ABLE Act: Equal Opportunities For Those With Disabilities

Nineteen-year-old Jake Gehringer is like any other young adult.  Last year he was Homecoming King, he likes to play video games and he has a job.

“Me, I’m a teach aide,” Gehringer said.

Jake’s also working to pass the Achieving a Better Life Experience or ABLE Act.

ABLE Act is an amendment to the 529-savings tax plan.

“It will allow people with intellectual disabilities, people with disabilities in general, to save for their future just like any other person is allowed to,” said Denise Gehringer, mother of Jake.

Under the current law, people with intellectual disabilities can’t have more than $2,000 in their name or else they become ineligible to Social Security Benefits.

“And as you know, $2,000, in this day and age, is not a lot of money,” said Sherri Harnisch, president of the board of the Down Syndome Alliance of the Midlands.

Harnisch believes the ABLE Act will pass.

“It has more than 85% of Congress supporting it,” Harnisch said.  “We’re not asking Congress to create a new program, we’re not asking for a handout, we’re just asking Congress to allow an opportunity to set up an account.”

An account that will allow people like Jake to have more opportunities.  Mother Denise Gehringer sums it up well:

“This will allow him to have support and services, be a hard working tax-paying American, contribute to society like he’s able to do and live a happy, healthy fulfilled life like the rest of us hope to do.”

Content Marketing: How Social Media Has Changed MLM Business

The way we advertise and market products has changed.  The way that businesses communicate with customers has changed.

With social media, people have been able to run their own businesses from the comfort of their homes.  Because they can reach a number of customers over Facebook and Twitter.  In this paper, I focus specifically with Facebook and how MLM distributors have been able to market products to Facebook friends without those friends realizing they are being marketed to.

Below is a URL linking to my SlideShare presentation of a research paper I wrote for my Social Media Metrics class.  The paper talks about content marketing and how social media has changed online businesses— specifically MLM businesses.

The influence of Content Marketing from Elizabeth Ryan

Enjoy!

Insurance Dispute Brings Inconvenience in the Metro Area

                                              vs.                                                 

The insurance dispute between the Catholic Health Initiative and Blue Cross Blue Shield is not only personal for Sarah Pope.

“I was diagnosed with hypo-thyroid,” Pope said.  “I’m only allowed to go to the hospital four times a year.”

It’s affected her professionally as well.  An insurance patient advocate at Children’s Hospital, the mother of one lost her job when the contract between the two hospitals ended.

“We had the Alegent contract and that’s the one that I worked until CHI took over, and they took everything in-house, we we lost our contract with Alegent,” Pope said.

Blue Cross Blue Shield says there is only one reason for this dispute.

“CHI health facilities here in Omaha cost 10-30% more than the other hospitals here in Omaha,” said Andy Williams, marketing coordinator for Blue Cross Blue Shield.

While CHI CEO Cliff Robertson disagrees with “the way that BCBS intends to maintain lower costs, with no concern for quality.”

Williams said BCBS would take CHI back.

“We really do want their facilities and their doctors in our network, but at the right price.”

There’s no denying this dispute has caused an inconvenience around the metro area, but there is some good news.  Patients suffering from HIV/AIDs, cancer, or women in their second or third trimester of pregnancy can apply to stay with their same doctors.  Both CHI and BCBS agreed to that.

Stepperette’s Take On The World Competition— And More

Lifting team mates in the air.  Leaping across the floor.  And twirling a fourteen inch baton in the air, Sue’s Stepperettes are determined to reach “the highest level possible for our sport,” said Tami Koel, associate director of the Stepperettes.

The girls practiced five nights a week, it seemed like their rehearsals were constant.

“The girls were like sisters, I mean there were blood, sweat, tears, for sure.  I mean there were injuries!” Koel said.

The Stepperettes received a once in a lifetime bid.

“We competed for a world championship, and we ended up winning,” said Claire Begley, senior team member.

“To put on a ‘Team USA’ warm up, it’s like the Olympics, absolutely like the Olympics,” Koel said.

The Stepperettes journey to a world championship was even turned into a documentary.

“It was cool having people like, follow us around,” Begley said.  “Because it’s interesting, nobody really knows a lot about baton, so they just wanted to spread the word and get it out there.”

The production company Virtual Knowledge Inc. followed the Stepperettes throughout their journey to Worlds.

