Latest news with #St.ThomasUniversity
Miami Herald
19-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Market volatility leaves some uneasy about 401(k) retirement investments
Bill Tiedemann is keeping a close eye on his retirement accounts these days. The 66-year-old resident of Mendota Heights, Minnesota, knows better than to make knee-jerk changes to the long-term plan. But a nosediving stock market still spurred some anxiety in him last month, as President Donald Trump's evolving but turbulent tariff policy caused wider strife among investors. At its worst, near Liberation Day on April 2, Tiedemann estimates his investments lost about 20% in value. In the weeks since, while U.S. stocks have seen major recovery amid a cooling trade war, he says they are now up about 5%. "I think we all are anxious," Tiedemann said. "But if you are smart with your investments, you don't move them." Many investors are breathing a sigh of relief as the S&P 500 returned to profitable territory this week, wiping out losses that had piled up since its February high point. Still in the red this year are the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, though both are closer to regaining the same ground held in January. Months before sweeping tariff policies roiled the stock market, Thrivent Chief Financial and Investment Officer David Royal expected greater volatility this year. The executive at the Minneapolis-based financial services provider based his theory on last year's relatively low volatility, paired with increased pressure on the Fed to keep inflation in check and the job economy strong. Although tariffs have been a driver, Royal said simultaneous risks of inflation and reduced economic growth expectations "caused even more volatility than I or probably anyone envisioned." He said it typically takes longer for economic weaknesses to show up in data than inflation, potentially making it "very easy for (the Fed) to get behind the curve." Royal has predicted conservative growth in the stock market for the full year. "But it's going to feel like you've gone through a roller coaster ride," Royal said. "I think that's what we're seeing this year: The mirror image of last year." Such outlooks are likely to test the mettle of people who are building 401(k) plans or depending on them for retirement. Lou Anne Sexton, 63, of Mendota Heights, Minnesota, retired from St. Thomas University in January and lately has wondered if it was the right call, financially speaking. Future uncertainty and volatility is a concern, she said, since she recently began to rely on her 401(k) to deliver. She said she and her husband meet regularly with their financial adviser to ask if they should change anything. The response so far: "Ride this out." It is in times like these that financial advisers can prove their value, said Bertie Cayzer, a senior portfolio manager at Plymouth-based Wealth Enhancement Group. Outside of a few overreactions, Cayzer said his firm has yet to hear much concern from the clients. Those properly managed in the latter stages of working life should really have no worries, he said, and the bouts of volatility offer opportunities to invest in cheaper equities and diversify. An adviser doing the work should help clients find their tolerance for risk and plan appropriately for their lifestyle. And at this point, "optimism and realism should counter pessimism," Cayzer said. Though 401(k) holders often set-and-forget their investment strategies, more people altered positions this year in apparent reaction to tariff-induced downturns, according to analytics firm Alight Solutions in Chicago. Alight, which maintains an index of 401(k) trading data back to 1997, recorded a shift away from equities like stocks and toward fixed-income mutual funds that rely on bonds for more conservative growth. Overall trading activity was higher than normal throughout the first quarter. Above-average trading levels persisted in early April as the U.S. trade war escalated. Investors left equities and later bought back in on the rebound, said Rob Austin, Alight's head of thought leadership. Still, such trading among 401(k) holders represents a small margin of the widely used retirement plan, Austin said, as in absolute terms only a fraction of a percentage point is traded on a given day. On the Monday after Liberation Day, Austin said retirement investors showed approximately 10 times the normal level of trading activity. Experienced investors know the market will drop time and again and stay the course, Austin said, but for those "who did take action, it's going to look really, really bad." "This year is really a microcosm of everything" we typically see, Austin said, adding "people are very quick to sell out of equities when the market drops" and it often takes time before comfort returns to buy back in. Meantime, some investors are taking the swings in stride. "I don't get anxiety over it," Brian Haan, 39, of Lakeville, Minnesota, said of the roller-coaster stock market. "I hold my nose, and I know that it will go back up." Mary Schmidt, 80, of Bloomington, Minnesota, and her husband are past the point of relying heavy on stocks. She has no sleepless nights when the market takes wild turns. "We kept ours as-is," Schmidt said. "We're diversified." Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Miami Herald
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Drew Rosenhaus delivers commencement address to law school graduates at St. Thomas University
