Dan Kois? 15 Favorite Books of 2012

Illustration by Lilli Carre.

Tuesday: Slate staffers pick their favorite books of 2012.
Wednesday: The overlooked books of 2012.
Thursday: Dan Kois? 15 favorite books.
Friday: The Slate Book Review Top 10.

Look, of course Katherine Boo?s Behind the Beautiful Forevers was amazing. It was the best book of the year or maybe the decade. But we can?t spend our entire December just praising Katherine Boo! Here are 15 other titles from 2012 that moved me, made me laugh, astonished me, and pleasantly confused me.

At the Mouth of the River of Bees by Kij Johnson. Wondrously strange and sinister stories of other worlds, future times, and everyday life gone haywire. Plus: A cat walks 100 miles through Heian-era Japan in the loveliest short story I read all year.

Down the Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo Villalobos. A slim and comic debut novel from a Mexican writer written in the voice of a young boy growing up in the most absurd of circumstances: Tochtli, son of a drug baron, who just wants a pygmy hippo for his private zoo.

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe. As his extraordinary mother lives through end-stage cancer, a lifelong reader discusses books with her every week. Touching and rigorously honest, this memoir is wise about the role reading plays in our lives and deaths.

Everything We Miss by Luke Pearson. A short, haunting comic about what happens when we?re not looking? the evil, the sadness, the anger, the despair. Gorgeously drawn and impeccably bleak.

Familiar by J. Robert Lennon. A spooky novel of lives never led in which a woman finds herself transformed, all at once, into a version of herself whose son never died.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. ?It?s not a cancer book, because cancer books suck,? explains 16-year-old Hazel about her favorite novel, whose author she?s desperate to read. Though Hazel, the heroine of Green?s smart and funny YA novel, has cancer, this isn?t a cancer book either. It?s a romance and an adventure and a battle, and it?s great.

Jim Henson?s Tale of Sand by Ram?n K. P?rez. Forty years ago, Jim Henson wrote a fantastical screenplay about a man lost in a world of dreams. In this zippy, elegant book, cartoonist P?rez brings it to life with boundless energy and invention.

Lonesome Animals by Bruce Holbert. In the Okanogan Montains along the Canada-Washington border, a dangerous lawman hunts a more dangerous serial killer. This debut novel calls to mind early Cormac McCarthy in its relentless violence and frontier philosophy.

Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer. Up in space, a troubled genius builds the robots that will colonize the moon; on earth, his wife and autistic son struggle to achieve normalcy. The story seems familiar but this novel?s writing? vivid and unusual ? makes it fresh.

Son by Lois Lowry. The gorgeous, heartbreaking, and essential conclusion to the Giver quartet, this YA novel looks back at that original story?s dystopian community and a birthmother who goes in search of the son she lost.

Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis by Lauren F. Winner. Beaten down by loss, and failure, Winner struggles with whether religious faith still makes sense in her life. A serious but witty book of days that will be fascinating to anyone, Christian or not, interested in the life of the soul.

Swimming Studies by Leanne Shapton. An elliptical, well-wrought memoir of a life spent in pools by a talented illustrator, who once dreamed of Olympic gold and still feels most at home in the water.

Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon. Oh, did you forget that Michael Chabon, whose sentences are intricate and long and beautiful and hilarious, wrote a terrific novel about gentrification and soul music and race and love and a parrot? We should be counting our blessings.

Wolf Story by William McCleery. First published in 1947 and resurrected by the New York Review children?s collection, this ridiculously charming book is about a wolf, and a chicken, and a farmer, but really it?s about an exasperated, loving father in midcentury New York telling his very opinionated son a story.

Your House Is on Fire, Your Children All Gone by Stefan Kiesbye. A sublimely creepy novel set in a village in Germany. It reads like the Brothers Grimm with historical resonance and a higher body count.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=e0f7f9a0f0b5d9a5435c5cc7f910ba54

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Moon rocks discovered in Minnesota, but more rocks missing

The Minnesota National Guard said it found some missing Apollo 11 moon?rocks. The discovery in Minnesota now leaves 11 states, including Massachusetts, Texas and Wisconsin, still missing their Apollo 11 moon?rocks.

By Staff,?Associated Press / November 27, 2012

Astronaut Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Experts say many moon rocks given by the Nixon administration to friendly nations and US states are now missing.

(AP Photo/Neil Armstrong, NASA, File)

Enlarge

Houston, we have moon?rocks.

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The Minnesota National Guard said Monday it found a few small fragments of the moon's surface in storage in a state building in St. Paul. They'll be turned over to the state Historical Society on Wednesday.

The moon?rocks came from the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the moon. Some of the rocks, pebbles and dirt they collected have gone missing after U.S. states and territories and 135 countries each got tiny samples encased in plastic. Authentic moon?rocks are considered national treasures and can't legally be sold in the U.S.

RECOMMENDED: Are you scientifically literate? Take the quiz

Minnesota's moon?rocks disappeared sometime after then-President Richard Nixon gave them to the state, along with a state flag that was carried on the mission.

Joseph Gutheinz, a University of Phoenix instructor and former NASA investigator who leads an effort to find missing moon?rocks, said Minnesota's discovery leaves 11 states, including Massachusetts, Texas and Wisconsin, missing their Apollo 11 moon?rocks.

He said the lunar samples from the first moon landing command high sums on the black market, and some have been stolen or otherwise migrated away from the public domain.

"To a collector, it's invaluable," said Gutheinz, whose students have been looking for Minnesota's moon?rocks since 2002.

He added, "Somebody in the National Guard there decided to do the right thing and rather than walk off with something that had a great value on the black market, said, 'Hey, this doesn't belong to me.' "

The handoff to the Minnesota Historical Society will take place at an event with students at STARBASE Minnesota, a math and science program.

RECOMMENDED: Are you scientifically literate? Take the quiz

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/M8T_sN_eSnQ/Moon-rocks-discovered-in-Minnesota-but-more-rocks-missing

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Hensarling Picked to Head House Committee (WSJ)

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Can $500 million make you happy? Not really

As the Powerball frenzy continues, people across the nation are rushing out to buy their ticket to a dream, but winning the jackpot can sometime translate to major losses. NBC's Erica Hill reports on the lottery "curse" and two September Powerball winners how their lives have changed, for better and for worse.

