divide between idealism and human reality.

Even a marriage of 20 years has little defense against “a disease that will rob and cheat and steal and slowly suck the person you love away from you.”

A rabbi’s journey

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

BALTIMORE VS. THE WORLD

The recently reopened Current Space hosts a collection of videos from Baltimore and around the world. Works run the gamut from music videos to animation. The exhibition runs through Sunday, Sept. 5 at Current Space, 421 N. Howard St., on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.currentspace.com.

Arts & Style

BALTIMORE BEACON — SEPTEMBER 2010

29

Getting deals from online ticket brokers

By Candice Choi Before you pull the trigger on buying those concert or game tickets, ask yourself: Is this the best I can do?

The rise of online ticket brokers such as StubHub has expanded options for consumers looking to attend concerts, shows and sporting events. The drawback is that there’s also more confusion.

It used to be that the resale market was primarily for those willing to pay a big markup for sold-out events. But that’s changing as competition drives down prices and buyers get savvier about sniffing out deals.

In many cases, your best bet is probably still buying directly from the event producer. But there are times when striking out on your own could pay off.

Here’s what you need to know, starting with what’s called the primary market.

Ticketing giants such as Ticketmaster work directly with artists and venues to sell seats. You’ll be charged a service fee that varies depending on the event.

The resale market is where companies such as StubHub step in. Ticket resellers use these sites to find buyers. The sites charge buyers a service fee, sometimes as high as 20 percent of the sale price.

So how do tickets appear on the resale market? They’re generally from smaller ticket brokers that want to list inventories online, or from consumers who have tickets to an event they can’t attend.

Many sites also buy and sell tickets directly, much like brokers. The sites don’t violate anti-scalping laws because they’re not selling tickets at the event.

Some offer guarantees To give wary buyers assurance that they’re not buying counterfeit tickets, big sites generally have strong guarantee policies.

StubHub, for example, promises that buyers won’t be charged until a seller confirms the order, and that tickets will be delivered in time for the event. Money is refunded for any canceled event.

Another site, TicketNetwork.com, guarantees buyers a 125 percent refund if a purchased ticket turns out to be a dud.

Terms will vary from site to site, so be sure to check them carefully.

The resale market is primarily for find-

ing hard-to-come-by tickets, often at a higher cost. Still, it can also be a place to find bargains, especially for pricier seats.

About 40 percent of tickets on the resale market sell for face value or less, according to the research company Forrester.

Your odds of scoring such a deal depend on multiple factors.

Naturally, your chances will diminish for a highly anticipated game. But for a Wednesday afternoon game, you might find a deal on coveted, high-end seats you otherwise couldn’t afford. This is particularly true for baseball, where season ticket holders often don’t want to attend all 81 home games.

Keep in mind that there can be great variance in prices and availability. Check a couple of different resale sites before making a decision, and don’t forget to factor in service charges when comparing prices.

StubHub is the biggest player in the market by far and charges a 10 percent service fee. Other players include RazorGator.com, TicketLiquidator.com and TicketNetwork.com.

Flexibility can pay off The longer you can wait to buy your tickets, the better your chances of finding a deal. That’s because sellers don’t want to eat their tickets.

Your selection will be a lot more limited at the last minute, however, so this is good strategy if you’re just looking for one or two tickets.

Keep in mind that you might not always know exactly where your seat will be when buying from a resale site. For example, a listing might give you the section and row, but not the seat number.

If you’re willing to play the waiting game, leave enough time for delivery if tickets aren’t downloadable. StubHub generally requires two days for delivery unless you live in a city where the company has a location.

Remember that your savings can be offset by higher delivery costs. At StubHub, it’s $11.95 for two-day FedEx and $19.95 for priority overnight.

Before you place any orders, click around or call the site’s customer service to see if there are any promotions. TicketNetwork, for example, gives $20 off your

A B E D

T O T O

T A R O T

O L I V E

T I D A L

M A C S

O P A L

G E R E

S M O O P A C P T Y A L R A B I S E S S L L A P C L A U L R S V E E T

From page 30.

O A K L E Y

A H E M

T S K A U T A S E T H R N R E E O N E S G U N O M I A T E I D S T S S T E H O E T H A S O R T E R W I K E A E N D E D I R O B O T E L E V I L P I D A T E T E

Business Bureau if you’re not familiar with the company.

You may also feel you have good enough judgment to weed out any scams on sites like Craigslist. But it should be noted that recently a California man was arraigned on larceny charges after police accused him of selling fake tickets to the NBA finals.

