Air Force vet turns powerlifitng champ, LV Review Journal 11/13

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/military/veteran-turns-powerlifting-after-service Posted November 11, 2013 Veteran turns to powerlifting after service By LISA FERGUSON SPECIAL TO LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL Former U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Tony Rodriguez gladly shares stories about how he fractured a rib and his shin while on a tour of duty in the Philippines during the late 1980s. Then there was the time he broke his hand while working as part of a special operations unit in Florida during the early ’90s. A few years later, on a top-secret mission in England, he took an elbow to the mouth and busted a tooth, had his shoulder popped from its socket and “shredded” the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, which required surgery and a pair of titanium bolts to repair. The injuries were not sustained in combat, however, as one might assume. Rather, they resulted from the years Rodriguez spent training and fighting as a martial artist while stationed around the globe with the Air Force. He eventually discovered the sport of powerlifting, in which he has been ranked a national champion several times over. According to the website powerlifting watch.com, 45-year-old Rodriguez is currently ranked No. 1 nationally in the Masters-division deadlift category for men age 40 to 44, having pulled up a 606-pound barbell during the Amateur Athletic Union Powerlifting Federation’s North American Championships in July. The Las Vegas resident also is ranked fifth nationally in the Best of the Best Top 20 Masters deadlift category, after lifting 629 pounds during a competition in 2011. He won his first AAU world championship title in 2006. He followed it up with five additional titles and earned championship belts for dominating the 100% RAW Powerlifting Federation’s competitions from 2009 through 2012 and the Natural Athlete Strength Association federation’s contests in 2010 and 2011 while competing in the 181-pound weight class. Dubbed “Mr. Muscles” by fellow lifters, Rodriguez claims to have owned other world-, national- and state-level powerlifting records, including several specific to Nevada. He displays a few of his awards at L.A. Insurance at 3109 N. Rainbow Blvd., where he works as an agent. “I love the excitement, the thrill, and I’m competing against myself,” he explained of his interest in the sport. “It’s nice to be on all these lists, but I like to see if I can get stronger than I was before” with each competition. His workout schedule is “intense,” he said, noting that he spends several hours at the gym up to five days per week while training for competitions. He also maintains a strict diet and vitamin regimen. Despite the physicality of powerlifting, “It’s a mental game,” he explained. “If your mind’s not there, your body isn’t either. … If you’re not 100 percent focused, you’re not gonna get your medal.” Rodriguez credits his nearly 12 years in the military for introducing him to powerlifting, as well as for teaching him the discipline the sport requires. Born in the Dominican Republic, he was raised on the mean streets of East Flatbush in New York’s Brooklyn borough. As a kid, he traded punches with local hoodlums. “They picked my pockets and took my money,” he recalled. “You had to fight. There was no other way.” As punishment for his behavior, Rodriguez said his father — who had boxed while serving in the Dominican Republic army — forced him to study the dictionary and read encyclopedia volumes. By high school, Rodriguez had turned his life around: He wrestled on his school’s team and, at age 16, graduated with honors. He was awarded a scholarship to Pace University in New York, which he turned down to join the Air Force. “I just wanted to get out of Brooklyn and to see the world,” he said of his decision to enlist. “I wanted to do something with my life.” He spent his first year of service in Biloxi, Miss., studying aviation electronics. In 1987, he volunteered for a two-year stint in the Philippines working on defense systems aboard F-4 aircraft. While stationed there, Rodriguez began studying a form of martial arts called kuntao, training six days per week and fighting in street and amateur bouts when he could. His biggest battle in the Philippines, however, was a fight for his life. While on duty, Rodriguez came down with pneumonia and developed scar tissue in his lungs. Following a short assignment in South Korea, he spent four years in Florida working as an avionics repairman. He was part of a special operations unit that oversaw electronic warfare systems on AC-130 gunships and MH-53J helicopters. He also assisted with routine maintenance of the aircraft. “We helped change tires, we washed them, we cleaned them,” he said. “We would strip them down to the bolts and repair all of the rust and then put everything back together.” In 1989, he was sent to Panama for two months following the U.S. invasion of that country. After completing assignments in Alaska and California, Rodriguez became part of a special operations unit that went to El Salvador in 1992, which he recalled as a “dangerous” place to be during that nation’s civil war. The plane in which he arrived was fired upon, he said, and pilots were forced to perform a combat dive maneuver “because (the rebels) were shooting missiles at us.” That summer, Rodriguez was selected to participate in an intelligence mission in England for which he received top-secret clearance to work on systems specific to reconnaissance aircraft and at special compartmental information facilities (called SCIFs). All the while, he continued his martial arts training. In England, where he practiced a discipline called muay thai, he made his first foray into powerlifting. “I didn’t know I was that strong. You don’t know you can pick up 600 pounds until you pick up 600 pounds,” he said. He soon began entering competitions hosted by English powerlifting federations. In the fall of 1993, Rodriguez was deployed to the Persian Gulf following Operation Desert Storm, where he worked supporting reconnaissance aircraft. Although the combat had ended by the time he arrived in the region, he said residue that lingered in the air and in structures from the numerous oil fires that had burned during the war took its toll on his health. He spent two days in a hospital on base in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, while battling an infection in his scarred lungs, which had suffered bronchial damage. Upon his return to England in 1994, Rodriguez was offered a medical discharge by the Air Force. He declined, opting instead for an assignment in Louisiana working on B-52 bombers. While there, he earned a degree at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautics University campus at Barksdale Air Force Base. In 1997, Rodriguez concluded his military career with an honorable discharge. He moved to Las Vegas the following year, and in 2006 began competing “nonstop” in state and national powerlifting competitions here, as well as in California and Arizona. However, another severe lung infection — a reminder of his military service — has sidelined the father of three from competition since July. He declined an invitation to participate in the prestigious United States Powerlifting Association’s Olympia contest that was recently held in Las Vegas and was unable to defend his 100% RAW world championship title at a competition here last month. While on the mend, Rodriguez continues to train. He also coaches Natural Power Las Vegas, a local powerlifting team. Instead of competing at powerlifting tournaments, he most recently has served as a judge at area contests. He said he hopes to be well enough to compete again early next year. Despite his injury, “I will not stop (powerlifting),” he said. “I think if I stop, I’ll die.”

