Feburary 2012 Howard County Beacon Edition by The Beacon Newspapers

The Howard County

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A life filled with shooting stars

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PHOTO BY CONNIE GEORGE

By Connie George Bill Kobrin spent several hours snapping pictures of Marilyn Monroe in her underwear one steamy summer night, but had no idea it was going to make him famous. The photographer responsible for Monroe’s most iconic image — standing atop a breezy subway tunnel vent with her skirt billowing up above her panties — recently reflected on a 60-year career that began with pictures of babies and weddings and culminated in decades spent capturing hundreds of famous show business faces. The journey took him to Harlem and Korea before landing him in Hollywood, and through work for the Associated Press, Look magazine, 20th Century Fox, CBS and ABC. It also taught him to think quickly on his feet and, as importantly, the vital skills necessary to cultivate working relationships with those in the entertainment business, where such associations are frequently unpredictable. “To be a successful celebrity photojournalist you have to be part psychiatrist, part psychologist, part philosopher, and above all you have to be charming and likeable,” Kobrin said. “Now that’s easy for some celebrities and photographers, but it is not easy for some.” It’s also a tall order on a daily basis, he acknowledged, but getting off on the right foot with his big-name subjects was critical when his livelihood was based on photographing men and women protective of their images who did not like being caught unaware by a photo shoot. “You’ve got 30 seconds to make an impression,” he explained. “So when you had an assignment that was the case of ‘Surprise, surprise, I’m here,’ then you’ve got a problem. But sometimes when you hit it off right and both parties get along and kind of dig each other, then it’s alright.” Kobrin, who has since retired to the Palm Springs area, excelled at getting the needed cooperation, as can be seen from his favorite photos, which have been compiled in a book, Bill Kobrin’s Stars and Celebrities. From candid studio images to formal headshots, the book features the most popular television, motion picture and music stars of their era, from Cary

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A watery wonderland in the Everglades; plus, exploring historic and trendy Krakow, Poland page 23

ARTS & STYLE Celebrity photojournalist Bill Kobrin is shown with his well-used Nikon and recently published book, Bill Kobrin’s Stars and Celebrities, featuring photos of the famous he shot over six decades. The book is open to an image taken the same night as his best-known photo — of Marilyn Monroe standing over a breezy New York subway grate.

Grant to Grace Kelly, from Eartha Kitt to George Michael. “This is no boast,” Kobrin said, “but I would imagine — being involved with AP, Look, CBS and ABC — that every major star or celebrity that ever existed between 1941 and 1990 I have photographed in one way or another.”

The road to Hollywood The Brooklyn-born Kobrin took up photography in his teens, scoring a few small-scale freelance jobs before landing a position in the darkroom at New York’s Associated Press office in 1942 when he was 20.

Though he hadn’t been hired as a lensman, he was asked one night to cover a massive race riot in Harlem because the staff photographers had other assignments. At the time, Kobrin said, “Harlem was a tinderbox and kind of scary,” but he was game to prove his worth to AP. So he headed out to the neighborhood by subway at 3:30 a.m., snapped shots of riot victims at a local hospital, and then ventured out into the streets at daybreak to capture images of looting and fires. The riot lasted two or three days, he recalled, and made national headlines. His See SHOOTING STARS, page 28

The Jewish Film Series will screen four thought-provoking films this winter and spring in Columbia page 27

FITNESS & HEALTH k A pill that lessens wrinkles k The best brain games

THE SENIOR CONNECTION 16 k Howard County Office on Aging Newsletter LAW & MONEY k Stocks to own in 2012 k Be a better bond buyer

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A California Beacon I am pleased to announce the “birth” of a starting up his own version of the Beacon new Beacon this month. Not exactly a sibling in the Palm Springs area. of our Washington, Baltimore A more involved answer and Howard County editions. would explain that, while we More of a cousin perhaps. have never entered into such I am referring to the new an arrangement before, we Coachella Valley Beacon — have thought about it many serving residents 50 and over times in the past. In fact, a numin Palm Springs, Palm Desert ber of people have approached and other cities in Califorus over the years seeking to nia’s Coachella Valley, situatstart up Beacons in areas of the ed about 100 miles east of country where the need for FROM THE Los Angeles. such a publication exists. This new Beacon is actual- PUBLISHER As it turned out, none of ly independently owned and By Stuart P. Rosenthal those people ever followed operated. But if imitation is through. But Michael Brachthe sincerest form of flattery, we are high- man, the publisher of the Coachella Valley ly flattered, for the paper looks and reads Beacon, has made the vision into a reality. very much like the Beacon you are holding In the process, he and the talented local in your hand. writers and ad sales staff he has assemThat’s because we have been retained to bled have impressed us tremendously. design the new publication and provide a His first edition, put together in only two good part of its content. We also host its months, is filled with interesting Beacon online edition on our website, at www.the- Bits and local stories, plus a selection of BeaconNewspapers.com. health, money and travel stories supplied You might ask why we are doing this. from our editions. The quick answer is that we were apOf course, advertising content is also esproached by an experienced California sential to free publications like ours — bepublisher who had retired and was looking cause readers appreciate seeing a variety of for an encore career and entrepreneurial products and services targeted to their venture. He had recently learned of our needs, and the publication needs advertiser publications and expressed an interest in support to remain free. On this score, too, the

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The Beacon is a monthly newspaper dedicated to inform, serve, and entertain the citizens of Howard County, and is privately owned. Other editions serve Greater Baltimore and Greater Washington. Subscriptions are available via third-class mail ($12), prepaid with order. Maryland residents add 6 percent for sales tax. Send subscription order to the office listed below.

Coachella Valley Beacon is off to a fine start. Furthermore, we so liked his premier issue cover story — an interview with the 90-year-old photographer who, among many other famous photos, shot the iconic image of Marilyn Monroe standing over a New York subway grate, skirt flying — that we have returned the “imitation” favor and are printing it as our cover story this month in Baltimore, Howard County and Greater Washington. We hope you enjoy this cover story, though it is not about a local personality, and see it as our way of introducing you to the new audience of Beacon readers living on the West Coast. If you know of any other potential publishers who might have what it takes to establish and successfully run a Beacon elsewhere in the country, please let them know about us. We are certainly open to working with them to spread the light of the Beacon to other communities. On a related note, I was struck to realize that the January day we completed the first issue of the Coachella Valley Beacon was exactly one year to the day from when I had received a fateful telephone call from the Howard County Office on Aging last January. That was when I learned that Generations, a monthly paper for people over 50 that had been published for 10 years in Howard County, was discontinuing operations after its February edition. The Howard County aging office had

long printed its newsletter inside Generations, and was concerned both about losing its media outlet and about Howard County residents over 50 losing an information source tailored specifically to them. Being familiar with our papers in Baltimore and Washington, they asked if we would consider publishing a new edition in Howard County. After giving the matter considerable thought, we decided to do so, and we are very glad that we did. It has grown each month in distribution and readership, as well as advertising. In short, 2011 was a very special year for us, planting the seeds for an expansion of our operations from two to four editions. Naturally, this has made for some additional late nights and hard work by our dedicated staff, and I want to thank them all, in particular Kyle Gregory, our graphic designer; Barbara Ruben, our managing editor; and Roger King, our operations assistant and webmaster, who have been especially involved in the new editions. We are proud of all our publications, and grateful to all our readers — whichever coast you reside on. We would not be here, and would not have a mission, without you. Thank you for reading, for patronizing our advertisers, and for telling your friends about the Beacons.

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

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Health Fitness &

REPORT CARDS FOR DOCS Medicare data will be available to rate doctors’ experience and abilities WHEN GRANNY IS THE NANNY Setting expectations and establishing routines help when care is shared GOOD NEWS ON SNACKING Snacks can promote good heath when you choose the right foods A BOOST FOR YOUR MEMORY B vitamins may improve memory by reducing homocysteine levels

Study suggests pill reduces deep wrinkles By Andy Coghlan Beauty may be no more than skin-deep, but many of us think that leaves plenty of room for improvement. So a new dietary treatment that promises to shrink wrinkles from inside the skin is news. The makers of the three-a-day capsules say they use blends of natural food extracts to activate genes that improve skin tone — and early results suggest they may be on the right track. If the results stand up to scrutiny, the capsules will be the first anti-wrinkle treatment to show evidence of combating wrinkling from the deeper layers of skin. But they will not be the first to win scientific backing — some skin creams have been shown in peer-reviewed journals to help reduce wrinkles, according to an article in the British Journal of Dermatology. Independent researchers said that the preliminary results are intriguing and commended the team developing the capsules for conducting a double-blind trial — testing them against a placebo with neither researchers nor recipients knowing until afterwards who had received what. They say they will be skeptical, however, until a peer-reviewed journal has published the results in full, and acknowledge

that attempts to erase the signs of aging don’t sit well with everyone. The “gene food” treatment is the work of John Casey’s team at the laboratories of Unilever in Sharnbrook, UK. The multinational food, cosmetics and household products company commissioned four separate research groups to test the capsules, and 480 women in the UK, France and Germany who’ve passed menopause took part in the trials.

Proof of wrinkle reduction Results show that in 14 weeks, “crow’s feet” wrinkles by the corner of the eye became on average 10 percent shallower in recipients of the capsules, shrinking by 30 percent in the best responders. The wrinkles of women who received a placebo did not change significantly in depth. In one of the two French studies, researchers also took 4-millimeter-deep biopsies from 110 women before and after treatment to study the production of collagen — a protein that’s a key structural component of skin. Antibodies that stain tissue red where new collagen is produced revealed that after treatment a fifth of recipients had significantly more fresh collagen in the deep-

est skin layer — the dermis — than those who had received a placebo. More sensitive tests will be needed to ascertain any differences in the remaining biopsies, said Casey. Partial results were presented at the Society for Investigative Dermatology meeting in Atlanta, Ga. Casey said that the full data will now be sent to journals for peer review. So how do these capsules work? As women age and estrogen production drops off toward menopause, enzymes called proteases become more active, reducing the sponginess of skin by clearing away collagen faster than it can be replaced. An estrogen receptor that aids the generation of collagen also becomes less active. The two effects combine to make skin less pliable and more wrinkly. Casey’s team used skin cultures and gene activity tests to ascertain the effect of certain natural food extracts on “master” genes, which orchestrate the behavior of lots of other genes — in this case, those involved in collagen synthesis. The blend that activated these genes most strongly included vitamins C and E plus isoflavones from soya, lycopene from tomatoes, and omega-3 polyunsaturated acids from fish oil.

Preliminary results from Unilever suggest that activating the master genes raises the activity of several other genes that make proteins vital for good skin tone, such as elastin, decorin and several anti-inflammatory molecules.

Already available in spas Unilever launched the product in October at 44 spas it co-owns in the United Kingdom, Spain and Canada. It doesn’t need approval to sell the capsules from these countries’ regulatory authorities because the extracts they contain are already in use and the company does not claim that the capsules benefit health. Although long-term tests have not been carried out, Gail Jenkins, another member of the team, recommends taking three capsules per day for at least three months. At this dose, she said, adverse side effects are unlikely. If a person stopped taking the capsules, the normal aging process would probably restore deeper wrinkles. When New Scientist magazine sent the preliminary data to independent dermatologists, they gave a guarded welcome. “The data are somewhat sparse, but See ANTI-WRINKLE PILL, page 5

Computer games can help you stay sharp By Jim Miller Can you recommend some good brain-fitness computer games that are designed to help seniors keep their minds sharp? I love to play solitaire on my computer, but I’m interested in expanding to some other games that can benefit my mind and memor y. — Forgetful Frank Dear Frank: There are actually a handful of great brain-training websites and computer software products on the market today that are backed by research and proven to help boomers and seniors improve their memory, slow age-related mental decline, and even build a stronger brain. Unfortunately, there’s no evidence that these games will prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Here are the best options to consider:

Web-based workouts If you’re interested in exercising your brain but don’t want to spend a lot of money, brain-training websites are a good place to start. While there are many sites that offer games that claim to sharpen the mind, the most valid and highly rated one is Lumosity.com, which currently boasts around 15 million users. Developed by neuroscience researchers from Stanford University and UC San Francisco, Lumosity offers more than 35 games and exercises aimed at increasing alertness, sharpening memory skills, improving concentration and speeding up thinking. The games are fun and engaging, and in each game, as your skill improves, the tasks become progressively more difficult, to keep you challenged. The costs: $14.95 a month or about $80 for a one-year subscription. Lumosity even offers mobile apps for smart phone users

so you can train wherever you are. Another good site to check out (but not of the quality of Lumosity) is Cognifit.com. This site starts with a brain fitness assessment that lets you know where your stronger areas are and where you could use some extra training. Cognifit offers around 20 games that are free to play, or you can pay $4.95 for each of their two advanced games for memory and concentration training.

