Max E. “Mickey” Gruver
Beverly H. Hansen
Charlene L. Hensley
Lois Jewell Pack

Read the full obituaries on The Medina-Gazette E-edition at: http://wp2.medina-gazette.com/GazettEdition/

By Randy Shaw

Editor’s Note - The views and opinions expressed in this article are of those of the author only.  They in no way reflect the views and opinions of hispanicohio.com or its partners and affiliates.

Ultimately, New York enacted gay marriage because the issue became personal. Legislators previously opposed to gay marriage and key Republicans previously uninvolved both moved into the “yes” camp out of personal relationships with gay and lesbian family members. Grassroots activism and Governor Andrew Cuomo’s political savvy joined with people’s unwillingness to discriminate against gays and lesbians who they cared about to dramatically turn the political tide.

The same approach could also create a breakthrough on immigration reform. As New York’s victory was being celebrated, journalist José Antonio Vargas’ emotional memoir of his life as an undocumented immigrant (”Outlaw”) appeared in the June 26 New York Times Magazine. On the heels of last fall’s march by four undocumented students in support of the DREAM Act, Vargas’ visceral account of the immorality of current U.S. immigration policy could lead to a wave of undocumented immigrants telling their stories; while this risks deportation, such a powerful strategy appears necessary to personalize the issue and broaden support for reform.

There are obvious differences between the struggles for gay marriage and comprehensive immigration reform. The latter requires federal action, benefits primarily non-whites with much lower incomes and political power, and has far greater electoral implications. Further, while the declining political clout of the Catholic Church reduced opposition to gay marriage, this weakening has also reduced the Church’s power to positively impact immigration reform efforts.

It’s also true that many gays and lesbians must protect careers and family relationships by remaining in the closet. However, few risk such draconian action as deportation by publicly supporting gay marriage.

But despite these differences, it is also true that the astonishing turnaround in the politics of gay marriage - recall the mood after the passage of California’s Prop 8 and Maine’s Question 1 - came from gays and lesbians publicly confronting powerful relatives, friends and the greater public on the importance of the issue. And because of the risk of deportation, we have not seen anything close to these personal appeals from undocumented immigrants.

This must change.

The Power of Personal Stories

Community organizers have long understood the power of personal stories. But the stories of undocumented immigrants have typically been told from anonymous voices in the shadows. They resonate with the already sympathetic - but not sufficiently with the electorate, politicians, or powerful donors to change the dynamics of the immigration reform debate.

Consider the impact of this excerpt from Vargas’ article:

“Over the past 14 years, I’ve graduated from high school and college and built a career as a journalist, interviewing some of the most famous people in the country. On the surface, I’ve created a good life. I’ve lived the American dream. But I am still an undocumented immigrant. And that means living a different kind of reality. It means going about my day in fear of being found out. It means rarely trusting people, even those closest to me, with who I really am. It means keeping my family photos in a shoebox rather than displaying them on shelves in my home, so friends don’t ask about them. It means reluctantly, even painfully, doing things I know are wrong and unlawful. And it has meant relying on a sort of 21st-century underground railroad of supporters, people who took an interest in my future and took risks for me.”

Of course, most undocumented immigrants are not politically or socially connected people with high-profile careers. And the vast majority are Latinos, who have experienced a long history of racism and discrimination in the United States.

But as more come forward to tell their own versions of how they live a “different kind of reality,” public demands for a path toward legalization will grow. This makes it even more imperative for President Obama to, at a minimum, suspend deportations for those potentially impacted by the passage of the DREAM Act, as this will unleash thousands of stories of hard-working young people who deserve a path to legalization and citizenship.

Gay Marriage and Political Accountability

Why has the Obama Administration deported over 800,000 people in the past two years, while moving to end restrictions on gays in the military and refusing to defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act during the same period? One reason is that gay rights advocates have been far more publicly critical of the President than immigrant rights groups, and have done a far better job of holding Obama accountable for his actions rather than his words.

Many believe the difference lies in the gay community’s greater political donations (Obama got over $750,000 from a gay and lesbian fundraising event last week). But Obama also knows that he cannot win re-election without winning a strong share of the Latino vote, and the June 2011 Latino Decisions poll found Latinos split, 48-48 percent, on Obama’s handling of immigration reform.

Obama long defended his inaction on gay and lesbian issues, as he continues to do on immigrant rights. Yet while the activist base of the gay and lesbian movement rejected Obama’s words and forced the President to act by escalating the pressure, immigrant rights activists have accepted Obama’s excuses and given him a pass.

