PIE a la mode
Spring, 2001
Contents:
We’ve undergone several changes in the past few months, including setting up two new advisory committees, moving to a bigger and better office space (in the same building), and having two interns come and go. Now that the dust has settled a bit, we’re excited to be able to be sending you the Pie A La Mode once again so that you can keep current with all of the latest developments at PIE
Before we go on, however, we’d like to “tip our hat” to former PIE employee Amy Free. The Pie A La Mode was Amy’s brainchild, and we appreciate all of her hard work in getting this publication off the ground.
As was mentioned above, one of the new developments at PIE has been the establishment of two advisory committees. An Administrative Advisory Committee was set up to provide guidance for decisions about general company business operations and financial issues. The committee meets quarterly and is made up of businesspeople from the metro Milwaukee area.
The second committee, the Deaf Advisory Committee, began meeting early this spring. Invitations were sent out to Deaf consumers, asking for their participation and feedback about PIE operations, and the individuals who responded became the initial committee. These meetings are open to the public; contact PIE for future meeting dates and times.
PIE has also moved to a new home during the past few months. Not to worry, though – we’re still at 6510 W. Layton, except we are now just down the hall in suite #2. Our new office is much roomier than the old one – and the coordinators can actually close their door and have some much needed privacy when the situation demands! Come by and take a look next time you’re in the neighborhood!
Two people who were most definitely in our neighborhood during these past few months were two PIE interns, Heather Ford and Wendy Nice. Heather came to us from UW-Milwaukee for a three-week internship during the winter break. Wendy was with us for 10 weeks and temporarily moved to Milwaukee from her ITP at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Indiana. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know both Heather and Wendy and would like to congratulate them on their recent graduation from their respective ITPs.
Last but not least, we’d like to say a big “thank you” to the UWM ITP students who helped out in our office over the course of this past year. We appreciate your willingness to help with whatever came up, whether it be making copies, phone calls, intra-office interpreting, or the like. Best wishes on your continuing education and/or graduation, as the case may be!
That about wraps up the latest “scoop” from PIE. If you have anything you’d like to see addressed in future issues, please let us know. Now just sit back, relax, and enjoy this first edition of the Pie A La Mode.
Pie A La Mode would like to have a recurring Q & A feature in each issue of our newsletter so that readers can think about interpreting-related questions and see how other interpreters feel about the issues. In order to make this a successful column, we need your help!
Each issue will have an interpreting-related question for you to think about and respond to. To respond – you can either respond via e-mail: pie_a_la_mode@hotmail.com (new e-mail: piealamode@tds.net) or send them to office c/o Pie A La Mode. You can then see your response and the responses of your colleagues in the next issue, along with another question to keep the column rolling. “When you’re working and find your mental energy divided – either being distracted by your personal opinion about the topic being discussed, or thinking about your grocery list – what techniques do you use to stay focused on the work?” We look forward to hearing from you…watch for the answers, along with the next question right here in our July issue!
Think about it for a minute, how much ELK do you have? Haven’t been hunting for any large furry creatures lately? Not to worry – ELK is an acronym for Extra-Linguistic Knowledge – which basically constitutes all of that information that goes beyond knowing the vocabulary and grammar of English and ASL. Think of it as that extra bit of information that allows you to do an outstanding interpretation at a tax seminar because you just finished doing your taxes.
One of the recurring features in the Pie A La Mode will be just that – an opportunity to share little bits of “ELK” that may help you while interpreting. We’ll have a theme for each issue and a short list of tidbits that may come in handy someday. And hey, if they don’t, at least you’ll be ready when you become a contestant on Jeopardy…
Since our Milwaukee Bucks did so well this season, here’s some ELK about basketball, found on the web at: www.firstbasesports.com/glossaries/bktgl.htm
defense: preventing the offense from scoring; the team without the ball.
foul: actions by players which break the rules but are not floor violations; penalized by a change in possession or free-throw opportunities; see personal foul or technical foul.
free-throw: an unguarded shot taken from the foul line by a player whose opponent committed a personal or technical foul it is worth 1 point.
