By Brenda Long, Michigan State University Extension
Many older adults value a high quality of life that is directly tied to the ability to continue living independently. Independence depends on if the home continues to meet the older adult’s needs and whether they have a continued connection to daily services, based on a report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University — Projections and Implications for Housing a Growing Population: Older Households 2015-2035. Let’s explore these decisions to help you devise a realistic strategy.
According to the Make the Most of Your Home’s Value lesson from the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE), there are some financial obligations to consider related to homeownership. Beyond any mortgage debt obligations, these include property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, utilities, homeowners association (HOA) fees, repairs and cost-of-living increases. Do you have adequate income and savings to cover these expenses? According to the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), housing costs should be less than 31 percent of income to be affordable. However, an estimated 12 million renters and homeowners are cost burdened, paying more than 50 percent of their income on housing. It is recommended to pay off one’s mortgage before retirement, if possible. Also, it is critical to understand the income tax implications for annual deductions and home sale capital gains exclusion.
Other considerations are your values and lifestyle preferences. How do your priorities impact your decision to stay in your current housing or transition to a different situation? Think about these factors:
your social network
proximity to family, friends, and caregivers
access to transportation
weather/climate
closeness to health care services
mobility issues
family legacy and security
local income taxes and/or inheritance and estate taxes
whether or not your home can be modified
manageable home and yard maintenance
Programs from local and national organizations are available in Michigan to help repair single family homes. They include weatherization, repairs and improvements, and accessibility modifications to assist homeowners to stay in their homes.
Consider attending our free Retirement Planning online workshops held several times each year. The September series registration is https://events.anr.msu.edu/RetirementSept18/. Financial planning takes time, patience, and discipline. Find more information about financial and housing decisions at MIMoneyHealth.org.
The answer could be yes if you use the towel for many purposes, have a large family and are not a vegetarian, according to a new study of germs lurking on towels.
Forty-nine percent of the kitchen towels collected for the study were laden with bacteria, and the bacterial count increased with the number of family members and kids, researchers from the Indian Ocean island/nation of Mauritius reported.
“Cross-contamination is happening in the kitchen, and those bacteria could reach our food and cause food poisoning,” said lead researcher Susheela Biranjia-Hurdoyal. She is a senior lecturer in the department of health at the University of Mauritius.
Specifically, the researchers found that towels used for a variety of tasks—such as wiping utensils, drying hands, holding hot utensils or cleaning surfaces—had more bacteria than towels used for one task. In addition, damp towels had more bacteria than dry ones, the investigators found.
Of the 49 samples that were infested with bacteria, 37 percent had Escherichia coli (E. coli), 37 percent had Enterococcus, and 14 percent were infected with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus).
For the study, Biranjia-Hurdoyal and her colleagues sampled 100 kitchen towels that had been used for one month. They classified the types of bacteria on the towels and also how much bacteria was present.
Higher rates of S. aureus were found among low-income families and those with children, the findings showed. The risk for E. coli was higher in damp towels than dry ones, from towels used for several jobs rather than single-use ones, and from those used in non-vegetarian households.
Both E. coli and S. aureus were found at higher rates in families with non-vegetarian diets.
E. coli is a normal bacteria found in the intestine and is released in large numbers in human feces. S. aureus is a bacteria found in the respiratory tract.
The researchers’ advice? “Avoid humid and multi-usage towels,” Biranjia-Hurdoyal suggested.
Kevin Sauer is an associate professor of dietetics at Kansas State University College of Human Ecology in Manhattan, Kansas. He said, “The key advice is to remain attentive to food safety when preparing food in the home, which includes proper hand-washing, avoiding cross-contamination, and cooking and storing foods at the right temperatures.”
In a food-handling study he did in 2015, Sauer found that cloth towels were the most contaminated.
“However, even when provided with disposable single-use paper towels, participants were still observed using these in a way that led to additional contamination of contact surfaces,” he noted.
Sauer advised that people should avoid using towels in place of hand-washing, because they can easily become contaminated with harmful germs from raw meat and poultry juices.
“Furthermore, reusing contaminated towels to wipe hands or other surfaces can easily lead to cross-contamination, and therefore should not be reused throughout meal preparation, since they too can contribute to contamination of hands, surfaces or other food products,” Sauer said.
Findings from the study were scheduled for presentation at the American Society for Microbiology meeting, in Atlanta. The findings should be considered preliminary because they have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.
According to Jessica Corwin, MPH, RDN, community nutrition educator for Spectrum Health Healthier Communities, and Kristi Veltkamp, an outpatient dietitian at Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital, we should all follow these key tips to avoid cross-contamination:
Always wash your hands with soap and water before preparing or handling food.
Keep raw meat, poultry and seafood securely wrapped to prevent any juices from contaminating prepared dishes and raw foods.
Take time to rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under running water. Scrub any firm-skinned produce with a vegetable brush.
Avoid re-using towels, platters or utensils that were used with raw meats.
Corwin urges people to follow food safety precautions, even if they ignored them in the past and didn’t feel any ill effects.
Not everyone responds to infections the same way. Those most at risk of serious complications include small children, pregnant women, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.
By Beth Clawson, Michigan State University Extension
Michigan is home to more than 1.3 million onsite wastewater treatment systems. Most are for single family homes that include a septic system. Indeed, the onsite wastewater treatment system including a septic tank and soil absorption field is the most common domestic wastewater treatment system in rural homes in the United States. In Michigan, it is estimated that 10 percent of these systems are in some level of malfunction or have failed.
Malfunctioning and failed onsite waste water systems make our ground and surface waters susceptible to fecal contamination. Several rivers in the Lower Peninsula have been tested during low-flow conditions and were found to contain genetic markers indicating the presence of human fecal matter. This contamination can come from leaky septic systems. Keeping septic systems in good repair can protect Michigan’s water quality.
Rural homes in Michigan include onsite wastewater systems that require regular maintenance. Maintenance and inspection of your system depends upon its size, the number of people that live in the home and what county you live in. Michigan is the last state to still adopt uniform onsite wastewater regulations. Lack of uniform statewide laws leaves regulation and inspection laws up to local officials through county health departments and districts. This means that rules for onside wastewater system laws vary between counties.
Most counties have a sale transfer ordinance requiring septic tank inspections but few have the same or similar size and installation regulations. Most ordinances cite the average of pumping and inspecting recommendation of every three years for a family of four. Many also require inspection of newly installed systems. None return a year or two later to ensure that the system is functioning properly.
An onsite wastewater system typically consists of three basic parts:
The drain waste pipes from the house into a septic tank;
The septic or settling tank, sometimes divided in half with a baffle; and
The dispersion box and soil absorption or drain field.
Waste water flows from the toilets, laundry and sinks in the home through the drain pipes to the septic tank. The septic tank, made of solid cast concrete (in most cases) has an inlet and an outlet for effluent. Once the waste enters the tank the solids settle to the bottom to decompose and become the sludge layer. Effluent water is in the middle and the lighter grease and soaps float to the top to create the scum layer. The effluent water flows out through a pipe to the drain field. Newer tanks sometimes contain a baffle creating a second settling area before water is released to the soil absorption field. Michigan State University Extension’s webpage on Septic systems gives more detail on this topic.
If the sludge is not pumped out on a regular basis then the layer gets thick allowing solids to flow into the drain field. This plugs and compacts in the drain tiles and the soil causing failure. Many times people think that this is a sign that the septic is full, and indeed it is but it is also a failure. Drain field failure requires soil removal and replacement and can become an expensive repair. This is one of the most common failures. Other common causes of septic failure include tanks collapsing from being driven or parked on; tree roots; excessive water from parties or heavy rains; pipes clogged from flushing items other than toilet paper such as, feminine products and personal sanitary wipes; biological processes stopped from over use of chlorine or antibiotic soaps.
If you are experiencing sewage waste backup into your house from your septic tank this may indicate a total blockage of the tank and drain field and could indicate a costly repair or replacement. Regular inspections and pumping can prevent expensive repairs later. Just as it is recommended to regularly inspect our cars and furnaces, we should also inspect and clean out our onsite waste water systems. The average recommendation is every three years for a typical family home with three bedrooms equipped with a 1000 gallon tank. It’s important to know the size of your septic tank.
Older homes may have smaller tanks. Smaller tanks need to be pumped more often. For example, if a three-bedroom home has a 900-gallon septic tank with six people living there, they should schedule their pumping for every one and one half to two years to avoid failure. If a home uses a garbage disposal, consider that they are increasing the amount of solids (pre-digestion) going into the tank. This home will require more frequent pumping.
Concrete, plastic and fiberglass tanks are not infallible, lots of things can cause the material to fail resulting in collapse. Inspectors look at the integrity of your system. Fractures caused by frost/freeze break up, ground heaves, earthquakes, manufacturer defect, burrowing animals, and tree roots all have an impact on our systems. Michigan DEQ does have a guide on subsurface onsite wastewater treatment systems but its recommendations are not enforceable by law. Michigan County Environmental Health departments have laws, consult your County for its recommendations for onsite waste water system maintenance.
For more in depth information the National Environmental Services Center, West Virginia University has a good publication that includes a time table in years for pumping recommendations at http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/pdf/ww/septic/pl_fall04.pdf.
If you want to learn more there are videos available: Click here for a short video (under five minutes) about onsite wastewater septic systems, or click here for a longer training video (about 110 minutes) about onsite wastewater septic systems.
For more information about and water quality contact Beth Clawson, MSU Extension Educator. To learn more about onsite waste water treatment septic tanks, contact Michigan State University Extension Natural Resources educators who are working across Michigan to provide water quality and septic tank maintenance educational programming and assistance. You can contact an educator through MSU Extension’s “Find an Expert” search tool using the keywords “Natural Resources Water Quality.”
Service dogs may help reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol in military veterans who have post-traumatic stress disorder, a new study finds.
For the study, researchers compared a group of veterans with PTSD who had a service dog to a group of veterans on the waitlist to receive one.
“Our previous research suggests that the presence of a service dog reduced clinical PTSD symptoms and improved quality of life,” said study co-leader Maggie O’Haire. She is an assistant professor of human-animal interaction at Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, in West Lafayette, Ind.
“In this study, we wanted to determine if those beneficial effects also included changes in the physiology of stress,” O’Haire said in a university news release.
The researchers focused on cortisol, a biomarker involved in the stress response system, and one that is detected through saliva.
According to study co-leader Kerri Rodriguez, “military veterans with a service dog in the home produced more cortisol in the mornings than those on the wait list.”
Rodriguez explained that “this pattern is closer to the cortisol profile expected in healthy adults without PTSD.”
In addition, “having a service dog was also associated with less anger, less anxiety and better sleep,” she noted. Rodriguez is a human-animal interaction graduate student.
The findings are the first of their kind and offer insight into how service dogs may provide mental health benefits to veterans with PTSD, according to the study authors.
The researchers are now conducting a large-scale, long-term U.S. National Institutes of Health clinical trial comparing veterans with service dogs to those without.
