Your Money: A 529 college savings plan is a gift that keeps giving

Written by Sandra Block
With the holiday shopping season fast approaching, gift givers have a couple of choices. You could battle for a deeply discounted flat-screen TV or Xbox that will make the little ones squeal with delight.
Alternatively, you could stay home and invest that money in a 529 college savings plan. This gift will no doubt convince your children that there really is no Santa Claus, but years from now, when they graduate from college without student loans, they'll thank you.
Saving for college has never been more important. Federal and state budget deficits could lead to cuts in traditional sources of financial aid, which means there's a good chance there won't be as much available when your child goes to college, says Joseph Hurley, founder of SavingforCollege.com.
Meanwhile, tuition continues to increase much faster than the rate of inflation. Tuition and fees at public colleges and universities rose more than 8 percent this year, according to a recent report by the College Board.
There are lots of ways to save for college, but none offers greater tax benefits than 529 savings plans. Earnings on your investments grow tax-free, and withdrawals aren't taxed as long as the money is used for qualified higher-education expenses.
Anyone -- parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles -- can contribute to a child's 529 account. If the beneficiary of the plan decides not to go to college, or gets a full scholarship, you can make another child the beneficiary. Alternatively, you can name yourself the beneficiary and use the money to go back to school.
Other reasons to contribute to a 529 plan:
Plans have gotten cheaper, and investment options have improved. In the past, some 529 plans were burdened by high costs and mediocre mutual fund portfolios. In recent years, though, the 529 plan industry has matured, says Laura Pavlenko Lutton, editorial director for Morningstar's fund research group, which tracks 529 plans.
Meanwhile, state plan administrators have used the competitive bidding process to lower costs. Through August, the average annual expense ratio for 529 plans was 0.87 percent, down from 0.94 percent for the same period in 2010, according to Morningstar's annual survey of 529 plans.
Plans have added conservative options. Many parents and grandparents are understandably anxious about investing their college savings in a stock market that seems to have lost its mind. In recognition of those concerns, many 529 plans have added conservative investments, such as certificates of deposit and stable value funds. Sometimes, these investments pay a higher interest rate than you could get from a bank CD, Hurley says.
These options may be a good choice if your child is in high school and you want to protect money you've already saved, Lutton says. They're not a wise choice for parents of younger children, she says, because returns from ultra-conservative investments are unlikely to keep up with tuition inflation.
Remember, too, that most 529 plans offer an age-based portfolio that shifts your money into more conservative investments as the child nears college.
You may be eligible for a reduction in your state taxes. Thirty-four states and Washington, D.C., offer state tax deductions or credits to residents who invest in their own state's plan. These tax breaks have escaped state budget cuts, Hurley says.
The size of these tax incentives varies significantly. Indiana, for example, offers a tax credit worth 20 percent of the first $5,000 in 529 plan contributions.
A couple with two children and an annual income of $100,000 could save $1,040 in taxes by contributing $5,000 to their home state's plan, according to a Morningstar analysis. If that same couple lived in Arizona and contributed $5,000 to Arizona's plan, they'd save about $63, Morningstar found.
Families that live in states with no tax break -- either because the state doesn't offer one or the state has no income tax -- should look for a plan that has the best-performing investments and the lowest costs, Lutton says. A good place to start is Morningstar's annual list of top-rated 529 plans.

‘My aged dad inspired me to make money as a kid’