Prolific sports agent Drew Rosenhaus loves the NFL Draft, and there's a reason. Rosenhaus, who was the commencement speaker at St. Thomas University on Friday, compared graduation day to football's annual selection process. 'My favorite part about being an agent is the draft,' Rosenhaus said as he spoke to STU law school graduates and their family members and friends. 'These [athletes] work their entire lives for that one moment when they get a phone call, and all their dreams come true. Thousands of hours — blood, sweat and tears … They get a phone call, and they've made it! 'Today is draft day for you guys! Your time has come! You're getting that phone call right now!' It's appropriate to quote Rosenhaus with a healthy dose of exclamation points because he practically yelled his entire eight-minute speech on Friday. There was no lack of passion in Rosenhaus' voice as the New Jersey native told the story of growing up in North Miami since the age of 4. Rosenhaus, who at age 22 became the youngest registered NFL agent in league history, has negotiated contracts worth more than $10 billion during the past 35 years. A graduate of the University of Miami (Bachelor's degree) and Duke's law school, Rosenhaus in 1996 became the first sports agent to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He also made cameo appearances in movies like 'Jerry Maguire' and 'Any Given Sunday' as well as TV show 'Arli$.' On Friday, Rosenhaus said STU has a special place in his heart because this is where the Miami Dolphins used to hold their annual training camp, including their historic 17-0 Super Bowl-winning season of 1972. 'The best team in NFL history used to train just a few yards from where I'm speaking,' Rosenhaus said on Friday. 'I used to come to all their training-camp practices with my father Robert; my uncle Howard, who is here today; and my brother Jason, who is my business partner. 'I grew up dreaming of one day being able to work with the players that I loved. This is how dreams begin.' Rosenhaus then gave STU's graduates some advice. 'No matter what anybody says to you about your goals, believe in yourself, and you will accomplish it. I'm living proof of a local guy who wanted to do something many people thought would be difficult. 'But I was able to pull it off because of my passion and my commitment.' Rosenhaus also told the graduates to appreciate the sacrifices made by their families to help them get to graduation day. He also talked about his own family. 'I have four children, and I battle for them every day,' Rosenhaus said. 'My prayer is that they do what you guys are doing today [graduating]. 'I'm so proud to be here today because this is the best of what life is all about — family, sacrifice and [achievement]. 'All your hard work in education — years and years … you've done it. Now is your time to put all of that into action. Go fulfill your dreams, give back and do something exceptional.'
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
21-year-old's heart was 'the size of a football' when she was diagnosed with end-stage heart failure. Warning signs and symptoms she wants you to know about
Chantal Pelletier has done something that influencers around the world have tried their best to understand: She's gone viral. In January 2025, Pelletier unknowingly cracked the code to the platform in January 2025 with a 27 second video documenting her life with end-stage heart failure. In a video that has earned more than 5 million views on TikTok and Instagram combined, the Grand Falls, N.B native demonstrated how she changes power sources for her left ventricular assist device (LVAD), which is implanted in her chest and helps pump blood from her left ventricle to the rest of her body. The upbeat music and the hint of a smile on her face put the viewer at ease, but the portable machine is all that's keeping the now 21-year-old alive while she waits for a new heart. This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Contact a qualified medical professional before engaging in any physical activity, or making any changes to your diet, medication or lifestyle. May 4-10 is Heart Failure Awareness Week. To understand what it's like to live with end-stage heart failure, you just have to look at Pelletier's social media accounts. A quick scroll through her Instagram paints a picture of what her day-to-day was like before her life-changing diagnosis. In the summer of 2024, she was working 65 hours a week as a personal support worker in a nursing home and in a grocery store bakery ahead of her third year at St. Thomas University in Fredericton. Her life was busy, but full of friends, family and her boyfriend of two years. View this post on Instagram A post shared by 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡 (@chantal__pelletier) 'I felt tired a lot…but I was working two jobs,' Pelletier said in an interview with Yahoo Canada. 'I noticed throughout the summer that it was becoming harder to climb the stairs to my apartment.' Pelletier thought her thyroid issues or anemia was the reason she was feeling so tired. In September 2024, she began feeling sick and visited a hospital in her hometown. She was diagnosed with a lung infection and received antibiotics, but after two weeks of taking the medication her symptoms weren't improving. She was having trouble keeping food down. Read more: Pelletier's mother, Roseann, couldn't shake the feeling that whatever was plaguing her daughter wasn't a lung infection. Doctors in Grand Falls referred Pelletier to a larger hospital in Edmundston, where physicians speculated her gallbladder was the cause of her symptoms — so ordered a gall bladder removal. 'Usually the turnaround time after having your gallbladder removed is pretty quick,' Pelletier said. 'However, for me, I still couldn't keep food down. I was sick…I was getting headaches four days after surgery.' It wasn't until she was transferred into intensive care where an echocardiogram revealed that Pelletier was in heart failure. 