Spring Cleaning

Some news and notes for your personal and professional spring cleaning.

BOSTON STRONGER: MARATHON MONDAY -- Marathon looks to shake shadow of 2013 bombing, with some 36,000 people, the second-largest field in the race's 118-year history, will set out [tomorrow in waves, beginning at 8:50 a.m. for mobility impaired] from Hopkinton, a town west of Boston, for the 26.2-mile race that finishes on Boston's Boylston Street ... Hundreds of thousands of whom are expected to line the course ... A heavy police presence is planned and racers and supporters will face new restrictions including a ban on backpacks ... Race organizers, the Boston Athletic Association, admitted an additional 9,000 runners this year, in part to ensure that the roughly 5,000 people on the course when the blasts occurred get a chance to cross this finish line.

CALIFORNIA DROUGHT - This summer, Todd Allen’s only crop will be Pima cotton. He and his brother, Joel, usually also grow cantaloupes and, later in the season, winter wheat on about 600 acres or so. But this year, they and hundreds of others will get no water from the reservoirs that sustain farming in the Central Valley, where much of the nation’s fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables are grown. Mr. Allen says he will give his cotton crop just “one shot of water when it gets to a certain height.” So they will forgo melons. And a question mark hangs over winter wheat.

Heading into the third year of a prolonged drought, the Allen's are among the many California farmers forced to make dire choices that could leave as much as 800,000 acres, or about 7 percent of the state’s cropland, fallow. While some think that estimate may be inflated so early in the planting season, the consensus is that drier and drier seasons are on the horizon.

THE RENTS ARE TOO DAMN HIGH - For rent and utilities to be considered affordable, they are supposed to take up no more than 30 percent of a household's income. But that goal is increasingly unattainable for middle-income families as a tightening market pushes up rents ever faster ... The strain is not limited to the usual high-cost cities like New York and San Francisco.

An analysis for The New York Times by Zillow, the real estate website, found 90 cities where the median rent - not including utilities - was more than 30 percent of the median gross income. In Chicago, rent as a percentage of income has risen to 31 percent, from a historical average of 21 percent. In New Orleans, it has more than doubled, to 35 percent from 14 percent ... Nationally, half of all renters are now spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing.

MUSTANG, FIFTY YEARS - Ford to offer 50th anniversary Mustang. Ford is building a limited-edition Mustang GT to honor the pony car's 50th anniversary. The company will only build 1,964 special cars, honoring the year the Mustang first went on sale. The 50 Year Limited Edition will come in one of the two colors of Ford's logo: white or blue ... manual or automatic transmission. There are special chrome highlights around the grille, windows and tail lights. The Limited Edition will also be the only 2015 Mustang with a faux gas cap badge on the rear, where the original cap sat. ... Ford is showing the Limited Edition at the New York auto show ... Pricing wasn't announced.

DEAR RINK RATS -

All across America, in offices and airports, I see men in restrooms talking on their cellphones while standing at urinals or sitting in toilet stalls. This seems demeaning to the people on the other end of the line and unsanitary. Is it O.K. to talk on mobile phones in public bathrooms? Related question: Do women do this, too?

Signed,

Nature Calls,

Potsdam, New York

Dear Nature Calls -

If you think talking is bad, consider a sign I spotted in a restroom in Denver: “No washing animals in the sink.” (Say, what?) I’m not concerned about demeaning people on the other end of the line. Some of my best phone chats have been conducted while soaking in hot tubs or deveining that vile goop from the spines of shrimp. (No one was the wiser.) Same with hygiene: Half the men I see in restrooms don’t wash their hands. Their filthy cellphones pose no greater health risks than their filthy hands do.

No, the hideous part about speaking on cellphones in cramped public spaces is subjecting everyone else to the banality of our daily lives. We should stop at once, but we won’t. And good luck asking others to disconnect. That ship has sailed. And I have it on excellent authority that women are chatty sailors, too.

Signed,

RINK RATS

MOVIE BLAST: CAPTAIN AMERICA CRUSHES JOHNNY DEPP - Team U.S.A. dominated Easter weekend as Disney's 'Captain America: Winter Soldier' fended off its competition at the box office, holding onto the No. 1 spot for the third week in a row by drawing in $26.6 million. ... The only story of disappointment came from Warner Bros.' sci-fi thriller 'Transcendence,' which stars Johnny Depp and took in a meager $11.2 million. The film cost $100 million to make and is yet another box-office stinker for Depp, whose last big-budget failure, 'The Lone Ranger,' famously tanked in 2013.

ECON 101 - The current economic expansion is proving to be one of the most lackluster in modern times. The U.S. jobless rate is the highest on record at this stage of recent cycles and gross domestic product has grown at half the pace of the previous three expansions. But while it won't go down in history for its strength, at least the recovery is still going. The current stretch of growth, we note, is poised to last longer than the average for post-World War II cycles. And the very weakness of the growth means there are few immediate risks of the kind of imbalances that usually produce a recession. "It's fair to say that we're not in a situation where people begin to worry" about the onset of a new recession, noted one economist. "There are pretty clear skies, but it's remarkable how quickly the skies can cloud over."

BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to: Jim Douthit ...famous tennis player and cat lover, Herm Edwards (60), Queen Elizabeth II (88), Gene Hasse ....famous father and Detroit Tiger fan, Andie MacDowell (56), Shirley MacLaine (80), Jack Nicholson (77), Renee Zellweger (45).

