When the latest layoff story is about you

It’s an odd feeling reading in the newspaper about losing your job. I didn’t learn about being fired in the newspaper but the story of losing my position was there. Why I lost my job (along with more than a dozen of my colleagues) was the lead story in the business section of The Miami Herald on Feb. 22. It even had a picture of me right next to the paragraph describing how we lost our jobs with the public television program Nightly Business Report.

What’s nice about sharing your employment woes with the entire community is the outpouring of support you get. I received dozens of emails from friends, fans and colleagues across the country, expressing sympathy and pledging to help any way they could. It is humbling to hear how you have impacted people’s lives, especially those you don’t know directly. The range of emotions you feel when you face a job loss can be overwhelming, but a short email or voicemail from an associate can lift your spirits, giving you the strength to press on. The medium of the messages does not matter. A tweet of support, LinkedIn endorsement or text message of sympathy fuels the encouragement to face the anxiety of joblessness.

After news of my job elimination was in the newspaper and blogosphere, there were compassionate glances from fellow parents on the sidelines of the kids’ weekend soccer games. I didn’t have to break the news — most had already read about it. A pedestrian on the sidewalk stopped me in mid-stride to express his disappointment. The inevitable questions came: What are you going to do? Will you stay? Do you have anything you’re working on?

I am lucky my employment status was on the business front page. Thousands of other people are treated as statistics. As a business journalist, I have been guilty of that. Company layoffs numbering in the dozens as ours did rarely demand attention. The cuts have to be in the thousands to have any hope of getting much media attention. Even then, it’s only a number. The names of those losing their jobs are known only to their HR departments, in order to fill out the paperwork. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the nature of job loss. Each job cut is a story that begins en masse in boardrooms and offices but plays out individually in kitchens and living rooms across America.

In January, there were more than 1,300 mass layoffs of U.S. workers. A mass layoff impacts at least 50 people from a single company. More than 134,000 individuals were involved in such action, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. My job loss and that of my colleagues won’t show up in February’s report. There were too few of us. Some of us will appear in other employment data, but we will be just statistics. Each of those statistics has groceries to buy, bills to pay and hope for a new opportunity.

In a $16 trillion economy, it’s understandable that we become statistics. The stakes are just too big to pick up the noise from any of our individual unemployment stories. The weekly and government reports I have spent my career reporting on don’t ask why. They don’t ask who. They only ask how many. It’s our friends and family and colleagues who ask, “How can I help?”

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UCF suspends socials for fraternities, sororities

It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact moment when the University of Central Florida decided that the behavior of its Greek student organizations was out of control — after all, UCF fraternities and sororities have been caught breaking the rules on dozens of occasions in only the last couple of years.

A recent Sigma Chi photo posted on Facebook, however, sticks out as one of the tipping points. The picture showed a new frat member, or “pledge,” consuming alcohol as part of an alleged hazing incident, and included the caption, “Forcing a pledge to chug while two others puke in misery.” The two vomiting students were also pictured, with one holding his head above a trash can.

UCF administrators last month suspended that fraternity, and soon after made national headlines by suspending most Greek activities altogether. Under the suspension, Greek organizations’ charitable events can continue, but just about all else (socials, new member education efforts, and initiation ceremonies) is banned for now.

“We’re asking some hard questions,” said Maribeth Ehasz, vice president of student development and enrollment services. “We are very concerned about alcohol being central to many activities, especially new member activities.”

The university’s growing footprint is one reason its action is so significant: UCF now boasts nearly 60,000 students, making it the largest state university in Florida and the second-largest in the United States. More than 6,300 of its students come from Miami-Dade or Broward counties.

Other schools across the country have also moved to rein in Greek organizations. At Cornell (where a student died of alcohol poisoning), fraternities have been ordered to have live-in advisers. Yale strengthened its alcohol misuse penalties (and overhauled school sexual assault reporting policies) after a video surfaced on YouTube of fraternity brothers jokingly chanting “No means yes! and other crudities.

Of course, Greek student groups aren’t the only realm where hazing can occur. Florida A&M University is still recovering from the widely publicized hazing death of drum major Robert Champion in 2011. Champion’s bandmates in the prestigious Marching 100 took turns punching and striking the 26-year-old student as part of a hazing ritual.

