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Packing Up Summer For School

by Rosemary Lee Potter, Ed.D.

Special to Tropical Breeze

Every summer there comes an inevitable moment when parents must reorient and redirect their children’s attention toward school days. This is no easy task as young people’s attention is still devoted to the favorite pursuits of summertime — travel, sports, swimming, camping, the mall, staying up and out and over late and more.

Yet parents must be on task for the rerouting of students toward fall studies, be it seeing that physicals or vaccinations are taken or appropriate clothing and supplies are laid in and on time. Although, the autumn here-comes-school changeover seems to come all too soon, parents are often surprised to find that their youngsters are just as eager as their parents are to get back to a school schedule! However, students are not looking to return to books and homework, but to a more expected schedule, believe it or not. Of course, their biggie motivation is definitely getting back with their daily social connection — their friends. So while students appear reluctant to go back to school, with secret glee, many are happy to rid themselves of “boorrring!”

Here are some positive ideas successful parents have shared about “back-to-school” planning:

Clothes: Doubtless teens are no problem about getting out to buy clothes, except for wanting a lot of them. Yet, parents need to be sure that their fad fashion-conscious teens and pre-teens, in their buying zeal, do not purchase clothes which will not meet their school’s dress code, if any, much less parent standards. A first day back to school can be spoiled if a young lady needs to sit in an office waiting for her parent to bring her a longer skirt, a bigger tee shirt to cover her midriff, or jeans without holes. Check the school dress rules.

Another point is to encourage buying a variety of separates, instead of one major outfit for the first day. The separates may encourage a new “look” for longer. Boys may not be as fashion-concerned as girls, but the reverse can be also true. Check for what statements are written on any tee-shirts to be worn. Edgy remarks on shirts often wind up with the student having to wear the shirt inside out the rest of the day if no other shirt is available.

Supplies: What about backpacks, locks? Again, the school may have sent out a list of items needed for the school year, sometimes for a particular teacher’s room, especially in elementary school. Middle school students often show up the first day with massive notebooks which actually cause them more logistical problems than help, particularly before there are lockers assigned in which to place heavy books and notebooks.

It is usually a better first day plan for middle school students — particularly first-timers — to take in a simple folder with three clips and perhaps 10-15 sheets of wide rule paper and two sharpened number 2 pencils.

Why the suggestion of pencils when pens are so cool and big-time? The first day there are always lots of instructions and maybe notes which often need revision, thus erasers. However, if the student really must use a pen there are now some available where the ink can be neatly erased. Still send in pencils for use in math. Later 3-ring pencil bags that fit into notebooks and folders are a tremendous organizational help in class.

Savvy parents plan an early supper and visit to stores for supplies the first school night, so that on the second, more complex day finds the student prepared with the materials needed. Early is to avoid cranky everybody and ease getting home to bed.

Biggie ABCs: Sit down and discuss these priority expectation. They will not just happen by chance.

A. Set simple goals. School job description: Show up, listen, do and learn.

B. Eat some kind of breakfast and also do lunch. This is brain fuel.

C. Sleep. No late flicks, computer, games or sleep-overs including the night before school starts — no longer really summer vacation!

“Mind your manners” and “Make your family proud” are probably two other good student-child expectations parents should express.

Whether parents are first-time school parents or old-hands, they must remember to tell the school if their children have any problems, new or old, which need accommodation. It’s the law for schools to help with disabilities and to support parent and medical efforts in cases such as diabetes and allergies. Do this the first day — before that day, if at all possible! Earlier will make it easier to inform all teachers and personnel who are involved with a child, for example, to provide them with instructions for emergencies — which could occur even the very first day!

Most parents survive their children’s school years well. They volunteer when possible, have teacher conferences, but mostly support the school in the education of their children including verbally supporting teachers. Parents should ask questions and express concerns. Politely. Children watch their parents in these efforts learning first-hand how much your family matters!

© 2006 Rosemary Lee Potter. All Rights Reserved.

Rosemary Lee Potter, Ed.D., has been a teacher since 1960, including 21 years at Safety Harbor Middle School, and is now a reading teacher at Carwise Middle School, Palm Harbor. Contact her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or by mail in care of Tropical Breeze, P.O. Box 585, Safety Harbor, FL 34695.

Contaminants, Poor Diet May Cause Cancer In Pets

Dear Nanny Fran,

Why are so many animals getting cancer?

Why does cancer exist at all? Poisons in the environment, in diet, and improper care of pet food and water.

I truly wish many veterinarians could visit homes and see the water bowl that is rarely emptied, washed and refilled with fresh water. Maybe then they would understand what is creating a chronic condition in the pet they are observing.