Who needs life insurance? You do! LV Review Journal Oct. 2013

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/life-insurance-need-not-be-expensive Posted October 22, 2013 Life insurance need not be expensive By LISA FERGUSON Instead of ordering another frothy, overpriced latte at the corner coffee shop, Melvin Weinberg hopes you’ll consider purchasing some life insurance. He is not on some anti-caffeine crusade. Rather, the longtime exclusive financial specialist who owns and operates an Allstate Insurance agency at 2990 Sunridge Heights Parkway in Henderson wants to dispel the myth that life insurance is a cost-prohibitive product for most people. In actuality, he said, “It’s a bargain.” Especially when one considers that for the equivalent cost of a weekly cup of java each month, a 30-year-old “preferred”-rated, nonsmoking male can likely purchase up to $250,000 worth of term life insurance with Allstate for less than $20 in monthly premium payments. In the event of his death, that quarter-million dollars in funds could help support the man’s spouse and children as they encounter financial obstacles and commitments in the future, Weinberg said. “The worst tragedy to that family is … the kids have lost their father.” Without life insurance benefits to cover the financial loss of his salary, Weinberg said, “in a few months, they’re also gonna lose their home. … To recover from that (is) very tough. “You buy life insurance for the people you love. You don’t buy life insurance for yourself,” Weinberg said. “It’s a selfless thing that you have to do for your family. Virtually everyone who has someone dependent upon them needs life insurance. “Getting people to understand that their loved ones are worth more than (the cost of) a beer or a cup of coffee, and that they need to put away some money for the people that they love” is not easy, he said. “People do not want to talk about dying.” Tony Adler, owner and operator of Leo Insurance Group at 8875 W. Flamingo Road, agrees. He said, “People think nothing is ever going to happen to them and … they just never have the money” budgeted for life insurance costs. They “don’t mind going out and buying the next BMW with an enormous lease payment, but the $25 or $30 in life insurance (premiums) just doesn’t seem like a priority.” Adler shared the story of a friend of his who died unexpectedly in his mid-30s, leaving behind a wife and young child: “They (previously) had life insurance. They decided they couldn’t afford it, and they let (the policy) lapse” before the man’s death. As a result, the widow became buried beneath a mountain of vehicle and home-mortgage debt. In hindsight, Adler said, “For 20 or 30 bucks a month, they both could have had at least a few hundred thousand dollars each in life insurance. That hit hard.” Christopher Zockoll is the financial products division manager for Platinum Risk Management, an insurance services company at 1057 Whitney Ranch Drive in Henderson. “When you purchase life insurance, you’re doing it for the other individual … because there is a need, a desire to ensure that … the other person continues to move forward financially without you in the picture,” he said. The selection process People often don’t take the time to examine the various life insurance products that are available, Zockoll said. “There are different components of life insurance that people need to understand.” The best way to accomplish that is to “sit down with an experienced (insurance) agent who is going to ask all of the right questions” and assist clients in purchasing the best products to suit their needs, said Weinberg, adding that Allstate is hiring insurance agents (visit allstate.com/careers.aspx for information). Like many insurance agents, Adler begins by developing a “needs analysis” for his customers to determine what they want to accomplish after their death and once a death benefit is paid. That may include covering burial costs and paying off mortgage loans, among other outstanding expenses. Other clients desire a “more robust outcome” to continue providing financially for their families, he said. For example, they may want life insurance benefits to fund a child’s college education, or be plentiful enough to ensure that the surviving spouse need not return to the workplace in search of income. “So I look at both sides of the coin and try to figure out the best outcome for them,” Adler said. Industry experts recommend that individuals purchase 8 to 10 percent of their annual earnings worth of life insurance coverage, but Adler disagrees: “That’s fine if you’re just looking to pay off debt but … that still leaves (the beneficiary) with everyday living costs” to cover. Also, it’s not a good idea for individuals to rely solely on a life insurance policy offered through their employer to totally meet their death-benefit needs, as such policies usually never provide adequate coverage, Zockoll said. “But here’s the bigger dilemma: That insurance most of the time is not portable,” he said, meaning the policy may not move with an individual from job to job. Although the “breadwinner” of the family should have a life insurance policy in force, Adler said it is equally important for stay-at-home parents to have coverage. The death benefit can help the surviving spouse afford child care costs and other domestic-related necessities. Even people without a family dependent upon their income should consider purchasing a policy, he said. “You don’t want to leave the (financial) burden of your burial and everything that goes around the planning (of it) … to your beneficiaries, or your heirs, or whoever is left.” Meanwhile, Zockoll recommends to business owners that they purchase additional life insurance to help pay for expenses when a key person within their company dies. “A lot of companies … have had to close shop because their (business) partner died and they couldn’t afford to pay the (deceased’s) spouse” to purchase their share of the company from them, he said. In such cases, a death benefit could also provide funds to help keep the company afloat financially. Term insurance Ultimately, the decision of what type of life insurance product to buy depends “on what’s right for the client. That’s why there’s a menu for the client to pick from,” said Zockoll, adding that Platinum Risk Management is hiring additional staffers (visit platinuminsurancellc.com). Term life insurance is “pretty straight forward and very vanilla,” he said. It provides renewable coverage for a specified length of time, typically 10 to 30 years. Although term insurance is usually the most affordable product for customers (“Everybody, to some extent, can afford some term insurance,” he said), the downside is “at the end of the term, the premiums increase because you’re older.” It is wise, Weinberg said, for people to revisit their term policy before its expiration date to re-evaluate their insurance needs. “Young families growing up need lots of coverage,” he said, which term insurance can provide at reasonable rates. As children age, the amount of coverage needed by a family typically lessens and can be changed to reflect that. The old insurance industry adage of “buy term and invest the rest” is a bit of advice often given to life-insurance shoppers who may also be looking to build their investment portfolio. The idea is to purchase low-cost term insurance and invest in the stock market or mutual funds the money they save as a result of not having purchased pricier life insurance products. “That sounds great on paper,” Adler said of the theory, “but most people don’t have the discipline or the structure to continue to invest the rest.” He instead advocates for his customers to “pay themselves first,” for example, by funding an individual retirement account for themselves or a college savings account for their children. Permanent Insurance Permanent insurance is divided into four categories: universal life insurance with fixed interest rates, universal life insurance with variable interest rates, indexed universal life insurance and whole life insurance. Universal life insurance as “a term policy and investment all built into one policy,” where the cost of the insurance typically is low and most of the premium paid goes toward the investment portion of the policy, Zockoll said. If the investment is in a fixed account, it will grow at a fixed interest rate. In a variable account, the premium is invested in a subaccount tied to the stock market. “In theory, you can participate in the upward movement of the stock market. Obviously, if the stock market goes down, you could have a negative growth on your cash values,” he said. Zockoll said equity indexed universal life policies are “the most popular product of all the permanent life insurance right now,” because they allow people to “participate in the stock market without the risk of the stock market.” He likens the policy to gambling on a slot machine, where “you put your quarter in (and) you pull the handle.” The difference is if the stock market goes down, the insurance company “returns your quarter back to you and you play again.” However, “If the market is up and you pulled the handle and won, so to speak … you voluntarily give a percentage of your winnings back to the insurance company because they’re assuming all the risk.” Zockoll said equity indexed universal life policies make sense for “people who don’t know what the (stock) market can do or don’t understand it or can’t watch it … because they’ll still get a percentage of the market without the market risk.” Whole life insurance “is a totally guaranteed product,” he said. Although the dividends it pays are not certain, a policy’s cash-value growth is generally guaranteed upfront. Also, “Whole life is exactly what it says — it will be there for your whole life. If you live to be 100, whole life is still there for you to pay that death benefit.” Because whole life is typically the most expensive of all insurance products, however, its premiums keep it out of reach for many consumers. “For people who are younger or who are trying to build their financial careers, they’re not in a position to pay that much in premium for the death benefit they need,” Zockoll said. For those who can afford to purchase it, whole life insurance does have an upside: As years progress, policyholders can borrow against a policy’s accumulated cash value to supplement retirement incomes, among other uses. “It’s really like a loan to you, and you never have to pay taxes on that money,” said Adler, whose Leo Insurance Group is hiring sales agents (visit leoinsurancegroup.com). “So (when) you pass away, the beneficiaries will get the life insurance (benefit) minus what you took out of it.” Given that the nation is still recovering from an economic downturn, Adler said he thinks people these days are more willing to consider purchasing permanent life insurance as opposed to term insurance. “It’s easy to look at the other side and know that it is always going to be there for you.” There’s no arguing with the peace of mind that life insurance coverage can provide, said Weinberg, who delivers about a dozen death-benefit checks annually to his clients’ beneficiaries. Although every death “is a tragedy,” he said, “the difference is while the next-door neighbor is bringing (the surviving spouse) a casserole, I’m bringing a quarter-million or half-million dollar check. That’s not going to bring (the deceased) home, but … when I deliver it, a lot of their worries go by the wayside.”

Look, look - I edited a book!

Check out the new book I edited, "If I Die Tell Steve Martin I Found His Journal," by the multi-talented Billy Johnson, president of the Las Vegas Wranglers hockey team.