guarding: the act of following an opponent around the court to prevent him from getting close to the basket, taking an open shot or making easy an pass, while avoiding illegal contact.
offense: the team with possession of the ball.
officials: the crew chief, referee and umpire who control the game, stop and start play, and impose penalties for violations and fouls.
overtime or OT: the extra period(s) played after a regulation game ends tied.
personal foul: contact between players that may result in injury or provide one team with an unfair advantage; players may not push, hold, trip, hack, elbow, restrain or charge into an opponent; these are also counted as team fouls.
possession: to be holding or in control of the ball.
rebound: when a player grabs a ball that is coming off the rim or backboard after a shot attempt; see offensive rebound and defensive rebound.
salary cap: an annual dollar limit that a single team may pay all its players.
screen or screener: the offensive player who stands between a teammate and a defender to gives his teammate the chance to take an open shot.
shot clock: a clock that limits the time a team with the ball has to shoot it; 24 seconds in the NBA; in college, 35 seconds for men, 30 seconds for women.
starting lineup: the 5 starters who begin a game; usually a team's best players.
team fouls: each personal foul committed by a player is also counted against his team; when a team goes over the limit, its opponent is awarded free-throw opportunities.
3-point shot: a field goal worth 3 points because the shooter had both feet on the floor behind the 3-point line when he released the ball; also counts if one foot is behind the line while the other is in the air.
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traveling: a floor violation when the ball handler takes too many steps without dribbling; also called walking.
turnover: when the offense loses possession through its own fault by passing the ball out of bounds or committing a floor violation.
upset: when a higher-seeded (better) team loses to a lower-seeded (inferior) one.
Have you ever found yourself confused between Layton Avenue and Layton Boulevard? Wondering what the difference is between Moorland and Moreland Roads in Waukesha? If so, we may have the help you’ve been looking for. Below are some driving-related websites to help you navigate to your next job…
Maps and Driving Directions
www.maps.yahoo.com is a very popular site for driving directions and maps
www.mapquest.com has a “Traffic” link where you can view current traffic conditions for major U.S. cities (including the metro Milwaukee area)
www.mapblast.com allows you to save your frequently used addresses (i.e., if you usually leave for jobs directly from home, you can store that and not have to enter it in the “leaving from” box each time you use the site)
www.maps.com offers the option of very simple to very detailed online driving directions and maps; also has maps available for purchase
www.mapsonus.switchboard.com is another site where you can register and save your preferences (frequently used addresses & landmarks, etc.)
Traffic and Road Construction Listings
www.dot.state.wi.us/dtd/hdist2/monitor/tt.html provides current Milwaukee area travel times. If your browser supports an “automatic refresh” function, the page will automatically update itself every 5 minutes
www.dot.state.wi.us/dtd/hdist2/cams.html provides live shots from Milwaukee area traffic cameras (yes, just like the ones you see on the news) to give you a ‘visual’ for current traffic conditions
www.themilwaukeechannel.com/traffic/trafficcongestion has an easy-to-read color-coded map of the Milwaukee metro area to show which routes have delays
www.randmcnally.com/rmc/tools/roadConstructionSearch.jsp just enter the criteria asked for (state; type of road; dates), and you get a comprehensive listing of road construction
*** HINT***
When you visit these sites for the first time, bookmark them and/or add them to your list of to your list of favorites so you can easily access them before you’re out the door to your next job!
Among his other hobbies, ex-Beatle Ring Starr likes to design furniture.
Most popular “American” expression on earth: “OK.”
U.S. law requires that Yankee bean soup be served in the Congressional dining room at all times.
What was the distress signal before SOS? CQD (“Come quick danger”)
Good news! A karaoke singing of “We Are the World” burns 20.7 calories.
Got any sunscreen? One fourth of the land on Earth is classified as desert.
Short-sighted: Nobody remembers who invented eyeglasses.
Polished, not stirred: before he became an actor, Sean Connery had a job polishing coffins.
No Butts about it: Nissan has invented an artificial butt to test car seats.
Dolphins sleep with one eye open.
Why does NASA send small animals into space? Among other things, to see if they throw up.