The Bruins won their first NCAA title that season, 30-0, and if you were Don Saffer, averaging 26.1 points for Westchester High School, you could look into the bleachers some nights and see UCLA's John Wooden or USC's Forrest Twogood and sometimes a coach from Stanford and Cal.

Sum]]> The timing couldn’t have been any better than to grow up 15 miles from UCLA’s campus and to be a high school basketball star in the winter of 1963-64.

The Bruins won their first NCAA title that season, 30-0, and if you were Don Saffer, averaging 26.1 points for Westchester High School, you could look into the bleachers some nights and see UCLA’s John Wooden or USC’s Forrest Twogood and sometimes a coach from Stanford and Cal.

Summoned to Wooden’s small office in the days before Pauley Pavilion, Saffer remembers how proud he was to go home and tell his working-class parents that he had been offered a scholarship.

"The meeting was typical of coach Wooden," says Saffer,discount tiffany necklaces, a retired Tucson educator. "Low key. No pressure and no promises."

Unburdened by a UCLA ultimatum, Saffer chose to take a final recruiting visit, to Cal, which happened to coincide with UCLA’s annual visit to the Bears’ Harmon Gym. Saffer spent halftime in Cal’s locker room, listening as coach Rene Herrerias gave final instructions. By happenstance, when the teams returned to the court, Saffer literally bumped into Wooden and the UCLA coaching staff.

Saffer, 64, laughs at the memory: "A few days later, my high school coach gave me a message from coach Wooden. It was basically,Beads necklace, ‘Are you going to be a Bruin or not?’"

He would.

"I wanted to play for the best and UCLA was the best," Saffer says. "But I had no idea of just how good we would be and that it would last for a lifetime."

By the time Saffer graduated from UCLA in the spring of 1969, the Bruins had won four more national championships, Pauley Pavilion had been built and Wooden had become a national legend.

And yet if you ask Saffer about memories of his former coach, who died Friday at 99, he talks not about the championships or the big games. He talks about respect and gratitude.

"Did you know I wore jersey No. 25?" Saffer asks. "That was Gail Goodrich’s number. If anyone should have had his number retired, it was Gail. As a freshman, I would sit and watch the varsity practice and I would just marvel. Sometimes Gail would shoot 20 shots and make 19 of them. He was an amazing talent."

After Goodrich led UCLA to back-to-back NCAA titles,shop for tiffany key rings, Saffer somewhat uncomfortably inherited No. 25.

"Coach Wooden treated everyone the same," Saffer says. "There was no star system. He expected us to be gentlemen and treat our opponents with respect.

"When we won the national championship my sophomore year, 1967, there was no big celebration. Coach Wooden wasn’t a celebrator. We had a low-key gathering in a hotel suite in Louisville. Coach was a gentleman."

Here’s what Saffer means by "gentleman": In 1970, my old school, Utah State,buy tiffany bracelets, reached the Elite Eight, matched against Wooden and the Bruins in Seattle. Because I was the team manager and a reporter for the student newspaper,necklaces, I made the NCAA tournament trip.

UCLA was bigger than life in those days, and nobody had a larger presence than Wooden. After the Bruins pulled away to beat the Aggies 101-79, I was commiserating in the losing locker room. Wooden walked in.

No one said a word.

He approached our star player, Nate Williams, a future NBA standout who had injured his ankle in the first half and was unable to play much. Everyone in the locker room watched.

"Young man," Wooden said, "don’t let this get you down. You will have better days and so will your teammates. Congratulations."

Everyone in uniform and even those carrying water bottles lined up to shake John Wooden’s hand. It almost felt like we had won.

Ten years ago, Saffer received a call from a former UCLA teammate, Mike Warren, informing him of a fundraising endeavor that would endow college scholarships for Wooden’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Wooden’s career ended long before college basketball coaches were paid millions of dollars. He had not had enough money to contribute financially to the education of his extended family. The coach told Warren, privately, that it was the one unfinished aspects of his life.

A few months later, Saffer and about 300 people connected to the UCLA basketball family traveled to the San Fernando Valley to honor Wooden and present him with the scholarship money.

Says Saffer: "At the end of the evening, Mike Warren asked coach Wooden if he felt he had left anything unfinished. Was there anything else we could do for him?

