National Sports Center for the Disabled | Peanut Butter Fingers

I am very excited to share the following PBF-reader submitted volunteer story with you. Heather emailed me about her involvement with the National Sports Center for the Disabled and I found myself captivated.

The National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) is an organization dedicated to helping people with a disability to ski, snowboard, play team sports and achieve their personal best. NSCD is one of the largest outdoor therapeutic recreation agencies in the world and provides therapeutic sports and recreational programs for people of any age and any ability.

You may learn more about the National Sports Center for the Disabled by clicking the link below:

Heather?s Story

As a Colorado native, I grew up enjoying the wide range of outdoor sports that the Rocky Mountains provides us: Snowshoeing, skiing, hiking, mountain biking, etc. However, as I got older and spent some time working in the public school system, I realized that not everyone was able to enjoy the same sports as me. In fact, quite a few kiddos out there don?t ever get the chance to catch the view from the top of a ski lift!

Once I made this realization, I decided to go back to school to get my Masters in Outdoor Education for Underserved Youth Populations. In short, I want to provide outdoor opportunities to kiddos who are considered at-risk or are disabled. Coincidentally, the National Sports Center for the Disabled is located in Winter Park, Colorado, and I immediately knew that I had found the perfect organization for me.

NSCD has both a summer and a winter program, although the winter program is much larger. I have spent the past three seasons as a volunteer adaptive ski instructor, working with kiddos who have all types of disabilities. Each year, I am afforded the opportunity to get to know a different kiddo who has a different story. Many of the students have autism, some have physical disabilities, and some have more severe disabilities like Cerebral Palsy. They all require different adaptive gear and teaching skills and working with each of them is a challenge, but it is one of the most rewarding experiences in my life. Next season, I will be trained to teach on a sit-ski which means I can also work with students who have amputated limbs.

My first season instructing was spent with a 19-year-old boy who has severe autism, and was completely nonverbal. He communicated via songs, tunes, whistles, and general hand motions, but that was about it. He has been with NSCD for over 10 years, and all of the other instructors warned me that he had one particular ski run that he preferred: Jack Kendrick. His skiing ability was much higher than this simple green run, but he was very attached and refused to ski elsewhere. Because of this, he and I spent six weeks skiing Jack Kendrick, and nothing else!

With only two lessons left, I decided to push my student a bit to see if I could help him break through his mental aversion to the rest of the mountain. At first, he didn?t like branching away from Jack Kendrick, but we eventually worked out a bargain: I would ski in front of him, riding backwards the entire time so that he could see my eyes. This way, he knew he could trust me and that I wouldn?t take him down any scary runs. After all, I was skiing backwards and that meant I would fall if we went on anything too difficult!

Over the span of his last two lessons, I got my student to enjoy at least 7 or 8 new ski trails, including quite a few blue runs. I felt like I had accomplished something ridiculous and I know he felt amazing, too. My evidence? I asked him if he was having fun as we headed down to the lodge to meet his parents, and his response was to whistle a little tune for me!

You may follow Heather?s journey on her blog: Just a Colorado Gal.

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Filed under: Volunteering

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Top Personal Finance Tips Anybody Can Use

Most people believe that in order to get the most out of their money and drastically improve their financial situation, they must hire a skilled accountant or financial adviser. This is simply not true. If you are willing to study and work hard, you can learn tips and tricks that will help you to manage your personal finances in a way that makes you wealthy and secure.Use coupons for your shopping. Coupons can be found in weekly store ads or online and there is bound to be some great deals on some items you buy. You don?t have to purchase anything; just cut them out and bring them to the store with you. You can get some great deals and have quite a bit of money left in your pocket.Save money on your monthly bills by learning to eat more frugally. This does not mean eating less healthy. You can save money by learning how to cook nutritious meals ahead of time, buying food in bulk for lower cost, and waiting for coupons and special deals, before spending money on restaurant meals.Grocery coupons have become a popular way to save money in our current economic times. If you like to save with coupons, try to find friends who are interested and start a coupon co-op. A good plan is to get together once every week or two and have everyone bring their coupons to swap. You will be surprised to find that some people do not use coupons that you like, and will be willing to trade for ones that they want.As was stated earlier, learning how to best manage your personal finances takes a lot of hard work and effort, but it is something that everyone can and should do. There is no need to be dependent on an accountant or a financial adviser. Apply the advice contained in this article to your own situation, and see how quickly things improve.