“We ended up being World Champions, so luckily the documentary had a happy ending,” Koel said.

‘Twirl Girls’ will premiere on NET2, November 17th, at 9 p.m.

To watch the trailer of ‘Twirl Girls’ head to http://twirlgirlsmovie.com.

“Phobia” Takes Extreme Measures to Scare

There are eight major haunted houses in Omaha.  ‘Nightmare on Q Street’ has added a controversial element to their attraction:  Phobia.

“Phobia is the top secret attraction that everyone is talking about,” owner Shaun Rosen said.  “I can tell you that you have to literally face your fears, you do sign a waiver because it’s so intense.”

In Phobia you are required to eat something, drink something and do something.

“It changes up every half hour, so what I tell you now could be different than when you come down,” Rosen said.

Besides scaring people, there’s another aspect of Phobia that makes it special.

“We’re the only money back haunt in the entire midwest,” Rosen said.

If you make it through, you get your money back.  But most people, like Scott Tilton, don’t make it.

“The first challenge was the easiest one,” Tilton said.  “It was eating something, real chewy, real griss-ly.”

It was the drinking challenge that stopped Tilton.

“Yeah they give you a taste test of what’s in the glass,” Tilton said.  “It was really spicy, really hot.  But then it had some chunks…”

So far only 35 out of about 1,000 people have made it through Phobia.  Keeping it exclusive is something important to Rosen.

“We just constantly think of ways to kind of ‘up the aunty’ if you will,” Rosen said. “We just introduce ideas that nobody else has done.”

“Omaha Live!” Highlights Talent Around the Metro

“It’s just something we’ve always been passionate about,” said Ben Tompkins, co-creator of Omaha Live! “We love to perform we love to make people laugh, we love to be goofy, we love to wear makeup.”

Satire and comedy skits are the focus of a new weekly variety show, Omaha Live!

“It’s such a rare, unique opportunity,”  Matt Tompkins, co-creator of Omaha Live! said.  “Nobody has ever done a local sketch comedy show in Omaha.”

Brothers Matt and Ben Tompkins write, edit, shoot and star in the show.  Each week they shoot skits around Omaha along with a cast of local comedians.  It all started as a conversation with WOWT’s general manager Vic Richards.

“They’re big supporters of everything local and they realized more so recently that we’ve lost touch of the local scene, especially in television,” Ben said.

Omaha Live! is also a great way for local comedians to show off their skills.

“I try to be an actor as much as I can be I guess,” actor Neil Vilwok said.  “In Omaha it’s a little more difficult than it is in other places.”

Vilwok hope Omaha Live! will continue for a second season.

“We’d really like to keep going with it, because there is a lot of development we could do with it,” Vilwok said.  “There’s a lot of different projects that we can do with Omaha.”

Producing and starring in the show is tough, but Matt thinks it’s worth it.

“It’s a long road to get to where you want to go, but once you get there it’s like picking that apple off a tree and taking a big juicy bite,” Matt said.

Neurotherapy: An unlikely alternative

Jennie Cote, mother of two, wanted her life back.

“I was in a cocoon, under six blankets, in my bed, in the dark,” Cote said.

Her migraines kept her away form her kids.

“My kids didn’t get to see me…unless they came in the room,” Cote said.  “And then they had to be quiet.”

When her prescription drugs weren’t working, she turned to neurotherapy, an alternative medicine that was discovered thirty years ago.

So what is neurotherapy?

“It tracks the electricity of the brain and starts to train the brain to do normal EEG work,” said Scott Carlson, a licensed mental health professional and neurotherapy counselor at Alternatives: Center for Conscious Health.

In a typical neurotherapy session, the health professionals (doctors or counselors) take sensors and attach them to the patients head.  With the sensors, they can see brain wave activity and can actually tell which waves are acting incorrectly.

“We look at troubled sites and with those troubled sites we know that waves will be either going too slow or too fast,” Carlson said.  “Then we train those sites to get better by having kids and adults play games.”

By playing games, the patients are re-training their brains to focus.  This therapy can be done with people who have issues with ADD, ADHD, insomnia, memory loss, PTSD, depression, and migraines.  Carlson recommends 40 sessions and says after completion the patient can be healed from their mental disorder.  This therapy would eliminate the need for continued prescription drug use.  According to Carlson, there is no dependency with neurotherapy.  Once a patient is done, they’re done.