"Coach stood up, very sincere, and said, ‘I am still working on one goal. I am trying to be a better human being.’ He was 89. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room."

&]]> Funny how Ron Howard hasn’t made an outright comedy since 1999′s EDtv, especially given his sitcom-acting roots (The Andy Griffith Show,tiffany bangles on sale, Happy Days) and early lighthearted work behind the camera (Night Shift,cuff Links, Splash).

"It’s just a matter of my not locating a story and set of characters that were fresh and interesting to me personally," says the Oscar-winning director of 2001′s A Beautiful Mind.

Turns out all it took was an intriguing plot and a master of mirth like Vince Vaughn to persuade Howard to jump back on the laugh track with The Dilemma,cheap tiffany key rings, which opens Jan. 14 and is based on an idea proposed by producer Brian Grazer. The predicament facing Vaughn’s character: What if you suspected that the wife of your best pal and business partner was cheating? Would you risk a friendship and your livelihood by telling him,shop for tiffany money clips, or would you let it slide?

"It’s a little provocative," Howard says, calling from Chicago last week on the final day of shooting. "It will get people talking afterward, thinking about what they would do. And it was an opportunity to direct Vince in a kind of rock-and-a-hard-place situation that you want to see an actor like him stuck in." In terms of his other films, he says, "it’s a marriage between Night Shift and Ransom."

Not only did Vaughn get to collaborate with a high-caliber director (he says of Howard’s approach, "The film is entertaining and funny, but it also has some very dramatic stuff — and it moves like a freight train"), he also found a comic soul mate in Kevin James as his on-screen buddy.

"I thought, ‘Who does everyone want as a best friend?’ " Vaughn says. "He kind of reminds me of John Candy, filled with warmth and playfulness." Says James: "Vince was a guy I always looked up to. I feel like I have a new brother."

Winona Ryder is the spouse in question, and Channing Tatum is her apparent extramarital companion. Also in the cast: Jennifer Connelly as Vaughn’s girlfriend and Queen Latifah as a consultant for the auto design company run by the guys.

The downside of hanging out with Vaughn in his hometown? "I blew up 10 pounds,tiffany necklaces for sale," James says. "We went to every food joint in the city. He tries to drag me down to the dark side of eating when I am trying to be good. We ate the greatest Italian food. Polish sausage. Amazing basic hamburgers."

For the sake of his health, James eventually learned to just say no to his co-star. As a result, "I’m down 25 pounds now after swelling like a tick."

Michelle A. Connors, 39, pleaded guilty to two counts each of theft and receiving stolen property in connection with taking $163,358.93 from Mary O'Connell.

Judge Jacqueline L. Russell, who accepted Co]]> A Girardville woman admitted Thursday in Schuylkill County Court that she stole more than $163,tiffany,000 from an elderly Shenandoah woman from 2006 through 2008.

Michelle A. Connors, 39, pleaded guilty to two counts each of theft and receiving stolen property in connection with taking $163,358.93 from Mary O’Connell.

Judge Jacqueline L. Russell, who accepted Connors’ plea, did not immediately sentence her, instead ordering a presentence investigation. Russell did not set a sentencing date, but said she definitely would need more information before approving the plea.

"I had questions about the plea," Russell said. "I need more information to justify whether this is an appropriate sentence."

Neither prosecutors nor James G. Conville, Schuylkill Haven, Connors’ lawyer, would say what the proposed sentence under the plea agreement would be.

Russell could reject the agreement, in which case Connors would either withdraw her plea and take the case to trial or allow the judge to impose any sentence permissible under the law. The maximum possible sentence would be 14 years in a state correctional institution and $30,000 in fines.

Connors remains free on $5,000 bail pending sentencing. She said nothing while leaving Russell’s courtroom, and people with her tried to obstruct photographers attempting to take her picture.

Shenandoah police and the Schuylkill County District Attorney’s Elder Abuse Unit charged Connors with taking the money from O’Connell, who was 89 when the incidents allegedly started, between November 2006 and September 2008.

Investigators said the thefts occurred while Connors had power of attorney for O’Connell.

Connors took over the woman’s assets, which totaled $222,692.61, in November 2006 and had control of the money until Sept. 11, 2008, prosecutors said.

During that time, Connors,Beads necklace, who befriended O’Connell at Shenandoah Manor, bought items including a camera, computer and a cell phone using money from the woman’s account, according to prosecutors. Connors worked at Shenandoah Manor and O’Connell lived there,bracelets, prosecutors said.

