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Russian Journal of Linguistics
Vestnik Rossiiskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Seriya: Lingvistika
Vol 25, No 4 (2021): The Russian Language Maintenance and Language Contacts of Post-Soviet Immigrants in Europe and Beyond
Announcements 31.12.2021: Happy New Year!
17.12.2021: Conversations with readers and authors. Seminar 4
21.11.2021: RJL wins "The Best Practice In Journal Publishing" Award
15.07.2021: The Russian Journal of Linguistics has achieved Q1 ranking in Scopus!
More Announcements...
Keywords English Russian Russian language bilingualism concept culture discourse emotion emotions intercultural communication interpretation intertextuality mentality metaphor phraseology politeness political discourse pragmatics semantics speech act translation
Home > Archives > Vol 25, No 4 (2021)
URL: http://journals.rudn.ru/linguistics/issue/view/1499
The Russian language maintenance and language contacts
Zabrodskaja A., Ivanova O.
In our introductory article, we outline the main sociolinguistic features of Russian as a heritage language of post-Soviet immigrants in European settings and beyond. We offer a general overview of the evolution of Russian as a global language, with a particular focus on its geodemographics and economic and social value as a lingua franca . Based on this, we analyse the main principles defining the maintenance of Russian as a language of migration and as a heritage language in different countries, and emphasise the most important questions that still need to be addressed in this field of research. The main objective of this special issue is to combine the most recent research on the vitality of different languages of post-Soviet republics in new political milieu, with a particular focus on European and Asian countries, but there are other objectives as well. We propose to explore the factors that have either favoured or hindered the maintenance and transmission of languages of post-Soviet immigrants and repatriates, and how these sociolinguistic processes become evident in language vitality on both private and public levels. Our special issue primarily addresses the questions of family language policy, new language contacts and their management, and linguistic landscape in heritage speakers, diasporas and their new settings in Europe, Asia and the US.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2021;25(4):828-854
(Mlt)
Maintenance of Russian as a heritage language in Germany: A longitudinal approach
Brehmer B.
The study discusses the perspectives of long-term maintenance of Russian as a heritage language in Germany. Based on data from a longitudinal study (2014-2018) we investigated changes in the sociolinguistic situation of 19 adolescent heritage speakers and in their proficiency in Russian. The aim was to investigate whether changes in the participants' sociolinguistic situation are reflected in their knowledge of Russian. Data on the sociolinguistic situation were collected via an extensive questionnaire that the participants had to fill out once a year. Language proficiency was measured by experimental tasks targeting different linguistic domains. For the current paper, we used data from the longitudinal measurement of lexical and grammatical proficiency. The results revealed that the participants' exposure to Russian input is decreasing in several domains over time, especially concerning media consumption and personal visits to the homeland. Russian is increasingly restricted to interactions with parents, and to educational settings (classes in Russian as a foreign or heritage language). Regarding language attitudes, our participants explicitly consider Russian important primarily for family interactions and cultural factors, but less with regard to career goals. Nevertheless, there was a positive trend in lexical and grammatical proficiency. We interpret these findings as a result of the prolonged exposure to heritage language instruction which leads to a stabilized proficiency in Russian. Given the institutional support and the size of the community, we hypothesize that the perspectives for long-term maintenance of Russian as a heritage language in Germany are better than for Russian heritage speaker communities in other countries.
(Eng)
Israeli Russian: Case morphology in a bilingual context
Meir N., Avramenko M., Verkhovtceva T.
The current study investigates case morphology development in a bilingual context. It is aimed at investigating potential mechanisms driving divergences in heritage language grammars as compared to the "baseline monolingual standards." For the purposes of the study, 95 bilingual and monolingual children and adults were compared. Bilinguals residing in Israel acquired Russian from birth, while the age of onset of Hebrew varied. The participants completed a production task eliciting accusative case inflections. Both child and adult heritage speakers of Russian with early age of onset of Hebrew (before the age of 5) showed divergences in the production of the accusative case inflections as compared to monolingual Russian-speaking controls (adult and child), whereas grammars of Israeli heritage Russian speakers with later ages of onset of Hebrew, after the age of 5, were found to be intact. On the basis of Russian in contact with Hebrew, the study discusses how heritage language grammars differ from the baseline grammars of monolingual speakers and which mechanisms are associated with heritage language ultimate attainment. The effects of the age of onset and cross-linguistic influence from the dominant societal language are discussed as potential factors affecting the acquisition / maintenance of linguistic phenomena in heritage language grammars.
Does language transfer explain it all? The case of first language change in Russian-English bilinguals
Isurin L.
The present paper discusses findings from an empirical study looking into grammatical changes of Russian as the native language under the influence of English as a foreign language in a group of Russian-English bilinguals residing in the U.S. Twenty monolingual Russians and thirty Russian-English bilinguals participated in the study. All bilingual participants emigrated from Russia after their Russian language was fully acquired and had lived in the U.S. for 10-31 years prior to the time of the study. A semi-structured interview targeting autobiographical memories was employed as an elicitation technique. The analysis of narratives revealed distinctive changes in Russian in the two domains: word order and null subject use. The observed changes in the use of null pronominals suggested transfer from English. Bilinguals with more exposure to English used null pronominals less frequently. However, the directionality of effect in the use of the inverted word order by bilinguals was opposite to the predictions. Bilinguals with a very limited current exposure to Russian retained the inverted word order better than bilinguals with a broad exposure to Russian. Changes in the use of the inverted word order were partly attributed to the observed changes in the use of impersonal and existential sentences. The paper argues against cross-linguistic influence as the sole explanation of the first language changes.
Translanguaging space and translanguaging practices in multilingual Russian-speaking families
Karpava S., Ringblom N., Zabrodskaja A.
Translanguaging is seen both as a threat and as an opportunity for minority language development and transmission. While the theme of translanguaging has been explored especially in a context of migration, the novelty of this study lies in its investigation of the multiple contexts in which translanguaging is examined. In order to understand the nature of translanguaging, we adopt a novel interdisciplinary approach and view it in all its complexity, including liminal spaces of linguistic landscape. Family language policy affects the home linguistic environment. Our purpose is to investigate language choices by multilingual Russian-speakers in Cyprus, Sweden and Estonia, immigrant and minority settings, and try to understand how they are reflected in the multilingual interaction of the families. Using ethnographic participant observations and oral spontaneous multilingual production, our study attempts to describe how communication is managed through translanguaging practices among multilingual Russian-speaking families' members in the cultural and linguistic environments of the three countries. By looking closely at the complexities of translanguaging space, it is our ambition to gain new insights about how it is organised and how translanguaging becomes a valuable linguistic resource in multilingual families. Our results indicate that translanguaging practices can be used in family conversational contexts and contribute to the creation of a rich and positive family repertoire. A new norm of Russian has been developed in all the three settings. A language shift can happen more quickly than expected, and, thus, it is important for parents to provide many opportunities for practising Russian as the L1.
Language choice and language contact in print advertisements for Russian-speaking immigrants in Germany
Ritter A.
This study aims to analyze linguistic contact in a written language on a sample of advertisements for Russian-speaking immigrants in the German city of Nuremberg, where there is a well-developed infrastructure for Russian-speaking immigrants, including the availability of periodicals. The study has the following research questions: What functions do Russian and German, as well as other languages, perform in advertisements in periodicals for Russian-speaking immigrants? Is there a correlation between the subject matter of the ads and the language or languages used? What phenomena of language contact found in the spoken language of Russian-speaking immigrants are characteristic of advertisements? A corpus consisting of 443 advertisements, obtained through continuous sampling from periodicals, was collected for the study. The analysis revealed that Russian, German, English, Ukrainian, and Latin fulfil specific functions in the advertisements. It was found that, depending on the subject matter, advertisers choose a particular language or language combination for their ads. At the lexical and morphosyntactic levels were identified borrowings from German and English, entirely or partially grammatically integrated into Russian, and cases of code-switching between Russian and German. Thereby, the study highlights one aspect of the linguistic situation of the Russian-speaking community in Germany and may implicitly serve to assess the vitality of the Russian language in Germany.
Russian in the multilingual environment of three Asian countries
Protassova E., Suryanarayan N., Yelenevskaya M.
This article provides a comparative analysis of the sociolinguistic situation in three Asian countries, India, Japan, and South Korea, which are relatively less known as countries where the Russian language is used. The aim of the study is to assess the significance of the Russian language in these countries' Russian-speaking diasporas, business sphere, and education, as well as to define the characteristics of its teaching in the cultural contexts under discussion. In all these domains processes of language commodification are intensifying. The countries chosen for analysis differ in the history of language contacts, political relations with Russia, language policy, language attitudes, and as a result, residents' motivation for maintaining and learning the Russian language. We discuss similarities and differences in the development of Russian speech communities. We also reflect upon linguistic and cultural hybridity, and in particular, its effect on the evolution of multilingual identities on the basis of interviews, fieldnotes, internet resources, and published data. The results show that in Japan and South Korea, the number of immigrants, students, businesspeople and mixed families using Russian is growing, and Russian language schools are popular; in India, the established relationship of peace, friendship and cooperation through various treaties continues to have its effect on the popularity of the Russian language in various spheres of life. In all the three countries Russian serves as a lingua franca for immigrants from different post-Soviet countries, which increases its value for the diasporans. The study argues that realities of diasporic life contribute to the pluricentric trends in the development of Russian.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2021;25(4):981-1003
Normalizing a new language hierarchy: Event names in post-Soviet urban space
Smagulova J., Madiyeva D.
Naming practices not only reveal ideological contestation in a particular community, but also contribute to the discursive construction of a new social reality. However, the transformative role of naming practices as a semiotic resource for reimagining language hierarchy has been overlooked. This socio-onomastics study aims to explore shifting ideological premises and semiotic mechanisms of normalizing a new language hierarchy in post-Soviet urban space. In doing so, the study diachronically examines naming practices of choosing and using event names, which are more fluid and often short-lived in comparison to other names such as toponyms, anthroponyms or brand names. The study analyses 1246 unique event names mentioned in a local Russian-language newspaper "Вечерний Алматы" ("Vechernii Almaty") over the period of time from 1989 to 2019. The results show a decrease in the use of Russian for name production. Further examination reveals a steady increase in non-integrated event names in Kazakh and English in Russian-language newspaper texts; there are few examples of translation and transliteration, no examples of transcription or loanwords in more recent texts. Our comparison shows that in the context of the multilingual Almaty transgressing the purist norms of standard Russian has become a new norm. We argue that these new local strategies of naming and using names are a semiotic mechanism of domination; they work to normalize a new language hierarchy where the Russian language is no longer the only dominant code of the public and official domain. Our account adds to the discussion of the discursive power of naming in challenging dominant language practices.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2021;25(4):1004-1023
Language attitudes, practices and identity in the new Lithuanian diaspora
Ramonienė M., Ramonaitė J.T.
After the changes in the socio-political situation in many countries of Eastern and Central Europe in the last decade of the 20th century, these countries experienced a major growth of emigration. In the context of the European Union, Lithuania is one of the countries that has faced the highest rates of emigration. The quick and somewhat sporadic emigration mainly for economic reasons is of interest both to linguists and language policy makers in order to support and give guidelines for the maintenance of the heritage language and identity. This paper deals with the data of the new post-Soviet wave of Lithuanian emigrants analysing the language behaviour and language attitudes. The aim is to look into the issues of language attitudes, practices and identity through the tripartite theoretical model - beliefs, emotions and declared language practices - of this wave and to compare it to the overall context of Lithuanian diaspora. The data analysed in this paper has been collected using quantitative (online surveys) and qualitative methods (in-depth interviews) in two research projects in the Lithuanian diaspora in 2011-2017. The main focus is on the use of the heritage Lithuanian language in various domains (home, community, friendship, church), comparing the use of Lithuanian by the post-Soviet emigrants with the language behaviour of the emigrants of earlier emigration waves. The results show equally positive beliefs and affective attitudes of the post-Soviet emigrants compared to previous waves, but a different language behaviour especially when comparing to the emigrants of the end of World War II.
Family language policy in Russian-Estonian and Russian-Spanish multilingual settings
Ivanova O., Zabrodskaja A.
This paper primarily focuses on the family language policy of bilingual Russian-Estonian and Russian-Spanish families in relation to the maintenance of Russian as a heritage language. Its main objective is to identify social factors that either help or hinder this process. In doing so, this paper searches for commonalities and specificities of the mainstream attitudes towards Russian as a heritage language in Estonia and Spain, by analysing the sociolinguistic situation of Russian in both countries and by examining the factors conditioning the maintenance of Russian as a heritage language in family settings. Our research is based on an in-depth analysis of a variety of sources, mainly quantitative statistical and demographic data on self-reported language behaviour and language ideologies in mixed families from Estonia (n = 40) and Spain (n = 40). The main results of our comparative study confirm the general positive attitude towards Russian as a heritage language, but they also highlight an important variability of these attitudes both between countries and within each community. We show that these attitudes directly determine the principles of family language policy, the parents' strategies to transmit Russian as a heritage language, and the level of proficiency in Russian as a heritage language in the second generation. These results allow us to conclude that, as a heritage language, Russian relies on strong attitudinal support in even small communities, like Estonian or Spanish, but also that its confident transmission should rely on external subsidy.
Comprehension of Ukrainian by Estonians via Russian: Structural and extra-linguistic aspects
Branets A., Verschik A.
This study explores how people use and expand their linguistic resources in the situation when they have some proficiency in L2 and try to understand L3 that is related to L2. The focus of the study is on the comprehension of Ukrainian by Estonian L1 speakers via their proficiency in Russian (L2). This situation is labeled as mediated receptive multilingualism. The aim of this research is to investigate the role of cross-linguistic similarity (objective or perceived, in the terms of Ringbom 2007) and extra-linguistic predictors of success in comprehension. In addition to measuring the success rate, we pay attention to the participant's perspective. The experiment was conducted with 30 speakers of Estonian as L1 and included a questionnaire, C-test in Russian, three Ukrainian texts with different groups of tasks, and debriefing. In this article, we focus on the task of defining Ukrainian words from the text and on debriefing interviews. The results showed that similarity, perceived or objective, is not the only decisive factor in facilitating understanding. The participants' explanations confirmed our previous findings that similarity, albeit important, is only partly responsible for successful comprehension. This became clear from the debriefing interviews. In many cases, the participants' choice was affected by a range of extra-linguistic factors: general knowledge, context, exposure to various registers of Russian, M-factor, meta-linguistic awareness, and learnability. In some instances, context and general knowledge outweighed similarity. These findings show how similarity worked together with extra-linguistic factors in facilitating successful comprehension in challenging multilingual settings.
Russian language maintenance among multilingual teachers in Israeli educational settings
Putjata G.
The present paper focuses on language maintenance among multilingual teachers and presents a research project with Russian-Hebrew speakers on their ideas of language-related normality in educational settings. The main objective is to investigate the role of migration-related multilingual teachers within the 'multilingual turn.' The project approached the topic from three perspectives: the macro level of educational policies, the meso level of educational institutions, and the micro level of linguistic development. Data were collected through biographical interviews with 17 teachers and interpreted within the theoretical framework of language beliefs using the concepts of linguistic market, language awareness and language education policy as well as pedagogical competence. The results show the close interconnectedness of language beliefs on all the three levels. They also show that beliefs can experience a reconstruction. In order to challenge the monolingual idea of normality among teachers, an interwoven intervention on all the three levels is necessary: there is a need for education policy measures (macro level) that would anchor training on dealing with multilingualism (meso level) in regular teacher training and, in doing so, would draw on the existing migration-related multilingual practices of prospective teachers (micro level). This interaction between top-down (professionalization in dealing with multilingualism anchored in educational policy) and bottom-up (migration-related multilingual practices among prospective teachers) measures can enable a shift toward multilingualism as an idea of normality in educational contexts. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the formation, development and reconstruction of language-related idea of normality among teachers and discusses its methodological and theoretical implications.
Review of Andrea C. Schalley & Susana A. Eisenchlas (eds.). 2020. Handbook of Home Language Maintenance and Development: Social and Affective Factors.Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-1-5015-1689-4
Guseynova I.A.
Review of Sonia Wilson. 2020. Family Language Policy: Children's Perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-3-030-52437-1 (eBook)
Nandi A.
Review of Svetlana Moskvitcheva & Alain Viaut (eds.). 2019. Minority Languages from Western Europe and Russia. Comparative Approaches and Categorical Configurations. Switzerland, Springer. ISBN 978-3-030-24339-5
Aleksandrova O.I.


