518Life September 2014

A TIMES UNION PUBLICATION

Is Heroin Here to Stay? pg.30

SEPTEMBER 2014

Toxic Shot?

The vaccination debate hits home  pg.24

By Jennifer Gish

Check out our

Education special section pg.

62

Upcycling Home Decor pg.44 Local Boutique Beverages pg.57

Have you visited the Healthy Living Center at Hannaford?

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Visit with a CDPHP® On-Site Specialist TODAY! Discuss eligibility & benefits Learn more about coverage or plan options Enroll with CDPHP® Stop in today or call 518-729-4732 to schedule an appointment.

For more details on the Healthy Living Center, including hours of operation, class schedules and registration information, please visit healthyalbany.org or email info@healthyalbany.org with questions.

Healthy Living starts here – we look forward to seeing you!

Bring this Ad and Receive a Free Skincare Treatment ($75 value)* *New consults only. Call for details. Must bring ad. Expires 11/1/2014.

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Wolberg Lighting Design is there when

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DECIDING

What’s For Dinner

e is now the easiest decision e

You’ll Make All Day.

It’s that time of year again. The kids are back in school, and it’s time to get back into the routine. But Market Bistro by Price Chopper, our most exciting store ever, is here to make your transition from summer easier. Inside, you’ll find everytthing you need to make dinnertime the least stressful time of your day. Are you looking for a fast f and fun meal on the way home from m work? k? Let us cookk!

You’ll fi find more than a dozen great restaurants herre, serving everything ve from deli sandwiches to sushi. Aree you for something easy and delicious too eat looking oo at home? We’ve got lots of fresh, restaurantq quality entrées you can just heat and serve.

Or O maybe you’re preparing a fresh seafood meal m for the whole family. Great! Just leave the hard work to us. We’ll fry or steam the freeshest eshest fish fi in town for you — for free! — and you can seerve it at home without alll the hassle. assle So stop by and see s all we have to offer att Marrket Bistrro.

Because when h it comes to dinner, we’ve ve got it made. a And now, so do you.

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873 New Loudon Rd., Latham • mark ketbistro.com

Fall

is in The Air!

Publisher

George R. Hearst III

Editorial

Janet Reynolds Executive Editor Brianna Snyder Associate Editor Katie Pratt Editorial Intern

Contributing Writers

Kristi Barlette, Steve Barnes, Jennifer Gish, Alistair Highet, Deborah Moore, Traci Neal, Akum Norder, Katie Pratt, Cari Scribner

Design

Tony Pallone Design Director Colleen Ingerto, Emily Jahn Designers

Contributing Photographers

Paul Buckowski, Vincent Giordano, Alistair Highet, Colleen Ingerto, Mark Samu

Sales

Kurt Vantosky Sr. Vice President, Sales & Marketing Kathleen Hallion Vice President, Advertising Tom Eason Manager, Display Advertising Michael-Anne Piccolo Retail Sales Manager Jeff Kiley Magazine Advertising Manager

Circulation

Come in to see the latest fall styles for you and your home.

Todd Peterson Vice President, Circulation Dan Denault Home Delivery Manager

COME SHOP WHERE STYLE MATTERS, FASHION FLATTERS, AND THE EXCITEMENT IS DOOR TO DOOR. FOLLOW OUR SIDEWALKS AND YOU’LL DISCOVER 62 SENSATIONAL SPOTS TO SHOP AND DINE. SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Paul Block Executive Producer

Business

Nick Gagliardo Chief Financial Officer

TimesUnion.com

518Life is published monthly. If you are interested in receiving home delivery of 518Life magazine, please call (518) 454-5768 or e-mail magcirculation@timesunion.com.

For advertising information, please call (518) 454-5358.

518Life is published by Capital Newspapers and Times Union 645 Albany Shaker Rd., Albany, NY 12212 518.454.5694 The entire contents of this magazine are copyright 2014 by Capital Newspapers. No portion may be reproduced in any means without written permission of the publisher.

ON WESTERN AVENUE WHERE THE NORTHWAY BEGINS.

Sign up for our e-newsletter at stuyvesantplaza.com Follow us on: and our E-newsletter@stuyvesantplaza.com

Capital Newspapers is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hearst Corporation.

Photo by Peter Bowden

HEWITT’S Home of the Lifetime Nursery Guarantee Visit hewitts.com for more information

Rt. 50, Glenville 399-1703 Rt. 9, Clifton Park 371-0126

Rt. 7, Latham 785-7701 Rt. 20, Westmere 456-7954

Rt. 9, Saratoga 580-1205 Feura Bush Rd., Glenmont 439-8169 Rt. 4, East Greenbush 283-2159 Quaker Rd., Queensbury 792-3638

CONTENTS 518 LIFE MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2014

10 12

What’s Online Editor’s Note

Up Front 14 18 22 82

Trending Where & When In Other Words FYI with Richard Lovrich

Features 36

For the Love of Tudors

44

Time for a Do-Over

48

Storybook Backyard

57

Boutique Beverages

60 pg. 24 Are the antivaxxers on to something?

24

Toxic Shot?

30

Heroin

The Ferrillos make their dream home in the woods Upcycle your way to unique furniture and décor A labor of garden love Beers, ciders, spirits — they’re all made right here

The California Thing Style overwhelms substance in some California wines

70

Breast Care

73

Trainer Tips

75

Treading True

78

User Beware

The vaccination debate in our region

A brief history of unintended consequences

Reconstructive surgery after mastectomies Jennifer Ricupero shows us the plank push-up Making the best use of your treadmill time Foods and medicines that don’t mix

EDUCATION SPECIAL SECTION 62 Plugged In Taking a look at the classroom in 2014 66 Money for Nothing Getting through school without breaking the bank

8 518 LIFE

On the Cover Cover design by Colleen Ingerto Cover photo: Jupiterimages/GettyImages.

The Capital Region’s #1 Volume Honda Dealer*

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What’s

ONLINE 518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM

GALLERIES

more

ONLINE On the Edge blog.timesunion. com/ontheedge What we’re talking about in the 518.

YouTube Storybook Backyard (pg. 48) Look for more photos of this beautiful garden!

youtube.com/ TimesUnionMagazines Check out our tutorial videos on food and exercise and more!

Twitter @518LifeMag The best tweets this side of the Hudson.

(Either side, really.)

Facebook See more photos of this gorgeous home online.

MORE STUFF

Time for a Do-Over (pg. 44) Love what you see here? See more local upcycling solutions online, and find inspiration on Pinterest (pinterest.com/timesunionmags).

facebook.com/ 518Life Pictures and events and videos and more!

On your Smartphone m.timesunion. com/518life Flip through our online extras from your cell phone!

Pinterest pinterest.com/ timesunionmags Is Heroin Here to Stay? (pg. 30)

Are You Already In The Debt Hole? (pg. 66)

On Sept. 7, look for the Times Union’s special coverage on the growing heroin problem in the region.

We’ve got a story here on paying your way through school but we want to know if you’re already bogged down in debt. Look for our survey on the On The Edge blog.

10 518 LIFE

Check out our home, life, garden and food boards!

Photos: Tudor home by Vincent Giordano; garden by Colleen Ingerto; upcycling by Rebecca Ekstrom; heroin by Lori Van Buren/Times Union Archives; student debt by Ian Jeffery/GettyImages.

Tudor Love (pg. 36)

RETHINK: BACK PAIN

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Editor’s Note

We All Know One M

y mother was one. My good friend’s brother was one. So was one of my sons’ high school friends.

While they were addicted to different substances, they all shared this: substances — alcohol in my mother’s case, heroin for the other two — were their undoing. For some reason, their brains and bodies, combined with their individual psychological makeups, create the perfect breeding ground for substance disaster.

The story ends happily for only one of the three: my son’s friend, who has scratched his way out of his hole and is now living on his own, finding his way.

The others ended, as these things too often sadly do, in death. Deaths that come after years — no, decades — of pain, heartbreak, broken promises and physical ailments. It is a grueling torture for all involved.

But it’s an important topic to tackle. The Times Union is taking on the growing heroin epidemic in a series that begins here in the magazine with a brief history of the drug’s development. (See pg. 30.) The newspaper will kick off its coverage Sept. 7, with additional stories available online.

We all need to be more aware.

JANET REYNOLDS jreynolds@timesunion.com

Three things you’ll learn in this issue: 1. Eating licorice can make certain heart medications ineffective. 2. At least 17 states allow parents to opt out of having their children vaccinated for “philosophical” reasons. 3. On its opening weekend, Rare Form Brewing Co. poured the equivalent of 1,500 beers.

TRENDING #518

COMPILED BY KATIE PRATT AND BRIANNA SNYDER

Albany’s Oldest Buildings Albany is roughly 400 years old, depending on who you ask. So we’re bound to have some seriously old buildings. If you’re wondering just how old were talking about and where these structures are, you’re in luck. In late July, the Historic Albany Foundation released the results of a year-long survey cataloging city buildings constructed before 1860. Here’s the list published by All Over Albany:

We Break Records!

Wondering where we’ve made our mark in the illustrious Guinness Book of World Records? Here are a few examples.

2

7

3 4

The first Guinness World Record Day was held on the UAlbany campus on April 20, 1985 when 5,060 participated in the world’s largest game of musical chairs.

6

1

5

On April 17, 2005, UAlbany students, faculty and staff broke the Guinness Book of World Records for the world’s largest pillow fight. A total of 3,648 pillow pugilists participated, beating the previous record of 2,773 held by the Lands’ End company. source: tinyurl. com/518pillowfight

7

1

3

5

7

36 South Pearl St circa 1720

Quackenbush House 683 Broadway circa 1730

Schuyler Mansion 32 Catherine Street 1761-63

Cherry Hill 523 1/2 S. Pearl Street 1787

4

6

8

Lerner Shops 27 N. Pearl Street circa 1755

20 Green Street circa 1785

9 Ten Broeck Place 1797-98

2 Van OstrandeRadliff House 48 Hudson Avenue 1728

Bank Job Ever spent your lunch break in a bank vault? Yeah, neither have we. But the prospect is weirdly appealing in that Harry Potter-Gringotts kind of way. Apparently Sandra Poulen, owner of Albany’s Vault Café feels the same. Located on State Street inside a historic former bank in Albany’s downtown area, the café offers a series of lunch items built around the bank robber theme. Bonnie and Clyde wrap anyone? source: tinyurl.com/518vault

14 518 LIFE

Lest people think we’re just sticks in the mud here at the TU, we, too, — along with our readers — are holders of a Guinness World Record — the most people doing fist bumps simultaneously. A total of 428 people put their hands together during the Fit as a Family Fist Bump on Jan. 29, 2012, at the Southern Saratoga YMCA in Clifton Park.

The record attempt was part of the Times Union’s Fit as a Family project, which promoted families getting healthy together.

Anthony Morigerato tripped the light fantastic by tapping the most taps in a minute — 1,163 — at Eleanor’s School of Dance in Albany on June 23, 2011.

Morigerato, a professional tap teacher, broke the record performing reverse paddles, with each leg kick or paddle making four taps. He executed 293 reverse paddles within the one-minute time period to reach the 1,163 number.

Photos: Albany Map, Wikipedia Commons; Bank job, Courtesy Vault Cafe Facebook; Record Breaking, Illustrations by Emily Jahn.

Source: tinyurl.com/518albanybuildings

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TRENDING #518 What’s in a Name?

ALBANY: You’ve likely heard the derisive Smalbany, but did you know Albany is also known as the Cradle of the Union?

This nickname, according to MSN Encarta, resulted from a 1754 meeting of the Albany Congress, which adopted Benjamin Franklin’s Plan of Union, the first formal proposal to unite the colonies.

Local Spirit Cornelius Applejack MADE BY: Harvest Spirits in Valatie, Columbia County WHAT IS IT: An 80-proof spirit that starts as hard cider made from 100 percent local apples. It is twice distilled and aged for two years in old bourbon barrels.

1954 - Cradle of the Union Celebration Coin

COHOES: This is sometimes called the Spindle City because of the importance of textile production to its growth.

HOW MUCH: About $35 for 750ml

SARATOGA SPRINGS: Locals may call it ’Toga, but historically Saratoga Springs is also known as the Spa City thanks to the health benefits of its mineral waters and springs.

WHERE TO BUY: For a list of stores and online retailers, visit harvestspirits.com — Steve Barnes

SCHENECTADY: Many have heard Schenectady called the Electric City but it was also once known as The City that Lights and Hauls the World. This was a reference to its earlier history when the Edison Electric Company (now known as General Electric), and the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) were the city’s two most prominent businesses.

TROY: Troy is known as the Collar City due to its history in shirt, collar, and other textile production.

sources: Wikipedia and tinyurl.com/518schenectadyhist 16 518 LIFE

Calorie Counting

This past summer, scientists at General Electric Global Research in Niskayuna developed a device that uses microwaves to tell you how many calories are in your plate of food, calculating the weight, water, and fat content of a given dish simply by putting it in a Jetsons-esque machine.

Wondering about the device’s accuracy? After nearly 50 tests, the “Easy Cal” has come within a 5 to 10 percent margin of a food’s actual calorie count. source: tinyurl. com/518caloriecounting

Photos: Coin, so-calleddollars.com; Collar, wikimedia; Applejack, Illustration by Emily Jahn; Calorie Counter, Courtesy businessinsider.com.

