VOL.10, NO.10

I N F O C U S F O R P E O P L E O V E R 5 0OCTOBER 2013More than 125,000 readers throughout Greater Baltimore

I N S I D E …

Our 10th Year!

FITNESS & HEALTH 4k Blood sugar linked to dementia k How to eat to avoid wrinkles

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ARTS & STYLEA masterful Les Miserables atToby’s Dinner Theatre; plus,art galleries abound on localcollege campuses

page 34

By Carol SorgenWhat might have been a tragedy for Dou-

glas Lake served, instead, not only as awake-up call, but also as creative inspiration.

Nine years ago, Overlea resident Dou-glas Lake, then just 50, woke up one morn-ing and, as he put it, “fell over dead with aheart attack.” Despite having been a life-long martial arts practitioner, Lake wasout of shape and, at 275 pounds, 100pounds overweight.

Fortunately, doctors were able to saveLake’s life, and he made a commitment toregain his health through t’ai chi, medita-tion, running and better nutrition.

Five years later, Lake, who owns Com-prehensive Survival Arts Martial Arts andWellness School in Owings Mills, decidedto pay tribute to his near-death experiencewith a series of pen and ink drawings.

A “mostly” self-taught artist, Lake, whohas been inspired by such artists asArthur Rackham, Peter Max, JosephClement Coll, Maxfield Parrish, HowardPyle and N.C. Wyeth, embarked on an am-bitious task — to create one hand-drawn,hand-inked inspirational drawing a day.

Drawing inspirationThe first was entitled “Hope,” and 150

days later, Lake had 150 drawings, eachwith a different theme, such as “Angels,”“Compassion,” and “Joy.”

While Lake’s favorite drawings have todo with emotions, his drawings fall intocategories ranging from the four seasonsto cultural arts and creativity, family, themilitary, nature, food and drink, sports,children, wellness, and the five “elements”— earth, fire, water, metal, and wood.

Lake called the series “Art of Inspira-tion,” and today he sells prints and note-cards of his drawings on his website,www.artfulinsights.com. He also sells atart shows such as the upcoming SugarloafCrafts Festival at the Maryland State Fair-grounds, Oct. 4-6.

“I felt like I was in a trance,” Lake saidabout his “cathartic,” prodigious artisticoutput in such a short period of time. “ButI had been through so much physicallyand mentally that I wanted to create some-thing from the experience that perhapsother people could relate to as well.”

Turning to art to make sense of an ill-ness is not uncommon. In PsychologyToday, art therapist Cathy Malchiodi wrotethat “art expression often becomes a path-way for transforming feelings and percep-tions into a new life story and, as a result,creating a new sense of self.”

According to Malchiodi, “re-authoring”one’s life story may take on different as-pects — such as developing a new outlookon life, making changes in how one livesone’s life, or creating a new “post-illness”identity, among others. “Making art is aform of ‘meaning making’ that can be ulti-mately helpful in an individual’s adjust-ment and acceptance of serious or life-threatening conditions,” Malchiodi wrote.

Sharing lessons with othersThe discipline and intricacy that Lake

had always found so appealing in martialarts is reflected in his art. And what heloves about being a martial arts instructor— the interaction with his students andteaching them not to be afraid of life — iswhat he tries to do through his art as well.

“I’m trying to touch people the way thechanges in my life have touched me,” hecontinued. “I hope the story I have to tellwill inspire others, and that they can takeinspiration from it and learn from it.”

Though his daughter now runs the mar-tial arts school and teaches the younger,

Douglas Lake demonstrates his drawing style to young artists. Lake took up art aftersurviving a heart attack, creating a series of ink drawings with inspirational themes,such as compassion and joy, while continuing to manage his martial arts studio.

See ARTIST, page 27

Finding the ‘art’ in martial arts

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LEISURE & TRAVELContemporary attractions inSpain’s Basque Country andCatalonia; plus, getting yourcar to a distant destination

page 29

An item from the “be careful what youwish for” department: I was having a prob-lem coming up with a topicfor this month’s column. Iwas praying for some inspira-tion. Then I glanced at the day’s

newspaper, and oh, was Isorry! While it provided anearly instant topic, it alsomade my blood boil, notonce, but three times.

Here, in a nutshell, are thefirst three items I read in thatday’s paper. Story #1: A series of arti-

cles described how the D.C.Office of Tax and Revenue imposes lienson the homes of residents who have notpaid their property taxes, then auctionsthose liens off to the highest bidders. Thebidders, in turn, may impose additionalfees and interest to the point where theymay legally foreclose on the property,evicting the residents and their posses-

sions, and taking ownership of the home. None of this is illegal, and in fact, the

city relies on individual in-vestors and businesses to col-lect and pay such back taxes. But the story identified a

number of cases wherehomes worth hundreds ofthousands of dollars weretaken from their owners overa property tax bill as low as$50! Many of the victims ofthis scurrilous behavior havebeen older adults who eitherthought they had paid theirtax, didn’t understand theconsequences of not paying

the tax, or were suffering from dementiaor other disabilities. Eventually, a couple of the investors

who bought and foreclosed in these egre-gious cases were charged with a crime —not for taking homes away from people,but for colluding at the auctions. Apparent-ly, they “took turns” allowing each other to

be the highest bidder on every other prop-erty, and that broke the rules. Story #2: This one comes from Pine

Bluff, Ark., and concerns a 107-year-oldman whose granddaughter and a friendhad come to help him move to a newhome. Apparently, the gentleman mistookthe ladies for burglars, brandished a pistol,and told them, “You better stop breakinginto my house.”They called police for assistance, and

when the man shot at officers through thedoor, they threw tear gas and a “distractiondevice” into the house, then stormed in-side, guns drawn. When he fired at them,they shot back and killed the 107-year-old. Story #3: This one took place in Mary-

land. A middle-aged daughter was thecaregiver for her elderly parents. Her fa-ther had suffered three strokes and couldno longer do many things for himself. The daughter claims he told her repeat-

edly that he wanted to die, and that he re-fused the food she brought him. When shefinally called 911 to come take his bodyaway, the found an emaciated corpse withmore than a dozen open sores, five so deep“that bones were exposed.” Investigation revealed that in the

months leading up to her father’s death,his doctors and nurses had reported himlooking increasingly unkempt. When so-cial workers came to the home to assist,the daughter turned them away. The judge, who found evidence in the

record that the daughter was “an otherwisevery fine person,” sentenced her to one yearin prison for involuntary manslaughter.The situations are different, the motiva-

tions are different, the consequences aredifferent, but to me, all three of thesecases have some things in common. I’m going to call them the five (lack of)

senses: Lack of common sense, lack of asense of decency, lack of a sense of propor-tion, lack of a sense of fairness, lack of asense of shame. Maybe we aren’t born with a moral com-

pass, and no doubt many people grow upwithout either being taught morality orcoming to their own sense of right andwrong through experience. And certainly there are criminals in

every town and every society, as well associopaths who prey on innocents. But the situations above are not neces-

sarily, or not wholly, examples of immoralor illegal behavior.It’s something else that leads otherwise

decent people to make a living acquiringproperty at pennies on the dollar by “fol-lowing the rules”; that sometimes leads

law enforcement officers to shoot beforethey understand the situation; that leadschildren to think they are “honoring theirparents’ wishes” when they withhold careor neglect them. Of course, each of these stories made

it into the paper precisely because mostof us find them outrageous. It is impliedin their very reporting that such behav-iors are antithetical to our social norms.That’s the good news part of the badnews. But don’t most of us desire to, or actual-

ly, act in some of these ways some of thetime? Do we allow ourselves to benefit atothers’ expense as long as the others arenot visible to us? Do we overreact or jumpto conclusions before fully assessing a situ-ation? Do we persuade ourselves we areacting as others have asked, or wouldwant, without truly putting ourselves intheir shoes? There’s something very close to

“human nature” reflected in these atti-tudes. Nearly all of us look out for “num-ber one” first and foremost. But there’s also something redeeming

about human nature, in that we can see —in others, at least — how dark and danger-ous a person’s thoughts and actions canbe. Perhaps it’s time we turned the spot-light more on ourselves.

Come to our ExpoIf you’ve attended one of our 50+Expos

in the past, you know about the useful in-formation, government and nonprofit re-sources, excellent speakers, exercisedemonstrations, health screenings andgreat entertainment you’ll find there, andwe hope you’ll return this year. We also invite newcomers to visit the

Beacon’s 14th annual 50+Expo on Sunday,October 13 from noon to 4 p.m. The eventwill be in a new location for us: the SilverSpring Civic Center in downtown SilverSpring, Md. In addition to the change invenue, we will also be adding an outdoorArts & Crafts Fair.I hope you’ll join us for a free and enjoy-

able afternoon. In particular, I think you’llenjoy hearing Dr. Luigi Ferrucci, scientificdirector of the National Institute on Aging,speaking about the latest research inlongevity and healthy aging. Come, and bring your friends! I look for-

ward to seeing you there.

Common (lack of) sense

FROM THEPUBLISHERBy Stuart P. Rosenthal

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By Sharon Palmer, R.D. If you’ve ever tried to lose weight, you

probably know how frustrating it is to cutback on your calorie intake only to see noweight loss reflected on the bathroomscales.

But there may be a good scientific ex-planation for this phenomenon. It doesseem clear that as people lose weight,their resting energy expenditure — theamount of calories the body needs whenit’s at rest — drops due to a lower bodymass.

It may seem like a cruel trick, but thisresponse is actually an ingenious strategythat humans evolved over centuries inorder to withstand times of famine, accord-ing to Christopher Gardner, Ph.D., associ-ate professor at the Stanford PreventionResearch Center.

Gardner, who researches weight loss,said, “It isn’t so much that metabolic needs

decline as you lose weight, but your meta-bolic efficiency increases. Either way, itmeans the more weight you lose, the lessenergy you burn doing simple things likemaking your lungs breathe, heart beat,and kidneys work.”

New ideas about weight lossA new understanding of weight loss has

developed, as scientists learn more aboutthe body’s energy needs during weightloss. In fact, it turns out that the old adage— reducing your calories by 3,500 will re-sult in one pound of weight loss — is inac-curate.

According to a consensus panel con-vened by the American Society of Nutri-tion and the International Life Sciences In-stitute, the “3,500 calorie equals 1 pound”rule is wrong, because it assumes thatbody weight changes are uniform overlong periods of time. However, the panel

pointed out that as people lose weight,resting energy expenditure drops due toless body mass. So, that 3,500 calorie re-duction will no longer result in a pound ofweight loss.

In fact, the National Institutes of Healthcreated a mathematical modeling ap-proach for weight loss over time that takesinto account the body’s adaption to energyexpenditure during weight loss, which waspublished in the Lancet in 2011.

The NIH researchers reported that peo-ple with higher body fat lose largeramounts of weight than those with lowerbody fat, and that the body’s weight re-sponse to a change in energy intake isslow.

Everyone is differentAnother facet of the weight loss dilem-

ma is that people have very individualizedenergy needs. Everyone knows someone

who can literally eat whatever they wantand never gain a pound, as well as some-one who is careful with every bite of foodand still struggles with maintaining ahealthy weight.

Dr. David Katz, founding director ofYale University’s Prevention ResearchCenter, reports that the energy needs forindividuals is highly variable and not amatter of choice.

Any two people doing the same physicalactivity will burn different numbers ofcalories due to a complex interplay ofgenes, body composition and physiology.

And any two people eating the samefoods in the same quantities may experi-ence entirely different effects on weight,dependent on genes, resting energy ex-penditure, body composition, body massand other factors, he said.

By Lauran NeergaardNinety birthdays maybe, but not 120.

Americans hope to stretch out life expectan-cy another decade or so, but they are ambiva-lent, even skeptical, about a fountain of youth.

A recent poll by the Pew Research Cen-ter explores attitudes about a scientificquest: Creating treatments that one daymight slow the aging process and let peo-ple live decades longer than is normaltoday.

Scientists already can extend the lifespan of certain laboratory animals — mice,worms, flies — with various techniques.They’ve also tried with monkeys, althoughthe evidence in that species is mixed.

There’s no way to know if there ever willbe some type of Methuselah pill for humans.

But with the field growing, Pew took thepublic’s pulse and found most Americanswouldn’t want a treatment that would letthem live to 120. Fifty-six percent said nothanks — although two-thirds expect mostother people would want to try such a step,according to the report.

Few expect such a radical idea to becomereality, at least by 2050, although most ofthose surveyed expect other medical ad-vances that could more gradually extendlife expectancy, such as better cancer care.

When asked about living to 120 or be-yond, the survey found 51 percent of peo-ple said that would be bad for society. Theyworried about a strain on natural re-sources, and that such treatments proba-bly would be available only to the richrather than to everyone.

Not just longer, but betterWhat is the ideal life span? To most

Americans, it’s between 79 and 100; the me-dian answer was 90 years, Pew reported.

In the U.S., a child born today can expectto live 78.7 years. Women’s life expectancyis longer, 81 years, than men’s, 76.2.

With a rapidly graying population that isbringing concern about the growth ofAlzheimer’s disease and an overburdenedMedicare system, caution about the idea ofone day living even longer may not be sur-prising.

But longevity pioneer Cynthia Kenyonof the University of California, San Francis-co, wonders if the public understands thereal goal of such research, which is betterhealth.

Many of the experimental animalswhose lives have been extended look andact far younger — and are far healthier —than their untreated counterparts of the

same age, she said. “It would be the equivalent of a 90-year-

old person that you think is looking like a45-year-old,” Kenyon told the AssociatedPress.

Because aging itself underlies the devel-opment of many chronic diseases as ourbodies break down, the theory is that slow-ing the aging process might help keep peo-ple healthier for longer — even if it’s neveras dramatic as what has happened with an-imals.

“We are very interested in not only lifeextension, but extension of the healthspan,” said Dr. Marie A. Bernard, deputydirector of the National Institute on Aging,which pays for much of this research.

Genetic research underwayResearch into life extension began with

the discovery that severely restrictingcalories in lab animals — they regularlyconsume 25 to 30 percent less than normal— makes them live longer. Remarkably,they also were healthier than their littermates.

That led to the discovery of various ge-netic alterations that control life span.Kenyon’s research, for example, foundthat altering a single gene doubled the life

span of roundworms, which stayedhealthy until near the end. Other re-searchers have discovered similar aging-related gene mutations in differentspecies.

What about people? Some research hasfound healthy centenarians are more likelyto harbor similarly protective genes.

The next step is to find medications thatmight somehow switch on those protectivepathways, rather than drastic dieting orgene manipulation. A number of candi-dates have worked in animals.

In July, NIA researchers reported that alow dose of the diabetes drug metforminimproved the health and longevity of mid-dle-aged mice.

No anti-aging pill is ready to try in peo-ple yet. Aging specialists say, for now, com-mon-sense is the best medicine: Eat ahealthy diet, maintain a healthy weight andexercise.

The Pew Research Center’s Religion &Public Life Project survey was conductedfrom March 21 to April 8, 2013. The na-tionally representative survey involved in-terviews, conducted on cell phones andlandlines, with 2,012 adults. It has a mar-gin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percent-age points. — AP

Live to 120? Most Americans say ‘no thanks’

It’s true: our bodies fight weight loss

SeeWEIGHT LOSS, page 5

That’s why Katz launched the NationalExchange for Weight Loss Resistance(www.newlr.com) in order to provide aforum for information among those whoare unusually resistant to weight loss.

Don’t get discouragedAll of this information on weight loss

may seem discouraging for the thousandsof people trying to lose weight, but there’salso some good news.

Gardner believes that, if you lose weightand keep it off for months or years by eat-ing the same amount of calories, yourbody may eventually “agree” with this newweight and go back to being less “effi-cient.” Although this theory makes sense,it has yet to be proven, said Gardener.

Is there one particular diet that canhelp counter the body’s metabolic re-sponse to weight loss? While one studylinked a lower carbohydrate diet with ben-efits, researchers stress that there’s notenough evidence supporting one diet overanother.

“I doubt there will ever be one best diet.My hunch is there are multiple best diets,and certain people are more predisposedto be successful on one vs. another,” Gar-dener said.

We do know that thousands of people

have successfully maintained a significantamount of weight loss. This has beenproven in The National Weight ControlRegistry (www.nwcr.ws), the largest inves-tigation of long-term weight loss mainte-nance in the U.S.

Led by researchers from Brown Med-ical School and the University of Colorado,the NWCR tracks more than 10,000 indi-viduals who have lost a significant amountof weight (at least 30 pounds) and kept itoff for at least a year. Findings from theNWCR point out that long-term weightloss is achievable. It just takes time, dili-gence and hard work.

Indeed, research shows that 20 percentof overweight people are successful, ac-cording to a 2005 study in the AmericanJournal of Clinical Nutrition. And thelonger the weight loss is maintained, thefewer maintenance strategies are neces-sary, according to research published inthe journal Obesity.

While we have much more to learnabout the complicated science of weightloss, the NWCR may hold some of ourmost promising answers and results.Reprinted with permission from Environ-

mental Nutrition, a monthly publication ofBelvoir Media Group, LLC. 1-800-829-5384. www.EnvironmentalNutrition.com.

