15th September 2007 Paxo wins the Cathal Morgan trophy for the second time Go to UK news for more pictures and comments 23rd June 2006 Nigel Pullan is 50 We all had a great day at Royal Ascot for Nigel's 50th. Nige then had a party on the Saturday. Who says that he never buys a drink. Thanks for a great day Nige! 3rd October 2005 Karen Kenney The memorial service will be held at 1:00 pm Friday, October 7 at Wellshire Presbyterian Church, 2999 S Colorado Blvd. From I-25 take the Yale Avenue exit, go west on Yale to Colorado Blvd., turn left (south) on Colorado, the church is on the right about 1/4 mile. http://www.wpcdenver.org/directions.htm . Donations in memory of Karen may be made to Heifer International. Heifer International works with communities worldwide to help end hunger and poverty by providing livestock, poultry, seeds and seedlings in order to allow villages to better sustain themselves. If you donate on-line, their website is at www.heifer.org. During the process, you may send an acknowledgment or card to via the internet to tbrown1200@comcast.net. If you choose to send an acknowledgment by mail, their address is: Tom Brown, 455 S. Garfield St., Denver, CO 80209. For those that don’t use the internet, the address is Heifer International, PO Box 8058, Little Rock, AR 72203. Also, flowers are not being discouraged so that is an option if someone is more comfortable with that. Those should be sent to the Wellshire Presbyterian Church at 2999 S. Colorado Blvd. 28th September 2005 Hal Stoelzle © News Stefanie Uhl prepares to ride with her husband, Thomas Schaefer, on a brief workout along the Cherry Creek trail on Monday. Uhl will join other riders touched by cancer who will ride in a 3,300-mile relay with Lance Armstrong across the United States called Tour of Hope. The tour, which hopes to raise public support for cancer research, starts Thursday in San Diego and concludes Oct. 8 in Washington, D.C.   Denverite to ride with Armstrong Cancer survivor picked as cyclist in cross-country relay By Katie Kerwin Mccrimmon, Rocky Mountain News September 27, 2005 Denverite Stefanie Uhl will get to wear the yellow jersey and ride alongside Lance Armstrong in a bicycle tour that snakes 3,300 miles over mountain passes, through canyon country and across rivers. No, this is not the Tour de France. Rather it's the Tour of Hope. And the yellow jerseys that Uhl and Armstrong will wear are splashed with sunflowers to symbolize hope for cancer cures.   The ride begins Thursday in San Diego. Uhl and her team of 23 other cyclists will ride relay-style across the Southwest, through storm-battered Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, then into Atlanta and through the Carolinas. They will cap the ride on Oct. 8 with a rally in Washington, D.C. Uhl was the only person from Colorado selected out of more than 1,000 applicants to ride with Armstrong on the prestigious journey. At 40, the computer software worker has already survived two bouts of breast cancer and has made it her mission to support other young women enduring the pain and shock of a cancer diagnosis. Uhl was 37 and living overseas in Germany in 2002 when she happened to feel a pea-sized lump on her right breast. Uhl's doctor told her that there was a 97 percent chance it was nothing and she could wait six months to see whether it grew. Uhl didn't like the idea of watching the growth constantly and wondering if it was getting bigger. So, she opted for a biopsy. A few days later she got a call that knocked her to her knees. The doctor said it was cancer and instructed her to see an oncologist. Uhl hardly knew what an oncologist was, much less the best way to proceed. "It's such a traumatic experience and so overwhelming," she said. A year after the first diagnosis, the Chicago native and her husband, Thomas Schaefer, were vacationing in Italy when she got bad news a second time. This time, a tiny lump in her left breast, which had shown up only on an MRI, turned out to be cancerous. "That was the low point, when you think you're done and you're not," Schaefer said. Again, Uhl endured a lumpectomy and chemo with the same grueling nausea as her first battle. She and her husband moved back to Denver in 2003 and Uhl was determined to help other young women blindsided by cancer. She got active in two groups, a local support group called The Young Empowered Survivors and a national group called the Young Survival Coalition that promotes cancer awareness. Breast cancer can strike at any age. Uhl is determined to make each day count and to make other young people aware that they must take charge of their health. "My big message is really being aware of your body. If you feel like something's not right or has changed, be proactive," said Uhl, who works at the General Ledger Co., a partnership with Oracle that provides consumers with JD Edwards financial software. Uhl is also committed to clinical trials as the most promising path to cancer cures. One of the primary goals of the tour is raising awareness about the importance of the trials. According to the Tour of Hope, sponsored by drug-maker Bristol-Myers Squibb, the cure rate in childhood cancers has improved from less than 10 percent to 75 percent in the past three decades in part because more than 60 percent of children with cancer participate in clinical trials. Just 5 percent of adults with cancer enroll in clinical trials. Uhl is enrolled in two trials. For the first, she does blood tests every six weeks to learn if tumor markers will show whether the cancer is going to spread. The type of cancer also makes her more likely to get ovarian cancer. In the second trial, doctors are trying to learn whether it's more effective to remove the ovaries or do regular screenings to prevent ovarian cancer. Uhl is being screened regularly. Aside from regular checkups with doctors, Uhl loves cycling, skiing, mountain climbing and eating healthy foods. A passionate cyclist, she's been training for months on Denver's bike paths. While she has long been a fan of Lance Armstrong and has worn out several of his "Livestrong" yellow bracelets, she has never met her hero. She'll get to do that next week. Uhl is a little intimidated about keeping up with Armstrong and wants to be a good teammate to the other riders, who are cancer survivors, physicians, nurses, caregivers and researchers. Uhl grieves most for the innocence cancer took from her. "I can ride my bike across the country and I'm fine," she said. But she can never get rid of the knowledge that at any time, she could get devastating news. So, she wakes up every day determined to live well and not focus on the petty things in life. This year, she gets to ride with Armstrong. Next year, she and her husband are adopting a baby from Guatemala. Cancer has been part of her journey, but Uhl refuses to let it limit her future. "You really think about what your priorities are," she said. Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope • What: 3,300-mile bicycle relay • Where: Cross-country, from San Diego to Washington, D.C. • Who's participating: Lance Armstrong and 24 cancer survivors, caregivers, researchers, nurses and physicians from 19 states • When: Sept. 29-Oct. 8 • More information: http://www.tourofhope.org/   18th October 2004 Donation to Cancer Research We are pleased to announce that we have made our first donation to Cancer Research. This was due to all the people that have kindly renewed their subscription this year. Thank you for your support!