The report was published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Benefits of owning a dog:
Fight heart disease. Owning a dog has a positive impact on blood pressure, which is one of the main factors in heart attack and stroke, according to Thomas Boyden, MD, MS, Spectrum Health program director of preventive cardiology. The American Heart Association reports a link between pet ownership and lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Studies also show you’ll be more likely to survive a heart attack if you have a dog.
Relieve stress. “Being around pets, and dogs in particular, actually changes your body at a hormonal level,” Jared Skillings, PhD, ABPP, Spectrum Health chief of psychology said. Of course, it’s not a cure-all. “Getting a dog won’t cure depression or clinical anxiety, but it certainly can help.”
Reduce loneliness. Dogs provide unconditional love. They’re caring, excited to see you and glad to be by your side. Need to talk? “Dogs are good listeners and they’re not going to argue with you,” Dr. Skillings said.
Improve sociability. There’s also the added benefit of the camaraderie among dog owners. “Having a dog can connect people to other pet owners, which can reduce isolation, too,” Dr. Skillings said.
Inspire exercise. A study published in the journal BMC Public Health said the average dog owner walks 22 minutes more per day than those who don’t own a dog. Daily walks have lots of added benefits, from controlling chronic conditions to burning weight and improving moods.
Add purpose. Having a dog or any other pet can give you a reason to get going in the morning. Size doesn’t matter. In fact, cats, horses and birds can all have a similar effect. Even tiny pets—hamsters, mice, fish, insects—can imbue you with a sense of purpose. In one study, elderly people were asked to care for a cage of five crickets. After eight weeks, the people who had the crickets in their homes were less depressed and had better cognitive function than those in the control group.
Your little one’s first day back to school isn’t that far off. Now is the time to think about new strategies for a productive school year. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
By Sue Gunnink, Spectrum Health Beat
It’s always difficult transitioning from the laid-back summer schedule to the hectic schedule of the school year.
It usually takes a good month or so to get back into the groove, at least to where you feel confident everyone in your household is back on track.
And once you’ve gotten into the groove again, don’t you wish you could keep it going all year long? Wouldn’t it be great to keep everything running smoothly ’til next June?
It just so happens that a few handy tips can keep your family functioning like a well-oiled machine, at least when it comes to nutrition and meal preparation.
We all know that one of the best tools in the toolbox is the lunchbox.
Here’s how to keep your meals on track all year long:
Pack ahead
Pack lunches the night before to avoid the rush in the morning. This gives you more time to plan meals, which increases the chances you’ll select nutritious foods. Have your kids get involved in the lunch packing, too. They’re more likely to eat the food in their lunch when they’re involved in the process.
Be a portion pro
To simplify lunch preparation, cut your fruit into individual portions for the week. For example: If you have three kids and want them to have fruit each day of the week, you can cut 15 containers of fruit on Sunday night.
Get stocked and ready
For after-school snacks, consider stocking healthier items that are easy to grab, such as trail mix, unbuttered popcorn, or peanut butter on sliced apples or pears.
Coordinate schedules
Plan dinners in advance. On Sunday night, take a moment to survey your family’s schedule for the coming the week, identifying nights that involve sports practice, school activities, special events and so forth. Plan the meals accordingly. Consider having one night where your child is responsible for coming up with a meal.
Prep and freeze
Consider preparing and freezing meals well in advance. Once every few months, you can make a large batch of a particular food item, such as lasagna, then divide it into dinner portions. These can be frozen and labeled for easy use later on.
Are you interested in learning more about balanced nutrition? Schedule a personalized appointment with a Spectrum Health registered dietitian or call 616.391.1875 to register for a group class series.
Photo of Daniel Miraval by Abbey Miller, Michigan State University Extension
ByAbbey Miller, Michigan State University Extension
Twenty-seven years ago, the Michigan State University (MSU) Extension Master Gardener Program changed Daniel Miraval’s life.
“I was an at-risk youth from the southwest side of Detroit and was given a scholarship to attend a Master Gardener Program, which I successfully completed,” Miraval said. “That program led me into an amazing 26-year-career in horticulture and arboriculture.”
“For me it was the first opportunity to actually engage in an advanced training related to my job which was in the green industry. I learned the basic building blocks and foundation of horticulture and arboriculture. Upon realizing that it was actually a learnable discipline, it was then I decided to stick with it as a career. It would be much later that I used that to make it a profession.”
The MSU Extension Master Gardener Program is an adult horticulture education and volunteer leader program committed to improving the quality of life in Michigan through horticulture-based volunteerism and beautifying communities throughout the state. The program provides instruction in basic, research-based horticulture science to motivated and active gardeners through an adult (18 years or older) educational program offered by MSU Extension. Once trained, Master Gardeners educate others in the community about environmentally and economically sound practices through horticulture-based volunteer activities.
In 1991 at 19 years old, Miraval did not have a clear picture of what he wanted to do. He struggled in school, eventually dropping out, and he had been in trouble with the law as a juvenile. Miraval needed a job and applied for a position at Marvin’s Gardens, a small landscape company, owned by Marvin Welch Jr.
“I’ve always said that the green industry saved my life,” Miraval said. “Had I not been given this opportunity, I may very well not have ended up as successful and accomplished as I have or be dead or in jail or prison.”
Shortly after starting at Marvin’s Gardens, Miraval realized that he had an affinity for and wanted to pursue a career in landscaping because as he says, “landscaping leaves a lasting mark.”
Welch showed an interest in Miraval’s progress and suggested Miraval take a Master Gardener class.
“He gave me a phone number for the Master Gardener Program,” Miraval said. “I called, they said the price and it was beyond my ability to pay.”
However, there was a hardship scholarship program. Welch advised Miraval to tell his story in a letter of application for the scholarship.
Miraval received the scholarship and attended the Master Gardener class. Looking back, Miraval recalls this class was one of the first major commitments he had ever made in his life.
“I was intimidated by Michigan State University in the title of the class,” Miraval said. “I didn’t graduate high school, but now was doing something with MSU.”
“The Master Gardener course provided me with the opportunity to explore the industry and guide me — it saved my life. I would not have put into practice follow-through and commitment. That was my first lesson. Taking the class opened doors for me. It also reaffirmed the fact that being broke is economic, but being poor is a debilitating state of mind. It taught me that when you do find success, you use it as a tool.
“I still refer to the Master Gardener curriculum from time to time,” he said. “The foundation of what I have learned as an arborist is in here [the Master Gardener curriculum] and whoever provided the funding that let me participate 27 years ago, when I had nothing, saved my life.”
Miraval credits the MSU Master Gardener program for helping people like him, who may not have succeeded in traditional education platforms, still attain levels of industry professionalism. He gives full recognition of his success today to where becoming a professional began for him in Welch’s class.
Following the class, Welch continued to serve as Miraval’s first mentor, but certainly was not his last mentor.
“Marvin said I should work for a nursery – a big one. Vidosh was one of those he suggested,” Miraval said.
During a job interview, Miraval recalled that Bruce White, Vidosh Landscape Center owner and operator and MSU horticulture graduate, asked what his 3- to 5-year plan was. Miraval told him he wanted to be like White. Miraval was offered the job where he continued to learn more about the green industry.
“Bruce was the one who recognized my passion for wanting to be a better person and to be part of a winning team,” Miraval said. “He was the one who taught me about hard work and following through with everything you set out to do. He really took me under his wing with the specific intention of recreating me. He became my mentor a month after I graduated from the Master Gardener class when I walked into his office, certificate and test score in hand, looking for more than a job but an opportunity. He served as a mentor for 19 years.”
Miraval then met White’s brother, Wayne White, owner of Emerald Tree Care LLC and MSU forestry graduate.
“Wayne has been a mentor of increasing involvement for the last 10 years, but his influence, commitment to my success and leaving a legacy has been an intense focus for the last 5 years. He is a true champion of mine and how my taking the steps and action to become a Master Gardener showed my passion for the green industry but more importantly it showed my determination to better myself by utilizing whatever means necessary and for me the first step was the Master Gardener Program.
“I think the bottom line is these mentors all taught me the basics of self-motivation, follow-through, work ethic and taking action,” Miraval said. “That seems to be what the Master Gardener Program scholarship contained. Being made available by some endowment I would imagine. I wish I could find out who those people were, and if they are still around, so I could personally thank each one of them. They believed in me without even knowing who I was. I want them to know that the program was a success for me and thank them. Every program needs metrics to prove its worth. I really don’t know what else to say other than thank you and the Master Gardener Program was like a magic carpet.”
Miraval continues to be surrounded by mentors that encourage his success and teach him lessons to live by. As he pursues Advanced Credentials in the Green Industry, he came in contact with Steve Martinko of Contenders Tree and Lawn, LLC from White Lake, Michigan. Steve has been a friend and mentor that has helped Miraval plan for the next ten years in his business.
Today, Miraval is a certified arborist with the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) and a co-owner of Green Extraction Technologies LLC, based near Chicago. They specialize in root collar excavation, corrective pruning and provide contract digging services for nurseries and specialized plant health care for residents, homeowner associations, municipalities and other organized properties. Among Miraval’s clients are Virginia farms Ingleside Plantation Nurseries, located on over 2,500 acres with 1,000 acres of nursery production, and White House Natives, LLC, dedicated to growing and harvesting 96 different species of native plant materials on their 25 acre site.
In addition to being a professional ISA member, Miraval serves on the Chicago Region Trees Initiative Tree Risk Management work group and is an Openlands TreeKeeper. He is also a member of the Tree Care Industry Association and the Illinois Arborist Association, of which he is a current board nominee. He is a certified tree safety person (CTSP), a certified Illinois pesticide applicator and an Illinois real estate agent.
“When I decided to become a an ISA–certified arborist, I reached back to the Master Gardener Program in respect to compartmentalizing how again this daunting advanced studying I wanted to do was similar to the Master Gardener Program. The information is there, it’s well presented and laid out, and all you have to do is apply yourself and inject your passion, and success is imminent.
“I hope my story inspires someone else or at least the people who make the policies that make these programs possible so they continue to fund them.
“The green industry is a very powerful industry in many ways. Trees are life. They saved mine and now I save theirs.”
In a tech-centric world, it’s tough on the brain to focus on any one thing as it’s bombarded with data. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
By Don Shell, Spectrum Health Beat
It was another typically busy day.
In between testing patients, Michael Lawrence, PhD, ABPP-CN, a clinical neuropsychologist with Spectrum Health Medical Group, found himself answering instant messages and emails, grabbing a quick lunch, calling AT&T about his cell phone bill, racing to Blodgett Hospital for a meeting, and reading an article a certain Health Beat reporter had sent him for an interview.
If that sounds all-too familiar to you, you’re not alone. But if you think you’re multitasking, what you’re really doing is kidding yourself, Dr. Lawrence said.
“We all have to do it to some extent,” he said. “But we know multitasking is a misnomer. We have to be aware that you’re not doing two things at work, you’re switching back and forth. If we have three or four or five things, our performance suffers.
“The problem is, we don’t know how to deal with technology. We’re bombarded by things.”
Our cell phone addictions are doing more than stifling our real-world social lives: they’re stifling our creativity, too, Dr. Lawrence said.
