Columbus Foodie

KELSY WILLIAMS, PULASKI.(Neighbors Oswego)

The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY) May 11, 2006 Byline: Walt Wasilewski Staff writer ***** CORRECTION: May 18, 2006 The military ZIP Code for sending school supplies for Iraqi children published May 11 in Oswego Neighbors was incorrect. Here is the complete correct address:

1LT Kelsy Williams HHC, STB, 2 BCT, 4TH ID UNIT # 40503 APO, AE 09312-0503.

***** Not many years ago, Kelsy Williams was racing around as an all-star outfielder for Pulaski High School’s softball team and raising prize-winning lambs as a hobby.

Now, the 2004 West Point graduate finds herself in a far different place: the war-torn nation of Iraq.

Williams, a first lieutenant with the 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas, has been stationed there since November and will stay overseas about a year. She spends most of her days performing personnel duties, according to her mother, Carolyn Williams, of Pulaski. site pulaski high school

Kelsy Williams has created a channel to help her friends and neighbors back home reach out to the children of Iraq. She is asking for people to send pencils, erasers, book bags, crayons and other school supplies to her in Iraq. Visit www.iraqischools.com for a list of suggested donations.

So far, donations have come from the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Oswego, some youth groups, Pathfinder Bank employees and others, Carolyn Williams said. She and her husband, Steve, are members of the church. website pulaski high school

Send supplies to: 1LT Kelsy Williams HHC, STB, 2 BCT, 4TH ID UNIT # 40503 APO, AE 09314-0503.

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army 1ST LT. KELSY WILLIAMS, a Pulaski High School graduate, poses with Iraqi children near Al Haswah.

BY THE NUMBERS 600,000 The number of Iraqi children who have missed out on their formal education, according to a 2004 survey by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Iraqi Ministry of Education.

74 The percentage of children whose education has been interrupted that are girls.

24 The percentage of Iraqi children who drop out of school before completion of primary education.

311,800 The number of refugees reported in Iraq in 2004, the last full year for which the United Nations High Commission on Refugees has statistics.

Bulging belly buttons in babies usually go away after year

Chicago Sun-Times January 30, 1992 | Dr. Paul Donohue; Paul G. Donohue (STANDARD) Q. My daughter had a baby boy, who is now about a month old. He has a herniated belly button. It is about the size of a golf ball. I’ve had four children of my own and three other grandchildren and never experienced this. Should something be done? Please offer your opinion. website strep throat contagious

A. After birth, the stomach muscles surrounding the umbilical-cord entrance close naturally. When that closure is delayed or incomplete for one reason or another, a hernia, a bulge in the weakened area, occurs. This is very common in babies of low birth weight and more so in black infants than others.

Most umbilical hernias that appear before six months disappear by the end of the baby’s first year. Surgery is indicated only if the hernia has not disappeared between the ages of 3 and 5, if it shows progressive enlargement between ages 1 and 2, or if a piece of intestine has become trapped and cannot be freed.

Q. Just recently I found out that a young friend has a rare disease called Alport’s. Please tell me about this. see here strep throat contagious

A. Briefly, Alport’s syndrome is an inherited illness with two important signs – deafness and kidney disturbance. Although there is no cure, both the deafness and kidney disturbance can be helped.

Q. Is it possible to eat shellfish all one’s life and then have anaphylactic reaction to it?

A. Yes. In fact it is the usual thing to have a sudden allergy to something you have eaten with impunity in the past. This happened to me with penicillin.

However, anaphylaxis is an intense and dangerous reaction – breathing loss and great drop in blood pressure, for example. It is, fortunately, a rare allergy manifestation. You have piqued our imagination. Would you like to expand on just what happened to you?

Q. Is a strep throat contagious to others? I am a young mother who will probably have reason to understand strep throat.

A. Yes, it is contagious. This is why a youngster should be kept home until 24 hours after starting antibiotics and until fever has subsided.

Dr. Paul Donohue; Paul G. Donohue (STANDARD)

Turtle Soup; Jake Sutula’s Black Bean and Rice Salad; Emeril Lagasse’s Duo BBQ Ribs; Emeril’s Essence Creole Seasoning; John Witherspoon’s Baked Indian Pudding; Thomas Jefferson’s Ice Cream; Chocolate Ice Cream.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service June 25, 2001 | Coco, Arlene Here’s a historical recipe for Turtle Soup, taken from the 1939 cookbook of the Baton Rouge Junior League. You may substitute veal stew meat for the turtle.