Home computer products In addition to the websites, there are also a number of computer software braintraining products that you can purchase and use on your home computer. Some of the best are made by Posit Science (positscience.com, 866-599-6463), which sells three types of brain-training software including “Brain Fitness,” which speeds up and sharpens the auditory system of the brain for faster thinking, sharp-

er focus and better memory; “InSight” which targets visual processing to improve how your brain takes in, reacts to, and remembers what you see; and “DriveSharp” which strengthens the cognitive skills essential for safe driving. All software is available in PC and Mac versions. The only downside is the price. You can buy the Brain Fitness and InSight software together for $690, or individually for $395 each. The DriveSharp software costs $89. Another excellent option is Dakim BrainFitness Software (dakim.com, 1-800856-5502), which costs $249 and is designed specifically for adults over 60, as well as for seniors with memory loss. And for non-computer users, Diakim offers a touch-screen console for $2,349 that’s preloaded with BrainFitness software. Just See COMPUTER GAMES, page 7

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they do appear to have done a pretty comprehensive study,” said Christopher Griffiths, professor of dermatology at the University of Manchester, UK, and co-author of a 2009 study confirming that an antiaging cream produced by Boots, a British pharmacy chain, had anti-wrinkle effects. Griffiths said he would be “unconvinced” until he had seen all the data, but was intrigued by the apparent repair of deep rather than superficial wrinkles. “I know of no other study that has shown this before,” he said. A likely explanation, said Casey, is that creams penetrate only the top layer of skin — the epi-

dermis. The contents of the capsules, by contrast, reach the dermis, stimulating the production of collagen in deeper layers. Nichola Rumsay, of the Center for Appearance Research at the University of the West of England in Bristol, said that antiwrinkle capsules are more psychologically benign than facial surgery, but they still reinforce the message that wrinkles are bad. “We should be accepting wrinkles gracefully. Someone should develop a pill to stop people worrying about their appearance,” she said. “That would make people a lot happier.” © 2011, New Scientist Magazine. Reed Business Information Ltd. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc.

Imagine a pill that dramatically speeds the recovery time of patients suffering from conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and phobias. Sounds magical, but it might not be far off. Researchers at Emory University have developed a drug that could accelerate re-

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The movie Fantastic Voyage had a miniaturized submarine sent into a VIP’s bloodstream to destroy a life-threatening clot. A new probe is hot on the fictional microsub’s tail fins: it can pass through arteries to spot the most dangerous clots and deposits. Existing probes are essentially cameras

A pill that fights fear

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Anti-wrinkle pill

Blood vessel camera probes for clots

In principle, any molecule could be detected, said Tearney. And just as in the movie, lasers to zap suspicious lesions could be added. — New Scientist

F R E E

How well can you control your thoughts? Mind-control training could improve symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Deep brain stimulation, which involves implanting electrodes in the brain, helps alleviate problems with movement experienced by people with Parkinson’s disease. “If putting in an electrode works, we thought training brains to self-regulate might work as well,” said David Linden at Cardiff University, UK. To find out, Linden’s team asked 10 people with Parkinson’s to think about moving while having their brains scanned by a functional MRI machine (to show brain activity) for 45 minutes. Five were given real-time neurofeedback showing how well they activated a

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Train your mind to fight Parkinson’s

that can travel inside arteries. Doctors must spot deposits and judge whether they’re likely to come loose and block an artery. The new probe, developed by Guillermo Tearney at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, also detects molecules that mark out the most harmful clots and fatty plaques. To test the probe, Tearney’s team first fed rabbits a diet that generated arterial deposits. They then injected them with a fluorescent chemical that tags the dangersign molecules. The probe carries a detector for the fluorescent light, which revealed bright areas on artery walls where the tags had found their targets. The team was able to detect a protein that causes clots to form, and an enzyme found in the most dangerous plaques, according to the study reported in Nature Medicine.

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Health Shorts

brain region that controls movement. Each participant was then told to practice such thoughts at home. Two months later, movement problems including rigidity and tremor had improved by 37 percent in the group that received feedback compared with no change in the rest, the Journal of Neuroscience reported. “Sending signals to brain areas normally deprived of input could be reshaping neural networks,” said Linden. — New Scientist

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Health shorts From page 5 lief from emotional trauma. The drug contains a compound that mimics brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a naturally occurring protein that speeds learning, memory and fear processes. After a traumatizing experience, rats injected with the compound quickly returned to normal, unlike untreated rats, who took much longer to heal, an American Journal of Psychiatry study found. For humans, this could translate to quicker results from therapy for fear-related conditions. Instead of just alleviating symptoms, this treatment — which may be available in a decade — would spark the same brain activities that occur naturally in trauma recovery. Timing would be key to a therapy enhancer developed from the compound, researcher Kerry Ressler said. The drug would intensify sufferers’ emotional mem-

ory at the time of psychotherapy. Taking it right before a session would ensure that the therapist could help the patient process and alleviate her fears. — Psychology Today

Spice in curry may protect brain cells, enhance memory

Alzheimer’s disease. Used for centuries in Ayurvedic medicine, curcumin has antibacterial and antiinflammatory effects and is now the subject of research for its ability to fight cancer, limit stroke damage in neurons, and generally safeguard the brain. Many labs are turning out synthetic variants of curcumin to enhance its biological availability. Recently scientists at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif., created a

Curry is the collective term for a huge variety of stews popular in India. There’s no one invariable ingredient, but the spice most common to curry is turmeric — a bright yellow powder ground from the dried root of a ginger-type plant native to Southeast Asia. The most distinctive component of turmeric is the powerful polyphenol antioxidant curcumin. It’s thought to explain why India has an unusually low rate of

synthetic derivative that actually reverses the effects of ischemic stroke and traumatic brain injury at the behavioral as well as molecular level in animals. Researchers report that it maintains cell-signaling pathways required for nerve cell survival, and reverses movement and memory deficits following brain injury by conserving neural connections. In normal animals, it actually enhances memory. — Psychology Today

BEACON BITS

Jan. 23

COOKING CHOICES FOR HEALTHY WEIGHT This free cooking demonstration may help you achieve and stabi-

lize a healthy weight. It takes place on Monday, Jan. 23 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Howard County General Hospital Wellness Center Medical Pavilion, 10710 Charter Dr., Suite 100, Columbia. To register or for more information, visit www.hcgh.org or call (410) 740-7601.

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Computer games From page 4 plug it in, and you’re ready to go.

No computer needed If you don’t want to rely on a computer for playing brain-boosting games, consider electronic games like Brain Age, Brain Age 2 (see www.brainage.com), and Big Brain Academy (www.bigbrainacademy.com). Made by Nintendo, these games cost around $20 each, but to play them you’ll need to purchase a hand-held Nintendo DS Lite game unit which runs around $100. You can buy these products online at www.amazon.com or at retail chains like Walmart, Target and BestBuy. There are also dozens of mind-challenging books and puzzles you can purchase that can help too, such as Keep Your Brain Alive: 83 Neurobic Exercises by Lawrence Katz and Manning Rubin, and The Big Book of Mind Bending Puzzles by Terry Stickels. Check your local book store, or visit Amazon to find them. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of The Savvy Senior book. Send your questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit www.SavvySenior.org.

BEACON BITS

Jan. 25

NUTRITION COUNSELING

Registered dietician Rona Martiyan will be available to discuss your personalized nutrition concerns and specific dietary needs by appointment on Wednesday, Jan. 25 from 12:30 to 3 p.m. at the Ellicott City Senior Center, 9401 Frederick Rd., Ellicott City. For an appointment, call (410) 313-1400.

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F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2 — H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

Harvard docs answer readers’ questions By Dr. Samuel Z. Goldhaber and Dr. Celeste Robb-Nicholson Q. My 61-year-old mother plans to take a long airplane trip. Her legs usually become swollen when she flies a long distance. Should she wear elastic stockings or take any other precautions so she doesn’t develop a blood clot in her legs? A. Developing mild swelling in the feet, ankles and lower legs is common during long-haul flights. Sitting still is the culprit — blood and fluid pool in the lower ex-

tremities because they aren’t aided in their return to the heart by contractions of the leg muscles. When the swelling occurs in both legs, it is benign, though annoying (especially when it’s difficult to put your shoes back on at the end of the flight). Swelling in one leg, however, may be worth further evaluation. Wearing below-the-knee vascular compression stockings that exert a small amount of pressure (20 to 30 millimeters of mercury) can prevent or diminish the swelling. In-

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seat exercises, involving contraction of the calf muscles or wiggling the feet up and down in rapid repetition, may be helpful in promoting circulation from the legs. The big worry on a long flight is the development of a blood clot, also known as deep-vein thrombosis (DVT). Such a clot can cause long-lasting problems in the affected leg. And if the clot breaks away and lodges in an artery in the lungs (this is called pulmonary embolism), it can cause chest pain and breathing problems. A large embolism can cause sudden death. The best way to prevent DVT is to stay well hydrated. Drink enough non-alcoholic beverages (water and Diet Coke are my two favorites) to require frequent trips to the toilet. Getting up to go to the lavatory also increases circulation in the lower legs and exercises the calf muscles. Alcohol, which dehydrates, should be limited or avoided entirely. Some clinicians advocate taking aspirin or even an injection of low molecular weight heparin. This is usually unnecessary unless a person has had a DVT in the past. Have your mother check with her doctor before she takes either of these steps. Q. I’m 75 years old and healthy. My doctor is still recommending annual Pap tests for me. I have no history of any problems in this area and have had normal Pap tests for years. Is this necessary at my age?

A. If you’ve had routine normal Pap tests up to now, you’re unlikely to need further screening, as your risk for cervical cancer is very low. The three organizations that set guidelines for cervical cancer screening generally agree on this matter. The American Cancer Society recommends that Pap test screening be discontinued at age 70 in women who’ve had at least three normal Pap tests in the past 10 years and are not at increased risk for cervical cancer. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says that women at average risk for cervical cancer can stop Pap test screening at age 65. And according to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, women at average risk can stop screening between the ages of 65 and 70. This guideline doesn’t apply if a woman has tested positive for human papillomavirus (the sexually transmitted virus associated with cervical cancer), or has been exposed to diethylstilbestrol (DES) in utero, or is HIV-positive or immune-compromised or otherwise at increased risk for cervical cancer (for example, because of a past history of the disease). In any of these circumstances, a woman should work with her clinician to develop an individualized screening program. © 2011 President and fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc.

BEACON BITS

Feb. 1

MEDICAL ADVOCACY

Dr. Bob Sheff, author of The Medical Mentor, will advise how to become your own medical advocate so you receive the healthcare you need. The program will begin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at the East Columbia Branch Library, 6600 Cradlerock Way, Columbia. For more information, call (410) 313-7700.

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H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N — F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2

Medicare data will be used to rate doctors By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar Picking a specialist for a delicate medical procedure like a heart bypass could get a lot easier in the not-too-distant future. The government announced in December that Medicare will finally allow its extensive claims database to be used by employers, insurance companies and consumer groups to produce report cards on local doctors — and improve current ratings of hospitals. By analyzing masses of billing records, experts can glean such critical information as how often a doctor has performed a particular procedure, and get a general sense of problems such as preventable complications. Doctors will be individually identifiable through the Medicare files, but personal data on their patients will remain confidential. Compiled in an easily understood format and released to the public, medical report cards could become a powerful tool for promoting quality care.

Helping inform consumers “There is tremendous variation in how well doctors do, and most of us as patients don’t know that. We make our choices blind,” said David Lansky, president of the Pacific Business Group on Health. “This is the beginning of a process to give us the information to make informed decisions.” His nonprofit represents 50 large employers that provide coverage for more than 3 million people. Medicare acting administrator Marilyn Tavenner called the new policy “a giant step forward in making our healthcare system more transparent and promoting increased competition, accountability, quality and lower costs.” But some consumer groups said Medicare is still putting limitations on their access. Early efforts to rate physicians using

limited private insurance data have thus far focused on primary care doctors, but Medicare’s rich information could provide the numbers to start rating specialists as well, Lansky said. Consumers will see the first performance reports by late 2012, said a Medicare spokesman. Medicare officials say they expect nonprofit research groups to jump at the chance to use the data. With 47 million beneficiaries and virtually every doctor and hospital in the country participating, Medicare’s database is considered the mother lode of healthcare information. Tapping it has largely been forbidden because of a decades-old court ruling that releasing the information would violate the privacy of doctors. Insurance companies tried filling with their own claims data, but their files are nowhere near as comprehensive as Medicare’s Following appeals from lawmakers of both parties on Capitol Hill, President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul changed federal law to explicitly authorize release of the information. Medicare followed through in regulations issued in December. Employer groups welcomed the new policy. “There is pent-up demand for this data because everyone wants to be a more informed, intelligent consumer, especially as healthcare costs are still rising,” said Maria Ghazal, policy director at the Business Roundtable, which represents CEOs of major companies providing coverage to some 35 million employees, retirees and family members. Companies will use the data analyses in their annual updates to their insurance plans. But Ghazal said they also want to put report cards directly in the hands of workers. “We want to make it understandable

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and usable by our employees,” said Ghazal. Early ratings efforts using insurance company data have lacked sufficient statistical power to rank specialists. The numbers of cases of cancer and serious heart problems in the younger, working-age population simply weren’t big enough. The Medicare data could change that, since older people are more prone to chronic illnesses. “If you want to look at heart disease or cancer, suddenly you have more data to look at each doctor with,” said Lansky. “It’s the power of numbers.”