By Melissa Dahl, NBC News

You surely know by now that the Powerball jackpot is set to hit at least $500 million tonight. You should also know that your odds of winning the grand prize are somewhere around 1 in 176 million?(at least, we really hope you know that). So here's a bit of comfort for you tonight as you stare dejectedly at your losing ticket: Most lottery winners don't end up any happier than the rest of us.?

Yeah, yeah, you can probably name 500 million reasons why winning the jackpot tonight will make you happy. But here's the truth: A?handful of psychology studies over the years have evaluated the happiness of lottery winners over time, and found that after the initial glee of getting one of those big giant checks has faded away, most winners actually end up no happier than they were before hitting the jackpot.

Arguably the most famous paper on this subject was published the late 1970s, and it's a doozy: Psychologists interviewed winners of the Illinois State Lottery and compared them with non-winners -- and, just for good measure, people who had suffered some terrible accident that left them paraplegic or quadriplegic. (You can find the abstract here, but you'll have to pay to read the full report.) Each group answered a series of questions designed to measure their level of happiness.

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

Stefanie Graef holds what she hopes is the winning Powerball ticket she just bought at Circle News Stand on Tuesday in Hollywood, Fla. If she's lucky, she won't win.

What they found was counterintuitive, to say the least: In terms of overall happiness, the lottery winners were not significantly happier than the non-lottery winners. (The accident victims were less happy, but not by much.)?But when it came to rating everyday happiness, the lottery winners took "significantly less pleasure" in the simple things like chatting with a friend, reading a magazine or receiving a compliment.?

"Humans tend to have a relatively set point of mood," explains Gail Saltz, a New York City psychiatrist and frequent TODAY contributor. Most people tend to bounce back to that set point after a major life event, whether it's something negative or positive. But for some lottery winners, psychologists believe hitting an especially huge jackpot may alter that happiness baseline, making it harder to see the joy in everyday things.?

More recently than the '70s research, a?2008 University of California, Santa Barbara, paper?measured people's happiness six months after winning a relatively modest lottery prize -- a lump sum equivalent to about eight months' worth of income. "We found that this had zero detectable effect on happiness at that time," says Peter Kuhn, one of the study authors and a professor of economics at the university.?

Andrew Jackson "Jack'' Whittaker Jr., his wife Jewell, right, and their granddaughter Brandi Bragg, left, pose for a photograph after being interviewed by TODAY in this December 2002. In his darkest moments, Whittaker has said he sometimes wondered if winning the nearly $315 million Powerball game was really worth it.

You've heard the stories of lottery winnerswhose post-jackpot lives turned sour. There's Jack Whittaker, the West Virginia man who in 2002 won the nearly $315 million Powerball jackpot. Initially, he generously gave millions to charities, including $14 million to start his own Jack Whittaker Foundation. But later, the dream turned to nightmare: A briefcase with $545,000 in cash and cashier's checks was stolen from his car while it was parked outside of a Cross Lanes, W. Va., strip club. His office and home were broken into, he was arrested twice for drunken-driving -- and the list goes on.?

Or there's Alex Toth, a Florida man who in 1990 won $13 million to be doled out in 20-year-payments of $666,666. (Seriously.) At his death in 2008, the Tampa Bay Times reported on the sad direction his life had taken: Years of living it up led to a split from his wife and charges of fradulent tax returns, among other serious woes.

What gives? Behavior experts have a couple theories. One is simply that we humans just tend to get used to stuff -- the good and the bad. The psychological concept is called "happiness adaptation," and?Michael Norton,?associate professor at Harvard Business School,?co-authored a 2007 paper that sought to uncover why hitting major life goals -- including the dreamlike goal of winning the lottery and the more down-to-earth goal of getting married -- don't end up making us as happy as we expect them to.?

"The idea of adaptation seems like a negative thing -- ?it's a shame that we have to get used to the good things in our life, from lottery winnings to ice cream.?But adaptation also helps us when bad things happen to us, making the impact of losing our job or getting divorced less painful over time," explains Norton, who is also the?coauthor of the forthcoming book, "Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending."?

He continues, "Big positive and negative events can have a lasting impact on our happiness, but this impact tends to decrease over time. In some sense, because people have so many facets of their life - from their job to their friends to their family to their hobbies - the impact of a change in any one of those facets is less extreme than we think, because many of the other things in our lives stay the same. (We win the lottery but we are still stuck with our same siblings, for example.) As a result of this, people tend to adapt to life events and end up closer to where they were than they think they'd be."

Tonight's historic Powerball jackpot has reached a whopping half-billion dollars and continues to grow. Andrea Canning reports on the frenzy for tickets in New York City.

This is partially because we are terrible at predicting how happy more money is going to make us.?The truth is, money?can?make you happy -- but only up to a point.?"Research shows that the impact of additional income on happiness begins to level off around $75,000 of income - but people keep trying to make more and more money in the mistaken belief that their happiness will continue to increase," Norton says. "As a result of this mistaken belief, people think that big windfalls will change their happiness dramatically - and may end up with less happiness than they expected."

On the other end of the spectrum, landing a windfall that lifts you out of a financial pit really can provide significant, lasting happiness. In 2006, Sandra Hayes, then a 46-year-old?social worker making $25,000?a year,?and 12 of her coworkers won the $224 million Powerball jackpot. After taxes and splitting the money with her coworkers, Hayes had won $10 million. She bought her dream car (a brand-new Lexus) and her dream home (a half-million dollar house in St. Louis). But first, she paid off her current home and then gave that house to her daughter and grandchildren, who'd been living in a rough neighborhood. She quit her job and now spends her days writing -- she's already published one book and is working on a second one.?

"Yes, my life is different, and it feels good," says Hayes. "This summer I had a $900 water bill. Six years ago, well, if I had a substantially huge bill, I would?ve had to make payment arrangements. That?s one of the things I like, that I?m able to pay my bills in full and not scuffle."