By Temitope David-Adegboye

Mrs. Kenny Olubanjo is the Executive Director, Entrepreneur Promotions Academy (EPA), an organisation that handles capacity building, organises exhibitions, conferences and provides market linkages.
Olubanjo, also a gospel singer, has done many programmes at Pan African University on management and entrepreneurship. In this interview, she reveals how she started EPA and why more Nigerians need to invest in themselves through capacity training.
Excerpts:
How did EPA come into being?
Well, the organisation was registered in 2006 but our activities were low-keyed.  However, three years ago, we started working fully on financial management.
What prepared you for this role?
I have been earning money for myself since I was a child. In those days, our parents believed that we must do one handwork or the other. When I was in the Catholic School, I learnt to do crochet for sale. As I got into secondary school, I was still doing it. During my days in the polytechnic, I started using twinges to make shopping bags. Sometimes, I lined them, sometimes I didn’t. At that time, I was staying with my elder brother.
His wife used to sell these bags to her American friends. So every month, she did the selling while I made the bags. I’ve always known that one can make little things like that to earn some money and take care of oneself. I also used to bake. And so I had always felt that I would be doing something for myself when I grow much older. I am of the opinion that anybody can do that too.
My father had me when he was 50 and so by the time I was in the higher institution, each time I took a good look at my dad, I felt that I was the one who was supposed to be taking care of him and not the other way round. I felt he was too old for that. So I told him that he should not give me any money for upkeep. So, that also helped me to strive harder at using my talent to generate wealth from economic activity. It worries me when I hear people say, “I don’t have a father or a mother to help me out, I don’t have anybody to sponsor me…” I tell them, “You can do something on your own.”
Many people will tell you one needs money and connection to do these things or that the environment then was more conducive to venture into things like that, unlike what obtains now.
My reply is, no! How much did I start with? There are more opportunities now than there were then. People only need to open their eyes and try to solve a problem. You don’t have to be fully engaged in it; you can start on a part-time basis first. And there are many people who are already doing it but there are many more that should be doing it. That is why I am interested in capacity building and training.
Apart from the fact that the young can engage in it, it can also help those who are growing older. Nobody can make you retire; you retire when you believe you need to retire. But you should plan your life, because by the time you retire when you are 60, be it from a government corporation or any other establishment, and God says you are going to die at 90, that leaves a gap of 30 good years. So, what will you be doing for those 30 years? One would just be miserable. These days, people don’t look up to their children anymore. One has to start making preparations for retirement.
Would you agree that Nigerians are not into entrepreneurship?
I will not categorically say they are not. But the number could be more. And it could be at different levels. What can be responsible for people not to want to do something for themselves? It is fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of “will I be able to make a success of this?” It’s basically fear. And secondly, not knowing what to do. A lot of people bring money and say they don’t have an idea of what to do. But money is not the first thing.
What’s the first thing one needs to consider?
The first thing is to ask yourself what the people need? What are the opportunities available? Doing business is solving problems. You provide solutions to people’s problems. It depends on where you are. What do the people there need? You then begin to look at providing that need and they will be paying you in return for the service that you render. I also sing; I sing songs that win souls and bless people. If I get to a place, and I think they have a need because of the situation they are in, if given the opportunity, I’ll sing to lift them and also sell my product that has the message. So, I’ll be solving their problems but also encouraging them to buy my product. So it depends on how you organise yourself.
As a CEO, what is it like working with the younger generation who many have referred to as “half-baked graduates”?
It is the reality of life. Sometimes, you feel like sacking them. But it depends on what you want from them. They know, here that I am, very accommodating but that does not mean that I’ll tolerate laxity. You can’t do everything on your own. You need people to help out. But what I’ve learnt to do is to look at the areas in which they can function. But if I feel that I am not getting what I want, I then let the person go.
Have you ever been under pressure to reconsider sacking anyone?
As much as I try to be compassionate, I also think that business is supposed to be productive. If someone is not being productive and I’ve done all I could to help, then, sentiments apart, the person would have to go. The wages must be paid and if we don’t work hard, we won’t get money.
Talking about paying wages, one thing many Nigerians would appear not to know how to do is managing money. How do you manage your money and resources?
Again, I prioritise. I look at what is important, what is less important and what can be avoided in totality. That’s one thing I learnt from my father and it has worked for me
So you just don’t dabble into things?
Sometimes, you dabble into things. It’s a risk. But you have to take calculated risks.
Would you say it has been challenging?
Honestly, in a way, it has been challenging. You want someone to work and you’ve done all that you could to make sure that you get the best and then, you find out that you can’t get it. Many of these ones (job seekers), I make bold to say, cannot speak English, many cannot write and then I begin to wonder, how they got through the higher institutions. But our system is so corrupt that some of them cheat all through. So if the corruption is dealt with, things will improve. Also, the desires by so many of our youths to get up without first stooping to find out how to go about it is something else. Because they see other people shinning, they want to shine too without knowing how that money came about?
What are the challenges of running a capacity building organisation in Nigeria?
Well, basically it’s just that people don’t like paying for training. They don’t see it as if they are investing in their own lives. They see it as if they are paying for your services alone. But I tell them, when you invest in yourself, you are your own asset and it’s always good to invest in it.
So, how have you managed to get around that?
The implication is that we had to lower our fees and then seek sponsorship from relevant organisations to support the courses.