Doctors fought data’s release Doctors groups fought for years to prevent release of the Medicare data. The American Medical Association argued it could be mis-

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AUDIOLOGIST I’m considering trying hearing aids, but I have heard that Q. they are expensive. Is the benefit of wearing hearing aids really worth the expense? I understand your concern; some hearing aids can be very expensive! However, there are also a lot of affordable options out there as well. Digital hearing aids have become the new standard, and it should no longer cost a fortune to purchase a set of quality, digital hearing aids that are fit appropriately for your hearing loss. Hearing aids come in many different styles, technology levels, and prices. After having a hearing evaluation, your audiologist can discuss the different options available to fit your hearing loss, cosmetic concerns, lifestyle needs, and budget! Interest-free payment plans are also available if you would prefer to make monthly payments on your hearing investment.

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leading to untrained consumers. For example, a surgeon who has lots of patients who develop complications may actually be a top practitioner who takes cases that others less skilled would turn away. Lately the medical groups shifted to putting conditions on the use of the data, with some success. For example, Medicare’s rule gives individual providers the right to review their information before it is publicly released, and 60 days to challenge it. Some consumer groups said that particular restriction will make it difficult for them to produce ratings. Unlike employer associations, they don’t have economic leverage over doctors.

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F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

Making it work when granny is the nanny By Ellen Gibson Rosa Feddersen and her husband bought their dream retirement home on a lake in Oklahoma City five years ago. He, a pilot for U.S. Airways, was nearing the end of his career, and the area had everything the couple wanted.

But when they learned their first grandchild was on the way in 2009, their agenda changed. After pleas from their daughter, they moved back to Pennsylvania to help with the baby. Their daughter and son-in-law are both surgeons, and Feddersen some-

BEACON BITS

Jan. 25

WHEN MEDICARE ISNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T ENOUGH The gaps in Medicare coverage and ways to cover them in Medi-

gap plans, employer group coverage and Medicare Health Plan options (Part C) will be discussed in a program sponsored by the Senior Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) of the Howard County Office on Aging. The workshop will begin at 7 p.m. at the Bain Center, 5470 Ruth Keeton Way, Columbia. There is no fee, but call (410) 313-7391 to register.

times watches her granddaughter, Nora, 70 hours a week. While itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot of work, she said the arrangement seems to be working for everyone. One reason: When it comes to taking care of baby, parents and grandparents try to stay out of each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s way. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m watching her, they pretty much understand that what I say goes,â&#x20AC;? Feddersen said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But when theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re home, I totally back off.â&#x20AC;? That kind of mutual trust is essential to a successful childcare arrangement with grandparents, said Lawrence Balter, a child psychologist and parenting expert who is also a professor emeritus at New York University. Sharing childrearing duties is almost never simple. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Both generations are going to have their ideal way of doing things,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You have to be able to navigate and find a happy medium.â&#x20AC;?

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More and more families are finding themselves in these murky waters. According to the most recent Census data, 30 percent of pre-school children with employed mothers are cared for by a grandparent, while 21 percent attend a daycare center. And the economic woes of the past few years have led parents to seek more help from relatives, said Donna Butts, executive director of Generations United, a

Rate doctors From page 9 Consumers Unionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Health Ratings Center is currently rating hospitals and some medical providers. But Lisa McGiffert, director of the groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s patient safety campaign,

non-profit based in Washington, D.C. In addition to being a money-saving option â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the average cost of center-based daycare is approaching $12,000 a year â&#x20AC;&#x201D; letting grandparents take care of the kids has other benefits, Butts said. Children learn about their family history and are cared for by adults who love them, while parents can have more flexible schedules. As for the grandparents, a 2007 study by Linda Waite, a professor of sociology at the University of Chicago, found that grandmothers who babysit 200 to 500 hours per year exercise more and get depressed less often. But these arrangements can also be tricky because there isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the same clearly defined code of conduct that would apply with a professional daycare provider.

Tips for sharing care Balter shares these tips for ensuring that the entire family remains healthy and happy. Set clear expectations. Determine how many hours each week the grandparent will care for the child, during what times, and at whose house. Then do your best to stick to the plan. Also, if thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s compensation involved, decide on the amount in advance. Is the grandparent expected to do any chores during the day? Make sure everyone agrees. Establish routines. Work together to See GRANNY NANNY, page 11

said Medicareâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s review requirement may be too cumbersome for a group like hers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;These kinds of caveats will lead to fewer users of the data, and fewer communicators to the public,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s this protectionism about doctorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; informaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; AP tion that we need to get beyond.â&#x20AC;?

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H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N — F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2

Granny Nanny From page 10 create a rough schedule for the children’s day, including naptimes and meals. This is a good opportunity for mom or dad to fold in more detailed requests — for instance, if there are certain foods they do or do not want the child to eat. Don’t be critical. Remember, you’re on the same team. Instead of a parent saying, “My daughter doesn’t go to bed because you’re getting her overexcited after dinner,” try phrasing it without accusation: “Let’s run through the schedule and see what we can do so she’ll be calmer at night.” This advice applies to grandparents, too. If you notice the parents doing something ineffective, instead of correcting them, try offering gentle suggestions, such as, “When you were a kid, we did it this way and it seemed to work.” Don’t obsess over consistency. While it’s important for an individual caregiver to be consistent, it’s fine if mom and grandma don’t have exactly the same rules. Kids learn that different things are expected of them in different contexts. (Even with mom and dad, they’ve already figured out what they can get away with when each parent is in charge.) Learning how to behave in diverse environments will help them when they start school. Relinquish some control. This goes for both parents and grandparents. As a grandparent, it’s natural to feel defensive when your own offspring second-guess your childrearing skills. Just remember that scientific research is always evolving and today’s parents have access to knowledge you might not have had. That said, for many parents, it’s tempting to micromanage, but don’t expect grandparents to report everything that happens during the day. Trust that as long as kids

BEACON BITS

Jan. 23+

WEEKLY WII WORKOUTS

The Wii’s interactive video games — bowling, tennis, baseball and more — may improve handeye coordination and provide some good exercise as well. Participate in games on Tuesday, Jan. 23 and subsequent Tuesdays, from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Bain Center, 5470 Ruth Keeton Way, Columbia. For more information, email cvigus@howardcountymd.gov or call Cathy Vigus at (410) 313-7311.

Ongoing

BLOOD PRESSURE SCREENING

A registered nurse is available for free blood pressure screenings sponsored by the Howard County Hospital every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Ellicott City Senior Center, 9401 Frederick Rd., Ellicott City.

are loved and kept safe, they will be OK. Schedule regular check-ins. Plan to sit down once every few months to discuss how things are going. In the chaos of dropoff and pick-up, there won’t be much time to compare notes or share concerns. During these check-in sessions, be honest about what’s working for you and make any necessary adjustments. For Feddersen, when the hours spent babysitting got to be too much, the family decided to send the toddler to a daycare center a couple of days a week. Now grandma has some free time to sleep in and get her nails done, and granddaughter is learning valuable socialization skills. Feddersen has declared that her nanny stint will be up when her daughter’s fellowship ends. But she said she wouldn’t trade the time she’s spent with Nora. “We took a three-year detour to help out, but I really think it’s given her a good start in life,” she said. — AP

BEACON BITS

Jan. 30

ASK THE PHARMACIST

Bring questions, drug lists and prescription containers to consulting pharmacist Don Hamilton on Monday, Jan. 30 at 11 a.m. at the Ellicott City Senior Center, 9401 Frederick Rd., Ellicott City. For more information, call (410) 313-1400.

Feb. 7+

SUPPORT GROUP FOR ADULT CHILDREN

Grieving the recent loss of a parent? Attend a free six-week program sponsored by Gilchrist Hospice Care. Pre-registration required. The first meeting will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 7 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Gilchrist Hospice Care, Suite 433, 5537 Twin Knolls Rd., Columbia. For more information and reservations, call (443) 539-4086 or email GHC_bereavement@gilchristhospice.org.

Feb. 16+

WIDOWED PERSONS SUPPORT GROUP

Workshops for men and women who have suffered the death of a spouse or life partner will begin on Thursday, Feb. 16 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and continue through March 22 at Gilchrist Hospice Care, 5537 Twin Knolls Rd., Columbia. Sessions are free, but pre-registration is required. For more information and registration, call (443) 539-4086 or email GHC_bereavement@gilchristhospice.org.

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H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N — F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2

Eating between meals can be a good idea Q: I’m confused by conflicting ad- six times a day, impact on weight varies. vice about whether snacking helps or Controlled studies do not support the hurts weight control and idea that more frequent eating health. What do you sugwill boost metabolism so you gest? burn more calories, as is often A: Snacks can promote claimed. But some people find good health when you choose that snacks help them control foods that fill nutritional gaps. their appetite better and avoid For example, if you have trouovereating at the next meal. ble including enough fruit, diFor example, a snack can preetary fiber and calcium-rich vent or resolve cravings that foods (such as dairy products can stem from low blood and soymilk) in your meals, sugar, especially among obese snacks offer a great chance to NUTRITION people. WISE do so. If you snack when you are However, for many people, By Karen Collins, hungry and choose foods and “snack food” means food low MS, RD, CDM portions that keep total caloin nutrients and concentrated ries appropriate for your in calories. For weight control the key needs, it may help weight control. point seems to be how snacking affects Depending on how active you are, total calorie consumption. whether you’re trying to change or mainIf you’re not hungry between meals, tain weight, and whether you snack once there’s no reason to eat more than three or three times a day, for typical adults a times a day. Research does show though, healthy snack may be 100 to 250 calories. that eating less than three times a day That’s a target easily exceeded by typiseems to make appetite control for weight cal snacks and sugary or other high calomanagement more difficult. rie drinks. Instead, if you snack, choose And eating more than six times a day lower calorie, nutrient-rich foods such as makes it difficult to keep calories low enough whole fruit, a small handful of nuts, or a to support a healthy weight except for ath- half sandwich that can fill and fuel you for letes with extremely high calorie needs. several hours. However, within the range of eating three to Q: Can cooking with more herbs

and spices really add a significant amount of antioxidants to food? A: Yes. Research has shown for some time that herbs and spices are concentrated sources of natural compounds that are strong antioxidants. Now a small preliminary study shows that blood antioxidant levels increased after people ate a meal with large amounts of added herbs and spices. This study used a mixture of rosemary, oregano, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, garlic, papri-

ka and turmeric. These herbs and spices are among those with the most research documenting the content of their protective compounds. The amount of herbs and spices added up to more than six teaspoons per person, which is substantially more than most of us typically use in cooking, but it did not reduce enjoyment of the meal’s flavor. And as an additional benefit, blood See SNACKING, page 14

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For better memory, get these B vitamins Dear Pharmacist: ducing homocysteine with B vitamins is I understand you believe B vitamins one of the easiest and most affordable can improve memory. Can ways to preserve memory. you explain? Studies back me. — C.K. As far back as 2002, physiDear C.K.: cians had the data to prove that Most people know that ginkhomocysteine levels correlate go, vinpocetine, Eleuthero and with dementia and Alzheimer’s Acetyl L-carnitine support risk. The higher the homocysmemory function, but they teine, the more damage to your don’t usually consider the B vibrain. The study was published tamins brain food like I do. The in the New England Journal of best Bs to support memory are Medicine. vitamin B6, B9 (folate), B2 (ri- DEAR A few years later, the 2005 PHARMACIST boflavin) and B12. Framingham Offspring Study By Suzy Cohen The reason these serve printed in the American Jouryour memory is because they nal of Epidemiology concluded reduce homocysteine, an amino acid that that high homocysteine levels impacted your body creates as it breaks down pro- memory. The study participants were, on tein. Too much homocysteine, and you’ll average, 61 years old. What would’ve been constantly forget things. I believe that re- the outcome for those folks had someone

told them to improve B vitamin status when they were in their mid-40s? What about you? A simple blood test can determine your homocysteine level. High levels also happen to be associated with heart attack, stroke, blood clots and atherosclerosis. If you have high homocysteine, I recommend supplementing with vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), B12 (methylcobalamin), B2 (riboflavin) and B9 (folate). These are the only things that reduce homocysteine well. You can also simplify everything by taking a B complex vitamin. Here’s more perspective: According to the Framingham study, homocysteine levels higher than 10 micromoles per liter increased the risk of dementia by 75 percent! Levels higher than 14 double your risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Just FYI, the Rotterdam study found

that men or women with the highest homocysteine levels almost doubled their risk of fracture. Ouch! Medicine raises homocysteine indirectly, too. If you’ve read my Drug Mugger book, you’d know there are hundreds of medications that deplete B vitamins. Your medicine steals your probiotics as well, and you need those to manufacture certain B vitamins in your GI tract. So, any drug that steals probiotics (or B2, B6, B12 or folate) can raise your homocysteine level and therefore contribute to memory loss. There are hundreds of drugs, including antacids, acid-blocking (reflux) medications, menopausal hormones, birth control pills, antibiotics, blood pressure drugs and steroids that alter B vitamin levels. Talk with your doctor about a blood test to determine your homocysteine level, and then ask if you can take a B vitamin, because there are a handful of meds that interact. You can also eat your Bs in green and leafy vegetables. B complex supplements are sold nationwide. This information is opinion only. It is not intended to treat, cure or diagnose your condition. Consult with your doctor before using any new drug or supplement. Suzy Cohen is a registered pharmacist and the author of The 24-Hour Pharmacist and Real Solutions from Head to Toe. To contact her, visit www.dearpharmacist.com.

