Associations Books

This book is an excellent reference manual. It can be used by engineers or water operators with complete and easily understandable concepts. We have been operating an ozone plant for water treatment for approximately 4 years now and use this book as a source for new concepts and references for our existing operational data.This book is an excellent resource for process design, operations, and system optimization.

This book is a valuable resource that I refer to daily in my work with ozone systems for drinking water treatment. It is written in manner that is easy to understand and it is packed with relevant, practical information about ozone system design, operation and optimization. This book is a "must read" for any engineer, operator or manager involved with or considering ozone as a water treatment process!

This book is the definitive resource for ozone in water treatment. It presents timely information in a clear and concise manner. Well worth the price.

This book is great "airplane" reading. Each chapter is self contained --- usually about 10 to 15 pages, and written by world renowned experts in their field. Partnering is the common theme, but the authors cover a lot of territory.

This book is timely and relevant to today's environmnet. I especially like the idea that all the authors (as if these people need the money) are donating the royalities from sales to the victims of September 11, 2001.

Great book! Partnering is the way to do business now and in the future. The book is a fine collection of tools and strategies in leadership and management. It's educational, inspiring and engaging at the same time. A must read for anybody who manages fast pace, competitive businesses

This is a book for people who are concerned for building a better future. As someone who has spent a great deal of time studying leadership, I find the focus on doing it better that is found in this book to be quite refreshing. Here we move beyond evolutionary changes to ideas that are quite revolutionary. This is not a book about maintaining the status quo power structures. This is a book about creating new leadership styles where partnership with knowledgeable workers will be needed to ensure organizational success.

The command and control style of leadership is coming to an end. For a leader to succeed in the future they will have to rely on their ability to pull together the talents of many individuals. This will be a leader who respects others, who helps coach and develop real talent, who shares success, and who continuously reinvents her/himself. The book gives us hope for a future where we can be productive without sacrificing our humanity.

The books 30 essays by 42 thought leaders are works derived from a passion for helping others. The inspiration for this book comes from an awareness for new leadership made more apparent by the events of 9/11. All of the royalties from this book will go to help the victims of that tragic day.

Dr. Kovach's book is an excellent introduction to the principles of people management for new managers and students. It will also help experienced managers seeking to improve the performance of their people.
The book is a concise guide to creating a positive organizational culture.

I expect readers will retain the book as a handy reference for reviewing the techniques that "get things done the right way- through people!"

Dr. Kovach's book is very concise on a subject matter that could easily take many books to describe. It is a very hands-on approach that managers or would-be managers can use immediately.

I found Dr. Kovach's book, People Power: Getting Things Done Through People Using Good Management Techniques, utilizes a very thoughtful, effective approach to teaching managers how respect for all employees creates positive results for the entire organization. It's a classic example of the old saying, "What goes around comes around." Dr. Kovach uses a humorous, allegorical approach to teaching a subject that can oftentimes be boring and overly technical.

It's a quick but very effective read. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Terry Sullivan
Director of Sales & Marketing
Creatorsoft Corporation

I recommend this book to anyone from physicians to workers' compensation adjusters. It is a great reference for anyone that deals with returning injured employees to work.

This book is better than "Occupational Medicine Practice Guidelines, Evaluation and Managemtn of Common Health Problems and Funcitonal Recovery of Workers" published by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. They cover simelar topics. The AMA book is shorter, more specific and has sharpter definitions. The ACOEM book frequently is more a commentary than a summary of the material they reviewed.

Here is a summary, from a mental health perspective.

Talmage, J.B. and Melhorn, J.M. (2005). A Physician's Guide to Return to Work. AMA Press.
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1. Why Staying at Work or Returning to Work Is in the Patient's Best Interest
This book focuses on the less obvious and less severe illness and injury situations in which many patient with similar problems work, and yet some patients consult with physicians, seeking disability certification.

Rest should have a black box warning. Warning: This drug is detrimental to your patient's mental, physical and social well-being! Therefore, you will harm the patient by giving them excess time off.

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2. How to Think About Work Ability and Work Restrictions: Risk, Capacity and Tolerance
Risk = Chance of harm to the patient or the general public. In response to risk are work restrictions. A work restriction stops a patient doing something even if they can do it and want to do it. There is little objective evidence for this stuff but there are consensus documents.

If there is not objective evidence of substantial risk or significant harm, the patient may choose whether or not to work despite symptoms. This means that, logically, it is still the patient's decision when they request disability certification.

Capacity = an individuals theoretical maximum ability. It includes things such as strength, flexibility and endurance. Current ability = an individual's current ability and is equal to or less than their capacity. Current ability and capacity can be higher, equal to or lower than the demands of a job. Work and other treatment improve current ability. Fitness can be measured in terms of metabolic equivalents. Functional capacity evaluation (FCE) does not measure capacity unless the person is already at maximum fitness. In the only published test of FCE for back pain, things were best when the results were ignored and the patient returned to work.