One reason could be the differing recent histories of the two constituencies . . .

I describe in The Activist’s Handbook how ACT-UP activists in the 1980s and 1990s promoted a “by all means necessary” approach, reflected in its full name, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power. Such tactics included a personal confrontation with President Clinton in November 1993 during his AIDS Awareness speech at Georgetown University where he touted his “unprecedented commitment” to AIDS funding and gay rights.

AIDS activists did not give Democratic politicians a pass then, and the grassroots gay and lesbian movement continues to play hardball with politicians like Obama who try to avoid fulfilling their commitments. In contrast, the immigrant rights movement has allowed the street activism highlighted by the 2006 marches to give way to inside the Beltway strategies, which invariably fail to put sufficient pressure on non-performing political “allies.”

Political insiders in 2006 would have predicted that comprehensive immigration reform would be enacted before a large state approved gay marriage. If activists follow the lessons of the gay marriage movement, comprehensive reform could be back on the table sooner than anyone thinks.

Randy Shaw is an attorney, author and activist who lives in Berkeley, California. He is the Executive Director of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, a non-profit organization in San Francisco that he co-founded in 1980. His most recetn book is Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century (just released by the University of California Press) and of The Activist’s Handbook, and editor of the online progressive daily, BeyondChron.org. He can be contacted atRandy@thclinic.org

Dan Brown
The Gazette
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Anthony Young’s time in the 200-meter dash Wednesday was just 0.22 seconds off of the World Youth Record.
The only problem for the Liverpool Township resident was that four of the six sprinters that finished ahead of him broke that mark.
Young placed seventh overall at the World Youth Track and Field Trials to miss out on a spot on the U.S. Junior World Team, which will compete in France next month.
“Oh wow … it was probably the final of the year out of any high school track meet,” Young said. “I’m just happy to be able to compete like this and be one of eight guys in the country to say that I had a chance to try out for the team. It was a big honor.”
Young, who will be a junior at St. Edward High School in the fall, clocked a 21.6 in his final race of the season, just seconds off the previous record of 21.38 — which was shattered by four runners that recorded times of 21.31 or faster.
The Medina County resident was leading the pack with around 80 meters to go before the rest of the field —led by eventual champ Aldrich Bailey of Texas (21.09) — took over.
“It was really a fast pace,” Young said. “I came out of the curve fast, but everyone caught up to me. I had the lead, but I just lost it. I just broke down and I knew they would catch me. These guys were extremely fast.”
Incoming Highland senior Natalie Zidd rounded out the county athletes taking part in the national event in Myrtle Beach, SC.
Zidd took sixth in the 800 run in a time of 2:17.49 — over three seconds slower than her preliminary time. The slower times overall was attributed to the humid 90 degree weather and little to no wind coming off of the ocean.
New Jersey’s Ajee Wilson won the race by 0.13 seconds, thanks to a finish of 2:09.39.
For Zidd and Young, to end the season in the sunny south was a perfect way to cap off their seasons.
Young, in particular, shaved 0.4 seconds off of his previous-best time in the 200 and also was a state-placer in the 100 with personal-record runs.
Not too shabby of a year.
“My curve got a lot better in the 200 and now I really just have to get bigger and stronger,” said Young, who is a member of St. Ed’s Division-I champion football program. “My goal next year is to get into the low 21.5s. I’m looking forward to it.
“But I had a great year. I won indoor states in the 200, outdoor states in the 200 and had a chance to try out for the Junior World Team. In all, that’s a big accomplishment.”
Contact Dan Brown at sports@medina-gazette.com.

WASHINGTON (AP) - El presidente BarackObama dice que el Congreso tiene que quedarse en la ciudad y que las negociaciones del presupuesto hecho - incluso si esto significa la cancelación de otros planes de vuelta a casa.

Obama dijo que mientras los legisladores se hande tomar recesos regulares, que ha estadotrabajando en Washington. Obama desafió a los legisladores a ”estar aquí. Vamos a lograr que se haga.”
Los legisladores se enfrentan a un 02 de agostofecha límite para elevar el límite de endeudamientoEE.UU.. Obama dijo en una conferencia de prensa que si no hay avances sustanciales para finales deesta semana, el Congreso va a tener que empezar a cancelar los planes para un cuarto de receso de julio y permanecer en DC para trabajar. El Senadoestá prevista para la semana que viene.
Obama dijo a sus hijas Malia y Sasha conseguir sus deberes hechos antes de tiempo y el Congreso también debería hacerlo.
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. Todos los derechos reservados.