COLLEGE CHRONICLES – Summer Survival Strategies for Adjuncts: I’ve lived through enough adjunct summers to know that things get pretty difficult financially around late July. What little money you managed to scrape together during the school year is long gone, and you’re at least two rent cycles away from the next paycheck.

For adjuncts who aren’t lucky enough to score classes, the end of the summer can become a deeply stressful period of doing whatever it takes—borrowing, penny-pinching, scouring Craigslist for odd jobs—to keep the eviction notices at bay until the first paycheck of the new school year arrives.

My adjunct summer survival strategy consists mainly of selling my possessions—furniture, music, clothes. By the end of July, my apartment is significantly more roomy than it was at the beginning of the summer. Once the school year starts and the income returns, I restock what I’ve purged. It’s kind of like going to one of those payday lenders: a never ending cycle of borrowing and repaying, never earning enough to escape the pattern.

I’m also no stranger to the odd job. I’ve taken many a part-time gig to bridge the income gap between adjunct paychecks. I delivered pizzas for a few years during and after grad school, though I could never bring myself to deliver in the same town where I taught. The thought of ringing the doorbell of a current student was too much to bear.

I’ve also discovered the insalubrious world of Craigslist gigs. There’s money to be earned for doing all sorts of random tasks, from moving furniture to painting houses to, uh, posing for “tasteful” photographs. With the help of Craigslist, I’ve been a mover, a landscaper, a wedding photographer, and a ditchdigger. I was also invited to meet a potential employer at a remote location in the country, but I turned that gig down.

In fact, Craigslist is a lifesaver for poor adjuncts, and my secrets to surviving the adjunct summer mostly revolve around it. Each week during the summer break, I’m either selling my possessions or my labor in order to scrounge up enough cash to make it until September.

But I knew there had to be some other options for summer income. Tens of thousands of other teachers struggle through the dog days every year, and I was curious to hear more survival secrets. So I asked Twitter.

Based on the responses I received, it looks like the summer is pretty tough for most adjuncts. Some respondents reported trying to bridge the gap with part-time and odd jobs similar to mine.

- Josh Boldt, The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 25, 2014.

THE SWAMI’S WEEK TOP PICKS –

Rink Rats is traveling this week, so we took a break from our Swami picks. See you next week.

2014 Season to date (25-27), ouch!

Market Week - Wall Street is betting that Apple will offer investors tens of billions of dollars in new share buybacks this week, as long-awaited product launches remain locked inside its Cupertino labs.

Apple will also reveal the impact of iPhone sales through China Mobile when it reports second-quarter earnings on Wednesday, with an overall dip in revenues forecast in what is often a fallow period for the mobile phone market.

DRIVING THE WEEK -  It's make or break time for corporate profits, with dozens of companies—from Facebook to Ford— reporting in the week ahead.

The pressure is on for those earnings to support the market's current valuations, after weeks of choppy trading. It's also crunch time to see whether it really was the harsh winter weather that slowed profit growth—and the economy—or something else.

"Does spring make a difference? And in what industries does it make a difference? If that doesn't come across, it may raise some confusion about what the economic data is telling us," said Art Cashin, director of floor operations at UBS.

About 150 S&P 500 companies are scheduled to release quarterly results through Friday, in an earnings season that has been so far mediocre, though nearly two-thirds of companies are beating Wall Street estimates. On the economic front, there is housing data with existing home sales Tuesday and new home sales Wednesday, and durable goods are reported Thursday.

Congress still out on Easter recess ... President Obama leaves Tuesday for his Asia trip after traveling to Oso, Washington to view the devastation from the recent mudslide and meet with families ... Vice President Biden heads to Kyiv, Ukraine today ... Patriot's Day in Boston today features the first marathon since last year's bombing ... Index of leading indicators today at 10:00 a.m. expected to rise 0.7 percent ... FHFA house price index at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday expected to rise 0.5 percent ... Existing home sales at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday expected to dip 1.1 percent to 4.55M ...

New homes sales at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday expected to rise to 450K from 440K ... Durable goods orders Thursday at 8:30 a.m. expected to rise 2.0 percent, 0.6 percent ex-transportation ... Univ. of Michigan consumer sentiment at 9:55 a.m. Friday expected to rise to 83.0 from preliminary 82.6 ... Facebook reports earnings Wednesday

Next week: Jack Ass of the Month and Spring Gardening.

Until Next Monday, Adios.

Littleton, CO

April 21, 2014

#V-1, 210

The Last Minute

DEAR RINK RATS:

I owe taxes this year, what can I do at the last minute to avoid this tax bill?

Sincerely,

Stressed in Covina

DEAR STRESSED IN COVINA:

Consider an extension – All individual taxpayers are allowed up to an additional six months to prepare and file, which will extend the deadline for 2013 returns to October 15. To get this extension, taxpayers must file IRS Form 4868. Remember, that an extension to file the return is not an extension to pay your tax. To avoid penalties, you must pay the IRS at least 90% of what you owe by April 15. Interest – currently 3% a year, compounded daily-will be due on the underpayment.

Deductions available – Make tax-deductible contributions for 2013 to a regular retirement account by April 15. Make tax-deductible contributions to another pension plan before October 15, if you have a six month extension. Make tax-deductible contributions to a qualified Health Savings Account by April 15.