A coroner determined that Champion died from medical complications associated with “blunt force trauma.” FAMU’s president and band director lost their jobs as a result of the tragedy, and other state institutions (including UCF) took notice.

Hazing expert Hank Nuwer, who has written four books on the issue, maintains a “Hazing Deaths” website that lists all the fatal cases occurring at U.S. colleges from year to year. Each year — for more than four decades — at least one student has died.

Hazing typically happens in Greek organizations or on college athletic teams, Nuwer said, with Greek student groups representing the majority of cases. Within Greek life, fraternities are more likely to haze than sororities.

In recent years, Nuwer said progress has been made in educating students on the risks of hazing, but there is still no easy way to stop it. Nuwer was skeptical of UCF’s strategy, which he said is vulnerable to a student lawsuit, and may simply drive Greek activities underground.

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Modern Family Stars Get Stuck in Crowded Elevator

No good deed goes unpunished.

PICS: Candid Celeb Sightings

While on their way to a fundraiser for the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Kansas City on Friday night, three stars of ABC's hit sitcom Modern Family were trapped in a crowded elevator for almost an hour, ABC News reports.

Julie Bowen, Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson took pictures together during the ordeal, which Ferguson posted to his Twitter account.

"This is us right now. 45 minutes stuck in this elevator," Ferguson wrote, captioning the snapshot from the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel's third floor.

The actors were an hour late to the event after the Kansas City Fire Department rescued them, but they maintained a good sense of humor about their plight, reportedly joking about the ordeal on stage.

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No likes for Facebook fiascos

John Crudele

DEAR JOHN...THE ANSWER MAN

Dear John: I am writing to you because I need help exposing a chat room called openchat on Facebook.

This app allows access to all ages 13 and up. There is hate chat, racism, bullying, sexually explicit [content], nudity, pornography and also perverts and pedophiles.

There is a webcam room too, which is disgusting. Men go on and masturbate in front of whomever, even kids. I witnessed a 7-year-old girl on there with no shirt on.

These perverts do not respect females and do not obey the law, either.

Some of these kids are unaware of the intentions of these pedophile/pervs and have their Facebook accounts wide open for anyone to go in.

I have contacted my police department and half a dozen others, but I need more agencies on this. Please help me to help the kids! These kids are accessing openchat via Facebook and YouTube. I am on a mission to close this app. Thank you! P.C.

Dear P.C.: Mission accomplished.

I contacted Facebook on your behalf and forwarded your e-mail. And the site was taken down quickly by Facebook.

Sadly, Facebook said this was a popular site, with 20,000 “likes.”

Incidentally, a Facebook spokesman told me, “We have absolutely no tolerance for apps that would violate our terms and permit the sharing of sexually explicit content with minors. We react quickly to remove all reported apps that violate our terms, and we encourage people to report questionable content using links located throughout the site.”

Dear John: My son has a Facebook page in conjunction with his small business, Make It Legal.

It is a site advocating the legalization of medical marijuana.

Douglas, my son, told me that the page was deleted because someone complained about a copyright infringement.

Now Douglas cannot get in touch with anyone at Facebook.

Facebook gave him the e-mail [address] of the person complaining, but [he] will not get back to Douglas. And Facebook will not answer Douglas’s e-mails.

How did you get in contact with someone “live” when you were fighting Facebook over a pedophile page in your columns?

Any light that you can shine on what I or my son can do would be hugely appreciated. M.K.

Dear M.K. I sent your e-mail to my contact at Facebook, and he immediately got in touch with you and your son. And as your son was originally told, someone else claims the copyright to “Make It Legal.”

Your son provided what he says is documentation that he copyrighted the name first. Facebook says it doesn’t deal with issues like this.

“Thank you so much for reaching out,” said Facebook. “Unfortunately, we are not able to adjudicate third-party trademark disputes and abide by the records kept by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

“We encourage you to reach out to the USPTO or others to reach proper resolution, as we won’t be able to assist you without a valid USPTO record,” Facebook told you.

You should contact the USPTO in Washington to see what your options are. If your page is profitable enough, you might want to hire a lawyer to handle this. And if you win, and the other guy’s page is making him a ton of money, he might have an incentive to buy you out.

At the very least, I would insist that Facebook pull the other guy’s page as well as Douglas’s, so that your opponent won’t be able to say that you abandoned the copyright.