'My heart was the size of a football,' she said. Pelletier was air lifted to Quebec City, where tests confirmed that she had dilated cardiomyopathy; a form of heart disease in which the muscles in the heart become so enlarged they were no longer pumping blood to the rest of the body. My heart was the size of a footballChantal Pelletier Dilated cardiomyopathy impacts one out of 250 people in Canada. Although common in people under 50, it can also impact infants and children. Dilated cardiomyopathy can be caused by a number of conditions, including coronary heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, infection and lifestyle factors like alcohol and drug use and genetics. For Pelletier and her family, the diagnosis was frightening — but not unfamiliar. Thirteen years prior to her diagnosis, Pelletier's older sister, Nadine, was diagnosed with the same condition and required a heart transplant. Testing revealed that Pelletier, Nadine and their paternal uncle were all carriers of a genetic variation that caused all three to develop dilated cardiomyopathy following infection. Doctors drained seven litres of fluid from Pelletier, who was placed on the transplant list for three weeks, but she began experiencing chest pain — and her heart function declined from 10 per cent to 5 per cent. On Dec. 4, she underwent surgery to have a LVAD surgically implanted as a form of life support until a good match for a heart becomes available. However, during surgery, her doctor was unsure if the right side of her heart was strong enough to support the device and debated installing a right ventricular assist device (RVAD) as well. 'It was pretty much a guessing game, and they had to keep her in a coma because her heart was so enlarged they couldn't completely close her,' Roseann said. 'They had only taped her chest shut until the swelling went down." "That was the longest week of my life." Doctors told Pelletier she needed three months to recover before she could be put back on the transplant list. After her surgery, she lived in Quebec City in a specialized residence 15 minutes away from the Institut Universitaire De Cardiologie Et De Pneumologie De Québec. Roseann was able to take leave from work to stay with Pelletier, but the medical costs began to pile up. Although subsidized by the hospital, her residence cost approximately $2,000 per month, in addition to prescription medications, groceries and travel expenses back and forth to the hospital three times a week. A GoFundMe was created to help offset costs while she recovers. Pelletier was discharged from hospital in March. On April 23, she was officially put back on the transplant list, but due to her rare blood type, she's anticipating a five year wait to receive a compatible heart. Pelletier is optimistic, hopeful and working on building her strength for when a heart becomes available. While she waits for a new heart, she won't be able to return to work or school with the LVAD. It will be another year after the transplant before she can work or finish her Bachelor of Arts with a major in gerontology and minor in psychology — the risk for complications or rejection is too high. I've been very positive through it all. I don't even know how I've done it myselfChantal Pelletier Since returning home, Pelletier has been able to spend time with her boyfriend and reconnect with friends. Although many of her friends have gone out of their way to visit her, Pelletier has also been on her own homecoming tour. "I've visited different people in my small town to thank them for their support and the love I have received from the public has really illuminated how much I am loved," she said in an update via email. "It's really heartwarming knowing I'm still here." Another activity that's lifted her spirits? Driving. "Driving has always been a relaxing escape for me, so the first time I stepped foot into the drivers seat I felt instantly at home again," she said. However being back in Grand Falls hasn't been without its challenges. Pelletier's portable LVAD, which requires her to wear a backpack and carry spare parts and extra batteries, has drawn suspicious looks and comments from employees at local stores. "I might be the only LVAD patient in my small town, but who knows, I certainly might not be the last," she said. "I'm glad I'm here everyday, despite the arrogant and distrusting people. All I can do is keep going, keep my head up, and help others understand that living with a HeartMate3 isn't always easy, but I make the best of it everyday. I wake up everyday happy I'm still alive." Heart failure may have slowed the ambitious and active Pelletier down, but it hasn't broken her emotionally. 'I've been very positive through it all. I don't even know how I've done it myself,' she said. 'Just knowing that [the LVAD] saves me… without something right now I would be gone. I think that's what keeps me going.' She's been able to shift her focus from school to being as healthy and strong as possible while she waits for a new heart. Aside from her sister being her sounding board for her worries and fears about heart failure, social media has been an invaluable outlet that's helped Pelletier connect with other people. 'I've had a lot of nurses and a lot of people with LVADs reach out and express how happy they are that I'm sharing everything and what it looks like,' she said. 'I always said I want to create awareness. I want to spread positive information about what heart failure can look like. Even if it's a tough topic to talk about, you can still make it positive. You can still have a good quality of life and be in heart failure.'