© 2013 Belvoir Media Group. All rightsreserved. Distributed by Tribune MediaServices, Inc.

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Weight lossFrom page 4

By Matthew PerroneThe Food and Drug Administration is

cracking down on more than a dozen com-panies that market illegal treatments fordiabetes — ranging from bogus dietarysupplements to prescription drugs sold on-line without a prescription.

All of the products aim to cash in on thecountry’s diabetes epidemic, which affectsnearly 26 million Americans. Regulatorsworry that consumers who buy such unap-proved products could put off getting legit-

imate medical care, which could exacer-bate heart disease, kidney failure andother deadly complications.

The FDA sent warning letters to 15companies, both in the U.S. and abroad,ordering them to stop selling diabetestreatments that violate U.S. drug laws.

False claims and ingredientsThree of the products targeted are mar-

keted as “natural” supplements, but actuallycontain unlisted pharmaceutical ingredients.

For example, Diexi, which is sold as a tra-ditional Indian “herbal formula,” actually con-tains metformin, the most common prescrip-tion drug used to treat diabetes. The productis sold by Amrutam Life Care, of Surat, India.

“Consumers should exercise caution be-fore using products claiming to be herbalor all-natural alternatives to FDA-approvedprescription drugs,” the agency said in astatement. “These products should be con-sidered unsafe and should not be used.”

Other products include genuine dietarysupplements that make unproven claims totreat or prevent diabetes. For example, Dia-betes Daily Care is a capsule-based supple-ment containing cinnamon extract andother herbs. Its manufacturer, Nature’sHealth Supply Inc., claims it “safely and ef-fectively improves sugar metabolism.”

Under U.S. law, only FDA-approvedmedicines are permitted to make claimsfor treating or preventing disease.

Illegitimate pharmaciesOther companies targeted by the FDA

run online pharmacies that sell prescrip-tion drugs for diabetes without a prescrip-tion. The FDA issued a warning letter towww.bestcheapmedsonline.com for mar-keting unapproved versions of diabetesdrugs like Januvia, from Merck & Co. Inc.

The FDA warns patients against buying

prescription medications on the Internet.Only 3 percent of online pharmacies actu-ally comply with all U.S. pharmacy laws,according to a review by the National As-sociation of Boards of Pharmacy.

People with diabetes are unable to prop-erly break down carbohydrates, either be-cause their bodies do not produce enoughinsulin or because they’ve become resist-ant to the hormone, which controls bloodsugar levels. These patients face higherrisks of heart attacks, kidney problems,blindness and other serious complications.

Many diabetics require multiple drugsto control their blood sugar levels.

The U.S. market for prescription dia-betes drugs is the largest in the world, withsales of $22 billion last year. Sales have bal-looned more than 60 percent in the lastfour years from $13.6 billion in 2008, ac-cording to health data firm, IMS Health.

The FDA said it has not received any re-ports of injury or illness connected withthe products, but is taking action as a pre-cautionary measure.

The FDA sent the warning letters to thecompanies in July. The letters gives eachcompany 15 business days to reply and ex-plain how they will come into compliancewith U.S. law. FDA warning letters are notlegally binding, but the agency can take com-panies to court if they are ignored. — AP

FDA targets illegal diabetes remedies6 Fitness & Health | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com OCTOBE R 2 0 1 3 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

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NORTHWEST HOSPITAL STEP AEROBICS

Step it up with these step aerobics classes at Northwest

Hospital, 5401 Old Court Rd., Randallstown, on Mondays and Wednesdays at

6:15 p.m. Call (410) 318-6810 to register. Note that the time and phone number

were incorrect in the listing for this class in the Sept. edition of the Beacon.

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

Lung Cancer

A Simple Blood Test Is Now Available From Your Doctor

More information for you and your doctor is available online at: www.BloodTestForLungCancer.com  

Call (240) 453-6342 To receive an info packet by mail

ASK YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT THIS NEW TEST TODAY!

· For persons age 50 and over that smoked for at least 20 years. · Can Identify Lung Cancer at earliest stages when most treatable. · Covered by most insurances and Medicare.

By Dr. Stacey RizzaDear Mayo Clinic: I recently heard that the CDC now

recommends baby boomers be testedfor hepatitis C. Is that true? If so, whyis testing necessary? Wouldn’t I havesymptoms if I had the disease?Answer: It is true that the U.S. Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention recom-mends anyone born between 1945 and1965 get tested for hepatitis C infection.

Americans born during that time arefive times more likely than other people tobe infected. Most people with hepatitis Cdon’t have symptoms, so testing for thisserious infection is very important.

Hepatitis C is an infection caused by avirus that attacks the liver. In about 60 to80 percent of adults infected by hepatitisC, the virus lingers in the body. But inmost cases, it’s impossible to know it’sthere without testing for it.

Eventually, as people age, the hepatitis Cvirus can cause damage to the liver. Manyof those with hepatitis C don’t know theyhave the infection until liver damage showsup, often decades after the initial infection.

How infection occursThe hepatitis C virus is spread from

contact with contaminated blood. The rea-son for the higher hepatitis C infection rate

in baby boomers is not entirely clear. It may be linked to the fact that before

1992, blood-screening tests for hepatitiswere not as reliable as they are now. So itwas possible to get the virus through ablood transfusion or organ transplant with-out knowing it.

Some people may have become infectedwith hepatitis C by sharing contaminatedneedles when injecting drugs. This canhappen even if a person comes in contactwith an infected needle only once.

In some mild cases of hepatitis C, treat-ment may not be necessary because therisk of future liver damage is very low. If so,follow-up blood tests and monitoring forliver problems may be all that’s needed.

Treatment optionsIn many cases, though, hepatitis C infec-

tion is treated with antiviral medications thatcan clear the virus from the body. Usually, acombination of antiviral medicine is takenover several weeks to several months.

Once the treatment is completed, bloodtests are done to check for hepatitis C. If thevirus is still present, a second round of treat-ment may be recommended. Frequently, nofurther treatment is necessary beyond that.

If hepatitis C goes undetected and theinfection is not treated over many years, itcan cause serious liver problems. After

several decades, hepatitis C infection canlead to scarring of the liver tissues, a con-dition known as cirrhosis.

Cirrhosis makes it hard for the liver towork properly. In time, that can lead toliver failure and possibly the need for aliver transplant. In addition, some peoplewith hepatitis C develop liver cancer.

Blood tests that can detect the hepatitisC virus are available. If the virus is found,it may be necessary to take a small sampleof liver tissue — a procedure called a liver

biopsy. A biopsy can help doctors deter-mine the severity of liver damage andguide treatment decisions.

If you were born between 1945 and1965, talk to your healthcare providerabout being tested for hepatitis C. — Stacey Rizza, M.D. specializes in infec-

tious diseases at the Mayo Clinic inRochester, Minn.© 2013 Mayo Foundation for Medical Ed-

ucation and Research. All Rights ReservedDistributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc.

Boomers should be tested for hepatitis CBA L T IMORE B E A CON — O C TOBE R 2 0 1 3 Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health 7

HelPForYourFeeT.CoM

As a podiatrist with over 30 years experience, Ihave always focused on non-surgical treatment offoot and leg pain. I find that most people with footor leg symptoms (arthritic, aching, burning, cramp-ing or difficulty walking) , even those who have hadother treatments, including surgery of the foot (orback), can be helped, usually in 1or 2 visits.— Dr. Stuart Goldman

I am a patient who had severefoot pain for 2 years, with no relief in sight....by the end of the4 days I was 85% pain free inboth feet. I thank God for Dr.Goldman and his passion for research in healing people withfoot and leg pain.– Alvin, Baltimore

Stuart Goldman, DPM410-235-23454419 Falls Road, Suite A, Baltimore 4000 Old Court Road, Suite 301, Pikesville

Fellow American College of Foot and Ankle SurgeonsMarquis Who’s Who in Medicine and HealthcareAuthor, multiple articles on Foot & Leg Symptoms

Treating Difficulty Standing or Walking, attributed to Arthritis, Spinal Stenosis, Neuropathy, Poor Circulation or Poor BalanceHow fortunate I feel to have found a doctor whocould not only diagnose an underlying problem that manyspecialists missed, but who hasbeen able to find a painless andrapid method of relieving theworst symptoms.

– Susan, Baltimore

8 Fitness & Health | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com OCTOBE R 2 0 1 3 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

BRONZE SPONSORSGOLD SPONSORS SILVER SPONSORS

By Gretel H. SchuellerWrinkles are a natural part of aging, but

that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything toprevent them.

While plenty of us spend lots of moneyon creams and cleansers, the best place tofind anti-aging products is in your grocerystore or garden. What we eat is as impor-tant — if not more so — as what we slatheron our skin.

Nourishing our skin from the inside outcan help beat the clock. And just as somefoods can help slow the effects of time, otherfoods can speed up our skin’s aging process,contributing to wrinkles and sagging.

Your skin is important; it’s actually yourbody’s biggest organ. What keeps skinlooking healthy? Oil and collagen.

Our skin is coated in a layer of naturaloils that protect it and lock in moisture. Aswe age, the oil production slows down, andskin cells lose the ability to repair them-selves as easily.

Our skin’s reserve of collagen — a typeof protein that keeps skin firm, elastic andyouthfully plump — also begins to run low,making skin thinner. And thin skin wrin-kles more easily than thicker skin.

Environmental factors, such as smog,cigarette smoking and sun exposure, canmake your skin look older, drier and dull.

What you eat matters, too. Avoid the fol-

lowing skin-aging foods to help minimizewrinkles and keep your skin healthy.1. Sugars and sweetsThe average American eats a whopping 22

teaspoons of sugar a day. According to der-matologist Dr. Jessica Wu, author of FeedYour Face, “a diet high in sugar” activates en-zymes that “devour healthy collagen,” leav-ing behind damaged fragments of collagen.

When skin’s healthy collagen-makingcells run into these fragments, they get con-fused, shut down and stop making collagen.As a result, the collagen-depleting effect, aprocess called glycation, is exponential.

If collagen is a rubber band that keepsyour skin looking firm, then glycation istying it into knots and rendering it useless.

The end products of glycation (“ad-vanced glycation end products,” typicallyand appropriately shortened to AGEs),damage skin and other tissues. Amonghealthy people, the effects of glycation onskin start to show at about age 35 and in-crease after that, according to a 2001 studyin the British Journal of Dermatology.2. Saturated fatsIt’s not new news that a diet high in sat-

urated fat is bad for your heart, but satu-rated fat may also be a major contributor toaging skin.

A 2007 American Journal of Clinical Nu-trition study that looked at more than

4,000 middle-aged women concluded thatdietary differences did appear to influencethe degree of wrinkling.

A 17-gram increase in daily fat intake in-creased the likelihood of a wrinkled ap-pearance. And a study in the Journal of theAmerican College of Nutrition found thatpeople who ate more butter experiencedmore wrinkling.

The reason for the sad fat-wrinkle con-nection is those pesky AGEs (again!). Itturns out that fats can also react with colla-gen to produce AGEs.3. Fried, grilled and broiled foodsWhen certain foods are cooked in cer-

tain ways, guess what forms? Fat plus pro-tein plus high, dry heat ages us! Broiling,

grilling and high-heat frying can all createAGEs.

Those sear marks on a deliciouslygrilled steak, the finger-licking crispy bitson fried chicken, the crunch of brownedbacon and basically any charred bits areall evidence of AGEs.

Researchers are noticing higher levelsof AGEs in people, in part because of thespread of processed foods. Yes, AGEs arealso present in many processed foods, suchas crackers, chips and cookies, that havebeen exposed to high temperatures tolengthen their shelf life. That high heat re-acts with the sugars and fats to form AGEs.

Avoid these foods that can age your skinBA L T IMORE B E A CON — O C TOBE R 2 0 1 3 Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health 9

See FOODS THAT AGE, page 10

By Tom MurphyThe Internet is enticing a rapidly grow-

ing number of shoppers to make a very per-sonal purchase, prescription eyeglasses,online. Deep discounts and greater varietyare prompting many to try something new.

Customers can’t pluck a pair of glassesfrom their smartphone screen to learn

how they feel, but shoppers can try onframes virtually or have them delivered fora free test. They also can quickly scrollthrough hundreds of choices and send pic-tures to friends for a second opinion.

Technology, however, hasn’t erased allthe advantages of buying glasses in astore. Here are some issues to consider

before clicking on a pair of glasses andadding them to your virtual shopping cart. 1. What are some options for buying

eyeglasses online? A mix of websites sells eyewear in men’s

and women’s styles, with some featuringwell-known brands such as Oakley andGucci. They include established vendors,like Framesdirect.com and 39dollarglass-es.com, and more recent entrants likeWarby Parker.

These sites let customers scroll throughhundreds of options and styles in differentcolors. Some, like Framesdirect.com, allowvisitors to upload pictures so they can seehow a pair of glasses would look on theirface.

Retailer 1-800-Contacts will offer athree-dimensional version of this conceptnext month, when it launches a free appthat enables users to virtually try on glass-es after taking a picture of their face with asmartphone or tablet.

The app will produce an image that isscaled so the glasses appear more likethey would if the customer picked them offa store shelf. It will enable visitors to turnthe image and slide the glasses up anddown the nose. 1-800-Contacts runs thewebsite Glasses.com. 2. What are the advantages of shop-

ping online? Virtual vendors can offer page after

page of variety. Framesdirect.com, whichdates back to 1996, says on its website thatit carries more than 100,000 products and500 brands.

Bargains also can be found online. Thewebsite 39dollarglasses.com featuresglasses that sell for — wait for it — $39.That price includes single-vision lensesand the frame.

Warby Parker advertises prescriptionglasses starting at $95. The company de-veloped its own styles for men’s andwomen’s glasses, plus a monocle it sellsfor $50, in part because its foundersthought prescription eyewear shouldn’tcost $300 or more.

Of course, bargains are not limited toonline vendors. Some Walmart stores offerprescription, single-vision lenses that startat $29.

Convenience can be another benefit.Warby Parker will send up to five pairs ofglasses to a customer to try on at home forfive days and then return with a pre-paidshipping label. 1-800-Contacts will sendfive frames and give customers seven daysto try them.

“I think a lot of people feel that theyneed to touch and hold the frame beforebuying,” said Neil Blumenthal, a WarbyParker co-founder.

What to consider if buying glasses online

There’s no need to switch to a raw diet,however. Cooking methods that involvelots of water — such as steaming, stewing,poaching, braising and blanching — re-duce the AGE-creation process because

the liquid offsets the heat. So the more you cook with water, the

more you stop AGEs.EatingWell is a magazine and website de-

voted to healthy eating as a way of life. On-line at www.eatingwell.com.© 2013 EatingWell, Inc. Distributed by

Tribune Media Services, Inc.

10 Fitness & Health | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com OCTOBE R 2 0 1 3 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

Foods that ageFrom page 9

See GLASSES, page 12

Diabetic foot examsCorns/calluses Wound/infection careToenail fungus

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BA L T IMORE B E A CON — O C TOBE R 2 0 1 3 Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health 11

Call today. 1-877-497-9728 (TTY 711) Toll FreeSeven days a week, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

RSVP for a Straight-Talk SeminarRight in your neighborhood.

Schedule a Personal AppointmentMeet with your local agent.

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If you want to change your Medicare health plan, consider Kaiser Permanente Medicare Plus (Cost). You can enroll today.

FREE3 Seminar(s) near you. Join us at our Straight-Talk Seminar and learn how you can enroll right now.

Kaiser Permanente Baltimore County Medical Center 1701 Twin Springs Rd. Conference Room D Halethorpe, MD September 18 at 1:00 p.m.

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Best Western Hotel Baltimore 5625 O’Donnell St. Baltimore, MD September 26 at 10:00 a.m.

1For our Standard Option Plan. You must continue to pay your Medicare Part B premium and any other applicable Medicare premium(s), if not otherwise paid by Medicaid or another third party. 2Rated by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Health Plan Management System, Plan Ratings 2013. Kaiser Permanente contract #H2150. Medicare evaluates plans based on a 5-Star rating system. Star Ratings are calculated each year and may change from one year to the next. 3Free with no obligation. Kaiser Permanente is a Cost plan with a Medicare contract. You must reside in the Kaiser Permanente Medicare health plan service area in which you enroll. Benefits, formulary, pharmacy network, provider network, premium and/or copayments/coinsurance may change on January 1 of each year. The benefit information provided is a brief summary, not a complete description of benefits. For more information contact the plan. Limitations, copayments, and restrictions may apply. A sales person will be present with information and applications. For accommodations of persons with special needs at sales meetings, call toll free 1-877-497-9728 (TTY 711). Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States, Inc., 2101 East Jefferson Street, Rockville, MD 20852.Y0043_N009582_MAS accepted130647_PO08SEP_P_ad

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12 Fitness & Health | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com OCTOBE R 2 0 1 3 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

!Have high blood pressure or diabetes? !Hear out of one ear better than the other? !Turn the television/radio volume up higher than those around you? !Get annoyed because those around you are mumbling? !Find that the voices of women and children are harder to understand than men? !Work or have worked in noisy environments? !Make inappropriate responses because you have misunderstood what others are saying? ! !"#$%&"'#()%('*#!#*#+&%,+'(-&+%."-%/(!+%$#01'-)*.% hearing in crowded rooms (like restaurants)?

