Optical News from OpticalCEUs: Colonial Life and Superior Vision Team Up to OFfer Vision Plan
Colonial Life and Superior Vision Team Up to OFfer Vision Plan
Workers nationwide now have more convenient access to affordable vision insurance, thanks to a new partnership between Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company and Superior Vision. The partnership enables Colonial Life to offer a vision insurance plan, which includes comprehensive eye exams, eyeglass frame and lenses, contact lenses, a contact lens fitting exam and discounts on additional glasses and contacts, says a Colonial spokesperson. Employer groups may choose a full benefits package or a plan that includes glasses and contacts without the exam. Superior Vision has an industry-leading provider network of more than 48,000 ophthalmologists, optometrists, opticians, and regional and national retail chain locations, including LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Wal-Mart Vision Centers, Target Optical, Sam?s Club, America?s Best and Visionworks. Employees can sign up for the vision plan as part of their regular workplace benefits enrollment and can pay premiums through convenient payroll deduction. Read more.
After a meeting with leadership of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Friday, the White House announced in a statement that President Barack Obama will travel to Las Vegas, Nev., on Tuesday to speak about immigration reform.
White House press secretary Jay Carney confirmed the trip at his Friday press briefing. "This blueprint that the president's had in place ... is reflected now in some of the generalized proposals that have been discussed by Republicans in Congress, and that is a welcome development," he said. "We think that it at least suggests a possibility here that an issue that was once embraced by leading Republicans like John McCain and President George W. Bush will again be taken up and embraced by Republicans, which would then afford an opportunity for a bipartisan consensus to move forward on this important issue."
In the statement, the press secretary's office noted that the president aims "to redouble the administration's efforts to work with Congress to fix the broken immigration system this year."
"The president was pleased to hear from CHC members and noted that they share the same vision," the statement continued, "including that any legislation must include a path to earned citizenship. The president further noted that there is no excuse for stalling or delay."
Carney would not reveal further details about who will accompany the president or his agenda. He referred reporters to the immigration agenda listed at whitehouse.gov for more insight into the president's focus.
The president is scheduled to return from Nevada on Tuesday evening.
As an HR professional in a small business, do you sometimes feel like the proverbial kid staring enviously through the window of the candy store? If you are still struggling to free your HR function from the quagmire that is not-so-affectionately known as ?spreadsheet hell,? you may find yourself peering enviously into your computer at ads for automated HR systems. And wondering how you can get your boss to okay even a modest spend to implement HR technology.
When you have your nose to the spreadsheet grindstone day after day, despairing of ever having all of your company?s workforce data in one convenient place, technology can seem an especially appealing proposition ? the latest bright, shiny toy for your workplace. But making an investment in HR technology simply for the sake of owning the latest ?new? thing practically ensures poor outcomes.
There are several relevant issues to think about and work through before you will be ready to take your purchase request to the boss. In Part 1 of our special two-part blog, we?ll walk through the major pre-considerations involved in your HR technology purchase. Part 2 will help you demonstrate how you?ll use HR technology to provide value to the business, so that when the time comes to make the buying decision, you?ll be confident in your ability to present a strong case to the leader in charge of the checkbook.
4 Key Considerations that Drive HR Technology Decisions
1. Know your goal. The single most important point to examine is this ? why do you want to make an HR technology purchase? What problem (or problems) do you want to solve? What process(es) do you need to do differently and why? How will implementing HR technology help you do those things?
Take time to think thoroughly about the goals you have in mind for your HR technology solution. Maybe you?re looking to speed work processes. Or you need to be able to generate specialized reports about your workforce. Examine how you do the work in question so you know every step involved. You?ll need to discuss this with any potential HR system provider ? especially if your methods fall outside typical operating parameters. You?ll want the assurance that you?re considering a system like BambooHR that allows for flexibility and customization.