HOW TO USE IT: It’s a glutenfree alternative for any drink in which you’d use rye or bourbon whiskeys. Aging in whiskey barrels gives Cornelius Applejack complexity and depth missing in traditional, sweeter applejacks.

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Little Fr iends of



COMPILED BY KATIE PRATT AND BRIANNA SNYDER

Do This



Eat This

Looking for some revelry in Saratoga after the track closes for the summer? Check out the Saratoga Wine and Food Festival at SPAC this September. Headlined by executive chef and Chopped judge Marc Murphy, the festival boasts three days of gourmet events such as BBQ Brews & Blues, the Wine Auction Wall and the In the Groove Jazz Brunch. Wine connoisseur Kevin Zraly will also be at this foodie mecca to make sure everyone drinks as well as they’ll be eating.

What makes a good meal out even better? A good meal that’s also a deal. Every September, the Downtown Troy Business Improvement District hosts a city-wide restaurant week where participating restaurants offer special prix fixe menus at up to four different price points, $5, $10, $20 and $30. Plenty of Troy favorites take part in the week so mark your calendar now. The yummy Bacchus Wood Fired Pizza (pictured above) participated last year. (2014 lineup TBA.)

SARATOGA WINE & FOOD FESTIVAL, SPAC Sept.

5-7, tinyurl.com/w-w14wineandfood

TROY RESTAURANT WEEK 2014, Sept. 15- 21, tinyurl.com/w-w14restaurantweek

See This Printmakers rejoice! This month the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy will host the first ever East Coast National Screenprint Biennial.

This pioneering exhibition will feature a range of screenprint-based art applications such as framed, editioned prints and installation sculpture. Curator Nathan Meltz, printmaker and lecturer in the Art Department at RPI, has assembled the creme de la creme of printmaking for this celebration of the medium so don’t miss out on the fun.

EAST COAST NATIONAL SCREEN PRINT BIENNIAL, Sept. 12 – Oct. 11, The Arts Center of the Capital Region, 265 River St., Troy, screenprintbiennial.com 18 518 LIFE

Bill Fick

Shawn Bitters

Photos: Festival,Steve Jacobs/Times Union Archives; Troy Restaurant, Philip Kamrass/Times Union Archives; Artist Prints, courtesy of the artists.

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WHERE & WHEN #518

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WHERE & WHEN #518 Nancy Grossman, Road to Life

Buy This This is your moment, shopaholics: grab your credit card and head to Albany’s second annual Fashion Night Out. Inspired by New York City’s fashion spectacular, Albany’s offshoot begins with a runway show featuring local fashion followed by a raffle and silent auction. Desserts and hors d’oeuvres will be passed all night. Proceeds benefit the Alzheimer’s Association of NENY and Family Friends Future Inc. so go ahead, buy those shoes!

FASHION NIGHT OUT, Sept. 11, 90 State St., Albany, tinyurl.com/w-w14fno



See This

MASKED, Winter Gallery, the Tang Museum, July 5-Sept. 28, 815 North Broadway, Saratoga Springs, tinyurl.com/w-w14masked



Do This

Missed the summer Strawberry Festival in Schenectady? No worries. You can grab some carrots at the 36th annual Carrot Festival Sept.

14 on the grounds of Congregation Agudat Achim. With the theme “Peace, Love, Carrots,” this year’s festival will include music and entertainment from Captain Squeeze and the Zydeco Moshers, local vendors and crafters, a miniature health fair, tons of kid-friendly activities and, of course, plenty of carrots.

CARROT FESTIVAL, Sept. 14, 2117 Union St., Schenectady, facebook.com/CarrotFestival



See This

In 1926, Proctors premiered the silent film, Stranded in Paris, establishing the theater as a grand venue for movies as well as live performance. Now, nearly 90 years later, Proctors has deepened its love affair with great cinema by presenting Film 100: The American Film Institute Essentials. On Mondays throughout the year, Proctors works through the list, showing an

20 518 LIFE

American film classic on either the mainstage or the giant screen GE theater. Septembers films include Nashville (9/15), A Clockwork Orange (9/22) and The Philadelphia Story (9/29). The full schedule is online.

FILM 100: THE AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE ESSENTIALS, Sept. 15, 22, and 29, 432 State St., Schenectady, proctors.org/events/film-100

Photos: Drawing, courtesy Tang Museum; Carrot cake, Paul Buckowski / Times Union Archives; Clockwork Orange, Giuseppe Bognanni/Creative Commons.

Masked is an exhibit, curated by Skidmore senior Celia Caldras, that presents a selection of unusual portraits from the Tang Museum’s collection. See photographs, prints and sculptures by celebrated 20th and 21st century artists such as Marina Abramovic, Man Ray and Laurie Simmons. The exhibit confronts the mutability of identity by displaying portraits that restrict, fracture, abstract and disguise their subjects.

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In Other Words

BY AKUM NORDER

Celebrating

Corruption

W

ho says you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear? Certainly not Bruce Roter.

“Albany’s name has been dragged through the mud,” thanks to the state’s reputation for political corruption, says Roter, a professor of music at The College of Saint Rose. But then he asks: What if we saw that blemish as a resource — and a tourism draw?

“If we are to have corruption,” Roter says, “I say Albany should institutionalize it — by placing it in a museum.”

It’s not satire. Roter really wants to build a Museum of Political Corruption. And you know what? I’m sold. America needs a place like this, and it needs to be right here in Albany.

Over the past year or so there’s been talk that we need a showpiece, a key attraction to draw tourists and define Albany to the rest of the country. I agree we need to do more to attract visitors. We need something else, too: a better attitude about ourselves.

Many people here quickly point out Albany’s flaws — and just as quickly dismiss any suggestion Albany could become a first-class city. Why would anyone want to move here, invest here, even visit here? Well, besides our diverse architecture, interesting neighborhoods, walkable city center, beautiful natural surroundings, majestic state Capitol and hundreds of years of history — gee, I can’t think of a thing.

S

o let’s build on what we have. Roter’s Museum of Political Corruption would offer something people can’t find anywhere else. And where better to put the museum than in the capital of the state that spawned Eliot Spitzer and Tammany Hall, where it’s

22 518 LIFE

AKUM NORDER Akum Norder is an Albany writer.

easy to lose count of how many lawmakers “bribes”; the self-guided tour is marked out are facing ethics investigations, where the with a “follow the money” trail. And if you Moreland Commission to Investigate Pub- get hungry, head to the cafe for — what else? lic Corruption didn’t even last a year and — pork. There’d be plenty of serious content at press time questions about Gov. Andrew too, Roter emphasizes: exhibits, lectures, canCuomo’s influence over the commission were didate debates. The museum would also have being questioned? an “outreach agenda,” he says, “to encourage Most of the shady politicians darkening state officials to combat corruption.” the halls of the Capitol aren’t ours, exactly; “The only way we are going to ‘reclaim our voters keep shipping them here from other name’ here in Albany is if we take a proactive, parts of the state. (Thanks a lot.) But we also leadership role,” Roter says. have some of the homegrown variety that But it’s the fun side that’ll bring people in certainly deserve a room in Roter’s museum. the doors. I hope the museum has a smoke-

“

If we are to have corruption, I say Albany should institutionalize it — by placing it in a museum.

For most of the 20th century Albany was in the hands of one of the United States’ most durable political machines. Helmed by Democratic boss Dan O’Connell, the machine was responsible for the 41-year tenure of Mayor Erastus Corning 2nd. From patronage jobs and vote-buying to manipulating home assessments to keep residents in line, machine politics shaped Albany in ways that the city still grapples with today.

O’Connell’s legacy is one reason Albany still tends to think small. The machine was a conservative operation, designed to perpetuate itself and keep new ideas out. Perhaps it spawned our fatalistic attitude: Whoever’s at the top is going to carry on in the same way, so why bother trying to change things? Stick with the devil you know.

That’s why Albany needs a Museum of Political Corruption. One glance at the proposed museum’s website shows Roter is having fun with his idea. Admission fees are called

”

filled back room available for private events.

And maybe a chutes-and-ladders-type ethics game laid out on the floor. (“You just circumvented the Open Meetings Law. Go back three spaces.”) A changing gallery of political cartoons. And how about a glass ceiling in the women’s room?

Laughing at the politicians we elect wouldn’t just be cathartic. In an era when political rhetoric is as harsh and divisive as it has ever been, it might be an unexpected way to get us talking about hot topics such as super PACs, campaign finance reform, state’s rights — things that speak to the nature of democracy itself.

It also could start a conversation about what we’ve come to settle for from our leaders — and challenge us to demand better.

And perhaps it’d help us learn to laugh at ourselves a little bit. Then maybe we can say, sure, Albany’s got its problems. But we’re one of a kind.

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Toxic Shot?

Most parents get behind the idea that everyone has a right to decide whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best for their child, but when parental rights get mixed with concerns about public health, an issue like childhood vaccinations becomes polarizing.

BY JENNIFER GISH

Photo: Vstock LLC/GettyImages.

P

ublic health advocates say “philosophical” reasons. In New the number of parents opting York, children can only be grantout of childhood vaccinations ed exemptions for medical or rehas led to a comeback of cer- ligious reasons. tain diseases, including measles A medical exemption means a and pertussis (whooping cough). doctor writes a note saying the Meanwhile, in this increasingly child has a medical issue that skeptical society and with the ris- would make the vaccination uning interest in alternative medi- safe, such as a compromised imcine, parents have started asking mune system or an allergy to a more questions about the safety vaccine component. A religious of vaccines and the intensity of exemption requires a parent to the childhood vaccination sched- fill out a form explaining why ule and some are opting out. their religious beliefs would pre“We’re in a literal war right clude their children from vaccinow with the government in this nation and then the school dismovement,” says Heather Walker, trict decides whether to grant the advocacy team co-director of the exemption. Walker says getting a vaccine information advocacy religious exemption has not been group, the National Vaccination a problem in this region, though Information Center-New York difficulty securing the exempState, and a Capital Region parent of a child she says was injured by Today, children vaccines. “People have the right to informed receive as many as consent. We want to 24 immunizations by make sure that people’s rights are secure.” their second birthday.

The movement of parents who want to skip vaccines or have them given on an alternate less- tion in New York City has led intensive schedule is growing, to lawsuits. Because there’s no Walker says, though in New philosophical exemption permitYork State the number of par- ted statewide, parents who are ents asking for vaccine exemp- opposed to vaccinations for nontions for their children is low religious reasons would still have compared to other states. to file for a religious exemption.

In New York State, less than Or, they could choose to home1 percent of kindergarteners (or school, an alternative Walker 1,666 out of 239,484 children) says is rising in part because of had opted out of the required the vaccination requirements. vaccinations in 2012-2013, ac- The number of homeschoolers cording to the Centers for Dis- increased by 262,000 students ease Control and Prevention, between 2007 and 2011, accordmuch less than the 6.1 percent ing to the U.S. Department of Edexemption rate in Vermont. Yet ucation, but vaccinations weren’t a June 2013 article in the medi- one of the top five reasons for cal journal Pediatrics cited New choosing to do so.

York State Department of Health But those who question the statistics that religious exemp- vaccine requirements say that the tions to immunizations state- state can soon expect more pushwide nearly doubled from 0.23 back from parents — and hint at percent to 0.45 percent between the possibility of a lawsuit — af2000 and 2011. At least 17 states ter new vaccine requirements for allow parents to opt out of their school admission are slated for children having the vaccines for the coming academic year. 

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Diseases that were once nearly eradicated by vaccines are now making a comeback. symptoms of autism. He lost the one word he had, ‘Mama.’ He began staring for long periods at ceiling fans and tree branches swaying in the wind. He began to act if he was deaf. He lost his sense of pain; for example he would run straight into a wall, fall down and just get up and keep going. No tears, no crying,” Gilmore says. “He would select toys that he could flip back and forth for prolonged periods. He wouldn’t cuddle and seemed indifferent to affection. He wouldn’t point, or share joint attention. He had almost no direct eye contact. He would look at things by holding them at the limit of his peripheral vision.

N

umerous studies have said there’s no connection between autism and vaccinations, and Andrew Wakefield, the physician in Britain who became popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s for suggesting a link between the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism, was later discredited and stripped of his license.

But parents, including some of children with autism spectrum disorders, say they still believe there’s a connection, and that the medical community and government aren’t open to truly investigating it. Gilmore, who is based in Long Island, says vaccines can cause brain damage or inflammation of the brain, and some of those symptoms are similar to the characteristics of autism.

“It’s a semantic game,” he says. “They should stop looking at ‘Do new vaccines cause autism?’ Do they cause encephalopathy — which has the same list of symptoms? Not only that, hundreds of thousands of people, my family is one of them, have seen what happened to their kids.”

Gilmore says his son received two vaccines, one to protect against pneumococcal disease and another to protect against Hib disease (which can cause bacterial meningitis) right before he turned 1, and he developed a high fever.

“Afterwards, he began expressing classic

26 518 LIFE

This 1964 poster featured what at that time, was CDC’s national symbol of public health, the “Wellbee,” who here was reminding the public to get a booster vaccination.

It was a series of stark changes. (It) is clear to us that he suffered a vaccine-induced encephalopathy. He is labelled as having autism.”