By CAROLYN THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Here’s a little quiz for the breakfast table:

What is the most popular cereal brand in American grocery stores?

Hint: It’s been General Mills’ top name since 1951.

Another hint: If you’re a parent, you’ve vacuumed it from the minivan and under the high-chair cushion by the cupful.

The answer, of course, is Cheerios.

The iconic cereal, known by its distinctive yellow box, is 70 years old this year and still a force on the breakfast cereal market. One out of every eight boxes of cereal to leave the shelf in America carries the Cheerios name.

“They’ve been around since the beginning of man, right?” said Kathy Scott in Cape Coral, Fla. For her, the cereal’s linked to memories of childhood Saturday morning cartoons.

“My mother was very old-fashioned, a stay-at-home mom,” Scott, 50, said, “She made breakfast every morning, but on Saturday morning we were allowed to have cereal. Throw some fruit in there, sit on the floor and watch cartoons.”

The tradition repeated itself with her own two children.

“Saturday morning cartoons and Cheerios,” she said.

To make Cheerios, balls of dough are heated and shot out of a “puffing gun” at hundreds of miles an hour, according to General Mills. The company’s waterfront plant in Buffalo has been firing them off since 1941, often cloaking the city with a distinctive toasty-with-a-sweet-finish aroma and inspiring T-shirts announcing “My city smells like Cheerios.” More than 10 shapes and sizes were considered before the makers settled on little Os.

Since then, the company’s introduced several new flavors, starting with Honey Nut in 1979 and last year, chocolate.

In 2009, sales of Honey Nut Cheerios surpassed the original flavor for the first time and remain in the top spot today.

But Kathleen Dohl, 30, sticks to the originals, the ones she refers to as the “old-school, yellow box, plain Jane” variety. She buys it in bulk at Sam’s Club to keep her 6- and 3-year-olds happy.

“That’s one of the first ‘real people’ foods that they ate,” the Chester, Va., mother said.

“They know when we’re having a morning where we’re running late, they’re like, ‘can I get a snack bag of Cheerios?’” she said, “because it’s something I can’t say no to. I can say no to chips. I can say no to candy. I can say no to a dozen other things, but a snack bag of Cheerios? How can you say no to that?”

So yes, she’s cleaned them out of the car seats.

“At least they’re not sticky,” she said, “so that’s a plus. And they’re not so colorful. Once you grind them in they just look like the rest of the dirt, they don’t look neon-colored.”

Minneapolis-based General Mills began advertising Cheerios (first called Cheerioats) as a first food for toddlers in 1974. Since 1999, the company has focused on promoting the cereal as healthy; it’s made from whole-grain oats, with 3 grams of fiber and 1 gram of sugar per serving. But in 2009, federal regulators took issue with the cereal box’s claim that it was “clinically proven to help lower cholesterol.” In a warning letter, the Food and Drug Administration said only FDA-approved drugs can make such a claim.

General Mills, in its response, stood by the claims and said the FDA’s complaints dealt with how the language appears on the box, not the cereal itself. The case is still open, an FDA spokeswoman said.

“I went through a phase in high school where I drank Coca-Cola and carried around a box of Cheerios in my back pack,” said Dohl, whose course schedule and yearbook duties often kept her at the computer and in her car through meals.

“That’s literally what I ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner,” she said. “…At least I felt like it was healthy.”

Since cereal is the major source of fiber for Americans, something most people shortchange themselves on, Cornell University nutrition expert David Levitsky said it’s actually not a bad idea to eat cereal as a relatively low-calorie lunch or dinner once in a while, even the sugar-sweetened variety.

“They’re seducing kids to eat it,” he acknowledged. “It’s a technique that breakfast food companies have learned and it works… but it’s got a good aspect because that’s where they’re getting their fiber in the morning,” he said. “And all these cereals are enriched.”

Americans spent $6.4 billion on ready-to-eat cereal in the 52 weeks ending May 15, according to SymphonyIRI Group, a Chicago-based market research firm that tracked sales at supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandise outlets, excluding Walmart.

In honor of Cheerios’ 70th Buffalo’s Citybration Festival highlighting its assets will include a June 26 Cheerios breakfast in sight (and smell) of the General Mills facility.

