Technological experiments in multiple images being strung together and viewed in sequence had been experimented with since the 1860′s. The first motion picture camera was developed in the 1880′s. Over the next 30 years, the medium of film began to evolve at an exponential rate, leading to the blossoming of the motion picture as a genuine work of art. This was solidified by D.W. Griffith’s work on the revolutionary (and disgustingly racist) film, “Birth of a Nation.”

So why the heck am I writing about this in an article that’s supposed to be about video games?

Because the origins of interactive media run a surprisingly similar pattern. The first experiments that would lead to video games occurred in the mid-20th century. The first home console, the primitive Magnavox Odyssey, was marketed in 1972. Over the following 30 years and beyond, gaming would see growth and evolution at an amazing rate.

These similarities lead us to a relatively recent debate: Can video games could be considered “art?” It’s a tantalizing question. Certainly, many aspects of games, from the design of characters to the background music, can be considered in artistic terms. But we’re talking about a game as a whole. Can we call interactive media an “art form,” or is it simply a mild amusement? A distraction? A toy?

The debate has passionate supporters on both sides. Famed film critic Roger Ebert has spoken out vehemently against any such classification, saying that putting so much control in the hands of the player denies the singular control of an artist – namely, the director, the author, the composer, etc. Even Hideo Kojima, the mind behind one of the greatest game series ever, “Metal Gear Solid,” said in an interview that he felt games were not art, arguing that art is made to capture the attention of a single person, while games are made for the masses.

While I am a huge fan of both Ebert’s and Kojima’s work, I find their reasoning as problematic as trying to tip a stripper with quarters. (Not that, you know, I’ve tried that. Ahem.)

Ebert’s point that art comes from a singular person denies the fact that virtually every work of art has the involvement of other people. Films have hundreds (if not thousands) of crew members. A book has an editor and publishers. The composer’s work is performed by musicians. So why should the involvement of one more participant — the player — disqualify it as art? And Kojima’s argument would seem to say that anything made “for the masses” cannot be considered art, which means film, TV, music, and so forth can’t be, either.

What is “art,” anyway? It seems crucial to come to a basic consensus on what the word means before we really can discuss games, but I’d guess that no two people could come to a solid agreement on the term, anyway. Dictionaries aren’t much more helpful – a well-known tome defines art as “produced as an artistic effort.” Hmm. Okay, then what is “artistic?” It says, “of, relating to, or characteristic of art or artists.” Gee, thanks for the wild goose chase, guys. (Redundant: adj. See: “redundant.”)

My point is that we all have our own standards for what makes something art — something that stirs our emotions and speaks to us in a way we can’t quite define. For some, games may be a genuinely artistic experience. For others, a simple plaything, nothing more.

For me? It’s tough to say. The stories in games like “Metal Gear,” “Infamous,” “God of War” and more have affected me as deeply as almost any movie you could name. But the stories are only a part of the experience, and they are largely separate from the main body of what makes a game, well, a game. You play to beat the level, and only then do you get to the story. So, I’d have to say that on the whole, video games are not art.

Yet.

The day may come when a game brings the player an emotional experience the likes of which can not be had in any other form. Strides are being made which bring remarkable and tantalizing possibilities to gaming. A new PlayStation title, “Heavy Rain,” offers a glimpse of what may be in the future. The game, a psychological thriller about the hunt for a child killer, has deceptively simple controls that augment a deep narrative, and give the player a genuine feeling of control over the directions the story can take. The effect is amazingly involving, cinematic, and emotionally powerful.

“Heavy Rain” is a remarkable experience. And it has me excited for what may lie over the horizon. Games may not be art right now. But neither were movies, in the beginning. Given time, who knows what may happen?

E-mail Jeff at PopGoesJeff@gmail.com.

Congratulations to the College of Arts and Science at the University of Toledo on their 100 year anniversary!  To commemorate this auspicious milestone, the college has invited a series of noted guest lectures, the last who spoke at Savage Arena on April 15^th.  It was lovely of Dr. Jacobs and the faculty to invite the public to hear the noted professor and director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions: Dr. Ben Carson.  Having read two of the four books he authored, it was a delight and privilege to hear Dr. Carson, a native of Detroit, in person.  He did not disappoint.

Dr. Carson’s sharp mind and his self deprecating humor held the 130 or so deans and professors and the extended guests attention for more than an hour.  He retraced his rise from his unfortunate beginnings—one of 24 children born to a bigamist father.  He quipped that in Utah his story would not be uncommon.  “Hey I’m joking.  I know they aren’t bigamists in Utah anymore.  Now it’s Texas.”

