November 2013 DC Beacon Edition by The Beacon Newspapers

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Cousins debut Holocaust opera

Result of serendipity The central relationship in the opera — between a Jewish survivor and a German descendant of a Nazi sympathizer — is fictitious, but several real-life relationships have determined the production and plot. How the opera came to be produced is a series of serendipitous coincidences, starting with the fact that Hamer’s parents live in the same retirement community in Rockville, Md. as the father of the conductor of the National Philharmonic orches-

NOVEMBER 2013

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PHOTO BY CHRISTOPER MEYERS

By Barbara Ruben When Mary Azrael was a young teen in the 1950s, she was inspired to become a writer by reading Anne Frank’s vivid descriptions of her life in hiding during World War II. But even when, as an adult, she spent a year living in Amsterdam and found herself coincidentally living around the corner from Frank’s home, Azrael never dreamed she would one day write an opera about the Holocaust. The Baltimore-based poet has written the libretto for a new opera in English that weaves together stories from the Holocaust and more modern times. It will be performed in its entirety for the first time on Nov. 9, at the Music Center at Strathmore in N. Bethesda. That is the 75th anniversary of kristallnacht — a night of violent Nazi attacks on Jews, synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses throughout Germany. For many, the “night of broken glass” marks the unofficial start to the Holocaust. The opera, Lost Childhood, is based in part on a memoir by psychiatrist Yehuda Nir, who went into hiding from the Nazis as a child. Lost Childhood takes place in Poland and Germany during World War II and in Manhattan in 1993. “The story,” noted Azrael, “is often darkly humorous and ultimately triumphant, as the family evades the monstrous power of the Third Reich.” The opera’s composer is Janice Hamer, Azrael’s cousin, with whom she’s collaborated on other choral pieces. “So we kind of blithely said, ‘Why not have an opera next?’ We somehow thought it would take a year or so to write, and it ended up taking 15,” Hamer said.

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LEISURE & TRAVEL

Voluntourism makes for the trip of a lifetime; plus, the scenic, winding road to Hana, Hawaii; renting a car and driving in Europe; and airlines offer a return to civility — at a price page 54

ARTS & STYLE

Janice Hamer, at the piano, composed the music for the opera Lost Childhood; Mary Azrael is the librettist. The opera, which will have its first performance on Nov. 9, deals with life in Poland during the Holocaust and the repercussions on two men more than a half century later.

World premiere play at Signature Theatre stars Christine Lahti; plus, Billy Crystal finds inspiration in hitting 65, and Bob Levey on cents and sense when taking away the car keys page 61

tra, Piotr Gajewski (pronounced Guyevski), and have attended several concerts together. Piotr’s father, Ryszard Gajewski, and his family were imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto — a tiny corner of the city where more than 400,000 Jews were forced to live. However, they managed to escape and, like Nir, hid in plain sight posing as Polish Catholics for the duration of the war. Ryszard Gajewski and Nir were both born in 1930 and lived in several of the same towns, although they never knew each other. A sad, additional parallel is that both men are now gravely ill and not expected to live much longer. “It felt somehow meant to be,” said Hamer,

63, when the elder Gajewski encouraged her to contact his son about possibly producing the opera.

A Wagner connection In addition to a fictionalized Nir, the opera is also built around a character much like the real-life Gottfried Wagner, the greatgrandson of composer Richard Wagner. In part because of Wagner’s anti-Semitism, Hitler found his music particularly appealing. Members of the Wagner family (Richard Wagner died 50 years before Hitler came to power) became friends with Hitler during the war. They provided Hitler See OPERA, page 64

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CAREERS & VOLUNTEERS 49 k Widening horizons for the blind PLUS CROSSWORD, BEACON BITS, CLASSIFIEDS & MORE

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With appreciation Each year, I look forward to fall, know- working tirelessly for months to make this ing that our annual 50+Expos can’t be far year’s events our best yet. behind. I so relish the opporThis is also a good time to tunity to see hundreds, even note some recent recognition thousands, of our readers in the Beacon has received from person, and to speak with two national journalism commany of you, as I did last petitions: the National Mamonth at our Maryland and ture Media Awards and the Virginia events. North American Mature PubThere is nothing so heartlishers Association (NAMPA) warming to a journalist as to awards competition. meet readers and hear accoThe Mature Media Awards lades and appreciation for is perhaps the most prestiour work, as well as construc- FROM THE gious of the competitions for tive criticism and sugges- PUBLISHER publications in our niche. tions for future articles. By Stuart P. Rosenthal This is the competition that is This year’s events were not often swept by AARP’s Buldisappointing. Both our Virginia Expo at letin and Magazine. Ballston Mall and our Maryland event at the Nearly every year we receive one or Silver Spring Civic Center were well-attend- more Mature Media Awards, and this year ed and hopping with excitement. Both of our we were thrilled to win seven: A Silver keynote talks were extremely well attended, Award for my (somewhat controversial) our exhibit areas, health screening and flu column of last December, “The Time is shot providers were crowded all afternoon, Ripe,” urging efforts to address Social Seand there were people swaying and dancing curity’s long-term issues, and a Bronze to the sounds of our band and guest soloists. Award for another column of mine (adI want to thank all of you who attended, dressing healthcare reform); three addiand especially those who brought friends tional Bronze Awards — two of them for and family along. I also want to thank our ex- cover stories written by Barbara Ruben hibitors and sponsors who make it possible (“Her homes change boys’ lives” and “Profor us to offer these free events each year. viding kids good counsel”), one for a cover I also owe a debt of thanks to all our story from our Coachella Valley (Calif.) staffers at the Beacon, who have been edition by Connie George (“Love after 50

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The Beacon is a monthly newspaper dedicated to inform, serve, and entertain the citizens of the Greater Washington DC area, and is privately owned. Other editions serve Greater Baltimore, Howard County, Md. and Greater Palm Springs, Calif. Readership exceeds 400,000. Subscriptions are available via first-class mail ($36) or third-class mail ($12), prepaid with order. D.C. and Maryland residents: add 6 percent for sales tax. Send subscription order to the office listed below. Publication of advertising contained herein does not necessarily constitute endorsement. Signed columns represent the opinions of the writers, and not necessarily the opinion of the publisher. • Publisher/Editor ....................Stuart P. Rosenthal • Associate Publisher..............Judith K. Rosenthal • Vice President of Operations ....Gordon Hasenei • Director of Sales ................................Alan Spiegel • Managing Editor............................Barbara Ruben • Graphic Designer ..............................Kyle Gregory • Assistant Operations Manager ..........Roger King • Advertising Representatives ........Doug Hallock, ................................................Dan Kelly, Cheryl Watts • Publishing Assistant ....................Rebekah Sewell

The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915 (301) 949-9766 • Email: info@thebeaconnewspapers.com Website: www.theBeaconNewspapers.com Submissions: The Beacon welcomes reader contributions. Deadline for editorial is the 10th of the month preceding the month of publication. Deadline for ads is the 15th of the month preceding the month of publication. See page 71 for classified advertising details. Please mail or email all submissions.

still going strong”); and two Merit Awards — one for another cover story by Connie, and one in general recognition of our Greater Washington edition. At the NAMPA convention this year, our four editions of the Beacon garnered so many awards that they asked me to stay near the announcer so I wouldn’t hold up the proceedings walking back and forth from my seat! For example, for best Profile, Anne Ball won first place in the 20,000 copies and under category for a cover story in our Howard County edition, “Dentist is astronomy rock star.” In the same size category, Connie George won third place for a cover in our Coachella edition, “Born to be a lifelong showgirl.” For best Profile in the 20,001-50,000 circulation category, Carol Sorgen (contributing editor for our Baltimore edition) won first place for her cover story “A refugee’s artistic journey,” and Barbara Ruben (managing editor of all our editions) won first place for “Her homes change boys’ lives,” in the 50,001-100,000+ category, our Greater Washington edition. Carol also won first place awards for her Arts Review stories, for a Community Service article, and second place for Feature Writing. Barbara also won first place awards for Feature Writing and for a Topical Issue story. Two cover stories by Robert Friedman, who writes for our Howard County edition, also won first-place awards. The judges (from the University of Missouri School of Journalism) called his cover story, “Muslim community reaches out,” “a fine piece of journalism.” Our travel writer, Victor Block won first place for his Travel Columns, and our new publishing assistant, Rebekah Sewell, won first place for her story in our Greater Washington Housing Options section about “Communities designed for military vets.” Our theater reviewer, Michael Toscano, won first place for his “in-depth reviews” in our Washington edition, and in the Person-

al Essay category, both Bob Levey and I won awards for our regular columns. The best news came last: both our Baltimore and Washington editions won General Excellence awards for their “inventive topics and entertaining features throughout,” and our Baltimore edition won Best of Show for amassing the most honors in its division. Of course, whatever awards we do or do not win, what always matters most to us is what you, our readers, think. We value your opinion, always welcome your input, and ask that you share your comments and suggestions with us via mail, e-mail, phone or fax. We love to hear from you. I want to conclude by expressing my thanks to, and admiration for, the entire Beacon staff, which works so diligently to produce our four editions every month. I’d like to thank them by name for their efforts and devoted contributions to the Beacon: Managing Editor Barbara Ruben, Contributing Editor Carol Sorgen, Director of Operations Gordon Hasenei, Director of Sales Alan Spiegel, Graphic Designer Kyle Gregory, Asst. Operations Manager (and webmaster) Roger King, Advertising Representatives Doug Hallock, Steve Levin, Cheryl Watts, Dan Kelly and Jill Joseph, Publishing Assistant Rebekah Sewell, and last but certainly not least, my wife and Associate Publisher Judy Rosenthal. We also are grateful for the many contributions of our talented freelancers, including Robert Friedman and Anne Ball in Howard County, Connie George in Coachella Valley, travel writers Victor Block and Glenda Booth, theater reviewer Michael Toscano, and freelance photographer Frank Klein. The Beacon would not exist without all of their efforts, nor without you reading our publications. My appreciation goes out to all of you.

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 email to barbara@thebeaconnewspapers.com. Please include your name, address and telephone number for verification. Dear Editor: I am 86 years old. I have many grandchildren, great grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren. I buy birthday cards every month, usually at the Hallmark store in Montgomery Mall. Birthday card displays keep cards for great grandchildren at the bottoms of their displays. Who buys cards for great grandchildren? Older people. I have to get on my knees every time I look for great grandchildren birthday cards. I can get down on my knees OK, but usually have great difficulty getting back up.

I complained to the Hallmark store personnel and was told that Hallmark dictates how they must display their cards. I emailed Hallmark, but was told they don’t control the displays. I visited a Safeway store after that experience and found the same situation. A Safeway clerk told me the same thing: Hallmark and other card companies control how cards are displayed. Someone (either Hallmark or the store clerks) is not telling me the truth, but what really bothers me is that this smacks See LETTERS TO EDITOR, page 67

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The Kennedy Center or Strathmore Music Center

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Do you live in, work in, or visit the District of Columbia? If so, please help us gather information that will help D.C. become a more Age-Friendly City! 1. What jurisdiction do you live in?

❒ Washington, D.C. ❒ Maryland ❒ Virginia ❒ Other (__________________) 1 b. What is your home Zip code?__________

I am proud to serve on the Age-Friendly D.C. Task Force to assist Mayor Gray and the District of Columbia government in determining how best to address the needs of D.C.'s older residents and visitors. Please help me by completing the following Stuart Rosenthal Publisher survey and mailing it back to the Beacon. All completed surveys received by November 29, 2013 will be entered into a random drawing for tickets to either the NSO Pops holiday concert at the Kennedy Center or the Ultimate Doo-Wop Show at Strathmore. Thank you!

❒ Reliable transportation options ❒ Handicap parking ❒ Enough time to cross the street safely ❒ Well-maintained sidewalks reserved for pedestrians ❒ Training for drivers to be patient, courteous, helpful

1.c. If you live in D.C., which ward do you live in?__________________

8. To improve housing for older adults, the following is most important to me: (check one)

1. d. If you live in D.C., for how long have you lived there?

❒ Less than a year ❒ 1-4 years ❒ 5-9 years ❒ 10-19 years ❒ 20-29 years ❒ 30-39 years ❒ 40-49 years ❒ 50+ years

❒ Living close to Metro, shopping and services ❒ Affordability ❒ Handicap accessibility ❒ Dedicated parking ❒ Ability to “age in place” and not have to go to a

2. What type of housing do you live in?

nursing home ❒ Help with repairs, renovations and maintenance

❒ Apartment or Condo ❒ House ❒ Seniors-Only Apartment or Community ❒ Other (_____________________________)

9. To increase participation in social, cultural and religious activities, the following is most important to me: (check one)

13. To ensure healthcare needs are met and to maintain and restore health and wellbeing, the following is most important to me: (check one)

❒ Information about preventive care and ways to stay healthy ❒ Explanation of “Obamacare” changes and the new benefits exchange ❒ Easily accessible, 24-hour urgent care services ❒ In-home care services (home health aide, house calls, phone and video access to doctors and nurses, etc.) ❒ Programs to reduce prescription medication costs

14. To prepare and support older residents during an emergency (hurricane, snowstorm, terrorist attack, etc.), and ensure their safety, wellness and resiliency, the following is most important to me: (check one)

❒ Knowing what to do before an emergency happens

❒ More choices for social activities for older adults ❒ Affordability of activities ❒ Transportation and access to activities ❒ Communication about activities and events ❒ Having someone to go with

(supplies to keep at home, training and practice drills, who to contact, etc.) ❒ Being connected to a support network in an emergency ❒ Safety for those with health issues or limited mobility ❒ Ability to bounce back after an emergency

❒ Under 50 ❒ 50 – 59 ❒ 60 – 69 ❒ 70 – 79 ❒ 80 and above

10. To support diversity, interaction and dialogue with others of all ages, and overall respect and inclusion, the following is most important to me: (check one)

5. What is your race/ethnicity?

❒ City-wide activities for people of all ages ❒ Invitations to comment on plans for city policies

15. To prevent and prosecute cases of financial exploitation, neglect and physical, sexual and emotional abuse of older residents, the following is most important to me: (check one)

3. What is your preferred language?

❒ English ❒ Spanish ❒ French ❒ Mandarin/Cantonese ❒ Vietnamese ❒ Korean ❒ Amharic ❒ Sign Language ❒ Other (_____________________________) 4. What is your approximate age?

❒ Asian or Pacific Islander ❒ African American/Black ❒ Hispanic/Latino ❒ White ❒ Other (______________________)

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How would you make DC a more agefriendly place? Please answer the next 10 questions based on your own feelings about living in, working in or visiting D.C. There are no right or wrong answers. We want to know what's most important to you.

and programs ❒ Media campaigns with positive messages and images of older adults in the community ❒ Ability to be included in activities and events (wheelchair access, translation, large print, etc.)

❒ Harsher penalties for scams, exploitation and abuse ❒ Access to free legal counseling ❒ Hot-lines to report scams and abuse ❒ Programs to educate older adults to identify scams, abuse and fraud

Please provide your name and telephone number or e-mail address so we may contact 11. To promote paid work and volunteer you if you win the ticket drawing. We never opportunities for older residents, the follow- sell or share your personal information. ing is most important to me: (check one)

❒ Retraining opportunities to update knowledge and skills 6. To improve the accessibility and availabil- ❒ Promotion of the advantages of older volunteers to

Name:

organizations with volunteer programs ❒ Create more work-from-home options ❒ Incentives for employers to hire qualified older adults

Phone:

ity of safe recreational facilities, the following is most important to me: (check one)

❒ Programs and services close to home ❒ Accessible buildings (with ramps, elevators, automatic doors, handicap restrooms, etc.) ❒ “Adult Only” activities (special days, times and areas set aside for older adults) ❒ Safe and clean facilities (clear building signage, good lighting, well maintained grounds, regular police patrols, etc.) 7. To allow for safe and affordable private and public transportation, the following is most important to me: (check one)

❒ Ability to travel to all parts of the city ❒ Affordable transportation options

12. To keep older residents connected to their friends, family and community, the following is most important to me: (check one)

❒ Access to free or low cost cell phone, cable and Internet plans ❒ Computer training for older adults (general computer use, Internet, email, Skype, etc.) ❒ Free computer/Internet access at senior centers, libraries and other gathering places ❒ Accessible communication (large print, translations, Braille, not just online - radio, TV and print, too, etc.)

Email:

Please complete this page in full and mail to: The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915 FEEL FREE TO INCLUDE IN THE SAME ENVELOPE OUR FREE INFORMATION COUPON FOUND ON PAGE 5.

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Health Fitness &

NEW TOOL TO QUIT SMOKING E-cigarettes work as well as nicotine patches to help smokers kick the habit RAISE A TOAST TO GRAPE JUICE In some ways, grape juice may provide more health benefits than red wine A WORLD GROWING OLDER Most countries aren’t ready to support swelling aging populations CANCER CARE CRISIS Patients (and docs) need better information on treatment choices, costs

The right bacteria might help fight obesity By Lauran Neergaard Call it a hidden ally: The right germs just might be able to help fight fat. Different kinds of bacteria that live inside the gut can help spur obesity or protect against it, say scientists at Washington University in St. Louis who transplanted intestinal germs from fat or lean people into mice and watched the rodents change. And what they ate determined whether the good germs could move in and do their job. The report in the journal Science raises the possibility of one day turning gut bacteria into personalized fat-fighting therapies, and it may help explain why some people have a harder time losing weight than others do. “It’s an important player,’’ said Dr. David Relman of Stanford University, who also studies how gut bacteria influence health but wasn’t involved in the new research. “This paper says that diet and microbes are necessary companions in all of this. They literally and figuratively feed each other.’’

Our intestines differ We all develop with an essentially sterile digestive tract. Bacteria rapidly move in starting at birth — bugs that we pick up from

mom and dad, the environment, first foods. Ultimately, the intestine teems with hundreds of species, populations that differ in people with varying health. Overweight people harbor different types and amounts of gut bacteria than lean people, for example. The gut bacteria we pick up as children can stick with us for decades, although their makeup changes when people lose weight, previous studies have shown. Clearly, what you eat and how much you move are key to how much you weigh. But are those bacterial differences a contributing cause of obesity, rather than simply the result of it? If so, which bugs are to blame, and might it be possible to switch out the bad actors? To start finding out, Washington University graduate student Vanessa Ridaura took gut bacteria from eight people — four pairs of twins that each included one obese sibling and one lean sibling. One pair of twins was identical, ruling out an inherited explanation for their different weights. Using twins also guaranteed similar childhood environments and diets. She transplanted the human microbes into the intestines of young mice that had been raised germ-free.

Some surprising findings The mice who received gut bacteria from the obese people gained more weight — and experienced unhealthy metabolic changes — even though they didn’t eat more than the mice who received germs from the lean twins, said study senior author Dr. Jeffrey Gordon, director of Washington University’s Center of Genome Sciences and Systems Biology. Then came what Gordon calls the battle of the microbes. Mice that harbored gut bacteria from a lean person were put in the same cages as mice that harbored the obesity-prone germs. The research team took advantage of an icky fact of rodent life: Mice eat feces, so presumably they could easily swap intestinal bugs. What happened was a surprise. Certain bacteria from the lean mice invaded the intestines of the fatter mice, and their weight and metabolism improved. But the trade was one-way — the lean mice weren’t adversely affected. However, the fatter mice got the bacterial benefit only when they were fed a lowfat, high-fiber diet. When Ridaura substituted the higher-fat, lower-fiber diet typical of Americans, the protective bug swap didn’t occur.

Why? Gordon already knew from human studies that obese people harbor less diverse gut bacteria. “It was almost as if there were potential job vacancies’’ in their intestines that the lean don’t have, he explained. Sure enough, a closer look at the mice that benefited from the bug swap suggests a specific type of bacteria, from a family named Bacteroidetes, moved into previously unoccupied niches in their colons — if the rodents ate right. How might those findings translate to people? For a particularly hard-to-treat diarrheal infection, doctors sometimes transplant stool from a healthy person into the sick person’s intestine. [See “Pills made from poop cure gut infections,” page 10.] Some scientists wonder if fecal transplants from the lean to the fat might treat obesity, too. But Gordon foresees a less invasive alternative: Determining the best combinations of intestinal bacteria to match a person’s diet, and then growing those bugs in sterile lab dishes — like this study could — and turning them into pills. He estimates such an attempt would take at least five more years of research. — AP

Is it viral or bacterial? New test may tell By Lauran Neergaard It happens too often: A doctor isn’t sure what’s causing someone’s feverish illness but prescribes antibiotics just in case — drugs that won’t work if a virus is the real culprit. Now Duke University researchers are developing a blood test to more easily tell when a respiratory illness is due to a virus and not a bacterial infection, hoping to cut the dangerous overuse of antibiotics and speed the right diagnosis. It works by taking a fingerprint of your immune system — how its genes are revving up to fight the bug. That’s very different from how infections are diagnosed today. And if the experimental test pans out, it also promises to help doctors track brand-new threats, like the next flu pandemic or that mysterious MERS virus that has erupted in the Middle East. That viral “signature could be quite pow-

erful and may be a game-changer,’’ said Dr. Geoffrey Ginsburg, Duke’s genomic medicine chief. He leads the team that recently reported on a study that provided early evidence the test can work. Today, when symptoms alone aren’t enough for diagnosis, a doctor’s suspicion guides what tests are performed — tests that work by hunting for evidence of a specific pathogen. Fever and cough? If it’s flu season, you might be tested for the flu virus. An awful sore throat? Chances are you’ll get checked for strep bacteria. A negative test can leave the doctor wondering what germ to check for next, or whether to make a best guess. Moreover, rapid in-the-office tests aren’t always accurate and can miss infections. So patients may have blood or other samples sent to labs to try to grow any lurking bacteria and tell if it’s to blame — addition-

al testing that can take days. “This is something we struggle with every day,’’ said Dr. Octavio Ramilo, infectious disease chief at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, who wasn’t involved in the new study. Particularly with children, a respiratory virus and a bacterial infection “in the beginning look completely alike,’’ he added.

Hints from our immune systems Hence researchers at a number of universities are trying to harness a fairly recent discovery: As your immune system detects an invading bug, different genes are activated to fend off a viral infection than to fight a bacterial or fungal one. Those subtle molecular changes appear to be occurring even before you feel any symptoms. And they form distinct patterns of RNA and proteins — what’s called a genomic fingerprint.

The Duke team discovered 30 genes that are switched on in different ways during a viral attack. The test essentially is a freeze-frame to show “what those genes are doing at the moment in time that it’s captured,’’ explained Duke lead researcher Dr. Aimee Zaas, an infectious disease specialist. Small studies spotted that viral signature in people who volunteered to be infected with different influenza strains for science. For a more real-world simulation, the researchers then analyzed blood samples stored from 102 feverish people who had come to the emergency room — and who were eventually diagnosed, the old-fashioned way, with either some type of virus or a bacterial infection. The genomic test proved 89 percent acSee VIRUS TEST, page 5

Suburban Hospital opened its doors Dec. 13, 1943 and is about to celebrate its 70 year anniversary. If you were born at Suburban Hospital during 1943, they are looking for you to share stories as part of their hospital’s celebration. If you are willing to share, call (301) 869-3939 or email info@suburbanhospital.org.

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Why would a doctor want to know merely that a virus is present and not which virus? That’s enough information to rule out antibiotics, Zaas said. Unnecessary antibiotic use is one factor in the growing problem of drug-resistant germs, which the government blames for more than 23,000 deaths a year.

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curate in sorting out who had a virus, and did even better at ruling out those who didn’t, Zaas reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine. It took 12 hours to get results. The researchers hope to speed that up so that it might work as quickly as some in-office tests. Still, “it’s a promising tool,’’ said Ramilo, an Ohio State University professor who is doing similar research. He called the Duke study an important step toward creating a commercial test, and predicts one might reach the market within five years.

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Plus, if a dangerous new virus begins spreading, like MERS, this approach could help avoid quarantining people unnecessarily by telling right away which ones are virus-free, Ginsburg added. In Ohio, Ramilo is exploring a more immediate need: When young infants have high fevers, they’re often hospitalized while doctors run a battery of tests to find the fraction who have a serious bacterial infection. He is leading a study involving 22 pediatric emergency rooms to see if a genomic fingerprint approach could separate which babies really need all that testing. But the virus-or-not question is just the beginning, Ramilo said. His research suggests genomic fingerprints also can distinguish a flu strain from other common viruses. And the Duke team is analyzing a huge study of students living in dormitories, to see if the genomic test detected who was incubating the flu before their first sniffle — and thus might be useful in stemming outbreaks. — AP

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E-cigarettes effectively help smokers quit By Maria Cheng Electronic cigarettes worked just as well as nicotine patches to help smokers quit, according to the first study to compare them. E-cigarettes are battery-operated products that look like real cigarettes and turn nicotine into a vapor inhaled by the user. Since the devices hit the market nearly a decade ago, sales have spiked so quickly some analysts predict they will outsell traditional cigarettes within a decade. E-cigarettes are often marketed as a less

harmful alternative to traditional smokes, and come in flavors including cinnamon, vanilla and cherry. “This research provides an important benchmark for e-cigarettes,’’ said Chris Bullen, director of the National Institute for Health Innovation at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, the study’s lead author. Until now, there has been little information about the effectiveness or safety of ecigarettes. “We have now shown they are about as effective as a standard nicotine re-

placement product,” Bullen said.

Nicotine is key Bullen and colleagues recruited 657 adult smokers in Auckland who wanted to quit for the study. Nearly 300 got nicotinecontaining e-cigarettes while roughly the same number got nicotine patches. Just over 70 people got placebo e-cigarettes without any nicotine. Each group used the e-cigarettes or patches for 13 weeks. After six months, similar rates of smokers — 6 to 7 percent — managed to quit after using either the nicotine-containing e-cigarettes or patches. Only 4 percent of smokers using the placebo e-cigarettes successfully quit. Among smokers who hadn’t managed to quit, nearly 60 percent of those using e-cigarettes had cut down the number of cigarettes smoked by at least half, versus 41 percent of those using nicotine patches. Smokers were also much bigger fans of the e-cigarettes; nearly 90 percent of users said they would recommend them to a friend, compared to just over half of people who got patches. Researchers also found similar rates of side effects in smokers that used the e-cigarettes and the patches. The most common side effect in all groups was breathing problems. The study was published in the journal Lancet.

Recommend or regulate? Peter Hajek, an anti-smoking expert at Queen Mary University of London, called it a “pioneering’’ study and said health officials should seriously consider recommending e-cigarettes to smokers who want to quit or cut down. “E-cigarettes also have the potential to

replace cigarettes as a consumer product, so their value is not just as a treatment,’’ he said. Hajek authored an accompanying commentary in the Lancet. “That could stop the tobacco-related disease and death epidemic if everyone switches to a safer way of nicotine delivery,’’ he said. Hajek said that even though more studies were needed on the long-term safety of e-cigarettes, there weren’t any imminent warning signs. “E-cigarettes may not be perfectly safe, but even if some currently unknown risk materializes, they are likely to be orders of magnitude safer than normal cigarettes,’’ he said. The European Union and Britain are planning to regulate e-cigarettes as medical devices, a decision that has provoked criticism from some scientists who argue that would limit their availability to help smokers, while cigarettes are not as tightly regulated. It is the tar and other toxins in cigarettes that are deadly, not the nicotine. In the U.S., the FDA plans to assert regulatory authority over the fast-growing category in the near future. E-cigarettes could also still be regulated as drugs or drug-delivery devices, if they are “marketed for therapeutic purposes’’ — for example, as a stop-smoking aid. Bullen suggested e-cigarettes could be monitored like lifestyle or consumer products to avoid restricting their access. “There needs to be a middle ground where regulation is commensurate with the risk,’’ he said. “For people who are dependent on nicotine, we’ve got to provide them with a safer alternative...crushing their availability completely will be bad for public health.’’ To read the article online, go to http://bit.ly/ecigarettestudy. — AP

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Questions answered on eyes, ears, legs From Harvard Health Letter Q: Can heart or kidney issues cause bags under your eyes? What else might cause them? How do I get rid of those bags? A: Yes, heart or kidney disease can contribute to “bags under the eyes.” And puffy eyes may actually be the first sign of a medical problem. That’s because puffy eyes often become more noticeable with any condition that causes fluid retention. Liver disease, kidney problems or heart failure are potential culprits. Any medicine that causes you to retain fluid may make puffy eyes get worse, as well. Here are some other causes of bags under the eyes: 1. Normal aging. The skin around the eyes is normally thinner and looser than skin elsewhere on the body. As we age, it becomes even looser and thinner. This allows fluid to collect, causing a puffy appearance. Veins under the skin can create the dark appearance of the skin. 2. Sleep position. Lying horizontal can make it easier for fluid to collect beneath the eyes. It can also dilate the veins under the eyes, which darkens the appearance of the skin even more. 3. Nasal congestion. Veins around the eyelids may drain into the nose. Nasal congestion or seasonal allergies also cause the

veins under the eyes to dilate. 4. Genetics. Some people have an inherited tendency toward puffy eyes. Contrary to popular belief, having bags under your eyes is not a reliable indication of being tired or sleepy. The standard recommendations are to get plenty of rest and seek treatment for any medical condition that may be contributing to the problem. Topical treatments, such as moisturizers and vitamins, may help. Other options include makeup, laser treatments and cosmetic surgery. Placing cucumbers over the eyes is an unproven remedy, but is unlikely to make things worse. As puffiness under the eyes may be a normal part of aging, there’s one more option: acceptance. —Robert H. Shmerling, M.D. is a practicing physician in rheumatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Mass., and an Associate Professor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Q: My 42-year-old son suddenly lost hearing in one ear. They did some blood tests, and he was given steroids. But he has not improved. Is there anything else that can be done? A: There are two basic types of hearing loss: conductive and sensorineural. Conductive hearing loss happens when

something keeps sound waves from traveling through the ear. The obstacle can be anything from a chunk of earwax, to inflamed tissue, to a benign growth. Sensorineural hearing loss is a problem stemming from one of two things. It can be a problem with the intricate apparatus that translates sound waves into nerve impulses (the sensory part of sensorineural). Or it can be a problem with the auditory nerve that sends those impulses to the brain (the neural part).