Snacking From page 13

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triglycerides and insulin increased less following the meal with herbs and spices than following the same meal without these flavorings. Other research shows that cooking meat with even a small amount of rosemary or turmeric can reduce formation of heterocyclic amines (HCAs) that are linked to colon cancer. And cooking with a spice blend can reduce formation in meat of a compound believed to damage blood vessel walls and DNA. Antioxidant content of some fresh herbs may decrease when they are dried, but analysis shows that dried herbs generally remain excellent source of antioxidant compounds. The American Institute for Cancer Research offers a Nutrition Hotline, 1-800843-8114, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon.–Fri. Courtesy of the American Institute for Cancer Research. Questions for this column may be sent to “Nutrition Wise,” 1759 R St., N.W., Washington, DC 20009. Collins cannot respond to questions personally.

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When money complicates family matters Dear Solutions: he may listen to all of you. My cousin inherited a large sum of Dear Solutions: money, and it’s very aggraMy cousin who makes a vating to the rest of the lot more money than I do family because of what he spent a lot of time helping does with it. me to learn how to use my He’s about to get married computer. We went out to for the fourth time. Each dinner recently, and I marriage has ended in diwanted to pay for him, but vorce and a very big settlehe wouldn’t let me. ment for the wife. We’re a He says he doesn’t have close family, and everyone is to be repaid for doing a disgusted with him. favor. My wife says I should SOLUTIONS Also, he’s in his 60s, and stop pushing to buy someBy Helen Oxenberg, the women he marries keep thing for him and just thank MSW, ACSW getting younger. He has no him and let it go. children, and we would like I’m uncomfortable with to convince him to help some of our this. Any suggestions? children instead of giving his money — Charles away the way he’s been doing. Dear Charles: What do you think is the best way to You took his favor and now you want to approach him on this? take away his generosity and make it an — Alice even exchange. That’s how it feels to him. Dear Alice: However, if you want to make yourself feel He’s a philanthropist. He’s just giving to better don’t take him to a restaurant where his favorite charity — ex-wives! The man is there’s an obvious exchange of money. Invite looking for love, and evidently feels unable him to your home for a nice dinner, preferto get it without the promise of a big reward. ably with a couple of other family members Don’t approach him on the basis of giv- so he won’t see it as payback. ing to your favorite charity — your chilIf you or your wife don’t cook, bring in dren. He can do what he wants with his some simple food. The feeling you want to money. The best the family can do is be project is that you enjoy his company, fasincerely loving to him so he’ll trust you. vors or no favors. Approach him on the basis of protecting Dear Solutions: his assets for himself by making pre-nupMy daughter has just broken off a tial agreements and using a good lawyer long relationship with her boyfriend. I when necessary. Offer him love and un- think she’s right to do this because no derstanding instead of criticism, and then matter how much she cares for him as

a friend, she just never has had the kind of feelings she wants for someone she would marry. Now the boyfriend, who’s devastated, has called me and wants to meet with me. I know he thinks I can talk her into staying with him. How should I handle this? I don’t want to turn him down coldly. — Her Mom Dear Her Mom: “Her Mom” really says it all. As her mom

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you’re not going to go against her wishes. So ask your daughter first how she would feel about your meeting with him just to be nice and understanding of his hurt. If she says OK, agree to have lunch with him. But make it clear that you can’t and won’t interfere with her decisions. © Helen Oxenberg, 2012. Send questions to: The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915. Email the author at helox72@comcast.net. To inquire about reprint rights, call (609) 655-3684.

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A Message from the Administrator

By Dayna Brown, Office on Aging Administrator

How is your New Year going so far? Are you finding it difficult to keep up with those well-intentioned resolutions you made just a few short weeks ago â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to get back in shape, eat better and exercise more? Have you realized that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not as easy as it sounds to make healthy lifestyle changes, even when you know you should? Exercise should be something you look forward to, not avoid. I play golf and take daily walks with my dog, activities that I find both fun and relaxing. The walks give me a chance to think about things and listen to music or NPR; golf is an ideal escape for me, and I get lots of exercise at the same time. This is what works for me, but it may not be ideal for you. So how do you find that perfect blend of fitness and fun? The Office on Aging can help. Howard County senior centers are a great place to start, offering a wide range of affordable options for nearly everyone, regardless of fitness level. For those with mobility concerns, seated exercise classes like Sittercize or APA (Adaptive Physical Activity, for those recovering from a stroke) may be just the thing. Or try Matter of Balance, which blends physical activity with fall prevention education, or Living Well, which utilizes peer support to help participants make healthy lifestyle changes while managing their chronic conditions. As the weather outside turns frightful, you just may find the indoor activities at our centers to be delightful! And, if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re an avid walker like I am, the cushioned indoor walking tracks at Glenwood and North Laurel 50+ Centers may come in handy this winter â&#x20AC;&#x201D; although golf may have to wait for spring. Whatever you do, I hope 2012 will be a happy and healthy year for you!

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By Rona Martiyan, MS, RD, LDN, Office on Aging Nutritionist February is American Heart Month! To â&#x20AC;˘ Fruit chews and other foods may be fortimaintain a healthy heart, the American Heart fied with Vitamin C, but you pay an extra cost. Eat a piece of fresh fruit instead; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Association and the Dietary Guidelines for loaded with fiber. Americans suggest lowering sodium intake to â&#x20AC;˘ Granola is considered a healthy breakfast 1,500 mg a day for anyone 51 years and older. option, but most contain more fat and Sometimes though, eating foods that are low sodium than conventional cereals. in sodium or good for you is not enough. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s easy to overestimate the nutritional â&#x20AC;˘ Many yogurts contain high levels of sodium value of even healthy foods; if you eat more and sugar even though they may be fat-free. than a standard portion size, you will pay the â&#x20AC;˘ Sea salt contains just as much sodium as price, often called the â&#x20AC;&#x153;halo effectâ&#x20AC;? of foods. table salt. Here are some common examples: â&#x20AC;˘ Fat-free ice cream and cookies may have less fat, but more added sugar; youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll probably â&#x20AC;˘ Cheese is good for us because it contains need to eat more to feel satisfied. calcium for bone health, but it also has So, faced with the dilemma of making lots of sodium and saturated fat. healthy choices, what do you do? All of â&#x20AC;˘ Salads and greens contribute lots the above foods â&#x20AC;&#x153;fitâ&#x20AC;? into a healthy of vitamins and minerals, but when we add creamy dressings and high eating plan, but think about how calorie toppings, fat and sodium much you are eating and how often. add up quickly Measure what you eat; youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be â&#x20AC;˘ Trans fat-free products amazed how your portion size often contain the same may differ from the standard. amount of overall fat, and And remember, just may be high in saturated fats. because a food is low in fat doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean that it is low â&#x20AC;˘ Cereal bars, crackers and in sodium and sugarâ&#x20AC;Śand juices may say â&#x20AC;&#x153;high fiberâ&#x20AC;? they all have an effect on your but do not contain the same heart! So, make one small fiber as whole foods like change todayâ&#x20AC;Śyour heart fruits, vegetables beans and will thank you. grainsâ&#x20AC;Śplus they cost more.

Coming Events

H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N — F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2

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The Senior Connection

Thursdays, Jan. 26 and Feb. 23, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. — ARL Computer Class Trip, Longwood Senior Center

Students from the PC Systems Academy will offer oneon-one assistance to help you set up, use and maintain your personal computer. Transportation is available. For more information, call 410-313-7217.

Wed., Feb. 1, 1 to 2:30 p.m. — Power Over Pain Group, North Laurel 50+ Center Power Over Pain is a monthly support group for anyone living with chronic pain who wants to develop a positive attitude, share information, and connect with others living with chronic pain. Discussion topics include: medical aspects of chronic pain; chronic pain and emotional wellness; relief versus management, and more! Free; call 410-313-0380 to register, or 410-313-7466 for more information. Wednesday, Feb. 1, 11 a.m. — Medicare 101: What to Expect, Kiwanis-Wallas Rec Center, 3300 Norbert’s Way, Ellicott City

Learn how Medicare works, what the benefits are, and how it relates to supplemental health insurance, and get information on Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage; sponsored by the Senior Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP). Free; call 410-313-7391 to register.

Wednesday, Feb. 1, 7:15 p.m. — Pets on Wheels Volunteer Evaluation, The Bain Center

Pets on Wheels is seeking volunteers to take their pets on friendly visits with seniors who enjoy animal companionship. For more information, contact Ingrid Gleysteen, 410-313-7461, or email igleysteen@howardcountymd.gov.

Saturday, Feb. 4, 1 to 3 p.m. (East Columbia 50+ Center) and Tuesday, Feb. 7, 10 a.m. (The Bain Center) — Meet Author Dorothy Bailey

Dorothy Bailey, author of In a Different Light: Reflections and Beauty of Wise Women of Color, highlights the wisdom and strength of ninety women aged 70 and over who live in or have ties to Maryland. Books will be available for purchase. Free; for more information, call 410-313-7680 or 410-313-7213.

Wednesday, Feb. 8, 10 a.m. to noon — Genealogy: Court Records, Ellicott City Senior Center

Learn about the types of records available at the courthouse and how easy it is to access them. A Q & A session and Ancestry.com demo follows. Free; call 410-313-1400 for details.

Thursday, Feb. 9, 10 a.m. — Valentine Treats for Your Sweetie, East Columbia 50+ Center

Tired of the same old box of Valentine chocolates? Surprise your sweeties with new treats! We’ll show you how as we taste and share recipes. Cost: $5; call 410-313-7680 to register.

Thursday, Feb. 9, noon to 2 p.m. — Focus on Fitness, North Laurel 50+ Center

The Office on Aging’s Jennifer Lee joins Physical Therapist Michelle Cina, of Physiotherapy and Associates, to provide free assessments of endurance, strength, flexibility and balance. Call 410-313-0380 to register.

Tuesday, Feb. 14, 11 a.m. to noon — Valentine’s Day Celebration, The Bain Center

Enjoy a musical revue of love songs with Alan Schwartz; come sing along to some great tunes. Free; light refreshments served. For more information, call 410-313-7213.

Tuesday, Feb. 14, 1 to 2 p.m. — Valentine’s Day Social, Longwood Senior Center

Enjoy an afternoon of dance and sweet treats. Free, but donations are welcome. Call 410-313-7217 to reserve a seat.

Wednesday, Feb 15, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. — Valentine’s Day Opera Party, Elkridge Senior Center

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with love songs performed by Lyric Opera singers, and enjoy a homemade lunch with plenty of sweets! Cost: $5/person; call 410-313-5192 to register.

Wednesday, Feb. 15, 11 a.m. to noon — Changing Times of the African American Diet, Longwood Senior Center

Dietitian Rona Martiyan MS, RD, LDN shares healthy tips as she discusses the origins of the African American diet, traditional cooking methods, and dietary influences. Free; call 410-313-7217 to register.