Tolerance = ability to tolerate sustained work or activity at a given level. It is a psychophysiological concept. It is dependent on rewards. It is not scientifically measurable. Tolerance will always be less than ability. When doctors hold differing opinions on this, they look stupid/dishonest and are trying to answer an unscientific question.

When objective pathology is dramatic, poor tolerance is more believable.

Where there is no objective pathology and symptoms are disproportional to pathology, most physicians agree working poses no major risk and can work if they wish. "... alleges intolerable pain when attempting to lift a postage stamp has an issue of tolerance rather than risk or ability."

Physicians can play secretary, try to assess tolerance, abstain and leave the decision to the patient. Should say "... there is no problem with risk or ability, just with pain. Only you can determine if working with the pain is worthwhile."

Evaluating Work Ability
1. Find about what the job requires.
2. Find out about the medical problem
a. Objective features
b. Subjective features
c. Relationship between objective and subjective features
d. Permanent/temporary
e. Helped with work/treatment/time or stable and stationary
3. Risk and restrictions
4. Current ability and limitations
5. Tolerance
6. Decision
a. If risk/restrictions acceptable and wants to return to work, they can
b. If risk ok, does not want to work and objective pathology is present: Specify that the patient is disabled but can work if they wish.
c. If risk ok, does not want to work and objective pathology is absent: medically unanswerable question.

Criticism of the chapter
1. The difference between a scientific question and a value judgment is not as clear as made out here. For example, acceptable risk is not a scientific question, just what the risk is.

2. The cascade they have is: risk, pathology, tolerance (where different decisions are made according to pathology). The cascade they should have is: risk, pathology, somatiform disorder, tolerance. In other words, the authors discount the existence of psychogenic pain treat the same pain differently depending on if it is due to a physical disorder or to hysteria. I suppose you could argue that tolerance, by their definition, depends on rewards, so it makes no difference if the decision is made consciously or unconsciously (!) but that is a bit of a stretch. It is not clear if the authors ignore hysteria for convenience, because they do not believe it exists as a disorder (beyond tolerance) (it is in DSM IV) or because they are following a societal convention in ignoring it.

In Australia, hysterical disorders are regarded as real. If a doctor has to make a value judgment about what it is reasonable to ask one to tolerate, giving more credence to someone with greater objective pathology has some intuitive appeal. On the other hand, this intuitive appeal might be because the presence of objective pathology is short hand for risk of exacerbation of the injury with work and it is intuitive forget that it is not ethical to worsen a patient's condition by allowing them to not return to work when they could (issues of autonomy aside).

3. With psychological injuries, insufficient tolerance is excessive risk, because distress is what is driving the condition. In other words, in psychological injury, capacity and tolerance blur into one another. Notwithstanding the central role of exposure to all psychological treatments.

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3. How to Negotiate Return to Work
Fundamentals: risk, capacity, tolerance. Focus on retained capacity rather than deficits. Accommodate while you remediate. Some bosses do not want the worker back until the worker is "100%," and some workers do not want to go back until they are "100%." First element of motivational interviewing is education. Negotiation and agreement.

Occupational injuries/occupational illnesses. Probability has a legal, rather than medical, definition. Impairment = loss of use or derangement of any body part, system or function. Disability = loss of capacity to meet personal, social or occupational demands (or statutory stuff). (Alternative: disability function and handicap role.) Might need to do an impairment rating.

Return to work can be delayed by communication, litigation, disputes, administration, lack of desire. Most common reason by Drs: not want to force back, employer has a policy against light duty work, caught between versions of events, conflict between two physicians, emotionally uncomfortable, differing opinions between stake-holders.

ENGAGE THE WORK PLACE CASE MANAGER. Modified work is the cornerstone or rehabilitation.

Job satisfaction, demands/autonomy, single supportive telephone call, happy to be rid of them, demarcation dispute. Look for the 5Ds: dramatisation, dysfunction, dependency, disability and drugs. Most people do not need any time off work at all.

Essential functions are those bits of jobs that can not be easily modified.

Motivational interviewing: in order to get the patient back at work fast, you must 1) educate them that you are on their side and 2) educate them that rapid return to work is in their best interest. Be firm on the science and soft on the patient.

Note: nociception, suffering, pain behaviour, and disability.

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4. Return to Work: Forms, Records and Disclaimers
Work guides allow a doctor to make recommendations that are not initially specified as limitations, restrictions or reasonable tolerance. Contents of files will end up with lawyers.

Initial report: in addition to usual stuff: onset of symptoms, relationship to the workplace, causation/aggravation/exacerbation, job in detail, current ability, accommodations, prognosis.