Article Published: Monday, August 02, 2004

Software exec gets a taste of war by helping rebuild Iraq's economy
 

By jalsever@denverpost.com
Jennifer Alsever Beauprez
Denver Post Business Writer
Friday, December 12, 2003 -

Ed McVaney, who made a fortune in software, has exchanged a leisurely retirement in his million-dollar Greenwood Village home for a 10-by-10 trailer parked outside one of Saddam Hussein's swimming pools.

The 62-year-old McVaney wears a flak jacket and helmet to bed, carries a handgun to the office and drives 90 mph to avoid possible carjackings on dangerous Baghdad roads.

The former chief executive of software giant J.D. Edwards & Co. is among numerous CEO types the Pentagon has recruited to help rebuild Iraq's economy.

"It's very prophetic. I just kind of know in my gut that I'm supposed to be here," McVaney said via cellphone this week from Iraq.

He spends his days inside a 40-foot marble room in one of Hussein's ornate Baghdad palaces, creating half-billion-dollar budgets, ordering guns for Iraqi police, configuring airport security systems and finding software to help track down Hussein's bad guys.

His Christian faith and a patriotic zeal drove him to volunteer to go to Iraq. He arrived in October, leaving behind his wife of 40 years, three grown children, seven grandchildren, carpooling duties, myriad charitable obligations and carefree days on his Summit County ranch. McVaney says spending his retirement in a war zone is worth it to help get Iraqis back on their feet.

But the challenges involved in bringing economic recovery to Iraq - and at a quicker pace than expected - are enormous.

Besides continued violence, Iraq faces 60 percent unemployment, $56 billion in reconstruction costs over the next few years and $124 billion in international debt.

"There are commercial issues, political issues," said Richard Powers, a Washington, D.C., attorney who handles contract work in Iraq. "Everybody who goes over there is fitted with a flak jacket. It's going to take a long time before they get real stability over there."

Yet Iraq, with its rich oil wells and educated middle class, could become a strong Middle East democracy, some experts say.

And people like McVaney are crucial to that recovery, said one defense official. Those chief executives, chief financial officers and business leaders recruited by the military can lend a hand in organizing the rebuilding of roads, water, electricity and security.

"Their ability over there is as essential as the forces on the ground," said Army Maj. Joe Yoswa, a defense spokesman. "This is an infrastructure and a business structure that has not been utilized to the best of its capabilities for years."

It's not the job McVaney expected two years ago when he retired from J.D. Edwards. The company, once Colorado's largest software firm, was acquired this year by competitor PeopleSoft.

At J.D. Edwards, McVaney was top dog. He did what he wanted, commanding billion-dollar budgets, overseeing 5,000 employees, jetting across the globe and at one point hitting the billionaire ranks. His biggest worry, perhaps, was meeting Wall Street expectations.

Now, McVaney wakes to bombings and gunfire in the middle of the night. Sleeping in his helmet is uncomfortable, he said, but a good precaution.

He has a roommate - a quiet army colonel - and the outside of his trailer is obscured by six-foot piles of sandbags.

McVaney's office is a desk in a large room where 20 other people work, including three Dutch men and two Italians who converse in their native languages, leaving McVaney baffled.

"You think of this as an American deal, but there are all kinds of people here," he said.

As a civilian Pentagon employee, McVaney is the equivalent of middle management and does what he is told, he said. He talks often of the safety tips he learns: Don't stand near windows, never get caught in a traffic jam and never eat out in the city without your gun.

Just a few months ago, McVaney carried a gun when only hunting in Nebraska.

His life took a turn at a Denver dinner party in May, when former Colorado congressman Bob Schaffer mentioned the military had asked him to work in Iraq for the newly formed education ministry.

"I said 'You can't go, Bob, you've got kids in high school," said McVaney. "Tell them I'll go."

His rationale: The 20-year-old U.S. soldiers in Iraq have their whole lives in front of them. "I had it made. I was living dumb, fat and happy," McVaney said.

The dinner party conversation didn't surprise McVaney's wife, Carole.

"It was typical of something that he would say," she said. "But obviously when it first came up, I think I secretly thought it would just go away."

It didn't. Five months later, the Pentagon took McVaney up on his offer and put him on a plane. On the way to the airport, McVaney admitted to his wife that he promised the Pentagon he would stay for up to a year if his work was valuable.

The seriousness of that decision set in immediately. On Oct. 27, McVaney sat waiting inside a hotel room in Amman, Jordan, for three days before getting approved to enter Iraq.

The cause of the delay? A rocket had hit the Baghdad hotel where he was to stay.

When McVaney finally arrived at the Baghdad airport, clad in safari gear, he jumped into a dark green Chevy Suburban that took him to Hussein's gaudy palace.

"It's massive," McVaney said. "You know the Museum of Natural History? Imagine 10 of these connected. Chandeliers everywhere. Marble everywhere."

Five days later, he and 500 others huddled for an hour among industrial equipment in the basement of the palace during a rocket attack. In an e-mail to family and friends, which McVaney shared with The Denver Post, he jokes that he brought a bottle of Scotch at the next attack and "made a lot of people happy."

Despite the obvious dangers, McVaney is relatively nonchalant about his situation. He says he has no fear, due to his faith in God. Carole McVaney has a similar take.

"God has given me a peace about it and knowing this is the right thing for him to do," she said. "This is where his heart is."

McVaney's work started immediately. Despite his expertise in software, the first day he was pulled into a meeting about railroads.

"Ninety-nine percent of everything we run into is common business sense," he said. "What's overwhelming is the layers of bureaucracy."

McVaney's biggest mission has been finding software to uncover the backgrounds of prospective Iraqi baggage handlers and air traffic controllers.

He tried to interview Iraqis through an interpreter, but it didn't work. "You didn't know if the facial expression you're getting is for the question you just asked or the one you asked three minutes ago," he said.

What McVaney talks about most, however, are his perceptions of Iraq: The complex Muslim culture; the free - and sometimes "obnoxious" - speech found in the crop of 25 new Baghdad newspapers; the Iraqi people's culture shock at American TV shows seen via satellite; and the area's intense poverty that belies its grand architecture.

This week, McVaney drove down a street near the palace that was piled high with feces and trash.

"It was the filthiest thing I've ever seen in my life," he said. "It makes you cry. It makes you feel so sad for these people."

McVaney admits it may take another generation for Iraq to reach its potential of being a vibrant country. But he hopes this effort will guide Iraqis to reclaim their country and rediscover the inner human spirit that he says has been beaten out of them.

"I would rather be home," he said. "But is it right that I'm here? Absolutely it's right that I'm here."