I can’t stress enough the importance of getting a hearing test as soon as possible if you’ve lost hearing suddenly. Early diagnosis and treatment can prevent permanent damage and loss of hearing. Judging by the steroid treatment your son received, my guess is that he had a sensorineural problem caused by inflammation. “Steroids” in this instance is short for See Qs & As, page 8

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HAVE A LOVED ONE WITH DEMENTIA?

The Hebrew Home of Greater Washington and the Alzheimer’s Association of the National Capital Area are presenting informative sessions for families who have a loved one experiencing memory loss or dementia. These Wednesday sessions are free and open to caregivers and families in the community. November sessions include Nov. 6, “The Changing Family Dynamics;” Nov. 13, “Resources in the Community;” and Nov. 20, “Future Planning and Strength Building.” Each session begins at 7 p.m. in the Wasserman Residence Conservatory, 6121 Montrose Rd., Rockville, Md. To register, call (301) 770-8408.

corticosteroids. They are powerful anti-inflammatories. They should not be confused with the anabolic steroids used by athletes to get stronger. Early treatment with corticosteroids has the potential to reverse the inflammation before there is permanent damage. But it doesn’t always work. Your son should ask his doctor about a bone-anchored hearing aid. It can be very useful for people with one-sided sensorineural hearing loss. The procedure doesn’t restore nerve function. But it can make it easier for him to hear with the good ear without always turning his head. —Howard LeWine, M.D., is a practicing internist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Mass., and Chief Medical Editor of Internet Publishing at Harvard Health Publications, Harvard Medical School. Q. I’ve had restless legs syndrome for years. Is there anything I can take for it that won’t cause side effects? A. Unfortunately, there’s no medicine for any condition that has zero risk of causing side effects. But there are plenty of

medicines for which the risks are small and temporary, and nondrug treatments help some patients. As you know, restless legs syndrome (RLS) causes unpleasant sensations in, and sudden spontaneous movements of, the legs — typically during sleep or when at rest during the day. RLS is much more likely to occur in people with iron deficiency, diabetes and certain other conditions. Diagnosing and treating these conditions can eliminate RLS. The problem also can be provoked or made worse by nicotine and high intake of caffeine or alcohol, and improved by quitting smoking and reducing caffeine and alcohol. For mildly affected people, exercises, heating pads or hot tubs may give sufficient relief. If such nondrug treatments do not give enough symptom relief, then there are several medicines that are quite effective for restless legs syndrome. —Anthony L. Komaroff, M.D., Editor in Chief, Harvard Health Letter For additional consumer health information, please visit www.health.harvard.edu. © 2013 President and fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc.

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Pills made from poop cure gut infections

By Marilynn Marchione Hold your nose and don’t spit out your coffee: Doctors have found a way to put bacteria from healthy people’s poop into pills that can cure serious gut infections — a less yucky way to do “fecal transplants.” Canadian researchers tried this on 27 patients and cured them all after strong antibiotics failed to help. It’s a gross topic but a serious problem. Half a million Americans get Clostridium difficile, or C-diff, infections each year, and about 14,000 die. The germ causes nausea, cramping and diarrhea so bad it is often disabling. A very potent and pricey antibiotic can kill C-diff, but also destroys good bacteria that live in the gut, leaving it more susceptible to future infections.

Recently, studies have shown that fecal transplants — giving infected people stool from a healthy donor — can restore that balance. But they’re given through expensive, invasive procedures like colonoscopies or throat tubes. Doctors also have tried giving the stool through enemas, but the treatment doesn’t always take hold. There even are YouTube videos on how to do a similar treatment at home via an enema. A study in a medical journal of a small number of these “do-it-yourself” cases suggests the approach is safe and effective.

Custom made pills are clean, safe Dr. Thomas Louie, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Calgary, devised a better way — a one-time treatment

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custom-made for each patient. Donor stool, usually from a relative, is processed in the lab to take out food and extract the bacteria and clean it. It is packed into triple-coated gel capsules so they won’t dissolve until they reach the intestines. “There’s no stool left — just stool bugs. These people are not eating poop,” and there are no smelly burps because the contents aren’t released until they’re well past the stomach, Louie said. Days before starting the treatment, patients are given an antibiotic to kill the Cdiff. On the morning of the treatment, they have an enema so “the new bacteria coming in have a clean slate,” Louie said. It takes 24 to 34 capsules to fit the bacteria needed for a treatment, and patients down them in one sitting. The pills make their way to the colon and seed it with the normal variety of bacteria. Louie described 27 patients treated this way at IDWeek, an infectious diseases conference in San Francisco. All had suffered at least four C-diff infections and relapses, but none had a recurrence after taking the poop pills. Margaret Corbin, 69, a retired nurse’s aide from Calgary, told of the misery of Cdiff. “It lasted for two years. It was horrible. I thought I was dying. “I couldn’t eat. Every time I ate anything

or drank water I was into the bathroom,” she said. “I never went anywhere, I stayed home all the time.” With her daughter as the donor, she took pills made by Louie two years ago, and “I’ve been perfectly fine since,” Corbin said. Dr. Curtis Donskey of the Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, who has done fecal transplants through colonoscopies, praised the work. “The approach that Dr. Louie has is completely novel — no one else has done this,” he said. “I am optimistic that this type of preparation will make these procedures much easier for patients and for physicians.”

Researching wider applications The treatment now must be made fresh for each patient so the pills don’t start to dissolve at room temperature, because their water content would break down the gel coating. Minnesota doctors are testing freezing stool, which doesn’t kill the bacteria, so it could be stored and shipped anywhere a patient needed it. “You could have a universal donor in Minnesota provide a transplant for someone in Florida. That’s where we’re heading,” Donskey said. Other researchers are trying to find See GUT INFECTIONS, page 11

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A toast to benefits of red wine, grape juice The buzz about the benefits of red wine has many of us drinking a glass to good health. And for those who choose not to imbibe, it turns out the booze behind the buzz may not be necessary. Grape juice and dealcoholized wine can offer similar benefits. Studies show that a daily glass or two of red wine may lower the risk of heart disease. While alcohol content may be partially responsible for wine’s ability to relax blood vessels and increase levels of “good” (HDL) cholesterol, the hearty concentration of flavonoid compounds, such as anthocyanin, catechins and resveratrol, play their own role in heart health by boosting antioxidants. It comes as no surprise that purple grape juice — essentially unfermented red wine — boasts flavonoid compounds, as well. Grape flavonoids seem to have similar protective effects in juice as they have in wine. Studies show that these compounds help prevent the oxidation of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol that leads to plaque formation and build-up inside artery walls. According to a study in the journal Circulation, when 15 patients with cardiovascular disease were given a glass of grape juice each day for two weeks, their LDL oxidation was significantly reduced and blood flowed more freely through the arteries. And according to preliminary research in a 2007 Cardiovascular Research study, grape juice stimulated the production of nitric acid in cells lining the arteries, which allows for improved blood flow.

Grape juice better in some ways The flavonoid content in grape juice was shown to be similar to that of red wine. In addition, a study in the Journal of Biomedical Biotechnology found that one member of the flavonoid family in particular — anthocyanins — were better absorbed from grape juice than from red wine. The researchers believe the higher natural sugar content of grape juice may aid absorption. Furthermore, the absence of alcohol may boost the amount of time these antioxi-

Gut infections From page 10 which bacteria most help fight off C-diff. Those might be grown in a lab dish and given to patients rather than the whole spectrum of bacteria in stool. The hope is “we could administer that as a probiotic in a pill form,” Donskey said. Louie sees potential for the poop pills for other people with out-of-whack gut bacteria, such as hospitalized patients vulnerable to antibiotic-resistant germs. “This approach, to me, has wide application in medicine,” he said. “So it’s not just about C-diff.” Learn more about C-diff from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at www.cdc.gov/HAI/organisms/cdiff/Cdiff _infect.html. — AP

dant compounds stay in the body, according to findings reported in the January 2000 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. When volunteers were given red wine and then a de-alcoholized version of the same red wine, catechin flavonoids remained in the blood more than four hours in the volunteers who drank the nonalcoholic wine, but just over three hours in those who drank the wine with alcohol.

But red wine has resveratrol Red wine comes out on top, however, when it comes to resveratrol, which has been linked with preventing heart disease and cancer in preliminary studies. Resveratrol is extracted from the skins of the grapes during the fermentation phase of winemaking, which doesn’t occur in grape juice. Both red wine and grape juice can, in moderation, be a healthy addition to a balanced

diet that includes a variety of nutritious foods. Treat yourself to no more than one glass of wine a day for women and two for men. Or, enjoy a four-ounce glass of grape juice a day — be sure to scan labels for 100 percent juices with no added sugars.

Reprinted with permission from Environmental Nutrition, a monthly publication of Belvoir Media Group, LLC. 1-800-8295384. Www.Environmentalnutrition.Com. © 2013 Belvoir Media Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Lyme disease more common than thought By Patrick J. Skerrett The 30,000 cases of Lyme disease reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) each year are just the tip of the iceberg. According to a new CDC estimate, more than 300,000 Americans are diagnosed with the tick-borne disease each year. Although Lyme disease has been diagnosed in almost every state, most cases reported to the CDC are in the Northeast and upper Midwest. In fact, 96 percent of cases come from 13 states. Maryland and Virginia make the list.

Spread by bite from tiny tick Lyme disease is a zoonotic disease, meaning a disease spread between animals

and humans. It is caused by a bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi, which lives in mice and deer. These corkscrew-shaped bacteria, called spirochetes, get into black-legged ticks when they feed on an infected animal. They migrate to the tick’s salivary glands, and, if the tick bites a person, are injected into the bloodstream. In some people, the immune system destroys the bacteria before they can do any damage. In others, they grow and multiply, causing an infection. Symptoms include a bull’s-eye-shaped rash, fever, headache and fatigue. Treatment with antibiotics can usually prevent any short- or long-term repercussions, said Dr. Robert H. Shmerling, a rheumatolo-

gist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston, Mass.) and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. If the infection isn’t treated, problems can develop in other parts of the body, including the joints, heart and nerves. It can also cause arthritis that persists months or years after the tick bite. Some people with Lyme disease and some doctors have argued that Borrelia burgdorferi can somehow evade courses of antibiotics and become a chronic infection that needs long-term antibiotic treatment — even though conventional antibody tests are negative. Chronic Lyme disease has been blamed for causing pain, fatigue, muscle aches, loss of memory and thinking skills, and a host of other problems.

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Like most communicable diseases, Lyme disease is largely preventable, according to Dr. Shmerling. Avoid being bitten by a blacklegged tick (also known as a deer tick), and you won’t get Lyme disease. There are two main ways to do that — stay out of brush and high grass in and around wooded areas, or get out in nature and protect yourself. Here are six tips for protecting yourself from ticks, adapted from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station’s compre-

hensive handbook about tick management: 1. Wear light-colored clothing. Light colors make ticks easier to spot, especially tiny deer tick nymphs. 2. Tuck your pants inside your socks. It may not be a flattering look but it creates a physical barrier against ticks. 3. Use insect repellent. Most of the chemicals that repel mosquitoes are somewhat effective against ticks, although it may take a heavier concentration of DEET (between 30 and 40 percent) to really keep them away. Permethrin is a stronger chemical that kills ticks as well as repels them. Products containing permethrin should be sprayed on clothes, not on the skin. Picaridin repels mosquitoes and other insects but not ticks. 4. Stay in the middle of the path (or fairway). Ticks can’t fly or jump, so they can only get on you if you come into contact with the kind of environment they live in: moist, often shady, wooded areas, with leaves, low-lying plants and shrubs. 5. Think sunny. Ticks don’t do well in dry, open areas. Lawn furniture and playground equipment should be set back from the edge of wooded, shady areas. If you’re picnicking, pick a patch of welltended lawn or some open ground. See LYME DISEASE, page 15

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Heavy smokers need yearly lung scans By Marilynn Marchione For the first time, government advisers are recommending screening for lung cancer, saying certain current and former heavy smokers should get annual scans to cut their chances of dying of the disease. If it becomes final as expected, the advice by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force would clear the way for insurers to cover CT scans, a type of X-ray, for those at greatest risk. That would be people ages 55 through

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79 who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for 30 years or the equivalent, such as two packs a day for 15 years. Whether screening would help younger or lighter smokers isn’t known, so scans are not advised for them. They also aren’t for people who quit at least 15 years ago, or people too sick or frail to undergo cancer treatment. “The evidence shows we can prevent a substantial number of lung cancer deaths by screening” — about 20,000 of the

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160,000 that occur each year in the United States, said Dr. Michael LeFevre, a task force leader and family physician at the University of Missouri. Public comments were taken through the end of August, and the panel is expected to issue its final advice by February. Reports on screening were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Recommendation affects millions The recommendation is a big deal for many reasons. The task force, an independent group of doctors appointed by the government, in recent years has urged less frequent screening for breast and cervical cancers, and no screening for prostate cancer, saying PSA blood tests do men more harm than good. There are no good ways to screen for ovarian cancer or other less common types. But lung cancer is the top cancer killer worldwide. Nearly 90 percent of people who get it die from it, usually because it’s found too late for treatment to succeed. About 85 percent of lung cancers in the U.S. are attributable to smoking, and about 37 percent of U.S. adults are current or former smokers. The task force estimates that 10 million Americans would fit the smoking and age criteria for screening. The American Cancer Society (ACS) used to recommend screening with ordinary chest X-rays, but withdrew that advice in 1980 after studies showed they weren’t saving lives. Since then, CT scans have come into wider use, and the ACS and other groups have endorsed their limited use for screening certain heavy smokers. The scans cost from $100 to as much as $400, and are not usually covered by Medicare or private insurers now. But

under the new healthcare law, cancer screenings recommended by the task force are to be covered with no co-pays. “It’s generally going to be covered by all health plans” if the advice gets final task force approval, said Susan Pisano of the industry trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans. She said her group may develop a response during the public comment period, but has had “high regard” for the task force in the past “because they rely so heavily on the evidence” in crafting their recommendations. The task force considered lung cancer screening in 2004 but said there was too little evidence to weigh risks and benefits. Since then, a major study found that screening the age group covered in the task force’s recommendation could cut the chances of dying from lung cancer by up to 20 percent, and from any cause by nearly 7 percent. Screening “is absolutely not for everybody,” not even all smokers, LeFevre stressed. That includes President Barack Obama, who said a couple years ago that he had quit smoking. Obama is too young at 52 and too light a smoker (he reportedly smoked less than a pack a day), to be in the high-risk group advised to get screening.

Why screening isn’t for all The potential benefits of screening may not outweigh its possible harms for people not at high risk of developing lung cancer. A suspicious finding on a scan often leads to biopsies and other medical tests that have costs and complications of their own. Ironically, the radiation from scans to look for cancer can raise the risk of develSee LUNG SCANS, page 15

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New blood test measures cancer risk A blood test to identify lung cancer risk has recently been developed by a company in Rockville, Md. Genesys Biolabs’ test, the second of its kind available in the U.S., examines a panel of six biomarkers in the blood that are associated with lung cancer. While the test doesn’t diagnose lung cancer, it identifies the risk level for having the disease. “Lung cancer is a silent killer,” said Barry Cohen, product manager for Genesys Biolabs. “The reason so many people die of the disease is that there hasn’t been a good way to identify those with the disease until it’s too late.” While CT scans can help identify those who may have lung cancer, the test is expensive and exposes patients to radiation. If the patient first has the blood test and is found to have a low risk of lung cancer, a CT scan may not be necessary, Cohen said. Conversely, those showing a high risk are then di-

Lyme disease From page 12 6. Inspect yourself and your children (and your pets), especially the legs and groin. Ticks usually get picked up on the lower legs and then climb upward in search of a meal. The odds of contracting Lyme or other tick-borne disease are minimized if a tick is removed soon after it’s attached, and there’s no risk if it’s still crawling around. The shower is a good place to conduct a tick check. Feel for any new bumps on soaped-up skin. And if you do get bitten by a tick, remove it using the method recommended by the CDC: Use a pair of fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible. Then pull it out with a steady motion. Once the tick has been removed, clean the skin with soap and water. Dispose of the tick, which is probably still alive, by placing it in alcohol or flushing it down the toilet. Don’t fall for “home remedies” like covering the tick with Vaseline or touching it with a just-blown-out match.

Measuring the rise in cases Although the numbers of annual cases

rected to have a CT scan. The test is called the PAULA test, which stands for Protein Assay Using Lung cancer Analytes, and is named after the wife of a local physician who died of lung cancer at age 55 only a few months after diagnosis. The test is designed for smokers or former smokers who have at least a 20year history smoking a pack or more a day. Those who get the test should be age 50 or over, without lung cancer symptoms, and not currently receiving annual CT scans. Most insurances and Medicare cover the test, said Cohen. The blood test is done in a patient’s doctor’s office and sent to Genesys’ Rockville lab for analysis. For more information, ask your doctor, see www.BloodTestForLungCancer.com or call (240) 453-6342.

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From page 14 oping the disease. “These scans uncover things, often things that are not important. But you don’t figure that out for a while,” and only after entering “the medical vortex” of follow-up tests, said Dr. Peter Bach, a cancer screening expert at Memorial Sloan-Ket-

announced by the CDC may be an overestimate, they still provide a clearer picture of the impact of Lyme disease in the U.S., Dr. Shmerling said. Instead of relying mainly on cases reported by doctors, a standard public health approach, CDC researchers are trying to get a more complete picture of Lyme infections by sifting through health insurance claims, analyzing data from clinical laboratories (which do the tests necessary to diagnose Lyme disease), and surveying the public for self-reported Lyme disease. “We know that routine surveillance only gives us part of the picture, and that the true number of illnesses is much greater,” said Dr. Paul Mead, chief of epidemiology and surveillance for CDC’s Lyme disease program, in a statement. “This new preliminary estimate confirms that Lyme disease is a tremendous public health problem in the United States, and clearly highlights the urgent need for prevention.” Patrick Skerrett is editor of the Harvard Health blog and Executive Editor of Harvard Health Publications. © 2013. President and Fellows of Harvard College. All Rights Reserved. Distributed By Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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tering Cancer Center in New York. The best way to prevent lung cancer is to quit smoking or never start, and screening doesn’t make smoking safer, doctors stress. “That’s everyone’s public health concern: People [may] see this as a pass to continue smoking,” Bach said of screening. “I don’t think it’s likely,” because people know how harmful smoking is, he said. — AP

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N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Health Shorts High-dose flu shot protects better A new high-dose flu vaccine for seniors works better than the standard shot in that age group, according to a long-awaited study by the vaccine’s manufacturer. Experts say regular flu shots tend to be only about 30 to 40 percent effective in people 65 and older, who generally have weaker immune systems. Sanofi Pasteur’s Fluzone High-Dose vaccine boosted effectiveness to 50 percent. “I wouldn’t call it great,” said Dr. Edward Belongia of the Wisconsin-based Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, a flu vaccine researcher who was not involved in the Sanofi study. But any improvement is welcome, and the results could mean fewer illnesses — and, hopefully, hospitalizations and deaths — in seniors, he said. For other ages, effectiveness can run 60 percent or higher for the regular vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration licensed the higher-dose Sanofi vaccine in late 2009, based on a study that showed it led to higher levels of flu-fighting antibodies in seniors a month after vaccination. The new study is the first to measure how much protection it actually provides against the flu. The study involved 32,000 seniors in the U.S. and Canada during the last two flu seasons. Half got a regular flu shot and half got the high-dose version. Researchers called the participants to see if they had flu symptoms or were hospitalized; tests to confirm the flu were done in more than half of the people reporting symptoms.

The high-dose shot was 24 percent more effective than the regular shot at preventing flu, against all strains, the company said. Sanofi has the only high-dose flu shot for seniors on the market. It was used last year in 1 in 5 seniors who got vaccinated, according to Sanofi. The $27 per dose cost is more than twice the $12 for the company’s older version. But Medicare pays for both, and Sanofi executives say they don’t think cost is a significant deterrent. Instead, they believe doctors have been holding off until they saw real-world effectiveness studies.

Small 2014 Social Security increase Social Security benefits for nearly 58 million people will increase by only 1.5 percent next year, the government announced in late October. Social Security pays retired workers an average of $1,272 a month. A 1.5 percent raise comes to about $19. The annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, is based on a government measure of inflation. It is small because consumer prices haven’t gone up much in the past year. The increase is among the smallest since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975. This year’s increase was 1.7 percent. There was no COLA in 2010 or 2011 because inflation was too low. The COLA affects benefits for more than one-fifth of the country. In addition to Social Security payments, it affects benefits for millions of disabled veterans, federal retirees, and people who get Supplemental Security Income, the disability proSee HEALTH SHORTS, page 17

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much higher for those with high incomes.)

From page 16 gram for the poor. The amount of wages subject to Social Security withholding is also rising. Social Security is funded by a 12.4 percent tax on the first $113,700 in wages earned by a worker, with half paid by employers and the other half withheld from workers’ pay. The wage threshold will increase to $117,000 next year, the Social Security Administration said. Wages above the threshold are not subject to Social Security taxes. In some years, part of the COLA has been erased by an increase in Medicare Part B premiums, which are deducted automatically from Social Security payments. But Medicare announced in October that Part B premiums, which cover doctor visits, will stay the same in 2014, at $104.90 a month for most seniors. (Premiums are

Medical implants will soon carry tracking codes Federal health regulators will begin tracking millions of medical devices, from pacemakers to hip replacements, using a new electronic system designed to protect patients by catching problematic implants earlier. The Food and Drug Administration published new rules in September that require most medical devices sold in the U.S. to carry a unique code — identifying its make, manufacture date and lot number. The codes will be stored in a publicly accessible database to help regulators, doctors and companies monitor safety issues with devices.

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Nov. 17

LIVING WITH LOW VISION Learn about the latest advances in low vision rehabilitation, as

well as medical and surgical techniques, from Daniel Berinstein, M.D., a macular

The tracking system has been promoted by doctors and public safety advocates for years. Other industries, from food processors to automakers, have used unique identification codes to track their products through the supply chain for decades. “The rule that came out today is a victory for patients, hospitals and clinicians,’’ said Josh Rising, director of Pew Charitable Trusts’ medical device initiative. “Up until now, medical devices were among the only products on the market that could not be uniquely identified. This is going to be a tremendous victory for all of those interested in improving the performance of devices.’’ Rising says doctors, hospitals and insurers will be able to add the codes to patients’ medical records, helping them quickly identify people who have received

problematic implants and devices. The FDA tracking system follows years of highly-publicized recalls involving defibrillators, artificial hips and drug pumps, which have been plagued by design and manufacturing flaws. The FDA will begin phasing in the new system in the coming year, requiring identification codes on high-risk devices like heart stents and defibrillators. The tracking requirement will then be expanded to moderate-risk devices such as X-ray systems, surgical needles and power wheelchairs. Makers of those devices will have three years to implement the tracking codes. Many low-risk devices, such as bedpans and examination gloves, will be exempt from the requirements. — AP

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N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Replace missing teeth to maintain health By Mark Newey, D.D.S. Too many people think living with a lost tooth is no big deal. In fact, the long-term effects can make it a very big deal. Not replacing a missing tooth increases the risk of losing the adjacent teeth. The gap left from a lost tooth takes away stability and increases the possibility for adjacent teeth to loosen and fall out. It gets worse. A vast amount of bone loss can follow tooth loss, and it can progress rapidly over time. Bone loss can affect the shape of the jaw, the bite and the future of your remaining teeth. You may find it difficult to chew food properly, and this can affect your health and diet since you’re then limited in what you can eat. In turn, you may find yourself

fighting obesity and even diabetes — due to a poor diet — caused by lost teeth. If you wear dentures, you may develop the inability to use full or partial dentures, and may even find denture-wearing painful due to bone structure changes caused by a simple missing tooth. Then there’s the matter of your facial muscles becoming out of shape or deformed. Your teeth and jaw act as a foundation for your facial muscles and bones. When the foundation starts to crumble, the shape of the remaining teeth, muscles and bone begin to change. In some cases, this can cause social embarrassment because the face becomes distorted or older looking. Finally, bone loss beneath conventional

bridges can cause food to become impacted, increasing the incidence of gum disease. And believe it or not, tooth loss can increase the possibility of heart disease and stroke.

Replacing a missing tooth Tooth replacement can be done in several ways. Among the methods are a toothsupported bridge, a removable partial denture, or a dental implant. Dental implants have quickly gained preference from oral surgeons and patients because of the long-term benefits. The up-front cost of a dental implant may be higher, but over time, the implant becomes the better value. With normal care, implants can last for years without worry about failure. Along with longevity, dental implants can be installed without destroying or sacrificing adjacent teeth. Other methods may require taking out an adjacent tooth for a bridge.

What are dental implants? Implants are a dental restoration system composed of a titanium screw and a crown. The implant process includes drilling a small-diameter hole (pilot hole) for the titanium screw. Once in place, this screw holds the implant in place. Surgeons often use surgical guides when placing dental implants. After the pilot hole has been drilled, the implant screw is placed. Once in place, the surrounding gum tissue is secured over the implant and a protective cover is placed on top to allow the site to heal. After healing is complete, the surgeon will attach an abutment, which attaches a crown to the implant. With the abutment

in place, the surgeon then creates a temporary crown. The process is completed when the temporary crown is replaced with a permanent model. Once an implant has been placed, maintaining diligent oral hygiene habits is mandatory to ensure proper fusing of the implant and bone structure. If cared for properly, an implant can remain in place for more than 40 years. Healing from the surgical procedure to place one or more implants takes up to six months, while the fitting and seating of the crown(s) can take up to two months. Again, this timeframe depends on individual cases and treatments. Follow-up appointments with your treatment coordinators are essential to monitor your progress. For five to seven days after surgery, your diet should be restricted to soft foods. If stitches are present, they may need to be removed by your surgeon; however, selfdissolving stitches that don’t require removal are typically used. Failure to floss and brush is the leading cause of implant failure. Infection can also occur if the implant and surrounding areas are not cleaned properly. Smoking has been shown to cause high failure rates with dental implants and should be avoided following such surgery. For more information, contact your oral surgeon. Mark Newey, DDS, practices in Clearfield, Utah. WhatDoctorsKnow is a magazine devoted to up-to-the minute information on health issues from physicians, major hospitals and clinics, universities and healthcare agencies across the U.S. Online at www.whatdoctorsknow.com. © 2013 Whatdoctorsknow.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

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N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Older vet caregivers don’t get federal benefit By Kevin Freking John Thomas Doody was in a coma and on a ventilator, but his mom refused to follow a doctor’s advice and put the Iraq war veteran in a nursing home. Instead, Chris Ott quit her job, moved the family to Tampa, Fla., so her son, known as J.T., could be near the Veterans Affairs hospital. She spends most of her waking hours trying to meet his many needs. He was shot while serving with the Marines in Fallujah, and suffered an infection and series of strokes during his recovery. She says he’s paralyzed and nearly blind, but has made dramatic improvement over the years. To ease the financial burden, Ott relies on a relatively new federal program that pays her a stipend of about $2,000 per month, trains her on how to care for J.T., and provides at least 30 days of respite

care each year. Once every three months, a VA inspector comes by her house to check on her and J.T. “Now, I can still love him and hug him and kiss him and talk to him and laugh with him. Oh yeah, I still have my son,’’ she said.

Limited to post-9-11 vets The extra help has eased one family’s financial hardship. Yet there’s a question of fairness. For every family receiving the caregiver benefit, many more make do without. For example, Pauline King of Anna, Ill., is not eligible for the stipend even though her husband, Jerry, a Vietnam veteran, needs help with bathing, dressing and going to the bathroom as a result of multiple sclerosis. When lawmakers created the program

in 2010, it limited participation to veterans who had served since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. King said the move to exclude Vietnam veterans shows “they’re still not paying attention’’ in Congress. Cost was a factor on Capitol Hill. The caregivers for veterans from earlier wars can get some help from the VA, such as counseling and a lesser amount of respite care, but no monthly stipend. Ordered by Congress to study the feasibility of expanding the program, the Department of Veterans Affairs expressed reservations in a recent report, projecting the cost at between $1.8 billion and $3.8 billion in the first year alone. The VA estimated that an additional 2,000 full-time workers would need to be in place to handle the workload of an expanded program. “VA believes the expansion of benefits

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to caregivers of eligible veterans of all eras would make the program more equitable,’’ the agency said in a statement. “Unfortunately, core healthcare services to veterans would be negatively impacted without the additional resources necessary to fund the expansion.’’ Given tight budget times, with most federal agencies already forced to make cuts and furlough workers, the prospects of adding billions of dollars to the VA budget seems unlikely. The VA thus far has been exempted from the mandatory cuts, known as sequestration. Still, in July, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee passed a bill that would expand the program to veterans from all eras. The bill also increased the types of injuries and illnesses that would qualify a veteran’s caregiver for extra assistance. Any veteran with a “serious service-connected disability’’ who needed help with basic activities of daily living would qualify.

Numbers would rise But concerns about cost will be difficult to overcome. Currently, about 11,000 caregivers are enrolled in the program. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that an additional 70,000 caregivers would participate by 2016 if the bill, sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., becomes law. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said the intent of the Senate legislation is admirable but that Congress has an obligation not to expand existing programs without first ensuring they work correctly. He said he was also concerned that the Senate legislation does not identify how to pay for an expansion. “The VA’s cost estimate for the caregivSee OLDER VETS, page 21

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Nov. 14 N O O N E C A N M AT C H YO U R C A R E O R D E V O T I O N . But watching a loved one slip away day by day can be heartbreaking. You want his or her life to be as meaningful as possible, with joy and purpose. Today, professionals in The City Club Memory Care Neighborhood at Thomas Circle are devoted to providing the latest and best in practices maximizing successful outcomes. From daily programming to environmental stimulation, The City Club can help bring back smiles and a sense of security to you and your loved one.