2.?HR will always have HR work to do. Transactional processes will continue to remain a foundational element of HR. Applying the appropriate technology can help speed those processes for HR professionals. In addition, technologies have the power to remove some transactional operations from HR practitioners? plates by enabling employee or manager self-service capabilities. Think about the options you?ll want to make available to your managers and workers. Beyond simply listing these capabilities, dig deeper to understand how much time your HR professionals will be able to save so they can devote efforts to other projects. You?ll want to quantify that time so that you?ll be able to translate it into potential savings for the company.
3. GIGO is still true. Remember garbage in, garbage out from your first computer course? If you?re like most every other HR pro working in businesses across our nation, you probably have some data issues that haunt you regularly. Worries about inaccurate information, inability to access the data that?s needed, and problems with data spread across organizational departments plague HR practitioners.
When you implement an automated HR system, you?ll need to populate it with data about your employees. Your challenge will be determining how to collect and clean up all that initial data so you can rest assured that your new system is loaded with the highest quality information you can provide. You?ll want to ask any vendor you?re considering what?s involved in initial set-up of your HR system. At BambooHR, we?ll be right there with you every step of the way.
4. Designate a point person. If you?re heading the HR function in a small or mid-sized business, chances are that you?ll be the one overseeing the set-up and implementation of your new HR system. But in case you aren?t, don?t overlook the need to appoint someone on your team to be responsible for coordinating the effort. Your vendor needs a consistent voice from your organization, and one go-to person for data and decisions. Planning for a single point of contact helps ensure that your implementation goes smoothly.
Check out Part 2 of our blog to learn how to present your boss with a business case for HR technology.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? North Korea swiftly lashed out against the U.N. Security Council's condemnation of its December launch of a long-range rocket, saying Wednesday that it will strengthen its military defenses ? including its nuclear weaponry ? in response.
The defiant statement from North Korea's Foreign Ministry was issued hours after the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution condemning Pyongyang's Dec. 12 rocket launch as a violation of a ban against nuclear and missile activity. The resolution, which won approval from Pyongyang's ally and protector China after drawn-out discussions, also expanded sanctions against the North.
In Pyongyang, the Foreign Ministry maintained that the launch was a peaceful bid to send a satellite into space, not a test of long-range missile technology. But now, North Korea will "counter the U.S. hostile policy with strength, not with words," the ministry said, ominously warning that North Korea will "bolster the military capabilities for self-defense including the nuclear deterrence."
The wording "considerably and strongly hints at the possibility of a nuclear test," analyst Hong Hyun-ik at the private Sejong Institute think tank near Seoul said Wednesday.
A nuclear test would fit into a familiar pattern of defiance in Pyongyang. In 2006 and 2009, North Korea followed up rocket launches just weeks later by testing atomic devices, which experts say is necessary for development of nuclear warheads.
However, North Korea has a new leader, Kim Jong Un, who took over in December 2011 following the death of father Kim Jong Il. How he will handle the standoff with the international community remains unclear.
There was no indication Wednesday of an imminent nuclear test. However, satellite photos taken last month at North Korea's underground nuclear test site in Punggye-ri in the far northeast showed continued activity that suggested a state of readiness even in winter, according to analysis by 38 North, a North Korea website affiliated with the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies.
Last month's rocket launch has been celebrated as a success in North Korea, and the scientists involved treated like heroes. Kim Jong Un cited the launch in his New Year's Day speech laying out North Korea's main policies and goals for the upcoming year, and banners hailing the launch are posted on buildings across the capital.
Washington and its allies consider the long-range rocket launch a covert test of ballistic missile technology, and suspect Pyongyang is working toward mounting a nuclear warhead on a missile capable of striking the U.S.
North Korea claims the right to build nuclear weapons as a defense against the United States, which stations more than 28,000 troops in South Korea. The foes fought in the three-year Korean War, which ended in a truce in 1953 and left the Korean Peninsula divided at the 38th parallel.
Six-nation disarmament negotiations, hosted by China and aimed at offering North Korea much-needed food and fuel in return for dismantling its nuclear program, have been stalled since North Korea walked away from the talks following U.N. punishment for its 2009 rocket launch.