Check your Marriage Penalty or Marriage Bonus – For two-income married couples, especially those with similar incomes, being married can mean owing more in taxes than the partners would as two singles. In part, that is because the U.S. tax system “stacks” one partner’s income atop the other’s. If you are curious about your marriage penalty or bonus, The Tax Payer Policy Center, a nonprofit group in Washington, has a calculator at taxpolicycenter.org/mpc

If you can’t pay or don’t file – strapped taxpayers should be aware that it is impossible to outrun the IRS. You may qualify for an “online payment agreement” at IRS.gov that can be used to schedule payments. Don’t ignore, the IRS can help you work your payments out.

Good luck.

RINK RATS

HAPPY TAX SEASON: HERE'S HOW TO SAVE $675M - In honor of our annual spring ritual, let me show you how utterly bizarre the American tax system can be, using a recent deal between two well-known outfits to illustrate my point. The deal involves Don Graham's Graham Holdings (formerly the Washington Post Co.) and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, which are doing what's known in the tax biz as a cash-rich split-off.

It's a way that companies can dispose of holdings on which they have big gains and emerge with cash without technically selling anything, thus incurring no tax bill ... Cash-rich split-offs are specifically allowed by the Internal Revenue Code. Graham and Berkshire aren't pushing boundaries; they're using something that Congress has specifically allowed. It's absurd, but it's permissible.

OUT OF AFRICA - Nigeria becomes Africa's biggest economy, Nigeria ... became Africa's biggest economy, leap-frogging South Africa ... With 170 million people, Nigeria is about three times the size of South Africa and has enjoyed high rates of growth, notwithstanding widespread corruption ... Economists ... warned not to take the new figures at face value, given that South Africa -- the continent's only G20 member -- has fewer people and is way ahead in ... infrastructure and governance. ... For ordinary Nigerians -- most of whom still live on less than $2 a day - the [GDP] rebasing [will] have little effect, but it will improve the country's balance sheet and its credit rating.

BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to: Ellen Barkin (60), Ashley Judd (46), Jessica Lange (65), Emma Thompson (55).

COLLEGE CHRONICLES – Harvard and Yale ... accepted about 6 percent of applicants, Columbia and Princeton about 7 percent, and [MIT] and the University of Chicago about 8 percent. Duke accepted only 9.9% of the 31,785 who applied to the school for the Class of 2017, the lowest acceptance rate in Duke history.

CBS LATE NIGHT – Comedy Central’s Steve Colbert has signed on to be the replacement to David Letterman’s Late Night show. Colbert's the real deal: in person, Colbert is a nice guy, but not as monologue-monomaniacal as Jay Leno. Colbert has lived the life of a suburban soccer dad and Catholic Church-going Sunday school teacher in Montclair, N.J., with a beautiful wife he's nuts about, Evie McGee, and three kids. He's not an ingratiating boy next door, like Jimmy Fallon, or a scorchingly candid curmudgeon, like Letterman. ... Carson was the Walter Lippmann of comedy, wielding enormous influence over the reputations of politicians he mocked. Stewart and Colbert took it a step further. They became Murrow and Cronkite for a generation of young viewers.

WHAT WE ARE BAKING FOR THE HOLIDAY WEEK - Easy Layered Boston Cream Pie

15 minutes prep

60 minutes refrigeration

Serves 10

How We Did It

We've taken a classic recipe and made it over by preparing it with JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Fat Free Sugar Free Instant Pudding, COOL WHIP LITE Whipped Topping and an angel food cake. We also eliminated the butter and powdered sugar in the chocolate topping. These changes will save you 170 calories and 11 grams of total fat, including 3.5 grams of saturated fat, per serving.

Make Ahead: Dessert can be made up to 4 hours in advance. Remove from refrigerator 30 min. before serving.

What you need

1 pkg. (1.0 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Fat Free Sugar Free Instant Pudding

1-1/2 cups cold fat-free milk

1 cup thawed COOL WHIP LITE Whipped Topping, divided

1  round angel food cake (10 oz.), cut horizontally into 3 layers

1 oz. BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, chopped

How to make it

Beat pudding mix and milk in medium bowl with whisk 2 min. Stir in 1/2 cup COOL WHIP.

Stack cake layers on serving plate, spreading pudding mixture between layers.

Microwave chocolate and remaining COOL WHIP in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 30 sec.; stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended. Spoon over cake. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Rink Rats Kitchen Tips

How to Slice Cake Evenly

Mark the cake into 3 horizontal layers with toothpicks. Use a long serrated knife and gently sawing motion to cut the cake into the layers as directed.

CHAMPS – We like the San Jose Sharks to win the Stanley Cup Playoffs over the Boston Bruins which begin this week. Also we like the San Antonio Spurs to win the NBA playoffs over the Indiana Pacers.

COLLEGE HOCKEY PICK OF THE WEEK – Congrats to the Union College Dutchmen, a 2,200 student liberal arts D-III school (except for hockey) in Schenectady, New York, for winning the 2013-2014 NCAA D-I Men’s Hockey Championship. Final Season to date (8-5).

THE SWAMI’S WEEK TOP PICKS –

(MLB, April 19) Anaheim Angels (6-6) vs. Detroit Tigers (6-4). Tigers back home in Comerica after west coast trip, Detroit wins 5 - 4.

 (NHL, April 19) Chicago Blackhawks vs. St. Louis Blues, the best time of year for hockey fans, The Stanley Cup Playoffs. Western Conference Quarter-final Game 2, Hawks win 4 – 3.