Gilmore says not enough research has been done of both the vaccine schedule and the vaccine load. By the mid-1980s, children received five shots by the time they were 2 years old, according to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Today, children receive as many as 24 immunizations by their second birthday.

“Look at any poll,” Gilmore says. “Confi-

dence in institutions is at all-time low, people don’t trust government agencies or large corporations, but we’re supposed to pretend that the vaccine companies are perfect.”

Gilmore says there’s also a history of vaccine injury, enough that a National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was started under The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, news reports in the early 1980s of serious side effects from the Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis vaccine caused parents to question the vaccine’s safety and file lawsuits against vaccine companies and medical professionals. Some vaccine companies dropped out of the business, causing vaccine shortages and prompting a system to be set up to pay out claims while absolving vaccine makers and doctors of fault. The funds are generated by vaccine taxes.

The compensation program has paid out more than $2.7 billion in compensation, including attorneys’ fees and legal costs for those whose claims were heard and denied.

Since the federal courts heard the first claims in 1989, 13,431 claims have been adjudicated with 3,645 awards made and 9,786 claims dismissed, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human services. A Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System also tracks suspected reactions to vaccines, but that is self-reported data, so those who question vaccines say it isn’t a good tracking system for vaccine safety.

But many in the medical community insist the issue has been carefully studied. Dr. Barbara Morris, a pediatrician and chief medical officer for Community Care Physicians, a large Capital Region medical group, says parents often want to tie together vaccines and autism because the developmental disorder reveals itself during those early years, the same time children would be receiving a heavy load of vaccinations.

“There is no pattern of injury or harm that is established with administration of a vaccine that exceeds what you would expect in the normal population from receiving vaccines,” she says. “One of the key points that people need to recognize is that children in the first five years of life do receive a lot of immunizations and children, in the first five years of life, do get sick from a lot of things, from minor things to major things. It’s not uncommon for there to be a temporal relationship between something that was going to happen anyway happening within the timeframe in which a child received a vaccination.” 

Photo: CDC/ Mary Hilpertshauser/ Wikimedia.

In July, the New York State Department of Health announced new vaccine regulations for school attendance — which includes public and private schools, daycares, Head Start programs and nursery schools — that include additional doses of the chicken pox and polio vaccines. The updated requirements will be phased in over the next several years, reaching all grades by 2020-2021. Department officials said “immunization requirements are consistent with the most current childhood and adolescent immunization recommendations made by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).”

Legislation about following the ACIP schedule was introduced along these lines several years ago but never made it to a vote, says John Gilmore, executive director of Autism Action Network, a nationwide nonprofit that advocates on the vaccination issue as well as a multitude of other issues facing those with autism, such as insurance coverage. He also says his son, who has been diagnosed with autism, was vaccine injured.

“I expect that (the changes by the New York State Department of Health) will be challenged,” he says. “Stay tuned.”

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What gets lost in fear that vaccines cause harm, Morris says, is fear of diseases that were once nearly eradicated by vaccines but are now making a comeback.

“I think part of the issue right now is that we have developed — because of the immunization success rate in this country and in most developed countries at least — herd immunity. A large enough segment of the population has been immunized that unimmunized people in the population are protected because they’re not exposed. What we’re seeing now as people have started to back off of immunizing their children is that herd immunity is reduced. We’re starting to see outbreaks — in the population that are not only unimmunized but especially young children who have not completed the vaccine.”

In April this year, the New York State Department of Health said the number of measles outbreaks were the highest they’ve been since 1996. Of the 129 reported measles at that time, 29 were in New York City.

Morris says the safety of the vaccines and the recommended schedule has been studied for safety. Children receive vaccines via a certain timing because of susceptibility to disease at various points in their development and to maximize the body’s response to the immunizations.

And a study by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), described as “an independent, nonprofit organization that works outside of government to provide unbiased and authoritative advice to decision makers and the public,” concluded the schedule is safe.

According to a report by the IOM: “Upon reviewing stakeholder concerns and scientific literature regarding the entire childhood immunization schedule, the IOM committee finds no evidence that the schedule is unsafe. The committee’s review did not reveal an evidence base suggesting that the U.S. childhood immunization schedule is linked to autoimmune diseases, asthma, hypersensitivity, seizures, child developmental disorders, learning or developmental disorders, or attention deficit or disruptive disorders.”

In July, another review by researchers at the RAND Corporation, evaluated studies published since the release of the IOM report and noted that side effects from vaccines are also rare. It did acknowledge that some vaccines offered serious rare symptoms. For example, the MMR vaccine was linked with an increased risk of fever-triggered seizures.

But the addition of vaccines, including 28 518 LIFE

DOSAGE

RECOMMENDED AGE FOR DOSE 1

DISEASE DESCRIPTION

Diphtheria causes a thick covering in the back of the throat. It can lead to difficulty breathing, heart failure, paralysis, and even death.

Diphtheria and Tetanus toxoidcontaining vaccine and Pertussis vaccine

4 doses

2 months

Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a highly contagious respiratory disease. It is known for uncontrollable, violent coughing.

After fits of many coughs, someone with pertussis often needs to take deep breaths, which result in a “whooping” sound. Pertussis most commonly affects infants and young children and can be fatal, especially in babies less than 1 year of age.

(DTaP/DTP/ Tdap)

Polio vaccine (IPV/OPV)

Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine

4 doses

2 months

Varicella (Chickenpox) vaccine

Polio is a crippling and potentially deadly infectious disease caused by a virus that spreads from person to person invading the brain and spinal cord and causing paralysis.

Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease. Measles causes fever, runny nose, cough and a rash all over the body.

1 dose

12-15 months

(MMR)

Hepatitis B vaccine

Tetanus is an infection caused by bacteria called Clostridium tetani. When the bacteria invade the body, they produce a poison that causes painful muscle contractions. Another name for tetanus is “lockjaw” because it often causes a person’s neck and jaw muscles to lock.

Mumps typically starts with a few days of fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, and loss of appetite, and is followed by swelling of salivary glands.

Rubella, sometimes called German measles or three-day measles, is a contagious disease caused by a virus.

3 doses

1 dose

birth

12-15 months

Hepatitis B is a contagious virus that is transmitted through blood, blood products, and other body fluids (such as semen).

Symptoms include a sudden fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, dark urine, joint pain, and yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice).. It can develop into lifelong (chronic) hepatitis B. This can cause people to die early from liver disease and liver cancer.

Chickenpox is a very contagious disease caused by the varicellazoster virus (VZV). It causes a blister-like rash, itching, fatigue, and fever. Chickenpox can be serious, especially in babies, adults, and people with weakened immune systems.

Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccine (Hib)

1 to 4 doses

2 months

Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) disease is caused by bacteria and usually strikes children under 5 years old. Hib disease was the leading cause of bacterial meningitis among children under 5 years old in the United States. Meningitis is an infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord. It can lead to brain damage and deafness.

Pneumococcal Conjugate vaccine (PCV)

1 to 4 doses

2 months

Pneumococcal infections can range from ear and sinus infections to pneumonia and bloodstream infections. Children younger than 2 years of age are among those most at risk for disease.

Source: cdc.gov

those such as the HPV vaccine — which is said to help protect women from cervical cancer — will push parents toward asking more questions, Walker says. More work is to be done, she says, in both evaluating the vaccination schedule and seeing if certain children

may be predisposed to vaccine side effects.

“Every parent should be looking into what’s going into their children’s bodies, including food,” she says. “There’s going to be a tipping point soon that people are going to say enough is enough.”

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Heroin A brief history of unintended consequences

BY DEBORAH MOORE

In the coming weeks, the Times Union will show you the lives of the people who sell heroin, the cops who try to catch those dealers, the addicts who struggle to beat the habit, and the families left to deal with the chaos when a loved one becomes junkie.

Beginning Sunday, Sept. 7, in the Times Union, and online at timesunion.com.

30 518 LIFE

Photo: Lori Van Buren / Times Union Archives.

The effects of the nation’s heroin epidemic are being felt across the Capital Region. From city streets to suburban schools, the tragic impact of the world’s most vicious drug is causing devastation.

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In the early 1900s the Lloyd Manufacturing Co. of Albany produced Cocaine Toothache Drops promising an “instantaneous cure.”

The popular Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup, sold in the early 1900s, was marketed specifically for teething babies and contained 65 milligrams of morphine per ounce. We bet Mom liked it too.

H

eroin’s on the rise in the Capital Region. And while it used to be a sort of glam drug associated with grungy junkies and gaunt rockstars, today it is increasingly the drug of choice for mainstream America.

“Heroin does not discriminate on race, gender, or any other diversity factor,” says Dr. Dolores Cimini, a professor at the University of Albany with expertise in psychology and addiction. “It has infiltrated across all areas of life. Soccer moms are using heroine.”

When did this all start? In the late 1800s, pharmaceutical chemists were trying to find a substitute for morphine, which was used in legitimate medicine but was addictive.

In 1874 C.R. Alder Wright, a chemist working for St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London, experimented by mixing morphine

32 518 LIFE

Glyco-Heroin, which combined heroin with sugar syrup, was sold as a treatment for coughs, bronchitis, asthma, laryngitis, pneumonia and whooping cough.

with various acids. The result was a more potent type of morphine, not what Wright wanted, and his discovery lay largely dormant.

Some 20 years later, another scientist, Felix Hoffman, working for a German pharmaceutical company now known as Bayer Corp., resynthesized the same substance and thought he had found a safe substitute for morphine.

The resulting pharmaceutical was named Heroin, for the German word heroisch, or heroic, because of its effect on the users. Soldiers would reportedly charge directly at the enemy without fear after taking the drug, according to the website heroininfo.org. Beginning in 1898 and continuing until 1910, the new drug was marketed as a non-addictive substitute for morphine and as a cough suppressant. Bottles labeled with the brand name Heroin won customers across Europe and in the United States.

In reality, heroin more quickly metabolized into morphine, making it a faster, more powerful type of morphine. Bottles of cough syrup and other medicines containing heroin flew off the shelves as everyone from housewives to workers and even small children consumed it.

While the Bayer Company was ultimately distressed to learn of its medicine’s addictive properties, many patent medicines and remedies of the time contained psychoactive drugs, according to the University at Buffalo’s Department of Psychology’s Addiction Research Unit.

Glyco-Heroin, produced by the Martin H. Smith Co. in New York, combined heroin with sugar syrup and was sold as a treatment for coughs, bronchitis, asthma, laryngitis, pneumonia and whooping cough. In the early 1900s, the Lloyd Manufacturing Co. of Albany

Photos: Toothache Drops, Bayer, Glyco-Heroin and Bayer Heroin bottle courtesy Wikimedia Commons. Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup courtesy docstoc.com.

From 1898-1910, Heroin, named for the German heroisch or heroic was originally created — and then marketed —as a non-addictive substitute for morphine and as a cough suppressant.

How It’s Made

One of the original bottles of Heroin produced by the Bayer Company.

produced Cocaine Toothache Drops promising an instantaneous cure for 15 cents a box.

The era’s popular Mrs. Winslow Soothing Syrup, marketed specifically for teething babies, contained 65 milligrams of morphine per ounce, a potent amount even for an adult.

These medicines were especially popular among the working classes as a cost-effective alternative to a visit to the doctor. At the turn of the century, some estimates place the number of Americans addicted to morphine, cocaine and heroin at a quarter of a million people, out of a total population of 76 million.

In 1914, the Harrison Narcotics Act sought to stem the proliferation of heroin in the United States by banning its distribution and sale, while allowing it to be prescribed and sold for medical reasons. Heroin remained a problem, however, and in 1924, the U.S. Congress banned the manufacture, importation and sale of heroin.

With medicines containing heroin gone from the shelves, criminal gangs were more than happy to provide the drug and reap the profits. Beyond working-class and low-class neighborhoods, heroin use developed a cachet among jazz musicians and later among some writers and creative groups.

Prohibition, which began in 1920, greased the wheels for illegal heroin. The distribution routes that brought alcohol to a dry nation worked equally well to import and distribute heroin.

Some sources say Albany’s own gangster, Jack “Legs” Diamond, who made his fortune in bootlegged liquor, worked with New York City criminal kingpin Arnold Rothstein in the heroin trade. Author William Kennedy, Albany’s authority on Legs Diamond, wonders how deeply Diamond was involved, although one story came to mind.

Opium is a naturally occurring sap collected from the seedpod of the opium poppy. Raw opium is mixed with a calcium solution and hot water and allowed to settle for several hours.

A binding chemical is added and the contents are filtered and then allowed to dry in the sun to create a brown morphine base.

Another chemical is added to the base that it is heated and filtered. Finally, sodium carbonate is added to create a heroin base.

The heroin base is mixed with several more chemicals and filtered. The resulting residue is dried. One last chemical is added and then filtered once more. The result is white heroin hydrochloride, or powdered white heroin.

No special equipment is needed. Metal or plastic barrels, plastic tubs and filtering cloths and tubing are sufficient. Fields of opium poppies are cultivated in Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Pakistan and in Mexico and Columbia. In 2010, Afghanistan produced 90 percent of the world’s illicit opium.

Source: Federal Drug Enforcement Agency

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Just as marijuana and other drugs have nicknames, so does heroin. Here are just a few over the years.