Since then, Pyongyang had indicated its readiness to resume discussing disarmament, and in February 2012 negotiated a deal with Washington to place a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests in exchange for food aid.
That deal fell apart when North Korea unsuccessfully launched a long-range rocket in April. In July, North Korea's Foreign Ministry issued a memorandum declaring that it felt forced to "completely re-examine the nuclear issue due to the continued U.S. hostile policy" toward Pyongyang.
Following Tuesday's Security Council resolution, North Korea's Foreign Ministry said it would rebuff any attempts to engage Pyongyang in disarmament negotiations.
"There can be talks for peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the region in the future, but no talks for the denuclearization of the peninsula," it said.
The Security Council demanded that North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons program in a "complete, verifiable and irreversible manner," and ordered the regime to cease rocket launches.
"Today's resolution also makes clear that if North Korea chooses again to defy the international community, such as by conducting another launch or a nuclear test, then the (Security) Council will take significant action," U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said.
The binding resolution is the first in four years to expand sanctions against Pyongyang. It ordered the freeze of more North Korean assets, including the space agency, and imposed a travel ban on four more officials ? limited sanctions that target individuals and specific companies.
"We believe that action taken by the Council should be prudent, measured, proportionate and conducive to stability," Chinese Ambassador Li Baodong said after the vote.
The decision by China, North Korea's biggest ally and economic supporter, to approve the U.N. resolution ? including sanctions ? may reflect frustration on Beijing's part toward its neighbor, analysts said. In the past, China has vetoed applying sanctions for past provocations.
"China has limited influence with North Korea," Zhang Liangui, a researcher with the ruling Communist Party's main research and training institute, said in Beijing. "Beijing disapproves of any nuclear test or new missile launch, but there's not a lot it can do."
China's support for the resolution, with targeted sanctions, signals that it agrees that North Korea's launch was a test of its ballistic missile technology, but it is still trying to protect the ally.
"China is striking a balance here. It wants to punish North Korea for the latest launch and tell it not to undertake a new ballistic missile launch. But it doesn't want to put unbearable pressure on Pyongyang," said Shen Dingli, a regional security expert and director of the Center for American Studies at Shanghai's Fudan University.
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Peter James Spielmann reported from the United Nations. Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul and Christopher Bodeen in Beijing contributed to this report.
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Follow AP's Korea bureau chief at www.twitter.com/newsjean.
25 January 2013Last updated at 00:01By Ella DaviesReporter, BBC Nature
Mistle thrushes have disappeared from UK gardens at a "staggering" rate, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Results from the charity's annual survey suggest the birds are seen in fewer than half the number of gardens they were 10 years ago.
Population estimates published at the end of last year confirm there are now just 170,000 breeding pairs.
The warning comes on the eve of the RSPB's annual Big Garden Birdwatch.
Experts compare the decline to that of the closely related song thrush.
Both thrush species have become rarer sights in UK gardens, with populations falling by more than half since the 1970s, according to the ongoing Breeding Bird Survey carried out by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and partners.
But the continuing trend of decline among mistle thrushes is a key concern.
"If you look at the decline in the short term, from 1995 to 2010, we see that mistle thrushes have declined by 28%," said the RSPB's Graham Madge.
Over the same period, the song thrush, which has been recognised as a species of serious conservation concern, increased by 13%, according to figures from the The State of UK Birds report jointly published last November by the RSPB, BTO and Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.
"We've still got a lot to learn about why the [mistle thrush] is declining," said Mr Madge.
"It's reaching rates where as a community we should begin to develop some concerns because its population does seem to be haemorrhaging from our gardens, woodlands and countryside."
He described reports from the annual Big Garden Birdwatch as "startling".
"Over the last six or seven years of Big Garden Birdwatch, the participants have been telling us that mistle thrushes have been declining - even over that short period."