The first secret, as Hayes tells it, to winning the lottery without losing your mind is to immediately meet with a financial planner you trust and make a plan that works for you. The second is a little simpler.?She says, "Just because you win the lottery, it does not change you as a person."

Related:?

Hey, Powerball winner: Here's your holiday shopping list

Advice for the Powerball winner: Pay taxes

?

Source: http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/28/15463411-can-500-million-make-you-happy-not-really?lite

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Leveson Inquiry Results To Come Tomorrow - Business Insider

Tomorrow, after months and months of waiting, the UK's Leveson Inquiry will finally release its recommendations for UK press regulation.

The inquiry was called after 2011's huge scandal over widespread phone hacking by Rupert Murdoch's UK newspaper the News of the World, but soon spread to evaluate more widely the link between the UK press, police and government (especially embarrassing for PM David Cameron, who had private texts with Murdoch's right hand woman Rebekah Brooks splashed over the tabloids multiple times).

This evening a dozen copies of the report have been carted over to Prime Minister, and rumors say that the report may end up being 2,000 pages long.

If the Prime Minister agrees to recommendations, as he has indicated he would, it looks like it might be a major shake-up. The BBC reports that "some form of statutory press regulation overseen by an independent body" is expected, as well as a whole bunch of other recommendations about how the press and the state work together (a good round up of questions likely to be raised by the report has been published by the Guardian).

Yes, if reports are to be believed well be the end of the UK's scoop-hungry, paparazzi-exporting, endlessly combative tabloid press as we know it.

But it's not just the tabloids that are concerned ? Mid-market Daily Mail published an article today that pointed towards the French system of government regulation with disdain, while the weekly magazine the Spectator has said it will flat-out refuse to abide by any centralized government regulation.

John Gapper of the FT today wrote an op-ed criticizing the momentum towards regulation:

We are thus at a vital, scary moment in British constitutional history. If it is mishandled by Mr Cameron and other politicians, the UK could be returned to the days of state licensing of the press, which was abolished in 1694. Nearly 100 years later, the US adopted the First Amendment to its new constitution, barring Congress from limiting free speech or press freedom.

Coupled with the twin scandals that the BBC is currently wrapped up in (one involving an apparent refusal to investigate sex abuse allegations against a BBC star, another for falsely accusing a senior politician of being a pedophile), it must be a confusing time to be a journalist in the UK right now.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/leveson-inquiry-results-to-come-tomorrow-2012-11

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Egypt learns the art of politics amid protests challenging Morsi's ...

Egypt's president Mohamed Morsi, who had granted himself sweeping new powers that would have made all of his rulings immune to judicial review, is facing continued public outcry despite his decision to soften the decree by limiting those rulings to 'sovereign' matters. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.

By Ayman Mohyeldin, NBC News

News analysis

Last week?s sweeping power grab by Egypt?s President Mohammed Morsi has thrown the country?s political elite into crisis, and prompted tens of thousands of Egyptians to take to the streets in protest. But much of the fury over his most recent moves probably has more to do with the way he chose to act than what he has actually done.

The conflict roiling the Arab world?s most populous country has been painted by some international observers and many regular Egyptians as a struggle between autocratic Islamists and democratic secularists. Indeed, Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood party have angered many with how they managed to win power democratically and then tried to consolidate it by decrees.

---

In a move quickly pounced on by critics, Morsi?s decree last week gave the body charged with writing a draft constitution two more months to finish its work. The decree essentially prevents challenges to the president's rule until the end of the two-month transitional period so that any decision made by Morsi cannot be questioned by the judiciary.

If the so-called constituent assembly, the elected constitutional body that is now dominated by Islamists, would have dissolved, it would have been seen as a victory by many liberal and secular Egyptians.

But Morsi?s decree will allow the assembly to finish its essential work, Henry Smith of the international consultancy Control Risks told NBC News.

'Leave, leave': Egyptians gather in Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest president's decree

"There was a risk that the body writing the constitution would be disbanded by legal judgments but according to his decree, we should see a draft in February," he added. "And if that is decided then we could have a new constitution by mid-2013."

As the struggle of the constituent assembly shows, Morsi and his government have been locked in a struggle with the judiciary.

And however dictatorial Morsi?s recent moves may have been, the judiciary is no paragon of democracy. Indeed, even many of the Brotherhood?s opponents think the judiciary is corrupt and packed with loyalists of deposed dictator Hosni Mubarak.

The lack of accountability for the killing of protesters during the 2011 revolution illustrates why many Egyptians do not trust the judiciary. None of the former regime officials brought to trial for these deaths has been convicted.

The judiciary also upheld the dissolution of parliament, halting essential efforts, such as reforming fiscal and economic policies meant to liberalize and jump-start the economy.

According to liberal and secular parties, the president ?didn't consult with them before issuing his decree on Thursday -- a claim disputed by Morsi's Freedom and Justice Party ? thus losing the opportunity to be seen as a leader willing to reach across political divides and interested in creating consensus.

And those protesting his power grab have reason to be suspicious. After all, Mubarak promised to be a one-term president at the beginning of what ended up as a 30-year rule.

In the end, Egypt is new to the art of politics and its actors unused to sharing power and debating issues publicly.

As international consultant Smith says: "Putting aside some of the autocratic elements of his recent decree, Morsi?s move could be seen as a positive move."

Thousands of Egyptians flood Cairo's Tahrir Square in protest of President Morsi, demanding he rescind decrees that granted him near-absolute powers. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports from Egypt.

More world stories from NBC News:

Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/27/15488387-egypt-learns-the-art-of-politics-amid-protests-challenging-morsis-decree

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New Mexican leader: Economic gains will cut crime (CNN)

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Home Prices Increase in Most Major U.S. Cities | AOL Real Estate

By Christopher S. Rugaber

WASHINGTON -- Home prices increased in September in most major U.S. cities, more evidence of a housing recovery that is providing a lift to the fragile economy.

Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller reported Tuesday that its 20-city index of home prices rose 3 percent in September compared with the same month last year. Prices also gained 3.6 percent in the July-September quarter compared with the same quarter in 2011.