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Older vets From page 20 er expansion presents a serious obstacle in an enormously constrained fiscal climate,’’ Miller said. The Wounded Warrior Project agrees with Miller about holding off on an expansion. The advocacy group was instrumental in pushing Congress for the enhanced benefit for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. The group says improvements are needed before the VA expands the caregiver benefit. But other groups say it’s simply not right to treat one generation of veterans differently from others. “It’s a matter of fairness. It’s a matter of principal,’’ said Adrian Atizado, assistant legislative director for Disabled American Veterans. “We leave no one behind in the military. That is no one, no matter when they served or what branch of service.’’

A growing burden Jerry King is one pre-Sept. 11 veteran who could use the extra help. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1978. The VA determined that the disease, which results in the loss of muscle control and balance, was service-connected. “The care is a lot,” his wife said. “When you’re taking care of a home, when you’re taking care of your family, that’s your day. You do not sit down and watch TV. You do not sit down and read a magazine.’’ The Kings rely on his disability payments from the VA and Social Security to make ends meet. She said she pays a local couple $10,000 a year to help with such things as moving her husband from his bed to his wheelchair and with the ironing of his clothes. She said there’s not much money left over after that, and that a monthly stipend would “be a big step for us.’’ But Ott has concerns about what an ex-

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health

pansion of the program to older veterans would mean for her son, the Iraq war vet. “I believe they should have the same opportunities, but not to the detriment of the ones already in the program,’’ she said. [Editor’s Note: The above story concerns veterans whose disability is service-related. Veterans with non-service-related disabilities who already qualify for a military pension may be eligible for an additional monthly stipend for caregiving costs called the Aid and Attendance benefit. This benefit is restricted to those with very limited assets and income. For more information about federal and state benefits for veterans, and assistance

in applying for them, contact your state government office for veterans. Residents of Maryland can visit the area office of the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs at 6420 Allentown Road, Camp Springs, MD 20748. Call them at (301) 2480463 or visit http://veterans.maryland.gov/. Veterans living in Virginia may obtain information from the Virginia Department of Veterans Services at www.dvs.virginia.gov/. The field office in Fairfax can be reached at (703) 359-1210. Residents of the District of Columbia may call the Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs at (202) 724-5454.] — AP

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Nov. 20

HOME CARE OPTIONS Seabury at Friendship Terrace presents a free discussion, “Things

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N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

World not ready for an aging population By Kristen Gelineau The world is aging so fast that most countries are not prepared to support their swelling numbers of elderly people, according to a global study issued last month by the United Nations and an elder rights group. The report ranks the social and economic well-being of elders in 91 countries, with Sweden coming out on top and Afghanistan at the bottom. It reflects what advocates for the old have been warning, with increasing urgency, for years: Nations are simply not working quickly enough to cope with a population graying faster than ever before. By the year 2050, for the first time in history, seniors older than 60 will outnumber

children younger than 15. Truong Tien Thao, who runs a small tea shop on the sidewalk near his home in Hanoi, Vietnam, is 65 and acutely aware that he, like millions of others, is plunging into old age without a safety net. He wishes he could retire, but he and his 61-yearold wife depend on the $50 a month they earn from the shop. And so, every day, Thao rises early to open the stall at 6 a.m. and works until 2 p.m., when his wife takes over until closing. “People at my age should have a rest, but I still have to work to make our ends meet,” he said, while waiting for customers at the shop, which sells green tea, cigarettes and chewing gum. “My wife and

I have no pension, no health insurance. I’m scared of thinking of being sick — I don’t know how I can pay for the medical care.”

A complex, global issue Thao’s story reflects a key point in the report: Aging is an issue across the world. Perhaps surprisingly, the report shows that the fastest aging countries are developing ones, such as Jordan, Laos, Mongolia, Nicaragua and Vietnam, where the number of older people will more than triple by 2050. All ranked in the bottom half of the index. The Global AgeWatch Index (www.globalagewatch.org) was created by elder advocacy group HelpAge International and the U.N. Population Fund in part to address a lack of international data on the extent and impact of global aging. The index, released on the U.N.’s International Day of Older Persons, compiles data from the U.N., World Health Organization, World Bank and other global agencies, and analyzes income, health, education, employment and age-friendly environment in each country. The index was welcomed by elder rights advocates, who have long complained that a lack of data has thwarted their attempts

to raise the issue on government agendas. “Unless you measure something, it doesn’t really exist in the minds of decision-makers,” said John Beard, Director of Ageing and Life Course for the World Health Organization. “One of the challenges for population aging is that we don’t even collect the data, let alone start to analyze it,” Beard said. “For example, we’ve been talking about how people are living longer, but I can’t tell you [if] people are living longer and sicker, or longer in good health.” The report fits into an increasingly complex picture of aging and what it means to the world. On the one hand, the fact that people are living longer is a testament to advances in healthcare and nutrition, and advocates emphasize that the elderly should be seen not as a burden but as a resource. On the other, many countries still lack a basic social protection floor that provides income, healthcare and housing for their senior citizens. Afghanistan, for example, offers no pension to those not in the government. Life expectancy is 59 years for men and 61 for See AGING WORLD, page 23

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Nov. 12

HOW NUTRITION AFFECTS WELLBEING Join Hope Connections for Cancer Support for a discussion on

integrative medical nutrition led by a registered dietician on Wednesday, Nov. 13 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Learn how diet, in conjunction with the mind, body and spirit connection, can improve health and well-being and how to reach wellness goals. This event will take place at the Beaumont House at FASEB, 9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Md. For information, call (301) 634-7500.

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health

WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

From page 22 women, compared to a global average of 68 for men and 72 for women, according to U.N. data. That leaves Abdul Wasay struggling to survive. At 75, the former cook and blacksmith spends most of his day trying to sell toothbrushes and toothpaste on a busy street corner in Kabul’s main market. The job nets him just $6 a day — barely enough to support his wife. He can only afford to buy meat twice a month; the family relies mainly on potatoes and curried vegetables. “It’s difficult because my knees are weak, and I can’t really stand for a long time,” he said. “But what can I do? It’s even harder in winter, but I can’t afford treatment,” he said. Although government hospitals are free, Wasay complained that they provide little treatment and hardly any medicine. He wants to stop working in three years, but is not sure his children can support him. He said many older people cannot find work because they are not strong enough to do day labor, and some resort to begging. “You have to keep working no matter how old you are — no one is rich enough to stop,” he said. “Life is very difficult.”

Rich and poor nations affected Many governments have resisted tackling the issue partly because it is viewed as

hugely complicated, negative and costly — which is not necessarily true, said Silvia Stefanoni, chief executive of HelpAge International. Japan and Germany, she said, have among the highest proportions of elders in the world, but also boast steady economies. “There’s no evidence that an aging population is a population that is economically damaged,” she said. Prosperity in itself does not guarantee protection for the old. The world’s rising economic powers — the so-called BRICS nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — rank lower in the index than some poorer countries such as Uruguay and Panama. However, the report found, wealthy nations are in general better prepared for aging than poorer ones. Sweden, where the pension system is now 100 years old, makes the top of the list because of its social support, education and health coverage, followed by Norway, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada. The United States comes in eighth. Sweden’s health system earns praise from Marianne Blomberg, an 80-year-old Stockholm resident. “The healthcare system, for me, has worked extraordinarily well,” she said. “I suffer from atrial fibrillation, and from the minute I call emergency until I am discharged, it is absolutely amazing. I can’t complain about anything — even the food is good.”

Still, even in an elder-friendly country like Sweden, aging is not without its challenges. The Swedish government has suggested people continue working beyond 65, a prospect Blomberg cautiously welcomes but warns should not be a requirement. Blomberg also criticized the nation’s finance minister, Anders Borg, for cutting taxes sharply for working Swedes but only

marginally for retirees. “I go to lectures and museums and the theater and those kinds of things, but I probably have to stop that soon because it gets terribly expensive,” she said. “If you want to be active like me, it is hard. But to sit home and stare at the walls doesn’t cost anything.” — AP

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Check with doctor to manage leg swelling By Dr. John Wilkinson Dear Mayo Clinic: For the past couple of weeks, my calves have been swollen. They don’t hurt, but I definitely notice that my socks are tighter than normal. What could be the cause? Answer: There are numerous causes of painless swelling of the legs (peripheral edema). If there are no other symptoms, mild leg swelling is relatively common and easily managed. But peripheral edema is sometimes associated with a more serious underlying disease, so it’s important you see your doctor for a thorough exam and accurate diagnosis. Edema is the result of a buildup of excess fluid in your tissues. Normally, the

body maintains a balance of fluids between the network of blood vessels, the lymph system, and all of the tissues outside of these vessels. However, if the balance is disturbed, the tiniest blood vessels (capillaries) may leak fluid that builds up in surrounding tissues. The result is edema.

Symptoms and diagnosis In addition to swelling, other signs and symptoms of edema may include stretched or shiny skin, skin that stays indented after being pressed for at least five seconds, or an increase in abdominal size. Peripheral edema typically affects both legs. Edema in only one leg may be related to something in that leg or the groin on the same side.

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In some instances, edema can affect the lungs and lead to shortness of breath and difficulty breathing, which requires urgent medical care. A physical exam can help sort out the cause of peripheral edema and help determine if there is a serious underlying condition. Certain blood tests and urinalysis may be done, as well an electrocardiogram, chest X-ray and possibly additional imaging, such as an ultrasound of the affected leg or even the pelvis. Mild edema without symptoms such as shortness of breath, abdominal swelling, or high blood pressure usually signals a less worrisome cause. The benign causes can include having consumed more salt than usual, being overweight, standing or sitting for an extended period of time, and your age (older adults are more susceptible to swollen legs). Sometimes, peripheral edema is a side effect of a drug. Among the many drugs known to cause swelling are calcium channel blockers, corticosteroids, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, the anti-seizure drug gabapentin (Neurontin), and certain drugs for diabetes — particularly thiazolidinediones.

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Some causes Peripheral edema can stem from a number of conditions, notably: • Weak or damaged leg veins. Over time, one-way valves that keep blood moving toward your heart can weaken and stop working properly, allowing fluid to pool in your lower limbs. • Deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Edema may develop if blood clots form in the deep veins of your leg. Clotting usually affects only one leg and may produce swelling, pain and tenderness.

• Congestive heart failure. If one of your heart’s lower chambers loses its ability to pump effectively, blood can back up. Right-sided heart failure produces lower limb edema and, if severe enough, can lead to abdominal swelling. If the left side of the heart is affected, shortness of breath with exertion and when lying flat in bed can occur due to fluid in the lungs. • Scarring of the liver (cirrhosis). Scarring related to end-stage liver disease creates serious obstacles for blood flow through the liver. This results in abdominal swelling and peripheral edema, especially as the liver becomes less capable of producing albumin, one of the proteins that keeps fluid in the blood vessels. • Chronic kidney damage. Damage to tiny, filtering structures (glomeruli) in your kidneys can produce a cascade of changes. These include sodium retention, increased protein in the urine, and an abnormally low level of albumin in the blood. Fluid buildup in combination with a low albumin level may produce peripheral edema and swelling, which involves the entire body. • Damaged lymphatic system. The lymphatic system helps clear excess fluid from your tissues. Damage to that system — particularly to lymph nodes in the groin area due to cancer surgery or radiation therapy — may impair normal lymph drainage and result in lower limb swelling. • Tumor. Rarely, leg swelling may be associated with pelvic tumors. To help prevent fluid retention, your doctor may recommend limiting salt intake. Wearing special compression stockings may help prevent fluid retention in your legs and feet. Mild edema related to prolonged standSee LEG SWELLING, page 26

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N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Aging U.S. faces a crisis in cancer care By Lauran Neergaard The U.S. is facing a crisis in how to deliver cancer care, as an aging population reaches its tumor-prone years and doctors have a hard time keeping up with complex new treatments, government advisers reported. The caution comes even as scientists are learning more than ever about better ways to battle cancer, and developing innovative therapies to target tumors. And while doctors try to optimize treatment, the Institute of Medicine found “daunting’’ barriers to achieving high-quality care for all patients. Overcoming those challenges will require changes to the healthcare system and savvier consumers.

Confusion abounds “We do not want to frighten or scare people who are getting care now,’’ said Dr. Patricia Ganz, a cancer specialist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who chaired the panel. But too often, decisions about cancer treatments aren’t based on good evidence, and patients may not understand their choices and what to expect, the panel found. For example, some studies suggest that two-thirds or more of cancer patients with poor prognoses incorrectly believe the treatments they receive could cure them. Topping the list of recommendations is finding ways to help patients make more

informed decisions, with easy-to-understand information on the pros, cons and costs of different treatments. “The patient can’t be passive,’’ Ganz said. “It’s an important partnership that we need.’’ The risk of cancer increases with age, and older adults account for just over half of the 1.6 million new cases diagnosed in the U.S. each year. By 2030, new diagnoses are expected to reach 2.3 million a year as the population ages. The report warns there may not be enough oncology specialists to care for them. Perhaps a bigger concern is the growing complexity of care. Increasingly, scientists are finding genetic differences inside tumors that help explain why one person’s cancer is more aggressive than another’s. More importantly, that also means certain cancer drugs will work for, say, lung cancer in one person but not the next. “If your doctor doesn’t know that, or your hospital doesn’t do the test, you don’t have that opportunity’’ for newer, targeted therapies, Ganz said. But, “we are living in an information age where it’s impossible to keep up.’’

est treatments, but deciding if they’re worth it for an individual patient. Consider: Of 13 cancer treatments approved by the Food and Drug Administration last year, only one was proven to extend survival by more than a median of six months, the report said. The drugs all cost more than $5,900 for each month of treatment. For older adults, treatment decisions may be even more complicated — because the studies that test different therapies don’t include enough people over age 65, who tend to have multiple health problems along with cancer, Ganz explained. Nor are cancer teams doing a good enough job in educating and training patients’ loved ones to offer the at-home care that many need for long stretches of time, she said. The Institute of Medicine advises the government about health issues. Among its recommendations are: more research to tease out how to best treat different patients; new strategies to help doctors keep up with that evidence; and development of tools to help communicate the choices to patients so they understand what really may happen to them.

Are new treatments worth it? It’s not just a matter of knowing the lat-

Leg swelling From page 24 ing or sitting can usually be managed by lying down with the legs elevated for an hour or two a day. Water aerobics or walking in a swimming pool also may help redistribute excess fluids. For more severe peripheral edema, a water pill (diuretic) may be prescribed.

See CANCER CARE, page 27

— John Wilkinson, M.D., Family Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Medical Edge from Mayo Clinic is an educational resource and doesn’t replace regular medical care. To submit a question, write to: medicaledge@mayo.edu. For health information, visit www.mayoclinic.com. © 2013 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc.

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

Consider this before entering clinical trial By Jim Miller Dear Savvy Senior: What can you tell me about clinical trials and how to go about finding one? My wife has a chronic condition, and we’re interested in tr ying anything that may be able to help her. — Looking For Help Dear Looking: Each year, hundreds of thousands of Americans participate in clinical trials in hopes of gaining access to the latest, and possibly greatest, but not-yet-on-the-market treatments for all types of illnesses. But you need to be aware that clinical trials can vary greatly in what they’re designed to do, so be careful to choose one

that can actually benefit your wife. Here’s what you should know, along with some tips for locating one. A clinical trial is the scientific term for a test or research study of a drug, device or medical procedure using people. These trials — sponsored by drug companies, doctors, hospitals and the federal government — are conducted to learn whether a new treatment is safe and if it works. But keep in mind that these new treatments are also unproven, so there may be risks, too. Also be aware that all clinical trials have certain eligibility criteria (age, gender, health status, etc.) that your wife must meet in order to be accepted. And before

Cancer care

with treatment? How much longer? • Will this care directly treat the cancer, or improve my symptoms, or both? • What are the side effects? • Am I healthy enough to try this treatment, or will my other health conditions and medications interfere? • How many times have you done this procedure? • What does the care cost? • Am I eligible for clinical trials? If your health team doesn’t have answers, “you need to find another set of providers,’’ Ganz said. — AP

From page 26

What to ask your doctor In the meantime, the panel had some advice for people who need to know if they’re getting quality care now. Take the time to research care options and get a second opinion, Ganz stressed. Among the questions to ask: • How long does the average person with this cancer live? • What is my likelihood of a cure? • If I can’t be cured, will I live longer

taking part in a trial, she’ll be asked to sign an informed consent agreement. She can also leave a study at any time.

What to ask Before deciding to participate in a trial, you and your wife need to first discuss it with her doctor. Then, schedule an appointment with the study’s medical team and ask lots of questions. Here are some to get you started. • What’s the purpose of the study and can it improve your wife’s condition? You may be surprised to know that many drug or procedural trials are not designed to find a cure or improve a patient’s health, but only to provide scientific data.

• What are the risks? Some treatments can have side effects that are unpleasant, serious and even life threatening. • What kinds of tests and treatments does the study involve, and how often and where they are performed? • Is the experimental treatment in the study being compared with a standard treatment or a placebo? Keep in mind that if your wife gets the placebo, she’ll be getting no treatment at all. • Who’s paying for the study? Will you have any costs, and if so, will your insurance plan or Medicare cover the rest? Sponsors of trials generally pay most of See CLINCIAL TRIAL, page 29

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Health Studies Page

N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

THE PLACE TO LOOK FOR INFORMATION ON AREA CLINICAL TRIALS

Drug may curb Alzheimer’s aggression By Barbara Ruben As Alzheimer’s disease slowly robs memories from patients, it also destroys their ability to learn, reason and make judgments. About 60 percent of patients become agitated, angry and aggressive, making caregiving even more difficult. A patient may shout abusive language at a caregiver or physically attack someone with seemingly no provocation. As patients lose the ability to articulate what they are thinking or feeling, they can

sometimes strike out in aggressive ways. Aggression is more common in more advanced stages of the disease. “Agitation and aggression are common and distressing neuropsychiatric symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Bruno Vellas, chair of internal and geriatric Medicine at University Hospital in Toulouse, France. “These symptoms are a leading cause of patients being placed in nursing homes. “With no approved therapies for agitation and aggression in most countries, including the U.S., it is a major treatment problem.”

Local study recruits patients Clinical trials of a new drug that may help curb some of the more difficult behaviors that are common in Alzheimer’s patients are being conducted at 71 sites worldwide. Locally, Georgetown University’s Memory Disorders Program is participating, and doctors are recruiting patients now. Called ELND005, the drug is being investigated for several additional conditions, including bipolar disease. This study is dubbed the Harmony study, and is examining the efficacy and safety of the drug. “Symptomatic treatments are important in AD patient care, especially at the advanced stages of disease,” said Dr. Menghis Bairu, chief medical officer and head of Development at Elan, the company

that is manufacturing the drug and sponsoring the study. “As patients advance in their Alzheimer’s disease, there is an increase in both the prevalence and severity of agitation and aggression.”

Who may participate? To qualify for the three-month study, participants must be age 50 or older with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or probable Alzheimer’s. They must experience at least moderate agitation and/or aggression at least once a week. Those in the study cannot have major depressive disorder or have persistent delusions or hallucinations that require psychiatric hospitalization. A study partner or caregiver must be willing to participate in the study as well. Those in the study will be randomly selected to take ELND005 or a placebo, a pill with no active ingredients. Neither the patients nor the doctors will know who has the real drug during the study. Participants will take the assigned pill twice a day for 12 weeks. During the study, they will attend seven study visits at Georgetown University and have four telephone calls to discuss symptoms and any problems. Compensation is offered for both the patient and caregiver enrolled in the study. For more information, or to see if someone qualifies, call (202) 687-9078.

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

Best websites for Alzheimer’s information A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia can be devastating for patients and their families. Luckily, there’s no shortage of information on every facet of the condition. Here are some of the most reliable websites that provide guidance for patients and caregivers. 1. Alzheimer’s Association (www. alz.org). This comprehensive site provides information on warning signs, stages of the disease, treatments, care options and financial planning. ALZConnected offers chat rooms for those diagnosed with the disease and for caregivers. You also can find local support groups for caregivers and individuals with younger-onset and early stage Alzheimer’s. Check the community resource finder for information on local services. With its caregiver center, you can enter informa-

tion about an individual’s medical condition and needs, and a personalized printout will offer recommendations about care options. 2. Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral Center (www.nia.nih. gov/alzheimers). The National Institute on Aging’s center provides information on the latest studies on causes and possible cures. You can search its database for publications, research centers and clinical trials. This extensive consumer-friendly site offers science-based advice on nutrition, exercise, treatment and prevention. You can download or order a free copy of NIA’s excellent 104-page “Caring for a Person With Alzheimer’s Disease.” Also check the National Institutes of Health’s Senior Health section on Alzheimer’s (www.nihseniorhealth.gov). 3. WebMD (www.webmd.com/

Clinical trial

erally and privately supported clinical studies in the U.S. and abroad on a wide range of diseases and conditions. You’ll find information about each trial’s purpose, who may participate, locations, and phone numbers for more details. If, however, you don’t have Internet access or could use some help finding the right trial, contact the Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation. This is a nonprofit organization that will take your wife’s information over the phone and do a thorough search of clinical trials for you, and mail or email you the results in a few days. Call 1-877-633-4376 for assistance. You can also find them online at www.ciscrp.org. Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit www.SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

From page 27 the costs, but not always. • What if something goes wrong during or after the trial and your wife needs extra medical care? Who pays? • If the treatment works, can your wife keep using it after the study?

How to find a trial Every year, there are more than 100,000 clinical trials conducted in the U.S. You can find them at condition-focused organizations like the American Cancer Society or the Alzheimer’s Association, or by asking her doctor who may be monitoring trials in his or her specialty. Or use the National Institutes of Heath’s website at www.clinicaltrials.gov. This site contains a comprehensive database of fed-

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alzheimers/guide/financial-planning). In addition to the site’s wealth of medical advice about Alzheimer’s and dementia, WebMD offers a guide on Alzheimer’s disease and financial planning. The guide provides basic information about options for paying for long-term care, including health and disability insurance, Medicare and Medicaid. 4. PBS (www.pbs.org/theforgetting). The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer’s is a 90-minute Emmy Award-winning documentary that follows the stories of several patients and their families. It also weaves in the biology of the disease and the attempts to find a cure. The Web site provides links to other videos as well as information on coping with a diagnosis and treatments.

5. ThisCaringHome.org. Click on a room in a virtual house, and you will read about safety recommendations. Sponsored by Weill Cornell Medical College, the site also lists room-by-room solutions for dozens of common problems, from forgetting to close a refrigerator door to toileting issues. The site has reviewed numerous products, such as faucet devices that prevent scalding, memory aids, and automatic stovetop fire extinguishers. 6. Lotsa Helping Hands (www.nfca. lotsahelpinghands.com). This service offered by the National Family Caregivers Association provides a caregiving calendar for friends and relatives. A coordinator See WEBSITES, page 31

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Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health

For Thanksgiving: a stovetop rice dressing By Dana Jacobi On Thanksgiving, I am a traditionalist and an adventurer, too. Maintaining a family tradition, I include the canned small French green peas with pearl onions that my mother always served. Call this retro, but it’s essential for me. However, serving only the same dishes every year would be too dull. So I always start Thanksgiving dinner with soup, but make a different one every year. Stuffing is another dish where I am adventurous. I should say dressing, since it is

always baked separately from the bird. We all prefer this because it lets the turkey roast in less time, hence less risk of drying it out, while the dressing stays light, never heavy or greasy. This year, my dressing will be ricebased. Red rice, to be specific. There are several varieties of red rice. All are aromatic and whole grain. California-grown Wehani is the most dense and chewy. Bhutanese red is lighter in texture but still has full, nutty flavor. You may also find red rice from South America

Websites

with the disease. The “Ask the Expert” feature enables you to submit questions to researchers. With its resource locator, you can find nearby medical suppliers, physical therapists, geriatric physicians, elder law attorneys and other resources. 9. The Hartford (www.thehartford. com/advance50/dementia-driving). The insurer provides information on the impact of dementia on driving safety. It offers tips on evaluating one’s driving skills, information on safety technologies, and pointers to family members on how to persuade those with impairments to stop driving. 10. National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (www.naela.org). NAELA is a nonprofit membership organization for attorneys who specialize in all aspects of elder law, including estate planning and financial planning for Alzheimer’s. The site has a “Find an Attorney” tool that can be used to locate elder law lawyers in your area. Searches can be refined to identify attorneys with specializations such as special needs trusts, long-term-care planning, or disability applications and appeals. © 2013, Kiplinger. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc.

From page 29 sets up a Web-based community of volunteers who sign up for posted assignments, from shopping to respite care. 7. Caregiving organizations. Several groups provide special advice to caregivers of individuals with chronic conditions. Each group’s site offers information on different aspects of caregiving, including finding respite care and adult day care, checking out health aides, family strife and caregiver wellness. You can find support groups and chat rooms where you can share your concerns and solutions with other caregivers. Top groups include National Family Caregivers Association (www.nfcacares.org), Family Caregiver Alliance (www.caregiver.org), Family Caregiving 101 (www.familycaregiving101.org) and National Alliance for Caregiving (www.caregiving.org). 8. Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation (www.alzinfo.org). This wide-ranging site provides information on the latest research, treatments and exercises to keep mentally fit. Read blogs by caregivers, researchers and persons

or France’s Camargue region. Bhutanese is my favorite rice to use in this recipe because it combines well with the dried fruits, almonds and other ingre-

dients. But any red rice is good. Simply cook it according to package directions. If See RICE DRESSING, page 32

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N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Try a variety of healthy winter squash Q: Do the various kinds of winter Spaghetti squash is a little lower in calosquash differ in nutrients or recom- ries, fiber and the nutrients noted above. mended preparation? Its preparation is unique, too, A: Winter squash comes in since after cooking, you can many sizes, shapes and varipull its strands out with a fork eties; almost all are great to serve like spaghetti. sources of compounds called The other squash each have carotenoids. Two of these, slightly distinctive flavors and alpha- and beta-carotene, protextures, and all make savory mote cell-to-cell communicaadditions to soup, stir-fries, tion, reducing risk of unconstews, curries and mixed oventrolled cell growth that can roasted vegetables. lead to cancer. Each can be baked, steamed Lutein and zeaxanthin are NUTRITION or microwaved to serve stuffed, two “cousin” carotenoid com- WISE in chunks or puréed, often accompounds that are concentrated By Karen Collins, panied with sweet spices (cinnain the lens and retina of our MS, RD, CDM mon, ginger), fruits (such as apeyes. They protect eye health ples or cranberries) or nuts. by filtering out high-energy UV rays, known Acorn squash are small with a very hard as blue light, that can create damage. rind, so they are often cut in half and baked Winter squash is also a good source of without peeling. Butternut squash is sweet vitamin C, potassium and dietary fiber. A and moist with a slight nutty flavor, and the serving, about a cup of cooked squash skin is easy to peel, so they are great when cubes, is only about 75 calories. you want chunks to roast or add to stews.

Buttercup squash has a delicious sweet flavor, but because it can be a bit dry, use it in moist dishes like soups. Don’t be afraid of large squash like Hubbard, because you can freeze the leftovers or any you don’t use, either in raw slices or after cooking, in cubes or puréed. Q: Is it true that I need to eat fat with vitamin D for it to be best absorbed? A: Not necessarily. Vitamin D is classified as a “fat soluble” vitamin; it is absorbed out of the digestive tract packaged with fat. However, we don’t yet know exactly how much fat we need to get the maximum absorption of vitamin D. Overall, studies seem to show that as long as we consume some fat at meals and snacks throughout the day, vitamin D from food and supplements will be absorbed and increase vitamin D blood levels regardless of when we consume it that day. People likely differ from one another in how consuming vitamin D affects how much the body absorbs. For example, there

are people who have trouble absorbing vitamin D. One small study showed that people who did not absorb it well had the highest blood levels of vitamin D when they took it with their largest meal of the day. And if you take weight loss medications that block fat absorption, that medication will decrease absorption of vitamin D. For most people, however, it appears that vitamin D consumed with food and meals that don’t contain fat will nonetheless be absorbed and increase blood levels. The American Institute for Cancer Research offers a Nutrition Hotline, 1-800843-8114, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This free service allows you to ask questions about diet, nutrition and cancer. A registered dietitian will return your call, usually within three business days. Courtesy of the American Institute for Cancer Research. Questions for this column may be sent to “Nutrition Wise,” 1759 R St., NW, Washington, DC 20009. Collins cannot respond to questions personally.

Rice dressing

1 1/2 cups fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 1 cup finely chopped onion 1/2 cup finely chopped celery 1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds 1 tsp. stuffing or poultry seasoning Salt and freshly ground black pepper Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In small bowl, plump cranberries, raisins and apricots in orange juice for 20 minutes. Drain and set fruit aside. Reserve juice for baking or for glazing sweet potatoes. In medium saucepan, combine rice with 1 cup broth. Add 1 cup water. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and cook for 3 minutes less time than on package directions, until rice is slightly

less than tender. Fluff with fork, cover and set hot rice aside. In small Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and celery and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are soft, about 8 minutes. Add cooked rice, soaked fruit, almonds, stuffing seasoning and remaining 1/2 cup broth and mix to combine. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper. When broth boils, cover and bake for 30 minutes, until dressing is hot. Fluff with a fork and let dressing sit for 15 minutes. Makes 6 servings. Per serving: 240 calories, 9 g. total fat (1 g. saturated fat), 38 g. carbohydrate, 4 g. protein, 4 g. dietary fiber, 125 mg. sodium. — American Institute for Cancer Research

From page 31 you cannot get red rice, most other kinds work nicely, too.