He began his address saying that he didn’t believe in political correctness.  “You can talk all day long about slavery,” said the African American doctor, “and I’ll not be offended.”  He encouraged those gathered to make a greater effort to appreciate and be civil with people with whom they disagreed.  After all, he reasoned, “Freedom of speech is a right that will easily slip away from us if we don’t use it.”  He cited that most people in Germany didn’t agree with Hitler, but because they didn’t speak up again him, they got what they didn’t want or deserve.

Because the University of Michigan and Yale trained surgeon has earned his status through hard work and grit, his message was well received and refreshing.  Dr. Carson’s latest book is entitled Take the Risk.  He concluded that as Americans we have grown too cautious and too concerned about risk.  We shrink from doing what is right because we fear risking our careers and reputations too often.  And he took quite the risk when he hammered home to the assembled M.D.’s and PhD’s from the College of Arts and Science the need for faith in one’s personal life and the need for faith as a nation.  The crowd applauded enthusiastically while the esteemed professors gave restrained applause.

Dr. Carson argued that we live in technological age when knowledge is power.  He cited many pinnacle nations throughout the history of the world who rose and then fell from their position of leadership and importance.  Warning that if America didn’t take corrective action, it would lose its place as a pinnacle nation, he outlined three things this country must do to reverse its slide.

First, he reasoned America became a great nation because it had faith in an Almighty God. Carson cited how Ben Franklin urged the Founding Fathers to pray when the rancor grew intense as the assembled try to draft the Constitution for the United States of America.”  He told how General Washington’s rag-tag troops at Valley Forge were able to defeat the greatest army on earth, the British.  “Why did Washington prevail? Because of his faith in God.”  Dr. Carson told how he was challenged about talking about his faith in God and told it was unconstitutional.  “I’m accepting the Presidential Medal of Freedom award next week from President Bush and I’ll be with the members of the Supreme Court.  I’ll check with them if what I’m saying is unconstitutional,” he laughed.  “As a nation, we need to make a decision about who we are and what we believe.” He concluded that it is a bigger risk to throw God out.  If we acknowledge our Creator, Dr. Carson believes we will remain a nation indivisible with justice for all.

Second, Dr. Carson declared that this nation needs to focus on education.  He is convinced that we are not producing enough educated people.  He cited how China produces far more engineers each year than America. (Thomas Friedman writes that Asian countries now produce eight times as many bachelor degrees in engineering as the United States).   “We must place our emphasis on education in order to survive.”  Dr. Carson told how that a believing mother, one who was convinced in the importance of education and reading,  propelled him from being the dummy in the class to getting admission to Yale University.

And lastly Dr. Carson challenged the audience and this country to think outside the box.  Citing many personal examples, he showed how thinking outside the box helped him become the youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery at the age of 33.  Carson lamented that too many people don’t think outside the box but prefer to be ornery and abrasive.  He lamented the tragic suicide of a 15 year old student who was taunted by other students at her school.  In order to make good decisions, Dr. Carson articulated that an individual needs to have the right value system.  “I pray and ask God for wisdom, and He does!  I use the talent God has given me to elevate other people.”

The audience was invited to ask questions afterwards.  A gentleman asked about his opinion about the health care reform bill.  “We may not have time for any other questions if I answer that,” Dr. Carson joked.  He asserted the bill  was not about health care reform but insurance reform.  He thought it would expand cost and reduce the number of doctors who practice.  “It is smarter to let doctors fix the problem; not politicians.” “We are told that the AMA is behind this bill, but only 28% of doctors belong to the AMA. “ He said that the board of neurosurgeons was adamantly opposed to the bill.  Dr. Carson felt that tort reform would be a better solution. “We must have a mechanism to care for people other than suing.”  Dr. Carson certainly took a risk being so outspoken on this issue!

Dr. Lloyd Jacobs thanked Dr. Ben Carson for his exquisite story of the American dream.  He thanked him for how he described, analyzed, and told us how to preserve the American dream.

Every now and then it is fun to get off the highway and take the back roads.  I, Nolan, remember growing up in high school and spending a lot of time on what I called “the thinking road.”  It is a nice country road with winding curves that gave me a chance to reflect on life and figure things out; or at least get away from the noise of busy streets.  Usually, we don’t have the luxury of time to just drive around without a destination in mind.  We have a place we need to be.  Thanks to technology, that process has gotten a lot easier if the technology is used correctly.  When you look at traveling down the road of retirement, the same things apply.