Across the nation, prices increased in 18 of 20 cities over the 12-month period. In Phoenix, prices jumped 20.4 percent over that stretch to lead all cities. Prices in Atlanta showed a modest 0.1 percent increase, ending 26 straight consecutive year-over-year declines.

Prices also rose in September from August in 13 cities. Five metro regions posted declines, while two were unchanged.

In Las Vegas, one of the hardest hit during the housing crisis, prices increased 1.4 percent -- the biggest month-over-month gain. Prices rose 1.1 percent in Phoenix and Minneapolis. The largest decline was in Cleveland, where prices fell 0.9 percent.

Monthly prices are not seasonally adjusted, so some of the declines may signal the end of the summer buying period.

David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Case-Shiller index, said that when adjusting for seasonal factors, only one city showed a decline in September versus two in August. "Despite the seasons, housing continues to improve," Blitzer said.

The S&P/Case-Shiller index covers roughly half of U.S. homes. It measures prices compared with those in January 2000 and creates a three-month moving average. The September figures are the latest available.

Steady increases in home prices have helped drive a modest recovery in the housing market. Rising prices encourage more potential buyers to come off the sidelines and purchase homes. And more people may put their homes on the market as they gain confidence that they can sell at a good price.

Higher home prices can also make homeowners feel wealthier and more likely to spend more. Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of the U.S. economy.

A big reason for the rebound is that the excess supply of homes that built up before the housing crisis has finally thinned out. The number of previously occupied homes available for sale has fallen to a 10-year low. The inventory of new homes is also near the lowest level since 1963.

At the same time, more people are looking to buy or rent a home after living with relatives or friends during and immediately after the Great Recession.

Those trends are also pushing up home sales and construction. Sales of previously occupied homes are near five-year highs, excluding temporary spikes in 2009 and 2010 when a homebuyer tax credit boosted purchases.

Builders, meanwhile, are more optimistic that the recovery will endure. A measure of their confidence rose to the highest level in 6? years this month. And builders broke ground on new homes and apartments at the fastest pace in more than four years last month.

See also:
U.S. Cities With the Most Vacant Homes
Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction Battle Brews in Washington as 'Fiscal Cliff' Looms

More on AOL Real Estate:
Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.
Find homes for sale in your area.
Find foreclosures in your area.
Find homes for rent in your area.

Follow us on Twitter at @AOLRealEstate or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook.

Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/11/27/home-price-increase-september-us-cities/

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The Loosest Slot I Ever Knew . . .

On a recent family trip to Reno Nevada, we encountered a game in the downstairs fun center so loose it?d made my kids squeal with joy.

I look over and see both Alan and Joe jumping up and down with excitement by an arcade game called ?Dog Pound?.

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If one of the balls landed in one of the hard to get in holes, JACKPOT!

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Source: http://www.hardtofindseminars.com/blog/the-loosest-slot-i-ever-knew

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Buy A Light This Christmas to Help Save Little Lives

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At this time of the year it is very easy to get all caught up in the hype that is Christmas. We are busy planning and buying gifts for our kids and our family and Uncle Bills pet chihuahua Lulu, that sometimes we forget about how a small gift can make such a difference to the life of others.

As a munchkin and then a teen it was where at least 20 or more of my operations took place and it was my home away from home. I spent a lot of time recovering and rehabilitating here and it was also where I received a lot of my schooling.

It was always as bright and comfortable as you would hope for a kids hospital and the Doctors, nurses and staff were just gorgeous and always welcomed you back like you were coming home to family.?

The hospital has changed so much?since my time there.?

They still have all the wonderful staff there to support you and care for your kids, but now as soon as you walk through the doors you know you are in a hospital that has been designed especially for kids. It is colourful and cheerful and a safe environment for our kids to be in when they need some medical care.

The Sydney Children's Foundation is the principal fundraising body for Sydney Children?s Hospital at Randwick. Their aim is to help to improve the lives of their young patients through working with the with the community to raise much needed funding.?

The monies raised help the Hospital to purchase new and essential equipment, train young doctors and provide a positive environment for sick kids to recover in.

The money they raise this year they will help to equip a new wing at the hospital that will among other things also house;

• An eight bed Child and Adolescent Mental Health Unit;
• A 28-bed Surgical Ward;
• A new Family Centre for parents and carers;
• A new Lung Function Testing Facility for infants;

So how can you help this great cause?

A donation as simple as $10 to $50 could buy toys, books and activities that help to entertain and distract and amuse young kids in hospital.?

$120 could support one nights accommodation for a rural family while their child is in the hospital.

If you are a business and want to help, larger donations can provide funding to support a brain injury patient and their family attend rehabilitation education or even fund vital equipment that can save a child'd life, possibly even your child.

By buying a light on the Little Lights for Little Lives Christmas tree, YOU can help the foundation help the kids.

If you can, why not add one extra gift to your Christmas Shopping list and buy a light today that can help save a little life.?

I will also have a button up on my blog up until Christmas so if you can't donate today, maybe you can in a few days or a few weeks.

And on behalf of all the kids who are in this hospital now, have been in this hospital or one day may be in this hospital..... Thank you.

Source: http://lifeloveandhiccups.blogspot.com/2012/11/buy-light-this-christmas-to-help-save.html

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REBNY announces annual award recipients - Real Estate Weekly

The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) has announced the recipients of the annual honors which will be presented at the 117th Annual Banquet to be held on January 17, 2013 at the New York Hilton Hotel.

This year?s honorees are a distinguished group of industry leaders from all niches of the real estate world who have had unprecedented success and demonstrated continued commitment to the city and the industry.

This year?s honorees are:

DONALD ZUCKER

Donald Zucker, chairman, Donald Zucker Company, who will receive The Bernard H. Mendik Lifetime Leadership in Real Estate Award, which is presented each year to a REBNY member for a lifetime of exceptional accomplishment in the profession and dedication to leadership in New York real estate.

MIKE FISHMAN

Mike Fishman, International Executive Vice President, Service Employees International Union, who will receive The Harry B. Helmsley Distinguished New Yorker Award, which is presented to an industry member for invaluable contributions to New York?s civic welfare and to the real estate community.