Training the next generation of healthcare providers, LV Review Journal 10/11

HOSA trains students for careers in health care Clark County is home to 10 chapters of the organization By LISA FERGUSON Tazia Statucki wants nothing more than to some day make medical history. The 17-year-old senior at Southwest Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas says she has known since she was a little girl that she is destined for a career in medicine. “I just love being able to help people,” she says. The desire to assist others, she claims, is also what interested her in joining Health Occupations Students of America. According to its website, www.hosa.org , the national organization’s mission is “to enhance the delivery of compassionate, quality health care by providing opportunities for knowledge, skill and leadership development of all health science technology education students, therefore helping students to meet the needs of the health care community.” HOSA boasts upwards of 120,000 members in its more than 3,200 high school, postsecondary and collegiate chapters throughout the country. Nevada is home to 29 chapters, 10 of them in Clark County. Statucki is HOSA’s Nevada state president. Her duties include presiding over the organization’s five-person state officer team and 900 members. She also represents Nevada at HOSA’s annual state and national leadership conferences, among other activities. Last month, Statucki traveled to Washington, D.C., where she and other HOSA leaders visited lawmakers on Capitol Hill to promote health care. At school, the teen is studying dental assisting through Southwest CTA’s Professional Service Academy program, which offers courses that simulate real-world, on-the-job experiences to prepare students to enter the workforce, postsecondary job training or continue on to college. Dressed in her official HOSA uniform — a white blouse, paired with a dark skirt and blazer adorned with a badge bearing her name and title — Statucki explains, “My family has been affected by diabetes,” and notes that HOSA has selected the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation for its national service project this year. Researchers are “working towards a cure” for the disease, she says, but is confident that “I can be the one to do it.” HOSA membership is open to any high school or postsecondary student (regardless of age) who displays “an interest in the health care field,” explains Randi Hunewill, state HOSA adviser for the Nevada Department of Education. Nevada has seen the largest increase in HOSA chapters than any other state during the past two years. Most recently, a pair of chapters was formed at Western High School and Valley High School. The organization provides members “not only with leadership opportunities,” Hunewill says, but also “the hands-on skills that they need to be successful (when) either going directly into the (health care) field or going on to postsecondary” education. That’s good news, since Nevada was ranked 47th in the nation for overall health in 2010 by the United Health Foundation and landed in 46th place in terms of primary-care physicians per every 100,000 people. “So, we need people going into those fields,” Hunewill says. Vicki Smith agrees. A former longtime respiratory therapist-turned-educator, she helped found Nevada’s first official HOSA chapter in 2007 while teaching at Rancho High School’s Medical Academy magnet program. She now teaches at Southwest CTA, where she has served as the HOSA adviser since introducing the organization at the campus three years ago. “Nevada is behind every other state in advancement” in the medical field, Smith contends. Involvement with HOSA may prompt students to “go on to postsecondary (training) … and find something that they really love by doing it.” Through HOSA, members are exposed to hundreds of health care and related career paths via guest speakers, special training events, community service projects and leadership conferences. There, they compete against other members in dozens of categories ranging from medical photography and extemporaneous speaking to community emergency response team (CERT) and first aid/rescue breathing skills. The competitions “actually allow them to go out and practice these skills” they have learned through their work with the organization, Hunewill explains. Students who place first, second or third at state-level conferences are eligible to compete at HOSA’s annual National Leadership Conference. Smith has been known to bring other chapter members to nationals as well, “because I feel like the leadership skills (taught there) will carry on into life and … I want to give my kids an excellent foundation.” Southwest CTA senior Camille Maniago won a first-place gold medal last spring at the Nevada State Leadership Conference for the work she did publishing her HOSA chapter’s newsletter. Health care is in Maniago’s blood: Her physician father formerly owned a clinic in the Philippines, where she spent countless hours as a child watching him treat patients. “With HOSA, I didn’t realize I would learn so much about other health professions,” says the teen, who is studying respiratory therapy at Southwest CTA. “It was a great introduction to everything, and it gave me a general idea of what I want to do in my life. We had actual doctors come in and I didn’t realize what they had to go through … to be in that profession.” Also at the spring state conference, senior Raina Benford placed second and took home a silver medal in the job-seeking skills category. Unlike many of her peers who say they hope to some day practice pediatrics, 17-year-old Benford claims she’s looking forward to a career in gerontology. “I just love old people,” she says with a broad smile. “I chose HOSA because I wanted to get a better feel for health care. I’ve learned a lot about getting a job and going out in the health care field,” she explains. Attending HOSA meetings at Southwest CTA is “one of my favorite parts of the week. … I love getting other people excited about health care, too.” Smith says two of her former students and HOSA members are currently organizing a chapter at the University of Nevada, Reno; another is forming a local chapter at the College of Southern Nevada. Yet another of her students, Rancho High School graduate Sean Sheffer, has served as HOSA’S national president since 2010. He frequently travels around the country acting as the organization’s ambassador, promoting HOSA at national health care events and overseeing its annual leadership conference, among other duties. Sheffer says his involvement with HOSA has been a “critical, life-changing” experience. “You actually get to step out and see what the medical field and the health profession is all about. You get to dress in scrubs if you want to be a CNF (clinical nurse specialist), and there are competitions that reflect how the industry is and … you’re competing in them, and you’re expected to know how to best practice general nursing skills, whether it be at the bedside with the patient, or washing your hands,” he explains. “They try to mirror the actual health field before you go into it.” He suspects HOSA probably enlightened many young people about the nation’s health care crisis. “It makes us aware of what are the shortcomings of the health care system right now,” 19-year-old Sheffer says, and “know that there’s all this chaos going on in terms of legislation and trying to solve how it’s going to work in the future. At least you’re aware that there are problems, so that later on you are prepared to tackle them with your solutions.” Sheffer is pursuing dual nursing and business degrees through a special health care management program at Ivy League schools the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School of Business. He says his dream is to eventually become chief executive officer at a hospital, possibly in Las Vegas. “I really do want to come home and see if I can reflect some of the positive practices” happening at medical facilities elsewhere “into the hospitals in Las Vegas,” he explains, and “join the team of other professionals there who are trying to improve systems and work with them.” Smith says Sheffer is a shining example of what happens when teens are exposed to what she calls the “oohs and aahs” of health care through HOSA. As a chapter adviser, “What I can do is excite them about going on” to build a career in the industry. She keeps the 120-plus members of her HOSA chapter busy throughout the school year with various community volunteer and fundraising events. Besides its efforts raising funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the chapter also works with Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Las Vegas, cooking and serving meals to families who stay there while their ailing children receive medical treatment. Meanwhile, Southwest CTA HOSA members held a fundraiser last year benefiting the local Shade Tree Shelter for women and children. Nationally, Smith says, “We’ve been going through this phase where people don’t volunteer like they used to. … What HOSA will do is teach (members) what they need to do to volunteer.” She also encourages teens to lend a hand at area hospitals “and learn a little bit more about health care” while giving back to the community. On Saturday, the chapter hosted a “community fair” event, featuring various food and merchandise vendors, in Southwest CTA’s parking lot to help raise funds to cover costs for its members to attend HOSA’s State Leadership Conference, to be held in March in Las Vegas, and the National Leadership Conference, scheduled for June in Orlando. Smith says she’s hopeful her students will “wipe out” the competition from other Nevada chapters at the 2012 state conference — especially in CERT events. Her students have recently undergone intensive training under Smith, who is herself a member of a CERT team, and the Las Vegas Fire and Rescue department. The teens trained in triage, light search-and-rescue maneuvers and disaster management skills. They will eventually be assigned to cover buildings at Southwest CTA. If an emergency were ever to arise on campus, “They’d grab their (equipment) bags and we’d go report to those buildings,” Smith explains, “and then everyone who’s in the building could get care right there.” Smith will break new ground again this year when she and her students establish a Medical Reserve Corps HOSA unit at the school. Nationally, MRC is sponsored by the Office of the Surgeon General and is comprised of medical, public health and other volunteers who assist during emergencies and natural disasters. “With MRC, what we want (to teach) people to do is be prepared in their own homes,” Smith says, explaining that her students will soon begin making and selling various types of emergency preparedness kits, as well as developing emergency instructions that families can use in their homes. “Education is our first goal.” Southwest CTA senior and former HOSA chapter president Marclem Hernandez spent two years researching the MRC program and approached Smith about bringing it to campus. He has been charged with organizing the unit to get it up and running in the coming months.“I want to leave something for the school, for them to build on” after he graduates next year, he explains of his motivation to found the unit. “(Participation in HOSA) will help you be more responsible,” 18-year-old Hernandez says, “not just for yourself but for other people, too, and that’s what the medical field is all about.” “It’s a very rewarding profession,” agrees his classmate, Statucki. “HOSA is for everybody,” she contends. “It’s for the high school students who say, ‘I don’t know what I want to do.’ But it’s also for the alumni members who get to connect and for the professionals who want to get involved and help mentor younger kids. It’s really for everyone in the community.” Even if not all of her HOSA chapter members go on to pursue careers in the medical field, Smith takes solace in knowing that the training and exposure they received will make them “connoisseurs of health care.” “They’ll know how to go to good physicians, (and recognize) what’s not good; how to seek out second opinions,” she assures, “because they’ll have the understanding and backing of what is needed in health care.”

Healthcare employment options way up north in Alaska, LV Review Journal 10/12

Long, harsh winters with little daylight can be deal-breaker for candidates By LISA FERGUSON When Lynn Kennington worked in Las Vegas, he never witnessed a moose wandering around outside of his office. These days, however, such sightings are not an uncommon occurrence for him. Last year Kennington, who spent four years as chief financial officer of Desert Springs Hospital, accepted the same position at Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage, a campus that is favored by the massive creatures. “Here at the hospital, we actually have to shut down some of the walkways because the moose will come here and live for months at a time, and you can’t go out there because they’ll stomp on you,” Kennington explained. The wildlife encounters (bears have also been known to roam very near his home) are one of the things he says he enjoys about living in Alaska and working at Alaska Regional Hospital, which earlier this year began recruiting workers in Las Vegas to fill various positions at its facility. The hospital’s decision to search for workers here was partly Kennington’s doing. He said he encouraged its human resources department to recruit in Southern Nevada. “Vegas is a great place to get trained” in various aspects of the health care field, he said. “I think a lot of the (industry issues) that Alaska is facing, Vegas and Nevada probably saw 10 to 15 years ago … and I think they’ve been fairly successful in addressing them” in Southern Nevada. Nevertheless, Kennington said his job in Las Vegas had lost some of its appeal, which played a role in his decision to move with his wife, who was raised in Anchorage, and five children to Alaska. “The expectations of any (health care) company in Vegas are really high,” he said, because of the tremendous rate at which the local economy grew before it faltered in recent years. As a result, Kennington said, industry executives “had a hard time tempering their expectations” and instead wanted a hospital’s bottom line to be maintained “by cutting expenses down to the bare bones to the point where you’d really have to question whether or not you could provide the level of service the patients deserve and expect with the amount of staff they were allowing us to have.” Kennington said he observed a “fairly significant” number of hospital layoffs while working in Las Vegas. “A lot of times when you lay people off, it’s not the cream of the crop, but we were cutting deep enough some years to where you’re laying off some pretty good people, “ which Kennington said was hard for him to experience. “I love health care. I truly believe in what I’m doing, but I want to be able to do it in a way that I can go home at night and feel good about what I’ve done.” He said he has that with his new position at Alaska Regional Hospital. “All in all, the health care industry is good up here.” Through a link on its website, www.alaskaregional.com , the hospital posts openings for registered nurses, respiratory and occupational therapists and phlebotomists among dozens of other positions. Aron Bouknight, the hospital’s human resources recruiter, said she recently put feelers out in Las Vegas in search of a physical therapy manager. Good candidates “are hard to come by,” she said. “And then you find them and have to convince them to come to Alaska.” That is no small feat: The state’s extreme climate — long, harsh winters with few hours of daylight — can be a deal-breaker for some who might otherwise consider accepting a job there. “It’s a total shock,” Bouknight said. She relocated to Anchorage from South Carolina nine years ago. “You’re coming from a place where winter (conditions are) nothing compared to here, and it’s day in and day out from the end of October until April — and maybe even longer. And the darkness sometimes gets to people.” Bouknight said while the hospital often offers job candidates signing bonuses and pays for relocation expenses, it’s still a tough sell. “We have people who get here and they work a few months,” especially during the pleasant summer months, “and then winter comes and they’re like, ‘I’m going back home.’ ” Some candidates throw in the towel even before they arrive in Alaska, as was the case earlier this year when she attempted to hire a man from Las Vegas. “He was ready to move up here; he had stuff packed,” she said. “Then, after it was all said and done, the length of the winter was something that really put a damper on it.” That’s unfortunate, since the state is in need of qualified health care personnel. In 2011 Alaska’s population was nearly 723,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Dan Robinson, chief of research and analysis for the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, explained the state’s population has historically been younger than the national average due largely to an influx of people during the 1970s and ’80s as a result of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline project. “A lot of those people stayed, and now they’re having a bigger effect as they age than in the U.S. overall, where the numbers (of aging adults) are big enough that it kind of gets absorbed easier,” Robinson explained. By 2034, it is projected that 125,000 senior citizens will call Alaska home. Also, in the past two decades, “As our population has grown, our health care services have kind of filled in,” he said. “Where Alaskans used to go to Seattle and (other cities) outside of Alaska to get care, we’re big enough now that we can have maybe a neurologist … or services that used to be gotten from outside.” “There’s a lot of attention being paid to health care in Alaska,” said Kathryn Craft, staff coordinator for the Alaska Health Workforce Coalition, a publicprivate partnership created to address health-workforce issues and needs. In 2011, the organization developed an “action agenda,” which identified 15 health care industry occupations and labeled them top priorities for the state. They include primary care providers, direct care workers (including home health care workers and those trained to treat adult mental disabilities, among others), behavioral health clinicians, physical therapists, nurses and pharmacists. “Those are the six that we’re working on right now that we actually have goals and activities and strategies that are ongoing not only by our state government, but also (private) industries as well,” Craft said. Members of the Alaska Health Workforce Coalition meet regularly to review and track the progress of the more than three dozen strategies it is focused on in an effort to improve the state’s health care workforce. The organization is currently conducting a “vacancy study” with the state of Alaska’s Area Health Education Center, Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the University of Alaska’s Institute of Social and Economic Research. Upon its completion in December, the study should help determine the number of nurses the state will need going forward, among other data. To Alaska’s credit, Craft said, “I don’t think most states can get their university system, their department of labor, their department of education, their department of health and social services, all of the state hospitals and nursing home groups, their primary care association … together monthly. And all we do is talk and work on the strategies toward resolving the issues we’re finding.” One of those issues is how to go about keeping health care professionals in the state. Alaska’s isolation — from the lower 48 states, as well as within its own boundaries — presents issues for potential job candidates. While larger cities such as Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau offer most of the comforts and conveniences found in other big cities throughout the nation, the state’s outlying areas — snuggled deep within its vast, rugged wilderness — can prove overwhelming to newcomers. Rural “hub” communities can be the main area for obtaining services for as many as 10 smaller nearby “villages,” which are inhabited largely by native Alaskans. Such hubs may be accessible only by travel on “very small bush planes,” Craft explained. At state conferences, she said, health care industry members often share stories about job candidates who, upon arrival at these hubs, “get off the plane, look around and get right back on.” “It’s a rare individual who can come from Las Vegas and go out to Nome or Kotzebue or Point Hope. People think they can imagine, but it’s very different than city living,” she said. For that reason, Craft said, efforts are under way to find “up-and-coming” residents of these tiny communities and “make sure they get the education they need through distance delivery and have them stay” to practice medicine in the area where they were raised. “What we’ve really focused on in our hub and village areas is integrating behavioral health and primary care needs” via “all-in-one” medical facilities, Craft explained. Such facilities better protect patient confidentiality in communities where most residents know one another. “People might need help with a mental health issue or a substance abuse issue,” she said. “If it’s in a medical, primarycare setting … nobody knows why you’re going into the building.” Rest assured, Craft said, living and working in Alaska is “not for the weak at heart. But I think there are a lot of people out there that would enjoy working up here. It’s a good group of people.” From a health care perspective, “It’s a small state. We’re a big state in size, but we all know each other.” Kennington concurred: “People kind of think of … Alaska as a whole as an outpost, but Anchorage is as sophisticated of a city as I’ve ever lived in. They offer everything here. All of the restaurants, all of the dining opportunities, the symphony, any of the musicals that come through down there in the lower 48, they come up here. “The biggest thing is getting over the perception of what it’s like to live in Alaska. You never think that you’ll be able to go out and walk on a glacier that’s four miles wide and 26 miles long.” Compared to his years spent living the desert climate of Southern Nevada, he said, “This is just as good, but in a different way.”