Last Friday, I had to be down in Columbus for an important meeting that I didn’t want to be late for, plus I had another meeting to be at in Findlay later in the day.  Even though I have been to Columbus several times, getting downtown can be a little tricky.  A few years ago, I would have had to get out a map of Ohio and write down the directions on a piece of paper that I could reference on the way down.  Now all I do is type into the GPS where I’m at and where I want to go.  In a few seconds a map pops up on the screen and a voice begins to tell me where to go.  Mark has even gotten so used to his GPS as his copilot he has named the machine, Monica.

I left that morning a little early knowing there could be construction along the way or other unexpected delays.  As luck would have it everything went perfect, and I had time to get a cup of coffee and read the paper since I was ahead of schedule.   Had I ran into trouble along the way, the GPS would have provided the next best alternate route on how to stay on track.  Even if I took a wrong turn, the technology simply recalculates my route telling me to the minute how long it is going to take to get to my destination.

Once the meeting in Columbus was over, it was easy getting out of town and back on 23 North thanks again to this new technology.  This time Bob Evans in Findlay on State Route 224 was the next point of interest.  The GPS even got me off the divided highway and took me up scenic State Route 37, proving that even the fastest route isn’t always the busiest and biggest road.   According to the GPS I was only minutes away.  As the machine beeped at me a voice said “you have arrived at your destination.”  Looking around, all I saw was a Speedway Gas Station and a school across the street.  I didn’t see a Bob Evans, had the technology failed me?

Frustrated and with only a few seconds to spare before the light turned green, I shouted at the GPS “there is no Bob Evan’s, where are you taking me?”  Like a foreign cabby in New York, I got no response.  I was on my own.  I pulled into the gas station and went in to ask for help.  The attendant told me that Bob Evans was right over the expressway and sure enough there it was.  Little did I know, Findlay has two Bob Evans on State Route 224 and sure enough I was at the wrong one.  All worked out well and before long, the person I was meeting came to the Bob Evans I was at and the meeting went perfect.

Are you taking the right route to retirement and using the most up to date technology?  The tools used to plan for retirement have dramatically improved over the years.  Many people we meet with are still using the “old” ways to plan what should be the best trip of their lifetime, retirement.  You may not be aware of new and advanced tools to help prepare you financially.  Or, it could be you have taken a back seat to retirement planning, leaving someone else to take the wheel.  Either way, it could be well worth the investment to take some time and learn about the new tools to find out if retirement is on track.

Got a question for The Retirement Guys?  Send your emails to letters@ToledoFreePress.com or you can reach them by calling 419-842-0550.  Securities are offered through NEXT Financial Group Inc., Member FINRA / SIPC.  The Retirement Guys are not an affiliate of NEXT Financial Group. Their office is located at 1700 Woodlands Drive, Suite 100, Maumee, OH 43537.

The late Joseph Campbell argued that all religions are grounded in story or myth. These stories or myths have grown out of either historical events that have shaped the affection and passion of a people or a psychological event that inspired a leader of a people. He went onto suggest that a healthy religious myth or story shapes the lives of people in four ways: 1). It provides a way for people to have authentic encounters with the Holy, 2). It frees a person to discover and develop a personal identity,  3). It works to create safe places where people can live peaceably and respect others, and 4). It helps its participants to live into the reality that all things are inter-connected and interdependent on each other.

Often it is the third piece of Campbell’s quadrilateral that provokes the greatest challenge to people who live out of a religious perspective. Sometimes the most religious among us are the least tolerant and safe to be around.  From the Spanish  Inquisition to the Salem witchcraft trials,  history is filled with tragic examples of the devout and religious doing horrible things to their neighbor. The unanswered question from my seminary days that still haunts me is how could a people so acculturated by the story of my faith (Christianity) either participate in or look the other way during the Holocaust.

This is what makes all of this stuff we have been reading about around clergy abusing children so troubling. The clergy abuse is bad enough, it is the looking the other way done by church leaders that is maddening. If providing a safe place for our children to grow into the people they need to become is no longer possible because our institutional structures have become more important that our myths, then what good are we?