Now a low calorie meal can be low cost as well, with overstock jeweler coupon code and overstock coupon code 15 off .

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Video: Santelli Exchange: Treasury Notes Auction

CNBC's Rick Santelli provides a preview of the Treasury's $35 billion 5-year Note auction today.

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Clemens trial resumes; gov't nears end of its case

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens and his legal team leave federal court in Washington, Monday, May 21, 2012, after a day of testimony in the sixth week of the perjury trial that will determine whether Clemens lied to Congress in 2008 when the 11-time All-Star pitcher denied using performance-enhancing drugs. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens and his legal team leave federal court in Washington, Monday, May 21, 2012, after a day of testimony in the sixth week of the perjury trial that will determine whether Clemens lied to Congress in 2008 when the 11-time All-Star pitcher denied using performance-enhancing drugs. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens and his legal team leave federal court in Washington, Monday, May 21, 2012, after a day of testimony in the sixth week of the perjury trial that will determine whether Clemens lied to Congress in 2008 when the 11-time All-Star pitcher denied using performance-enhancing drugs. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Roger Clemens perjury case resumes Wednesday after a day off, with prosecutors coming to the end of their case against the former baseball all-star.

Prosecutors have said they plan to wrap up their case by the end of this week ? or the beginning of next week at the latest. Then the defense gets to make its case. Clemens lawyer Rusty Hardin has said he'll need seven or eight days for that.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton has told the parties if the trial isn't done by June 8, he might have to recess it for a month because of scheduling conflicts.

Clemens is accused of lying to Congress in 2008 when he denied using steroids or human growth hormone.

Associated Press

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Eurozone warned 'severe recession' looming

A woman walks past a closed-down travel agency plastered with concert posters in Madrid Monday May 21, 2012. Spain's economy minister de Guindos said the Spanish economy, which has contracted by 0.3 percent in each of the past two quarters, will shrink by about the same amount in the second quarter of 2012. The forecast is for it to decline 1.7 percent for the year. Unemployment stands at a staggering 24.4 percent, and exceeds 50 percent for people under age 25.(AP Photo/Paul White)

A woman walks past a closed-down travel agency plastered with concert posters in Madrid Monday May 21, 2012. Spain's economy minister de Guindos said the Spanish economy, which has contracted by 0.3 percent in each of the past two quarters, will shrink by about the same amount in the second quarter of 2012. The forecast is for it to decline 1.7 percent for the year. Unemployment stands at a staggering 24.4 percent, and exceeds 50 percent for people under age 25.(AP Photo/Paul White)

PARIS (AP) ? The 17-country eurozone risks falling into a "severe recession," the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned on Tuesday, as it called on governments and Europe's central bank to act quickly to keep the slowdown from dragging down the global economy.

OECD Chief Economist Pier Carlo Padoan warned the eurozone economy could contract by as much as 2 percent this year, a figure that the Paris-based organization had laid out as its worst-case scenario in November.

In its twice-yearly global economic outlook, the OECD ? which monitors economic trends for the world's most developed economies ? said its average forecast was for the eurozone economy to shrink 0.1 percent this year and grow a mere 0.9 percent in 2013.

"Today we see the situation in the euro area close to the possible downside scenario" in the OECD's November report, "which if materializing could lead to a severe recession in the euro area and with spillovers in the rest of the world," Padoan told reporters before the report's release.