Unusual adventures/classes offered at Southern Nevada resorts, LV Review Journal 9/12

Visitors mix education and fun By LISA FERGUSON For some people, being on vacation means doing little more than sipping umbrella-adorned cocktails poolside at a swanky resort. But that’s not the case for others, whose idea of relaxation may include learning to cook a gourmet meal under the tutelage of a world-class chef, getting schooled on proper white-water rafting techniques or becoming educated about the finer points of pole dancing. All of these activities and more are available to guests at hotels throughout Southern Nevada. At the Westin Lake Las Vegas, guests can partake in stand-up paddleboarding lessons on its adjacent white sand beach. The sport is hugely popular, according to Kathy Holesapple, owner of Paddle to the Core, which contracts with the property to provide lessons to children and adults. “It’s actually easy. … The average person can stand-up paddleboard anywhere in the world, including (on) lakes and rivers,” said Holesapple, whose company also rents the necessary equipment — a board similar to one used for surfing, and a long paddle — to Westin guests during lessons, which cost $30. Paddle to the Core has a pair of certified stand-up paddleboarding instructors who spend about 20 minutes on the shore teaching students proper techniques before sending them onto the lake for an hour to practice what they’ve learned. The company, which has been in business for two years, recently partnered with the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and soon plans to expanded its adventure offerings to include biking, hiking and what Holesapple calls “excursion yoga.” “So we will need additional employees by next year,” she said, including fitness instructors. Inquiries about available positions can be made at www.suplv.com. The stand-up paddleboarding classes are “a perfect fit for us,” said Jeff Spaccio, director of sales at the Westin Lake Las Vegas. He says the company’s brand is “all about being well, eating well, playing well. … The uniqueness of (stand-up paddleboarding) and what it provides to our guests, there’s no other experience like it in Vegas.” Meanwhile, Spaccio said, the property is “looking to expand” its outdoor-related offerings for guests and is in need of “good, qualified folks in the recreation and outdoor programming departments.” A list of available jobs at The Westin can be found at www.besthotelcareers.com. ADVENTUROUS OUTINGS Adrenaline junkies will also find plenty to keep them entertained at the Red Rock Resort, courtesy of its Adventure Spa program, which offers guests a limited amount of hiking, biking, kayaking, rock climbing and river rafting instruction as part of the excursions offered there. Guests who opt for the seven-hour kayaking trip at Lake Mead, for example, can expect a guide to “teach you how to kayak, make sure you’re really, really safe before you get out there,” explained Angela Taverner, spa director of The Spa & Salon at Red Rock Resort. “It’s not going to be advanced training, so you’re not going to be an Olympic kayaker in two minutes, but you’re definitely going to learn how to be safe and get out there and do it and enjoy the day.” The spa contracts with local excursion companies to provide guides for its guests. “Even though they might sound like they’re gentle pursuits, people that are doing it day in and day out are your experts,” Taverner said. Although a good many Adventure Spa guests are outdoor “die-hards,” Taverner said a surprising number of families with children also opt for the excursions. “They can go horseback riding together, or teach the kids how to go river rafting as a family,” she said. Prices range from $15 per person for indoor rock climbing, up to $200 per person for other activities. “I think these days families are looking to do something together, so this particular option gives them a choice.” Employment opportunities, including massage therapists and stylists, are available at The Spa & Salon. To apply, visit sclv.com/Corporate/Careers. MIXING THINGS UP When it’s time for grown-up fun, the 21-and-older set can head to STK restaurant at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas for “Couples Cocktails,” an hour-long class during which a master mixologist provides instruction on how to properly shake (or stir, as the case may be) a variety of libations. The class is similar to a course called “Couples Cook,” which was offered at STK’s Los Angeles location. “It actually filled up every time we (scheduled) it,” said Devon Mosley, corporate director of marketing and public relations for The One Group, which owns STK. In June, the company began offering the monthly “Couples Cocktails” classes in Las Vegas. Mosley said, “It’s kind of a cool way that we can give the (restaurant) guests a little bit deeper experience with the mixologist,” who teaches students to make standard bar drinks as well as cocktails that are STK exclusives, including one dubbed Not Your Daddy’s Manhattan. Despite its name, single students are also welcome to attend the class. However, because it is held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday nights, Mosley said its easy for couples to turn the event into a date night by following it with dinner at the restaurant, which is home to celebrity chef Stephen Hopcraft (a former contestant on the Bravo network’s “Top Chef” series). Liquors and cordials are on tap as the subject of the next class, scheduled for Oct. 17. The course costs $30 per person, or $50 per couple. Advance reservations, which are required to attend, can be made by emailing viplasvegas@togrp.com. “It just gives you a different perspective on the traditional dining experience,” Mosley explained of “Couples Cocktails,” which he said has proven popular with area residents as well as tourists. When he and his team devised the idea for the class, “I think it was more about how can we make (diners) feel that they’re getting more out of their STK experience. … You have an opportunity to come and engage with a mixologist and meet people at the bar, and get to know our servers and our bartenders.” Mosley said his company is “always looking” for additional “qualified” workers to staff STK. Employment applications are available at the restaurant. COOKING UP FUN Mixed specialty drinks are also on the menu as part of the five-course meal prepared by Geno Bernardo, executive chef at Nove Italiano at the Palms, during his “An Afternoon with Chef Geno” cooking class at the restaurant. Bernardo began teaching the monthly class three years ago and has since built a steady following of regulars (most of them Las Vegas residents) who pay around $75 to attend. Students watch the chef work his magic with seasonal and locally grown ingredients. Once the cooking is done, they sit down with Bernardo to enjoy the meal, which is paired with wine and a specially chosen cocktail that a mixologist demonstrates how to prepare. The three-hour class meets in the kitchen of Nove Italiano. The chef starts by explaining his menu for the class. “I prepare the dishes in front of everyone and I just give them the insider chef’s secrets — just how to (cook) my way,” he said. “I break it down as if I was cooking in your kitchen. I think about what an amateur cook would have in their kitchens, and I also get ingredients” that can be purchased at most supermarkets. During one class, Bernardo demonstrated pasta recipes that belonged to his great-grandmother. For another, he visited a local farmers market and cooked the ingredients he purchased there. “I just try to make these easy, fun recipes,” he said. Most of the dishes can be prepared “family style” so students can replicate them at home “and win the crowd over.” Bernardo knows a thing or two about crowds: Each of his classes typically attracts 20 to 40 students, although he once taught to a group of 60 people. Another class was filled with members of a bachelorette party. “It appeals to a lot of people,” he explained. “The whole thing I try to teach and I try to preach,” Bernardo said, “is that just because I’m in a professional kitchen doesn’t mean that you can’t do this in your kitchen at home.” The next session of “An Afternoon with Chef Geno” is scheduled for Oct. 13. The menu is set to celebrate the flavors of fall and likely will include dishes that feature pumpkin. To register to attend the class, call 702-933-9900. VIP TREATMENT Entertaining-yet-educational options are seemingly limitless for guests at Caesars Entertainment’s nine Las Vegas properties — as long as they reserve their stay through the company’s Total Experiences program. The program is offered as a complimentary service to guests who book at least five hotel rooms for their visit, making it a popular option among funloving groups such as bachelor and bachelorette parties, as well as wedding attendees. Guests are assigned a VIP manager who can secure hard-to-get show tickets and restaurant reservations; schedule spa, golf and shopping excursions; and handle unusual requests, among other tasks. Patty Kripitz, director of VIP operations/Total Experiences, said previous guests have taken part in pastry- making and cooking lessons at the renowned Restaurant Guy Savoy at Caesars Palace. Others received instruction at the Butch Harmon School of Golf in Henderson. Then there are the pole-dancing classes. “It’s very fun,” Kritpitz said. Guests can visit a local dance studio to receive the lessons, “or the instructor comes into one of our (hotel) suites and they do the class.” The Total Experiences program offers “insider access that makes it possible for our guests to do these kinds of experiences that they usually don’t have available back in their hometowns,” Kripitz said. “Even if maybe they do, it’s not likely that they would experience that. They’re on vacation, they want to have fun.” One of the keys to the program’s success, she contended, was employing VIP managers who are “true hospitality professionals who have a passion and a drive for customer service.” While the company is not currently hiring additional Total Experiences staffers, Kripitz says it may in “the near future.” WORK AND PLAY As it does for its guests, Caesars Entertainment also offers its employees educational opportunities. The company sponsors classes that teach computer basics and English as a Second Language, among others, to its staff members free of charge. Most classes are taught by members of the company’s training team. Tracy West, director of employee engagement for Caesars Entertainment, explained that her department receives the results of an annual employee opinion survey, which helps determine the types of classes the company may offer to its workers. “We get thousands upon thousands of comments,” she said. “So we read through them and anything that (employees) recommend or say that they want, we look into trying to get that onsite. Right now, someone wants to know if we can do … a self-defense class that they can go to on property to learn, so we’re looking into” whether that can be scheduled. Professional development classes are always a positive addition to the roster, West said. “Employees who are interested in learning a different skill set or advancing their current skill set, when we give them the outlet to do that, then they come back to us with … more knowledge about the (hospitality) industry, and they’re able to be more innovative and more creative and better the business in a lot of different ways.” The company also offers tuition reimbursement to employees who attend accredited colleges or universities to obtain an undergraduate or graduate degree that relates to the work they do for Caesars Entertainment. “We want to allow our employees to grow and develop in their career and to learn and to become better both personally and professionally,” West said. “Giving them that opportunity to go back to school and help them financially get through that is a great employee benefit, and it’s also kind of a mutually beneficial relationship for the company, (which) is also getting something back (with) a more educated work force.” HELP THEM GROW It’s a sentiment echoed by Christopher Henry, vice president of human resources strategy and measurement for MGM Resorts International, which offers its 62,000 employees locally and around the world an array of educational opportunities, including numerous career training and advancement programs. “The more you are able to educate and grow your folks, the more they are able to contribute to the business as well as be engaged because they understand the organization is investing in them,” Henry said. “So it’s sort of a give-and-take, a win-win on both ends.” Computer certification classes — which cover Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint — are also popular with MGM Resorts International employees. The company offers ESL classes as well as Spanish as a Second Language courses for English-speaking staffers “that are interested in being able to communicate with their teams better,” Henry said. Many of the classes for local employees are conducted at the company’s Las Vegas corporate human resources center before, during and after the workers’ shifts as well as on weekends. Teaching duties are outsourced to “third-party facilitators,” or are handled internally by personnel from the company’s local hotel-casinos, as those staffers are “able to provide training from a functional perspective that actually helps people to be better at the jobs and tasks that they’re doing on property,” he explained. MGM Resorts International offers college tuition reimbursement to employees who have been with the company for one year or more. It also struck deals with University of Phoenix and Capella University to offer reduced tuition costs for its workers. Because the company is so diverse, Henry said, employees who obtain tuition reimbursement need not limit their area of study to complement their current position with MGM Resorts International. “Pretty much for every (college) major, there is place in the organization,” he said. “We have hotel and hospitality. We have casino, but we also have retail. We have sales and marketing … finance and public relations. We do some of our own advertising and graphic design work. All of that is here.” Joyce Boissell, director of training at MGM Grand, stressed the importance of giving employees academic and career training opportunities. “If you look at training and development in general, one of the key catchphrases that we’re hearing lately is, ‘Help them grow, or watch them go,’ ” she said. “It’s important not only from a level of engagement and for the success of our properties, I think it’s also vital to our community that we create people who are able to feel good about what they do.”

