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VOL.9, NO.5

I N F O C U S F O R P E O P L E O V E R 5 0MAY 2012More than 125,000 readers throughout Greater Baltimore

I N S I D E …

By Carol SorgenEd Polochick considers himself one of

the luckiest guys in the world. “I get to dowhat I love,” said the soon-to-be 60-year-old conductor of Concert Artists of Balti-more. “No one can be more passionateabout their profession than I am.”It’s that passion that inspired Polochick

to found the Baltimore Symphony Cham-ber Singers in 1981 in order to give areasingers more professional experience, andthen to ask himself, “What would theysound like with a small orchestra?” The result was Concert Artists of Balti-

more, which is celebrating its 25th anniver-sary this year, highlighted by an end-of-sea-son performance of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Bu-rana” and Leonard Bernstein’s “ChichesterPsalms,” on Saturday, May 5, at 8 p.m., at theModell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric.

A child prodigy Polochick, born near Scranton, Pa.,

came to Baltimore in 1976 to study pianowith renowned pianist Leon Fleisher,whom he credits not only with giving hima solid foundation as a pianist but makinghim a true musician as well.

“I wanted to get my act together as a pi-anist,” said Polochick. “I was a born con-ductor, but piano was my first love,” he said.He had begun lessons at the age of 4,

when his mother found a teacher who rec-ognized that the young boy who was pester-ing for lessons actually had perfect pitch. By the time he was 5, Polochick had given

his first full-length recital, at 8 playedCarnegie Hall, and at 12 was touring thecountry with his teacher, Anna Vanko-Liva,with whom he studied until he left for col-lege. He received his B.A. from Swarthmore,and master’s degrees in both piano and con-ducting from Peabody Conservatory.“I always knew I was going to be a musi-

cian,” said Polochick, though he had a pas-sion for marine biology as well. His talent and accomplishments have

earned Polochick the Leopold StokowskiConducting Award, the Peggy and YaleGordon Achievement Award, and the JHUDistinguished Alumni Award. In addition to leading Concert Artists of

Baltimore, Polochick serves as music di-rector for the Lincoln (Nebraska) Sympho-

ny Orchestra, and makes guest conduct-ing appearances throughout the U.S. andaround the world. He is also a frequentguest lecturer and radio commentator, andteaches conducting at Peabody.Despite his personal accomplishments,

bringing Concert Artists of Baltimore intobeing and nurturing the company’sgrowth for the past quarter-century hasbeen one of the great joys of his life(“though not all daisies and roses,” headded with a chuckle).

A vision for BaltimorePolochick hadn’t been in Baltimore all

that long when he began thinking there

was no reason his adopted city couldn’thave a chamber orchestra and chorale ofthe caliber of the London-based Choir ofSt. Martin-in-the-Fields or the (now de-funct) Robert Shaw Chorale, two of themost renowned choirs in the world.

“Let’s lead the way,” Polochick said tohimself, who was serving as musical direc-tor of the BSO Chorus at the time.The name Concert Artists of Baltimore

was chosen specifically to give equalweight to the value of both the profession-al singers and instrumental musicians inthe company.

Ed Polochick conducts the Concert Artists of Baltimore, an orchestral and choralgroup he founded 25 years ago. Polochick also serves as a guest conductor of or-chestras around the world. He will be conducting 350 performers on stage at theLyric in May for the group’s 25th anniversary concert.

See CONDUCTOR, page 20

Lifetime of passion for music

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FITNESS & HEALTH 3k Does your doctor tell the truth?k Flu vaccine may last a lifetime

LAW & MONEY 10k How to get high returns at low riskk Cheap stocks with potential

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See special pull-out section after p. 12.

It’s been a few years since I attended thenational convention of the American Socie-ty on Aging, one of the majorassociations for professionalsof all types who work in thefield of aging.

This year’s event tookplace in this area, so I went tothe opening session to hearthe featured speakers. Thehotel ballroom was set up for3,000 convention attendees,with huge screens through-out the cavernous room foreasy visibility of the person atthe dais.

The keynote address was to be fromHouse Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Sadly, she was called away for afamily funeral, and was unable to attend.But she filmed some brief remarks for theevent that were aired on the screens.

Given the opportunity to address thou-sands of the most active and influential ac-ademics, social workers, community lead-ers and aging professionals in the country,Pelosi could have taken several possibletacks, I thought.

She could have chosen to address someof the most pressing financial, health or so-

cial needs of older Americanstoday. She could have talkedabout the effects the retire-ment of the baby boom gen-eration will be having on oursociety and the challengesthat presents. She could havetalked about how our politicalprocess impedes realistic so-lutions to practical problems,such as how to adjust SocialSecurity and Medicare to re-store them to a solid financialfooting well into the future.

So imagine my feelings when, instead,she gave a harsh, ten-minute tirade againstthe previous day’s congressional vote onthe budget, denied there was any legiti-mate concern for the future of Social Secu-rity and Medicare and ruled out anychanges to those programs, and delivereda partisan defense of healthcare reform,claiming it was 100 percent beneficial toseniors.

It was a purely political speech, blamingRepublicans for every problem facing sen-

iors today, and casting President Obama,herself and the Democratic party as theonly bulwarks protecting seniors and their“true” advocates from the predatory Re-publicans who have it in for older adultsand are out to destroy Social Security andMedicare for purely political reasons inher view.

She concluded by asking us to supportonly Democrats in this fall’s election. Thenshe wished us a productive convention andsigned off.

A few minutes later, after a more sub-stantive, policy-focused talk from the As-sistant Secretary for Aging, a live memberof Congress took the stage for another“welcoming” address. RepresentativeAllyson Schwartz (D-Pa.), who had missedthe Pelosi presentation, proceeded to saypretty much the same thing in pretty muchthe same way.

She railed against the Republican-spon-sored budget, defended healthcare re-form, portrayed Republicans as enemies ofseniors and asked us all to vote Democrat-ic, all without addressing a single substan-tive issue in a serious way.

Now, I understand why convention or-ganizers, especially for conferences takingplace in Washington, DC, like to invite ad-ministration members and importantand/or local members of Congress tospeak. It ostensibly pleases the crowd andshows the importance of the organization,and it can provide an opportunity to hear

important or relevant pronouncements onoccasion.

But I was highly distressed to think thiswas the best these politicians and theirstaffs could come up with. Did they reallythink a national gathering of this promi-nence was the appropriate occasion forpurely political spiels?

Did they think we don’t understand thatsuch simplistic arguments basically obfus-cate real problems and make us feel theydon’t take us seriously as thoughtful vot-ers?

Do they not understand that such rantsmake them look as ignorant and one-sidedand venal as they paint the “other side” tobe?

The vast majority of American votershave a low opinion of Congress. Disap-proval ratings now exceed 80 percent in anumber of different national polls. We seeits bickering and partisanship as the mainreason for its failure to solve otherwisesolvable issues.

You might think that members of Con-gress who wanted to improve their stand-ing with voters would take an opportunitylike this to show their statesmanship andintegrity by stepping away from partisan-ship and proposing solutions, rather thanwading neck-deep into the muck.

2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com M A Y 2 0 1 2 — B A L T I M O R E B E A C O N

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I N F O C U S F O R P E O P L E O V E R 5 0

The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915(410) 248-9101 • Email: info@thebeaconnewspapers.com

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The Beacon is a monthly newspaper dedi cated to inform, serve, and en ter tain the citi zens of the Greater Baltimore area, and is pri vate ly owned. Other editionsserve Howard County and Greater Washington andPalm Springs, CA.Subscriptions are available via third-class mail ($12),

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Letters to the editorReaders are encouraged to share their opinion on any matter addressedin the Beacon as well as on political and social issues of the day. Mailyour Letter to the Editor to The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring,MD 20915, or e-mail to barbara@thebeaconnewspapers.com. Please include your name, address and telephone number for verification.

• Publisher/Editor ....................Stuart P. Rosenthal

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No patience for politics

FROM THEPUBLISHERBy Stuart P. Rosenthal

Dear Editor:A brief note to tell you how very much I

enjoy the Beacon when it arrives monthlyin my mailbox at the end of the driveway.

I enjoyed it when I lived one and a halfyears ago in my little apartment at Aig-burth Vale, a community of independentseniors. We all scurried down to the mail-room to collect our copies of the Beaconwhen they arrived each month.

I am still a faithful reader, even though Inow pay for the mailing of it. It is very in-expensive in comparison to its pleasure forme.

I am an 88-year-old lady, formerly of Bal-timore County, now still trying to adjust toliving with my 69-year-old elder daughterin this Republican county of Harford.

I read five to six hours daily, currentnon-fiction or fiction written prior to the‘60s, when they were good stories.

And I will vote Democrat on April 3 herein Harford County.

Thought you might like to know whatone of your readers is like out here in thisarea.

Marie A. CollinsAberdeen, Md.

HATS AND SCARVES NEEDEDJewish Volunteer Connection works with area volunteers to pro-

duce 1,500 hand-stitched hats and scarves to be included in winter care pack-

ages. These packages will be distributed to local shelters and soup kitchens on

Dec. 25 as part of Jewish Volunteer Connection’s Community Mitzvah Day. Donat-

ed scarves and hats are accepted all year long at 5709 Park Heights Ave. For

more information, call (410) 843-7490, email volunteer@associated.org or visit

www.jvcbaltimore.org.

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BA L T IMORE B E A CON — MAY 2 0 1 2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com 3

A LIFETIME FLU VACCINE?One-time flu shots that provide a lifetime of protection are under study

FOODS THAT FOSTER SLEEPTry fish, jasmine rice, yogurt andwhole grains to help you sleep better

YOGA FOR FIBROMYALGIATwice-weekly yoga can reduce painfrom fibromyalgia, as can meditation

STAY STRONG AFTER CANCERBreast cancer survivors can sign up forfree strength training classes

HealthFitness &

By Lauran NeergaardTrust your doctor? A survey finds that

some doctors aren’t always completelyhonest with their patients.

More than half admitted describingsomeone’s prognosis in a way they knewwas too rosy. Nearly 20 percent said theyhadn’t fully disclosed a medical mistakefor fear of being sued. And 1 in 10 of thosesurveyed said they’d told a patient some-thing that wasn’t true in the past year.

The survey, by Massachusetts re-searchers and published in Health Affairs,doesn’t explain why, or what wasn’t true.

“I don’t think that physicians set out tobe dishonest,” said lead researcher Dr.Lisa Iezzoni, a Harvard Medical Schoolprofessor and director of MassachusettsGeneral Hospital’s Mongan Institute forHealth Policy. She said the untruths couldhave been to give people hope.

Communicate with your doctorBut it takes open communication for pa-

tients to make fully informed decisions

about their healthcare, as opposed to the“doctor-knows-best” paternalism of medi-cine’s past, Iezzoni added.

The survey offers “a reason for patientsto be vigilant and to be very clear withtheir physician about how much they dowant to know,” she said.

The findings come from a 2009 surveyof more than 1,800 physicians nationwideto see if they agree with and follow certainstandards medical professionalism issuedin 2002. Among the voluntary standardsare that doctors should be open and hon-est about all aspects of patient care, andpromptly disclose any mistakes.

A third of those surveyed didn’t com-pletely agree that doctors should ‘fess upabout mistakes. That’s even though agrowing number of medical centers areadopting policies that tell doctors to say“I’m sorry” up front, in part because stud-ies have found patients less likely to suewhen that happens.

Not revealing a mistake is “just inexcus-able,” said Dr. Arthur Caplan, a prominent

medical ethicist at the University of Pennsyl-vania. Beyond decency, “your care now hasto be different because of what happened.”

The vast majority of those surveyedagreed that physicians should fully informpatients of the risks, not just the benefits,of treatment options and never tell a pa-tient something that isn’t true — eventhough some admitted they hadn’t fol-lowed that advice, at least on rare occa-sions, in the past year.

What about hearing bad news?Perhaps least surprising is that doctors

give overly positive prognoses. It’s hard todeliver bad news, especially when a patienthas run out of options, and until recently doc-tors have had little training in how to do so.

But Iezzoni said patients with the worstoutlook especially deserve to know, so theycan get their affairs in order. Patient studieshave found most patients want to know.

What else might doctors not tell? Thereare shades of gray, said Caplan, the ethi-cist. For example, he’s heard doctors ago-

nize over what to tell parents about a verypremature baby’s chances, knowing theodds are really bad but also knowingthey’ve seen miracles.

Doctors prescribe placebos sometimes,and telling the patient that fact couldnegate chances of the fake treatment help-ing, he noted. Sometimes they exaggeratea health finding to shock the patient intoshaping up.

And sometimes it’s a matter of dribblingout a hard truth to give patients a chanceto adjust, Caplan said. For example, onemight say, “OK, this looks serious butwe’re going to order some more tests,”when the doctor already knows just howgrim things are.

Withholding the full story is gettingharder, though, Iezzoni said. Not only domore patients Google their conditions sothey know what to ask, but some doctorswho have embraced electronic medicalrecords allow patients to log in and checktheir own test results.

— AP

By Lauran NeergaardMedication via remote-control instead of

a shot? Scientists implanted microchips inseven women that did just that, oozing outthe right dose of a bone-strengthening drugonce a day without them even noticing.

Implanted medicine is a hot field, aim-ing to help patients better stick to theirmedications and to deliver those drugsstraight to the body part that needs them.

But the recent study is believed to bethe first attempt at using a wirelessly con-trolled drug chip in people. If this early-stage testing eventually pans out, the ideais that doctors one day might programdose changes from afar with the push of abutton, or time them for when the patientis sleeping to minimize side effects.

Could help many conditionsThe implant initially is being studied to

treat severe bone-thinning osteoporosis.But it could be filled with other types ofmedication, said co-inventor RobertLanger of the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology.

“It’s like `Star Trek,’” said Langer, refer-

ring to the science fiction television series.He co-authored the study appearing in thejournal Science Translational Medicine.“Just send a signal over a special radiowave, and out comes the drug.”

Today’s medication implants continu-ously emit their drugs until they run dry.One example is a dime-sized wafer thatoozes chemotherapy directly onto the siteof a surgically removed brain tumor, tar-geting any remaining cancer cells.

Another is a contraceptive rod that is im-planted in the arm and releases hormonesto prevent pregnancy.

A next step would be more sophisticat-ed implants that release one dose at a time,programmable to skip or add a dose asneeded, said biomedical engineer EllisMeng of the University of Southern Cali-fornia.

Meng was not involved with the MITstudy but also is developing this kind oftechnology, and called the report “an im-portant milestone.”

Women with severe osteoporosis some-times are prescribed daily injections of thebone-building drug teriparatide, known by

the brand Forteo. But many quit taking itbecause of the hassle of the shots.

How it works In the study, the microchip held doses

of Forteo inside tiny wells that are sealedshut with a nano-thin layer of gold. Send-ing a wireless signal causes the gold on anindividual well to dissolve, allowing thatdose to diffuse into the bloodstream,Langer explained.

In a doctor’s-office procedure in Den-mark, the microchip was implanted justbelow the waistline into eight women withosteoporosis. Testing found one microchipwasn’t responding to the signals. Theother seven women had their implants pro-grammed to automatically emit a once-a-day dose beginning eight weeks later.

The chips could have begun workingright away, said Robert Farra, chief execu-tive of MicroCHIPS Inc., a Massachusettscompany that has licensed the device andfunded the study.

But animal research showed a scar tis-sue-like membrane forms around the pace-maker-sized implant. So he waited until

that blockage formed to signal the first of20 once-a-day doses to begin, to see if thedrug could get through.

Blood testing showed the implant deliv-ered the drug as effectively as thewomen’s usual daily injections, and the de-vice appeared to be safe, the researchersreported.

It will take large-scale studies to provethe implant works as well as the long-usedshots, cautioned osteoporosis specialistDr. Ethel Siris of New York-PresbyterianHospital/Columbia University.

“They’re a long way from proving thatthis mode of administration is going towork,” she said. But it’s an intriguing ideabecause “it’s daunting to have to take adaily shot.”

Farra said his company hopes to begin alarger-scale test, using a chip that can hold365 doses, in 2014. While doses of this os-teoporosis medicine typically are not ad-justed, he said, the eventual goal is for pa-tients to carry a cell phone-sized devicethat would provide wireless feedback tothe doctor who programs their implants.

— AP

Implanted device dispenses daily drugs

Doctors aren’t always truthful. Is that OK?

By Jason Koebler Annual flu shots might soon become a

thing of the past — and threats such asavian and swine flu might disappear withthem — as a vaccine touted as the “holygrail” of flu treatment could be ready forhuman trials next year.

That’s earlier than the National Insti-tutes of Health estimated in 2010, whenthey said a universal vaccine could be fiveyears off.

By targeting the parts of the virus thatrarely mutate, researchers believe theycan develop a vaccine similar to themumps or measles shot. People would bevaccinated as children and then receiveboosters later.

A new approach to immunityThat differs from the current ‘60s-era

technology, according to Joseph Kim,head of Inovio Pharmaceuticals, which isworking on the universal vaccine.

Each year, the seasonal flu vaccine tar-gets three or four strains that researchersbelieve will be the most common that year.

Previous seasons’ vaccines have no ef-fect on future strains of the virus, becauseit mutates quickly. The seasonal vaccinealso offers no protection against outbreakssuch as 2009’s H1N1 swine flu.

In contrast, a universal vaccine wouldoffer protection against all forms of thevirus. “It’s like putting up a tent over yourimmune system that protects against rap-

idly mutating viruses,” Kim said. At least two other companies are work-

ing on a similar vaccine. In late 2010, In-ovio earned a $3.1 million grant from theNational Institutes of Health to work onthe vaccine.

“It’s a completely different paradigmthan how [vaccines] are made seasonablyevery year,” Kim said.

Bird and swine flu protectionKim said early research has been prom-

ising. Flu strains fall into different “buck-ets,” he said. All H1N1 strains share similarcharacteristics, as do all H5N1 strains — in-cluding the Asian bird flu strain that haskilled more than 60 percent of the 500 or sopeople it has infected over the past decade.

Kim said Inovio has already made andcompleted successful human tests for vac-cines that protect against all H1N1 andH5N1 flu strains.

In late 2011, two research groups createda strain of H5N1 bird flu that could be passedfrom human to human, leading the WorldHealth Organization to issue a statementthat said they were “deeply concerned about

the potential negative consequences” thatpublishing their research could cause.

Some news outlets have called the newstrain “engineered doomsday” and won-dered whether terrorist organizationscould create and distribute a similar virus.

Kim said not to worry. “I am very cer-tain our vaccine can already neutralize thatnewly made virus,” he said. “We’re tryingto get our hands on it.”

Inovio is working on vaccines that willprotect against other strains, such asH3N2, which is seen in a newly-emergedswine flu virus. Those vaccines will becombined with the already-developedH1N1 and H5N1 vaccines to be deliveredin one shot by the 2013 flu season.

Researchers are taking a similar ap-proach to HIV vaccine development, butworking on the flu might be easier.

“Unlike other diseases, we have 50 plusyears of diagnostics on the flu,” Kim said.“There are lots of toolkits that let us knowif our approach will work or not. ... Ourgoal is to have a vaccine strategy that canprotect us from all mutations.”© 2012 U.S. News and World Report

Universal, lifetime flu vaccine on the way4 Fitness & Health | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com MAY 2 0 1 2 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

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By Brierley Wright Some people have trouble falling asleep.

Others can’t stay asleep. And then there arethe people who have trouble turning life “off”and tucking into bed at a reasonable hour.

Whatever the reason, more than 50 mil-lion Americans don’t get enough shut-eye.Yet the health benefits of a good night’srest are legion.

Sleep helps keep you happy, your brainsharp, your immune system strong, yourwaistline trim, your skin looking youthful,and lowers your risk of high blood pres-sure and heart disease.

Here’s the good news: Adding certainfoods to your diet may help increase yourodds of successful slumber, as reported inEatingWell Magazine. Here are somethings you can eat for a better night’ssleep:

1. Fish. Most fish, especially salmon,halibut and tuna, boast vitamin B6,which is needed to make melatonin (asleep-inducing hormone triggered bydarkness), according to an article pub-lished in the Annals of the New YorkAcademy of Sciences. Other B6-rich foodsinclude chickpeas, bananas and fortifiedcereals.

2. Jasmine rice. When healthy sleep-ers ate carbohydrate-rich suppers of veg-gies and tomato sauce over rice, they fellasleep significantly faster at bedtime ifthe meal included high-glycemic-index(GI) jasmine rice rather than lower-GIlong-grain rice, in a study published inthe American Journal of Clinical Nutri-tion.