“We used to think that different parts of the brain were responsible for controlling different abilities, but what we’ve learned with recent advances in neuroscience is that actually your brain is networked together,” he said. “The Default Mode Network, the DMN, actually encompasses the prefrontal cortex and the limbic system. That’s the part of the brain that turns on when you’re at a resting state. And studies have shown that creativity is increased when you do nothing at all first.
There’s an app for that
New app helps track your cell phone addiction.
Are you addicted to your cell phone? If you’re like a growing number of Americans, the answer is probably yes – and it’s likely worse than you thought.
Enter the new app called Moment, which can track just how often you check your messages, emails, Facebook or anything else.
You can even set daily limits on yourself and force yourself off your device when you’re over your limit.
“It’s the last thing you look at before you go to bed, and the first thing you wake up to,” Dr. Lawrence said. “That’s why this Moment app is so interesting. I don’t think people realize how addicted they are to their phones.”
“When you’re doing too much at once, this area of the brain is burning too much energy, and your capacity to do any one thing suffers.”
This flies in the face of the common belief that things such as music can help increase focus and productivity, Dr. Lawrence said, but that doesn’t mean people can’t juggle tasks at all.
“I think you can do two things at once, but the problem is, you don’t do any one thing as well,” he explained. “The research says the quieter the environment, the more sterile, the better you do. People say they focus better with music, but your brain has to turn on to process music, and if it’s expending energy to process music, that’s energy it’s not using on whatever else you’re doing.”
The multitasking myth isn’t age-specific, either.
“They talk about kids with video games, but I think adults are even worse,” he said. “I went to a meeting the other day and everyone was on their cell phone. They say technology is making everybody ADD. It makes our lives better in some way, but at what cost? There has to be some moderation.”
Dr. Lawrence said he has a simple way to fight the anxiety of overstimulation.
“We all have that feeling, when we’re being pulled in a million different directions,” he said. “When I do it, I realize it and get anxious. What’s the first thing I do? I turn off everything–my cell phone and email–and create a checklist of the things I need to do. That helps me focus and prioritize what I need to do.”
The bottom line, says Dr. Lawrence, “We have to learn to adapt, because technology isn’t going away.”
By Spectrum Health Beat Staff; photos by Chris Clark
Imagine snoozing comfortably at home while your bed measures your heart rate and breathing—and enters those vital signs into your medical record.
Imagine tapping an app on your smartphone when you want to ask your doctor about a new symptom.
As health care technology gets smarter—and more personal—patients will find new ways to monitor their medical conditions and connect with medical experts.
Spectrum Health staff got a glimpse of products under development recently at an open house organized by Spectrum Health Innovations. Two companies involved in the Seamless Accelerator, a collaboration of startups and industry leaders, displayed their new devices to get reaction from the experts.
A bed that communicates
Hoana Medical, a Honolulu-based company, showed off its LifeBed system, a mattress coverlet embedded with sensors that measure vital signs. It detects heart and respiration rates—and can indicate whether the patient is in bed.
Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat
Staff can view the data at a central nursing station or on a handheld device, such as a smartphone.
The device aims to eliminate the need to attach sensors, electrodes, cuffs and other monitoring equipment directly to the patient, said Edward Chen, president and chief operating officer of Hoana.
“I think in a med-surg world it could be beneficial to have this continuous monitoring available,” said Liz Schulte, an inpatient nursing supervisor at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital.
A rise in breathing or heart rate could indicate a patient is experiencing more pain, for example, prompting the nurse to check in. Or it might signal that a confused patient is becoming agitated, perhaps planning to get out of bed to use the bathroom.
“We can go in there and proactively act on that,” Schulte said. “A bed alarm is good only once a patient gets out of bed.”
The smartphone connection would be a big plus, she added. It would allow a nurse to view vital signs for a number of patients from any location.
The LifeBed system plugs directly into the wall, but also can operate wirelessly.
“It simplifies the process of having to move monitors,” Chen said. “It has been tested in ambulances and helicopters. Imagine deploying it for large-scale emergency triage on stretchers.”
Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat
The version displayed at Spectrum Health is intended for use in the medical-surgical, acute care or home care settings. A steady stream of nurses, doctors and therapists filed through the two-hour open house. Some tried out apps and lay on the LifeBed, watching their vital signs appear on a smartphone screen.
“I really thought the vital sign communication with electronic capability was great,” said Laura McPherson, pediatric lead therapist in respiratory care at Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.
The system would be even better, she said, if it could be converted to a hardback surface, which would be useful in reviving a patient in cardiac arrest.
“This could be the total package,” she said.
A doctor-patient app
Friendly Health Technologies of San Ramon, California, presented information on software and apps that connect patients with their doctor or other medical care providers.
Patients could log in to the app on a tablet or smartphone to report common illnesses.
The app asks a series of follow-up questions, using evidence-based guidelines, and enters the information into the individual’s medical record. The physician or care provider can then prescribe medication or request a face-to-face visit.
The company would adapt the software for different medical specialties, tweaking the questions to match the issues patients are likely to report.
“I’d like to see it in action,” Ginny Richards, a Spectrum Health Medical Group nurse educator, said of the telemedicine app. “It might have good potential for families that are reluctant to call.”
Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat
Customer validation is “an absolute necessity in product development,” said Brent Mulder, PhD, senior director of Spectrum Health Innovations. “If they get that extremely valuable feedback, it can validate their current course of action or cause a course correction.”
Spectrum Health is one of seven partners in the Seamless Accelerator, a collaboration that gives entrepreneurs access to industry expertise while offering experts the chance to influence the direction of next-generation devices.
About enhancing health
The evolving health care technology field encompasses a number of user-friendly apps and gadgets in development that will make it easier for patients to stay on top of their health care, said Eric Topol, MD, the author of several books, including “The Patient Will See You Now: The Future of Medicine is in Your Hands.”
They include:
A bandage that monitors how a wound is healing and delivers medication when needed
A ring that detects when a patient is asleep or awake and can be used in at-home sleep studies
A tiny device that measures blood sugar levels—without a needle poke or drop of blood. Someday, Dr. Topol predicts, “Fingersticks for glucose will be obsolete.”
Already on the market is an ear scope that attaches to a smartphone. When parents suspect their child has an ear infection, they can capture a video of the inside of the child’s ears and send it to the doctor for diagnosis.
Consumer-focused “on-demand medicine” can mean more efficient care, Topol said at a recent speaking engagement. Research shows the average wait for a doctor’s appointment is 2.6 weeks. And once they arrive at the office, patients wait, on average, 61 minutes.
By communicating electronically with their doctor or running basic tests with their smart phone, patients can save time and often rest comfortably at home when they aren’t feeling well.
“It’s really about enhancing the health of humans,” he said.
Learn more about new forms of health care technology at Spectrum Health Innovations and to learn about e-doctor appointments, visit the MedNow website or call 844.322.7374.
Apprenticeships have long played a major role in training America’s skilled workers, combining classroom learning, on-the-job training and wages that increase as skills are learned. Apprentices not only get paid while learning the skills for a high-demand job, they earn a nationally recognized industry certification.
With all these benefits, it’s easy to see why many job seekers are looking for apprenticeship opportunities.
What do employers look for in an apprentice?
Apprentices go to school for 2-4 years while working full time; they need to balance work, school and life. Employers are looking for individuals who are willing to commit to the process, are dependable, have a positive work ethic and a willingness to learn.
How can I find an apprenticeship opportunity?
Most often, employers with apprenticeship programs enter existing workers into their programs instead of hiring someone to enter directly into the program.
Custom Profile, a manufacturer in Grand Rapids, is one of many West Michigan employers who use apprenticeships to train their workforce.
“Our apprenticeship programs allow us to give our employees something really valuable: a chance to learn new skills,” said Jenny Redes, human resources manager at Custom Profile.
You can find employers in your area with apprenticeship programs by searching Career One Stop. Once you’ve identified employers with programs, check job search websites like indeed.com or mitalent.org to see if they have any openings. Apply for an entry-level position, express your interest in an apprenticeship and then show them that you’re worth investing in!
“One of our employees has been with us for twenty years. Through apprenticeship, he was able to get the skills needed to move up within the company,” Redes said. “We were so excited to see him take advantage of this opportunity!”
Occasionally, West Michigan Works! will have a cohort-style apprenticeship program, such as the Medical Assistant Registered Apprenticeship program. Check jobs.westmiworks.org for current opportunities and application periods.
Or visit a West Michigan Works! service center and ask to meet with a talent development specialist. They can help you with job search, resume writing, interviewing skills and connections with potential employers.
Employment Expertise is provided by West Michigan Works! Learn more about how they can help: visit westmiworks.org or your local Service Center.
School garden advocates have multiple anecdotes that they can share to illustrate the value of including experiential garden education in curriculum and educational programs. They talk about how their students are more engaged, more willing to interact with the subject matter, more likely to eat the food they grow and sometimes even more likely to eat other produce items. Beyond anecdotes, there have been relatively few research studies that address the effects of engaging with school gardens, but researchers are working to change that.
Over the last decade or so, there have been an increasing number of research studies looking at the impacts of school garden education. When the results of these studies are compiled, trends and recommendations are more meaningful, and the experts agree. The Center for Disease Control has a panel of appointed experts that address public health issues. The Community Preventative Services Task Force (CPSTF) provides evidence-based findings and recommendations about community preventative services to improve public health. The task force decided to focus on school gardens last year, ratifying a report that reviewed several recent research studies in December of 2017 entitled Nutrition: Gardening Interventions to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Among Children.
The task force conducted a systematic review of 14 recent studies that investigated gardening interventions for youth. The studies were conducted in a variety of settings with youth ages 2-18. Study sites included early care and education, schools, after-school programs and communities. Studies were conducted in 4 different countries: United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Results showed that gardening activities increased youth consumption of vegetables and fruits in 13 of 14 studies. When the results were analyzed in relation to increasing vegetable intake alone, 12 of 14 studies showed an increase. Interestingly, fruit intake alone did not change significantly for any of the studies. The amount of vegetable and fruit intake was increased when gardening interventions were combined with nutrition education interventions, rather than just gardening alone.
The results of this review show that there is increasing evidence that garden interventions for youth can and do have an impact on increasing healthy eating habits. The review specifically recommends pairing gardening and nutrition interventions for increased success in fruit and vegetable consumption. Other recommendations included involving parents and caretakers in interventions and to share healthy eating messaging in the home, extending the garden education opportunities in harsher climates through season extension techniques and hiring a garden coordinator when possible that is dedicated to the upkeep and coordination of the garden.
While this review is something that school garden advocates can point to as evidence that school gardens do have an impact, there is still a need for further research that investigates potential benefits of school gardens.
By Linda Cronk, Michigan State University Extension
Regular exercise and physical activity are vital at any age, including for older adults. The National Institute on Aging says that being active helps older adults:
Keep and improve strength to stay independent
Have more energy to do things
Improve balance
Prevent or delay some diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis
Perk up mood and reduce depression
According to Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions, by Dr. Kate Lorig, to get the greatest benefit from physical activity, older adults need to try four types of exercise: endurance, strength, balance and flexibility exercise.