The report forecasts Europe falling further behind other countries, particularly the United States, whose economy is expected to grow 2.4 percent this year and 2.6 percent next.

"There is now a diverging trend between the euro area and the U.S., where the U.S. is picking up more strongly while the euro area is lagging behind," Padoan said.

Europe itself is increasingly split between a wealthier north continuing to grow and a southern rim that is sliding deeper into recession, the OECD figures show.

Germany, Europe's largest economy, will accelerate to 2 percent growth next year after 1.2 percent growth in 2012, while France, the eurozone's second-largest economy, will expand 1.2 percent next year after 0.6 percent growth this year, the OECD said.

Italy's economy, by contrast, will shrink 1.7 percent this year and 0.4 percent in 2013, the OECD forecast. Spain is also set to remain mired in recession, with contraction of 1.6 percent this year and 0.8 percent next.

Padoan called on eurozone leaders to adopt a "growth compact" to promote growth even while reducing deficits. French President Francois Hollande has made securing such a pact the focus of his European diplomacy in the first weeks of his administration.

So-called eurobonds ? debt issued jointly by countries in the currency bloc ? could be used to recapitalize banks, Padoan said. He also reiterated his call of six months ago for the ECB to do more to stem Europe's crisis.

The ECB has an "essential" role to play in solving Europe's crisis, Padoan said, both by using its balance sheet firepower to shore up banks and by lowering interest rates. The ECB should also consider renewing the "unconventional measures" it used last year such as buying up government bonds, "if there is need to cope with contagion problems," Padoan said.

Asian economies will also do better than Europe, the OECD predicted. Japan is forecast to grow 2 percent this year and slow down to 1.5 percent in 2013, while China is expected to accelerate from 8.2 percent to 9.3 percent.

Despite their growth downgrades for Europe, the OECD's figures are more optimistic than those of the International Monetary Fund. Last month the IMF predicted Europe's economy would shrink 0.3 percent this year, with the U.S. expanding 2.1 percent.

The Plain Dealer

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Pumping groundwater raises sea level

Two new studies flag an underreported factor in global ocean change

Web edition : 4:28 pm

Pumping groundwater, some 70 percent of it to irrigate crops, has recently become a potent force in global sea-level rise, two new studies conclude.

It sounds obvious: Once brought to the surface, water will eventually run into the seas, says hydrologist Yoshihide Wada of Utrecht University in the Netherlands. But until now, most major assessments of factors affecting sea-level rise ? such as those reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ? ignored the role of groundwater extraction, he says. For instance, the IPCC has assumed that groundwater extraction would be largely balanced by river water impounded by dams.

Such an assumption was probably accurate until about 1980, says Yadu Pokhrel of Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J. Since then, the balance has shifted, he says, and groundwater extraction is now developing into a growing force behind sea-level rise. By 2003, groundwater removal was responsible for about 42 percent of observed sea-level rise, he and his colleagues report online May 20 in Nature Geoscience. They added all human water-use components to a computer program that projects climate impacts, assuming that any water demands not met by surface water came from groundwater sources.

In recent years, sea level has been rising around 3.1 millimeters each year. Besides groundwater depletion, other major contributors include the melting of glaciers and polar ice fields, and the expansion of ocean water as it heats up.

Wada?s team also found groundwater pumping to be a bigger contributor than thought. By 2000, these researchers report online May 8 in Geophysical Research Letters, global groundwater depletion was causing sea levels to rise some 0.57 millimeters each year ? around 18 percent of current annual sea-level increases and an amount of water roughly equivalent to twice as much as dams were holding back. This analysis, unlike Pokhrel?s, used globally recorded data on groundwater extraction.

This imbalance stands to only grow, Wada notes. His team adapted computer programs to, for the first time, project how humans? water use would affect sea level through 2050. By then, the scientists calculate, reservoir impoundment would prevent about 0.1 millimeters rise in sea level, while groundwater depletion would increase sea level by more than eight times that amount.