Rice Dressing with Dried Fruit 1/4 cup dried cranberries 1/4 cup golden raisins 1/4 cup chopped dried apricots 1/2 cup orange juice 3/4 cup Bhutan Red rice, or other red or white rice

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Many meds deplete important nutrients ticle with more side effect solutions if you sign up for my free newsletter at my website, www.dearpharmacist.com. In the meantime, here are several side effect solutions to ask your practitioner(s) about. Don’t make changes without your physician’s approval: Parsley or dandelion: These are gentler diuretics, less likely to cause the harsh depletion of minerals; also less likely to cause dehydration in low doses. Marshmallow root: Bisphosphonate drugs for bones can irritate the esophagus in sensitive folks. Marshmallow root or slippery elm tea soothe and protect your esophageal tract. Green foods and supplements: Think of spinach, kale, spirulina or chlorophyll

supplements, or wheatgrass shots. These are full of minerals to restore what the drug mugger (diuretic blood pressure pill) is taking from you. Take me seriously, mineral deficiency leads to heart beat irregularities, faintness, dizziness and depression. Coconut water: Unsweetened, unheated coconut water will restore electrolytes if you have to take diuretics or lisinopril, a popular blood pressure drug. 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.

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Dear Pharmacist: just to counter the mineral and electrolyte I take a water pill (diuretic) for deficiencies that result from the “drug blood pressure. Now, my mugging” effect of drug numdoctor says I have to take ber 1, your blood pressure Boniva for osteopenia. Is drug! there a connection? What’s Shocked? When side efnext for me? fects due to nutrient deple— H.J. tion by a drug (drug mugDear H.J.: ging) are not recognized, Oh yes, definitely connectyou’ll get a new ‘disease’ and ed! I don’t mean to be crass, a new medication for it. but your diuretic makes you This year, an estimated lose water volume (the point). 163,000 people will suffer memBut with every bathroom trip, DEAR ory loss (perhaps Alzheimer’s) PHARMACIST you pee out minerals! due to various prescription By Suzy Cohen Many people are saying drugs that mug brain nutrients. “Aha” now, because you startAbout 61,000 people will hear ed out taking a blood pressure med, then the words “Parkinson’s disease,” but won’t at some point, you were prescribed a bone realize it was drug-induced. building drug for osteoporosis. Another 32,000 of you will suffer a hip Often, you’ll find that each drug you fracture from a drug-induced fall, and altake creates a side effect calling for anoth- most 8,000 people will die from internal er drug. bleeding caused by over-the-counter nonI’ll share my side effect solutions with steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or you because I realize you have to (or want NSAIDs. to) take your prescription medications. This gets me fired up! It’s why I wrote You’ve asked, “What’s next for me?” De- Drug Muggers (Rodale 2011) for you, bepending on the specific diuretic you take, cause 75 percent of doctor’s office visits you may eventually need an antidepres- end with the physician giving you a presant, something for leg cramps, and scription for a medication — and you need maybe tinnitus (ear ringing). You may also me to protect you! need a drug for heart arrhythmias — all I’ll email you a longer version of this ar-

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Tamp down family feuds at Thanksgiving Dear Solutions: I am in charge of Thanksgiving every year, and I always have the whole family here. My two daughters have always gotten along. My older daughter remarried this past year, and, unfortunately, my two sons-in-law who are in competing businesses are in what I would call a feud about something that happened. When they’re together, they argue constantly over everything, even the football teams they support — and it seems there’s always a football game to watch during the holiday. My daughters stay out of the arguing because they really love each other and love to get together. What can I do about these guys so

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they won’t spoil the day? — Upset Dear Upset: Uh oh, here comes Thanksgiving, and here, in your case, come the three Fs — food, football and feud. Hopefully your daughters, since they get along, will have some influence on their husbands. To help your sons-in-law refrain from spoiling the day for everyone, I would also suggest that you call each of them separately and, without taking sides in their argument, tell them you are counting on them, as you are on everyone who is invited, to help make the day a success. Then put a big sign on your outside door that they will see as they enter. It

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should say “Food, friends, football wel- keep worrying over and over about what come inside: Feuds must be left on the will happen. The same thing happens when it’s my own problems. doorstep and may, if necesHow do I stop being a worsary, be picked up on the way rier? out. No exceptions!!” — Hilda Dear Solutions: Dear Hilda: My daughter-in-law reOK, so you’re a worrier. cently came back from a trip First, stop worrying about it. to Europe and brought me a It keeps you from moving on, necklace and earrings that so accept that about yourself are just not my style. I take and then focus on what you pride in how I dress and can do about it. what kind of jewelry I wear, SOLUTIONS After you’ve consoled your and I would never consider By Helen Oxenberg, kids and then don’t hear from wearing these if she hadn’t MSW, ACSW them, I’ll bet they’ve solved bought them. I know I could just wear them when their problem and have moved on, while you she’s around. However, now we have a leave yourself stuck in the same place. So, big family affair to go to, and she knows until you hear from them again, assume the gown I’m going to wear. She keeps they’ve solved their problem. When you’re stuck worrying about a saying, “Oh, I’m so glad I got you that. I had that gown in mind and think it’ll problem of your own, try removing yourself. Step back and visualize a friend askreally look great with that.” They’re really kind of gaudy and ing your advice about that problem. What flashy, and I always wear quiet jewel- would you tell her/him? Also, when you’re feeling very nervous, ry. Should I wear them? — Norma try deep breathing. Take a deep breath, hold it for a count of four, release it slowly Dear Norma: Yes. This time you be a gaudy and flashy through your mouth and repeat. And each time the worrying starts and mother-in-law by pointing the jewelry out to people and boasting how your daughter- you haven’t found a solution, take a time in-law took the time and effort to bring this out. Actually say the words out loud — “time out” — and watch a movie, read a for you all the way from Europe. People at the affair may not love the jewel- book, anything that will engage your mind, After you’ve done all this, please tell me ry, but they will appreciate — and maybe how it has worked. If I don’t hear from you, even envy — the good relationship you manI’ll worry. age to maintain with your daughter-in-law. © Helen Oxenberg, 2013. Questions to be Dear Solutions: Every time one of my kids or close rel- considered for this column may be sent to: atives has a problem and tells me about The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, it, I start worrying and can’t stop. I con- MD 20915. You may also email the author sole them the best I can, and then when at helox72@comcast.net. To inquire about I don’t hear from them for a while, I just reprint rights, call (609) 655-3684.

WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OFFICE ON AGING

Spotlight On Aging VOLUME XXIV, ISSUE 11

A newsletter for D.C. Seniors

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE

November 2013

Members of the Age-Friendly D.C. Task Force Sworn In

By John M. Thompson, Ph.D., FAAMA In this month’s edition of “Spotlight on Aging,” I would like to discuss seniors and food in Washington, D.C. According to the American Community Survey 2011 estimates, there were nearly 70,000 seniors age 65 years and older who headed households in the Washington Metropolitan Region with incomes under $30,000 annually. Many of these seniors are living with chronic diseases and are struggling to pay for medical care, mortgage or rent, utility payments, food, transportation and entertainment. Consequently, low-income seniors constantly face competing budget priorities and are at risk of hunger, which is a problem as hunger can increase seniors’ vulnerability to disease and impair their functionality. Unfortunately, seniors with poor health are at greater risks of hospitalizations and nursing home placements, which average $110,000 annually. This is a cost that most cannot afford and, ultimately, becomes the state government’s responsibility to pay through its depleting Medicaid budget. D.C. Government’s Effort to Combat Senior Hunger Vincent C. Gray, Mayor of Washington, D.C., and I are strong proponents of seniors living in their communities as the first option, and to accomplish this goal, seniors must have access to one of the basic necessities of life — food. The District has been working tirelessly in tackling senior hunger in the District. In October 2012, Mayor Gray released his fiveyear New Community Living Strategic Plan, which includes as the third goal, “All seniors will have access to nutritious meals, physical and recreational activities, and be financially prepared for retirement and their long-term care needs.” To accomplish this strategic goal, the Mayor has increased the food budget by 111 percent in the last two budget cycles. The increased funding allows DCOA to continuously assess and open additional congregate meal sites that are inviting to seniors. For example, senior apartment buildings or other dwellings that are occupied by a large number of seniors make ideal locations logistically, as seniors do not have to travel far for a nutritious meal. Moreover, it is an opportunity for some of them to get to know their neighbors as they engage in socialization and recreational activities beyond enjoying their meals. The increased food budget has also enabled DCOA to serve every senior who was previously on a waiting list for the homebound meal program. This is a huge success for the District, as hundreds of homebound seniors were waiting months for these meals. Moreover, the increased food budget enables DCOA to hire more dietitians and nutrition personnel to assess additional homebound seniors for enrollment into the program. This proactive approach will ensure that no homebound senior goes without a meal. Beyond tackling senior hunger through the congregate meal and the homebound meal programs, DCOA is in its second year of administering the Commodity Supplemental Food Program and the Seniors Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program, two programs that were acquired from its sister agency, the Department of Health. The rationale of bringing these two programs to DCOA was to increase seniors’ access to multiple nuSee DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE, page 36

Mayor Gray swears in the AgeFriendly DC Task Force members and co-chairs Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Beatriz "BB" Otero and President of the George Washington University Steve Knapp. The task force is made up of D.C. government agency heads and community partners including DCOA Executive Director John M. Thompson, Ph.D., FAAMA and Beacon Newspapers publisher Stuart Rosenthal.

Mayor Vincent C. Gray swore in the members of the District’s new Age-Friendly D.C. Task Force, which will develop a strategic plan incorporating resident-driven recommendations to improve security, increase independence, boost health outcomes, and enable more purposeful living for older adults in the District by 2017. “Older residents of our city love where they live, and they want to stay put. Utilizing our partnerships with residents and organizations in the private sector, including AARP and George Washington University, we will make sure that the District becomes an inviting, exciting and fulfilling place to live, regardless of one’s age,” Mayor Gray said. “I am confident that the Age-Friendly D.C. Task Force will listen carefully and present ideas that, when implemented, will improve the quality of life immeasurably for our senior residents and truly make the District friendly to those at all stages of life.” In September, the Mayor appointed George Washington University President Steven Knapp and Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Beatriz “BB” Otero to co-chair the Task Force. The other task force members are: Mario Acosta-Velez, Verizon director of state government affairs and chairman of the D.C. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Terry Bellamy, director of the District Department of Transportation; David Berns, director of the D.C. Department of Human Services; Steve Glaude, director of the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs; Victor Hoskins, deputy mayor for planning and economic development; Michael Kelly, director of the District’s Department of Housing and Community Development; Dr. Saul Levin, CEO of the American Psychiatric Association; Lisa Mallory, director of the D.C. Department of Employment Services; Linda Mathes, CEO of the

American Red Cross of the National Capital Region; Mercy Morganfield, president of AARP-DC; Carolyn Nicholas, president of Advocates for Elder Justice; Derek Orr, director of the District’s Office of Disability Rights; Paul Quander, deputy mayor for public safety and justice; Stuart Rosenthal, publisher of the Beacon Newspapers; Richard Sarles, general manager/CEO of the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority; Abigail Smith, deputy mayor for education; Kathy Sykes, senior advisor for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Aging Initiative; Romaine Thomas, chair of the Legislative Committee of D.C. Retired Educators of America and Chair of the D.C. Commission on Aging; Dr. John Thompson, executive director of the District’s Office on Aging; Harriet Tregoning, director of the District’s Office of Planning; and Sarah Rosen Wartell, president of the Urban Institute. “I am honored to serve the Mayor in this capacity and proud that my George Washington colleagues are lending their expertise to this important effort, which will enhance still further the quality of life in our great capital city,” said GW president Knapp. The D.C. Office on Aging (DCOA) has been gathering input from older residents for a year. Community consultations will continue through the fall, involving District residents in group discussions about the city they envision. In early 2014, the Age-Friendly DC Task Force will consider the feedback they’ve received and make recommendations to the Mayor about the work that the District’s private and public sectors need to undertake to transform the city. The plan will build on the many improvements the District has made to a number of aspects of community life to ensure that they are friendlier to aging residents.

N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

D.C. OFFICE

Director’s message From page 35 trition programs. Thus, seniors are able to enjoy nutritious meals at a congregate meal site or at home, and still take advantage of the commodity food program if they qualify based on their income. Tackling Senior Hunger by Increasing the Food Supply The aforementioned food programs are effective ways to ensure that seniors are getting a hot meal daily; however, it is not the panacea for ending senior hunger. Thus, DCOA is expanding the food supply in the District by creating vegetable gardens. In partnership with Simon Elementary City Year Team, DCOA established an intergenerational garden at one of its senior wellness centers. The purpose of this garden is meaningful in a number of ways. First, seniors are engaging with the younger generation, which promotes positive socialization for the multiple age groups. Second, seniors who are gardening are being physically active.

AGING NEWSLETTER

Third, seniors have an opportunity to grow produce that can be consumed, which is a success, especially for those seniors who live in food deserts or areas where fresh produce is not readily accessible. DCOA looks forward to establishing more of these gardens across the District so that seniors can take advantage of the resources. An Age-Friendly D.C. without Senior Hunger Under Mayor Gray’s leadership, the District began the five-year journey in October 2012, when the Mayor unveiled his New Community Living strategic plan. An age-friendly city is an inclusive and accessible environment that encourages active and healthy living for all residents by making improvements focused on eight domains of city life affecting the health and well-being of older people. These domains include: outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, civic participation and employment, communication and information, and community support and health services. The District has taken the liberty to include

Online Caregiver Chats The D.C. Office on Aging hosts the D.C. Caregivers Online Chat at Noon, which provides persons who are caring for adults the opportunity to discuss issues, share tips, and receive information on programs, services and resources available to support their needs. The online chats are held biweekly on Tuesdays at 12 p.m., and persons who are unable to chat live can check back and hit replay to find out what they have missed. For more information, contact Linda Irizarry, public health analyst, Lifespan Respite Program, at 202-535-1442, or visit the website at www.dcoa.dc.gov.

Next chats: Tuesday, Nov. 12 at noon • Tuesday, Nov. 26 at noon

Changes to SNAP Benefits As of Nov. 1, your Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also called food stamps) will go down due to the end of the extra benefits provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The ARRA raised SNAP benefits to help people affected by the recession, and that portion of the law has ended.

two additional domains as they greatly impact the wellbeing of seniors: elder abuse, neglect and exploitation, and emergency preparedness and resilience. In an age-friendly city, seniors should not experience senior hunger. To combat senior hunger, DCOA is taking a multipronged approach that addresses the age-friendly city domains. The basis for this work is a focus on economic security. That is, the District of Columbia government and its community-based partners must enhance programs and services that enable seniors to preserve their dollars that could be used to purchase groceries and pay other bills. For example, the District is in the midst of overhauling senior transportation services for seniors, which means greater options for traveling the District. Traditionally, the District’s senior transportation primarily served seniors going to life-sustaining medical appointments, such as chemotherapy and dialysis, or to the doctor’s office. In this new approach, seniors will be given the flexibility to travel free of charge for the purpose of grocery shopping, recreational activities, and much more. Increasing transportation options for seniors means more money in their pockets to cover other expenses. In another example, we continue to advocate that employers who hire seniors offer health and other benefits. It is not sufficient to only give seniors an income, but to also offer the benefits to them that minimize out-of-pocket health and prescription drug expenses, which also means more money for food. Narrowing the Gap Between the Elder Economic Security Standard and Seniors’ Annual Income Through collaboration with Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW), DCOA has begun its journey of increasing the public’s awareness about the importance of planning ahead. WOW is a national organization aimed at building pathways to economic security and equality of opportunity for women, families and elders. WOW produces a wide range of policy and economic security-related research that are used for advocacy and public awareness campaigns.

Of WOW’s many useful research products, I am very amazed by the Elder Economic Security Standard Index or Elder Index data and tables. Based on the Elder Index, the annual economic security standard index for single renters in D.C. is $30,012. This figure represents the amount of money that a senior renter would need to make ends meet living in the District of Columbia, taking into consideration only the bare essentials for survival. The index considers rent payments, food, transportation, healthcare services and miscellaneous items. The index does not take into account money for vacations or for dining out. It is interesting to note that the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) is $11,490, which is $18,522 less than the elder economic security standard. Based on this analysis, we can see how seniors struggle between making difficult decisions in paying for prescription drugs, doctors’ visits, food, rent, utilities and other expenses. The average Elder Median Income in Retirement for seniors residing in D.C. is $16,544, which is a little higher than the FPL, but $13,468 short of the elder economic security standard. Consequently, such income deficit adversely impacts a senior’s quality of life. DCOA will use the data for planning and budgeting purposes. For example, two programs that are in great demand are the food and transportation programs. According to the WOW’s Elder Economic Security Standard Index data, food and transportation make up about 24 percent of a senior’s monthly budget. Thus, continued investments in food programs, and offering affordable and free transportation to help seniors get around town, will help to narrow the gap between the economic security standard index and the senior’s actual median income. One approach to offering free transportation service beyond DCOA’s financed transportation is by establishing TimeBank programs throughout the District of Columbia. I recently had the pleasure of meeting Professor Edgar Cahn, who founded the timebank concept in 1980. According to Cahn, “timebanking is a reciprocal service exchange See DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE, page 37

Income Threshold Increases for Senior/Disabled Deduction

How much do my benefits decrease on Nov. 1? Your benefits depend on many things, such as income, household size and expenses. Please see the table below for more information about changes to your benefit amount.

SNAP Cut by Household Size Beginning November 2013

Household of 1 Household of 2 Household of 3 Household of 4

ARRA Maximum Benefits Maximum Benefits Monthly Total Cut Through Oct. 2013 Beginning Nov. 2013 Cut FY 2014 $200 $189 -$11 -$121 $367 $347 -$20 -$220 $526 $497 -$29 -$319 $668 $632 -$36 -$396

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, "SNAP - Fiscal Year 2014 Cost-of-Living Adjustments and ARRA Sunset Impact on Allotments," August 1, 2013.

DCOA has several programs to assist seniors who need help with nutrition.

Call 202-724-5626 for more information.

Effective Oct. 1, the District of Columbia real property Senior/Disabled Deduction income threshold increased to $125,000 from $100,000. This benefit reduces real property taxes by 50 percent for property owners who are 65 years old or older, or disabled. To qualify for the deduction, the property owner must apply for the deduction and own 50 percent or more of the property or cooperative unit. In addition, for Tax Year 2014 (beginning October 1, 2013) the total federal adjusted gross income of everyone living in the property or cooperative unit, excluding tenants, must be less than $125,000 for the 2012 income tax filing (due April 15, 2013).

Owners of properties receiving these tax benefits are responsible for notifying OTR when eligibility ceases. Written notice, including the square and lot of the property, or a completed Cancellation of Homestead Deduction – Senior Citizen Tax Relief form, must be sent within 30 days of a change in ownership or owner-occupancy status. To obtain a copy of the Homestead Deduction and Senior Citizen/Disabled Property Tax Relief Application, FP-100, or cancellation form, visit www.taxpayerservicecenter.com under “Tax Forms and Publications.” For additional information, contact the Office of Tax and Revenue’s Customer Service Administration at 202-727-4TAX (4829).

WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

D.C. OFFICE

AGING NEWSLETTER

on, Ph.D., FAAMA, and the ve Director John M. Thomps D.C. Office on Aging Executi ” Otero participated in a “BB Human Services Beatriz and lth Hea for or May uty Dep ed to Angel Luis Irene at the new nutrition site dedicat grand opening ceremony for nutrition site helps bring al ition add The . at Brightwood the Vida Senior Residences food programs for seniors lthy hea its goal of increasing 2013-2017 and Mayor the Office on Aging closer to Plan c Community Living Strategi New ’s ncy age the of part as Pagani, executive director n. Pictured are (l to r) Ruth Gray’s Age-Friendl y DC visio f of staff; Maya Marota, chie A DCO s, Camile William VIDA senior centers; Otero; Thompson. public health nutritionist; and

Mayor Gray speaks to seniors at the Hattie Holmes Senior Wellness Center as they celebrate their 6th anniversary.

Director’s message From page 36 that uses units of time as currency.” For example, if an individual contributes one hour of his time in fixing someone’s computer, then he earns one time credit that may be used to redeem a reward. Today, timebanking is in 32 nations and 44 states, and has proven to be an effective approach to provide incentives and rewards for volunteers and clients willing to con-

tribute collectively or individually to improving their communities. Through a new collaboration with Professor Cahn, DCOA will work with its community-based providers and senior villages in establishing the timebank system in the District of Columbia. The benefits of this program are endless, as some seniors lack companionship, transportation, food and other necessities that many other citizens take for granted. Through timebanking, many people have an opportunity to contribute their

Residents listen during the ribbon cutting cerem ony and naming ceremony for the Angel Luis Irene Nutrit ion Center, named after the former VIDA executive direct or. More than 40 participants are expected to eat lunch at the site daily.

DCOA Executive Director John M. Thompson, Ph.D., FAAMA, talks with seniors at the Seabury Resources for Aging 90th Anniversary celebration. The event was held at the North Michigan Park Recreation Center in Ward 5 and included resource exhibits with giveaways, dancing and lunch.

time to visit seniors, cook them a hot meal, take them to the grocery, and much more. In return, seniors can also give of their time in the program. For example, through DCOA and D.C. Public Schools’ Intergenerational Program, where seniors work with 3- and 4-year-old students during reading, lunch, snack and recess time, seniors could earn timebanking hours for their service. Seniors would be able to cash in their hours for services that they need at a later time. The timebanking program helps build

communities, which would be advantageous in age-friendly Washington, D.C. The discussions above provide you with an overview of the District of Columbia Government’s effort to effectively address senior hunger in its jurisdiction. However, it will take a commitment from many stakeholders, both private and public, who have the supply to meet the seniors’ demands for food. I trust that in the short years to come, we will observe a noticeable impact in our endeavor to end senior hunger in the District of Columbia.

N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

D.C. OFFICE

AGING NEWSLETTER

Community Calendar November events 4th • 11:30 a.m. Attend an elder abuse seminar provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office at the Kibar Senior Nutrition site, 1519 Islamic Way NW. Call Vivian Grayton at 202- 529-8701 for more information.

8th to Dec. 20th • noon to 1 p.m. Iona Senior Services begins a new session of tai chi for beginners on Nov. 8. The class meets weekly on Fridays. There is a fee of $10 per class if the entire session is taken, or $13 per class if only some classes are attended. Iona is located at 4125 Albemarle St. NW. For more information and to register, call Darryl Simpson at 202-895-0238.

19th • 10:30 a.m.

ent a diabetes education seminar at Edgewood Terrace Senior Nutrition Site, 635 Edgewood St., NE. Call Vivian Grayton at 202-529-8701 for more information.

20th • 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Washington Seniors Wellness Center will host a workshop on HIV-AIDS. The center is located at 3001 Alabama Ave. SE. To RSVP, call 202581-9355.

19th • 1:40 to 2:40 p.m. The Washington Seniors Wellness Center will hold a presentation called “Living Well,” focusing on living alone and coping skills, as well as lifestyle changes due to personal loss. The center is located at 3001 Alabama Ave. SE. To RSVP, call 202-581-9355.

The Ward 7 East River Family Strengthening Collaborative, KEEN Seniors Program will host its Annual Thanksgiving luncheon. For location, time and other information, contact Robin Gantt at 202-534-4880, ext 110.

December event

20th • 10 a.m. A Ward 5 Mini Commission on Aging meeting will be held at Seabury Resources for Aging, 2900 Newton St. NE. For more information, contact Vivian Grayton at 202-529-8701.

Practitioners from Providence Hospital will pres-

21st

17th • 2 p.m. Seabury Resources for Aging will hold a Ward 5 open house at 2900 Newton St. NE. For reservations, call Vivian Grayton at 202-529-8701.

Do You Rent? You Still Need Insurance In June, 22 families in Northwest D.C. watched fire shoot out the roof of their fourlevel, 22-unit apartment complex until the roof collapsed. Recovery crews soon were sorting through the belongings of the five families that had renters insurance while insurance adjusters estimated the damage. The rest had just lost everything they owned. Or consider a fire in Northeast in July that roared through a six-unit garden apartment building at 1 a.m. and left homeless five families, with children as young as six months. None of the families had renters insurance. (Authorities are looking into the causes of both fires; neither injured anybody.) More than a third of American families rent, and almost two-thirds of those families don’t carry renters insurance, according to a recent Rent.com survey. (Most mortgage lenders, on the other hand, require homeowners to carry insurance, since the dwelling is the collateral for the loan.) There’s no reason to think those numbers are much different in the District. “You run a terrible risk when you go without renters insurance,” said William P. White,

commissioner of the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking. “A fire can destroy everything you own in an instant. And especially with less affluent families, it can really ruin their financial well-being.” Fires destroyed $6.6 billion worth of property and belongings in 2011, the latest figures available from the U.S. Fire Administration. In the District, 258 fires broke out last year with over $629,000 in losses to belongings only. And while most common, fire is only one of the things that can damage property. There are also leaks, floods, vandalism and theft. Especially vulnerable are homeowners who have gone through foreclosure and now rent, or seniors who after many years have downsized from a house to a smaller apartment. They may forget they still need insurance. Tenants may think they can sue their landlord because a fire has damaged their apartment. But it depends on the circumstances. For example, if the tenant notifies the landlord of faulty electrical wiring, and a fire occurs because the landlord did not per-

SPOTLIGHT ON AGING Spotlight On Aging is published by the Information Office of the D.C. Office on Aging for D.C. senior residents. Advertising contained in the Beacon is not endorsed by the D.C. Office on Aging or by the publisher. 500 K St., N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002 202-724-5622 • www.dcoa.dc.gov John M. Thompson, Ph.D., FAAMA Executive Director Darlene Nowlin Editor Selma Dillard Lateef Mangum Photographers The D.C. Office on Aging does not discriminate against anyone based on actual

or perceived: race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, familial status, family responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation, disability, source of income, and place of residence or business. Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination which is prohibited by the Act. In addition, harassment based on any of the above protected categories is prohibited by the Act. Discrimination in violation of the Act will not be tolerated. Violators will be subjected to disciplinary action.

The Office on Aging is in partnership with the District of Columbia Recycling Program.

form the repairs, the landlord may be liable — but not if the tenant caused the fire. And lawsuits are time-consuming and expensive. Those tenants who were insured in the first fire saw crews arrive to sort through their possessions, pack and move their belongings to a temporary residence, and even had their smoky clothes sent to the cleaners. And don’t forget to buy enough insurance. Two months ago, a disabled senior received $800 to put toward a hotel room because she was insufficiently insured. (The District’s Housing Authority wound up putting her in a vacant unit.) To figure out how much insurance you need, take an inventory of your belongings. Document the items in photographs, videos and on paper, and calculate the cost of replacing each. (To recover that amount, you'll need to opt for "replacement coverage.") Keep the inventory and any sales receipts in a safe place, so you'll have a record if you need to file a claim. Renters insurance covers almost all personal property inside an apartment. The insurer will also cover the cost of temporary lodging. And it’s affordable: approximately $15 to $30 a month, depending on where you live and what you are insuring. Some insurers offer discounts to policy-

holders over age 55 and retired. Others discount if you buy both an auto and renters policy (called a multi-line discount) from the same company. In determining whether you need renters insurance, you should ask yourself how much it would cost to replace your belongings. Keep in mind that the belongings in even a minimally furnished apartment — bed, furniture, clothing, kitchen ware — can quickly add up to thousands of dollars. Can you afford to replace them without insurance? Finally, people often believe because they live in an apartment that their landlord’s insurance will cover their own possessions. Your landlord’s insurance protects the building, but not your belongings. About the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking: The District of Columbia's Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking regulates the city's financialservices businesses. It has two missions: to effectively and fairly regulate financial services to protect the people of the District; and to attract and retain financial-services businesses. For more information, visit us on the Web at www.disb.dc.gov.

Medicare Open Enrollment Continues Once a year, Medicare offers you a chance to change prescription drug plans or enroll in a plan if you missed earlier deadlines. The Medicare Open Enrollment Period is Oct. 15 to Dec. 7. If you are already enrolled in a prescription drug plan (Medicare Part D), it is a good idea to examine your coverage to determine if it will continue to meet your needs next year. Likewise, now is the perfect time of year to see if you qualify for the D.C. Medicare Savings Program. For help comparing Medicare prescription drug plans or applying for the D.C. Medicare Savings Program, call the GWU Health Insurance Counseling Project at 202-994-6272.

WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

Say you saw it in the Beacon

Money Law &

NOT TOO TAXING You may qualify for tax-free mutual fund withdrawals, but follow the rules GOING ON A TREASUR(Y) HUNT How to find lost savings bonds through the Dept. of Treasury website MUTUAL FUND TRENDS Index funds continue to rule, and healthcare stocks perform well OMBAMACARE SCAMS Watch out for scam artists using the new healthcare law to bilk seniors

Investor lessons from the financial crisis We have now passed the fifth anniver- the first week of the crisis in September 2008, sary of the financial crisis, which tested you would have been shielded from another every investor in America — 40+ percent in further losses from neophytes to the most (stocks bottomed out in March jaded traders on Wall Street. 2009). As Chicago Mayor Rahm But how would you have Emanuel once said, “You known when to get back in? It is never want a serious crisis to highly doubtful that most ingo to waste. And what I mean vestors would have had the by that is an opportunity to do guts to buy when it seemed like things you think you could stock indexes were hurtling tonot do before.” wards zero! Yet, stocks are now While Emanuel was talking RETIRE SMART up close to 150 percent since about politics, I think we can By Jill Schlesinger the March 2009 lows. apply his statement to in2. Maintain a diversified vestor behavior leading up to and during portfolio...and don’t forget to rebalance. the financial crisis. One of the best ways to prevent emotional With five years of distance from the eye swings is to create and adhere to a diversiof the storm, here is my list of the top five fied portfolio that spreads out your risk lessons every investor can take away: across different asset classes, such as 1. Keep cool: There are two emotions stocks, bonds, cash and commodities. that influence our financial lives: fear and In September 2008, a client shrieked to me greed. At market tops, greed kicks in, and that “everything is going down!” But that was we tend to assume too much risk. Con- not exactly the case: this person’s 10 percent versely, when the bottom falls out, fear allocation in cash was just fine, as was her 30 takes over and makes us want to sell percent holding in government bonds. everything and hide under the bed. That did not mean that the stock and If you had sold all of your stocks during commodities positions were doing well, but

overall, the client was in far better shape because she owned more than risky assets. 3. Maintain a healthy emergency reserve fund. Bad luck can occur at any time. One great lesson of the crisis is that those who had ample emergency reserve funds — six to 12 months of expenses for those who were employed, and 12 to 24 months for those who were retired — had many more choices than those who did not. While a large cash cushion seems like a waste to some (“it’s not earning anything!”), it allowed many people to refrain from selling assets at the wrong time and/or from invading retirement accounts. Side note: The home equity lines of credit on which many relied for emergency reserves vanished during the crisis. 4. Put down 20 percent for a mortgage (and try to stick to plain vanilla home loans, like 15- or 30-year fixed rate mortgages, unless you really understand what you are doing!) Flashback to 2004-’07, and you will likely recall that you or someone you knew was buying a home or refinancing with some cockamamie loan that had “features” that allowed borrowers to put down about

3 cents worth of equity. There’s a good reason that old rules of thumb work. Yes, Virginia, house prices can go down. And despite the recovery, please shun the advice from so-called experts like Suze Orman, who are once again saying that 10 percent down is just fine. 5. Understand what is in your target date fund: Pre-crisis, many investors had started to use funds in which the fund manager “targets” your future date of retirement and adjusts the allocation as you near the time that you will need to access the money. Unfortunately, many of these funds were far riskier than investors understood. Whether it’s a target date fund or an agebased investment for your kid’s college fund, be sure to check out the risk level before you put a dollar to work. Living through a crisis is never easy, so let’s try to at least learn from it! Jill Schlesinger, CFP, is the Senior Business Analyst for CBS News, a former options trader and CIO of an investment advisory firm. She welcomes comments and questions at askjill@jillonmoney.com. © 2013 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

Got bonds? Consider floating-rate funds By Elliot Raphaelson Bond funds and individual bonds have not done well this year. Many investment advisors have consistently urged clients to maintain a common stock/bond ratio of 60/40. Some recommend that retirees adjust the percentage of their portfolio invested in bonds to match their age. For example, hold 65 percent in bonds if you are 65, 70 percent if you are 70, and so on. Up until this year, investors who followed this advice would have done well. In 2013, however, most bond investors, especially those with a high proportion of their holdings in long-term or intermediateterm bonds, have seen a negative return. This was so even for investors with holdings in Treasury bonds and investmentgrade bonds. It’s true that investors in high-yield (socalled “junk”) bonds have shown a positive return this year. The reason is because there is a high correlation between these bonds

and the stock market, and this has been a very good year for the stock market. The reason most bond investors have been hurt this year is the rise in interest rates. When interest rates increase, the value of bonds fall. Longer-term bonds fall in value by higher percentages than intermediate-term and short-term bonds when rates increase. This is true even for Treasury bonds, backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. This is known as interest-rate risk.

Some bonds rise with rates There is one category of bonds that retain their value when interest rates increase: floating-rate bonds. Interest rates on these bonds are adjusted periodically (generally 30, 60 or 90 days) to a pre-determined formula using rates such as LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) or the Federal Funds rate. Financial institutions protect themselves

when they lend money by utilizing a variable interest rate rather than a fixed rate. When interest rates increase, the banks increase the rate that borrowers pay. Loans based on variable interest rates are packaged and offered to mutual funds that offer them to investors. Investors who purchase these floating-rate bond funds are not subject to interest-rate risk. (They are subject to other risks, which I will discuss in a moment.) Therefore, in periods when interest rates are expected to increase, floatingrate funds become more popular. In 2013, investors in these bonds generally had a positive return on their investment. For example, the Fidelity Floating Rate High Income Fund (FFRHX), which receives a four-star rating from Morningstar, had a year-to-date return of 2.27 percent, as of September 2013. (This compares favorably to most bond funds, many of which had losses exceeding 2 percent.)

Still some risks What are the risks associated with floating-rate bonds? One important one is credit risk. This is the risk that the payer of interest will default. Regarding floating-rate bond funds, the interest is being paid by bank customers taking out loans. The magnitude of credit risk is much greater than it is with a Treasury fund or a high-quality corporate bond fund. The credit risk is equivalent to that associated with a junk bond fund. Vanguard has issued an excellent “Primer on Floating-Rate Bond Funds,” written by Donald G. Bennyhoff and Yan Zilbering. It’s available online, and it discusses in depth the advantages and disadvantages of this type of investment. For example, the authors explain that investors should also be aware of inflation risk. Even though floating-rate bond funds may provide a positive return, the returns See FLOATING RATES, page 40

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How mutual fund withdrawals are taxed By Sandra Block Q. My wife and I are retired and need money from our mutual funds. What will we pay in taxes? A. Depending on your income, you might not have to pay any taxes on your gains. The on-again, off-again 0 percent longterm capital gains rate for taxpayers in the 10 percent and 15 percent tax brackets has been made permanent — and that could benefit a lot of retirees. In 2013, married couples who file jointly qualify for the 0 percent capital gains rate if their taxable income is $72,500 or less; for single filers, the cutoff is $36,250. Rates

for taxpayers in higher brackets range from 15 percent to 23.8 percent.

Calculate your taxable income Taxable income is what’s left after you subtract personal exemptions (worth $3,900 each in 2013 for you, your spouse and your dependents) plus your standard or itemized deductions from your adjusted gross income. If you don’t itemize, note that seniors 65 or older qualify for a larger standard deduction than younger taxpayers ($14,600 for married couples who are both 65 or older; $7,600 for single filers).

The gains must be long term: To qualify for preferential treatment, you must hold your shares of stocks or mutual funds more than a year before you sell. In addition, the shares must be held in taxable accounts. Profits in tax-deferred retirement accounts, such as traditional IRAs, aren’t taxed until you take withdrawals. Your gains could lift you into a higher tax bracket. When you sell stocks or funds, the profits will increase your taxable income. To pay no taxes on the sale, you’ll have to calculate the amount of gains you can take before your income exceeds the threshold.

Figure in Social Security taxes

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Capital gains could increase taxes on Social Security benefits. Your AGI plays a critical role in how much, if any, of your Social Security benefits will be taxed. If your “provisional income” (your AGI plus 50 percent of your Social Security benefits plus any tax-free interest) exceeds

Floating rates From page 39 may not keep pace with inflation. On a long-term basis, you may obtain higher returns with a balanced fund or target fund, both of which have a significant percentage of holdings in common stocks, which should provide better inflation protection. Another issue for those interested in floating-rate bond funds is timing. Although these funds provide positive returns during periods of increasing interest rates, it is not that easy to predict when rates will increase or decrease. As we have seen this year, it is not easy to predict the

$44,000 on a joint return, it’s likely that 85 percent of your Social Security benefits will be taxed. If you have provisional income of $44,000 or less, less than 85 percent of your benefits will be taxed. As you consider taking profits, remember that any capital gains are included in the calculation, even if they’re tax-free, because they’re part of your AGI, said Mark Luscombe, federal tax analyst for CCH, a leading publisher of tax information. Alternatively, if you’re a recent retiree, taking advantage of the 0 percent tax break to generate tax-free income could enable you to postpone filing for Social Security, which can lead to higher lifetime benefits. Sandra Block is a senior associate editor at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. Send your questions and comments to moneypower@kiplinger.com. And for more on this and similar money topics, visit www.Kiplinger.com. © 2013 Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

policies of the Federal Reserve from one announcement to the next. Investors who are very concerned about capital preservation and need income can consider some investment in floating-rate bond funds. However, taking into consideration other risks associated with the product, I don’t believe this type of investment should be a significant part of your overall portfolio. They make the most sense if you want to retain some bonds in your portfolio, but want to reduce your exposure to interest-rate risk. Elliot Raphaelson welcomes your questions and comments at elliotraph@gmail.com. © 2013 Elliot Raphaelson. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

FREE WORKSHOP: LEARN TO PROTECT YOUR ASSETS FROM THE EXPENSES OF PROBATE & LONG-TERM CARE

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• Full terms and rates for these services, including terms of eligibility, are as set forth in federal and in Verizon’s tariffs on file with the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia. Rates as stated here are effective as of September 1, 2011. But, the rates and other terms are subject to change in the future.

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

Let software remember passwords for you By Jeff Bertolucci Security experts tell us to create long, complex passwords (think numerals and symbols) for every online account. But how are we supposed to remember all of those mind-numbing character strings? Fortunately, there is software that manages your passwords for you. These programs allow you to store your passwords in one file by creating one ultra-secure master password to serve as the portal to all your other user names and passwords. Here are three of our favorites:

Dashlane This is an excellent choice for the password-challenged. Not only is it highly secure, but it’s also a breeze to use. Dashlane (www.dashlane.com) is a free download for Windows and Mac PCs and most smartphones and tablets. Enter a master password (be sure to remember it because Dashlane doesn’t save it) and the app automatically encrypts your passwords and other private information using military-grade AES-256 encryption, which has never been hacked. Dashlane imports new and existing passwords from your Web browser into its “vault.” The program can remember your shipping and credit card information, as well as auto-fill online checkout screens. Dashlane also works within your Web browser to monitor your online activities. When you log in to your online email, for instance, Dashlane pops up and asks whether it should save your user name and password. Plus, it rates the strength of your existing passwords (and tells you if they should be changed), and it generates strong passwords for new sites that you join. If you signed up for two-step verification using Google Authenticator (you need a code generated by an app in addition to your password), you may continue to use it.

BEACON BITS

Nov. 16

PROTECT YOUR ASSETS

Elder Law Attorney Evan Farr presents a free workshop, “Learn to Protect Your Assets from the Expenses of Probate & Long-Term Care” on Saturday, Nov. 16 at the Law Firm of Evan Farr, 10640 Main St., Suite 200, Fairfax, Va. Learn how you can protect your assets from probate, lawsuits and nursing home expenses. Also learn about the Living Trust Plus, the only kind of asset protection trust that allows you to be a trustee and retain an interest, while also protecting your assets from being counted by state Medicaid agencies. To reserve a seat, visit www.VirginiaElderLaw.com or call (703) 691-1888.

LastPass This is another top-notch free password manager. Like Dashlane, LastPass (www.lastpass.com) prompts you to create a master password, integrates with the browser, detects when you log in to password-protected sites, and asks whether you want it to remember log-in information. It also generates strong passwords for new sites and auto-fills credit card and shipping information. Unlike Dashlane, however, LastPass doesn’t rate the strength of existing passwords. LastPass stores your data online, which lets you access your credit card numbers from any Web browser. (The downside: You may be uncomfortable with having your sensitive personal data stored in the cloud.) The app also supports Google Authenticator.

Keeper If all you want is a free password manager and little more, Keeper (www.keepersecurity.com) is appealing. Like its competitors, the app uses bulletproof AES-256 encryption.

The app supports two-step verification, but it doesn’t rate the strength of your passwords. Jeff Bertolucci is a freelance writer for Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. © 2013 Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

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Finding and redeeming lost savings bonds By Elliot Raphaelson According to the Department of the Treasury, 25,000 payments are returned to it every year as undeliverable. In addition, billions of dollars in savings bonds have stopped earning interest but haven’t been cashed. Many bonds have been lost, stolen or destroyed. Fortunately, there is a Department of Treasury website, TreasuryDirect.gov, that can assist you if any of these situations apply to you. From this website, you can use a feature called “Treasury Hunt” to determine whether you are the owner of a savings bond that has stopped earning interest but hasn’t been cashed.

The system does not contain a record of all savings bonds. It does, however, provides information regarding Series E Bonds issued in 1974 or later, and Series EE bonds issued in 1974 or later. You only have to enter your Social Security number. If you are not sure who is the registered owner of the bonds, enter the Social Security numbers of all members of your family. There is no advantage in holding onto bonds that no longer earn interest. You can redeem bonds that no longer earn interest, or any other bonds you own, through a local financial institution or the U.S. Treasury. There will be no charge to you to do so. Information on how to sell

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tween I savings bonds and EE savings bonds, regarding denominations, purchase price, interest, redemption and tax information. If you had bonds that were lost, stolen or destroyed, you can submit Form PDF 1048, available from the TreasuryDirect website. By providing as much information as you can — specifically estimated date of purchase, name of registered owner, type of bond THE SAVINGS and so forth — the Treasury GAME Understanding taxes Department will search its By Elliot Raphaelson and penalties records for you. If you decide to redeem You can use this process for bonds that are still earning interest, make registered Treasury notes and bonds in sure you understand the penalties associ- addition to savings bonds. This site allows ated with redemption. you to download other forms, such as for You must hold both Series I savings replacement of lost or stolen checks, or bonds and Series EE savings bonds for at claims for bonds ordered but not received. least 12 months. After 12 months, you have the option to redeem them. However, it Locating unclaimed property may pay to hold the bond for at least five The Treasury Hunt feature of the Treayears. There is a three-month’s interest suryDirect website will identify only inforpenalty on bonds not held at least five mation regarding savings bonds. I recomyears. mend that you also go to www.unInterest on savings bonds is taxable claimed.org to determine if there is any only at the Federal level; bonds are free other unclaimed property identified for you on state websites that you are not from state and local income taxes. If you purchased the bonds after Dec. aware of. If you were a beneficiary of an estate, 31, 1989, and use the proceeds to cover tuition for qualified higher education, the in- there may be assets turned over to a state terest is tax-free at the Federal level also. that belong to you, not the state. For exYou can determine the current rates for ample, if the decedent owned bank acSeries I, EE and HH bonds at 800-US- counts in their name only, and the execuBONDS (872-6637). This information is tor of the estate was not aware of these acalso available at the TreasuryDirect web- counts, the property would be turned over to the state. site. A few years ago, my children and I reIf you own several bonds and would prefer assistance with valuing and redeeming covered several thousand dollars from your bonds, you can purchase personal Florida’s unclaimed property site in exactservice from SavingsBonds.com for about ly this situation, with a search using dece$6 per year. With this service, you will be dent information. Treasury and state websites are convenprovided up-to-date information on all your bonds, specifically interest rate, current ient. Make sure you recover any assets value and maturity date. The service will that belong to you. Elliot Raphaelson welcomes your questions also provide you with recommendations and comments at elliotraph@gmail.com. regarding redemption. © 2013 Elliot Raphaelson. Distributed The site contains a great deal of useful information, such as a comparison be- by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. bonds through the Treasury Department is available on the TreasuryDirect website. You can obtain redemption information and other information regarding bonds at 1800-245-2804 — the savings bond processing site of the Treasury Department. (I called the site, and was pleasantly surprised to be able to talk to a real person, who was very knowledgeable. And there was no waiting time.)

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Say you saw it in the Beacon | Law & Money

Three significant trends in mutual funds By Stan Choe The numbers tell the story. The latest update on mutual fund performance is likely to widen the gap between investors who prefer index funds and those who favor the guidance of a stock picker. Here is more on that, plus some other trends from around the mutual fund industry:

Managed funds often trail index Why try to beat the stock market? More mutual fund investors are saying it’s not worth the extra cost. Instead, they’re piling into funds that aim to match a stock index’s performance. In September, the most popular mutual fund was Vanguard’s Total Stock Market Index fund, which took in a net $2.3 billion, according to Morningstar. It tries to mimic a broad U.S. market index that includes everything from tiny stocks to giants like Apple, and it has an expense ratio of 0.17 percent. A fund’s expense ratio shows how much of its assets are used to pay managers’ salaries and other costs annually. Domestic stock funds have an average expense ratio of 1.26 percent. Not only do funds that are run by stock pickers carry higher expenses, many also fail to beat their respective index. After looking at the performance of all large-cap stock mutual funds over the 12 months through June 30, S&P Dow Jones Indices said that three out of five, some 60 percent, failed to match the 20.6 percent return for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, including dividends. The trend is even more pronounced for funds focused on small and medium-sized stocks. More than two-thirds of all mid-cap stock funds, 69 percent, fell short of the 25.2 percent return for the S&P 400 index, and 64 percent of all small-cap funds had a weaker performance than the 25.2 return for the S&P 600 index. Those numbers are actually better than in recent years. Over the last five years, 79 percent of all large-cap stock funds, 82 percent of all mid-cap funds and 78 percent of all small-cap funds failed to match their respective index.

Target-date funds add stock The country’s biggest provider of target-date retirement funds is changing how it puts those portfolios together and is bulking up on stocks. Nearly one out of every three dollars invested in a target-date retirement fund was with Fidelity at the end of 2012 — $157.2 billion, according to Morningstar — so the changes that it makes affect many investors. Fidelity said that it made the changes after rethinking some of its assumptions about retirement investing, gleaned from watching the behavior of 401(k) savers. Target-date retirement funds are meant to offer savers a simpler way to invest their nest eggs. Savers pick a fund based on the year that they hope to retire. When the date is far off, the funds invest heavily in stocks because account holders have time to ride out the dips. As the retirement date approaches, the funds shift to more bonds and cash, which are less risky than stocks. Fidelity’s target-date funds will keep about 90 percent of their assets in stocks until savers get to their late 40s, said Bruce Herring, group chief investment officer for Fidelity’s Global Asset Allocation division. Currently, the funds may keep about 75 percent in stocks for that age group. The money being put toward stocks will come partially from bonds, which offer low yields. Stocks have also historically recovered their losses within 20 years, even after the worst declines, Herring said. That means investors in their late 40s can handle the increased emphasis on stocks that Fidelity is making, since they have 20 years until they retire: Fidelity now assumes that workers will retire at age 67 rather than 65 after analyzing its participants’ behavior. Fidelity’s moves bring its funds closer to the stock allocations of its two biggest rivals. Fidelity’s 2020 fund will keep 61 percent of its assets in stocks, up from 53 percent, for example. Vanguard’s 2020 fund holds about 62 percent in stocks, and T. Rowe Price’s holds about 68 percent.

Healthcare performs well Worries about all the squabbles in

Washington have sent stocks up and down, and Obamacare and the healthcare industry are at the center of the debate. But mutual funds that focus on healthcare stocks haven’t been feeling too much pain. They’ve been the best performers this year, returning an average of 36.9 percent. That compares with a 21 percent re-

turn for the S&P 500. The next-best performance among mutual fund categories is the 30.8 percent average return for small-cap growth stock funds. Much of the jump stems from excitement about drugs the industry is developSee MUTUAL FUNDS, page 44

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N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Clearly define terms when lending money By Sandra Block Whether you’re lending money to your college-bound grandchild or your entrepreneurial brother-in-law, treat the loan as a business transaction. That will increase the likelihood that you’ll be repaid, and will keep the IRS at bay. Start by asking why he or she needs the money. A loan that would help with college tuition or the purchase of a home could improve the borrower’s financial security. Similarly, a loan could help a relative recovering from a financial setback to avoid predatory lenders. Conversely, lending money to a family member who has a history of poor financial choices could enable more bad behavior.

Ask the potential borrower to provide you with a copy of their credit report and score. The score probably isn’t stellar, or the family member wouldn’t be hitting you up for a loan. But a credit report (the prospective borrower can get one free at www.annualcreditreport.com) will give you an idea of the individual’s other financial obligations.

Avoiding trouble with the IRS If the borrower is really struggling, you may be tempted to make a no-interest loan, or charge only a nominal amount. Be aware, though, that doing so could get you into hot water with the IRS. To avoid having the transaction treated as a gift, the IRS requires that you charge at least the applicable federal rate (AFR),

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which is published monthly at www.irs.gov. Otherwise, the IRS could dun you for taxes on “imputed” interest income, based on the AFR when the loan was made. You’re not required to charge interest if the loan is for less than $10,000, or up to $100,000 if the borrower’s investment income for the year is less than $1,000. Federal rates this year have ranged from about 0.21 percent to 3.28 percent, depending on the length of the loan. Of course, you’re expected to report interest you receive as taxable income. If you wind up forgiving the loan itself, you might be entangled by gift-tax rules. Gifts that exceed $14,000, including any unpaid interest, require that you file a gifttax return and cut into your lifetime giftand estate-tax exemptions.

Online resources

Mutual funds

earnings to continue to grow, but at a more modest pace than for other sectors. S&P Capital IQ has an “Overweight” rating on the healthcare sector, which means that it expects it to be one of the market’s better-per forming sectors. Deutsche Bank, meanwhile, has an “Equalweight” rating, and Goldman Sachs has it as “Underweight.” — AP

From page 43 ing. Celgene (CELG), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) have all surged more than 75 percent this year. To be sure, Wall Street strategists can’t agree on whether more gains are to come. Analysts expect healthcare companies’

In addition to charging interest, drawing up a formal agreement will make it clear to the IRS that you’re making a loan, not a gift. It’s also a good way to ensure that everyone involved understands the terms of the loan. You can find sample promissory notes online, and websites such as www.bankrate.com provide tools that will calculate monthly payments. LoanBack (www.loanback.com) sells a personalized loan agreement you can track online. A product that will calculate payments and provide e-mail alerts costs $29.95; a basic downloadable template (that doesn’t do the math for you) is available for $14.95. Sandra Block is a senior associate editor at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. © 2013 Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.

Building a Healthier Community The Beacon 50+ Expo CareFirst Commitment works in partnership with organizations throughout the entire Baltimore and Washington metro region to improve the quality of, and access to, health care in our communities.

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Law & Money

Helping with kids’ and grandkids’ finances By Jill Schlesinger Every few months, I like to empty out the inbox, which has definitely piled up recently. This month and next, I will answer a variety of your questions. As a reminder, if you have a financial question or a comment about a column, send it to: askjill@jillonmoney.com. If you would like to be a guest on my syndicated radio show, call 1-855-411-JILL. Q. I have three young grandchildren, and my broker suggested that I open 529 college savings accounts for them. Although I live in New York, he has recommended a plan from Rhode Island. When I saved for my own kids, I used custodial accounts, so I am not as familiar with a 529. Is there any reason that I would use a Rhode Island 529 versus one from New York? — Delia A. 529 plans are operated through states and allow you to save for higher education in a tax-effective way. Here’s how they work: You invest an after-tax dollar into a 529, and then choose from a variety of investment options, which usually include different kinds of mutual funds. The money grows without any current taxation, and when the child is ready to attend college, it can be withdrawn on a taxfree basis to pay for qualified education expenses. While I agree with the advice to establish a 529 plan as the college savings vehicle, it makes little sense for you to use a plan from Rhode Island. The main reason is that, as a New York resident, you would be missing a great opportunity. Some states, like New York., offer special state tax benefits to residents. New

York allows for a state income tax deduction of up to $5,000 per year by an individual, and up to $10,000 by a married couple filing jointly. (Only contributions made by the account owner, or if filing jointly, by the account owner’s spouse, are deductible). [Editor’s Note: In Maryland, each account holder can deduct up to $2,500 of contributions each year per beneficiary. Account owners who are District of Columbia taxpayers may deduct up to $4,000 in plan contributions each year on their D.C. tax return (up to $8,000 for married couples filing jointly, if both taxpayers own an account and make contributions). Virginia 529 account owners who are Virginia taxpayers may deduct contributions up to $4,000 per account per year.] Perhaps you are wondering why on earth your broker would suggest the Rhode Island plan. The most likely answer is that the Rhode Island plan would pay him a commission. You can research 529 plans at www.savingforcollege.com. Q. I offered to help my son and his wife with the down payment on their home. When they went through the mortgage application process, the bank asked for my bank statement. Is that customary? I don’t feel comfortable sending the details of my finances. — John A. The mortgage process has changed dramatically since the housing boom and bust. Not only do borrowers have to provide lots of information, but when a gift is involved, the lender is likely to ask for a donor letter/affidavit and could require the donor’s account statements to verify the source of funds. According to mortgage brokers, this

new twist has more to do with rules to prevent money laundering than for underwriting purposes. Bottom line: If you want to help your kids, you need to comply with the new rules. Q. I have run the numbers and have determined that with my pension and retirement savings, I can probably retire as early as age 55, though I was planning to keep working until 59 1/2 so I could tap my 401(k) account without penalties. Recently, a co-worker told me that I could use something called Rule 72-T to get the money earlier. Is that true? — Jerome A. IRS Rule 72(t) allows for penalty-free

withdrawals from a retirement account before age 59 1/2, as long as distributions are made as part of a series of substantially equal periodic payments over your life expectancy. The account owner must take at least five substantially equal periodic payments, and the amount depends on the account owner’s life expectancy (as calculated with various IRS-approved methods). If you want to take advantage of Rule 72(t), you must separate from service with the employer maintaining the plan before the payments begin. Keep those questions coming, readers. I enjoy hearing from you! © 2013 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

Our Mission: To secure the well-being of Montgomery County Seniors through the shared strength of diverse organizations and individuals.

Professionals working with seniors are invited to our Monthly GROWS meetings on the first Thursday of the month at 8:15 a.m. usually at Holiday Park Senior Center, 3950 Ferrara Dr., Wheaton, Md.

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N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Obamacare scams targeting older adults By Kimberly Lankford Q. I received an email telling me I need to buy a health insurance card that shows I have coverage under Obamacare or I will have to pay a penalty. The email looked legitimate, but it asked for my credit card number. Is it a scam? A. Yes. Although the Affordable Care Act requires people to have health insurance in 2014 or pay a penalty, there is no special card to buy. This is just one of the many ways that crooks are trying to take advantage of misconceptions and misinformation so that they can get your credit card number, bank-account information or cash. Here are a couple of other scams to watch out for: • The Medicare-card scam. The healthcare law will make few changes to HH_AdSeries7.5x9_2012 6/27/12 11:20 Medicare in 2014, but scam artists are in-

voking Obamacare as a scare tactic. One woman in San Diego received a call from a person claiming to be from Medicare who said she needed a new Medicare card because of Obamacare and asked for her personal information and checking-account number. (He already had her name and address.) The woman was told that her Medicare benefits would stop if she didn’t provide the information. She became suspicious and contacted the California Senior Medicare Patrol, one of 54 programs throughout the country that work with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to fight Medicare-related fraud. Not only does the new healthcare law not require you to get a new Medicare or healthcare card, but Medicare will never, ever call you. Instead, like the IRS, AM Page 4 Medicare will contact you about any per-

sonal issues through the mail. You can call 1-800-633-4227 or go to Medicare.gov for more information, or contact the Senior Medicare Patrol in your state (www.smpresource.org). • Fake navigators and exchange sites. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded $67 million in grants to community organizations to help people sign up for coverage through the new healthcare exchanges (also called marketplaces). Now scam artists are posing as these community “navigators” and saying that they’ll sign you up for coverage if you send them or wire them a few hundred dollars to get started, said Emily Peters, of Patient Fusion, which provides medical records and health spending tools to consumers. Legitimate navigators will not cold-call you or send you an e-mail. To find a legitimate navigator in your area through your

Is it hard to imagine someone else caring for the person who took care of you? It will occupy your thoughts during the day and keep you up at night. You’ll take a look at every possibility. You’ll consider her needs and yours, and it will lead to the same conclusion. You can no longer provide the care she needs, but who will?

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state’s exchange, go to the “How do I get help enrolling in the marketplace?” fact sheet at Healthcare.gov or call 1-800-3182596 for more information and resources. Q. Does the new healthcare law prohibit medigap insurers from denying coverage or raising rates because of health? A: No. Even though starting in 2014 most health insurers won’t be able to reject applicants or charge them more because of their health, the new law doesn’t apply to Medicare supplement policies (often called medigap). You can buy any medigap policy regardless of your health within six months of signing up for Medicare Part B. But after that initial enrollment period, insurers can reject you or charge higher rates because of a medical condition. There are some exceptions. For example, you may qualify for medigap coverage without medical underwriting if you are in a Medicare Advantage plan that discontinues operations, or if you move out of that plan’s service area. A few companies will let you switch from one version of medigap coverage to another without new medical underwriting, especially if you’re switching to a plan with more cost-sharing — such as to the high-deductible Plan F or Plan N. If your medigap premiums increase significantly, try applying for a new medigap policy, even if you have minor health issues. It generally takes about 60 days for a medigap policy to go through medical underwriting, but some companies will process the policy in 15 to 30 days, said Eric Maddux, senior Medicare adviser for eHealthMedicare, which provides price quotes and sells policies from many companies. If you can’t qualify for a new policy, another option is to switch from medigap to an all-in-one Medicare Advantage policy during open-enrollment season, which runs from October 15 to December 7. Any See MEDIGAP, page 48

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take place on Wednesday, Nov. 20, from noon to 1 p.m. For more information or to register, visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/OlderAdults or call (703) 324 5205, TTY 711.

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Law & Money

WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

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N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Stock accelerates for auto maker Tesla By David Milstead You can invest in the companies we have long known as the U.S. auto industry. Or you can invest in Tesla Motors (symbol TSLA). In reality, of course, you can buy both. But it’s clear that investors view Tesla as a

different breed of automaker. Tesla shares have risen fivefold this year and, at $183, trade at more than 100 times estimated 2014 earnings! To invest in Tesla now, you have to buy into the idea that the Palo Alto, Calif., company will move from being a niche player

BEACON BITS

Nov. 6+

CALLING ALL ENTREPRENEURS

The “National Conference on the Entrepreneurship Imperative for Engaging People 50 and Older” takes place from Wednesday, Nov. 6 to Friday, Nov. 8. This year’s conference theme is “Over 50, Start Anew!” and will bring business, government and education leaders together at the Westin Washington, D.C. City Center, 1400 St. NW, Washington, D.C. It will feature noted speakers and panelists, including Carl Schramm, a Syracuse University professor dubbed the “evangelist of entrepreneurship.” For more information, visit http://ncei.co/register-today or call (303) 499-3939.

in the luxury-car market to a “mass market” seller of revolutionary automobiles that will take a significant chunk of sales away from Ford Motor (F) and General Motors (GM). Tesla’s most passionate advocates are betting that the company will be a smashing success. Said analyst Brian Johnson, of Barclays Capital: “The bull argument for the stock could be that the CEO, Elon Musk, is the next Henry Ford — that is, mass-market success would be assured.”

could sell for less than $50,000. That would require more strides in cutting the cost of the electric battery that powers Tesla autos. After that — say, in 2022, Johnson figures — might come an era of true massmarket production, with Tesla models selling for $25,000, on average. Johnson believes that Tesla has only a 12 percent chance of achieving mass-market success by 2022 and figures that the stock is worth $141 per share, which is below its current price.