Endurance activity
Many older adults avoid endurance activity, also called aerobic exercise, because they are unsure about how much is safe for older adults. “The most important thing is that some activity is better than none,” Dr. Lorig said. “If you start off doing what is comfortable and increase your efforts gradually, it is likely that you will build a healthy, lifelong habit.” There are three building blocks for a safe, moderate-intensity goal for endurance activity:
Frequency means how often you exercise. The Center for Disease Control recommends aerobic physical activity in episode of at least 10 minutes and, if possible, spread it out through the week.
Intensity is how much effort you use or how hard you work. Endurance or aerobic exercise is safe at a moderate intensity. You will feel warmer, you breathe deeper and faster, your heart rate will rise moderately and you will still feel like you can continue a while longer.
Time is how long you exercise each time you are active. At least 10 minutes is a good starting place. If that is too challenging, start with a smaller amount of time. You can work up from there, with a moderate intensity goal of 150 minutes per week. You can try to attain your 150 minute goal by exercising 30 minutes five days per week.
Strength training
We need to exercise our muscles in order to maintain our physical strength as we get older. Otherwise, our muscles shrink from lack of use. According to the book Living a Healthy Life With Chronic Conditions, moderate-intensity muscle-strengthening exercise of all major muscle groups should be done at least two days per week.
Flexibility exercises
Being flexible means you can move comfortably in your daily life with a minimum of pain and stiffness. A series of gentle stretching exercises done at least three to four days per week can help you improve and maintain flexibility as you get older.
Balance exercises
Falling is one of the most challenging events for older adults. Injury from falls, such as broken bones, is a common experience for those with balance issues. Strong and coordinated muscles in your core and legs are key for good balance. Certain exercises, including qi gong, tai chi, yoga and others are good for improving and maintaining balance.
You can find a free user-friendly exercise book and DVD through the National Institute on Aging website called Go4Life.
According to Michigan State University Extension, once you start exercising and become more physically active, you will begin to see results quickly. In a few short weeks, you will feel stronger and more energetic, and you will be able to do things easier, faster or longer than before. Your body will get used to a higher level of activity and you can continue to build on those benefits by doing more. Be sure to check with your doctor before you begin an exercise program.
Photo courtesy of Michigan State University Extension
By Bonnie Lehman, Michigan State University Extension
Spring and summer in Michigan are great times for parents to garden outside with their children. Gardening together can be beneficial for bonding with children, educational and fun if safety is the first consideration.
Protecting children from exposure to toxic outdoor plants is crucial for keeping children safe. Ingesting plants and planting materials is a common hazard for children. Parents know how fast their small children can pick up anything and everything to put it in their mouth!
When purchasing outdoor plants, consider using safe, non-toxic plants. Plant buyers that want to protect children might not know which plants are non-toxic and will need a reliable, educational source. One source that is available free of charge is the National Capital Poison Center. This site offers a list of plants of poisonous and non-poisonous plants. The common name and botanical name are both listed. The list can be copied and taken with you when purchasing plants.
Know all of the plant names that are in your yard. The National Capital Poison Center and your regional poison center say it is important to know all the names of plants in your yard or home. The Poison Center can be reached at 1-800-222-1222 on a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week basis. They will need the common name or botanical name of a plant, otherwise they cannot positively identify plants over the phone. Keeping a written list of the plant names and location in your yard can assist child caregivers if they need to call the poison center. Be sure to store bulbs and seeds out of children’s reach.
The parent is the first teacher in a child’s life. Teach your children not to put plants, berries, soil, leaves, bark, seeds and any plant material in their mouth. Young children need patience and repeated messages to learn this skill. Even when a parent thinks the child has outgrown the stage of putting something in their mouth, they could still do it.
Be safety–minded. When gardening together with your child, remember that accidents can happen at unexpected times. They also can happen fast. Keep a watchful eye out for young children exploring the outdoors and think safety first.
You can preserve cookie dough in the freezer just as you can freshly-baked cookies.
Properly frozen dough ensures that your dough will make great cookies when the time is right. Simply follow a few steps offered by Michigan State University Extension.
Tips for freezing baked cookies:
Before freezing your baked cookies make sure they are completely cooled.
Wrap your cooled cookies individually in plastic wrap and store them in a freezer bag or an airtight container.
Cookies can also be placed between layers of waxed paper in the container. Make sure the top layer is covered with wax paper, plastic wrap or aluminum foil so that very little air will get to the cookies. The individually wrapped cookies will store longer.
Freeze frosted cookies, uncovered, until they are firm and then pack them in a freezer bag or an airtight container.
Label the freezer bag or container with the date and type of cookies.
Tips for freezing cookie dough:
Drop unbaked cookie dough onto cookie sheets and place in the freezer until frozen.
Transfer the drops of frozen cookie dough into freezer bags or airtight containers.
Remove as much air from the freezer bag as possible or if using a storage container make sure the top layer is covered well with wax paper, plastic wrap or aluminum foil so that very little air will get to the cookie dough.
If you choose to freeze the entire amount of dough and then thaw it later, to make into individual cookies, wrap the dough with wax paper or saran wrap and then place it into a freezer bag or airtight container.
Label the freezer bag or container with the type of cookie dough and the date.
Keeping air away from cookie dough or baked cookies helps to prevent freezer burn. Freezer burn is not a food safety risk but it affects the appearance and flavor of cookies and dough. It looks like grayish-brown leathery spots on the frozen food. Freezer burn occurs when air reaches the food surface and dries it out.
The suggested storage time for both cookie dough and baked cookies in your 0 degrees Fahrenheit freezer is no more than six months. Most people have no problem eating their cookies within this time-frame! Freezing cookies and cookie dough is both a money and time saving activity that has very tasty results.
E. Coli, a largely harmless but occasionally dangerous bacteria present in animal and human feces, is found throughout the Plaster Creek watershed. The E. Coli strains present in the watershed from animal waste are likely the product of agricultural runoff. However, when it comes to the E. Coli from human waste, according to professor Kelly DuBois, “it’s really not known where that’s coming from.”
So, does DuBois, a professor of biology, intend to track down the source? “Based on how often they’re finding [E. Coli]—all over the place—it can’t be one source, so we have a really small chance of pinpointing all the sources and shutting them all down,” said DuBois.
Instead, she is working with a group of student researchers to assess if green infrastructure installations could be an environmentally safe solution. In particular, they are looking at the impact of Kreiser pond, a retention basin installed in a residential area of Grand Rapids four or five years ago, “which is essentially a U-shaped little pond,” built to slow rainwater runoff. “We know it slows the flow down, it absolutely works for that,” said DuBois, “but my question was: what is it doing with the microbes in the water?”
A collaborative legacy
While according to DuBois, “it’s been shown in some instances that green infrastructure can be really efficient at removing bacterial contamination,” she hopes to prove that it’s effective in Plaster Creek’s case so that future green infrastructure projects in the watershed can be designed with microbial reduction in mind.
The project is in collaboration with the Plaster Creek Stewards, a group of Calvin faculty, staff, and students who have been working over a decade on the restoration of the Plaster Creek watershed. “It’s a fun group to be a part of,” said DuBois, “because there’s so much collaboration, and everyone comes at it from a little different perspective.”
DuBois was inspired to work with Plaster Creek Stewards after doing research through Calvin’s Clean Water Institute last year. “I was really excited to be a part of [the Clean Water Institute], and that has kind of led to [working with Plaster Creek],” she said, “because I developed that skill set last summer with my student, it was like ‘hey, we can apply these [tools] to Plaster Creek too!”
Pursuing proper stewardship
“As biologists, obviously, creation care is something that’s very important to us,” DuBois said, “I honestly love bench science, but it’s nice to have a project [where] it’s easier for students to see the direct connection with taking care of creation.” She added, “we can see, when we measure stuff in that water, that humans have had a negative impact on this little part of creation, and so it’s very practical to say we want to turn that around now.”
One of the student researchers, Kate DeHeer, a junior majoring in biology and biochemistry, has observed firsthand the positive community impacts of the Steward’s work: “we’ve only been out to the pond twice, but have met around five neighbors interested in our work.” She added, “they all seem to be fond of Kreiser and were happy to have it in their neighborhood.”
According to Tobe Ndika, a junior biology major with a pre-med concentration, “[this research] has made me aware of the need for stewardship towards God’s creation.” He added “I feel called to make the world a better place.”
Sentinel tree tag for identification of a tree entered into the Eyes on the Forest program. | Photo by Michigan State University Extension
ByMike Schira, Michigan State University Extension
Supported by expanding international imports into the country, new and potentially devastating tree pests, both insects and disease, are being introduced to our woodland and landscape trees. Many of these new exotic species won’t find suitable host species or conditions and will simply die off, a few will be successful in becoming established.
Newly established exotic species, having been introduced from other regions of the globe, have no natural enemies or pathogens to hold their numbers down. Unchecked, these new pest species can spread rapidly thereby being labeled as invasive with the potential of devastating their host species.
Examples of past impacts are the losses of American chestnut and elm from both our urban landscapes and forest stands. The loss of the American chestnut and elm affected not only the trees, but also the wildlife that was dependent on the trees for food and shelter. The lost trees may have been shading stream and river waterways. The loss of shade is contributing to increased water temperatures, which reduces the available dissolved oxygen and causes a reduction of fish populations.
Currently beach bark disease, emerald ash borer and oak wilt are examples of exotic species that have become established and are working their way through many of our forest stands, leaving dead skeletons of once healthy trees as they move through.
Spotted lanternfly was first detected in Pennsylvania in September 2014. It feeds on a wide range of fruit, ornamental and woody trees.
In an effort to enable early detection of new invasive tree pests, Michigan State University Extension has developed the Eyes on the Forest program. With initial funding from a Michigan Department of Natural Resources grant, this ongoing program is an effort to establish a network of sentinel trees across the state. Volunteer enthusiasts select the sentinel tree of their choosing and report on the trees overall general health using the online Midwest Invasive Species Network.
Hopefully, with a strong enough network of sentinel trees, we can achieve early detection of new tree pests and work to eliminate them before they can become established. For more information on the program, visit the MSU Extension Eyes on the Forest website.
I recently attended a meeting in the greater Grand Rapids area where the discussion centered on how we can benefit Michigan and its communities. In typical brainstorm fashion, our large group was divided into smaller tables to discuss and generate ideas which would be reported out to the larger group.
After one group’s suggestion that we help communities recruit individuals, an audience member respectfully suggested, “Why grow?” When the response was “to keep our communities from stagnating,” the audience member persisted that growth is bad, causing unnecessary congestion and build out, and that we should learn to live with what we have. Polite as the discussion was, I resisted the urge to jump up and debate the topic that day.
So there is no misunderstanding, growth is a good thing, if done right. There are countless examples from the old days, and unfortunately present day too, of poorly managed growth in urban sprawl, over taxing of utilities, etc. That is bad growth.