The survey, described as the largest citizen science project in the world, sees volunteers count the bird visitors to their garden for an hour over the last weekend in January.
Mr Madge describes the "snapshot" of UK bird populations provided by the survey as an "effective early warning system" to highlight future trends.
Mistle thrushes are named for their fondness for berries, particularly those of the mistletoe plant.
Continue reading the main story
How to spot a mistle thrush
Listen out for their distinctive rattling call
They are a cold, grey brown whereas song thrushes are a warm, earthy brown
Spots are "scaly" and join up unlike the perfect round spots of the song thrush
You can see white tips to the feathers of a mistle thrush flying away from you
Song thrushes are blackbird sized; mistle thrushes are 10-15% bigger
The birds sing throughout the winter to defend territories that are rich in fruit, making their song the easiest way to recognise them.
"It's a species that very often people will mistake for a song thrush. They're both medium sized, brown and white birds with large spots," said Mr Madge.
"But mistle thrushes are great characters and they will very often give their presence away by their call."
The birds are early nesters and their mournful songs can be heard in February. They are also known as stormcocks due to country legends that the birds are the last to be heard before a storm.
"It's not particularly a bird that has come up on the radar of declining species. That's not out of lack of concern for the mistle thrush but it's an indication that so many other birds are also declining," said Mr Madge.
The RSPB's 2012 survey recorded the lowest number of starlings in UK gardens for 30 years. Conservationists suggested that a decline in traditional pastures and modern building design have restricted feeding and nesting areas for the birds.
The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch survey runs from Saturday 26 to Sunday 27 January 2013. BBC Nature is streaming live webcams of UK garden bird action, helpful identification guides and expert analysis across the weekend.
All Manitoba business owners face similar challenges when it comes to productivity and competitiveness in today?s marketplace such as attracting and retaining the best employees, reducing employee absenteeism to optimize production and maximizing profitability.
It may be a surprise to many business owners to know that the recent announcement of CSA?s new National Standard for Physiological Health and Safety in the Workplace holds a major key in meeting these objectives.?
CAN/CSA-Z1003-13/BNQ 9700-803/2013?provides a framework for the development and implementation of a psychological health and safety management system. ?The requirements of the voluntary standard include elements such as leadership commitment and employee participation, planning including risk assessment and control measures, implementation, evaluation, corrective action and management review.
Theo Heineman-Kowalchuk, President of 1Life Workplace, Safety & Health says? ?we?ve seen firsthand that our clients who support employees physical and mental health? prove time and again to experience benefits such as fewer WCB and employee benefits claims, less absenteeism, improved productivity, ?increased moral and employee retention to name a few?.
Studies from The Canadian Institute of Stress ? Bell Canada Operator Services research back up this statement.? Their research found that mental health / stress control programs have resulted in 18% reduction in absences, 32% reduction in grievances, 52% reduction in disability time, 7% improvement in productivity, 13% improvement in service quality.
In studies conducted by B.C. Hydro and Canada Life Insurance, the Cost/Benefit Analysis of Mental Health / Stress Control Programs in the Workplace ratio ranges from $1.15-$6.00 returned for every dollar invested.
And then there is the affect of mental health on workplace accidents.? Research conducted by the Canadian Policy Research Organization shows that emotional and psychological job demands have shown to create 2.5 times the risk of workplace accidents.? Mental health issues such as stress have shown to contribute to 60% of workplace incidents.
?With reverse onus on all Manitoba Employers when a worker is injured on the job and penalties such as stop work orders and fines up to $250,000 per offence, accident prevention should be top of mind with every business owner who is committed to organizational excellence and sustainability? says Kowalchuk
With mental health becoming the fastest rising disability claim, promotion of mental health and workplace wellness is not only good for workers, it?s great for business.