Connors also made numerous ATM withdrawals and large counter withdrawals from the bank, including $5,000 that she used to fix a roof, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Connors also withdrew $10,000 she said was to prepay for O’Connell’s funeral. The prepayment was actually $7,110 and Connors never returned the remaining $2,890,key rings, according to prosecutors.

Conville and Assistant District Attorney Robert P. Frantz each declined to comment on the case after the hearing.

County Detective Dorothy "Dolly" Malec, a member of the Elder Abuse Unit, said the case serves as a reminder about potential dangers in the handling of money.

"I believe this is a good warning not only to senior citizens but to anyone," she said. "We give training to law enforcement,bangles, clergy and home health care workers as to what to look for."Defendant: Michelle A. Connors

Age: 39

Residence: Girardville

Crimes committed: Two counts each of theft and receiving stolen property

Credit: Republican & Herald, Pottsville, Pa.

Edgar Ibarra Jr. is a typical 8-year-old boy, who is into cars, airplanes and superheroes. He's shy with strangers but curious as to how things work. Meeting him for the first time, it is hard to notice that Edgar has spina bifida, a neural tube defect developed while in the womb.

Little did Edgar know when he woke up on Aug]]> S. Air Force Air Education and Training Command issued the following news release:

Edgar Ibarra Jr. is a typical 8-year-old boy, who is into cars, airplanes and superheroes. He’s shy with strangers but curious as to how things work. Meeting him for the first time, it is hard to notice that Edgar has spina bifida, a neural tube defect developed while in the womb.

Little did Edgar know when he woke up on Aug. 20 that he would be spending the day at Laughlin AFB with the 85th Flying Training Squadron and become a "Pilot for a Day".

"Every time we go in or out of town, he likes to see the planes from the base. So it was real exciting for him," said Edgar’s mother Angelic Martinez.

The "Pilot for a Day" program gives terminally ill or disabled children the opportunity to experience a day in the life of a pilot at Laughlin. Every "Pilot for a Day" is specially designed to meet the needs and wants of the child participating, which makes it a day like no other.

"We’ve been doing this now for about six years and every one of these is different,Atlas charm bracelet," said Sharlene Perez, Department of State Health Services,earrings, Children with Special Health Care Needs employee.

"We tailor the program to what he would dig and not dig. Every agency on base loves to get involved. It’s been an awesome experience," said Capt. Winfield Scott, an 85th FTS, T-6 instructor pilot and coordinator for Edgar’s day.

For Edgar’s special day, he and his family had breakfast with Airmen from the 85th FTS,key rings, watched a military working dog demonstration, took a tour of the fire department and air traffic control tower and explored a T-6 Texan II aircraft. He even received his own flight suit, cap,watches, coin and spare patches from other squadrons.

Following his favorite meal, pepperoni pizza, Edgar could wait no longer; it was time for him to fly his own T-6 simulator.

"He’s been giving thumbs up all day,Beads necklace," said Perez.

When asked how his day went, Edgar responded bashfully, "Good. Everything was good." For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

Just about every discount offer raises the same question, since it is genuinely difficult to assess what a fair price really is. In most cases, discounts are intended to ent]]> Sometime this fall,earrings, Target will begin offering a 5% discount to customers who use its credit card for their purchases at the chain. So is this a good deal — or not?

Just about every discount offer raises the same question, since it is genuinely difficult to assess what a fair price really is. In most cases, discounts are intended to entice us to spend more, not less. Target says,tiffany, for instance, that it hopes its offer will prompt its "better and best" customers to buy more at its stores, boosting its sales.

Therein lies my conundrum: My family buys most of its groceries at SuperTarget, and we spent close to $5,000 at the chain’s discount stores in 2009. So the offer would save us money — close to $250 a year — and I might be able to avoid trips to other stores.

Switching cards, however, would mean giving up the benefits of our travel-rewards card, which we estimate are worth $80 to $100 a year on our Target purchases. It also requires carrying around another credit card, paying another bill and — worse — trying to resist the temptation to buy extra, unnecessary stuff because of the discount.