Wednesday, Feb. 15, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. — Valentines Party, North Laurel 50+ Center

Sing and dance along with Terry Marsh in “Showstoppers & Chartoppers!” with classics from Broadway and the Big Band Era. Cost: $3, plus lunch donation. Call 410-313-0380 to register.

The Senior Connection is published monthly by the Howard County Office on Aging, Department of Citizen Services. We welcome your comments and suggestions. To contact us, or to join our email subscriber list, email seniorconnection@howardcountymd.gov with ‘subscribe’ in the subject box. The Senior Connection from Howard County Office on Aging

6751 Columbia Gateway Drive, Columbia, MD 21046 410-313-6410 | www.howardcountyaging.org Dayna Brown, Administrator Advertising contained in the Beacon is not endorsed by the Howard County Office on Aging or by the publisher.

Wednesday, Feb. 15, 7:15 p.m. — Medicare 102: Why Medicare Isn’t Enough! Kiwanis-Wallas Recreation Center, 3300 Norbert’s Way, Ellicott City

Learn about the gaps in Medicare coverage, ways to cover them, and which insurance plan best suits your needs; includes information on Medigap policies and Medicare Advantage Plans (Part C). Free, sponsored by SHIP; call 410-313-7391 to register.

Wednesday, Feb. 22, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. — Nutrition Counseling, Ellicott City Senior Center Rona Martiyan, our registered dietician, offers guidance for healthy eating and nutrition tips. Call 410-3131400 to schedule your free half-hour appointment.

Tuesday, Feb. 21, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. — AARP Tax Aide Program, North Laurel 50+ Center

IRS Certified counselors will offer free Federal and State tax preparation assistance for seniors and low income individuals (also on March 6, March 20, and April 3). For appointments (required), call 410-313-0380.

Mon/Wed/Fri, starting Feb. 22, 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. — Enhance Fitness, North Laurel 50+ Center

Try Enhance Fitness, an exercise series that can improve balance, flexibility, bone density and more, and decrease your risk of falling. Regular fitness checks are included to track progress. Sign up for this 16-class session and pay just $25 (regularly $3 per class)! Call 410-313-0380 for details.

Tuesday, Feb. 28, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. — Free Vascular Screenings, Elkridge Senior Center

Vascular screenings can be costly at a doctor’s office; don’t miss this opportunity to get your arteries checked for free! Call 410-787-4367 for an appointment.

Thank you!

Thank you to all our community partners who helped make Project Holiday 2011 a huge success, including Home Instead’s Be a Santa to a Senior Program; Howard County General Hospital’s Wound Clinic; Howard County Police, Warrants Division; and the many generous individual donors.

Howard County Commission on Aging Achievement Awards 2011 • Civic Engagement – recognizing an individual who promotes the well-being of Howard County citizens • Excellence in the Arts – recognizing an individual who makes a positive contribution to the art ﬁeld.

• Leadership in Education – recognizing an individual who works or volunteers in the ﬁeld of education • Benchmark Award – presented to organizations that provide products or services that beneﬁt older adults 60 and above and their families

Nominate online at: www.howardcountyaging.org or call 410-313-6410

Deadline March 1, 2012

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2 — H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

Money Law &

The Social Security Administration answers reader questions on retirement age, taxes, SSI, Medicare and more. See page 20.

Stocks and mutual funds to own now By Kathy Kristof With debt woes slamming Europe, firms that sell mainly in the U.S. and in emerging nations look especially attractive. Here are a selection of stocks and funds considered to be smart picks for 2012 by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance: Chevron (symbol CVX, $97). A spike in oil prices last summer helped the company report blockbuster third-quarter earnings. At today’s lower oil prices, analysts believe Chevron’s earnings will drop about 7 percent in 2012. But even at that level, the stock sells at bargain-basement prices and pays an annual dividend of $3.24 per share that’s easily supported by the cash it generates (the stock yields 3.5 percent). Microsoft (MSFT, $25). Value-oriented stock pickers are now pouring money into this company, drawn by its great cashgenerating ability and the prospects for Windows 8 — the upcoming version of Microsoft’s personal-computer operating system, which will contain features aimed at smartphone and tablet users. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s gaming and business-services units are vibrant. The shares sell for 9 times estimated year-ahead profits and yield 3.3 percent. Dover Corp. (DOV, $53). Knowles

Electronics, a unit of this little-known conglomerate based in Downers Grove, Ill., makes the tiny microphones used in cellphones and tablets from Apple, Nokia and Sony Ericsson. But that’s not all. Refrigerated display cases in grocery and convenience stores are made by Hill Phoenix, another of Dover’s 33 subsidiaries. Better yet, the company is increasingly integrating related businesses, cutting costs and cross-marketing, which should boost profit margins. The stock sells for 11 times estimated 2012 profits and yields 2.5 percent. Schnitzer Steel Industries (SCHN, $43). The company has been able to grow rapidly by selling recycled scrap to businesses in developing nations, such as China, Malaysia and Thailand. Meanwhile, the company has been investing in technology to cut costs and improve efficiency. With analysts forecasting annualized earnings growth of 15 percent over the next five years, and the stock selling at just 10 times estimated year-ahead profits, Schnitzer looks like a steal. Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT, $77). Lockheed is the lead contractor on a multiyear contract for F-35 fighter jets that could be worth some $382 billion, and the Department of Defense said it’s now will-

ing to let the company compete for India’s $11 billion fighter-jet contract, too. The company, based in Bethesda, Md., also has a lucrative satellite business that can help sustain growth when defense spending slows. Its stock sells for just 10 times estimated 2012 earnings and yields a robust 5.3 percent. Express Scripts (ESRX). This company, a pharmacy-benefit manager, is positioned for gangbuster growth thanks to an aging population and increasing drug sales. Earnings for the company, which also owns 60,000 pharmacies, have increased 28.4 percent annualized for the past five years and are projected to grow 17.3 percent a year for the next five years.

Mutual fund choices These three funds are tops in their categories. Dividend payers: Vanguard Dividend Growth (VDIGX). No matter how the market moves, manager Don Kilbride sticks to his investing approach. He hunts down undervalued companies with growing dividends, producing what he calls a high-quality portfolio that currently delivers a 2 percent yield. This year, that quality helped keep the fund even through early October, despite the lashing that affected

Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index. Low-minimum funds: Amana Trust Income (AMANX). If you’re looking to tap into the stock market with a low-minimum, top-quality fund, this is it. This largecompany stock fund requires a minimum investment of $250, or just $100 if it’s in a retirement account. Each additional investment can be as low as $25. That hasn’t hurt its performance: It gained 4.2 percent annualized over five years, which beat the S&P 500 by an average of five percentage points per year. One-stop funds: Vanguard Wellington (VWELX). A fund that offers both growth and relative safety with stocks and bonds in a single portfolio can be a tonic in a tumbling market. Over the past 10 years, the venerable Wellington fund gained an annualized 6.0 percent, outpacing 96 percent of its balanced-fund peers. But more important, the fund shed just 11.9 percent from late April to early October, while the broader market dropped 13.5 percent. Wellington has a 2.9 percent yield. Send your questions and comments to moneypower@kiplinger.com. For more on this and similar money topics, visit www.Kiplinger.com. © 2011 Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

A primer on risks and rewards of bonds By Mark Jewell Baby boomers fully embraced the stock market by riding its ups and downs throughout their peak income years. But now that the oldest boomers are turning 65, their focus has turned toward ensuring a steady income from their investments. And they’re likely to find the answer is to put money in bonds rather than stocks, as recent market volatility shows. Consider that bonds have made stock returns look puny in recent years. Broadly diversified bond mutual funds have provided investors an average annualized return of nearly 5.6 percent over the past five years. That’s better than all of the domestic stock fund categories that Morningstar tracks. With retirement just around the corner for such a sizeable population, it’s understandable that investors have deposited a net

$670 billion into bond mutual funds since January 2009, while consistently pulling their money out of stock funds. Fidelity Investments said its clients alone have added $100 billion in new cash to bond investments over the past three years. But do the stock-savvy boomers and others who have flocked to fixed-income investments really understand bond investing, and the potential risks and rewards?

A steep learning curve Many fund companies believe there’s a pressing need for investors to bone up on their bond basics. As a result, for example, Fidelity upgraded its online resources for bond investors in September, and Nuveen Investments made a similar move in November. It’s a recognition that bonds are more complex than stocks, with more moving

parts that influence investment returns — yield, price, and interest rates, for starters. Interest rates are perhaps the most critical risk for bond investors now. Short-term rates are near zero, and have nowhere to go but up. When they eventually rise, if the economic recovery really gets going, expect to see lower bond returns and possibly losses. The economy is growing so slowly that interest rates aren’t likely to spike in the short run. Still, any increase would be unwelcome for bond investors. “It’s a phenomenon that bond fund investors haven’t faced in a very long time,” said analyst Loren Fox of the fund industry consultancy Strategic Insight. “Some will be surprised and disappointed when it happens.” Indeed, investors have become accustomed to declining rates for the better part of 30 years.

Bond basics Below are key points investors should know about bonds, and a snapshot of the potential risks that investors face: Definition: At the most basic level, bond investors are lending their cash — to a company in the case of corporate bonds, or to government in the case of U.S. Treasurys or municipal bonds. In contrast, stock investors hold an ownership stake in a company, however small. Bonds are considered safer than stocks because there’s typically a low risk that the borrower won’t repay the loan when it’s due, or default by failing to make scheduled interest payments. In contrast, the market’s view of a company’s profit prospects will vary widely over time, See BOND PRIMER, page 19

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H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N — F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2

Bond primer From page 18 which makes stock prices volatile. Yield: Bonds pay fixed returns. The yield is the amount an investor receives for holding a bond until the date when it matures — or principal is repaid — expressed as a percentage. Interest is paid regularly to investors through coupon payments. The coupon is the annual rate of interest divided by the purchase price — meaning a bond selling for $1,000 with a 5 percent coupon rate offers a 5 percent current yield. Price: Unless a bond is held to maturity, the return investors receive is also a function of price changes. For example, that bond that yielded 5 percent at a price of $1,000 would yield 10 percent at a price of just $500. As a bond’s price falls, its yield rises, and vice versa. Prices change because investors continually process new information about the risks they face from factors such as interest rates, inflation and credit risks (the potential for a default). If investors can buy newly issued bonds paying higher interest than previously issued bonds, the value of the older bonds declines. On the flip side, an older bond will rise in price if yields for newly issued bonds are lower. Individual bonds vs. funds: Investing in individual bonds offers some certainty, if the investor holds them until maturity. Investors receive pre-determined interest pay-

ments along with repayment of principal, provided the company or government issuing the bond makes good on its obligations. But it’s not easy for an individual investor to research whether a bond is attractively priced relative to its credit risks and other potential pitfalls. Investing in a bond mutual fund, rather than an individual bond, means an investor faces less risk from the possibility of a default. Bond funds typically hold diversified portfolios of hundreds of bonds. So if just a single bond defaults, the impact on the overall portfolio is likely to be modest. However, a fund’s returns will vary because the fund manager must continually reinvest as bonds mature. And because bond prices fluctuate, it’s possible for mutual funds to lose money. That can happen when the fund generates less interest income than going market rates for newly issued bonds. Furthermore, investing in a bond fund means paying fees for professional expertise. What’s more, there’s no certainty that expertise will generate returns superior to those investors could get on their own, or by investing in a low-cost bond index fund. Risks: Bond investors now face substantial long-term risk from rising interest rates. When the Federal Reserve raises rates, returns for different types of bonds will be affected differently depending on factors such as their maturity dates. For example, one reason that 30-year Treasurys offer a higher return than T-

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bills maturing in a few months is that there’s a greater chance that rates will rise over the long haul, hurting returns. Longer-duration bonds pay investors more to offset that risk. Inflation is also low, and the eventual likelihood of rising prices poses risks for bond

investors, similar to interest rate risks. However, certain types of bonds offer protection. The best known are Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, or TIPS — a type of Treasury bond whose payout is adjusted every six months for inflation. — AP

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F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2 — H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

Social Security and Medicare Qs and As The Social Security Administration answers some common questions about Social Security and Medicare benefits. Question: I know that Social Security’s full retirement age is gradually rising to 67. But does this mean the

“early” retirement age will also be going up by two years, from age 62 to 64? Answer: No. While it is true that under current law the full retirement age is gradually rising from 65 to 67, the “early” retirement age remains at 62. Keep in mind, how-

BEACON BITS

Feb. 8

BEEKEEPING IN YOUR FUTURE? The Howard County Beekeepers Association will share information about honeybees and the benefits of beekeeping on Wednesday,

Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Glenwood Branch Library, 2350 State Rte. 97, Cooksville. For more information, call (410) 313-5577.