On eBay, which owns StubHub, you can at least view the seller’s ratings. Whichever path you decide on, remember that paying with a credit card can give you some protections in case anything goes wrong.

— AP

BEACON BITS

Aug. 27+

PAINT THE TOWN

Stroll the scenic streets of Historic Ellicott City and watch artists painting en plein air all over town, or tap into your own artistic talent, set up an easel and join them at work. Call HCAC at (410) 313-ARTS (2787) for more information or to pre-register for the paint-out.

Ongoing

PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER

The Baltimore Playwrights Festival continues through Sunday, Aug. 29 with performances of Hammarskjold at the Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre. Called a “psychological thriller,” the play is the story of a man who appears at a New York hospital claiming to be Dag Hammarskjold, the United Nations Secretary-General who died in a plane crash in 1961. For tickets, call (410) 752-1225 or go to www.baltplayfest.com.

a es ift! k a g M at e gr

Beacon The

I N

F O C U S

F O R

P E O P L E

O V E R

5 0

NEWS & FEATURES • LAW & MONEY FITNESS & HEALTH • LEISURE & TRAVEL ARTS & STYLE • VOLUNTEERS & CAREERS

$12/year via Third Class Mail* Please send a one-year subscription to: Name:____________________________________________ Address:___________________________________________ City: _____________________State:_____Zip: ___________

ANSWERS TO CROSSWORD B A J A

next purchase if you spend over $250 on any order.

Your decision on whether to buy might also be swayed by perks. At major events like the Super Bowl, for example, StubHub sets up hospitality tents with free drinks and food for customers.

There are, of course, other ways to get tickets, but the safeguards and selection can be spottier depending on the path you choose.

One way to trim service fees is to find the brokers who list on resale sites. Just be sure to check their rating with the Better

BB910

T E E D

E R R S

C L A N S

S E D E R

T E N S

S E T S

❐ THIRD CLASS One Year = $12 (in MD = $12.72 w/ tax)

❐ Check here if this is a gift subscription.

Write the recipient’s name above. A gift card will be sent in your name: _____________________________ Return this form with your check, made payable to The Beacon, to: The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915-2227 *Maryland residents: add 6% for sales tax.

30

SEPTEMBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Crossword

Puzzle Page

Future Tense 1

2

3

4

by Stephen Sherr 5

7

17

28

29

35

37

39

by Armiger Jagoe

1. What was the name of the large plastic ring that we whirled around our waist in the late ‘50s and ‘60s?

2. In 1956, who was the first president of the newly organized Southern Christian Leadership Conference?

3. What was the name of Roosevelt’s New Deal program, which lasted for nine years, employed 2.5 million young men, paying them $30 a month to plant trees, clear picnic grounds, etc.?

4. Who was a former National AAU swimming champion who starred in the 1952 movie The Million Dollar Mermaid?

5. What was the name of the first nuclear-powered submarine?

Jagoe’s Brain Joggers answers

33

34

59

60

41

43

44

46

47

49

Jagoe’s Brain Joggers

32 38

40

54

13

26

31

36

53

12

22 25

30

45

11

19

24

42

10

16

21 23

Magic Maze answers on p. 29.

9

18

20

52

8

15

14

27

6

48

50 55

51

56

57

58

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

Across

Down

1. Faces the pitcher 5. Castle defense 9. Use rented shoes 14. Peek-___ 15. Island aside the USS Arizona Memorial 16. A real stunner 17. Player on a merged NFL team 19. Early anesthetic 20. Embrace a nickname 21. K-O connection 22. Oboe and bassoon 23. School of five U.S. presidents 25. Singles 27. Small fry 30. Weapon pricing plan 35. Detective story lines 37. Gobbled up 38. Out of work 39. Rollercoasters 40. Martin and Lucia (abbrev.)

41. Lieu 42. Daytona Speedway shape 43. HBO rival 44. Natural gas component 45. Give instructions to the baggage carrier 48. Latvia, during the Cold War (abbrev.)

49. Scratch 50. Retailer founded in Smaland, Sweden 52. Big wig 55. Last word of many novels 57. Revises 61. Mimics 62. General of the next civil war 64. Create an ice sculpture 65. Demonic 66. A couple of cups 67. Winter hazard 68. Dinner and a movie, perhaps 69. Her heart was true for Dick Tracy

1. ___ California peninsula 2. Out for the night 3. Dog played by “Terry” in 1939 4. Tear-jerking 5. Comfy shoe 6. Famed sharpshooter 7. “I have something to say” 8. Election measures 9. Sound system 10. Radio star of the 30’s and 40’s 11. US Open stadium name 12. Got ready to drive 13. Acts human 18. Early video game systems 24. __ Cruces (home of New Mexico State Univ.)