Communities are just like people, they are either green and growing or ripe and rotting, nothing stays the same. Each of us tries to grow personally, professionally and keep in shape, as a result we are better than we were before. In fact, we can choose to continually grow and improve. Yes, we all know that one guy from high school that 20 years later is still sitting on the couch re-living the same game-winning-touchdown-pass he caught. That is an example of no growth. Communities are the same, they can’t sit around remembering the good ol’ days. Instead, they need to look forward and position themselves for a positive, productive future.
If you’ve been paying attention, Michigan has been hemorrhaging for 10 years when three major companies ended 400,000+ manufacturing jobs. This created a ripple effect and tailspin of people leaving our state, taking their skilled talents and families with them. Although Michigan has done many things right and we are gaining back ground, we still need talent. We need people to move back to Michigan bringing their skills and talents, but also their families, ideas and civic involvement. It is this growth that Michigan and our communities desperately need in order to be a vibrant state.
Here’s the fun part. Yes, we have to encourage and embrace growth in order to be better, but we must be smart about it. As communities and as a state we need to decide what type of growth works, where best to encourage it and what happens when it comes. In other words, we must do some advanced planning so that the growth we so desperately need is organized, positive and helps us get to where we want to go.
And here’s the really fun part, there are loads of people and resources out there that can help. From your local economic development organization, in our case the Northern Lakes Economic Alliance, to the MSU Extension, regional planning agencies such as Networks Northwest or the Northeast Michigan Council of Governments to the Michigan Municipal League and others.
Michigan has a bright future, and I hope growth will be part of it!
Michigan State University Extension has had a unique relationship with the regional economic development organization Northern Lakes Economic Alliance (NLEA) for more than 20 years. Recognizing the strength of combining resources, this partnership focuses on economic development, entrepreneurship growth and community infrastructure throughout a four-county region in the northwest Lower Peninsula, specifically Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan and Emmet counties. As a result, the NLEA utilizes resources offered through MSU Extension as it provides leadership to statewide programs sponsored by MSU Extension.
There were two stories of people diagnosed with brown recluse bites in the media recently, “Muskegon woman hospitalized after brown recluse spider bite” from Detroit Free Press and “Rising temps may mean more brown recluse spiders” from Wood TV. One person was reported to have been bitten up in Leelanau County, the other in Nunica, Michigan, in Ottawa County. Both bites were reported to have occurred outside. The offending spider was not collected and identified in either case. The attending physicians based their diagnosis on the appearance of the bite.
Last year, a woman sent me a spider she captured in the act of biting her. The bite festered and she went to the emergency room at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The attending physician diagnosed the bite as that of a brown recluse spider. The spider the lady sent me was a yellow sac spider, Cheiracanthium spp.and (Miturgidae).
It is very difficult to diagnose the perpetrator of a bite based on the appearance of a bite. I am not saying it’s impossible that both of these people were bitten by a brown recluse spider, but it is very unlikely.
Even though Michigan is not in the accepted native range of the brown recluse, it has been found in 10 Michigan counties. Prior to 2017, it had been found in Genesee, Hillsdale, Lenawee, Ingham and Kent counties. The Kent County find came from a home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where the residents had just returned from a trip to Missouri, where the spider is common. Recluse spiders are known to hitchhike in boxes, suitcases and articles of commerce.
In the spring of 2017, a brown recluse spider was found in an unheated garage in Genesee County and in a building on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor (see the 2017 Michigan State University Extension article, “Update on brown recluse spiders in Michigan”). The owner of the garage indicated she had not traveled out of Michigan prior to finding the spiders. Large universities like Michigan have large transient populations of students and visitors from all over the country, so it is not too surprising for a recluse or two to show up there.
In the past 14 months, over 700 Michiganders have sent me photographs of spiders thought to be recluse spiders they had encountered in their homes and yards. Some people just sent stories about bites thought to be recluse bites. Some of these stories were profoundly heart-wrenching.
Of these 700 spider photos, only seven turned out to be of brown recluse spiders. Five of these represented new county records for the recluse in Michigan. The new county records were for Livingston, Oakland, Shiawassee and Wayne counties. There have been multiple finds in Genesee, Washtenaw and Lenawee counties.
Here is a map of Michigan showing the counties where the recluse spider has been found. The counties shown in blue are where the brown recluse had been found prior to 2017. Red counties are where it was found in 2017.
One of these recluse populations, located in a single family residence in Tecumseh, Michigan, in Lenawee County, has been eradicated. This was a true reproducing population of brown recluse spiders consisting of numerous individuals of all life stages including eggs, juveniles and adults. After several attempts using conventional insecticide sprays failed to rid the spiders from their home, the homeowners took out a second mortgage and hired a crew to encase the home in plastic sheeting and pump it full of Vikane gas. They felt they had no other choice to protect their small children.
Photo courtesy Michigan State University Extension
No one in this family was ever bitten by the spiders over the several years they had shared their home with them. They sent me this photo of their home while it was prepped for the fumigation.
So what does this all mean? It means there are rare, isolated populations of brown recluse spiders living in Michigan. It means that the vast majority of Michiganders will never come within a half-mile of a brown recluse spider. None of the brown recluse spiders that have been found in Michigan walked here from Arkansas or even southern Ohio for that matter; they were brought or carried here in suitcases, boxes or some other cartage.
I think it is too early to suggest they represent the beginning of a great northern migration of the brown recluse. There has been only one report of a recluse spider from Wisconsin and that was in 2016. There have been no reports of recluse spiders marauding through the northern parts of Ohio, Indiana or Illinois, so try to relax and enjoy your summer. Please. If you think you found a recluse, send me the spider or a photo of the spider to bugman@msu.edu. I will either put your mind to ease or ruin your summer.
There are about 37,000 species of spiders worldwide with about 3,800 species in North America. Michigan is home to just 500 or so native species of spiders, only three of these native species (not including the brown recluse) are medically important. These are the northern black widow, yellow sac spider and, to a lesser degree, the northern cobweb spider. Yellow sac spiders are very common in and around homes. All Michigan spiders are predators that use venom to subdue their prey. Most will try to bite if threatened. None will aggressively chase you down the hall to bite you, although some consider the yellow sac spider to be a recreational biter—that is, they will bite you just for the hang of it.
Michigan spiders range in size from under 1/8 inch in the Linyphiidae (sheetweb and dwarf spiders) to almost an inch long in the Lycosidae (wolf spiders). Though tiny, researchers have estimated there are 25 metric million tons of spiders on the earth right now.
Spiders do possess a super power too. The silk spiders spin to build their webs and dangle from your ceiling is one of the strongest materials known. Not all spiders construct webs of silk to capture their prey. Some simply run their prey down and overwhelm it. Others are ambush hunters that lie in wait for their prey to walk by then pounce on it.
More than 90 percent of the spider’s diet is made up of insects and they chow through as much as 800 million tons of prey every year. In doing so, spiders play an essential role in keeping natural ecosystems in balance. However, for many, the very word “spider” conjures terrifying or repulsive images, and I’m now going to share with you some of those images (at the end of this article).
Back to Michigan spiders. The 700 photos or specimens of spiders sent to me last year that were not recluse spiders include most, if not all, of the common spiders found around Michigan homes. The nursery web spider and the dark fishing spiders are most likely to be confused with a brown recluse.
This table is a list of spiders Michiganders think might be a brown recluse, ordered by rank in terms of the number of photographs sent to me last year. It is not surprising that most of these are nomadic hunting spiders that do not spin webs to capture their prey.
Runners are among the high-intensity athletes who should be especially cognizant of their exposure to heat on summer days. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
By Jolene Bennett, Spectrum Health Beat
Early last summer, incoming Kent State University freshman Tyler Heintz, 19, fell severely ill during an early-morning football practice.
His breathing grew labored and he began to slip in and out of consciousness. An ambulance rushed him to a hospital, but he later died.
The cause: exertional heat stroke.
This dangerous condition can strike an athlete of any stature, even those who have reached the pinnacle of their sport. In August 2001, 6-foot-4, 335-pound offensive tackle Korey Stringer, of the Minnesota Vikings, died shortly after collapsing during drills on a hot, humid day.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifies groups most at risk of heat stroke, including the very young, the very old, the chronically ill, people who work outdoors and people in low-income households.
It is not uncommon for an athlete to sweat 1 to 2 liters per hour on a hot day. A large football player can lose up to 15 pounds of water in a single practice session.
The problem is most athletes drink far less than they sweat, simply because they underestimate the extent of their sweat loss.
Limitations
With summer underway, athletes young and old are more often found outdoors. It’s an essential time to impress the importance of proper hydration and rest.
Summer training camps for runners, soccer players and football players are proving grounds for excellence, but they can be ground zero for heat stroke trouble.
When athletes—especially runners and football players—participate in vigorous exercise in the warm months, dehydration can turn fatal.
Almost all heat-related deaths occur from May to September, according to the CDC, which also identifies exertional heatstroke as a leading cause of preventable, non-traumatic exertional sudden death for young athletes in the U.S.
Two-a-days, those notoriously difficult practices common to football, can often lead to trouble. Last year, the NCAA Division I Council banned two-a-days in preseason practices.
A 2016 study in the Journal of Athletic Training found that exertional heat exhaustion occurs at an increased rate in the first 14 days of practice, and especially in the first seven days.
About a decade ago, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association issued guidelines for preseason heat acclimatization. The guidelines establish a 14-day plan that helps athletes acclimatize to the heat. It zeroes in on the first three to five days of summer practice as the most important for progressive acclimatization.
On Day 1, for example, athletes shouldn’t participate in more than one practice and they should wear limited gear, as well as limiting the level of exertion and physical contact. For full-contact sports, “100 percent live contact drills should begin no earlier than Day 6.”
Coaches and training staff must carefully consider their approaches to summer practices, scrutinizing duration, intensity, time and place.
On especially hot days, for instance, the practice may need to be limited in length or simply rescheduled to a cooler part of the day.
Keeping watch
Athletes and parents need to be aware of the signs and symptoms of dehydration and heat stroke.
Keep in mind that thirst is not always the best indicator of dehydration. By the time a person senses thirst, the body may have already lost more than 1 percent of its total water. Athletes, coaches and parents should emphasize the importance of proper hydration before, during and after sporting activities—and then keep watch for any signs of trouble.
Not urinating, or very dark yellow or amber-colored urine
Dry, shriveled skin
Irritability or confusion
Dizziness or lightheadedness
Rapid heartbeat
Rapid breathing
Sunken eyes
Listlessness
Shock (not enough blood flow through the body)
Unconsciousness or delirium
When dehydration goes untreated, the body can no longer maintain homeostasis, which leads to heat stroke. This can cause impaired cardiovascular function and neurological failure.
An athlete experiencing heat stroke may become agitated, confused or unable to maintain balance.
The signs of heat stroke:
High body temperature
Hot, red, dry, or damp skin
Fast, strong pulse
Headache
Dizziness
Nausea
Confusion
Losing consciousness
Heat stroke, also referred to as heatstroke or sun stroke, is a true medical emergency that is often fatal if not properly and promptly treated. Call 911 or go to the emergency room if heat illness is causing vomiting, seizures, or unconsciousness. Locate an urgent care facility near you.
