Van Barg has over a decade of marketing experience and has previously worked for Media Link, Inc., as well as Simon Properties Group, American Bank and Trust, NA, Lujack's Northpark Auto Plaza, and Living Lands & Waters.

"I am happy to be rejoining the Media Link team," said Van Barg. "Natalie Linville-Mass has built her advertising agency to the point where it is a key player in the advertising industry not only in the Quad Cities, but in the region and beyond. Her development of Media Link Software™ is bound to be a game-changer in the media buying industry nationwide."

"We are so excited to have Laura back on our team.  She has incredible talent and tenacity and is truly a welcome addition to our team.  We really need someone with her caliber to help us as we take this agency to a national level," said Natalie Linville-Mass, President of Media Link, Inc.

Media Link, Inc. is a full-service integrated marketing firm specializing in strategic media buying and placement. Media Link works with businesses in the Quad-Cities and around the country to develop and execute customized marketing strategies to help them more effectively reach their customers. Media Link, Inc. recently developed and launched its own media buying software system, Media Link Software™. This company is also one of the only marketing firms in the region to have obtained an 8(a) SDB certification, a designation of significance to clients who contract with the federal government.

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A not-so-surprising new study shows stress reduces the effectiveness on drugs on prostate cancer, and even accelerates the disease's development.

"More than 150 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer this year and how they deal with it can have a dramatic effect on their physical and emotional health," says pioneering cancer psychotherapist Dr. Niki Barr, author of "Emotional Wellness: The Other Half of Treating Cancer" (www.canceremotionalwellbeing.com).

While the mind-body connection in fighting disease is well-documented, the new study by Wake Forest Baptist Medical Centers reveals just how damaging anxiety and stress can be, Barr says.

The study found that mice implanted with human prostate cancer cells responded well to treatment when they were kept calm and stress free. But when the mice were stressed, their cancer cells didn't die and tumor growth was unchecked. In another test, mice that were repeatedly stressed actually had tumors get larger.

The researchers found that stress and anxiety set off a chemical chain reaction that affects the cancer cells.

"So finding ways to ease the stress associated with cancer is vital," says Barr, who has dedicated her practice to cancer patients and their families since 2007 after more than 15 years in counseling. "And part of what causes that anxiety is the feeling that you've lost all control of your life."

To return some of that control to patients, she created the "emotional wellness toolbox," a checklist of activities and tangible items her patients use to help maintain a positive attitude and sense of well-being through treatment.

Here are a few of them:

• Diagnosis: Anxiety begins here and, according to the National Cancer Institute, "Anxiety may increase pain, affect sleep and cause nausea and vomiting," among other problems. Learning to reduce anxiety from the outset can minimize physical pain and discomfort throughout the illness and treatment. Tangible tools include writing materials, a device for favorite music, CD's for guided meditation or relaxation, and a box to hold these materials. Cancer patients and their families can use them to focus for navigating psychologically through cancer.  "A simple technique for immediate relief from anxiety is 'triangle breathing,' " Barr says. "Breathe in, breathe out, then pause- during which you say a word such as 'calm,' 'peace,' 'confident;' it's remarkably effective!"

• Medical treatment - depression and the unknown: Approximately 25 percent of cancer patients are clinically depressed, she says. By the time of treatment, which is sometimes a gamble in itself, the diagnosis has had more time to settle in, which can throw emotions into a tailspin. Just a few of the tools for battling depression include being proactive in understanding the treatment, maintaining a healthy routine, taking a break from "cancer talk," creating affirmations - true statements - that keep one moving forward, and keeping a journal.

• Back to "normal"? ... After a diagnosis that can feel like being run over by a truck and a cavalcade of tests and treatments, suddenly the whirlwind of cancer "just sort of ends," Barr says. Shifting gears - again - can be dizzying. Finding your center and moving forward with intention is a great way back to a regular routine. The first step is to collate all records of treatment, including upcoming visits; this puts the recent past and future into context. Next, decide on the kind of life you want to live from here; perhaps a healthier diet and more exercise was a promise made during treatment. Now is the time to make good on it!

"These tips are gathered from working with cancer patients and their families, taking what is most effective to share with other cancer patients and their families," Barr says. "Sometimes cancer returns; and, sadly, some do not survive cancer."

"Regardless of the severity of a diagnosis, however, there are good and bad ways to navigate this disease - that should be the primary concern, along with treatment, when you or a loved one are diagnosed."