While the authors aren’t sure how ithappened, they speculated that the greateramounts of insulin triggered by the high-GI meals increased the ratio of sleep-in-ducing tryptophan relative to other aminoacids in the blood, allowing proportionate-ly more to get into the brain.

3. Tart cherry juice. In a small study,melatonin-rich tart cherry juice was shownto aid sleep. When adults with chronic in-somnia drank a cup of tart cherry juicetwice a day, they experienced some relief inthe severity of their insomnia.

4. Yogurt. Dairy products like yogurtand milk boast healthy doses of calcium,and there’s research that suggests beingcalcium-deficient may make it difficult to fallasleep. Other calcium-rich foods to try: leafy

B A L T IMORE B E A CON — MAY 2 0 1 2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com | Fitness & Health 5

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green vegetables like kale and collards.5. Whole grains. Bulgur, barley and

other whole grains are rich in magnesium,and consuming too little magnesium may

make it harder to stay asleep, reported theJournal of Orthomolecular Medicine.From EatingWell, a magazine and web-

site devoted to healthy eating as a way of life.See www.eatingwell.com.© 2012 EatingWell, Inc. Distributed by

Tribune Media Services, Inc.

Yoga reduces fibromyalgia painFibromyalgia is as elusive as diseases

come. Characterized by constant body-wide pain with no identifiable cause, its ex-istence is still held in contention by doc-tors. But for the 12 million mostly femaleAmericans to whom the pain is very real,yoga therapy may bring relief.

Two months of twice-weekly yoga ses-sions reduced pain in women with fi-bromyalgia, according to new researchfrom York University in Toronto, Canada.Participants reported less pain and help-

lessness at the end of the study, as well asa boost in cortisol levels.

In healthy individuals, cortisol levelsfluctuate regularly, but in fibromyalgia pa-tients, symptoms are associated with con-sistently low levels, reflecting dysregula-tion of the body’s stress-management cen-ter. Without a regulated amount of corti-sol, the body cannot adequately respond toor recover from stress.

“For fibromyalgia sufferers, it’s actuallypositive when the body begins producingmore cortisol,” said researcher KathrynCurtis.

Patients also came away from the inter-vention with greater mindfulness, whichresearch shows is helpful in regulating thebody’s natural stress response.

The benefit is likely a result of Hathayoga’s emphasis on breathing, meditation

and inner reflection. Mindfulness, Curtisnotes, may also prevent patients from fo-cusing on their own pain, and in doing so,keep them from amplifying it.

Here are a few ways to increase yourmindfulness:

Meditation: For five minutes, concen-trate on the sensation of your breath trav-eling in and out of your lungs. Gently refo-cus when your mind wanders. “Meditationallows you to calmly experience your painand your reactions to it — something wenormally try to avoid,” Curtis said.

Physical activity: Exercise takes yourmind off anxieties and improves mood. Fi-bromyalgia patients should start slowly toavoid pain flare-ups.

Conscious eating: For one meal, focusentirely on the experience of eating. No-tice the appearance, texture, smell andtaste of the food. It’s easiest to eat mindful-ly, Curtis said, if you block out time andpick a quiet environment.

— Psychology Today

Over 65? Get awhooping cough

shotA federal advisory panel wants all U.S.

adults to get vaccinated against whoopingcough.

The panel voted to expand its recom-mendation to include all those 65 and olderwho haven’t gotten a whooping cough shotas an adult.

Children have been vaccinated againstwhooping cough since the 1940s, but avaccine for adolescents and adults was notlicensed until 2005.

Since then, the Advisory Committee onImmunization Practices has graduallyadded groups of adults to its recommenda-tions, including 2010 advice that it be givento older adults who spend a lot of timearound infants.

The recommendation means now alladults should get at least one dose.“They’ve been moving up to this in babysteps,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a Van-derbilt University vaccines expert.

Whooping cough, or pertussis, is ahighly contagious bacterial disease that inrare cases can be fatal. It leads to severecoughing that causes children to make adistinctive whooping sound as they gaspfor breath.

Recommendations from the panel areusually adopted by the government, whichsends the guidance out to doctors.

Contributing to the push to vaccinatemore adults was a California whoopingcough epidemic in 2010 that infected9,000. Ten babies died after exposure to in-fected adults or older children.

There’s little data on how many people65 and over have gotten the vaccine. Onlyabout 8 percent of adults under 65 havebeen vaccinated, but about 70 percent ofadolescents have.

Health officials believe whooping cough

Health Shorts

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Five foodsFrom page 5

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– Susan, Baltimore

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Q: Is it true that coconut oil can helpprevent dementia such as Alzheimer’sdisease?

A: It’s too early to knowwhether coconut oil plays arole in preventing dementia.You can easily find articlespromoting coconut oil to pre-vent or battle dementia, aswell as diabetes, heart diseaseand other chronic diseases.

Although individual storiescan generate a lot of hope, ac-cording to the Natural Medi-cines Comprehensive Database— one of the “gold standard”references for foods and supple-ments like this — we simply donot have enough evidence to evaluate the po-tential effectiveness of this oil for dementia.

Coconut oil is high in saturated fat. Re-search is far less clear about the cholesterol-raising effects of saturated fat than it onceseemed, but the particular saturated fattyacids in coconut oil seem to pose heart healthrisk. Studies are conflicting on whether co-conut oil raises HDL (good) cholesterol.

Some coconut oil fans favor it as an anti-inflammatory food. Preliminary researchsuggests that virgin coconut oil, which isoil not treated with chemicals or heat pro-cessing, could have anti-inflammatory

properties, but results are mixed and morestudies are needed.

Meanwhile, a wide range offoods and eating patterns arelinked more consistently instudies with reduced risk fordementia and other healthbenefits than is coconut oil. Astudy that followed mid-lifeadults for 14 years found thatthose with highest scores foran overall healthy diet were86 to 90 percent less likely todevelop dementia in lateradult life.

That came down to thesame choices that reduce riskof cancer and heart disease

and promote a healthy weight: eating plentyof vegetables, fruit and fish; cooking withunsaturated oils; avoiding candy and sugar-sweetened drinks and limiting added sugar;keeping alcohol to moderate use (one ortwo drinks per week in women and one tofive in men in this study); and limitingsausage and saturated fat.

Keep mindful of emerging research, butfor now, the safer bets for reducing demen-tia are a Mediterranean or other eatingpattern that focuses on whole plant foods,along with regular exercise.

Q: Foods that fight inflammation are

supposed to be so healthy. But whatexactly is inflammation?

A: The redness you see when you hityour thumb with a hammer or get a splin-ter is a sign of inflammation, the body’snormal response to injury or infection. In-creased blood flow to the area brings whiteblood cells and proteins to attack or dam-age intruding bacteria.

The inflammation that signals a healthissue, however, is chronic, low-grade in-flammation, which seems to damage bodytissues in ways that promote developmentof chronic disease. For example, inflamma-tory cells have been found in the fattyplaque that builds up in blood vessels andleads to heart disease.

And inflammation seems to cause cellchanges that result in our body’s inabilityto respond to insulin appropriately, in-creasing risk of type 2 diabetes.

Inflammation may also promote cancerdevelopment by damaging our genes, in-creasing cell turnover, and increasing devel-opment of blood vessels that allow cancercells to grow and spread.

The good news is that many of the samebasic lifestyle choices that we already knowpromote overall health seem to decreasedevelopment of chronic inflammation.

Excess body fat releases proteins thattravel throughout the body promoting in-

Does coconut oil really prevent dementia?

NUTRITIONWISEBy Karen Collins, MS, RD, CDM

BA L T IMORE B E A CON — MAY 2 0 1 2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com | Fitness & Health 7

See NUTRITION WISE, page 9

Baltimore Eye Doctor Helps Legally Blind to See AgainADVERTORIAL

Diplomat in Low Vision Caretrains Dr. Thomas Azman tohelp those with age-related macular degeneration withreading and driving.

By Elena LombardiFreelance Writer

Donald Paquette, 72, a former as-sessor from Anaheim, California,thought that his driving days wereover.“I could not read the street signssoon enough and I couldn’t pass thevision test at the DMV office.”

Gonzalo Garcia, 74, Albu-querque, New Mexico, wanted to beable to read and write more easily.He wanted to see the nails andscrews when he tried to use them inhome repairs. He wanted see hisgrandchildren singing in the churchchoir. But he thought those dayswere over when he was diagnosedwith Macular Degeneration.

California optometrist, Dr.Richard J. Shuldiner and Baltimoreoptometrist Dr. Thomas Azman areusing miniaturized binoculars or telescopes to help people who havelost vision from macular degeneration or other eye conditions. “Some of my patients consider us

the last stop for people who have vision loss.” said Dr. Azman, a lowvision optometrist who has just completed training with Dr.Shuldiner in California.“Amazing!” says Donald. “I can

read the street signs twice as far as I did before and even see the television better!”

Macular degeneration is the mostcommon eye disease among the senior population. As many as 25%of those over 65 have some degreeof degeneration. The macula is onesmall part of the entire retina, but itis the most sensitive and gives ussharp images.

When it degenerates, macular degeneration leaves a blind spot right

in the center of vision, which makes it impossible to recognize faces, read abook, or pass the drivers vision test.

The experts do not know whatcauses macular degeneration. Butmajor factors include UV light from the sun, smoking, aging, andimproper nutrition.

Vitamins can help. The results oftwo studies, AREDS and LASTdemonstrated a lowered risk of progression by about 25% whentreated with a high-dose combinationof vitamins. Dr. Azman advises patients on the best nutritional supplements during the low visionevaluation.

Nine out of ten people who havemacular degeneration have the drytype. There is no medical treatmentexcept for vitamins. The wet type involves the leakage of fluid orblood from the blood vessels behindthe macula. Injections of Leucentisor Avastin are very effective in preventing the vessels from leaking.“Our job is to figure out anything

and everything possible to keep aperson functioning,” says Dr. Azman.“Whether it’s driving, reading,watching television, seeing faces,playing bridge… we work with whatever is on the persons “wish list.”

Even if it’s driving.Maryland and California are two

of many states that allow the use oftelescopic glasses for safer driving.

Hank Frese, 69, a former HighSchool Principal from La Palma, California saw Dr. Shuldiner last August. “I could not read the streetsigns soon enough when driving, andI could not read my morning paper.”

Bioptic Telescopic glasses wereprescribed to read signs and seetraffic lights farther away. As Hankputs it, “These telescope glasses notonly allow me to read signs from afarther distance, but makes drivingmuch easier. I’ve also used them towatch television so I don’t have to sitso close. I don’t know why I waitedtwo years to do this; I should havecome sooner”“Telescopic glasses start at

around $1500”, says Dr. Azman,“and low vision prismatic readingglasses start at $500. A small priceto pay for better vision and increasedindependence.”

If you or someone you care aboutis struggling with vision loss, callDr. Thomas Azman for a free tele-phone interview.

You can reach Dr. Azman by dialing (410) 561-8050.

Hank Frese wearing Bioptic Telescope Driving Glasses

By Carol SorgenYears following breast cancer diagnosis,

breast cancer survivors may struggle witha variety of problems, including insomnia,fatigue, depression and anxiety. Breastcancer survivors also appear to havegreater amounts of weight gain, weaknessand functional limitations than womenwithout a history of cancer.

Researchers have found that addingstrength training to a treatment plan mayaid recovery and promote long-term health.

The University of Maryland/BaltimoreVA Medical Center is now conducting a

study find out how exercise helps.According to principal investigator

Monica Serra, strength training in breastcancer survivors appears to be well tolerat-ed and may improve many quality of life-related symptoms, as well as muscle mass,strength, cardiovascular fitness, balanceand physical function, in addition to pre-venting bone mineral density loss.

Lymphedema concerns In the past, the recommendation to per-

form strength training was not encour-aged in cancer survivors prone to lym-

phedema (swelling that generally occursin an arm or leg) — a condition that mayaffect as many as 70 percent of womenwho have had breast cancer surgery,Serra said. However, new research sug-gests that strength training may actuallyreduce symptoms and the number of exac-erbations associated with lymphedema.

In addition to 150 minutes a week ofmoderate cardiovascular training (whichmay include walking, biking or swim-ming), general strength training is recom-mended two or three days a week.

This should include performing at leastone set of eight to 10 different exercises thattarget the major muscle groups. Such exer-cises might include a bicep curl or leg raise.

Each set should include eight to 12 rep-etitions of the exercise to the point whereyou cannot lift the weight one more timewhile maintaining proper lifting technique.

Breast cancer survivors should begin astrength training program slowly and ad-vance the program gradually, according toSerra. If prone to lymphedema, they shouldwear a compression sleeve and glove.

Additionally, before beginning a strengthtraining program, it is recommended thatcancer survivors consult with a healthcareprofessional, who may be able to recommendan exercise program that will cater to theirspecific health needs and concerns. They

is underreported in older adults, perhapsbecause in older people the illness can behard to distinguish from other coughingailments.

A goal of the recommendation is to pre-vent teens and adults from spreading thedisease to infants, although there’s notgood evidence this “herd immunity” ap-proach has worked so far. Vaccination forchildren is included in a series of shots,beginning at 2 months.

The adult vaccine combines protectionagainst tetanus, diphtheria and whoopingcough. One version of the vaccine, madeby GlaxoSmithKline, was licensed for usein older adults last year. The committeesaid another version, made by Sanofi Pas-teur, can also be given. Both cost about$35 a dose.

The shot is as safe as a regular tetanusbooster. Estimates range widely for howeffective the vaccine is at preventingwhooping cough in older adults, or howmuch its protection wanes years after-ward.

— AP

Statin drugs cancause memory

lossFederal health officials are adding new

safety warnings about risks of memoryloss and elevated blood sugar to statins, awidely prescribed group of cholesterol-lowering medications.

The Food and Drug Administration(FDA) announced several labelingchanges to medicines like Lipitor, Crestorand Zocor.

Labeling on all such drugs will warn ofmemory loss and confusion reportedamong certain patients taking statins. Theproblems were generally not serious andwent away after patients stopped takingthe drugs, according to the FDA.

The updated labels will also mention el-evated levels of blood sugar reported insome patients taking statins.

Statins are mainly prescribed to preventheart attacks in people with clogged arteriesand work by dramatically lowering LDL or“bad cholesterol.” They were the third best-selling drug class in the U.S. for 2010. — AP

Health shortsFrom page 6

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

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

Strength training for breast cancer survivors

See STRENGTH TRAINING, page 9

Learn how to makeLearn how to make

Every time you use the phone.If any disability makes it difficult for you to usethe telephone, you may qualify for FREE assistive telephone equipment through the Maryland Accessible Telecommunications program.

Even though you may be able to carry on a conversation

with someone in person, you may have difficulty communicating by standard telephone.

The Maryland Accessible Telecommunications (MAT) program, a serviceof Maryland Relay, provides assistive telecommunications equipment —free of charge — to people who qualify. Training on how to use theequipment is available.

To learn more about the free equipment, including hands-free phones,amplified phones, voice activated phones and more, simply call Maryland Relay Customer Service at 1-800-552-7724. You may also visit our website, www.mdrelay.org.Click on Free Equipment for more information on how to apply

50-80 year old men & women with Type 2 Diabetes are needed to participate in an exercise research study at the University of Maryland/Baltimore VA Medical Center.

Call 410-605-7179. Mention code: EPC-DM.

Diabetes Research Study

If interested call: 410-605-7179 & Mention code: LIFT atBaltimore VA/University of Maryland Gerontology Recruitment Line

*You must be at least 65 years old and in good health*Participants will be seen at the Baltimore VA Medical Center and

University of Maryland School of Medicine*You will attend approximately 41 visits for 1 to 4 hours each per visit

CALL TODAY!

Want to Prevent Falls in the Elderly?Seeking Men and Women to participate in a research study

at the University of Maryland &Veterans Affairs of Baltimore to better understand balance and the

prevention of falls in aging individuals.You will receive:

• Health evaluation• Balance, step, strength, and/or flexibility exercises

• Compensation for your time

flammation, so reaching and maintaining ahealthy weight shows major effects on re-ducing inflammation.

Avoid tobacco; be physically active insome way every day; and eat plenty of veg-etables, fruits, whole grains and beans. In-cluding fish (especially fatty fish like salmon)and walnuts for omega-3 fat is helpful.

In the past, there was some thought thatpolyunsaturated rich vegetable oils (corn,safflower, soybean and sunflower) workedagainst the inflammation-fighting effects

of omega-3 fats, but that has been dis-proven. Monounsaturated rich vegetableoils such as olive oil and canola oil areboth excellent choices.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.

Nutrition wiseFrom page 7

BA L T IMORE B E A CON — MAY 2 0 1 2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com | Fitness & Health 9

Trouble Sleeping?Volunteer for a Sleep& Sensory Tes�ng Study

Approved04/5/2010

Michael T. Smith, Ph.D., Principal Inves!gatorProtocol: NA_00011802

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

For informa�on, please call (410) 550-7906

� To par�cipate in this study,you must be:

• 50 Years of age or older• Have Trouble Staying Asleep• Be otherwise Healthy

� Compensa�on up to $330.00

� This study involves:• 1 Sleep study conducted in

your home• Sensory and Physical tes!ng @ Johns Hopkins

• 1 Blood draw• Parking and Tests provided at

no cost

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicineare looking for volunteers to par!cipate in a

research study examining the associa!on between sleep and sensory abili!es.

should also have a certified fitness profes-sional teach them proper exercise technique.

Taking part in the study The study is now recruiting 40 post-

menopausal women between the ages of 45and 80 who finished cancer treatment at leastthree months ago to participate in a researchstudy on the benefits and guidelines forstrength training in breast cancer survivors.

Participants will go through two screen-ing visits to determine eligibility, and thenfour visits for baseline testing. After this,they will strength train at the VA Medical

Center three times a week for four monthsbefore repeating the same four tests theydid as baseline testing.

There is no financial compensation paidfor participating in this study. However,parking and use of the exercise facility arefree, and participants will receive a com-plete medical evaluation — including physi-cal fitness, body composition, glucose toler-ance and cardiovascular health, in additionto an exercise trainer for the study duration.

For more information or to volunteer,call the University of Maryland/BaltimoreVA Medical Center at (410) 605-7179 andrefer to the breast cancer study. The cen-ter is located at 10 N. Greene St. in down-town Baltimore.

Strength trainingFrom page 8 CAN HYPNOSIS HELP YOU?

Learn what hypnosis is and how it can improve your life during“Understanding Hypnosis” on Monday, April 22, at 10 a.m., at the

Pascal Senior Activity Center, 25 Dorsey Rd. Elizabeth Lasner, a registered nurseand board certified hypnotherapist, will answer questions and explain how hypno-sis can be used to stop smoking, help reduce stress, change eating patterns, andimprove memory. Call (410) 222-6680 for information.

TAKE CARE OF YOUR EYESThe Baltimore-Washington Eye Center of Glen Burnie will conducta free vision screening at the Pasadena Senior Activity Center onTuesday, April 24 from 2 to 4 p.m. The center is located at 4103

Mountain Rd. For registration and information, call (410) 222-0030.

BEACON BITS

Apr. 23

LEGS FOR LIFE SCREENINGPeripheral vascular disease (PVD) is a hardening of the arteries inthe legs and arms that can be effectively treated, and save a life

if diagnosed early. The national Legs for Life screening program is designed todetect peripheral vascular disease (PVD), a common vascular condition thatcauses leg pain, swelling, poor wound healing, and that can put you at risk forheart attack. Attend this free screening, sponsored by Johns Hopkins MedicalInstitutions, on Saturday, April 21, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., at Towson TownCenter Mall, 825 Dulaney Valley Rd.

BEACON BITS

Apr. 21

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

Do you have more trouble than usual remembering things?

People 50 and older with memory problems are needed for a research study to find out if mentally stimulating activities can improve memory.

You may participate at:Johns Hopkins Bayview or Mays Chapel Ridge

Participation involves 1 screening visit, 4 visits lasting 5 hours, and 17 visits lasting 1 hour. You will be paid $620 for the study.

For more information, please call Christina at (410) 550-2688.Principal Investigator: Miriam Z. Mintzer, Ph.D.Protocol #: NA_00039100 Approved December 23, 2011

Apr. 24

10 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com MAY 2 0 1 2 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

Tips for getting the best deal on a new carand for trade-ins. See story on page 12.