This entry was posted in?Business Excellence,?Compliance,?Safe Work Procedures,?Safety Consultants Manitoba,?Safety Program Manitoba,?WCB Costs,?Workplace Safety & Health?and tagged?1 Life Workplace Safety & Health,?cost of workplace accidents,?CSA,Manitoba safety,?mySafetyAssistant,?safety consultants manitoba,?safety management systems,?Safety programs in Manitoba,?Tips and Best Practices,?workplace inuries,?Workplace Safety & Health,?Workplace Safety & Health Legislation,?Workplace Safety and Health Programs Manitoba,?Workplace Safety Best Practices,?Workplace Training Program..
NJIT professor Alexander Haimovich named IEEE FellowPublic release date: 23-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Sheryl Weinstein 973-596-3436 New Jersey Institute of Technology
A pioneer in the field of signal processing in adaptive arrays and multiple sensor radar, NJIT Professor Alexander Haimovich has been named an IEEE Fellow. His work has contributed greatly to the advancement and application of electrical engineering and technology.
Unlike conventional radar in which targets are probed with a single waveform, in multiple sensor radar, targets are probed with multiple waveforms simultaneously. As a result, targets can be localized with significant higher accuracy than with conventional radar. His most recent work focuses on new signal processing approaches that may lead to significant reductions in the cost of multi-sensor radar. Five doctoral students work with him.
"We have long applauded Dr. Haimovich's important work at NJIT. But we are especially thrilled when others from outside the university say the same thing. This is a very important honor. Congratulations, Alex," said the NJIT Newark College of Engineering (NCE) Acting Dean Basil Baltzis."
Haimovich's most recent work--all co-authored presentations--have or yet will appear in the following conference proceedings: "Compressive Sensing with Unknown Parameters," to yet appear in Proceedings of the Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems and Computers, Monterey, CA, (Nov. 4-7, 2012); "Performance Bound for Time Delay and Amplitude Estimation from Low Rate Samples of Pulse Trains," in Proceedings of the 20th European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO 2012), pp. 455-459, Aug. of 2012; "Spatial Compressive Sensing in MIMO Radar with Random Arrays," in Proc. of Information Sciences and Systems (CISS), 2012 46th Annual Conference on (CISS), pp. 1-6, 21-23 March of 2012.
The Ying Wu Endowed Chair in Wireless Telecommunications at NJIT, Haimovich teaches in the NCE Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His research interests focus on advanced radar, sensing, and communication systems including multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar, geolocation, compressed sensing for target localization, and signal design. Over the years, Haimovich's research has been supported by the US Air Force, National Science Foundation, the U.S. Army and industry. His work has been published in over 200 journal and conference publications.
In 2003-2005, Haimovich served as the director of the New Jersey Center for Wireless Telecommunications, a state-funded consortium. Members included NJIT, Princeton University, Rutgers University and Stevens Institute of Technology.
In 2003, Haimovich served as chair of the Globecom Communication Theory Symposium. He was for many years an associate editor for the IEEE Communications Letters and more recently was named a guest editor for the EURASIP Journal of Applied Signal Processing Special Issue on Turbo Coding.
Haimovich received his doctorate in systems from the University of Pennsylvania, his master's degree in electrical engineering from Drexel University and his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Technion, Israel.
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NJIT, New Jersey's science and technology university, enrolls more than 9,943 students pursuing bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in 120 programs. The university consists of six colleges: Newark College of Engineering, College of Architecture and Design, College of Science and Liberal Arts, School of Management, College of Computing Sciences and Albert Dorman Honors College. U.S. News & World Report's 2012 Annual Guide to America's Best Colleges ranked NJIT in the top tier of national research universities. NJIT is internationally recognized for being at the edge in knowledge in architecture, applied mathematics, wireless communications and networking, solar physics, advanced engineered particulate materials, nanotechnology, neural engineering and e-learning. Many courses and certificate programs, as well as graduate degrees, are available online through the Division of Continuing Professional Education.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
NJIT professor Alexander Haimovich named IEEE FellowPublic release date: 23-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Sheryl Weinstein 973-596-3436 New Jersey Institute of Technology
A pioneer in the field of signal processing in adaptive arrays and multiple sensor radar, NJIT Professor Alexander Haimovich has been named an IEEE Fellow. His work has contributed greatly to the advancement and application of electrical engineering and technology.