26. Dir. from San Jose to Sacramento 27. Fortuneteller’s tool 28. Green shade 29. ___ wave (tsunami) 31. Gainesville, FL athlete 32. Lightbulbs, in the comics 33. Tribes 34. Passover meal 36. Student grading model 40. Heaped presents upon 41. Easy ___ 43. Health resort 44. Mouse hater’s holler 46. Ready to go 47. Morsel 51. Highly proficient 52. PC alternatives 53. October birthstone 54. Pretty Woman man 56. Stellar explosion 58. “Would ___ to you?”

59. Sawbucks 60. Prepares the dinner table 63. ___ Miss (Eli Manning’s school)

Answers on page 29.

1.. The Hula-hoop 2. Martin Luther King, Jr. 3. Civilian Conservation Corps 4. Esther Williams 5. The Nautilus

31

BALTIMORE BEACON — SEPTEMBER 2010

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 bottom of this page.

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.

Business & Employment Opportunities LONG ESTABLISHED COMPANY. Has an opening for a bored, retired, part-time sales person. Flexible hours. Huge potential for residual income on repeat business. Draw against commission. (410) 539-2277 or qag@gtiands.com OFFER A NEEDED SERVICE VERY FEW KNOW ABOUT! Earn large commissions selling the unwanted life insurance policies of seniors in the emerging industry of Life/Viatical Settlements. Need network of seniors and/or professionals that work with seniors. Call Ray at 877-282-4360. www.AtAge60.com. $$$ 47 PEOPLE WANTED $$$ EARN Up To $4,794 Weekly Working From Home Assembling Information Packets. No Experience Necessary! Start Immediately! FREE Information.

CALL 24hrs. 1-866-899-2756. $50/HR POTENTIAL. Get Paid to Shop and Eat. Retail Research Associate Needed. No Experience. Training Provided. Call 1-800-742-6941.

ACTORS/MOVIE EXTRAS Needed Immediately for upcoming roles $150-$300 per day depending on job requirements. No experience, All looks needed. 1-800-561-1762 A-104 for casting times/locations.

AIRLINES ARE HIRING – Train for high paying Aviation Maintenance Career. FAA approved program. Financial aid if qualified – Housing available. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance (888) 686-1704.

BARTENDERS IN DEMAND. No Experience Necessary. Meet New People, Take Home Cash Tips. Up to $200 per shift. Training, Placement and Certification Provided. Call (877) 435-8840.

GUARANTEED MONEY FROM HOME. See what $20.00 can do for you, 10 min presentation. (316) 285-9998 ext. AJ4156.

SELL YOUR UNWANTED LIFE INSURANCE! Nationally licensed and insured. Call 877-282-4360 for a FREE evaluation. www.AtAge60.com.

Caregivers

Financial Services

Miscellaneous

Vacation Opportunities

$$$ACCESS LAWSUIT CASH NOW!!! As seen on TV: Injury Lawsuit Dragging? Need $500-$500,000++ within 24/hrs after Approval?

Compare our lower rates. CALL NOW 1-866386-3692 www.lawcapital.com.

DONATE A CAR TODAY TO HELP CHILDREN And Their Families Suffering From Cancer. Free Towing. Tax Deductible. Children’s Cancer Fund of America, Inc. www.ccfoa.org 1800-469-8593.

SUNNY SUMMER SPECIALS At Florida’s Best Beach-New Smyrna Beach Stay a week or longer Plan a beach wedding or family reunion. www.NSBFLA.com or 1-800-541-9621.

ATTEND COLLEGE ONLINE from Home. *Medical, *Business, *Paralegal, *Accounting, *Criminal Justice. Job placement assistance.

Computer available. Financial Aid if qualified.

Call 800-510-0784 www.CenturaOnline.com.

Wanted

For Rent/Sale: Real Estate 20 ACRE RANCHES Near Growing EL Paso Texas. Only $12,900 $0Down, $99 per/mo.

Owner Financing, No Credit Checks Money Back Guarantee. Free Map/Pictures. 1-800-7558953 www.sunsetranches.com.

GEORGIA LAND & HOMESITES- Washington County near Augusta. 1acre-20acres starting @ $3750/acre. County approved, incredible investment, Beautiful weather. Low taxes.

Owner financing from $199/mo. Hablo Espanol, 706-364-4200.

LAND SALE – BANK LIQUIDATION PRICES Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, New Mexico. Acreage starting at $485/acre for 35ac FINANCING AVAILABLE OAC Buildable land, brokers welcome www.RmtLand.com Rmtkenzie@yahoo.com 1-800-682-8088.