SCIAC Game of the Week (Sat. April 19-softball) Redlands Bulldogs (24-10) vs. La Verne Leopards (12-18). First place Redlands visit the new Campus West field, Leos pull the upset 6 - 4.

2014 Season to date (24-26), ouch!

DRIVING THE WEEK -  Treasury Secretary Jack Lew this morning plans to meet with Ukrainian Finance Minister Oleksandr Shlapak at Treasury. Following the meeting, the Secretary and the Finance Minister will participate in a signing ceremony for a $1 billion loan guarantee for the Government of Ukraine ... Retail sales at 8:30 a.m. expeted to rise 0.9%, 0.5% ex-autos ... Empire State survey at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday expected to rise to 8.0 from 5.6 ... Consumer prices at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday expected to rise 0.1 headline and core ...

Fed Chair Janet Yellen at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday delivers remarks via video to an Atlanta Fed conference on financial markets ... Yellen on Wednesday delivers remarks at 12:15 p.m. to the Economic Club of New York on "Monetary Policy and the Economic Recovery" ... Industrial production at 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday expected to rise 0.5% ... Philly Fed Thursday at 10:00 a.m. expected to rise to 10.0 from 9.0 ... Markets closed Friday in honor of Good Friday and Easter weekend.

A joyous Easter and Passover to our readers.

Next week: Entitlement Part Deux and The Lie.

Until Next Monday, Adios.

Claremont, CA

April 14, 2014

#IV-52, 209

The Entitlement Trap

My experience in teaching and business is noticing an increasing behavior among students and employees, the sense of entitlement. That sense of I am entitled to an “A” in a course, a wonderful letter of recommendation, or a starting salary far above the market, all without the proper effort or professionalism necessary for those benefits and rewards.

Want to know what keeps the owners of the most successful family businesses up at night? The dread that their kids will grow up to be entitled.

That said, in reality, money turns out to be a less important factor than one might think in the development of entitlement. Some very wealthy kids turn out to be highly motivated and engaged – I see this in my work every day. My experience also suggests, however, that kids don’t mysteriously end up entitled; there are some common choices parents – all parents – make to a greater or lesser degree that substantially increase the odds that kids end up feeling that the world owes them a living. These choices are often made with the best of intentions, but they work against the long-term interest of our children.

How do you avoid the entitlement trap?  There are no pat answers. What I have learned from my work with family businesses is that you can start by asking yourselves questions.  This is not a scientific formula, but the more “no” answers that are scored, the greater the likelihood that you are putting your children on the path to entitlement.

Do they hold down jobs?  Kids that have jobs – even part-time or volunteer jobs – are more successful, both personally and professionally, than those who don’t. In an informal study of what people shared who made it to the C-Suite, one major American bank singled out height and summer jobs. There’s not much you can do about height, but work brings enormous discipline and learning. Jobs are also tremendously grounding, psychologically: they keep kids from being bored, one of life’s great vices. What I also see with glaring clarity in my work is that parents are blind to the strengths and vulnerabilities of their children. It’s hard to be objective. Jobs give your child the chance not only to gain experience, but also to get honest feedback. Reality is one of the best ways to combat a false sense of entitlement.

Can they build careers? Sometimes the next generation just can’t get traction, and they’re not entirely to blame. Alarmingly, in about a quarter of the client situations I work in, I see adult children being set up to fail. Owners sometimes give members of the next generation hopeless assignments – for example, they are asked to turn around a losing business that has no chance of becoming profitable.  Typically, this is done out of a desire to have the adult children understand, even relive, the experiences of the parents, who have almost always had to overcome tremendous challenges in order to succeed. The same thing can happen outside a family business, when adult children are forced into careers and professions in which they have no interest, and often no talent. Not surprisingly, they often don’t do well. Paradoxically, too much disappointment can also lead to entitlement. When even our best efforts are not good enough, it often seems better to just sit back and wait for life to be delivered to us on a silver platter.

Are they allowed to suffer? Life is like the stock market: it’s up and down, and there is risk involved. Don’t set your kids up to fail, but don’t  shelter them from fate’s hard knocks. Let your children feel the pain – it builds resilience. Indeed, research shows increasingly that resilience flourishes in an environment of tough love.  After that, everything else is the adult child’s responsibility. This discipline wonderfully concentrates everyone’s mind on the vital difference between wants and needs, and nips entitlement in the bud.

In my experience, the way that the most successful business families curb the next generation’s sense of entitlement is by staying involved in their kids’ lives.  If they fail to get some quality time, your children turn to money as the next best substitute. That sounds trivial, trite, perhaps even a platitude.  But every child is entitled to love. The rest is gravy.

Thank you Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer for background information.

Next week the Entitlement Trap in older adults.

MILESTONE -- March Was The First Month Without A U.S. Combat Death In More Than A Decade: March was the first time since July 2002 that there were no U.S. combat fatalities anywhere.

SCOTUS TRIMS CAMPAIGN FINANCE RULES - The Supreme Court ... continued its abolition of limits on election spending, striking down a decades-old cap on the total amount any individual can contribute to federal candidates in a two-year election cycle. ... Wednesday's decision seemed to alter campaign finance law in subtle but important ways, notably by limiting how the government can justify laws said to restrict the exercise of First Amendment rights in the form of campaign contributions.