If you answered yes to three or more of these questions, then it’s time for a comprehensive hearing evaluation. Bring this quiz with you on !"#$%#&'$())!*+',-+'$&!$'.('$!"#$("/*!0!1*&'&$2(+$1*3-$ !"$'.-$,!&'$ comprehensive care possible.

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Hearing

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3. What are the limitations? Store visits connect customers with eye-

wear experts who can walk them througha purchase.

For instance, if a customer wants rimlessglasses, a store employee might point outthat the lenses may be thicker than they an-ticipate and could be uncomfortable towear, said Sam Pierce, a trustee with theAmerican Optometric Association.

The employee also could tell a customerwhether his or her prescription would fitproperly in the style they want or whetherthe frame may be too big or too small fortheir face.

The initial cost for glasses advertised ona website may be a bargain, but extra feesfor a strong prescription or tinted lensescan add to the bill. Traditional eyewearstores also can bump up the amount a cus-tomer spends by pushing features likeanti-smudge protection.

Some online companies also may chargeshipping fees. Know the extra costs thatcome with a pair of glasses before buying.

Online shoppers also may want to do alittle research on their vendor before buy-ing glasses, since the customer can’t sim-ply drive to the store to talk to someone if aproblem arises.

Find out how the vendor handles adjust-

ments to a prescription or returns. Somesites offer money-back guarantees on re-turns if the glasses are sent back within acertain time frame. 4. Will eyewear stores become ob-

solete? Online sales eyewear sales jumped 31

percent from 2010 to last year, when theytotaled $1.1 billion, according to the VisionCouncil, a trade group representing indus-try manufacturers and suppliers.

That’s a big growth spurt, but online saleswon’t take over the industry soon. Last year,they represented just 4 percent of the rough-ly $27.5 billion eyewear product market.

In contrast, online sales for apparel andaccessories totaled $36.3 billion, or 12 per-cent of that total market of $303.8 billion,according to Forrester Research Inc.

1-800-Contacts CEO Jonathan Coon saidhe thinks online eyewear sales can eventu-ally reach and surpass the same percent-age of its total market.

But Warby Parker’s Blumenthal stillsees a need for physical store locationsthat customers can visit. His company op-erates showrooms in New York, Chicagoand Los Angeles, among other cities.

“We think there is always going to besome sort of balance there because hu-mans are social creatures, and shopping isa form of entertainment. It’s not just aboutconvenience,” Blumenthal said.

— AP

GlassesFrom page 10

FLU SHOT CLINICS 2013Baltimore County Department of Aging and Maxim HealthcareServices will hold flu shot clinics at senior centers across

Baltimore County and at Senior Expo through Oct. 31. Flu and pneumonia shotsare no cost to Medicare B beneficiaries, Bravo and Aetna participants. Cost to allothers: $30 for flu shots, $70 for pneumonia. You must bring your originalMedicare card or health insurance card and picture identification to receive ashot. For more information, call (410) 887-2594 or visit www.baltimorecoun-tymd.gov/agencies/aging/healtheducation.

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

RUSCOMBE ANNUAL OPEN HOUSEAn open house at the Ruscombe Mansion Community HealthCenter, 4803 Yellowwood Ave., will be held in Sunday, Oct. 6,

from 1 to 4 p.m. Meet the holistic health practitioners at this free event. Formore information, call (410) 367-7300 or visit www.ruscombe.org.

DEATH, GRIEF AND END-OF-LIFE PLANNINGSenior Care Specialist Janet Kurland will lead this two-session work-shop on Friday, Oct. 4 and 11, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The course willaddress the many issues surrounding death, as well as different reli-

gious and cultural funeral practices, the process of grieving, and the process of heal-ing. The course is sponsored through Johns Hopkins University’s Odyssey Program.Fee is $195. For more information, call (410) 516-4842 or visit www.odyssey.jhu.edu.

BEACON BITS

Oct. 6

Oct. 4+

When you face surgery, you may havemany concerns. One common worry isabout going under anesthesia. Will youlose consciousness? How will you feel af-terward? Is it safe?

Every day, about 60,000 people nation-wide have surgery under general anesthe-sia. It’s a combination of drugs that’s madesurgery more bearable for patients anddoctors alike. General anesthesia dampenspain, knocks you unconscious, and keepsyou from moving during an operation.

“Prior to general anesthesia, the bestideas for killing pain during surgery werebiting on a stick or taking a swig ofwhiskey,” said Dr. Emery Brown, an anes-thesiologist at Massachusetts GeneralHospital in Boston.

Things improved more than 150 yearsago, when a dentist in Massachusetts pub-licly demonstrated that the anestheticdrug ether could block pain during sur-gery. Within just a few months, anesthesiawas being used in Australia, Europe andthen around the world.

“General anesthesia changed medicinepractically overnight,” said Brown. Life-saving procedures like open-heart sur-gery, brain surgery or organ transplanta-tion would be impossible without generalanesthesia.

General anesthesia affects your entirebody. Other types of anesthesia affect spe-cific regions. Local anesthesia — such as ashot of novocaine from the dentist —numbs only a small part of your body for ashort period of time. Regional anesthesianumbs a larger area — such as everythingbelow the waist — for a few hours.

Most people are awake during opera-tions with local or regional anesthesia. Butgeneral anesthesia is used for major sur-gery, and when it’s important that you be

unconscious during a procedure.The drugs that help you go under are ei-

ther breathed in as a gas or delivered di-rectly into your bloodstream. Most ofthese drugs act quickly and disappear rap-idly from your system, so they need to begiven throughout the surgery.

A specially trained anesthesiologist ornurse anesthetist gives you the properdoses and continuously monitors your vitalsigns — such as heart rate, body tempera-ture, blood pressure and breathing.

“When patients are going under, theyexperience a series of deficits,” said Dr.Howard Nash, a scientist at the NationalInstitute of Mental Health, part of the Na-tional Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.“The first is an inability to rememberthings. A patient may be able to repeatwords you say, but can’t recall them afterwaking up.”

Next, patients lose the ability to re-spond. “They won’t squeeze your fingersor give their name when asked,” Nashsaid. “Finally, they go into deep sedation.”

Very different from sleepAlthough doctors often say that you’ll be

asleep during surgery, research hasshown that going under anesthesia is noth-ing like sleep.

“Even in the deepest stages of sleep, withprodding and poking we can wake you up,”said Brown. “But that’s not the case withgeneral anesthesia. General anesthesialooks more like a coma — a reversiblecoma.” You lose awareness and the abilityto feel pain, form memories and move.

Once you’ve become unconscious, theanesthesiologist uses monitors and medica-tions to keep you that way. In rare cases,though, something can go wrong. Aboutonce in every 1,000 to 2,000 surgeries, pa-

tients may gain some awareness when theyshould be unconscious. They may hear thedoctors talking and remember it afterward.Worse yet, they may feel pain but be unable

to move or tell the doctors.“It’s a real problem, although it’s quite

What happens to you under anesthesia?BA L T IMORE B E A CON — O C TOBE R 2 0 1 3 Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health 13

Thank you, ManorCare.“Everything was excellent at ManorCare Health Services, especially the rehab. �e nursing sta� and aides were really good too. I’ve been to other rehab centers and this is the only one I have been to where the physical therapy and occupational therapy work so closely together. I was very weak when I came here but I am doing so much better now. If I do need therapy again, ManorCare will be my �rst choice.” – Vincent

• Complex Medical Care

• Intensive Rehabilitation

in post- hospital care

Dulaney 410.828.6500

Roland Park 410.662.8606

Rossville 410.574.4950

For more information, please call the location nearest you or visit www.manorcare.com:

Ruxton 410.821.9600

Towson 410.828.9494

Woodbridge Valley 410.402.1200

See ANESTHESIA, page 15

WE COM

E

TO YOU!

Don't Let Pain Prevent YouFrom Doing the ings You LoveOur wellness practice can alleviate many types of painand help prevent it from returning.

Call (410) 695-6045 for a FREE consultEarly a.m. and weekend hours available.Harmonious Living Chiropractic: Fitness & Wellness Center, L.L.C.,8288 Telegraph Road, Suite A, Odenton, MD 21113 • www.drtiffanybutler.com

By Carol SorgenOur kidneys remove waste products

from our blood, regulate water fluid levels,and produce important hormones and en-zymes.

Twenty-six million American adultshave chronic kidney disease (CKD), andmillions of others are at increased risk, ac-

cording to the National Kidney Founda-tion.

CKD includes conditions that damageour kidneys and decrease their ability tofunction. It may be caused by diabetes,high blood pressure and other disorders.

If kidney disease worsens, resulting inincreased levels of wastes in your body,

you may develop complications such ashigh blood pressure, anemia, weak bones,poor nutritional health and nerve damage.Kidney disease also increases your risk ofheart and blood vessel disease.

Early detection and treatment can oftenkeep chronic kidney disease from gettingworse. When kidney disease progresses,however, it may eventually lead to kidneyfailure, which requires dialysis or a kidneytransplant to maintain life.

Though CKD is common, it is oftenoverlooked by medical professionals whenpatients who have it are receiving medicaltreatment for other conditions.

Patients with CKD have special needswhen it comes to medical treatment, andwhen these needs are not taken into ac-count during medical care, unintendedharm can result, which can lead to fre-quent hospitalization, accelerated loss ofkidney function, increased risk of end-stage renal disease, and even death.

Identifying kidney patientsThe University of Maryland is conduct-

ing an observational study to determinewhether increased recognition of the dis-ease can decrease the number of adverseevents in patients with CKD.

The research study has two purposes:The first is to determine how participantsfeel about wearing a medical alert braceletor necklace that identifies them as havingdecreased kidney function so that health-care workers can more easily identifythem. Medical alert jewelry is often rec-ommended for people who have othermedical problems, such as diabetes.

For CKD patients in the study, the med-ical alert accessory has an address to aninformational website about the safe careof patients with kidney problems. Study in-vestigators think that informing health-care workers that a person has decreasedkidney function may improve the patient’scare and reduce risk of injury.

The second purpose of the study is totrack how often people with kidney prob-lems may be exposed to medicines, testsor procedures that might increase theirchance of having an accidental medical in-jury or safety event.

Volunteers soughtThe study is seeking participants age 21

and older with CKD who are not undergo-ing dialysis. They will be assessed annual-ly to observe the frequency of adverseevents over time.

The first 100 participants (Phase I) willbe provided with a standard medical alertnecklace or bracelet that states, “de-creased kidney function. For my care,please visit www.safekidneycare.org.”

Participants are also asked to log ontothe website using a unique four-digit ID totrack their use of the site. The website doesnot collect or store patient health informa-tion. It tracks only the IP address of the de-vice used to access the site (which general-ly tracks the city, state, ZIP and area codeswhere the computer is located).

The volunteers in Phase I will betracked over time as to how they use andtolerate their medical alert bracelet or

14 Fitness & Health | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com OCTOBE R 2 0 1 3 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

Health Studies PageTHE PLACE TO LOOK FOR INFORMATION ON AREA CLINICAL TRIALS

Volunteers with kidney disease are sought

See KIDNEY DISEASE, page 15

Participate in MRI Studies of MemoryThe Neuroscience of Memory in Aging and Dementia Lab is seeking healthyadults for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research studies of memoryand cognition.

•Must be between the ages of 60-89•2 sessions each lasting 1-2 hours•Compensation for time and travel expenses•Located at the Kennedy Krieger Institute at the JohnsHopkins Medical Campus•Located on the JHU Homewood Campus.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Michael YassaProtocol: NA_00046839

For more information, contact Liz Murray at (410) 516-3813 or email jhumemorylab@gmail.com

rare,” said Dr. Alex Evers, an anesthesiolo-gist at Washington University in St. Louis.“Anesthesia awareness can lead to post-trau-matic stress disorder,” a severe anxiety dis-order that can arise after a terrifying ordeal.

Scientists have developed strategies toidentify and prevent anesthesia awareness.Small studies suggested that brain moni-tors might help. But in 2008, Evers and hiscolleagues reported the results of thelargest study to compare different tech-niques. Brain monitoring did no betterthan standard monitoring in preventinganesthesia awareness.

Addiction to alcohol or drugs increasesthe risk for anesthesia awareness, but doc-tors can’t accurately predict who will be af-fected.

A research team in Canada identified varia-tions in a gene that may allow animals to formmemories while under anesthesia. Ongoingstudies are exploring whether this gene playsa role in anesthesia awareness in people.

Recovering from anesthesiaAfter surgery, when anesthesia wears

off, you may feel some pain and discom-fort. How quickly you recover will dependon the medications you received and otherfactors, like your age.

About 40 percent of elderly patients andup to one-third of children have lingering

confusion and thinking problems for sev-eral days after surgery and anesthesia.

Right now, the best cure for these sideeffects is time. Brown and his colleaguesare working to develop drugs to help pa-tients more quickly emerge and recoverfrom general anesthesia.

Anesthesia is generally consideredquite safe for most patients. “Anestheticshave gotten much safer over the years interms of the things we’re most worriedabout, like the patient dying or having dan-gerously low blood pressure,” Evers said.

By some estimates, the death rate fromgeneral anesthesia is about 1 in 250,000 pa-tients. Side effects have become less com-mon, and are usually not as serious as theyonce were.

Don’t delay important surgery becauseof fear of anesthesia. If you have concerns,talk with your doctor.

It might help to meet in advance withthe person who will give you anesthesia.Ask what kind of anesthesia you will have.Ask about possible risks and side effects.Knowing more might help you feel lessconcerned about going under.From WhatDoctorsKnow, a magazine de-

voted to up-to-the minute information onhealth issues from physicians, major hospi-tals and clinics, universities and healthcareagencies across the U.S. Online atwww.whatdoctorsknow.com.© 2013 Whatdoctorsknow.com. Distrib-

uted by Tribune Media Services, Inc.

BA L T IMORE B E A CON — O C TOBE R 2 0 1 3 Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health 15

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AnesthesiaFrom page 13

necklace, and for their incidence of CKD-related patient-safety incidents.

In Phase II, 250 participants will betracked on an identical study schedule fordetection of CKD-related events, but with-out the use of the medical alert accessory.

Clinic visits may include a combinationof blood and urine samples and nose,throat and skin swabs. Clinics are locatedat the Baltimore VA Medical Center andthe University of Maryland Medical Cen-ter. The study concludes in 2015.

For more information, or to volunteer,call (410) 605-7000, ext. 5280 or emailjfink@medicine.umaryland.edu.

Kidney diseaseFrom page 14

STUDIES ON ANEMIA

• Several new research studies are being designed by researchers atJohns Hopkins University specifically for older adults with anemia.

• By volunteering to join our anemia registry, you will be kept up todate on anemia research studies that match your situation.

Are you 65 years or older?Have you been recently diagnosed with anemia?

OR Have you had anemia in the past?

en you may be interested in:

“THE JOHns HOPkins registry of older adults with anemia”

Call us at 410-550-2113to join the Anemia Registry today!

We can conduct the study in your home. No travel is required. If you choose to come to Bayview to participate, your parking will be paid.

We look forward to hearing from you!Principal Investigator: Dr. Jeremy Walston, MD. IRB application No: NA_00035307

Exploring Cognition Johns Hopkins University investigators seek healthy adults

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Protocol Number: NA_00015657 PI: Barry Gordon, M.D., Ph.D. Approved August 22, 2013

By Marilynn MarchioneHigher blood-sugar levels, even those

well short of diabetes, seem to raise the riskof developing dementia, a major new studyfinds. Researchers say it suggests a novelway to try to prevent Alzheimer’s disease— by keeping glucose at a healthy level.

Alzheimer’s is by far the most commonform of dementia, and it’s long beenknown that diabetes makes it more likely.The new study tracked blood sugar overtime in all sorts of people — with and with-out diabetes — to see how it affects riskfor the mind-robbing disease.

“It’s a nice, clean pattern” — risk risesas blood sugar does, said Dallas Anderson,a scientist at the National Institute onAging, the federal agency that paid for thestudy.

“This is part of a larger picture,” he said,and adds evidence that exercising and con-

trolling blood pressure, blood sugar andcholesterol are viable ways to delay or pre-vent dementia.

Because so many attempts to develop ef-fective drugs have failed, “It looks like, atthe moment, sort of our best bet,” Ander-son said.

“We have to do something. If we just donothing and wait around till there’s somekind of cocktail of pills, we could be wait-ing a long time.”

About 35 million people worldwide havedementia; in the United States, about 5 mil-lion have Alzheimer’s disease. What caus-es it isn’t known. Current treatments justtemporarily ease symptoms.

People who have diabetes don’t makeenough insulin, or their bodies don’t useinsulin well, to turn food into energy. That

High blood sugar increases dementia risk16 Fitness & Health | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com OCTOBE R 2 0 1 3 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

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Ongoing

causes sugar in the blood to rise, whichcan damage the kidneys and other organs— possibly the brain, researchers say.