Feb. 8

HOW E-BOOKS WORK Learn more about e-book content from OverDrive and how it works with a Nook, Kindle, iPad, Kobo, Sony Reader or Android device in

a program on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Central Branch Library, 10375 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia. Registration required. Call (410) 313-5077.

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ever, that taking early retirement reduces your benefit amount. For more information about Social Security benefits, visit the website at www.socialsecurity.gov/r&m1.htm. Q: I am receiving Social Security retirement benefits, and I recently went back to work. Do I have to pay Social Security (FICA) taxes on my income? A: Yes. By law, your employer must withhold FICA taxes from your paycheck. Although you are retired, you do receive credit for those new earnings. Each year Social Security automatically credits the new earnings and, if your new earnings are higher than in any earlier year used to calculate your current benefit, your monthly benefit could increase. Q: How are my retirement benefits calculated? A: Your Social Security benefits are based on earnings averaged over your lifetime. Your actual earnings are first adjusted or “indexed” to account for changes in

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BEACON BITS

Feb. 8

ANACOSTIA COMMUNITY MUSEUM

In celebration of Black History Month, the Department of Recreation & Parks is sponsoring a trip to the Anacostia Community Museum, a branch of the Smithsonian that documents local families and communities. A buffet lunch will be served at Phillips Flagship Restaurant overlooking the Washington Channel. The trip will begin at 9 a.m. and conclude at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 8. Fee is $69 per person. To register, call (410) 313-7275; for more information, call Ginny Russ at (410) 313-7279.

Feb. 15

TAVERN VALENTINE’S LUNCH

Join the Department of Parks & Recreation’s February Lunch Bunch and enjoy a great meal at the Elkridge Furnace Inn, established as a tavern in 1744. The trip will start at 11 a.m. and finish at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15. A fee of $69 covers transportation and a full meal. For more information, call Ginny Russ at (410) 313-7279, or call (410) 313-7275 to register.

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average wages since the year the earnings were received. Then we calculate your average monthly indexed earnings during the 35 years in which you earned the most. We apply a formula to these earnings and arrive at your basic benefit. This is the amount you would receive at your full retirement age. You may be able to estimate your benefit by using our Retirement Estimator which offers estimates based on your Social Security earnings. You can find the Retirement Estimator at www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator. Q: I prefer reading by audio book. Does Social Security have audio publications? A: Yes, we do. You can find them at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs. Some of the publications available include What You Can Do Online, How Social Security Can Help You When A Family Member Dies,

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Social Security From page 20 Apply Online For Social Security Benefits, and Your Social Security Card And Number. You can listen now at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs. Q: Next month I’ll turn 65 and, because of my financial situation, I thought I’d be eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). But my neighbor told me I’d probably be turned down because I have a friend who said he might help support me. Is this true? A: Whether you can get SSI depends on your income and resources. If you have low income and few resources, you may be able to get SSI. If you are receiving support from your friend or from anyone else, however, that income will be considered when making a decision on your SSI eligibility and amount. Support includes any food or shelter that is given to you or is received by you because someone else pays for it. So if your friend helps support you, it could have an effect on whether you get SSI or on the amount you receive. For more information, visit www.socialsecurity.gov and select “SSI.” Q: My dad, who is receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI), will be coming to live with me. Does he have to report the move to Social Security? A: Yes. An SSI beneficiary must report any change in living arrangements within 10 days after the month in which the

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

WEATHERIZATION PROGRAM EXPANDS

The Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, is extending its reach to financially stretched families through the Community Action Council of Howard County (CAC). Residents interested in receiving weatherization services must meet certain income requirements and be able to prove home ownership. For more information, call (410) 313-1181.

Feb. 14

TECH TALK FOR ONLINE RESEARCH Howard County Li-

brary instructors will be available for conversations about the Internet, the library system’s catalog and other technical tools during a drop-in session on Tuesday, Feb. 14 from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Glenwood Branch Library, 2350 State Rte. 97, Cooksville.

change occurs. If the change is not reported, your dad could receive an incorrect payment or he may not receive all the money that is due. Also, your dad needs to report his new address to Social Security so that he can receive mail from us. Even if benefits are paid by direct deposit, we need to be able to get in touch with him. He can report the change by telephone, mail or in person at any Social Security office. Keep in mind that failing to report a change to Social Security could result in incorrect payments that may have to be paid back, or in a penalty deducted from SSI benefits. Just call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778). You can get more information in the booklet Understanding SSI, at www.socialsecurity.gov/ssi. Q: If I retire and start getting Social Security retirement benefits at age 62, will my Medicare coverage begin then, too? A: No. Medicare benefits based on retirement do not begin until a person is age 65. If

you retire at age 62, you may be able to continue to have medical insurance coverage through your employer or purchase it from an insurance company until you reach age 65 and become eligible for Medicare. For more information about who can get Medicare, visit www.medicare.gov. Q: Do I automatically get Medicare benefits if I’m eligible for disability benefits? A: After you have received disability

benefits for 24 months, we will automatically enroll you in Medicare. We start counting the 24 months from the month you were entitled to receive disability, not the month when you received your first benefit payment. Sometimes you can get State Medicaid in the meantime. There are exceptions to this rule. People with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and chronic renal disease may be able to get Medicare earlier.

BEACON BITS

Feb. 15

LEGAL HELP FOR SENIORS Howard County residents over age 60 are invited to participate in

a legal help program that includes drawing up wills, powers of attorney, living wills, small estates and deed changes. The cost of the document preparation is dependent on income. The program will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at the Bain Center, 5470 Ruth Keeton Way, Columbia. To schedule an appointment, call (410) 313-7213.

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F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2 — H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

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Travel

Leisure &

Krakow, Poland is becoming an eastern European hot spot. See story on page 25.

The Everglades: One watery wonderland

Who’s watching whom? On a recent visit to Everglades National

Park, as I walked just a few inches above water level along the Anhinga Trail boardwalk, I stopped to study a hunched-over greenback heron. I suddenly realized that I was also being watched. In the grayish-brown muck five feet away, a dark leathery crown barely poked out, and two large, half-emerged shiny orbs just above the waterline were eyeing me. The “keeper of the Everglades,” a Florida alligator, was lurking, camouflaged in the shallows. Once endangered, “today they are too numerous to count,” Christiana Admiral, a National Park Service interpreter told me later. The typical male is seven feet long. To casual observers, alligators seem lethargic, but they can move fast both in water and on land. In the visitor center’s “Gators in Motion” video, I had learned that during courtship males bellow, nuzzle females, and then both submerge to mate. Recalling that we had also been cautioned that “they eat anything,” I didn’t linger. Ambling on, I spotted a big brown bird with wings splayed apart, seemingly frozen in time. It was an anhinga, and except for an occasional blink of the eye, it was sitting perfectly still on a branch drying its wings. Known as “snakebirds,” anhingas swim underwater, spear fish and perch to dry out, an iconic pose in these wetlands. Moving further, I spotted a thin white “tube” reaching upward amid the millions of sawgrass blades. It was a great egret

By Glenda C. Booth A sheet of water once flowed from the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes near Orlando to Lake Okeechobee and then across the southern tip of Florida through ponds, sloughs, wetlands, hummocks and forests. Once covering almost 3 million acres, the Everglades was perceived by many during Florida’s early boom years as a worthless swamp interfering with agriculture and other development. So, human engineering was brought to bear, “improving” south Florida with canals, dams and elaborate drainage systems that severely interrupted and diverted the historic flow of water. In large part thanks to Marjory Stoneman Douglas, a journalist and tireless conservation advocate during the 1900s, the Everglades are now viewed as a national natural treasure. In 2000, Congress approved a 30-year plan to restore some of the original Everglades. Today, the ecosystem encompasses 1.3 million acres of sawgrass prairie stretching across South Florida. The largest subtropical ecosystem in the U.S., it now boasts 350 species of birds, 300 of fish, 40 of mammals, 50 of reptiles, 17 of amphibians and 1,000 of plants. This is also the only place where alligators and crocodiles co-exist.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

A great egret strides through a swamp filled with cypress trees in Florida’s Everglades National Park. Preservation efforts have helped turn the 1.3 million acre ecosystem into a nature-loving tourist’s dream.

Visitors skim across the Everglades’ “river of grass” in an airboat in search of crocodiles, herons, egrets and other species of the abundant wildlife found in the national park.

awaiting its prey. Around the bend, a great blue heron crouched silently, transfixed on the water. These bluish-gray, 46-inch wading birds patiently stand motionless for a long time waiting for a snack to zip by. The Everglades, North America’s unique “river of grass,” is deceptive. At first glance, all seems quiet, at rest. But it’s not. It is a mesmerizing liquid land where you should slowly imbibe the serenity and study subtle movements and gentle nuances, from the microscopic to the menacing. Tony Iallonardo, a resident of Arlington, Va., described his October visit like this: “I was told not to expect grand vistas like the Tetons or Yosemite. The Everglades require you to move slowly and look closely. Then the beauty opens itself up to you. “What’s most special is the abundance of wildlife. It’s all around you all the time — under your feet, above your head and everywhere in between. “Alligators, diamondback rattlers, other snakes, lizards, a bear cub and hundreds of egrets and herons. We had many moments when we were all alone with the wildlife and our beautiful surroundings.”

Multiple entrances and paths There are three entrances to Everglades National Park: the Ernest F. Coe

Visitor Center near Homestead on the southeast, Shark Valley at the northeast corner, and Everglades City at the northwest corner. Driving to the Coe entrance, 35 miles south of Miami, and from there along the 37-mile road to Flamingo, Fla., is an excellent one or two-day introduction to all that is the Everglades. Off this road are several easy trails where you can get close-up looks at wood storks, ibises and turtles. Unusual plants, like mangroves and moonvines that bloom at night, also abound. On the Gumbo Limbo Trail, I explored a typical hardwood hummock, lush with subtropical plants, including orchids and bromeliads, and secretive animals, such as the Florida tree snail and the Key Largo wood rat. (The gumbo limbo tree is known as the tourist tree because its bark peels like the sunburned skin of a tourist.) The Pa-hay-okee Overlook’s one-quarter mile boardwalk took me to an observation tower for a panoramic view. On the West Lake Trail, a half-mile loop, I watched birds flit around in a forest of salt-tolerant mangrove trees perched on their abovewater roots arched like a birdcage. On my drive to Flamingo, I sampled most See EVERGLADES, page 24

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Everglades From page 23 of the park’s ecosystems — freshwater sloughs, marl prairies, cypress and mangrove forests and marine estuaries. During low tide, the mud flats host throngs of birds, including pelicans, cormorants, herons, roseate spoonbills, egrets, mangrove cuckoos and black skimmers. At the road’s end, I had hoped for sightings of a saltwater crocodile or manatee, both of which rangers say are common, but they were not visible on the drizzly day of my visit. Crocodile numbers have rebounded to around 1,500, according to park authorities. Flamingo has boat, kayak and canoe rentals, snacks, an informative visitor center and free ranger-guided programs. Taking another approach, from the

Shark Valley entrance off the Tamiami Trail (Highway 41), 25 miles west of the Florida Turnpike, there’s a two-hour, openair tram tour led by naturalists to a 50-foot observation tower. Or you can rent a bike to explore the 15-mile trail or walk several trails from the visitor center. Alternatively, at the Everglades City entrance, 78 miles west of Miami, the National Park Service rents kayaks, canoes and camping equipment. Many visitors go there for canoe or boat trips in the maze of mangroves and waterways through the Ten Thousand Islands. Some say Everglades City, a fishing town, is reminiscent of “old Florida” — pre-Disney World, strip malls and condos. In the U.S., if you say Florida, many Americans think “Miami Vice,” Disney World or the Daytona 500. A Dutch visitor told me, “In the Netherlands, if you say

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F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2 — H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

‘Florida,’ people think ‘Everglades.’” You will, too, after your immersion into this watery wonderland.

refugees during hurricanes because of its solid, 1950s concrete construction. Check www.groveinn.com or call 1-877-247-6572.