Cheaper Teslas on the way? This year, Tesla expects to deliver 21,000 of its sleek Model S autos, which sell for $59,900 to $94,900, before a $7,500 federal tax credit. Tesla’s next big test is whether it can produce, by around 2017, its Gen III model, a more affordable version that

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How Ford and GM compare Although Tesla’s stock is priced as if it’s the future of auto making, the outlook is actually bright for the old-line manufacturers. Ford, which did not require the federal bailout that GM did, has long been regarded as the better operator, with larger profit margins and a more robust product line. At $17, the stock trades for 10 times estimated earnings for the next four quarters. Analyst Adam Jonas, of Morgan Stanley, said the stock could reach $27 by mid2014. GM has had more problems, particularly its exposure to troubled European economies. At $36, its stock sells at 8 times estimated year-ahead earnings. Analyst Itay Michaeli, of Citigroup Global Markets, rates the stock a “buy” and has a one-year price target of $45. He said GM’s results are stabilizing, its pickuptruck sales look promising, and its OnStar service gives the company a technological advantage as more cars are equipped for Internet access. © 2013 Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

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Medicare beneficiary can buy a Medicare Advantage plan during that time, regardless of his or her health. These policies provide both medical and prescriptiondrug coverage from a private insurer. But keep in mind that Medicare Advantage policies tend to have restrictive provider networks (make sure your doctors, hospitals and pharmacies are included), and you could have a tough time finding in-network providers if you travel a lot. They also tend to have more cost-sharing than medigap plans, so while your monthly premiums may be lower, you may have more out-of-pocket costs throughout the year. And if you change your mind later and decide to switch back from Medicare Advantage to a medigap plan, you could be rejected because of your health. Kimberly Lankford is a contributing editor to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine and the author of Ask Kim for Money Smart Solutions (Kaplan, $18.95). Send your questions and comments to moneypower@kiplinger.com. © 2013 Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

Say you saw it in the Beacon

Did you (or someone you know) change careers, start a business or go back to school after retirement?

Careers Volunteers &

Please share your story. Email info@theBeaconNewspapers.com or call Barbara at (301) 949-9766.

Volunteers help visually impaired clients One-on-one help

A long volunteer career

Brenner is a reader and a “friendly visitor” for Columbia Lighthouse. Readers commit a minimum of four hours per month to read a client’s books, mail and other material to them. Brenner dedicates three to four hours per week (depending on her workload) to assisting Sharon Davis (not her real name). Brenner reads to her, pays her bills, helps around the house, has meals with her, and takes her to football games. Brenner’s focus is keeping Davis active and involved. In the year that Brenner has volunteered, the women have formed a close bond and become fast friends. Brenner explained, “She’s high energy and full-spirited. It’s nice if you can find that. It’s not like a job. It’s pleasure.” Columbia Lighthouse has about 200 volunteers, said Hunter. The organization needs volunteers for office support and projects, special event assistance, camp counselors, and as readers/visitors like Brenner. Each year the organization hosts expos, classes and Light the Way 5K, a walk/run to raise money and increase awareness, all of which require volunteer helpers. Team volunteering is another available option. For those who wish to volunteer but cannot devote a lot of time, a group of volunteers can be assigned to one client to share visiting and assistance. Hunter explained that this is less commonly used because volunteers typically enjoy the ongoing one-on-one time with their clients.

Many volunteers remain with the organization for a long time. “They see the direct impact because they serve so closely and develop really close bonds with the clients,” Hunter said. One such volunteer is Bill Polizos, a resident of Great Falls, Va., who has spent the last 17 years volunteering with Columbia Lighthouse. He has only had two clients over all that time because he decided to stay with each one for many years. Polizos originally assumed he would be paired with a child, “someone I could read to or that needed help with school,” he explained. “I ended up being assigned to an elderly man. I think he was in his 80s when I was assigned to him. He had gone blind late in life.” The client, Dr. Argus Tresidder, was a successful and educated man who once served as vice president for a large corporation. He had also been a college English professor. His late-life blindness affected his publishing career, as he found it difficult to type without his sight. One of Polizos’ major contributions to Tresidder was to identify and edit his typewritten “garbles,” seemingly nonsensical lines caused by his vision loss. “What would inevitably happen is that he would get off by one key, so he would have two or three sentences where every key was off. It was my role to read back the script to him and to enter the edits that he would make,” Polizos explained.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BONNIE BRENNER

By Rebekah Sewell When Bonnie Brenner was growing up, her family was involved with Lighthouse International, a New York-based organization that offers services to visually impaired and blind people. Among other things, her mother accompanied blind singers on the piano. “On high school vacations we used to help out a lot. It’s always been an integral part of our family,” said Brenner, who moved two years ago to Washington, D.C. She now volunteers with Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind, a similar nonprofit organization that provides children and adults (whether blind or with low vision or vision loss) with assistive technology, Braille services, rehabilitation, employment assistance and comprehensive low vision care. Counseling is also available. As Brenner explained, “Blindness can cause so many other weaknesses: depression, medication dependence if they have to take [prescriptions] for their eyes, etc.” Counseling and visiting with volunteers can help alleviate stress and promote an active life. “You can have friends and family, but to have an outsider who cares to help them out...it’s really important,” she said. Columbia Lighthouse strives to keep those with vision loss active and successful. Director of Communications Jocelyn Hunter (who is visually impaired herself) explained the goal of the organization: “We equip them with the skills to continue on a path of independence.”

Bonnie Brenner volunteers with Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind, reading books, mail and other material to a client who has become her close friend. More than 200 volunteers with the nonprofit organization serve as readers, friendly visitors and camp counselors.

Polizos also helped Tresidder to socialize, and read to him for years before Tresidder passed away. “I gained from his experience, his insight. He kept me on my toes,” Polizos reflected. Polizos grew close enough to his friend to make a eulogy at his funeral. Polizos’ current client has a different set of needs. For the last seven years, he has been working with Linda, a female client who was born blind. The differences between being born blind and becoming See LIGHTHOUSE, page 50

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Half of older workers delay retirement By Matt Sedensky There was a time when Tom Sadowski thought he’d stop working after turning 65 earlier this year. But Sadowski, who lives in Sterling, Va., has put off retirement for at least five years — and now anticipates continuing to do some work afterward. In an illuminating sign of changing times and revised visions of retirement, an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released last month found that older Americans like Sadowski not only are delaying their retirement plans, they’re also embracing the fact that it won’t necessarily mark a complete exit from the workforce. Some 82 percent of workers 50 and older say it is at least somewhat likely they will

work for pay in retirement. And 47 percent of them now expect to retire later than they previously thought — on average nearly three years beyond their estimate when they were 40. Men, racial minorities, parents of minor children, those earning less than $50,000 a year, and those without health insurance were more likely to put off their plans. The recession claimed Sadowski’s business and a chunk of his savings, and with four teenage daughters, the graphic designer accepts the fact he won’t retire for another five years or more.

“At this age, my dad had already been retired 10 years and moved to Florida,” he said. “Times are different now for most people.” About threequarters of respondents said they have given their retirement years some or a great deal of thought. When considering factors that are “very” or “extremely” important in their retirement decisions, 78 percent of workers cited financial needs, 75 percent said health, 68 percent their ability to do their job, and 67 percent said their need for employer benefits such as health insurance. “Many people had experienced a big downward movement in their 401k plans, so they’re trying to make up for that period of time when they lost money,” said Olivia Mitchell, a retirement expert who teaches at the University of Pennsylvania.

Workers 55+ are now the fastest-growing segment of the American workforce.

Redefining retirement The shift in retirement expectations coincides with a growing trend of later-life work. Labor force participation of seniors fell for a half-century after the advent of Social Security, but began picking up in the late 1990s.

Lighthouse From page 49

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blind late in life were apparent, he said. “She is more dependent.” He assists Linda with paying bills and financial matters, and even represented her at a Social Security hearing once. Polizos’ wife Karen has also become close with Linda, and frequently takes her shopping or invites her to the Polizos home for dinner. Polizos cites his faith as the reason he volunteers. His family has always been active in community service through their church, and his understanding of service is philosophical. “Through [volunteering], we fully actualize our humanity. We all have different gifts, different talents, different mentalities. Whatever it is, that person should ac-

Older adults are now the fastest-growing segment of the American workforce; people 55 and up are forecast to make up onefourth of the civilian labor force in 2020. That growth has paralleled a rising interest in retirements that are far more active than the old stereotype of moving to Florida, never to work again. Among those who retired, 4 percent are looking for a job, and 11 percent are already working again. Those still on the job showed far greater interest in continuing to work: Some 47 percent of employed survey respondents said they are very or extremely likely to do some work for pay in retirement, and 35 percent said they are somewhat likely. “The definition of retirement has changed,” said Brad Glickman, a certified financial planner with a large number of Baby Boomer clients in Chevy Chase, Md. “Now the question we ask our clients is, ‘What’s your job after retirement?’” One such retiree who returned to the workforce is Clara Marion, 69, of Covington, La., a teacher who retired in 2000 and went back to work a year later. She retired again in 2007 but soon returned to partSee OLDER WORKERS, page 51

tualize them. Part of doing that is helping others around them. “I feel that any time you help another human being, you accomplish something for that human being, for yourself, and for society. If we all did that, the whole world would be a better place to live in,” he said. Brenner agrees with the sentiment. “If each of us just does a little, it’s helping one less person suffer a little bit less. Sharing a positive spirit is the best medicine.” Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind is always accepting new volunteers. It has offices in downtown Washington, and in Silver Spring and Riverdale, Md. If interested, visit www.clb.org/volunteer-services or call (202) 454-6422. Volunteers must submit an application, which includes two non-family member references. A brief training session is also required.

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Older workers From page 50 time work because she needed the money. When she first retired, she had about $100,000 in savings, but she has used much of that up. Her pension isn’t enough to pay her bills, and she isn’t eligible for Social Security. So she’s back in a secondgrade classroom, four days a week. “I’d love to be sleeping in,” she said, “but I will probably never retire.” Though Marion’s finances are primarily what keep her working, she says she en-

Retirement reasons vary

joys her work, in line with other survey respondents reporting exceptional job satisfaction. Nine out of 10 workers in the study said they are very or somewhat satisfied with their job. Increased life spans and a renewed idea of when old age begins are also fueling more work among older adults. Six in 10 people said they feel younger than their age; only 6 percent said they feel older. Respondents said the average person is old at about 72. One in 5 said it depends on the person. AP PHOTO/MANUEL BALCE CENETA

One-third of retired survey respondents said they did not stop working by choice. The figures were higher within certain demographic groups: Racial minorities and those with less formal education or lower household incomes were more likely to feel they had no option but to retire. Eight percent said they were forced from a job because of their age. In interviews, survey respondents cited poor health as well as layoffs followed by unsuccessful job searches. David Sandersfeld, 62, of Dayville, Ore., was laid off from his park ranger job two years ago. He had hoped to stay on the job until he was 70, but his search for a new job was fruitless. So almost a decade sooner than expected, he retired. “It came sooner than I was hoping,” he said. “The economy doesn’t need me, so I

guess I’ll just retire.” Others, like Margaret Yarborough, 86, of Scranton, S.C., had their plans thwarted by health. She had hoped to keep working as a department store sales clerk forever, but a car accident and arthritis made it impossible, so she retired a few years ago. “I sure would like to work,” she said. “I enjoy being with people. I enjoy having the income.” Though a roughly equal share of survey participants reported feeling secure about retirement savings as feeling anxious, a significant minority gave signs of financial stress: One in 6 reported having less than $1,000 in retirement savings, and 1 in 4 working respondents aren’t saving for retirement outside of Social Security. Some 12 percent of unretired people re-

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Graphic designer Tom Sadowski, 65, who has delayed his retirement due to effects of the recession, works from his home in Sterling, Va. More than 80 percent of older adults say it is at least somewhat likely they will work for pay in retirement, according to a poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

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Older volunteers are healthier than peers Adults 70 or older who regularly volunteer are in better physical health than those just a few years younger, according to new research from Purdue University. The sociologists found that people ages 70-85 who regularly volunteered have younger biological profiles than those ages 58-69 who infrequently volunteer. They adjusted for a variety of factors, including whether the people in these age groups were in good enough physical health to volunteer. “We looked at older adults engaging in a variety of productive activities, but there is something really distinctive about volunteering that positively affects a person’s physical health, “ said Seoyoun Kim, a doctoral student in sociology and gerontology who led the study.

The study, which was published online in the Gerontologist, measured physical health and activities such as volunteering, caregiving, community engagement and employment of independent-living people. While there has been research on the positive relationship between volunteering and self-reported physical and mental health, this study evaluates a specific biomarker that more accurately reflects people’s health. “We believe we are the first to document this link by measuring chronic inflammation,” said Kenneth F. Ferraro, a Purdue professor of sociology. “By using a biomarker, which is like a canary in the mine, we can clinically detect a person’s physiological health, whether it has been diagnosed or not.”

Levels of C-reactive protein, known as CRP, increase with aging, and higher amounts are indicative of health problems such as cardiovascular and chronic disease. The researchers for this study analyzed data collected in 2005-06 from 1,790 people ages 57-85. They found that CRP was about 15 percent lower for people who volunteered several times per year than for those who did not volunteer during the past year. “Why this effect? Older adults are either losing or reducing their involvement in highly institutionalized roles, such as retirement or their children leaving the home,” Kim said. “Volunteering allows them to engage in meaningful roles and stay active.”

There was no positive relationship between the other activities and CRP. “Volunteering helps many people see what is important in life and how fortunate we are,” Ferraro said. “Having the feeling that you are making difference in a person’s life is powerful, and our own problems may not seem so important. “I also think volunteering is special because one gets to select the nature of volunteering. You are not coerced; you have some choice in it.” The researchers also analyzed if too much volunteering was an issue, but they found no negative consequences for those who volunteered the most. CRP was lowest among those who volunteered several times per week — about 25 percent lower than for those who did not volunteer.

Older workers

certainly is not going to keep them in champagne and truffles.” Dolores Gonzalez, 57, of Coalinga, Calif., expects no luxuries in retirement. She’ll be happy if she can simply afford her $2,200 monthly mortgage payment. She used to think she would retire from teaching at 65; now she says she’ll never stop working. She had been strained by helping to support her parents. Now she has less than $200 in savings, and she worries about sus-

taining herself in retirement when all she’ll have is a Social Security check. “A lot of people don’t save because the cost of living is so high,” she said. “Retirement is not going to be comfortable. It’s going to be hard.”

from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which makes grants to support original research and whose Working Longer program seeks to expand understanding of work patterns of aging Americans. It involved landline and cell phone interviews in English and Spanish with 1,024 people aged 50 and older nationwide. Results from the full survey have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. — AP

From page 51 ported borrowing from a 401(k) or other retirement plan in the past year. Though 29 percent reported at least $100,000 in savings, some find even that’s not enough. “All too often, people have a lump-sum illusion. They think, ‘I have $100,000 in my 401k,’ and they think, ‘I’m rich,’” said Mitchell. “But it doesn’t add up to much. It

About the survey The AP-NORC Center survey was conducted Aug. 8 through Sept. 10 by NORC at the University of Chicago, with funding

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Travel Leisure &

The serpentine road to Hana, Hawaii passes stunning scenery. See story on page 56.

Voluntourism makes for trips of a lifetime and other clingy critters, been “decorated” with soupy loon feces, evaded hippopotamuses in the moonlight, sweltered under the Grecian sun, and had an infected toenail treated atop a trashcan at a clinic in African bush country. To me, these were challenging, mindexpanding adventures, and many were trips of a lifetime.

PHOTO BY GLENDA C. BOOTH

By Glenda C. Booth “Pardon me. You did what?” asked an incredulous friend. “I caught crocodiles,” I replied coolly, when asked about my two-week Earthwatch volunteer expedition studying the Nile crocodile in Botswana’s Okavango Delta. And that’s just one of many things I have done on vacation. I have: • Filmed young marmots frolicking in the French Alps; • Identified dolphins by their dorsal fins’ nicks and streaks in Greece’s Amvrakikos Gulf; • Yanked invasive vines from an ancient heiau (temple for women) on Maui; • Helped band loons wintering in the Gulf of Mexico; • Weighed migrating shorebirds on Delaware Bay; • Mapped and macheted invasive plants in the Galapagos Islands; and • Cleared trails on St. John’s in the Virgin Islands National Park. I’ve tangled with prickly briars, tiptoed across volcanic crevices, fought off ticks

Volunteer vacations

PHOTO COURTESY OF GLENDA C. BOOTH

Some call it voluntourism, volunteering for conservation or another cause while vacationing. Others dub it eco-immersion or “citizen science.” Usually, it involves traveling outside one’s home area and working with a group under the leadership of a scientist or other expert. Most projects do not require subject-matter expertise, as leaders train volunteers onsite. It’s travel with a purpose, and service without pay. There’s usually little time to read a book, sip margaritas, or lounge in a beach chair. Senior volunteering is rising and is now at a 10-year high, with one in three people over age 55 volunteering in the U.S. or elsewhere. “More than 20 million senior volunteers gave nearly three billion hours of service, at a value of $67 billion,” announced the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) in May. A 2008 CNCS study reported that more than 1 million people volunteered overseas.

The author, Glenda C. Booth, films marmots in the French Alps, on an Earthwatch project.

Making a difference Most people say they volunteer for conservation and similar projects to do something meaningful, to make a difference. Conservation-oriented organizations promote a healthier planet, a more sustainable environment. Earthwatch volunteers, for example, often help scientists collect data that informs public policy and advances science. Vermonter Victoria Kohler, who has gone on 15 Earthwatch expeditions, commented, “I really enjoy working

As part of Earthwatch’s wintering loon project, a volunteer snaps a photograph of a loon before the bird is released back into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. An increasing number of older adults are taking part in volunteer vacations, which offer unique experiences and allow them to help the environment and communities around the world.

with animals, and hope that my efforts will help further knowledge about them and maybe even help save them from decline or possible extinction.” Part of a conservation project’s mission might be to help people who live near the project site. Claudia Seldon, an Earthwatch volunteer and retired nurse from Detroit, Mich., said, “I’ve always enjoyed meeting with local people. It’s different from traveling as a tourist. I enjoy giving back to society.” Conservation projects are usually in outdoor settings — nature’s classrooms — in all kinds of weather. Many projects are in remote locations. That attracts Kohler. “It gets me to unusual and interesting places where the average tourist does not go,” she said. Many volunteer projects are rich learning experiences. Volunteers gain new knowledge, such as learning about animals and plants, and master new skills, like using GPS systems or tools. They often hone their observation skills. For some, volunteering abroad allows them to brush up on a foreign language. On his fifth Earthwatch expedition studying loons wintering in Louisiana, Ron LeMahieu said, “I do it because I’m a frustrated field biologist. Holding a loon is like

holding the wilderness in your arms.” Volunteering abroad can also enhance your understanding of world events, generate insights into cultural values and assumptions, and can bolster respect for differences. Volunteer vacations appeal to many people who love to travel but do not have a compatible or willing traveling companion. Usually, others on the project are likeminded and may be of a similar age. The other volunteers wouldn’t be there if they did not have common interests. Because projects are often “away from the headlines” and are hands-on and in the field, they are a healthy respite from the Internet, email, cellphones, television and other technological trappings of today. Bottom line: They enrich your life.

Tips for choosing trips Extended volunteering r equir es thoughtful planning. “A lot of pitfalls can be avoided when people research their volunteer opportunities well. It helps set the volunteers expectations,” said Genevieve Brown, executive director of the International Volunteer Programs Association. “Traveling to another country, people See VOLUNTOURISM, page 55

Voluntourism From page 54 will experience some level of culture shock, so it is important to eliminate a lot of the unknowns that can surround a volunteer placement,” Brown added. Here are some tips: • Understand the physical requirements, and assess your capabilities realistically. Projects may require backpacking, walking in muck or over treacherous terrain, standing for extended periods or steady on a boat, getting in and out of boats, and lifting heavy equipment. Can you tolerate weather extremes, very hot or very cold weather? • Determine your minimal requirements for sleeping arrangements. Expect few frills. You may sleep on the ground, on cots, and in sleeping bags, tents or dormitories and you’ll likely have a roommate. • Understand meals. Explain your food preferences and allergies ahead of time. You may have kitchen duty. • Decide if one, two or more weeks are desirable. Weather can reduce the number of work days, but there may be indoor work too, such as typing data into a computer. • Understand the costs. Most likely, you will have to pay for your transportation to and from the site. Understand what’s included in the organization’s price. Clarify what expenses, if any, are tax deductible. • Understand the insurance provided to volunteers by the sponsoring organization. Consider travel insurance and extra health insurance if leaving the U.S. • Don’t expect healthcare facilities, medicines or medical personnel like those you have in the U.S. • Pay close attention to the list of supplies recommended. Some projects require specialized gear, like headlamps for night work. Take every item recommended and don’t over pack, expecting porters. You’ll likely have to lug everything yourself. • Don’t expect much privacy or free time. While there’s always some “down time,” generally, your time will not be your own. • If traveling abroad, learn about the country beforehand — its governance, politics, cultural factors and restrictions based on age, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and religion. The

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

sponsoring organization can likely connect you with someone who has been there. • Don’t expect to save the world. “I think the biggest pitfall for people is expecting to change the world in the time of their volunteer placement,” Brown said. “Volunteers should go into their placement with the attitude of service, but also open to learning and striving to understand. “The greatest benefit from volunteer service is the bridge of cross-cultural understanding,” she observed.

www.roadscholar.org/programs/srvclearning.asp • World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, www.wwoof.org • Biosphere Expeditions (wildlife conservation) www.biosphere-expeditions.org • Cross-Cultural Solutions, www.crossculturalsolutions.org • Idealist, www.idealist.org • Passport in Time, USDA Forest Service, www.passportintime.com/

• Wilderness Volunteers, www.wildernessvolunteers.org For more organizations offering a range of volunteer opportunities abroad, visit www.volunteerinternational.org/memberlist.html. To learn about traveling with minimal impact on the environment or cultures, visit www.responsible-travel.org. Glenda C. Booth is a travel writer in Alexandria, Va.

Plan thoughtfully While many volunteers come home raving about the experience of a lifetime, it’s not for everybody. A woman whose husband of 30 years asked for a divorce signed up for a trip to Ecuador to “get away,” but spent much of the two weeks dysfunctional and grieving. Another failed to bring strong hiking boots and twisted her ankle the second day, disabling her and confining her indoors for most of the project. Most volunteer travel experiences require a tolerant, patient, flexible attitude. Once there, it’s usually hard to leave, so you have to “stick it out,” whatever the circumstances. To help you make informed decisions about volunteering abroad, check out www.idealist.org/info/IntlVolunteer or www.voluntourism.org/traveler-start.html. Most of all, volunteer travel requires a curiosity, a willing spirit and an open mind. You might learn something new about yourself. For many people, it is transformational. Wit Ostrenko, president of the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, Florida for the last 24 years, found volunteering on Earthwatch’s Gulf of Mexico loon project had a profound impact on him. “This expedition was humbling for me, and it changed my life,” said Ostrenko. “Being part of the Earthwatch volunteer team allowed me to be a scientist again, and it changed my life as a science center president. I was reminded that it’s the doing that matters, not the talking and the showing.” The following organizations offer volunteer travel opportunities: • Earthwatch, www.earthwatch.org • Sierra Club, www.sierraclub.org/ outings • Road Scholar, Service Learning,

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The scenic, winding road to Hana, Hawaii

HAWAII VISITOR AND CONVENTION BUREAU

anywhere — which traverses the northern coast of Maui in Hawaii. Hana, one of the most isolated towns in Hawaii, has a population of about 1,200. The drive from the rustic village of Paia to the eastern tip of the island is only 52 miles long, but it can take up to three hours to negotiate. Some 600 twists and turns, dips and dives, along with 56 one-lane bridges, make for slow and careful driving. Fortunately, ever-present views of the waterfalls, lush greenery and ocean blues, and vistas of rock and white water foaming up over the shores make the day-long round-trip adventure well worth it. In places, the road narrows even further as the vegetation increases in lushness and hue. Forests of sugar cane, stands of coconut trees, and fields of pineapples abound. A sign of caution, “Narrow Winding Road Next 30 Miles,” must be one of the world’s greatest understatements.

Tropical stops

Waterfalls abound in the tropical forests that surround the winding road to the small town of Hana on Maui’s eastern tip.

I took the advice of a local who drives the route often, and followed his example by stopping now and then to take a stroll and enjoy the scenery. I rested beneath a banana tree en-

HAWAII VISITOR AND CONVENTION BUREAU

By Victor Block The continuous torturous twists and 180-degree turns are interspersed only sporadically by straight stretches of the narrow road. A stop at the first of a number of waterfalls splashing down craggy cliffs along the route provided relief, at least temporarily, from the queasiness in my stomach. Such is a ride on the road to Hana — surely one of the most magnificent drives

Black sand beaches hug the rugged shoreline next to the road that leads to Hana, Hawaii.

veloped by giant six-feet-long leaves; wondered at the crinkled mountains lacerated with ridges created by 2-1/2 million years of rainfall; and watched the ocean below, painted in a variety of hues rivaling every shade of blue in the largest box of Crayola crayons. If you’re a flora and fauna buff, a stop at the Keanae Arboretum will be a treat. It’s as close to a Hawaiian jungle as you can

get, with a wealth of native trees, plants and flowers. At Puaakaa State Park, a bit further along, a footpath reminiscent of the road winds in and out along streams and past dramatic overlooks, eventually reaching a complex of pools and waterfalls. A swing on the Tarzan-like hanging vines overhead See HAWAIIAN ROAD, page 57

BEACON BITS

Holiday Celebrations

Ongoing

ADULT DAY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED Fairfax County’s Adult Day Health Care Centers need outreach

volunteers for four hours per week. These positions require travel around the county. Volunteers with marketing experience are preferred. For more information, visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/olderadults and click on “Volunteer Solutions” or call (703) 324-5406.

Christmas at The Hotel Hershey

New Year’s Eve

Celebration

Sunday-Tuesday, December 1-3

at Virginia Beach

Hershey, Pennsylvania, does Christmas in spectacular fashion. You’ll stay at the luxurious Hotel Hershey, have a guided tour of the town of Hershey, visit the Hershey Museum and Chocolate World, experience the magical Hershey Sweet Lights display, and enjoy the dinner-theater show “Christmas in Chocolate Town.” This trip is loaded with holiday excitement and good cheer. $649 pp., dbl. occ.

December 30-January 1

Celebrate a special New Year’s Eve in beautiful Virginia Beach, where the Original Rhondels will entertain you as you count down to midnight. See elaborate Christmas light displays as you “stroll the boardwalk” by motorcoach, visit the Virginia Living Museum and the Norfolk Naval Base, and tour historic Williamsburg in its colonial holiday splendor. $599 pp., dbl. occ.

We are finalizing our travel season for 2014. Call us to be put on our mailing list to receive notices of our upcoming trips.

Travel with Louise, Ltd. 3 0t r a1v e-l w5i t9h l 8o u-i s0e . 7c o 5m 7

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

Hawaiian road From page 56 adds a dimension to the tropical swimming hole that backyard pools lack. At yet another double-U bend, drivers are tempted to make another stop at a roadside stand offering a variety of native refreshments, including bananas, papayas, coconuts and pineapples. As I munched, the proprietor, machete in hand,

walked down a nearby path and returned with bunches of bananas to meet the demands of the lunchtime crowd. That’s fast food, Hawaii-style. Another stop, at nearby Waianapanapa State Park, temporarily transports you into an other-worldly excursion. A steep path meanders beneath extensive overhangs of gnarled twisted branches, so thick with growth that an eerie darkness prevails even on a sunny day.

BEACON BITS

Nov. 21

SEE AIRCRAFT, SPACECRAFT MUSEUM

Senior Outdoor Adventures in Recreation is hosting a daytrip to visit the Udvar Hazy Annex of the Air and Space Museum, which houses the majority of the museum’s restored aircraft and spacecraft, in Chantilly, Va. on Thursday, Nov. 21. Buses will depart from Olney Manor Recreational Park, 16601 Georgia Ave., Olney, Md. at 8:30 a.m. and return at 3:30 p.m. The trip cost is $35 for Montgomery County residents; $50 for non-residents. For more information, including registration details, call (240) 777-4926.

Dec. 10

GARDEN OF LIGHTS TRIP

Get into the holiday spirit. Fairfax County is sponsoring a daytrip on Tuesday, Dec. 10 to visit Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens all lit up for the holidays. For this trip to Richmond, Va., wear comfortable shoes and dress for the weather. Cost for county residents is $110 (non-county, $125) and includes motor coach, driver tip, entrance fee, garden tour and semi-private buffet dinner. The coach departs from 4601 Green Spring Rd., Alexandria, Va. at 2:30 p.m. and returns at 10:30 p.m. The trip cancellation deadline is Nov. 26. To register, visit http://bit.ly/GardenofLights.

Cavernous rock formations hidden within the rainforest vegetation envelop crisp freshwater pools connected by lava tunnels.

Tiny Hana Lightness and color return as you approach your final destination, the town of Hana. Towering trees with red-blossom canopies and green-laden hillsides announce your arrival. However, considering that this is the only real civilization in a three-hour trek, you hardly know you’ve arrived. The change is signaled only by a few stores, the delightful Hana-Maui Hotel, and the pres-

ence of people who clearly are not tourists. A visit to the Hasegawa General Store — immortalized in a 1964 song of the same name by Paul Weston — is a must. The cluttered and cramped shop contrasts sharply with the airy openness of the natural beauty all around. Even so, it’s worth a stop and look — and perhaps a welcome opportunity to pick up some anti-motion sickness Dramamine, the store’s best-selling item, for the drive back. For information about Hawaii and the road to Hana, visit www.gohawaii.com or call 1-800-464-2924.