Mental-health treatment options in Southern Nevada, special section for RGJ Media Custom Publishing Group, May 2013

Multi-faceted Treatment Co-occurring conditions require dealing with substance abuse and mental illness for lasting benefits By Lisa Ferguson For decades Judy Bousquet knew she was not like other people. “I just thought I was generically crazy,” she recalls of the dramatic mood swings she experienced. To combat them, she began “selfmedicating” as a teen with alcohol swiped from her parents’ liquor cabinet. For more than 10 years, Bousquet said she existed on a “low-maintenance high” as she worked a career in the fashion industry in San Francisco. Still, the demons in her head persisted. In the 1970s, she recalls being incredibly sick. “My alcohol addiction had totally taken over my life,” she said. She was plagued by periods of deep depression and thoughts of suicide, which she attempted in 1976. “For some reason, I didn’t die. I should have ¬– I took all the pills and drank all the wine you can imagine,” she said. Three years later, she again considered ending her life. “But there was something about the fact that I had gotten it wrong the first time.” The thought of waking up at the end of another suicide attempt kept her from going through with it, she said. “So one morning I got out of bed and said, `This is it. I’m gonna go for help,’” she recalled. Bousquet confessed her alcohol addiction to a neighbor, who contacted the National Council on Alcoholism on her behalf. The council referred Bousquet to a 30-day, inpatient alcohol recovery program whose psychiatrist-director also diagnosed her as suffering from Bipolar II disorder, a mental illness that causes extreme mood fluctuations. The diagnosis changed Bousquet’s life. “I knew that I’d been given something precious,” she said. Co-occurring diagnoses At the time, mental health experts called her condition a dual diagnosis. That term has been replaced in recent years, however, and it is now referred to as a co-occurring condition, which describes individuals with at least one mental illness and one substance use disorder. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in Rockville, Md., estimates that 9 million people in the U.S. have co-occurring disorders. Dr. Lesley Dickson is a Las Vegas psychiatrist board-certified in addiction psychiatry, general adult psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine. Since 2009 she has chaired Nevada’s Governor’s Committee on Co-Occurring Disorders, which studies and reviews issues related to persons with co-occurring disorders. The committee, which has also developed recommendations for improving the treatment of such patients, and submitted reports that have been distributed to the state legislature, is in the process of disbanding because, according to Dickson, “We felt we had accomplished all we could accomplish.” It is best for patients with cooccurring disorders to be treated for both their mental health and substance abuse issues simultaneously, Dickson said. That approach is the opposite of how it was formerly treated, she explained. “Mental health professionals used to say, ‘We can’t figure out what psychiatric illness you have as long as you’re using substances, so you should get clean and stay clean for six months and then come back and see us,’” she explained. “That was a total failure,” Dickson added. When the disorders are not treated together, the patient may not receive themost beneficial treatment, Dickson said. “You’re not going to be particularly helpful to the patient,” she said. “If you put them, say, in a mental health facility and ignore the substance abuse, they will probably leave and go right back to the substance abuse. If you put them in a substance abuse facility and ignore the mental illness, you’re going to have a hard time getting them to stay sober.” These days, most co-occurring disorder patients are treated in outpatient settings where substance abuse counselors and mental health providers work as a team in the same location or at least by communicating regularly, according to Dickson. Lengthy hospital stays are uncommon and usually only required when a person has decompensated in their illness enough that they are not safe in the community, she said. If a patient is hospitalized it is typically for a brief period, mostly to stabilize and detox them, if necessary, from drugs, she said. Treatment and recovery plans for co-occurring disorder patients must be tailored for each individual, Dickson explained. “You have to consider the mental illness, the symptoms of the mental illness they’re trying to selfmedicate with substances, and the environment they exist in,” she said. “Ideally, you get them into a sober living situation with good follow-up care … and start working on trying to turn their life around.” Twelve-step meetings and other substance abuse support groups can also be helpful, particularly for those who are sensitive to underlying mental illness. Medications are available to treat mental illnesses, as well as some substance addictions. The latter can help prevent patients from relapsing and abusing substances again. An ongoing learning process “I had to go through the process of finding the right medication and the right dosage, and over the years that has been tweaked several times,” explained Bousquet, who surrounded herself with what she calls a team of people during her treatment and recovery processes. The group was led by the psychiatrist who initially diagnosed her mental illness and determined the correct combination of medications to treat her Bipolar II disorder. It also included a therapist-turned-personal mentor and an individual she calls her “guide in sobriety,” who assisted her in kicking her alcohol addiction. Bousquet also made improvements to her diet and ramped up her fitness levels with exercise (including walking, swimming and tai-chi) which she said provides much-needed structure in her life. “I knew that I had to do everything in my power to continue through the recovery process,” she said. It’s a journey on which she remains today. “It is an ongoing learning process, and it needs to be.” Since the early 1990s, when she began counseling patients over the telephone, Bousquet has assisted others struggling with mental illness. In 2000, she became vice chair of the Sonoma County Mental Health Board in California, where she led support group meetings, created a speakers bureau and educated the public about mental health issues through lectures at area schools. Since relocating to Las Vegas in 2004, she has facilitated support groups and programs for the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). She currently serves on the Nevada Mental Health and Planning Advisory Council, the Governor’s Committee on Co-Occurring Disorders, and the advisory board of Hope of Nevada, an organization that advocates and provides wellness and recovery training for the state’s mental health consumers. Providing support to other mental health patients is the frosting on the cake, Bousquet said. “I get to work with people in recovery, and they think I’m the teacher, but they’re my best teachers,” she said. Even those who have been clean and sober for 30 years are still in recovery, because they’re still working to stay there, Dickson said. “You have to always keep in mind that most mental illnesses are chronic, and substance abuse is always waiting to rear its ugly little head, which makes it all but impossible to fully cure co-occurring disorders,” she said. “It’s always there, something that could come back, so (patients) always want to manage it.”