Of course, most of clergy types are people of conscious and good will.  The percentage of abusive clergy is very small and not limited to a particular faith tradition. We become clergy types because we are drawn to a mystery much greater than ourselves committed to a cause much nobler than the self. Sometimes we fall and when that fall brings hurt and pain to others, we need to step out.  If we cannot figure that out ourselves, then our bishops or denominational leaders better do it for us. If they don’t, the religious community fails to become a safe place for our people.

The Pope, is now caught in this very issue.  I pray he isn’t naive about this. He has chastised the bishops in Ireland for looking the other way, and he has apologized to victims of the abuse, but he seems reluctant to raise the necessary questions that got his church in this mess in the first place. Furthermore there is some question about abuse that happened on his watch when he was a bishop in Germany. I believe him to be a good man who wants to do the right thing but one’s insulation in the institutional trappings of any organization, especially one as labyrinthine as the church can skew one’s vision.  If he trusts the “myth” we will find his way.  If he trusts the “institution” he will get lost.  This issue is so large, it can consume his papacy if he doesn’t move quickly toward transparency.

Don’t get me wrong, institutions are important.  They are the way our values, our stories and myths get passed along to the next generation.  Without institutions what is important to us dies when we die. But we have to watch them.  It is easy to lose sight of why they exist in the first place.  The trappings and power can become seductive, the need to protect and defend becomes more important than the need to search the soul and become reconnected to the mission.  If Dr. Campbell is right, behind the work of all healthy religious expressions is the work of human dignity and hope. Holy mystery, personal identity, cultivating safe and peaceable places for each other, and learning to understand how inter-connected all things are is noble work… work that will happen if we learn to trust our myths and stories, not our systems and all their trappings.

Eric McGlade is a United Methodist pastor in Bowling Green.

Nintendo DSiWare service celebrates its one-year anniversary this month with a cache of over 150 downloadable games and applications with many more to come. This service offers game for 200, 500 or 800 Nintendo DSi Points or over plus the free essential Web Browser and the amazing Flipnote Studio creative art game. The creative photo suite Faceez is another popular application/game, which incorporate the Nintendo DSi camera to customize photos with over 65 special animations and more than 150 accessories – a great value, especially for 200 points.

Players can also enjoy Downtown Texas Hold ‘em for 500 points and SCRABBLE Classic for 800 points. Downtown Texas Hold ‘em features a single/career play mode, multiplayer play (up to five players – each player must have the game) and practice mode. The tutorials and instructions helps players learn the game while in-game advisor help continues the helpful assistance. Experienced players still get enough challenging gameplay and can even unlock bigger casinos for bigger payoffs and buy-ins. Player statistics measure success and even provide some tips to improve weaknesses. The touch controls work best though players can also use the Nintendo DS control buttons. Developers portray realistic characters and places with a comic book style cell shaded visuals while keeping the audio minimized to sound effects and a music introductions for each casino (***1/2, rated T for themes and gambling elements).

Scrabble

Scrabble Classic features a book-like sideways orientation with six levels of play. Single players can enjoy a regular or quick “speed” game while saving their progress with four profile slots. All players must have the game to play the multiplayer mode (up to four players). The quick touch Nintendo DS controls make tile selections and manipulations incredibly smooth. Shuffling is a cinch. Double taps zoom in and out. The “any time” saves, in-game dictionary, hint options, and quick word verifiers enhances the game while saving the players some time. Players can also unlock themes and avatars. A great challenge requiring strong reading and vocabulary skills (****, rated E for everyone).

Upcoming DSiWare games include Frogger Returns from Konami, EA’s story-driven Surviving High School, which includes a “Football Season” storyline plus 7 episodes and a bonus episode. Players can also find Nintendo’s Photo Dojo and more SCRABBLE related games like SCRABBLE SLAM (200 points), which concentrates on quick solutions in a card-based format.

Investment vehicles, just like cars, clothes, moves and music, go through fads. In the 1980s leveraged buyouts (LBOs) were the hottest thing on the street. That all ended around the time Drexel Lambert blew up as a result of fraud, thanks to insider trading by Dennis Levine, Ivan Boesky, and Michael Milken (the inspiration behind the movie Wall Street).

[Quick note: The Drexel Burnham Lambert blow-up in the ‘80s was not unlike the current situation for which Goldman Sachs now finds itself making headlines. Both cases involved all-out frauds perpetrated by or through major investment houses, in which securities were structured for the sole purpose of defrauding investors.]