RENT TO OWN HOMES! Damaged Credit – OK $850 Special! You Work, You Own – Guaranteed! $3,000 Minimum Combined Income CoApplicants Welcome! 1-888-605-5181 or 636533-4070 www.RealAgentsHomes.com.

For Sale BARN FOR SALE, Call 1-402-833-5600.

BUILDING SALE! “ROCK BOTTOM PRICES!” Quick Delivery. 25X30 $4577. 30X40 $7140. 32X60 $11,950. 35X60 $13,990. 40X70 $14,650. 46X140 $37,600. OTHERS. Ends optional. Pioneer DIRECT 1-800-668-5422.

DIRECTV 50% OFF for one year! FREE HD/DVR Upgrades, Standard Install, 3mo STARZ + SHOWTIME. Get started for $0! New cust only, qual pkgs. DirectStarTV 1-800-2795698.

GIGANTIC GYM MIRRORS, $99 48”X100” (11 available) @ $115/each. 72”x100” (9 available) @ $165/each. 60”x84” beveled (3 available) @ $135/each. Will deliver free. Installation Available. 1-800-473-0619.

MEMORY FOAM THERAPEUTIC NASA VISCO MATTRESSES WHOLESALE! T-$299 F-$349 Q-$399 K-$499 ADJUSTABLES - $799 FREE DELIVERY 25 YEAR WARRANTY 90 NIGHT TRIAL 1-800-ATSLEEP 1-800-2875337 WWW.MATTRESSDR.COM. SILLY SHAPED BRACELET BANDS WHOLESALE Smart store owners buy from us. Huge variety. Hottest novelty item of the decade. BUY WHOLESALE HERE. 888-5634411 www.wholesalesillybandz.com.

Health VIAGRA, Cialis, Testosterone & MORE! FREE Samples! Low Prices! FDA Approved Medical Vacuum Pumps. FREE BROCHURES! Dr. Joel Kaplan 619-294-7777 Ext. #25 www.DrJoelKaplan.com (Discounts Available).

Miscellaneous DONATE YOUR CAR!!! Kids Fund Inc. 443-901-2649 or 1-877-532-9330. Help to provide scholarships to attend college for kids. Cars, Boats, SUV, Buses, etc. Free towing. IRS Tax Deductions. All vehicles considered.

PRIVATE DUTY SERVICE providing professional & high quality care by a licensed and insured, certified nursing assistant. Because you’re worth it! Great references! Contact Laura 443-630-8453 or ljeancok@aol.com.

REACH OVER 30 MILLION HOMES WITH ONE BUY. Advertise in NANI for only $2,795 per week! For information, call Roger at 410248-9101.

PRIVATE DUTY Nurse (RN) providing safe, post operative & general nursing care at home.

Johns Hopkins trained & educated. Call John at (443) 231-6685 or jmoon5914@aol.com.

**ALL Satellite Systems are not the same.

Monthly programming starts under $20 per month and FREE HD and DVR systems for new callers. CALL NOW 1-800-799-4935.

Financial Services CASH NOW! Get cash for your structured settlement or annuity payments. High payouts.

Call J.G. Wentworth. 1-866-SETTLEMENT (1866-738-8536). Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau.

DONATE A CAR - HELP CHILDREN FIGHTING DIABETES. Fast, Free Towing.

Call 7 days/week. Non-runners OK. Tax Deductible. Call Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. 1-800-578-0408.

ACCREDITED HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA. English/Spanish. Earn your diploma fast! No GED. CALL NOW! 1-888-355-5650.

DIRECTV Save $29/mo for a YEAR! NO Equipment/Start-Up Costs! Free HD/DVR Upgrade! Other Packages Start $29.99/mo! Ends 7/14/10. New cust. only, qual pkgs. DirectStarTV 1-800-620-0058.

DONATE A CAR… To The Cancer Fund of America. Help Those Suffering With Cancer Today. Free Towing and Tax deductible. 1-800835-9372 www.cfoa.org.

FREE HD FOR LIFE! Only on DISH Network! Lowest Price in America! $24.99/mo for over 120 Channels! $500 Bonus! 877-227-2995.

HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA! Graduate in 4 Weeks! PACE Program. FREE Brochure. CALL NOW! 1-866-562-3650 Ext. 30 www.southeasternhs.com.

GET YOUR DEGREE ONLINE *Medical, *Business, *Paralegal, *Accounting, *Criminal Justice. Job placement assistance. Computer available. Financial Aid if qualified. Call 800510-0784 www.CenturaOnline.com.