While saving money is important, many discount offers have a darker side. Here are some of the ways we get lulled into thinking we are getting a good deal when we may not be:

– Membership has its delusions. In a 2007 paper on membership fees such as those charged by Costco, Harvard Business School professor Michael I. Norton and Columbia Business School professor Leonard Lee found that consumers equated the fees with especially low prices, even when the prices weren’t all that great. Assuming they were getting great deals, shoppers tended to stock up, spending more than they planned and buying "enough pasta to outlive a nuclear winter," according to the professors.

When we pay for something in advance, we want to get the full value. So those who subscribe to Amazon.com’s Amazon Prime service, paying $79 for a year’s worth of two-day shipping, are more likely to spend more on the website, just as we might pig out at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

– Loyalty is expensive. My own wallet is full of loyalty cards — Chico’s, Barnes & Noble and Staples,necklaces, to name a few — all intended to reward high-volume customers. The average consumer belongs to six such programs, says Joseph Nunes, a marketing professor at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. Once we belong, we are likely to spend more to qualify for a coupon or earn cash back — and then forget to spend it.

"All loyalty programs count on a certain percentage of consumers not redeeming," Prof. Nunes notes. In addition, he says, "once you get closer and closer to a reward, you want it more and more" and may spend more to get it.

– Free is seductive. Various studies have found that many people will respond more positively to an offer that appears free, even if it really isn’t. For example, consumers prefer a product that costs $5 and includes free shipping to an item that costs $2.50 and requires $2.50 to ship.

"When something is free, we have an overly excited reaction," says Dan Ariely, a Duke University behavioral economics professor and author of "The Upside of Irrationality." He marvels, for instance, at how long people will stand in line at Ben & Jerry’s on free cone day. But he asks, "How much time would you spend in line to get $1.75?"

In fairness, it is hard to compare an ice-cream cone and cold,pendants, hard cash. A couple of years ago, Prof. Ariely asked about 50 people who were buying a car at a dealership what they would buy if they didn’t purchase a car. Most didn’t have an answer — and none of them saw the cost of the car as equivalent to,rings, say, a tuition bill or multiple vacations.

Prof. Ariely says people should get more comfortable comparing apples and oranges — that is, an impulse purchase with something they truly value. Learning to weigh trade-offs is a good start to becoming a smart shopper.

So is making an extra trip to hunt for specials. Marketing professors Stephen Hoch, at the Wharton School, and Edward Fox, at Southern Methodist University, studied "cherry pickers," people who did most of their grocery shopping at one store, but then went to a second store the same day to take advantage of specials, such as soft drinks on sale. Even factoring in the extra time spent shopping, they found that cherry pickers actually can save big money.

Weighing the hassle involved also is important, of course, whether you are switching credit cards, surfing the Web for discounts or clipping coupons. When it comes to the Target card, I’m not yet convinced that the extra savings are worth the trouble.

"We are delighted to kick off our second annual Next Big Idea contest," said Gregg Kaplan, president and chi]]> Coinstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSTR) today announced that it is accepting entries for its Next Big Idea contest. Entrepreneurs with a viable business idea for an innovative,cuff Links, kiosk-based solution are invited to submit their entry for consideration.

"We are delighted to kick off our second annual Next Big Idea contest," said Gregg Kaplan, president and chief operating officer of Coinstar, Inc. "As a leader in automated retail, Coinstar is looking to reward entrepreneurs who have an innovative idea for a self-service solution and to identify high-potential companies for future investment opportunities. Last year we saw some great concepts and were pleased to name ecoATM’s solution as the winning idea."

Qualified entries to the contest will be judged on, among other things, the best solution for a consumer and/or retailer, potential market size and growth,watches, originality and practicality. Winning ideas may come from a service that doesn’t exist today, such as self-service coin counting that was pioneered by Coinstar in the early 1990s, or from changing the way an existing product is offered, like redbox DVD rental.

Entries are due by Sept. 30, and the winner will be announced at the Customer Engagement Technology World conference on Nov. 10 in New York City.

"We were thrilled to have been the winner of last year’s Next Big Idea contest and the recipient of the $10,Charm bracelet,000 prize money," said Tom Tullie, chief executive officer of ecoATM. "Our eCycling stations allow consumers to trade in used electronic devices for cash and store credit. We’re grateful to have been introduced to Coinstar through the contest last year. The initial prize money and subsequent investment by Coinstar is allowing us to build our business and broaden our market presence."