Have you ever felt like quitting?
No. Rather, I’ve always felt like I should go on, because it is something that I love to do. I’ve been involved in training women who are not literate. And when you see them doing well and making it, the joy outshines the pain that one goes through. And so, it makes one want to do more. I have a friend who trained with us; after the training, she went to get a vast plot of land and started poultry there. Now she supplies big hotels. I’m very happy for her. She is still working full-time in an establishment. By the time she retires from that place, she will have somewhere to retire to.
That is one. Two, she has provided employment for other people, including graduates and non-graduates. She is an employer of labour too. So her days are fully occupied. You can’t find her with idle people because there is much to be done. Her week is booked with the regular work she does and at weekends, she goes to her poultry. So, there is no place for the devil because some people that don’t have anything to do will begin to perpetrate evil.
Definitely, that woman has found a mentor in you. Who are your own mentors?
My mentor is my husband. I have mentors in different areas but he is my chief mentor. For me to get to any level, my husband must, and is with me. And don’t forget that Jesus is my number one mentor, because I know Him and He speaks to me every day. In music, I also have mentors.
As a singer, how do you get inspiration for your songs?
I write all my songs. If I do any song, if it’s not written by me, then it is a hymn. I get them through the word of God. And I observe to get inspiration.
Tell us about how you met your husband.
We met at the fellowship through sharing of God’s word. We were relations for a long time. We are all from the same place – Ijebu. So we were like relations. And I used to even call him uncle.
So, how did “uncle” transform into husband?
(General laughter) Uncle became my husband. We were friends for five years without anything in mind.
Was it easy or difficult, having to now relate with him as a lover and then husband?
It was funny, not difficult. I was already used to him. So the transition was very natural.
How easy is it combining your role as a CEO with motherhood and being a wife?
It’s about prioritising. You just divide your duties and know what to do at any particular time. I also have helpers; so even when I’m not at a particular place at any time time, I have someone to do what I want done.
Do you still cook for your husband?
Yes, I do. But he doesn’t mind that someone does it. But even though I know he doesn’t mind, I don’t take it for granted. There are times he makes statements that suggest he’d rather want me to do it than someone else. At that time, I simply do it. As long as I am available, I try to do it.
What’s your typical weekend like?
Sometimes, depending on our schedule, we work. But otherwise, on Saturdays I clean the house. I was brought up to know that Saturday is cleaning day and I have stuck to that. So I supervise the cleaning as much as is needed. And then I rest, if I don’t have any other activity. The only other regular thing I do is to go for choir practice in the evenings. On Sundays, I go to church. On Sunday afternoons, I sleep. I stay in bed till 6 o’clock before going to cook.
Did you work elsewhere before establishing EPA?
Yes. But the thing is that I’ve always combined jobs. I’ve never really done only one job. I worked with the Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship International and I was a radio presenter at that time. I’ve worked with my husband in administrative capacity in his accounting firm. I also did other jobs here and there.
That must have been during when you were having and raising your children. How did you cope combining two or more jobs and also raising your children?
I had helpers.
But that’s one thing people tend to shy away from these days.
I say you have to learn to trust and then treat them right. If you treat them like your sisters and brothers, they would not want to be wicked to you. But where they see your children eating chicken and turkey and their own food is without meat, how do you expect them to treat your children well? They will always remember that their mother is bad to them and so they mete out punishment to the children. And any opportunity to harm you, they will not hesitate. So, trust them, treat them like you would your sister and brother and then pray for them. Believe me, you can’t do everything on your own. So you need to believe in others to help you out.
What sacrifices have you had to make to give your children the best?
Yes, it is that of closing early to attend to them. For example, now, I have an eight-year-old who I pick up from school. I have to stay with him till the lesson teacher gets home. I take my work home if there is much to do. I can work till late or sleep for a while and then wake up to work. But the sacrifice is that I close early to be with him.
Do you have any phobia?
One of my phobias is that I do not want to stand before God loaded. I want to empty myself and win as many people as possible for Him. I want to go back to Him empty. I don’t want to go to Him fully loaded.
What do you think people don’t know about you?
Many people do not know I talk. Maybe it is my look, but they think I don’t talk. But I do when I have to. It’s just that I also listen a lot. I’m not the quiet type. Sometimes I plan to talk and sometimes, I just keep quiet.
What has life taught you?
It has taught me to always put my trust in God. And then, that I should live right, because whether you have houses built here and there, or you have plenty or not, you will not take any along when you die. So there is no need rushing to acquire and acquire what you necessarily would not need. That is why I look at our leaders who steal public money and stash it away in one country or the other with pity. I wonder whether they ever think of what would happen, if anything happens to them today. 
If you are not working, what else do you do?
I just lie down to relax. I sleep when I can too.
Where is your best holiday spot?
Sometimes when people ask me that question, I tell them my village. But that is a joke. I don’t go there often. I think I prefer the comfort of my home to relax. That doesn’t mean I don’t travel, but I like my home.