Pie is the new cupcakes, Las Vegas CityLife magazine 4/11

April 21, 2011 Not so humble anymore Pie is making its move. Lisa Ferguson wonders, should cupcakes be worried? What's not to love about pie? It emerges from the oven warm and smelling sweetly of childhood -- visits to Grandma's house, picnics, country fairs. Its fruity goodness peeks out from delicate steam vents in a buttery, flaky crust flecked with sugar. You've also got to admire the unassuming way in which pie is attempting to crumble the cupcake's reign of dessert domination. It's quickly becoming a culinary force to be reckoned with, as out-of-the-tin thinking about its possibilities has transformed the dessert's rep from homey to haute. Pie's coolness quotient was upped considerably late last year, when national restaurant consultant Andrew Freeman predicted pie would be a food to watch in 2011. "Decadence is endless," proclaimed a press release touting the trend, "with everything from savory, sweet, individual deep-fried pies, bite-sized minis and even pies blended into shakes." Eateries specializing in pie, as well as mom-and-pop pie shops, have cropped up in major cities, taking pie and its devotees where they've never been before. The proof is in the filling: Bakers are combining unusual fruits with herbs and other flavors (bitter-orange rhubarb, apricot and lavender, or strawberry-balsamic, anyone?) and serving slices during "pie happy hour" events. Don't have time to linger over a piece of pie? No worries: Bite-sized (baked in mini mason jars) and other single-serving sizes have made pie eating, well, as easy as pie. And, for those averse to using a fork, pies are available in handheld varieties (think turnovers), and even as "pie pops" on sticks. In some circles, pie has bumped cake off its pedestal as the wedding dessert of choice. Why pie? Most theories point to the nation's economic crisis. You can't split a $3 cupcake with friends, and a dozen can cost $20 to $30-plus. A standard 9-inch pie costs as little as $8 to $10 locally, and easily serves six to eight people. Also, pie's nostalgic nature pairs perfectly with the recessionary trend of getting back to the basics. No wonder that last November, the New York Times ran a story headlined "Pie to Cupcake: Time's Up." The pie trend is, unfortunately, taking its sweet time catching on here. Sure, it's a staple at many area bakeries, and at local outlets of the Marie Callender's restaurant chain. But so far, only one small shop has dedicated itself to the art of pie-making. Pies Unlimited opened five years ago in Sun City Summerlin, long before others were attempting to get a piece of pie's pie. Owners Mike and Treasa Teliska -- he does the baking, she runs the business -- are not surprised by pie's proliferation. Even in a down economy, they report an uptick in business this year. "People like to splurge on themselves once in a while," she says, "and they want to do it in the way of a dessert." Pie is "heartier, it's more filling than a little, tiny cupcake with tons of frosting on it." (The couple does bake an assortment of cupcakes, full-size cakes and cheesecakes that are also sold at the shop.) They offer more than 90 varieties of pie, and Mike estimates he and his crew produce upwards of 800 pies daily. Besides retail customers, the couple peddles wholesale pies to hotel-casinos, assisted-living facilities, caterers and the like. The most popular flavors are apple, strawberry-rhubarb, lemon meringue and chocolate cream. Although they're not yet dabbling in any of the trendy flavor combinations found at other big-city pie shops, the Teliskas say they have received a few unusual requests, including one for a split-down-the-middle, half-apple, half-cherry creation; and a raisin pie packed with a pound of the shriveled fruit. "It was overwhelming with raisins," Mike recalls, but says the customer loved it. Glenda Nelson can attest to Pies Unlimited's offerings: The chef buys more than 15 pies each week from the shop to serve at a local private dining room where she works. Occasionally she has them add one of her favorites -- a coconut cream pie -- to the order, which she purchases herself. Pie is a staple in Nelson's family, as her mother-in-law was for years the pie baker at The Coffee Cup restaurant in Boulder City. In recent months Glenda has attended three weddings where pie was served in place of cake. "Pie is elegant. It's pretty on a plate," she says. "It's not something that people always make for themselves or buy for themselves, and it's more of a treat than a piece of cake is anymore." None of this is news to the folks at the American Pie Council (yes, there really is one). "We think pie has always been America's favorite dessert," insists Executive Director Linda Hoskins. Earlier this month, the council hosted its annual APC Crisco National Pie Championships in Orlando, Fla., which boasted more than 900 entries. Among the ribbon-winners in the new "Innovation" category: something called "My Big Fat Italian Strawberry-Basil Wedding Pie," as well as a Red Velvet Cream pie and a Blueberry Pomegranate Cheese pie. "Pie has always been an interesting dessert," Hoskins says, adding, "I think people are bored with the cupcake." Them's fightin' words to cupcakes fans like Lydia Toscano-Corbett. She buys cupcakes from her favorite local outlet, The Cupcakery, at least twice a month. At $32 per dozen, she admits it's an expensive habit. Still, you won't catch her visiting the pie shop anytime soon. "I can see where it's a feel good-type of food with pie, but I think there is a certain nostalgia with cupcakes," she says. "I do like pie ... but The Cupcakery has coconut cream (flavored) cupcakes, so they've got that covered for me." Kari Haskell, owner and self-proclaimed "head of cupcakes" at Retro Bakery in northwest Las Vegas, welcomes the competition. She says her cupcake sales are "even better than when we opened three years ago," and doubts pie will ever overtake cupcake's celebrated -- or celebration -- status. "For birthdays, you generally don't hand someone a pie. I just don't see pie as a celebratory dessert, whereas cupcakes can pretty much cover everything." she contends. Besides, "You really can't frost a pie pink. And there's no sprinkles. If you're lacking in sprinkles, it's a problem." Maybe. Although judging by the direction in which pie seems headed, that likely won't be a problem for much longer.

Beauty as we age, Las Vegas Woman magazine Summer 2011 issue

Age Before Beauty? Why Not Have Both? You’ve followed all of the rules: you didn’t smoke (too much); you got plenty of rest (on most nights) and drank plenty of water (even if it was in your coffee). It is inevitable that one day you will wake up looking and feeling older than you did the day before. With a little preventative care … those days don’t have to come so quickly. By Lisa Ferguson “Age is an issue of mind over matter,” Mark Twain once said. “If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” Yeah, right. Try telling yourself that when you spot the first wiry gray hair snaking from your scalp. Or a pesky little sunspot that’s popped up on your cheek … Was that there yesterday? After coming face-to-flab with the “bat wings” that jiggle in defiance where your graceful upper arms once were. If you are like most women, you do mind the physical changes that accompany each passing decade of life, because they certainly matter. You may grapple with adult acne in your 20s; work to shed the so-called “baby weight” in the 30s; face fluctuating hormones in your 40s; and manage menopause in the 50s, before getting your groove back in your 60s. The good news is there are ways to slow—and, in some cases, reverse—aspects of the aging process, according to Las Vegas health, fitness and skin care experts. They are Dr. Susan Boyd, a partner at Las Vegas OB/GYN Associates; Pam Wagner, a registered dietitian and owner of Nutrition House Calls of Las Vegas; Paul Rosenberg, owner of Real Results Fitness personal training service; and Jamie Lee Metz, owner of Jamie Lee Metz Advanced Aesthetics, a skin care center. All agree it’s never too early for women to begin prepping themselves inside and out for the years ahead. Twenties: Go ahead and party like a rock star, “as long as you get plenty of sleep, drink lots of water and slather on sunblock,” Metz says. Tend to your skin now to ward off blemishes—not only acne, but also sunspots and clogged sebaceous glands—later. Use a broad-spectrum sunblock containing zinc oxide or titanium oxide, which can double as a moisturizer. Sexually active twentysomethings should undergo gynecological exams, advises Boyd, who hosts a blog called “Know Your ‘V’” at knowyourv.blogspot.com. She also recommends vaccinating against the human papillomavirus if one didn’t receive the injection during the preteen years—even if they’ve already tested positive for the sexually transmitted virus. Following vaccination and treatment for HPV, she explains, woman are “less likely to contract the virus again.” Wagner says women in their 20s should get the Department of Agriculture recommended daily dose of 1,000 milligrams of calcium, to help keep osteoporosis at bay decades from now. Not a milk moustache-type of gal? Try drinking calcium-fortified orange juice instead, or sip a latte (even non-fat versions boast about 400 milligrams of calcium). Thirties: “In order for you to be in good condition, you’ve got to make your health one of your big priorities,” Rosenberg reminds. Hot yoga—where the workout studio is heated to temperatures upwards of 90 degrees—is a red-hot fitness trend among women, he says, as are marathons. “It gives you something to work toward, to train for and not just (focus on) looking good.” Boyd warns premenstrual syndrome symptoms can worsen during the 30s, and monthly cycles may become erratic. She encourages women to have a general hormone panel of blood tests performed by a doctor now, and use the results when considering hormone replacement therapy later, during menopause. “Then you would know, this is how my body was functioning when I was younger,” she says. At around age 35 (and depending on family history), Boyd recommends women get a baseline mammogram, which doctors can refer back to should a breast cancer diagnosis be made in the future. Now is the time to quit smoking and cut back on alcohol and refined-sugar consumption, as these can break down collagen and leave skin looking less youthful, according to Metz. Meanwhile, the effects of sun damage from decades past can start to surface in the 30s. Exfoliate to ditch dead skin and speed up the cell-regeneration process as the skin’s natural oil production begins to lessen. Finally, use products containing glycolic acid or retinol to help chemically reclaim the radiant-looking skin of your 20s. Forties: “The hormones become so erratic” during the 40s, as estrogen levels decline and menopause nears, Boyd says. Around this age, she often orders blood tests for her patients to check for diabetes and gauge cholesterol levels as well as thyroid function, which also can slow. While you’re at it, have a doctor to measure your vitamin D level, Wagner urges, since scientific evidence shows a connection between low levels of the crucial vitamin and an increased risk of breast cancer in women over 40. It may be time for your face to make friends with such fillers as Botox, Metz explains, to smooth wrinkles and “take the place of where there used to be more collagen” in the skin. Also, opt for creamy, mineral-makeup formulas and avoid pressed powders that can settle into the skin, making wrinkles more noticeable. Rosenberg suggests focusing fitness efforts in the 40s and beyond on increasing flexibility through exercises such as swimming and yoga. The good news: Even massage therapy “can really help to loosen people up,” he says. Fifties: Menopause, which typically occurs between ages 49 and 52, is unlike anything a woman has ever experienced, Boyd insists. Its 30-plus documented symptoms—from hot flashes and mood swings, to fatigue and even joint aches—can wax and wane for years, due to disappearing estrogen levels. “It’s very devastating to our bodies. Our bodies just kind of panic,” she says. Women, on the other hand, should not. Some doctors are taking a more “designer-type” approach to hormone therapy these days, tailoring treatments to suit individual needs. “Just because our ovaries (shut down) doesn’t mean we don’t need those hormones; it means our body has to look for a different source to get those hormones from.” More worrisome is how ovarian cancer risk rates rise sharply starting in the 50s. Boyd urges women to learn their family’s history with the disease, which is difficult to detect early on. “We don’t have a Pap smear for ovarian cancer; we don’t have a mammogram for ovarian cancer,” she explains. A blood test, when combined with an ultrasound exam, can offer some clues to women who are considered at high risk for the disease. Foods rich in antioxidants—including fruits, veggies and fish—are not only cancer fighters, but also help stave off heart disease, which is an even bigger threat to women, Wagner reminds. Also, “No one eats perfect, so taking a multivitamin to supplement your food can be a helpful habit,” she says. Recently revised USDA nutritional guidelines explain that people over 50 may also need to supplement their intake of vitamin B12 due to changing gastric acidity levels. “You don’t absorb … those nutrients in your stomach out of the food as well as you used to,” she explains. When it comes to skin care, “Some women at 50 sort of give up, and some women want to attack it,” Metz contends. “I tend to say attack it,” preferably with an arsenal that includes creamy cleansers to boost the skin’s moisture, and heavier-duty chemical peels to lessen the appearance of deeper lines. Fat injections—done by a doctor using a women’s own harvested body fat—can help to plump sagging cheeks. Cosmetic dentistry, in the form of veneers and teeth-whitening procedures, “creates more of the look around the mouth that we have when we’re younger,” she explains. “When you give a little more oomph to the teeth, you create a natural facelift. Plus, whiter teeth make us look younger, too.” Sixties: If you decide to get serious about skin care in your sixth decade, be prepared to break out what Metz calls “the big guns,” by way of plastic surgeons to perform face, neck and brow lifts, as well as more “aggressive” facials. “If you really want to look your best, they should be some of your best friends,” she says. “Not for a false look, but they can really turn back the clock.” Do not forsake fitness as you age. Simply switch to lower-impact exercises that keep the body flexible while avoiding workout-related injuries, Rosenberg advises. Wagner suggests weight-bearing exercises to help force into bones the 1,200 milligrams of calcium that sixtysomething women require daily. Once through the menopausal minefield, Boyd says, women’s energy levels tend to tick up, due either to an adjustment to life including hormone replacement therapy, or without it. “You see these women who want to go whitewater rafting; they’re out golfing; they’re out having a good ol’ time, because they’ve gone through (menopause) and now they’ve gotten themselves in a position of being balanced hormonally … so that everything kind of levels off again,” she says. “I think a lot of it is mental attitude. Wherever they are at that point is how they’re gonna move on.” No matter which stage of life they’re in, Boyd reminds women about the importance of taking care of themselves. After all, “You only get one chance with what you have.” inShare 1