Dottie Herman, President and CEO, Douglas Elliman, who will receive The Kenneth R. Gerrety Humanitarian Award, which recognizes meritorious service to the community by a REBNY member.

DOTTIE HERMAN

Woody Heller, Executive Managing Director, Studley, who will receive The Louis Smadbeck Broker Recognition Award, which honors an

WOODY HELLER

executive who exemplifies the characteristics of a successful commercial broker.

Dick Concannon, Senior Vice President, Rudin Management, who will receive The George M. Brooker Management Executive of the Year Award, which recognizes individuals of superior accomplishment in the commercial management industry based on outstanding professionalism, civic achievement and contributions to the real estate industry.

DICK CONCANNON

WILLIAM MONTANA

William Montana, Managing Director, Studley, who will receive The Young Real Estate Man of the Year Award, selected by the Young Men?s/Women?s Real Estate Association of New York on the basis of integrity, professionalism and personal ethics. Montana is the chair of REBNY?S Commercial Brokerage Division.

?The REBNY Banquet has a long-standing reputation for being real estate?s most important evening of the year because it is here that some of the industry?s biggest and most influential deals are said to have been made,? said REBNY President Steven Spinola.

?The enthusiasm of the crowd is usually a good indicator of market vitality. It?s also the only event of the year that brings the whole industry together for a great night of fun with friends and colleagues. Finally, it is an excellent opportunity for us to commend six honorees for their years of hard work and commitment to our city, and our industry.?

The evening will also include a video component that asks industry experts about their views on issues that are crucial to New York City?s real estate market today.

REBNY advises those wishing to attend to purchase tickets early. For more information, contact MaryAnn Aviles at 212-532-3100 or maviles@rebny.com. Please visit www.REBNY.com.

About the Honorees:

Donald Zucker, Chairman, Donald Zucker Company

Donald Zucker is a major developer and owner and has constructed or rehabilitated properties in Manhattan. His private construction and redevelopment has been concentrated in New York City and is responsible for bringing more than 4,000 apartments on to the market in the Borough of Manhattan for rental or sale.

Donald Zucker was born in New York City and raised in Brooklyn. He served in the United States Army from 1953-1955, then was employed as a mortgage broker from 1956-1961. He established the Donald Zucker Company, a real estate mortgage firm in 1961. Since then, the company has grown, and today, together with its affiliated companies, employ approximately 300 people. These companies are: a construction/development company, a major national mortgage brokerage firm, and an asset management company.

Mr. Zucker has been active in the New York City business community and government throughout his career. He served as Special Advisor for Construction to Mayor Edward Koch. Mr. Zucker oversaw one of the largest public construction programs in the country, with an annual budget of $5 billion and thousands of different construction projects.

Mayor Giuliani appointed Mr. Zucker Chairman of the School Construction Authority to direct activities and bring as much efficiency as possible to its construction program.
From April 1989 to March 1990, Mr. Zucker was Chairman of the Masters Degree Program in Real Estate of New York University. He was the first holder of the Silverstein Chair of Real Estate Development and was a Clinical Professor at what is now the NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate.

Mr. Zucker is an active member of the Executive Committee of North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System and served as President of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons.
Mr. Zucker has seven children: two sons, two daughters, three stepsons; and fourteen grandchildren. He and his wife Barbara live on Long Island.

The Bernard H. Mendik Lifetime Leadership in Real Estate Award is named for Bernard H. Mendik, who served as REBNY?s chairperson from 1992 to his passing in 2001.

Mike Fishman, International Executive Vice President, Service Employees International Union

Mike Fishman is the International Executive Vice President of the Service Employees International Union, a position to which he was elected after serving more thirteen years as the President of SEIU Local 32BJ. With 120,000 members in eight states and the District of Columbia, 32BJ is the largest private-sector union in New York State and the largest property services union in the country. Its members work as cleaners in offices, schools, stadiums, arenas, malls and government institutions; building superintendents, doormen and maintenance workers in residential buildings; and as security officers, food service workers and in other property service jobs.

Mike, a union leader for more than 30 years, was elected four times as President of 32BJ. Fishman led large-scale organizing drives that more than doubled 32BJ?s membership. Mike?s success as a labor leader is grounded partly in his understanding that labor, business and government can work cooperatively to spur economic growth and create a broadly shared prosperity. In 2011, he was named by Governor Andrew Cuomo to the New York City Regional Economic Development Council. Mike has also received numerous honors, including from the National Action Network and Alianza Dominica. The grandson of a union carpenter who taught him the trade, Mike?s career as a labor activist began when he joined the carpenters? union. After nearly 20 years in that union, during which he served as Director of Organizing, Mike joined SEIU in 1996 as Assistant to the President and then Chief of Staff. Today, Mike serves on the Executive Council of the New York State AFL-CIO; Vice President of the New York City Central Labor Council; Chair of the 32BJ Benefit Fund; and Vice President of SEIU. Mike was raised in Queens and Connecticut, where he attended public schools. He is married, has a daughter, and lives in New York City.

The Harry B. Helmsley Distinguished New Yorker Award memorializes Mr. Helmsley, his generation?s most admired real estate executive.

The annual banquet is the most attended event on the city?s real estate calendar.

Dottie Herman, President and CEO, Douglas Elliman

Dorothy Herman, Dottie, is the quintessential New York success story. In only two decades, she climbed to the pinnacle of the housing industry ? CEO of Douglas Elliman, the #4 ranked real estate company in the United States. Today, under her leadership, Douglas Elliman is New York?s largest residential brokerage, with over 3,800 real estate professionals and 675 employees working in more than 60 offices in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, the Hamptons and the North Fork, Westchester and Riverdale.

In addition to leading New York?s largest residential real estate brokerage and rentals, she also controls a portfolio of real estate services, including commercial and retail leasing and sales, relocation and settling in services, new development consulting and also Manhattan?s largest residential property manager, Douglas Elliman Property Management, as well as DE Title, and DE Capital Mortgage. Dottie began her career on Long Island, and purchased Prudential Long Island Realty in 1989. After turning the company into the powerhouse brokerage operating on Long Island and in the Hamptons, she purchased Douglas Elliman, Manhattan?s largest and most prestigious brokerage firm, with her partner Howard Lorber in 2003. Since then, Douglas Elliman has become the largest and fastest-growing real estate firm in New York, with offices from Manhattan to Montauk, and, as of January of 2011, Westchester County.