MoneyMoneyLaw &MoneyMost readers are looking for safe invest-

ments with a high rate of return. One invest-ment that can meet these ob-jectives is a pre-owned annuity.

Many people own the rightsto annuities that guaranteemonthly income, sometimes forterms of up to 50 years. Some ofthese owners are willing to sellthe legal right to their struc-tured monthly payments, at adiscount, for a lump-sum pay-ment.

There are companies thatspecialize in this field and actas intermediaries, for a fee, ar-ranging to sell these annuities to individualswho are willing to buy them for a fixed pricein order to obtain a guaranteed monthly in-come for the remaining term of the annuity.

A typical seller is somebody who was in-jured in an accident and received an annuitysettlement from an insurance company. Thatperson may prefer to have a large lump suminstead of a stream of annuity income for, say,30 years. To get that lump sum, they must bewilling to give a discount to the buyer.

Each of the original annuity terms — theinterest rate, the scheduled payment dateand the payment amount — remains fixed

for the duration of the annuity.So, in order to structure a reasonable offer,

one needs to consider the bal-ance of the future payments, theestablished interest rate associ-ated with the annuity, and thenumber of payments remain-ing. These help determine thepresent value of the annuity,which can then be priced forpurchase.

In the end, the originalowner receives his lump-sumpayment, the intermediary re-ceives a fee, and the new ownerreceives an attractive rate of re-

turn (in comparison to other options avail-able today) for the remaining term of the an-nuity.

Rate of return can be highOne of the major advantages of purchas-

ing a pre-owned annuity is that the dis-count can be significant.

These annuities are paid by major insur-ance companies and other organizationswith excellent credit ratings. For long-termannuities, such as 30 years or longer, the cur-rent rate of return is more than 6 percent.

You can see a sample of these offerings at

TotalReturnAnnuities.com (1-866-866-1999).Some of these offerings are for as long as 50years, and some are as short as two or threeyears. Generally speaking, the longer theduration, the higher the rate of return.

For example, checking one day in De-cember, I found these offerings (listed arethe duration of the annuity, the rate of re-turn, and the paying company):

• 50 years, 6.75 percent, MetLife • 40 years, 6.5 percent, Continental Life• 30 years, 6.5 percent, PrudentialOnly a limited number of offers are

made each week, and attractive offeringsdo not stay on the market very long.

If you are interested in a specific offer-ing, you will be asked to make a down pay-ment, which generally is 5 or 10 percent ofthe total amount due. Once your offer hasbeen approved (it may take a week or sofor approval), you will be asked for the re-mainder of the total payment.

Some shortcomingsWhat are the disadvantages associated

with this product? In my opinion, the majorone is that this kind of annuity is not a liq-uid investment. You cannot assume thatyou will be able to sell it. There may be ex-ceptions, but you should assume that you

will have to keep it for the rest of the life ofthe annuity.

A second disadvantage is that interestrates may increase in the future. You willnot be able to renegotiate the interest rateof your annuity. Assume that whatever pay-ment you receive is the payment you willreceive for the length of the annuity.

If you decide to purchase this type of an-nuity, you should discuss with your attor-ney the desired form of ownership. It is ad-visable to establish ownership in a way sothat it will not be probate property. In thatway, income from the annuity will be contin-uous for your beneficiaries after your death.

Overall, pre-owned annuities are an at-tractive alternative for investors willing tomake a long-term or intermediate-term in-vestment. They are low-risk investmentswith a high rate of return.

Settlement Asset Management, which isan intermediary offering these annuities,has an excellent webpage (www.sam-esi.com/investors-and-attorneys.php) thatdiscusses this product in detail.Elliot Raphaelson welcomes your questions

and comments at elliotraph@gmail.com.© 2012 Elliot Raphaelson. All rights re-

served. Distributed by Tribune Media Serv-ices, Inc.

Pre-owned annuities: low risk, high return

THE SAVINGSGAMEBy Elliot Raphaelson

By Jennifer Schonberger Look at a list of any day’s top perform-

ers and you’ll see that low-priced stocks al-most always dominate. Of course, the listsof the biggest losers are also often filledwith low-priced stocks.

These stocks are risky because the un-derlying companies are either small ortroubled. Still, the hunt for the next bigthing tantalizes.

In that spirit, we’ve identified threestocks that have the potential to shine overthe next few years. (Note: share pricesshown are as of April 10, 2012.)

Kodiak Oil & Gas Symbol KOG; recent price, $9.04Investors are going gaga over shale.

Huge new discoveries and improvements intechnology for extracting oil and natural gasfrom rock formations are putting the U.S.back on the road to energy independence.

Denver-based Kodiak has a strongfoothold in the Bakken oil-shale formation,a 200,000-square-mile swath of land thatcontains the largest known reserve of lightsweet crude oil in North America.

Kodiak produced the equivalent of17,000 barrels of oil per day last year, ana-lysts estimate, and they project that pro-duction will hit 30,000 barrels per day bythe end of 2012. Analysts forecast that saleswill leap 360 percent this year, to $637 mil-lion, with earnings nearly quadrupling.

Points International PCOM; $10.52Just about every major consumer busi-

ness tries to lure customers with somesort of rewards program. Points Interna-tional helps companies administer theirloyalty programs. It counts among itsclients various airlines, Amtrak, Best Buyand Starbucks.

The Toronto company also operatesPoints.com, the only website at which con-sumers can register their rewards pro-grams, redeem and buy points, and tradepoints with other people.

Points’ profits are growing briskly. Ana-lysts estimate that earnings will more thandouble in 2012.

Velti VELT; $11.34When Bose, the consumer-electronics

company, wanted to promote a new head-phone model, it turned to Velti, whichplaced ads on a smartphone song-recogni-tion app.

Users who clicked on the ad were takento a mobile website. On the ad’s first day,70 percent of users who visited the siteclicked the “buy now” button.

Such is the appeal of Velti, an Irish com-pany that also manages mobile ad cam-

paigns for such companies as Intel andJohnson & Johnson.

Velti, which went public in January 2011at $15 per share, coasted to nearly $20 be-fore crashing to its current price over con-cerns about the company’s exposure toweak European economies and a disap-pointing earnings report.

But the mobile-ad market is exploding:Sales were estimated at $13 billion in 2011and are expected to hit $29 billion by 2014.Velti is well positioned to benefit from thatgrowth. Analysts see earnings soaring 89percent in 2012.Jennifer Schonberger is a staff writer at

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.Send your questions and comments to mon-eypower@kiplinger.com. And for more onthis and similar money topics, visitwww.Kiplinger.com.© 2012 Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

Up-and-coming stocks costing $12 or less

By Jeff Bertolucci How many dusty gizmos and gadgets do

you have languishing at home? It’s easy toconvert those old cellphones, computers,iPods, video games and movie DVDs intoquick cash.

A number of big-name shopping sites —including Amazon, Best Buy, eBay andGazelle — will offer cash or store credit foryour gear. The process is quick and pain-less, and you won’t have to pay shippingcosts, even if the buyer rejects your hard-ware and returns it.

Each marketplace is different, but you’llusually get top dollar for trading in high-demand items, such as Apple desktop andlaptop computers.

Amazon Trade-In Store As you might expect from the world’s

top e-tailer, Amazon has an extremelyuser-friendly interface. The site acceptstrade-ins — for store credit — in four cate-gories: books, video games, movies & TVDVDs, and electronics.

To submit an item, you enter the prod-uct’s name in a search window, and thenanswer a few quick questions about itscondition. If Amazon is interested, you’llreceive an offer on the spot.

But what if Amazon, upon receiving

your device, decides the product is worthless than its original offer? You have theoption of automatically accepting a re-duced price or having the product re-turned to you at no charge.

Amazon offered $63.25 for my AppleiPod nano, which was a few years old butstill in excellent condition.

I accepted the offer and printed Ama-zon’s free UPS mailing label, whichpopped up in a browser window. Next, Iboxed up the iPod, drove to my nearestUPS Store, and dropped it off. Painless.

Within a couple of weeks, Amazon noti-fied me via email that it had examined andaccepted my iPod. It immediately creditedmy gift-card balance.

eBay Instant SaleEBay’s service works pretty much the

same way that Amazon’s Trade-In Storedoes, albeit with two notable differences.

Before returning a product to you, eBayfirst asks if you’ll accept a reduced price.And unlike Amazon, eBay pays cash, notstore credit.

The fastest way to get paid is to open anaccount with eBay’s PayPal service (if youhaven’t already) and transfer the funds toyour checking account.

Other sites besides eBay offer cash, in-

cluding Gazelle (www.gazelle.com), whichalso operates trade-in services for big-name retailers such as Costco and Wal-mart.

If you’d rather not pack up your gear, goto a participating Best Buy or Radio Shackstore, where someone will appraise and

buy your products on the spot. Many trade-in services will offer to recy-

cle your device free if they don’t want tobuy it.Jeff Bertolucci is a freelance writer for

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. © 2012 Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

You can trade in old electronics for cashBA L T IMORE B E A CON — MAY 2 0 1 2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com | Law & Money 11

Susquehanna Trust & Investment Company can help you with:• Estate and gift concerns• Investment management• Tax strategies• Financial recordkeeping• Bill payments from

your account• Sale of a home as an

account service

To learn more, call Ken Hoefer, Senior Vice President, at 410.316.0240, or email him at Kenneth.Hoefer@susquehanna.net.

Doing what counts. | susquehanna.net

Let us help youwith life’s changes.

SECURITIES AND INSURANCE PRODUCTS ARE:• NOT FDIC INSURED

• MAY LOSE VALUE

• NOT BANK GUARANTEED

• NOT A DEPOSIT

• NOT INSURED BY ANY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ENTITY

LEGISLATIVE ROUNDUPBCASCO, the Baltimore County Association of Senior Citizens Or-

ganizations, will present a “Senior Legislative Roundup” on Friday,

May 11 from 9:45 a.m. to noon at the Towson United Methodist Church, intersec-

tion of Dulaney Valley Rd. and Hampton Lane, Beltway Exit 27B. For more informa-

tion, contact Beth Wiseman, (410) 484-6866.

BEACON BITS

May 11

FREE COUNSELING ON ADVANCED DIRECTIVESIn recognition of Law Day 2012, the Elder Law Section Council of

the Maryland State Bar Association will offer free preparation of living wills, ad-

vance directives and healthcare powers of attorney in Baltimore County Senior

Centers on Tuesday, May 1. Local attorneys will assist in preparing these legal

documents at no charge for those 60 and over. Appointments required. Contact

your local senior center in advance for details or call (410) 887-2040.

BEACON BITS

May 1

JASON FRANK,ESQ. KANDACE SCHERR, ESQ. MARY O’BYRNE, ESQ.

MedicalAssistancePlanning

Asset Protection

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Powers ofAttorney

AdvanceMedical

Directives/Living Wills

Trusts/Estate PlanningAdministration

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ELDER LAW, ESTATEAND SPECIAL NEEDS PLANNING

NOT PICTURED LAURIE S. FRANK

Westminster House Apartments• Affordable housing for Seniors• In the heart of Mount Vernon• Only steps from the theater, library,churches, shopping and restaurants

• Next door to The Walters Art Gallery

410-837-0180 www.westminsterhouseapts.org524 North Charles Street (utilities included, underground parking available)

12 Law & Money | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com MAY 2 0 1 2 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

By Jessica AndersonYou probably love getting new wheels,

but hate the feeling that you and the dealerare playing a game you can’t win. Knowinghow the game works, however, can helpyou sidestep potential pitfalls, commandbetter treatment and get a fair price.

Before you step into a dealership, findout what the car cost the dealer and whatother buyers are paying. You can find in-voice prices, cash incentives, financingdeals and average transaction prices atwww.truecar.com.

Call several dealers in advance and askfor an Internet salesperson or manager tonegotiate prices over the phone and getfirm offers via email. When you go to theshowroom, take printouts of the pricingdetails, especially if dealerships are tout-ing special offers.

Not up for haggling, period? Try a carbuying service, such as CarBargains orTrueCar. The best time to shop is at theend of the month, when dealers try to meetsales goals and qualify for month-endbonuses.

Trade-in tipsGot a trade-in? Used cars are in short

supply, so you’re in a great position. You’llget the highest price if you sell your oldcar yourself. Check prices on AutoTrad-er.com to gauge the market, and stop byCarMax to get a quote.

When you hit the lot, wear your pokerface so you don’t tip your hand that you re-ally, really want a particular car.

A dealership will often gang up on a cus-tomer by sending two salespeople or asalesperson and a manager to make thedeal, so it can help to have someone withyou who’s got your back.

If a salesperson asks you what yourtarget monthly payment is, don’t take thebait. There are many ways to lower themonthly payment that will cost more overthe long haul — extending the loan termor switching to a lease, for example. Keepthe discussions focused on the totalprice.

Ask for discountsBe sure to ask for a “loyalty” discount if

you’re buying another vehicle of the samebrand as your last. If you’re new to thebrand, ask for the “conquest” discount.Both of these come from the manufacturerand range from $500 to $2,000.

And don’t be fooled when the salesper-son steps into another room to “get ap-proval from the manager” for the priceyou’ve offered. Stay firm on a fair price andbe ready to walk.

A good chunk of dealer profit comesfrom the finance-and-insurance office, sobring financing from your bank or creditunion to compare with whatever you’re of-fered. And don’t forget to mention the cus-tomer satisfaction survey — every buyergets one, and high scores mean bonusesfor dealers.Jessica Anderson is an associate editor at

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. © 2012 Kiplinger’s Personal Finance4

Tips for getting the best deal on a new car

FUNDAMENTALS OF HEALTHLearn what causes disease and how many of today’s chronic dis-eases may be underlying causes of cognitive dysfunction at this

workshop sponsored by the Edward A. Myerberg Center, 3101 Fallstaff Rd. on Tues-day, May 8 at 7 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call (410) 358-6856.

BEACON BITS

May 8

LEGS FOR LIFE SCREENINGPeripheral vascular disease (PVD) is a hardening of the arteries inthe legs and arms that can be effectively treated, and save a life if

diagnosed early. The national Legs for Life screening program is designed to de-tect peripheral vascular disease (PVD), a common vascular condition that causesleg pain, swelling, poor wound healing, and that can put you at risk for heart at-tack. Attend this free screening, sponsored by Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions,on Saturday, April 21, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., at Towson Town Center Mall, 825Dulaney Valley Rd.

SCREENINGS FOR UNINSURED WOMENThe Baltimore County Department of Health and the Women’sCancer Protection Program provide free mammograms, clinicalbreast exams and PAP tests for income-eligible women between

40 and 64 who do not have insurance. A cancer treatment program is also avail-able. For more information, call (410) 887-3432, or visit www.baltimorecoun-tymd.gov/go/cancerprogram.

BEACON BITS

Apr. 21

Ongoing

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B A L T I M O R E B E A C O N — M A Y 2 0 1 2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com B-1SPECIAL PULL-OUT SECTION

Friendship Retirement Community LobbyRoanoke, VA

By Sarah Bruyn JonesWith retirees increasingly worrying

about outliving their savings, FriendshipRetirement Community is looking to ad-dress the concern with the assistance ofarchitecture students.

The Roanoke retirement communitythat currently is home to nearly 900 peopleis in the early stages of developing a re-search partnership with two of Virginia’sleading architecture schools. The aim is todefine and design the retirement commu-nity of the future.

The vision includes a walkable commu-nity, or at least one that doesn’t rely oncars, plus a community market, recreation-al amenities, and homes that can be adapt-ed with technology as a person’s needschange with age.

The assignment proposed by Friend-ship is for students studying architectureat Virginia Tech and the University of Vir-

ginia to create a retirement communitythat can maintain a reasonable price withlittle or no rate increases, while adapting tothe physical needs of aging residents.

This isn’t just an academic exercise butone that Friendship will use as it plans toexpand its campus beginning with con-struction of new residences this year.

“The most desirable and cost-efficientmethod of aging — aging in place — is diffi-cult, even under the most ideal conditions,”said Friendship CEO Russ Barksdale.

“Research from both universities showsthe correlation between health and hous-ing concerns of elderly individuals, and yetmost retirement facilities designed andbuilt even within the last five years are notoptimal for our nation’s growing elder pop-ulation.”

Few homes, whether institutional ornot, address both the health and housingneeds of people as they grow older, Barks-

dale said. He wants Friendship to be partof a solution that changes that.

Rising retirement costsLast year, the national rates at nursing

homes and assisted living facilities nation-ally increased 4.4 percent and 5.6 percentrespectively, according to the 2011MetLife Mature Market Institute nationalmarket survey of long-term care costs.

On average, Virginians pay a monthlybase rate of $3,811 for assisted living, ac-cording to the MetLife report. Costs inBaltimore are comparable, though Mary-land overall has a higher average cost of$4,441.

At the same time, individual retirementaccounts are shrinking as retirees face avolatile stock market and ailing economy.People have seen the equity in their homesfade, and there was no Social Security costof living raise in 2010 and 2011.

Plus, Barksdale said, often seniors arenot living in an ideal environment. Someare spending too much money for carethey don’t require, while others can’t af-ford the care they need.

“Too often in our industry, seniors aremoved quickly into assisted living andthen skilled nursing,” Barksdale said.“Each level is more costly and requiresthem to give up more and more independ-ence.”

Longer livesOn top of the financial strains, Barks-

dale said the average time retirees live in acommunity like Friendship has risen. Thatmeans that seniors are entering when theyare younger, when they are more active.

“We are seeing residents join Friend-ship Retirement Community in their 70sand living here 15 to 20 years,” he said.

With the impending surge of retiringbaby boomers, who are expected to livelonger, Barksdale said a new option for re-tirees is needed.

“Already, we’re seeing 95 percent occu-pancy in our independent living apart-ments and our healthcare center is full,with a bit of room left in assisted living,” hesaid.

“We see the need for more capacity. Sofuture residents will be older, they may re-quire more assistance in their home, andthere’s a likelihood that they’ll have lessmoney to bring into retirement.”

Still he added, “They also want moreamenities than generations before them —whether it’s a community center, pool,workout room, activities, travel and mod-ern kitchens.”

Figuring out how to rein in costs whileproviding more amenities is among theseemingly incompatible tasks that Friend-ship wants the architecture students totackle.

“This project is about sustainability — fi-nancially for residents, clinically for theright care, and philosophically,” Barksdalesaid.

Architecture students step inFor the students, the question posed by

Friendship, which is Virginia’s largest re-tirement community, provides a platformfor conducting research in the growingfield of how environmental design influ-ences the health and well-being of citizens.

Inaki Alday, chairman of the departmentof architecture at UVa, said the relation-ship with Friendship is a promising re-search opportunity in an area that couldhave a larger effect on society and theaging population.

“We are demanding new things, newways of having relationships with the envi-ronment,” Alday said. “I guess Friendshipis interested in being on the cutting edgeof what society is demanding.”

Alday said students will have to askquestions such as where to locate a veg-

B-2 Housing Options | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com M A Y 2 0 1 2 — B A L T I M O R E B E A C O N

Professionally managed by The Shelter Group. www.thesheltergroup.com

Call the community nearest you to inquire about eligibility requirements and to arrange a personal tour or email seniorliving@sheltergrp.com.

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ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY

‡ Furnace Branch 410-761-4150‡ Severna Park 410-544-3411BALTIMORE CITY

‡ Ashland Terrace 410-276-6440‡ Coldspring 410-542-4400BALTIMORE COUNTY

‡ Catonsville 410-719-9464‡ Dundalk 410-288-5483‡ Fullerton 410-663-0665‡ Miramar Landing 410-391-8375‡ Randallstown 410-655-5673‡ Rosedale 410-866-1886‡ Timothy House (Towson) 410-828-7185‡ Taylor 410-663-0363‡ Woodlawn 410-281-1120

EASTERN SHORE

‡ Easton 410-770-3070HARFORD COUNTY

‡ Box Hill 410-515-6115‡ Bel Air 410-893-0064HOWARD COUNTY

‡ Colonial Landing 410-796-4399‡ Columbia 410-381-1118‡ Snowden River 410-290-0384‡ Ellicott City 410-203-9501‡ Ellicott City II 410-203-2096‡ Emerson 301-483-3322PRINCE GEORGE· S COUNTY

* Bladensburg 301-699-9785‡ Laurel 301-490-1526‡ Laurel II 301-490-9730

AN

‡

‡

BA

Your New Lifestyle Begins Here

www.ParkViewSeniorLiving.com

The retirement community of the future

See RETIREMENT, page B-4

By Laurie Orlov and Barbara RubenFrom wireless monitoring systems to

devices that call for emergency response,technology that helps older adults live athome is growing by leaps and bounds.Below are five devices that have recentlygone on the market. They not only allowpeople to live at home longer, but let themcommunicate with family members quick-ly and easily.