Today we started off our day by checking in with the children in the village. We ran into Nika's mother and she told us how much Nika enjoys attending school. She said that Nika is so excited to attend school she wakes up at 5am to get ready for classes that don't start until 7am. Nika's mother also was extremely excited to report that she can now not only speak in Khmer, but also write some basic sentences. Nika is so proud of herself that she had to show us in person her writing skills!
The children in Cambodia really enjoy and are thirsty for an education. They do not take it for granted, but take pride in the fact they are getting an opportunity to attend school. Unfortunately not every child has the ability to attend school here, which we are desperately trying to change with everyone's support.
The meeting with the school directors and teachers went well today. There is a mutual goal at hand and we will be working together. One of the schools biggest requests is supplies. The teachers have a very limited budget ($100-$120 USD a month). We are going to try and help as much as possible since we are bringing in more children each week. They are very receptive to EE's initiative and follow up with the children.
The school is requesting 4 new white boards (like chalk boards) for classrooms. Next week we plan on getting the 4 white boards made if we can generate enough support. From our end it will be much more cost effective to build them and in return it also supports the local economy here...so it is a win-win.
The teachers and directors are extremely honest people and hard working. They are not looking to make money of the children or our organization. When we were talking to the teachers and directors, they were the ones who suggested we make the white boards because it would be cheaper. To us this built a lot of trust, because unfortunately we deal with people who are just looking to make money from us sometimes. Since this school has been good to us for the last 3 months and we have been building a relationship with their leadership, we really would like to start helping them with your generous support.
With April having Khmer New Year we had a few weeks to plan for the future. We also were able to check in with the villages that children are attending school from to measure our success. Overall we have been extremely successful with choosing who to trust. The villages really want their children in school and the children desire to attend school. They understand that education is a great chance to better themselves for the future and they don't take that opportunity for granted. We have only had 2 children move out of the area because they Father found work in the north along the Thailand border. Up until they moved they were attending school regularly. Our hope is that they now will be able to attend school immediately in their new home because they have the supplies and also their family has a better opportunity.
Today we went out to a new village and school in Tapang Cambodia. We were able to distribute school supplies to 30 children. We were also able to give backpacks to the students who did not have or had old worn out backpacks. There is a demand to put children into school in Tapang and Expert-Exchange after today has made a commitment to the school principal in helping facilitate getting the less fortunate kids into school.
We also visited the village where we have put the most children into school and talked to their families today. We found that they are doing well and there is a demand for two more children to attend school. Tomorrow we will be sending these children to school and giving them supplies.
More videos and pictures to come. Thank you all for the continued support, this would not be happening if it wasn't for you!
Project 14: Rasmey, Tin & Sinen go to school!
This project was sponsored by Chloe Mylett. She contacted Expert-Exchange when she was in Cambodia and offered to volunteer her time while traveling. Chloe came out with Expert-Exchange for two days. The first day we showed her some of the older villages we have been doing work in. How the people of Cambodia live and how education is not a given in Cambodia. Then we went to a new village that had a demand for children being sent to school. Chloe sponsored three children and provided them with 2 sets of uniforms each, footwear, and school supplies. By sponsoring these children it not only empowers the children, but also allows the parents to work during the day more. The following day with their families attending, we met them at school for their first day!
Project 13 Video and update from this week!
More about Project 13, Sokia and Nika, both age 6 are now in school full time. We provided them with 2 sets of uniforms, shoes, supplies for school, and backpacks. We also provided them with a ride to school on their first day, which their mother attended to see her children off to school. Before school started we also treated them to some ice-cream! Last before sending them off for their first day we took a picture of Sokia, Nika, and the mother which we will get a printed copy for the mother to have as a keep sake.
Project 14 put 3 children from a rural village outside of Siem Reap into school. Due to the generous support and time of Chloe Mylett these children were able to get clothes and supplies to attend school. The pictures and write up for this project will be coming in the next few days when the website is updated.
Project 15 was a combination of recon out into the countryside to assess the need for bringing kids to school. What we found was there was a demand for supplies and clothes, but the majority in the are we went attended already. Expert-Exchange handed out supplies to 6 children to assist them in furthering their education.
Expert-Exchange is committed to checking the progress of each child and assisting them in being successful This is why we are growing, but not at a pace we can't handle. The children enjoy school and attendance has not been an issue. In Cambodia education is not guaranteed, it comes as a privilege. By allowing children to attend school it also helps their parents find time for work, boosting their chances of coming out of poverty more.
Things at Expert-Exchange are moving extremely fast. We have completed projects 14 and 15 this past week. Expert-Exchange will be putting up a blog for project 14 in the next few days along with a slideshow. At the end of this week a more in-depth blog will also be posted explaining the plans for the future. We will be updating the site and adding a FAQ section with questions that we receive from volunteers and donors. Along with that we will be adding a page that gives credit to our generous donors! Thank you so much for your continued support!