ByKaren Fifield, Michigan State University Extension
This is the season for food, family, picnics and barbecues. It is important to stay food safe by using a food thermometer when barbecuing. Before you begin the grilling season, explore some tips provided by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to keep you and your family’s food safe.
When purchasing foods for grilling, be careful to transport them safely from the store to your home, keeping meats separate from other foods, particularly poultry. Transport cold foods in coolers or thermal containers, keeping them at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below, refrigerate until it is time to cook.
Keep all cooking utensils and equipment cleaned and sanitized to prevent cross contamination from raw food touching cooked food. Never place cooked foods on platters that have contained raw meats. If you feel you need to precook foods for the grill, the USDA recommends partially cooking foods in a microwave, oven or on a stove to help reduce the time it takes to cook on a grill.
To prevent charring, cook foods with low flame or charcoal, also by removing any visible fat that may cause grease to flare. Other safe practices to follow according to USDA guidelines, pertain to cooking foods to proper internal temperatures.
Whole poultry: 165 degrees F
Poultry breasts: 165 degrees F
Ground poultry: 165 degrees F
Ground meats: 160 degrees F
Beef, pork, lamb and veal (steaks, roasts and chops): 145 degrees F and allow to rest at least three minutes
Use a meat thermometer to check internal temperatures; this is a minimal temperature as the meat can be cooked to a higher temperature if you choose to do so. Always keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold, and remember to package leftovers in small amounts and keep in a refrigerator. When reheating any food items it is recommended to reheat leftovers to a temperature of 165 degrees F.
On a special high school sports episode of WKTV Journal: In Focus, WKTV caught up with Brandon Kimble, who in May took over as head football coach of the Godwin Heights High School Wolverines.
Kimble is no stranger to the Wolverine program as he served as the team’s defensive coordinator in 2015. He played wide receiver and safety at East Kentwood High School before graduating in 2006, and went on to play wide receiver at Olivet College. He has also coached in the East Kentwood and Grand Rapids Union football programs.
At the time of his hire, Godwin athletic director Rob Hisey praise Kimble’s football knowledge but also praised his ability to build relationships with kids.
In Focus host and producer Ken Norris talks with Coach Kimble about football, off-seasons in the weight room and, maybe most importantly, leading young men to become better on and off the field.
All In Focus interviews are available on YouTube at WKTVvideos .
Just back from a run with her husband, Laura Metro faced a parent’s worst nightmare: Her 6-year-old daughter, Maison, ran to her screaming, “I think Clay died! I think Clay died!”
Metro’s 3-year-old son, who was swimming with family friends, was found at the bottom of the pool with his towel. One friend started CPR—or the closest thing he knew based on what he’d seen on TV—on Clay’s blue, lifeless body.
Paramedics arrived and got Clay’s heart beating again. He was taken by helicopter to the hospital and spent two days in a coma before making what Metro calls “nothing short of a miraculous recovery.”
“The doctors said, ‘We don’t know why he’s alive,’ ” Metro said. “The only thing—the only thing—we can attribute it to is the bystander CPR. … He didn’t see the inside of a hospital for an hour and a half [after almost drowning]. That was really what did it.”
Drowning is the third-leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide, accounting for 7 percent of all injury-related deaths, according to the World Health Organization. The agency estimates there are 360,000 annual drowning deaths worldwide.
The Metros’ good fortune is anecdotal evidence of the findings from a study, published in the June 2017 edition of the journal Resuscitation, which found that chances for neurological recovery from a near-drowning increase when the victim receives CPR from a bystander.
“We would advocate for parents knowing CPR, and particularly if they have a pool, they should become familiar and get trained in mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing,” said Dr. Michael Sayre, a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. “Whereas hands-only CPR is typically focused on someone who is not in the water and collapses suddenly for other reasons, people underwater die because of lack of oxygen.”
After Clay’s recovery, Metro founded a nonprofit called CPR Party, using the model of at-home shopping parties to encourage people to teach and learn CPR. The lessons aren’t equal to official CPR certification, Metro said, but “they will know what to do and hopefully, we create a bridge to certification. We just give them that basic knowledge to empower them.”
About one in five people who die from drowning are 14 years old or younger, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And for every child who dies from drowning, another five receive emergency department care for nonfatal injuries, often including brain damage. The numbers are particularly discouraging, experts say, because in many cases, drowning is preventable.
“The biggest thing we try to get through to people is you need to maintain constant, active supervision when people are in the water,” said Adam Katchmarchi, executive director of the National Drowning Prevention Alliance. “Regardless of age and swimming ability, you should never swim alone. You should always swim around someone who’s keeping that vigilant watch over the water, whether that be a parent in a backyard pool or whether you’re swimming in a lifeguarded area.”
Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat
On its website, the NDPA stresses what it calls “layers of protection,” including swimmer training, facility safety and parental responsibilities designed to prevent drowning. Drowning can happen quickly and silently, without warning, Katchmarchi said.
“We’re used to the Baywatch drowning, where people see on TV that someone’s going to be waving their arms and screaming for help,” he said.
“An actual drowning victim, when they’re in that 20- to 60-second fight for survival, they’re unable to call for help because all of their energy is being used to keep their head above water. A lot of times they’re bobbing up and down, going under and re-emerging and trying to get air, so it’s really difficult for them to call out for help,” Katchmarchi said.
“It’s really easy to say, ‘Oh, I’m watching my kids,’ but you’re scrolling through Facebook or your Twitter feed. … Even if you’re distracted for just a short period of time, it can happen really quickly and really silently.”
Photo courtesy Michigan State University Extension
ByCindy Hudson, Michigan Sea Grant Extension
Michigan communities are always looking for ways to attract new visitors by taking advantage of natural resources and attractions. Trail systems are one way to encourage visitors to explore and enjoy unique areas. Michigan Sea Grant and Michigan State University Extension are helping communities around the state develop trail systems to attract visitors and also increase appreciation for Michigan’s natural resources.
Birding trails
Developing bird watching trails is a sure-fire way to attract new visitors. According to a U.S. Fisheries and Wildlife Service report, there were 47 million birdwatchers in the United States in 2011 – about 20 percent of the population. That’s a lot of potential tourists. Michigan Sea Grant’s Elliot Nelson, who works as an educator in the eastern Upper Peninsula, has developed resources for communities looking to improve site access for birding tourists. He also was key in helping develop an interactive online map (www.northhuronbirding.com) to help visitors with directions and tips to ensure a successful birding day.
Water trails
Water trails also are touted as ways to help people connect to nature and hopefully add to local economies at the same time. Paddle sports are among the fastest-growing outdoor activities in the United States, according to recent studies by the Outdoor Industry Association. Water trails are designed for people to follow a mapped route in a non-motorized craft such as a kayak, canoe, or stand-up paddleboard.
As with birders, those out paddling the trail may spend additional money on food, lodging, or transportation in the local area. The website www.michiganwatertrails.org identifies routes all over Michigan including the Detroit Heritage River Trail and the Lake St. Clair Water Trail, which are projects that Michigan Sea Grant Extension Educator Mary Bohling helped organize. Bohling also is organizing a new project, the Aquatic Invasive Species Paddling Stewardship Program. The program aims to help water trail users identify and map invasive species along sections of at least 12 water trails throughout Michigan. The program will teach water trail users how to avoid introducing or spreading invasive species through their paddlesport activities.
Those interested in enrolling in the 2019 training workshops should send their name and city of residence to Mary Bohling at bohling@msu.edu, and she will notify them when workshops are scheduled in their area.
Great Lakes Fisheries Heritage Trail
If you happen to be a history buff, there is an ever-growing network of displays and museums called the Great Lakes Fisheries Heritage Trail. The trail provides a good reason to plan a road trip along the Great Lakes shoreline, stopping to visit these locations along the way. Michigan Sea Grant Extension Educators Brandon Schroeder, Mark Breederland, Ron Kinnunen, Mary Bohling, and Dan O’Keefe have organized and collaborated with many partners to create this trail around the state.
Currently, the trail includes museums and fisheries heritage exhibits, coastal fishing communities and historical sites, fisheries festivals and experiences, commercial fishing families and local fish markets, and related research and science. An interactive map identifies each location and describes what visitors will find at each site. The Great Lakes Fisheries Heritage Trail explores the past, present, and future of the lakes through the lens of fish and fishing.
Whether you are a hiker, bird watcher, quiet water enthusiast, or history buff, Michigan’s growing trail systems should help enhance your time enjoying all that our state has to offer.
By Darren Bagley, Michigan State University Extension
How have federal income tax rates changed over time? Do you think taxes go up, down or stay the same? If we didn’t have an income tax, how would we pay for things like the military, national parks, federal courts and prisons, agricultural research or the many other things the federal government does?
This is the latest article about citizenship activities anyone can conduct with children. This can be done within a family, as part of school activities, a 4-H club or with any group working with young people. Have a robust dialogue about these issues, and encourage young people to find data to back up their opinions. During the discussion, try to limit interjecting your own opinions, and let the youth discuss it among themselves.
The United States had its first federal income tax in 1861 to help pay for the Civil War, kept until 1873 when it was repealed. It started up again in 1894 for one year and left again until 1913, and has been with us ever since. Tax rates have varied widely since that time.
Should tax rates be the same regardless of your income? The taxes paid on the highest income bracket have ranged from as low as 2 percent in 1894 to as high as 94 percent in 1945. What do you think of a 94 percent tax rate? It is important to consider that amount was not paid on all their income, but only on the amount made in that bracket. For example, for the high bracket of 94 percent in 1945, you would only pay that 94 percent rate on income earned over about $200,000 ($2.8 million adjusted for inflation in 2018 dollars). Income less than that would be taxed at a lower rate. For every $1 you earned over that $200,000, the government would take 94 cents of it.
Why would the government tax wealthy folks at such an exorbitant rate? Taxes for the highest earners stayed above 90 percent from 1944 to 1962. Are there any major events that happened during that time? World War II occurred from 1939-1945. We built the federal interstate highway system starting in 1956.
Would any events justify those kind of taxes today? Another world war? The war on terror? Paying off the national debt? Improving our schools? Providing universal higher education? High-speed internet across the country?
Many things are funded by taxes, individuals could also purchase on their own or the government could not regulate. Are there things the government is doing that it should not? Do we need to invest in traveling to outer space? Should parks or prisons be run by private companies who can make a profit?
Another item to consider is that dollars reinvested into a business are not income, but expenses. For example, if you have a company that makes ice cream and you do really well and make millions of dollars, if you use those millions to buy more ice cream stores or ice cream making machines, or hire more people, those are considered business expenses and not a net profit. If an individual or company keeps recirculating money into entrepreneurial enterprises, it keeps the economy going. Perhaps that is what the government of the time wanted to encourage.
Tax dollars are used to fund government programs, from preschool to roads to the military. Spending of tax dollars create jobs, but so does spending in the private sector. It could be argued that high taxes on the wealthy are a “Robin Hood” approach of taking from the rich and giving to the poor. It could also be argued that high taxes are because the government doesn’t trust people with their own money. Where do you fall on those arguments?