DONATE YOUR CAR! Breast Cancer Research foundation! Most highly rated breast cancer charity in America! Tax Deductible/Fast Free Pick Up. 800-771-9551 www.cardonationsforbreastcancer.org.

HANDS ON CAREER – Train for a high paying Aviation Maintenance Career. FAA approved program. Financial aid if qualified – Job placement assistance. Call AIM today (866)8546156.

HD IS FREE FOR LIFE w/ DISH Network!

FREE HD-DVR Upgrade, and $75 Cash-Back!

NO Installation, or Equipment Costs! From $24.99/mo. CALL-NOW: 866-236-8706.

ANTIQUE AND QUALITY OLDER FURNITURE and accessories wanted. One piece or entire estate, including Potthast, Biggs, Kittinger, and significant modern furniture and art, Tiffany lamps, toys, dolls, paintings, silver, oriental rugs, prints, pottery, china and glassware.

Music boxes, clocks, country store items, paper memorabilia, historical and military items, old fishing equipment, antique firearms and all other items of value. I am a Washington native with over 35 years of experience in this business. I am well educated, courteous and have more experience and pay higher prices than virtually any other dealer in the area. I make prompt decisions, have unlimited funds, pay immediately and remove items expeditiously.

No messy consignments or phony promises.

References gladly furnished. Please call Jake Lenihan, (301) 279-8834. Thank you.

HIGHEST CASH PAID FOR ANTIQUES AND ESTATES. Serving entire metro area. I will purchase one piece or your entire estate.

Including Furniture, Artwork, Glassware, Jewelry, Rugs, Costume, Gold and Silver, Watches, Sterling Items, Flatware, Lladro & Hummel Figurines, All Military Items, Guns, Swords, Helmets, Bayonets, Medals, Scout Items, Clocks, Music Boxes, Toys, Baseball Memorabilia, trains, All String Instruments, Including Guitars, Banjos, Mandolins, Fishing Rods and Reels, Lures, Historical Items, American tools, Posters. I am a very reputable dealer with two locations in Silver Spring and Bowie, MD. Please call Christopher Keller 301-408-4751 or 301-262-1299. Thank you.

ABSOLUTELY PAYING TOP CASH for Antiques, Collectibles, Jewelry, Trains, Old Toys, WW2 Memorabilia, Pottery, Glassware, Colts & Orioles items. Call Todd 443-421-6113.

HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA! Graduate in just 4 Weeks! PACE Program. FREE Brochure.

CALL NOW! 1-800-532-6546 Ext. 412 www.continentalacademy.com.

OLDER RECORDS WANTED from the 20s through 70s. Jazz, Rock-n-Roll, Soul, Rhythm & Blues, Country, and Movie and TV Soundtracks.

33 1/3 LPs, 45s or 78s. Please call John, 301596-6201.

Personal Services

WANTED – CORDED ORGAN. Please call 410-391-1750.

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

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

OLD GUITARS WANTED! Fender, Gibson, Martin, Gretsch, Prairie State, Euphonon, Larson, D’Angelico, Stromberg, Rickenbacker, and Mosrite. Gibson Mandolins/Banjos. 1930’s thru 1970’s TOP CASH PAID! 1-800-401-0440.

Vacation Opportunities SELL/RENT YOUR TIMESHARE FOR CASH!! Our Guaranteed Services will Sell/Rent Your Unused Timeshare for CASH! Over $78 Million Dollars in offers in 2009! www.sellatimeshare.com 877-624-6890.

Thank you for reading!

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING RATES

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, offer a personal service, or place a personal ad. Each ad is $10 for 25 words, 25 cents for each additional word.

Commercial Party Text Ads: For parties engaged in an ongoing commercial business enterprise. Each ad is $25 for 25 words, 50 cents for each additional word.

Note: Each real estate listing counts as one commercial ad.

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

The Beacon, Classified Dept.

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

32

SEPTEMBER 2010 — BALTIMORE BEACON

SEND A MESSAGE: KEEP SOCIAL SECURITY STRONG. As we celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Social Security, there are some in Washington who are talking about making cuts in the program to help reduce the federal budget deficit. But for all those years, Americans have been counting on Social Security to be there for them to provide the solid foundation they need for secure retirement.

Social Security didn’t cause the deficit; it’s paid for by hardworking Americans who deserve every cent of the benefits promised to them.

Make your voice heard. It’s time to send a message to our nation’s leaders: Don’t jeopardize the retirement security of seniors and future generations. Send a message urging the president and your members of Congress to protect Social Security: www.aarp.org/strengthensocialsecurity.