text:
class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
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  protected

  def ref_to_cookie
    campaign_ended = Rails.application.config.ended
    return if campaign_ended || !params[:ref]

    unless User.find_by_referral_code(params[:ref]).nil?
      h_ref = { value: params[:ref], expires: 1.week.from_now }
      cookies[:h_ref] = h_ref
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    user_agent = request.env['HTTP_USER_AGENT']
    return unless user_agent && !user_agent.include?('facebookexternalhit/1.1')
    redirect_to proc { url_for(params.except(:ref)) }
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end

ActionController::Renderers.add :csv do |csv, options|
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Lay-Z-River 47-in Float Tube is sure to be a standout in any pool, lake or river! Whether you re lounging in the pool or the lake or just cruising down the river, the Lay-Z-River 47-in float tube provides a fun way for kids and adults to enjoy time on the water. It is made from strong durable PVC vinyl. Two heavy-duty grab handles give you a place to hold on to and stay in control atop the tube. The extra-large valve makes inflating and deflating the tube quick, easy and convenient. This tube includes our Quick-Clasp connection system that allows you to easily connect your tube with other tubes or floats, so you can float together as a group. 90-day Limited Warranty.


text:
IMITATION OF CHRIST: Beyond the Hype
Inciting a momentary anti-fashion movement in New York when it arrived on the scene eight years ago, cult label Imitation of Christ from the outset aimed to shock. Seemingly as invested in theatrics as fashion, the label, started by former art students Matt Damhave and Tara Subkoff, kicked off with a debut show featuring re-worked vintage upon models in faux mourning at a downtown Manhattan funeral parlour, while a successive season saw press and buyers forced to walk the catwalk while models lounged in the stands, and yet another unconventional show demanded money for charity from an unsuspecting audience. Indigo Clarke.
Making a lasting impression as much for their avant-garde antics and celebrity friends (Subkoff, also an actress, brought in perennial it-girl Chloe Sevigny as Creative Director for a time) as for their distinctive clothing, Imitation of Christ was never a commercial venture or success as much as a creative experiment. And while this particular experiment was for years accepted as a meaningful addition to an overly-saturated industry, the acrimonious business split that saw Subkoff steering the label solo in 2001 alongside the failure to live up to the hype of their early socially and politically motivated collections, resulted in the label's growing obscurity. Now once again on the fashion radar with a new owner and design team, Imitation of Christ has been resurrected. Bought out early this year by Josh Sparks, the former chief executive of jean-queens Sass&Bide (responsible for taking the Sydney-based label from $5 million to $30 million in five years), Imitation of Christ has been experiencing something of a renaissance with its new diffusion line, Imitation, owned by both Subkoff and Sparks. "Imitation of Christ is a label with a very strong sense of identity and an incredible story behind it," explains Australian designer Au Udomphol, who late last year relocated to New York to design for Imitation after three years at Sass&Bide. "The heritage of the brand - its penchant for the avant-garde and unique position in the New York fashion, art and music scenes has made it so interesting." While many are familiar with the label and its creators, Udomphol points out that until this year it's been principally from reputation alone as Imitation of Christ did not have regular or reliable distribution and was sold on a made- to-order basis. "It was kind of like an ephemeral brand - many people had never actually encountered the clothing first-hand," says Udomphol. "The opportunity to reinvent the label is what attracted me to working on it, and to take the aesthetic in a decidedly more modern direction. I'm very much into functional clothing with unexpected and deconstructed elements," continues Au, "marrying the unconventional and traditional. I love seeing women with a strong edge, but who also have a sense of the romantic about them. I am bringing these elements into the Imitation line, which started out as a small capsule of knits and basics with a twist, but now includes tailored pieces."
Imitation's looks for Autumn/Winter 08 took direction from strong independent female musicians and actresses, "from Patti Smith to Joanna Priess," notes Udomphol, "and the German artist Anselm Kiefer. I looked at his work and the philosophy behind it, which inspired some of my favourite pieces – the double lapel vest and cropped jacket." Looking ahead, Spring/Summer 09 took inspiration from visionary Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson and fashion designer Hedi Slimane's photography. "The way Eliasson's work interacts with the audience and challenges their perceptions interested me. I was moved to create something that will be all about the wearers experience," describes Udomphol, "where the clothes are functional, but the intricate details and choice of fabric create a sense of luxury." The collection's "Darker Spirit" was inspired by Hedi Slimane's 'Stage' photographs, "you can almost feel the energy seeping through these pictures," muses Udomphol, "this has really brought out a darker edge to the collection." Of the many plans on the horizon for Imitation, the next month will see the label present a 'Resurrection' themed exhibition/auction in Manhattan with New York photographic agency MS Logan, while for Udomphol, a future dream, "is to create my own line," he says. "It's been on the horizon for a while, it's a matter of the right time, location and investment," Udomphol considers. "Ultimately I would like to create both wardrobes for men and women, and create pieces that cross over."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