Big H, Chiva, Hell Dust, Horse, Negra, Smack, Thunder, Brown Sugar, Nose Drops, Skag, China White, Mr. Brownstone Mexican Black Tar, a less refined form of heroin, sticky and dark

Cheese Heroin, a blend of Mexican heroin and over-the-counter cold medications, cheap and highly addictive, known to be marketed to children and teenagers

laws make them harder to get. Users need a readily available drug with the same opioid “kick” and heroin fits the bill.

According to a March 2014 Federal Drug Enforcement Agency report, the average street cost for OxyContin, a form of oxycodone also known as hillbilly heroin, is $1 per milligram. A typical 40 mg tablet costs $40.

This makes heroin a real bargain.

“There is a more strict process for prescribing pain killers now so people are turning to heroin. Heroin is not regulated,” says UAlbany’s Cimini. “It’s cheap and it’s dangerous because we don’t know who made it or how they made it.”

A bag of heroin that cost $10 in 1984 still costs $10 now, Penny says. “This makes it cheaper than the prescription drugs people had been abusing.”

Heroin is also easy to adulterate, keeping costs down. Pure heroin can be cut with baking soda or lactose to something as hazardous as Fentanyl, a narcotic painkiller. Dealers cut heroin with cold medicine to make a less strong, so-called cheese heroin, which is marketed to children and teenagers.

Drugs have always been a business and it’s always about the business, whether people want to make money, or fuel their own habit, Penny says. “The depth of the problem hits home once it grabs a close family member. It’s their loved ones who suffer most.”

— Katie Pratt contributed to this story.

Kennedy recalls that in 1925 or 1926, heroin was being smuggled into New York Harbor concealed inside bowling pins. Diamond was suspected of being one of a group who hijacked this shipment. This makes sense, Kennedy says, because Rothstein financed Diamond as a hijacker of bootleg liquor.

“Legs was working with Rothstein on all sorts of things; it wouldn’t surprise me [that he was trafficking in heroin] but it doesn’t show up on his rap sheet. He was not arrested for heroin,” he says.

Kennedy says that heroin was for sale in the area. In the 1920s and ’30s, Tommy Dyke operated a high-end Capital Region cigar store. Alongside the fine cigars were other cigars loaded with heroin or cocaine, customer’s choice.

When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, there was no more money in illicit alcohol, but drugs were still profitable. New York City became a distribution hub for heroin imported from Asia.

H

eroin addiction has been around since heroin was first discovered, but why has

34 518 LIFE

Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks about a heroin bill as top priority of end of session during a press conference at the Capitol June 18, 2014 in Albany. Speaker Sheldon Silver sits at right.

— Photo by Lori Van Buren / Times Union Archives

Photo: Heroin baggies courtesy of the Albany County Sheriff’s Office.

Heroin By Any Other Name

the drug’s use exploded in recent years?

New York State Police Colonel Daniel Penny, Deputy Superintendent Internal Affairs, has worked in narcotic enforcement since 1984. Most recently he was detail commander for the Community Narcotics Enforcement Team (CNET) from 1996 to 2002.

In the 1980s Penny says that heroin was a “behind closed doors” type of drug that was not hawked on street corners and was used by a group of hardcore addicts, all of whom knew each other. Penny says that he suspects the increasing purity of heroin has a lot to do with the explosion in its use.

“In the 1980s you could not inhale or snort heroin; it just was not pure enough.

You had to inject it and there is a real sigma to using a needle. That stopped a lot of people,” he says. “Today’s heroin is pure enough to snort or inhale and that makes it easier to take that first taste.”

Dealers in recreational drugs started adding heroin to their offerings, Penny says. Countries such as Afghanistan and Columbia ramped up cultivation of the opium poppy — the raw ingredient for heroin — to meet the demand.

The heroin spike follows the crackdown on prescription opioid drugs, such as oxycodone and vicodin, whose abuse by teenagers and the general population reached a crisis in recent years. Once available by prescription from complicit doctors, from the family medicine cabinet or via the Internet, today’s new

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The ceiling features wooden beams to enhance the feel of a country house.

For the Love of

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BY BRIANNA SNYDER | PHOTOS BY VINCENT GIORDANO

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This nautically themed boyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s room also has a loft, which the Ferrillos built for him to play in.

The playroom, in the basement, is wallpapered in part with photos of the kids.

“M

y wife and I had been stalking this house since the spring of 2009,” says Dr. Martin Ferrillo.

Ferrillo and his wife Radana were excited when they saw this Saratoga Springs tudor was available — or so they thought. The home had been foreclosed on and its previous owner had created a mess with his mortgage. It turned out, however, that the bank didn’t have the house’s title anymore, so the house couldn’t be sold and the Ferrillos had to look elsewhere. They decided instead to stay in their Wilton home and put work into that instead.

Then in May 2011, the house popped back up for sale, and the Ferrillos grabbed it.

“The reason we were attracted to this house is I have a love of English tudors. They are very rare in Saratoga Springs,” Ferrillo says.

“I grew up in a tiny little split-level [in Long Island], but I had always looked at tudors and yearned for one and told myself if I was successful I’d try to get one if I could.” And he did.

When they first bought the house, the entire attic was infested with squirrels. A truly epic infestation, in fact. “The attic was full

of years of squirrel infestation and procreating and dying up there,” he says. The basement was water-damaged. They had black mold. The roof needed to be replaced.

It was messy.

When they began making their renovations, they tapped John Witt, a close family friend and contractor. They also brought in Lucianna Samu, an interior designer and color expert in Gansevoort, to help the Ferrillos realize their vision. 

For more photos, go to timesunion. com/518life

518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 39

A fully stocked bar with two beers on tap, yum. Below (and left), a rug made of old ties.

“

We wanted it to feel old, even though it’s only about 30 years old.

That vision includes: a bar room with two working beer taps (one of which has Dogfish Head, yum); a billiards room; an expansive and beautiful wine cellar; and various creative flourishes in the bedrooms such as lofts and skylights.

The house was built around 1990, Ferrillo says, though he wanted to get away from that ’80s/’90s vibe. “We wanted to see granite in40 518 LIFE

”

side and barn beams,” he says. “We wanted Next, the family is working on their daughit to feel old, even though it’s only about 30 ter’s room. The little boy’s room has a nautiyears old.” cal theme and its own loft, giving it a dreamThe barn beams are gorgeous, criss-crossing playroom feel. the high ceilings of the den and the kitchen. “[The house is] kind of in the woods but The dining room has a striking slanted, geo- very manor-like, very stately,” Ferrillo says. metrical brick pattern that gives it an English- “You can just tell it was built well, built strong tavern feel. In fact, Ferrillo says he wanted a and has a timeless appearance to it, as most Shakespearean “post-and-beam element.” tudors do.”

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by Sarah Trop of FunCycled in Troy. (funcycled.com) 44 518 LIFE

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Furniture redo photos (left): ‘Before’ photo courtesy of Funcycled, ‘After’ photo by Chelsea Bos Photography (chelseabosphotography.com). Saw blade bookends courtesy of Steven Kroeger.

A

bench that was once an antique headboard; a dress made from plastic grocery bags or jewelry made from silverware: These are just a few examples of upcycling — the art of taking something old and used for one purpose and turning it into something fresh and, oftentimes, unique.

Upcycling can be as simple as reusing that paper grocery bag to line your birdcage or litter box or as complex as breaking down a piece of furniture or garment and whipping it up into something new.

Creative minds do best at upcycling because it’s such a formative process. Sure, you can use Pinterest for inspiration, but original ideas can be the most rewarding.

“I don’t throw away something till it really has no value any more,” says Steven Kroeger, from Albany. Kroeger sells his creations on Etsy at etsy.com/ shop/stevenrolfkroeger. “I look at it and think how is it useful again. I learned that from my grandfather.

He had quite a few children during the Depression.”

Not only is upcycling good for the environment and, oftentimes, your wallet, but it’s also more fun than buying new, says Sarah Trop, owner of FunCycled in Troy. At her store, they not only create furniture out of items they find, but they also build and refurbish items from a customer’s collection.

Trop started upcycling several years ago. She had numerous family pieces of furniture that weren’t her style but that were still in excellent condition. She didn’t want to ruin the furnishings, or get rid of them, so she repurposed instead.

Upcycling for her is trying things and seeing where they go. Under-

standing that sometimes projects won’t turn out as you planned, or even hoped, is essential.

“Every time I walk past my pieces I think ‘I’m keeping history, but making it stylish,’” says Trop, whose success at the art of upcycling led her and her husband to open FunCycled.

Her favorite creation is a hutch she got from a family friend. It was an unsavory blueish green, and chipped. Now it stands tall in her dining room, painted bright red with dark hardware.

“Furniture is discarded a lot of times for new trendy designs and finishes,” Trop says. “This is sad because so much of the new stuff is low-quality pieces. We are keeping the quality and the history and incorporating that into pieces that would otherwise be junk.”

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The one item that can’t be brought back to life, she says? A wobbly chair. Once a chair is unsteady, it will always go back to being unsteady no matter what you do.

K

imberly Houle also likes to make new out of old. She’s so good at it, in fact, that she won the Upcycling Show at the Sage Colleges earlier this year.

The college student from Fonda — along with her classmate Elisabeth Morreale — made a dress out of grocery bags and a

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table out of a window and reclaimed wood.

Houle calls trash day “Treasure Tuesday” because it’s the perfect time to check out what people have discarded on the curb.

“We realized [upcycling] was a great way to repurpose and reuse old materials and make things functional,” says Houle. “Once we started making different things such as the dress and the table, we just kept going because it was so much fun.”

She recommends newbies start with small projects — such as a side table — before tackling more complex items such as large furniture or intricate clothing.

She’s a bit of a Pinterest voyeur and loves scouring websites to see what others have done. She also posts her projects to motivate others.

“We throw a ton of stuff away in landfills every year, so if we can show people we can repurpose garbage people can do that and the landfills will be less full,” says Houle.

Like Trop, Houle encourages West Elm inspired patchwork dresser — Made by Sarah Trop of FunCycled (funcycled.com)

46 518 LIFE

KnotHead parrot made of scrap lumber, driftwood, used lamp parts and broken pallet board — Made by Steven Kroeger (etsy.com/ shop/stevenrolfkroeger)

people not to get discouraged, or intimidated — and to have good tools. “Always have a power drill.

Power tools are essential,” she says. “If you’re trying to resurface wood … things don’t work if you don’t have power tools.”

We asked our Facebook readers to share their upcycled creations. See the gallery online at timesunion.com/518life. Need inspiration? Check out our board on Pinterest (pinterest.com/timesunionmags).

Photos: Sage Upcycle photos by Tamara Hansen; dresser ‘Before’ photo courtesy of Funcycled, ‘After’ photo by Chelsea Bos Photography; KnotHead parrot courtesy of Steven Kroeger.

Winners of the Upcycle Show at the Sage Colleges made this dress (above) out of grocery bags and a table (at right) out of a window and reclaimed wood.

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Storybook Backyard

BY BRIANNA SNYDER | PHOTOS BY COLLEEN INGERTO

K

athe Sheehan has a picture-perfect circular garden in her backyard.

A pond with koi fish, arbors covered in flowers, winding paths and beautiful bushes and “a million kinds of hostas,” Sheehan says, laughing. It doesn’t hurt that there’s a swimming pool and a patio behind it, either.

This garden is around 25 years old; Sheehan and her late husband worked on it with love and care, slowly augmenting it to what it is now. 

The pond is a main feature of the Sheehan garden.

“This yard was just begging to be a pond,” she says.

Some of the koi are as old as 15 years.

48 518 LIFE

A labor of garden love

518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 49

50 518 LIFE

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After the couple installed the pond, they built these storybook arbors, which you walk through a few times if you make your way around the whole garden.

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Though the garden is full and blooming, Sheehan still refers to the garden as “a work in progress.”

Love this garden? See more photos at timesunion.com/518life.

518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 53

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Photos: Browns, John Carl D’Annibale/Times Union Archives; Nine pin, Tom Brenner/Times Union Archives; Davidson Brothers, Chad Polenz/ chadzbeerreviews.com.

Just a few of the brews and beverages made here in the Capital Region.

O Boutique Beverages Beers, ciders, spirits — they’re all made right here BY STEVE BARNES

n the opening weekend of Rare Form Brewing Co. in May, the Troy brewery’s tasting room, which has a capacity of just 40 people, poured the equivalent 1,500 beers. In its first three weeks of business, Rare Form went through 72 kegs of beer. After running out of a number of its four core brews and three specialty beers, Rare Form brought in kegs from small breweries around the state to serve customers while enduring 17-hour days to brew 300-gallons double batches of its signature styles.

“The interest was incredible.

We literally were out of half of our beers in the first week,” says Kevin Mullen, who opened Rare

Form with his girlfriend, Jenny Kemp. He says, “We knew the community of craft-beer fans was growing, but we didn’t know by how much.”

Rare Form is just the latest example of the explosive growth in the Capital Region of boutique makers of beer, hard cider and spirits. Veteran brewers, including the 18-year-old Davidson Brothers in Glens Falls and 21-year-old Brown’s Brewing in Troy, are among seven established local brewers that in the past two years have committed a combined $7 million to expanding brewing capacity. Davidson, which in 2001 ago had to start having some of its beer made out of state after running out of 518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 57

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Spotlight: Shmaltz Brewing Founded: San Francisco, 1996 Relocated to Clifton Park: 2013 Brewery details: 20,000 square feet, 200,000 cases annually, $3.75 million opening cost Growth: 700 percent increase in Capital Region sales in first year.

