Archive for September, 2010

Your Lifestyle Choices Matter

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010 | Permalink

Researchers at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville have shown that your lifestyle choices definitely matter for your life expectancy.  They have linked longer life to a combination of five key healthy lifestyle factors.

Following the lifestyle choices of Chinese women, Dr. Wei Zheng and colleagues found five key components.  These include: normal weight, low belly fat, regular physical activity, limited secondhand cigarette exposure and a diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables.

In a statement, Dr. Zheng explained that,  “The results show that overall lifestyle modification, to include a combination of these health-related lifestyle factors, is important in disease prevention.”

Published in the journal PloS Medicine, the research tracked 71,243 non-smoking, non-drinking Chinese women aged 40-70 for nine years.

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Surprising Facts About Study Habits

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 | Permalink

Summer is over and it’s time for our children to get back to the job of learning. Wanting our children to succeed, parents take great pains to provide a quiet, consistent corner for their little scholar to absorb all that information thrown at them by the bookload. We help our children in whatever ways we can to succeed in school, but if parents don’t know what study habits and learning strategies work, how can they be expected to pass on useful information to their children?

For instance, the idea of having a single, isolated study location may be misguided. Studies have consistently shown that varying the location of studying actually improves retention of the information. It has been shown time and again that alternating study environments improves grades, and not the opposite.

Other surprising, or maybe not so surprising strategies students of all ages can use to improve learning, retention and grades are studying mixed content, spacing study sessions, and self-testing. Some excellent students have discovered some or all of these methods on their own to great success, while other, less successful students keep trying the same old methods that have been shown not to work; but with no idea what else to try, keep on studying with the old, failing ways.

Try some new strategies this coming school year, and see if you can get some better results.

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Mireille Nassif, Philippe Yared, Dr. Josyann Abisaab & Others Helping MySchoolPulse

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 | Permalink

Josyann Abisaab with Mireille Nassif and Philippe YaredIn recent news, 23 people participated on August 8th, 2010 in a 5k run/walk in The Hamptons organized by Dr. Josyann Abisaab. The run showed solidarity for a simultaneous event taking place in Lebanon that was attended by over 1100 people.

Both events were orchestrated to raise funds for the nonprofit organization, MySchoolPulse. Founded by Mireille Nassif and Philippe Yared, in memory of their 12 year old son, Paul, MySchoolPulse brings tutors and teachers to sick children so that they can maintain a level of normalcy in their lives while fighting grave illnesses.

The foundation started as a result of Mireille and Philippe’s experience with their son. While terminally sick with aggressive bone cancer, Paul nevertheless insisted on continuing his studies. His mother, Mireille, brought private teachers and tutors to the hospital for 8 months and he graduated with Honor two months before his death on August 7, 2009. In Paul’s memory, his parents started the MySchoolPulseFoundation to provide children in Lebanon, suffering from life-threatening illness, with the opportunity to continue their school studies and to enjoy extracurricular activities during their treatment.

Along with Mireille, President of MySchoolPulse, and Philippe, Secretary, the organization is also run by Paul’s cousin, Daniele Diab, who is Vice-President and Paul’s aunt and godmother, Corinne Nassif. In addition, they rely upon a network of teaching volunteers to work with children and field volunteers to help families manage their relationships with teachers.

Learn more about MySchoolPulse from this informative and touching video:

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Warning: Coaching May Be Dangerous to Your Health

Monday, September 20th, 2010 | Permalink

Many people don’t realize just how stressful being a sports coach truly is.  Michigan State Coach Mark Dantonio had a heart attack this week, following Saturday’s overtime victory against Notre Dame.  Winning can truly be hazardous to your health in the coaching field.

Certainly, heredity and physical health play roles in your heart’s health, but so do your lifestyle and pressures.  Football coaches earn their big bucks with incredibly long hours of coaching and worries about recruiting and future potentials for the team.

Certainly, other coaches should take heed of the lesson from Coach Mark Dantonio and focus as much on their health as they do on their game.

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Pacing Yourself

Sunday, September 19th, 2010 | Permalink

Students can get very overwhelmed at times. When they first go to college, they are all too often bombarded with tons of papers and reading lists.  Because they are new, they are desperate to keep up and fit in. But what so many of them fail to realize is that everyone is in the same boat and feeling the same way and that in reality, there is no reason to panic.  You’re just getting your reading list from a lot of different lecturers and tutors, all at the same time.  This doesn’t mean you have to go out, purchase the book, read it and make notes on it before the end of the week.  College is a time for all sorts of education, both in and out of the classroom.  And that is why it is essential to pace yourself. You would thus be well advised to pace yourself.  Yes, glance over the reading list and maybe try picking up one or two books that look interesting to you, but don’t go nuts.  Speak to other people on your course and get a sense of how much they are doing too.  Make sure you don’t miss out on all the other culturally fun things to do while on campus rather than sitting in each night with your nose in a book.

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Hidden Heroes: Harvey Finkelstein

Thursday, September 16th, 2010 | Permalink

Harvey FinkelsteinHarvey Finkelstein may not seem like an interesting person, yet there is more to this mild mannered CPA that has been practicing for over 30 year. Despite his increased work schedule after switching to Glass Jacobson since 2007, Harvey Finklestein has finds time to give back to his community of Owings Mills, Maryland

Harvey Finkelstein has shown exemplary ethics as the Principal in the tax department. Areas of expertise for Harvey Finkelstein include tax planning for individuals, small business, estates and trusts, and Federal and State tax issue resolution.

Beyond his tax experience, Harvey Finkelstein has had expert testimony experience, serving as an expert witness in cases related to business valuation issues and divorce/domestic cases.

Harvey Finkelstein presently acts as an advisor on the State Tax Committee, and was previously active on the Federal Tax Committee.  He is a member of the Maryland Association of CPAs, and earned his Master in Taxation from the University of Baltimore.

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