We've got some great news for those of you anxiously waiting for a reason to get back into Hyrule Warriors. Today, Eiji Aonuma, director of Hyrule Warriors took to Miiverse to give fans an update regarding the second DLC pack for the game: The Twilight Princess Pack. In addition to letting it drop that the much-anticipated addition will be releasing globally next Thursday, November 27th, he was kind enough to tell fans exactly which character they'll be able to play as, noting that he's happy to finally see Midna's true form appear in a game once again. Given her extremely limited screen time in her game, I'm sure many of you out there feel the same way.
The Twilight Princess will fight with the Mirror of Twilight, taking an interesting reinterpretation of the item. Additionally, Aonuma teased a costume that Link will be receiving in the same pack, along with other costumes, new weapons, and a new adventure map. You can see his full post below. If you've already purchased the season pass, you'll simply be able to download this content once it releases next Thursday. If not, you've have to pony up $7.99. Are you looking forward to experiencing the Twilight Princess' true abilities?


The initial budget will only cover the construction of building 'A', a venue to stage sea gypsy cultural performances.
Extra funds are needed to develop a visitor's center.
Chief Provincial Public Works officer Anukul Saengthongchuy said, "The project began with a budget of two million baht for the construction of building 'A'.
The center should be ready to open within six months, he added.