But I’m just saying that as a guy who covers all options; I’m not a lawyer.

Good luck.

Send your questions to Dear John, The NY Post, 1211 Ave. of the Americas, NY, NY 10036, or john.crudele@nypost.com.

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Jackson Health System -- in “the calm before the storm”

With the latest audit offering a new perspective, Jackson Health System’s long-troubled finances are looking better in some basic areas, but underlying problems linger and a precarious future lies ahead.

After losing $419 million over three years, Jackson eked out an $8.2 million surplus in its fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to the audit released earlier this month, and its most recent monthly report, for January, showed a $5.5 million surplus.

“What a difference a year makes,” Chief Executive Carlos Migoya gloated to Jackson’s board on Monday . “We made the tough decisions,” which included laying off a thousand employees and collecting payments more quickly.

But he didn’t try to sugarcoat the future. “We have a clear picture of our challenges.”

Those challenges include finding new ways of attracting paying patients, attempting to repair Jackson’s strained relationship with the University of Miami, finding hundreds of millions of dollars to fix up its aging facilities and adjusting to state and federal healthcare reforms that could cause Jackson’s poor and uninsured patients go to other facilities.

“We’re literally in the calm before the storm,” said Marcos Lapciuc, Jackson’s board chairman.

Up to this point, Jackson’s turn-around has been funded by cost-cutting. That has resulted in “positive results,” said Sal Barbera, a veteran hospital administrator who now teaches at Florida International University, but it’s “unsustainable, as expense cutting has a limit and will not bring prosperity to the organization. Revenue growth will not be easy.”

Even the present remains tenuous. At the end of January, Jackson’s cash on hand — a basic measurement of money in the bank — remains a low 14.5 days, far below the 175 days of cash that executives want to have to ensure smooth operations. “We’re not going to solve that cash problem in one or two years,” Migoya said.

What’s more, the recently announced audit revealed a profound weakness in one often-ignored sets of figures: In fiscal 2012, Jackson’s current assets were $450 million, while its liabilities were $495 million. In accounting terms, Jackson doesn’t have enough money to pay its bills.

That’s why Joshua Nemzoff, a Philadelphia hospital consultant who used to live in Miami, says, “They continue to be in very serious trouble. My opinion is they’re insolvent. Anyone else who had financials look like this would have declared bankruptcy a long time ago.”

Lapciuc acknowledges that the discrepancy between assets and liabilities is a problem, but the $45 million shortfall in 2012 is considerably better than the $112 million assets discrepancy in fiscal 2011. “Although we’re not in a healthy status, we seem to be on the mend,” he said.

Part of that mending has come with improvements in the economy. Duane Fitch, a Chicago hospital consultant who advises Jackson’s unions, points out that the increase in local tax revenue last year was $8.6 million — more than the audited surplus.

Fitch wonders how much longer that local tax revenue — in property taxes and a half-penny sales tax — will be available for Jackson. It amounted to $335 million last year, while Jackson provides services to fewer patients: In the past four years, in-patient admissions have dropped 21 percent.

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Harry Sargeant, Florida Republican money man, is a highly controversial figure

TALLAHASSEE --
Former Gov. Charlie Crist calls him "a great patriot.’’

Congressional investigators call him "a war profiteer" who walked away with an extra $200 million while providing fuel to American troops in Iraq.

At Florida State University, he is something of a hero — contributing more than a million dollars to athletic programs, the business school and his old fraternity.

Who is Harry Sargeant III?

A plaque at the Pi Kappa Alpha House on campus calls him "the most powerful man no one knows.’’ The moniker comes from a 2008 Miami Herald story that noted his friendship with Crist and his wide-ranging business interests.

Sargeant, 55, is a billionaire former Marine fighter pilot, the owner of an oil and asphalt shipping company with global businesses including aviation companies and an oil refinery.

And in the tangled world of Florida politics, Sargeant is a Republican financial powerhouse.

HELPED GREER

He has long supported Crist while also helping former party chairman Jim Greer, despite the animosity between Greer and Crist since Greer was charged with stealing money from the GOP in 2010. Crist, now a Democrat considering an attempt to return to the Governor’s Mansion, says Sargeant remains a close friend.