The new studies confirm groundwater extraction as an important and growing factor in sea-level rise, says Leonard Konikow of the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, Va. But he challenges the magnitude reported by the new studies. His own analysis, published last September in Geophysical Research Letters, pegged groundwater extraction?s impacts at only 13 percent of the recent increase.

Konikow notes that groundwater depletion must be estimated indirectly, such as by adding regional measurements of groundwater and pumping to larger-scale satellite and other data. He charges that the potentially more-simplistic techniques employed in the new papers overestimate groundwater pumping ? and hence its sea level impacts.

That?s true, Pokhrel acknowledges. His and Wada?s approaches assume, for the sake of calculations, that groundwater reservoirs are infinite and affordable. Obviously, he says, that?s not true.

Wada agrees: ?There are no data on global groundwater levels. So we assume in the future that there will be [sufficient] groundwater ? which may not be true, in some cases, if groundwater levels become too low? or if farmers can no longer budget to tap increasingly deep sources.

??Many people think that groundwater pumping effects will be small or localized,? Pokhrel says. But the new data, he says, show that cumulatively, these withdrawals are changing sea level globally.
Found in: Earth and Environment

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Tastiest sandwiches from around the world

Tom Schierlitz

Of a ham-and-cheese baguette, Martha Stewart says: "It's a crunchy French baguette with salted butter, thinly sliced boiled ham, and Jarlsberg cheese. It satisfies the senses ? and it doesn't drip all over you."

By Jonathan Gold & Stirling Kelso , Travel + Leisure

Let us pause to consider the sandwich, that magnificent unit of consumption, a construction so minimal that its form may be expressed as: Bread. Not-bread. Bread again. A sandwich can be pretty basic: the stale bologna on white you are offered for lunch when a forgotten speeding ticket lands you in jail for an afternoon; the PB&J you tuck in a lunch box for your kid; or the slice of ham on a buttered baguette you pick up in a train station in Lyons.

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Slideshow: See where to buy the best sandwiches

The existence of the sandwich can be seen as a marker of civilization ? this is why ham-on-rye is not on the Paleo diet. There can be no sandwich without mono-crop agriculture, mechanisms to grind flour, fuel for ovens, and tools to slice the bread. The rise of the sandwich is inseparable from its convenience, from its ability to be consumed quickly and neatly while doing something else. Without the sandwich, there is no drive-through window. But a sandwich can also be seen as something close to a universal good. Out of the hopeless French colonization of Indochina came the glorious b?nh m?, a sandwich of well-made charcuterie and Vietnamese pickles on a freshly baked baguette; out of U.S. bumbling in Colombia came a unique perro caliente, a hot dog dressed with pineapple, crushed potato chips, and, occasionally, raspberry jam.

A life written in sandwiches might reasonably include the steaming porchetta sandwiches sold from trucks parked at Umbrian crossroads, Iranian lamb?s-tongue sandwiches on lightly toasted bread, a dripping beef on weck in a fragrant Buffalo tavern, omelette-stuffed roti john in a Singapore hawker center, spicy vada pav from a Mumbai street cart, and the garlicky stun-ray of a sliced knoblewurst on rye on New York?s Lower East Side.

Because a sandwich is a blank slate, it can be perfectly evocative of its time and place ? the tiny truffled sandwiches eaten at a marble table on an elegant shopping street in Florence after your first visit to the Uffizi; a chip butty in Brighton; or a post-Phillies roast-pork sandwich at Tony Luke?s, with sharp provolone and broccoli rabe cooked down almost into jam. The sandwich and the occasion intertwine, the crimson-stained torta ahogada in Guadalajara?s Mercado Libertad becomes indistinguishable from the fine, white teeth of the woman who bites into it. In the dance-off between sandwiches and lived experience, it is often the sandwich we remember best.

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