As fewer buy homes, apartment construction surges

By DEREK KRAVITZ
AP Real Estate Writer

 WASHINGTON — Builders have found a way to make money in a decrepit home market: Apartments.
The number of permits to build apartments jumped to a three-year high last month. In 12 months, they've surged 63 percent.
Blame the housing bust, which left many people without the means, the credit or the stomach to buy. More people need apartments. The demand has driven up monthly rents. And apartment-home builders are rushing to cash in.
That said, the overall home market remains depressed. Builders are still struggling. They broke ground on a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 628,000 homes last month, the government said Thursday. That's barely half the pace that economists equate with a healthy market.
High unemployment, stagnant pay and waves of foreclosures have slowed sales of single-family homes, which make up about 70 percent of the home building market. Apartment construction may be surging, but it's a small portion of the industry.
More apartment building won't add enough jobs to reduce unemployment or hasten an end to the housing crisis. Still, it's contributed to the overall economy's growth for two straight quarters. And many economists expect apartment construction to grow for at least the next 12 months, as long as the economy avoids another recession.
"You're not going to see apartments as an economic driver," said James Marple, senior economist at TD Economics. "But it's renters who are clearly going to drive the demand for housing."
It's also worth keeping the increase in perspective: The growth in apartment construction is coming off extremely low levels. Last year, for example, only 146,000 apartments were built. That was the fewest since 1993. This year's pace isn't much more.
By comparison, in 2005, just before the housing market went bust, 258,000 apartments were built. Some signs suggest that builders could match that level over the next few years.
One such sign: Permits for apartment buildings, a gauge of future construction, have jumped more than 60 percent over the past year. That compares with just 6.6 percent growth in permits for single-family construction over the same period.
"The demand is there," said Mark Obrinsky, chief economist at National Multi Housing Council. "Rents have recovered, much of them to where they were before the recession."
Bob Champion, who runs a real estate company in Los Angeles, says he has four apartment projects in development. That matches the number he had in 2005.
It's quite a shift from 2006, when Champion's company stopped building apartments because the cost of land had skyrocketed.
Champion has raised rents about 4 percent this year. His occupancy rate is 95 percent. As recently as last year, his rents were flat, and he was dangling incentives, like a free month's rent, to woo tenants.
"People who can't afford to buy a home, rent," Champion said. "That's why the apartment market has stayed healthy."
Champion won't likely be building as many apartments next year, though. Land prices have doubled in the past two years, he said. Competition for apartment land has intensified.
For many builders, financing for a project remains a big obstacle. So is time. Apartment projects take an average of 18 months to build.
Still, fewer home buyers mean more people must rent. Nearly 4 million new renting households were created between 2005 and 2010, according to Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies. Under normal economic conditions, that's more than 10 times the number of new renters who would be expected in a five-year span.
Homeownership has fallen more over the past decade than in any other 10-year stretch since the Great Depression. Roughly 65 percent of Americans own homes. That's down from a peak of nearly 70 percent in the middle of the decade.
As more people have become tenants, landlords have felt emboldened to raise rents.
The average rent in the United States has risen 2.4 percent over the past 12 months to $1,004 a month, according to the real estate data firm Reis Inc. Over the previous year, rents rose just 1 percent. Between 2008 and 2009, they actually fell 2.7 percent.
AvalonBay Communities Inc., based in Arlington, Va., has raised rents by an average 6 percent in the past year. The company earned 11 percent more in rental revenue in the July-September quarter than in the previous quarter.
With nearly 54,000 units, AvalonBay is one of the largest apartment developers in the country. Nearly 96 percent of its apartments had been occupied by the end of September, according to its earnings reports.
The average rent at AvalonBay's cheapest complex under construction, in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood: $1,715. The builder completed 1,280 more apartments between July and September and started work on 933 others.
At Equity Residential, whose chairman is real estate magnate Sam Zell, rental income jumped 12.7 percent in the July-September quarter over the same period a year before.
Equity Residential is the nation's largest apartment owner. Nearly 25 percent of its apartments are in Phoenix, Orlando and South Florida, which were hammered by the housing bust and where its average rents are the lowest.
Yet Equity's properties there are faring well. The average rent for one of the company's 9,300 apartments in Phoenix rose from $837 last year to $925 this year.
Zell, whose net worth is roughly $5 billion, has publicly extolled the prospects for his apartment business over his office and retail operations.