“Cheerios are actually a more iconic food to Buffalo than even the ubiquitous chicken wing,” said festival organizer Marti Gorman. (The spicy Buffalo wing came along in 1964.)

“There just must be something so gently appealing about the product,” said Dave Hassett, a school counselor whose Born in Buffalo site sells the Cheerios T-shirts online and at local festivals. Along with his 4-year-old daughter, he said he eats a bowl daily. “I hope they stick around for 70 more years and beyond.”

Marcus Atkinson

HispanicOhio.com editor

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Tuesday, June 28^th the Lorain County Ironmen honored Armondo “Mando” Lopez as they celebrated “Lorain Night” in front of 411 patrons.

Armondo Lopez, a former City of Lorain employee passed away at age 52, June 24^th of 2009 and to honor is memory his son, Armondo II threw out the first pitch.
It was obvious good luck as the Lorain County Ironmen went on to win the game 13-2, defeating the Butler Blue Sox.
Lopez was seen as a family man, spending time with is children, grandchildren, and great - grandchildren.

Lopez was born Dec. 22, 1956 in Lorain and graduated from what was then Southview High school in 1975. He stayed within Lorain his whole life and was a member of St. Peter’s church.

He was survived by his wife, some siblings, and children, and is son; Armando II threw out the first pitch.

Lopez’s final resting place is at Ridge Hill Memorial Park Cemetery, in Amherst Township Ohio.

By LEANNE ITALIE, Associated Press

NEW YORK — Mom Stacey Udell couldn’t wait for visitors day when her daughter first went to sleepaway camp at age 9.

“About two hours in she said to me, ‘I think you better leave now. You don’t want to get stuck in traffic.’ We had just sat down to lunch.”

Six summers later, Udell thinks the traditional day for parents, grandparents and siblings to check out what their campers are up to is definitely more about the grown-ups than the kids.

“It sets many kids back,” said Udell, whose daughter is now 15 and will return to camp this year with her 13-year-old brother. “I see a lot of kids crying at the end of visiting day.”

The day isn’t only long and hot. Routines for the kids are disrupted and it can feel more about the goodies parents bring along than quality time. Like Udell’s daughter, the kids may be more excited about water fights, cabin pajama parties and special sports tournaments planned to burn energy and distract them the night after parents leave.

As many full-summer programs have been trimmed back from eight weeks to six or seven, are parent visiting days worth the trouble? Absolutely, camp directors said, though some acknowledged most kids could likely live without them.

Every camp has its own policy on whether and when visitors are welcome.

Some with shorter sessions have done away with a single visiting day for all parents and instead invite parents to come for a few hours if and when they can. Some provide two all-camp scheduled dates so divorced parents can visit separately, according to the American Camp Association.

Some camps running four-week sessions welcome visitors on the last day so parents don’t have to make a special trip if they were planning to pick up their kids anyway. Others offer a separate grandparents day or the chance for siblings to spend the night in cabins.

“Often the choice of where to go to summer camp will hinge in part on combining visitors day with other travel plans. Parents are pretty conscious of how to make it work,” said Chris Thurber, a psychologist and camp staff trainer.

Making it work — and smoothing the way for re-entry into camp life for the kids — depends a lot on making sure parents follow the rules. At some camps, that means honoring guidelines not to haul in an excess of gifts, favorite snacks or banned foods, or following outright prohibitions on care packages of any kind.

To avoid leaving out kids whose families don’t plan to show up on visitors day, camps often organize special trips for them off the grounds, such as a day at a nearby water park or beach. Or they seek volunteer parents who do plan to attend to take on a child left alone.

Campers who experienced homesickness on arrival at camp may have a touch of it again once it’s time to say goodbye after a mid-session visitors day, but it usually doesn’t last more than a day or two, camp directors said. Also, anticipation of visitors days can rev up campers ahead of the big event.

Visitors days come on top of camps offering parents glimpses of daily camp life through their websites, complete with video. That, said camp consultant Scott Arizala, could serve to raise OR lower parental angst, depending on whether they see smiles or sad faces.

“And they’ll be right on the phone,” he said. “Parents are so connected these days. Camp professionals themselves are starting to see less and less usefulness out of something like visitor day, and maybe more and more disruption.”