Entry forms and complete contest rules are available on Coinstar’s web site at www.coinstar.com/ideas, as well as complete judging criteria, odds of winning, and description of prizes. All submissions are due by 11:59 p.m., Pacific Time, on Sept. 30,rings, 2010, or when Coinstar receives 100 eligible entries, whichever is earlier, no purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Contest is subject to Official Rules. Contest Sponsor: Coinstar, Inc., 1800 114th Avenue Southeast, Bellevue, WA 98004.

About Coinstar, Inc.

Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR) is a leading provider of automated retail solutions offering convenient services that make life easier for consumers and drive incremental traffic and revenue for retailers. The company’s core automated retail businesses include the well-known redbox(R) self-service DVD rental and Coinstar(R) self-service coin-counting brands. The company has approximately 26,900 DVD kiosks and 19,000 coin-counting kiosks in supermarkets, drug stores, mass merchants, financial institutions, convenience stores, and restaurants. For more information, visit www.coinstar.com.

About Customer Engagement Technology World

For 14 years, Customer Engagement Technology World (featuring KioskCom & The Digital Signage Show) has delivered strategic, marketing and technical business solutions for organizations focused on enhancing their customer engagement programs through digital media such as kiosks, digital signage, self-service, digital out-of-home/place based media, mobile and other customer-facing technologies. Having recently been named by Tradeshow Week as one of the 50 Fastest Growing Trade Shows in North America for the fourth time, the event has maintained success by delivering critical content and strategies to ensure deployment success directly from end-user companies that utilize these technologies within their organizations. For more information, visit www.CETWorld.com.

But in the thick of August, who wants to think about buying school supplies?

MoneySmart folks, that's who. That's because they know it's best to scoop up the deals now when they're ridiculously cheap rath]]> Doesn’t the sight of back-to-school sales just make your heart quiver? Either it’s a pang of panic as you’re reminded summer will not last forever, or a shiver of hope as you realize the kids will eventually be out of your hair.

But in the thick of August, who wants to think about buying school supplies?

MoneySmart folks, that’s who. That’s because they know it’s best to scoop up the deals now when they’re ridiculously cheap rather than wait until the start of the school year, when some items will increase in price by more than 100 percent. Heck, even if you don’t have kids, who can pass up one-cent glue sticks?

Here are some tips to keep in mind if you partake of the deals:

Are your children at the stage where they need a graphing calculator? Lucky you. Those can cost about $100. But you don’t have to pay retail! There are plenty of deeply discounted,tiffany, barely used calculators available on Web sites such as eBay.com, Craigslist.com and Amazon.com – some for as little as $19.50 plus shipping!

Many stores offer loss leaders – super cheap items designed to get you inside. Watching the ads and shopping at several stores could save you a bundle. Better yet, keep track of which stores have the best prices, then take the ads to a store that offers a price-matching policy and buy everything in one place.

Don’t forget about promotional coupon codes if you’re shopping online. Web sites such as CurrentCodes.com, SlickDeals.net and CouponSherpa.com round them up for you. For example, you can use the code KMART5OFF50 right now to get $5 off a purchase of $50 or more at Kmart.

Do your homework when it comes to big ticket purchases such as computers. Comparison shopping is crucial. Use your newspaper circulars and Web sites such as PriceWatch.com and Froogle.com to compare prices and features and to read reviews.

Don’t stray from the list of supplies given by your child’s teacher. You may think a spiral notebook is just as good as a marble composition notebook, but the teacher may feel differently. That goes for brand names,Charm pendant, too. If they ask for Fiskars brand scissors, don’t think you’ll get away with buying something different.

If you don’t have a list, stick to buying just the essentials: notebook refill paper, pens,pendants, pencils, crayons. You can also check the school’s Web site to see if it has classroom lists posted there.

Check out warehouse clubs and online bulk buys, then gather like-minded moms to buy large lots of items and split the cost. If the price is right and you have a big enough group, you could save a ton.

Expect to return things. Keep everything in its original packaging and put your receipts in a safe place. Make sure college students don’t so much as breathe on a textbook’s shrink wrap. School bookstores are notoriously picky. If you’ve bought the wrong book and taken it out of its wrapper, it could be a very costly mistake.

And,earrings, as I tell you every year – check around the house for supplies you already have. Nothing beats free.