Further study neededThe new study, published in the New

England Journal of Medicine, just trackedpeople. It did not test whether loweringsomeone’s blood sugar would help treat orprevent dementia. That would have to betested in a new study.

In the meantime, people should notseek blood-sugar tests they wouldn’t nor-mally get otherwise, said the study’sleader, Dr. Paul Crane of the University ofWashington in Seattle.

“We don’t know from a study like thiswhether bringing down the glucose level

will prevent or somehow modify demen-tia,” but it’s always a good idea to avoid de-veloping diabetes, he said.

Eating well, exercising and controllingweight all help to keep blood sugar in line.

The study involved 2,067 people 65 andolder in the Group Health Cooperative, aSeattle-area healthcare system. At thestart, 232 participants had diabetes; therest did not. They each had at least fiveblood-sugar tests within a few years ofstarting the study, and more after it wasunderway.

Researchers averaged these levels overtime to even out spikes and dips from test-ing at various times of day or before orafter a meal.

Participants were given standard testsfor thinking skills every two years andasked about smoking, exercise and otherthings that affect dementia risk.

Dementia risk raised by 18%After nearly seven years of follow-up,

524, or one quarter of them, had developeddementia — mostly Alzheimer’s disease.

Among participants who started outwithout diabetes, those with higher glu-cose levels over the previous five yearshad an 18 percent greater risk of develop-ing dementia than those with lower glu-cose levels.

Among participants with diabetes at theoutset, those with higher blood sugar were40 percent more likely to develop demen-tia than diabetics at the lower end of theglucose spectrum.

The effect of blood sugar on dementiarisk was seen even when researchers tookinto account whether participants had theapoE4 gene, which raises the risk forAlzheimer’s.

At least for diabetics, the results sug-gest that good blood-sugar control is im-portant for cognition, Crane said.

For those without diabetes, “it may bethat with the brain, every additional bit ofblood sugar that you have is associatedwith higher risk,” he said. “It changes howwe think about thresholds, how we thinkabout what is normal, what is abnormal.”

— AP

BA L T IMORE B E A CON — O C TOBE R 2 0 1 3 Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health 17

Blood sugarFrom page 16

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Ongoing

Ongoing

Q: Is it true that simply taking shortbreaks to walk around throughout theday actually has an impact on health?A: Yes, evidence continues to grow

stronger suggesting that it does. Accumulating a total of at least 30 min-

utes of moderate physical activity a day inbouts of 10 or 15 minutes each has beenshown for some time to improve fitnessand measures of heart health, such asblood lipids and blood pressure, as well asbody composition.

Now studies suggest that even doingmini-bouts of a few minutes that add up toat least 30 minutes over the day might alsoreduce health risks. A review article pub-lished this year concluded that short boutsof frequent activity throughout the day

may decrease blood triglyceride levels fol-lowing meals, enough to lower risk ofheart disease.

And in one study, 70 adults who walkedfor less than two minutes every 30 minutesthroughout one day more effectively re-duced the rise in blood sugar and insulinfollowing meals compared to when thosesame adults walked for 30 minutes andthen sat all day.

More research is needed, especiallyamong people with the insulin resistanceof type 2 diabetes and metabolic syn-drome. However, scientists say we knowenough to encourage people whose day in-cludes a lot of sitting to include somestanding or brief walking every hour or soall day.

It’s good to know that when we’re toobusy or out-of-condition to walk for even 10minutes at a time, small breaksdo seem to make a difference.

Yet, since accumulatingmore than 30 minutes of mod-erate activity daily brings clearhealth benefits, such as reduc-ing cancer risk, don’t think ofshort activity breaks as a sub-stitute for other activity; thinkof them as an easy way to geteven more health benefits. Q: Is there a difference in

nutritional value betweenCalifornia avocados andFlorida avocados?A: Florida avocados are the

larger, smooth-skinned choices. Californiaavocados sold in supermarkets are theHass variety, and are smaller and have apebbly skin that turns from green to a pur-plish-black when ripe.

The biggest nutritional difference be-tween California and Florida avocados istheir fat content. More than half the fat inavocados is the healthy monounsaturatedfat (the type in olive oil), and saturated fatis minimal.

For each golf ball-sized portion (two ta-blespoons, or two to three thin slices), aCalifornia avocado such as Hass contains4.6 grams of fat, while the same portion ofa Florida avocado averages 3 grams of fat.

You may sometimes see Florida avoca-dos marketed as “lite” avocados — an ef-fort to highlight their lower fat content.This difference in fat content means Flori-da avocados are a little lower in caloriesthan the California types. For that golf ball-

sized portion, the Florida variety has 36calories versus 50 for the California one.

Otherwise, nutritionalvalue of the two types is sim-ilar. Avocados contain the Bvitamin folate (especiallyCalifornia avocados), vita-min K and fiber.

Both avocados also con-tain lutein (the carotene“cousin” of beta-carotenethat may promote eyehealth), but the amountsdon’t come close to what’s intruly high-lutein vegetableslike kale, spinach and othercooked greens.

Many people prefer therich flavor of California avocados, and forguacamole and other dips, it’s hard to beattheir creamy texture. For slices in a salad,however, some prefer the way the Floridatype holds its shape.

Either is a great way to add flavor, fiberand a healthy fat to your meal while addingessentially zero sodium. For weight con-trol, simply enjoy their good taste in mod-erate portions. The American Institute for Cancer Re-

search offers a Nutrition Hotline, 1-800-843-8114, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondaythrough Friday. This free service allows youto ask questions about diet, nutrition andcancer. A registered dietitian will returnyour call, usually within three business days.Courtesy of the American Institute for

Cancer Research. Questions for this columnmay be sent to “Nutrition Wise,” 1759 R St.,NW, Washington, DC 20009. Collins cannotrespond to questions personally.

Even short exercise ‘breaks’ boost health

NUTRITIONWISEBy Karen Collins, MS, RD, CDM

18 Fitness & Health | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com OCTOBE R 2 0 1 3 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

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Dear Solutions: I’m a senior, and I admire inde-

pendent women, as it washarder to be that when Iwas young. However, thereis one young woman whoworks where I volunteerwho is really sharp, but toooften aggressively nasty. When I finally objected

to her tone of voice, shesaid, “Oh, if a man saidthat, you’d admire him forbeing assertive. You justthink I shouldn’t act like aman, but this is what I pre-fer because it gets thingsdone.”What can I say to her to explain

there’s a difference?— Nora

Dear Nora: Tell her if she insists upon thinking

she’s acting like a man, instead of justbeing an inconsiderate person, she shouldtry at least acting like a gentleman. She canlook up the definition, which includes“kind, chivalrous, well bred, not rough orsevere.”Dear Solutions: Since I was a little girl, I was told

that a woman should have her own

money. Now, after being widowed formany years, I’ve been married for

over a year. I work andhave my own bank ac-count. My husband wants me to

put my money togetherwith his. I don’t feel com-fortable doing this, eventhough we have a goodmarriage. My husbandsays I’m fearful of a jointaccount because my par-ents were divorced, andmy mother had a hardtime. How can I convincehim that’s not it?

— IreneDear Irene:

Gently give him a history lesson:“Women and Money 101.” Explain that fordecades women had no control overmoney, and had to ask permission fromtheir husbands or fathers before theycould spend any. So your mother wasn’tthe only one with a problem.

The inability of women to control theirown money translated into the inability tocontrol their own lives. Explain to yourhusband that having your own money al-lows you to be a volunteer in this mar-riage, not a hostage.

Suggest a joint account for householdbills only, and work out how much each ofyou will contribute to that. Tell him thatwomen should have their own money.Men, too.Dear Solutions: I’ve become good friends with a

man in my volunteer group. We’restrictly platonic friends and enjoy hav-ing lunch together. He’s married and I’m single, so the

group gossips are talking about us.Should I continue to have lunch withhim?

— DonnaDear Donna:

Make it an open lunch every other time.

That means invite other people from thegroup to join you.

If you hear of rumors, nip them in thebud. Say to someone you believe is sayingthese things, “I’ve heard of rumors aboutSteve and me. I know it could be excitingto talk about, so it’s too bad it’s not true.We’re friends — period.”

Leave it at that. It’s too bad, but I guessthere really is no free lunch.© Helen Oxenberg, 2013. Questions to be

considered for this column may be sent toThe Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring,MD 20915. You may also email the author at

helox72@comcast.net. To inquire aboutreprint rights, call (609) 655-3684.

Women who value their independence

SOLUTIONSBy Helen Oxenberg,MSW, ACSW

BA L T IMORE B E A CON — O C TOBE R 2 0 1 3 Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health 19

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LEAVE A PAPER TRAILLearn which documents, from bills to insurance policies to medical records, you should keep, and which you can safely shred.MoneyMoneyLaw &

The stock, bond and commodities mar-kets saw steep price declines after ChairmanBen Bernanke indicated thatthe Federal Reserve wouldlikely slow down its purchase ofgovernment bonds a fewweeks back. Unfortunately, thevolatility is unlikely to stop.

Investors have a right to beconcerned. Traditional safe in-vestments — such as Treasurybills, money-market instru-ments, and short-term certifi-cates of deposit — still earn lessthan 1 percent, while inflation isapproximately 1.4 percent.

What alternatives are avail-able for investors who want reasonable in-come but without a great deal of risk?

Bob Rice, Bloomberg’s alternative invest-ment editor and founder of Tangent Capital,wrote an excellent article in June titled “Liq-uidity Detox: Prepare for the Shakes.” It isavailable online at www.forbes.com/sites

/rice/2013/06/18/liquidity-detox-prepare-for-the-shakes, and you should read it.

He discusses the danger ofinvestors holding longer-termbonds in the current environ-ment because it is likely that in-terest rates will increase. [Seealso “Protecting bonds when in-terest rates rise,” SeptemberBeacon, page 20.]

He discusses duration risk,also termed interest rate risk,which I have talked about inprior columns. His main pointis that small increases in ratesgenerate disproportionatelylarge reduction in value for

bonds.Rice gives the example of an investor

holding 10-year Treasury bonds. He pointsout that in recent trading, these bondsdropped 1/10 percent in value for each1/100 percent increase in interest rates.

He believes that investors should lower

their exposure to traditional bonds. Hepoints out that if rates increase 4 or 5 percentfor intermediate Treasury instruments, in-vestors stand to lose one-third of their value.

Replacements for bondsIn the article, Rice cites some alternative

investments that have generated superior re-turns for the best money managers. He goesinto a lot more detail in his excellent book,The Alternative Answer: The NontraditionalInvestments that Drive the World’s Best-Per-forming Portfolios (HarperBusiness, 2013).

Rice believes that the following alterna-tive investments will provide higher in-come with lower risk than traditional in-vestments: master limited partnerships(MLPs), royalties, catastrophe bonds,emerging market debt, multiclass ETFs,specialty finance and corporate loans (in-cluding business development companies).

He explains these alternatives are nowavailable to every investor. He believes that itis time for average investors to abandon the

traditional 60/40 mix of stocks and bondsand use alternative investments. He believesthis approach will dramatically increase re-turns and reduce overall investment risk.

He also discusses what he categorizes as“not-so alternative sources,” namely REITs,high-yield bonds, and high-dividend andpreferred stocks. Rice argues that these areoften overpriced, and that his alternativesprovide better risk/return characteristicsand better inflation protection.

MLPs are an underappreciated assetclass, according to Rice. Congress createdthese vehicles in the 1980s to spur energyinfrastructure, creating attractive investorincentives.

They trade publicly, do not pay entity-level taxes, and pay out almost all their netincome to investors. They can be activelymanaged in order to increase earnings.MLPs, in general, provide better returnsthan conventional bond alternatives.

Alternative investments for regular Joes

THE SAVINGSGAMEBy Elliot Raphaelson

See INVESTMENTS, page 21

A Yale professor is, providing a perfectfollow-up to the PBS “Frontline” episode“The Retirement Gamble”that aired earlier this year.The program detailed Ameri-ca’s retirement crisis and howthe financial services indus-try feasts on high fees insideof many employer-sponsoredplans.

Professor Ian Ayres has re-cently completed an exhaus-tive analysis of company-spon-sored 401(k) plans and foundthat many charge excessivefees. But Ayres has taken the research to anew level by sending about 6,000 letters tothe companies, writing that he would dis-seminate the results of his study next springand would specifically identify and exposethose companies with high-cost plans.

The conce pt of reeling in retirement planfees gained a bit more momentum last year,when the Department of Labor put newrules into effect, which required 401(k)sponsors to disclose fees and performancedata to plan participants. The first round ofthe more detailed information was sent in

November 2012, but despite all of the mediahype, those disclosures did not make much

of an impact.According to the EBRI 2013

Retirement Confidence Survey,about half (53 percent) of de-fined contribution plan partici-pants reported having noticedthese new disclosures, and only14 percent of those who noticed(7 percent of all plan partici-pants) said they made changesto their investments as a result.

How big a bite?To review, there are a bunch of fees that

participants pay, including administrative,trustee and investment fees. The averageplan costs about 1.5 percent, with largercompany plans coming in at closer to 1percent, and small to medium sized onessometimes costing in excess of 2 percent.

You may think that a half of a percentdoes not seem like a big difference, butthat fraction could cost you literally hun-dreds of thousands of dollars over time.

As a baseline, if you were to start with$100,000 and invest it over 50 years at a 7

percent return (compounded monthly)with no fees, you would end up with ap-proximately $3.2 million.

If you apply the average plan fee of 1.5percent, the future amount is more thanhalved to just over $1.5 million. But if youare in an expensive plan and the fee is 2percent, your future value drops to $1.2million at the end. That’s $300,000 thatcould be falling to your bottom line!

Finding lower feesWhat should you do if your retirement

plan is more expensive than the average?One benefit to the disclosure rules is thatplan participants can be empowered to ef-fect change.

The first step is to review the disclosurethat was sent. If your plan costs more thanthe average of 1.5 percent, gather as manyco-workers as possible and lobby yourboss for a cheaper plan. It may surprise theboss to learn that he or she can find cheap-er alternatives.

But it is notoriously difficult for smallercompanies to get the best plans. The rea-son is that the financial services industrylikes scale. It takes a lot of money to pro-

vide all of the services necessary to oper-ate a retirement plan, so financial compa-nies like to land the big fish.

If you hit a brick wall on a new plan,then at the very least try to have cheaperinvestment options added to the currentplan. Index funds, which carry muchlower fees, can make a big difference.

I recently helped a radio caller navigateher 401(k) plan investment options. By shift-ing from costlier actively managed funds toindex funds, her cost of investing droppedfrom over 1 percent to just 0.25 percent.

It can feel burdensome to stay on top ofall of these issues, but the long-term bene-fit could seriously outweigh the short-termwork involved.

Jill Schlesinger, CFP, is the Emmy-nomi-nated, Senior Business Analyst for CBSNews. A former options trader and CIO ofan investment advisory firm, Jill covers theeconomy, markets, investing and anythingelse with a dollar sign on TV, radio (includ-ing her nationally syndicated radio show),the web and her blog, “Jill on Money.” Shewelcomes comments and questions ataskjill@jillonmoney.com.

© 2013 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

Retirement plan fees can eat up earnings

RETIRE SMARTBy Jill Schlesinger

Diversified multi-asset ETFsRice indicated that multiclass ETFs are

an interesting new entry as a “one-stopshop” for diversified and uncorrelated in-come. They combine investments in cate-gories such as REITs, MLPs, royalties, anddomestic and foreign high-dividend stocks.This is a convenient way to obtain incomefrom diverse sources with the prospect ofhigher income in inflationary periods.

Rice does not recommend specific in-vestments. However, he does cite reliablesources for these alternatives.

He recommends Morningstar as asource for all traded securities offering

nontraditional products. For example,Morningstar provides a four-star rating forGuggenheim Multi-Asset Income ETF(CVY), which was established in 2006.

Rice recommends Miller/Howard In-vestments for their expertise in MLPs. Intheir portfolio, they hold Enterprise Prod-uct Partners (EPD) and Markwest (MWE).

Recently, we have seen that traditionalportfolio diversification did not protectmost investors. Investors who are interest-ed in higher income as well as protectingtheir capital should consider the alterna-tives Rice presents.

Elliot Raphaelson welcomes your questionsand comments at elliotraph@gmail.com.

© 2013 Elliot Raphaelson. Distributedby Tribune Media Services, Inc.

BA L T IMORE B E A CON — O C TOBE R 2 0 1 3 Say you saw it in the Beacon | Law & Money 21

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shop our store forAMAZING DEALS!

InvestmentsFrom page 20 OUTSMART INVESTMENT FRAUD

Join a representative from the Better Business Bureau to learnabout the growing problem of investment fraud and get a helpful

toolbox to evaluate your risk level at a presentation titled “Tricks of the Trade:Outsmarting Investment Fraud.” The event takes place Tuesday, Sept. 24 from 10to 11 a.m. at the Pikesville Senior Center, 1301 Reisterstown Rd. Call (410) 887-1245 for more information.