The GrandCare System connects viaInternet and communicates with wirelesssensors throughout a home to help care-givers communicate with and monitor aloved one from afar. The device monitorsdoor openings, blood pressure, weight,medications, eating, wake up times andother activities. The system also coordi-nates schedules online with family andcaregivers.

Family can send pictures, messages,emails, reminders and more to a dedicatedand customized TV channel for the lovedone to see. For an additional charge, theinteractive GrandCare System includes atouch-screen monitor for these communi-cation elements.

Users can play games, listen to favoritemusic, watch old film clips, view news andweather reports and more from the sys-tem. The company says no computer expe-rience is needed to use the device.

For more information, contact Grand-

Care Systems LLC, (262) 338-6147,www.grandcare.com.

The GreatCall Responder is a wire-less, mobile device that enables you to callfor assistance from wherever you are.Weighing 1.8 ounces, the GPS-enabled de-vice can be attached to a keychain or car-ried in a purse or backpack.

By pressing the button on the GreatCallResponder, users (who must also sub-scribe to the 5Star Urgent Response Serv-ice) are immediately connected to trained,certified agents who will identify them andtheir location, conference in family orfriends, dispatch 911 emergency services,access a nurse, or provide any additionalassistance 24 hours a day, seven days aweek. Consumers can also use the deviceto contact 911 directly.

For more information, contact Great-Call, 1-800-733-6632, www.greatcall.com.

The TabSafe medication managementsystem not only reminds people to taketheir prescriptions, it dispenses the drugsas well. It also alerts caregivers (that themedication has been retrieved, or not, asthe case may be) and posts information oncompliance, inventory and other health in-formation that is accessible from any Inter-net capable device.

The medication to be dispensed must beinserted by the pharmacy, homeowner orcaregiver into a cartridge in a base unit.

The design allows for one type of medica-tion per cartridge or multiple medicationsusing an optional multidose cartridge. Thedesign allows one tablet, or a dose of morethan one, to be released at a time.

A memory chip embedded in each Tab-Safe cartridge allows the pharmacist toenter each customer’s medication informa-tion at the same time that a label is gener-ated. Users also have access to a personalwebsite that includes a database of infor-mation about the medication supplied to

the unit, detailed prescription data andcompliance records. The device also coor-dinates ordering refills from the pharmacy.

For more information, contact TabSafeMedical Services, Inc.: 1-877-700-8600,www.tabsafe.com.

Telikin bills itself as a simple and easy-to-use computer that combines video chat,photo sharing, Web browsing, e-mail andother popular features into a touchscreen

B A L T I M O R E B E A C O N — M A Y 2 0 1 2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com | Housing Options B-3

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UPTO

New technology enables aging in place

See NEW TECHNOLOGY, page B-5

Before you themovers, call us!

Proudly serving

Maryland's seniors for 10 years!

Charna KinnebergFounding MemberNat’l Association of

Senior Move Managers

• Floor plan design• Organizing / Downsizing• Packing with care• Unpacking, home set up• Dispose of Unneeded / Unwanted Items• Arrange for high quality movers• And more!

For a stress free move call:410-515-1199www.SeniorTransitionsInc.com | Email: mdseniortransitions@gmail.com

B-4 Housing Options | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com M A Y 2 0 1 2 — B A L T I M O R E B E A C O N

etable garden and how to design a commu-nity that doesn’t rely on cars for trans-portation.

Friendship already has identified bothland and money to create this new envi-ronment and has plans to break ground ona new development on its Roanoke cam-pus next year.

On the table is a $5.5 million budget toconstruct 34 new apartments that will in-corporate the best of the designs and ideasfrom the students. That will be the firststage of the larger project.

Last November, Jim Jones and five stu-dents from Tech’s College of Architectureand Urban Studies stood with Barksdalelooking out at 14 acres of undevelopedland adjacent to the existing Friendshipcommunity.

Jones and Barksdale discussed the loca-tion and the vision. “It’s nice because it’sopen to the south,” said Jones, who is thedirector of the Center for High Perform-ance Learning Environments at Tech.“That provides nice natural light.”

For Jones, the relationship with Friend-ship also delves into a larger architecturalchallenge of designing buildings and thesurrounding landscape to create energy-efficient and sustainable spaces.

Taking advantage of the natural lightthat he immediately noticed when visitingthe site means purposefully including sky-lights, windows, doors and outdoor spaces

in the overall design, Jones said. “We want to get into the mind of the

people who will inhabit these spaces andfigure out what works and what doesn’twork,” he said.

The immediate design will likely rely onexisting ideas that have already beenproven through research. Friendship isnot alone in embracing those concepts.

Last September, the state of Virginiagranted permission for Richfield Retire-ment Community to renovate and expandits nursing home in a $35.5 million projectthat moves away from the long hallways oftraditional medical institutions and insteadrelies on a “neighborhood” setting whereactivities and care can be tailored to pa-tients’ needs. [A similarly innovative long-term care community opening soon in Balti-more will be featured in an upcoming issueof the Beacon.]

Besides looking at the 14-acre openfield, Barksdale took Jones on a tour of theexisting buildings at Friendship. There,too, Jones pointed out changes to the de-sign that would offer a more suitable envi-ronment for residents, such as doing awaywith some of the dark hallways and segre-gated rooms that confine people to onespace and block any connection to the out-door environment.

“This offers us a chance to design some-thing new, but also test what exists,” Jonessaid. “We can look at what works and does-n’t and use that to inform [the design]. It’sa continuum of research.”

— The Roanoke Times via AP

RetirementFrom page B-2

Please tell our advertisers, “I saw you in the Beacon!”

Luxury Apartment Living for Adults 62+

Enjoy worry-free living and great amenities in a building nestled in a country-like setting in the heart of Baltimore County

3801 Schnaper Drive • Randallstown

For more information and a tour call the rental office at 410-655-2400

or by email Jennifer@pikeswood.com

APARTMENTS

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One Month

Free Rent Ask for details

Weinberg VillageCampus410-581-7878 3430 Associated WayOwings Mills, MD 21117www.weinbergvillage.net

This lovely campus of five buildings offers you the opportunity tomaintain your healthy and active lifestyle. While living in one ofthe spacious apartments, you will have access to many amenitiesthat include a convenience store, hair salon, and communityrooms that are supplied with computers, games, televisions andbooks. In addition, residents take part in daily activities plannedby resident volunteers and staff members. Located in a quiet corner of Owings Mills, you will have easy access to many shopping, dining and entertainment businesses. Weinberg Villagehas a community shuttle bus that makes regular trips to manylocal attractions.

ASSISTED LIVING COMMUNITY

Glen Forest Senior Apartments410-969-2000 7975 Crain HwyGlen Burnie MD 21061www.firstcentrum.com

Glen Forest is centrally located to thenumerous conveniences of the region, including Baltimore- Washington International Airport, the Baltimore & Annapolis Trail andNorth Arundel Hospital. This independent living community for persons 62 years of age or better is also convenient to local and diningthat can be found throughout the Glen Burnie and Baltimore area. A shopping mall is located right across from the property, which includes grocery, clothing and other stores, banks and restaurants.While living at Glen Forest you will enjoy many activities hosted by theresident association, a senior center nutrition site that serves a hotlunch Monday through Friday for a nominal fee and carefree 24-houremergency maintenance service. Come visit and see why our residents love it here at Glen Forest.

INDEPENDENT LIVING COMMUNITY

SKILLED NURSING AND REHABILITATION

White Oak Health Care 410-979-4822 921 E Fort AvenueBaltimore MD 21230

White Oak Health Care is a premier nursing and rehabilitation center consulting company. The company manages seven facilities in Maryland and West Virginia. Blue Point, Northwest, and Holly Hill areconveniently located in the Baltimore region. These facilities specializein short-term nursing care after hip, knee, and other joint surgeries. They can also assist in rehabilitation after a stroke or accident. Thesecenters pride themselves on the great therapy and nursing care given totheir patients. If you are considering a joint surgery, or find that it becomes necessary, call the admissions department for more information on scheduling a tour, selecting your room, and meeting the therapy staff prior to your surgery. For a rapid response, please call Julianna Lau at 410-979-4822.

device. It also features a built-in CD/DVDplayer, games and Microsoft-compatibleword processing. Telikin is available withan 18- or 20-inch monitor.

Telikin comes with its software fully in-stalled and ready to go out of the box. It of-fers 60 days of free U.S.-based telephonesupport, as well as built-in video tutorials

For more information, contact Telikin,1-800-230-3881, www.telikin.com.

The telyHD by telylabs delivers high-definition (HD) Skype video calls directlyto a TV. By plugging telyHD into theHMDI port on a TV, the user can make HDvideo calls to any Skype user, on any de-vice, anywhere in the world.

The all-in-one unit does not require acomputer, nor is there any software to in-stall. Designed for the living room, telyHD

features a high-definition camera withwide-angle lens and a microphone. Theunit also allows users to share photos froma flash drive or SD card and to send and re-ceive video mail.

TelyHD is powered by Google’s An-droid operating system for continued de-

livery of new applications. No monthlyfees are required.

For more information, contact telylabs:(650) 318-3549, www.tely.com.Laurie Orlov is an industry analyst for

the website Aging in Place TechnologyWatch, www.ageinplacetech.com.

By Chris Farrell The popular vision of the “good life” in

retirement — packing up to move hun-dreds (if not thousands) of miles to a newabode where it’s always sunny and warm— became commonplace in the 1950s and‘60s.

Many older Americans had achieved fi-nancial independence and migrated fromSnowbelt cities to Sunbelt communities,where they expected a leisurely life of golfin the morning and cocktails on the patioin the evening.

“In the past, such an experience of re-tirement was limited to the wealthy few,”Massachusetts Institute of Technologyeconomist Dora Costa wrote in 1998 inThe Evolution of Retirement. “Now, it isan option available to the majority ofworkers.”

Yet more are staying putBut is it really a widely available option

anymore? Following the steep decline inhome values after the housing bubbleburst in 2006, Americans of all ages are re-locating less often. A mere 11.6 percent ofU.S. residents moved between 2010 and2011, the lowest rate since 1948.

The number of older Americans contin-ues to grow, but they are increasingly agingin place. Scholars at the Brookings Institu-tion predict, for example, that Georgia’s sen-ior population — those age 65 and older —will swell by 44 percent between 2010 and2020. But less than 10 percent of the increasewill be due to in-migration of older citizens.

The shift toward staying put runs evendeeper than the depression in home val-ues. The leading edge of the massive baby-boom generation has reached the tradi-

tional retirement age of 65. But mostboomers’ savings have fallen short.

That savings dearth is the impetus forthe standard retirement advice these days:Work well into your traditional retirementyears. And guess what? Working longer in-fluences where you retire.

For most people, it makes sense to staywhere they are because they can more easi-ly find jobs by tapping networks of nearbyfriends, family members and acquaintances.

For example, having such a networkmakes it far easier for a soon-to-be-retireeto get a part-time consulting contract or anopportunity to use hard-earned know-howat a local business. Relocating means cre-ating new networks, and that takes time.

Financial benefitsStaying local benefits you financially in

two major ways. First, nurturing the vari-ous networks in your community is truly acritical investment — the way stocks,bonds and other types of financial savingsare important to a secure old age.

Second, you have a good vantage pointfor researching ways to improve your cur-rent home, rather than looking into possi-ble digs in far-away climes

Do your bathrooms need remodelingfor safety as you age? How about thekitchen? Or would it be smarter to down-size to a nearby condo?Chris Farrell is a contributing columnist

to Kiplinger.com. Send your questions andcomments to moneypower@kiplinger.com.And for more on this and similar money top-ics, visit www.Kiplinger.com.© 2012 Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

B A L T I M O R E B E A C O N — M A Y 2 0 1 2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com | Housing Options B-5

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B-6 Housing Options | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com M A Y 2 0 1 2 — B A L T I M O R E B E A C O N

Tools for a do-it-yourself home inventory

By David PittEveryone should keep an up-to-date list

of their belongings. It’s essential to be pre-pared in case of theft, loss by fire, or othercause of serious damage. Yet the insur-ance industry estimates that only about 1in 5 homeowners have such an inventory.

The old fashioned way of going room toroom with a notepad and pencil is one wayto accomplish this task, but new tools in-cluding software and an iPhone app makeit much easier.

The latest is new free offering releasedby the Insurance Information Institute(III), an industry trade group. It’s availableon www.knowyourstuff.org or by using theIII Inventory app, which is available onApple’s iTunes store.

You can enter a list of your belongingsthrough either the website or the app. Youdo not need to have a smartphone withapps to take advantage of the website, butif you do, what you enter through the appand website will be synchronized.

All of the information is stored in a per-sonal, password-protected account on anAmazon secure server. It can then be ac-cessed anywhere, anytime, which is an im-portant benefit should you have to evacu-

ate your home in an emergency. The software will guide you through the

process of creating and updating yourhome inventory. As a starting point, thereare lists of rooms and item types to makethings easier.

Photographs, scanned receipts and ap-praisal forms can be uploaded. What’smore, the software can generate severaltypes of insurance reports, which is help-ful if a claim needs to be filed.

A home inventory enables homeownersand renters to determine if they have suffi-cient insurance coverage. After a loss, italso helps substantiate the amount of theloss for tax purposes or when applying forfinancial assistance.

While III’s software is a recent launch,other inventory programs are available.Check out the one offered by the NationalAssociation of Insurance Commissioners atwww.insureuonline.org . The application,called MyHome Scr.APP.book, is availablefor both iPhone and Android devices.

For those without a smartphone, the as-sociation offers a downloadable home in-ventory checklist and tips for effectivelycataloguing your possessions.

— AP

Ten ways to savemoney when moving

By Brian RuberryFor those planning to downsize in the

coming years, the cost of moving is oftenone of the most worrisome factors. Mov-ing costs range from a few thousand dol-lars to tens of thousands of dollars, so withthe right planning the cost savings can besignificant.

“Movers typically charge by the hour,so you need a good plan in place to avoidwasting money,” said Susan Danick,founder of Transitional Assistance & De-sign, a senior move management companyin the Washington D.C. area. “A plan helpsthe move be better organized, more effi-cient and more cost effective.”

“Moving into a retirement community isvery different than moving into a house,”she emphasized. “You won’t have room forstorage, so you need to think as muchabout purging as you do about packing.”

Danick offered the following cost-sav-ing tips for those planning to downsize:

1. Choose a mover that fits your needs.For a move involving many large and deli-cate items, make sure the moving compa-ny includes packing and crating in their es-timate, along with insurance.

2. Move during off-peak days/times. Ifpossible, hold your move until midmonth,or anytime between October and April, tosecure lower rates.

3. Request written estimates from sever-al movers. Moving estimates should bebased on an inspection of your home fur-nishings, not a phone conversation.

4. De-clutter before the move for signifi-cant savings. Remember, the more itemsyou discard before the move, the less yourmoving bill will be.

5. Choose best quality over best price. Ifyou hire a mover based solely on thecheapest price, you may be sacrificingother things that are actually more impor-tant, such as getting your possessionsmoved and delivered on time and deliv-ered all in one piece.

6. Protection is key. Regardless of themover, keep your most precious itemswith you, like prescription medications,jewelry and important financial docu-ments.

7. Read the fine print before signing onthe dotted line. Unfortunately, some

See TEN WAYS TO SAVE, page B-8

Bay Forest Senior Apartments410-295-7557 930 Bay Forest Ct. Annapolis, MD 21403www.firstcentrum.com

Love to be close to the water? Then you will love it at Bay Forest Senior Apartments. An affordable independent community for persons 62 years of age orbetter! A beautifully landscaped country setting with plenty of parking for you and your visitors. Only 10 minutes from AnnapolisHistoric City Dock, which offers a variety of stores, restaurants,banks and the Watermark Cruises boat tours. Just a few minutes’drive from the shores of the Chesapeake Bay and walking distanceto the Quiet Waters Park. You’ll love the 24-hour emergency main-tenance service, many activities hosted by the resident associationand the convenience of joining fellow residents at the nutrition sitelocated in the community room for a hot lunch Monday throughFriday. Come visit Bay Forest soon, we’re waiting for you!!

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Nestled amid 94 acres in the picturesque Hunt Valley countryside, Broadmead offers gardenstyle courtyard homes with a variety of floor plans, including private patios or patio enclosures and personal gardens. Broadmead offers exceptional dining venues, a vibrant lifestyleand community amenities, including a fitness and aquatic center,trips and transportation, entertainment, activities and more. We offer an all-inclusive healthcare program, including an onsite medical center with physicians available 24-hours-a-day,pharmacy services and continuum of care for the ultimate peace of mind.

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Charlestown410-737-8830715 Maiden Choice LaneCatonsville, MD 21228www.ericksonliving.com

Charlestown in Catonsville is theideal choice for active seniors whowant to live a vibrant lifestyle in a setting that’s safe and beautiful. Every maintenance-free apartment home on our private campus is a short indoor stroll to a clubhouse full of exciting amenities, services, clubs and classes. Here, you’ll enjoy the stability of predictable monthly expenses and the convenience of on-site health and wellness services with our full continuum of care. Schedule your personalcampus tour today.

“Homecare” is a simple phrase that en-compasses a wide range of health and so-cial services. These services are deliveredat home to recovering, disabled, chronical-ly or terminally ill persons in need of med-ical, nursing, social or therapeutic treat-ment and/or assistance with the essentialactivities of daily living.

Generally, homecare is appropriatewhenever a person prefers to stay at homebut needs ongoing care that cannot easilyor effectively be provided solely by familyand friends.

More and more older people, electing tolive independent, non-institutionalizedlives, are receiving homecare services astheir physical capabilities diminish.

Home care organizations include homehealth agencies; homemaker and home-care aide (HCA) agencies; staffing and pri-vate-duty agencies.

Home care services generally are avail-able 24 hours a day, seven days a week.Depending on the patient’s needs, theseservices may be provided by an individualor a team of specialists on a part-time, in-termittent, hourly or shift basis.

Here are descriptions of the varioustypes of homecare providers and explana-tions of how they differ:

Home health agenciesThe term home health agency often indi-

cates that a homecare provider is Medicarecertified. A Medicare-certified agency hasmet federal minimum requirements for pa-tient care and management and thereforecan provide Medicare and Medicaid reim-bursable home health services.

Individuals requiring skilled homecareservices usually receive their care from ahome health agency. Due to regulatory re-quirements, services provided by these agen-cies are highly supervised and controlled.

Some agencies deliver a variety of home-

care services through physicians, nurses,therapists, social workers, homemakersand HCAs, durable medical equipment andsupply dealers, and volunteers. Otherhome health agencies limit their servicesto nursing and one or two other specialties.

Home health agencies recruit and su-pervise their personnel. As a result, theyassume liability for all care.

Homemaker and homecare aideagencies

Homemaker and HCA agencies employhomemakers or chore workers, HCAs andcompanions who support individualsthrough meal preparation, bathing, dress-ing and housekeeping. Personnel are as-signed according to the needs and wishesof each client.

Some states, including Maryland, re-quire these agencies to be licensed andmeet minimum standards established bythe state. Most homemaker and HCAagencies recruit, train and supervise theirpersonnel and thus are responsible for thecare rendered.

Staffing and private-duty agenciesStaffing and private-duty agencies gen-

erally are nursing agencies that provide in-dividuals with nursing, homemaker, HCAand companion services. Most states donot require these agencies to be licensedor meet regulatory requirements.

Some staffing and private-duty agenciesassign nurses to assess their clients’ needsto ensure that personnel are properly as-signed and provide ongoing supervision.These agencies recruit their own person-nel. Again, responsibility for patient carerests with each agency.

RegistriesRegistries serve as employment agencies

for homecare nurses and aides by matchingthese providers with clients and collectingfinder’s fees. These organizations usually are

not licensed or regulated by government. Registries are not required to screen or

check the background of their caregivers,but some do undertake these tasks rou-tinely. In addition, although not legally re-quired to, some registries offer proce-dures for patients to file complaints.