Parents aside, can kids do without visitors day? “Yeah, they could absolutely do without it,” said Marla Coleman, a past president of the ACA who operates a day camp in Long Island. “Camp becomes like this private world for a child where they get to live in an environment where they’re not connected to their parents at all times, but they do like to show their parents what they’re experiencing, how they’re getting better at certain activities, how they’re making good friends, so they’re proud, too.”

Thurber, Coleman and others in the industry offer these tips for parents to help make visitors day a highlight rather than a hassle:

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: Don’t be late. Nothing can kill a camper’s spirit faster than scanning the horizon for his tardy parents as reunions are happening all around.

Don’t linger at departure time. “It’s hard for kids to expect one thing and get another,” Thurber said. “Don’t leave them wondering, ‘I thought my parents had to go at 4, so why are they still here?’”

Parents aren’t always great at goodbyes, Coleman said. “Be upbeat and happy. Wear sunglasses if you have to. You can say, ‘I’m glad that you’re having a great time. It was so great to see you here.’ Keep it short and sweet and don’t get overly emotional and clingy.”

DON’T BRING ARMLOADS OF STUFF: “The kids don’t like being overindulged,” Coleman said. “They feel uncomfortable about it. Extravagance doesn’t fit into the camp environment. It doesn’t feel right. They’ve spent a whole summer connecting with nature, learning to be with friends. They don’t need it and there’s no room in the bunk anyway to put all the junk.”

KNOW THE RULES: Camp consultant Jill Tipograph suggests double-checking the camp’s lunch policy. Will lunch be served, or do parents bring a picnic lunch? Are there food restrictions on camp grounds due to allergies or candy bans?

If you’re allowed to take your child out of camp, make sure you check when you have to return them and plan some in-town activities beforehand. Keith Klein, co-owner of Camp Laurel in Readfield, Maine, provides kids with a smallish reusable bag for parental treats and hopes they don’t exceed the space. “We don’t want the emphasis on shopping,” he said.

Klein said visitors day is fun for all but, yes, may be more about parents than kids. “I’m not sure it is necessary,” he said.

So should visitors day be eliminated?

“That’s a really good question that maybe we should begin to ask one day,” he said. “At the same time, children are away for seven weeks and, you know, by and large we see a wonderful happy group of parents and campers, so I think it works. It’s tradition.”

CLEVELAND — Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo could miss up to 2½ months after having surgery on his broken left thumb.

Choo’s thumb was broken Friday night in San Francisco when he was struck while batting in the fourth inning by Giants left-hander Jonathan Sanchez. Choo’s finger was also cut and required stitches.

On Tuesday, Choo’s thumb was repaired at the Cleveland Clinic by hand specialist Dr. Thomas Graham. The Indians said Graham “openly reduced and internally fixated the fracture.”

Indians head trainer Lonnie Soloff said recovery is 8-10 weeks, which includes any rehab time he might need.

“Before anything went down today, we knew that he was going to be down for at least two months,” Indians manager Manny Acta said before a night game Tuesday at Arizona. “That’s no secret to us.”

Choo was batting .244, with five home runs and 28 RBIs in 72 games. At the time of his injury, he was homerless in 125 at-bats, but was beginning to show signs of emerging from a season-long slump. He had hit safely in 29 of his past 36 games and batted .370 over his previous eight games.

Acta has been rotating Austin Kearns, Travis Buck and Shelley Duncan to replace Choo in right field and will likely continue to do so with limited alternatives. Buck started in right against the Diamondbacks on Tuesday.

“You can talk to the other 29 clubs and every team that’s in it, they’re not going to be getting rid of their players,” he said. “It’s very tough to find a player of his caliber on any club anyway or in our system, so we’re just going to have to do the best we can and have guys pick up the slack at different positions, have guys play up to their capabilities.

“There’s no magic wand on this one. We lost a good player and we’re just going to have to move forward without him until he comes back.”

It’s been a tough season for Choo. The South Korean was arrested on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol in May and recently acknowledged letting his off-field problems influence his on-field performance.
Last season, Choo was the only AL player to hit .300 with 20 homers and 20 steals.

Kelly was 22 when she was first brought to our office by her parents as they were quite concerned about her safety. She had just broken up with her boyfriend having found that he went out on a date with one of her best friends. Kelly had apparently been crying everyday; had become socially isolated and alarmingly had been cutting her forearm with a plastic knife. Her mother Linda was particularly concerned with Kelly’s very low sense of self-worth. She reported that Kelly had been scribbling down selfderogatory statements such as, “I’m a loser”, “no man would ever want to love me”, “I don’t deserve happiness”, etc. Her mother further described that in her opinion, Kelly had never recovered from her very first relationship, when she was 18.