Miami Herald
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
St. Thomas University softball gets a recruiting boost from a former baseball star
Ben Ancheff was once the hefty pitcher who gained national notoriety for leading St. Thomas University to the NAIA World Series, finishing in second place. Now — exactly one decade later — Ancheff is still paying dividends for STU athletics. Ancheff, 33, is the athletic director at Williams Valley High in Tower City, Pennsylvania. As such, he recommended ex-Williams Valley outfielder Mya Achenbach to STU softball coach JC Gutierrez, who was a baseball assistant when the Bobcats made that 2015 run to the World Series. It has turned out to be a great call by Ancheff. Achenbach is the leading hitter on a Bobcats team that is 47-6 and ranked 16th in the nation. On Wednesday, NAIA officials will announce where the Bobcats will open the 48-team national playoffs. In the meantime, Achenbach tops the Bobcats in batting average (.377); on-base percentage (.438) and steals (15 for 16). She has also has eight homers and a 1.073 OPS. 'Mya should be in [NCAA] Division I,' Gutierrez said. 'But she had an arm injury before she got here, and that [disrupted] things with D1 schools.' Ancheff, who went viral after a story in the Miami Herald one decade ago, said he is still battling his weight issues at about the same size he was during his STU days — 330 pounds on a 6-1 frame. However, he said he has actually lost weight from his most unhealthy point at 420 pounds, and he is even more aware of his situation now that he is the father of a son, Finnley, 4, and a daughter, Fallon, 1. As for Achenbach, Ancheff said he knew she was special since her days at Williams Valley. In four years there, she won two state titles and one award as Pennsylvania Player of the Year. Her team also finished second at state twice. But when Achenbach got no softball offers after high school, she quit the sport and joined the Air Force. Ancheff, though, helped get her to the State College of Florida for junior college ball, and that led to the Bobcats, who are on a roll the past few years Since making the switch from baseball assistant to softball head coach in 2021, Gutierrez had led the Bobcats to more wins each year he has been on the job. That first season, STU finished 14-11. Since then, the Bobcats have gone 21-23; 35-18; 40-12; and 47-6 this season, shattering the program record for wins. This year's team is led by pitcher Anna Toon, a Montana native who is 21-2 with a 1.24 ERA. 'She wanted to find the sun,' Gutierrez joked when asked why Toon came to Florida. Toon, who is also a steady hitter (.317 batting average), praised Achenbach's contributions to the Bobcats. 'As our leadoff hitter, Mya sets the tone with her grit, mental toughness and athleticism,' Toon said. 'Her military background brings a rare and valuable form of leadership that few programs have.' Other STU standouts include outfielder Kaitlynn Martinez (.366 batting average); first baseman Gabriella Gilbert (.347 batting average from the cleanup position); and shortstop Victoria Navarro (.339 batting average). Navarro is also 14-2 with a 1.76 ERA as a pitcher. Achenbach said she feels confident in the Bobcats, especially when Toon is on the mound. 'She's a different breed,' Achenbach said. 'I know she'll get it done.' THIS AND THAT ▪ FIU's baseball team (26-22) has been on a crazy ride. The Panthers had lost five in a row before a win over Miami ignited a four-game win streak. Now, the Panthers will take a four-game losing skid to Wednesday's game at Miami. The Hurricanes (29-18) are one of the hottest teams in the ACC at 14-9 in league play, but they need to beat FIU on Wednesday to split their four-game season series. ▪ In the NCAA Division II softball playoffs, Nova Southeastern University (38-14) will face Barry (35--18) in the opening game of the South 1 Region, which will start this Thursday. Top-seeded Tampa (40-8) is the host, and Spring Hill (31-21) is the fourth seed. It's a double-elimination tournament. NSU, which is on a seven-game win streak, has made the NCAA playoffs four straight years. The Sharks also took two of of three games from host Barry back in February. ▪ FIU's women's tennis team lost to 25th-ranked Stanford 4-1 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Lubbock, Texas. FIU won the doubles point before losing four straight singles matches.