BEACON BITS

Sept. 24

GET DANCIN’ WITH DANCE BALTIMOREDance Baltimore celebrates Entertainer of the Year Emeritus

Michael Jackson (“MJ”) with a special series of dance classes. Learn the steps

to one of the most popular videos of all time, “Thriller,” throughout September

and October, with a final performance set for Halloween night, Oct. 31.“Thriller”

will be taught at the Eubie Blake Center, 847 North Howard St. Street parking is

available. Space is limited; advance registration is not required but suggested.

No previous dance experience is necessary, and ages 8 and older are welcome.

Classes are offered on a pay-what-you-can basis. For more information, visit the

Dance Baltimore website at www.dancebaltimore.org or register online at

ctg@dancebaltimore.org. Call the Dance Baltimore Hot Line to register by phone,

(443) 470-9084.

HONOR FLIGHT FILMView a 90-minute film tribute to the veterans of World War II

called Honor Flight: One Last Mission about the organization re-

sponsible for flying WWII veterans to the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C. The

program at the Bykota Senior Center on Wednesday, Sept. 25 from 11:30 a.m. to

1:30 p.m. includes a free lunch. The center is located at 611 Central Ave., Tow-

son. To RSVP, call (410) 887-3094.

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

Sept. 25

NOTICE TO SENIORS, VETERANS AND THE DISABLED

What would you say if we told you – you don’t have to pay your creditcard or medical bills? Most of our clients say, “ank you.”Living on Social Security, disability payments, pensions or veteran’s bene-fits? Federal law states that your income cannot be taken to repay debts,even some student loans. Don’t endure frustrating calls and letters fromcollection agents. You can live worry-free as thousands of our clients do.

Stop creditors from breaking the law by collecting debts you can’t pay.ere is an affordable alternative to bankruptcy. For as little as $20 permonth you can employ a DCSD Attorney to deal with your debts.

Call Debt Counsel for Seniors and the DisabledFor a Free Consultation

at 1-800-992-3275 EXT. 1304Founded in 1998Jerome S. Lamet

Founder & Supervising Attorney • Former Bankruptcy Trusteewww.debtcounsel.net

info@lawyers-united.com

DCSD shelters you from harassmentDCSD protects your incomeDCSD is not a bankruptcy

By Elliot RaphaelsonWhen most individuals prepare for re-

tirement, they count on three streams ofincome: employer-administered retire-ment plans, typically a defined-benefit planand defined-contribution plan such as a401(k); independent savings and invest-ment; and Social Security.

All too often, retirees end up dependingon Social Security income to a greater ex-tent than they had planned. That makes it allthe more important that they make the right

decisions about maximizing their benefits. Once a person has made basic choices

about benefits, they will not be able tochange them, so it is imperative to under-stand all options and their implications.

You have a fair amount of leeway as towhen you claim your Social Security in-come. You can start receiving benefits asearly as 62, as late as 70, or at full retire-ment age (FRA), which falls in between.Taking your benefits earlier reduces theiramount.

A guide that can helpWhen should you begin? That depends

on a lot of personal factors that you willneed to sort out. An excellent resource tohelp you do that is Social Security InsideOut, a booklet written by Robert Bruce.

Bruce worked for the Social Security Ad-ministration (SSA) for 31 years, and he re-tired as a district manager. He knows how toavoid common mistakes people make re-garding applying for Social Security benefits.

His 38-page booklet (available at SocialSe-curityInsideOut.com, $19.95) contains agreat deal of useful information, including alist of retirement pitfalls, along with work-sheets to help in your decision-making.

The worksheet asks for information re-lating to your marriage, including dates,your children, and military and civilian ca-reer information. You will use the work-sheet to discuss retirement options with aSSA claims representative.

Once you have filled out the worksheet,Bruce recommends that you write downwhat questions you want to ask SSA aboutbenefits. Then call 1-800-772-1213 to reacha representative.

The worksheet allows you to write down

the information you receive from theclaims representative. The worksheet isbroken down into three categories foreach spouse: retirement benefits, spousalbenefits, and widow/widower benefits.

You should obtain information from therepresentative for each category for bene-fits at age 62, at FRA and age 70. In addi-tion, you should get additional informationsuch as the starting date of your benefitsfor each option.

After recording all the information, youwill be in a position to analyze it, and deter-mine which options make sense for youand your spouse. You can then apply forbenefits over the phone or in person with aclaims representative.

You can apply for benefits when you arewithin three months of being eligible to re-ceive them. However, to make the best de-cision, you should contact SSA well beforethat to review your options.

Disability and widow benefitsThere are a lot of special cases for initi-

ating benefits, and the booklet highlights

Make the most of Social Security benefits22 Law & Money | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com OCTOBE R 2 0 1 3 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

See SOCIAL SECURITY, page 24

FINANCIAL PLANNING AND BENEFITS WORKSHOPAttend a free workshop on “Financial Planning, Government Bene-

fits and Access to Healthcare” on Saturday, Sept. 28 from 10 a.m.

to 1 p.m. at Union Baptist Church, hosted by Maryland Senator Delores Kelley.

Topics include healthcare reform, veterans and Social Security benefits, selecting

a retirement community, benefits of a will, selecting contractors and college sav-

ings plans. Speakers will be from the Maryland Dept. of Aging, Consumer Rights

Coalition, Center for Veterans Education and other organizations. Refreshments

will be served. The church is located at 1219 Druid Hill Ave., Baltimore. No RSVP

required. For more information, call (410) 523-6880.

BEACON BITS

Sept. 28

BA L T IMORE B E A CON — O C TOBE R 2 0 1 3 Say you saw it in the Beacon | Law & Money 23

1

N

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could save on Medicare prescription copays at Target Pharmacy.

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Target Pharmacy has you covered.

them. For example, disabled widows orwidowers can begin claiming benefits at50, or at 60 if they are a widow or widowersurviving a divorced spouse.

If you apply for retirement benefits atage 62, your benefits typically will be lessthan what you would receive at FRA. How-ever, if you qualify for disability benefits,you will not be penalized even if you re-ceive benefits before your FRA. Accord-ingly, you should file for retirement anddisability if you have health problems.

A spouse cannot claim spousal benefits ifthe husband (or wife) has not applied for re-tirement benefits. However, to get aroundthis restriction, one could apply for and sus-pend benefits upon reaching FRA. Then thespouse can apply for spousal benefits.

If you can afford to postpone retirement

benefits after your FRA, your retirement ben-efits increase 8 percent a year up to age 70.Either spouse can elect spousal benefits andpostpone filing for retirement benefits basedon their work record until age 70 in order toobtain higher monthly benefits then.

A widow can apply for widow’s benefitsat age 60, and then apply for her own re-tirement benefits later. There is no penaltyfor claiming widow’s benefits. If you marrybefore you are 60, you can still get widow’sbenefits even if that marriage ends.

Even if you are not close to any of the el-igibility dates, it pays to plan in advance. Ifyou wait to collect the relevant data, youmay make a decision in haste that can costyou thousands of dollars.

Do your homework in advance. Formost retirees, Social Security income willbe a major factor affecting your lifestyle.

© 2013 Elliot Raphaelson. Distributed byTribune Media Services, Inc.

By Jill SchlesingerYou’ll be receiving bank, investment or

retirement quarterly statements in themail in early October, which makes it aperfect time to plan to fire up the shredderand organize that stack of documents pil-ing up on the table.

Here are some thoughts on financial pa-perwork that you can toss:Bank statements: Generally speaking,

you only need to keep bank statements forone year, BUT, if you think that you may be

applying for Medicaid, many states requirethat you show five year’s worth of bankstatements. Also, you should hold on torecords that are related to your taxes, busi-ness expenses, home improvements,mortgage payments and major purchasesfor as long as you need them.Credit card bills: Unless you need to

reference something on your credit cardstatement for tax or business purposes, orfor proof of purchase for a specific item,you can shred credit card statements after

45 days. As with the bank statements,hang on to those statements that you mayneed for your taxes, as proof of purchaseor for insurance.Tax returns/supporting documents:

Despite being able to amend your tax re-turns going back three years, the IRS hasseven years to audit your returns if theagency suspects you made a mistake, andup to six years if you likely underreportedyour gross income by 25 percent or more.As a result, you need to hold on to your re-turns and all supporting documents forseven years.Retirement account statements (in-

cluding 401(k), 403(b), 457, IRA,Roth IRA, SIMPLE, PSP and Keogh):Keep notices of any portfolio changes youmake intra-month (or intra-quarter forsome plans) until the subsequent state-

ment arrives to confirm those changes.After making sure the statement is cor-rect, you can shred away. One note: keepevidence of IRA contributions until youwithdraw the money.Brokerage and mutual fund account

monthly statements/periodic tradeconfirmations (taxable accounts): Re-tain confirmations until the transaction isdetailed in your monthly report. For taxpurposes, flag a month where a transactionoccurs because you may need to accessthis information in the future. Otherwise,shred monthly statements as new ones ar-rive, but keep annual statements until thesale of each asset within the account oc-curs and for seven years thereafter, in caseyou get audited.

24 Law & Money | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com OCTOBE R 2 0 1 3 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

Talking on the phone can be easy again.You have our word.

To learn more, visit mdrelay. org or  call 1-800-552-7724 (Voice/TTY). 

Using voice recognition technology, a Captioned Telephone operator makes it possible for you to receive on-screen captions of what your caller says as you listen. You may qualify for a Captioned Telephone, ampli�ed phone, or other devices through the Maryland Accessible Telecommunications program at no cost.

Captioned Telephone from Maryland Relay

Word-for-word captions Easy-to-read display Simple to use

THE SOURCE FOR SENIOR LIVING

on ouraward

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To order your FREE guide, call 1•800•820•3013log on to www.NewLifeStyles.com

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Searching for Senior LivingOptions?

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What documents to keep, what to shred?

Social SecurityFrom page 22

See DOCUMENTS, page 25

Pay stubs: Keep for one year, and besure to match them to your W-2 form be-fore you shred.Medical records: Given how hard it is

to deal with health insurance companies,you should keep medical records for atleast a year, although some suggest keep-ing records for five years from the timewhen treatment for the symptoms ended.Retain information about prescription in-formation, specific medical histories,health insurance information and contactinformation for your physician.Utility and phone bills: Shred them

after you’ve paid them, unless they containtax-deductible expenses.

Paperwork to keep Appliance manuals and warranties:

Keep these documents handy in case some-thing goes wrong and you need to cash inon the warranty or contact a repairman.Vehicle titles and loan documents:

Do you want to wait in line for an hour atyour local department of motor vehiclesoffice in order to request a duplicate ofyour vehicle title? Me neither, so keep thispaperwork in a safe and accessible place.House and mortgage documents:

Hang on to your deed as well as home pur-chase, mortgage, sale and improvementrecords until six years after you sell. Re-

member that improvements you make andexpenses such as your real estate agent’scommission can increase the basis in yourhouse and potentially lower your capitalgains tax.Insurance policies: Keep your home-

owners, auto, disability and life insurancepolicies and declaration pages for as longas the policies remain in force. You canshred old policies.

Paperwork to keep forever (in a fireproofsafe, in the cloud or in a safe deposit box):

• Birth/death certificates and Social Se-curity cards

• Marriage licenses and divorce de-crees

• Pension plan documents• Copies of wills, trusts, healthcare prox-

ies/living wills and powers of attorney (at-torneys/executors should also have copies)

• Military discharge papers• Copies of burial deeds and plots• Safe-deposit box inventory© 2013 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

BA L T IMORE B E A CON — O C TOBE R 2 0 1 3 Say you saw it in the Beacon | Law & Money 25

DocumentsFrom page 24 LEGAL AIDE HELP

Discuss one-on-one any legal issues you have with Legal Aide As-

sistance. Appointments start at 9 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 27 at the Catonsville Sen-

ior Center, 501 N. Rolling Rd. Make an appointment in advance at the front desk.

For more information, call (410) 887-0900.

BEACON BITS

Sept. 27

BABY BOOMER SENIOR EXPOLearn about re-

sources, products and services avail-able for baby boomers and seniors atthe Baltimore County Department ofAging’s Baby Boomer Senior Expo onWednesday, Oct. 9, from 9 a.m. to 6p.m. and Thursday, Oct. 10, from 9a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Maryland StateFairgrounds in Timonium. Flu shots andhealth screenings will also be avail-able. Admission is $2 or two cans ofnon-perishable food. For more informa-tion, visit www.seniorexpoonline.com.

ALL ABOARD!The Chesapeake andAllegheny Live SteamPreservation Society

gives rides on scaled-down steamtrains for both adults and kids atLeakin Park. Train rides are availablefrom 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission isfree, though donations are welcome.Parking is available near the EagleDr. entrance to the park, off of Wind-sor Mill Rd.

ENTER THE AGE OF ELEGANCE PAGEANTIf you’re 55 or older

and can commit to four practice ses-sions, you can apply to be a contest-ant in the Age of Elegance SeniorPageant. If interested, contact NicoleBraxton or Leslie Yancey at Zeta Sen-ior Center, (410) 396-3535.

BEACON BITS

Oct. 9+

Oct. 13

Ongoing

By Carol SorgenTJ Lebhar got more than she bargained

for when she began volunteering at East-ern Interfaith Outreach in Essex morethan two years ago. “I didn’t really knowwhat I was getting into,” the 65-year-oldMiddle River resident chuckled.

Eastern Interfaith provides emergencyfood assistance to people who reside in theEssex, Middle River, Chase and Rosedalesections of Baltimore County. Emergencyfood supplies are provided up to four timesper year per family.

Lebhar said she is in charge of “gettinggroceries in and getting them out” to thepeople who need them. Eastern Inter-faith’s food pantry receives non-perishable

food from the federal government, whichis supplemented by food purchased by theorganization using donations from areachurches, businesses and individuals.

While the pantry is open two half-days aweek, Lebhar’s work involves much moretime — purchasing groceries, setting up,managing volunteers and raising funds.

But that’s OK with her. Lebhar is fillingan important role in the community and isglad she’s able to offer her services.

“I really enjoy meeting the people whocome through here,” she added. “You hearall kinds of stories” from those who mayhave lost their job, perhaps their home,and are so grateful to have a place willingto help them out.

While volunteers and food donations arealways welcome, “at the moment, we reallyneed financial support from the public,” shesaid, because the organization may have tomove.

Wide variety of volunteer jobsEastern Interfaith is one of the many

community agencies served by volunteersof RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Pro-gram) — one of the largest volunteer net-works in the nation for people 55 and over.

According to Tonee Lawson, RSVP Proj-ect Director for the Baltimore County De-partment of Aging, RSVP volunteerschoose how, where and how often theywant to serve. Commitments range from afew hours to 40 hours per week.

Volunteer opportunities vary from help-ing preserve the environment, to reducinghomelessness, helping seniors remain intheir own homes, and advocating for a

26 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com OCTOBE R 2 0 1 3 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

CareersVolunteers &

RSVP volunteers fill a void in community

Richard Amey, a volunteer with the food pantry at Eastern Interfaith Outreach, helpspack groceries for families in need. He found the position through RSVP (RetiredSenior Volunteer Program), a volunteer network for those 55 and over.

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See RSVP, page 27

Does your organization use senior volunteers

or do you employ a number of seniors?If you do and you’d like to be considered for a story in ourVolunteers & Careers section,

please send an email toinfo@thebeaconnewspapers.com.

healthy future, to name just a few.The program is open to all U.S. citizens,

nationals and lawful permanent-residentaliens who are 55 years of age and over.Volunteers receive pre-service orientation,training from the organization where theywill serve, and supplemental insurancewhile on duty.

RSVP volunteers do not receive mone-tary incentives, but sponsoring organiza-tions may reimburse them for some costsincurred during service.

The Baltimore County RSVP program hasabout 1,100 volunteers and 30 partnering or-

ganizations, including the American RedCross, Maryland Food Bank and BaltimoreCounty Public Schools, among others.

Running a museumFred Hall, 84, an RSVP volunteer and

resident of Carney, serves as the coordina-tor for volunteers at the Glenn L. MartinMaryland Aviation Museum.

Hall keeps track of volunteer hours,arranges for volunteer staffing at museumevents, makes phone calls and more.There are about 61 active volunteers at themuseum, said Hall, all of whom come fromRSVP.

“We’re always glad to get more volun-teers,” Hall said. “We can use all the help

we can get. We wouldn’t be able to run themuseum without volunteers.”

Whatever your interests are, RSVP issure to have a volunteer opportunity foryou, said Lawson, the county project direc-tor. Volunteers enjoy being active andusing their life-learned skills in service toothers, while the organizations served byRSVP volunteers are grateful for the helpthey receive in achieving their goals.

“Volunteers can really help push themission of an organization forward,”

Lawson said.For more information about RSVP, or to

volunteer, call (410) 887-3101, visitwww.baltimorecountymd.gov, or stop bythe RSVP booth at the Senior Expo Volun-teer Fair, Oct. 9-10, at the Maryland StateFairgrounds in Timonium.