Interval reports: response to treatment, admin and relationship stuff that is impacting, treatment options, work guides.

Final report: if stable and stationary, if need vocational rehabilitation, work guides, determination of permanent impairment.

In records:
1. Return to work
i. Is the injury going to make it hard to go back
ii. Is the boss/workers going to make it hard
iii. Figured out a way to return despite the injury
2. The grocery store
3. The molehill sign
4. The obstacle

Terminology
* limited 0 to 12% of the day
* occasional 0 to 33% of the day
* frequent 34 to 66% of day
* constant 67% to 100% of the day

Each physician should develop their own standard return-to-work form.

Disclaimer. The above statements have been made within a reasonable degree of medical probability. The opinions rendered in this case are mine alone. Recommendations regarding treatment, work and impairment ratings are given totally independently from the requesting agents. These opinions do not constitute per se a recommendation for specific claims or administrative functions to be made or enforced.

This evaluation is based upon the history given by the patient, the objective medical findings noted during the examination and information obtained from the review of the prior medical records available to me, with the assumption that this material is true and correct. If additional information is provided to me in the future, a reconsideration and an additional report may be requested. Such information may or may not change the opinions in this report.

Medicine is both an art and a science, and although the patient may appear to be fit to work with the abilities and restrictions described above, there is no guarantee that they will not be injured or sustain a new injury if they chose to return to work.

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5. Evidence-based Medicine

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6. Causation Analysis
By Genovese, E.

Hill Criteria of Causation Analysis
* Temporality
* Biological plausibility
* Predictive performance
* Gradient
* Reversibility
* Strength of association (not frequency)
* Consistency of association (coherence)
* Experimental evidence / Analogy (from animal studies)
* Specificity

Presumption = disease process is legislatively determined to result from an exposure or in association with a particular occupation.

Precipitation = injury or exposure causes a "latent" or potential disease process to become manifest. For example, having a MI at work that would have occurred anyway.

Aggravation = a particular event or exposure permanently worsens a condition.

Exacerbation = an exposure or event temporarily worsens a condition.

Recurrence = signs or symptoms attributable to a prior illness or injury occur in the absence of a new provocative agent. For example a return of radicular symptoms in a situation that would not be expected to cause such symptoms.

Probable = 51% chance or greater.

Possible = Between 0 and 50% chance.

Causality determination
* What happened
* What happened since
* Other workers?
* Happened before?
* Medical problems?
* Hobbies and stuff?
* Like job, supervisor, coworkers?
* Doing now?
* Past problems with depression or drug use?

And
* Get collateral records
* Get history from employer
* Hill criteria consider and/or research

Later
* Progressing as expected?
* If Sx resolved, will they return if they return to work?
* If Sx not resolved, is there a physiological explanation?
* If there is a physiological explanation for symptoms, will return to work exacerbate them? If not, are there objective reasons why the patient is not back at work?
* If there are no physiological explanation for symptoms, is there a medical reason the person is not back at work?

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7. The Functional Capacity Evaluation: Is it Helpful?

20 separate functions can be measured, including walking, sitting, lifting, seeing, hearing, tasting and fingering. FCEs test tolerance, occasionally capacity and not risk. FCE can help measure progress, set goals and measure disability. FCE can measure current ability and match them to a job.

If someone reports pain during the test, vital signs at the time should be recorded to see if there is physiologic correspondence to pain levels. Vitals should confirm the stated ability to, for example, lift. Should have data, conclusions and reccomendations that are related to each other.

Validity = measures what it is supposed to measure. Reliability = reproducibility of test. Most FCE systems do not have these. Not good at detecting submaximal effort. On was sensitivity of 67% and specificity of 84%.

Avoid confrontation by always having the patient do useful stuff from the start, and have RTW on the agenda right from the start. This will mean that work-centered stuff will be on the agenda from the start. Better outcome if ignore the FCE of back pain and go back to work anyway.

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8. The Medical and Legal Aspects of Return-to-Work Decision Making
Waldner, P.F et al.

It is rumored that a lawyer might tell a patient not to go back to work. Can end up as a scam.

Questions
* Agree best to return to old function
* Agree job more important than claim
* Do you want me to be truthful

Find out the physical requirements of the job from the patient and the employer. If want to know when they can return to work, ask the insurer or employer.

In the USA, the doctor does not have a duty to third parties; if the worker's knee collapses and they drop a girder on someone's head, no problem. Form a friendly relationship with a trial lawyer.

The patient's confidentiality always belongs to the patient. On the other hand, if the court insists on records, make sure they are subpoenaed.