Clients select and supervise the work ofa registry-referred provider. They also paythe individual provider or providers direct-ly and must comply with all applicablestate and federal labor, health and safetylaws and regulations, including payroll taxand Social Security withholding require-ments.

Independent providersIndependent providers are nurses, thera-

pists, aides, homemakers, chore workersand companions who are privately employed

by individuals who need such services. Aides, homemakers, chore workers and

companions are not required to be li-censed or to meet government standardsexcept in cases where they receive statefunding. In this arrangement, the respon-sibility for recruiting, hiring and supervis-ing the provider rests with the client.

Finding back-up care in the event thatthe provider fails to report to work or fulfilljob requirements is the client’s responsi-bility. Clients also pay the provider directlyand must comply with all applicable stateand federal labor, health and safety re-quirements.Excerpted from the website of the Nation-

al Association for Home Care and Hospice.For more information, see www.nahc.org orcall (202) 547-7424.

B A L T I M O R E B E A C O N — M A Y 2 0 1 2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com | Housing Options B-7

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Adults 62+ – Make Your Move!

By Patricia Mertz Esswein For $1,000 or less, you can enjoy your

home more if you’re staying put, or addcurb appeal if you’re planning to sell. Con-sider these options:

Remake an entrance, $250If your home’s front entrance presents a

sad face to the world, brighten it up bypainting the front door with an accentcolor. Benjamin Moore’s Aura Exterior,about $20 per quart, is a good choice; ithides imperfections, is easy to apply, driesquickly and resists fading and weathering.

Finish the door with new hardware. At

www.handlesets.com you’ll find a good se-lection at discounted prices, often almosthalf off suggested retail. (Installation is aneasy job, but if you lack the time, a handy-man will charge $30 to $100.) Add kickplates (screw-on or magnetic, $25 to $112)and door knockers ($10 to $226) from thehuge selection at www.signaturehard-ware.com.

Replace a beaten-up mailbox with one fromwww.seattleluxe.com, which carries almost1,200 boxes, wall- and post-mounted, that runfrom $29 all the way up to $3,960. Add pizzazzor character with house numbers fromwww.housenumberconnection.com. You’ll

find styles from Craftsman to the Age ofAquarius in copper, brass, aluminum, steeland tile ($11 to $47 apiece).

Update your lighting, $500Are you living with light fixtures that

aren’t yet fashionably retro? Switch outone or more, especially in a prominentplace, such as over your dining-room table.

To get a feel for styles, visit www.lamp-splus.com or the Web sites of home-furnish-ings retailers, such as www.westelm.com.

Lithonia Lighting (www.lightahome.com)makes several styles of energy-efficientchandeliers. A five-light chandelier goes for$199 in antique bronze and $258 in brushednickel. Installation costs $60 to $100.

Make over cabinets, $1,000Give your dowdy kitchen cabinetry a lift

with paint and new hardware. Properpreparation — cleaning, sanding and prim-

ing —is key to a good-looking, long-lastingresult. Using a paint sprayer helps, too(rent one from a paint or home-improve-ment store).

Pros charge an average of $547 to do thejob with one coat of paint on 150 squarefeet of base and wall-hung wood cabinets,according to the website Do It Yourself orNot (www.diyornot.com).

You can cut the cost of painting to about$200, regardless of size, if you do it yourself.For inspiration, visit websites such as BetterHomes and Gardens (www.bhg.com; see“30 Low-Cost Cabinet Makeovers”) andwww.houzz.com.

Hardware — knobs and handles — isthe jewelry of cabinetry, and the Internetprovides endless options. You can spendfrom a few dollars to $50 or much moreper knob or handle. Find a fine discountedselection at www.knobsforless.com.© Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

B-8 Housing Options | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com M A Y 2 0 1 2 — B A L T I M O R E B E A C O N

Inexpensive ways to spruce up your home

movers will tack on hidden fees, such asthe cost of packing supplies or boxes, inthe fine print.

8. Base the move on a floor plan of yournew space. Movers can work much moreefficiently using a floor plan, with theadded assurance that each piece of furni-ture will fit in the new space.

9. Do a background check. Make sureyour mover has insurance and a mover’slicense by checking out the Better Busi-ness Bureau.

10. Don’t attempt the move in just oneday. Moving in one day makes for a long,exhausting day, so choose a mover whowill help with the pack/load on day one,and the unpack/unload on day two.

See useful links and resources atwww.TheBeaconNewspapers.com

Ten ways to saveFrom page B-6

MARCH FOR THE ANIMALSThe Maryland SPCA

will hold its 17th annual March for theAnimals on Sunday, April 29 from 10a.m. to 2 p.m. at Druid Hill Park. Reg-istration begins at 9 a.m. Go towww.marchfortheanimals.kintera.orgfor more information or call (410) 235-8826, ext. 138.

FLEA MARKETFINDSThere are great bar-gains at the 2012 flea

market to be held Thursday and Friday,April 26 and 27, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.at the Pasadena Activity Senior Center,4103 Mountain Rd. There will be doorprizes, a bake sale table and a hot doglunch. Vendor space is available on afirst-come, first-served basis, with tableprices ranging from $7 to $12 for bothdays. Get an application at the center’sdesk. To donate an item for the bakesale table, call (410) 222-0030. All pro-ceeds benefit programs for members atthe senior center.

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B A L T I M O R E B E A C O N — M A Y 2 0 1 2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com | Housing Options B-9

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By Elliot RaphaelsonMore and more these days, seniors who

have substantial equity in their homes, butwho are nonetheless cash-poor, are turn-ing to reverse mortgages to supplementtheir retirement savings.

A reverse mortgage may provide a lumpsum payment to the homeowner/borrow-er, or it may make periodic payments orset up a line of credit — or a combinationof the three.

A downside compared with ordinarymortgages is that the loan balance increas-es with interest and periodic paymentsover time, causing negative amortization(an increase in the outstanding balance ofthe loan).

On the other hand, the loan is securedby real property (your home), is repaidsolely from proceeds from its future sale,and is often federally insured (see below),so the borrower is generally not personallyliable for repayment.

Some basic informationTo qualify for a reverse mortgage, a

homeowner must be 62 years old or olderand must have home equity, and the homemust meet minimum property standardsset by the Department of Housing andUrban Development. Eligibility is not de-pendent on a borrower’s credit rating as

long as there is equity in the home.The lender determines the size of a loan

based on equity, the borrower’s age (andthat of a co-owner, if applicable), currentinterest rates, and the type of program se-lected.

As long as the borrower maintains thehome and pays the property taxes and in-surance premiums, he or she retains own-ership and may remain in the home forlife.

Furthermore, the loan doesn’t have tobe repaid until the homeowner dies, sellsthe property or lives elsewhere for 12months. When the home is sold, the bor-rower (or estate) pays off the loan plus in-terest.

Any equity left after paying off the loangoes to the owner or heirs. As long as theproperty is sold at a fair market price —even if it is less than the loan balance —the lender cannot claim more than the saleamount received.

A few caveatsBorrowers can select either a fixed-rate

or adjustable-rate mortgage. With a fixed-rate mortgage, the borrower must take allthe money in a lump sum, and interest ac-crues immediately. You should considerthis type of mortgage only if you need ac-cess to all the equity immediately.

Some lenders waive or reduce initialcosts such as loan origination and/or serv-icing fees for this type of loan. Therefore, itpays to comparison shop.

With adjustable-rate mortgages, the in-terest rate may change every month.Rates will vary over the life of the loan,and can rise substantially. So it is impor-tant to review the history of the underly-ing index.

The advantage of this option is that aborrower can request multiple lump sums,regular monthly payments, or a credit lineto use at his or her convenience.

The major disadvantage is that future in-terest costs are not known, so increases inrates can jeopardize the borrower’s accessto additional funds later on. These may beneeded to maintain the property and con-tinue to pay real estate taxes and insur-ance.

The Department of Housing and UrbanDevelopment reported in 2010 that morethan 7,500 reverse mortgages were in de-fault for failure to keep up with taxes andinsurance. When borrowers are in default,they must pay up or face foreclosure.

So to avoid this risk of possibly losingyour home to foreclosure, do not enter areverse mortgage agreement unless youare certain you will be able to maintainyour home and pay your real estate taxes

and homeowner insurance.While reverse mortgages can be benefi-

cial in many situations, most experts agreethat other options — such as downsizing,or selling your home and renting —should be considered first.

What are the costs?If you are considering a reverse mort-

gage, you need to understand some of theoptions and all of the initial and recurringcosts associated with them.

Most reverse mortgages are offeredthrough (and insured by) the FederalHousing Administration’s Home EquityConversion Mortgage (HECM) program. Iwould urge you to consider a reversemortgage only if it is under this program’sauspices.

I will be discussing the estimated costsassociated with the two HECM offerings:the HECM Standard and the HECM Saver,introduced in 2010. (For more informa-t i o n , v i s i t w w w. h u d . g o v / b u y i n g/rvrsmort.cfm.)

Aside from interest, there are threebasic costs associated with a reverse mort-gage: the origination fee, mortgage insur-ance costs and closing costs. The entireamount of these fees may be financed as

B-10 Housing Options | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com M A Y 2 0 1 2 — B A L T I M O R E B E A C O N

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Costs and benefits of reverse mortgages

See REVERSE MORTGAGES, page B-11

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B A L T I M O R E B E A C O N — M A Y 2 0 1 2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com | Housing Options B-11

part of the mortgage. The origination fee is 2 percent of the

loan amount up to $200,000, plus 1 percentof the loan amount above that level. Thefee cannot be less than $2,500 or morethan $6,000.

HUD guidelines require that all HECMmortgages be insured. For a standardHECM mortgage, the initial mortgage in-surance premium cost is 2 percent of theappraised home value (with a cap of$625,000) plus an annual premium of 1.25percent of the loan balance. This require-ment penalizes mortgage-holders whotake out a loan much lower than the homevalue.

For an HECM Saver mortgage, themortgage insurance cost is only 0.01 per-cent of the appraised home value or of theprincipal lending limit, whichever is less.However, the annual premium is the same:1.25 percent of the loan balance.

For a $200,000 mortgage, for example,you would save $3,980 with the HECMSaver program over the standard pro-gram. Here’s the catch to Saver mort-gages: Borrowers may be limited to a loanamount up to 18 percent less than a stan-dard HECM mortgage loan.

The third type of expense consists ofclosing costs. These include appraisals,title search, inspections, surveys and soforth. These costs may vary, so you shouldcompare costs among lenders.

What the experts are sayingMany experts discourage borrowers

from taking out reverse mortgages, espe-cially the HECM Standard loan, becauseof the high up-front fees, the uncertaintyregarding interest (for ARMs), and theloans’ inflexibility.

Also, experts have tended to say that re-verse mortgages make more sense forborrowers in their 70s or older, ratherthan in their 60s, since the amount you canborrow goes down the younger you are.

Yet, a new study from the MetLife Ma-

ture Market Institute shows that the age ofthose seeking reverse mortgages hasplummeted in the four years since the col-lapse of the housing market in the U.S. Italso reports that these mortgages haveevolved into a way to help many older babyboomers manage urgent financial needs.

Boomers age 62-64 currently representone in five prospective borrowers of theproduct, which was once associated with amuch older age group.

“Consumer attitudes about reversemortgages are changing because the re-cession has eroded confidence about re-tirement security. Americans will [cometo] rely more and more on these meas-ures,” said Sandra Timmermann, directorof the Institute.

“As reverse mortgages do not have in-come requirements and since other formsof credit have become less accessible,these loans will become more attractive,”she added.

Barbara Stucki, Ph.D., vice president forhome equity initiatives for the NationalCouncil on Aging, said that going forwardthere is a good chance utilizing home eq-uity [through techniques such as reversemortgages and home equity loans] willevolve from being an emergency measureto one that is part of a strategic retirementplan.

“While the economic downturn may bea major reason borrowers have begun touse this financial option for debt manage-ment, in the future it is likely that tappinghome equity will be viewed as part of theentire retirement planning process.

“It is likely the reverse mortgage optionwill be considered alongside some of themore traditional methods of saving and in-vestment,” Stucki said.

An excellent source for more informa-tion about reverse mortgages is The Com-plete Guide to Reverse Mortgages byTammy and Tyler Kraemer (AdamsMedia, 2007). Elliot Raphaelson welcomes your questions

and comments at elliotraph@gmail.com. © Elliot Raphaelson. Distributed by Trib-

une Media Services, Inc.

Reverse mortgagesFrom page B-10

Costs for a $250,000 loan

Here is an example of typical start-upcosts for either a fixed or adjustable-rateHECM mortgage. The home in this ex-ample is appraised at $250,000; theamounts borrowed are $125,000 for thestandard mortgage, or $105,000 for theSaver; borrower age is 73.

Origination Fee: $2,500 (HECMStandard) / $2,100 (HECM Saver)

Mortgage insurance premium:$5,000 (HECM Standard) / $25(HECM Saver)

Closing fees (estimate): $3,000

(HECM Standard) / $3,000 (HECMSaver)

Total fees: $10,500 (HECM Stan-dard) / $5,125 (HECM Saver)

Proceeds after fees: $114,500 (HECMStandard) / $99,875 (HECM Saver)

As you can see, there is a significantadvantage to the HECM Saver pro-gram, especially when there is a highappraised value. The Saver program ispreferable, except when you cannotborrow enough through it for yourneeds. — Elliot Raphaelson

Atrium Village 410-363-0330 4730 Atrium CtOwings Mills, MD 21117

Atrium Village, now celebrating 10 years of exceptional service toBaltimore seniors and their families, is conveniently located inOwings Mills and just minutes from Pikesville, Reisterstown andRandallstown. Caring staff will cater to your needs in our Independent, Assisted Living or Memory Care community. Enjoy our studio, 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom apartments in an intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, and socially vibrant environment. Amenities include delicious dining prepared by ourexecutive chef, exciting programming and entertainment, transportation to appointments and trips. Unique Quiet Care and emergency response system to keep you healthy and safe. Housekeeping services provided to all residents. We are LIVING LIFE at Atrium Village.

ASSISTED LIVING COMMUNITY

SKILLED NURSING AND REHABILITATION

Holly Hill 410-979-4822 531 Stevenson LaneTowson, Maryland 21286www.hollyhillnursing.com

Holly Hill Nursing and Rehabilitation inTowson, Maryland is an elite 75 bed short term rehabilitation center.The BRAND NEW building has private rooms, television, cable, andwireless internet for all patients. There is a grand dining room with buf-fet service available, as well as the opportunity to dine in-room. Theviews are spectacular and may be enjoyed from the multiple commonareas complete with sofas and television, in case the family wants tostop in. The therapy team works with their patients to build strengthand gain confidence after orthopedic surgeries. If you are consideringhaving knee, hip, or any joint surgery call Holly Hill today to schedule atour of the facility, select your room, and meet your therapy team in ad-vance!

CONTINUING CARE RETIREMENT COMMUNITY

Ginger Cove1-800-299-26834000 River Crescent DriveAnnapolis, MD 21401

Nestled along the shores of GingervilleCreek, Ginger Cove is Annapolis’ premierlife-care retirement community. Here, you’ll find unlimited ways to spend today with peace of mind about tomorrow. You’ll find everything from beautiful and spacious independent living apartments to private assisted living and nursing care suites, if everneeded. This vibrant, resident-centered community embraces wellness and life-long learning as a way of life, with countless ways to nurture your passions, interests and hobbies. And, this CARF-CCACaccredited community’s financial plan refunds 90% of your entrance fee to help preserve your estate. Call today for a no-obligation tour with Joan Williams, Director of Marketing, to learn more about Ginger Cove.

B-12 Housing Options | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com M A Y 2 0 1 2 — B A L T I M O R E B E A C O N

By Dave CarpenterThe home next door is in foreclosure.

The neighbors down the street just puttheir house up for sale at a ridiculous dis-count.

Although the housing market hasbrightened a bit over the last year, it’s stillfar tougher to sell today than five yearsago.

The up side of selling a home in a downmarket is you get to seek your own bar-gain if you’re going to buy after you’redone. Closing a sale, however, can beteeth-grindingly slow if you don’t do every-thing right — and maybe even if you do.

While sales of previously occupiedhomes continue to sag after hitting a 13-year low in 2010, the market is inchingback. Nationally, sales increased 11.5 per-cent between February 2011 and Febru-ary 2012. And in Baltimore, sales of non-foreclosed and short-sale homes rose by25 percent in March from a year earlier.

Still, a house that’s in a good location,fully updated and seems perfectly pricedmight sit on the market without a nibble.Even real estate professionals can be flum-moxed by this market.

“Realtors sometimes shake our heads atthe perceived randomness of it all,” saidKatie Severance, a broker for ReMax inUpper Montclair, N.J.

Hitting the Internet Meredith Gray is leaving nothing to

chance in selling her four-bedroom colo-nial in Norwalk, Conn. A freelance fashionstylist and writer, Gray, 53, has takenevery action she could think of to get anoffer for the house she and her ex-hus-band bought 17 years ago.

She researched and interviewed fourbrokers before hiring one, made aYouTube video showcasing the house, andcreated a hardcover book of commentsand photos of the house in all four seasonsto display for open house visitors.

Gray used Facebook and word of mouthto advertise, and marketed on close to adozen websites. And she priced her housecompetitively with the broker’s guidanceafter studying the comps herself. The ini-tial listing of $683,000 was far less than the$850,000 she had sought in a failed at-tempt to sell near the height of the marketin 2004.

“If you really want to move your housein this kind of a market, you have to doeverything,” she said. “It’s a lot of effort,but people shouldn’t leave it all in thehands of their broker.”

Unfortunately, all that work still doesn’tguarantee a sale, particularly when manybuyers feel little urgency to act and believethey might get a better deal by waiting.

Lowering the price can be a home sell-

er’s most painful move. It was for Gray,who reluctantly dropped her asking priceby 5 percent to $649,230 after eight weeks.

“Selling is really emotional for me be-cause I’ve put a lot into this house. It’s nowexactly as I like it,” she said. “I don’t wantto give it away at a huge discount. It’s kindof my nest egg.”

Timely tips Such is the dilemma facing sellers

across the country. But the best tips forselling underscore how the market haschanged:

1. Price aggressively Even if you’re fully aware that prices

have plummeted, it can come as a shockwhen a real estate agent advises you toslap a low-low price on your home. Butotherwise, a house can take a long time tosell.

Days on the market can be a helpful sta-tistic. Available through most multiple list-ing services, it shows the average time ittakes to sell a home.

The specific sales data can provide valu-able insight. In Baltimore City, for exam-ple, the average house takes 98 days tosell, up 14 percent from a year ago.

When reviewing comparable homesthat have recently sold, it will becomeclear which list prices led to fast sales andwhich were set too high and prolonged thesale.

But don’t focus on the overall averagefor a specific location. This can be mislead-ing because it accounts only for homesthat sold, not those that languished. Also,homes that were pulled off the market andrelisted start the clock back at zero.

Sellers often like to look at the ratio oflist price to sales price. Your local ratiogives an idea of the latest price trend andindicates how much a typical seller camedown from the list price.

2. Stage like a pro You may not be able to compete with the

price of homes in foreclosure, or withshort sales — those in which a lender is al-lowing the seller to list for less than isowed on the mortgage. But you can out-shine them when it comes to the conditionand appearance of your house.

“Staging is no longer optional,” Sever-ance said. “It’s like a boot camp that theseller and listing agent go through togeth-er.”

It can be an intense period of plantingflowers, painting and depersonalizing thehouse so buyers can envision themselvesliving there. Getting rid of clutter and rear-ranging rooms to highlight the best fea-tures also are essential.

What’s new this year is that many sell-

How to sell yourhome in

today’s market

See SELLING, page B-13

IN--HOME CARE SERVICES

Comfort Keepers - Towson410-339-70561055 Taylor Ave., Suite 302Towson, MD 21286www.comfortkeepers.com/office-667

When you or someone you love needs assistance to stay in the comfort of their own home, Comfort Keepers of Towson can providehigh quality, compassionate care on a temporary or long-term basis.Our commitment to safeguarding and enhancing the lives of seniors isthe underpinning of everything we do. We hire Comfort Keepers (cer-tified nursing assistants and companions) who love working with sen-iors! And it's their Interactive Caregiving® that sets us apart fromother agencies. We empower the client to make decisions and participate in activities so they can control their environment as muchas possible. Owners Caroline Cowdrey and Anita Read are happy totalk to you about your situation and to develop an individual RN-supervised Care Plan to meet your needs.