Last Wednesday's decision did not affect familiar base limits on contributions from individuals to candidates, currently $2,600 per candidate in primary and general elections. But it said that overall limits of $48,600 by individuals every two years for contributions to all federal candidates violated the First Amendment, as did separate aggregate limits on contributions to political party committees, currently $74,600.

McCUTCHEON MONEY - Big money's grip stronger than ever, the Supreme Court's decision in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission tore another hole in a regulatory framework so tattered that even ardent campaign finance regulators sigh over its impotence. ... There are still a handful of meaningful limits on political giving: Donors cannot give more than $5,200 directly to a single candidate over the course of an election cycle. Their contributions to party committees are capped as well. ... The money, however, is still there - just channeled from megadonors, corporations and heavily funded interests through a range of exotic independent-spending organizations, instead of through political parties.

It adds up to what many call a worst-of-both-worlds situation in which money pours into politics at a historic clip, but often to unaccountable outside entities that can push around candidates every bit as readily as the million-dollar party donors of old. In that sense, some campaign attorneys argue, finance regulations may have made the influence of money even more acute or at least less transparent, driving funds away from candidates and parties and toward shadowy outside groups.

COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS -- The 49th Academy of Country Music Awards (in Vegas, airing on CBS). George Strait, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban and Kacey Musgraves carried home the best trophies ... but Lambert's husband, Blake Shelton, and his co-host Luke Bryan may have been the biggest winners. ... Shelton joked that the show was their tryout for David Letterman's job ... Shelton and Bryan, who have given themselves the celebrity name 'Bluke,' suggest[ed] they recreate Ellen DeGeneres' selfie moment ... They went down the front row rejecting one star after another. They rejected Jason Aldean because he isn't 'big enough' and said of Tim McGraw in sing-song unison, 'Boring!' 'Honestly,' Shelton said, 'I think we're the biggest celebrities in the room.'

FOUR PRESIDENTS - Obama, Bush 43, Clinton and Carter - will be together Thursday in Austin at the LBJ Presidential Library's Civil Rights summit, which begins tomorrow and runs through Thursday. All four will speak in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.

BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to: Gov. Jerry Brown (76), Francis Ford Coppola (75), Russell Crowe (50), Andy Garcia (58), Davis Love III (50), John Oates (65).

COLLEGE CHRONICLES – Since 1955, California has provided a vital funding bridge to higher education for needy students. The Cal Grant program, which has provided funding for more than 2.3 million students in the state since it was launched, is in jeopardy.

The 59-year-old program has always been a partnership between the state and its public and private colleges and universities, and that partnership has greatly expanded opportunities for the youth of this state. It has allowed students from low-income families to attend higher education institutions of their choice, whether they opted for a public university like UCLA or San Jose State University, or a private one like University of La Verne or Loyola Marymount University. Though I believe both public and private institutions still need to modify their Business Model to limit salary inequities and out of control overhead expenses (see AAUP report below).

That parity for public and private institutions was an essential part of the whole Cal Grant program, which was originally devised specifically to help enable qualified California high school graduates to attend private, nonprofit institutions if they so choose, rather than public ones. But that kind of choice is in jeopardy because of cuts to the Cal Grant awards available to students who choose private schools over state schools.

Over the last decade, the amount of grants offered to students attending private institutions has been severely eroded by inflation. More recently, state budget cuts have slashed the maximum award to such students by 6%. And for the 2014-15 school year, things will be even worse: Incoming students at private, nonprofit universities will face an additional 11% cut, which will bring the maximum grant to $8,056, the lowest in 16 years.

I invite you to consider signing an online petition addressed to the governor and legislature, requesting that Cal Grant funds remain intact. You can access the petition by visiting http://chn.ge/1hZ7L1P directly or by visiting www.studentsfirstalliance.org and clicking on the link to sign the petition.

AAUP, Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, 2013-14:

The left side of table 1 provides the percentage change in average salary, which is a measure of the increase in the salary paid for a given faculty position rather than in the earnings of individual faculty members. The bottom row of the table indicates that the average salary for a full-time faculty member increased by 2.2 percent this year at those institutions that responded to the AAUP survey for the last two years. The table provides percentage change in the figures for the four upper faculty ranks at each type of institution surveyed and illustrates the variation among the different institutional categories and faculty ranks. As has been the pattern for a number of years, the increase at private-independent institutions overall was higher than that at public institutions, due almost entirely to the disparity in the salary change in doctoral universities for those two sectors.

The right side of table 1 presents a measure of changing salaries that is unique to the AAUP survey: the average change in salary paid to a continuing faculty member who has remained in his or her position at the same institution from the previous year. The percentage increases reflected in the table could be thought of as the “average raise” an individual faculty member received this year, and those figures include increases from all sources: promotions, merit raises, and across-the-board salary adjustments. In the aggregate table, all the figures are positive this year, meaning that salaries rose on average—but that is certainly not the case at every institution. The “bottom-line” overall average increase for continuing faculty members this year was 3.4 percent, and the pattern by type of institution was similar to that observed in average salaries. The continuing faculty figure is almost always higher than the overall increase in average salary, since the former includes only faculty members who have added a year of experience. The broader figures from the left side of the table reflect the continuous churning of faculty members through positions, as senior faculty members depart and are most often replaced by faculty members at lower salaries, keeping the overall averages down.

TAX TIPS – for freelance bloggers. If you write a blog for someone else and get paid for your work, then you need to claim that income on your tax return. Most freelance bloggers are not considered full-time employees. That means you may or may not have completed a W-9 when you started working for a client and you may or may not get a Form 1099 at tax time from that client.