After LBOs in the ‘80s there was the wave of initial public offerings (IPOs) of the 1990s, riding the coattails of the tech and dot-com booms. We all saw how that one ended: the stock market lost around 40% in about two years, waves of bankruptcies ensued for tech companies, fortunes were lost, so on and so forth.

Then, the late 1990s saw the beginning of a new beast, which rose to prominence in the early 2000s: hedge funds. Originally created to allow wealthy individuals to pool large investments while avoiding regulatory oversight, hedge funds use leverage place a large number a ‘hedged’ bets, thereby [theoretically] maximizing returns – thanks to leverage – with limited downside risk.

In order to invest in hedge funds, which operate for the most part outside the control of regulators, clients are required to qualify using guidelines established for the SEC. While many clients include ‘institutional investors’ (banks, pension funds, etc), many are wealthy individuals who meet the criteria established for minimum net-worth and are able to come up with the minimum allowable investment.

When they started out, hedge funds proved to be a great way for money managers to achieve higher-than-average returns – and fees. However, fund managers have, over the years, discovered the difficulty that comes with trying to guard against a wide variety of nearly unforeseeable risks. Those few that have been able to guard against the widest array of risk have had to sacrifice substantial returns in order to do so.

Take, for example, Long Term Capital Management (LTCM), which was established in the early ‘90s by about a dozen partners. Among LTCM’s founders were two Nobel Laureates, more than a half-dozen PhD’s, and approximately two centuries of combined experience in finance.

The founders of LTCM were, put simply, the smartest guys in any room they entered. They were the who’s who of academia, Wall Street, and K-street. Yet even this group was totally unprepared for the Russian financial crisis in the last ‘90s, and after losing investors billions – thanks in large part to the leveraged used in their trading – LTCM was forced to fold.

In last week’s article we discussed the fact that people are rarely hit by the truck they see coming. In other words, it’s what we don’t know that can hurt us. Long Term Capital Management was crippled by its inability to predict the exogenous shock from the Russian crisis. In this case, investors were unfortunate enough to have a bad investment. Others are not so lucky.

A common saying we have around the office is that investors can recover from a bad investment. Getting into the wrong investment at the right time can cause losses, even serious losses; but as long as money remains, a portfolio can be built back. Get hooked up with a crook, on the other hand, and investors can lose everything; and unfortunately the only thing to do after a 100% loss is to start from scratch.

It’s a sad fact, but that is what faces nearly all the victims of both Bernie Madoff and Robert Allen Stanford. Once again we see cases of investors failing to protect themselves from risks that were very real and foreseeable, but completely ignored. Bernie Madoff, as the former head of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD, now FINRA), was one of the brains behind NASDAQ and was among the financial world’s elite. No one ever would’ve thought he had the audacity, the ruthlessness, to perpetrate the biggest Ponzi scheme in history.

R. Allen Stanford represents a similar case, wherein regulators, namely the SEC, ignored several red flags, even tips from insiders in Stanford’s operation, for nearly a decade. As detailed in “The SEC’s Impeccable Timing” (April 20, 2010, Wall Street Journal), securities regulators dropped the ball repeatedly with Stanford’s case, and there lack of action ultimately cost investors about $8 billion.

Many of the biggest underlying problems with hedge funds can be found in these cases. First and foremost, hedge funds require a hedge fund manager (investment advisor) to have custody of client assets. Once an advisor has custody of those assets, investors are totally unprotected from fraud, as Madoff clients now know. The second biggest concern: Leverage; while specifics can be difficult to digest, suffice it to say that when investing with borrowed money, even a small loss can wipe out an investment.

Another consideration to make with regard to hedge funds, or any investment for that matter, is the fee structure. After a decade a hedge fund prominence in the world of finance, it is safe to say that the only people getting rich through hedge funds are their managers. The management of investments brings us to our last concern with hedge funds and many ‘exotic’ investment products. The last twenty years have seen a growing trend in finance: the use of mathematics in trading. Many traders utilize “black box” systems, which are basically computer programs that track market moves and place trades according to proprietary programming.

What this means for traders is that now they don’t even need to sit at their trading desk, scouring the markets for opportunities. Instead, they can spend more time on the golf course or the beach, while their money machines do the leg work for them. Unfortunately for their clients, markets are not based on numbers, but emotion; trading involves the study of behavior psychology, not mathematics.