Grant helps make Cobourg teen's home more accessible

By Karen Longwell
Funds used for elevator
COBOURG -- A Cobourg teen with spina bifida will soon have total access to her home, thanks to a grant from a local supermarket.
Elizabeth Brown, 19, was born with spina bifida, a condition which limits mobility.Elizabeth, a Grade 12 Cobourg District Collegiate Institute East student, uses walking aides or a wheelchair to get around. Her mother, Wendy Brown, said they moved to their Cobourg home a year ago from Colborne. The new home has ramps and is very accessible except for the stairs leading to a fully finished basement, Ms. Brown said.
Ms. Brown heard about President's Choice Children's Charity through a therapist at Elizabeth's school. She shops at David's No Frills in Cobourg and picked up an application. Earlier this month, she heard the family would receive a $20,000 grant to install a vertical lift platform, a type of elevator, in the home, said Ms. Brown. Elizabeth has not been able to access the basement since the family moved to the home. The elevator will give Elizabeth the freedom to use the entire home, Ms. Brown added.
"It is going to bring her a lot of independence. She can do what she wants, when she wants," Ms. Brown said. "It means a lot."
Elizabeth has one more year of high school and although she's not sure what she wants to do in the future, she enjoys computers.
"She is our computer wizard," Ms. Brown said.
President's Choice Children's Charity is a national charity that helps kids in their community, said David Crimi, owner of David's No Frills, in a press release. The staff at No Frills raised money for the charity by selling $2 "smile cards" in the store, where customers write their names on the cards for display, and through direct employee contributions.
"The staff have done a fabulous job raising money so we can help kids like Elizabeth, but there is so much more we need to do and so many more kids we can help," Mr. Crimi said.
President's Choice Children's Charity also recently awarded two other grants to local families for autism therapy and respite care.
President's Choice Children's Charity focuses on removing some of the obstacles that make everyday living extremely difficult, and provides youth with a renewed sense of dignity, independence and freedom by giving them funding for adaptive equipment, environmental modifications, therapy and more. The charity ensures 100 per cent of every dollar donated goes directly to helping children. It has awarded more than $46 million, helping more 6,500 families across Canada

Home and away: Graham Hollick's home is proof that great ideas can come from near and far

By Holly Williams 

 Graham Hollick has just come back from Nepal; he's working on a humanitarian project that encourages women's groups there, and in India, to make money through embroidering textiles. It's obviously a worthy initiative, but a quick glance at his home tells you this must be a cause close to Hollick's aesthetic heart too. He acknowledges the influence on his style, commenting that he "loves India" – a passion reflected in the masks and puppets that stride above his fireplace or adorn his walls.

Yet he also has a magpie-like approach, ever on the lookout – when asked if the framed pairs of Indian masks on the wall are a recent purchase from his travels, he reveals that they hail, in fact, from Camden market: they are taken from a book of children's masks he picked up there one day. And Hollick is as much shaped by the flea-market traditions of France as he is English jumble sales or Asian street markets .
"I lived in Paris for about 10 years so there's a big French flea-market influence," he explains. "Because I do a lot of styling work I'm always picking up things, at flea markets and second-hand shops, and when I'm travelling."
A creative director, Hollick works on diverse projects – from styling catalogues for the likes of The Conran Shop, Laura Ashley and Swarovski, to costume and set design for the theatre company Chicken Shed, to developing a range of high-end Indian fabrics used by fashion houses including Kenzo, Dries van Noten and Georgina von Etzdorf.
Some of the pieces he creates professionally wind up in his own home – that neon "yellow" sign was "something I did for an exhibition for a trade fair years ago". While it might appear at odds with the general rustic vibe, Hollick likes unusual juxtapositions: "I like change – I'll have some things up for only a couple of months and then swap them around. Eclectic would be my inspiration, really."
His travels also allow him to indulge his collector's habit – Hollick now owns quite an army of cheerily painted egg-cups. He has strict rules for his collection, though: they must be wooden, and they must have a face. These restrictions clearly make the acquisition of a new item all the sweeter: "They are quite hard to find but not impossible – I have about 40 or 50 now. The egg cups are something I've been collecting for 15 years."
Hollick is also unafraid to take a hands-on approach in getting his home just how he likes it. He created the distinctive blue shade used on the walls of the hallway: "That kind of Moroccan blue, I mixed myself – I think they call it milk paint, and you add pigment to it, so I did a mix of several different blues."
Hollick lives in Dalston, in north-east London, an area which has become known as the home of hipsters and young creative types. But Hollick is a Dalston old-timer – he's lived there for 14 years and seems a little ambivalent about the recent swarms of people moving to his neighbourhood in the past few years.
"It's changed massively – it was a bit rough round the edges, but it's just had the most incredible transformation," he says. "I've started to feel very old! The whole street is full of young trendy people. You wonder if people think you've moved in with them – but you can't exactly wear a badge saying 'I was here before...'"