Many owners will dump a glass of water into a dish now and again and rarely pick it up and wash it. A zillion times in 12 years I have visited homes and found a slimy scum (usually pink) lining the water dish and or self-filling water reservoir put in place for the pets. The pet’s saliva and food particles from the pet’s mouth drop into the container and bacteria flourish in the room temperature water and multiply unmercifully. The poor pet has no choice but to drink this water from this container. Then you have the people who leave the toilet seat up for the animals to drink from. Yes, this is cold; however the bacteria in there are harmful as well.

Now, let us talk about dry kibble. Again, a zillion times I have seen open bags and boxes of dry kibble left in the pantry or garage (even worse) and the operative word here is open. There are containers that the kibble can be transferred to that maintain an airtight seal. However, most people do not think of the free radicals that are created when food becomes rancid. I can instantly tell by smell if dry kibble is “rancid.” Rancid fats create free radicals and free radicals cause cancer. The heat in the garage speeds up this process a hundredfold. Fats go rancid in heat much faster than in an air-conditioned or refrigerated environment. Not only is it imperative to purchase quality kibble but it is imperative that it have proper storage. Your sweetheart depends on you!

Now for the daily walks we all adore. We all seem to adore as well a perfectly green and lush lawn. We spray Round Up to kill weeds and I have been told that another name for Round Up is Agent Orange. We also spray fertilizers and weed killers. We have been told to keep our pets off the grass until the chemicals have been watered into the ground. According to an extremely reputable veterinarian in this county, even if you wash your dog’s feet off after a walk, it is too late. The chemicals have already been absorbed into the skin.

I believe other cancers are caused from the ingestion of grass. All dogs eat grass and many times kitties do as well. People do not think where the chemicals go that are sprayed onto the grass. What is not absorbed through the blade of grass is absorbed through the root system and then it is delivered up into the plant, i.e., inside the blade of grass. So, when the animal eats grass it is ingesting the cancer-causing chemicals.

People buy organic lettuce, spinach and other greens because they know that they cannot wash pesticides away when they are inside the leaf. You can eliminate 90% of the pesticides from your diet by buying organic; however, your dog does not have that choice. As for me and my dear ones, I would not present water or food to them that I would not consider a wise choice for me to ingest in order to maintain excellent health. Yes, I do mean excellent health!

© 2006 Francene Mattucci. All Rights Reserved.

Francene Mattucci founded Never Say Good Bye Pet Sitting Service in 1994 and is a member of Professional Petsitters International. She is recommended by the Humane Society of North Pinellas. Call 727-512-3206 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with questions for this column.

	More than 100 cases are pending and 40 of them are churches.
Rabb

IRS Warns Churches About Political Campaigning

by Harry Rabb, C.P.A.

Special to Tropical Breeze

The Internal Revenue Service has been warning churches and nonprofit organizations that improper campaigning in the upcoming political season could endanger their tax-exempt status.

In notices to more than 15,000 tax-exempt organizations, numerous church denominations and tax preparers, the agency has detailed its new enforcement program, called the Political Activity Compliance Initiative.

Under the initiative, the IRS plans to expedite investigations into claims of improper campaigning, no longer waiting for an annual tax return to be filed or the tax year to end before launching a probe. A three-member committee will make an initial review of complaints and then vote on whether to pursue the investigation in detail.

“While the vast majority of charities and churches do not engage in politicking, an increasing number did take part in prohibited activities in the 2004 election cycle,”

IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson said in a statement. “The rule against political campaign intervention by charities and churches is long established. We are stepping up our efforts to enforce it.”

Since 2004, the IRS has investigated more than 200 organizations, including All Saints Church in Pasadena.

Two days before the 2004 presidential election, the Rev. George F. Regas, the church’s former rector, delivered a guest sermon that pictured Jesus in a debate with George W. Bush and John Kerry. Although Regas didn’t endorse a candidate, he said Jesus would have told Bush that his pre-emptive war policy “has led to disaster.”

The church drew national attention when the Rev. Ed Bacon, rector of All Saints, disclosed the IRS investigation and later said the agency believed the church had violated federal tax code barring tax-exempt organizations from intervening in political campaigns and elections.

Church leaders have not heard from the IRS since October, when the agency said the investigation was being taken to a higher level, according to Regas. The IRS has not confirmed whether the investigation is still ongoing.

Of the 62 organizations determined by the IRS to be in violation, three lost their nonprofit status and 59 received warning letters. The three who lost their status were not churches, and some of those warned were ordered to pay an excise tax.

Federal law prohibits the IRS from releasing the names of those under investigation, but the agency said it has more than 100 cases pending and 40 of them are churches.

•    •    •

This information is provided as a public service and should not be construed as individual accounting or tax planning advice. For information on how these general principles apply to your situation, please consult an accounting or tax professional.