Planning your trip

When to visit

Before you go, look at the National Park Service’s website www.nps.gov/ever and talk to staff (call (305) 242-7700), especially if you plan to paddle or camp. Thoroughly research your options ahead of time so you can take into consideration weather, tides, mosquitoes (very pesky in summer), water levels and other factors. Even a one-day visit walking the trails is well worth it. Besides the park, there are touristy, kitschy amusements nearby like alligator and snake shows and airboat rides. Be forewarned: Airboats with their jet engines are very noisy and scare wildlife away, but it is a common way to get out on the water. Everglades Wilderness Charters offers guided fishing and camping trips (www.evergladeswildernesscharters.com). En route to the Coe entrance, don’t miss Robert Is Here Fruit Stand, a cornucopia of tropical fruits, jams, milkshakes and Key lime pies. For 38 years, visitors have stopped for the Key lime milkshakes. There is no lodging in the park itself. A new lodge will open in Flamingo in 2013. There are several campgrounds. Study the Everglades website for services and rules. Homestead, 15 minutes from the Coe Visitor Center, has many motels listed with the Homestead/Florida City Chamber of Commerce at www.chamberinaction.com. For a taste of old Florida, try the Grove Inn Country Guesthouse in Redlands, five minutes north of Homestead. I felt like I was on the set of The Night of the Iguana, listening to subtropical critters in the lush garden of bromeliads and lemon trees buffering a central courtyard. The inn houses

When is the best time to go? There is no easy answer. June to October brings heat, storms, mosquitoes galore and fewer visitors than other times. You may see colorful lubber grasshoppers, female alligators building nests, and loggerhead turtles laying eggs. Birds like white-crowned pigeons, blackwhiskered vireos and gray kingbirds migrate from the tropics to nest in the summer. Wet areas are flooded and the cypress trees green up. The young hatch by September. Fall brings bird migration, including thousands of barn swallows, bobolinks, warblers and peregrine falcons. Alligator hatchlings scramble about. December to April, the dry season, is the most popular, but it is often crowded. “It’s almost like going through the zoo,” Hayley Crowell, a National Park Service ranger, told me. The crocs are easier to see, there are more ranger-led walks, and there are fewer mosquitoes. As some of the Everglades’ watery environs evaporate, wading birds gather around alligator holes where fish congregate. Wood storks nest and their young fledge in February or March. Flying to Miami is the fastest way to access the Everglades. American Airlines has flights in mid-February from Baltimore-Washington International Airport for around $263 roundtrip. Once there, you’ll need to rent a car at the airport. Glenda C. Booth is a travel writer based in Alexandria, Va.

BEACON BITS

Feb. 3

CLASSICAL CONCERT IN D.C. The Department of Recreation & Parks is planning a trip to hear

David Garrett, world class violinist, in performance at Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University on Friday, Feb. 3. The tour leaves at 6 p.m. and returns at midnight. Tickets are $93, including terrace seating at the concert. For more information, call Ginny Russ at (410) 313-7279.

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Krakow, Poland: Historic and now trendy By Caryn Rousseau With crowds of tourists and a collegetown atmosphere, Krakow — once the capital of Poland — has become a European hot spot. The center of it all is the centuries-old main square in the Old Town, or Stare Miasto, where brick streets are filled with restaurants, coffee shops, trendy boutiques and sidewalk cafes. Midnight feels like noon as crowds crawl late into the night, when many establishments turn bar, pub, disco or dance club. The sound of singing rises up from cellars filled with party-goers. Krakow, a city of about 800,000 on the banks of the Vistula River in southern Poland, attracts about 7 million tourists a year. The city also boasts two dozen universities with nearly 210,000 students. The mix translates into a youthful, fun energy in the formerly communist country. In the evening, visitors to the square will find history meeting the 21st century as hip-hop dancers perform in front of the landmark statue of poet Adam Mickiewicz while an older man plays an accordion under the city gate.

Shopping in the main square The large, long Sukiennice building takes up the middle of the main market

square. Inside, shoppers move from stall to stall down a hallway, deciding among carved wooden boxes, amber jewelry and other tourist trinkets. The building is also home to the Rynek Underground Museum, where visitors can view centuries-old archaeological ruins of Krakow. On the northeast corner of the square, a bugler emerges every hour, on the hour (yes, even in the middle of the night) from the nearly 270-foot tall tower of St. Mary’s Church. When he’s done, he waves to crowds below. Visitors can climb the tower stairs for an aerial view of the square or tour the stunning inside of the church. The buildings just around the square are filled with sidewalk restaurants where diners can watch other tourists take horse and buggy rides or hear an opera singer perform “Ave Maria” for pocket change. Prices for entry to most attractions are reasonable. Poland is not on the euro, and the U.S. dollar is worth roughly three Polish zloty. While Krakow has all the trappings of a touristy European city, a unique vibe sets it apart. Nuns wearing full habits ride their bicycles through the square as Polish families play with their children near large, artistic sculptures. At night, groups of young people hop

from bar to bar or wait in long lines for large, cheesy loaves of take-out pizza bread called zapiekanka.

Pierogi and parks Food is plentiful and hardy in the Old Town. There are many Polish restaurants where tourists can sample pierogi, bigos, kielbasa and other traditional dishes. But there are also trendier cafes, Italian eateries, and take-out pizza, gelato and kebob counters for a quick bite.

Cheapest and most popular for a snack are the blue carts that sell rings of freshbaked bread dough covered in poppy seeds, cheese or sesame seeds. Bakeries every few streets sell pastries filled with chocolate, apples, strawberries and cheese, huge loaves of bread and small Polish cookies. The Old Town is surrounded by green space called the Planty, which tour guides See KRAKOW, page 26

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From page 25 explain was once the city moat. Now it’s filled with trees, statues, a walking path, gardens and fountains. Along the north side of the Planty is St. Florian’s Gate, where local artists fill a stone city wall with paintings for sale. A tram runs in a circle outside the Planty and then branches out into the city. Several tourist attractions sit just outside the Old Town, including Wawel Hill, which can be described as the heart of Poland. It’s where the country’s kings, queens and other dignitaries are buried in Wawel Cathedral. Tours are available of Wawel Castle and outside, near the Vistula River, a tall statue of a dragon actually breathes fire — a favorite with children. Those looking for a more authentic shopping experience can head to the Stary Kleparz, a flea market-like space where vendors sell fresh vegetables, sausages, kitchen items, clothing, jewelry and flowers.

Side trips to consider Several side trips are worth a look if there’s time on your itinerary: Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum: This site of Nazi concentration and extermination camps, where an estimated 2 million people (mostly Jews) were killed in gas chambers during World War

II, is about 40 miles west of Krakow. Tours are available in many languages. Kazimierz: The Jewish quarter of Krakow is just south, within walking distance, of the Old Town. Tourists can see several synagogues, a Jewish cemetery and traditional restaurants. Nowa Huta: The communists built Nowa Huta as an ideal workers’ city, with a steel mill, apartment blocks and, at one time, a statue of Lenin. Tours are available or get there via tram. Wieliczka Salt Mine: This UNESCO Heritage Site is about eight miles southeast of Krakow. Visitors can see cavernous rooms filled with intricately carved statues, altars, even chandeliers, all made of salt. Zakopane: Poles flock to this resort town in the Tatra Mountains about 65 miles south of Krakow. During the winter there’s skiing and sledding; summer offers hiking and swimming. Trams take groups to the top of mountains for stunning views, and shoppers crowd the market and boutiques along Krupowki Street. For information on hotels and other tourist attractions, see the city of Krakow’s official site, www.krakow.pl/english, the Krakow Informer at www.krakow-poland. com/a/Krakow-Tourism,cif, and Explore Krakow at www.explore-krakow.com. The least expensive flight from the Washington area in mid-January is $779 on Lufthansa from Dulles International Airport. — AP

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Street artists display their paintings in Krakow’s bustling Main City Square. St. Mary’s Church rises in the background. Poland’s former capital has become a popular tourist spot, known for its mix of traditional and trendy restaurants and nightlife.

Learn how to make Every time you use the phone. If any disability makes it difficult for you to use the telephone, you may qualify for FREE assistive telephone equipment through the Maryland Accessible Telecommunications program.

Even though you may be able to carry on a conversation with someone in person, you may have difficulty communicating by standard telephone. The Maryland Accessible Telecommunications (MAT) program, a service of Maryland Relay, provides assistive telecommunications equipment — free of charge — to people who qualify. Training on how to use the equipment is available. To learn more about the free equipment, including hands-free phones, amplified phones, voice activated phones and more, simply call Maryland Relay Customer Service at 1-800-552-7724. You may also visit our website, www.mdrelay.org. Click on Free Equipment for more information on how to apply

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The film The Infidel, about an adopted Muslim man who discovers his birth family is Jewish, screens on Feb. 11.

Jewish films address universal themes By Robert Friedman The very human side of the propaganda-filled, seemingly intractable Arab-Israeli conflict is portrayed movingly in the Israeli film, For My Father, the first of four films in this year’s Jewish Film Series. The series has presented entertaining and thought-provoking films for 20 years. While films may have Jewish themes, they are “for the whole community to enjoy,” said Tom Laufer of the Columbia Jewish Congregation, which is presenting the series. Each scr eening will be followed by refreshments and a discussion. The first film in the series looks into the hearts and minds of a would-be Arab suicide bomber, a young Jewish girl in self-exile from her Orthodox Jewish community, and several other Israelis and Palestinians caught up in the ongoing tragedy. It will be screened Saturday, Jan. 21 at 8 p.m. at the Meeting House, also known as the Oakland Mills Interfaith Center, in Columbia. Tarek is a young Palestinian whose bud-

ding fame in his community as a soccer star owes much to his father’s compromises with Israeli authorities to get his son passage to play games in Nazareth. His father is seen by Arab militants as some kind of turncoat. To clear his father’s name, Tarek joins a group of Palestinian terrorists and is maneuvered into setting out to blow up himself and as many Jews as possible in a Tel Aviv market.

A terrorist incognito In a rather too convenient plot twist, the trigger mechanism for the explosives around his body malfunctions, and he finds himself stuck in a Jewish neighborhood in Tel Aviv. He goes to an electric repair shop for a new switch and meets the old, cranky, softhearted Jew, Katz, who has lost a son in the Israeli Army. Thinking Tarek is a Jewish construction worker, he offers him a job repairing the shop’s roof. Tarek agrees to do the work in exchange for the new switch, which won’t be delivered for a couple of days. Thus the melodrama unfolds. Among

the neighbors, Tarek meets Keren, a green-eyed beauty who has rebelled against her Orthodox Jewish upbringing and left home to open a small shop across from the electrician’s store. The film, made in 2008, hits a very contemporary Israeli note as young male Orthodox Jews invade Keren’s shop and try to force her to return home, chastising her for daring to strike out on her own as a female — with a full head of hair, and other sins. Tarek intervenes and this becomes the beginning of a loving friendship, which reaches the brink of serious soul-mate status, until... The Jews and Arabs portrayed in the film are neither saints (except for the mothers, who are the Jewish and Muslim equivalents) nor outand-out villains. Both religions are not shown in the best light, to say the least, especially when the fanatics of the faith take control. While there are some holes in the plot — Tarek’s character could be more fully drawn, his motivation at the end is not fully

explained — nevertheless, For My Father attempts, mostly successfully, to show that Jews and Palestinians are capable of coexisting and — God forbid! — loving one another. See FILM FESTIVAL, page 29

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Shooting stars From page 1 descriptive images went out over the wire to appear in newspapers all over the country. Kobrin enjoyed several years with AP, but in 1950, when he was dispatched to Korea to cover the war, he said he reached a critical career impasse. “I was there for about a year and said, ‘That’s it — war is not for me.’” Leaving the assignment meant having to leave AP, yet by this time, he said, “I knew I didn’t want to be a newspaper man all my life, but I knew I wanted to be a photographer.” Returning to New York, he landed a po-

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2 — H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

sition with Look magazine, a photo-heavy direct competitor of Life that, he explained, differentiated itself with in-depth show business coverage. “That was my first introduction to celebrity photography,” he said. It also allowed him to make contacts in the entertainment field that would build throughout the next decades. He drew on those contacts when he relocated to Los Angeles in 1958. He now describes the period as ideal for celebrity photojournalism due to the popularity of such magazines as Modern Screen and Photoplay, and Hollywood’s dependence on the publications

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for promoting the film and TV industries. Between a heavy load of freelance and staff assignments, “I was in the entertainment business at that point,” he said. “I was still in the news business, but a very specialized type of news.” Due to his growing reputation, CBS snagged Kobrin in 1965 to be its director of photography. Then ABC hired him away in 1975 for 10 more years in the same role. He also continued building his roster of independent clients.