We appreciate that the fees involved in debt recovery are important to you. We review our fees on a regular basis, considering client feedback, to ensure that we continue to offer a cost-effective debt recovery service. Our fees for an undisputed business to business debt. We typically work on a fixed fee basis, so that from the outset you know what the fees will be for each stage of the matter.
These costs apply where your claim relates to an unpaid invoice or invoices which are not disputed and enforcement action is not needed. If the other party disputes your claim at any point, we will discuss any further work required and provide you with revised information about costs which might be on a fixed fee or an hourly rate. The fixed fees set out below do not include giving you any advice about your claim.
Filing the necessary form with the court £50.00 plus vat.
Disbursements are costs payable to third parties, such as court fees. We handle the payment of disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process but we do require you to pay us for the disbursements in advance.
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← It tolls for thee Kathy
Howzat!! Bristol Labour Party caught taking orders from cricket club toffs and House of Lords lobbyists →
Chickens on the way home
Posted on February 20, 2009 by The Bristol Blogger
Just been leafing through some Bristol City Council cabinet minutes from 22 February 2007 and item 7 (pdf) catches the eye.
The title is 'Bishopston Ward Primary School' and it's a report all about the city council's plan to build a 210 place primary school on the site of the old City of Bristol College campus at Ashley Down on land given to the council as part of a planning agreement with the college.
Here's how they describe the deal and it seems pretty good:
4. The Brunel College site, on which the new primary school is proposed, is currently a playing field and is in the ownership of the Bristol City College. As part of a Section 106 Agreement, between the City of Bristol College and Westbury Homes, the City Council is able to call upon the transfer of 0.9615 hectares of land after the occupation of the fiftieth dwelling provided the request is made within five years from completion. Additionally, the developer has been required to make a commitment to undertake improvements to the playing field and make a financial contribution of £374,000 towards the development of the new school.
That's land and cash being offered for a new school. And the Cabinet were told in no uncertain terms about the need for such a school:
26.If the school were not be provided at the Brunel site there would continue to be an oversubscription of schools within the area with the result that some children will be forced to attend schools outside their community.
Fast forward two years and what do we find? This school build suddenly and inexplicably cancelled by current Labour education boss Peter Hammond last year at the last moment with no explanation and a brand new proposal to expand the hugely successful Sefton Park School – in the face of massive and sustained opposition – instead.
And the result? A huge delay and … Wait for it … A huge oversubscription of schools within the area with the result that some children will be forced to attend schools outside their community!
So why has Hammond cancelled this desperately needed new school? It's certainly nothing to do with saving us money. The estimated cost of the 210 place school at Ashley Down was approximately £4m. That's £2m less than the estimated cost of the Sefton Park expansion, the poorer solution anyway, which comes in at £6m.
I wonder then, does it have anything to do with Gloucestershire County Cricket Club who want the land for car parking at international cricket matches and Elton John concerts?
It's nice to know that the city council puts overflow car parking before the needs of the city's children isn't it ? Just like in Greenbank where car parking is more important than protected park land.
Is there a theme developing here?
This entry was posted in Bishopston, Bristol, Bristol and Bath Railway Path, Education, Labour Party, Local government, Politics and tagged Ashley Down, City of Bristol College, Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, Peter Hammond, Sefton Park School. Bookmark the permalink.
17 Responses to Chickens on the way home
It's not cricket ! take a ------pop! says:
If the Arse's had sorted a decent Park and Ride scheme for the Memorial Stadium they wouldn't need the parking for the cricket, having said that there's the hypocracy no parking anywhere for the football and rugby ground but to hell with a much needed school when it's cricket at stake!!!
Labour ? no!! Lazy!!, ignorant and ruddy hard work for the rest of us.
Peter Hammond? Face down in the tarmac 'No Parking' you're lunatic policy's here' I know where I'd stick it!
In fact if the Lib Dem decision had not been overturned by Hammond – by now, face down with a suitable pole up his jacksy – he'd be the most affordable lollipop man around!
W.G.DISGRACED......... says:
IT IS JUST NOT CRICKET!!
There is me thinking "Every Child Matters" BCC 2004
Dominic Turner says:
Part of the original agreement by the developers of the Brunel College site, Persimon Homes involved money given to the council to reopen the platform at Ashley Hill (Station Rd off Ashley Down Rd – 227m from the Matchday entrance to the Gloucestershire County Cricket Ground). This is the main line between Temple Meads and Parkway – this would solve the problem of transport to the ground for International matches and Elton John concerts etc and solve the problem that the only way to get to this ground currently is by car. This would also help transport to the Rovers ground (880m), and gridlock in the city generally. As the platform is still there and just overgrown, it couldn't possibly cost that much either.
So if the council stuck to their promises, the cricket ground wouldn't need extra parking anyway would they?
And they expect our four year old children to walk several miles to school instead.
chris hutt says:
Dominic, you may be overstating the contribution that a reopened Ashley Down Station might have on how visitors get to the Cricket Ground.
As it is a shuttle bus service could connect existing local stations (e.g. Abbey Wood) with the cricket ground on Match Days if there was a realistic expectation of significant numbers using rail. If that's not being done it's probably for a good reason.
The rail network is too coarse to be likely to be a convenient alternative for most visitors. Ashley Down station site may be close by but how many visitors will live close to a station with a connecting service?
Chris, Bristol City Council has a one-track mind when it comes to transport and that is by road. How buses would help with that is beyond me and it obviously hasn't solved the city's gridlock.
The cricket ground says it needs this space for International Matches (and concerts) – that means people travelling to the ground from other parts of the country. If the alternative is car/bus or train/bus of course they will opt to drive door to door. Would you travel half-way across the country and then try and use a local (rubbish) bus service in a city they are unfamiliar with?
Bristol's single-minded approach to transport has failed this city and this is a ready-made solution right on the doorstep of the ground. We need to look at alternatives to using our roads – the last international match caused gridlock for miles around (5 police officers right outside my front door took 55 mintutes to get it all moving) the ground and buses are already available to and from the ground – and it hasn't helped the traffic or the parking problems. Buses can get caught in traffic too! Park and ride (by train) at Bristol Parkway is a much more viable option as it has the space and is right next to the M4/M5. Others may well benefit from the connection to Temple Meads. This line is the same one that joins Parkway / Abbey Wood / Temple Meads, and also branches to the existing stations in North Bristol (Clifton Down, Redland, Montpelier etc).
Having read your blog GreenBristolBlog I am surprised that you would not support an alternative to more cars on Bristol roads. This scheme would also address Bristol's aspirations to be a green city.
As there is an existing platform that the developers would have to pay to refurbish, cost is also not the issue.
However the point is moot – I believe that a new school overrides the need for car parking (or cricket), full stop. The idea of bussing our children to primary school is just plain bonkers.
The fact is that there IS a very good reason that this hasn't been done – Bristol City Council is run by a council of that just don't give a monkeys about blighting the lives of its people and have no imagination whatsoever.
lilly manilly says:
Yes… whatever happened to that new school… they spent enough money on the feasibility studies and all seemed to be ok on October 5th 2007 (it was still on the "Members Information Sheet" (http://tinyurl.com/ajyvfg) under the heading "ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR CONSIDERATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LEADER'S FORWARD PLAN". It notes that on November 15th 2007 the CYPS would be "seeking Cabinet approval approval for the publication of Statutory Notices and to approve the awarding of the design and build contract for the new school to the LEP". Bees and Pickup were the guys in charge then.
One week later on October 12th 2007 (on the next Members Information Sheet at http://tinyurl.com/bnvvuu) this item has mysteriously disappeared … e.g. change of plan and no new school anymore.
November 16th 2007 and it's back on the Members Information Sheet… slightly different….CYPS to seek approval on January 10th 2008 to "identify additional primary provision in the Ashley/Bishopston Wards and for the publication of Statutory Notices"
Fast forward to January 10th 2008 and the pretence of the new school being progressed is dropped and replaced with the, previously unfeasible, plan to EXPAND SEFTON PARK.
The report states:
"A. That the Local Education Partnership (LEP) is requested to undertake Stage 0 and stage 1 design and development for the extension of the Sefton Park schools."
"B. Where final cost proposals are within the approved capital programme the scheme is implemented."
So what else happened over this period? Funnily enough Gloucestershire County Cricket Club employs JBP consultants to run a campaign supporting their aspirations to expand. JBP is based in Clifton and headed up by Jennifer Bryant-Pearson. She happens to be a staff member of Lord Gordon of Strathblane (a Labour peer) at the House of Lords. She is also listed as staff member to Francis Maud in the House of Commons. Her "other gainful occupation" is listed as "Managing Director, JBP Public Relations Limited, a public relations consultancy; personal client: Gloucester County Cricket Club".
JBP's website (http://tinyurl.com/5vevd9) is very informative. Their "strategic approach" for GCCC includes the following:
"Build up a strong body of support for the proposals amongst a wide range of stakeholders at an early stage to counteract any potential opposition – particularly given two other major development proposals which had recently generated significant controversy and opposition both politically and in the local community".
"Build strong, strategic relationships with key politicians at Bristol City Council to achieve their support and maximise GCCC's involvement and influence in the planning process".
And the result of their little get-together?
"Attendance of over 100 members of the political and business community at the Bristol reception, including explicit endorsement in the media and at the event itself from Cllr Helen Holland, Leader of Bristol City Council".
The web page (http://tinyurl.com/5vevd9) includes a nice picture of Helen Holland fondling the GCCC's balls by the way.
The Independent Newspaper did try to phone Jennifer Bryant- Pearson back in June 2008 but unfortunately she declined to return their call. Their story ran "MPs called for a crackdown to prevent peers employing as assistants people who also work for commercial interests because they receive security passes giving them privileged access to ministers, MPs and peers." – (http://tinyurl.com/ba9kcu).
Now….. the only opposition to the new school at Brunel came from the GCCC by way of a letter dated November 19th 2007 to our old friend Heather Tomlinson at the CYPS (http://tinyurl.com/358esh – Appendix A) in which they state:
"We now respectfully submit that in our carefully considered opinion the needs of all will not be best met by building a new school on the College site".
So, there we have it, the corporate aspirations of a cricket club with connections to the eminently honest and respectable Sir Allen Stanford and his banking empire smashing the prospects of Bristol's primary school children. A respectfully silent media. Hammond's alternative to cram a ridiculous number of kids into an already overcrowded Sefton Park School and, meanwhile, we still don't have enough places for kids this year or next year. If the council weren't so concerned about their corporate aspirations and concentrated more on their boring old mundane responsibilities, (like looking after the welfare of our kids), we'd have a new school at Brunel ready to move into this September.
Maybe the stink of coercion and manipulation is the reason that so many Freedom of Information requests have been ignored or denied over this issue recently.
Those Member Information Sheets are available at http://tinyurl.com/dxd4uw (just scroll down to the relevent dates – October 5th 2007 and October 12th 2007)
Dominic, my suggestion was that a dedicated shuttle bus service during large events and operating between the Cricket Ground and Abbey Wood station (or Parkway) would give just as good a link to the rail network as a new station at Ashley Down.
The answer to traffic congestion caused by such events as concerts and international cricket matches is to provide any no parking at the ground but to make event parking remote, say at a Park-and-Ride site or station car park (Parkway?), and run a shuttle bus service to the event.
If the parking site were connected to a rail station as at Parkway it would encourage people to use rail to get there is the first place, because driving would still involve transferring by shuttle bus. Such an approach would need control of parking in local streets (Residents Parking Scheme) and would result in no one attempting to drive directly to the event.
Sorry, slight typo there. 2nd para should read "The answer … is to provide NO parking at the ground ….
Bristol Dave says:
This is frankly so simple I don't understand why they don't do this everywhere, especially at Ashton Gate…
thebristolblogger says:
It's because the owners of these sporting venues are all extremely rich and the council doesn't tell them what to do they tell the council what to do.
Our councillors and their officers are wimps.
Dona Qixota says:
"Bristol City Council … have no imagination whatsoever"
Oh but they have pleeenty of imagination … when it comes to screwing us over to line them and their cronies pockets.
Hammond the horror says:
Concerns to here please folks..
bristolprimaryadmissionscrisis@yahoo.co.uk
Jozer says:
Be interesting to see if Horfield ROSE, who are so determined to stop nasty football fans parking anywhere near their houses, will mount any opposition to this. Over to you, Ms Ghosh.
Ashley Down Resident says:
Being one of the residents of this development where the school option was included as part of the planning consent I am not surprised that this has fallen by the wayside. The Council seem very reluctant to do anything related to this development (which is still progressing slowly). The large development of 104 properties adjacent to Muller House still do not have working street lights, an actual road surface, or the landscaping that was promised among other things – and repeated calls from residents to the Council via both Planning Officers and Councillors have largely gone ignored. It's been over a year since the properties were built in the final phase, and almost 3.5 years since the first properties were completed and occupied!! The Developers are also seemingly uninterested in fulfilling their obligations through the planning process, and seem more concerned with getting the houses up as quick as possible and then getting out of here… I noted with amusement that this has appeared as an issue in the Council's budget "consultation" with someone requesting that planning regualtions be enforced and a road surface be constructed!
NO NEED TO WAIT TILL JUNE 4TH ELECTIONS – LABOUR ADMINISTRATION RESIGNS, AT FULL COUNCIL BUDGET MEETING, THE BUDGET OPEN FOR DEBATE, LABOUR LOST THEIR BUDGET PROPOSALS TO LIB DEM AMMENDMENTS, RESULT LABOUR ADMINISTRATION HAS RESIGNED.
SEE YOU ALL ON JUNE 4TH TO MAKE SURE THEY NEVER RETURN!
Blooby...Blobby...Blobby says:
sorry BB to link to the cancer here but interested parents might like to read this story.and its proposals
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/homepage/Bristol-MP-s-anger-temporary-classrooms/article-722494-detail/article.html#StartComments
BLOBBY BLOBBY
Is fire chief Pearson telling porkies to politicians? October 18, 2007
Bristol Election 2007 at a glance May 3, 2007
Evelyn Post: Bristol's public-private partnerships explained... July 7, 2007
Notes for the inner city: #1 drive bys October 26, 2007
Labour funding: now we have an association of one! December 3, 2007
CONsultation: how it works (continued) September 9, 2007
Super happy fun post December 5, 2008
Election aftermath: Bunter's bumper balls-up May 13, 2007
Bristol Labour: A lesson in hypocrisy May 30, 2007
Meet "the new one that you must call the master" November 15, 2007


BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan - Three airmen painted their interpretation of unity, respect, trust, strength and the will to protect on a wall leaving a visual legacy for those who follow in their footsteps to see here on Camp Cunningham Aug. 30, 2013.
By the time the painting was done, the airmen had spent more than 25 hours of their spare time on the mural that took more than three days to complete.
Senior Airman Brittney Snyder, 455th Air Expeditionary Wing personnel support, said the painting depicted the strength between the U.S. and Afghanistan.
Airman 1st Class Eli Hixson, 455th Expeditionary Aerial Port Squadron air transportation passenger service agent, assisted during the painting and said painting the walls stood for something and it meant a lot to the airmen.
Senior Airman Alyona Blizard, 455th Expeditionary Communications Squadron communications focal point technician, who is deployed from Joint Base Langley-Eustis AFB, Va., and a native from Beckley, W.Va., assisted painting the mural.
This work, Airmen create lasting impression, by TSgt Rob Hazelett, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.