If we don’t move the team will suffer, says Carlisle United chiarman

Carlisle United’s team would suffer if the club opted to renovate Brunton Park instead of build a new stadium, Andrew Jenkins has claimed.

The Blues’ long-serving chairman and joint owner said the huge £18 million cost of making United’s current ground fit for the Championship would have a damaging effect on the manager’s transfer budget.
Jenkins admitted leaving 102-year-old Brunton Park would be a “wrench” but claimed the new project, to build a 12,000-seater ground at Kingmoor through enabling development, was the only way forward.
“If we didn’t move, we would have to spend money on the existing stadium,” Jenkins said. “That would probably mean starving the playing side of the club.”
Managing director John Nixon, meanwhile, said the planned 12,000 capacity was the right size for United’s proposed new ground.
The design of the stadium would allow for it to be expanded if required, but Nixon said: “Our average attendances over the last two years are 5,200 so you have to realistic.
“It would be nice to get 8-9000, even 10,000, in the Championship. That’s probably what Carlisle as a city with 100,000 people is capable of supporting.
“That’s a 10 per cent return from the city. A city like Newcastle, with a million people only get a four per cent return with 40,000 crowds.
“So we do quite well and we’ve got to be realistic about the numbers and returns you’d get. Cumbria itself has only got 500,000 people in it.
“It isn’t a silly number. We thought 10,000 was too small but 12 is about right.”
Nixon also insisted United would have control over the design, specification and building of the new ground to ensure it met the club’s requirements.
“Having been to hundreds of grounds over the years we do know what we want out of them,” said the MD, who said the plans include indoor and outdoor training facilities which could be used by the local community.
“We want to make it very efficient stadium so if it wasn’t full we could close parts off and wouldn’t need to steward them.
“We are looking after the club, the fans and the future. The developer [Kingmoor] will look after the finance, the development partners and whatever goes with that, be it housing, commercial or retail. We don’t want to get involved in that. You’ve got to let the two do their own thing.”
Nixon said he was optimistic that the new stadium would not lead to traffic problems in and around the city.
“A lot of people around Warwick Road that will not be too unhappy we’re moving away, because of the traffic problems we cause every odd Saturday and some evenings,” he said.
“We’re going to have a little bit more difficulty getting people up and down but we would hope to have transport arrangement to ensure people could do that.
“There’s also the positive side that if away fans are visiting, they don’t come through the city centre, they come off at a motorway junction and come straight into the ground and straight away from the ground.
“There are positives and negatives but if we end up at the northern end of the town, the Carlisle Northern Development Route is just about to open and that connects it nicely with the west coast as well. Lots of things are going for it.
“And with hotels within the area being panned, it gives us a better overall offer to other clubs. A lot of visiting clubs can’t stay in Carlisle because we don’t have a really good four-star hotel. So they stay at Penrith or even Lancaster, which is awful. We’ve got to be the same as other cities.”
Nixon said a new ground would massively improve the Saturday afternoon experience for home supporters, at a time when football on TV was posing a big threat to live football audiences.
“Football is on TV every night and people don’t need to come to a stadium to watch football. We have to provide them with the best facilities to make that experience of coming to a live football game that much better.”
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk 