Harry Rabb is a C.P.A. and owner of Accounting Services, Inc., 935 Main Street, Suite D-1, Safety Harbor. Call 727-725-4121.

“at a time of apparent opportunity, most people are worried and negative”

Rogan

Economy, Stock Market Remain In Great Shape; Offer Great Opportunity

by Michael Rogan

Special to Tropical Breeze

Every so often, it becomes apparent to me that the average investor has developed exactly the wrong feelings about the economy and the stock market. So it was when I heard a recent television poll of Americans in which the vast majority of respondents believed that America was heading down the wrong path economically, and things were getting worse. While it is not uncommon for the average investor to be wrong, I don’t think I remember a time where sentiment and reality were so completely opposed.

Even though this is a column devoted to financial planning, this month I feel compelled to discuss the economy and stock market. Today, like so many times in the past, we feel unsure of our economy and downright lousy about our stock market.

Before I tell you why I believe those points of view to be nearly completely wrong, let me remind you that I am not recommending that everyone who reads this rush out and invest all of their money in the stock market. For our clients, as with all prudent investors, we only recommend an investment allocation pursuant to a complete financial plan.

Without a plan, you are just guessing at how to invest your nest egg to achieve your life’s goals. With a plan, you can have confidence that you are aiming in the right direction. Having said that, for most Americans who are pre-retirement, you are going to need to invest much if not most of your retirement portfolio in the stock market, if you hope to achieve the returns you’ll need so that you won’t outlive your money in retirement.

As you are undoubtedly aware, our stock market’s value remains below a previous high that was reached in early 2000. Since then, we have regained most of the loss, despite suffering through the most horrendous terrorist attack on our country’s soil as well as a period of corporate scandal followed by government imposition of largely unhelpful but draconian corporate regulations. But the fact remains, we have essentially a 2006 stock market with 1999 prices.

This is not without precedent in our history, which is important to know. The last time our stock market suffered a dramatic decline followed by a painfully slow recovery was in the 1970s. Back then, the market had taken nearly two years (1973-1974) to drop nearly 50% (very much like the decline of 2000-2002), and by the late 1970s, it had yet to fully recover. Back then, just as now, corporate earnings had grown substantially, but stock prices remained stuck in a range — below the previous highs.

In 1979, it was so “obvious” to everyone that the stock market was no place to invest your money, that large pension fund managers successfully petitioned the U.S. Labor Department to allow them to invest pension money (money designed to provide an income to workers in their retirement) in gold and diamonds! Now you would think between professional pension fund managers or the Labor Department, someone would have thought better than to allow investing in gold at more than $700/oz., given that it had been $35/oz. only 8 years earlier. And as for investing in diamonds, I can’t imagine how one could derive income for pensioners from diamonds. For the record, gold prices peaked the following year at prices yet to be seen again, more than 25 years later. And the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1979 stood at around 900. It is currently over 11,000, and that doesn’t count dividends. So much for ‘professional’ opinions.

Today, corporate earnings are nearly twice what they were in 1999, yet stock prices are no higher. In 1999, everyone loved stocks; today, virtually no one is positive on the stock market. Corporations are so flush with cash that more than half of the companies in the S&P 500 are buying back their own stock — to the tune of $450 billion, far above last years $350 billion, which set a record by a wide margin. Rarely do investors get a clearer sign than the boards of directors of our largest companies telling us that they see no better investment anywhere than buying the shares of their own companies. And this is a much bolder statement in light of the criminal penalties imposed on boards by the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation of 2002.

In addition, economically, the Federal Reserve has been furiously raising interest rates in an attempt to slow down our fast growing economy — the economy with very low 4.6% unemployment. Now, expecting big returns from the stock market while the Fed is raising rates is foolish; however, expecting big things from the market as soon as the Fed finishes raising rates would be consistent with history. If you remember 1994 and 1995, you’ll know what I mean.

Please don’t take this as a recommendation to ‘mortgage the farm’ and rush full steam into the stock market. Whether or not investing in the stock market is appropriate for you can only be derived from the development of a complete financial plan. I only bring this up because, as usual, at a time of apparent opportunity, most people are worried and negative. This is not a market timing comment, but rather intended to give you confidence that our economy and stock market remain in great shape, as opposed to the constant drumbeat of negativity we hear from the media. And in an era of vanishing pensions and much longer retirements, this information may well impact whether you will outlive your money or your money will outlive you.

 Michael Rogan is president of Rogan & Associates Financial Planners, a locally-owned financial planning brokerage firm based in Safety Harbor. He brings nearly two decades of financial expertise to the local airwaves on the radio show, Financial Planning for Life, heard at 11 a.m. weekdays on AM 1250 WHNZ. For more information, call 727-712-3400 or visit www.RoganFinancial.com