TURTLE SOUP Select a turtle of desired size. Clean it well and cut into small pieces. If when bought, some of the inside is added to the meat, scrape well and cut small also. Fry a large onion in hot lard, when done add a spoonful of flour and let the whole brown nicely; put in the meat and let it fry awhile. Add tomatoes, the quantity of bouillon needed, and a glass of each white and Madeira wine. Season to taste with pepper, a few cloves and bouquet consisting of a couple of bay leaves, thyme and parsley. Lastly add 2 spoonfuls of Worcestershire sauce. Serve with toast bread.

Note: The following recipe serves 150.

JAKE SUTULA’S BLACK BEAN AND RICE SALAD 6 pounds uncooked black beans 1 bunch celery, finely chopped 12 to 15 carrots, finely chopped 2 large onions, finely chopped 1/3 cup ground cumin 3 bay leaves 2 ham hocks or other flavorful bones, optional 2 tablespoons dried thyme 2 tablespoons ground black pepper Uncooked rice Water In an 8-gallon soup kettle, saute onions, celery, carrots and ham hocks until onions are translucent but not browned. Add black beans and continue to saute for another couple of minutes. Fill kettle halfway with water. Add cumin, thyme, pepper and bay leaves. Cook this mixture with a very gentle boil, stirring occasionally, until the beans are just soft enough to eat, but not falling apart. this web site chocolate ice cream recipe

Add half the amount of rice compared with the mixture in pot. (If you have 4 quarts of mixture in the kettle, add 2 quarts of uncooked rice.) Remove the kettle from the heat and let stand until rice is tender. Remove bay leaves and ham hocks. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If you want a little more zip, chop up your favorite peppers and add to the mixture when you first start to saute. Serves 150.

_ From Duluth chef Jake Sutula.

EMERIL LAGASSE’S DUO BBQ RIBS 2 full racks of 3/down pork spare ribs } cup Essence (recipe follows), more if needed 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 2 slabs baby back ribs 2 cups white vinegar 2 tablespoons Tabasco sauce 3 tablespoons brown sugar Dash of Worcestershire sauce Salt and fresh black pepper Prepare the charcoals according to the directions on the grill for slow barbecuing. In a mixing bowl, combine the Essence with the sugar. Blend thoroughly. Season the spare ribs entirely with the Essence mix. It is best to season the ribs, cover and refrigerate overnight or at least for 12 hours. But this recipe is great just seasoning and placing right on the grill.

Place the ribs on the grill and cook for about 3 hours, turning occasionally. Remove the ribs from the grill and slice. Season the baby back ribs with salt and pepper. In a mixing bowl, whisk the vinegar, Tabasco and brown sugar together. Season the sauce with Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Place the ribs in a large dish and pour the sauce over the top. Cover the ribs and place in the refrigerator. Marinate for at least 12 hours.

Place the ribs on the prepared grill and cook for 45 minutes on one side and flip over. Continue to cook for 45 minutes. Feed the fire every 30 minutes. Baste the ribs every 15 minutes. Remove the ribs from the grill and slice. from www.foodtv.com EMERIL’S ESSENCE CREOLE SEASONING (also referred to as Bayou Blast) 2{ tablespoons paprika 2 tablespoons salt 2 tablespoons garlic powder 1 tablespoon black pepper 1 tablespoon onion powder 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper 1 tablespoon dried oregano 1 tablespoon dried thyme Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Makes 2/3 cup.

JOHN WITHERSPOON’S BAKED INDIAN PUDDING 4 cups milk { cup granulated sugar { cup cornmeal 3 eggs, slightly beaten { teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup molasses 1 teaspoon grated orange peel Vanilla ice cream Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a saucepan over low heat, scald milk and sugar. Gradually stir in the cornmeal. Cook and stir constantly until smooth and slightly thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in eggs, cinnamon, ginger, molasses and orange peel. Mix thoroughly. Pour into greased 2-quart casserole. Bake 1-{ hours. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Makes 6 servings. 3– From Elizabeth Leustek of Ely, descendant of John Witherspoon, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Another delicacy that made Fourth of July headlines _ in Charleston, S.C., in 1798 _ was “Iced Cream, of the best quality.” Ice cream purveyors set up stalls near theaters, museums _ anywhere crowds were heavy. Celebrating Charlestonians were advised to come early. Because of the heat, these cold-confection vendors did a lively business.