The disclaimer if you see the file and not the patient is: The opinions in this case are the opinions of the reviewer. The review has been conducted without a medical examination of the individual reviewed. The review is based on documents provided with the assumption that the material is true and correct. If more information becomes available at a later date, an additional service/report/consideration may be requested. Such information may or may not change the opinions rendered i this report. This report is a clinical assessment of documentation and the opinions are based on the information available. This opinion does not constitute per se a recommendation for specific claims for administrative functions to be made or enforced.

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9. Can This Patient Work? A Disability Perspective
LoCascio, J.

WHO disability definition: "... any restriction or lack... of ability to perform an activity in the manner within the range considered normal for a human being."

The patient is disabled if their current ability does not meet the needs of the job. Not the doctor's job to determine if stuff can be "reasonably accommodated." The physician does not determine if a patient is disabled, just what they can do.

Diagnosis does not equal disability. Diagnoses with pathology or less capacity for hysteria are better but not needed.

Impairment does not equal disability. By the above definition of impairment, an elite athlete who gets asthma and can only run an eight minute mile has impairment. They are not disabled, but, yet.

Functional capacity = current ability. Patient must be capable of something before they can be restricted. Symptoms in excess of findings are the hallmark of subjective R/Ls. Doctors usually assume that the patient is telling the truth and consciously and unconsciously wants to get better.

The test of symptoms in excess of findings in consistency. Dimensions to be consistent in include: time, observers, known syndromes, situations.

Psychiatric diagnoses are syndromic in character. On the other hand, can have neuropsychiatric tests and tests with faking scales built in done. Axis V becomes important (!)

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10. Medications, Driving and Work
Aronoff, G. M. et al.

Consider: medication, condition the medication is for, synergistic effects of medication, if ability is already reduced. Not able to drive does not mean not able to work unless driving is an essential part of the job. Benzos can increase risk by 50% and TCAs by 100%. Impairment in ability can also impair ability to judge ability. OTCs cam also be a big problem. You must warn the patient about the risk of driving, or you are liable.

Effected by
* Insight, judgment and poor insight into these
* Alertness, reaction time
* Vision, dizziness
* BP, EPSE

Synergy with shift work and drowsiness.

Ax: Sight, vision (acuity and fields), cognitive and motor. MMSE, using a calculator, trail making B, clock drawing. timed walking 10 feet and turning around, manual test of range of motion, motor strength. Guides are in HCP's Guide to Assessing and Counseling Older Drivers. Others: Aronoff test of reaction time, attn concentration, attention span, concentration, mood/affect.

Same rules apply to other stuff where you need to be alert, too.

Benzos: impair. Muscle relaxants such as cyclobenzaprine or carisoprodol impair. Opioids probably don't with long-term use.

CNS stimulants: should not drive commercially if need these for adult ADHD. The decreased alertness that frequently occurs with dropping blood levels can lead to mistakes.

Can enter in the chart "Based on today's evaluation, I find no basis to restrict this patient from driving or working, if he/she so chooses. They know that if at any time, they are not fully alert or if they experience any decrease in mental acuity, they are not to drive or engage in potentially hazardous activities."

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11. How the Primary Care Physician Can Help Patients Negotiate the Return-to-Work/Disability Dilemma.
Know the secondary gain and the expectations of the extended family. Communicate expectation of recovery. "Early activation" helps. Health and wellbeing of entire family at stake.

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16. Working with Common Neurologic Problems
Klimek, E.H.

Need an enabling philosophy. All return to work will involve some risk. Gainful employment (here) means competitive employment with reasonable accommodations.

Work autonomy means the ability of a worker to pace the work to suite the limitations and is related to the idea of workplace modifications. Without undue hardship to the employer.

Can be static or slowly deteriorating. Determination, motivation and effort can overcome established neurological handicaps. Shift work will make worse. Fear avoidance accounts for 70% of back-pain non returns to work.

Headache
Migraine: headache, autonomic, stereotypic, +/- aura. Will be persistent and debilitating rare without: infection, increased ICP, temporal arteritis and head trauma.

Acute PTH, up to 8 weeks, otherwise, chronic PTH.

In primary headache, risk is not an issue. Capacity is not effected by pain, nausea, fatigue(!) Tolerance is the issue.

With return to work, have a challenge of graded activity and exercise with a headache diary and headache scale. The failure to adhere to the graded increase allows social and personal barriers to emerge and be addressed without being complicated by workplace stressors. So start exposure with work-like activities. Identify that work helps headaches.

Debilitating chronic headache rarely occurs without amplification of other, normal body sensations. Patient who experience chronic headache also seem to confuse responsible therapeutic drug use with drug misuse for symptoms common to everyday life, which they understand as warning signs of serious disease. Some thereby express emotional distress constrained only by cultural and familial rules.