‘Deadliest Catch’ producer comes home to Brewster

By Rich Eldred Cape Codder

BREWSTER —

 Crab catching has finally got its due. Two months ago, after years of also-ran status, Brewster resident Paul Gasek collected an Emmy Award for Best Reality Series as executive producer of “The Deadliest Catch.”
The series, which chronicles fishermen in search of Alaskan king crab, also collected Emmys for best picture editing, sound mixing and cinematography in a reality series. In prior years “The Deadliest Catch” had been entered in the nonfiction category where it fared poorly against competition for PBS. Gasek shared the award with co-producer Tracy Rudolph.
“You have a myth,” he reflected. “You have a group of favored heroes who set out on a perilous journey in search of treasure and have to make it back. That’s a classic thing. Like ‘Jason and the Argonauts,’ it’s one of the oldest stories in literature.”
Gasek executive-produced the show for six seasons and during the last couple he was able to do some of the work out of his home on Stony Brook Road in Brewster.
The show is actually made by Original Productions and Gasek’s job was sort of a liaison between the network (Discovery Channel) and the show’s producers.
“The show was the brainchild of Thom Beers,” Gasek explained. “He’d gone up to Alaska. He does ‘Ax Men,’ ‘Ice Road Truckers.’ The first year with eight episodes did well and I got hired in 2006. They hired me because they knew I’d been a commercial fisherman. I got to know all the guys.”
Beers’ company also does “Storage Wars,” “A Thousand Ways to Die,” “America’s Toughest Jobs” and assorted other shows.
Gasek’s task was to help bring veracity to the fishermen’s series and to tone down some of the scripted portions. He departed after last season.
“I was down in Silver Springs, Md., and I spent a lot of time and money trying to get back up here. Last year I’d work a week on and a week off at home. My contract was up in July and I came home,” Gasek said.
He’s owned the Brewster house for years and is on the board of trustees for Brewster Conservation Trust, involved with seeding oysters in Cape Cod Bay, and he has followed local water issues.
“I really want to work in Boston. I want to teach, maybe work with Nova, that would be a dream career move,” he said. “I’ve taken time off.”
His own company is Stony Brook Films.
“It’s hard to make a living here but I love the neighbors and have a lot of friends here,” Gasek noted.
He is originally from Utica, N, Y. His father was a clergyman and bought a cottage on Cape Cod in 1957 on Point of Rocks Road.
“He wanted a place for us to grow up. Everything was there, birds and fish and the whole wonder of Cape Cod Bay. We fished. We clammed. We did all of that stuff. When I graduated from Hobart College in ’72, I came here and worked as a dollar a box man on a trawler in Chatham, The Bob and Bill.”
He later worked on the Pocahontas, Barney B., Gwendolyn M. and more. Today, returning to his roots, he occasionally goes to sea with Bill Amaru of Chatham.
By 1979 he’d gotten into broadcasting, working with Robin Young and Marty Sender on WBZ’s “Evening Magazine” as a sound engineer.
“I couldn’t make enough money sound recording so I’d fish from May to October,” he recalled.
He gave up fishing in 1984 and went to work as a freelancer for National Geographic.
“My first film was shot in 16 millimeter, storm chasing in Oklahoma. I did approximately 25 films for National Geographic from 1985 to ’91. I started my own company in 1992,” Gasek said.
He made educational films for National Geographic, Animal Planet, Discovery, The Learning Channel, then took a real job for the Science Channel when someone suggested he tap into his fishing genes and apply to produce “The Deadliest Catch.”
“There are two executive producers,” he explained. “One with the Discovery side and one with the original producers. The shows have to unfold in an interesting way. Some of the things the script would say were outrageous and I’d have to say ‘no no this is going on.’ So I kept it authentic and Original [Productions] got better at it.”
The show had a budget of more than half a million dollars and more story was shot that could fit into Discovery’s schedule. They had to pare it down and focus it.
“I can’t say I did it all. It takes a village,” Gasek admitted. “You can’t fake fishing, the boats, the weather. You go for the drama that’s there. We had brothers, fathers and sons. They were competitive. There was so much natural drama in life we just played to that. It’s essentially a male soap opera. Nobody cares about the crabs. It’s all about the people.”
While the fishermen occasionally hammed it up for the camera, they’re really too busy to worry about the filming.
“There’s no time to make it up. You got to go crabbing. You can’t fool around,” Gasek noted. “That strips away the artifice and posing. It’s kind of like shooting animals from a blind and the animals get used to you.”
He also produced five seasons of “After the Catch.”
“At 61 I’m not ready to retire,” he declared. “I want to do something significant. I think science education is important. Science is such a black box and we need to know more. I think science is more than a collection of facts. It’s a way of life.”