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N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

How to rent a car and drive it in Europe Don’t ever think you’re too old to rent a car and drive through Europe. You can’t beat driving for catching all the interesting sights along the way and enjoying the many — and usually inexpensive — roadside restaurants. As far as I know, Ireland is the only country in Western Europe where renting a car is difficult or impossible if you’re over 70. If you’re OK to drive at home — really OK, not just barely making it — you

should be OK to drive in Europe. Just make a few adjustments.

What to rent If you’re comfortable with a stick shift, you’ll pay about $50 a week less than you’d pay for an automatic. And you’ll also enjoy better mileage, although today’s automatics do a lot better than they did when I started driving in Europe. The main exceptions: I recommend an automatic in Britain, where driving on the

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wrong side of the road takes enough conWhen I crossed the border from Austria centration that you don’t want to add the to Italy, the price of diesel went up from hassle of shifting — with the shift also on 1.40 euros to 1.75 euros. Obviously, I filled up in Innsbruck and won’t fill the wrong side. again until I return to Austria in I also recommend an autofour days. To play the low-cost matic when you plan a lot of fuel game, check the website mountain driving, where, http://fuel-prices-europe.info/ again, the driving is enough for country-by-country price of a challenge that you don’t variations. need to add shifting. Air conditioning, on the Where to stay other hand, has almost disDriving is ideal for seeing appeared as a problem. the countryside, so you want to When I started renting in TRAVEL TIPS avoid cities as much as you can. Europe, air was available By Ed Perkins That means finding hotels far only on luxury cars or at a enough outside the cities that you have huge price premium on a smaller car. Now, however, even European second- open-lot parking next to the hotel. Even if you want to go into some of the hand car buyers want air conditioning, so you find it in most cars — even in com- cities, stay on the urban fringe, where you pacts — in most central and southern Eu- have a choice of driving into the city when you want to or leaving your car at the hotel ropean countries. Get a diesel, if you can; the fuel is usual- and hopping a bus, tram or metro. Expect to make some mistakes. No ly cheaper, and you get fantastic mileage. Unfortunately, many companies won’t matter how skilled a driver you are, drivpromise a diesel, but diesels do make up a ing in Europe is different from driving at home. You will make mistakes — take big percentage of their fleets. wrong turns, head into the wrong lanes Weigh where to rent and such. You’re going to drive through Austria, I find, especially, that it’s all too easy to so you rent in Austria, right? Not necessar- find yourself in a “right turn only” lane beily. Sometimes, renting in a nearby coun- cause the only marking is an arrow painttry can cut your bills a lot. ed in the street when you’re almost into For example, on this trip, I rented in the intersection. If that happens, turn Munich rather than Innsbruck: It’s less right, find a place to turn around, and try than two hours away, and German rates again. are about $100 a week less than Austrian. Don’t let it get to you — laugh it off and Germany is also sometimes a better figure it’s part of the experience. And if place to rent than higher-cost Switzerland you hate to be tailgated, don’t drive in Italy. and even Northern Italy; France is someSend e-mail to Ed Perkins at times a practical alternative for Switzer- eperkins@mind.net. Perkins’ new book for land or Italy. small business and independent professionDon’t drive an extra day to cut the rental als, “Business Travel When It’s Your rate, but if you add only an hour or so, take a Money,” is now available through www.mylook. Also, in many countries, rates at down- businesstravel.com or www.amazon.com. town offices are less than those at airports. © 2013 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

BEACON BITS

Nov. 12+

JOB SEARCH HELP Over 50 and looking for work? The Jewish Council for the Aging

(JCA) is hosting new sessions of the Career Gateway course. This job search training program includes 30 hours of small-group instruction, comprehensive take-home materials, and one-on-one mentoring. The next session begins

• 50,000 free copies distributed throughout Montgomery County • Enhanced listing included with your ad • A Beacon publication

Call Now, 301-949-9766

Tuesday, Nov. 12, and subsequent sessions will be held in January and February. The cost is $75. For more information, contact Ellen Greenberg at (301) 2554215 or egreenberg@AccessJCA.org.

Ongoing

MONTGOMERY COUNTY VOLUNTEERS The Arc Montgomery County, which serves people with intellectual disabilities, is looking for dependable volunteers. Shifts are flexible

and are between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Training will be provided, and duties consist of answering occasional phone calls, greeting guests and registering visitors. Arc of Montgomery County is located at 11600 Nebel St., Rockville, Md. For more information, visit www.thearcmontgomerycounty.org or contact Deborah Mark at (301) 984-5777, ext. 1245 or DeborahM@arcmontmd.org.

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Leisure & Travel

WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

Airlines offer a return to civility, for a fee By Scott Mayerowitz U.S. airlines are introducing a new bevy of fees, but this time passengers might actually like them. Unlike the first generation of charges, which dinged fliers for once-free services like checking a bag, these new fees prom-

ise a taste of the good life, or at least a more civil flight. Extra legroom, early boarding and access to quiet lounges were just the beginning. Airlines are now renting Apple iPads preloaded with movies, selling hot firstclass meals in coach, and letting passen-

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

COMPUTER TEACHERS WANTED

The Jewish Council for the Aging (JCA) is looking for senior volunteers to teach and coach computer classes. The classes are designed to help seniors refresh or advance their skills. Classes are being held in Rockville, Md., Gaithersburg, Md. and Northern Virginia. Call (240) 396-0916 or email seniortech@accessjca.org.

Ongoing

HELP WITH HEALTHCARE SIGN-UP

Enroll America is working with Maryland Health Connector to assist enrollment in the new Maryland health insurance marketplace. They are looking for volunteers to help spread the word to their target audiences. This includes assisting at events if needed and attending other events to spread the word by distributing literature. If interested, email Tony Hausner at thausner@gmail.com.

Ongoing

DONATE TO FOSTER CHILDREN

CoesterVMS is seeking items for foster children transitioning into foster homes. Items needed include suitcases, bags, pajamas, blankets, toothbrushes and toothpaste, stuffed animals, hair brushes and combs, athletic shorts/sweatpants, deodorant, lotion, coloring books, crayons, etc. Donations must be received by Thursday, Dec. 12 and can be donated at 7529 Standish Pl., Suite 200, Rockville, Md. All contributions are tax deductible. For more information, email ncalfee@coestervms.com.

gers pay to have an empty seat next to them. Once on the ground, they can skip baggage claim, having their luggage delivered directly to their home or office. In the near future, airlines plan to go one step further, using massive amounts of personal data to customize new offers for each flier. “We’ve moved from takeaways to enhancements,” said John F. Thomas of L.E.K. Consulting. “It’s all about personalizing the travel experience.” Carriers have struggled to raise airfares enough to cover costs. Fees bring in more than $15 billion a year and are the reason the airlines are profitable. But the amount of money coming in from older charges like baggage and reser-

vation change fees has plateaued. So the airlines are selling new extras and copying marketing methods honed by retailers.

Customized options Technological upgrades allow airlines to sell products directly to passengers at booking, in follow-up emails as trips approach, at check-in, and on mobile phones minutes before boarding. Delta Air Lines recently gave its flight attendants wireless devices, allowing them to sell passengers last-second upgrades to seats with more legroom. And just like Amazon.com offers suggested readings based on each buyer’s See AIRLINE FEES, page 60

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Airline fees From page 59 past purchases, airlines soon will be able to use past behavior to target fliers. “We have massive amounts of data,” said Delta CEO Richard Anderson. “We know who you are. We know what your history has been on the airline. We can customize our offerings.” Other airlines are experimenting with

tracking passengers throughout the airport. In the future, if somebody clears security hours before their flight, they might be offered a discounted day pass to the airline’s lounge on their phone. Airlines have yet to find the right balance between being helpful and being creepy. So, for now, most of the data is being used to win back passengers after their flight is delayed or luggage is lost. “We want to get back to a point where

BEACON BITS

Nov. 10

ANNIVERSARY OF KRISTALLNACHT

Attend a commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of Kristallnacht, Night of Broken Glass, and hear about a heroic initiative in preWar Italy that has only recently come to light. Hans Weil, a German sociology professor, founded a school on the Italian coast that safeguarded many German Jewish children from the Nazis. The speaker, Constance Weil Rauch, is the daughter of Weil and was an eyewitness. The free event takes place Sunday, Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m. at Young Israel Shomrai Emunah, 1132 Arcola Ave., Silver Spring, Md. Free parking in Kemp Mill Shopping Center, near the pizza shop. For more info, call (301) 593-4465.

Nov. 21

N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

people feel like travel isn’t something to endure, but something they can enjoy,” said Bob Kupbens, Delta’s vice president of marketing and digital commerce.

Keeping base fares low Most passengers select flights based on the lowest base fare. The online travel industry plays up that price sensitivity with sites named CheapOair.com, CheapTickets.com and InsanelyCheapFlights.com. When airlines try to raise fares, they are met with resistance. “Customers are very quick to either change travel plans, or use another carrier or not travel at all,” said Jim Corridore, an airline analyst with Standard & Poor’s Capital IQ. In the past three years, airlines have tried to hike fares 48 times, according to FareCompare.com. During 29 of those at-

BEACON BITS

Dec. 12

STARLIGHT LOUNGE FUNDRAISER Hear Grammy winner Lisa Fischer, backup singer to the stars,

NOVA POSITIVE AGING FAIR

Join the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia, 8900 Little River Turnpike, Fairfax, Va., for its Sixth Positive Aging Fair: Tools for Creative Aging. The fair, on Thursday, Nov. 21, features Molly Smith, Arena Stage artistic director, as keynote; morning and afternoon workshops, lunch, silent auction and raffle prizes. The early bird fee is $18, which includes admission, workshops and kosher lunch. After Nov. 14, the $18 fee includes admission and workshops only. For more information, visit www.jccnv.org or call (703) 323-0880.

tempts, bookings fell enough that airlines abandoned the increase. Airlines are also starting to bundle items. Passengers purchase items they might not necessarily buy alone; it also simplifies the dizzying array of offers. “I don’t want you to have to do the math every time,” said Rick Elieson, managing director of digital marketing at American Airlines. American offers a package for $68 roundtrip that includes no change fees, one checked bag and early boarding. Delta is experimenting with a $199 subscription that includes a checked bag, early boarding, access to exit row seats, and extra frequent flier miles on all flights a passenger takes between October and Jan. 5. — AP

who tours with the Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, Sting and Chaka Khan, and has performed with stars from Beyonce to Dionne Warwick, Dolly Parton to Aretha Franklin. This fundraiser for the Charles E. Smith Life Communities takes place Thursday, Dec. 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the Bethesda Marriott. Event includes drinks and buffet, with lounge-style entertainment. For ticket info, call (301) 770-8329. or visit www.hebrew-home.org.

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www.VanMetreChill.com *Receive up to $10,000 on contracts written between 11/1 - 12/31/13 to be used towards options or allowable closing costs. Offer is valid on qualifying homes only that must settle on or before Dec. 31, 2013. Savings vary by community. This is a limited time offer, subject to change and may be withdrawn at the discretion of Van Metre Homes without prior notice and may not be used in conjunction with any other discount. Prices subject to change without notice. Certain restrictions apply. For more details, see Sales Manager. 11/2013.

WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

Say you saw it in the Beacon

Style

Arts &

Catch up with Billy Crystal in his 66th year. See story on page 66.

World premiere play stars Christine Lahti “Do” manages to fight its way out of her mouth, and she never lets go. Carly holds the same dominance over her family, too, but in not nearly so benign a manner.

Taking the blinders off The Falls at Autrey Mill is a seemingly idyllic development in suburban Georgia. But this is New South, not Old. There’s just the barest hint of magnolia in Carly’s carefully cultivated speech, and the cul-desac is a showplace of Roman column porches and meticulously tended landscaping. Behind the elegant façade, Carly’s husband and two grown sons all have secrets — things she is squeezing out of her consciousness by the strongest of wills. She simply cannot register anything which does not fit into the perfect world she believes she has willed into existence for all of them. Lahti, an Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe winner, throws herself into the role with obvious relish. She plays it big, amplifying the woman’s insecurities. And yet she remains something of a sympathetic figure. She’s not evil, just unaware. Lahti whines, she growls, she cajoles, she conspires. It’s great fun. She is joined by a skillful cast. Her work is matched, though in a very different manner, by veteran stage and screen actor Wayne Duvall as her emotionally checkedout husband, Louie. Duvall’s work is much more restrained than Lahti’s, but the con-

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By Michael Toscano The opening and closing lines of Paul Downs Colaizzo’s new play, Pride in the Falls of Autrey Mill, now in its world premiere at Arlington’s Signature Theatre, pretty much trace the story. And they both come from star Christine Lahti, valiantly playing a despairing suburban housewife and mother. “Do you think your brother is gay, too?” is the penetratingly funny opener, and “How’s your family?” is the poignant closer. The intervening hour and 50 minutes provide healthy laughs — from comedy alternately dark and broad — even if the story’s revelations shed little new light on modern family dysfunction. We have seen all this before in the theater, on TV and in film, but rarely with so much wicked pleasure. Why, exactly, is that first utterance so funny? It’s because when the lights come up, we see Lahti, as suburban queen Carly, struggling to talk. (Any resemblance between Carly and the “Bree Van de Kamp” character in TV’s late “Desperate Housewives” may be unintentional, but is overwhelmingly definite, nonetheless.) The poor woman is seized up physically and mentally, trying to process shocking information delivered by her hunky 21year old son Chad (Anthony Bowden). Lahti tractor-beams our attention fully to her in those first moments, as her character’s brain and mouth labor to sync up. She has us in her grip before the word

Visiting son Tommy (Christopher McFarland, left) prepares dinner with his mother Carly (Christine Lahti) in Pride in the Falls of Autrey Mill. The show, which bounces between dark and broad comedy about a dysfunctional family, is playing at Signature Theatre through Dec. 8.

trast underscores the very different worlds the characters occupy. As 26-year-old son Tommy, Christopher McFarland combines a palpable vulnerability with a hint that there’s something tougher lurking below. Bowden’s Chad is a mess of contradictions. He’s triumphant in announcing his sexuality to his stunned mother, but otherwise clingy and ineffectual.

from his perch as artistic director of Shakespeare Theatre Company, has created a tight ensemble with his four actors. Colaizzo’s script veers unevenly between piquant satire and tired cliché, and Kahn has chosen to have his cast follow along without reservation. If the dialogue is trite, be silly. If it’s bleak, show the pain. Emotions roil and dysfunction is wallowed in, rather than fought against.

Uneven writing, stellar acting Director Michael Kahn, moonlighting

See PREMIERE, page 62

“A terrific gem. You can’t stop laughing” — Associated Press

Playwright Nicky Silver brings another of his deliciously dysfunctional families to the stage in this scathingly funny Broadway smash

November 27 – December 22

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Premiere From page 61 Kahn allows pauses to break up energy levels, and he lets the cast display wildly disparate visages — quizzical here, befuddled there, and grim elsewhere. If Lahti occasionally goes over the top with vocal expressiveness, that’s OK because it’s funny. And when truths are exposed, it’s appro-

priately grating. It’s hard to be bored here, as a lifetime’s worth of pretense, emotional suffocation and bitterness are brought to a boil at a mini-family reunion. This is Colaizzo’s second play at Signature, following his hit Really, Really last season, a production that went to offBroadway. This play does not feel quite as finished. While he adeptly peels away layers of psychological warping for each character here, Colaizzo doesn’t quite tie all the

BEACON BITS

Nov. 10

FREE CLASSICAL CONCERT

The Arlington Philharmonic presents a free concert of classical works, including Brahms, Haydn, Bloch and Mozart. The Fall Fanfare concert will take place on Sunday, Nov. 10 at the Washington-Lee High School Auditorium, 1301 N. Stafford St., Arlington, Va. at 3 p.m. Admission is on a no-ticket basis with a suggested donation of $20. For more information, visit www.arlingtonphilharmonic.org.

Nov. 17+

BREAKFAST AT THE MOVIES

Join Cinema Art Bethesda at Landmark Bethesda Row movie theater for a morning film, breakfast and a discussion. Films show every Sunday until May, 18, 2014. On Nov. 17, participants will enjoy Amour, 2013 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film. Each session includes bagels, coffee and a discussion led by Stan Levin, professor of film history. Landmark Bethesda Row is located at 7235 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda, Md. Doors open at 9:30 a.m., and the screening begins at 10 a.m. Tickets cost $15, but 10- and eight-movie package passes are available for a discount. For more information, visit http://cinemaartbethesda.org or call (301) 365-3679.

Nov. 9

FALL FESTIVAL

The Auxiliary of the Village of Rockville will hold its annual Fall Festival Saturday, Nov. 9 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be jewelry, baked goods, silent auction, books, handiwork, stamps, postcards and more. Hot lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for $10. Lighter fare costs $5. The Village at Rockville is located at 9701 Veirs Dr., Rockville, Md. Admission is free. For more information, call (301) 949-4688.

Nov. 8+

MANSION MARKET

Historic mansion Hollin Hall in Alexandria, Va. is hosting an indoor market featuring baked goods, treats, flowers and crafts from local vendors on Friday afternoons, noon to 6 p.m., from Nov. 8 to Dec. 6. Admission is free. Hollin Hall is located at 1909 Windmill Ln., Alexandria, Va. For more information, call Gale Curcio at (202) 256-5332.

N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

problems to Carly. How many of her issues come from within, and how many come from dealing with her family? We don’t quite know. It seemed at intermission that the play might well have ended there, that the portrait was more or less complete. But Colaizzo brought us back for more. In Act Two, he foists on the audience a gratuitous and intrusive plot twist about the brothers that makes things less clear and shakes our earlier assignments of blame. The exercise has the feel of a playwright seeking to pad out an act, rather than add nuance to characters. Complementing the performances, James Noone’s scenic design is a mélange of realism and sitcom artificiality. The setting is supposed to be a large home, perhaps a McMansion, but that’s impossible in Signature’s small ARK Theatre. Space is cramped, but Noone gives us five very detailed settings, aided by a turntable. It is pleasing eye candy, with colors that are artificially bright, and everything shiny, new and uncluttered. Just like a department store display. Lighting designer Andrew Scharwath adds flat, sitcom lighting to burnish the artificial effect. If contradictions abound, maybe that’s the point. Or a point. I can make this point, however, and without contradiction, that Christine Lahti’s performance is so much

fun, and Wayne Duvall’s work is so solid, that Signature can take pride in this visit to The Falls of Autrey Mill.

Purchasing tickets Pride in the Falls of Autrey Mill continues through Dec. 8 at Signature Theatre’s ARK Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington, Va. Performance schedule: Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m.; Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sundays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets may be purchased online at www.signature-theatre.org, by calling Ticketmaster at 703-573-SEAT, or by visiting the Box Office during business hours, weekdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and weekends from noon to 6 p.m. Prices start at $40 and range to $94. “Rush tickets,” when available, may be purchased for $30 one hour prior to the show at the box office. Post-show discussions will be held Tuesday, Nov. 12, Wednesday, Nov. 20, and Wednesday, Dec. 4. LGBT Pride Night will occur Nov. 22. The theater is accessible for people with disabilities, and it is recommended that special seating needs be mentioned when tickets are purchased. Free listening devices are available. Free parking is available in nearby public garages. For general information, contact Signature at (703) 820-9771 or visit www.signature-theatre.org.

BEACON BITS

Nov. 9+

BEAD BAZAAR

The Bead Society of Greater Washington presents a Bead Bazaar on Saturday, Nov. 9 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 10 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Bohrer Park Activity Center, 506 S. Frederick Ave., Gaithersburg, Md. Explore and enjoy an eclectic collection of ancient, antique, ethnic, designer and contemporary beads, jewelry and related books. Tickets cost $7 ($6 with this notice). For more information, visit www.bsgw.org and click on bazaar or call (202) 624-4500.

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

—New York Post

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Opera From page 1 with a wing of their house to sleep in and a special entrance to the Wagner Festival Theater, Hamer said. But Gottfried Wagner, who is now 63 and lives in Italy, distanced himself from his family and has spent much of his life apologizing for their role with the Nazis. “He and I met in a very funny way,” said Hamer, who teaches at Swarthmore College and lives in Philadelphia, but is planning to move to the Washington area to be closer to her parents. “My uncle had given me an old record album set that he had gotten from a friend who went to Hitler’s mountain abode right after war ended. A group of Army officers looted and took whatever they could. I didn’t know what to do with it. After all, what do you do with an album of records that had belonged to Hitler?” By happenstance, Hamer tuned into the

N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

middle of an NPR broadcast in which Gottfried Wagner was speaking, and she decided to track him down to give him the albums. Upon meeting him, she and Azrael found his story so compelling, that they added him to the opera. “So we are two women writing an opera about two men,” Hamer said.

Putting it together Unlike some librettists and composers, Hamer and Azrael worked together every step of the way, perhaps because this is the first opera either has written. “There are times when a librettist just writes the whole thing like a play, and hands it over,” to the music composer, said Hamer. “There are [also] times in musical theater [where] the composer writes the tune before the words. “In our case, it was very back and forth, a real collaboration. I’d play her something I’d done, and she’d say, ‘I really think this

character here is fearful rather than angry. Can you change this?’ Or I would say, ‘This love duet seems a little corny.’” While Hamer’s composing style is more modernist, with atonality and unmetered rhythms, she dialed back those elements to make the opera more accessible to general audiences. There are yet other facets that will speak to music aficionados. For example, Lost Childhood obliquely incorporates fragments of wartime and religious music, along with a hint of a Wagner aria from Lohengrin. Also, when the staff in a Nazi dentist’s office in Warsaw vie with each other in making anti-Semitic jokes, Hamer pairs a polka with the “Horst Wessel Lied,” the unofficial Nazi hymn. A Christian and a Jewish chant are symbolically paired at the end of the opera. “These are private quotations,” Hamer said. “If recognized, they may enhance one’s listening, but it doesn’t matter if they aren’t.”

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Writing the story Azrael admits she’s not a huge opera fan, particularly of high-pitched sopranos. But she discovered that writing lyrics was very similar to poetry, with much of the same focus on the sound of the words and their rhythm. Only moving the narrative along was a bit of a challenge. She said she often thought of a quote by Danish writer Isak Dinesen when crafting Lost Childhood: “All sorrows may be borne if they can be put into a story.” “For a lot of survivors of all kinds of things, there’s often a kind of relief from the past if they can talk to a really empathetic listener,” Azrael said. “For the survivors who are getting old, many have kept quiet for 50 years or more for all kinds of reasons. Finally it’s now or never. [They think] if I don’t let it out now, it’s just going to be lost,” she said. Azrael, who turns 70 soon, can relate to growing older. In addition to teaching an evening writing class at Johns Hopkins, she co-founded Passager, a literary magazine for writers 50 and older, as well as Passager Press, which has published poetry books. Reflecting on her own aging, she said, “Fifty I thought was cool. Sixty gave me pause, I would say. Seventy, there’s just a little feeling of yikes.”

An orchestral opportunity For Piotr Gajewski, staging a brand new opera has had its own share of yikes moments. It’s exciting, but also demanding, he said. “It’s a tremendous challenge because it’s a completely new piece. Sometimes I feel a weight on my shoulders because how we do it may be viewed for future performances as the way to do it,” said Gajewski. The conductor, 54, directs the National Philharmonic, the ensemble-in-residence at Strathmore, and lives in Rockville, Md. See OPERA, page 65

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Say you saw it in the Beacon | Arts & Style

WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

Opera From page 64 “It’s a very complicated piece in many ways: A very large cast, complicated music, fairly long compared with what we usually do. There’s also expense involved in putting it together. So we had to overcome all these hurdles.” One concession has been that this will be a concert performance, rather than a staged production. “You get the music, you get the acting. What you don’t really get is the sets,” Gajewski said. “You don’t get the theater trimmings. But since music drives opera, you get music and beautiful singing. You get the most important aspect of it.” Scenes from Lost Childhood have been performed at workshops in New York, Washington, D.C. and Tel Aviv. But this is the first time the entire 2-hour-and-40minute opera will be publicly sung, thanks to the support of American Opera Projects, an opera development company. “I think it’s a great work. I’d love to see it staged,” Gajewski said. “I’d love to be involved. I’m sure it will happen sometime, somewhere. “I’m not sure if it will be in a theater in America or possibly in Europe. It’s the kind of piece that really fits anywhere. It could be played in South America. I’m really hopeful [the Strathmore performance] will serve as a launching pad for full staging.”

In the meantime, he hopes that his father will be well enough to attend the Nov. 9 performance, which will also be attended by Gottfried Wagner and Nir’s wife.

A personal connection Perhaps Lost Childhood will be a conduit to help Gajewski, whose family emigrated from Poland to the United States in 1969, learn more about his own heritage. His father has never talked to him about the family’s harrowing times in the Warsaw Ghetto, or his life of subterfuge in Poland during the war. “All I know is he was an altar boy somewhere in Poland,” he said, and that his grandmother was sent to Auschwitz and survived, while five other family members perished. He hopes that as his father nears the end of his life, he might share some of his stories. And that’s what Hamer anticipates may happen when audiences hear Lost Childhood as well. “I hope it will be more than an evening’s entertainment. It’s a gripping topic, and it’s a dramatic work. “It has humor. It has sadness,” she said. “But I think it also has some moral or humanitarian relevance to modern times. It’s not just about the Holocaust. “It’s about any two cultures that are in conflict, learning to listen to each other’s narratives, and noticing their own identification with their own group and their pro-

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jection of stereotypes on the other group. I hope it will help stimulate that type of thinking from the audience.” Lost Childhood will be performed at the Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Ln., N. Bethesda, on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $28 to $84, and tickets for children age 7 to 17 are free with a paying adult. On exhibit at Strathmore will be monoprints made by Miriam Mörsel Nathan, a

painter and printmaker who lives in Silver Spring. A child of Holocaust survivors, Nathan designed the Lost Childhood program cover, using a photo of her uncle and cousin, who perished in the Holocaust, as a starting point. This and other prints will be display. For tickets, see www.strathmore.org or call (301) 581-5100. More information on Lost Childhood is available at http:// bit.ly/lostchildhoodopera.

BEACON BITS

Nov. 14

MEET THE AUTHOR

On Thursday, Nov. 14, Hazak B’nai Israel Congregation presents Michael Siegel, author of The President as Leader. This free event begins at noon. Bring a dairy lunch. Refreshments are served. B’nai Israel is located at 6301 Montrose Rd., Rockville, Md. For more information, call (301) 881 6550.

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Arts & Style | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Billy Crystal finds inspiration in hitting 65 By Hillel Italie Billy Crystal remembers a show in Baltimore, around 1975, when he opened for the ‘50s revival act Sha Na Na. He was an unknown comic at the time, an unknown who happened to look exactly like one of Sha Na Na’s lead singers, John-

ny Contardo. “I’m introduced and I have no billing,” Crystal said during a recent interview. “’Please welcome another star of our show and an up-and-coming new comic ...’ That was the ‘70s. Whenever you heard ‘up-andcoming new comic,’ it was like ‘Ugh.’

“When I hit the stage, they thought I was Johnny playing a guy named Billy Crystal and they booed and they hissed and so forth. And I started getting in their face, in a funny way. And I finished my set, and I got a standing ovation after I walked off. And Johnny got a T-shirt that he would wear and it said, ‘No, I’m not Billy Crystal.”‘

BEACON BITS

Nov. 21

Time for his memoirs

ACCESSING ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

It’s been a long time since Billy Crystal has been mistaken for anyone else. At 65, he has the same round face, scrappy New York accent and rubbery grin known to fans of Analyze This, When Harry Met Sally, and all those Oscar telecasts. Seated in his publicist’s office, sipping coffee from a paper Starbucks cup, he looks at least a decade younger than his age, and is working at the same pace — constant — that he’s kept up for much of his life. He’s set to star in a film comedy directed by Frank Oz, and this fall returned to Broadway with his one-man show about his childhood and his father, 700 Sundays. His whole life is on record for his cur-

Learn how technology and law are enhancing access to and enjoyment of art exhibits, theatre performances, museums, television and more for those with low vision. Marylou Fisher, accessible arts advocate, will speak at 12:30 p.m. at Friendship Heights Village Center, 4433 South Park Ave., Chevy Chase, Md. To reserve a complimentary lunch, call (301) 656-2797.

rent project, the memoir Still Foolin’ ‘Em, which set off a million-dollar bidding war among publishers last spring that was finally won by Henry Holt and Company. Turning 65 was all the inspiration he needed. “All of my really dear friends who are the same age are pretty much saying the same thing, which is basically, ‘Wow. Jeez. This is really happening,’” he said. “You go through stages — first day of school, ‘It’s a bar mitzvah,’ ‘a wedding.’ ‘You know who died?’”

Living everyone’s fantasies Crystal is both a typical baby boomer, baseball fan and political liberal who brags about his grandchildren and can’t believe that he’s a grandfather, and a VIP who seems to have lived out every childhood fantasy — a star of movies, television and the stage, befriended by Muhammad Ali and Mickey Mantle, adored by Sophia Loren. During one Oscar show, Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty stopped by his dressSee BILLY CRYSTAL, page 68

PHOTO BY CHRIS PIZELLO/INVISION/AP

Billy Crystal recently returned to Broadway with his one-man show about his father and childhood, 700 Sundays. He is also starring in a movie called Winter’s Discontent to be released next year.

BEACON BITS

Nov. 15

UNDERSTAND SOCIAL SECURITY

Join the Jewish Social Service Agency for a free primer on Social Security, “Understanding Your Options with Social Security,” on Friday, Nov. 15 from noon to 1:30 p.m. at JSSA, 200 Wood Hill Rd., Rockville, Md. Light lunch included. Pre-registration required. Register by Monday, Nov. 11. For more information, call (301) 610-8344.