Epilepsy
In the UK, 53% of employed people with epilepsy chose to conceal their illness. The reasonableness of accommodation is not a medical issue. Crux is prognostication for recurrence for work tasks to be addressed. Patients with first seizures are not a homogenous group. Recurrence within 2 years of first tonic/clonic seizure is as high as 40%.

Ask about previous epilepsy-like Sx, EEG within 24hrs of seizure, sleep deprived EEG, MR. Most people have a standard letter about driving and other risks.

Consider predictability and aura when considering return to work. The major risk factor might be poor attendance and productivity. Drug side effects can decrease productivity.

Risks: driving, heights, machinery. Capacity is usually ISQ. Tolerance is an issue of patient choice.
Brain Injury
Mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI): headache, dizziness, lethargy, memory loss, irritability, personality changes, cognitive deficits, perceptual changes. If able to follow commands less than one hour after the injury, some studies say no long term problems, other says only 49% chance of "good recovery." MBTI paradox is that can have # and contusions and get back to work, or nothing much and not get back to work.
MS
Kurtzke Extended Disability Status Scale. No risk to self. Tolerance: no mental fatigue in early stages. Fatigue/weakness that can not be objectively defined is a matter of tolerance. Personality changes can be a problem through motivation and effort. Without a limitation of walking (EDSS 4.0 or greater), this is rarely an obstacle to function.
Polyneuropathy
Driving skills will rarely be effected, but hypoglycaemia and retinal disease can be issues. Risk of falls and hazardous equipment and skin ulceration are risks that might need work restrictions. Capacity and work limitations. Usually no issues of tolerance.

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18. Working with Common Psychiatric Problems
Pro, J.D.

See AMA guidelines for evaluation of permanent impairment.

Presenteeism is a common problem. More than 80% of lost production occurs with patients who are at work. Understand how symptoms interfere with functioning.

Find out about: ADLS, social fn, concentration, ability to tolerate stress, and if

Find out
* ADLs +/- instrumental
o Self Care
o Communication
o Physical activity
o Sensory function
o Nonspecialised hand functions
o Sexual function
o Sleep
o Travel
o Shopping, banking, cleaning
* Role function
o Work
o Social
o Family
o Spiritual
* Ability to tolerate stress
* Ability to tolerate work-like events (some instrumental ADLs)
o Personal affairs
o Meetings
* MSE
o General MSE, cognitive testing and psychiatric neurological examination and...
o Concentration
Attention
Memory
o Persistence
o Pace
o Pain behaviours
o Beliefs about injuries and other's responsibility

Risk: Occurs in safety-sensitive jobs. Note homicidal ideation to coworkers - not to return home. Paedophilia...

Capacity assessment: decreased with psychotic disorders.

Tolerance assessment: as discussed.

Major Depression
Capacity: cognition, judgment, motor retardation, sleep deprivation. Those with mild depression can work - issue is tolerance.
Pain Disorder
Distorted beliefs about pain common. Can become suicidal with work. Capacity is not usually decreased but can become reconditioned. Tolerance: involve with setting goals.
PTSD
Half resolves in three months. 80% comorbid with other mental disorders such as panic, agoraphobia, MDD and substance abuse. Capacity... modifications and accommodations. Tolerance: desensitization.
Adjustment Disorder
Risk: if the stressor is conflict with a person at work or a situation at work, the physician may be justified is restricting work. Analogy: occupational asthma. May chose to change employers or careers.
Treatment Planning
Moderate or marked impairment in work ability without concomitant at least moderate impairment in other areas of mental function does not occur. A few people, because of their job description, might need to be taken off work.
Return to Work
Do this when most ADLs are ok and has adequate social stuff, concentration, persistence and pace. Demonstrate tolerance in a work-like setting. Be in control of anger. Side effects of medication should be ok. Stuff organised with the case manager and supervisor. Arrange discussions between the patient and his supervisor as this can dramatically improve work stress tolerance. Patients should agree that they are ready to return to work.

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19. Working with Common Functional Syndromes: Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Talmage, J.B.
Risk is not an issue. Capacity is generally not an issue in fibromyalgia. F and CF can have a decreased exercise capacity documented on treadmill testing. See if the test is stopped by fatigue/tolerance long before the predicted maximal heart rate is reached (exercise testing) or anaerobic threshold is crossed (cardiopulmonary exercise testing). If cognitive complaints effect the job, get formal neuropsychological testing. There is no logical reason for temporary work modification because the conditions are long-term.

The patient's plight is similar to that of patients with nonspecific regional arm pain or mechanical lower back pain. Tolerance is not an area of medical science, so reasonable doctors will disagree.

This book is written by physicians for physicians to give some guidance about work restrictions/limitations and uses common sense, art as well as the science in work-related injuires and illnesses. At the same the authors helps to translate and make sense our of the legal definitions of the work comp world of lawyers, case managers, and employers. I wish I had read a book like this in medical school or residency. Easy to read and understand.