Kelly remembered her first “love” very vividly. She recalls that the very first time she met Matt, she was quickly enamored. She couldn’t keep her eyes off of him. She felt an unusual attraction to him, but couldn’t figure out what she was attracted to. She does know she liked the way he talked to her because it made her feel good about herself. It was only much later in her relationship that she noticed that he talked to many other women the same exact way. She was convinced that he was the man for her forever. It did not take her long at all to completely commit and submit herself to him. After about six months of dating, she moved in with him. Shortly thereafter, she would often feel as though Matt didn’t seem to be as interested in her as he initially was. But she would always find justification in her mind for his behavior. It was either a difficult childhood or maybe he was just having a bad day. In other words, she wasn’t listening to her instinct and was abandoning objectivity. Looking back, she realizes there were several warning signs in her relationship with him. Matt would often not treat her as a special person in social gatherings. He hardly ever asked her about her aspirations or future life plans. He always seemed to be more focused on his own future plans and on what he wanted to do. She recognizes now that she was just an incidental company for him. On other occasions, however, she was also treated as a possession something he could leave home and always come back to. In other words, he wanted to have his cake and eat it too. She recalls having these doubts, but would always soothe herself by saying, “I love him”. It took her three years to have the courage to ask herself, “Why do I love this man or do I?”

When she finally broke up with him, she felt completely used and fooled. She has not been able to overcome these feelings even to this day. Her mother agreed that Kelly was never able to recover from the damage to her self-esteem and self-confidence she suffered in her relationship experience with Matt. Now, she is 32. Later in this article, you will find out how the rest of her love life unveiled.

So what exactly is love?
This has been a perennial question and of course there are differences in opinion. Having worked with thousands of people with relationship issues, I have come to the following conclusions.

First of all, I do not believe “love at first sight” is true love. And I know some of you are thinking: it worked for me. Well, you are a very small minority and are extremely fortunate. I believe true love can only develop over time. The foremost reason is that it takes time to know a person. Therefore, if you just met somebody and “fall in love”, that means you are not in love with the person you just met. Instead, you may be enamored by the person you imagine him/her to be.

Secondly, any lasting love cannot be built around attributes which can change with time or situation. Therefore, love built solely upon looks, wealth, certain skills, etc. is likely not to last since those attributes are subject to change with time and/or situation. In my view, the only human attributes which are enduring are one’s true and core character. For example, if somebody is innately kind, he or she is most likely to be kind almost always in most situations. I always tell both my patients and friends that true and lasting love is and should be built around virtues and not skills. The virtues are part of people’s enduring character whereas skills can be learned and unlearned. This is not to say that there aren’t people who have an ideal combination of virtues and a set of desired skills. However, I can tell you that you must be patient and savvy to find those people.

Now you will have to hold your horses until next week to learn what true love is.

Next week: Love Does Not Have to be Blind: Part II

The purpose of this article is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical or psychiatric issue. Dr. Rakesh Ranjan is a practicing psychiatrist and a researcher. He is a recipient of several research awards and has authored several peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on psychiatric illnesses and their treatments. He is a national speaker for several organizations and serves on the medical advisory board for the NAMI of Greater Cleveland. If you or a loved one is experiencing any symptoms that would lead you to believe that there could be a mental imbalance, please email your questions to Dr. Ranjan at askthedoctor@charakresearch.com. Each Wednesday, Dr. Ranjan will address some of these questions in this column. All contact info will be kept confidential. Check our recently redesigned blog at…www.drrakeshranjan.blogspot.com.

COLUMBUS — A billboard supporting atheism has been taken down from property owned by an Ohio church after the pastor complained.

The ad put up in Columbus by the Freedom From Religion Foundation featured the beaming face of a local nonbeliever and the man’s message: “I can be good without God.”

The sign upset Rev. Waymon Malone, of Christ Cathedral Church, which owns the land where the billboard went up. Malone was unavailable for comment, but his mother-in-law told The Columbus Dispatch on Tuesday that the pastor ordered that the ad be removed.

Account executive Jay Schmidt with Matrix Media Services called the billboard’s placement “an unfortunate oversight.” The ad agency said the sign came down days after it was installed last week and has gone back up at another site.