But what are those forms and what should you do as a freelance blogger to make sure you have all the paperwork you need and take the right steps to file your tax return properly? Read on for help, and consult your tax professional to be certain you're following all the rules.

What's a W-9?

Some of the employers who pay you to write blog posts, particularly larger companies, will require that you fill out a Form W-9 when you begin the job. This form identifies your work to the IRS as being done as an independent contractor, and the employer is not required to deduct taxes from your pay. The IRS still wants that money though, so you're responsible for paying those taxes. Don't get stuck with a huge tax bill at tax time each year. Instead, check out these tax tips for freelance bloggers to make sure you're ready.

What's a 1099?

Those clients that require you to complete a Form W-9 when you begin freelancing for them may or may not provide you with a Form 1099 at tax time. This form documents the amount you were paid throughout the tax year, so you can include the amount in your tax return and pay the corresponding taxes through your annual tax bill (or quarterly tax bill if you pay quarterly estimated taxes). Keep in mind, not all employers that have you submit a W-9 are required to provide you with a Form 1099 at tax time. The onous is always on you to declare all of your income on your tax return and pay taxes on that income.

What Records Do I Need?

In addition to the 1099s you might receive when the tax season begins, you need to keep records throughout the year. Keep all documents related to the money you made throughout the year as well as all expenses you incurred that you can deduct on your tax return. Learn more about tax deductions for bloggers.

Should I Consult a Tax Professional?

The best answer to this question is - yes, particularly the first year you work as a freelance blogger. Not only can a tax professional help you classify your blogging business, but he or she can help you understand your individual tax situation and plan for future tax returns so you file your returns accurately while positioning yourself to receive the maximum refund or pay the lowest tax bill possible.

COLLEGE HOCKEY PICK OF THE WEEK – Thursday 4/10, 5:00 PM ET (ESPN2): NCAA Final Four semi-final, #1 Union College Dutchmen (30-6-4) vs. #3 Boston College Eagles (28-7-4). A great matchup for the National Semi-Final, Union wins in OT 4 – 3. Season to date (7-5).

THE SWAMI’S WEEK TOP PICKS –

(MLB, April 12) Boston Red Sox (3-3) vs. New York Yankees (4-2). Another season of The Rivalry, Yanks win this one 6 – 4.

 (NHL, April 12) Vancouver Canucks (35-32-11) at Edmonton Oilers (28-42-9), what better way to celebrate the end of the NHL season with Canada’s worst, Oilers win 4 – 3.

SCIAC Game of the Week (Sat. April 12-baseball) Whittier Poets (18-10) vs. California Lutheran Kingsmen (22-6). First place on the line, Kingsmen win 8 – 5.

2014 Season to date (22-25), ouch!

WORDS OF THE MONTH –

wamble \WOM-buhl, -uhl, WAM-\, verb:

1. to move unsteadily.

2. to feel nausea.

3. (of the stomach) to rumble; growl.

noun:

1. an unsteady or rolling movement.

2. a feeling of nausea.

“I'll have to take you there. It's a cheery sensation, you know, to find a man who has some imagination, but who has been unspoiled by Interesting People, and take him to hear them wamble.”

-- Sinclair Lewis, Our Mr. Wrenn: The Romantic Adventures of a Gentle Man, 1914

pérdida, noun

loss

Pérdida is the noun from perder. It covers the range of meanings that loss covers in English, referring to both concrete and abstract things.

The phrase es una pérdida de tiempo means it’s a waste of time:

“Es una de pérdida tiempo y dinero.”

It’s a waste of time and money.

DRIVING THE WEEK - The White House and Democrats in the Senate this week will coordinate messaging on "paycheck fairness" and other issues (see more below) ... JPMorgan and Wells Fargo kick off bank earnings on Friday ... Consumer credit today at 3:00 p.m. expected to expand by $14.1B ... NFIB survey Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. expected to rise to 92.3 from 91.4 ... JOLTS report at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday will be closely watched for the quits rate, which dipped to 1.7% in January ...

FOMC minutes Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. may offer some detail on the decision to drop the 6.5% UE threshold for rate action ... Producer prices at 8:30 a.m. Friday expected to be up 0.1% headline and 0.2% core ... Univ. of Michigan consumer sentiment at 9:55 a.m. Friday expected to rise to 81.0 from 80.0.

Next week: Spring dessert and Dear Rink Rats.

Until Next Monday, Adios.

Claremont, CA

April 7, 2014

#IV-51, 208

Rigged Markets????

Moneyball" author Michael Lewis takes on the phenomenon of high-frequency trading (making money by cutting milliseconds off transmission time to a stock exchange) in "Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt" (W.W. Norton ): This book started when Mr. Lewis first heard the story of Sergey Aleynikov, the Russian computer programmer who had worked for Goldman Sachs and then, in the summer of 2009, after he'd quit his job, was arrested by the FBI and charged ... with stealing Goldman Sach's computer code. ... He was usually described as a 'high-frequency trading programmer' ... That was a term of art that, in the summer of 2009, most people, even on Wall Street, had never before heard. ... Why was the code ... so important that ... Goldman Sachs needed to call the FBI? ...

Over the past decade, the financial markets have changed too rapidly for our mental picture of them to remain true to life. ... The U.S. stock market now trades inside black boxes, in heavily guarded buildings in New Jersey and Chicago. ... The ticker tape that runs across the bottom of cable TV screens captures only the tiniest fraction of what occurs in the stock markets. ... This book is an attempt to draw [a picture of what has replaced the trading pits] ... of post-crisis Wall Street; of new kinds of financial cleverness ...