Dottie is an honored contributor to The Sunrise Fund at Stony Brook University Medical Center, a program established to raise awareness and funds for pediatric oncology programs. In the summer of 2008, Dottie was honored at the 12th Annual Heart of the Hamptons Gala, receiving the Distinguished Community Leadership Award for her continual support and contributions. In 2009, the Guardian Angels honored Dottie with the Outstanding New Yorker Award. Dottie is also a long time supporter of the American Heart Association, the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, the Southampton Hospital, the Katz Institute for Women?s Health and Katz Women?s Hospital located at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset and LIJ Medical Center in New Hyde Park. She is also involved with the Every Woman Matters Walk: A Walk for Women and Their Families.

The Kenneth R. Gerrety Humanitarian Award celebrates the memory of Mr. Gerrety who served with distinction as REBNY?s executive vice president for many years and gave valuable community service to his hometown of Garden City, New York.

Woody Heller, Executive Managing Director, Group Head, Capital Transactions Group, Studley

Woody Heller is Executive Managing Director and group head of the Capital Transactions Group of Studley in New York. With 28 years of experience in the real estate business, Mr. Heller is responsible for investment sales activity in the New York market, where he focuses on office, residential and specialty retail buildings, as well as development sites. Mr. Heller?s most notable sales include the Citigroup Center, the Rhinelander Mansion leased to Polo Ralph Lauren and the purchase of the Drake Hotel development site. Other cities in which he has been active include Chicago and Philadelphia, and he has also worked in markets in New Jersey, Texas, Florida, Ohio and Indiana. Separate from the outright sale of properties, he has also structured participating and/or convertible mortgages, equity joint ventures and note sales, the most notable of which was the sale of the notes and mortgage encumbering the Chrysler Building. During his tenure, Mr. Heller has closed over $6.5 billion of asset and note sale transactions comprising approximately 33 million square feet.

In 2007, Mr. Heller was honored with the Real Estate Board?s ?Most Ingenious Deal of the Year? award for the sale of the New York Law School development site in Tribeca. Mr. Heller also received this distinction in 2004 for the sale of McGraw Hill?s 45% C-Corp Interest in 1221 Avenue of the Americas in 2003.

Mr. Heller serves as a member of the Young Men?s/Women?s Real Estate Association, the National Realty Conference, The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Real Estate Lenders Association.

He also serves as a governor of The Real Estate Board of New York and chairs its Sales Brokers Committee.

The Louis Smadbeck Broker Recognition Award honors the memory of one of the profession?s most esteemed practitioners.

Dick Concannon, Senior Vice President, Rudin Management

Dick Concannon has fifty years of experience in the operations and maintenance of high-rise buildings. Having spent his career with Rudin Management Company; he is now retiring. As Senior Vice President of the Operations Department for the past 15 years, Dick oversaw all phases of operations, including HVAC systems, electrical systems, plumbing systems and life-safety systems for 16 office buildings and 20 residential properties. In addition, he was administrator of environmental policy and remediation and served on the Rudin Energy Procurement Committee.

Dick has authored several documents on safety and well-being for those occupying the Rudin properties. He developed and wrote the Emergency Response Plan for the Rudin office buildings, the company?s Pandemic Flu Plans and authored the Rudin Superintendents? Handbook. Dick and Rudin?s Gene Boniberger invented the original Emergency Electrical Load Reduction Plan created in 2001 for large energy users to curtail electrical usage when New York City is faced with summer power shortages. It resulted in an overall 165 megawatt reduction in electrical usage for 300 high-rise office buildings. Shortly after the current asbestos regulations first went into effect, Dick convinced major fireproofing manufacturers to pre-tint non-asbestos replacement fireproofing in light blue so it can be easily identified as being asbestos free.

During his career, Dick has held numerous positions. He started as a helper and became building engineer, chief engineer, building manager and vice president. He has acted as a Rudin Operations consultant for various non-profit organizations. He was a member of the Building Owners and Managers Association of New York, the Real Estate Board of New York Commercial Management Council and the Management Board. He attended New York University?s School of Continuing Education for Asbestos Removal in Occupied Buildings and Asbestos Control Programs for Building Operations and Maintenance. He also studied at Long Island University and a number of technical schools.

Dick and his wife, Carol, have four children and five grandchildren. Dick?s hobbies include maintaining antique automobiles and collecting antique toys. He is a member of the Islip-Bay Shore Kiwanis and is on the Outreach Board of Directors.

The George M. Brooker Management Executive of the Year Award honors the memory of the late Mr. Brooker, the first Vice President for REBNY?s Management Division and one of the profession?s most respected members.

William Montana, Managing Director, Studley

Bill Montana has been practicing commercial real estate for almost 25 years, advising corporations, partnerships and property owners on a wide array of issues, always with a singular focus on his clients? profitability and success. Throughout his career, he has structured and negotiated complex transactions for some of the nation?s most prominent firms including Microsoft, EMC Corporation, SONY, Mitsubishi International Corp, The Topps Company, Sullivan & Cromwell, Gordon & Rees and The New York Foundation among others.

Mr. Montana comes from a family of real estate owners and practitioners. He began his commercial real estate career in 1988 at Newmark & Company. He was then recruited to join the Edward S. Gordon Company where he spent four years, negotiating several headquarters lease transactions before being asked to join Studley in 1996. At Studley his focus is on providing real estate advisory services including strategic planning, consulting, acquisition and disposition services to major corporations, institutions, and partnerships located in the New York area and nationally.

He is Chairman of the Commercial Board of Directors of the Real Estate Board of New York, a member of REBNY?s Board of Governors, serves on its ethics committee, most of its rental conditions committees and as an arbitrator. He is also the Chairman Emeritus of the Young Men?s/ Women?s Real Estate Association of New York.