Hopefully these questions will get some good discussion going about the value of your tax dollar. If you have some great ideas, share them with your county, city or township, or your state or federal legislators.
Have a dog or few? If so, you may be dreading the impending fireworks. By now, you’ve probably already gotten a taste of how your pet reacts to loud noises — neighborhood kids like to set off fireworks a few days early.
Fireworks displays are an inevitability, but there are some things you can do to help keep your pup calm. Here are some tips for surviving the loud booms.
Exercise your dog earlier in the day to release pent-up energy.
Keep your canine indoors during fireworks and keep him company, if possible. Run the air conditioner to keep him cool.
Don’t take your dog with you to a fireworks display. (That’s just nuts.)
Make sure your dog has a safe place inside to retreat to. Dogs often feel safer in small, enclosed places if they’re scared of loud sounds. Consider crating your pup, if he’s comfortable there. Covering the crate will help.
Keep windows and curtains closed, if possible. Removing visual stimulation can really help.
Ensure that your dog wears ID tags with a collar that fits properly. That way, if he somehow escapes, there is a better chance that he’ll be returned to you.
Leave Fido a frozen Kong toy filled with his favorite morsels. It’s a good distraction.
You can help create the change you want to see by holding your local and state officials accountable — but to do that, you must first be registered to vote; then, you must actually vote. The deadline for registering to vote in Michigan’s Aug. 7th primary election is Monday,July 9th.
Not sure you’re registered? There’s an easy way to find out. According to Robert J. Macomber, Chief Deputy County Clerk, residents can visit www.Michigan.gov/vote to check their registration, find the address of their local clerk or obtain the mail-in voter registration application. It will also tell you your polling location.
Fun fact: Women suffragettes were jailed and force fed for 3 weeks for the right to vote.
“First-time voters who register by mail must vote in person in their first election, unless they hand-deliver the application to their local clerk, are 60 years old or older, are disabled or are eligible to vote under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act,” says Macomber.
Click on Kent County’s Elections page https://www.accesskent.com/Departments/Elections/ to learn more about the August Primary here in Kent County, view your sample ballot, or find your polling location.
Stay informed… and be involved. Don’t miss your chance to have a say in how your state government represents you.
Artist’s Conk (Ganoderma applanatum) fungi in a sugar maple. (Photo by MSU Extension)
ByMike Schira, Michigan State University Extension
Usually, when we see or hear news items regarding tree and forest fungus, it is being presented as bad or something that is killing trees. Sadly in many instances it’s true that newly introduced fungal pathogens, like Dutch elm disease and oak wilt for example, are a major issue resulting in the death of healthy trees.
The majority of fungi we find in the forest are beneficial to the overall health of the stands they are living with. It is inevitable that trees are going to get old, slowdown in growth and eventually die. These life cycle processes can be rather short in some species; for example aspen, jack pine and white birch or quite long stretching to over hundreds or even thousands of years in the longest growing species like northern white cedar in the Lake States region or sequoia and bristle cone pine in the west.
Regardless of how or when a tree dies, the process of decomposition begins. Tree cell walls contain lignin, a compound that strengthens the cells assisting trees to grow tall. Lignin is tough and fungi are thought to be the only major organism that can break it down. This is important to the remaining trees as well as for the newly established seedlings that depend on the nutrients in the dead and dying trees to allow them to grow and remain healthy. Without the decaying action of fungi, wood would not break down to supply the nutrients for the remaining stand in a timeframe that will sustain growth.
The process of plant growth, decline and decay followed by reabsorption of the released compounds is generally referred to as nutrient cycling. Although there are other organisms that aid in the breakdown of plant matter for this process, it is fungi that preforms the important first step by breaking down the lignin. These processes may be at work above ground in the tree stems and branches, or below ground in the roots and stumps. There are many different species and kinds of fungi that are at work in forest stands and vary depending on tree species, soil type and moisture conditions.
How can mutations in one supposedly single-function protein result in four unique diseases with symptoms ranging from strangely textured hair to early death?
That’s the question that biochemistry professor Rachael Baker and biology professor Amy Wilstermann are seeking to answer through three linked research projects this summer. Working with three student researchers to conduct experiments on the mitochondria of yeast and zebrafish, the professors are examining the effects of mutations in the protein’s gene to determine its other roles within the cell.
By discovering how each mutation results in each disease, Baker says they hope to more fully understand the mitochondrial system, leading to both “better treatments for people affected by rare diseases and a better understanding about health and wellness in general that could lead to treatments for things like cancer and other disorders.”
Beyond the lab
Baker and Wilstermann, however, view these direct applications as only one step in the larger process of improving the lives of those with rare diseases.
“There’s just a lot of uncertainty [around rare disease]; even when you get a diagnosis, you might not know what the prognosis is,” said Wilstermann. She and Baker aim to help remedy this through two key routes: improving the readability of scholarly work on rare disease and providing a website to collect information for patients and their families.
During the summer, Wilstermann says, the students will work toward both goals by reviewing the literature around a specific rare disease and writing a condensed summary for the website, giving them practice in “taking really complicated ideas and mak[ing] them accessible but still completely accurate.” Wilstermann says that the students will most likely start by covering the diseases which were represented at the rare disease symposium (in March 2018) and are present in the local community.
The website is broadly intended to function as a network for members of the rare disease community, including patients, families, clinicians, and researchers. “We want it to be a place where we can connect people with resources; we want it to be a place where people can connect with one another,” Wilstermann said. “There’s opportunity to bring people together and help build a supportive community around common experiences, and the common experience of being rare.”
A faith-driven approach
“This project, for me, encapsulates why I came to be a professor at Calvin college,” said Baker. “The way we do science looks different here,” she added. “We eat together each week, we value each other, and we [work] in a body of Christ model where different people have different strengths and interests [which we] bring together to be a functioning whole. We’ve employed various practices that are really rooted in Christian principles, and we’ve used those to shape how we run our research team.
“To me,” Baker said, “it’s really exciting that I get to do that and think about it explicitly.”
By Maram Hekhuis, LMSW, Outpatient Therapist at Heart of the City Counseling Center
You probably opened this blog for a reason: you are tired of feeling sad, angry, anxious, hurt, hopeless and helpless, and you want to feel happy in your life. You are probably asking yourself “why me?” “why does everyone have it all, but not me?” “why can’t I be happy?”
You may feel victimized by questions that don’t seem to have the answers. As a result, you may feel your life is narrowing in around you, you may feel darkness surrounding you, and you may want to just find a way out. Happiness is not something you inherit or just find. Happiness is something that you need to build up. Building happiness is a process that requires time, patience, effort, hope, and commitment.
If you fail once in building happiness, don’t give up but rather try it again and again. Remember that life is not easy. There is the good, and there is the bad. Just believe that there are better days ahead of you.
So, what is happiness then? According to this article, research suggests that happiness is related to life satisfaction, appreciation of life, moments of pleasure, and the experience of positive emotions. But, how could we experience these factors to build our happiness? The answer is: what we think (thoughts/cognitions) and what we do (behaviors) influence our feelings.
Now that you have learned that our thoughts and behaviors affect how we feel, let’s learn how to make changes in our thoughts and behaviors to build our happiness.
Changes in Cognition:
Positive affirmations: Positive affirmations encourage us to believe in ourselves. These types of statements empower us and motivates us to self-change. You need to begin your statements with “I” or “I am”. For example, “I can do it”. You could write down a list of positive affirmation statements in your diary, on a piece of paper, or on your smart phone apps. Read or/and repeat them daily to yourself.
Be aware of your self-defeating thoughts. “If I’m not successful, then I’m a failure”. Stop and challenge them. What are the evidences that support and don’t support your thoughts? Remember thoughts are just ideas, they are not facts or necessary true. Sometimes our thoughts happen so quickly that we fail to notice them, but they can still affect our mood. These are called automatic thoughts. Remember positive thoughts lead us to feel good and negative thoughts can put us down.
Be aware of and challenge your perspectives about yourself, people and the world. We all give different meanings to situations and see things from our point of view. Therefore, broaden your perspective and see the bigger picture. Ask yourself: “is there another way of looking at this?”
Acceptance. Be comfortable with who you are. “it is as it is”. We tend to fight against distressing thoughts and feelings as if our mind is in a war zone. Learn to just notice them and don’t fight the war. Some situations we just cannot change. We can surf the waves rather try to stop them.
Be appreciative and mindful. Notice what you have rather than what you don’t have. Live in the present rather the past or future.
Behavioral Changes:
Do things for others. This will help you connect with others. Helping and giving to others make us feel valued, appreciated, needed, and happier. We could give our time, attention, and ideas, not necessary money and gifts. You may want to volunteer somewhere.
Connecting with others. Strong social relationships lead to happier and healthier life, give us meaning, and sense of belonging, improve our self-esteem, and make us feel loved, and valued.
Do what you enjoy doing. You could engage in exercise if you enjoy it as being active makes us happier and healthier as our body and mind are connected.
Learn new things or skills. Increase your interest and confidence as this will give you a sense of achievement and success. Find a job, meet new people, try out something new.
Have goals to look forward to and never stop dreaming and believing in yourself and abilities. Feeling good about the future is important for our happiness. Goals motivate us to move forward in life. Make your goals achievable.
While the end of the school year may provide a respite for some young people who are the targets of these bullying behaviors, others continue to be targeted year-round through electronic forms of bullying. According to the CDC report, 16 percent of students indicated they had been electronically bullied during the 12 months before the survey through venues including e-mail, chat rooms, instant messaging, websites or texting. Cyberbullying also is an issue in online, cooperative game platforms, according to a Pew Research Center study. 16 percent of respondents stated that they have experienced being bullied in such games.
While the CDC report focuses on young people in grades nine to 12, electronic bullying, also referred to as cyberbullying, is an issue that affects a significant number of younger kids as well. Results of a 2016 study conducted by the Cyberbullying Research Center showed that nearly 17 percent of students ages 12 to 17 said they had been targets of cyberbullying. Conversely, 26 percent of those students admitted to participating in cyberbullying behaviors, including posting mean or hurtful comments, spreading rumors, posting inappropriate comments with sexual meaning, threatening harm, posting hurtful pictures or videos or impersonating someone else online.
As kids have increased access to mobile technology at younger ages (73 percent of teens have or have access to a smartphone), there are also more opportunities for kids to stay connected in positive and negative ways after the school year ends.
While many schools have incorporated programs designed to prevent bullying behaviors, it is important for parents and other adults to keep these conversations going with kids throughout the summer months. These discussions are enhanced when adults have a good understanding of what cyberbullying is and how children are using technology, followed up with discussions with young people about responsible use of technology and guidelines for positive online behaviors. See the article, “Cyberbullying: What it is and how parents can respond,” to learn more.
It is also helpful for adults and young people to recognize that, while online bullying and other forms of electronic aggression might be common, a lot can be learned from those young people who report using their voices to interrupt these negative behaviors. See the article, “Kids, kindness and cruelty – and lots of time online,” to learn more.