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Ideally located in Parkville, OakCrest offers maintenance-free retirement living combined with a vibrant lifestyle―all in a beautiful, private community. Withoutthe worries of a house and yard, you can spend more time pursuing your passions. Travel, volunteer, take a college class andexplore some of Oak Crest’s many clubs and interest groups. Multiple campus restaurants offer a variety of delicious dining options, while 24-hour security offers protection and peace ofmind. Enjoy the stability of predictable monthly expenses andlook forward to a healthy future with our full continuum of healthcare and wellness services.

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Enjoy carefree leisure living at The Meadows—an affordable apartment community for seniors 62+. Each spacious one- and two-bedroom apartment features a fully equipped kitchen, roomyclosets and a balcony or patio. You can exercise the mind in the library and media room or the body in our fitness area. Keypad entryand the emergency response system provide peace of mind. The atomosphere is filled with gracious living. Here, you will appreciate not having to worry about maintenance chores. At thesame time, you can take advantage of nearby shops, library, banks,postal services, grocery store and convenience to I-695.We invite you to tour The Meadows of Reisterstown.

ers are willing to go beyond the basics ofstaging to make physical upgrades.“They’ll do whatever it takes to look betterthan the house down the street now,” Sev-erance said.

One of her clients this year hired a con-tractor to turn a three-bedroom, one-bath-room home into a four-bedroom, two-bath.The month-long, $15,000 renovation paidbig dividends: The house sold for at least$50,000 more than it was expected to oth-erwise.

After learning a valuable lesson abouttoday’s persnickety buyer, Michael Ayalonwent the extra mile in renovating thekitchen of his house in East Meadow, N.Y.

Recognizing that their ‘70s-era kitchenlooked dated, he and his wife, Jennifer,first spent $2,000 on stainless steel appli-ances before putting the three-bedroomhome on the market for $399,000.

After 15 showings, he said, they realizedthat “nobody could get past the fact that aproject was waiting for them in thekitchen.” So it was do-it-yourself time forMichael, 35, a website designer.

They pulled the house off the market fortwo weeks while he installed a new floor,ceiling, cabinets and granite countertops.Then they put it back on the market at thesame price. They hope to justify the addi-tional $10,000 investment with a quicksale.

3. Go all-out online Sellers used to post photos of their

homes online only sparingly to entice buy-ers to visit. No longer. With about 90 per-cent of buyers starting their search online,according to the National Association ofRealtors, you can’t just tease and hope.

“That whole strategy is thrown out thewindow, because all listings are onlineand there are so many that you have tocompete for people’s attention,” said Amy

Bohutinsky, chief marketing officer ofZillow.

Agents recommend putting lots of high-resolution photos and as much informa-tion as possible online, including citing up-grades and what you love about living inthe home. If you don’t show a photo of akey area — kitchen, bathrooms, backyard— prospective buyers may assume there’ssomething wrong and move on.

It’s important to remember that buyersare going mobile, too. The use of smart-phones and apps to review listings has ex-ploded.

Nearly 1.8 million homes are vieweddaily on Zillow’s apps alone, and the serv-ice said 30 percent of its weekend trafficand 20 percent overall come from mobiledevices.

So, make sure your listing agent mar-kets your home in as many places as possi-ble — from AOL Real Estate to Zillow —with a special emphasis on sites that workwell for mobile access.

4. Be flexible with buyersThe single biggest change in the real es-

tate market since the Great Recession istighter financing, according to John VogelJr., real estate professor at Dartmouth’sTuck School of Business.

Banks once freely dispensed loans for95 percent of a home’s value, but a require-ment of 20 percent down is becoming thenew normal in many cases. And any per-ceived imperfection in a credit record canspell denial.

“As a seller, you have to be very con-scious of how hard it is now to qualify forloans,” Vogel said. If you’re about to acceptan offer, make sure you inquire about thedown payment and are informed about thebuyer’s financing status.

Consider accepting an all-cash offer,even if it’s not your highest. If your buyeris hitting a roadblock, consider talkingwith the lender to help structure a deal.

Don’t be afraid to speak directly to the

prospective buyers. If they say they’releery about committing to a home in thisenvironment, you can help make the case.Be ready to show them any recent localstatistics indicating that owning is better fi-nancially than renting, as is the case inmany areas.

And if you don’t accept an initial offer,share information to encourage a coun-teroffer and be ready to bridge the gap toclose the sale.

5. Don’t rush to rentThe fallback for many homeowners who

can’t sell is to rent the property. That’s thecase with Gray, who wants to move soon.

But it’s a strategy that carries risk. With

so many foreclosed and underwater hous-es on the market, Vogel said there’s atleast a 50-50 chance that any given housewill be worth less in a year than it is now.

Not only that, you may be planning tomove out of town, so renting would entailbeing a long-distance landlord.

Vogel said homeowners may need totake a deep breath and treat their house asa sunk cost — money that has been spentand cannot be recovered. “The housetoday is worth what it’s worth,” he said.

Accepting that advice may bring per-spective and help you sell in the worst mar-ket in years.

— AP

B A L T I M O R E B E A C O N — M A Y 2 0 1 2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com | Housing Options B-13

Our beautiful apartment homes always sell fast and continue to have long waiting lists. Currently, only a small number of available apartments at both Charlestown and Oak Crest remain! When you experience the lifestyle that Charlestown and Oak Crest offer, you’ll soon see why they’re the most popular destinations for healthy and active senior living. Don’t miss out on this engaging lifestyle that offers the security and peace of mind you deserve.

Call 1-800-647-0317 for a free brochure and get the latest information on the very last of our available homes.

SellingFrom page B-12

SENIOR SOLUTIONS CONFERENCEThe 2012 Senior Solutions Conference will be held from 8 a.m. to4 p.m. Saturday, May 17 at the Hunt Valley Marriott, 245 Shawan

Rd., Hunt Valley and will focus on “Transitions: Choices, Perspectives and Tools forChange.” Attendees will discover key insights into a variety of subjects affectingolder adults today. Space is limited, so register now. The cost is $65. For furtherinformation or to register, contact the Program and Resource Development Divi-sion of the Baltimore County Department of Aging at (410) 887-4562.

THREE-DAY CARNIVALSt. John Catholic Church, 13305 Long Green Pike, invites you toits Spring Fling Carnival, May 10-11 from 5 to 10 p.m. and May 12

from noon to 10 p.m. Rides, a silent auction, raffles, food, flowers, games and awhite elephant sale are part of the fun. Free Friday fireworks. Call (410) 592-6206or email www.sjehydes.org for more information.

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Looking for a Skilled Nursing/Rehab Facility?

Here is just some of what we offer.

May 10+

By Lauran NeergaardAlexis McKenzie’s mother had mild de-

mentia, but things sounded OK when shephoned home: Dad was with her, finishinghis wife’s sentences as they talked aboutputtering through the day and a drive tothe store.

Then their phone service was cut off. “Imailed that check,” McKenzie’s father in-sisted. No, he’d mailed the phone compa-ny a bank deposit slip instead. McKenzievisited and discovered spoiling food. Dadthe caregiver was in trouble, too.

Dementia can sneak up on families. Itssufferers are pretty adept at covering laps-es early on, and spouses are sometimesthere to compensate. Doctors too fre-quently are fooled as well.

Now specialists are pushing for the firstNational Alzheimer’s Plan to help over-come this barrier to early detection, urg-ing what’s called dementia-capable pri-mary care, more screenings for warningsigns, and regular checks of caregivers’own physical and mental health.

Doctors need larger roleFor a doctor to ask someone with brew-

ing dementia, “How are you?” isn’tenough, said Dr. Laurel Coleman, a geri-atric physician at Maine Medical Centerwho is part of a federal advisory counciltackling the issue.

“So often I hear, ‘The doctor only asksmy mom how she is. She said fine and it’sover,’” said Coleman. “That’s not dementia-capable, or dementia-aware, primarycare.”

Family input should be mandatory, shetold a recent council meeting. It’s the onlyway to know if the person really is eatingand taking her medicines as she claims,and not forgetting to turn off the stove.

The question is how to square that inputwith patient confidentiality, especially ifthe person never filed the legal formsclearing family members to intervene, ashappened with McKenzie.

Plus, regularly seeking that input takesmore time than the typical 15-minute visitand is poorly reimbursed, noted Coleman.But she said more primary-care physiciansare starting to be trained in dementia’schallenges.

More than 5 million Americans are esti-mated to have Alzheimer’s or similarforms of dementia, although as many ashalf may not be formally diagnosed. Withthe rapidly aging population, the toll is pro-jected to reach up to 16 million by 2050.

The Obama administration is drafting anational strategy to try to slow that comingavalanche — with research aiming forsome effective treatments by 2025 — plusfind ways for struggling families to bettercope today.

Step 1 is earlier detection. McKenzie di-rects Forest Side, an Alzheimer’s assisted-living facility in Washington, D.C., so sheknows about dementia. Still, it took somesleuthing to determine how much her 82-year-old parents, living a few hours away inMaryland, were deteriorating.

She said her father refused any assis-tance in caring for her mother, and togeth-er the couple put up such a good front thateven their regular physician hadn’t real-ized their shared answers to standardcheck-up questions — How are you eat-ing? Has anything changed? — simplyweren’t true.

“It’s almost as if they’re sharing a brain.That’s how they get through a day,”McKenzie said.

Sure, dementia patients’ stories can bebelievable. “It happens in doctors’ officesall the time,” said Beth Kallmyer, vice pres-ident of constituent services at theAlzheimer’s Association. That’s why it’scrucial that family members are part of thescreening process.

The diseased brain may not be able topull up a recent memory, but longer-termmemories remain, she explained. So an in-tricate description of, say, cooking lastnight’s dinner may ring true because itwas a real dinner — just not last night’s.

And a long-married couple in a familiarroutine and surroundings can appear farmore normal than they really are untilsomething upsets that balancing act, likethe caregiving spouse getting sick, addedDr. Gary Kennedy, geriatric psychiatrychief at New York’s Montefiore MedicalCenter.

Some solutions How to get around the hidden-dementia

conundrum? • Medicare’s new annual wellness visit

pays for cognitive screening, simple teststhat signal who should be referred formore extensive brain exams. “Even if pri-

mary-care physicians don’t consider them-selves experts at evaluating forAlzheimer’s disease, or don’t feel comfort-able, they can screen,” Kallmyer said.

• The government’s Alzheimer’s adviserswant doctors to steer families toward ad-vanced-care planning, including designatinga healthcare power of attorney, as soon as de-mentia is diagnosed. Montefiore’s Kennedysaid early diagnosis gives patients a say inhow they want to be cared for while they’restill capable of making those decisions.

• A healthcare proxy won’t be used untilthe person is quite sick. So Kallmyer ad-vised also signing what’s called a “releaseof information” allowing the doctor to dis-cuss the person’s care right away withwhomever is named.

Such steps are important, Kennedy said,because advancing dementia leaves peopleso unaware of their deficits that they cantake family or doctor input “as an affront.”He always asks new patients if he can fill intheir loved ones, or invite them in from thewaiting room, as a way of starting that con-versation.

• Doctors can violate patient confiden-tiality if they believe the person’s decisionsor behavior has become a danger,Kennedy noted.

McKenzie said her father would neverdiscuss naming a healthcare proxy, andher parents were furious that she’d voicedconcerns to their physician. She had tothink up non-confrontational ways to getinvited back into their doctor visits: “I’lldrive you, and then why don’t I take notesin case you have any questions later?”

It turned out that McKenzie’s father hada non-cancerous brain tumor causing hisown gradual dementia symptoms, whichstarted becoming apparent with the phonemix-up, unrefrigerated food and eventuallydelusions.

Finally, she had to go to court to get herparents the care they needed in an assist-ed living facility near their hometown.

B-14 Housing Options | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com M A Y 2 0 1 2 — B A L T I M O R E B E A C O N

Getting care for loved ones with dementia

Early warning signs for dementia

Detecting early warning signs of de-mentia can be difficult, but there areseveral types of cognitive screenings —quick, simple tests of memory andthinking skills — that can help a doctordecide if it’s time to recommend a morein-depth exam.

One example: Tell someone threerandom words. Then time how quicklythe person can draw a clock face, withthe hands pointing at 11:10. Then askhow many of those original words he orshe still remembers after the distrac-tion of the clock task.

The Alzheimer’s Association is work-ing with experts around the country toidentify which kinds of screening tools

work best in the hands of primary-carephysicians, said association vice presi-dent Beth Kallmyer.

Screenings aside, Kallmyer said oneof the most important things a doctorcan ask is whether anything in yourdaily life has changed recently. That’ssomething that an affected person mightor might not have noticed, or might beafraid to answer truthfully — but thatconsulting a family member might elicit.

“The reality is, this is tricky,” shesaid. “When you have a doctor’s ap-pointment that’s less than half an hourand may be as short as 15 minutes,these things are really challenging.”

— AP

Would you like to sell adsfor the Beacon?

This full-time, outside sales position pays abase salary plus commissions and benefits.We’re looking for a hard-working, detail-oriented people person. Must be outgoing, love selling, be comfortable with computers, e-mail and contact management software (such as ACT!), and bewilling to follow direction, complete required paperwork, and participate in weekly training and sales meetings at our office.

If you love the Beacon — and would be excited to call and meet withpotential advertisers throughout the Greater Baltimore and Howard County areas — send your resume and cover letter to Alan Spiegel, Director of Sales, at: alan@theBeaconNewspapers.com.

The Beacon Newspapers, Inc. • 3720 Farragut Ave., #105 • Kensington, MD 20895

B A L T I M O R E B E A C O N — M A Y 2 0 1 2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com | Housing Options B-15

B-16 Housing Options | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com M A Y 2 0 1 2 — B A L T I M O R E B E A C O N

PERFORMANCE. PEOPLE. PRIDE.

managed by

ENJOY THE BEST YEARS OF YOUR LIFE in one of our communities designed just for you. Weinberg Senior Living provides quality, a�ordable apartments for seniors and younger residents with disabilities*. Our residents will make you feel at home, and the friendly sta� will be there to answer any questions that you might have. You’ll enjoy getting to know your neighbors and making new friends. In addition, you will �nd residents who take active interest in their community and meet regularly to discuss ways to improve their campus, inside and out. �ey work together to keep Weinberg Senior Living beautiful and accommodating to your lifestyle. You owe it to yourself to see how good the best years of your life can be.

Weinberg Senior Living apartments are owned by CHAI, a local non-pro�t organization. CHAI’s mission is to develop and support thriving stable communities in Northwest Baltimore. In addition to constructing new housing and renovating existing housing, CHAI promotes many programs and services that help seniors to continue to live independently.

www.WeinbergSeniorLiving.com

SCOMMUNITIES

COMMUNITIES

Weinberg Village3430 Associated WayOwings Mills, MD 21117410-581-7878

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Weinberg Gardens1500 Bedford Ave.Pikesville, MD 21208410-602-8200

Weinberg House16 Old Court RoadPikesville, MD 21208410-602-2405

Weinberg Manhattan Park*5715 Park Heights Ave.Baltimore, MD 21215410-466-8080

Weinberg Manor East*3601 Fords LaneBaltimore, MD 21215410-358-5581

Weinberg Manor West3615 Fords LaneBaltimore, MD 21215410-358-9393

Weinberg Park Assisted Living*5833 Park Heights Ave.Baltimore, MD 21215410-664-0100

Weinberg Place*2500 West BelvedereBaltimore, MD 21215410-542-4111

Weinberg Terrace1450 Bedford Ave.Pikesville, MD 21208410-602-3950

Weinberg Woods3211 Clarks LaneBaltimore, MD 21215410-318-6625

Perfectly designed 62-plus residential communities located in Northwest Baltimore:

Senior Living

Your Life, Enriched

B A L T I M O R E B E A C O N — M A Y 2 0 1 2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com 13

At the ExpoSaturday, May 5 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

On the MAIN STAGE, enjoy en-tertainment and cooking demon-strations from around the world, in-cluding:

Latin Dancers, African Drum-mers and Dancers, the EncoreChorale, “Feast Your Eyes On This”cooking demonstration, open mikepoetry hosted by Ladi Di and Bre-nardo, live bands, Chinese dancers,Prince George’s County’s 2011 Sen-ior Idol Winner, surprise entertain-ment and more!

On the FLOOR STAGE, “Bustin’

Loose!” will feature interactivemovement and exercise classes, in-cluding Line Dancing, T’ai Chi /Qigong, Latin / Salsa, Body Resist-ance Training, Zumba Gold Fit-ness®, a Line Dance demonstrationby the Harmony Hall Line Dancersand more!

Card tables will be arranged inthe exhibition hall where visitorscan take in a hand or two of Bridge,Bid Whist, Mah Jong, Pinochle andmore while enjoying the music andentertainment on the Main Stage.

• Advice for Older Job Seekers • Why Wait? The Baby Boomer’s

Guide to Assisting Parents with End ofLife Decisions

• Get the Right Information, RightNow!

• Reserve Maryland: A WinningMatch for Civic Engagement

• You’ve Earned a Say (YEAS) • Communications Solutions through

Maryland Relay • Be Part of the Solution: Starting a

Mental Health Discussion Group • Medicare Fraud: What Everyone

Should Know • Decide, Create, Share: Planning for

Long Term Care • When Alzheimer’s Touches Your

Life: Where to Turn • Helping Seniors Take Control of En-

ergy Costs • Using Assistive Technology to Sup-

port Aging in Place • Medicare Preventive Services

under the Affordable Care Act • Ten Common Nutrition Mistakes

that Sabotage Healthy Aging • Aging and Disability Resource Centers

A first-of-its-kind regional conference on aging issues— aimed at older adults, baby boomers, caregivers of allages, and professionals in the field of aging — will takeplace from May 3 to 5 at the Gaylord National ConventionCenter in National Harbor, Md.

This event, called Innovations in Aging 2012, will be forprofessional and consumer audiences, and represents acollaborative effort by the departments on aging of Mary-land, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Training sessions offering CEUs (continuing educationunits) for professionals will be offered on Thursday andFriday, May 3 and 4. There is a fee for the professionaltraining program.

A free Job Fair open to the public will also be held onThursday, May 3 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Bring your re-sume and be prepared to speak with potential employers.

The main events for the general public will be on Satur-day, May 5. A 2K walk to raise funds for the National Kid-ney Foundation will take place from 8 to 9 a.m.

Then an Expo featuring exhibits, the latest technologydesigned to make life easier, interactive health and well-ness activities, cooking demonstrations, exercise classesand more will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The goal of Innovations in Aging 2012 is to showcaseprograms and services that promote healthy communityliving for a lifetime as well as new directions for aging pol-icy. Highlights will include new technologies and innova-tive approaches to planning for the future and preparingto age well in the community.

“There is no such thing as a spare American, no matterour age,” said Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley.“Maryland’s senior community is vital to the progress ofour state. This expo will help us educate and bring to lightthe issues and needs of our seniors so they can leadhealthy lives and enjoy a better quality of life.”

“Longevity is the greatest phenomenon of our time,” ac-cording to Gloria Lawlah, Secretary of the Maryland De-

partment of Aging. “Every day, 10,000 baby boomers turn65. This will continue for 20 years.”

Innovations in Aging 2012 is being co-convened by theVirginia Department for the Aging, the District of Colum-bia Office on Aging, and the Maryland Department ofAging (MDoA), which is acting as this year’s host agency.This is the first large-scale regional collaboration centeredon aging issues.

Media partners for the Expo include W*USA 9 televi-sion and the Beacon. Planning partners include AARP andthe National Association of States United for Aging andDisabilities (NASUAD). The charitable partner is theCommunity Foundation of the National Capital Region.

A website — www.InnovationsinAging2012.com — andFacebook page (Innovations in Aging 2012) have beencreated to provide information for anyone interested inparticipating.

The Expo is free. While advance registration is not re-quired, it is highly suggested. To register, call JaniceBrown at (301) 686-1136 or email her at jbrown3397@stu-dents.pgcc.edu. For additional information, call the Mary-land Department of Aging at (410) 767-1100.

The Gaylord National Convention Center is located at201 Waterfront St., National Harbor, MD 20745. It’s inPrince George’s County, just across the Potomac fromAlexandria, Va., not far from where 495 and 295 intersect.

Free bus service will be provided to residents of Balti-more, Howard and Anne Arundel counties (space is limited).

In Baltimore County, buses leave senior centers at 9a.m., and all buses will leave the hotel to return at 1:45p.m. Seating is limited, and you must RSVP through thecenter you want to depart from. Sign up at the center inperson, or call or email.