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EditorialThis Florida Environmental Services Company Builds a Reputation for Solving Tough Industrial Cleaning Challenges
This Florida Environmental Services Company Builds a Reputation for Solving Tough Industrial Cleaning Challenges
U.S. Submergent Technologies trucks pull sands and solids and return water to tanks and infrastructure, limiting hauling costs and plant downtime.
Appeared in print as "Doing the Heavy Lifting"
By Ken Wysocky
Florida Sand Vacuum Truck Pumping Jetters - Truck & Trailer Technology Howden Blower Hammelmann Corp. Water Pump
U.S. Submergent Technologies' leadership team includes, from left, Cindy Boss, Paul Meding, Michael Kisling, Denver Stutler Jr., Paul Del Favero and Aaron Hood.
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Removing accumulated sand, grit and other debris from tanks, pipelines and other infrastructure at wastewater treatment plants without the hassle and expense of bypass pumping or taking facilities offline — and doing it with just one stand-alone vehicle — might seem like mission impossible. But it's standard operating procedure for U.S. Submergent Technologies (also known as USST), a company that's using proprietary technology to establish a beachhead in the wastewater-service industry.
The technological secret sauce that allows the Winter Park, Florida-based company to operate this way? Nine so-called Combination3 (as in "Combination Cubed") vacuum trucks that the company engineered to more efficiently remove debris from "wet" infrastructure — and differentiate itself in a crowded market for environmental services.
As implied by the "cubed" in the truck's name, these units bring three distinct capabilities to job sites, all integrated onto one truck chassis. Vacuum power is supplied by Roots blowers (Howden), hydraulic downhole pumping capability is courtesy of a proprietary pump, and waterjetting power is generated by a Hammelmann water pump (120 to 360 gpm at up to 2,500 psi).
The radical twist here is the downhole pumping capability. First of all, it largely leaves water behind in whatever it's cleaning, significantly decreasing hauling costs for customers. But it also enables USST crews to clean everything from large-diameter pipelines, digesters, and lift stations to ponds, lagoons and tanks under fully surcharged conditions.
The bottom line: No need for time-consuming line bypass pumping or taking facilities offline to drain them in preparation for vacuum cleaning.
"As a company, we focus on infrastructure that can't be easily cleaned by vacuum power," says Denver Stutler Jr., the firm's chief executive officer. He helped found the company in 2011. "For example, we recently estimated cleaning a 13-foot-diameter tunnel, 130 feet belowground. In the worst-case scenarios, we can even put pumps in series if we need to go even deeper."
A CAPABLE TRUCK
The Combination3 trucks are the centerpiece of the company, Stutler says. "These trucks can clean in a dry or partially dry environment or fully or mostly wet conditions because they carry technology to do those different tasks," he explains.
"If it's a dry environment, we use vacuum power," he continues. "If it's wet conditions, we use a hydraulic pump to remove debris and restore capacity to systems. Using a pump to move liquid waste often is better than vacuum power because the latter treats water like debris. But because suction can move only one 'atmosphere' at a time, it will first fill the tank with water before it gets to moving the sand."
But a pump will remove both the sand and the water and do it up to 10 times faster than vacuum power. Moreover, the truck's system separates the sand, grit and debris from water and sends the latter back into whatever infrastructure it's cleaning, Stutler explains
"At the end of the day, municipalities don't need to take a well or a lift station offline," he says. "That's critical because in many cases, it's almost impossible to shut down things such as lift stations or smaller treatment plants."
As a theoretical example, Stutler cites a tank that's 10 by 10 by 10 feet, for a total of 1,000 cubic feet of capacity. If there's a 2-foot-thick layer of sand, a conventional vacuum truck would essentially haul away all 200 cubic feet of debris, both debris and water, instead of 120 to 140 cubic feet of just sand. "Plus, we can save maybe several days of confined-space work if we clean wet infrastructure when it's wet, which saves customers money on additional labor and keeps things safer for our employees," he notes.
AND A CAPABLE CREW
Of course, good equipment doesn't matter without good employees to operate it. To attract and retain quality operators, Stutler says the company focuses on creating a culture centered on communication and respect. "Our field crews drive our business," he explains. "They're the backbone of delivering on our promise to customers.
"We've found that, first and foremost, you have to treat everyone with respect," he continues. "This is a very important part of our culture. We also strive to communicate — keep people in the know about what we're doing. We also try to connect everyone's role to the overall function of the company so everyone understands how their contribution each day contributes to what we do overall."
Operating a company that both develops its own proprietary technology and serves as a contractor that uses that equipment poses some challenges. (While the trucks are patent protected, the company does not plan to sell them to outside third parties.)
For starters, research/development and manufacturing costs aren't for the faint of heart. And it took several years and a lot of trial and error to perfect the technology, says Stutler, who partnered with the truck's inventor in 2011 to raise capital and bring the product to market. (The inventor eventually left the company.)
"What kept us going was the belief that there truly was value in what we were doing," Stutler says. "In the correct application, we're a really good solution for restoring capacity to wastewater infrastructure. But we're not trying to get in front of vacuuming technology, which we feel still occupies an important place in the market."
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE CAREERS
Stutler's path to leadership at USST, which included stints in both the public and private sectors, is almost as unique as the technology it developed. Raised in Florida — the company's primary geographic market — Stutler graduated in 1989 from the University of Central Florida with a Master of Science degree in civil engineering.
For about the first 10 years of his career, Stutler worked for a large environmental engineering firm, which gave him experience in wastewater management. He eventually rose to become a part owner of the company.
In 1999, Stutler accepted an appointment as the chief of staff in the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. After that, he served as chief of staff to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush from 2003 to 2005. He capped off his public-sector career by serving as secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation from 2005 to 2007, managing an annual budget of $9 billion.
Stutler left the government sector in 2007. In 2011, he joined forces with the inventor of the Combination3. The first prototype was built by the end of 2012, and company officials did a "seeing-is-believing" tour in 2013, cleaning infrastructure for potential customers for free. "That's where real value emerged — an opportunity for potential customers to kick the tires and test the equipment," he says. "We didn't do work for hire until the middle of 2013."
The company's marketing efforts received a jump-start in 2015, when the state of Florida established a grant program to help restore capacity at wastewater treatment facilities in small rural communities. "It created awareness of the capacity problems caused by sand buildup in (treatment) infrastructure," Stutler says. Using the equipment in actual field demonstrations also helped the company further fine-tune its design.
But overall, Stutler was buoyed by a study that showed many Florida wastewater treatment infrastructures with mediocre operating grades. "Ultimately, I saw an opportunity to provide a valuable service with an innovative piece of equipment," he says.
SELLING THE CONCEPT
Building a better mousetrap doesn't guarantee instant success, however. "Educating customers and developing markets is much harder than building a truck," Stutler concedes. "It took five years for us to perfect our message to customers."
The company's basic pitch essentially boils down to this: It's less expensive to use the Combination3 technology to restore lost capacity at treatment plants than it is to expand brick-and-mortar facilities to compensate for lost capacity. In fact, the company estimates that every cubic yard of debris removed from a facility saves municipalities $3,000 — money not spent on restoring capacity.
As such, removing 300 cubic yards of sand can save a municipality roughly $900,000 in infrastructure expansion costs, he says. "We typically can remove the sand for less than 10% of the value of rebuilding the capacity," Stutler says.
Sand buildup is similar to clogged arteries: It's an out-of-sight, out-of-mind scenario for most municipalities. In one case, USST thought it might remove 50 to 70 cubic yards of material from a 28-foot-deep treatment center tank that could not be taken offline. But instead, crews pumped out more than 300 cubic yards — equivalent to 450 tons of material. That restored significant treatment capacity to the plant, he says.
"We get a lot of 'Wow, we had no idea there was that much sand in our system' from our customers," he continues. "From time to time, we get into a plant and it's absolutely amazing how much sand there is. A lot of these plants haven't been cleaned since they were built.
"A lot of the sand comes from inflow. … You're looking at miles and miles of 8-foot-long sections of RCP (reinforced concrete pipe) strung together to collect wastewater," he says. "Those pipes shift and crack over time for a million different reasons."
Like so many other environmental service companies, USST faces stiff competition in its market, especially since customers view almost every job as suitable for conventional vacuum technology. That forces sales staff to evaluate jobs carefully, he says.
"Our biggest thing is to reduce competition by focusing on what we do better than others," he explains. "Initially, it's easy for our sales team to think that a tank-cleaning job is just a tank-cleaning job. But in reality, it may not be our kind of tank-cleaning job.
"We typically clean pipes 24 inches or more in diameter because our equipment works best in larger pipes," he continues. "So 80% of pipework on the street is not in our wheelhouse. But on the other hand, bypass-pumping of a 48-inch pipe can be costly and sometimes isn't even a viable option."
REACHING A BROADER MARKET
Looking ahead, Stutler would like to expand the company's geographic footprint by perhaps establishing two branch facilities outside of Florida this year and two more in 2020. In the long term, he envisions 10 branches in other states, dedicated solely to restoring capacity in wet infrastructure. "After that, we might let our technology blossom into other market sectors (for wet cleaning)," he says.
But the CEO also understands there are many facets to growth, and all involve challenges. As such, being patient and moving carefully and strategically is critical to avoid overextending company resources.
"We have to be patient and be sure we're first doing Florida right," he cautions. "But the cool thing is customers are finding we can solve their problems. We love to solve problems and create value for customers that they otherwise might not recognize — get to that clogged artery before it causes a bigger problem. In the end, we restore capacity for customers and make their jobs easier by doing our job well."
Solving tough jobs
U.S. Submergent Technologies has faced many tough jobs. Like a 60-inch collection line clogged by sand in the middle of a retirement community. Or a wastewater treatment plant suffering from declining capacity and rising energy costs, caused by accumulated sand and debris.
By using proprietary technology, a Combination3 multipurpose vacuum, pumping and jetting truck, the company's work crews resolved these problems with no bypass pumping or facility shutdowns required.
In the private retirement community, the Combination3 truck was able to jet the accumulated sand 375 feet upstream to a manhole, where the pump removed it — even though the pipe was fully surcharged. At the treatment plant, workers removed more than 180 cubic yards of sand and other debris from a 20-foot-tall surge tank — and did so with the facility remaining fully operational.
Moreover, the Combination3 truck runs quietly in pumping mode, operating at 70 dB, which means it's minimally disruptive in residential areas. "You can stand next to it while it's running and talk on a cellphone," says Denver Stutler Jr., the company's chief executive officer.
Each truck features vacuum and hydraulic methods of picking up debris, waterjetting capability and dripless tubing systems.
The company owns nine Combination3 units, seven of which were built in-house. The company is looking for an outside manufacturer to build future units, Stutler says.
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Economics of Agriculture
The special field of interest of the journal Economics of Agriculture Agricultural economics, Farm (agricultural companies) management, Agricultural investments, financing and calculations, Agricultural marketing, Organization of plant, livestock and processing industry production, Rural Development, Sustainable agricultural development, Rural (Agro) tourism, Environmental issues from an aspect of agro economy, Trade with agricultural and food products, Agricultural policies and legislative.
Economics of Agriculture welcomes original articles from researchers from all over the world to publish problem-oriented and high-quality articles. Economics of Agriculture publishes articles from wide variety of economic perspectives that address current and relevant issues related to the agricultural system. Economics of Agriculture especially publish articles of the current trends in the agriculture system.
The journal Economics of Agriculture has existed for 65 years and it is one of the oldest and the most respected publications within the agro-economic periodicity of the Republic of Serbia, representing a reliable mirror of our agrarian reality. During its long and continuous duration, journal has changed its form and name, adjusting its conception and content, as well as dynamics of its publishing activity:
first number was published on February 1954 under the title Jutro;
on September 1959 it had changed its name into the Agriculture and Cooperatives;
since 1964 it has been published under its current name Economics of Agriculture
The main goal of the journal ECONOMICS OF AGRICULTURE is to promote original research in the field of agricultural economy and agribusiness, by providing valuable insight as for academia audience, researchers and experts, as well as for policy-makers and producers in a highly competitive environment.
The journal Economics of Agriculture publishes original papers that have not been published previously. Scientific papers published in the Journal are classified into the categories of:
- original scientific papers (double reviewed),
- review articles,
- pre-announcements,
- book reviews,
- short communications and
- research reports.
Research reports and book reviews will be accepted after previous consultation/invitation with/from either a journal Editor, or Editor of the book review, in accordance with the journal submission criteria.
Contributions to journal shall be submitted in English.
The Journal is issued 4 times a year.
Editorial Responsibilities