The financial markets were changing in ways even professionals did not fully understand. Their new ability to move at computer, rather than human, speed had given rise to a new class of Wall Street traders ... getting very rich very quickly without having to explain who they were or how they were making their money. ... Some of them ... 'would sell their grandmothers for a microsecond.' (A microsecond is one millionth of a second.)

MICROSOFT TO OFFER OFFICE FOR iPAD - One of the most lucrative software franchises in history, Microsoft Office, has finally come to the most influential computing device of the last few years, the iPad. Microsoft introduced the long-awaited suite of applications, which includes Word, PowerPoint and Excel, at an event here Thursday, where the company's new chief executive, Satya Nadella, committed to making the software work on all major computing devices ... Microsoft plans to create Office apps for tablet computers running Google's Android operating system, too. ...

To some, the move is a refreshing sign of a new Microsoft, one slowly unshackling itself from an era when its major decisions were made in deference to Windows, Microsoft's operating system. But skeptics wonder if Microsoft has waited too long, giving people who use iPads, especially business professionals, years to get used to life without it and giving an opening to start-ups and Apple's competing products.

BAD WEEK – Mark Zuckerberg Loses $3 Billion in a Week as Tech Titans Fall, [Facebook] plummeted 11 percent after [announcing] it would buy virtual-reality firm Oculus VR Inc. for at least $2 billion. ... Google Inc. co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page lost a combined $3 billion ... Jeff Bezos ... [lost] $1.9 billion after [Amazon] announced it would cut prices for cloud services ... a day after Google cut its prices.

I don’t feel so bad after losing $10 on the NCAA basketball pool.

BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to: Richard Chamberlain (80), Doris Day (90), Jane Goodall (80), Gordie Howe (86), Shirley Jones (80), Elle MacPherson (50), Craig T. Nelson (70).

WHAT IS NEW AT TREASURY - Floating-rate notes are proving to be a success, with the U.S. Treasury's first new debt offering in 17 years being scooped up at auction by investors seeking an alternative money-market security. The U.S. sold $13 billion of floaters [last Wednesday] at a bid-to-cover ratio, which gauges demand by comparing the amount of bids with the amount of securities offered, of 4.67, higher than the 2.9 average of fixed-rate debt sold this year by the government.

CITI’s MESS - Several large banks, including J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America, are set to pay out significantly larger dividends this year after they passed the U.S. Federal Reserve's stress tests that measure a lender's preparedness for a severe economic downturn. But one noteworthy name will not: Citigroup. We report that the Fed rejected Citi's capital plans—for the second time in three years—because of deficiencies in its risk-reading processes. The decision comes as a blow to Chief Executive Michael Corbat, who has made efforts to bolster the bank's reputation following a 2008 government rescue. And the ruling took Citi executives by surprise, particularly since Mr. Corbat had been in close contact with regulators. Meanwhile, flexing its muscle as the de facto global financial regulator, the Fed also rejected the capital plans of three foreign-based banks, after subjecting them for the first time to its annual test process.

TIME COVER, "THE LAST DAYS OF 'MAD MEN': It made television history by making history into television - Behind the scenes of the final season," by James James Poniewozik: "On April 13, ... 'Mad Men' ... airs the first of its 14 remaining episodes (seven to air this year, seven next). ... It's finishing up its time-lapse tour of a decade of American change through American culture. And it's wrapping up its run as the signature show of a period in which the same kind of people who used to say 'I don't even own a television' were now arguing whether film and novels could even compete with TV drama. ...

"However 'Mad Men' ends, it will leave behind a TV-drama business much bigger in material and ambition. TV's top dramas -- and drama-tinged comedies like 'Girls and Louie' -- have a hold on the culture that only a handful of books or movies do anymore. 'House of Cards' and 'Homeland' transfix politicos, while HBO's literary murder mystery 'True Detective' absorbed viewers in the fiction of Lovecraft and the philosophy of Nietzsche.

FIFTY YEARS AGO TODAY - on March 27, 1964 - the front page of The Times, at the bottom of the page, ran a story that became an instant staple of the city's folklore - "37 Who Saw Murder Didn't Call the Police: Apathy at Stabbing of Queens Woman Shocks Inspector," by Martin Gansberg: "Twenty-eight year-old Catherine Genovese, who was called Kitty by almost everyone in the neighborhood, was returning homes from her job as manager of a bar in Hollis." Kitty Genovese would be been 79 this July. Read the article, along with a bio of the reporter. http://goo.gl/JacZbe

--A BOOK out this month, "Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders, the Crime that Changed America," by Kevin Cook, argues that The Times vastly exaggerated the citizens' apathy. The Post last month carried an extensive account of Cook's case, "Debunking the myth of Kitty Genovese": "One could argue that Genovese became a legend ... when ... Police Commissioner Michael 'Bull' Murphy had lunch with The ... Times' new city editor ... Abe Rosenthal. After Rosenthal brought up a case Murphy wished to avoid discussing, the commissioner pivoted to the Genovese case. ... Rosenthal assigned a reporter ... to dig deeper."