Although Gen. George Washington seems to have had the first ice cream freezer on record in the United States _ he noted that in May 1784 he spent `1.13.4 By a cream machine for Ice` _ Martha Washington’s numerous recipes did not include one for ice cream. Thomas Jefferson, however, made his as follows:

THOMAS JEFFERSON’S ICE CREAM 2 bottles of good cream 6 yolks of eggs 9 lb of sugar Mix the yolks and sugar. Put the cream in a fire in a casserole, first putting in a stick of vanilla. When near boiling, take it off and pour it gently into the mixture of eggs and sugar. Stir it well.

Put it on the fire again, stirring it thoroughly with a spoon to prevent it sticking to the casserole. When near boiling, take it off and strain it through a towel. web site chocolate ice cream recipe

Put in the sorbetiere (ice pail). Then set it in ice an hour before it is to be served. Put into the ice a handful of salt. Put ice all around the sorbetiere, i.e. a layer of ice, a layer of salt for 3 layers. Put salt on the coverlid of the sorbetiere and cover the whole with ice. Leave it still half a quarter of an hour.

Then turn the S. in the ice 10 min.

Open it to loosen with a spatula the ice from the inner sides of the S. Open it from time to time to detach the ice from the sides.

When well taken (prise), stir it well with the spatula. Put it in moulds, jostling it well down on the knee. Then put the mould into the same bucket of ice. Leave it there to the moment of serving it.

To withdraw it, immerse the mould in warm water, tossing it well until it will come out and turn it onto a plate.

From “Thomas Jefferson’s Cookbook” by Marie Kimball (University of Virginia Press).

Here’s a modern ice cream recipe, from Penzeys Spices’ summer catalog (call 800-741-7787 to receive a copy).

CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM 2 cups heavy cream 1 cup whole milk } cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa [ teaspoon salt Pour cream into heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to scalding temperature using medium heat. Scalding is the temperature right before boiling- there will be tiny bubbles along the outside of the liquid. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, natural cocoa, and salt. stir dry ingredients vigorously to combine and break up any small clumps of cocoa. Add the dry ingredients to the scalded liquid and stir with a whisk to dissolve. Move the saucepan to the refrigerator to cool for about 2 hours.

Pour chilled cream mixture into frozen ice cream maker and let it run for 30-45 minutes or until the mixture becomes firm. Transfer to freezer for at least 2 hours to finish the freezing process. Serve in chilled ice cream dishes. Yield 4 cups. Cooking time 10 minutes plus 45 minutes for mixing. Freezing time: 2 hours.

_From Penzeys Spices' summer catalog (800-741-7787) The magazine Gastronomica, a new journal of food and culture, recently told a story about the history of the Caesar salad, which was born on the Fourth of July, 1929: Caesar Cardini, chef at Caesar's Place in Tijuana, Mexico, ran out of food that way, rolled out the gueridons and prepared this bit of greenery to feed his Hollywood-based habitus. This recipe hails from "Williams Sonoma's Simple American Cooking" by Chuck Williams.

CAESAR SALAD 1 or 2 heads of romaine lettuce, depending on size, preferably with small leaves 3 or 4 slices French or Italian bread, each ] inch thick 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus { cup 2 cloves garlic Salt 6-8 good-quality anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained 1-{ teaspoons dry mustard 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1-{ tablespoons plain yogurt { cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese Freshly ground pepper Break off the leaves from the lettuce stalk, discarding the bruised ones and reserving large outer leaves for another use. Separate the smaller inner leaves and wash and dry well. Break into halves or thirds. Place in salad bowl, cover with a damp kitchen towel and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes to crisp.

Remove the crusts from the bread slices and cut bread into cubes; you should have about 2 cups.

In a large frying pan over low heat, warm 3 tablespoons olive oil. Using the flat side of a chopping knife, smash 1 garlic clove and add to the oil. Saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the bread cubes and fry, stirring and tossing, until crisp and golden on all sides, 4-5 minutes. Discard the garlic. Sprinkle the bread cubes with a little salt. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Set aside to cool.

Chop the remaining garlic clove and combine with { cup olive oil in a blender; puree until smooth. In a small bowl, mash anchovies with a fork until they form a paste. Add to the oil and garlic in the blender along with the mustard, lemon juice and yogurt. Blend at a high speed until smooth.

Add 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese and blend again. Season with a little salt, remembering that anchovies are salty, and a little pepper.

Add three-fourths of the dressing to the lettuce and toss to coat well. Add one half of the remaining cheese and toss again. Taste and add dressing or seasonings to taste. Sprinkle with the toasted croutons and remaining cheese. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

X X X Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

Coco, Arlene

Import of Indian movies should be restricted: Pak Senate Committee

Hindustan Times (New Delhi, India) January 23, 2008 Report from Asian News International brought to you by HT Syndication. in our site indian movies online

Islamabad, Jan. 23 — The Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Culture, Senator Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry has said that the Government should take all stakeholders into confidence before taking a final decision on the import and exhibition of Indian films in Pakistan.

According to The News, the committee suggested that the import of movies should be done without harming Pakistan’s religious and cultural norms and values.

The committee said that Pakistani producers must try to win their share of the large Indian market, as it was fertile enough to accommodate good Pakistani Urdu and Punjabi movies. go to web site indian movies online

The committee expressed dismay over cable operators openly telecasting Indian movies despite a complete ban on such movies since 1965.

Published by HT Syndication with permission from Asian News International.

NOT-so-EASY CHANGE

Smart Business Cleveland May 1, 2002 | Shryock, Todd Three years ago, Easy2 Technologies was known as Easy2.com.

Founded by John Bukovnik as an Internet business-to-consumer site, the venture was geared toward providing to consumers Flash-based multimedia presentations dial illustrated everything from how to install a ceiling fan to how to correctly perform a golf swing.

The concept we came up with was a family of Web sites all under the umbrella name of Easy2,” says Bukovnik in his company’s small office near the campus of Case Western Reserve University.

The overhead lights are off to reduce the eye strain that comes from staring at a computer monitor for long hours, and the view through the fourth floor win dow reveals a nasty late spring storm that’s dumping snow on Cleveland at a rapid pace.

“We had about 100 different Easy2 domains,” he says. “The Easy2 site would have been the main portal, with each of the ruche sites being a community-type site where we would offer die most impactful multimedia instruction available on the Web.” The revenue streams were supposed to come from advertising and sponsorship of content.

“We put together a business plan and received funding a little over two years ago to pursue this business plan and set out doing our first site, which was the home improvement module in January of 2000,” Bukovnik recalls, “We built up a library of almost 100 home improvement tutorials covering everything from hanging drywall to installing a ceiling fan.” The content was well on its way, but the once-sunny Internet skies had started to cloud By March 2000, the storm had arrived in full fury.

“In the spring of 2000, the Internet bubble started to burst in a number of respects,” says Bukovnik. “The marketplace was too full of sites that needed advertising and sponsorship revenues to survive. The venture capital dollars for business models pursuing a B2C strategy began to dry up.” The content was well on its way but the once-sunny Internet skies had started to cloud.

“The primary roadblocks were we couldn’t get our revenue streams to materialize,” he says. “Without the VC dollars, we couldn’t devote nearly enough marketing dollars to get people to the site. So we had a library of 100 home improvement tutorials, minimal traffic coming to our Web site, and a VC market, that wanted nothing to do with B2C companies that were primarily requiring ad revenues and sponsorships to survive.” Things appeared bleak Bukovnik had quit his job as director of interactive media for a major advertising agency. He spent seven months of full-time work researching and developing the concept. Ile went through a rigorous six-week process of presentations and interviews to land his initial funding from Capital One Partners. website how to install a ceiling fan howtoinstallaceilingfannow.net how to install a ceiling fan

And now, just as he was getting started, the entire market was crumbling around him. Internet companies were failing at an alarming Investors panicked and fled the market.

“I knew there was an opportunity here, and I was very passionate about it,” he says. “The Internet bust was extremely frustrating. I still felt users wanted the information and that there was a market need for it, but a business couldn’t survive on act revenues.” Easy2 was on the verge of being consumed by the storm.

“It wasn’t just me anymore,” says Bukovnik. “I had employees, advisers and investors. We had to be intelligent and logical and work quickly because the original investment money was dwindling and we needed to generate revenue.” The situation was a difficult one for any business owner who put in the sweat equity to get a venture off the ground and didn’t want to see it simply fall apart.

“My original baby needed (to be) overhauled,” he recalls. “My primary goal was to create a successful business, and the original concept didn’t work. The questions you ask yourself at that point are, ‘What do I do?’ and ‘What do I have to change?

The answer was evident in the firm’s sales efforts. Many companies that turned down advertising deals on the Easy2 site had indicated they would be interested in licensing the content for their own sites.

“We fought that urge for a little while because we wanted to stick to our dream of business-to-consumer content,” says Bukovnik. “But by mid-summer of 2000, we were at the point that we had to change something and had to change it dramatically if we wanted to survive.

“So we went back to some of the same people and struck content deals. In the summer of 2000, we had generated our first official revenue-not by bringing people to our site, but by selling the content we had produced.” The business had officially changed course in response to hostile market conditions that made the original concept impractical almost before it ever got rolling.

“At that point in time, we scrapped the business-to-consumer model entirely” says Bukovnik. “We thought we could do both for a while. We thought licensing might support us until we could get up and running with the B2C model. But eventually, we decided it would take too many resources to do both. Once we had changed, right away people were writing us multi-thousand dollar checks just for content, and we were done. We completely took down the consumer site by early fall of 2000.” Other revenue-generating ideas stemmed from the transformation. Some companies indicated they liked the content but preferred something specific to their products. As a result; the company started doing custom work.

“We could charge $5,000 to $10,000 for a custom module instead of $500 to $1,000 for licensing one,” says Bukovnik.

By fall of 2000, little Tikes and Moen Inc. were on board as custom content clients. Bukovnik found another revenue stream when Easy2 pitched the idea of Demonstravision, a multimedia presentation focused on the features of the product to help sell it All prior presentations had been done in a post-sale environment and were aimed at aiding in installation and assembly.

“By late 2000, our product lineup was pretty firmly in place,” says Bukovnik. “We had firmly completed our transitions from a B2C to a B2B company, with the common thread between them being multimedia instruction and product demonstration. In 2001, we basically honed our pitch and hit the ground running and added companies like Skil Tools, Rubbermaid and Coleman.” The Internet storm has passed, and only the strongest tech companies have survived.

“I’m proud of the content we’ve developed,” says Bukovnik. “The really frustrating part-and part of the attraction of starting the, business to begin with was that the entire economy at the time was designed to help us succeed. We had a good idea and the skids were greased, then the bubble burst. It was the most frustrating thing in the world trying to build a company in that environment.

“In hindsight, it was constantly fun. The successes make you overlook the valleys. I thought I was leaping into an Internet boom. I thought the issues would be rapid growth. Instead, the issues were how to transition a product and bootstrapping a business to survive.” Shryock, Todd

Fexofenadine, loratadine supported for reactions, but not chlorpheniramine.

Clinical Trials Week January 27, 2003 2003 JAN 27 – (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) — “The extent of the distribution of H-1-antihistamines into the skin and H-1-antihistamine activity in the skin are clinically relevant in the treatment of allergic skin disorders,” researchers in Canada report. go to website loratadine side effects

“In a prospective, randomized, double blind, parallel group, multiple dose study, we gave fexofenadine 180 mg, loratadine 10 mg, or chlorpheniramine 8 mg to 21 men (7 in each group). Before dosing and at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 24 hours after the first antihistamine dose as well as at 168, 192, and 216 hours after the first dose (12, 36, and 60 hours after the seventh and last consecutive daily H-1-antihistamine dose), we measured fexofenadine, loratadine, or chlorpheniramine concentrations in plasma and in skin tissue samples obtained through use of punch biopsies, along with suppression of histamine induced skin wheals and flares.

“Loratadine metabolites, including desloratadine and its metabolites, were not measured, and chlorpheniramine metabolites were not measured,” wrote F.E.R. Simons and colleagues, Winnipeg.

The researchers found that “all 21 participants completed the study. Skin/plasma fexofenadine ratios ranged from 1.2[+ or -]0.5 at 1 hour to 110[+ or -]74 at 24 hours, and skin fexofenadine concentrations exceeded loratadine and chlorpheniramine skin concentrations at each test time. This was reflected in significant wheal and flare suppression by fexofenadine in comparison with loratadine at 3 hours and in comparison with chlorpheniramine at 6 hours and 9 hours (wheal), and from 3-24 hours and at 192 hours (flare).