Unlike conventional radar in which targets are probed with a single waveform, in multiple sensor radar, targets are probed with multiple waveforms simultaneously. As a result, targets can be localized with significant higher accuracy than with conventional radar. His most recent work focuses on new signal processing approaches that may lead to significant reductions in the cost of multi-sensor radar. Five doctoral students work with him.
"We have long applauded Dr. Haimovich's important work at NJIT. But we are especially thrilled when others from outside the university say the same thing. This is a very important honor. Congratulations, Alex," said the NJIT Newark College of Engineering (NCE) Acting Dean Basil Baltzis."
Haimovich's most recent work--all co-authored presentations--have or yet will appear in the following conference proceedings: "Compressive Sensing with Unknown Parameters," to yet appear in Proceedings of the Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems and Computers, Monterey, CA, (Nov. 4-7, 2012); "Performance Bound for Time Delay and Amplitude Estimation from Low Rate Samples of Pulse Trains," in Proceedings of the 20th European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO 2012), pp. 455-459, Aug. of 2012; "Spatial Compressive Sensing in MIMO Radar with Random Arrays," in Proc. of Information Sciences and Systems (CISS), 2012 46th Annual Conference on (CISS), pp. 1-6, 21-23 March of 2012.
The Ying Wu Endowed Chair in Wireless Telecommunications at NJIT, Haimovich teaches in the NCE Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His research interests focus on advanced radar, sensing, and communication systems including multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar, geolocation, compressed sensing for target localization, and signal design. Over the years, Haimovich's research has been supported by the US Air Force, National Science Foundation, the U.S. Army and industry. His work has been published in over 200 journal and conference publications.
In 2003-2005, Haimovich served as the director of the New Jersey Center for Wireless Telecommunications, a state-funded consortium. Members included NJIT, Princeton University, Rutgers University and Stevens Institute of Technology.
In 2003, Haimovich served as chair of the Globecom Communication Theory Symposium. He was for many years an associate editor for the IEEE Communications Letters and more recently was named a guest editor for the EURASIP Journal of Applied Signal Processing Special Issue on Turbo Coding.
Haimovich received his doctorate in systems from the University of Pennsylvania, his master's degree in electrical engineering from Drexel University and his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Technion, Israel.
###
NJIT, New Jersey's science and technology university, enrolls more than 9,943 students pursuing bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in 120 programs. The university consists of six colleges: Newark College of Engineering, College of Architecture and Design, College of Science and Liberal Arts, School of Management, College of Computing Sciences and Albert Dorman Honors College. U.S. News & World Report's 2012 Annual Guide to America's Best Colleges ranked NJIT in the top tier of national research universities. NJIT is internationally recognized for being at the edge in knowledge in architecture, applied mathematics, wireless communications and networking, solar physics, advanced engineered particulate materials, nanotechnology, neural engineering and e-learning. Many courses and certificate programs, as well as graduate degrees, are available online through the Division of Continuing Professional Education.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Workers nationwide now have more convenient access to affordable vision insurance, thanks to a new partnership between Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company and Superior Vision. The partnership enables Colonial Life to offer a vision insurance plan, which includes comprehensive eye exams, eyeglass frame and lenses, contact lenses, a contact lens fitting exam and discounts on additional glasses and contacts, says a Colonial spokesperson. Employer groups may choose a full benefits package or a plan that includes glasses and contacts without the exam. Superior Vision has an industry-leading provider network of more than 48,000 ophthalmologists, optometrists, opticians, and regional and national retail chain locations, including LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Wal-Mart Vision Centers, Target Optical, Sam?s Club, America?s Best and Visionworks. Employees can sign up for the vision plan as part of their regular workplace benefits enrollment and can pay premiums through convenient payroll deduction. Read more. 
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Public release date: 23-Jan-2013
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