Bill is an active philanthropist and is on the board of the New York City Clothing Bank. He is a Knight of Columbus, 4th Degree. He has been an ardent fund-raiser for Stamford?s Shelter for the Homeless, the Buonoconti Fund to cure paralysis, the Starlight Foundation, the Tuberous Sclerosis Society and the United Nations Development Fund.

He has participated in the New York City One-to-One Mentoring Program and other mentoring programs, and speaks annually at Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School and at forums for graduate students in real estate degree programs.

Bill lives in Greenwich, CT, with his wife Jan and daughter Theresa.

The Young Real Estate Man of the Year Award marks exceptional professional performance and commitment to industry causes by a younger member of the profession.

Source: http://www.rew-online.com/2012/11/20/rebny-announces-annual-award-recipients/

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Male bias persists in female-rich science conferences

Public release date: 21-Nov-2012
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Contact: Jyoti Madhusoodanan
jmadhusoodanan@plos.org
415-568-4545 x187
Public Library of Science

Male-organized symposia have only half as many women presenters as symposia organized by women

Women scientists in primatology are poorly represented at symposia organized by men, but receive equal representation when symposia organizers are women or mixed groups, according to research published November 21 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Lynne Isbell and colleagues from the University of California, Davis.

The authors analyzed women scientists' participation at major scientific conferences for primate scientists and anthropologists, where symposia are largely by invitation but posters and other talks are initiated by participants. They found that within the field of primatology, women give more posters than talks, whereas men give more talks than posters. Their analysis also shows that symposia organized by men on average included half the number of women authors (29%) than symposia organized by women or both men and women (58 to 64%).

They describe their results as particularly surprising given that primatology is a field with a significant history of women scientists. In their discussion of these findings, the authors say, "Regardless of the cause of gender bias against women in invitations to prestigious symposia, its discovery requires attention in a field that is exemplary in being gender-blind in so many other ways."

Lynne Isbell adds, "It is difficult to imagine in this day and age that a gender bias by men against women in primatology could exist, but the evidence clearly reveals the sad truth. If it is still happening in a science that is so heavily represented by women, what does that mean for other sciences where women remain in the minority?"

###

Citation: Isbell LA, Young TP, Harcourt AH (2012) Stag Parties Linger: Continued Gender Bias in a Female-Rich Scientific Discipline. PLoS ONE 7(11): e49682. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0049682

Financial Disclosure: The authors have no support or funding to report.

Competing Interest Statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

---

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?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 21-Nov-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jyoti Madhusoodanan
jmadhusoodanan@plos.org
415-568-4545 x187
Public Library of Science

Male-organized symposia have only half as many women presenters as symposia organized by women

Women scientists in primatology are poorly represented at symposia organized by men, but receive equal representation when symposia organizers are women or mixed groups, according to research published November 21 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Lynne Isbell and colleagues from the University of California, Davis.

The authors analyzed women scientists' participation at major scientific conferences for primate scientists and anthropologists, where symposia are largely by invitation but posters and other talks are initiated by participants. They found that within the field of primatology, women give more posters than talks, whereas men give more talks than posters. Their analysis also shows that symposia organized by men on average included half the number of women authors (29%) than symposia organized by women or both men and women (58 to 64%).

They describe their results as particularly surprising given that primatology is a field with a significant history of women scientists. In their discussion of these findings, the authors say, "Regardless of the cause of gender bias against women in invitations to prestigious symposia, its discovery requires attention in a field that is exemplary in being gender-blind in so many other ways."

Lynne Isbell adds, "It is difficult to imagine in this day and age that a gender bias by men against women in primatology could exist, but the evidence clearly reveals the sad truth. If it is still happening in a science that is so heavily represented by women, what does that mean for other sciences where women remain in the minority?"

###

Citation: Isbell LA, Young TP, Harcourt AH (2012) Stag Parties Linger: Continued Gender Bias in a Female-Rich Scientific Discipline. PLoS ONE 7(11): e49682. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0049682

Financial Disclosure: The authors have no support or funding to report.

Competing Interest Statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-11/plos-mbp111912.php

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Diehard Orleans Parish defense lawyer Clyde Merritt, near death ...

"One of the things he taught me is, you don?t know if you?ll get away with something unless you try it.?- defense attorney Dwight Doskey

Clyde Merritt doesn't have much of a defense left. An inveterate New Orleans public defender, Merritt has represented criminal clients across five decades, trundling up and down the steps of Tulane and Broad probably more than anyone alive.

But now, at 82, he spends his days far from the courthouse bustle.

Stricken by terminal cancer, Merritt mostly rests in bed in a darkened room in Lakeview, wearing a scraggly gray beard, a pair of dark dress socks and a tube that runs from his stomach to a metal support stand where a plastic Frank Sinatra doll hangs from a twist-tie around the waist.

His bed faces a flat-screen TV and a bookshelf packed with legal texts and journals -- tools of a trade that he practiced on behalf of poor defendants for 38 years, and with the state as a prosecutor for 11 more before then.

He's got "a month or two" to live, Merritt figures.

"I already miss it, I guess: The camaraderie. Free coffee. Seeing the excitement of parties at the bench, sitting in trial, seeing I could do it from experience," Merritt said. "I spent more hours in the courts and my office than anyplace."

Bad news came in February, when the Orleans Parish public defender's office laid off Merritt and 20 other lawyers in a sweeping budget purge that left him incensed.

Worse, he said, came in mid-April, when Merritt, a self-described "world-class" smoker, was diagnosed with tongue cancer and leukemia.

"My head hurts. My throat hurts," Merritt said. "Nothing feels good anymore."

A few weeks ago, a group of former colleagues and judges gathered at the house, where his ex-wife and the mother of his three sons, Mary Lou Merritt, now cares for him.

The public defender's office presented him with an award, "in recognition of commitment and fight for the cause of indigent defense." The office plans to bestow the Clyde Merritt Award annually.

"What can you say? Being lauded for your work after a long time -- I'm honored," Merritt said. "I can rejoice and say I did my share."