On the hunt for a new job in Southern Nevada, LV Review Journal 6/11

June 19, 2011 By LISA FERGUSON Tiffany Stout is not yet sure how she'll put to use the elementary education degree she graduated with earlier this month. She is considering one option, although not too seriously. "I was telling my husband the other day, 'Do you think I can sell my degree on eBay?' " she says, chuckling at the thought of how an online description for it might read: "Teaching degree and license -- never used, still in package." The idea of auctioning her degree to the highest bidder may be extreme (and probably illegal), but it's easy to empathize with Stout and scores of other frustrated education professionals throughout Clark County who -- in the face of budget-related program cuts, potential pay reductions and looming layoffs -- are struggling to secure jobs or maintain their current employment at area schools and universities. Earlier this month, Nevada legislators approved higher than expected funding for education. As a result, the Clark County School District should receive $250 million more for the 2011-'12 school year, lessening the need for teacher layoffs, while maintaining current class sizes and restoring some counselor and support staff positions. The district will, however, still experience a $150 million gap in its budget for next year that may be closed by freezing some salary increases and through other budget-reducing measures. Some 600 administrative and support staff positions are facing elimination. While the news is good for the district and students, it may not prove very helpful to educators like Stout. She spent the last four years earning her degree at a local University of Phoenix campus, juggling her studies with her longtime day job as a teacher's assistant at a Las Vegas private school. After graduation, she says she expected to easily land a gig teaching for the Clark County School District or at an area private school. Despite having filled out numerous of applications and interviewed at various schools, Stout has yet to receive a job offer -- and isn't confident one is forthcoming. "I anticipated that … there would be, just as there has been in years past, so many teaching positions that you'd kind of have your pick of the bunch." What she says she's found is "no teaching positions at all." Times remain tough for some education professionals, a fact not lost on Bill Garis, acting chief human resources officer for the Clark County School District, whose office is charged with keeping the district's approximately 18,000 employees informed about employment situations and options. "It's difficult for people to know right now what their status is going to be," he explains. It may surprise some to learn that the Clark County School District is still hiring teachers, mostly in specialized areas such as special education and related services, including occupational and speech therapy. There are also nonteaching jobs waiting to be filled, including school nurses and some high-level administrative positions. Descriptions of available jobs can be found on the district's website, CCSD.net. "We do have open positions, which to the public is hard to understand, but there are some very hard positions to fill that remain vacant,'' Garis explains. He says he feels especially bad for newly minted teachers like Stout. "Those who started their degrees four years ago and now they're graduating in elementary education this year," he says, "in terms of future opportunities in teaching, right now for Clark County School District, it's really difficult to say." In any case, count on fierce competition for open positions. Applicants who "are science or math or special education (teachers), they've got a better chance" at landing a job with the Clark County School District than, for example, an elementary or secondary-education teacher whose specialty is physical education or social studies, Garis explains. "We don't typically have any difficulty filling those positions. Even in good times, those are very competitive areas." It's a similar hiring situation at area charter schools, which are federally funded and accredited institutions sponsored by the Clark County School District. Such schools operate more autonomously than traditional public schools but are held to a higher level of accountability when it comes to increasing student achievement. Dr. Michele Robinson is superintendent of schools for Odyssey Charter Schools in Las Vegas, which recently completed its 12th year of operation and boasts a student body of nearly 1,500 students in grades kindergarten through 12. "We're hiring right now the same way I think the district is hiring, and at any public school, and that is just those high-needs positions," Robinson says, explaining that the school recently attempted to fill a speech pathologist position. "The (applicant) pool is so shallow," she contends. That's not necessarily been the case at local private elementary and secondary schools, universities and trade and technical schools, where administrators say the abundance of qualified, experienced educators in the local job market has been a boon when it comes to hiring for their classrooms. Four new teachers were recently added to the 150-member staff at Las Vegas Day School, where the focus recently has been on expanding the campus' middle school program. Judy Meese is admissions director and parent liaison at the private school, which opened in 1961 and has 900 students in its preschool through eighth-grade classes. "We've always been choosy" when it comes to hiring educators, she says, explaining that Las Vegas Day School has previously hired retired Clark County School District teachers who decided they "were not ready to give up their careers yet. We've gotten some amazing teachers from that." The current influx of teachers to the local job market has "actually been a benefit for us," Meese says. "We're really making sure that we get a good fit for what we're looking for. "If you've worked for the Clark County School District for that long, you've had so many amazing experiences," Meese contends. Although some of those former teachers were "sad to leave the district," she says, "they've got a nice set up" at Las Vegas Day School. "I think they're very pleased that they found us." Growth is also on the agenda at Touro University Nevada, a private, not-for-profit university with 31 campuses worldwide, including one in Henderson that's home to more than 1,700 students and 260 employees. "We've got a number of faculty positions that we need to fill" at the local campus, says Senior Provost and Chief Executive Officer Michael Harter. "We don't have any positions that have been removed because of the budgetary problems that our colleagues at UNLV and Nevada State (College) and College of Southern Nevada have experienced." Touro University Nevada is looking to fill numerous positions in several areas of study, including osteopathic manipulative medicine, basic sciences, nursing and occupational and physical therapy. Job descriptions and application information are available on the school's website, tun.touro.edu/. Given the medical nature of Touro University's courses, special training, degrees and job experience are prerequisites for many of the teaching positions. "There are some candidates out there that wouldn't normally be out there without the economic downturn and losing positions at other universities," Harter explains of the applicant pool. "There are also some people taking retirement buyout incentives and then looking at a place like Touro as an opportunity to continue their career." Additionally, he says, the university is "recruiting people who have a research background, so that they can begin doing research with us. … They bring skills in to us along with being able to function well in the classroom." Teachers are also in demand at The Learning Center, which opened in Las Vegas 26 years ago and offers students information technology, also known as IT, computer training. The school's president, Linda Montgomery, says job applicants are plentiful these days. "We would be looking for an individual who has prior teaching experience, and they would have to have the IT certification for the subject matters that they would be teaching," she explains. Montgomery says she can afford to be choosy when it comes to hiring educators. "In years past, we found that we would have to grow our own instructors, and spend a lot of time developing and mentoring and so forth." That's not the case any longer. "There are a lot of candidates." Laurie Clemens echoes that sentiment. The school director for the Las Vegas Professional Institute of Technology and Accounting Software says there's been no shortage of candidates for her to meet with while searching for instructors to teach courses in accounting, computer graphics and Web design, among others. "I've been in this industry for almost 20 years, and I've never seen the (applicant) pool this big," Clemens says. "Our instructors have to have at least two years of experience in the field that they are teaching," she explains. "If they come to us from a college or a school system, that's even better because they've had a lot of experience with teaching." Clemens recalls a recent experience she had with a pair of applicants who were competing for the same instructor position. "I have a person who's been an educator and she's really good with the educational side of things, but she's not really done as much of the (computer) software side of things," she explains. The other applicant had more experience in the business world, "but she's never been a formal teacher." Clemens says her ideal applicant is one who has "that technical ability along with the instructional" experience. For that reason, she urges job-seeking educators to include any previous business-related experience they may have with their teaching credentials on resumes in an effort to stand out from the crowd. "There's a lot of great people coming through here," she says.