Beers: 12 under the He’Brew label, with names including Rejewvenator, Hop Manna and David Slingshot.

Photo: Lori Van Buren/Times Union Archives.

Location: 6 Fairchild Square (just off Northway Exit 10), Clifton Park. Tastingroom hours are 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

capacity at its brewpub in downtown Glens Falls, last year announced a 20,00-squarefoot brewery in Queensbury with a volume of 138,000 cases per year, allowing all of its beer to be made locally once again. To meet demand for its beers, Brown’s is building a $2.5 million brewing facility in an old mill in Hoosick Falls.

In Clifton Park, Shmaltz Brewing Co., founded in San Francisco in 1996, in May celebrated the first anniversary of brewing its own beer. (For the previous 10 years Shmaltz had its beer made, to its specifications, by Olde Saratoga Brewing in Saratoga Springs, under an arrangement known as contract brewing.) Shmaltz’s Clifton Park facility will allow Shmaltz to grow from producing a little less than 65,000 cases to up to 100,000 annually of its own beer and 75,000 more for outside contract-brewing clients.

All three of the above are considered small craft brewers; one of the original American craft-beer makers, Samuel Adams, produces 73 million gallons annually. (In comparison, Anheuser-Busch sells seven times as much Budweiser each year.) Even as the established, larger local breweries were expand-

ing, tiny operations, called nano-brewers, were popping up, from Stephentown in eastern Rensselaer County (S&S Brewery) to West Glenville in western Schenectady County (Wolf Hollow Brewing). Both produce about 50 gallons a week.

“We’re surrounded by such a strong community — of residents and of fellow brewers,” says Jeremy Cowan, who when he started Shmaltz was delivering his 100-case annual production in his grandmother’s Volvo. At its anniversary party in May, 500 people showed up, and 17 breweries from around New York were on hand to pour their beer for visitors.

“That really tells you what our community is like,” Cowan says. “In what other industry would you invite 17 competitors into your own house to show off their product? Mercedes doesn’t get invited to BMW’s birthday party.”

A

lejandro del Peral was aware of local breweries when he was developing Nine Pin Cider Works, open since February in Albany’s warehouse district. But he says he didn’t realize how his hard cider, made with local apples, including from his family’s Columbia County farm, would be embraced as

part of the local craft-beverage community.

“I was just thinking about it like, We’ve got proximity to the best apple crop in the country, a big population to drink it and relatively cheap manufacturing space,” he says.

“I was amazed by how others” — who make beer and spirits — “really embraced us.”

When customers stop in at Nine Pin’s tasting room, at 929 Broadway, del Peral tells them to be sure to stop down the street, at Quackenbush Square, for local beer at the Albany Pump Station, a brewpub since 1999, and local whiskey from the Albany Distilling Co., which has produced 2,500 gallons of spirits since opening in October 2012.

“We’re in a phenomenal area for all of this,” says Albany Distilling co-founder John Curtin. A former teacher, Curtin started the distillery, the first in Albany since Prohibition, with Matthew Jager, a college professor.

Says Curtin, “There’s a lot of local pride from our customers. Every bottle of our whiskey is made from 5 pounds of grain. When people come in and see the stacks of organic New York state grain that will be eventually transformed into whiskey, that matters a lot to them.”

518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 59

Sporting Wines

STORY AND PHOTO BY ALISTAIR HIGHET

The California Thing Style overwhelms substance in some California blends

W

hen was the last time you had a wine that simply annoyed you?

I mean, this takes some doing in my case. But I’ve stumbled

on a couple.

I was in my wine store, frittering away a few moments in the California section when I paused in front of the “blends. ” I grabbed a handful that were new to me and brought them home to try.

Now, many of the great wines of the world are blends. Bordeaux is classically a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. The luscious wines of the Rhone are a blend of Syrah, Cinsault, and other grapes.

The so-called Super Tuscans are blends of Sangiovese, with Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon typically. Blending makes sense because different grape varieties have differing cycles of bloom, fruit set, and ripeness. So blending ensures that a quality drinking wine can be produced despite the weakness of one or other of the partners. It is also true that great blending can add depth or lyricism to a wine. Imagine, suddenly, a bass joining a string quartet, or by contrast, a violin melody suddenly taking flight out of a consistent if repetitive figure. You get the idea.

But there is also something fishy about blends. Let’s stick with California. California is home to a lot of grapes and they all have to go somewhere. The extraordinarily high degree of laboratory controls, as well as a “focus group” marketing mentality, means that a wine can be manufactured to taste like just about anything. In this case, grapes can be sourced from anywhere in California, blended to meet the “focus group” preference, label is slapped on, and away you go.

So, for instance, the 2012 Drops of Jupiter, $13, from the Save Me San Francisco Wine Company. Have you heard of a band called Train? I hadn’t, but I listened to some of their music online, and read a few threads on whether the band “sucks” or not. I’ll leave that to you. Anyway, the band has a line of wines, and Drops of Jupiter is named after one of their songs. “Save Me San Francisco proudly donates proceeds from its sales” to support Family House, a home where families can stay while their children are getting hos-

60 518 LIFE

pital treatment. Notice it doesn’t say all proceeds. So is this a wine company, or is it part of Train’s marketing strategy? The wine itself, “petite syrah based” was very fruity, with red currant and pomegranate, and, you know, tasted like a wine McDonalds would serve.

Almost as irritating is “Promisqous,” ($12) produced by the Wine Sisterhood. “Wine Sisterhood is an online community where women can join the conversation about wine, food, travel, style and entertaining. … The idea for the Wine Sisterhood was sparked through actual conversations with our friends and colleagues.

We set out to create a fun, friendly space online where women — like you — could talk, learn and share their wisdom.” You can buy a bunch of stuff on their website. Do we need gendered wines? They also produce a whiskey for women. Sigh. The wine is a “provocative” blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, and “mixed red varietals.” Sweet fruit, black cherry, mint and dark chocolate. Again, somewhat characterless.

I tried two others that had more character, but on balance these are fruit-forward wines in the California style, and lack the minerality, bitter notes, tannic muscle, subtlety of wines that are purer products of time and place.

Alistair Highet is a former editor, restaurant manager, and vine dresser, and has written about wine for over 20 years.

Raymond Vineyards, Field Blend, Lot No. 7, 2011 ($14) A “field blend” derives from the day when all the grapes of all varieties would be harvested and crushed at the same time. Nobody really does that now. But this blend of the major red varietals had a wild, gingery, meadow quality that complemented the blackberry and dried plum fruit. Chewy, herbal, very nice in the style.

Sebastiani, Gravel Bed Blend, Sonoma County, 2011 ($29) This was a good wine, but pricey. Mostly Cabernet and Merlot with other red varietals.

Blackberry, blueberry, plums, with licorice, cinnamon and tar. This was a rich, bold, broad wine that would pair well with steak.

Education

Plugged In B

BY TRACI NEAL

y the time the first bell rings on the new academic year in September, some of the region’s schools will have received a digital makeover.

Whether it’s campus-wide broadband rewiring or brand new laptops, regional schools are embracing digital classrooms, even as some of them struggle with the logistics of implementing them.

“The computer has changed the way we teach,” says Pam Clarke, the new head of the Doane Stuart School in Rensselaer, an early childhood through grade 12 independent school.

With every conceivable fact only a Google search away, virtual classrooms that grant real degrees, and children far more technologically savvy than the adults who teach them, the traditional front-facing, pen-and-paper classroom is becoming increasingly, well, old school.

Clarke, 69, remembers — as many adults reading this will — memorizing facts and dates

62 518 LIFE

and sitting through long lectures by schoolteachers or college professors who droned on while “students [sat] bent over, writing furiously trying to take down everything the teacher was saying.”

Those days, says Clarke, are over. By September, she says, the historic brick buildings that make up the picturesque, 24-acre campus, will be rewired so that every classroom is WiFi connected.

“What we need to do now,” says Clarke, “is teach children how to use the technology and how to make it meaningful, and, especially in the beginning, show them how to discern what’s worth looking at.”

The concept of a high-tech classroom is in line with the goals of education leaders and policymakers across the country as the affordability of tablets and netbooks and improvements in WiFi speeds and connectivity continue to drastically transform the way students learn and teachers teach.

Funding, through programs such as the

Federal Communication Commission’s E-rate initiative, which provides high-speed broadband connectivity to schools and libraries still struggling with dial-up or otherwise inadequate Internet speeds, is making the transformation possible.

The FCC voted in July to update E-rate in response to President Obama’s call earlier this summer to bring to America’s schools and libraries “next-generation, high-capacity broadband.”

Meanwhile the U.S. Department of Education’s National Education Technology Plan in 2010 called on educators “to leverage technology to create engaging, relevant and personalized learning experiences for all learners.”

America is at a tipping point, according to the Leading Education by Advancing Digital (LEAD) Commission, a nonprofit established to determine how technology can help transform education in America. “There will be people talking about this 20 years from now, [looking at] how we handled it when society

Photos: Students on laptops, Skip Dickstein/Times Union Archives; Child on iPad, AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin.

Technology in the 2014 Classroom

Students use their laptops at the Ark Community Charter School in Troy.

changed,” says Mark Eisenhardt, director of technology at the Albany Academies.

D

espite the push, however, integrated classroom technology is not without its critics.

Our cellphones, laptops and tablets, writes Dan Rockmore in a recent New Yorker article, “are platforms for play and socializing; it makes sense, then, that we would approach those devices as game and chat machines, rather than as learning portals.”

One-third of elementary school teachers surveyed in a recent poll say they use games in their classrooms to increase engagement and address different learning styles. “These games prime and then exploit the user’s ‘compulsion loop,’ an acknowledged behavioral modality linked to addictive behavior,” Rockmore continues in the article, “The Case For Banning Laptops in the Classroom.”

At Christian Brothers Academy in Albany, educators take a measured approach, says head of school James Schlegel.

“There is technology in every classroom for teacher presentation, we have computers and digital projectors in every room, and all of our teachers have iPads for maintaining records and communicating,” says Schlegel.

“But throughout the school, while instruction is going on, we don’t have students with any electronic devices.”

Use of technology, he says, is structured and based on a particular unit in which the computer or Internet is necessary. “It can’t just be students sitting there, all behind laptop screens with the teacher not knowing what’s going on,” says Schlegel.

A study to be published in the journal “Computers & Education” in September shows that college students who bring their laptops to long lectures spent about twothirds of their class time for off-task activities.

“If a student just wants to use a computer to take notes, it doesn’t work out,” he says, citing studies that show students score better on post-lecture quizzes when they hand-write their notes.

“As much of a lure as it is to use the latest technology — and we want be as cuttingedge as much as anybody else does — but if the data prove that handwriting is the better learning process, we’re going to stick to the proven measures.”

Schools also face other bumps and roadblocks

such as new testing standards, an anticipated wave of teacher turnover, shrinking school budgets and local school officials who are reluctant, for all of the reasons above, to change.

“We’ve come a little bit full circle,” says Eisenhardt of the Albany Academies’ computer policies. In the early 2000s, fifth and sixth graders at the girls’ academy were required to bring in their own Macbooks, he says. “When the program was initiated, it was before Facebook or computers became so ingrained into [their] social lives.”

Once students discovered social media, Eisenhardt says, “we experienced a few issues like that. They were distractions; we also experienced social issues. The kids were much younger and were discovering social media and in some cases, kids were exploring their social feelings and their social relationships online, which has the obvious problem of being removed, in the sense that it’s not face to face.”

At the time, Eisenhardt says, “there weren’t built-in cameras so you didn’t have students adjusting their hair in class by using the camera on the computer. It was a completely different tool.”

Still, the program was discontinued last year, and while technology is still a big part of classroom time, it’s more structured and activity oriented. “With the whole world at their fingertips,” says Eisenhardt, who recently went back to school as a graduate student — and brought his laptop to class — “the motivation to be distracted is pretty high.”

While he managed to get through his graduate courses without letting the sports scores or emails get in the way, he says, “I’m confident that if I had [a laptop at my desk] as an undergrad I would’ve been distracted like nobody’s business.”

When her English students come to class

High-tech Help The following organizations and agencies can provide additional information, funding, support and other resources for educators seeking to learn more about technology in the classroom. Compiled from various sources, including LEAD, the Leading Education by Advancing Digital Commission.

• Consortium for School Networking a professional association for school technology leaders. cosn.org • Digital Promise - a nonprofit authorized

by Congress to spur innovation in education. digitalpromise.org • EducationSuperHighway - a nonprofit backed

by Mark Zuckerberg’s Startup:Education and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with a mission of ensuring that every K–12 public school has reliable, high-capacity Internet access. educationsuperhighway.org • International Association for K–12 Online Learning - a nonprofit focused on research, policy, standards and professional development. inacol.org • Leading Education by Advancing Digital Commission - established to determine how technology can help transform education in America. leadcommission.org • Rensselaer Polytechnic’s Colloquium on Teaching & Learning – a free annual event for faculty, staff and graduate students of area colleges and universities, and area school district teachers and administrators. colloquium.rpi.edu • State Educational Technology Directors Association - a nonprofit membership association representing educational technology leaders. setda.org • U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology – an agency that explores ways to leverage technology to re-imagine and personalize learning. ed.gov/edblogs/technology 518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 63

Education in September, Guilderland High School teacher Alicia Maud Wein says they’ll each be assigned a new Chromebook laptop. Wein, who’s been a teacher for 17 years — 16 at Guilderland — has been a part of Guilderland’s evolution from pen-and-paper to digital as it happened.