Stories of Merritt's devotion to the job flow freely among longtime courthouse denizens. Merritt, who started out as an accountant, began working under then-District Attorney Jim Garrison in 1966, following a two-year stint as an Army draftee in the Korean War and four years at Loyola Law School.

He was among the prosecution team that helped Garrison ready the 1969 case against Clay Shaw for an alleged conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy. In the meantime, he prosecuted numerous criminal cases under Garrison.

"When you went from the courthouse to jail, they called that Merritt row, because every person in there was convicted by my dad," said Darren Merritt, one of his sons.

But when Harry Connick beat Garrison in a 1973 election, Merritt left the office for criminal defense work.

"My dad refused to work for Harry Connick. My dad and Jim Garrison were best friends," Darren Merritt said. "He said, 'I'm going to be your nemesis and practice law on the other side,' and he stayed there his whole career."

Merritt said he started working in public defense at the start of 1974, "decided I could do it much better," and until this year never stopped.

For years, Merritt lived on South Dupre Street, two blocks from the courthouse. It was a shotgun double, with an office in front and living quarters in the back. Merritt, friends said, would shag case files from home to the courthouse.

"Clyde won more murder cases in the 70's and early 80's than any other lawyer in Louisiana, probably America. He was that good," said former Criminal District Judge Calvin Johnson, who started as Merritt's gofer and considered him a mentor.

"We had gone through at that time six or seven of these cases. He literally won every one of them. Now we have this one the guy was found guilty. I was astounded. I just walked out the court, sat on the bench. I had tears coming out of my eyes. Clyde comes up there, looks at me and says, 'What's wrong with you? He was guilty. What the hell's wrong with you?' That was my wake-up call to the law."

Johnson described Merritt as "always the disheveled, incoherent man and lawyer."

Colleagues said they once found Merritt roaming the 7th floor office at 9 p.m. on a Friday night in his pajamas, with a dog on a leash, looking for statute books that he would line with handwritten notes.

"You doing all right? Say yeah," was his standard greeting around the office.

"He always had stains on his clothes from food and he'd be dropping ashes from the cigarettes onto them," said defense attorney Dwight Doskey, who worked at the public defender's office with Merritt for 27 years.

"He always would be telling how he got a great buy on a suit from some guy at Tulane and Carrollton selling suits for $50 out of the trunk of his car."

But Merritt's dedication to the law went unquestioned, colleagues said. His passion, often laced with courtroom vitriol, drew plenty of attention. Several former colleagues say judges held him in contempt perhaps more than any attorney in the building.

For years, Merritt complained about the instructions that judges gave juries, constantly arguing that their definition of reasonable doubt was overly restrictive. Ultimately, the Lousiana Supreme Court agreed, in a 1992 decision.

"Everybody laughed at me, and then the Supreme Court set a very strong rule," Merritt said, with more than a tinge of pride. "It upset the balance of law for awhile."

In court, Merritt unleashed dramatic, sometimes outlandish closing arguments, friends said. His son, Darren, likens him to the Al Pacino character in the 1979 courtroom drama "And Justice for All," shouting and flailing for a client, and for effect.

"He was not just insulting. His hair was always wild. He'd be prancing up and down in front of the jury. One of the things he taught me is, you don't know if you'll get away with something unless you try it," Doskey said.

"Clyde was a real firebrand, and lots of judges disliked him, but everybody respected him. "They knew everything he did he was doing because he believed in it. He was never doing it because they were paying him a dollar."

Indeed, many did not. While in private practice -- public defenders in New Orleans were technically part-timers until few years ago -- Merritt had a rough time paying the bills because of how often he'd work for free, Doskey said.

Merritt stuck around after Hurricane Katrina, working for criminal defendants in the makeshift jail at the Greyhound bus station.

"He was married to his job more than his family," said Mary Lou Merritt.

Johnson cited his mentor's tenacity, and a confounding style that he used to his advantage.

"He always had that 'Columbo' kind of thing, mumbling, stumbling and seeming as if he's not all with it, when in fact he's very, very focused," Johnson said. "Clyde is one of those true believers. He is very combative. He was an amateur boxer. That was one of the things in his personality. He wanted to always be in the fight. But on the other side of it, Clyde believed in the law, in the dignity of the law. He had no problem being held in contempt and sitting in jail for a client."

Merritt credits his gravitation toward criminal defense to his Irish heritage and growing up "a poor man's son," to a father who lost his farm in the Great Depression.

When he took a break, which was rare, he'd fish out at his lakeside camp on Chef Menteur Highway.

Now he goes nowhere, rarely leaving the bed except for physical therapy sessions twice a week.

"I guess I could if I wanted," he said. "I haven't recently."

Even as he lies in bed, Merritt retains a feisty disdain for dysfunction in the courthouse -- seeing a major problem?in the distribution of cases among judges.

"Everybody can't be full of energy and desire, with the enthusiasm it takes to be a good judge. They're human beings," he said. "And the good ones have no dockets."

Merritt thinks judges shouldn't be elected -- "You can buy 'em off any way you want," he says -- and he doesn't see much improvement in the most recent crop.

Nor is he much fond of District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro, who sat on the bench for 16 years.

"I got more reversals in his courtroom than any other courtroom," Merritt said. "Cannizzaro and I were never friends."

At one point, Merritt said, he was offered a judgeship. Merritt said he turned it down, knowing that he would refuse to put marijuana scofflaws and other low-level convicts in jail, and would thus incur the wrath of higher courts.

"He would never have been able to curb his tongue," Doskey said. "It would have been a disaster in so many ways."

Merritt isn't happy about being laid off. He says he thinks the stress of it may have brought on his illness. In the last few years, however, he had suffered some falls and became less stable, his son said. Merritt said he knew it was coming.

"I was making too much money for so little production," he said. "I offered to work for a cut, but they didn't want to hear it."

The diagnosis came two months later. Recently, Merritt told Mary Lou that he didn't expect to make it to Christmas.

Time and money have just about run out on him.

"I didn't believe I'd ever be off of the job," Merritt said. "I'll be dead in the next two months. I'm broke. I'm ready for this. I've lived a hell of a life."

Source: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/11/diehard_orleans_parish_defense.html

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