Yet, the wave of exotic investments continues, thanks in great part to the great sales pitches employed by hedge funds, collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs), and credit default swaps (CDS). The problem is that none of these investments are transparent; quite often clients involved in these vehicles have no idea what they’ve just purchased, no more than advisors pushing these products know what they just sold – just ask Lehman Brothers and its clients, namely the pension funds around the world that invested in mortgage-backed securities, only to be wiped out in the crash of 2008.

Perhaps the biggest problem with these exotic investments, both vehicles and strategies, is the inherent trust given to so-called professionals in finance. There seems to be a belief by clients that regulators like the SEC wouldn’t let anyone in finance sell a fraudulent security, much less take off with client assets. The perception is that it’s on the regulators to weed out bad apples.

Did the SEC protect investors from Bernie Madoff? How about Allen Stanford? What about all those debt-backed securities that were sold in the early 2000s to fuel the housing bubble, only to blow up in ’08? The role of regulators is commonly misunderstood to be preventative; it is not. The role of regulators is, in the event of wrongdoing, to come in afterward, clean up the mess, and decide who to prosecute.

Investors around the world need to return to self-reliance. Don’t trust regulators; trust common sense and due diligence. Consider each and every possible risk before deciding on an investment advisor, a system, or a security. Remember that all of these are only as transparent as their designer intends. Ask questions, do research, and know that if you want to keep your hard-earned money, then it’s worth your time and effort to do so.

Dock David Treece is a stockbroker licensed with FINRA. He works for Treece Financial Services Corp and also serves as editor of the financial news site Green Faucet and as a business commentator for Toledo Free Press. The above information is the express opinion of Dock David Treece and should not be construed as investment advice or used without outside verification.

The third-annual Columbia Gas Smoke on the Water Ribs for the Red Cross announced April 21 the event will open Friday, July 30 with the self-described “Hottest Littlest Band in the World,” Mini Kiss.

Smoke on the Water Ribs for the Red Cross takes place at Promenade Park in downtown Toledo, from Friday, July 30 though Sunday, August 1, 2010. Admission is $5, with kids 12 and under free.

Mini Kiss

According to the news release, “Mini Kiss is the world famous little people Kiss tribute band, having toured extensively since their inception in 1996. Performing in full Kiss make-up and costumes, Mini Kiss was recently featured during the Super Bowl in a Dr. Pepper ad and has performed all over the world earning a cult following.”

Opening for Mini Kiss will be Toledo’s own Polka Floyd, a Pink Floyd tribute band performing their songs polka style.

“This is going to be one fun night in Promenade Park,” said Smoke on the Water Committee Chairman Chris Kozak in the release. “Our entertainment committee has done a tremendous job in securing Mini Kiss to perform in Toledo. We know the legions of the ‘Kiss Army’ will be out in full force enjoying the music, enjoying ribs and supporting our local chapter of the American Red Cross.”

Additional headliners and a full entertainment line-up, featuring several local bands will be announced shortly.

Sponsors for Smoke on the Water Ribs for the Red Cross include Columbia Gas of Ohio and KeyBank, Heartland Health Care, Mercy, Labatt Blue, Mike’s Hard Lemonade and Heineken. Media partners include Toledo Free Press, FOX Toledo and Cumulus Toledo stations K100, 94.5, 93.5, 106.5 The Zone, Star 105, 1470 and 1560.

For more information, or to purchase presale tickets, call (419) 329-2619.

The Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority received a $15 million Department of Energy grant April 21.

Port Authority President and CEO Paul Toth and Mayor Michael Bell accepted the grant from Vice President Joe Biden at 1 p.m. this afternoon in Washington, D.C.

The grant will allow the Port Authority to establish an Advanced Energy Utility (AEU) within the City of Toledo to implement the wide-scale use of alternative energy practices and solutions in residential, commercial, industrial and government facilities.

“It’s a great day for Toledo as we worked with a lot of partners to put this grant together in a short amount of time. It’s the culmination of a collaborative effort in this region,” Toth said in a conference call from Washington before the presentation.

The AEU will begin in the City of Toledo and will be expanded to other cities and townships within Lucas County. The program could be expanded to all 28 counties that are within the financing jurisdiction of the Port Authority, said Toth.

“It will change the way we use energy in our region and have a tremendous impact on our community,” Toth said.

The Port Authority will utilize the Northwest Ohio Bond Fund and other financing mechanisms to investment as much as $300 million in energy efficiency and alternative energy improvements in the region over a three-year period. The NW Ohio Bond Fund was established in 1988 with $6.5 million but has been leveraged to provide $203 million in bonds with no defaults, according to Toth.