“

Technology is part of the world now and if we ignore that, we’re not helping them negotiate it. We’re throwing them to the wolves.

”

“It has fundamentally changed my lesson planning,” says Wein. “If it were [used] just for notetaking, I’d be happy to hand the kids pen and paper, but we use it as a collaborative device.”

Students and teachers in the Guilderland Central School District have all recently switched to an all-Google platform — everyone uses Gmail, collaborates with work teams in Google Groups, shares information through Google Sites, and uses Google Docs to share and store schoolwork.

“When I started to see the potential for using

Google Drive, I used it for one of the classes I teach,” says Wein. “Students were drafting several long papers over the course of the semester and they were sharing their drafts with me online so I could drop in on that draft time and again over the course of the month in a way I couldn’t if they had to print out copies.

“I stop in, look at their paper and give them feedback, monitor their progress and if they’re stalled I’ll send them a message saying ‘Hey, I noticed you haven’t made an edit in a week and a half. Are you stuck?’ and they have no way of evading the question.”

Other forthcoming Guilderland initiatives include expanded use of iPads in the elementary grades, improvements in connectivity districtwide, and preparation for online student testing.

“Technology is part of the world now and if we ignore that, we’re not helping them negotiate it. We’re throwing them to the wolves,” says Wein. “If we set ourselves up as the enemy of technology then we’re taking on a bigger battle than we’ll be able to fight and not one that I think is even appropriate.”

The concept flips the traditional classroom on its head, she says. So much so that the “flipped classroom” has become a buzzword and a trend, according to EDUCAUSE, a membership organization of IT leaders and professionals committed to advancing higher education.

In a flipped classroom, students might view multimedia lectures at home, before class, then arrive in the “active classroom” ready to discuss, collaborate and put into practice what they learned outside class. Recent studies of college students found they scored as well or better on tests following active classroom time than they did after a traditional lecture (Computers & Education, September 2014).

“In the real world, nobody works on an island and everybody has to work as a team,” says Bob Testa, technology teacher at St. Gregory’s School in Loudonville. “Most of my lessons are team-based things where you’re giving or getting feedback from somebody else, because that’s what they’re going to have to do in real life.

“It’s our job as educators to give them the skills they’re going to need once they get into the real world,” says Testa, who also has a paperless classroom. “Simply giving a kid a computer is not going to make him a better student or a better learner. It’s up to the teacher to engage and motivate them.”

Computers aren’t going away, says Testa.

“To eliminate computers from education is kind of silly, but what you need to do is have dynamic teachers that know how to work in that environment and know how to use those tools to facilitate learning.”

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Education

Getting your kids through school without breaking the bank

BY TRACI NEAL

T

hey’re supposed to buoy a bad economy — the university grads with shiny new diplomas and lots of disposable income for car loans and credit cards. So it’s ironic, then, that these young Millennials might be the ones to sink it entirely.

Coming of age in the midst of an economic crisis and set loose on the world over the last decade with a de-

Money for Nothing gree and a mountain of debt, the 20and 30-something American Dream generation owes a staggering $1.2 trillion — yes trillion — in federal and private loans.

Multiple studies have shown the negative impact this debt is having on students’ school and professional choices — which major to choose, whether to attend grad school, the types of jobs they can afford to take after college — not to mention decisions later in life such as marriage and mortgage, cars and kids, investments and retirement planning.

“This high amount of student debt is dragging down our economy,” said U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York earlier this year, lobbying in support of a bill that would have allowed borrowers to refinance higher-interest federal student loans at lower rates.

College costs are up 1,000 percent since records began being kept in 66 518 LIFE

Illustration: Diane Labombarbe/GettyImages.

1978. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, tuition, room and board at public institutions averages about $14,000 a year, while at private, nonprofit schools the cost is upward of $38,000.

“College tuition has been rising faster than any other household expense,” says Thomas J. Dingley, an Albany financial adviser with Halliday Financial. “They are worried that their children will incur these enormous debts.”

To pull it off, families are borrowing more than ever — with both the number of people borrowing and the balance of outstanding debt up 70 percent, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Half of them are past due, or have defaulted or deferred their loans, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. In the Capital Region alone, almost 10 percent of student borrowers are currently more than 90 days past due.

So, short of foregoing the dream altogether, what’s a student with big plans to do?

They should start by knowing what they can afford, says Kathy Crowder, a spokesperson for the Higher Education Services Corporation — HESC, the student financial aid agency that administers and advises consumers about their financial aid options.

Choosing a school — and even a major, she says — is second to knowing what the student and family can pay. “I think they need to know what, once they’re out of college, their expected salaries versus the amount of debt they’re incurring will be,” says Crowder, who urges students in their junior years to check out the tools on HESC’s website, like the debt to salary wizard that calculates what a college grad can afford to borrow based on expected income after graduation.

“We try to educate students on the impact of [student] debt and to think carefully about their college choices,” says Crowder, whose

organization also counsels students and parents and offers financial aid workshops and other college planning programs at schools throughout the state.

“There are so many people who really have the dream to go to college but don’t take the steps because they don’t think it’s available or attainable to them,” says Crowder.

While students may need to ultimately seek loans, they should “tap into all other forms of aid before incurring loan debt,” she advises. (See our sidebar, “Free Money,” for a selection of state and federal scholarships and awards available to New York students.)

T

he first step is often the hardest, though.

It begins with the FAFSA — the Free Application for Federal Student Aid — a lengthy questionnaire that students must fill out every year to be considered for aid. The FAFSA determines a student’s expected family contribution — or EFC. That’s the magic number that’s used to calculate how much “needs-based” money a student is eligible to receive from the federal and state governments, the college the student plans to attend, and private scholarshipgranting agencies.

“I hear many myths when it comes to the financial aid process,” says Dingley. “Knowing that formula is a great place to start correcting those myths.”

It’s important to realize that not all financial aid is “free money,” Dingley says, and not all college financial aid packages are the same, “so it may be worth the time to apply to more than one.”

For instance, agrees Crowder, “college A” might be less expensive to attend but may offer a much better financial aid package. “Don’t always assume that the private schools will be out of reach or that the public schools are less expensive,” she says.

“That’s not always the case.”

HERC offers a tool on its website

to help students compare financial aid packages from several schools in order to make the best pick.

For parents who plan ahead, college savings accounts, like New York’s tax-deferred 529 College Savings Program, provide tax benefits and can get a child out of college debt long before he or she even graduates high school.

“New York State has a very sound, very good 529 college savings program,” says Crowder. Families can begin putting money away when their children are young, says Crowder, accruing a tax-free college fund and enjoying up to $10,000 in tax deductions every year.

Look for scholarships, too, Crowder advises. Not all are based on 4.0 averages or a lifetime of community service. The Tall Clubs International Scholarship, for instance, awards cash to women who are at least 5’10” and men who are at least 6’2”, while the Chick and Sophie Major Memorial Duck Calling Contest is an award for high school seniors who can call ducks. There’s plenty of money for average students too. “It just takes time and planning,” she says.

“I’ve heard stories of students who paid for their whole education by cobbling together $500 here, $1,000 there, through these ‘left-handed, Clairol blonde’ scholarships,” Crowder says. ”Don’t be caught at the end of your child’s senior year looking at all these college applications and saying, ‘What am I going to do now?’ Know what you think you can afford, talk to your child about that plan and stay on track with that plan and with each other. If you need to take out loans, you need to determine what level you can bear and plan your child’s education accordingly.”

The funding is out there, she says, “You have to really just stay on it and plan, plan, plan.”

Savings pros and cons 529 PLANS Pros: tax advantage, broad flexibility, controlled by parents, lower impact on financial aid eligibility

Cons: tax penalties incurred if withdrawals aren’t used for higher education

TRUSTS, SAVINGS ACCOUNTS, CDS Pros: no penalty if funds aren’t used for higher education

Cons: child assumes control at age of majority, higher impact on financial aid

See more about free money for education on page 69

518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 67

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Education

Free Money The following is a selection of grant and scholarship programs offered by the state of New York and the federal government. Many of the New York programs are typically offered to students who are from New York and/or attending school here. Students must file the FAFSA to be considered for financial aid. Visit the HESC website (hesc.ny.gov) for help with the FAFSA or for more information about these awards or others.

STATE FREE MONEY • New York’s Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) Needs-based annual awards ranging from $500 to $5,165

• Veterans Tuition Awards Financial assistance for honorably discharged combat veterans

• Regents Awards for Children of Deceased and Disabled Veterans $450 a year, regardless of need, offered to New York residents who are children of certain deceased or disabled veterans

• Memorial Scholarships Financial assistance to the children and spouses of deceased police officers, firefighters, volunteer firefighters, peace officers and emergency medical service workers who served in New York and died of injuries sustained in the line of duty. (Those attending SUNY institutions will receive scholarships that equal in-state tuition, room, board and other expenses)

• State Aid to Native Americans Up to $2,000 per year to enrolled members of official New York tribes and their children

• Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) Grant Needs-based aid for students who are educationally and economically disadvantaged, administered by the university

• New York National Guard Educational Incentive Program Up to $4,350 for members in good standing of the New York Army, Air National Guard or Naval Militia

• Aid for Part-Time Study (APTS) Needs-based award of up to $1,000 per semester for part-time students

• New York State Scholarships for Academic Excellence Up to $1,500 in renewable scholarship money for students attending in-state colleges

• Segal AmeriCorps Education Award For New York residents interested in opportunities in community service

• World Trade Center Memorial Scholarship Aid to the children, spouses and dependents of deceased or severely and permanently disabled victims, as well as severely and permanently disabled survivors of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks or the rescue/recovery operations. Award covers up to four years of full-time undergraduate study and will pay SUNY tuition, room, board and other expenses.

• Flight 3407 and Flight 587 Memorial Scholarships Aid to children, spouses and financial dependents of individuals killed as a direct result of the crash of Continental Airlines Flight 3407 Feb. 12, 2009 or American Airlines Flight 587 Nov. 12, 2001; covering up to four years of full-time undergraduate study, room, board and expenses.

• Military Service Recognition Scholarship (MSRS) Aid to children, spouses and financial dependents of members of the U.S. Armed Forces who, at any time on or after Aug. 2, 1990, while a New York State resident, died or became severely and permanently disabled while engaged in hostilities or training for hostilities

FEDERAL FREE MONEY • Pell Grant Needs-based award of up to $5,730 annually

Photo: malerapaso/GettyImages.

• Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) Needs-based awards for students with exceptional financial need

• Work-Study Program A needs-based program providing students with employment at campus offices and community service agencies

• Bureau of Indian Affairs to Native Americans Higher Education Assistance Program Needs-based aid for members enrolled in a trip or group recognized by the Bureau of Indian

• Military service Education benefits to eligible active-duty military and reserves; veterans’ children and eligible spouses of a veteran who is totally and permanently disabled or died from a service-related injury

• NYS Math & Sciences Teaching Incentive Scholarship Grants to students in programs that lead to math or science teaching careers

• NYS Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Incentive Program Full SUNY or CUNY tuition scholarship for the top 10 percent of students in each New York State high school if they pursue a STEM degree and agree to work in a STEM field in New York for five years after graduation.

Aid for K-12 Just about all of the 34 private K-12 schools in Albany County offer some type of financial aid and some even offer free tuition to families earning less than $75,000, according to the Private School Review. Schools’ financial aid counselors can explain the options and talk to parents about scholarships and awards. Here is a selection of scholarships for the younger set:

• Children’s Scholarship Fund (scholarshipfund.org), provides money to low-income kids to attend private school

• Bison Scholarship Fund (bisonfund. org), for students in Buffalo, Lackawanna, Cheektowaga, West Seneca, Amherst, Kenmore and Tonawanda

• Jack Kent Cook Foundation scholarships (jkcf.org) for exceptionally promising 8th through 12th graders with financial need

518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 69

Ask the Doc

Kristen M. Rezak, MD Assistant Professor of Plastic Surgery, Albany Medical Center Plastic Surgery Group

Breast Care

Reconstructive surgery after mastectomies

BY KATIE PRATT | PHOTO BY PAUL BUCKOWSKI

B

reast cancer isn’t going away.

According to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, an estimated 232,670 new cases of invasive breast cancer (cancer that has spread from its original location to other cells in the body) will be diagnosed in the U.S. by the end of 2014. This is in addition to 62,570 new cases of in situ breast cancer (cancer that has not spread or metastasized from its origin).

With numbers like this, and increased awareness for preventative surgery generated by the likes of Angelina Jolie and Kathy Bates, mastectomies, surgeries that remove part or all of the breasts to treat or prevent breast cancer, are on the rise. Consequently, so is re-

70 518 LIFE

constructive surgery. That’s where Dr. Kristen Rezak comes in.