To make a donation to Eastern Inter-faith Outreach, send a check to them atP.O. Box 7878, Essex, MD 21221, or dropoff your contribution at 155 Orville Rd. inEssex.

more active set, Lake is teaching moregentle martial arts, such as t’ai chi, toolder adults at locations such as the YMCAand the Parkville Senior Center.

“I learn so much from them,” said Lake,“but I also want to teach them about main-taining their quality of life at any age.”

As part of Lake’s commitment to stayingactive and healthy, he has taken up run-ning on a regular basis. He’s written nu-merous poetic “insights” about what run-ning means to him, such as this poem:

Streaming flow of energy,Gathers strength in synergy,

Muscles, sinew, tendons act,Collective power on a fast track,Body heat releases tension,Solar powered by the SunPerspiration cleanses poresChanneled “Chi” makes me soarBody, Mind with Spirit lively,Feeling spry, stagnation free!

Though he’s now recuperating from ahip replacement, Lake hopes to be, well,up and running again soon. In the mean-time, he’s taking long, daily walks to speedthe process along.

Personalized artIn addition to his inspirational drawings

and note cards, Lake also creates individ-

ual “namesakes” — drawings that includea person’s name and visually say some-thing unique about that individual.

“At every show or exhibition, I get somany requests for these,” said Lake, whohas created more than 300 “namesake”drawings. “They’re very personal, andthey ignite something in the recipient,”he said, recalling one young girl whoseeyes lit up at the book-related drawingLake created for her at her mother’s re-quest.

Lake’s pen and ink drawings are part ofa long line of artistic endeavors that haveincluded watercolors (he’s a lifetime mem-ber of the Baltimore Watercolor Society), aline of furniture called “Burniture,” in

which he burned images into wood, andhis new interest — woodcarving.

“It’s very detailed and disciplined, andrequires almost a surgical touch,” Lakesaid. But he’s finding it so interestingthat he may put down his pens for awhile.

While Lake does sell his work — thesigned, double-matted, framed prints are$50 each, and a set of eight note cardscosts $10 — he said it’s not the money thatmatters to him.

“It’s the interaction with the people Imeet, and the opportunity to communicatewith them about how to get through life’sstruggles that matters the most to me,” hesaid.

B A L T IMORE B E A CON — O C TOBE R 2 0 1 3 Say you saw it in the Beacon | Volunteers & Careers 27

Alzheimer’s care is more than meets the eye.

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Meat Kosher Dining Services Dairy Kosher Dining Services

1.)!"%$/")*&,$-./0&12/$3&4$&!5/$&#.&6.-72/$&2778$!&#.&2778$!9&>66($&'6B=C$&=C$466($A&'*?B44@;$D-&.$@6B$/**$+/=E.$&4:&@/$:-&.$@6B$,*.;$0.$FBC6'$)*+,-./2$@6BE44$C+/A61*'$56'*$.-&=$&$?&=A@$?&A&C*$&=C$.-'**$5*&4/$&$C&@;$G6BE44$H=C$$$$'*&4$*IJ*'+*=A*$$$$A65J'*-*=/+1*$/*'1+A*/$&=C$&$$$$/64+C$'*JB.&.+6=$?6'$-*4J+=,$@6B'$5*56'@KA-&44*=,*C$461*C$6=*$4+1*$4+?*$.6$.-*$?B44*/.;1288&:;;<;=:<>?@@$?6'$&$J'+1&.*$.6B'$6'1+/+.$/66=;$L6$5&..*'$-6:$@6B$/4+A*$+.2:*E'*$/6$5BA-$56'*$.-&=$5**./$.-*$*@*;

ArtistFrom page 1

RSVPFrom page 26

Tell them you saw it in the Beacon!

28 Volunteers & Careers | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com OCTOBE R 2 0 1 3 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

You’re on top of your medications.But we make a good back up.You know it’s important to stay on your medications exactly as prescribed. However, if you miss a dose, want a lower-cost alternative, or experience any side effects, we can answer any questions. Speak to your local CVS Pharmacist to learn more.

Find a store near you at www.cvs.com

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BA L T IMORE B E A CON — O C TOBE R 2 0 1 3 Say you saw it in the Beacon 29

TravelLeisure &TravelLeisure &

By Gwen GibsonTo fully enjoy the riches of Catalonia

and the Basque Country of northernSpain, it helps to have stamina, curiosity, ahearty appetite for fine wines and gourmetfoods — and a knowing, multi-lingualguide with friends in high places.

I realized this during a recent, 10-daytrip to this beautiful, autonomous corner ofSpain.

Initially, four items were on my “must-do”list. One, visit La Sagrada Familia, the magnif-icent cathedral created by Barcelona’s fa-mously controversial architect, Antoni Gaudi.

Two, eat pintzos (Basque-style tapas)while strolling the soft sands along San Se-bastian’s sea walk.

Three, visit the newest Guggenheimmuseum in Bilbao.

Four, eat in Pamplona, where ErnestHemmingway dined and wrote part of TheSun Also Rises.

I accomplished this and a great deal

more, together with 33 others who hadalso booked the challenging study tourarranged by the Flying Longhorns, thetravel arm of the University of Texas Alum-ni Association.

We were a large, diverse group with dif-ferent backgrounds and political leanings.But we had a sense of camaraderie thanksin large part to the patience and abidingsense of humor shown by Antonio Ruiz,our tour guide in Spain.

A native of Spain with a degree in lin-guistics, Ruiz escorted us to scores of fa-mous landmarks as well as to bars, restau-rants and concerts. When we encounteredwaiting lines Ruiz waved us past like a sea-soned maître d’.

Four other local tour guides, all gradu-ates of Spanish universities, also spoke tous about local lore and culture as we ex-plored northern Spain, starting with Cat-alonia and the Basque Country.

Autonomous regionsHere are some of the tid-

bits we learned. The histo-ry of these areas predatesthe formation of Spain as aunified country. Indeed,the medieval kingdoms ofNavarre and Aragónhelped to create Spain.

But neither Catalonianor the Basque Countryhas ever been an official na-tion. Despite this, theycling to their centuries-oldculture, while occasionallythreatening to secede fromtheir “mother country.”

The Spanish Parliamentgranted autonomy to Cat-alonia and the BasqueCountry in 1979, but thedebates go on even asthese areas bask in theirglory as some of Europe’smost popular tourist areas.

The Basque language,still spoken by many, doesnot derive from any otherlanguage. It originated lo-cally.

Spain is geographicallythe highest country in Eu-rope outside of Switzer-

land; Catalonia and the Basque Countryare the highest points in Spain.

The flags of Catalonia, the Basque Coun-try and Spain are all red and yellow, butwith different designs — and different ad-mirers. Be careful what you salute.

Our tour started in Barcelona, the capi-tal of Catalonia and a bustling port city onthe Mediterranean Sea. Barcelona, with ametropolitan population of 4.5 million, liesbetween the sea and the foothills of thePyrenees and cannot grow “any way butup,” the locals complain with a dry laugh.

The second largest city in Spain, afterMadrid, Barcelona is home to a famousopera house; a 100,000-seat football stadi-um; a 60,000-seat Olympic stadium; notedmuseums like the Picasso, Miró and Mar-itime, and the popular Las Ramblas Boule-vard that reaches from the heart of the cityto the sea. Busy shops, cafes, markets andstreet performers keep this stretch alive,day and night.

But nothing here attracts tourists likethe works of Antoni Gaudi, the mod-ernisme, or art nouveau, architect whowas 100 years ahead of his time.

His creations include ornate early lamp-posts, the several houses he designed (andwhich locals boast inspired Star Wars cre-ator George Lucas), the magnificent ParcGuell in suburban Barcelona, and LaSagrada Familia, or the Sacred Family, thecity’s number-one tourist attraction and a

UNESCO World Heritage site. Construction on La Sagrada Familia

started in 1832. Gaudi worked on it for 41years and is buried in the crypt. But themagnificent cathedral is not yet finished.Six architects are still at work here. Com-pletion is scheduled for 2026, on the 100thanniversary of Gaudi’s death. “But don’tbank on that,” one worker laughed.

From Barcelona we travelled by privatebus to Zaragoza, San Sebastian, Bilbao andPamplona. Since billboards are limited onthese roads, we could see clearly the greenfields, poppies and wildflowers along theway.

We also hiked on city streets, ruralroutes and mountainsides. Antonioequipped us with headphones, called“whispers,” to keep us informed — and inline, so no one wandered off to a bazaar orbar.

Capital of Basque countryWe also needed the headphones in San

Sebastian, the proud capital of the BasqueCountry, which extends from the foothillsof the Pyrenees into southern France.

Site of many landmarks, museums andparks, San Sebastian also beckons touristswith a four-mile oceanfront promenadethat wraps around the city’s beaches. Youget a sweeping view of this from atop near-

Age-old Spain's contemporary landmarks

Colorful buildings line a canal in the city of Bilbao in Basque Country. Bilbao is hometo the curving limestone, glass and titanium Guggenheim Museum designed by FrankGehry.

Casa Batlló in Barcelona was built by Antoni Gaudí be-tween 1904 and 1906, commissioned as a private homeby the textile industrialist Josep Batlló. Today, the spec-tacular facade is an iconic landmark in the city, and thebuilding houses a modernist museum open to the public.

© S

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There are many ways to get your car toa distant destination besides driving it.See story on page 31.

by Mounte Igeldo where — on a clear day— you can also see France.

Like Antonio, our lecturer here, DavidBumstead, emphasized that San Sebastian“is one of the safest cities in the world.” Healluded to the ETA — the violent separatistgroup that operated out of the Basquecountry of Spain and southern France foryears. ETA translates in English to“Basque independence and security.”

“The ETA is no longer big,” Bumsteadstressed. “It went too far, did some terriblethings. But they have since become mar-ginalized and have declared a permanentceasefire.”

We also learned that Ferdinand Magel-lan was not the first to circumnavigate the

world. He was killed during a battle in thePhilippines. His second in command, JuanSebastian Elcano, a Basque explorer, tookover and completed the voyage. A monu-ment to Sebastian Elcano stands in Gitaria,a seaside community near San Sebastian.

Bilbao, another city with little crime,was transformed from a dark industrialtown, known for exporting steel and coal,into a clean and popular tourist site afterthe Guggenheim Museum opened here in1997.

Designed by Frank Gehry, the distinc-tive building is constructed of limestone,glass and more than 30,000 thin titaniumplates that change color dramatically as theweather changes. From some angles, itlooks more like a sculpture than a building.

Bilbao landed the handsome museumby paying millions for the building and the

Guggenheim name with taxpayer dollars.The Guggenheim Foundation chooses theart exhibited, which is mainly modern orImpressionistic.

Running of the bullsIn sharp contrast, the principal attrac-

tion in Pamplona is the raucous, week-longFestival of San Fermín, which opens withhundreds of bullfighting fans runningthrough city streets to the bull ring, aheadof six frightened bulls.

Held each year from July 6 to July 14, ithonors Saint Fermín, the city’s first bishopand patron saint, who was beheaded inFrance in the third century.

All of Catalonia and San Sebastian in theBasque country have banned bull fighting,but this remains Pamplona’s most lucra-tive attraction.

The hotel room where Hemingwaystayed during the bullfighting festival nowcosts 2,000 euros per day. Orson Wellsstayed here once and skipped out on hisbill. Proudly framed, the bill hangs in thehotel lobby.

“If you have anything bad to say aboutHemingway, don’t say it here,” lecturerGuillem Genestar said. “If you have any-thing bad to say about France, go rightahead.”

Our close-knit group of 34 had a four-course meal fit for a matador at Café Iruña,where photos of Hemingway still line thewalls.

As I told you, this trip took stamina. Butif I could do it in my 80s, so can you. It’sworth the effort. Catalonia and the BasqueCountry, combined, are no larger thanNew Hampshire. But the welcome you feelhere is many times as big.

Planning your tripBritish Airlines offers the lowest mid-

October fare from BWI to Barcelona at$1,005 roundtrip.

If you aren’t taking a package tour, like theone I and my fellow alumni took, I recom-mend the Hotel Cristal Palace in Barcelona(www.eurostarscristalpalace.com), whererates start at about $190 a night, and the sea-side Hotel Londres y de Inglaterra (Londonand England) in San Sebastian (www.hlon-dres.com/en), for about $310 a night.Both have great dinner and breakfast restau-rants and are located in the heart of the citynear many sights.

Restaurants we enjoyed in Barcelona,outside the hotel, included the CitrusRestaurant on the Passeig de Gracia,which specializes in Mediterranean cui-sine, and the Catalan restaurant Pomara-da, on the same street.

In San Sebastian, we enjoyed a seasidedinner at the La Perla restaurant. Forlunches, we strolled the waterfront look-ing for the best places to try “pintxos” (pin-chos) or tapas, the local specialty.

Gwen Gibson is a freelance writer livingin Austin, Texas.

30 Leisure & Travel | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com OCTOBE R 2 0 1 3 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

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SpainFrom page 29

TAKE A TRIP TO THE EASTERN SHOREEnjoy an all-you-can-eat crab feast at Kentmorr Restaurant, andtravel to Delaware Park Casino, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, with the

Parkville Senior Center. Cost is $78. Call (410) 882-6087 to reserve a seat.

CRUISE THE CHESAPEAKE BAY Join the Liberty Senior Center on this Pony Express Nature Cruisetraveling across the Chesapeake Bay to Virginia’s Eastern Shore,

home of the Assateague wild ponies, on Wednesday Oct. 2. The cost is $120.Call (410) 887-0780 for information and reservations.

BEACON BITS

Oct. 1

Oct. 2

By Victor BlockEvery year, countless residents of the

Washington area follow migrating birdssouth to Florida and other warm-weatherdestinations to escape frigid winter tem-peratures and the snow and ice that ac-company them.

Others from the same region and acrossthe country are on the go because they arevacationing or wintering elsewhere ormoving to a new state.

Whether traveling for a vacation, work oranother reason, a major decision peopleface is how to get where they wish to go andhow to have transportation when they ar-rive. The choice boils down to four basic al-ternatives, each of which has pros and cons.

If you’re planning a “snow bird” winterescape to Florida or another southern sunspot, or a temporary or permanent moveelsewhere, it pays to give some thought tothe available options.

On the roadDriving your vehicle to your destination

has both advantages and disadvantages.On a positive note, you can fill a car withmore suitcases and personal belongingsthan you could transport by plane or train,and you don’t have to rent a car at yourdestination.

On the other hand, driving means paying

for tolls, hotel stays, meals and fuel. There’salso the hidden cost of wear and tear onyour vehicle (not to mention on yourself),which can be substantial during a trip ofhundreds or even thousands of miles.

Taking to the airSome people prefer the speed of travel-

ing by air, which gets you where you wantto be in the quickest possible way. Ofcourse, airline tickets can be expensive,but part of that cost may be offset becausethere are no expenditures for hotel ormotel rooms, meals and gas en route, asthere are for those who drive their car.

On the other hand, while they reachtheir destination quickly, people who flyare subject to the whims of public trans-portation when they arrive, unless theyrent a car, which can be costly for an ex-tended stay.

Another challenge for folks who fly isthat the size and number of suitcases theycan check through and carry on a plane arelimited. That can be a big drawback for any-one planning a lengthy vacation trip,though there are ways to ship bags aheadof time as well. [See “Airlines will shlep yourbags for a price,” June Beacon, page 20.]

Riding the railsPassengers aboard trains don’t have to

worry about high excess luggage fees likethose who fly. (Amtrak allows two checkedbags free, and charges $20 each for up to 2additional bags.) Still, dealing with enoughsuitcases for a lengthy stay in a home awayfrom home can be cumbersome at best.

Train travel also has added costs, in-cluding food purchased aboard, and theadded price of sleeping accommodationsfor those on overnight trips who don’twant to try to snooze sitting up.

Some Florida-bound travelers take the

Amtrak Auto Train, which transports pas-sengers together with their automobilefrom Lorton, Va., to Sanford, Fla., just out-side of Orlando. The daily trip takes 17 anda half hours.

The basic one-way price for two passen-gers and one car varies by date, but runsin the range of $400 to $600 in coach, and$750 to $1,200 for a sleeper (the upper endincludes a private toilet and shower). Din-

Getting your car to a distant destinationBA L T IMORE B E A CON — O C TOBE R 2 0 1 3 Say you saw it in the Beacon | Leisure & Travel 31

See CAR TRANSPORT, page 33

32 Leisure & Travel | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com OCTOBE R 2 0 1 3 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

LifeChecksm

When we fill your prescription, our LifeCheckcomputer system lets our pharmacists triplecheck your prescriptions.*

Satellite Linksm

Since all of our Pharmacies are linked bysatellite network, we can access your prescription profile and fill your prescription at any location.*

Refills By PhoneRefills just got easier. Call the Pharmacynumber on your prescription bottle, enter the prescription I.D. number printed on the labeland we will tell you when it will be ready.

Internet RefillsWith Internet Refills, you can order your pre-scription without ever leaving the house. Justgo to www.riteaid.com and click “Refill Now”,select Store Pick-up or Mail Delivery andsimply enter prescription information.