Campaign finance records show Sargeant has donated more than $1.5 million to Florida politicians and the state Republican Party since 2000, the year Crist ran for education commissioner.

In recent years, Sargeant has made headlines over fuel he supplied to U.S. forces in Iraq. The brother-in-law of the king of Jordan sued Sargeant in Palm Beach and won a $28.8 million verdict for being cut out of a $1.4 billion defense contract that allowed Sargeant to transport fuel through Jordan. (Sargeant is appealing.) A congressional oversight committee called for an investigation of payments to Sargeant’s company, and last year auditors for the Department of Defense accused the company of overcharging the Pentagon by hundreds of millions. A federal investigation is ongoing.

Chris Kise, a Tallahassee lawyer who represents Sargeant, says the overcharging accusations came from Democrats who were angry at Sargeant’s fundraising for Republicans.

ALPHA MALE

St. Petersburg developer Brent Sembler was a fraternity brother with Sargeant and Crist at FSU. They and other Pikes have bonded over golf, shooting expeditions, ski trips, Las Vegas and FSU football over the 35 years since most of them graduated. "He’s the toughest competitor I know. If there was a poster child for alpha males, it’s Harry,’’ Sembler said. "He’s a close friend and a good guy, I trust him with my life.’’

The Florida Republican Party and Crist are among those who have benefited from a close friendship with Sargeant. During campaigns Crist has frequently used Sargeant’s fleet of airplanes to criss-cross the state for events.

As governor in 2007, Crist concluded a trip to Israel with a stop in Jordan and a meeting with King Abdullah II. Sargeant was waiting on the helipad at the king’s home to make the introduction when Crist arrived.

Crist asked Sargeant to become finance chair at the state party after he was elected governor in 2006. Sargeant resigned in 2009 shortly before one of his employees was indicted for making illegal campaign contributions to Crist and U.S. Sen. John McCain. The employee, Ala’a al-Ali, was listed as sales coordinator for Sargeant Marine. He remains a fugitive from charges pending in federal court in Los Angeles.

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Ellen DeGeneres Pens Open Letter to Supreme Court to Pass Prop 8 for Gay Marriage

With a touch of her trademark humor, Ellen DeGeneres tackles a very serious topic close to the talk show host's heart: gay marriage.

In an open letter posted to her website, Ellen reaches out to members of the Supreme Court, who will soon decide the fate of same-sex couples who wish to wed.

Pics: 'Amazing Race' Stars Cheer Up Bullied Gay Fan

"Portia and I have been married for 4 years and they have been the happiest of my life," she blogs of her longtime partner Portia De Rossi. "And in those 4 years, I don't think we hurt anyone else's marriage. I asked all of my neighbors and they say they're fine."

Ellen, who tied the knot in 2008 during a brief period when gay marriage was legal in California, now urges the powers that be to open their heart and extend the privilege to every gay couple.

"I hope the Supreme Court will do the right thing, and let everyone enjoy the same rights," Ellen writes. "It's going to help keep families together. It's going to make kids feel better about who they are. And it is time."

Related: Neil Patrick Harris: I Knew I was Gay at 6

In closing the comedian writes, "In the words of Benjamin Franklin, 'We're here, we're queer, get over it.'"

Read Ellen's entire plea to the supreme court here.

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The ex-Pope

‘You are confusing a modern man with an American liberal.”

These words were spoken years ago by a French cardinal responding to a question about modernity and Christianity. They come back to us now as we watch a pope who has just left the chair of St. Peter — where the eyes of the world were upon him — for a life of prayer and obscurity.

Since he announced his decision to resign, the media have obsessed over who the next pope will be and especially what he might change within Catholicism. Will he be open to gay marriage? Women priests? Married priests? Birth control? And so on.

AP

Pope Benedict XVI

We don’t pretend to have answers. But as we watch the extraordinary outpouring of love, affection and tears for this humble, 85-year-old priest from Bavaria, we are left wondering whether the American media have the best take on Pope Benedict’s impact on either the world or his flock.

Maybe, as that French cardinal suggested, people are not looking for a pope whose idea of modernity conforms to the world’s latest fashion. Just maybe their idea of a leader for the modern age is someone willing on occasion to stand up to it.

Have an opinion on this Post editorial? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!

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Don’t get too personal on LinkedIn

Have you ever received a request to connect on LinkedIn from someone you didn’t know or couldn’t remember?