Dieting trends in Southern Nevada, Las Vegas Woman magazine Fall 2011 issue

When looking to lose a few pounds, dieters will try almost anything. From living on cabbage soup alone, to eating only protein or barely eating anything at all, being sensible and realistic is the key to never finding those pounds again. By Lisa Ferguson I knew I’d hit rock bottom when a sesame seed bagel brought me to tears. It was 1990-something, and I was several weeks into the then-popular, low-carb Sugar Busters diet. As per the instructions, I’d banished white breads, rice, potatoes and pastas from my daily menus; was steering clear of salad dressings, soft drinks and such; and had resorted to slurping salsa from a spoon rather than allow a single, forbidden tortilla chip to pass between my lips. Sure enough, the pounds had begun to slowly melt away. Unfortunately, my sanity went with them. Visions of baked goods danced in my head as my willpower waned. I probably would have hurt someone if it meant getting my hands on a Twinkie. My breaking point was reached the morning a co-worker brought into the office a bag of fresh bagels and a bucket of cream cheese. He set them near my desk, their scent wafted over and, well, I began openly weeping on my keyboard. With that, my Sugar Busters diet officially went bust. Later, while licking globs of cream cheese from my fingers, I wondered where I’d gone wrong. Does anyone ever have any luck with these so-called “fad” diets? Some plans at least appear more healthy and sensible—i.e., South Beach, The Zone Diet, Atkins, Dukan, Ornish, The 17 Day Diet, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig—than others, like the Cookie Diet, the Cabbage Soup Diet and (ugh!) the Tapeworm Diet. According to the independent market-research firm Marketdata Enterprises, the nation’s 75 million dieters last year helped the U.S. weight-loss market top $60 billion in revenue. Despite those numbers, nearly 70 percent of people in this country are considered to be overweight or obese. You can bet most of those folks aren’t celebrities, who always seem to be fighting—and winning—the battle of the bulge. Who wasn’t wowed by sitcom star Valerie Bertinelli’s dramatic weight loss via Jenny Craig? Or songstress Jennifer Hudson’s slim-tastic turn courtesy of Weight Watchers? Academy Award-winner Gwyneth Paltrow has made headlines touting the benefits of her “GOOP” cleansing diet. Fellow Oscar winners Reese Witherspoon and Kate Winslet have also reportedly taken weird paths to weight loss: The former by eating baby food, the latter by adhering to a “facial analysis diet,” determining which foods to eat (or avoid) based on the colors and textures of one’s face. Huh? Jillian Michaels went from being “The Biggest Loser” trainer to one of the biggest names in diet and fitness with her best-selling books and DVDs. And Bethenny Frankel, a former scene stealer on “The Real Housewives of New York City,” has made phat cash with her line of Skinnygirl products. “Here we are, a society that worships the very thin. All of our stars or actresses are beautiful and skinny as can be,” yet the nation is in the midst of an obesity epidemic, reminds Susan Yager, author of the book “The Hundred Year Diet: America’s Voracious Appetite for Losing Weight” (Rodale Books, 2010). “We’ve had a long history of fad dieting in America,” she says. The first weight-loss schemes emerged in the early 1900s, despite the fact that the nation’s obesity issues didn’t actually begin until the ’80s. “We were a very thin nation before then,” she explains, when people were less sedentary and super sized, fast-food meals weren’t the norm. For the most part, Yager says, fad diets are all style and no substance. Any of them will produce results initially due to reduced caloric intake. “Still, you have to learn how to eat correctly to maintain that weight loss for the rest of your life, and I think for 95 percent of us it’s very difficult to give up any particular food forever. So we have to eat them in moderation, in controlled portions and still maintain our weight.” Some diets are better than others. Yager calls Weight Watchers “pretty good” although she’s “always a little suspect, when a company is based on people being overweight, how much they really want the obesity epidemic to end.” She says the fruit-and-vegetable heavy DASH Diet is “very sensible”; but gives a thumb’s down to the popular Atkin’s Diet. “Any diet that emphasizes (consuming) huge quantities of synthetic vitamins, as Atkins did, is always a bad idea because … you’re not getting the nutrients you need from your food.” Although “there’s nothing wrong with the South Beach Diet,” Yager says, “there’s nothing particularly right with it.” Its creator, Cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston, advises eliminating “bread and rice and white foods, and that doesn’t make any sense to me” since those are foods that “many slim populations have thrived on for millennia. Japan has the thinnest population in the world, and we all know how much rice is consumed in Japan.” “Every fad diet is just a starvation diet with a cool name,” Yager insists, “and starving yourself is a bad idea.” The latest diet craze sweeping the country fits that description: Human chorionic gonadotropin, better known as HCG, is a highly controversial hormone generated by the placenta during pregnancy. Proponents say it’s able to suppress hunger and triggers the body to use its fat stores for fuel. When coupled with a 500-calorie-per-day diet, it theoretically should help people lose a pound or more each day during a typical 30-day dieting cycle. HCG was previously on the market briefly during the 1950s and ’70s. These days, the hormone is prescribed and purchased in an injectable form at an increasing number of doctors’ offices and weight-loss clinics around the country. It’s also sold in an unregulated, oral liquid-drop form without a doctor’s prescription at nutrition stores, drugstores and fitness centers, as well as over the Internet. Scientific evidence backing HCG’s weight-loss and appetite-suppressant claims is nonexistent, and the Food and Drug Administration does not approve the hormone. It can also be an expensive diet, with a month’s worth of injections costing more than $1,000 at some outlets. Barbara Paulsen is a registered dietitian who teaches in the nutrition sciences department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. In her previous work with the Dairy Council of Utah and Nevada, she helped develop a nonprofit, nationwide weight-loss program called Lifesteps. She opinionates that HCG is not one of the best diet plans she’s ever encountered, due to its extreme caloric restrictions, which is what likely makes it effective. It is generally recommended that adults consume at least 1,200 calories per day. “And even that would be lower than what you would want for many people,” Paulsen says. “When you get down to 500 calories a day, you’re not meeting nutrient needs. Plus, you’re probably not getting much physical activity because you don’t have a lot of energy if you’re only at that level of calories.” Still, people are clamoring for HCG. Patient demand was a factor in the decision of doctors at Forte Family Practice in Las Vegas to begin offering the injections earlier this year. The cost is around $350 for 40 days of injections. An ideal HCG candidate is one “who actually is ready to lose the weight, who has failed other diets and exercise, and is mentally prepared to do this,” says Dr. Jeff Ng of Forte Family Practice. “It’s not for the casual dieter who comes in and says, ‘I have a wedding to go to in three months, I want to lose 25 pounds, but I’m not going to change my diet.’ That’s not what this diet is for.” Ng acknowledges the controversy swirling around HCG and says there may be some merit to the theory that the hormone serves merely as a placebo. “Maybe the science hasn’t caught up yet, and this is sort of where we stand right now. We don’t know the actual mechanism of this. It isn’t banned by the FDA. People are desperately looking for a remedy for weight loss and this seems to work.” He also advises and closely monitors patients for HCG’s potential side effects, including blood clots, depression and headaches, among others. “It’s not a perfect diet,” Ng says, but for some patients the benefits may outweigh the risks. “The type of patient we’re seeing now (is one) who … just gets diagnosed with hypertension, who just gets diagnosed with glucose intolerance and has a strong family history for diabetes, and they know that if they don’t get their weight down,” they are destined for a lifetime of serious health issues. That is precisely what has Paulsen concerned. With such patients, “You may want to get the weight off them, but you still have to do it in a safe way,” she contends. “A questionable injection that you’re really not sure what the side effects would be, I think, even riskier with somebody who potentially already has some health problems.” Nevertheless, the considerable buzz surrounding HCG was enough to convince Jennifer, a Las Vegas mother of two children, to give it a try. She visited a local clinic last year and was prescribed the hormone in liquid-drop form. “I was a little freaked out at first,” she recalls. “It was just something I wanted to try because I had tried Weight Watchers (previously) and wasn’t really successful with that. I thought (HCG) would be quick and easy.” It was quick, but not necessarily easy. Jennifer says she was “very hungry” throughout her 30-day diet. Meals consisted of a piece of fruit for breakfast and miniscule servings of vegetables and protein at lunch and dinner. “I was starving. I would watch the clock to see when I could eat again.” In the end, she lost 17 pounds. The hunger pangs weren’t enough to dissuade her from giving HCG another go. Jennifer plans to begin a second round of the diet soon. “I felt really good when I was done, and it was fast and I was able to lose and keep off” the weight. Such success stories don’t change Yager’s opinion. “What makes me very angry about the HCG diet is that it’s beyond a fad. It’s dangerous and it is preying on people … when they are at their absolute most vulnerable,” Yager says. “The most important thing (to do) is to stay away from fad diets. No fad diet is going to work … The only diet that is ever going to work for anyone is one where you change your lifestyle and eat well forever.”