Ateaze Senior Center7401 Holabird Avenue, Baltimore 21222410-887-7233ateazesc@baltimorecountymd.gov

Bykota Senior Center611 Central Avenue, Baltimore 21204410-887-3094bykotasc@baltimorecountymd.govCatonsville Senior Center501 N. Rolling Road, Baltimore 21228410-887-0900catonsvillesc@baltimorecountymd.govCockeysville Senior Center10535 York Road, Cockeysville 21030410-887-7694cockeysvillesc@baltimorecountymd.govEssex Senior Center600 Dorsey Avenue, Baltimore 21221410-887-0267essexsc@baltimorecountymd.govLiberty Senior Center3525 Resource Drive, Randallstown 21133410-887-0780libertysc@baltimorecountymd.govParkville Senior Center8601 Harford Road, Baltimore 21234410-887-5338parkvillesc@baltimorecountymd.govPikesville Senior Center1301 Reisterstown Road, Baltimore 21208410-887-1245pikesvillesc@baltimorecountymd.govFrom Howard County, buses will leave from the Bain

Center, 5470 Ruth Keeton Way, Columbia, Md., 21044, onMay 5 at 9 a.m., returning by 3 p.m. Call (410) 313-7213 torequest a seat.

The Anne Arundel County Department of Aging andDisabilities will provide free transportation to the expo forthose who register in advance. Pickup and return will be atseveral Anne Arundel County senior centers. To reserve aspace on a van, call (410) 222-4464, ext. 3027, by April 27.

You’re invited to theCapital Region’spremier showcase

on aging

(topics subject to change; seating first-come, first-served)

Free Consumer Education WorkshopsSaturday, May 510 a.m. to 3 p.m.

14 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com M A Y 2 0 1 2 — B A L T I M O R E B E A C O N

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

014331RXX11

BA L T IMORE B E A CON — MAY 2 0 1 2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com 15

TravelLeisure &TravelLeisure &

By Victor BlockFollowing a bountiful breakfast of dim

sum, my wife Fyllis and I strolled alonglanes lined by shops selling merchandiseboth familiar and unknown to us. Somestore windows displayed unrecognizableanimal body parts, others a variety of herbalremedies said to heal a hospital full of ills.

Lunch meant a steaming bowl of pasta ac-companied by a glass of Chianti wine, and apause to watch a group of men good-na-turedly competing in a lively game of bocce.

The day ended by sampling the Euro-pean charm of art galleries, chic boutiquesand cafes overlooking cobblestone streetsthat were packed with passers-by walkingand riding in horse-drawn carriages.

This whirlwind ‘round-the-world tour did-n’t require traveling by plane, train or auto-mobile. A comfy pair of walking shoes wasall that we needed to explore the intriguingneighborhoods that combine to make Mon-treal a kaleidoscope of cultures and customs.

The city has a well-deserved reputationfor its French flair and joie-de-vivre. Thatinfluence came alive for us as we sampledoutstanding Continental cuisine, sippedFrench wines and admired architecturalgems that would be at home in Paris.

What’s surprising is how many other na-tionalities share the scene. Several neighbor-hoods are enclaves of specific ethnic groupsthat have imported their traditions from theold country. Others are identified by lifestylesor the activities that are centered there.

Limited In size by the island it occupies,located at the confluence of the SaintLawrence and Ottawa Rivers, Montreal iseasy to explore by foot. Most of it is flat, andit has an excellent bus and subway system.

Before embarking on our excursions, Fyl-lis and I pored over a city map to plan themost efficient use of our time, and save onshoe leather and energy. Because Montre-al’s neighborhoods merge gently into eachother, often with several blocks of overlap, itwas not difficult to follow routes that intro-duced us to the areas we wished to cover.

Old MontrealDuring our first day, we concentrated

on Old Montreal (Vieux-Montreal) and theOld Port (Vieux-Port), and neighborhoodswithin a short stroll. The cafes and shopsof the city’s original section lend it a dis-tinct Parisian air.

The first European settlers arrived in1642, and some buildings that still standtrace their history back to the 17th centu-ry. Today the sidewalks attract crowds ofvisitors and street performers playingmusic, juggling and doing whatever ittakes to separate members of their audi-ence from a few coins.

Vieux-Montreal spills into the Vieux-Port,once working docks where shipping opera-tions have been replaced by a menu of bothoutdoor and indoor activities. River cruisesand al fresco exhibitions vie for the attentionof visitors with the opportunity to challenge

their minds at the Montreal Science Center. In keeping with the center’s location in a

former maritime shed, one exhibit recallsthe surprisingly interesting story of opera-tion of a major harbor. Others amaze andamuse with displays ranging from a multi-media representation of the human brainto props from Indiana Jones movies.

Very different settings lie but a shortwalk away. Large arches spanning a nar-row street and rooftop pagodas announcethat you’ve entered Chinatown, whose his-tory may be traced back to the 1860s whenChinese workers came to Canada to toil inmines and on the railroads.

Today some of their descendants runrestaurants and shops, patronize fortunetellers seated at small outside tables, andtake part in traditional exercises in any openspace large enough to accommodate them.

Trendy rather than traditional is theorder of the day in the Village (Le Village)neighborhood, which epitomizes Canada’sreputation as an open, accepting society. Itis one of the largest gay enclaves in theworld, seemingly alive at all hours of dayand night.

While some restaurants, bars and shopscater to members of the local community,many serve a general clientele that makesthe Village more an entertainment andtourism center than just a gay quarter.

Food and funFood, arts and entertainment characterize

three neighborhoods that Fyllis and I com-bined into a disparate day of sightseeing.

Not surprisingly, dining is a focus ofmuch that occurs in Little Italy, where oneof Montreal’s largest cultural groups ar-rived and set up shop in the late 19th cen-tury. It’s not easy to ignore mouth-water-ing aromas of pasta, pizza and tiramisuwafting out of trattorias and cafés.

Italian is just one of countless languagesheard at the Jean-Talon Market, whereshoppers have gathered for more than 70years to browse and buy meat, cheese,produce and pastries.

Since the 1960s and 70s, the arts in a va-riety of forms have been a trademark ofthe neighborhood called the Plateau.That’s when it became a magnet for writ-ers, artists, musicians and singers — arole it continues to fulfill.

With a packed calendar of events andactivities, it’s where young professionalsand other members of the “In” crowd gath-er to socialize.

Highs and lowsDuring our last day of sightseeing, Fyl-

lis and I combined a dramatic overlook of

Place Jacques-Cartier, one of the most popular spots in Old Montreal, makes onethink of Paris. In the summer, the square is filled with street artists and kiosks.

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Montreal’s vast multilevel network of underground shops, theaters and walkways —the largest such mall in the world — protects visitors and tourists from the elementsduring the Quebec city’s long winters.

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See MONTREAL, page 16

Eclectic Montreal offers international flair

Nature can teach you when to plantwhat. See story on page 17.

the city with a journey beneath it. First wewalked to the top of Mont Royal, whichholds a place dear in the hearts of manyresidents. That’s true in part because thecity’s name was derived from the originalspelling, Mont Real.

The 764-foot-tall mountain, in realitymore a high hill, is blanketed by deepwoods. A network of hiking trails providesopportunities to spot some of the 140 or sospecies of birds that dwell there, and leadto dramatic viewing points over the citybelow. A spacious chalet displays paintingsthat trace the history of French Canadaand Montreal.

Very different from the heights of MontRoyal — in both altitude and attitude — isanother favorite haunt of both locals andtourists. Imagine an 18-mile network ofwalkways connecting some 2,000 shops,restaurants, entertainment venues andother attractions, where it never rains orsnows, the temperature is always perfect,and pedestrians don’t have to deal withtraffic or crossing streets.

Furthermore, this vast subterraneanspace, the largest underground complex inthe world, provides indoor access to depart-ment stores, hotels, museums, theatres andcinemas along the streets overhead. Mon-treal’s Underground City is a virtual neigh-borhood where, as I quipped to Fyllis, but

only half in jest, one could almost live. Unfortunately, Fyllis and I didn’t have

time to explore in depth other neighbor-hoods that comprise Montreal. LittleIndia, Little Greece and Little Portugal,while modest in size, feature some shopsthat sell traditional items and restaurantsserving traditional food from those coun-tries.

As its name implies, the Quartier desSpectacles is the cultural heart of the city.Within less than a square mile, visitorsmay take in movies and plays, enjoy con-certs and dance performances, view artexhibitions and enjoy a good laugh at acomedy show.

A tiny area of the Plateau boroughcalled Mile End is perhaps the most di-verse neighborhood of all. Artists and film-makers, hipsters and Hassidic Jews, alongwith a virtual United Nations of immi-grants call it home.

Among people I passed on the streetthere were a red-wigged Lady Gagawannabe wearing what appeared to be pa-jamas, and both men and women display-ing elaborate tattoos on most of their ex-posed skin.

It is scenes like these that lend Montre-al a distinctive air. The visitor’s first im-pression may be of a large, modern,bustling city, albeit with an overlay ofFrench language and culture.

Beneath that surface lies a potpourri ofneighborhoods that combine to provide a

rich and varied lifestyle for residents andan inviting experience for visitors.

If you goIn addition to its diverse neighbor-

hoods, Montreal is a city of outstandingmuseums. Consider purchasing the three-day Montreal Museums Pass, which cov-ers one-time admission to 38 museums aswell as unlimited bus and subway rides($65).

If you’re in a mood to splurge on accom-modations, check out the luxurious HotelNelligan. Nestled in the heart of Old Mon-treal, it provides a good location for dailytreks around town. The 105 rooms andsuites combine European elegance andcharm. Rates during spring begin at about$200 a night. For more information call 1-877-788-2040 or log onto www.hotelnelli-gan.com.

A slightly less costly but no less appeal-ing alternative is Le Petit Hotel, a new 24-room boutique property that is chic andcontemporary. It’s housed in a 19th-centu-ry building also in the historic district.Rates start at $179 a night. For more infor-mation, call 1-877-530-0360 or log ontowww.petithotelmontreal.com.

It’s not surprising that a city with astrong overlay of French culture is a trueculinary Mecca. What’s less well-known isthat many of the more than 5,000 restau-rants in Montreal serve over 80 kinds of in-ternational cuisine. Within one short

block, I passed eateries serving Japanese,Indian, Mexican, Greek and Italian food.

Among local specialties that I sampledwere poutine, a fast food snack that com-bines French fries and chunks of cheesecurd covered with gravy or a sauce; Mon-treal bagels, a thinner, sweeter version ofthe U.S. favorite that is boiled in honey-water then baked in a wood-burning stove,and pastrami-like smoked meat.

The best place to enjoy the latter, I wasassured, is Schwartz’s, which since 1928has been attracting crowds that stretch out the front door and down the block. Agiant-size sandwich ($5.90) was adequatefor Fyllis and me to share, washed downby the traditional dark cherry soda($1.80). It’s located at 3895 Blvd. St. Lau-rent, phone (514) 842-4813, websitewww.schwartzsdeli.com.

Among restaurants where we enjoyedmore familiar fare was Modavie at #I RueSt. Paul West. It’s a casual, lively bistro thatserves a variety of pastas ($19-$24), tastychicken with tarragon sauce ($22), and ex-cellent grilled salmon ($24), both accom-panied by rice pilaf and vegetables. Formore information, call (514) 287-9582 orlog onto www.modavie.com.

The least expensive roundtrip ticket toMontreal from BWI in mid-May $588 onAir Canada.

For information about visiting Montreal,c a l l 1 - 8 7 7 - 2 6 6 - 5 6 87 o r l o g on t owww.tourisme-montreal.org.

16 Leisure & Travel | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com MAY 2 0 1 2 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

Saturday, May 12, 2012

2 performances:

3 pm and 7:30 pmat

MeyerhoffSymphony Hall,

Baltimore

SHIRLEY ALSTON REEVES:“Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?”

JAY SIEGEL’S TOKENS:“The Lion Sleeps Tonight”

LOU CHRISTIE: “Lightning Strikes”

THE CHANTELS: “Maybe”

THE VOGUES: “You’re the One”

KATHY YOUNG: “A Thousand Stars”

CLEVELAND STILL AND THE DUBS:“Could This Be Magic”

FOR TICKETS & INFO:1-800-222-1292

www.mpt.org/eventswww.ticketmaster.com

Proceeds benefit Maryland Public Television

SPY-NOVELIST AND NEW YORK TIMES #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF 14 BOOKS

IN CONVERSATION WITH JAMIE GANGEL NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT

FOR THE TODAY SHOW

Tuesday,May 15, 2012—7pm

T H E E D W A R D A . M Y E R B E R G C E N T E R A N N U A L S P R I N G F U N D R A I S E R

BETH EL CONGREGATION8101 PARK HEIGHTS AVENUE

(PARK HEIGHTS AVENUE & THE 695 BALTIMORE BELTWAY)

HONORING: JANE K. SCHAPIRO

All proceeds to bene�t the Edward A. Myerberg Center,a 501c3 non-pro�t organization

Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel SilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilvaSilva

Reservations and Information:410-358-6856 www.myerbergseniorcenter.org

General Admission $40 Patron $125

Includes reserved seating &dessert reception with Daniel Silva

MontrealFrom page 15

By Dean FosdickPhenology is the science of appear-

ances, or knowing which plants can tellyou when to start weeding, planting, fight-ing insects or tackling any other garden-ing priority.

Once the forsythia begins to bloom, for in-stance, it’s time to renew your waragainst crabgrass. When to fertilize the lawn?Think apple blossoms falling. Time to set outtomatoes? Yes, if dogwood trees are in flower.

“Phenology makes us more aware ofour environment,” said Robert Polomski, ahorticulturist and arborist at Clemson Uni-versity in Clemson, S.C. “Associating gar-dening tasks with flowering times is a neatway to look at how nature really func-tions.”

Forecasting by forsythiaForsythia grows most everywhere in

Zones 5-8, which includes this area. Its yel-low blossoms are among the most recog-nizable signs of early spring, making thismember of the olive family one of the bestseasonal indicators for gardeners.

Turf grass specialists often use thebloom time of forsythia as a bellwether forscattering pre-emergent herbicides oncrabgrass-prone lawns. “A garden weedpreventer or pre-emergent kills the seedsbefore they can grow into seedlings,”

Polomski said.Phenology blends science with legend.

It charts plant and animal development,and how those are influenced by climatechange over long periods of time. It also in-cludes the observations of people whohave worked the ground for generations.

Scientists know, for instance, that soiltemperatures must reach at least 35 de-grees before onion and lettuce seeds willgerminate. But Felder Rushing, a formerextension horticulturist, 10th generationAmerican gardener and folklorist fromJackson, Miss., puts it in a more home-spun and equally correct way: “When fish-ermen are sitting on the riverbank insteadof on their bait buckets, the soil is warmenough to plant.”

More floral forecastersSome other reliable natural markers

compiled by University of Wisconsin-Ex-tension:

• Plant potatoes as the first dandelionsbloom, and peas when the daffodils flower.

• Transplant eggplant, melons and pep-pers when the irises bloom.

• Start looking for trouble from squashvine borers when chicory flowers open.

• Put seed corn in the ground when oakleaves are about the size of a squirrel’s ear.

• The time is right for planting toma-

toes when lily-of-the-valley is in full bloom.• Seed morning glories as soon as the

maple trees leaf out.• Grasshopper eggs hatch roughly at

the same time that lilacs bloom.• Prune roses when crocuses begin

to flower.Gardeners aren’t the only ones who

read signs of the seasons for practical rea-sons. Bird watchers use them for timingmigrations, fly fishermen for signaling theinsect hatch, and farmers as clues inweather forecasting.

Phenologists monitor one species as a re-liable way to track changes in another.Birds head north, for instance, just as theinsects begin to appear in their summerbreeding grounds. Insect populations build

when their host plants produce leaves.Native tribes in British Columbia used

the arrival of buds and blooms from cer-tain berry-producing shrubs to signalwhen it was time to fish for halibut orspawning salmon. That gave them a com-petitive leg up over other animals consum-ing the same, often limited, resource.

“People good at observing things canoften predict when the purple martinsstart arriving,” Rushing said. “It becomespart of the local lore.”

For more about phenology as an aid togarden planning, see this University ofWisconsin-Extension fact sheet: http://pddc.wisc.edu/factsheets/Low%20Color%20PDF%20Format/Phenology.pdf.

—AP

BA L T IMORE B E A CON — MAY 2 0 1 2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com | Leisure & Travel 17

Baltimore’s Inner HarborPlan your visit at aqua.org ! 410-576-3800

— Marco LeMonde World’s Savviest ExplorerMarco LeMonde

Why travel the globe?It’s all at America’s Aquarium!

COME SEE WHY WATSON’S GARDEN CENTER IS

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Read nature’s cues for a better garden

HEAD TO THE BEACHReservations are being taken now for a five-day trip to MyrtleBeach, South Carolina, May 13-17. The price of $550 double

includes deluxe transportation, four nights at Compass Cove Hotel, a riverboatcruise, several breakfasts, dinners, tours and more. Taxes and tips are included.For information and to sign up, see the trip desk volunteer at the PasadenaSenior Activity Center, 4103 Mountain Rd. For information, call (410) 222-0030.

BEACON BITS

May 13+

18 Leisure & Travel | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com MAY 2 0 1 2 — 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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BA L T IMORE B E A CON — MAY 2 0 1 2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com 19

By Carol SorgenYou can take a closer look at prints by

leading contemporary artists and innova-tors in printmaking when the BaltimoreMuseum of Art (BMA) brings together 20presses, printers and galleries fromaround the country for the Baltimore Con-temporary Print Fair on April 28 and 29.

This biennial event provides new andestablished collectors the opportunity toperuse and purchase limited editions, sin-gle prints, portfolios, photographs anddrawings by artists such as Louise Bour-geois, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly,Faith Ringgold, Richard Serra and KikiSmith.

The weekend also offers visitors an op-portunity to take advantage of the muse-um’s intimate and informal setting to talkwith artists, curators and printers to learnmore about contemporary art and print-making techniques.

Baltimore company featuredAmong the vendors participating in this

year’s event is Baltimore’s own Goya Con-temporary & Goya-Girl Press, the onlyvendor from Charm City.

“As one of the only museum-housedprint fairs focused on contemporary art,the BMA does an appreciable job assem-bling a fresh and relevant group of dealersfrom around the country who are thetrendsetters of print media,” said Goya Ex-ecutive Director and Curator Amy EvaRaehse. “I’ve always relished the intimate,

inviting atmosphere of the BMA print fair.”Goya was founded in the mid-1990s,

originally to engage in a dialogue withartists through printmaking. After severalexpansions over the years, Goya has ma-tured into a nationally recognized exhibi-tion space, designed to promote “the artand culture of our time” through print pub-lishing, artist representation, private andpublic collection facilitation, appraisals andwork at auction.

“We are dedicated to bringing the topartists of our time to Baltimore, as well as[promoting] the top Baltimore artists out-side the borders of our city,” said Raehse.

“We have a vibrant and talented com-munity, and if we could find a way to ex-pand on the longevity of community sup-port, i.e., support not just of the mostemerging, or the most establishedartists, but of all who fall in between, thenwe would be better able to write the storyof Baltimore’s relevance and role in thelarger art world.”

While the print fair focuses on contem-porary art, Raehse is quick to dispel thenotion that “contemporary” suggests acertain genre of art, or that it appeals to acertain (i.e., younger) audience.

“Contemporary art is art producedsince World War II,” she explained. “It is ahuge injustice to suggest that contempo-rary art is art that is just produced or en-joyed by young people. In fact, the mostbasic definition of contemporary art wouldsimply be ‘the art of our time.’”

Starting a print collection

To get the most fromthe experience, Raehseadvises visitors to take theopportunity to ask ques-tions and engage in dis-cussions about the work.

“Printmaking affordsmany people their firstentry into collecting,” shesaid, “with prices that tendto be on the lower spec-trum of an artist’s market.”

When working with

Arts & Style View this Kota Ezawa print and othersat the BMA print fair

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A print of Jim Dine’s“New Mexican Aloe” willbe available during theBaltimore ContemporaryPrint Fair at the Balti-more Museum of Art.The fair offers neophyteand experienced collec-tors alike the opportuni-ty to buy prints andlearn about printmaking.