The Marilyn Monroe shoot But it was a single assignment many years before — in 1954 — that has come to be considered Kobrin’s best known career moment. Ironically, for him “it was very frustrating. There was nothing interesting about it,” he says now. As the official East Coast photographer and publicist for 20th Century Fox, he was assigned to a street scene in New York where stills of Marilyn Monroe and co-star Tom Ewell were to be shot to promote a new movie, The Seven Year Itch. The logistics for the shoot were endlessly complex, Kobrin said, and made all the more uncomfortable by the muggy heat of the mid-September night. Staging for the scene began at 11 p.m., with Monroe standing atop a subway tunnel air shaft and Kobrin and the rest of the crew waiting for a train to pass below and elevate the skirt on the actress’s dress for

an “accidental” glimpse at her underwear. Two hours passed without enough underground traffic or resulting breeze for the desired effect, and a crowd of curious spectators began to gather, eventually numbering more than a thousand. Meanwhile, Kobrin added, film director Billy Wilder was growing agitated with the setbacks. Finally a resourceful grip on the set rigged a blower beneath the subway grate, powered by a remote control, and the shoot resumed. But Monroe “was not a one-take actress,” Kobrin said. In fact, the scene required 35 separate takes “between her and her acting and the dress blowing to Billy Wilder’s satisfaction and getting the light right.” Kobrin admitted that he was growing weary from being up all night for an overly complicated assignment that also required shooting from numerous angles, including up and down on ladders. Adding to the overall tension, Monroe’s husband at the time, baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, was present and growing increasingly angry with the glorification of his wife’s sexuality and the enthusiastic gathering of onlookers. “Marilyn was ecstatic at the crowd’s reaction,” Kobrin said. But “DiMaggio was furious.” Before the shoot was over, the couple engaged in an enormous public argument that lead to divorce papers being filed the next day. See SHOOTING STARS page 29

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Monthly Membership Meetings JANUARY MEETING January, 25, 2012 • 8:30 – 10:00 a.m. Location: Gary L. Kauﬀman Funeral Home At Meadowridge Park Topic: Overview of Alzheimer’s disease and early manifestations Speaker: Dimitrios Kapogiannis, M.D. from National Institute of Aging - Alzheimers

FEBRUARY MEETING February 22, 2012 • 8:30 – 10:00 a.m. Location: Winter Growth, 5460 Ruth Keeton Way, Columbia, MD 21044 Speaker: Tom Balles COGS is an organization of senior care professionals working to improve the lives of seniors in our community. If you are a professional senior care provider and would like membership information, please email us at info@cogsmd.org

For more information email COGS Administrator at info@cogsmd.org or visit our website at www.cogsmd.org Coalition of Geriatric Services, Inc., P. O. Box 2131, Ellicott City, MD 21041

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Film festival From page 27 The movie will be shown in Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles.

Additional films in the series The second film in the series is The Infidel, a 2010 British comedy about a fairly well-adjusted, easy-going British Muslim who discovers fairly late in life that he was adopted at birth and is, in fact, Jewish.

Shooting stars From page 28 By the time the shoot was finally over at 5 a.m., “On the part of everybody, tempers were short,” Kobrin said. “When they heard ‘wrap,’ everybody ran like hell.” For his part in the overnight spectacle, Kobrin received $75 in staff pay, but that was not unusual. Regardless of how many significant celebrity images Kobrin has taken over the years, he receives no royalties from any, he said, because in every case, “I was a paid employee.”

Knowing the well-known Along with his up-close-and-personal camera work came the opportunity for Kobrin to get a glimpse into the personalities and characters of his popular subjects. Now, at the age of 90, he has also lived long enough to process the deaths of many of the celebrities with whom he was acquainted. On each loss, he shared, “You kind of reminisce a little and have kind of a tug of the heart.” Some of his noted subjects left specific impressions on him. James Dean, Kobrin explained, did not like having his picture taken, so a sort of “cat and mouse” game was necessary to get shots of him. “I think Sophia Loren is the sexiest woman alive — elegant, stylish,” he said. Catherine Deneuve is “beautiful” and Cary Grant was “the handsomest.” Frank Sinatra was difficult to work with, however — “I didn’t get along with him; didn’t like him,” Kobrin admitted. Of Monroe, Kobrin said that upon hearing of her death his first thought was, “I didn’t know it would happen, and I didn’t know when, but all the components were there” for her to die young.” He added that she couldn’t work under pressure and “the remedy that she chose

Among other potential dire consequences of his discovery is its effect on the impending wedding of his son to the stepdaughter of a radical Muslim cleric. Race, religion and British humor provide the ecumenical laughs. The Infidel will be screened on Feb. 11. A Hebrew Lesson, a 2006 Israeli documentary, will be shown March 10. The movie is in Hebrew, English, Chinese, Russian, German and Spanish — with English subtitles, fortunately. Portrayed in the award-winning

documentary are the lives of several just-arrived immigrants as they immerse themselves in the language, lifestyle and culture of their new Israeli homeland. The series winds up on April 21 with the showing of a 1925 silent film from the Soviet Union entitled — perhaps tongue-incheek, given the film’s setting of Czarist Russia — Jewish Luck. Based on stories by Sholem Aleichem, the movie revolves around the daydreams of a Jewish “entrepreneur” who refuses to

give up on his schemes, which are about as realistic as his dreams. All movies will begin at 8 p.m. at the Meeting House, 5885 Robert Oliver Place, Columbia. Tickets are $9 for a single film, $17 for two, $24 for three and $30 for all four films. Single tickets will be sold at the door only. Advance tickets for multiple films can be purchased at www.columbiajewish.org/film_series.shtml. See the website or call Tom Laufer at (410) 997-0694 for further information.

for that period…for her relaxation, of pills and champagne, played a very prominent part of her life.” At a book-signing and birthday party for Kobrin last November in Palm Springs, he was visited by Christian Larson, who had been a photography assistant for MGM in the late 1940s. Larson had applied body make-up to Monroe for some of her nude shots, and was often dispatched to pick her up from her Fairfax apartment and drive her to the studio. Larson came to meet Kobrin, noting “there’s not many of us left” from those days, and they spoke at length, sharing tales of the industry and impressions of Monroe, whom they agreed was terribly insecure. Larson recounted that Monroe would memorize passages from classic literature, feeling that would help her better fit in to intellectual society, and she would practice reciting them to him in the car. The primary focus of Kobrin’s life these days is promoting his book, which was developed in memory of his late wife Ginger, who passed away in 2003. During the last 10 years of her life, Kobrin said, his wife “kept saying ‘do a book, do a book,’ and like every dutiful husband, I said, ‘I will, I will,’ and never did and then she died.” He decided that the best way to honor her was to have the book published, and found that it has also kept his life active and social through setting up book-signing appointments and meeting people such as Larson at the various events.

scribed as exhausting and unpredictable. The constant travel, lugging of equipment, work-related conversation and cajoling, being on-call all the time — “It’s not only the physicality of the job, it’s the inside of you,” he explained. “There’s no way to predict or plan. Every day is different.” But in addition, he said, “The one thing I’m happiest about is that during my ca-

reer, we didn’t have, one, cell phones; two, computers; three, Internet.” Back then, he said, “Even if you’re in Poughkeepsie, they’re going to have to find you, and we never missed a deadline.” For more information or to obtain a copy of Bill Kobrin’s Stars and Celebrities, contact the photographer at (760) 772-0097. The clothbound books are $45 each.

High endurance, low-tech Reflecting on what he is proudest of about his career, Kobrin noted not the glamour or prestige of his work, nor his famous Monroe shot, nor any of his other images. Instead, he picked the “endurance and patience” that allowed him to make it through several decades of work that he de-

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A R C T A B S E T S T T A R E V L A M A R M A G E A R M U S T M E R G L I E U A N L P U E S T

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Word of the month Our Lively Language & Curious Customs

Valentine’s Day, February 14 Valentine’s Day appears to derive from two events: the death of St. Valentine, a Roman Christian who was martyred, and an older Roman tradition of match making. Valentine was killed for refusing to give up Christianity and for performing marriages in defiance of the emperor, Claudius the Cruel. Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine." He died on February 14, 269 A.D., during the three-day pagan festival of Lupercalia, which featured the custom of love lotteries. Young men would draw the name of a young woman from a jar, and the two became partners for the duration of the festival. Some of these pairings led to marriages. When Pope Gelasius I abolished Lupercalia, he appointed St. Valentine the patron saint of lovers and established St. Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14. Prepared for The Beacon Newspapers by Wizard Communications©. All rights reserved. Want to have a word/phrase or ritual/custom researched? Contact jpozga@verizon.net.

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Jan. 28

STRING QUARTETS COMBINE

The American String Quartet and Ariel String Quartet will perform separately and together for a concert featuring Mozart’s Quartet No. 17 in B-Flat Major and other works. The concert will be held on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 8 p.m., with a pre-concert discussion at 7:15 p.m., at the Smith Theatre in the Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center of Howard Community College, 10901 Little Patuxent Pkwy, Columbia. Tickets are $30 for adults, $28 for those 60 and over. Tickets may be purchased online by visiting www.candlelightconcerts.org or calling (410) 997-2324.

Jan. 29

FLAMENCO DANCERS

Arte Flamenco Dance Troupe, a local group directed by Natalie Monteleon, will perform on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 5 p.m. at the Other Barn, 5851 Robert Oliver Place, Columbia. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door, $5 for students. For more information, call (410) 7301129 or visit omcaorganizer@columbiavillages.org.

AMERICAN INDIAN HERITAGE PROGRAM

For those who embrace their American Indian heritage or want to know more about it, a free program on American Indian traditions and folklore, art, history, literature and songs will be presented on Monday, Feb. 13 at the Bain Center, 5470 Ruth Keeton Way, Columbia.

JUMBLE ANSWERS Jumbles: RE-ARM TRILL PLOWED BAFFLE Answer: He left the restaurant when the hostess said he had a -- "WAIT" PROBLEM

Feb. 13

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2 — H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

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2012 Community Seminar Series Offers Insight on Living Well Brooke Grove Retirement Village (BGRV) is pleased to launch its fourth year of Living Well Community Seminars beginning in February. Designed to help participants navigate a variety of healthcare and personal challenges, this year’s series offers an exciting array of experts ready to offer insights on topics that range from brain health to the benefits of humor in everyday life. Each free, monthly presentation will be held from 7 to 8:15 p.m. in the terrace level conference room of Brooke Grove Rehabilitation and Nursing Center and will be preceded by a complimentary light supper beginning at 6:30 p.m. They are open to the

public as well as to members of the BGRV family. The seminar series will kick off on Wednesday, February 15, with “Creativity, Longevity and Brain Health.” Michael Patterson, a brain health educator and board member of the National Center for Creative Aging, will discuss the creative brain and why engagement in creative activities can help ward off dementia and cognitive decline. “Everyone is born with the ability to be creative and can improve creativity throughout life,” he remarked. “Laugh for the Health of It!” on Thursday, March 15, with Humor Therapist Elaine Lundberg. She believes “If They’re Laughing, They’re Not Killing Each Other” and “No

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assisted living, rehabilitative, long-term care or memory support services. Reserve my seat for the February 15 “Creativity, Longevity and Brain Health” seminar. Reserve my seat for the March 15 “Laugh for the Health of It” seminar. Reserve my seat for the April 18 “Tough Decisions, Tough Love” seminar. Reserve my seat for the May 23 "Dining for Energy and Vitality" seminar.

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HB2/12

Please mail this coupon to: Brooke Grove Retirement Village, Attn: Community Relations, 18100 Slade School Road, Sandy Spring, MD 20860 Phone: 301-358-0721 Fax: 301-924-1200. Web: www.bgf.org

More Bummers.” This is her philosophy of life and the titles of her books. Her popular presentations educate, motivate and help anyone concerned with wellness and stress management in their lives. Participants should come prepared to laugh and will learn why and how to use positive humor in their life. According to Ms. Lundberg, “It’s never too late to learn how to lighten up!” On Wednesday, April 18, Geriatric Care Manager Cathy Lonas will take the podium to discuss “Tough Decisions, Tough Love: Can You Wait Until They are Ready?” The founder of Advocate 360, LLC, and a registered nurse, Ms. Lonas holds a master’s degree in marketing and gerontology and has been working with older adults and their families for 25 years. “When you see the decline and increasing frailty of your loved one, your head knows you have to make the tough decision, but your heart won’t follow,” she explained.

“Join us for a conversation on facing the challenges aging presents and how to know when it’s time to make a transition to long-term care.” Chef Bonita Woods of the Bonita Woods Wellness Foundation will demonstrate some of her favorite healthy, fiber-rich recipes and share samples with participants attending her “Dining for Energy and Vitality” seminar on Wednesday, May 23. According to Chef Woods, “diet and lifestyle have a huge impact on our health, energy and wellbeing. Many of the same ingredients that are good for a heart-healthy diet also help to maintain stable blood sugar and digestive comfort, keeping energy up and helping with weight management.” To attend, please RSVP to Director of Marketing Toni Davis at 301-924-2811, option 3, or tdavis@bgf.org by the Monday prior to each seminar.