Here’s the catch:  Each session costs $150 and insurance coverage is not yet available.

But Jennie Cote says it’s worth the money.

“I’m glad we decided to do it, because it gave me…life,” Cote said.

Enterovirus D68 Hits Omaha

Omaha is no longer immune to Enterovirus D-68, the respiratory infection that has sent children to hospitals around the U.S.

“We’re super scared about it, just because I was like ‘Oh, I don’t want him to get sick again,'” said mom Tiffany Davis.

Tiffany Davis, mother of 5-year-old Xavier has been especially cautious.  Xavier has asthma, which makes him more vulnerable to the virus.

“Those with asthma they already have difficulty breathing and their lungs are affected by their disease,” said Dr. Adi Pour of the Douglas County Health Department.  “I think they are just more susceptible to this virus.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control, Enterovirus D-68 has been reported in 24 states.  So what should parents do to make sure their kids stay healthy?

“At this time I would say anybody who has child with asthma should make sure they are up to date on their asthma medication, on their inhalers, that the children know what needs to be done, and caregivers know what needs to be done,” Dr. Pour said.

Douglas County Health Department recommends washing hands and keeping kids that are sick home from school so this virus doesn’t continue to spread.

Contact the reporter:

Elizabeth Ryan: ekryan@unomaha.edu

What I’ve learned about France in 28 Hours

1).  Ze French do not mind if they cut you line.

I’ve waited in many lines since being here—baggage claim, customs, buying tickets, getting on trains.  Almost every line I’ve been in, some French senior citizen has cut in front of me.  Granted, that person usually looks like they don’t have much longer to live, so why would they waste time standing in line when they can cut in front of an American who can’t argue with them because she didn’t bother to learn French before coming to France?  Also, French people of any age do not mind walking between you and your friend if you’re standing on a sidewalk.  It seems that walking around people is stupid, it’s better to walk in between.  They’ve kinda got a point.  

2).  Ze French like the sound of their phone’s ringing. 

When I’m in a public place and my phone rings, I immediately scold myself for not putting it on vibrate and squirm around as quick as I can to silence it.  I survey the room and look at anyone I’ve disturbed and whisper “I’m sorry” and give a sheepish look.  

Here’s what I imagine happens in ze French brain when their phones ring:

*ring ring de la la la ring*

“Ohh would you listen to that, there is music!”

*ring ring de la la la ring*

“Oh no wait, that’s my phone :)” 

*Ring Ring De La La LA ring*

“Now where could I have possibly put that?  Purse, pocket, hmmmmm…”

*RING RING DE LA LA LA RING*

“Oh well here it is!  In front of my face.  Jean Pierre is calling.  I think I should let my phone ring one more time.”

*RING RIIIII*

“Bonjour?”

Seriously, the good people of France must love how their phones sound because they will not answer them until the last possible second.  

3).  French women do not wear a lot of makeup.  A tradition I should partake in.

4).  French women do not wear bras.  A tradition I should partake in?

5).  If the French women are wearing bras, the bra is not doing its job.

6).  And finally, when a French dog barks, it says “Le woof, le woof”.  

 

*Author’s note: I love France and French people. None of this post is meant to insult, only recording what the author has learned.  Don’t be mad, if you’re french and reading this, you are clearly more brilliant than the author because she can’t speak a second language and went to France by herself and got lost for an hour or two.*

Omaha’s Got Magic: Joe Brogie

Some talents are easy for anyone to spot.  A dancer soaring across a stage or a singer filling a room with music.  But some talents are more subtle.  Making magic appear in our modern world is a completely different kind of talent.  Anyone watching magician and hypnotist Joe Brogie work his magic (literally) can’t deny that he’s got a true talent for magic.

Brogie says he got a knack for magic when he was in elementary school.  He would learn card tricks and use them to connect with classmates.  He kept studying and practicing magic all throughout high school and in college.  He attended Wayne State College studying Biology.  After college, he decided to move to Omaha to make a name for himself.

Today, Brogie performs his shows at corporate events, post-proms, graduation parties, formals and more.

To see where Joe is performing next, check out his website at:

http://www.joebrogielive.com/

Check out his video here: