The Jan. 21 issue of The Signature

iNSide

to

PS

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rie

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Direct Line

2

Navy News

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Community Calendar

4

MWR Corner

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Il Mercato

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Jan. 21H: 61L: 40

Jan. 22H: 53L: 34

Jan. 23H: 58L: 34

Jan. 24H: 56L: 35

Jan. 25H: 54L: 35

Jan. 26H:55 L: 36

Jan. 27H: 58L: 42

Weather

uPdate

Sig is a place where peo-ple enjoy people and thebeautiful nature that thiscountry can offer us. Peo-ple and nature can re-mind us what is said inthe Holy Scriptures:”God looked at everythinghe had made, and hefound it very good” Gen-esis 1:31 NAB

PAGE 2

There are only two weeksleft of the NFL season. Lastweek’s games threw ourpanelists for a loop. Willthey do better this week?

PAGE 3

Over 2,000 participatingrestaurants in roughly 40countries honored realGenovese pesto on Ja-nuary 17th, marking thefourth annual Internatio-nal Day of Italian Cuisine(IDIC).

PAGE 6

The town of Nicolosicomes alive during the win-ter months and serves as aplace for weary skiers andice skaters to relax after aday of fun. Check it out thisweekend!

PAGE 8

Command Fitness Lea-ders and fitness enthu-siasts looking for thatcompetitive edge look nofurther. Aerobics and Fit-ness Association of Ame-rica (AFAA) has the toolsfor you. Learn more by vi-siting MWR today.

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JaNuary 21, 2011

youtube.com/sigonellavidscnic.navy.mil/sigonella

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Vol. 28 No. 3

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Jan. 11 Jan. 10

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Comedian Anita Renfroe visits NAS Sigonella

A hard lesson: Drinking and driving scuttles Navy man'scareerDon’t let this happen to youBy Federico Martinez

Muskegon Chronicle

His attacker’s body wentlimp. Dominic Phillips continued tosqueeze his arms around the man’sneck as if his life depended on it.

“Dominic, let him go,you’re going to kill him,” warnedPhillips’ prison cellmate at DeepMeadow Correctional Center inState Farm, Va. Phillips, who wasborn and raised in Muskegon, wasserving up to 10 years in prison forinvoluntary, aggravated manslau-ghter. Another death on his handslikely would mean a much longersentence.

But Phillips rememberedthe warning issued by an older pri-soner when he first arrived at thepenitentiary: “They’re going to pickon you. If you win that first fight yo-u’ll be OK. If you lose, you’ll be fi-ghting every day for the rest of yourtime here.”

At the time Phillips was21 years old, 5 feet 4 inches tall, and150 pounds. His attacker was 6 feet3 inches tall and a muscular 240pounds.

“I’m not going to let go. IfI do he’ll kill me,” a terrified Phillipsyelled to his cellmate. “Tell my mo-ther I love her. But, I ain’t never get-ting out of here.”

Phillips eventually did letgo. His attacker soon returned bran-dishing a crudely-crafted knife.Phillips stood his ground, a pair ofmakeshift brass knuckles on hishands. The men warily agreed tomake peace.

That night, Phillips laid inbed, his eyes wide open, afraid to goto sleep. At that moment, his once-promising U.S. Naval career seemedlike an ocean away.

DAPA: Do youknow?

By MCSA Cameron Bramham, The Signature Staff

-The main objective for aDAPA member is to serve asan advisor for any CO aboutall Navy Alcohol and Drug

Safety Action Program mat-ters and incidents within the

command.

-DAPA members also con-duct administrative scree-

nings of individuals referredto the Substance Abuse Re-

habilitation Program(SARP), coordinate and as-

sist in alcohol and drugabuse awareness education,establish and monitor com-mand prevention and inter-

vention programs, and act asan authorized command self-

referral agent for the com-mand.

-To become a DAPA mem-ber, you must go through afour-day training program,

and you also cannot have anyprior incidents involving al-

cohol within the past twoyears and must have at leastone year remaining at your

current command. Those in-terested in becoming pri-

mary DAPA membersshould be an E7 or above,and E5’s and below are en-

couraged to apply to becomeassistant DAPA’s.

-For more information onbeing a DAPA member for

NAS Sigonella, contact 624-6092 or email

[email protected].

Ten years later Phillips,now 30, is out of prison and livingonce again in Muskegon. As he re-counts the prison fight, he shudders.

A night to rememberIn the early evening of

Dec. 31, 1999, Phillips, who was inthe U.S. Navy and stationed in Nor-folk, Va., stopped by a friend’s houseto have “two to three drinks.” Atabout 11 p.m., Phillips headed to hisgirlfriend’s nearby home because hewanted to usher in the New Yearwith his newborn daughter cradledin his arms.

Four blocks away from hisdestination Phillips’ car collidedwith another vehicle at an intersec-tion. Phillips suffered minor injuries.The driver of the other vehicle waskilled.

He began that night as aproud member of the U.S. Navy, aboatswain, third mate. On April 26,2000, he was just another name inthe state of Virginia’s prison system.

Initially, Phillips faced a20- to 25-year prison term. He ac-cepted a plea bargain, which resultedin a lighter sentence — up to 10years — for involuntary, aggravatedmanslaughter.

The accident itself is still ablur.

“All I remember is hea-dlights coming from my passengerside,” Phillips said. “And, that’s whenit happened.

“I couldn’t avoid it.”Phillips said he is not con-

vinced that he was totally at fault for

“I became a murdereron four wheels.”

DUI, continued on

page 12

By MCSA Cameron Bramham

The Signature Staff

Men, women and chil-dren gathered Jan. 15 at KnightsHall located on Naval Air Station(NAS) Support Side to watchcomedian and author Anita Ren-froe perform a Christian comedyact for the Sigonella community.

“I took a chance a fewmonths back, and as soon as Isent Anita an email we got a re-sponse almost like that,” saidProtestant Women of the ChapelPrograms Second Vice Presidentand coordinator for the event,Jamie Andrews.

Renfroe appears regu-larly as a commentator on the hitmorning show, “Good MorningAmerica,” tours with the largestChristian women's conference,“Women of Faith” and is widelyknown across America for herYouTube sensation song “Mo-misms,” a comic rendition of eve-rything that a mother would sayto her own children.

“Mainly the way I come

up with my comedy is by livingand taking notes,” Renfroe said.“I was on a national tour withWomen of Faith when the momsong went viral on YouTubewhich got the attention of “GoodMorning America,” which kind ofput me on more of a national au-dience.”

“People always ask me ifI need to get in a frame of mindto do it and I’m like, ‘No I can’twait to get up there to my happyplace to do my therapy,’” Renfroesaid. “I love it, I love to see peoplesmile and it’s really one of thegreatest joys of my life.”

Andrews said she wasvery pleased with meeting Ren-froe and watching her performand also hopes she can get achance to have more performerscome to the island.

“It was a great show forfamilies, I think it’s important toget family events out here and Ithink everybody won tonight,”said Andrews.

The NAS Sigonella community came together on Jan. 15 to listen to

Anita Renfroe’s comedic performance. Renfroe gained popularity on

YouTube after her “Momism” song was posted.

JaNuary 21, 2011

Commanding OfficerCapt. Scott Butler

Public Affairs OfficerLt. Matt Knight

Deputy Public Affairs OfficerDott. Alberto Lunetta

EditorTracie Barnthouse

Staff Writers/ PhotographersMC1 Christopher DelanoMC2 Gary PrillMCSA Cameron Bramham

The Signature editorial officeis located at:

Naval Air Station Sigonella, SicilyPSC 812 Box 3020,FPO, AE 09627Telephone: 095-86-5440:DSN 624-5440

DirecT LiNeI received a lot of questions over the

past few weeks and I couldn’t get to allof them during the January FeedbackLive. I’ll use the next two columns hereto address these questions, but giventhe events that have occurred since thebeginning of 2011, I wanted to taketime this week to talk directly to theCommunity about the dangers of drugand alcohol abuse. Still, I want you tokeep the questions coming – they willget answered!! As a reminder, FeedbackLive is generally held on the first Thurs-day of each month, from 6:30 – 7:00p.m. on AFN Decoder Channel 20. Tocall in live on the show, please dial 624-4265 or 095-56-4265, or send it live viaFacebook. No matter how you chooseto do so, please keep sending your ques-tions!

As I write this column early in 2011,the Sigonella Community has alreadyexperienced 3 DUIs Each one of theseevents is tragic in its own right, and I re-

main extremely concerned about everymember of the community – military,civilian, family member, American andItalian – until we find a way to figure outwhy some of our Shipmates are makingsuch terrible, personal decisions.

The decisions these Sailors madesimply can’t be because they don’t un-derstand what the Navy’s policies con-cerning drug use – or alcohol abuse –are. My policies are in complete align-ment with the Navy’s, and I am ab-solutely convinced that every personknows that. The Navy does not tolerateany form of drug or alcohol abuse, anddriving while under the influence of anysubstance is not just irresponsible andstupid, but illegal. Everybody knowsthat, right?

I’ve never been a fan of public hu-miliation, so why did I feel the need topunish 3 Sailors in front of the entireCommunity, and why did I decide toprocess 2 of them for separation from

the Navy? I can’t understand why thismessage isn’t sinking in and I need yourhelp in figuring this out.

At my request, CMDCM Moore hasinitiated a DUI Task Force that will haveheld its first meeting by the time thispaper goes to print. The intent of theTask Force is to take a fresh look at theDUI issue. This Task Force is charteredto look at the entire picture and provideme not only with ideas for punishment,but with suggestions that will help peo-ple make the right choice. He will leada diverse group, representative of theentire Community, to provide me withactionable items that I may implement.I will welcome their recommendations.

As I stated publically at the recentNon-Judicial Punishment (NJP), I con-sider DUIs to be a serious offense andwill use every tool at my disposal topunish the offenders. I don’t want it toget to that – I take no joy in ending mil-itary careers and sending Sailors back to

a Stateside economy that continues tostruggle with a high unemploymentrate – but I cannot, I will not, tolerateany more of this irresponsible and de-structive behavior.

Drunk Driving has already touchedtoo many of our lives, as indicated bythe number of Shipmates who raisedtheir hands to indicate as such when Iasked during the NJP. These are all ter-rible stories. All of us need to take amoment to evaluate what’s importantin our lives: family; a career; friends;the respect of our peers. Recognizethat the use of drugs and the abuse ofalcohol negatively impacts all of thosethings, potentially in a catastrophic way.You need only to think about the drunkdriver of the car who recently killed anentire family in Trapani to realize howterrible the consequences of a poor de-cision might be. That young driver willlive with the fact that he killed a womanand two young children for the rest of

his life.Sigonella, Don’t be That Guy…or

That Girl. There’s much more to losethan just some pay and some time in therestricted barracks. Do the right thing,please.

NaS SigoNella CommaNdiNg offiCer, CaPt. Butler

NASSIG WORSHIP SERVICES

Chapel Offices: NAS I 095-56-3975, NAS II 095-86-9049

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Sunday0900 Catholic Mass (NAS I Chapel)1200 Catholic Mass (NAS II Chapel)Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday1130 Catholic Mass (NAS II Chapel)

PROTESTANT

Sunday1045 Protestant Worship (NAS I)Wednesday1700 Fellowship Meal1800 Adult Bible Study

Youth GroupChildren’s Class

JEWISH LAY SERVICES

First Friday1800 Shabbat Service (NAS I Chapel)[email protected]

CHURCH OF CHRIST LAY SERVICE

Sunday1530 NAS I Chapel Call 624-5128 or 338-736-3061

OTHER SERVICES/ACTIVITIES POINTS OF CONTACT

Latter-day Saints: Sunday 1300 Catania Chapel, [email protected]; 624-1393AA Meetings: Monday,Wednesday, Friday – 1900, NAS II Chapel, 346-840-7745

HealthWWaattcchh

People and Nature

Sigonella is a place wherepeople enjoy people and thebeautiful nature that this countrycan offer us. Mount Etna can beseen almost everyday. Some-times she is well covered withsnow. Other times, she looksplain. People and nature can re-mind us what the Lord said inthe Holy Scriptures:” Godlooked at everything he hadmade, and he found it very good”Genesis 1:31 NAB.

People and nature seem toremind us how the good Lordtakes care of us. The followingstory is of a US Marine duringWorld War II. He was separatedfrom his unit on a Pacific island.As you can imagine, the fightinghad been intense, and in thesmoke and the crossfire he hadlost touch with his comrades. Alone in the jungle, he couldhear enemy soldiers coming inhis direction. Scrambling forcover, he found his way up a highridge to several small caves in therock. Quickly he crawled insideone of the caves. Although safefor the moment, he realized thatonce the enemy soldiers lookingfor him swept up the ridge, theywould quickly search all thecaves and he would be killed. As he waited, he prayed,"Lord, if it be your will, pleaseprotect me. Whatever your willthough, I love you and trust you.Amen." After praying, he lay qui-etly listening to the enemy beginto draw close. He thought, "Well,I guess the Lord isn't going tohelp me out of this one." Thenhe saw a spider begin to build aweb over the front of his cave. As he watched, listening tothe enemy searching for him allthe while, the spider layered

strand after strand of web acrossthe opening of the cave. "Hah, he thought.”What Ineed is a brick wall and what theLord has sent me is a spider web.God does have a sense ofhumor." As the enemy drewcloser he watched from the dark-ness of his hideout and could seethem searching one cave afteranother. As they came to his, hegot ready to make his last stand.To his amazement, however,after glancing in the direction ofhis cave, they moved on. Sud-denly, he realized that with thespider web over the entrance, hiscave looked as if no one had en-tered for quite a while. "Lord, forgive me," prayedthe young man. "I had forgottenthat in you a spider's web isstronger than a brick wall." Weall face times of great trouble.When we do, it is so easy to for-get what the Lord can work inour lives, sometimes in the mostsurprising ways. And rememberwith Him, a mere spider's webbecomes a brick wall of protec-tion. People and nature remind us ofsomething special. The Lordtakes care of us in a wonderfuland mysterious ways. EnjoySigonella, its people and nature!

This civilian enterprise (CE) newspaper isan authorized publication for members ofthe military services overseas. Contents ofThe Signature are not necessarily the offi-cial views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Gov-ernment, the Department of Defense(DoD), or the U.S. Navy. The appearanceof advertising in this newspaper, includinginserts or supplements, does not constituteendorsement by the DoD or Stampa Gen-erale S.r.l., of the products or services ad-vertised. Everything advertised in thispublication shall be made available for pur-chase, use or patronage without regard torace, color, religion, sex, national origin,age, marital status, physical handicap, po-litical affiliation or any other non-meritfactor of the purchaser, user or patron. Aconfirmed violation or rejection of thisequal opportunity policy by an advertiserwill result in the refusal to print advertisingfrom that source until the violation is cor-rected. The Signature is published weeklyby Stampa Generale S.r.l., Sig. Bruno

Brandi, Publisher, Naval Support Activity,Capodichino (Naples), Italy - Tel. 081-568-7884, Fax 081-568-7887.E-mail: [email protected]. Editorialsubmissions are welcomed from all NavalAir Station Sigonella departments, divi-sions and tenant commands. Editorial sub-missions should be sent to the PublicAffairs Office via [email protected],guard mail stop #68 or hand-delivered toour office no later than the close of busi-ness on the Friday proceeding the ex-pected publication date. All articlessubmitted by non-staff members will beconsidered contributing writers. The Sig-nature will not publish any anonymous ar-ticles. All advertisements in thispublication are the property of StampaGenerale S.r.l. Any reproduction of adver-tisements in The Signature is unauthorizedwithout the written consent of the pub-lisher.

Skin cancer prevention for SigonellaBy John Paul Trafeli, M.D.

Diplomate of the American

Board of Dermatology, and

Dermatologist for NH Rota

Spain, NH Naples, Italy, and

NH Sigonella, Italy

We all know how great thebeaches of Sicily are…and the en-dless summer sun. While the sun-shine and Mediterranean life aregreat; there are some downsides tooverindulging in the sunshine…Premature Aging, and Skin Cancer.

Skin cancer consists ofthree types, primarily: Basal CellCarcinoma and Squamous CellCarcinoma, which are by far themost common of all the skin can-cers diagnosed in the United States;and of course, Melanoma, a lesscommon, but far more deadly formof skin cancer that comes from thecells that make pigment, freckles,and moles. Melanoma, if undetec-ted, can spread and kill fast. It iswhat killed reggae star, Bob Marley.We’ll talk more about melanomanext week in part II of this article.

Today we’ll discuss Basal

Cell and Squamous Cell Cancer(BCC and SCC).

Inherited risk factors forboth BCC and SCC include havingfair features such as light skin,blond or red hair, and blue or hazeleyes. Also, having a history of exces-sive sun exposure or sunburns, or ahistory of tanning bed use are im-portant risk factors. It is becomingmore evident that sun exposure andsunburns as a child greatly increasethe risk of developing these cancers(and melanoma) later in life. Unfor-tunately, it is difficult to convincesomeone that the sunburn they aregetting today will have any impactin the future. These are the cancersdirectly related to how much sunyou have gotten over your lifetime. BASAL CELL AND SQUAMOUSCELL CANCERS:

These (non-melanomatype) skin cancers typically first ap-pear as a non-healing bump on theskin. They are often scaly and red.Sometimes they are hard bumps orsmall nodules. They may also bleed

SKIN, continued on page 12

CNE-CNA-C6F/CNREURAFSEA IG HotlineIt’s everyone’s responsibility to report fraud, waste, abuse and

mismanagement in Navy activities to:Office of the Inspector General, Naples, Italy

Leave a recorded message 24/7: DSN 626-2983, Comm: 081-568-2983Speak to the Investigator: DSN 626-2964, Comm: 081-568-2964

Email: [email protected]: www.cnic.navy.mil/europe/index.htm

You can choose to remain anonymous or confidential.

JaNuary 21, 2011

Picciolo Spaghetti HouseNew Hope

The playoffs aren’t treating ourpanelists very nicely! Last week, ABH1Clifton and LSSA Diem/Rivera had thebest records, going 2-2. Maybe thisweek will be better?

Glasser: Not too much talk thisweek, looks like everyone took a hit. Atleast I was able to pull out ONE win,nice good egg, gents! I am almost assad to see the Ravens go as I was theColts! Ciao, ciao, Ray-Ray!!

As long as Polamalu is playing,the Steelers will win. Defense prevailsin this low scoring affair. The TerribleTowels will certainly be flying fast andfurious in another close win by theSteelers!

The Packers have shown me alot throughout the past few weeks. Infact, they have shown me enough tothink they will make the Big Bowl inDallas this year. No Super Bowl Shufflefor the Bearsthis time,maybe nextyear. Packerswin in a hardfought battleon the frozentundra of... Sol-dier Field. Goodluck!

Beadles:Only because

Record: W-L

Overall Record: 59-45

Last week: 2-2

Record: W-L


Last week: 0-4

Record: W-L


Last week: 2-2

ABH1 EzekialClifton, Emergency

Management

LSSA AshleyDiem/Rivera, FISC

AC3 MichaelVazana, NASSIG

Capt. Joe Beadles,NASSIG

Jeremy Glasser,MWR

Steelers vs. Jets

Bears vs. Packers

Record: W-L


Last week: 0-4

Jets

Packers

Record: W-L


Last week: 1-3

they now have LT - I pick the Jets. Can’treally go the pretty boy QB route be-cause of Ben R. Have you seen him?Eww.

The Pack is back!Diem/Rivera: Football ended for

me Saturday night... so, I’m done. :( Andthat was a very fixed game! Paid offRef’s, CHEATERS!

But, since I am tied into this, I’mgoing to stand by my husband’s team,NY JETS! I would love to see them takethe Super Bowl away from the Steelers(not like I really think the Jets are goingto win, but it’s worth hoping for). And,Green Bay Packers. Hoping it’s a GREENSuper Bowl!

Clifton: You know it’s a bad weekwhen I had the best record at 2-2. Thisweek is going to be just as difficult to

predict. Looking into my crystal ball, Ihave seen the Super Bowl and it will bethe Steelers vs. Packers. The Steelersand Jets are well matched, but thehome field advantage and the terribletowels will be the deciding factor in thatgame. Steelers win! The Packers will outclass the Bears, who are beneficiaries ofa first round bye and a second roundmatch up with the NFC West ChampionSeahawks. Did I mention AaronRodgers is looking more and more likea young Joe Montana? Packers win!

Vazana: Steerlers: I am still sayingJets don’t belong. Colts and Pats are ba-sically one trick offenses that lack a se-rious run threat. Enter Steelers, abalanced attack that will have the JetsD, the ONLY reason they win game mayI add, guessing the entire 60 minutes.

Are they going to pass? Are they goingto throw? It was an easy answer whenplaying the Pats and Colts, who onlythrow, but this game will leave the Jetsflabbergasted. I see Mendenhall run-ning for over 100 and I see that garbageSanchez on his back the entire game. Idon’t care for either team, but definitelydislike the Jets more.

Packers: Aaron Rodgers made At-lanta’s D look like it belonged in a PeeWee league. He is definitely, without adoubt, the most talented QB left in theplayoffs and will continue his absurdlyridiculous play against a Bears D who, inretrospect, have been playing reallywell. Throw in GB’s defense, who shutdown Atlanta, and you have a definitecontender for Super Bowl champion.Good game either way.

SteelersJets

Packers Packers

Steelers

Packers

Steelers

Packers

U. S. Navy photo by Scott A. Thornbloom

Chief Aviation Warfare Systems Operator Steve Smith, a recruit di-

vision commander at Officer Candidate School, yells out a ca-

dence to new officer candidates during a physical fitness session

at Officer Training Command at Naval Station Newport. Smith is

one of 12 recruit division commanders who train and mentor offi-

cer candidates in military bearing, discipline, physical fitness and

Navy heritage and tradition.

Senior enlisted trainers sought for Officer Candidate SchoolBy Scott A. Thornbloom

Naval Service Training Command

Public Affairs

NAVAL STATION NEWPORT, R. I.(NNS) -- As Officer Training Com-mand (OTC) began a new year of trai-ning tomorrow's Navy leaders Jan. 1, thecommand is looking to attract a fewmore senior enlisted trainers to OfficerCandidate School (OCS) and severalother OTC schools.

Since the Navy establishedOCS in 1951, officer candidates havebeen trained by Navy officers and Ma-rine Corps Drill Instructors (DIs). Se-nior enlisted, or chief petty officers(CPOs), have also played a role in offi-cer training for a number of years. In the90s, Navy senior enlisted Recruit Divi-sion Commanders (RDCs), or "red ro-pers," were added to the OCS trainingteam.

More like officer candidatecommanders instead of recruit com-manders, the chiefs, senior chiefs andmaster chiefs who wear the red shoulderaiguillettes work with the Marine Corpsdrill instructors to train and mentor thecandidates. OCS would now like to in-crease its number of senior enlisted trai-ners.

"We are looking for chiefsand senior chiefs who are physically fitand motivated and want to make a diffe-rence in shaping the future of the Navy,"said Master Chief Electronics Techni-cian (SW/AW) Matt Anuci, the seniorenlisted advisor and OCS red roper atOTC.

Anuci said it is not well-known around the fleet that RDCs, whomany people associate with the Navy'sonly boot camp, Recruit Training Com-mand (RTC), aboard Naval StationGreat Lakes, Ill., are also being assignedto OTC.

"We're such a small com-mand (OTC in Newport), and whenyou think 40,000 recruits go throughRTC each year and you are always se-eing the red rope of an RDC (more than600) there, the natural assumption isthat's the only place where there areRDCs," Anuci said. "The Navy alsosends E-5 and E-6 RDCs to GreatLakes. Newport is totally different be-cause we only have a select few (curren-tly 12) senior enlisted RDCs."

Anuci said that OCS needssenior enlisted RDCs because of "theopportunity to mentor and mold anddevelop the division-officer-to-chief re-lationship that is a constant in the fleet."

He also said there is a needfor more senior enlisted RDCs at OTC

because many of the current 12 will tran-sfer within the next couple of years. Aswith most commands, the turnover ofSailors, especially chiefs, is constant andcontinuous. So OTC is always on thelookout for qualified and motivated se-nior enlisted members to accept ordersto OTC.

OTC has also been talkingwith the Navy Personnel Command(NPC) about detailing chiefs and seniorchief petty officers who have previouslybeen an RDC early in their careers. OTCwould like to see senior enlisted returnfrom the fleet to a shore duty billet atOTC as second tour RDCs. But this isn'ta requirement.

The Shore Special ProgramDetailer (PERS-4010D) at NPC in Mil-lington, Tenn., periodically sends outmessage traffic and announcements re-cruiting for RDCs at OTC.

In a recent RDC recruiting

notice, NPC announced the need forhard-charging Navy professionals to pro-vide RDC (NEC 9508) support at OTC.The announcement described the posi-tion as one that prepares OCS graduatesfor service in the fleet as naval officers.

The announcement (madeperiodically in LINK Magazine or on theNPC website,http://www.persnet.navy.mil/Referen-ceLibrary/Publications/LinkOnline/),"looks for E-7 RDCs for OTC to functionas senior enlisted technical experts andbe responsible for the training, admini-stration, good order and discipline andgeneral welfare of assigned studentsthroughout all phases of training."

"This is absolutely the mostrewarding job I've ever had, and at thesame time is the most demanding jobthat I've ever had," Anuci said.

OCS is one of five officer trai-ning schools located aboard Naval Sta-

tion Newport, Rhode Island. There isalso the Officer Development School(ODS), Direct Commission Officer In-doctrination School (DCOIC), LimitedDuty Officer and Chief Warrant Officer(LDO/CWO) school and Seaman-to-

Admiral (STA-21) school. The staff offi-cers, RDCs and DIs also provide trai-ning assistance for these schools,especially with the physical training of

OCS, continued on page 10

JaNuary 21, 2011

Pantellaro

Oxidiana

FFSC

TAP Class 0800-1600

FFSC can be reached at x4291American Red Cross at x4900

Does your command or organization have an event you’d like to see on the Community Calendar? Email us at [email protected] and let us know!

Magnolia

Chiechio

Tobacco CessationClass

9 a.m. FLCx4710

Tobacco CessationClass

9 a.m. FLCx4710

JaNuary 21, 2011

Pentagon

Fleet and Family Sup-port CenterAdministration Build-ing Bldg. 319 (NAS I)

Monday–Friday 7:30a.m.-4 p.m. DSN 624-4291 Commercial095-56-4291

Empower. Enrich. EDUCATE.Coping with LonelinessArticle by Military OneSource

Kartodromo

Alphio

Days Inn

Motta

Almost everyone feels lo-nely at times. Whether you are singleor married, you may miss someonewho has died or moved away. Or, youmay wish that you knew someonewho you could talk with or do thingswith on a regular basis.

Feelings like these are verycommon in a mobile world wherepeople often live far from where theygrew up. About one out of everythree adults sometimes feels lonely,according to the Journal of ClinicalNursing.

Whether you are lonely alot of the time or just once in a while,you can do many things to feel lessisolated and more connected to otherpeople.The difference between loneliness andbeing alone

Loneliness isn’t the sameas being alone. Everybody needs timealone to think and enjoy quiet activi-ties such as reading, listening tomusic, or taking a walk. It’s healthy tolearn to feel comfortable being alone.Quiet moments like these can be ex-tremely pleasant and rewarding. Butloneliness is different from this kindof voluntary solitude. It is a feeling ofemptiness or isolation that occurswhen you want to be with others butcan’t, or have too many thoughts and

feelings that you can’t share with others.1. Common types of loneliness

Loneliness is sometimes verymild, resembling a dull ache in the heartthat you feel only at certain times, suchas on holidays or Saturday nights. Or, itcan be so severe that it frequently causesintense emotional pain and even physi-cal symptoms such as crying. Lonelinessmay result from:• being physically isolated from otherpeople -- for example, because you workat home or on a different shift fromothers in your organization.• feeling that you can’t relate in meanin-gful ways or share thoughts and feelingsthat are important to you with the peo-ple close to you, such as a spouse ormost of your friends.• living in a new place where you are se-parated from your network of friends orfamily. • the absence of a specific person orgroup, such as someone you used todate or the people you saw every daywhen you were in the military or at yourlast job.OverviewWays to cope when you feel lonely.• The difference between loneliness andbeing alone• Common types of loneliness• Ways to cope with loneliness• Signs of loneliness 2 Coping with Loneliness

If you feel lonely at times,it’s a good idea to identify the situa-tions that make you feel this way. Youmay want to keep a log or journal for aweek or two and note the times whenyou feel lonely and when you feelstrongly connected to others. Thismay give you ideas on how you couldreduce the number of times when youfeel isolated and increase those timeswhen you feel connected. If you aresingle and feel lonely on Sunday after-noons, a time many people spendwith their families, consider getting agroup of friends together on a regularbasis for brunch or a hike. You mightjoin a sports club that sponsors Sun-day afternoon hikes or volleyballgames. Or, you could look for a volun-teer project that you could do then,such as leading tours at a museum orworking in a hospital.

If you are married and feellonely on business trips, you mightdevelop stronger contacts in placesyou visit by getting to know clientsand their families better or attendingmeetings of the local chapter of an or-ganization you belong to at home. Or,you might invest in a camera phone orWeb camera so that yourfamily can send you pictures of theiractivities while you’re away. You mayfeel less lonely if you can see the peo-ple close to you in “real time,” not justtalk to them.Signs of loneliness

Loneliness is often hard torecognize because it may be maskedby other emotions. For example,many people feel “depressed” when aromance or close friendship ends. Butthey may not be suffering from clini-cal depression as experts define it. In-stead, they may be lonely and mayfind it easier to overcome the feelingonce they have acknowledged it direc-tly. You may be experiencing loneli-ness if you frequently:• wish you didn’t have to spend somuch time alone.• get together with people you don’tlike just so you’ll have company.• feel that you have nobody to talk to

LONELINESS, continued

on page 13

JaNuary 21, 2011

Alberto Lunetta

The Signature Staff

Angela

Eno

Italy celebrates Pesto DayGenoa - Over 2,000 participating re-staurants in roughly 40 countries ho-nored real Genovese pesto on January17th, marking the fourth annual Inter-national Day of Italian Cuisine(IDIC).

Genovese pesto was chosenas the official dish of IDIC 2011, aworldwide celebration of authenticItalian food that will even see pesto-based Ligurian specialties served on14 ships of the Italian cruise companyCosta Crociere.

"Pesto Day is an importantshowcase for our manufacturers to pu-blicize, promote, and distinguish realGenovese pesto from false imitations,"agricultural councilor Giovanni Bar-bagallo told reporters in Genoa.

"Defending the traditionalpesto recipe from imitations is a prio-rity for Liguria."

To that end, the oily greensauce beloved by Italian food fans theworld over may also soon have its owncertification.

The Liguria region is see-king a European Union "STG" (Gua-ranteed Traditional Specialty) markfor pesto meeting strict criteria for ge-nuine, Ligurian ingredients.

"With the STG designationwe want to protect the seven ingre-dients of true pesto: PDO Genovese

basil, garlic, olive oil Riviera LigurePDO, salt, pine nuts, pecorino andgrana padano cheese," added Barba-gallo.

PDO stands for ProtectedDesignation of Origin, a Europeancertification the Liguria region has al-ready secured for locally producedbasil and extra-virgin olive oil. "We want to unite the name of Liguriawith the territory's quality products,like pesto, as a fundamental strategyfor tourism development through (Li-gurian) culinary specialties," declaredGenoa's tourism councilor AngeloBerlangieri.

The word "pesto" comesfrom "pestare", or to crush with a pe-stle and mortar, a reference to the ori-ginal method for creating theGenovese sauce.

Hence pesto is also knownas "battuto genovese" or Genovesemince or mash. The pasta condimentwas still rare in the days of legendaryGenovese explorer Christopher Co-lumbus, but had become well establi-shed by the 19th century.

IDIC's Pesto Day is offi-cially sponsored by the Liguria Re-gion, Grana Padano cheese, GenovaPasta and a consortium of olive oilmakers, among others.

Pesto Genovese: an Ageless Benchmark of Great Italian CuisineBy ITCHEFS-gvci.com

There’s no doubt, it’s themost loved raw sauce of the world and,as such, it’s just as famous as mayon-naise, if not, even more so. We’re talkingabout Pesto, about the only genuineone; the Genoese one (not ‘alla geno-vese’). Basil, garlic, pine nuts, Grana Pa-dano or Parmigiano Reggiano andPecorino cheeses, extra virgin oil and afew granules of sea salt. All the other di-verse variations floating around theworld are nothing more than unsucces-sful bogus or aberrations of the original.Pesto is an ageless benchmark and acontemporary symbol of Italian cookingaround the world. It’s enough to thinkthat for dressing pasta only tomato sauceis used more.In the name of Mortar & Pestle

Already in 1876, ‘pesto’ wasentered by Giovanni Casaccia in his Ge-noese Italian dictionary as a word auto-chthonous of Genoa. The word comesfrom ‘pestare’, to crush something with apestle to reduce it to powder, a mash orto the thinnest of layers. Therefore,pesto is also known as ‘battuto geno-vese’ (Genoese mince or mash). From‘pestare’ also comes the word ‘pestle’(‘pestillium’ in Latin) that together withthe mortar is the utensil used for makingthis sauce; a wooden pestle, that is, ofhard, compact wood, such as boxwoodor pear and a mortar of white marble, ofCarrara, unpolished inside. The word‘mortar’ is derived from the Latin ‘mor-tarium’, a recipient in which ingredientsare minced or mashed, historically notonly used in kitchens but also in tradi-tional pharmacies. In the proto-kitchensof many people of the Earth, similarutensils are found, although made out ofdifferent materials, such as the ‘molca-jete’ and the ‘metate’ of Central Americaand the Japanese ‘suribachi’.The ancestors: moretum and agliata

Genoese pesto probably de-scends from the ‘moretum’ of the an-cient Romans, a green paste obtainedfrom cheese, garlic and herbs, the prepa-ration of which is described, moreover,in a verse attributed to Virgil. Pesto, aswe know it today, was not well known in

the times of Cristoforo Colombo (1451 -1506), the world’s best known Ligurian.But in the Middle Ages, there was asauce, defined plebeian by some authors,which can be considered, in some man-ner, to be the predecessor of pesto. It wascalled ‘agliata’, simply a mash of walnutsand garlic. For centuries, the latter ingre-dient has occupied a crucial place in thenutrition of the Ligurians, especially forthose who went to sea. And there weremany who did, for Genoa and Liguriahave had ancient maritime traditions.These seafarers ingested great quantitiesof it since they believed it warded off il-lnesses and infections during the longvoyages in conditions of extreme hygie-nic precariousness.The first recipes

Mashed garlic is mentioned inthe documents of the City of Genoa ofthe 17th century, while the recipe fortrue pesto starts to appear only in the19th century. During the first half of thelatter appear recipes that do not contem-plate pine nuts and in 1863 GiovanniBattista Ratto published La CucinieraGenovese, considered to be the first andmost complete book on the gastronomyof the Region of Liguria and in which therecipe for pesto, with pine nuts, is thefollowing: “Take a clove of garlic, basil(‘baxaicö’) or, when that is lacking, mar-joram and parsley, grated Dutch and Par-migiano cheese and mix them with pinenuts and crush it all together in a mortarwith a little butter until reduced to apaste. Then dissolve it with good andabundant oil. Lasagne and troffie [Ligu-ria kind of gnocchi] are dressed with thismash, made more liquid by adding a lit-tle hot water without salt.”

The presence of Dutch cheeseinstead of pecorino should be of no sur-prise; first of all, various recipes of thattime mention a generic ‘cacio’ (cheese),and then because Gouda was plentiful inGenoa since the city’s maritime com-merce with Northern Europe. Further-more, the differentiation betweenParmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padanocheese is a recent one, it is very probablethat until the institution of the respectiveconsortia of protection (in the 1950’s),grana types of cheeses were used in pesto

without distinguishing one from theother. Parsley or marjoram as alternati-ves to basil is a concession resulting fromthe fact that, then in Liguria, where thisplant originating from India was abun-dant, but only when in season.Pesto Genovese is for pasta!

Ratto’s recipe for Pesto statesunmistakably that it is a sauce for dres-sing pasta, for lasagne, and for ‘troffie’ or‘trofie’ that in Liguria are elongated andtwisted gnocchi, with pointed extremi-ties and fatter waists. These are not to beconfused with ‘trofiette’ that are smallerand in fact are more used with Pesto.Trofie, kneaded out of white flour are aspeciality of the town of Recco in theProvince of Genoa, the same town thatgave birth to the famous focaccia. Trofieand trofiette, there’s even a version madeout of chestnut flour, are, therefore,fresh, handmade pasta. Genoa howeveris also an Italian capital of the productionof dried pasta. Already in 1279, whenMarco Polo was still in China, the Ge-noese Ponzio Bastone left a basket ofdried pasta, in inheritance to his sons.Genoese Pesto honours this great tradi-tion, so the dried pasta variation of thedish is ‘trenette’ (or ‘trinette’), with ashape similar to ‘mafalde’ but thinnerthan linguine or fettuccine.In the 1800’s, the pasta al pesto was con-sidered to be a working class dish andnowadays the recipe of that time has re-mained substantially the same. There wasand there is still in Liguria the habit ofadding potatoes, broad beans or Frenchbeans, and sometimes zucchini cut intosmall pieces and boiled together with thepasta. Especially in Genoa, potatoes andFrench beans are added to classic or im-proved (avvantaggiate) trenette, that is,ones made out of whole wheat flour, orto trofiette. Rules are not always fixed.For some, “avvantaggiate” are trenette towhich vegetables have been added andthere is, furthermore, a purist school thatcategorically excludes potatoes from tro-fie. In general it is said that in Liguria it’sdifficult to find two equal versions ofpesto, because of the variations, someti-mes within the same family, such as the

PESTO, continued on page 13

JaNuary 21, 2011

Wild West

Gambino

Mojito

Stella

Symphonic Concerts at Bellini House

Photo by Bellini Opera House Press Office

Dutch Conductor Hubert Soudant returns to lead the Catania Bel-

lini Opera Orchestra in a captivating program featuring music by

Berlioz, Schubert and Schumann on Friday, January 28 and Satur-

day, January 29. Soudant will be sharing the stage with Bulgarian

mezzo-soprano Mariana Pentcheva.

The Catania Bellini OperaHouse has reopened its gates to re-turn to a full season of performan-ces. Throughout the symphonicseason there will be prestigiousguest artists and soloists of interna-tional, national acclaim. The follo-wing concerts will be performed inJanuary.

Jan. 22, 2011 - 9 p.m. / Jan.23- 5:30 p.m. Stefano Ranzani (con-ductor) and Gioacchino Giuliano(trumpet). Music by Hummel,Mendelssohn and Brahms. Born in Milan, where he started hismusical studies, Stefano Ranzani isrecognized as one of his generation’smost compelling conductors.

From 2007 to 2008 he wasthe Music Director of the TeatroMassimo “V. Bellini” in Cataniawhere he conducted various sym-phonic concerts and opera produc-tions. Graduated in violin in 1979,he continued to study piano andcomposition in Milan. In 1980 hebecame one of the principal violi-nists of the Orchestra of Teatro allaScala and of the Filarmonica. In1983 he started his career as a con-ductor. He studied with LeonardBernstein and worked as assistant toGianandrea Gavazzeni (Dallaso-pera.com).

Jan. 28- 9 p.m. and Jan 29-5:30 p.m. 2011 – Hubert Soudant(conductor) and Mariana Pentcheva(mezzo-soprano). Music by Berlioz,Schubert and Schumann. Born in Maastricht in 1946, HubertSoudant conducts the most presti-gious European orchestras. Her ope-ratic repertoire includes Ulrica inUn ballo in maschera, Preziossila inLa forza del destino, Azucena in Iltrovatore, Eboli in Don Carlo, Am-neris in Aida, Mrs. Quickly in Fal-staff, Maddalena in Rigoletto,Cuniza in Oberto (Verdi), Santuzzain Cavalleria rusticana (Mascagni),Laura in La Gioconda (Ponchielli),Adalgisa in Norma (Bellini), Venusin Tannhauser, Ortrud in Lohengrin

(Wagner), Principessa di Bouillon inAdriana Lecouvreur (Cilea) andmany other roles. She performs re-gularly at La Scala, the Arena di Ve-rona, the Royal Opera HouseCovent Garden and the opera hou-ses of Florence, Naples, Rome, Bolo-gna, Trieste, Palermo, Turin, Parma,

Catania, Venice, Wexford, Berlin,Brussels, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Bar-celona, Seville, Zurich, Dresden,Leipzig, Tokyo, San Diego andothers.

For more information andtickets visit http://www.teatromas-simobellini.it

Italian working mothersmake progressStory by ANSA

(ANSA) - Rome - Italian men aremore inclined to lend a hand in thedomestic sphere than they were 20years ago, but women have a verylong way to go to reach gender pa-rity, a government survey found. In two-income couples with chil-dren, where women were between25 and 44 years old, women stillhandled 78% of domestic duties asof 2009.

The women worked forpay nearly two hours less per daythan men, yet the working mother'soverall workday, between paid anddomestic tasks, was 71 minutes lon-ger than the working father, accor-ding to the annual Report on SocialCohesion issued by the Labor Mini-stry, the Italian pension agencyINPS, and the Italian governmentstatistics office (ISTAT).

In 1989, Italian workingmothers with male partners handleda greater share of domestic duties,or 86.5%, and they worked 2.5hours more per day than men bet-ween paid and unpaid domestictasks.

Italian men are willing toshop and, to a lesser degree, to cleanand cook, although they still willnot touch the laundry.

Men handled 41.7% ofpurchases of goods and services in2009, versus 36.2% twenty yearsearlier.

They took on 16.4% ofhousehold cleaning compared to8.4% in 1989. Their willingness to cook stood at19% as of 2009.

Women still tackled 98.2%of laundry tasks in 2009 versus 99%

20 years earlier, in a country wherefew households use automateddriers and ironing is a regular, time-consuming chore.

Working mothers devotean average of 5 hours and 9 minutesper day to the family, whereas wor-king fathers dedicate 2 hours and 4minutes. Men have increased their participa-tion in family life by 30 minutes perday since 1989, as women reducedtheirs by 38 minutes.

Working mothers clockedan average of 9 hours 28 minutes perday on family and paid work in2009, whereas their male partnersdevoted a total of 8 hours and 17 mi-nutes.

Working fathers toiled atotal of 53 minutes longer per daythan their counterparts 20 years ago,however, while working mothersgained 26 minutes of free time overthe same period.

But in southern Italy, bothworking parents are working longerhours than they did in 1989.

Fathers increased theirtotal workday by an average of 63minutes, to 7 hours 57 minutes in2009.

Nevertheless, working mo-thers saw their toils lengthen by 12minutes to 9 hours 55 minutes overthe same period.

Non-working mothers inItaly have not seen much change inthe distribution of domestic tasksover the last two decades.

They shoulder 90% of thedomestic workload compared to93% in 1989.

JaNuary 21, 2011

Milici Pietro Gelso Bianco

Nicolosi - gateway to Mt. EtnaBy Tracie Barnthouse

The Signature Editor

With its tree-lined, quietstreets, cafes serving thick, rich hotchocolate, the laid-back, cool vibe,and close proximity to Mt. Etna, Ni-colosi is as close as you're going toget to a ski town in Sicily.

Site: Nicolosi rates five out offive stars. The town is small butbustling, and Via Etnea, Nicolosi'smain street that cuts through thecity, is the main route to get up toMt. Etna, which means that you'llfind plenty of restaurants and thingsto do.

For the Sigonella shopper,you'll be happy to know that there isa large variety of shopping to be hadin Nicolosi. From fresh producestraight from the fields surroundingEtna to clothing, shoes, ceramics,home furnishings and souvenirs,there's something for everyone.

There are also many restau-

rants, and you can't gowrong with where you endup choosing to eat. Most ofthe restaurants keep that "skitown" feel by lighting a woodfire in the fireplace and hav-ing storage for weary skiersand sledding fans to storetheir gear. Do keep in mindthat Nicolosi virtually shutsdown during the hours of 1p.m. until 4 p.m. During thistime, Via Etnea is practicallydeserted and most of thestores and restaurants areclosed, so plan your trip ac-cordingly. It is recom-mended to tour the city inthe morning before makingyour way up to Mt. Etna'ssouth side, since Nicolosi isthe last city you go throughbefore heading up onto themountain.

As Nicolosi is the

"Gateway to Etna," it's onlynatural that it houses Sicily'sVolcanological Museum andObservatory. For a one Euroentrance fee, you receive anaudio tour through Mt. Etna'spast eruptions, what insectsand mammals can be foundaround the volcano, and othereducational information.Make sure that the employeegiving you the audio playerknows that you need the tourin English. After the MP3 tour,you will be guided to a roomto watch a short film aboutMt. Etna's past and morespecifically, about the erup-tion from 2002. An interestingfact about Nicolosi is that offi-cials used a new tactic to divertthe flow of lava away from thecity by placing strategically lo-cated explosives to tempt thelava to flow in another direc-

tion. This ingenuity may have savedNicolosi from Mt. Etna's wrath.After the 15-minute film, tour theVolcano museum and see the vari-ous lava rocks that came from themountain, the heat suits used whengathering lava samples, and photosfrom past eruptions, even goingback to the 1800s! The museum isopen on Tuesday to Sunday from9:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. On Tues-day and Thursday, it is also open inthe afternoon, from 3:30 p.m. until5:30 p.m. It is closed on Monday.

Nicolosi is home to a numberof cathedrals. There is the Cathedralchurch, with a wooden Crucifixfrom the 16th century, the Churchof Santa Maria delle Grazie, which isa 17th century church that was re-built in 1884 and whose uniquecharacteristic is that there are noside aisles, the simple and elegantSan Giuseppe church, which is em-bellished by canvases dating from

Benvenuti A Nicolosi - Welcome to Nicolosi, Gate-

way to Etna

(Left) The Volcanological Museum and Observatory offers a 360-

degree view of Mt. Etna and the surrounding cities and their prox-

imity to the lava flow. (Above) The museum gives tour-goers a look

at the various rocks formed from Mt. Etna’s eruptions, as well as

historical photos of past eruptions.

JaNuary 21, 2011

Gelso Bianco Moroboshi Pelton

Review Summary

Site:

Family Friendly:

Accessibility:

Travel Time:

These ratings are out of five stars, and are theopinion of the Signature staff and in no way con-stitute a professional travel review. If you havecomments or questions on this review contact: [email protected]

the end of the 18th century, and theChurch of SS Cosmas and Damianor "Souls in Purgatory," which wasruined in 1669 and rebuilt in thesame place in the 18th century.Other churches include the Churchof the Madonna del Carmelo, whichis located in the oldest part of town,and inside includes numerous paint-ings, and the San Nicola Monastery,which was founded in the 12th cen-tury and has a storied past. In 1558,the monks abandoned themonastery after the eruptions of1536, 1537 and 1542 earthquakedestroyed the village. Afterward, Ni-colosi was rebuilt further down thevalley to its present site, but in 1669,the eruptive mouths of Monti Rossiopened a few hundred meters fromthe village and the monastery wasinvaded by lava. The eruption of1669 is by far the largest eruption inMt. Etna's past, with lava flowing asfar as Catania and to the coast. Thepeople of Nicolosi refused to moveelsewhere and started to rebuild,only to once again be knocked downby an earthquake in 1693. TheMonastery has since been com-pletely rebuilt and renovated and islocated only a few kilometers fromthe city center.

If you are looking for a place todo some ice skating this season, Ni-colosi is the place to be. To organizethe crowds, the officials of the rinkhave set up three sessions forskaters. The first session is from5:15 p.m. until 6:15 p.m., the secondfrom 6:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. andthe third from 7:45 p.m. until 8:45p.m. The rink is open everyday ex-cept Wednesday and admission forthose with their own skates is twoEuro, for those who need skaterental, four Euro, and they even selldisposable socks for 0.50 Euro. Afterall of that skating, head to one of themany ristorantes or pizzarias for alate dinner, as most places openaround 7:30 p.m. or so.

Helpful hints: Since Nicolosi islocated high on Mt. Etna, theweather is a bit chillier than you'dnormally find down on base. Be-cause of that, be sure to bring aheavy coat, gloves and scarf in thewinter, as the temperature goesdown at night. During the day, alight coat is advisable. In the sum-mer, a trip to Nicolosi is highly rec-ommended, as it is a few degreescooler than the cities located furtherdown the mountain.

Accessibility: Four out of five

stars. Reaching Nicolosi is fairly sim-ple. As with most locations, thereare dozens of ways to get to them,but if you don't own a GPS unit, theeasiest way to get to Nicolosi is: geton the A19 toward Catania, mergeonto A18 toward Messina and takethe exit towardSP10/Gravina/Etna. Stay rightwhere the road forks to go on ViaEtnea. Enter the next roundaboutand take the first exit onto Via An-tonio Gramsci/SP10. Go straightthrough one roundabout. Enter thenext roundabout and take the sec-ond exit onto Via Alcide deGasperi/SP10. Go straight throughone roundabout. Enter the nextroundabout and take the second exitonto SP10. Enter the next round-about and take the first exit onto ViaBosco/SP10. Via Bosco/SP10 be-comes Via Glavagno. Stay straight togo onto Via Etnea. Or, to make iteasier, get off on the Gravina exitand follow the brown ‘Etna Sud’signs to Nicolosi. Parking in Ni-colosi is a cinch. Simply find a spotalong one of the tree-lined streetsand pull in. The town is fairly smalland quite walk-able, so you willnever be too far away from your ve-hicle.

Travel time: Four out of fivestars. The trip to Nicolosi rates fourout of five stars because it takes 40-45 minutes to get there.

Family Friendly: Five out offive stars. Nicolosi is an ideal townfor families with kids of all ages.Small toddlers will enjoy wanderingaround the public parks, playing onthe numerous outdoor jungle gyms,and enjoying the fresh, crisp air.There is a slight incline along theway, but nothing that's not too diffi-cult for children. The older kids willenjoy learning about Mt. Enta's pasteruptions, touring the variousmountain climbing stores, and en-joying a fresh slice of pizza. A greatday would be to venture out to Ni-colosi in the afternoon, wanderaround the stores and museums, goice skating, and then grab a bite toeat at one of the many family-friendly restaurants. Your kids willbe fast asleep long before you hit theroad to head back down to base.

One of the not-to-miss activities during the winter season in Ni-

colosi is ice skating. Located at the very tip of the main road in

town, Via Etnea the ice skating rink offers skating every night of

the week, excluding Wednesdays. The rink offers skate rental for a

small fee, as well as an admission fee.

There are a few parks and open spaces in Nicolosi for kids to run

and play. Also, Nicolosi is very dog-friendly, so if you have a furry

four-legged friend, bring him/her along. Enjoy the fresh air and cool

mountain breeze while sitting on a bench people-watching, or bring

a book along to enjoy the day.

JaNuary 21, 2011

Pizzarotti

21

*Breakfast: Rolled Oats, Sausage Links, Oven Fried Bacon, Asstd Omelets, Eggs to Order, Roasted Potatoes, Waffles, Asstd Dough-nuts, Apple Fritters.*Lunch: New England Clam Chowder, Lemon Pepper Pollock, Grilled Pork Chops, Steamed Rice, Garlic Roasted Potatoes, As-paragus, Creole Green Beans, Sugar Cookies, Cheese Cake, Vanilla Cream Pudding.Speed line: Grilled Hamburger/Cheeseburger, French Fries, Baked Beans.*Dinner: Vegetable Supreme Soup, Teriyaki Chicken Breast, Oven Browned Potatoes, Spinach, Stir Fry Vegetables, Sugar Cookies,Cheesecake, Vanilla Cream Pudding.Choice hamburger or hotdog by order

22*Breakfast: Farina, Grilled Ham Slices, Oven Fried Bacon, Asstd Omelets, Eggs to Order, Roasted Potatoes, Buttermilk Pancakes,Asstd Doughnuts, Butterhorns.*Brunch: Breakfast Items, Logging Soup, Baked Tuna and Noodles, Pork Fried Rice, Cajun Oven Fries, Steamed Broccoli, GlazedCarrots, Almond Cookies, Blueberry Pie.*Dinner: Cream of Mushroom Soup, Beef Stir Fry, Steamed Rice, Fried Okra, Corn Whole Kernel, Almond Cookies, BlueberryPie.Choice hamburger or hotdog by order

23*Breakfast: Rolled Oats, Grilled Minute Steak, Oven Fried Bacon, Asstd Omelets, Eggs to Order, Roasted Potatoes, French Toast,Asstd Doughnuts, Kolaches.*Brunch: Breakfast Items, Bean & Bacon Soup, Cheddar and Chicken Broccoli, Rosemary Potato Wedges, Steamed BrusselsSprouts, Glazed Carrots, Hermits, Velvet Pound Cake.*Dinner: Pepper Pot Soup, Jaegerschnitzel, Rice Pilaf, Cauliflower Polonaise, Seasoned Succotash, Garlic Bread, Hermits, VelvetPound Cake.Choice hamburger or hotdog by order

24

*Breakfast: Hominy Grits, Minced Beef w/ Toast, Oven Fried Bacon, Asstd Omelets, Eggs to Order, Roasted Potatoes, FrenchToast, Asstd Doughnuts, Butterfly Rolls.*Lunch: Beef Noodle Soup, Pasta Carbonara, Yankee Pot Roast, Southwestern Rice, Parsley Buttered Potatoes, Calico Cabbage,Sprouts Superba, Almond Cake, Peach Crunch, Butterscotch Pudding.*Speed line: Assorted Pizza.*Dinner: Cream of Potato Soup, Salisbury Steak, Brown Rice w/ Tomatoes, Collard Greens, Lyonnaise Wax Beans, Almond Cake,Peach Crunch, Butterscotch Pudding.Choice hamburger or hotdog by order

25

*Breakfast: Farina, Oven Fried Bacon, Baked Sausage Patties, Biscuits and Gravy, Asstd Omelets, Eggs to Order, Roasted Potatoes,Waffles, Asstd Doughnuts, Butterfly Rolls. *Lunch: Arroz Caldo Soup, Chicken Adobo, Beef Caldereta, Steamed Rice, Cut Green Beans, Steamed Carrots, Fruit Cocktail Up-side Down Cake, Chocolate Chip Cookies.Speed line: Philly Cheese Steak, Onion Rings.*Dinner: Manhattan Clam Chowder, Lasagna, Cream Style Corn, Baked Hubbard Squash, Fruit Cocktail Upside Down Cake,Chocolate Chip Cookies.Choice hamburger or hotdog by order

26

*Breakfast: Rolled Oats, Creamed Ground Beef, Oven Fried Bacon, Asstd Omelets, Eggs to Order, Roasted Potatoes, BlueberryPancakes, Asstd Doughnuts, Danish Diamonds.*Lunch: Mulligatawny Soup, Roast Turkey, Meatloaf, Steamed Rice, Mashed Potatoes, Chicken Gravy, Peas & Carrots, SteamedCauliflower, Sweet Potato Pie, Shortbread Cookies, Peach Gelatin.*Speed line: Grilled Cheese/Hamburger, Baked Beans, French Fried Potatoes.*Dinner: Chicken noodles soup, Fishwich, Steamed Rice, Lima Beans, Vegetable Stir Fry, Sweet Potato Pie, Shortbread Cookies.Choice hamburger or hotdog by order

27*Breakfast: Hominy Grits, Corned Beef Hash, Oven Fried Bacon, Asstd Omelets, Eggs to Order, Roasted Potatoes, French Toast,Asstd Doughnuts, Pineapple Carrot Muffin.*Lunch: Corn Chowder Soup, Pineapple Chicken, Beef Sauerbraten, Orange Rice, Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Asparagus, SummerSquash, Devils Food Cake, Fruit Nut Bar. *Speed line: Assorted Pizza.*Dinner: Beef Noodle Soup, Chicken Parmesan, Steamed Rice, Steamed Broccoli, Seasoned Carrots, Devils Food Cake, Fruit NutBar. Choice hamburger or hotdog by order

OCS, continued from page 3

the students.Capt. Kenneth Gray, OTC

commanding officer, said because thecommand provides accession training to65 percent of the Navy's new officers,"the RDCs at OTC have a tremendouslypositive influence on the newest genera-tions of naval officers; an influence thatlasts for decades."

"My challenge, and my visionfor the RDCs is that they will model thevery best division officer/chief petty of-ficer relationship that our studentsshould expect to experience in the fleet,"Gray said.

Gray said that during the ini-tial stages of OCS training, the RDCsfocus on the militarization of the stu-dents and developing their discipline.But over time the focus shifts, and bythe end of training the RDCs concen-trate on mentoring the students and in-stilling the confidence and competencein them that they will need as leaders.

"Being an RDC at OTC is achallenging yet extremely rewarding as-signment, Gray said. "Our RDCs routi-nely get letters and e-mails from formerstudents that thank them for their trai-ning and for being a positive role model.Sometimes these letters can make youreyes water."

Many of the current seniorenlisted RDCs agree with their com-manding officer and senior enlisted ad-visor about the job at OCS being veryrewarding.

"These candidates are the fu-ture of the Navy, and I wanted to comehere to be able to make a difference inmaking sure these future officers areready to join the fleet," said Chief Ma-chinist's Mate (SW) Jamie Hebert. "It'sa chance to mold a competent, confi-dent and disciplined junior officer tosend out to the fleet."

Hebert called being an RDCat OTC challenging but a great opportu-nity to have an impact on the future ofthe Navy.

"It also gives me sense ofpride to carry on the traditions of theNavy and being able to instill some ofthose traditions, naval heritage or lea-dership to these individuals coming offthe street and joining the Navy," Hebertsaid.

He also said one of the mainjobs of any chief in the Navy, especiallyin fleet, is to train the newly-commissio-ned ensigns and junior officers to be adivision officer and future leader.

"Here at Officer TrainingCommand, we have that opportunityeveryday to train the candidates in amultitude of different facets," Hebertsaid. "This is definitely a more influen-tial way to get the JOs (junior officers)ready for the fleet."

Senior Chief Yeoman (SW)Patricia Arnold, presently the only fe-male RDC at OTC, called it great dutyfor any female chief.

"This is an amazing tour andby far the best of my 22 years," Arnoldsaid. "I would encourage female andmale chiefs to come here. This is whereyou can share your experiences. This iswhere these young men and women arelooking for guidance and direction intheir lives. And this is where the chiefsthat come here as RDCs are able toshare those experiences and give thatguidance to start these future officersout on the right foot."

Whether a first-time RDC atOTC or a second-tour RDC, all seniorenlisted coming to OTC to train andmentor officer candidates need to attendRDC school at RTC. Even if the chiefshad been to the "C" school before, theyneed to refresh and be updated on anychanges to the training of both recruitsand officer candidates.

All Sailors looking to wearthe "red rope" attend RDC School atRTC prior to duty. However, for RDCchiefs going to Newport, the few weeksof shadowing RDCs with recruit divi-sions at RTC isn't required. These chiefsgo directly to OTC and receive a coupleweeks of the training that is needed forOCS.

Arnold said there have alsobeen discussions at OTC on addingOCS curriculum to RDC School, butshe feels the hands-on training seniorenlisted RDCs receive upon first arri-ving to OTC is effective.

"I think what we learn herewhen we arrive at OTC is tailored per-fectly to the job we need to do," she said."There is nothing better than to have thehands-on training of shadowing anOCS class, and then everything elsecomes with time. The great thing aboutthe program here is we're allowed tomake changes, to tailor it to our ownteaching styles and be the chief."

OTC is overseen by NavalService Training Command (NSTC),headquartered aboard Naval StationGreat Lakes, Ill. NSTC manages all ini-tial Navy officer and enlisted accessionstraining except for the U.S. Naval Aca-demy (USNA).

Navy OCS was established in1951. The Navy previously operatedtwo officer candidate programs, OCS inNewport and Aviation Officer Candi-date School (AOCS) at Naval Air Sta-tion (NAS) Pensacola, Fla. AOCStrained prospective naval aviators, navalflight officers, aviation maintenanceduty officers, and air intelligence offi-cers, while OCS trained all other officercommunities.

The original Navy OCS inNewport was closed in April 1994 whenthe programs were merged as a singleOCS aboard NAS Pensacola. Subse-quently, in 2007 the consolidated NavyOCS curriculum was relocated back toNewport by direction of the Base Reali-gnment and Closure (BRAC) Commis-sion of 2005. For more information on OTC and OCS,visit http://www.ocs.navy.mil/.

For more information on RDC School,visithttp://www.bootcamp.navy.mil/staff/rdc_school.asp/.

For more news from Naval Service Trai-ning Command, visitwww.navy.mil/local/greatlakes/.

JaNuary 21, 2011

oN the go With mWr

midtoWN moVie theaterSSChedule & deSCriPtioNS

Friday, January 215:00pm Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows PG-135:30pm Little Fockers PG-137:30pm Burlesque PG-138:00pm Due Date R

Saturday, January 222:00pm Megamind PG2:30pm Tangled PG5:00pm Little Fockers PG-135:30pm Burlesque PG-137:30pm Love & Other Drugs R8:00pm The Generals Daughter R FREE

Sunday, January 232:00pm Tangled PG2:30pm True Grit PG-134:30pm Burlesque PG-135:00pm The Next 3 Days PG-136:30pm Love & Other Drugs R

Tuesday, January 255:00pm Megamind PG5:30pm The Green Hornet PG-137:30pm Burlesque PG-138:00pm Love & Other Drugs R

Wednesday, January 265:00pm Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows PG-135:30pm Burlesque PG-137:30pm True Grit PG-138:00pm For Colored Girls R

Thursday, January 275:00pm Megamind PG5:30pm Little Fockers PG-137:30pm Unstoppable PG-138:00pm Due Date R

Friday, January 282:00pm Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs PG FREE2:30pm Nanny McPhee returns PG FREE5:00pm Chronicles of Narnia: Dawn TreaderPG-135:30pm The Green Hornet PG-137:30pm Burlesque PG-138:00pm Love & Other Drugs R

LITTLE FOCKERS- Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Teri Polo, BlytheDanner

The test of wills between Jack Byrnes and Greg Focker escalates to new heights. It hastaken 10 years, two little Fockers with wife Pam and countless hurdles for Greg to finallyget "in" with his tightly wound father-in-law, Jack. After the cash-strapped dad takes ajob moonlighting for a drug company, however, Jack's suspicions about his favorite malenurse come roaring back. When Greg and Pam's entire clan -- including Pam's lovelornex, Kevin -- descends for the twins' birthday party, Greg must prove to the skeptical Jackthat he's fully capable as the man of the house. But with all the misunderstandings, spy-ing and covert missions, will Greg pass Jack's final test and become the family's next pa-triarch -- or will thecircle of trust be broken for good? (98 min.)

MEGAMIND- Will Farrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, David Cross

Megamind is the most brilliant super-villain the world has ever known... and the leastsuccessful. Over the years, he has tried to conquer Metro City in every imaginable way-- Each attempt, a colossal failure thanks to the caped superhero known as "MetroMan," until the day Megamind actually defeats him in the throes of one of his botchedevil plans. Suddenly, the fate of Metro City is threatened when a new villain arrivesand chaos runs rampant, leaving everyone to wonder: Can the world's biggest "mind"actually be the one to save the day? (96 min.)

TRUE GRIT- Matt Damon, Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, Hailee Steinfield, BarryPepper

A spunky 14-year-old girl sets out to avenge her father’s death with the help of an aging,drunken, one-eyed marshal. (110 min.)

FOR COLORED GIRLS- Janet Jackson, Loretta Devine, Michael Ealy, Kim-berly Elise, Omari Hardwick

"For Colored Girls" brings to the screen Ntozake Shange's Obie Award-winning play, apoetic exploration of what is to be of color and a female inthis world. (134 min.)

HARRY POTTER: DEATHLY HALLOWS- Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson,Rupert Grint, John Hurt, Helena Bonham Carter

Harry, Ron and Hermione set out on their perilous mission to track down and destroythe secret to Voldemort's immortality and destruction -- the Horcruxes. On their own,without the guidance of their professors or the protection of Professor Dumbledore,the three friends must now rely on one another more than ever. But there are DarkForces in their midst that threaten to tear them apart. Meanwhile, the wizarding worldhas become a dangerous place for all enemies of the Dark Lord. The long-feared warhas begun and Voldemort's Death Eaters seize control of the Ministry of Magic andeven Hogwarts, terrorizing and arresting anyone who might oppose them. But the oneprize they still seek is the one most valuable to Voldemort: Harry Potter. The ChosenOne has become the hunted one as the Death Eaters search for Harry with orders tobring him to Voldemort...alive. Harry's only hope is to find the Horcruxes before Volde-mort finds him. But as he searches for clues, he uncovers an old andalmost forgotten tale -- the legend of the Deathly Hallows. And if the legend turns outto be true, it could give Voldemort the ultimate power he seeks. Little does Harry knowthat his future has already been decided by his past when, on that fateful day, he became"the Boy Who Lived." No longer just a boy, Harry Potter is drawing ever closer to thetask for which he has been preparing since the day he first stepped into Hogwarts: theultimate battle with Voldemort. (145 min.)

Don’t be thatguy or girlLiving overseas is a great ex-perience for young sailors.The Li-berty pro-gramoffers sin-gle sailors,many acti-vities toenhance li-vingabroad.The Mana-gement of Take 5 and Libertyprogram wants sailors and theSigonella community to knowthat there are many servicesoffered besides a night ofdrinking.

Everyone loves a littlecompetition right?!? So, hereis your chance to prove toyourself, to your shipmates,and the rest of Naval Air Sta-

tion Sigonella that your com-mand has the right spirit and

responsibledrinking wayof life. "Ope-ration ThatGuy Chal-lenge" kicksoff this Mon-day, January17, 2011 somark your ca-lendars. The

challenge sponsored by theLiberty program of Sigonellatargets your commands singlesailors, E5, and below. Allyou have to do is make it 6months without a DUI/ARIand the Liberty program willthrow a party for your com-mand plus bragging rights. So"Don't be That Guy" and letthe competition begin!

Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA) comes to Sigonella

Command FitnessLeaders and fitness enthu-siasts looking for that com-petitive edge look no further.

Aerobics and FitnessAssociation of America(AFAA) has the tools foryou. AFAA is an opportu-nity for you to expand yourfuture knowledge on the la-test fitness information.

By expanding yourfitness awareness you will beable to offer more to sailorsand dependents. AFAA isbringing Sigonella four clas-ses this year Military FitnessSpecialist Certification, In-door Cycling Instructor Trai-ning, Primary Group ExerciseCertification, Practical YogaInstructor Training.

Military Fitness Spe-cialist Certification is a new

class. It is a unique class thatcombines the knowledge and

skills of personal fitness trai-ners and group exercise in-structors.

This course is desi-gned to assist active duty mi-litary members and civiliansworking with military mem-bers. It is designed to in-crease participants fitnessknowledge and programmingskills and will be beneficial foranyone who plans, imple-

ments, and/or leads physicaltraining sessions and pro-grams for military members.

The course includessupplemental training con-cepts for Fitness Improve-ment (or remedial) Programsand enhanced fitness pro-grams.

The Certified Mili-tary Fitness Specialist will beable to instruct specific groupfitness classes, unit physicaltraining sessions, and provideappropriate orientations andprogram designs for membergroups and individuals.

Classes will be offe-red Feb. 25-27, Monday – Fri-day from 8 am to 5 pm. Pleaseregister at the Fit Districtx4951. Remember to registerearly as it takes time to shipthe books.

Come out and Play with usat MWRMWR is currently hiring. TheChild Development Center,Fitness & Sports, CommunityActivities, and Auto SkillsCenter. The CDC is lookingfor child youth assistants, anda cook. Sports and Fitness hasflexible positions as a recrea-

tion assistant and recreationaid. Auto Skills Center is loo-king for a recreation aid. Tojoin the MWR Team come bythe MWR Administrationbuilding Monday through Fri-day from 7:30 am to 4 pm.

Teen Beat by Robyn

With exams rightaround the corner, no one isquite sure what to do withthemselves. Fresh from winterbreak, everyone is holdingonto the mentality of ‘I havelots of free-time.’ But school isback and, very unkindly,brings semester exams with it.

Now the students aretrying to balance the requiredstudying with the desired acti-vity, whether it be reading,playing sports, or sleeping. Alucky few manage to concen-trate while all the others areleft in the struggle of balancingeverything.

Exams mean that theyear is half over. Students arehalfway between anotherschool year, halfway to being ayear wiser, and halfway bet-ween summers. Semesterexams are the turning point in

the year, promising a comple-tely fresh start and the bonusof a few days off. Exceptexams promise these things onthe condition of being taken.It’s a sweet deal, right?

About half of the stu-dents really worry about theirexams, taking lots of time tostudy and worry. The otherhalf do as little as possible inpreparation and hope to passand, as always, there are thosecaught in the middle who dosomething to get ready but noteverything they could do.Right now, the students areholding their breath, waitingfor this ordeal to be over.Once it is, a large but quietexhale will be heard over theafternoon breeze.

What to do?

JaNuary 21, 2011

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DUI, continued from page 1

the accident, but that’s not thepoint.

“I’m not going to say I wasinnocent,” he said. “I thought I wasbeing respectful of the law. But, thatwasn’t the case. I acted withoutthinking. I was drinking. I became amurderer on four wheels.”

Phillips learned there areconsequences for his actions.

“The things that you didto hurt people, that’s what they doto you,” said Phillips, referring tothe justice system. “I separated aman from his family; so they separa-ted me from everyone I loved.

“We call it ‘dead time’ be-cause prison preserves you,” Phillipssaid. “If you go in at 22, 10 yearslater you’re still 22, but the rest ofthe world has changed 10 years.”A mothers’ son

Ida Jackson was sixmonths pregnant when she gavebirth to 2-pound Dominic Phillipsin 1978.

“He came into this worldfighting,” is how Jackson describesher prematurely-born son.

One of eight children, Do-minic was a precocious youth. Hewas always trying to make peoplelaugh and make his mother happy,she said.

“We were poor,” Jacksonsaid. “It was very difficult. I couldn’tafford to give my children an allo-wance or a lot of material things.”

Dominic seemed to rea-lize this at a young age. When hewas 5 years old, Phillips collected alarge ball of lint and proudly gave itto his mother for her birthday.

A couple of years later, hewas embarrassed that he couldn’tbuy his mother a Christmas present.So, “he snuck into my bedroom,took some of my old jewelry, wrap-ped it up and gave it to me for Chri-stmas,” Jackson recalls. “I had to tryand pretend to be surprised.”

Jackson raised her familyon Jefferson Street — “on the edgeof the hood,” is how she describesthe location of the home, which isnestled near Mason and Wood stre-ets. Those neighborhoods have a hi-story of youth gang activity, Jacksonsaid.

To keep her young chil-dren off the streets, she boughtthem table games and books. Shesaid she spent as much time withher children as a single mothercould.

“I tried to be a good mo-ther,” Jackson said. “But, sometimesthe pull of the streets can becomestronger than family values. Domi-nic started hanging out with thewrong crowd.”

By the time he turned 16,Jackson said she was worried abouther son’s behavior. He was rebelling,smoking marijuana and hanging outwith friends who “made him feelimportant,” Jackson said.

Jackson recalled her sontelling her he had found “real love”on the streets because people “haveyour back. ... You can be somebodybig on the streets.”

“I remember sitting on thefloor and having a talk with Domi-nic,” Jackson said. “I told him there’sa fine line between you just hangingon the street and getting shot, orshooting someone. Something hasto change.”

Jackson tried to send Do-minic to live with her brother, a cor-rections officer in Manistee, but herson refused. He briefly went to live

with his father in MuskegonHeights, but his troubles continued.He was arrested for selling mari-juana in school.

“If I’d had somewhere tosend him, I’d have sent him,” Jack-son said. “He needed to get awayfrom here.”

When Dominic turned17, Jackson strongly encouraged herson to join the Navy.

“I didn’t want to see myson go away,” Jackson said. “But, heneeded to get away from here. Heneeded to get away from some badinfluences.”Mending a broken heart

Every New Year’s Eve,Jackson waits for her children to calland wish her a happy birthday. Evenwhen Phillips was aboard a Navyship, he would phone his mother.

Ten years ago Phillips’ callnever came.

Several days later Jacksonlearned about her son’s car accident.She shuttled between Muskegonand Virginia to attend her son’s trial.She still grieves about what happe-ned.

“I went through a wholegamut of emotions,” Jackson con-fesses during a recent interview. “Itried to raise my children to begood, productive citizens. Whathappened to Dominic was devasta-ting, it wasn’t just a speeding ticket.When I heard what happened, I justfell apart. I cried and cried.”

During Phillips imprison-ment, Jackson tried to make surethat her son knew how much he wasloved. Jackson and other familymembers visited, called or wroteletters to him every week.

“He made a terrible, terri-ble mistake,” Jackson said. “But, youdon’t just leave them there and for-get about them.

“Every day I pray to God:‘Use that bad situation to teach himsomething.’ God can take a badthing and do something good withit.”Trying to make good

Phillips was released Feb.5, 2009.

Since his release, Phillipssaid he’s discovered why so manyex-convicts return to prison. As of1994, approximately 70 percent ofreleased prisoners are re-arrestedwithin three years, according to sta-tistics from the U.S. Bureau of Ju-stice.

“Nobody wants to hire afelon,” Phillips said. He said his ef-forts to find a job have been fruitlessand frustrating. Before he was sentto prison, Phillips received an hono-rable discharge from the Navy, sohis benefits have allowed him to en-roll in classes at Muskegon Com-munity College.

His said his dream wouldbe to start his own business and hireex-convicts who need a job. In Fe-bruary the military will consider hisrequest to re-enlist in the Navy. Hesaid rejoining the Navy is probablythe most realistic option he has.

Phillips said he hopes sha-ring his story discourages othersfrom drinking and driving, and en-courages them to make better deci-sions than he has.

Phillips said he hopes sha-ring his story discourages othersfrom drinking and driving, and en-courages them to make better deci-sions than he has.

“You never think some-thing like this can happen to you,”Phillips said. “I want to tell my story

because it could easily become theirstory.”

For the past 10 monthsPhillips has been getting to know hisnow 9-year-old daughter, Tre’ Janie.She currently is living with him inMuskegon.

Phillips said he knows theodds of success are not in his favor.One in nine black men ages 20 to 34is behind bars, according to a 2008study conducted by The Pew Centeron The States, a research centerbased in Washington, D.C.

“I know people who pri-son has become a revolving door forthem,” Philips said. “They can’t sur-vive out here.”

Phillips says he couldn’tsurvive going back to prison.

“I have too much to lose,”he said. “I have a lot of people wholove me and who I love. I have adaughter — I’ve missed most of herlife. I’m not going to let this happenagain.

“If not for myself, for her.”

SKIN, continued from

page 2

easily when touched, scratched, orshaved. They may be a bit painful tothe touch. These skin cancers typi-cally appear on the cheeks, forehead,temples, bald scalps, and the backsof the hands. They also can occur onthe ears and lips, where they are so-mewhat more dangerous. They arevery much related to sun exposure,so obviously, they most often appearwhere the sun shines. They can ap-pear as early as age 25, though theyare much more common in the 40’sand beyond. These are also the skincancers that are most easily preven-ted by proper sun protection; inclu-ding clothing, hats, and liberalsunscreen use.

The earliest form of Squa-mous cell carcinoma, called ActinicKeratosis, is very common. Thesetypically appear as flat red scalyspots on the face…especially thetemples, forehead, and cheeks. Skin cancers are diagnosed bybiopsy. Biopsies are small pieces ofskin that are taken and sent to thepathologist for microscopic exami-nation.

Remember…..The key ismoderation. Some sun is great, buttoo much sun exposure could haveconsequences later in life…bothearly aging, and skin cancer. Ofcourse, if you are concerned aboutany lesion on yourself, or your lovedones….see a health care professio-nal for a thorough skin examination.

Next time we’ll discussMelanoma and Sun Protection. Melanoma is the skin cancer that,while being rarer than either squa-mous cell cancer or basal cell cancer,spreads rapidly. It is a killer.

LONELINESS, continued

from page 5

about things that are important to you.• worry about who would help you in anemergency.• feel that nobody really understands orcares about you.• have trouble making or keepingfriends who share your interests and va-lues.• feel isolated from people or excludedfrom activities you would like to join.• wait for people to call or write to you,or extend invitations, instead of takingthe initiative and getting in touch withthem.• stay at work longer than you need tobecause you don’t know people outsidethe workplace or don’t want to return toan empty home.Coping with Loneliness• spend holidays or other special days

alone, especially if you would prefer toshare these with others. The more ofthese feelings you have, the more likelyit is that you feel lonely andmight benefit from strengthening yourties to others.Ways to cope with lonelinessThe best way to deal with lonelinessmay depend on its cause.

Situational loneliness -- thekind that results from missing a specificperson or group -- may last only a shorttime and will go away on its own. If youfeel lonely because your partner is awayon a business trip, you may know you’llfeel less lonely when the person returns.

Until then, it may help to di-stract yourself with enjoyable activities,including some you can’t share withyour partner. If you like action moviesand your partner prefers romantic co-medies, rent videos or DVDs you knowyour partner wouldn’t enjoy. Make pop-corn and have a party for one, or invite afew friends over to join you.

Frequent or long-term loneli-ness requires a more active approach.Research has shown that this type of lo-neliness can have serious health conse-quences. Long term loneliness canincrease your risk of many mental andphysical conditions, from depression toheart disease. And researchers havefound that people who have strong con-nections to others live longer. Even ifyou beat the odds, you’ll enjoy life moreif you don’t always feel lonely. Remem-ber, loneliness, like other feelings, is notpermanent; you can do somethingabout it. Here are some tips on how to reduce oravoid feelings of loneliness.

• Know that it’s okay to feellonely at times. Remember that loneli-ness does not indicate personal weak-ness or a shortcoming; it’s just part ofbeing human. Giving yourself negativemessages about loneliness will onlymake it worse. Instead, try to look at fee-lings of loneliness as a wake-up call thatcan help encourage you to make posi-tive changes in you life.

• Acknowledge your loneli-ness. Consider writing about your fee-lings in a journal, poem, song, or anunsent letter. This will provide an outlet

for your feelings and may help you seethings you could do to ease your loneli-ness.

• Learn to enjoy your timealone. Think about the kinds of thingsyou might like to do alone, such a rea-ding a good book or listening to musicyou love. Perhaps you want to start ahobby you’ve meant to make time for,or develop your creativity with paintingor drawing. You might start with shortperiods alone that may gradually in-crease as you feel more comfortable andenjoy your activities.

• Reach out to others. Manypeople are lonely because they wait forothers to call, send e-mail, or extend in-vitations. You may have to learn how toreach out to others in order to feel lesslonely. The first step is always the har-dest and can be especially difficult forshy people. But be willing to take even asmall step to make new acquaintancesor strengthen ties to old friends.

• Set realistic goals. If youhave few close friends, don’t try to be-come the most popular person at workor on your block. Instead, set goals youcan achieve, such as inviting a co-wor-ker out for coffee or calling a friend orrelative you know will want to hearfrom you every Sunday.

• Get involved in communityactivities. Try to find at least one sharedactivity you can enjoy every week, soyou will always be able to look forwardto spending enjoyable time with others.You might take a class, join a house ofworship, or get involved with a team,club, or volunteer activity.

• Aim to have more than oneclose friend. Many people are lonely be-cause they expect too much of one ortwo close friends, such as a partner orbest friend, who may not always sharetheir interests or be able to meet theiremotional needs. A good way to avoidthis situation is to develop a diversegroup of friends from different areas ofyour life, such as school, work, andother activities.

• Make time for in-personconversations. Sending e-mail or textmessages and making quick “check-in”calls can be a great way to keep in touchwith old friends or reach out to new

JaNuary 21, 2011

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ones. But everybody needs face-to-faceconversations to feel strongly connectedto others, so be sure to make time forthese, too.

• Be willing to overlook smallflaws or differences. Loneliness can so-metimes result from expecting perfec-tion. Accept other people’s small flawsor differences as readily as you wouldlike them to accept yours. Every frienddoesn’t have to share all your views or beyour “soul mate.” Having a diverse groupof friends will allow you to get to knowpeople who have different strengths thanyou do.

• Avoid relying too heavily onthe Internet. Many reputable Web siteshave message boards, forums, or interac-tive features that let you talk online withpeople who share your interests. Butspending too much time on the Internetcan lead to isolation. Limit your timeonline, so the Internet doesn’t becomethe sole focus of your social life. And al-ways take safety precautions. Never giveout personal information that couldcompromise your identity and, if youwant to get together with someoneyou’ve met online, meet in a publicplace and let someone knowwhere you’re going.

• Remember that you can belonely if you are in a relationship or havea lot of friends.Loneliness has more to do with your fee-lings than with how long you’ve beenmarried or how many friends you have.You can be lonely in a marriage if youcan’t talk to your spouse about thethings that are important to you. Andyou can have an active social life and feellonely if your relationships seem superfi-cial to you or don’t meet your needs.

• Think about getting a pet.Research has shown that having a petcan help to easefeeling of loneliness in a variety of ways.In addition to providing companionship,pets can make it easier to connect withpeople you might like to know. Forexample, if you get a dog and walk it at

the same times each day, you may findeasier to get to know your neighbors --not just because you’ll see each otherregularly but because you’ll know youhave a shared interest in dogs.

• Be patient. Friendshipsdon’t happen overnight. It takes time tobuild caring and trust. Take advantage ofopportunities to build new relationships,but don’t be disappointed if they don’tdevelop as quickly as you’d like.

• Consider talking to a thera-pist or another counselor if you can’tseem to connect with the people in yourlife. Loneliness may be sign of a deeperproblem that would benefit from thehelp of a professional who can suggestways to form stronger connections orbring people into your life who wouldmeet more of your needs.

Your employee assistanceprogram (EAP) may be able to help youfind a therapistor counselor in your community.

Overcoming loneliness canhave many physical and emotional bene-fits. The best way to feel less lonely is totake a proactive approach to reachingout and developing stronger connec-tions to people you know or would liketo know.

The program that providedthis publication has additional resourceson making and keeping strong frien-dships.

For more information on howto copy with loneliness contact yourFleet and Family Support Center at 624-4291.

PESTO, continued from page 6

addition of walnuts, ricotta or othercheeses. This has happened with va-rious typical Italian dishes, many ofwhich have ‘terminated’ their evolutiononly within the most recent decades. InItalian cooking, the variations of a dishnot only represent the wealth of diver-sity, but also an indirect legitimisationof its generally accepted version.Uncouth Pesto

It’s very possible that, as

Giuseppe Gavotti wrote in 1973 in hisCucina e vini di Liguria, the originalpesto was ‘uncouth’, that is, it containeda lot of garlic. In 1965, even the great ga-stronomist Massimo Alberini, in his ILiguri a Tavola. Itinerario gastronomicoda Nizza a Lerici (The Ligurians at thetable, a Gastronomic Itinerary fromNice to Lerici) made a similar commen-tary, letting us understand that the pestorecipes of the 1800’s were somewhatstingy with the basil, using only a coupleof leaves, and abounding in garlic, usingthree or four cloves of it. Certainly theArab-Persian taste, which dominated thesauces of Genoa from the Middle Agesuntil the 1800’s, had a lot to do withthis. As well as the predilection for andthe ‘need’ of garlic by the Ligurian seafa-rers, who considered it as almost medi-cinal. Invariably, today’s Pesto is farmore lady-and-gentleman-like and ba-lanced, with a far more noticeable pre-sence of basil, preferably Ligurian basiland ideally basil from the Genoese hillsof Pra, with a long, thin leaf.PDO ingredients. When possible

In the same text, Alberini un-derlined the role of the olive oil in therecipe; it should neither be too fruitynor too bitter. The Ligurian extra-virginolive oils are ideal. Just as Genoese basil,the extra-virgin olive oil of the RivieraLigure has obtained the D.O.P. grantedby the European Union in recognition ofits quality and typicality. Furthermore,for a pesto that does honour to the terri-tory of origin are to be used: a) the gar-lic of Vessalico, in the Province ofImperia, of delicate flavour and particu-lar digestibility, b) Italian pine nuts andc) the coarse salt of the Cervia salt flats.It’s obvious that outside Italy it’s not al-ways possible to find all these auto-chthonous ingredients. The productionof Italian pine nuts, for example, has no-ticeably dropped in recent years due tothe Pine Processionary, a parasitic deva-station for the pine nut pine. Therefore,in order to prepare an authentic pesto,the minimum necessary requirement isto have quality ingredients and to follow

the original recipe.It’s easier to find Grana Pa-

dano and Parmigiano Reggiano cheeseson the international market, and espe-cially advisable are those that are goodand mature. It’s relatively easy to findpecorini, ewe cheeses, from Romanocheese that is judged by some to be a lit-tle aggressive to Fiore Sardo cheese,ideal when seasoned six months.Consorzio del Pesto Genovese andPesto Championship

The Genoese Pesto Consor-tium has been formed by the Region ofLiguria and associations of producers.Its mission, as its president, AndreaDella Gatta, chef and owner of TrattoriaAndrea un Genoa, explains is “to safe-guard the traditional recipe for pesto,along with all its quality ingredients andfirst and foremost, obviously to use Li-guria basil.” The Consortium has pre-sented a request for the recognition ofquality STG (Specialità TradizionaleGarantita, Guaranteed Traditional Spe-ciality) for pesto. The Genoese Associa-zione Palatifini, led by Sergio and Saradi Paolo and by Roberto Panizza, orga-nises the World Championship of Mor-tar-made Genoese Pesto every two yearsin Genoa, to confirm its Ligurian im-print and its universality as a foodstuffof quality and taste. The Palatifini initia-tive deserves particular praise becausethe mortar and pestle, both at domesticas well as professional level, have givenway to the processor. From the gastro-nomic point of view, as pointed out bythe chef Enrico Tournier: “When weprepare pesto alla genovese with theclassic mortar and pestle, we subject theinstrument to the product while respec-ting the right proportions of the ingre-dients because we are the ones to decidethe proportions of the doses. Whilewhen using a mixer, in order to succeedin cutting the basil we have to add moreoil than otherwise necessary, thus alte-ring the doses and in such manner wesubject the product to the instrument.”Genoese Pesto in the world

Pesto has reached great po-pularity in the world, also thanks to thecrews of the mercantile ships and thepassengers that set sail from the Port ofGenoa to most diverse of destinations.Pesto found itself at home in La Boca,the ‘Genoese’ district of Buenos Aires,and started to spread out in the mainports of the USA Immediately after theSecond World War, some companiesbegan exporting pesto in jars to the US.And at the same moment, the first reci-pes appeared in American newspapers.According to many sources, pesto rea-ched its greatest popularity is the UnitedStates in the ‘80’s of the last century. Atthe beginning of the ‘90’s its popularitygrew even more when Frank Sinatrastarted to commercialize a pesto saucethat carried his face on the label. Also itscounterfeiting began, with the super-markets invaded by approximate copies

of the original. In the meantime, pestobecame to be really successful in the Ita-lian restaurants around the world. Anew breed of Italians, Ligurians chefsand restaurateur placed it on the menusand made the dish according to the ori-ginal recipe. Zeffirino was, without adoubt, the pioneer of this generation.These days pasta, be it trenette, trofie,gnocchi or lasagne, with pesto isamongst the best known Italian dishesin the contemporary world.

New Briefs

Protestant Womenof the Chapel

Spring KickoffEvent!

Tuesday, January 25 at9:15 a.m.

NAS I Chapel FellowshipHall

Refreshments and chil-dcare will be provided

For more information,visit our Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/pwocsigonella or contact the

Chapel office at DSN 624-3975.

Health PromotionsGreat American Spit Out,

February 24Crews into Shape 2010challenge, 1-28 MarchFor more information,

call 624-4710.

The Jan. 21 issue of The Signature

Documents

Transcript of The Jan. 21 issue of The Signature