CBC
29-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Close races, Trump and 2-party support: Political scientists react to federal election results
Social Sharing The close race in Miramichi-Grand Lake suggests why it still wasn't known Tuesday morning whether Mark Carney's Liberals will return to power in Ottawa as a minority or a majority government, a New Brunswick political scientist says. Liberal Lisa Harris conceded to Conservative Mike Dawson after midnight Monday, after the lead flipped back and forth throughout vote-counting, but there is still one poll to be counted. Polls are still be counted elsewhere in Canada as well. "On the weekend, I was in Saint John, and I told a number of people, I said, 'if Wayne Long wins, it's a Liberal minority, if Lisa Harris [also] wins, it's a Liberal majority,' and it might come down to that," political scientist Jamie Gillies of St. Thomas University said Tuesday morning. "You take four or five ridings across the country and shift about 900 to 1,000 votes, and the Liberals probably have a majority," he said. "They may still pull out a majority, but they're that close to it. That riding, I think, probably just slipped away for the Liberals last night." Long, in Saint John–Kennebecasis, was one of six Liberals who won in New Brunswick. The Conservatives took the other four seats. Gillies, the head of the communications and public policy program at STU, said he got a total of two hours of sleep throughout the night, as he followed the results closely. WATCH | A look across an unchanged map: Here's what the federal election results look like in New Brunswick 10 hours ago Duration 1:06 In New Brunswick, he said, the most surprising thing to him was the support for Long, who was the first Liberal MP to call for an increasingly unpopular Justin Trudeau to resign. Long won a fourth mandate, after changing his mind about not running again. "This is his strongest election win of his four," said Gillies. He thinks this could be partially attributed to the tariff issue. "I think Saint John is probably very important to what Carney wants to do in terms of how the new Liberal government might deal with some of the economic challenges coming from the United States." Another thing Gillies found interesting was the vote share in the Fredericton-Oromocto riding, which was originally expected to be close. Liberal David Myles captured 61.3 per cent of the vote. Conservative Brian MacDonald got 32.1 per cent. "David Myles actually had a higher vote share in Fredericton than Dominic LeBlanc had in Beauséjour, which is often considered the safest Liberal riding in the country." There are still quite a few ridings in Canada to be called as of Tuesday morning, and Alex Marland, the Jarislowsky chair in trust and political leadership at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, said his understanding is that a number of the ballots still left to be counted are mail-ins. N.B. election map stays the same after one nail-biter race He said mail-in ballots would most likely skew Liberal, so it raises some questions about whether some really tight races could end up flipping and giving the Liberals a majority. "Regardless of whether they end up with a majority or a minority, it's going to be very, very close, and this is going to be a very divisive parliament," said Marland. Marland and some other political scientists said throughout the election campaign that one issue that would be top of mind for voters was going to be U.S. President Donald Trump and Canada's relationship with its neighbour. Marland said this absolutely had an effect on how the results played out last night. "It really galvanized progressives, people on the political left," he said. "You can see the collapse of the NDP vote. A big reason for people who would have voted NDP ending up voting Liberal was really because of fear over Donald Trump." For Gabriel Arsenault, a political science professor at the Université de Moncton, that shift even further toward a two-party system was what impressed him the most. In December, he said, the Liberals and Conservatives were getting around 65 per cent of intention votes versus 85 per cent at this point. It will be a tough way forward for the NDP, said Arsenault. "What happened is structural," he said. "[Pierre] Poilievre sought votes among workers, and usually that would be the main group where the NDP got its votes, so I think it has to transform itself." The Green Party secured one seat — for its co-leader Elizabeth May — down from two seats in 2021 and three seats in 2019. It's just another result that proved to Arsenault that the party system in Canada is changing.