COLLEGE CHRONICLES – The regional director of the National Labor Relations Board ruled Wednesday that Northwestern University scholarship football players are eligible to form the nation's first college athletes' union. Although the decision applies to private universities only, we note that it could have broad ramifications for college athletics. Our story examines what it might mean for athletes, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the NLRB. And we raise the question of what will happen in conferences when private schools compete with public ones. Northwestern immediately said it would appeal the decision. The NCAA, the collegiate-sports governing body that wasn't party to the proceeding, said in a statement that it was disappointed. "We strongly disagree with the notion that student-athletes are employees," the chief legal officer wrote.

JACK ASS OF THE MONTH - Some La Verne residents has earned the Jack Ass of the Month award for raising strong objections to the location of a Walmart Neighborhood Market in the City of La Verne.

In protesting the establishment of a 39,525-square-foot Walmart market in the old Stein Mart store, two residents who refused to give their names negatively blasted Pomona, characterizing the entire city and its residents as unsavory, criminal and undesirable and felt a Walmart market would generate similar shoppers and visitors in La Verne.

“We’re a classy town. We don’t want just anything to go in there and we don’t want that class of people to come here. We don’t want Pomona. Forget about being politically correct,” said the woman who declared she’d walk out of the meeting if a Walmart official repeated the fact its markets meet First Lady Michelle Obama’s healthy foods and nutritional goals to help reduce childhood obesity. Although others in the audience gasped at her remarks, she virulently continued, saying “They’re a lower class than us. I don’t care about organic food or Michelle Obama.”

Yes, La Verne is sure a classy town. Has anyone been to the Thursday Farmers’ Market…real class? So we congratulate the nameless two residents of the City of La Verne as our Jack Asses of the Month.

BRACKETOLOGY 101 - Final Four is Saturday on TBS: Florida (36-2) vs. Connecticut (30-8), 6:09 p.m. ... Wisconsin (30-7) vs. Kentucky (28-10) [VandeHei vs. Deckard!], 40 mins. after the first game. Championship game is Monday.

Look ahead: Fearsome Final Foursome headed to North Texas. Unlike the past few years, there will be no upstarts or Cinderella in the Final Four. These are the big boys all right, but each one has a big chip on their shoulders. ... [The Florida] Gators will have to go through the last two teams to beat them this season (UConn and Wisconsin) or their biggest SEC rival (Kentucky). ... The [UConn] Huskies became the first No. 7 seed to reach the Final Four since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. ...

Wisconsin's tell-it-like-it-is coach [Bo Ryan] had been a regular at the Final Four, taking his father, Butch, to every one since 1976 as a birthday gift. Bo had a hard time getting there with his team, though, winning over 700 games, playing in the NCAA tournament 13 straight years and reaching the Sweet 16 six times -- and not one trip to the Final Four. ... The Wildcats ... are playing with a cohesiveness and confidence that wasn't there earlier in the season, racing into the Final Four after pulling out a last-second victory over Michigan.

THE SWAMI’S WEEK TOP PICKS –

2014 Major League Baseball Picks – American League: East – Baltimore Orioles, Central – Detroit Tigers, West – Anaheim Angels. Wild Card – Tampa Bay Rays, Kansas City Royals. A.L.C.S Detroit over Anaheim

National League: East – Atlanta Braves, Central – St. Louis Cardinals, West – Los Angeles Dodgers. Wild Card – Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds. N.L.C.S St. Louis over Washington.

2014 World Series Champs – St. Louis Cardinals over Detroit Tigers

(NHL, April 5) Colorado Avalanche (47-21-6) at St. Louis Blues (50-17-7), St. Louis is the best team in hockey currently, they outlast the Avs 5 - 1.

SCIAC Game of the Week (Sat. April 5-baseball) University of La Verne Leopards (13-12) vs. Whittier Poets (16-9). First place Poets will prevail, 8 – 5.

2014 Season to date (21-24), ouch!

MARKET WEEK - Wall Street is coming off a mixed week which saw the Nasdaq’s struggles in the spotlight. The Nasdaq Composite lost more than two percent for the second time in three weeks despite a mildly positive session Friday, and is now five percent below its 52-week high reached earlier this month. A busy week for economic numbers starts off on the light side, with only the March Chicago PMI on the schedule for Monday. Economists expect that number to come in at 58.8, down from 59.8 in February. Investors are no doubt looking ahead to Friday and the release of the March employment report.

DRIVING THE WEEK - Jobs report Friday expected to show a gain of 200K as some of the weather-related hit from earlier months is reversed. The jobless rate is expected to tick down to 6.6% from 6.7%. Hourly wages are expected to rise 0.2% ... ISM Manufacturing on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. expected to rise to 54.0 from 53.2 ... Construction spending at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday expected to rise 0.1% ... ADP employment report Wednesday at 8:15 a.m. expected to rise by 190K ... ISM non-manufacturing at 10:00 a.m. Thursday expected to rise to 53.5 from 51.6 ...

GM CEO Mary Barra faces a pair of hearings on the company's ignition switch recall problems, Tuesday before House Energy & Commerce at 2:00 p.m. and Wednesday before Senate Commerce at 10:00 a.m. ... House Financial Services holds a hearing Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. on allegations of discrimination at the CFPB ... Today is the ostensible deadline for enrollment in health plans under Obamacare but anyone who says they started the process before today (or has some other excuse) will still be able to sign up. So it's not really the deadline.

Next week: Our annual Tax blog, along with a tardy Words of the Month.

Until Next Monday, Adios.

Claremont, CA

March 31, 2014

#IV-50, 207