Rite AdviceWith every prescription, you will receive written information on the dosage, sideeffects and potential drug interaction.

Vitamin ProgramOnly Rite Aid pharmacists are speciallytrained to know vitamins. Ask your Rite Aid pharmacist for a personal vitamin profile.

“Being injured on the job is hard enough. Your Rite Aid Pharmacist is here to personally help youalong your road to recovery.” Ask us about ourWorkers’ Compensation Prescription Program.There are no hassles, no delays and no out-of-pocket expenses.

Flavor RxWe make children’s medicines a lot lessyucky. Ask the pharmacist to add any ofour 20 great flavors to any of your liquidmedications.

That’s why we give you more.Our pharmacists are at the heart

of everything we do.They can counsel you on your medica-

tions, side effects, drug interactions...even vitamins. We give you more thanyour medications; we’ll give you theadvice you need.

Plus a series of pharmacy benefits likeno other drugstore.

Workers’ Compensation

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ner and continental breakfast are includedin the ticket price.

Of course, those heading for places inFlorida other than Orlando (or to othersouthern or western states) still have todrive to their final destination, which addsmore hours, and dollars, to the trip.

Cars on trucksThen there are those who combine the

speed of flying, or a nostalgic journey bytrain, with the benefits of having use oftheir own vehicle at their vacation destina-tion. While they fly or ride, their car is car-ried there on an open or enclosed trans-port truck.

The truck, but not the cars on it, addshundreds of miles to its odometer. Yourcar’s trunk may be filled with luggage,clothing bags and other items needed foran extended stay. Some companies do notencourage this, however, as they do nottake responsibility for materials lost orstolen from the vehicles.

Auto transport companies offer termi-nal-to-terminal service, door-to-door pick-up and delivery, or both.

Charges for car transportation vary, andit’s important to know exactly what you’regetting for your money. For example, acomparison of prices from several compa-nies for picking up a car in the Washing-ton, D.C., area and delivering it to Saraso-ta, Fla., ranged from $570 to $740. Also,most companies schedule pick-up and de-livery of cars during a range of dates thatcan be as long as a week.

Each transportation service offers itsown benefits and deals. Here are some toconsider:

Autolog Auto Transport, the originator of

shipping privately owned cars, schedules ve-hicle pick-ups on a specific date, and — un-like some companies — does not charge acancellation fee. It delivers door-to-door andalso has a partnership with the Auto Train.For a free price quote, call 1-866-425-1125 orvisit autologmarketing.net/beacon.

Carbone Auto Transportation picks upvehicles within one to seven days and of-fers only door-to-door service. Visitwww.carbonetransportation.com or call 1-888-511-1888 for pricing.

Corporate Auto Transport offers openand enclosed carriers. It encourages plan-ahead scheduling (one to two weeks) butalso offers expedited shipping (pick up with-in 72 hours) for an extra fee. Visit www.cor-porateautotransport.com for a price quote.

Both Stateway Auto Transport and Har-vester Trucking offer door-to-door serviceonly. They also provide vehicle trackingwhile en route and the option of enclosedcarriers at a higher fee. Enclosed carriersoffer more protection for vehicles, which

may be worthwhile for luxury or newer cars. For more about Stateway and a price

quote, visit www.statewayauto.com or call1-877-848-7474. For Harvester Trucking,

visit www.harvestertrucking.com or call(815) 679-6742.

Washington, D.C.-based Victor Block isthe Beacon’s travel writer.

BA L T IMORE B E A CON — O C TOBE R 2 0 1 3 Say you saw it in the Beacon | Leisure & Travel 33

I’m here for you.I’m here

7 2 5 M O U N T W I L S O N L A N E P I K E S V I L L E , MA RYL A N D 2 1 2 0 8 ( 4 1 0 ) 4 8 6 - 9 0 9 0

Vi s i t o u r we b s i te at www.Nor thOaksLCS.com

When you live in this senior living community, you’ll

enjoy a close connection with staff members whose

work and wishes are to connect you to the best in life.

Please call (410) 486-9090 to learn more.

“Whatever needs to be done I’m ready to do.”

Naum Tizenberg, lead security valet at North Oaks, is the kind of person whose job title only begins to tell the story. Security duties, yes. But when something needs fi xing or someone needs a hand doing something, count on him to be right there – often beyond his regular work hours. Tinker with a computer, repair a fan, you name it. Residents think of Naum as one of the family, and he sees them that way as well. Every retirement community should have a Naum. Live here and you’ll have one as well.

Car transportFrom page 31

LES MISERABLES AT TOBY’SSee Les Miserables atToby’s Dinner Theatre

in Columbia on Sunday, Oct. 6, andenjoy a delicious brunch, hosted bythe Pikesville Senior Center. Ticketsare $70; reserve at (410) 484-5285.

APPLE FESTIVAL IN BIGLERVILLE, PABreakfast at Cozy

Restaurant on your own and thentravel on to the National AppleHarvest Festival on Saturday, Oct.12. Tickets are $32. For reserva-tions, call Victory Villa Senior Centerat (410) 887-0235.

MARYLAND RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL

Join jousters, jugglers, archers andmore at this annual step back in timeto the 16th century. The MarylandRenaissance Festival takes place week-ends through Oct. 20 at the CrownsvilleFestival Fairgrounds. Tickets are $8-$22. For more information, visitwww.marylandrenaissancefestival.com.

BEACON BITS

Oct. 6

Radio Flea Market

Cars, boats, furniture, antiques, tools, appliancesEverything and anything is sold on

Heard every Sunday, 7-8:00 a.m. on 680 WCBM

Oct. 12

Ongoing

By Michael ToscanoGarishly sentimental, and with a score

that’s fully drenched in overheated melo-drama, the musical Les Misérables could bea long, three-hour slog for theatergoerswho appreciate subtlety.

Almost all of the songs are mighty an-thems, with only a rare break for a ballad orfun tune; characters are drawn with a broadbrush; and it is a significant challenge forsingers, as it relentlessly tries to grab youby the heartstrings and shake you all about.

And yet, as we know, Les Misérables is amagnificent, sumptuous feast of a show whenit is performed properly. So, good news! Allthe strengths of the Boubil and SchönbergTony Award-winner are on full display in a ro-bust, colorful and full-throated production atToby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia.

They’re touting it as their most ambi-tious show ever, and while scenic elementsare necessarily constrained because ofToby’s in-the-round layout, a newcomer tothe show will get a deep appreciation ofwhy this is now the world’s longest-run-ning musical. And longtime fans will enjoyanother chance to wallow in the epic pas-sions, broken dreams and redemption of

the human spirit the lush score explores.The timing is ironic, as this bold produc-

tion coincides with the sudden closing ofToby’s sister theater in Baltimore. Like thequiet passing of drive-in theaters from theAmerican landscape, dinner theaters are edg-ing ever closer to extinction, a victim of...what,exactly? Changing demographics? A badeconomy? Have people stopped enjoying thecomforts of an ample buffet and drinks on thetable in addition to seeing a show?

I’m not sure why some self-styled the-ater aficionados (and a certain daily news-paper which itself is going the way of thedrive-in) view dinner theater as somethingnot deserving of attention.

But let them miss out, as long as you gosee this show. Enjoy the brunch or dinnerthat’s included in your ticket price, too.And then, when the show picks up somecoveted Helen Hayes Award nominations,you can brag that you were there.

A gritty opera liteThis is the Cameron Mackintosh produc-

tion of Victor Hugo’s 250-year old novel,adapted into a sung-through musical inwhich many of the songs encompass entire

long scenes. It’s not light opera, but with al-most no spoken dialogue, and with the heavysubject matter explored in technically de-manding singing, it could be called opera lite. Les Misérables pulls us back in time to

the grim prisons, raucous inns and grittyfactories, the sewers and streets of France

from 1815 to 1832. Saint-like Jean Valjean(Daniel Felton) has been jailed for 19 yearsafter stealing bread to feed a starving child.

Finally released, but under the watch of anobsessed police inspector Javert (Lawrence

34 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com OCTOBE R 2 0 1 3 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

Arts & Style Local colleges stage more than 100 artexhibits each year. Shown above is aninstallation at the gallery of the Mary-land Institute College of Art.

NOW PLAYING

TOBY’S DINNER THEATRE OF COLUMBIA • CALL 410-730-8311

OPENING NOVEMBER 15

Two Amazing Shows You Won’t Want To Miss!

Dinner & Sho wTobysDinnerTheatre.com

RESERVE YOUR SEATS TODAY!

Based on availability. Due to the nature of theatre bookings, all shows,dates and times are subject to change.

A Must See in-the-round

A true classic; this joyous,heart-warming musical

is perfect for the holidays.

Toby’s robust, masterful Les Miserables

In its inspiring production of Les Miserables, Toby’s Dinner Theatre creatively accom-modates its in-the-round stage by using see-through scaffolding as a barricade. Theepic musical continues through Nov. 19.

See LES MISERABLES, page 35

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B. Munsey), he skips parole, which wouldhave further condemned him to a life ofpoverty and misery, and becomes a success-ful factory owner under an assumed name.

Along the way, he takes in the waiflikeCosette (Katie Heidbreder), daughter ofan ill-fated employee, Fantine (Janine Sun-day). With Javert relentlessly stalkinghim, Valjean gets drawn in to a citizen up-rising against the unpopular government,and a giant barricade is erected in thestreets for a bloody final showdown.

Innovative sets and choreographyThe unique feature of Toby’s production

is, of course, that it is performed in theround. As always, directors Toby Oren-stein and Steven Fleming make efficientuse of the cramped space.

They creatively use pools of darkness andlight to aid in quick scene transitions, andthey position and rearrange their two dozencast members in tightly choreographed ac-tion that make it all seem quite natural.

Those familiar with the show, and Toby’s,will wonder how the heck they manage tostage a giant barricade. Well, set designerDavid Hopkins utilizes scaffolding to bril-liant effect. Massive segments aresqueezed in through side entrances andrapidly assembled. Because it’s scaffolding,you can see through the set even as actors

clamber all over it, singing their hearts out. You don’t miss a thing from any angle. (Al-

though I did worry a few times that a wig ortwo was perilously close to hot lights in theceiling and might burst into flames. Thenagain, that added some edgy suspense.)

Those sewers? A bridge from whichsomeone plummets to death (while singing,yet)? Again, inventive use of scaffolding.

Onstage chemistryFelton and Munsey, as Valjean and Javert,

provide inspired interpretations of their roles,the pairing creating combustible chemistry.

Felton’s sweetly inflected tenor capablyclimbs the upper reaches of songs, sound-ing positively angelic in the high registersof act two’s “Bring Him Home.” He obvi-ously works hard to plumb some of thelower depths of the score, which occasion-ally tires out his voice when he then has toreach for big, loud notes. But it is anaward-worthy performance, his face astudy in humility and pain.

Munsey is a more-than-worthy counter-weight, looking as though he just steppedout of an oil painting. His Javert is a malev-olent figure in dark, form-fitting costumes,his face a permanent sneer. Munsey’s pow-erful baritone befits the character, and ifhis body is rightly rigid with authority andintensity, his singing is fluidly dynamic.

In Act One’s “Come to Me,” Felton andMunsey circle each other like boxers, fac-ing off in an escalating cycle of revelation

as Valjean realizes he can no longer live alie. It’s a rare moment of introspection inthe show, as he saves an innocent man butmakes himself vulnerable to his enemy.

Playing off Munsey’s glowering visageand mounting emotion, Felton’s work isdelicate here, the power of the song andthe turning point it represents completelyrealized. And yet, it’s just a pair of actors ina pool of light. So much for scenic extrava-ganza, shown to be irrelevant here.

Vibrant performancesProviding substantial backup is the

work of Helen Hayes winner Theresa Cun-

ningham as the conniving innkeeperMadame Thenardier. Cunningham ispaired with David James as her monsieur.The scene in their inn — with the lively“Master of the House” and “ThenardierWaltz” — is a show highlight, with ener-getic fun and toe-tapping music.

While both supply plenty of wily charm,Cunningham radiates a vibrantly ribaldpresence every second she is onstage. It’shard to imagine she is the same actor whotook home the Hayes award as the tragicSofia in Toby’s The Color Purple.

B A L T IMORE B E A CON — O C TOBE R 2 0 1 3 Say you saw it in the Beacon | Arts & Style 35

Jed Gaylin, Music Director

2013-2014

Jed Gaylin, conductor Shriver Hall Auditorium Johns Hopkins Homewood Campus, 3400 N. Charles St. FREE pre-concert talk one hour before each concert

Bring a friend for free! **Redeem this coupon for 1 FREE ticket with the purchase of any ticket

CONTACT: 410.516.6542 • hso@jhu.edu • www.jhu.edu/jhso

TICKETS: $8 Seniors, jhu affiliates, & non-jhu students $10 general admission

Season Premiere: Saturday, October 19, 2013 • 8pmPyotr Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 • Jung-Eun Kim, piano Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 3

Join us for the entire season... • Saturday, December 7, 2013 • 8pm Verdi’s Requiem

• Saturday, March 1, 2014 • 8pm Pictures at an Exhibition and Grand Canyon Suite

• Saturday, April 26, 2014 • 8pm Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite

WAYLAND VILLAGE APT4C

Les MiserablesFrom page 34

See LES MISERABLES, page 37

Lifelong Learning at Roland Park Country School

Fall programs for everyone who enjoys learning!

Expand your horizons!

For information, please call 410-323-5500, ext. 3091 or visit us online at www.rpcs.org

RPCS • 5204 ROLAND AVENUE • BALTIMORE, MD 21210

Children/Family Matters

Multi-Day Trips

Book Talks

Technology

Creative Pursuits

Language Adventures

Cultural Arts

Fitness Classes

Culinary Arts

Military History ão

Kaleidoscope

By Carol SorgenArt abounds in Baltimore — from the

world-class collections at the BaltimoreMuseum of Art and the Walters Museum,to the many privately-owned galleries thatshowcase the works of both establishedand up-and-coming artists.

But what many visitors — and even manyhometown folks —might not be familiarwith are the art galleries to be found at Balti-more’s many institutions of higher learning.

Why are university galleries and museumsimportant? In comparing a student-curatedexhibition with one presented at a major artmuseum several years ago, New York Timesart critic Holland Cotter wrote, “The augustpublic museum gave us fabulousness. Thetucked-away university gallery gave us life:

organic, intimate and as fresh as news.”University art galleries not only serve as

a teaching tool, according to Geoff De-lanoy, director of the Gormley Gallery atNotre Dame of Maryland University, butalso enable artists to engage with the cam-pus community, the wider Baltimore com-munity, and the artistic community locally,regionally and nationally.

Notre Dame of MarylandCurrently at the Gormley Gallery

through Oct.10 is an exhibit titled “GladysGoldstein: Retrospective and Alumnae Invi-tational.” It features the work of Baltimoreartist Gladys Goldstein, who taught paintingat Notre Dame from 1964 to 1982, as well aspieces by several of her former students,who have been invited to exhibit alongside.

Gladys Goldstein was a prolific Balti-more artist whose career spanned sixdecades. She is widely known for her ab-stract paintings and groundbreaking workwith collage and handmade paper.

Concerning her abstractions, Goldstein,who died in 2010, said, “My canvases arenot explicit statements, but hints of thingsthat are, or were, or might have been — ofmemories, of feelings.”

Director Delanoy is also looking forwardto the gallery’s upcoming exhibit, “Basics,”which runs from Oct. 21 to Nov. 22. In thisexhibit, artist Erika Kim Milenkovic ex-plores the human and natural world by ex-amining how things live, grow, age and die.

Milenkovic uses materials that are com-monplace in modern society — such asnewspaper, advertisements and junk mail— to archive the daily human experience.

For more information, visit www.ndm.edu/gormleygallery.

University of BaltimoreAt its mid-town location, the University of

Baltimore also has a small gallery, located onthe fifth floor of the Student Center. This ded-icated space, between the Performing ArtsTheater and the Bogomolny Room, offers alarge, specially designed exhibition wall.

The gallery is complemented by a num-ber of works of art placed throughout thebuilding, giving much of the facility the

feel of an exhibition hall.“Though the gallery space is small, lim-

iting exhibits to 20 to 30 pieces at a time,I’ve tried hard to show as many differentkinds of works as possible,” said curatorEdwin Gold. The range has included oilpaintings, photographs, charcoal portraits,World War I recruiting posters, old recordalbums, magazine and advertising illustra-tion, medical illustration and more.

The current exhibit is one in which a groupof students was given specific daily themesover a 20-day period that they were asked to in-terpret photographically any way they chose.

MICANot surprisingly, the Maryland Institute

College of Art (www.mica.edu) has anabundance of gallery space on its campus,where nearly 100 curated exhibitions aremounted every year of faculty and studentwork as well as that of outside artists.

According to director of exhibitionsGerald Ross, MICA’s programming “en-riches and extends” the community’s inter-est, awareness, education and appreciationof contemporary art.

Upcoming exhibitions include: the 2013Faculty Exhibition, which will highlight thepersonal and professional work of the Col-lege’s teaching staff, from Sept. 27 to Oct.