Contemporary print fair returns to the BMA

See PRINT FAIR, page 21

Radio Flea MarketHeard every Sunday, 6:30-8 a.m. on 680 WCBM

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

On the plus side, the name gives neithergroup partiality, The downside, Polochickadmits, is that it doesn’t clearly identifywhat the group is all about. “Unfortunate-ly, that’s still true to some extent today,” hesaid.

From the beginning, Polochick hadhigh aspirations for the company, planningto extend its reach beyond Baltimore to anational and international reputation. Ithasn’t been easy.

“Those who know us, love us,” he said,noting that the company has been re-viewed on a national level, but adding,“After 25 years, it’s time to break out of ourshell.

“I thought that all I needed to do wasbuild a great product and ‘they wouldcome,’” he continued. “But people didn’tknow about us.”

One of the problems facing not only

Concert Artists of Baltimore but almostevery arts organization in town, Polochickobserved, is that Baltimore has long had astigma that it’s more a sports-loving ratherthan arts-appreciative town.

“I’ll ask people (sometimes standing inline at the grocery store) if they like classi-cal music, and they’ll say they don’t under-stand it,” Polochick said. “But I tell every-one, ‘You don’t have to understand it. Youjust have to experience it live.’”

On occasion, Polochick will offer thesedoubters free tickets, just to give them theopportunity to hear a live performance,something that even in this day and agenot everyone has had a chance to do.

For a variety of reasons — ranging fromtechnology, to lack of exposure, to lack offunding for the arts in schools — “We’velost generations [of concert goers],”Polochick said. But he’s particularly grati-fied when some of these same people whohave told him they don’t like classicalmusic will come backstage after a per-

formance with tears in their eyes, saying, ‘Ihad no idea this was what it was like.’”

What Baltimore needsWhile there are certainly plenty of folks

in Baltimore who support the arts, whathas been lacking — especially in recentyears — is the ongoing financial support ofboth corporate sponsors and individualdonors, said Polochick.

Despite the fiscal challenges, Polochickis especially proud of the fact that themembers of Concert Artists are all profes-sional musicians (meaning they receive apaycheck for performing), and that thecompany has been in the black ever sinceit was founded, thanks in part to its origi-nal and ongoing donors, such as the Peggyand Yale Gordon Trust. .

“Baltimore suffers from an inferioritycomplex,” said Polochick, though withoutgood reason, he added. He pointed out, forexample, that the BSO was founded in 1916as the country’s first municipal orchestra.

More currently, according to a recentAmerican Stylemagazine reader poll, Balti-more ranks ninth among top U.S. arts des-tinations in the big city category, and wasalso voted one of the top ten places in thecountry for independent filmmakers to liveand work by MovieMaker magazine.

What Baltimore needs is “charismatic”leadership to promote the arts, Polochickbelieves. “We need to connect to the peo-ple.”

Polochick himself is working to makethat happen, as he enthusiastically pursuescollaborative efforts with other perform-ing arts organizations in the city.

“I didn’t form Concert Artists as a rivalto other groups,” Polochick said, “but as acomplement to what else goes on in Balti-more.”

To that end, Concert Artists appearswith the BSO in its annual performance ofHandel’s Messiah, has played at the per-formance of the Nutcracker, and will beplaying for Lyric Opera Baltimore on Fri-day, April 20, and Sunday, April 22, in itsnew production of Faust.

25th anniversary concertPolochick calls the May 5 concert “the

cherry on top of the season,” as ConcertArtists will perform with the Peabody Con-cert Orchestra and a chorus of hundreds,including Peabody-Hopkins Chorus,Peabody Singers and Peabody Children’sChorus, with featured appearances by so-prano Jennifer Holbrook, countertenorPeter Lee, and baritone Kevin Wetzel.

“We’re the only group that pulls togeth-er these collaborative efforts to this ex-tent,” said Polochick. “I’m good at thisstuff,” he added with a laugh.

Though his career has him globetrot-ting around the world, Polochick is alwayshappy to return to Baltimore. “I love ithere,” he said.

He has poured that affection into his his-toric Butchers Hill home, one of the sum-mer residences of Betsy Patterson andJerome Bonaparte (Napoleon’s youngerbrother). His other passions include fish-ing and art.

But even with his crowded schedule,Polochick has more plans for the future,though he can’t talk about them all just yet.“Something is cooking all the time,” hesaid.

Tickets for the May 5 concert range from$35 to $50 and are on sale through Ticket-master, (410) 547-SEAT, or www.ticket-master.com. For more information, call(410) 900-1150 or visit wwwcabalto.org.

20 Arts & Style | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com MAY 2 0 1 2 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

www.kidneywalk.org 410.494.8545

Local Presenting Sponsor

Media Sponsors

MAY 6

2012 KIDNEYWALK

THE MARYLAND ZOO BALTIMORE, MDCHECK-IN: 8:00 A.M., WALK: 9:00 A.M.410.494.8545 | cvera@kidneymd.org

Corporate Sponsors

ConductorFrom page 1

Please patronize our advertisers.They keep theBeacon free!

clients interested in building or expanding acollection, Raehse always suggests that theybegin by gravitating toward work thatmoves them in some way, and then expandon their knowledge from there.

“More than anything, however,” she ad-vised, “one should not look at art just as aninvestment, but also as something thatprovides an elevated level of fulfillment.

Living with art is transformative!”The print fair will be held on Saturday,

April 28 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday,April 29 from noon to 6 p.m.

Tickets are $10 per person for one dayor $15 per person for both days, and freefor BMA Members. Proceeds from the fairare used to acquire contemporary workson paper for the BMA’s collection.

Tickets are available in person at theBMA box office, online at www.artbma.org,or by phone at 1-800-919-6272. Service

charges apply to phone and online orders.Several special events are being held in

conjunction with the print fair. At 7 p.m. onApril 26 artist Trenton Doyle Hancock,one of the youngest artists ever to be se-lected for the prestigious Whitney Bienni-al, talks with a curator. The event is free.

At 11 a.m. on April 29, hear from thefounders of the website Printeresting.orgabout the myriad ways printmaking im-pacts your life. That event is also free.

The BMA is located at 10 Art MuseumDr. For more information, call (443) 573-1789 or visit www.artbma.org.

B A L T IMORE B E A CON — MAY 2 0 1 2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com | Arts & Style 21

ANSWERS TO CROSSWORD

From page 22.

ANSWERS TO SCRABBLE

S P R I G R A D A R G O DN O O N E E V I T A A H AA S S E T W A I V E R R I MP E E R I D S E G G O N

T E S T A T S E AN E T I N C O M P E T E N C EA R O A D A S A S T U NA R M S A D N E S S U B TC O C A R O O A H A I RP R O F I T O F B A L A N C E

L A C E R A L T IM I L N E B R O R I S EA R I D E B I T U N I O N SC O N U N I T E Y E T I SE N S P E T E R C R A T E

For information call: 410-900-1150 Contact Ticketmaster at 410-547-SEAT

www.ticketmaster.com

CARL ORFF

CARMINA BURANA

CHICHESTER PSALMSLEONARD BERNSTEIN

The Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric 140 W. Mt. Royal Ave. | Baltimore, MD 21201

The Modell Performing Arts Center at the LyricSaturday, May 5 - 8 p.m.

Concert Artists of Baltimore Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University

Lyric Opera House

...outstanding, historic collaboration with three of Baltimore’s best...

Edward Polochick, Conductor

Print fairFrom page 19

REDEFINING STYLEDiscover a new definition of “swag,” with images of black menwho fuse African aesthetics and European fashion to create the

contemporary black dandy style in “Dandy Lion: Articulating a Re(de)fined BlackMasculine Identity,” at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum through May 13. Museumadmission is $8 for adults and $6 for seniors. The museum is located at the cor-ner of Pratt and President Streets. For more information, call (443) 263-1800 orvisit the museum’s website at www.AfricanAmericanCulture.org.

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

MORGAN PRESENTS MEDEAMorgan State

University presents the Greek clas-sic, Medea, beginning Thursday, April19, with a pay-what-you-can preview,followed by performances April 20-22and April 27-29. Senior admission is$10. Tickets are available throughthe Murphy Fine Arts Center ticketoffice, (443) 885-5500, www.ticket-master.com, or (410) 547-SEAT. TheTurpin-Lamb Theater is located at2201 Argonne Dr.

BEETHOVEN SONATAS The TowsonUniversity

Department of Music presents theninth concert of the 32 BeethovenSonatas Concert Series, which bene-fits the Reynaldo Reyes ScholarshipFoundation. The concert will be heldon the Towson University Center forthe Arts Harold J. Kaplan ConcertHall, on Sunday, April 22, at 3 p.m.Tickets: $20 general admission, $10seniors and $5 students. For moreinformation, visit www.towson.edu.

PARIS WATERCOLORSHighly detailed andoriginal, Léon

Bonvin’s watercolors of flowers, land-scapes and moonlit scenes repre-sent a distinctive contribution to therealist movement in mid-19th centu-ry France. Bonvin’s paintings reflectthe humble surroundings accessibleto the artist, an innkeeper on theoutskirts of Paris. See this exhibit atthe Walters Art Museum, 600 N.Charles St., through May 20.Admission to the museum is free.For more information, visit www.the-walters.org.

BEACON BITS

Apr. 19+

Apr. 22

Ongoing

22 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com MAY 2 0 1 2 — B A L T IMORE B E A CON

Puzzle Page

Scrabble answers on p. 21.

JUMBLE ANSWERS

Jumbles: COWER BUXOM ANYONE BICKER

Answer: What the reporter got from the editor

-- MORE WORKCrossword Puzzle

Daily crosswords can be found on our website: www.TheBeaconNewspapers.com

Click on Puzzles Plus

Answers on page 21.

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 71

2. Smile at the birdy3. February gift4. Lethargy5. Acquire6. Educate (a toddler)7. Airport shuttle bus sign8. Meaning of “˜” in math9. Attended a luncheon10. Hardest to find11. Huge12. State featured in 63 Down13. Curse18. Cheese headquarters (abbrev.)23. Disco brothers, briefly25. Proverbial candle burning spots26. Altar location27. Receptions28. Civil rights org. HQ’ed in Baltimore29. Dropped fly30. Gin-based drink31. ___ the match (MVP)32. Linear ... square ... ___33. ___ nous (between us)39. Laugh-In first name40. Way out41. Toll House Cookie ingredient44. “I’m not ___ of facts ... facts can

change, but my opinion will never change”: Stephen Colbert

47. More like Esau than Jacob49. Acted like a car window

in February50. Trade51. Baseball family name54. Knight’s weapon55. Composition of 54 Down, often56. Make use of a bullet58. Smidgen59. Foul mood60. To be, to Romans63. Dir. from Dayton to Columbus64. Drilling tool65. Queens and four more (abbrev.)

Across1. Vegetable bit6. M*A*S*H character11. Poseidon, perhaps14. Loser in an uncontested election15. Best Musical, 198016. “I just solved the crime”17. One who rejects assistance19. Edge of a cup or canyon20. Equal21. Security guard’s shout22. Incite24. ___ pattern26. Between ports28. Poor free-throw shooting skills34. One thing a line on a map could

represent35. Big house insider36. Phaser setting37. Provide with weapons38. The blahs42. Added letters that could turn a DO into a don’t

43. ___-Cola45. Hundred Acre Wood denizen46. “The replay showed he was safe by ___”48. Extreme stability52. Sneaker, not slipper, generally53. High prefix54. Hundred Acre Wood designer56. Best man candidate, briefly57. Respond to leavening61. The Diamondbacks, in boxscores62. Leftist organizations66. Jailbird67. Join forces68. Abominable snowman (with wife andkids)69. Nanna has a lot of them70. Pumpkin or pepper enthusiast71. Fruit container

Down1. Keep the beat, cheaply

No Taste for Accounting by Stephen Sherr

BA L T IMORE B E A CON — MAY 2 0 1 2 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com 23

DOORMAN/LOBBY REGISTRAR for Estab-lished Pikesville Office Building. Ideal for re-tiree, retired firefighter, retired officer. Respon-sible on-call substitute position evenings & Sat-urdays. To apply: 410-484-4162.

AIRLINE CAREERS begin here - Become anAviation Maintenance Tech. FAA approvedtraining. Financial aid if qualified - Housingavailable. Job placement assistance. Call AIM(866)453-6204.

DRIVERS! CDLTrainingnow.com acceptingapplications 16 day Company sponsored CDLtraining. No experience needed. 1-800-991-7531www.CDLtrainingnow.com.

MYSTERY SHOPPERS! Earn up to $150daily. Get paid to shop pt/ft. Call now 1-888-750-0193.

SKILLED NURSING/PERSONAL CARESERVICE AT HOME Clearview Medical Serv-ices is committed to providing compassionateskilled nursing & personal care services. We havea pool of experienced health professionals (RN,LPN, CNA, GNA, Companions & Sitters) with atrack record of excellence. Call us today, for allyour nursing & companion needs on 410-779-9162 or email @ clearviewmservices@gmail.com.

SMALL BUSINESS Credit Guaranteed!$7,000 Credit Line to Fund or Grow Your Busi-ness. Call Today for Approval 877-648-7079 Be-tween 9-6EST.

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GARDENVILLE – Large, clean bedroom, on2nd floor of private home, with microwave andrefrigerator. Private bath. Reasonable - 410-485-1702.

AVAILABLE NOW!!! 2-4 Bedroom homes TakeOver Payments No Money Down/No CreditCheck Call 1-888-269-9192.

GEORGIA LAND Beautiful 1acre-20acres.Amazing weather, Augusta Area. Financingw/Low down, from $149/month. Owner 706-364-4200.

STOP RENTING. Lease option buy. Rent toown. No money down. No credit check. 1-877-395-0321.

4 – 20 INCH CHROME RIMS. 5 luges.Mounted on tires. $1,200/ or best offer. Call:410-227-3157, Home: 410-323-8994.

LP’s, 45’s, 78’s, $11.95/EACH. Baseball cards$2-$45. Clothes $1-$35. Radios $5. Bowlingballs $15, treadle sewing machines $70. Stereo$65, record player $35. Magazines $1.25/each.410-654-6917. Prices are Negotiable.

BEDROOM SET – Sleigh bed, double dresser,night table, Mahogany. Dining table & 6 chairs,Walnut. – 7 years old, Mays Chapel/New – Ne-gotiable/Best Offer. 443-560-6679 or 410-569-0017.

AT&T U-VERSE for just $29.99/mo! SAVEwhen you bundle Internet+Phone+TV and getup to $300 BACK! (select plans). Limited TimeCALL NOW! 800-307-5308.

BUNDLE & SAVE on your CABLE, INTER-NET PHONE, AND MORE. High Speed Inter-net starting at less than$20/mo. CALL NOW!800-375-1270.

DISH NETWORK lowest nationwide price$19.99 a month. FREE HBO/Cinemax/StarzFREE Blockbuster FREE HD-DVR and install.Next day install 1-800-401-3045.

RUB IT ON – Pain is gone fast! Arthritis, back,knees, hands, fibromyalgia – all pain. Trying isbelieving. Relief in minutes. Smells great. 1-888-414-4161 – www.painisgone.info.

CANADA DRUG CENTER is your choice forsafe and affordable medications. Our licensedCanadian mail order pharmacy will provide youwith savings of up to 90% on all your medicationneeds. Call Today 888-734-1530 for $25.00 offyour first prescription and free shipping.

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WE LOVE OUR SENIORS M.T. RupardPainting, Handyman Services. 30 years experi-ence. Free estimates. Fully licensed, bonded &insured. MHIC#97309. Call 301-674-1383.Many references.

ATTEND COLLEGE ONLINE from Home.*Medical, *Business, *Criminal Justice, *Hospi-tality. Job placement assistance. Computeravailable. Financial Aid if qualified. Call 800-494-3586 www.CenturaOnline.com.

FINISH HIGH SCHOOL at home in a fewweeks. First Coast Academy, 1-800-658-1180x130. www.fcahighschool.org.

E-BAY AND CRAIGSLIST LISTING SERV-ICE AND CLEARING.We also clean-out homesthat are cluttered, vacant, from estates, and forpeople who are downsizing. We also clean-outsheds, barns, basements, attics, garages, and outbuildings. Call Dave 443-514-8583.

EXPERIENCED NATIONALLY CERTIFIEDMASSAGE THERAPIST. Specializes in reliefof: back, neck and joint pain. Practices Swedish,deep tissue, orthopedic and hot stone massage.References available. Does in-house clientele vis-its. Please call, Andrey Gayevskiy 443-600-6026.

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

SINGLE BLACK MALE, 49 years old, 5’7”,140lbs, black hair, brown eyes, good looking,honest, intelligent. Looking for single female30-50, nice, honest, kind, caring, loving, down toearth, well educated. Friendship/More. Write:P.O. BOX 33471, Baltimore, MD 21218.

CASH BUYER SEEKING WATCHMAKER’S TOOLS & PARTS, wrist & pocketwatches (any condition), costume jewelry andantiques, coins. 410-655-0412.

BUYING NUMISMATIC COINS and mostgold or silver items including coins, sterling,jewelry, etc. Will come to you with best cashoffer. Call Paul: 410-756-1906.

WE BUY MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS, Musi-cal Instruments, recreational Items, Motorcy-cles and Minibikes, Collections, Memorabilia,Vintage Items, Electronics, Toys, Cars, Jewelry,Tools, and More. Call Dave 443-514-8583.

FINE ANTIQUES, PAINTINGS AND QUALI-TY VINTAGE FURNISHINGS wanted by a se-rious capable buyer. I am very well educated [lawdegree] knowledgeable [over 40 years in the an-tique business] and have the finances and where-withal to handle virtually any situation. If youhave a special item, collection or important estate Iwould like to hear from you. I pay great prices forgreat things in all categories from oriental rugs toTiffany objects, from rare clocks to firearms, fromsilver and gold to classic cars. If it is wonderful Iam interested. No phony promises or messy con-signments. References gladly furnished. Pleasecall Jake Lenihan 301-279-8834. Thank you.

VINYL RECORDS WANTED from the 20sthrough 1985. Jazz, Rock-n-Roll, Soul, Rhythm& Blues, Reggae and Disco. 33 1/3 LPs, 45s or78s, Larger collections preferred. Please callJohn, 301-596-6201.

WANTED LARGE BIRD CAGE in excess of18” x 24”. Call Robert at 410-233-5832.

WANTED TO BUY – Lionel & American Flyerelectric trains. Any age or condition. Stan 410-363-4873.

STAMPS! US ONLY. Small collector buyingsingles, sets or collections. Fair price paid.Southwest Stamp Club meets Friday May 18th,2012. 1-2:30PM. 410-247-4169.

CA$H PAID- up to $26/Box for unexpired,sealed DIABETIC TEST STRIPS. HablamosEspanol. 1-800-371-1136.

CASH FOR CARS, Any Make or Model! FreeTowing. Sell it TODAY. Instant offer: 1-800-864-5784.

TOP CASH FOR CARS, Any Car/Truck, Runningor Not. Call for INSTANT offer: 1-800-454-6951.

WANTED UNEXPIRED DIABETIC TESTSTRIPS UP TO $26/BOX. PAID SHIPPINGLABELS. HABLAMOS ESPANOL! 1-800-267-9895 www.selldiabeticstrips.com.

WANTS TO PURCHASE MINERALS andother oil and gas interests. Send details to P.O.Box 13557 Denver, Co. 80201.

YEARBOOKS “Up to $15 paid for high schoolyearbooks1900-1988. yearbookusa@yahoo.comor 972-768-1338.”

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 bottom of this page.

A National Trade Association we belong tohas placed some of the above classifieds. De-termining the value of their service or prod-uct is advised by this publication. In order toavoid misunderstandings, some advertisersdo not offer employment but rather supplythe readers with manuals, directories andother materials designed to help their clientsestablish mail order selling and other busi-nesses at home. Under NO circumstanceshould you send any money in advance orgive the client your checking, license ID, orcredit card numbers.

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 gate anyad ver tis ers or their prod ucts and can not ac -cept re spon si bil i ty for the in teg ri ty of either.Re spon dents to clas si fied ad ver tis ing shouldal ways use cau tion and their best judg ment.

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You may win TICKETS FOR TWO to Hairsprayat Toby’s Dinner Theatre of BaltimoreAbout this survey:Please help us better meet your needs by answering this survey. All surveysreturned to the Beacon by May 15 will be entered into a random drawing for

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Please complete our reader survey.

1. How often do you rely on the followingsources for information on products andservices that might be helpful to you?

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