“We’re the first in the State of Ohio to have such a unique financing tool that could become a model for the rest of the country,” Toth said.

“We should recognize the Port Authority for its leadership in establishing this Advanced Energy Utility project to obtain these energy funds through the federal Recover Act,” said Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur during the conference call before attending the formal announcement.

Toledo was one of 25 communities to receive recovery funds for energy efficiency projects. The only other community in Ohio to receive a grant was Cincinnati, according to Kaptur’s office.

The Center of Hope Family Services (CHFS) is hosting “GLAM 2010,” a luncheon and style show, to raise money for its Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School.

Freedom School, which has operated in Toledo since 2007, provides literacy focused summer and after-school curriculum. The school has successfully helped more than 150 individuals ages 5 to 14 years old.

According to a news release, children who attend CHFS Freedom Schools score higher on standardize reading achievement tests and improve their reading skills than children not enrolled in the after-school program. Additionally, parents have reported their children having a greater love of learning.

“GLAM 2010” features prizes for “the most glamorous, unique, elegant, fabulous and best vintage hats worn.”

The luncheon is April 24, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., at the Toledo Botanical Garden Terrace Room, 5403 Elmer Drive.

Tickets for the luncheon are $100. To purchase tickets or make a donation contact CHFS at (419) 241-4345, or online at www.cohfs.org.

To Dena Monroe, inspire is not just the name of her company, it’s a part of her job description.
Monroe, 28, is the owner and artistic director of Inspire Dance Company LLC located in Sylvania. The company, which opened in August of 2009, instructs dancers ages 3 to 18 years in styles ranging from lyrical to hip-hop.
A Toledo native, Monroe started her professional career in Orlando, Fla. after graduating from high school in 2000.
After a semester at UT, Monroe moved to Orlando where she participated in a six-month business internship with Walt Disney World’s college program. Her six-month visit became a four-year residency after completing her Disney internship and obtaining a job dancing, choreographing and performing with Universal Studios.
“I got to meet so many people in the industry at Universal,” Monroe said. “Not only did I get to do shows for Universal, I got to do so many shows outside of it.”
Some of those opportunities included choreographing for rock ‘n’ roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis’ daughter, training with Emmy-nominated choreographer Glenn Douglas Packard and instructing at the Central Florida Christian Academy of Performing Arts.
Monroe then returned to Northwest Ohio.
“Dancing is so hard on the body, I knew I needed my backup plan,” Monroe said. “And the only way I could afford to go back to school was to humble myself and come home.”
Rather than return to UT, Monroe enrolled at the Healing Arts Institute and completed a degree in massage therapy. She continued instructing at two area dance studios but after three years in the Glass City, relocated to Scottsdale, Ariz.
There Monroe was offered and accepted her “dream job” after guest instructing one class at Plumb Performing Arts Center.
“I was really only there six to seven months,” Monroe said. “But in that time frame, I’ve never learned so much in my entire life. I loved how they ran things, so it was like, okay, this is the picture I want to take and this is what I want to create back in Toledo.”
Monroe said her decision to come back to Toledo was made after learning a close family member’s battle with cancer had significantly worsened. That family member’s death was the inspiration behind her entrepreneurship.
Monroe said, “I had an epiphany and thought that if one woman could have such an impact on my life, I wanted to make an impact on children’s lives. The talent I knew I could use was dance.”
The self-proclaimed perfectionist said she often works 60 to 70 hour weeks and is learning to enjoy the process of improving her business. Since opening Inspire, her client base has fluctuated between 80 and 100 dancers.
“I really thought I was going to start with 30 kids and it would be a very slow learning year and I could figure things out,” Monroe said. “But apparently somebody had a different plan.”
Aside from dance, Monroe is the official massage therapist for the Toledo Walleye, a position she said, like many other opportunities in her life, simply “fell into her lap.”
Now that she’s returned, Monroe said she’s “finally ready to put her roots down” and plans to stay in Toledo indefinitely. Her future plans include finding a better balance between massage therapy and dance, expanding her business and potentially hiring a studio manager to aid with the business aspect of her company.
“I loved the weather in Orlando; I loved the weather in Phoenix. I didn’t mind coming back to Toledo though because I really believe there is such potential here. I want to be one of the people that help bring out that potential.”
For more information on Inspire Dance Company, visit www.inspiredance.net.