The Editor is responsible for deciding which articles submitted to Economics of Agriculture will be published. The Editor is guided by the Editorial Policy and constrained by legal requirements in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism.
The Editor reserves the right to decide not to publish submitted manuscripts in case it is found that they do not meet relevant standards concerning the content and formal aspects. The Editorial Staff will inform the authors whether the manuscript is accepted for publication within three months from the date of the manuscript submission.
Editor must hold no conflict of interest with regard to the articles they consider for publication. If an Editor feels that there is likely to be a perception of a conflict of interest in relation to their handling of a submission, the selection of reviewers and all decisions on the paper shall be made by the Editorial Board.
Editor shall evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content free from any racial, gender, sexual, religious, ethnic, or political bias.
The Editor and the Editorial Board must not use unpublished materials disclosed in submitted manuscripts without the express written consent of the authors. The information and ideas presented in submitted manuscripts shall be kept confidential and must not be used for personal gain.
Editor and the Editorial Board shall take all reasonable measures to ensure that the reviewers remain anonymous to the authors before, during and after the evaluation process and the authors remain anonymous to reviewers until the end of the review procedure.
Authors responsibilities
Authors warrant that their manuscript is their original work, that it has not been published before and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Parallel submission of the same paper to another journal constitutes a misconduct and eliminates the manuscript from consideration by Economics of Agriculture.
The Authors also warrant that the manuscript is not and will not be published elsewhere (after the publication in Economics of Agriculture) in any language without the consent of the Economics of Agriculture.
In case a submitted manuscript is a result of a research project, or its previous version has been presented at a conference in the form of an oral presentation (under the same or similar title), detailed information about the project, the conference, etc. shall be provided in the footnote at the very beginning of the text. A paper that has already been published in another journal cannot be reprinted in Economics of Agriculture.
It is the responsibility of each author to ensure that papers submitted to Economics of Agriculture are written with ethical standards in mind. Authors affirm that the article contains no unfounded or unlawful statements and does not violate the rights of third parties. The Publisher will not be held legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.
Reporting standards
A submitted manuscript should contain sufficient detail and references to permit reviewers and, subsequently, readers to verify the claims presented in it. The deliberate presentation of false claims is a violation of ethical standards.
Authors are exclusively responsible for the contents of their submissions and must make sure that they have permission from all involved parties to make the data public. The authors may be required to send a signed statement when sending a manuscript that they have obtained such consent.
Authors wishing to include figures, tables or other materials that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright holder(s). Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.
Authors must make sure that all only contributors who have significantly contributed to the submission are listed as authors and, conversely, that all contributors who have significantly contributed to the submission are listed as authors. If persons other than authors were involved in important aspects of the research project and the preparation of the manuscript, their contribution should be acknowledged in a footnote or the Acknowledgments section.
Acknowledgment of Sources
Authors are required to properly cite sources that have significantly influenced their research and their manuscript. Information received in a private conversation or correspondence with third parties, in reviewing project applications, manuscripts and similar materials, must not be used without the express written consent of the information source.
Plagiarism, where someone assumes another's ideas, words, or other creative expression as one's own, is a clear violation of scientific ethics. Plagiarism may also involve a violation of copyright law, punishable by legal action.
Plagiarism includes the following:
Word for word, or almost word for word copying, or purposely paraphrasing portions of another author's work without clearly indicating the source or marking the copied fragment (for example, using quotation marks);
Copying equations, figures or tables from someone else's paper without properly citing the source and/or without permission from the original author or the copyright holder.
Please note that all submissions are thoroughly checked for plagiarism.
Any paper which shows obvious signs of plagiarism will be automatically rejected and will be permanently or temporarily forbidden to publish in the journal.
In case plagiarism is discovered in a paper that has already been published by the journal, it will be retracted in accordance with the procedure described below under Retraction policy, and authors will be permanently or temporarily forbidden to publish in the journal.
Authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might have influenced the presented results or their interpretation.
Fundamental errors in published works
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the authors obligation to promptly notify the journal Editor or publisher and cooperate with the Editor to retract or correct the paper.
By submitting a manuscript, the authors agree to abide by the Economics of Agriculture Editorial Policies.
Reviewers responsibilities
Reviewers are required to provide written, competent and unbiased feedback in a timely manner on the scholarly merits and the scientific value of the manuscript.
The reviewers assess manuscript for the compliance with the profile of the journal, the relevance of the investigated topic and applied methods, the originality and scientific relevance of information presented in the manuscript, the presentation style and scholarly apparatus.
Reviewers should alert the Editor to any well-founded suspicions or the knowledge of possible violations of ethical standards by the authors. Reviewers should recognize relevant published works that have not been cited by the authors and alert the Editor to substantial similarities between a reviewed manuscript and any manuscript published or under consideration for publication elsewhere, in the event they are aware of such. Reviewers should also alert the Editor to a parallel submission of the same paper to another journal, in the event they are aware of such.
Reviewers must not have conflict of interest with respect to the research, the authors and/or the funding sources for the research. If such conflicts exist, the reviewers must report them to the Editor without delay.
Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the Editor without delay.
Reviews must be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. reviewers must not use unpublished materials disclosed in submitted manuscripts without the express written consent of the authors. The information and ideas presented in submitted manuscripts shall be kept confidential and must not be used for personal gain.
The submitted manuscripts are subject to a peer review process. The purpose of peer review is to assists the Editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author it may also assist the author in improving the paper.
A manuscript goes through the peer review process - Double-blind peer-review. Double-blind peer review mean that reviewers are unaware of the identity of the authors, and authors are also unaware of the identity of reviewers. There have to be at least two reviewers. The typical period of time allowed for reviews: 6 weeks. Note: Can be modified during the editorial process.
The choice of reviewers is at the editors' discretion. The reviewers must be knowledgeable about the subject area of the manuscript; they must not be from the authors' own institution and they should not have recent joint publications with any of the authors.
Every article will be review under two independently reviewers.
Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents.
All of the reviewers of a paper act independently and they are not aware of each others identities. If the decisions of the two reviewers are not the same (accept/reject), the Editor may assign additional reviewers.
During the review process Editor may require authors to provide additional information (including raw data) if they are necessary for the evaluation of the scholarly merit of the manuscript. These materials shall be kept confidential and must not be used for personal gain.
The Editorial team shall ensure reasonable quality control for the reviews. With respect to reviewers whose reviews are convincingly questioned by authors, special attention will be paid to ensure that the reviews are objective and high in academic standard. When there is any doubt with regard to the objectivity of the reviews or quality of the review, additional reviewers will be assigned.
Procedures for dealing with unethical behaviour
Anyone may inform the editors and/or Editorial Staff at any time of suspected unethical behaviour or any type of misconduct by giving the necessary information/evidence to start an investigation.
Editor will consult with the Editorial Board on decisions regarding the initiation of an investigation.
During an investigation, any evidence should be treated as strictly confidential and only made available to those strictly involved in investigating.
The accused will always be given the chance to respond to any charges made against them.
If it is judged at the end of the investigation that misconduct has occurred, then it will be classified as either minor or serious.
Minor misconduct
Minor misconduct will be dealt directly with those involved without involving any other parties, e.g.:
Communicating to authors/reviewers whenever a minor issue involving misunderstanding or misapplication of academic standards has occurred.
A warning letter to an author or reviewer regarding fairly minor misconduct.
Major misconduct
The Editor, in consultation with the Editorial Board, and, when appropriate, further consultation with a small group of experts should make any decision regarding the course of action to be taken using the evidence available. The possible outcomes are as follows (these can be used separately or jointly):
Publication of a formal announcement or editorial describing the misconduct.
Informing the author's (or reviewer's) head of department or employer of any misconduct by means of a formal letter.
The formal, announced retraction of publications from the journal in accordance with the Retraction Policy (see below).
A ban on submissions from an individual for a defined period.
Referring a case to a professional organization or legal authority for further investigation and action.
When dealing with unethical behaviour, the Editorial Staff will rely on the guidelines and recommendations provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE): http://publicationethics.org/resources/.
Retraction Policy
Legal limitations of the publisher, copyright holder or author(s), infringements of professional ethical codes, such as multiple submissions, bogus claims of authorship, plagiarism, fraudulent use of data or any major misconduct require retraction of an article. Occasionally a retraction can be used to correct errors in submission or publication. The main reason for withdrawal or retraction is to correct the mistake while preserving the integrity of science; it is not to punish the author.
Standards for dealing with retractions have been developed by a number of library and scholarly bodies, and this practice has been adopted for article retraction by Economics of Agriculture: in the electronic version of the retraction note, a link is made to the original article. In the electronic version of the original article, a link is made to the retraction note where it is clearly stated that the article has been retracted. The original article is retained unchanged, save for a watermark on the PDF indicating on each page that it is "retracted."
Economics of Agriculture is an Open Access Journal. All articles can be downloaded free of charge. Articles published in the Journal are Open-Access articles distributed under a Creative Commons Attibution – NonCommercial – NoDerrivatives 4.0 .
The journal does not charge any fees at submission and reviewing.
When an article is accepted for publication, authors are required to pay 25.000 RSD/€200.
Self-archiving Policy
The Journal Economics of Agriculture allows Author(s) to deposit Author's Post-print (accepted version) and Publisher's version/PDF in an institutional repository and non-commercial subject-based repositories, or to publish it on Author's personal website and departmental website (including social networking sites, such as ResearchGate, Academia.edu, etc.), at any time after publication in the journal in compliance with the Creative Commons Attibution – NonCommercial – NoDerrivatives 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Publisher copyright and source must be acknowledged and a link must be made to the article's DOI.
Once the manuscript is accepted for publication, authors shall transfer the copyright to the Publisher. If the submitted manuscript is not accepted for publication by the journal, all rights shall be retained by the author(s).
Authors grant to the Publisher the following rights to the manuscript, including any supplemental material, and any parts, extracts or elements thereof:
the right to reproduce and distribute the Manuscript in printed form, including print-on-demand;
the right to produce prepublications, reprints, and special editions of the Manuscript;
the right to translate the Manuscript into other languages;
the right to reproduce the Manuscript using photomechanical or similar means including, but not limited to photocopy, and the right to distribute these reproductions;
the right to reproduce and distribute the Manuscript electronically or optically on any and all data carriers or storage media – especially in machine readable/digitalized form on data carriers such as hard drive, CD-Rom, DVD, Blu-ray Disc (BD), Mini-Disk, data tape – and the right to reproduce and distribute the Article via these data carriers;
the right to store the Manuscript in databases, including online databases, and the right of transmission of the Manuscript in all technical systems and modes;
the right to make the Manuscript available to the public or to closed user groups on individual demand, for use on monitors or other readers (including e-books), and in printable form for the user, either via the internet, other online services, or via internal or external networks.
The description can be downloaded from this address: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Authors grant to the publisher the right to publish the article, to be cited as its original publisher in case of reuse, and to distribute it in all forms and media.
The views expressed in the published works do not express the views of the Editors and Editorial Board. The authors take legal and moral responsibility for the ideas expressed in the articles. Publisher shall have no liability in the event of issuance of any claims for damages. The Publisher will not be held legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.
List of reviewers
Authors statements
- Balkan Scientific Association of Agricultural Economists (BSAAE)
- The Institute of Agricultural Economics
- Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest (Romania)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivs 4.0
ISSN 0352-3462 (Printed)