“Compared with fexofenadine, loratadine significantly suppressed the wheal at 192 hours, and compared with chlorpheniramine, it significantly suppressed the wheal at 9 hours and the flare at 24 and 192 hours. At no time did chlorpheniramine suppress the wheal or flare significantly more than fexofenadine or loratadine.” The researchers concluded: “In skin disorders for which H-1-antihistamines are recommended, these results support the use of fexofenadine or loratadine, and they indicate the need for reexamination of the use of chlorpheniramine.” Simons and colleagues published their study in Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (Clinical pharmacology of H-1-antihistamines in the skin. J Allergy Clin Immunol, 2002;110(5):777-783). loratadinesideeffectsnow.net loratadine side effects

The contact person for this report is F.E.R. Simons, 820 Sherbrook St., Winnipeg, MB R3A 1R9, Canada.

To subscribe to the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, contact the publisher: Mosby, Inc., 11830 Westline Industrial Dr., St. Louis, MO 63146-3318 USA.

The information in this article comes under the major subject areas of Allergy Medicine, Dermatology and Pharmacology.

This article was prepared by Clinical Trials Week editors from staff and other reports.

Contact Lens Campaign Focuses On Consumers.

PR News May 10, 2004 When the PR firm Media Relations started to work for 1-800 CONTACTS in early 2001, 1-800 CONTACTS had emerged as one of the biggest players in the mail order contact lens business, sending two million prescriptions annually in the U.S. (which has about 36 million contact lens wearers).

Despite its strength in the market, however, 1-800 CONTACTS, which launched in 1995, faced some serious obstacles to future growth. For one thing, most consumers were not aware of their right to fill their contact lens prescription at someplace other than their optometrist’s office. What’s more, an overwhelming number of optometrists were allegedly trying to pull the wool over consumers’ eyes by refusing to release their prescriptions, forcing them to buy contact lens at inflated prices.

So, 1-800 CONTACTS embarked on a multi-pronged PR campaign to educate consumers that they had a choice of where to buy their contacts (such as retailers like 1-800, which offers significant discounts compared with optometrists).

“This is anomaly in U.S. healthcare,” says Kevin McCallum, VP/marketing at 1-800, who joined the company in early 2000 and was instrumental in launching the PR effort. “The person who wears the product doesn’t choose the brand they wear, the optometrist does. We needed broad education and PR was the only way to communicate the message because you can’t explain these issues in a 60-second commercial.” The campaign started by focusing on consumers’ legal rights (or lack thereof) to obtain their contact lens prescriptions, depending on the state in which they lived. Job one was to create a Web site, media.1800contacts.com, that would serve as a clearinghouse for information about the issues concerning contact lens prescriptions. It also listed each state’s contact lens prescription laws. website 1800contacts coupon code go to website 1800contacts coupon code

In addition to the Web site, there was a full-court press on the media. Starting in early ’01 Media Relations reps began to contact newspaper and radio reporters in the top 200 markets, securing dozens of one-on-one interviews between McCallum and reporters.

Educating media reps was tricky, however, since many reporters easily confused consumers’ rights for eyeglass prescriptions with those applying for contact lens prescriptions.

“It depended on whether the reporter wore contact lens,” says Heather Champine, senior account manager at Media Relations. “If they did, they got it, if they didn’t, they didn’t know there were [state] laws protecting consumers and that [consumers] could go elsewhere for their contacts at a cheaper rate” than the one from their optometrists.

Throughout the two-year campaign, amid calls for change by consumer groups as well as 1-800, legislation started to percolate on Capitol Hill concerning contact lens coverage. In 2001, the U.S. House of Representatives cosponsored a bi-partisan bill that would require optometrists to automatically release contact lens prescriptions.

For journalists who were initially leery of the story, the legislative efforts convinced them that the debate about contact lens prescriptions was a story worth covering; for those reporters who did wear contact lens it gave them a reason to revisit the story.

Toward the end of ’03, the campaign had garnered 52 million media impressions, with stories on ABC World News Tonight, local TV news items in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, several nationally syndicated radio shows as well as stories in the Denver Post, Los Angeles Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press. “The longer we were in the campaign, the more critical mass it generated,” McCallum says.

Perhaps more important than all the media placements, the campaign’s educational efforts helped to pass (earlier this year) The Fairness to Contact Lens Consumer Act 2003, which mandates that optometrists must give consumers immediate access to contact lens prescriptions.

Asked if he expects a surge in 1-800 sales as a result of the federal legislation, McCallum says he’s taking a “wait-and-see” approach. “It’s a fluid situation,” he says. “We want to move now to educate consumers on their rights to a prescription and all the different types of contact lens products at 1-800.” Contacts: Kevin McCallum, 801.924.9826, Kevin@contacts.com; Heather Champine, 612.798.7220, heather@mediarelations.com