A few weeks ago, Josh Turner encountered this situation. The online request to connect came from a businessman on the opposite coast of the United States. It came with a short introduction that ended with “Let’s go Blues!” a reference to Turner’s favorite hockey team in St. Louis that he had mentioned in his profile. “It was a personal connection … that’s building rapport.”

LinkedIn is known for being the professional social network where members expect you to keep buttoned-down behavior and network online like you would at a business event. With more than 200 million registered users, the site facilitates interaction as a way to boost your stature, gain a potential customer or rub elbows with a future boss.

But unlike most other social networking sites, LinkedIn is all about business — and you need to take special care that you act accordingly. As in any workplace, the right amount of personal information sharing could be the foot in the door, say experts. The wrong amount could slam it closed.

“Anyone in business needs a professional online presence,’’ says Vanessa McGovern, the VP of Business Development for the Global Institute for Travel Entrepreneurs and a consultant to business owners on how to use LinkedIn. But they should also heed LinkedIn etiquette or risk sending the wrong messages.

One of the biggest mistakes, McGovern says is getting too personal — or not personal enough.

Sending a request to connect blindly equates to cold calling and likely will lead nowhere. Instead, it should come with a personal note, an explanation of who you are, where you met, or how the connection can benefit both parties, McGovern explains.

Your profile should get a little personal, too, she says. “Talk about yourself in the first person and add a personal flair — your goals, your passion … make yourself seem human.”

Beyond that, keep your LinkedIn posts, invitations, comments and photos professional, McGovern says.

If you had a hard day at the office or your child just won an award, you may want to share it with your personal network elsewhere — but not on LinkedIn.

“This is not Facebook. Only share what you would share at a professional networking event,” she says.

Another etiquette pitfall on LinkedIn is the hit and run — making a connection and not following up.

At least once a week, Ari Rollnick, a principal in kabookaboo, an integrated marketing agency in Coral Gables, gets a request to connect with someone on LinkedIn that he has never met or heard of before. The person will have no connections in common and share no information about why they want to build a rapport.

“I won’t accept. That’s a lost opportunity for them,” Rollnick says.

He approaches it differently. When Rollnick graduated from Emory with an MBA in 2001, he had a good idea that his classmates would excel in the business world. Now, Rollnick wanted to find out just where they went and reestablish a connection.

With a few clicks, he tracked down dozens of them on LinkedIn, requested a connection, and was back on their radar. Then came the follow-up — letting them know through emails, phone calls and posts that he was creating a two-way street for business exchange. “Rather than make that connection and disappearing , I let them know I wanted to open the door to conversation.”

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’Les Mis’ touring company works out to stay in shape at Wilton Manors gym

Even if you’re a Broadway dancer in top shape, it’s not easy looking good and staying fit when you’re on the road with a show like Les Misérables.

"Touring is a difficult life because you’re constantly moving," said Trinity Wheeler, production stage manager for the Les Mis touring company, playing through Sunday at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami.

"It’s not like you can go to a grocery store and have a kitchen and cook the foods that you want and have a consistent workout schedule. We created something that is consistent for the cast," said Wheeler, who is also a certified trainer. "Eating out every meal and stuff can be challenging to stay healthy. Being healthy and on tour is a goal we all try to accomplish."

Thursday morning, Wheeler held a “Guns of the Barricade” boot camp at Steel Gym in Wilton Manors. The workout session allows cast members and others to stay in shape while they’re on the road, Wheeler said.

The Les Mis touring company has 89 people who travel with the show: cast members, crew and musicians, according to Wheeler.

"It’s a large group of people that have this nomadic lifestyle," he said. "Having fitness incorporated into it, you feel better, you wake up, have more energy. It’s been really great for us as individuals, but also for the show."

Among the touring cast members: Wheeler’s partner, Alan Shaw, who plays Joly. The couple own a house in Fort Lauderdale’s Poinsettia Heights neighborhood.

" Les Mis is three hours long and we do eight shows a week. I realized early on because I’ve been with the show over two years now that if I don’t take care of my body and if I don’t eat right and if I don’t really stay on top of it, I can’t do eight shows a week," Shaw said. "We’re onstage in front of 2,000 people on average every night. You have to look your best. It’s part of our job."

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