About Niki Barr, Ph.D. (@NikiBarrPhD)

Niki Barr, Ph.D. founded a pioneering psychotherapy practice dedicated to working with cancer patients in all stages of the disease, along with their family members, caregivers and friends. In her book, she describes an "emotional wellness toolbox" patients can put together with effective and simple strategies, ready to use at any time, for helping them move forward through cancer. Dr. Barr is a dynamic and popular speaker, sharing her insights with cancer patients and clinicians across the nation.

Please join us on a bus tour of the City of Davenport landmarks, such as the Davenport City Hall, golf courses, parks, multi-sport and event-rental facilities. It is an opportunity to learn about a wide variety of services and programs we  offer to our Quad Cities area residents.

Tour Date : Saturday, April 20

Tour Time : 9 AM-12 NOON

Arrive at : The River's Edge (700 W River Drive, Davenport, IA)

Please RSVP by April 17, 2013.

Light refreshments will be provided.

Members and leaders of multicultural groups are highly encouraged to join. Help us serve you better!

For more info contact:

Manisha Paudel, 563-888-3107

mpaudel@ci.davenport.ia.us

by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley

What we saw unfold in the Senate budget vote-a-rama just before the Easter recess is important in evaluating competing claims about the reason for dysfunction in the Senate.

Democratic leaders push an aggressive narrative that all the blame goes to Republican obstructionism and abuse of the filibuster, but those who adhere to this partisan account cannot use it to explain why the Democrat-controlled Senate hadn't passed a budget resolution since 2009.

Unique rules govern consideration of a budget resolution.  There's fixed time for debate.  It can't be filibustered.  It can be passed in relatively short order with a simple majority.  At the same time, there are few limits on offering amendments, as long as amendments are germane.  That's undoubtedly a major reason Democratic leaders avoided the annual budget process through two election cycles, despite requirements of the Budget Act of 1974.

Separate from the budget resolution and its unique rules, current majority party leaders have gone to great lengths to avoid having their senators cast difficult votes.  These leaders have used procedural tactics to block any amendments from being offered to pending legislation while making motions to end consideration of bills.  Time and again, when Republicans vote against giving up our right to offer amendments, the Democratic leadership has called it a Republican-launched filibuster.

Merriam-Webster's definition of a filibuster is "the use of extreme dilatory tactics in an attempt to delay or prevent action especially in a legislative assembly."  That leaves some room for debate about when a filibuster is being employed, but any fair observer would say that when the majority leader moves to shut off consideration of a bill the same day he brings it to the floor and before any amendments have been considered, he cannot reasonably claim it is in response to a filibuster.

The real story may be that Senate Democratic leaders fear that Republicans will offer amendments that attract enough votes from Democratic senators to pass.  What happened during Senate debate on the budget resolution seems to prove that point.  A Republican amendment in support of repealing the tax on life-saving medical devices in President Obama's health care law passed by an overwhelming 79 to 20, with more than half of Democrats voting with Republicans, rather than their party leader.  A Republican amendment in support of approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline to bring oil from Canada passed 62 to 37.

Votes like these that split the Democrats and hand a win to Republicans are exactly what the majority leader has been trying to avoid by not considering a budget resolution for more than three years and by cutting off consideration of other bills aggressively.

As a result, more than 200 years of Senate tradition as a deliberative body is sacrificed to short-term partisan considerations.  Every senator represents from hundreds of thousands to millions of Americans, and every senator has an individual right to offer amendments for consideration.  When senators are denied this right, it hampers our ability to represent the citizens of our respective states.  For example, when the Senate majority leader prematurely ended consideration of the fiscal year 2013 Continuing Resolution in March, the Senate was prevented from considering an amendment by Senator Max Baucus that would have checked the cost-saving claims of removing National Guard aircraft like those in Des Moines, Iowa.  An amendment by Senator Jerry Moran to prevent the closure of contract air traffic control towers like the one in Dubuque, Iowa, also was shut out.

For the Senate to function, the right of senators to offer amendments for consideration must be preserved.  This fundamental reality should have been a bigger focus of the January agreement on filibuster rules.  Yet, news reports in days leading up to the agreement cited Democratic senators who were advocating for sweeping reforms to make the Senate more majoritarian expressing great concern that a deal might be struck that allowed Republican amendments to be adopted on a simple majority vote.  Well, that shatters any pretense that complaints about the filibuster stemmed from deeply held convictions about majority rule.

The budget resolution debate in March gave us what has become a rare opportunity, unfortunately, for senators to put forward ideas and see whether the ideas have support in the Senate.  Some amendments were successful, and some were not.  Either way, senators were forced to go on record on all sorts of issues that might not otherwise see the light of day and explain their positions to those who elected them.  As lawmakers return to work in Washington, they ought to consider, what's wrong with that?