Minimally Invasive Treatments for Varicose Veins
For women and men with bulging or unsightly varicose veins, their condition is not merely cosmetic. It’s the result of a medical condition that could lead to serious medical issues. The good news for varicose vein sufferers is that the old ways of treating vein problems, which required hospitalization and weeks of recuperation, have now been replaced by minimally invasive procedures that often can be done on an outpatient basis with a day or less recovery time.
“Symptoms can start and happen slowly over time, so many people don’t realize they have as many symptoms for varicose veins as they do,” says Dr. Eric Hohenwalter, interventional radiologist and co-director of the Comprehensive Vein Clinic at Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Learn about how common varicose veins are, who is at the most risk, what symptoms to look for, and what minimally invasive treatments are available at three Milwaukee-area veins clinics (Lumiére Laser and Vein Center, the Comprehensive Vein Clinic at Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin, and Vena – The Varicose Vein Institute) in this month’s Wisconsin Woman magazine (pages 7-9).
Guide to Canvas Photo Printing Services for Genealogists
If you need a holiday gift idea for the family genealogist on your list, you might want to read my quick guide to canvas photo printing services in the December 2013 Family Tree Magazine.
Most digital photo printing services now offer the ability to have photos printed on stretched or rolled canvas. The photo canvases provide a neat and relatively inexpensive (depending on the size) way to give photos a professional, artwork-like quality to spruce up your walls. If you have an image (in a JPG format, for example) of your family tree, you could have it printed so the family historian can hang it on his or her wall, or you could have special family photos printed on the canvas.
Of the six services highlighted in the Family Tree Magazine article, only one—Shutterfly—offers a cool family tree layout (for up to eight photos). To learn more about the differences among canvas photo printing services, check out the December 2013 Family Tree Magazine (page 64).
Developing a Lean Business Culture
Throughout the past few months, I have had the opportunity to write about Lean processes and Lean culture development for Iowa State University’s Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS) newsletter. In an article that appears in the Fall 2013 CIRAS News, I spoke with Lean coordinators at three Iowa companies: ALMACO, Pella Corporation and Stellar Industries.
These companies have been on their Lean journeys for various lengths of time, but the commitment to the Lean process and culture remains important to each company’s operations. I think Gina Singer, one of Pella’s continuous improvement managers, summed up the Lean experience well: “In a sustained Lean journey, continuous improvement is driven by everyone, every day.”
For the full article on how CIRAS is helping these three Iowa companies develop and sustain Lean cultures, see the Fall 2013 CIRAS News (PDF, page 8).
Expert Tips for Finding College Scholarships
Have I mentioned how much I love writing articles and blog posts for My College Guide? One of the reasons I enjoy this so much is that I get to talk to college administrators, admissions professionals, and financial aid staff all around the country and get their best advice to help high school students prepare for college.
These professionals often have so much great advice to share that we can’t include it all in the magazine articles. This was the case with information on finding and applying for college scholarships for a recent article. Because of this, I compiled the “extra” advice into a new blog post. See expert scholarship advice from professionals at Iowa State University and William Peace University in my latest post.
My College Guide Blog: Anti-bullying Scholarships
In September 2013, I started writing the My College Guide blog. The blog provides college preparation and college life tips and advice primarily for high-achieving high school students.
To date, my blog post topics have included SAT and ACT preparation, fall college fairs, college rankings, online degree programs, and scholarships. I also introduced a “Major of the Month” series to highlight a different college major each month.
While researching general scholarships available to students, I came across several organizations that offer scholarships or other award money to victims of bullying or to students who actively lead anti-bullying efforts in their schools. With the prevalence of bullying among students (about 13 million American kids are bullied each year) and with National Bullying Prevention Month happening in October, I thought these college scholarships and contests were timely to write about.
See my recent blog post on college scholarships for National Bullying Prevention Month, plus check out the National Bullying Prevention Center’s website and StopBullying.gov for more information on bullying prevention.
Digital School Yearbooks for Genealogists
When researching family history, many of us are aware of the essential records to check—censuses; birth, marriage and death records; and immigration and naturalization records, to name a few. But have you ever thought about looking close to your ancestors’ home, in his or her school yearbook?
Many websites now have digital versions of middle school, high school, and college yearbooks available from the 1700s through the 1900s. Some websites offer free access, while others charge a fee. In fact, some free websites may have the same yearbooks as the subscription sites, so be sure to check the free sites first.
Learn more about yearbooks available online in my new quick guide to digital yearbooks in Family Tree Magazine‘s October/November 2013 issue. If you can’t find a yearbook for a school you’re looking for on the websites listed in the article, check the school’s library or archives website, as several schools (particularly colleges and universities) may have digitized yearbook collections available for free on their own websites.
Emerging Trends in Online Higher Education
In the last decade the number of schools offering fully online degree programs has doubled. But traditional online degree programs aren’t the only educational offerings on the internet—there’s also massive open online courses (MOOCs), online certificate programs, and competency-based online programs.
For the October 2013 Wisconsin Woman magazine, I interviewed students and administrators from various University of Wisconsin (UW) schools and programs to learn about all of these different types of programs and trends in online education.
In the process, David Schejbal, dean of the UW-Extension’s continuing education division, told me I was the first writer to know the date when students can begin applying for the UW-Extension’s new competency-based online degree program: November 18.
Check out the October 2013 Wisconsin Woman magazine (pages 7-9) for my article on emerging trends in online college education.
Mount Mary Website Redesign
My colleagues at Mount Mary University (formerly Mount Mary College) launched the redesign of their website early in September. The university completely revamped its website, including all of the content.
I assisted the university with its website project by writing several pages of content and editing copy for a majority of pages on the new website. Check out the redesigned university website. Particularly see the Fast Facts, About Milwaukee, A Women’s University and Academic Excellence pages, which I wrote for the site.
If you’d like to see samples of pages I edited (original content vs. edited content), please contact me.
Wouldn’t It Be Nice if Scholarship Money Grew on Trees?
For high school students (and their parents), figuring out how to pay for skyrocketing tuition, room and board, fees, and books is no easy task. Unfortunately for students, college money doesn’t grow on trees. But there are tons of scholarships, video contests, and essay contests students can enter from 9th through 12th grade to earn money to help pay their future college bills.
In my recent article for My College Guide‘s Sophomore 2014 edition, I spoke with college professionals from William Peace University and Iowa State University to get their advice on starting the scholarship search early.
Read the My College Guide scholarships article. (My article starts on page 36c of the digital edition.)
Iowa Business Insights
I enjoy writing quarterly newsletter articles for Iowa State University’s Center for Industrial and Research Service (CIRAS) because of the excellent business people I get to interview and small businesses I get to learn about.
One of my latest articles is the cover story for the CIRAS News Summer 2013 newsletter. The story is about two Iowa-based companies—one that manufactures trailers and another that manufactures sports equipment—and the product testing they do at Iowa State’s Structural Engineering Laboratory.
Read the cover story, plus check out my other articles in this edition including ones titled “CIRAS Presents Products Made in Iowa at Engineering Career Fair,” “CEO Peer Council Service Now Being Offered,” and “Iowa Business Council and CIRAS Partnership Helps Iowa Companies Succeed.”
Dana's Creative Services, Dana McCullough, Freelance Writer and Editor 