Nov. 12

QUALITY OF CARE IN NURSING HOMES

Legal Services of Northern Virginia’s Elder Law Practice Group provides a variety of services for clients 60 and older. Managing Attorney Meredith McKay will lead a free discussion on quality of care issues in nursing homes on Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 1 p.m. at the Lee Senior Center, 5722 Lee Hwy., Arlington, Va. To register, call (703) 228-0555.

Nov. 14

AVOID MAIL FRAUD

Learn how to avoid mail fraud from Inspector Hunter Lenz, a member of the Washington/Maryland Fraud Focus team. This presentation will take place at the Village at Rockville, 9701 Veirs Dr., Rockville, Md. on Thursday, Nov. 14. Refreshments will be served. RSVP by Friday, Nov. 8. For more information or to RSVP, call (301) 424-9560, ext. 18804.

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Arts & Style

WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

Tackling the car key issue with an elder These days, when you ask a boomer with my friend Karen. how her mother is, you’ve got to be ready Her mother is 88. Lives independently. for anything. Has enough money. Has all The response might be her marbles. Just renewed her slightly comic — “She has a license. Has a car that’s highboyfriend, they’re both 90, functioning. and they’re smooching like a “But she’s 88,” Karen said. couple of teenyboppers.” “Have you driven lately with It might be surprisingly someone who’s 88?” positive — “She just went to In fact, I have. The instincts the doctor, and he couldn’t are all still there — check the find anything wrong.” mirrors often, move at the It might be starkly sad — same speed as most of the “Dad has been gone for 10 HOW I SEE IT traffic, drive defensively. years now, and she just can’t By Bob Levey But the reflexes…ah, get over that.” Or it might touch the third rail of intergenerational politics — the car keys. We’ve all been down this road many times, so to speak. Mom still has a car at the age of 80-something. She still drives it — yes, at night; yes, in driving rainstorms. She insists that this is her right. Her boomer offspring insist that someone is about to get killed — maybe Mom, maybe some nearby innocents, maybe all of the above. The boomers demand the keys. Mom refuses. Then come negotiations and recriminations. Occasionally, the discussions end with “I‘ll never speak to you again.” Or with a fully grown child snatching the keys from Mom’s purse when Mom isn’t looking and “disappearing” them. Or maybe there’s no resolution at all. Mom continues to drive — less safely all the time. Her children hope for the best, but run out of either patience or nerve, and stop complaining. It becomes a matter of cross-your-fingers. But maybe there’s another way. I may have found it the other day when I visited

there’s the rub. A box truck stopped suddenly in front of us on the day I was the passenger of an elderly gent. “Brake!,” I silently shouted. He eventually did — but not nearly as quickly as a younger person would have. “Wow, that was close,” said the elderly driver. He didn’t realize that he was the one who had made it close. Karen says her mother is in much the same shape. “She’s great when there’s no one around her,” Karen said. “But she lives in a busy part of town. And even when she’s just driving to the doctor’s office — three miles, maybe — she never has the road to herself.” The struggling has gotten ugly. Last week, Karen’s mom said Karen was treating her like a child. There’s no response to that charge that improves the situation. Karen said she was out of ideas. I broke out a pad and pencil. “Let’s see if we can present her with an alternative,” I suggested. We drew up three columns: COLUMN ONE: Annual expenses of owning a car. We guessed the figures at $1,500 for gas, $1,250 for insurance and

Letters to editor

paper — how cute is that? My two favorite Beacon Bits in the October Beacon are the Northwest Neighbors Village Brandywine Tour next March on page 13 — I wish I had the time — and the WWII History cryptography talk next month on page 66. I’m praying that the Government Shutdown will be WAY OVER by the 5th, and that the event with the National Museum of Cryptology won’t be affected. Honora Precourt Washington, D.C.

From page 2 strongly of age discrimination. Gordon F. Brown Bethesda, Md. Dear Editor: I just wanted to thank you for listing the U.S. Postal Inspector Service Mail Fraud presentation at Brighton Gardens in the September issue of the Beacon. One of the participants came to the program with the Beacon Bit torn out of the

BEACON BITS

Nov. 4+

FORMING NEW FRIENDSHIPS

$1,000 for maintenance. Total: $3,750. COLUMN TWO: What Karen’s Mom could net by selling her car. It’s a threeyear-old Buick. We estimated $11,000.

COLUMN THREE: What Karen’s mother would spend on taxis if she took ten See BOB LEVEY, page 68

Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia

6th

Tools for Creative Aging Thursday, November 21 8:30am–3pm Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia 8900 Little River Turnpike, Fairfax, VA

! ! ! ! !

Keynote Speaker: Molly Smith, Artistic Director, Arena Stage Morning and Afternoon Workshops Exhibition Hall Kosher Lunch Silent Auction and Raffle Prizes

Making new friends late in life can be difficult. This course will help older adults enhance their social skills and develop satisfying relationships. The Jewish Social Service Agency (JSSA) presents a four-session, interactive “Connecting in Friendship” course on Mondays in November from 10 to 11:30

Early Bird Fee: $18 (includes admission, workshops and kosher lunch) After Nov. 14: $18 (no lunch) Visit www.jccnv.org or call (703) 323-0880 for details and to register.

a.m. at 6123 Montrose Rd., Rockville, Md. Pre-registration is required. Cost is $80 for all sessions. The course will also be offered in December. For more inforJewish Community Center of Northern Virginia mation or to register, call (301) 816-2665.

8900 Little River Turnpike, Fairfax, VA 22031 P: (703) 323-0880 • www.jccnv.org

Arts & Style | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

Billy Crystal From page 66 ing room to compliment him. Beatty and Bill Clinton turned up backstage after a performance of 700 Sundays. He has not only palled around with Mantle, Yogi Berra and other New York Yankees, he even got to play for them once.

“In 2007, I was in Costa Rica for Christmas vacation and could feel my birthday looming,” Crystal writes in his memoir. “I was anxious about turning 60 — it felt like a huge number. Derek Jeter happened to be at our hotel.” Jeter “happened” to be there, and also happened to be a longtime friend who asked Crystal to make a birthday wish.

N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

On March 13, 2008, Crystal was allowed an at-bat during a Yankees exhibition game. “Dreams have come true for me in so many different ways that’s it’s almost astounding,” he said. “As I was writing these things, other people reacted to them — I’ve lived through them, but other people say, ‘Do you realize how many great things have happened?”‘

Disappointments and loss, too Of course he has had disappointments — minor, major and profound. Joe DiMaggio once punched him in the stomach (Crystal, hosting a tribute at Yankee Stadium for Mantle, had failed to introduce DiMaggio as “the greatest living” baseball player). He was scheduled to appear on the debut broadcast of “Saturday Night Live,” but his segment was cut. The 1992 film Mr. Saturday Night, which Crystal directed and starred in, was a critical and commercial letdown that kicked

off a dry spell and made Crystal wonder if his movie career was over. But the real wound was sustained at age 15, when his father died of a heart attack. Jack Crystal was a jazz promoter and producer, and his son’s first audience. “That’s how you start,” Billy Crystal said, “making your parents laugh. And he was a really great mentor in looking at these really great comedians on television and saying, ‘Watch Laurel and Hardy and not The Three Stooges. ‘You can stay up late, even though it’s a school night. Then you can watch Ernie Kovacs and stay up for Jack Paar because Jonathan Winters is on.’” With the 50th anniversary of his father’s death approaching, Crystal decided it was a good time for another run, likely the last, of 700 Sundays. “I love the energy of Broadway, and I thought this was the way to commemorate it [his father’s death] and then put the show to rest,” he said. “I see the thread [in life], as I always end up returning to the stage, to get up in front of people and make them laugh and make them look at themselves and make them nod their heads and go, ‘Oh, that’s me, too.’” — AP

Bob Levey From page 67 rides a week. We estimated $150 a week, including tips. That would be $7,800 a year if she rode cabs that often, every week of every year. However, Karen’s mom is often driven to appointments by her son, who lives nearby. And she often travels abroad. So, more realistically, it would be closer to $5,000 for her. Crunch, crunch, crunch…The numbers told the tale. Even if Karen’s mom never touched a cent of the $11,000 she could earn by selling her car, she would be fairly close to covering all those taxi fares simply by no longer spending money on gas, insurance and maintenance. And if she did have to cover a shortfall, the $11,000 would give her about nine years before she noses into red-ink territory. When you’re 88, nine years of financial “slide” sounds pretty good to me. Of course, dollars and cents are not the entire story. Mom insists on her car — and her independence — because it’s her way of beating back encroaching age. Mom could have all the money in the world to take all the taxis in the world, and she might still insist on her precious Buick. It would be her ticket to the past, when she was endlessly assertive, wind-inthe-hair, free. Yet no one reaches the age of 88 without developing at least some good sense. Karen says she plans to run “the numbers” past her mother in the next few weeks. I predict success. Bob Levey is a national award-winning columnist.

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Arts & Style

WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

FROM PAGE 70

ONE BIG HAPPY By Rick Detorie

ANSWERS TO SCRABBLE

ANSWERS TO CROSSWORD F L U B

R A T A

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S C R E W A B C S L U R I T R I N I R E D O D G I K I L H A V E O N E A P T S D

H E N C A E B B D I L A E V M A N A B A N

I T E M A S O N I C A C E

D L E O R O T N I G H T E A S P S O R E S K E T C C O R E R K S K A I T I C P E R E E K S O F T S H O L L I D O U T S S T

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Classifieds cont. from page 71. Wanted WANTED: OLDER VIOLINS, Guitars, Banjos, Mandolins, etc. Musician/collector will pay cash for older string instruments. Jack, 301- 279-2158. PULP MAGAZINES WANTED. Paying Cash. The Shadow, Doc Savage, G-8 Westerns, Crime, Horror. Pulp drawings and paintings. Older comic books. Please call Larry, 240-533-1445. WE BUY OLD AND NEW COINS, Jewelry, Silver and Gold, Paper Money Too. Watches, Clocks and Parts, Military Badges and Patches Old and New. Call Greg, 717658-7954. HIGHEST CASH PAID FOR ANTIQUES, ESTATES - Cash paid for antiques, estates. I’ve been in the antiques business for over 25 years. I live in Silver Spring and work in Bethesda. I’ve been selling on EBAY for over 15 years. I pay the most for your valuable treasures. Buying the following items: furniture, art, silver, gold, old coins, jewelry, wrist watches, military items including, guns, rifles, knives, swords, medals, etc. also buying old toys, dolls, trains, books, tools, musical instruments, old sports items, memorabilia, gold, baseball, fishing, old photos, comic books, etc. Please call TOM at 240-476-3441. Thank you. OLD AND NEW WE BUY Sterling Silver Flatware, Tea Sets or Single Pieces, Furniture, Tools, Cameras, Good Glassware, Art Work Too. Toys from Trains to Hotwheels, Action Figures to Star Wars. Call Greg, 717658-7954. CASH FOR JEWELRY: Buying jewelry, diamonds, gold, platinum, silver, watches, coins, flatware, etc. We make house calls. Ask for Tom. Call anytime 301-654-8678 or 301654-0838. WE PAY CASH for antique furniture, quality used furniture, early American art, pottery, silver, glassware, paintings, etc. Single items to entire estates. Call Reggie or Phyllis at DC 202-726-4427, MD 301-332-4697.

Wanted

MILITARY ITEMS WANTED: Collector seeks to purchase military uniforms; flight jackets, patches, insignia, medals, etc. from the Civil War through Vietnam. Especially seeking U.S. Army Air Corps, USMC, Airborne, and German/Japanese/Italian items from WWII. ALSO BUYING old Boy Scout, Airline Items, Toys, Lighters. Call Dan, 202841-3062.

VINYL RECORDS WANTED from 1950 through 1985. Jazz, Rock-n-Roll, Soul, Rhythm & Blues, Reggae and Disco. 33 1/3 LPs, 45s or 78s, Larger collections of at least 100 items wanted. Please call John, 301-5966201.

BUYING MILITARY MEMORABILIA WW2, WW1, Civil War uniforms, weapons, photos and items associated with US, German, Japanese or items of other Military History. DAVE, 240-464-0958. CASH FOR ESTATE BUYOUTS, estate clean-outs, jewelry to furniture, one item or whole state. Free Estimate, Will Travel. 301520-0755. FINE ANTIQUES, PAINTINGS AND QUALITY VINTAGE FURNISHINGS wanted by a serious, capable buyer. I am very well educated [law degree], knowledgeable [over 40 years in the antique business] and have the finances and wherewithal to handle virtually any situation. If you have a special item, collection or important estate, I would like to hear from you. I pay great prices for great things in all categories from Oriental rugs to Tiffany objects, from rare clocks to firearms, from silver and gold to classic cars. If it is wonderful, I am interested. No phony promises or messy consignments. References gladly furnished. Please call Jake Lenihan, 301-279-8834. Thank you.

WANTED: ANTIQUE ELECTRONICS, engineers’ estates, Hi-Fi Stereo, huge old loudspeakers, ham radios, records, professional quality musical instruments, antique computers, scientific curiosities. 202-5279501, vcvdc@msn.com. STAMP COLLECTIONS, AUTOGRAPHS purchased/appraised – U.S., worldwide, covers, paper memorabilia. Stamps are my specialty – highest price paid! Appraisals. Phone Alex, 301-309-6637. Stampex1@gmail.com. STERLING SILVER – I WILL BUY your silver marked sterling, 925, 800 for a fair price to be preserved for the future. Please call Richard, 301-646-0101. A LADY WANTS ANTIQUE DOLLS, doll clothing, Kewpies, paper dolls, Spanish shawls, beaded bags, cameos, gold and silver jewelry. Highest cash. 202-338-5349.

Thanks for reading the Beacon!

BEACON BITS

Nov. 13

HOW TO SELL YOUR PROPERTY

Keller Williams realtor Brace Kennedy is sponsoring a session entitled “What are My Options?” about downsizing and housing choices on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at the second floor of the Arlington Central Library,1015 N. Quincy St., Arlington, Va. For more information, visit www.bracekennedyhomes.com or call (202) 255-2778.

Ongoing

COMPUTER TEACHERS WANTED

More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Crossword Puzzle

Puzzle Page

Daily crosswords can be found on our website: www.TheBeaconNewspapers.com Click on Puzzles Plus Enjoy Yourself by Stephen Sherr 1

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a s ft! e i ak t g M ea gr

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22 24

Scrabble answers on p. 69.

23 26

50 53

58 64

Across

Down

1. Attendee at a new student mixer 6. Unused 10. GE product 14. It’s used as a weapon a lot 15. Hot to ___ 16. He has a steakhouse at Caesar’s Palace 17. Complete 180 18. O: Pretty good blackjack hands 20. O: Last stop for supplies 22. Nile snakes 23. One of the w’s in www.crossword-dictionary.com 24. Achy 26. Fundamentals 29. O: Neurotic one 35. Gruesome 37. Cross the goal line 38. Match match 39. South Caribbean islander 40. TV ET HQ 41. Ann Taylor offering 43. Resentment 44. Hawaiian Island with no traffic lights 46. After Jack, he has won the most majors 47. O: New model greenlighted by Lee Iacocca in 1990 50. Concluding event 51. Jobs creation 52. “Oh no; a mouse!” 54. It turns clay to bricks 56. O: A good cleanser, bar none 61. Enjoy yourself (or what all the O’ed clues do) 64. Trojan hiding place 65. ___-Day (vitamin brand founded over 25,000 days ago) 66. Type of jazz or rock 67. Expels 68. War vet’s problem 69. Brooklyn team, since 2012 70. Short-tailed weasel

1. Botch 2. Pro ___ 3. Burden of proof 4. O: Attaches 5. In conclusion 6. One story or two lovers 7. Party pooper 8. Diary 9. Ending of the Bible 10. “I’ll be right there” 11. Senate tie-breaker 12. White-bellied Sea Eagle, and relatives 13. Ballot proposition options 19. Most pucker-producing 21. Start of a sonnet rhyme scheme 24. Home to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center 25. “___ the fields we go” 26. Other ref. nbr. 27. Small donkey 28. Wept 30. ___ Boomer (an intense post-war kid) 31. Left-over parts 32. Ole buddy 33. Begot 34. Face in a crowd scene 36. No-win situation 42. O: Evicts 45. Gardner of The Barefoot Contessa 48. Biblical mountain, in present-day Jordan 49. Arbiter or arbitrate 53. Community spirit 54. He could write of Pure Reason 55. Folk singer Burl 56. Feature of a 41 Across 57. He made 425 new cars in 1901 58. Roughly 59. “The Thin Man” dog 60. Annoyance 61. Short flight 62. Lifetime ___ (permanent expulsion) 63. Get a top grade

Answers on page 69.

WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

CLASSIFIEDS The Beacon prints classified advertising under the following headings: Business & Employment Opportunities; Caregivers; Computer Services; Entertainment; For Sale; For Sale/Rent: Real Estate; Free; Health; Home/ Handyman Services; Miscellaneous; Personals; Personal Services; Vacation Opportunities; and Wanted. For submission guidelines and deadlines, see the box at the right. CAVEAT EMPTOR! The Beacon does not knowingly accept obscene, offensive, harmful, or fraudulent advertising. However, we do not investigate any advertisers or their products and cannot accept responsibility for the integrity of either. Respondents to classified advertising should always use caution and their best judgment. EMPLOYMENT & REAL ESTATE ADS: We will not knowingly or intentionally accept advertising in violation of federal, state, and local laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, familial status or handicap in connection with employment or the sale or rental of real estate.

Business and Employment Opportunities AUTHORS! WRITERS! I am an author of 32 books. I’m willing to help you finish and publish your book. Call Donald R. Downing, 301-839-1583.

Caregivers LOVING HOME CARE – “Care you can trust and afford.” Companionship, personal care, meals, housekeeping, shopping, appointments. Reliable, loving caregiver for Full/Part-time or Live-in. Flat rate for live-in care. Call: 301-490-1146. HERE AND NOW HOME CARE – Very reliable and certified caregivers who provide care with quality, dignity and respect. Personal care, companionship and light housekeeping at competitive prices. 24 hours around the clock. Homes, hospitals, nursing homes. 240-507-7120. www.hereandnowhomecare.com. ABSOLUTE HOMECARE SERVICES, INC. – Licensed, Bonded and Insured. Reliable and qualified health aides and nursing staff available. Trusted personal assistance for your loved ones. Serving all Washington Metro Area. 4-24 hour services. Our rates are 10% lower than the average in the DC Metro Area! Tel: 703-3476755. Email: absolutehsi@vacoxmail.com. Visit us: absolutehsi.com. CNA/COMPANION FOR SICK OR ELDERCARE. I am experienced, compassionate and reliable. Available days, nights, Mondays through Fridays and weekends full time or part time with 23 years experience. Own transportation. Call 301-442-9324. COMPASSIONATE CAREGIVER – LADY COMPANION available for elderly or adult with disabilities. Very reliable, experienced, own car with excellent references. CPR/First Aid/Hospice/Mental Health Aide Certified. I can provide respite care, concierge, plus more services for your loved one. Please call 240-426-3548 and kindly leave me a message. CNA/MED TECH ELDERLY CARE for livein/live-out, taking care of the elderly. 15+ years experience. Own transportation. Excellent references upon request. 240-482-9027, 202-710-3127. LOOKING FOR A LOVING, caring, compassionate, dependable and reliable caregiver with years of experience and references for your elderly loved ones? Have experience with MS, Alzheimer’s, Diabetes and other health problems. Please call, 301-908-9134.

Computer Services PROBLEM WITH YOUR PC/MAC OR NETWORK? Computer Systems Engineer will come to you with help. Call: D. Guisset at 301-6424526.

Say you saw it in the Beacon

Computer Services COMPUTER LESSONS – Personal Computer training at your home. Email, Internet, general computer use. Windows 8, Smartphone/tablet, digital camera. Learn at your own pace with gentle & patient tutor. We also troubleshoot problems & setup new computers. Teaching Seniors since 1996. Senior Discount. Call David, 301-762-2570, COMPUTERTUTOR.

Financial Services AFFORDABLE ACCTG/TAX SOLUTIONS @ BAI-TECH. Automation, Bookeeping, Payroll Tax Planning, Preparation & Representation. CPA on Demand 24/7. 26+ years experience. Email inforequest@bai-tech.com or call 301-608-2248.

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING RATES Deadlines and Payments: Ad text and payment is due by the 20th of each month. Note: Only ads received and prepaid by the deadline will be included in the next month’s issue. Please type or print your ad carefully. Include a number where you can be reached in the event of a question. Payment is due with ad. We do not accept ads by phone or fax, nor do we accept credit cards. Private Party Text Ads: For individuals seeking to buy or sell particular items, or place a personal ad. Each ad is $15 for 25 words, 25 cents for each additional word. Business Text Ads: For parties engaged in an ongoing business enterprise. Each ad is $35 for 25 words, 50 cents for each additional word. Note: Each real estate listing counts as one business text ad. Send your classified ad with check or money order, payable to the Beacon, to:

For Sale/Rent: Real Estate LEISURE WORLD® - $259,000. 3BR 2FB 1HB “M” in Greens. Table space kitchen, separate Dining room. Large enclosed balcony. New paint and carpet. 1530 sq ft. Stan Moffson, Weichert Realtors, 301-928-3463. LEISURE WORLD® - $98,500. 2BR 1-1/2 BA “Elizabeth” Coop. Window in the kitchen, builtin microwave, enclosed balcony. 1308 sq ft. Stan Moffson, Weichert Realtors, 301-928-3463. LEISURE WORLD® - $299,900. 2 BR 2 FB FF in Overlook with Garage + Golf cart space. Table space kitchen open to enclosed balcony with custom shades. Close to elevator. 1320 sq ft. Stan Moffson, Weichert Realtors, 301-928-3463. LEISURE WORLD® - $99,500. 2 BR 1-1/2 BA “C” model in “The Greens.” New paint and carpet, close to elevator. 952 sq ft. Stan Moffson, Weichert Realtors, 301-928-3463.

The Beacon, D.C. Classified Dept. P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915-2227 For information about display advertising, or to request a media kit, call (301) 949-9766.

For Sale/Rent: Real Estate

Miscellaneous

WE’LL BUY YOUR HOME Without the Hassles. Local Company in business since 2003. BBB Accredited. Call 877-948-3232 today for details. No Obligation or Fees.

THE SHALOM SIGNATURE CLUB - A place to meet new friends, socialize and expand the scope of your knowledge. Our diverse list of programs offers something for everyone. Membership is free. Visit our website to see what we’re doing for Thanksgiving and Chanukah. You’re never too old to ‘have a blast.’ Visit our website: www.ShalomSC.org. For more information, call (240) 200-4515.

For Sale HEATED MASSAGE CHAIR - $100. Card organ - $100. Dog Cage, large - $75. Sewing machine with built-in stand - $200. Call 240-2810788.

LEISURE WORLD® - $105,000. 1BR 1FB “A” model in Fairways. Golf Course view from top floor, updated appliances, convenient to elevator, enclosed balcony. 850 sq ft. Stan Moffson, Weichert Realtors, 301-928-3463.

OLD MAGAZINES, CHINA, OLD BOOKS, jewelry, paintings, Redskins, sheet music, old fountain pens, comic books, pottery, boy scouts, crystal, black memorabilia, baseball, president memorabilia, saxophone, antique scale, antique tiles, old photos, coins. Call 202-265-0882.

LEISURE WORLD® - $284,900. 2BR 2FB “E” in “Villa Cortese.” Table space kitchen, large enclosed balcony, and Garage parking. 1340 sq ft. Stan Moffson, Weichert Realtors, 301-928-3463.

PARKLAWN MEMORIAL PARK: One cemetery plot, two chambers; beautiful settling. $1,800. Please call 301-351-9305.

LEISURE WORLD® - $249,900. 3BR 2-1/2B “M” in the “GREENS.” Great space with enclosed balcony, new paint and carpet and separate storage room in basement. 1530 sq ft. Stan Moffson, Weichert Realtors, 301-928-3463. LEISURE WORLD® - RENTAL - $1200. 1BR 1FB “A” in Fairways. Hardwood floors, table space kitchen, golf course view, enclosed balcony. 850 sq ft. Stan Moffson, Weichert Realtors, 301-928-3463. LEISURE WORLD® - $281,000. 2BR 2FB “D” in Villa Cortese. Table space kitchen, separate kitchen, enclosed balcony, new paint and carpet. Garage space. 1300 sq ft. Stan Moffson, Weichert Realtors, 301-928-3463. LEISURE WORLD® - $75,000. 1BR 1FB “Raleigh.” Updated kitchen with top of line cabinets, granite and stainless, update bath with therapeutic tub, enclosed patio. 990 sq ft. Stan Moffson, Weichert Realtors, 301-928-3463. LOOKING FOR A QUIET AND FRIENDLY WOMAN between the ages of 55-70 to share my lovely home in a quiet area of Silver Spring, MD. Must be strict vegetarian, non-smoker, and nondrinker. The rent is $600/month including utilities. Call Carol at 301-754-1289 between 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. FURNISHED BASEMENT APT. for one working person or senior. Low rent. No smoking, no drugs, no pets. 240-988-9412. I BUY HOUSES ANY CONDITION – Fairfax County, VA, Save time, money and worry. Not an agent, no commissions. Female owned. 703-9695847, ibuyfairfaxhouses@gmail.com. ROOM FOR RENT WITH OWN BATH. Available November 1st. Hyattsville off Sargent Rd. Seeking a quiet responsible, mature person. $600 per month, utilities included. 301-442-9324. LOOKING TO TAKE THE LEAP? I’ll take you on a tour of the community, show you floor plans, discuss campus amenities, & offer how to best coordinate your move. I will preview units & contact you with a match. I also offer exceptional service selling your home. I’m a Seniors Specialist, Buyer Broker, Top 1% of Agents Nationwide, and a Leisure World resident! You can see my current listings on page 45. Contact me: 301-580-5556, SueHeyman@aol.com, www.SueHeyman.com, Weichert Realtors.

LEXMARK PRINTER/COPIER: 3.5 years old. Never used. $145. Call: Laura, 301-5898058. Silver Spring. CONRAD ETCHING PRESS: 15” x 30” microgauge, steel table, 11 years old, hardly ever used, $1,600. 2 Long folding tables, wood top, cut glass top, $100. Contact: Laura.chassy@yahoo.com, 301-589-8058, Silver Spring. PLOTS FOR SALE AT G.W. MT. LEBANON CEMETERY – Jewish section. Well maintained at a discounted price. Call: 301-984-1109. 2 SALVADOR DALI woodblock prints from Dante’s Divine Comedy. Signed and framed. Asking $900 for the pair. Can email pictures if desired. Call Steve, 410-913-1653.

Health MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING with home-bound seniors in lower Montgomery County by state licensed counseling provider. For an appointment, please call 301-340-1510. WHERE IS YOUR PAIN? Back, neck, nerve, arthritis, joint & muscle pain etc. Give us your opinion on our homeopathic, topical pain relief lotion. Free sample & follow up on request. 202726-2602.

Home/Handyman Services EXPERT ROOF REPAIRS and new installations. 40 years experience. 5 year warranties. Rated A on Angie’s List. See our photo gallery at RamboandRamboConstruction.com. MHIC# 8342. Call, 301-220-4222. MGL CLEANING SERVICE Experienced. Same team every time. Licensed bonded, insured. Good references, free estimates. Our customers recommend us. Mario & Estela: 202-4916767 & 703-798-4143.

Legal Services PARALEGAL EXPERIENCED IN WILLS, trust and estate administration as well as other accounting and administrative paperwork. Will make house calls. 301-565-2917.

MARYLAND LIVE CASINO TRIP. Travel the ICC Arundel Shuttle to Maryland Live Casino every Saturday 9:15 a.m. & 9:30 a.m. Lakeforest Transit Center/Shady Grove Metro (East Side) and Sunday 10:30 a.m. & 10:45 a.m. Lakeforest Transit Center/Shady Grove Metro. Leisure World Plaza Saturday only 9:45 a.m. (in front of Giant Food). Cost $20 per person. Receive $30 in slot play from Casino. To reserve a seat, call 301337-0517 or visit www.iccarundelshuttle.com.

Personals SBP SVELTE LADY OF QUALITY seeks tall gentleman of character. Companionship, adventures, fun without games. 301-598-5438.

Personal Services VAN MAN – For your driving needs. Shopping, appointments, pick-up and deliver – airport van. Call Mike, 301-565-4051. WILL TYPE YOUR MEMOIRS, manuscripts, etc. For info and rates, call 703-671-1854. CHERYL’S ORGANIZING CONCEPTS LLC – Professional Organizing Services. Help with all aspects of home organizing. Experienced – References – Member NAPO. All work confidential. Licensed – Bonded. $25 discount on initial appointment. www.CherylsOrganizing.com. 301-916-9022. NEED HOUSE CLEANING? PROFESSIONAL SERVICE at an affordable rate! Weekly, BiWeekly, Monthly or One Time. Call Fulvia for a free estimate, 240-644-4289. READY TO DE-CLUTTER? I can help. Sort, discard, donate. Reasonable rates. Call Jan, 301933-7570. Leave message. I CLEAN HOUSES AND APARTMENTS. I have experience and have very good recommendations. My name is Christina, 240-899-1380.

Volunteer Opportunities COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND, a nonprofit organization serving people of all ages in the Washington metropolitan area who are blind and visually impaired, is recruiting adult volunteers to serve as Readers and Friendly Visitors. Participants in the Readers & Friendly Visitors program are adult volunteers who are matched one-on-one with blind or visually impaired adults. Volunteers arrange weekly meetings with clients at their homes to assist with activities, such as reading mail, grocery shopping or running errands. If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, please contact Jocelyn Hunter at 202-454-6422 or jhunter@clb.org to attend an upcoming orientation.

Classifieds cont. on p. 69

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