I missed Ty Cashion's book "Pigskin Pulpit" when it was first released a few years ago but with the re-release in paper back this year (2006) I had the opportunity to read it. I think the reason I didn't read it the first time was the title. I thought it was another "Glory" of High School Football book. Had I just paid attention to the subtitle "A Social History of Texas High School Football Coaches" my history buff inclination would have made reading this book a no brainer.

Ty Cashion was ordained to write this book. A professor of history at Sam Houston State University and more importantly the son of a Texas High School football coach, Ty had the knowledge to tell the story and the access to interview, by my count, at least 82 different Texas High School football coaches, many of which are no longer with us.

Some 40+ years ago, when I was a kid, I would listen to Texas High School football play off games on the radio. The radio announcer start by saying something like this: "Broadcasting from P.E. Shotwell stadium in Abilene, Texas ...".

P. E. Shotwell, Darrell Tully, and Gordon Wood may just be the name of Texas High School football stadiums for football fans of the current generation but they are just three of the many coaches that made Texas High School football what it is today. Many young athletes dream of "going pro" and signing multimillion dollar contracts. School boy football players born into the depression era of the early twentieth century just dreamed of the chance to play college football, get an education and coach football. It was their ticket off the farm and a way to a better life.

Ty Cashion chronicles the path to their goal and how the experiences that they had impacted several generations of young men in Texas.

If you ever knew a coach, if you ever played for a coach, if you ever learned from a coach, if you ever cussed a coached, if you ever idolized a coach ..., you need to read this book.

This is a great book. It tells the story of how High School Football has become the number one event in Texas. I am glad someone put these stories into print because sadly many of these great men are leaving us but their stories and the impact they have had, and continue to have, will be passed on. This is a must read for any football fan.

Aren't history books supposed to be dull as dishwater? I gave this book to my 80+ year-old Father for Christmas. He really enjoyed it! So did I, for that matter. Dr. Cashion must have spend untold hours interviewing old-time Texas High School football coaches and those who played under them. This book is as close to listening to those old timers as the written word can be. Growing up in football crazy Garland, Texas (back-to-back state championships in the 1960's under Chuck Curtis), I remember as a child "high school football fever." This hits the mark, or should I say is a "two point conversion."

This is a must read for anyone who is a member of a homeowner association. Linford's explanations of how to successfully live within homowners associations are detailed yet simple enough for the layman. This is a great book to have on your bookshelf as a reference.

I think I have found the best kept secret in this growing circle of CA homeowner's associations - John Linford's "Planned Community Living." Whether it is deciphering foreign acronyms and terms (i.e. CID, CCR, appurtenant interests, indemnification), dealing with power-hungry board members, or trying to settle a seemingly simple dispute over the height of a fence - this book finally helped me understand the foundational issues surrounding the places where many of us live. Buying and settling into a home is agonizing enough. Dealing with escrow, title, loan managers and realtors will test our patience. Add on top of this the "association" with their dues, covenants, conditions and restrictions, and I soon wondered where my freedom went of owning my own home. There are many benefits, like privacy, golf courses and swimming pools, but this was like walking into a foreign country without my Berlitz. The best time to read this book is before you commit yourself to living in a planned community. But, buy it anyway, even if you have already started paying your dues. It will help you navigate the legal side so that you can understand the issues and stand on solid ground when presenting your concerns. I recommended this book to one friend who was thinking about becoming a member of a homeowner's association and another who was already a board member. Both thanked me! Another plus, is that the publisher provides an annual update, discussing all the new laws each year that affect property owners and homeowners association. This is a real estate textbook worth 5x the asking price. It should be included in the package for every new homeowner, board member or property manager. There is a downside to the author if this were to happen......the annual association's legal fees would probably decrease substantially! What can I say - buy it!

I recently purchased this book about the rights of homeowner association members. this is the greatest laymens book. All documented by case law so you know your rights and what to do about them.

This book is very informative and a pleasure to read. The author is both knowledgable and opinionated and even if one doesn't always agree with her, her humor is very funny; dry, understated, and British. Most of the plants she mentions are pictured somewhere in the book, and where the picture isn't on the same page as the description, the page number to locate the picture is in the margin right next to the written description. A great job and an excellent book!

`plant partners' by leading horticultural journalist, Anna Pavord, loudly proclaimed on the cover as the author of the best-selling `The Tulip' is comparable to culinary journalist Michael Ruhlman's writing a mass market paperback (probably from Workman or Chronicle Books) on foods which go together. In both cases, the authors' success with `high journalism' is no guarantee that their more pedestrian books will be worthy. Fortunately, like Ruhlman's `Charcuterie', Anna Pavord's more popular efforts like this volume are a cut above the average oversized book crafted to do well on the bargain table.