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Q: $_POST is working but $this->input->post empty I have form in my nav template in codeigniter view
           <form action="<?php echo base_url()?>account/login/" class="navbar-form navbar-left" method="post" accept-charset="utf-8">
                <div class="form-group">
                  <input type="text" name="adres" class="form-control" placeholder="Email">
                  <input type="password" name="pass" class="form-control" placeholder="Password">
                </div>
                <button type="submit" class="btn btn-default">Login</button>

              </form>

In my controller method i can echo $_POST['adres'] and its fine, but when i try with codeigniter helper $this->input->post('adres') its empty . Whats wrong ?
I'm using input->post in my registration form and its working fine.

A: General Advice of using the forms in CodeIgnitor
Step 1: Try to use the native form method that are available in CI.
Syntax for Form Open:
form_open('[controller]/[action]')

Hence below is the sample example of how to open up the form based on the controller that we have created.
<?php echo form_open('todos/update_completed'); ?>
<?php echo form_close(); ?>

Where todos/update_completed means

*

*todos - Controller Name

*update_completed - Method name in that Controller.

Step 2: Load up the form elements during the auto load itself or you can load up the form elements in the Construct function itself.

Loading the form attributes via the helper in the construct function.

$this->load->helper('form');

Below is the example of how to call it.
function __construct()
{
  parent::__construct();
  $this->load->helper('form');
}

Step 3: And in the Controller or in the model you have to get the Input that has been posted like this below.
$this->input->post('title')
$this->input->post('username')

These are all the General Checks that has to be made while using the form elements in CodeIgnitor.

A: Have you used helper class in constructor $this->load->helper('form'); or in method .
You can load helper function in your controller like this
function __construct()
{
  $this->load->helper('form');
}

A: Yes, problem solved. I was using curly brace and i should use a normal one. My bad

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