Experts also stress the importance of providing young people with a menu of strategies they can use for responding to cyberbullying situations. When adults share these strategies with kids, as well as help them use their voices to practice what these strategies might sound like in various scenarios, kids will be better prepared for real-life situations in whatever season or setting in which they occur.
If you are looking for more information or community support on improving your social-emotional health and well-being, Michigan State University Extension offers numerous programs that can assist in this process.
By Terry Gibb, Michigan State University Extension
Two major energy producers in Michigan would accelerate plans to increase their renewable portfolios. This action was in exchange for the dropping of a ballot initiative to increase the state’s renewable energy increase mandate. The 2018 ballot initiative, if adopted by voters in November, would incrementally increase state standards from 18 percent by 2022 to 30 percent by 2030. The current 2016 state law outlines a goal of 15 percent renewable energy generation by 2021.
DTE and Consumers Energy have agreed to work toward a 50 percent clean energy goal by 2030. This will be accomplished through a combination of 25 percent renewable energy and 25 percent in energy efficiency.
This agreement will be included to each company’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) that must be filed with the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) which oversees these companies. An IRP is a long-term plan outlining a utility’s resource needs to meet future energy demand. Currently, 33 states require utilities to file IRPs with their state PSC.
Renewable energy generated from natural processes, such as wind, sunlight and water, will be used to obtain the 25 percent in the agreement. These sources will never be depleted unlike coal, oil or gas which are finite resources. Besides being unlimited, renewable energy sources also are clean sources because they don’t release carbon pollution in the atmosphere when burned to create energy. The primary alternative energy sources typically considered are:
Solar energy, available for many years, uses solar panels to change the sun’s energy into electricity or heat that can be used for energy.
Wind energy, formed by the earth’s rotation, captures air currents and turns it into electricity through wind turbines.
Geothermal energy, while not as common as solar or wind, has significant potential as an energy source. Geothermal (“Geo” means earth and “thermal” means heat) heat energy is generated from the Earth’s constant underground temperature using water reservoirs.
Hydropower is created either by moving water (water current in a river) or water’s change in elevation or fall from one level to another (waterfalls).
While this agreement will decrease pollution in our air and water, there are tradeoffs. It takes significantly more of a renewable energy to generate the same amount of power compared to the non-renewable sources of gas, oil or coal. There are still some environmental impacts from renewable energy and, in some cases, the lifespan of the renewable system can be shorter so requires replacement sooner than convention energy generation sources. Some areas have issued moratoriums on additional renewable sources, such as wind, due to issues of sound, flickering, land use and viewscapes.
Raising the mowing height makes a more dense turf that out-competes weeds. Photo by Rebecca Finneran, MSU Extension
ByDave Smitley, Michigan State University Extension, Department of Entomology
Michigan has a tradition of mowing lawns short. Perhaps it is because many people want their lawn to look like a golf course fairway. Unfortunately, this is not practical for the average homeowner because golf course fairways are mowed three times per week with a frequently-sharpened reel mower, and irrigated daily during the summer. Trying to mow your lawn at a height less than 3 inches is actually stressful to your lawn and may result in the need to apply more insecticide and herbicide.
What height do you mow at?
It’s easy to determine the true cutting height of your mower. Pull your mower onto your driveway or sidewalk and measure the distance from the cement surface to the bottom of the blade-protection covering that goes all the way around the path of the blades. Most lawn mowers have an adjustment that allows the mowing height to be set between 2 and 4 inches.
What mowing height is best for my lawn?
The highest setting on your mower! The top setting for most mowers gives a cutting height between 3.25 and 4 inches. This is best for your lawn, but at a setting of 4 inches you may sometimes see some “laying-over” of turf blades that some people find undesirable. For this reason, some people prefer to mow at 3 or 3.5 inches. For the healthiest and most sustainable approach, Michigan State University Extension says 3.5 to 4 inches is most desirable.
Why is mowing high good for my lawn?
Mowing high provides five valuable services:
It makes scalping (turf damage from mowing too short) much less likely to happen.
It allows you to clip about 30 percent of the leaf blade each time you mow (the optimum proportion).
It promotes establishment of a larger root system, which is more drought tolerant.
It provides broadleaf weed and crabgrass control by shading the soil surface.
It establishes a grub-tolerant lawn because of the larger root mass.
Lawns mowed at 3.5 or 4 inches out-compete weeds, tolerate grubs and look just as good as lawns mowed at 2.5 inches.
The weed and grub control provided by mowing high means you can use less pesticide on your lawn. In fact, if you combine mowing high with modest applications of fertilizer (1 to 4 lbs N per year, depending on how green you want your lawn), and watering during dry periods, you may not need to use any pesticides – herbicide for weeds or insecticide for grubs – on your lawn. If you have not been mowing high and watering during dry periods, you may need to do this for at least one year to establish a healthy lawn before you stop using pesticides.
For more information on a wide variety of smart gardening articles, or to find out about smart gardening classes and events, visit www.migarden.msu.edu.
MSU Bee Palooza is held annually In celebration of National Pollinator Week in the lovely MSU Horticulture Gardens.
This free, fun and education event is organized by volunteers to provide an afternoon of interactive activities centered on understanding the wonderful world of pollinators. Stations are set up around the gardens and can be visited in any order. On display are active honeybee and bumblebee colonies, examples of wild Michigan bees and wild bee hotels, plants and gardening practices to support pollinators, as well as demonstrations about how important bees are to food production. Guided wild bee tours and other hands-on activities are offered throughout the afternoon event.
Why hold a Bee Palooza?
Worldwide reports and concerns about pollinator declines have increased awareness and interest in pollinators and what humans can do to help. In 2012, the United States established a National Pollinator Week, which inspired members of the MSU Department of Entomology to host the first Bee Palooza in the MSU Horticulture Gardens.
What are pollinators and why are they important?
Pollinators — especially bees — play an important role in the production of many seeds, nuts and fruits. Pollination is the transfer of pollen grains to fertilizer the seed-producing ovaries of flowers. Many trees, shrubs and wildflowers also depend on bees and other animals for pollination.
When: Sunday, June 24, 2018
Time: 1-4pm
Where: Michigan State University, 336 Village Dr, East Lansing, MI 48823, United States
Michigan is a leader in honey production and in many pollination-dependent fruit and vegetable crops. MSU Extension provides the latest information on pollinators and pollination including fact sheets from the Smart Gardening Program, webinars, educational seminars, email newsletters, and other online resources. Visit the Michigan Pollinator Initiative website for more information and resources for beekeepers, growers, and home gardeners.
Don’t forget that Father’s Day is Sunday, June 17th. Many West Michigan businesses are hosting special events, discounts, or offers for the dad in all of our lives. No matter his interest, you’ll find something for him here.
If you know the work of Japanese artist Masayuki Koorida exclusively from the polished, yet unfinished, stones of “Existence”, located in the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park’s Japanese Garden, you are in for a surprise.
The 7th annual Allendale Community Field Day — on Saturday, June 16th — will offer members of the West Michigan community the chance to learn about the natural history of the region.
ByPaige Filice, and Tara Eavy, Michigan State University Extension
Some of the most memorable moments in the classroom are the ones shared with the class hamster, fish, gecko or other animal. Pets enrich classroom learning by teaching responsibility and sensitivity towards living things. A student exposed to animals in the classroom may have higher self-esteem, nurturing skills, social skills and interest in attending class. Integrating animals into the curriculum also encourages a greater appreciation for the complexity of life. Use of live animals helps students develop observation and comparison skills as they study the shared and unique traits of specific organisms.
Classroom pets enable educators to teach responsibility towards not only living creatures, but also their habitats and Michigan’s ecosystems. To demonstrate that responsible behavior, teachers should take steps to prevent the release of classroom fish, plants or other animals into the wild. As the National Science Teachers Association recommends, teachers should “refrain from releasing animals into a non-indigenous environment.” Many non-native plants and animals are used in the classroom, and some can become invasive in the wild. Once introduced, they can disrupt the food chain and out-compete native species for food and habitat. Even those that are ill-equipped to survive our Michigan winters can cause harm while alive, and can introduce disease to our native flora and fauna.
Some of Michigan’s notorious invaders, such as rusty and red swamp crayfish, have been kept as learning aids in classrooms. Crayfish are fun to watch and are easy to feed and care for, making them ideal additions to an aquarium. They play an important role in aquatic food chains as scavengers, cleaning up dead plants and animals for their food. However, both red swamp and rusty crayfish are now illegal to possess in Michigan and unfortunately are difficult to identify when young and can be accidentally sold by biological supply companies and pet stores by mistake to teachers. These crayfish compete aggressively with native species for food and habitat and can even reduce shoreline habitat and decrease water quality due to their aggressive burrowing. Both species have been found in the wild in Michigan and were likely introduced from an aquarium that was released into a river or stream.
Therefore, as we come to the end of the school year, it is important to be aware of alternatives to releasing classroom animals and plants into the wild. Even native species of crayfish, fish and birds that are caught in the wild and brought into the classroom for learning, should never be re-released into the wild because of their potential as vectors for disease. Investigate loaning or giving them to dedicated hobbyists, environmental learning centers, aquariums or zoos. Unwanted fish, plants and animals can often be returned to local, independent retailers, but be sure to inquire before arriving with a bucket full of fish! If unable to find a home for your classroom pets, contact a veterinarian or pet retailer for guidance on humane disposal.
Michigan’s invasive species education initiative, RIPPLE (Reduce Invasive Pet and Plant Escapes) was developed by Michigan State University Extension and adopted by the Michigan Departments of Natural Resources, Environmental Quality and Agriculture and Rural Development. Through RIPPLE, educators can request free materials on invasive species that can be used in the classroom. More information about invasive species, regulations and prevention can be found on the State of Michigan invasive species website.
D’Angelo Green will graduate from Muskegon Heights High School Academy with a very bright future. But the outlook hasn’t always been so positive.
A bleak future
At the start of his senior year, D’Angelo lacked the essentials needed for graduation and success beyond high school: credits, motivation, maturity and basic employability skills. He was ready to drop the very program that would help him turn his life around—Jobs for Michigan Graduates (JMG).
Jobs for Michigan Graduates
The JMG program helps youth at risk of dropping out of high school get the skills they need to graduate, find a job and contribute to their communities. The program, which includes classroom instruction, adult mentoring and leadership development, has helped 98% of its participants graduate and 91% move on to employment, continuing education or both.
A fresh perspective
Fortunately, D’Angelo didn’t drop the program and after further engagement and several class assignments, his perspective changed. D’Angelo began to see opportunities for a brighter future. After his product presentation for the “Shark Tank” program activity—a virtual reality headset—one of the “Sharks” offered him a job and the mayor of Muskegon Heights offered free space to run his business!
D’Angelo is happy he decided to stay with the JMG program; he has made considerable improvements in areas where he once struggled and he is focused on his plans for the future. He recently accepted a position at AB Electrical Wires in Muskegon Heights and plans to attend Muskegon Community College to study engineering.
“I am extremely grateful for the opportunities that have opened up as a result of the JMG program,” D’Angelo said.
Employment Expertise is provided by West Michigan Works! Learn more about how they can help: visit westmiworks.org or your local Service Center.