In fact, Ms. Pavord's book is so well accomplished, the average gardener may actually find it a bit dense. The first thing that stands out is the fact that not only does our scholarly Ms. Pavord use the formal Latin scientific names for all flowers (which I heartily endorse), she also uses these scientific names as the section headings. One has to go to the individual sections and look at the pictures of the flowers to be sure you know of what species she is talking.

Now many Latin names have become familiar enough to a dedicated gardener that this may not be a big thing to a true amateur gardener. Even I recognize with no prompting the fact that `Allium' is the name of the lilly genus and that `Hemerocallus' is the genus name for daylillies. Even easier are the genus names `Hosta', `Iris', and `Phlox'. This still leaves a fairly large number of pretty arcane names for the average occasional gardener.

My other major complaint about this book is that while the primary subject is the matter of pairing plants which go together well, there are very few pictures of the highlighted pairs, as they actually appear in the garden. There are wonderful pictures of many plants, but mostly they are `head shots' which are about as artificial as a photographic portrait taken in a studio.

Even with these two hurdles, this is a really worthy book, worth the effort needed to work with these stylistic choices. The very best aspect of the book is that the pairings are organized by season, and within season, offering pairs of plants that come together into their best presentation garb, whether that be flowers or foliage.

My second favorite thing about the book is that it does not limit itself to either annuals or perennials. It does not even limit itself to our most familiar plant phyla, as it includes several ferns, which are probably ignored by the average gardener.

My third favorite aspect of the book is that in spite of the far ranging variety of plants, it still manages to hit upon a few of my favorites, some of which are actually in my garden at this very moment. It is no surprise that my favorite here is the Tulip cultivar, `Princess Irene', of which I have planted hundreds.

Unlike cooking, which one can (and must) do throughout the year, gardening has those lovely / dreadful lulls in the winter (especially in my Zone 5 and in the author's England), where all one has to fuel the gardening gene is the seed catalogues and books such as the one we have here.

This is the kind of book you want to read through from cover to cover over the Christmas holidays with a notepad and pencil (or laptop) in hand, to record ideas for the coming spring. It will not yield much for the quick lookup. You will need to ponder this material and use it to fuel your imagination and keep that green thumb fertilized during the cold months. The book's value for this use is multiplied thrice over by the fact that Ms. Pavord knows how to write! She keeps you engaged while giving you a tour of facinating possibilities for the coming growing season.

I can't believe no one has yet to review this book. I find myself going through the book to look up a particular plant combination and then spending at least an hour paging through the book all over again. Anna Pavord's humo(u)rful writing makes for an easy read.

This book is a definite MUST HAVE for anyone, beginner, amateur or professional (even if they wouldn't admit to having it on their shelf) who is interested in combining plants. I started using it about a year ago, and the results are fantastic - these combinations work. I especially like the attention to normally overlooked plants such as euphorbias,violets, and columbines and I am dying to try some of the more exotic combinations.

The featured plant trios each contain a "star" plant and two companions. Each of the stars are also listed in the back with alternative partners. The book is organized with gradations from spring-summer-fall and includes bulbs as well as perennials and a few annuals. Missing are shrubs, roses, and climbers, but we can't have everything in one book, can we?

The main critique I have (if possible I would have deducted 1/2 a star) is that the cultural information is decidedly limited - beginners will need to supplement this book with a good all-around perennial book. The pictures are drop-dead gorgeous and alternative colors and specific named varieties are also given.

My advice - buy this book now and you can still get these plants in before spring really gets rolling.

Sylvia M. Vardell has created a poetry guide for sharing poetry with children ages 5-12. This reference is geared to aide librarians and teachers, but is so user friendly that others will benefit as well. The overall theme of the book is promoting the "oral dimensions of poetry" (14) with children, but emphasizes that one must "know" poetry, the poets, and the benefits before they are able to market it to their students.