After completing fellowships at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the University of Pittsburgh, Rezak joined Albany Medical Center’s Division of Plastic and Reconstructive surgery in 2013 when she was appointed assistant professor. Though trained in a wide range of cosmetic procedures, Rezak is especially interested in breast reconstruction following breast cancer. “I’m really involved in the reconstructive parts of the [mastectomy] procedure,” she says. Thanks to doctors like Rezak, women undergoing life-saving mastectomies now have the option of more surgery to rebuild the breast mound and nipple area.

Generally speaking, breast reconstruction comes in two phases, Rezak says. “We do immediate reconstruction [at the same day and time as the mastectomy] and delayed reconstruction [any day after the mastectomy day].”

Breasts can be constructed using saline or silicone gel, the same materials used during breast augmentations. Rezak says, “If the patient doesn’t have a donor site for using their own body tissue [such as fat on her belly or thighs], we can use tissue expanders to reconstruct the breast. We put expanders in to stretch the skin and muscle out. Then we’ll go in and exchange the expander and put in an implant usually about 3-4 months after the mastectomy, depending how big we inflate the

Personalized Handcrafted Serving Boards from MAPLE LEAF AT HOME expander. The expander gets filled in the office usually every week to allow a slow stretch of the skin and muscle over time. Then we try to match the volume of the other breast or in cases of bilateral mastectomies, we go as big or small as the patient desires. So it’s possible to get bigger or smaller breasts than before mastectomy.”

Using microsurgical techniques, Rezak can also do an “autologous reconstruction.”

“This type of reconstruction uses the patient’s own tissue to make a breast. There are a few areas that plastic surgeons use to reconstruct the breast. We call these donor sites, such as abdomen, thighs, buttock and back.”

Reconstructing the nipple and areola can be done by moving skin to the nipple area and adding tattoo ink to recreate the areola. “Breast surgeons in Albany are also doing nipple-sparing mastectomies,” says Rezak “where they are able to save the nipple/areola area.”

The nature of the reconstructive surgery depends on many factors, says Rezak. “Some of the things to account for when deciding on a reconstructive surgery are the patient’s age, how

big the cancer is, the staging of the cancer, what treatments she [the patient] is going to get in the future, if she is athletic. … There is a lot we look at. For example, if a woman has a large breast, we can most of the time just do a lumpectomy [where the surgeon only removes the cancerous part of the breast], almost like a reduction. Again, it all depends.”

T

iming is key with breast reconstruction, and often the earlier the cancer is detected the more choices the patient has when rebuilding. “Women are more aware of [breast cancer] so they are more aware of their choices [after a mastectomy].”

Rezak also notes the rise in preventive mastectomies with the growing popularity of testing for harmful mutations in the BRCA1 gene or the BRCA2 gene — an occurrence that greatly increases a woman’s risk for breast and ovarian cancer.

Rezak is hopeful that this increase in awareness and prevention of breast cancer will impact her field in the future. “Women are starting to be more aware [and this] will hopefully lead to a decrease in the need for reconstruction.”

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Trainer Tips

BY BRIANNA SNYDER | PHOTOS BY PAUL BUCKOWSKI

Performing the

Plank Push-Up with

Jennifer Ricupero

TOP TIPS: DO: Your hands should be just under the shoulders, not any lower or any higher.

DON’T: Make sure your back is not too arched and that your head isn’t too tucked in to the shoulders.

1

START IN A FOREARM PLANK POSITION, head over hands, with your shoulders and neck soft, and hips engaged with your core.

2

RAISE THE BODY UP into a straight-arm plank position by taking the right hand and placing it where the elbow was, repeat on the left side.

3

RETURN TO THE STARTING POSITION by placing your right elbow where the hand was, repeat on the left side.

4

REPEAT FOR 3 SETS OF 10 REPS on your right side and then 10 reps on your left side.

5

FOCUS ON A CONTINUOUS BREATH and athletic flow with the movement. “We call this ‘La-La.’ It reminds my students to feel good in the move, not stressed or anxious, allowing the body to embrace the core as a guiding force,” Ricupero says.

Jennifer Ricupero is the owner and founder of RAW Fitness, a fitness and nutrition operation promoting fitness as a kind of recreation, rather than a chore. For more information, visit RAWFitnessSaratoga.com.

518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 73

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Treading

True Making the best use of your treadmill time

BY KATIE PRATT | PHOTOS BY COLLEEN INGERTO

The treadmill is the most popular piece of exercise equipment in the U.S., according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturer’s Association. Over 50 million were sold in 2010 — roughly twice the number of ellipticals.

One step into the Guilderland YMCA’s massive aerobic area proves the point: The entire north wall is lined with treadmills, many of which, even at 1:30 in the afternoon, are occupied.

“There’s a lot of benefits to the treadmill,” says Casey Garvey, wellness director at the Guilderland YMCA. “It allows you to track everything — heart rate, calories, incline.

You can replicate a course without risking injury. You don’t have to deal with the weather. If you’re running on the street, you need gear.”

While the machine itself seems simplistic — you just get on it, right? — a treadmill is also a breeding ground for bad habits that can sap a workout of its benefits. Here are some top tips from Capital Region trainers for maximizing the efficiency of your treadmill time.

SHOES

DON’T

Footwear is crucial to a safe and effective treadmill workout. “If walking or running, you need to wear shoes that have good support and comfort. Running shoes are generally lighter, flexible, and breathable to avoid problems with sweating, rubbing and pressure. They should be cushioned in the heel and midfoot,” Garvey says. He also recommends replacing shoes every 300-400 miles.

t WATCH WHERE YOU’RE LOOKING Believe it or not, where your eyes focus is important to a productive workout. “When running or walking on a treadmill, you should look straight ahead, and maintain good posture,” Garvey says. “Don’t crane your head forward. It will create a toppling effect.” Mat Nark, assistant director and running coach at Plaza Fitness, adds, “We always want a neutral cervical spine [aka your neck] and eyes in direction of travel.”  DO 518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 75

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STRIDE LENGTH The trick is to keep it natural. Don’t try to maximize the workout by doing super long or short strides. Garvey says, “Your feet should land directly underneath your body. As your foot strikes the treadmill or ground, your knee should be slightly flexed so that it can bend naturally on impact. If your lower leg extends out in front of your body, your stride is too long.” If you want to get really technical, “an optimal stride length will produce about 180 to 200 steps per minute,” says Nark.

POSTURE q Your back should be straight and your arms relaxed. “Never hold the bars as you run!,” says Nark. “This will create a shearing effect on the discs of the lumbar spine. This can hurt the outer covering of the discs and lead to disc damage.” Garvey agrees: “Holding onto handrails forces you to hunch over — an inefficient form that can lead to neck, shoulder, and back pain. If you can’t keep up with the treadmill without grabbing handrails, you’re probably going too fast.”

p INTERVAL TRAINING Interval training is a great way to vary your treadmill workout, which can often become monotonous and inefficient. Nark says, “Training programs should consist of easy running and interval training on separate days. Intervals are running bouts or lengths of time spent running at a predetermined pace. For example, an athlete that wants to run a 5k may do 4 reps of 800 meters (around half a mile) at their 5k goal pace with two minutes of easy recovery between reps.”

Don’t overdo it, though, Garvey cautions. “Never do it two days in a row.” Even slight inclines can get your heart rate up without straining your body or causing rail-holding.

FOOT FALL q

DON’T

DO

“The moving of the belt on a treadmill may encourage greater heel striking,” Garvey says. “You should aim to touch the belt first with the ball of your foot, keeping it directly under your hips. Avoid allowing the heel to strike first in front of your body. This can put a lot of stress on your knees and hips. If you land on the ball of your foot, you minimize impact and keep moving with a steady forward momentum.” Try as best you can to emulate running in a natural environment. In other words, don’t change your form because you’re on a treadmill.

OPTIMUM HEART RATE Is there an optimum heart rate on the treadmill? While there is no standardized optimum heart rate for everyone, you can figure out (roughly) your target heart rate, Garvey says, using an equation. To find this number, you first have to determine your maximum heart rate. Subtract your age from 220, then decide on your desired training intensity, which should be anywhere between 60 to 90 percent (a moderate to high intensity workout). Finally, multiply your maximum heart rate by the percentage of your desired intensity to get your target heart rate. This should give you an estimate of the “magic number” to shoot for on the machine. While most treadmills have heart rate displays, Nark cautions against relying on them since they are frequently inaccurate. Garvey says that it may be beneficial to wear a heart rate monitor for a more correct estimate, but he also stresses not to rely too much on standardized equations since each person’s exercise ability is different.

The bottom line: It’s beneficial to pay attention to your heart rate, but never ignore how you feel to reach a certain prescribed number or percentage.

DON’T

DO

OPTIMUM INCLINE Like heart rate, an optimum incline differs slightly for every person. “As a benchmark you should avoid running at a steep incline for more than five minutes,” says Garvey, “It is best to not go above a 7 percent incline. It places too much strain on your back, hips and ankles. You’ll get a much better and safer workout if you alternate between running a few minutes with an incline and running a few without the incline.” Nark adds, “ A 1 percent incline will most closely resemble that of outdoor running.”

518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 77

User Beware

BY CARI SCRIBNER

M

any of us know not to mix certain drugs with alcohol. What we may not realize is that mixing medications with certain foods can be just as dangerous — if not fatal.

Even something as innocuous as licorice, for instance, can pose potential dangers when ingested with diuretics used to regulate blood pressure. Some combinations may cause the meds to be less effective; others can cause serious side effects. It’s always best to ask the experts before taking any medications.

“Be vigilant about what you’re taking,” says Dr. Mark Oldendorf, who is certified in internal medicine, family practice, geriatrics, sleep medicine and clinical lipidology in Albany. “Each drug is absorbed differently.”

Physicians have an invaluable electronic tool for tracking the medications you’re taking at every visit. The federal government has established a computer system called Sure Scripts, in which severe food interactions will flash on the screen right in the exam room.

“Every time we prescribe drugs these warnings pop up,” Oldendorf says. “It shows possibly severe food interactions.”

Food competes with pathways that transfer medicine, and can cause an increase in medications in the body at one time. Or, the medications can be crowded out by the food sources, causing their effectiveness to plummet.

Your pharmacist is another source of vital information if you’re unsure about a particular medication and food. “Yes, pharmacists are very busy, but we’re here to give the best patient care, that’s our pledge,” Deena Jecen, pharmacy resident at Albany Medical Center says. “Don’t be nervous to ask us questions.”

You can also check the insert in the box that contains your new medicine, or go to FDA.gov and search online for food and drug interactions. “The online booklet is continuously updated,” Jecen says. “They’re written for the consumer, not for medical professionals. Take it seriously. We want meds to work without adverse effects of any kind.”

The potential negative impact of certain food and medications is gender neutral. “Men are denser and have more muscle mass, but these interactions are not sex-specific,” Oldendorf says. “Your gender doesn’t even figure into the equation.”

78 518 LIFE

Foods and medicines that don’t mix

Dairy products + antibiotics

Here is a listing of common food and drug possible interactions: DAIRY PRODUCTS AND ANTIBIOTICS Some antibiotics, including Cipro, bind to calcium, iron, and other minerals in milkbased foods. This prevents the absorption of the antibiotics, decreasing their ability to fight infections. When you get a new prescription for acne or an infection, ask if the drug falls into a class known as tetracyclines or fluoroquinolones. If so, avoid milk, yogurt, and cheese two hours before and after taking the pills.

Limes + cough medicine

LIMES AND COUGH MEDICINE Limes may block an enzyme that breaks down certain drugs, including the cough suppressant dextromethorphan. Because the medication then builds up in your bloodstream, the risk for side effects increases. With dextromethorphan, this can include hallucinations and sleepiness. The fruit’s effects can linger for a day or longer, so it’s best to avoid the fruits and their juices altogether while taking these drugs.

GRAPEFRUITS (OR JUICE) WITH ALLERGY MEDS These juices inhibit a peptide that transports drugs such as Allegra from your stomach to your bloodstream. The resulting lack of absorption makes Allegra up to 70 percent less effective at stopping your sniffling and sneezing. Grapefruit juice also shouldn’t be taken with blood pressure-lowering drugs or cyclosporine for the prevention of organ transplant rejection. The juice can also interact with the

anti-anxiety medicine Buspar (buspirone); the anti-malaria drugs Quinerva or Quinite (quinine); and Halcion (triazolam), a medication used to treat insomnia. Avoid these juices while taking the antibiotics Cipro or Levaquin, the thyroid medication Synthroid, or the allergy and asthma treatment Singulair.

Smoked meats + antidepressants

Photos: Dairy, Rafa Irusta Machin/iStockphoto.com; Pill Bottle, YinYang/GettyImages; Lime, MichaB Strzelecki/GettyImages; Cough Medicine, Jill Fromer/GettyImages; Anti Depressant, Peter Dazeley/ GettyImages; Meat, Lauri Patterson/GettyImages; Beer, panossgeorgiou/iStockphoto.com; Licorice, Creativ Studio Heinemann/Getty Images; Heart medicine, IAN HOOTON/GettyImages.

SMOKED MEATS AND ANTIDEPRESSANTS If your antidepressants belong to a class called monoamine oxidase inhibitors or MAOIs — brand names Marplan, Nardil, Emsam, or Parnate — combining them with foods rich in amino acids can cause severe spikes in blood pressure. The list of problem foods includes sausage and smoked salmon, and also red wine, sauerkraut, hot dogs, aged cheeses, soy sauce, and draft or homebrewed beer.

heart rhythms. Licorice may also reduce the effects of blood pressure drugs or diuretic drugs, including Hydrodiuril (hydrochlorothiazide) and Aldactone (spironolactone).