36 Arts & Style | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com OCTOBE R 2 0 1 3 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

Universities expand their artistic offerings

See ART SHOWS, page 37

The Meadows of Reistertown offers the maintenance-free, independent lifestyle you’ve been

looking for in a retirement community.

• Social, Educational and Recreational Events• Patios or Balconies• Individual Climate Control• Convenient to Shopping, Banking and Restaurants

• Emergency Response System• Controlled-Access Entry• Hair Salon• Elevators• Smoke Free• Small Pets Welcome

Live the carefree life you’ve been waiting for, and let us take care of all the details!

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As Eponine, daughter of the Thenardiers,MaryKate Brouillet is a soothing presence.Her warm, full voice is an expressive balmas she aids the attempted revolution and —despite her own love for the revolutionaryMarius (Jeffrey Shankle) — assists in hisburgeoning love affair with Cosette. Brouil-let’s work is exquisitely nuanced, and sheadds a welcome sensual ambiance.

Sunday’s Fantine and Heidbreder’sCosette are workmanlike performances,but each actor lacks the full vocal abilitiesrequired by some of the songs. The duetsbetween Cosette and Marius thus fail toreach their full potential, despite Shankle’s

tender singing.Also of note is the work of the small or-

chestra tucked away in a second-floor roomadjacent to the stage. With just a couple ofkeyboards, a rare live violin, and trumpet,reeds and trombone, they fill the spacewith pulsing, eardrum-pressing music. Mu-sical director Christopher Youstra’s whit-tling down of the sumptuous, demandingmusic to a handful of instruments main-tains the score’s integrity quite well.

This show is usually operating at feverpitch, emotionally, which can exhaust anaudience. But directors Orenstein andFleming shake up the dynamics wheneverpossible, allowing the audience a chanceto refresh their sensibilities.

There are considerable shifts in Act Two’s

lengthy “A Little Fall of Rain,” which rangesfrom hope to promise to tragedy. The ensem-ble’s energy never flags as they segue fromone complicated moment to the next, and theaudience can keep up every step of the way.

In short, this is a satisfying, worthwhileproduction. Les Misérables continuesthrough Nov. 19 at Toby’s Dinner Theatre,5900 Symphony Woods Rd., Columbia.

The show runs seven days a week, withevening (dinner) and matinee (brunch)performances. The doors open at 6 p.m.for the all-you-can-eat dinner buffet Mon-day through Saturday, with the show at 8p.m. Doors open at 5 p.m. for the Sundayevening 7 p.m. performance.

Doors open for matinee performancesat 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays and Sundays for

brunch. The performance begins at 12:30p.m.

Reservations are required. Ticket pricesrange from $37.50 to $56, depending ondate and time. Ticket prices include the all-you-can-eat buffet, dessert, and coffee ortea. Specialty drinks and desserts are avail-able at extra cost. Waiters are actually theactors as well, and they rely heavily on tipsfor their pay.

There is ample, free parking on thepremises.

For reservations and information, call(410) 730-8311 or 1-800-88TOBYS (888-6297). You may also visit www.tobysdin-nertheatre.com.Michael Toscano is the Beacon’s theatre

critic.

13 in the Decker, Meyerhoff and PinkardGalleries, and the 2013 Juried Undergradu-ate Exhibition, which will display a selec-tion of the best of the college’s undergrad-uate student artists in a variety of disci-plines, from Oct. 23 to Nov. 24, in the Deck-er and Meyerhoff Galleries.

The aforementioned galleries are only afew of Baltimore’s many university artspaces. Consider adding the following toyour upcoming gallery-hops:

Morgan State UniversityThe collections of the James E. Lewis

Museum of Art at Morgan State University(www.jelmamuseum.org) include Africanart, African American art, American art,Asian art, European art, global art, ocean-ic art, and works on paper. Through Oct. 2,the museum will feature the exhibition, “AWondering Ethnic Artist: Wasyl Pali-jczuk,” who was profiled on the cover ofthe Dec. 2012 Beacon.

Johns Hopkins UniversityJohns Hopkins University (www.muse-

umes.jhu.edu) galleries include the Home-wood Museum, which consists of fine anddecorative arts objects, and the Evergreen

B A L T IMORE B E A CON — O C TOBE R 2 0 1 3 Say you saw it in the Beacon | Arts & Style 37

N O F A T D D E S H U NE R A S E E R N S H O N ET I N K E R W I T H O T I S

L E N O L A O R E F SE V E R S O S L I G H T L YR A T Y M A L U I SA U T O S I T N E W E RS L E P T D E B S I T E DT R E E D E L S M E T E

R E E L U P S R A NC H A N C E M E E T I N G S

C H I T A M A L E M AL O K I D O U B L E P L A YO R E O E N V Y D E L T AD E R N S E E S L Y L Y

ANSWERS TO SCRABBLE

ANSWERS TO CROSSWORD

FROM PAGE 38

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Art showsFrom page 36

Les MiserablesFrom page 35

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38 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com OCTOBE R 2 0 1 3 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

Puzzle Page

Scrabble answers on p. 37.

Crossword PuzzleDaily crosswords can be found on our website:

www.TheBeaconNewspapers.comClick on Puzzles Plus

Answers on page 37.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22

23 24 25 26

27 28 29

30 31 32 33 34 35 36

37 38 39 40 41 42

43 44 45 46 47

48 49 50 51 52

53 54 55 56

57 58 59

60 61 62 63 64

65 66 67

68 69 70

Down1. Ping pong table accessory2. “Stop ___ shoot!”3. Autograph request4. Jeopardy! contestant5. Itsy-bitsy6. Mountain ___7. Work on a tooth8. Necessitate9. Just a few laps10. Flophouse11. Join together12. Bitter end15. General Japanese term18. 10 Down units23. Renaissance and Reformation24. Underground chamber25. “That’s what she ___”26. Hurries up31. It added “Brain Freeze” in a 2004

contest33. Piece of golf course litter35. In perpetuity36. Price less38. Cotillion girl40. Cloudless42. Lairs44. Period between censuses46. Distinguish between so and sew49. Poorly made cars51. War horses53. Item on a wheel of misfortune54. Consumer of trail mix55. Magenta’s neighbor, on a color

wheel56. Drive on57. Simpleton62. “Toodles”63. Div. rival to NYM64. “Whoopee!”

Pro-gression by Stephen Sherr

Across1. Yogurt shop’s claim6. The first supreme commander of NATO,in 1951

9. Punish, socially13. Reset a contacts list14. Sea eagles16. Make a point17. Manipulate, experimentally19. Cookie-meister Spunkmeyer20. Midnight rambler21. Neighbor of a Vietnamese22. Umps’ striped cousins23. Almost imperceptibly27. Maze enthusiast28. Singer Sumac29. San ___ Obispo, Calif.30. Type of loan32. Try to get into a bar34. Less exciting, to a historian37. Used the bears’ third bed39. Cotillion girl41. Positioned43. Like a shady park45. Windy City trains47. Distribute48. Kite line holder50. Good times52. Tried to become Class President53. Elevator encounters57. Voucher58. Org. with a snake in its logo59. Champagne Tony of golf60. Norse god61. Result of the name pro-gression from

17 to 23 to 53 Across65. Ice cream flavor66. Emotion in Snow White67. travelocity option68. Actress Laura69. Understand70. In a foxlike way

JUMBLE ANSWERSJumbles: PARTY GOOSE EXHORT AERATE

Answer: What the diner said when the server sprinkledcheese on the pasta -- THAT’S “GRATE”

LOOKING FOR INVESTMENTS of $25,000,$105,000 and up. University students, invest-ment club. Never be alone again. Dinner out,bowling, dancing, movies, travel the world withthe students. Call Rita Davis, 443-544-9032,evening, 9 p.m.

CNA/CMT WITH 17 YEARS EXPERIENCEseeks sick/elderly care at home/nursing homeSaturday/Sunday nights. Baltimore, Harfordand Howard Counties. Call 443-559-2987.

TRANSPORT/CAREGIVER WITH CNA/CMT/CPR/FIRST AID certifications seeksprivate duty. Errands: shopping, doctor’s ap-pointments, social engagements, bathing, dress-ing, do laundry, and prepare light meals. I amavailable full/part-time. Call, 443-559-2987.

QUIET ROOM – MT. WASHINGTON. Sharekitchen and baths. References. Security De-posit. Near light rail. 410-542-0550.

GARDENVILLE – LARGE FURNISHEDROOM, private bath, with microwave and re-frigerator for rent on 2nd floor of private home.Reasonable references. 410-485-1702.

ROOM IN BEAUTIFUL SAFE NEIGHBOR-HOOD for a senior veteran or a mildly handi-capped person. All utilities included for $500 amonth. Share kitchen and bath, 443-630-4782.

GLEN HEAVEN MEMORIAL PARK – GlenBurnie. 1 space double vault. Complete packagedeal. $3,500. 443-618-1263.

1 SINGLE FLUSH GRAY GRANITE VAULT– casket and lot in Forest Lawn sec. at LoudonPark Cemetery, Wilkins Ave. $4,200. Good Deal.410-247-3644.

CREST LAWN MEMORIAL GARDENS,Sermon on the Mount, two plots, each valued at$4,125. Best offer on each one or both. 443-858-5799. Leave message.

2 SALVADOR DALI woodblock prints fromDante’s Divine Comedy. Signed and framed.Asking $900 for the pair. Can email pictures ifdesired. Call Steve 410-913-1653.

BASEMENT OR FOUNDATION PROBLEMS?LEVELIFT SYSTEMS, INC. offers honest, profes-sional, no-pressure inspection, consultation & re-pair quotes for owner-occupied homes with settling,cracking & buckling basement walls. Our 23-year-old Jessup, Maryland-based firm has a spotlessrecord with Angie’s List, Better Business Bureauand Maryland State Home Improvement Commis-sion. Ask for Paul. Office: 301-369-3400. Cell: 410-365-7346. Paulm@levelift.com. MHIC #45110.

MIKE RUPARD – A FULL SERVICE PAINT-ING contractor. Interior. Exterior. “No job is toosmall.” 30 years experience. Free estimates.Fully-licensed and insured. 301-674-1393.

BALTIMORE’S BEST JUNK REMOVAL –Clean Outs: Whole House, Emergency,Attics/Basements. Furniture and Junk Re-moval, Yard Waste Removal, General Hauling,Construction Debris Removal. Free estimates.10% Senior Discount. Licensed, Bonded and In-sured. Call Jesse, 443-379-HAUL (4285).

HANDYMAN MATTERS will help you staysafe in your own home. Professional, ReliableSkilled Craftsmen. Grab Bar Installation,Bathroom Modifications and your to-do list!410-549-9696. MHIC # 89094.

SANFORD & SON HAULING Trash re-moval, house & estate clean-outs, garage clean-outs, yard work & cleanups, demolition, shedremoval. 410-746-5090. Free Estimates. In-sured. Call 7 days a week 7am – 7pm.

ATLANTIC CITY BUS TRIP. Saturday, Octo-ber 19. Departing/returning Security Blvd. Parkand Ride. 8am to 8pm. $40 (roundtrip, break-fast, free slots). Payment due September 30. Formore information, call Lucy, 410-371-1345.

LEARN ENGLISH – SPANISH – ITALIAN –FRENCH – PORTUGUESE Conversational.Grammatical. Private lessons. ReasonableRates. Tutoring students. 443-352-8200.

ESTATE SPECIALIST, experts in estateclean-outs and preparing your house for sale.Trash removal, house cleanouts, light moving,demolition, yard work, cleaning. 410-746-5090.Free estimates. Insured. Call 7 days 7am - 7pm.

CASH BUYER FOR OLD COSTUME JEW-ELRY – pocket and wrist watches (any condi-tion). Also buying watchmaker tools and parts,train sets and accessories, old toys, old glass-ware & coins. 410-655-0412.

VINYL RECORDS WANTED from 1950through 1985. Jazz, Rock-n-Roll, Soul, Rhythm& Blues, Reggae and Disco. 33 1/3 LPs, 45s or78s, Larger collections of at least 100 itemswanted. Please call John, 301-596-6201.

WE BUY OLD AND NEW COINS, Jewelry,Silver and Gold, Paper Money too. Watches,Clocks and Parts, Military Badges and PatchesOld and New. Call Greg, 717-658-7954.

OLD AND NEW WE BUY Sterling SilverFlatware, Tea Sets or Single Pieces., Furniture,Tools, Cameras, Good Glassware, Artwork Too.Toys From Trains to Hotwheels, Action Figuresto Star Wars. Call Greg, 717-658-7954.

MILITARY ITEMS Collector seeks: helmets,weapons, knives, swords, bayonets, webgear,uniforms, inert ordnance, ETC. From 1875 to1960, US, German, Britain, Japan, France,Russian. Please call Fred 301-910-0783, Thankyou. Also Lionel Trains.

FINE ANTIQUES, PAINTINGS ANDQUALITY VINTAGE FURNISHINGS want-ed by a serious capable buyer. I am very well ed-ucated [law degree] knowledgeable [over 40years in the antique business] and have the fi-nances and wherewithal to handle virtuallyany situation. If you have a special item, collec-tion or important estate I would like to hearfrom you. I pay great prices for great things inall categories from oriental rugs to Tiffany ob-jects, from rare clocks to firearms, from silverand gold to classic cars. If it is wonderful I aminterested. No phony promises or messy con-signments. References gladly furnished. Pleasecall Jake Lenihan, 301-279-8834. Thank you.

LADIES 25-75 WHO LOVE TO SING. Joinus in a cappella harmony. www.dundalksweet-ads.com for details.

BA L T IMORE B E A CON — O C TOBE R 2 0 1 3 Say you saw it in the Beacon 39

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10/13

Museum and Library, which includes paint-ings, decorative arts, rare books and more.

Goucher CollegeSilber Art Gallery at Goucher College

(www.goucher.edu) is the new home toGoucher’s permanent collection and its pro-gram of contemporary art exhibitions. Thegallery also hosts a range of programming,from the traditional to the experimental,featuring the work of students, emergingartists, and established names alike.

Stevenson UniversityStevenson University Art Gallery

(www.stevenson.edu) is a significantvenue for regional artists and collectors,and offers seven shows per year in a vari-ety of media, including paintings, prints,sculpture and photography.

Through Oct. 5 on the Greenspring Cam-

pus, the gallery will host “3 Songs, NoFlash: My Adventures as a Rock ‘n’ RollPhotographer,” by Jefferson Jackson Steele.

Towson UniversityTowson University (www.towson.edu) is

home to four galleries on its campus: theAsian Arts & Culture Center, which intro-duces and promotes the arts and culture ofAsia and also houses an arts collection of ap-proximately 1,000 objects from all over Asia;the Center for the Arts Gallery, which is themain venue for viewing some of the region’sand nation’s finest artwork, and the Holtz-man MFA Art Gallery, which focuses onshows related to the MFA program.

UMBCUMBC’s Center for Art, Design and Visual

Culture (www.umbc.edu/cadvc) is a nonprof-it organization dedicated to organizing com-prehensive exhibitions, publishing catalogs,CDs, DVDs, and books on the arts, and edu-cational and community outreach projects.

Art showsFrom page 37

CLASSIFIEDSThe Beacon prints classified advertising

under the fol low ing headings: Business &Employment Opportunities; Caregivers;Computer Services; Entertainment; ForSale; For Sale/Rent: Real Estate; Free;Health; Home/ Handy man Services; Miscel-laneous; Personals; Per son al Services; Va ca -tion Opportunities; and Want ed. For sub -mis sion guide lines and dead lines, see thebox on the right.

CAVEAT EMPTOR!The Beacon does not know ing ly ac cept ob -

scene, of fen sive, harmful, or fraudulent ad-vertising. How ev er, we do not in ves ti gateany ad ver tis ers or their prod ucts and can -not ac cept re spon si bil i ty for the in teg ri ty ofeither. Re spon dents to clas si fied ad ver tis -ing should al ways use cau tion and theirbest judg ment.

EMPLOYMENT & REAL ESTATE ADS: We will not knowingly or intentionally ac-

cept ad ver tis ing in violation of federal,state, and local laws pro hib it ing dis crim i -na tion based on race, color, national origin,sex, fa mil ial sta tus or handicap in connec-tion with employment or the sale or rentalof real estate.

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For Sale

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TO PLACE A CLASSIFIEDDeadlines and Payments: Ad text and payment is due by the 5th of each month.Note: Only ads received and prepaid by the deadline will be included in the next month’sissue. Please type or print your ad carefully. Include a number where you can be reachedin the event of a question. Payment is due with ad. We do not accept ads by phone orfax, nor do we accept credit cards.

Private Party Text Ads: For individuals seeking to buy or sell particular items, or place apersonal ad. Each ad is $10 for 25 words, 25 cents for each additional word.

Business Text Ads: For parties engaged in an ongoing business enterprise. Each ad is $25 for 25 words, 50 cents for each additional word.

Note: Each real estate listing counts as one business text ad. Send your classified ad with check or money order, payable to the Beacon, to:

The Beacon, Baltimore Classified Dept. P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915-2227

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