The six chapters are logically ordered to fully prepare the reader for the poetry experience, from start to finish, and beyond. The first chapter, "Why Make Poetry a Priority?" emphasizes that poetry is everywhere, from TV jingles to proverbs and holds great value to children. Vardell is very adamant that we must not force children to over analyze or butcher poetry, but simply enjoy it for the joy in reading, listening, and performing poetry. The next two chapters define the popular poets and the types of poetry children enjoy. Vardell suggests that poetry awards are good places to begin finding popular poets, but they key is "providing open access to poetry" (16). She defines the major poetry awards, their criteria and recipients, lists not to be missed classic poems, suggests poets from many cultures, and offers fifty names to know in poetry. Our lesson in poetry also includes the different kinds of poetry books, poem selection tools, finding poetry on the web, and criteria for evaluating poetry. These chapters give us a crash course in poetry, leaving us feeling like poetry experts. We now feel ready to get out there and present poetry to our children, leading us to the next two chapters: "How do you Promote Poetry?" (80) and "How do you Present Poetry to Children?" (113). The promoting poetry chapter is chalk-full of ideas of getting our kids excited about poetry. This chapter can actually act as a stand-alone for one who needs quick ideas on how to get poetry out there. Vardell's ideas span from highlighting National Poetry Month, to featuring poets, to pairing poetry with curriculum. Now to the nitty gritty, the actual sharing of poetry with children. Vardell's main focus is oral share of poetry, suggesting how to read poetry with breaks and using body language. She then moves on to ten strategies for sharing poetry out loud. The strategies are thoroughly explained and accompanied by actual title suggestions. Where other instructional guides will typically stop here, Vardell generously adds one last chapter, "What Happens After You Share Poetry?" Here, she offers ways to extend poetry beyond the oral share. Here is where we can delve deeper into the poem without feeling pressure to over analyze. Extensions and insight include: discussion questions, how to lead a discussion, dramatizing poetry, using music and art, writing poetry, learning the poetic forms, and publishing poetry.

Vardell uses a consistent format throughout the book that makes it easy to read straight through or use as a quick reference. Each chapter begins and ends with a relevant quote by a poet. The section headings and bullets break up the chapters into easily read sections and make lists a quick reference. Each chapter offers multiple, boxed "Practitioner Perspectives" giving us insight into actual educator experiences with poetry. These perspectives relate to the topic at hand and offer guidance and inspiration, knowing that this can work and we're not alone. At least one "Poet Profile" is featured in every chapter. These profiles are easy to spot, due to their grey background, setting them apart from the rest of the chapter. The Poet Profiles offer narrative about poetry by the author and an original poem. The appendices offer quick reference information: Noteworthy poets writing for young people and their web sites and a bibliography of children's poetry books and the index offers a quick guide to topics, poets, and titles.

Whether you are someone new to poetry or one of poetry's oldest friends, Vardell's guide to sharing poetry with children will offer itself as a valuable resource.

What a wonderful resource for any teacher or librarian. I got the book to use for library school, but it has already helped me out so much in my classroom.

Poetry Aloud Here: Sharing Poetry With Children In The Library by Sylvia M. Vardell (Professor at the Texas Woman's School in the School of Library and Information Studies) is an expert and instructive study on how to progressively and positively promote poetry in the lives of children, ages five to twelve. Deftly guiding readers through presentation tactics and valuable understandings of the world of poetry among youth, Poetry Aloud Here introduces a wealth of informative and practical ideas for leading young children to appreciate poetry in a meaningful, participatory, and fun manner. Poetry Aloud Here is very highly recommended reading for teachers, librarians, and parents searching for a "user-friendly" reference for creating a creative and effective introduction to poetry for children.

"In reviewing this new colorful pictorial biography of Pope John Paul II, I felt immensely inadequate to express myself, something which comes strangely to someone who has been in the publishing business for over 40 years. Jo Garcia-Cobb has entwined dates and facts of Pope John Paul II with sensitivity and an insight one rarely sees in recent publications. To say that this new coffee table pictorial is outstanding would be selling it short indeed. As owner of a bookstore, I can tell you that the copies have literally flown off the shelves."

My good friend and I are happy to be a part of a very special
display on Pope John Paul II. The exhibit features 25 six foot tables with over 500 pictures and over 50 books. This book just added to our collection is oustanding. A great and easy read with wonderful pictures. I have been a radio announcer for over 20 years and we always had a top 10...this book would be in our top 5. Congratulations Jo Garcia Cobb...John [ Jack ] Allaire
Holy Name Parish....my mailing address:
24 Duncan Ave. Kirkland Lake, Ont. Canada
Phone & fax..1-705-567-1100

This is probably the best of the Pope picture/biography books. I've never seen Pope John Paul II pictures as good as this. This is a must buy for all you fans of the the Holy Father. I strongly recommend it.

The problems in the PPST I test were easier than the problems in the book. I also purchased ETS The Praxis Series Official Guide - a must have for the PPST Writing: the Essay. The Essay Topics section was right on the money. The topic I was given was the same as one of the topics in the book. I wish I would have studied this section more.

I passed two of the three tests - Reading: 175; Math: 185, and I am still waiting for the results from the writing test.

If you are preparing for the PRAXIS I test, I strongly suggest that you get both books.

I was familiar with everything covered on the Praxis and needed refreshing. This book covered everything in detail, then I had 4 practice exams to be sure before the real thing. Excellent...

I recieved this order in a couple of days it was in great condition just as was claimed. It is a very helpful book when studying for the Praxis.