Source: US Food & Drug Administration

CINNAMON AND BLOOD THINNERS People taking the blood-thinning medication Warfarin — prescribed to prevent or treat clots — should keep their intake of vitamin K steady. Don’t change your weekly intake of foods such as leafy greens or broccoli because vitamin K plays a key role in clotting.

User Take Care

ALCOHOL AND ACETAMINOPHEN

• Always read drug labels carefully.

Your body uses the same enzyme to break down the two substances, which could result in a highly concentrated amount of either in your bloodstream, beyond what’s considered safe. It’s generally best to put six hours between drinking alcohol and taking any medicine containing acetaminophen, including over-the-counter and prescription pain and cold medicines. Better yet, if you are taking any sort of medication, it’s recommended that you avoid alcohol, which can increase or decrease the effect of many drugs.

• Learn about the warnings for all the drugs you take.

CHOCOLATE AND RITALIN Besides caffeine, chocolate also contains a stimulant called theobromine. Combining these stimulants can potentially lead to erratic behavior and seizures. The darker the chocolate, the more caffeine and theobromine it contains.

LICORICE AND HEART MEDICATION People taking Lanoxin (digoxin) should be aware that some forms of licorice may increase the risk for Lanoxin toxicity. Lanoxin is used to treat congestive heart failure and abnormal

Alcohol + acetaminophen

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends men and women take these steps to avoid potentially dangerous interactions:

• Keep medications in their original containers so that you can easily identify them.

• Ask your doctor what you need to avoid when you are prescribed a new medication. Ask about food, beverages, dietary supplements, and other drugs.

• Check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking an over-thecounter (OTC) drug if you are taking any prescription medications.

• Use one pharmacy for all of your drug needs.

• Keep all of your health care professionals informed about everything that you take.

• Keep a record of all prescription drugs, OTC drugs, and dietary supplements (including herbs) that you take. Try to keep this list with you at all times, but especially when you go to medical appointments.

Licorice + heart medication

518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 79

A DV E R T I S E M E N T

Have you heard about this new technology that is FDA cleared, and non-surgical treatment for back and neck pain?

Herniated Disc?

Non-surgical spinal decompression may be the last back or neck pain treatment you will ever need. And you may be able to forget the pills, getting endless shots, struggling through exercise programs...and...risky surgery...because with this amazing new technology...if you are a candidate... they may be a thing of the past. You’re about to discover a powerful state-of-the-art technology available for: Back pain, Sciatica, Neck pain, Arm pain, Herniated and/or Bulging discs (single or multiple), Degenerative Disc Disease, a relapse or failure following surgery or Facet syndromes. Best of all -- you can check it out yourself for FREE! CALL 518-300-1212

I

magine how your life would change if you discovered the solution to your back or neck pain.

In this article you’ll discover powerful new back or neck pain technology that has the potential to be that solution for you.

This incredible technology is Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression and the DRX 9000.

Here’s the amazing story how it was discovered and why it has a chance to help YOUR back pain...

How Science Helps Back and Neck Pain The lower back and neck is a series of bones separated by shock absorbers called “discs”. When these discs go bad because of age or injury you can have pain. For some the pain is just annoying, but for others it can be life changing...and not in a good way. It has long been thought that if these discs could be helped in a natural and non-invasive way, lots of people with back and leg or neck and arm pain could lower the amount of pain medication they take, be given fewer epidural injections for the pain and have less surgery.

Recent medical breakthroughs have led to the development of advanced technologies to help back and leg pain and neck and arm pain suffers!

Through the work of a specialized team of physicians and medical engineers, a medical manufacturing company, now offers this space age technology in its incredible DRX 9000 Spinal Decompression equipment.

The DRX 9000 is FDA cleared to use with the pain and symptoms associated with herniated and/or bulging discs. . . even after failed surgery.

What Conditions Has The DRX 9000 Successfully Treated And Will It Help YOU? The main conditions the DRX 9000 has success with are: • • • • • •

Back pain Sciatica Neck pain Arm pain Spinal Stenosis Herniated and/or bulging discs (single or multiple) • Degenerative disc disease • A relapse or failure following surgery • Facet syndromes A very important note: The DRX 9000 has been successful even when NOTHING else has worked.

Even after failed surgery.

What Are Treatments On The DRX 9000 Like?

After being fitted with an automatic shoulder support system, you simply lie face up on the DRX 9000’s comfortable bed and the advanced computer system does the rest.

Patients describe the treatment as a gentle, soothing, intermittent pulling of your back. Many patients actually fall asleep during treatment.

The really good news IS... this is not something you have to continue to do for the rest of your life. So it is not a big commitment.

Since offering the DRX 9000 in my Colonie office, I have seen nothing short of miracles for back and neck pain sufferers who had tried everything else. . . with little or no result. Many had lost all hope.

Had herniated disk operation 8 years ago another disc became herniated. Doctor wanted to operate have arthritis from 1st one (did not want to go under knife again) very grateful to DRX9000 (thank you Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC) Very happy camper.

Raymond F Niskayuna, NY Age 55 This treatment was a miracle for my cervical disk herniations. Only other alternative was surgery, which I no longer have to face.

William I Schenectady, NY Age 63

I was told by a doctor I wouldn’t be able to work. I cannot afford to not work so I tried Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC, and not only did the pain go away but I never missed a day at work.

Rick S Clifton Park, NY Age 42 I would love to shake the hand of the person who invented this machine. It was a life saver for me and a lot better than going under the knife. I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone with chronic back pain.

Dawn H Colonie, NY Age 49 Before the DRX 9000 treatment. I had no quality of life.

Couldn’t do anything for myself. Thank God for Dr. and the DRX machine. I can live again.

Yvette K Schenectady, NY Age 47 I suffered for three years, before I received treatment on the DRX 9000. Today, I can sleep and get out of bed like a normal human being. Before, I couldn’t even drive my car because the pain in my hips, legs and feet were so bad from the sciatica nerve being pinched by my Herniated Disc L4 and L5, which also prevented me from sitting in a chair or even using my computer lap top at any time. Today things have changed due to advance technology therapy on the DRX 9000. They always try

A DV E R T I S E M E N T

to regulate the treatments that work. What is up with this taught process???? The world is changing and so have I. Frank A Troy, NY Age 52 Before receiving the DRX treatments, my quality of life was very poor. I could hardly do anything other than going to work and going to bed.

After the DRX treatments my quality of life has improved 90% which has resulted in me being able to go for long walks without a cane and go shopping.

Anne P Burnt Hills, NY Age 70 I am so appreciative of this method of therapy because when I came to the office I had to use a cane and had muscle pain in walking. After 2nd treatment sciatica nerve pain was gone in my left leg.

Judith W Albany, NY Age 64 Prior to this treatment my only options appeared to be invasive pain management, or surgery. After receiving 24 sessions on the DRX, I am markedly improved, relatively pain free and am able to function as I had in previous years. Highly recommend to anyone with disc issues.

Alan P Scotia, NY Age 53 I would choose this therapy again! Painless treatment that gets your life back to

normal. Stick with it-it works!

Linda G Broadalben, NY Age 53 I am so happy I came to Dr. Guerra. I was in a lot of pain and after being on the DRX I tell you I do not have pain. I feel wonderful and the staff are very nice. Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC is wonderful. If you are in pain try the DRX it really helps.

Edith C Schenectady, NY Age 71 I think more people should know about this procedure before considering any surgery. Medications help the pain but they don’t cure the cause. I am back to my old self again.

Lorraine B Scotia, NY Age 78 I highly recommend this machine. I had my doubts but it really and truly works. Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC is a wonderful doctor and his staff is great too.

Linda D Clifton Park, NY Age 46 I was extremely skeptical at the beginning of treatments - Progress was slow in coming - But... then it worked!

What a relief!!!

Joan K Delmar, NY Age 71 I had no where else to go with this problem. The DRX 9000 was just what I needed. Many thanks!

Burton S Mechanicville, NY Age 50

I would definitely refer people to your office. Dr. Guerra and his staff have made this experience a pleasure.

Ed H Hoosick Falls, NY Age 70

ification consultation. It’s absolutely free with no strings attached. There is nothing to pay for and you will NOT be pressured to become a patient.

Pain free, numbness in the left foot is gone. DRX 9000 is GREAT and does work.

Sal L Niskayuna, NY Age 50

Here is what you will receive:

I’m able to go on long walks and get all night sleep (I’ve had 3 surgeries since 2006) Without the DRX I would be in for a 4th back surgery. I’m getting back to doing activities with my 10 year old son.

Lisa V Catskill, NY Age 45 I wish to thank you very much for all the help I received with the spinal decompression therapy. Your entire office was very helpful and compassionate. No longer do I sit at night with my heating pads, moving them from sore spot to sore spot. My knees are no longer on fire and I’m able to go up and down the stairs much easier than before.

Mable D Ballston Lake, NY Age 68

SPECIAL OFFER Call Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC’s office at 518-300-1212 and mention to my assistants that you want a FREE back or neck pain/DRX9000 qual-

• A consultation with me, Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC to discuss your problem and answer the questions you may have about back pain or neck and the DRX9000 • A DRX9000 demonstration so you see for yourself how it works! Due to current demand for this technology, I suggest calling today to make your appointment.

The consultation is free.

We are staffed 24-hoursa-day, 7-days-a-week. Call 518-300-1212 right now!

It’s absolutely FREE with no strings attached.

There is ONE Big Problem: My busy office schedule will limit how many people I’m able to personally meet with...so you will need to act fast. Call 518-300-1212 right now...to be sure you are among the first callers and we will set up your free consultation today.

We have the phones answered 7 days a week 24 hours a day so call now...

518-300-1212. (Free consultation is good for 45 days) 2016 Central Ave., Colonie www.albanyDRX.com Like us on Facebook: Healthsource of Albany North

FYI with

Richard Lovrich

Hear this:

le

The Regrettab Lagniappe

f Today’s Very A collection o

by Richard Short stories day, Sept. 25 Lovrich. Thurs in Albany at McGeary’s 7:30pm

BY BRIANNA SNYDER | PHOTO BY COLLEEN INGERTO

R

ichard Lovrich is a man about town. He’s a strong creative force in the community — a writer, a photographer, a film-lover, a graphic artist and the creative director at Proctor’s Theatre in Schenectady. So we asked him a few Proustian questions to see how he’d do.

Check it out: What subject do you find most captivating as a photographer? Right now, I would say portraits.

People. People’s faces. How come? I was a professional photographer in New York City for so many years that I didn’t do a lot of that. I photographed mostly models and products and things and objects and I’d do very complex 4x5 photography that required a lot of patience. So now I really just enjoy people and the freedom of spending time with people and artists. I love artists and capturing them in their natural habitat. What do you appreciate the most in your friends? I think what I appreciate most about getting together with people in general is appreciation. Whether it’s food or art, it’s enjoying and appreciating things together. What is your biggest flaw? Wow. We don’t have enough time. (Laughs.)

Maybe this: I’m not spending quite enough time on my own art. What kind of art do you make? Right now, I write very short stories, and my photography. What kinds of things do you write about? I write about rather strange events in people’s lives and if I can get a story down to a sentence, that’s a massive success. But I write extraordinarily short stories. I think 850 is an ideal number for word count. What’s your idea of happiness?

Outside knowing that my family and friends are well and happy? That would be my first thing. If they’re happy and well, I’m happy.

In a more selfish realm, I’d go back to the appreciating things: in a state of observing and appreciating. I think someone might say “being in the moment,” or whatever. For me, that’s often stand-

82 518 LIFE

Lovrich is a big-time film-lover.

ing with a camera up against my face, drawing the world through that little hole. And your idea of misery? Suffering. Worldwide or even in friends and family and coworkers. You could add needless suffering. Whether it’s on the news or seeing someone on Facebook going through a bad thing, it’s tough to watch. If you weren’t you, who would you be? I’d probably answer that question differently every day. I’ll pick Salvador Dali today. Such a high level of craft and the ability to share so much of what he produced with so many people. I’m impressed with that. If you could live anywhere, where would you live?

That’s a tough one. I like being by the water, so I would want to live on a shore where it’s warm. But I’ve liked everywhere I’ve visited.

Every single place. And I wish I could’ve lived in each of them for a time. Your favorite color? Black.

How come? I guess it’s the beginning. When I think of what the beginning of my palette is in my current photography … if you could start with something, you’d start with teasing images out of the dark. Everything seems to be in there. Who’s your favorite auteur? I like Peter Greenaway a great deal. Why? He challenges himself and the viewer. If I’m going to be manipulated I don’t want to be manipulated by predicted patterns. I’ve never seen a Peter Greenaway film. Any recommendations? The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, and Drowning by Numbers. Favorite poet? William Burroughs. Again, I would change my mind on different days.

Five musicians you’re loving right now? Erik Satie, Prokofiev, Talking Heads, Ida Cox, Brian Eno. What natural talent do you wish you had? I think I’d be equally torn between playing music and being able to speak many languages. They both pull on me. How would you choose to die, if you could choose? Looking at something beautiful. What’s your biggest pet peeve? Artlessness. What’s your present state of mind? I’m speaking to you, so I’m happy. Satisfied.

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