Army Veteran and Former Senior Staff Member for Gen. David H. Petraeus Erica Borggren Appointed Director of the Department of Veterans' Affairs

CHICAGO - August 5, 2011. Governor Pat Quinn today appointed Erica Borggren as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs. An Illinois native and Army Veteran, Borggren previously served as a senior staff member for Army Gen. David H. Petraeus. She replaces fellow Iraq war Veteran Dan Grant, who is leaving to pursue a post-graduate degree. Today's action is the latest in a series of appointments the Governor is making as he continues to fulfill his commitment to serving Illinois' Veterans.

"Time and again, Erica Borggren has shined in the armed forces," Governor Quinn said. "Her outstanding service makes her an excellent choice to lead the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs as it fulfills its mission to serve the brave men and women who have sacrificed for this country. I thank Dan Grant for his hard work and am confident this department will continue to excel in its achievements. "

Borggren served as a senior staffer and speechwriter for Gen. Petraeus during his time as Commanding General of multi-national forces in Iraq and as head of United States Central Command throughout the Middle East. For her service in these missions, Borggren was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal and the Bronze Star as well as the Joint Service Achievement and Iraq Campaign Medals. She returned home to Illinois from the Middle East in 2009.

"I am deeply grateful to Governor Quinn for this opportunity to serve those who have served our country in uniform," Borggren said. "As a daughter of Illinois and a veteran who is committed to a life of public service, I am thrilled to have the chance to work with and for Illinois' Veteran community."

Prior to her time in the Middle East, Borggren served in the United States Army Medical Service Corps in Yongsan, South Korea, rising as an officer in the 18th Medical Command to a Company Commander at the 121 Combat Support Hospital, for which she was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal.

Following her graduation as valedictorian from the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, she was designated as a Rhodes Scholar and the recipient of a Truman Scholarship. She later earned a master's degree in comparative social policy from Oxford University. Borggren currently resides with her husband Erik, a West Point graduate and chaplain candidate in the Illinois National Guard, and their son Ethan in Chicago. 

Under Dan Grant's leadership, the Department of Veterans' Affairs spearheaded legislation to improve benefits for Veterans, including the Illinois Higher Education Veterans Act and the Illinois Educational Opportunity for Military Children Act. Grant was successful in significantly increasing census counts at the LaSalle and Manteno Veterans' Homes, and he helped clear the way for the Chicago Veterans' Home. Grant also administered more than $4 million in grants from Veterans Cash lottery ticket and was key to the establishment of Veterans courts across Illinois.

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(Friday, August 5, 2011) Lujack Chevy is proud to announce that they will be the first Quad City Chevy dealer to install an Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station. The installation will take place in the Lujack Chevy service department on Thursday, August 11, at 11:00 a.m. by a NECA member qualified local installer. A light lunch will be served

The SPX EL-50580 Voltec charging station, a Level 2 charging station, is an element in an infrastructure that supplies electric energy for the recharging of electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid (electric-gasoline vehicles) or semi-static and mobile electrical units such as exhibition stands. An average charge takes 4 hours with a Level 2 EV charger. The user finds charging an electric vehicle as simple as connecting a normal electrical appliance.

The Chevy Volt offers an initial electric range of 35 miles. Along with its onboard gas generator, the Volt will average a range of 375 miles. For an average of $1.50 a day most drivers can have a gas-free and tailpipe and emissions-free commute. The Chevy Volt was named Motor Trend Magazine's 2011 Car of the Year.

Lujack Chevy, the Iowa Quad Cities' only Chevy dealer, is currently taking orders for the new Chevy Volt. Early purchasers will be able to take advantage of the Federal Government's $7500 rebate.

For more information call Gwen Tombergs, Lujack's Marketing Director, at 563-343-2058.

"After all, we haven't inherited this planet from our parents?we're borrowing it from our children." Chevrolet

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley today urged a key federal agency not to dilute a long-awaited transparency rule that would help disclose financial ties between medical researchers who receive billions of dollars in federal funding and the pharmaceutical industry.

"The public's business ought to be public," Grassley said.  "Transparency is a backstop against research that's compromised by doctors' self-interest, to the detriment of consumers.  Backsliding on transparency would undermine the good work done in recent years to shine a light on these financial relationships."

Grassley wrote to the Office of Management and Budget in response to a media report that the agency is proposing to weaken transparency rules proposed in May 2010 by the Department of Health and Human Services.  According to the article, the Office of Management and Budget is removing the requirement in the proposed rule for a publicly available website that would publish the outside financial interests of researchers funded by taxpayers. 

The Department of Health and Human Services includes the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is the primary means of federal funding of medical research at universities and large medical centers.  The President's proposed budget for the National Institutes of Health for 2012 is $32 billion, with about 83 percent dedicated for research around the country.

In 2007, Grassley began looking into whether universities have disclosed their professors' outside financial interests and found several cases indicating that more transparency might be helpful, including:

--The chair of the Psychiatry Department at Emory University failed to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments from a pharmaceutical company while researching that same company's drugs with an NIH grant.  The Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General is now investigating the matter.

--The chair of the Psychiatry Department at Stanford University received an NIH grant to study a drug while partially owning a company that was seeking Food and Drug Administration approval of said drug.  He was later removed from the grant.

--Three psychiatrists at Harvard University failed to report almost a million dollars each in outside income while heading up several NIH grants.  Harvard released a report on the matter, and a briefing has been scheduled with Grassley's office.

Also, the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services concluded that the NIH doesn't adequately monitor its outside grants for conflicts of interest.

A law enacted last year through Grassley and Sen. Herb Kohl will require public disclosure of drug company and medical device manufacturer payments to doctors, starting in March 2013. 

The rule proposed for NIH grants would require the research institutions to determine potential conflicts of interest grant by grant, such as whether the doctor owns shares in a company that could cause bias in his or her federally funded research.  The details would have to be posted online for public access. The Office of Management and Budget is proposing to eliminate the online requirement, according to a media article. 

"If the online requirement is gone, it will be much harder for the public to see and use this information," Grassley said. "Without public scrutiny, we'd lose a valuable layer of oversight."

The text of Grassley's letter is available here.

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SAVANNAH, GA. (08/04/2011)(readMedia)-- Grace Allison of Walcott, IA (52773), recently graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Allison earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Sequential Art.

SCAD: The University for Creative Careers

The Savannah College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution conferring bachelor's and master's degrees to prepare talented students for professional careers. As the most comprehensive art and design university in the world, SCAD offers more than 40 majors and more than 50 minors at distinctive locations in Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia; in Hong Kong; in Lacoste, France; and online through SCAD eLearning.

SCAD has more than 20,000 alumni and offers an exceptional education and unparalleled career preparation. The diverse student body, consisting of more than 10,000 students, comes from all 50 United States and nearly 100 countries worldwide. Each student is nurtured and motivated by a faculty of more than 700 professors with extraordinary academic credentials and valuable professional experience. These professors emphasize learning through individual attention in an inspiring university environment. SCAD's innovative curriculum is enhanced by advanced, professional-level technology, equipment and learning resources and has garnered acclaim from respected organizations and publications, including 3D World, American Institute of Architects, BusinessWeek, DesignIntelligence, U.S. News & World Report and the Los Angeles Times. For more information, visit scad.edu.

On the web: http://readabout.me/achievements/Grace-Allison-of-Walcott-Graduates-from-the-Savannah-College-of-Art-and-Design/2910822.