Strength In Number

We’re number one! We’re number one!

By Diane Alter

I grew up in New Jersey, mere steps from the Jersey Shore. My birth certiﬁcate (wherever it is, it was a long time ago) is proof. An avid runner, cyclist, and lover of all things outdoors, I have explored much of the Garden State on foot, or on family road trips that were more exhausting that any trek I ever tackled. Needless to say, I’ve learned a couple of things during that time.

First, New Jersey is more than the sum of its beautiful beaches, sylvan suburbs, picturesque farms, busy roads, fantastic foods, powerful politics, and original culture.

Second, to truly appreciate the collective character of the state, you have to understand the curious pride we New

Jerseyans take in our accomplishments. Read on and I think you’ll see what I mean. The force of one is deﬁnitely strong with us.

New Jersey has more engineers and scientists per square mile than anywhere else in the world.

The state’s biopharmaceutical industry is its largest. The sector encompasses pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and medical device manufacturing. Also, if you consider pharmaceuticals to be chemicals, that makes us the largest chemical-producing state in the nation.

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New Jersey has more diners than any state in the country.

The Garden State boasts more than 500. The oldest still in operation is the Summit Diner. If you haven’t wolfed down Taylor ham, egg, and cheese on a hard roll, some would say you haven’t really lived. If you consume these sandwiches regularly, some would say you don’t have long to live.

Courtesy of akaBuddy

New Jersey is home to the most haunted house in America.

The Seabrook-Wilson House (left) in the Port Monmouth section of Middletown has earned that distinction, according to Weird NJ, thanks to the ghostly apparitions that are frequently reported in and around the house. Built around 1650 and referred to locally as the Spy House, it was originally a tavern where British troops got liquored up enough to spill military secrets.

The world’s largest indoor farm is located in New Jersey.

And you’ll never guess where: Newark. AeroFarms took over an old industrial site and transformed it into a 69,000-square foot vertical farm. By employing LED lighting and nutrient-rich “aeroponic” mist, it is capable of producing 2 million pounds of herbs and vegetables.

New Jersey is the ﬂuorescent mineral capital of the world.

More speciﬁcally, the neighboring towns of Franklin and Ogdenburg in the northwest corner of the state. At least 56 minerals found in the mines glow brightly under a blacklight, many of which exist nowhere else on the planet.

The world’s champion gum-chewer calls New Jersey home.

In 2014, Michael Amato blew 15 bubbles in 60 seconds to set a Guinness-certiﬁed world record. Another recent Guinness record-setter was Manny Yarborough of Rahway, an American sumo wrestler. At 6’8” and 704 pounds, he was the world’s largest athlete. Manny passed away last December of a heart attack.

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The world’s longest boardwalk is in New Jersey.

That would be Atlantic City, of course, at 4.5 miles. It’s also the oldest, having opened in 1870. In 2013, Seaside Heights set a record for the longest ribbon-cutting in history when it ﬁnished rebuilding after SuperStorm Sandy. The ribbon measured 5.1 miles.

The ﬁrst professional basketball game was played in New Jersey.

In 1896, Trenton’s Masonic Temple hosted a meeting between teams from the Trenton YMCA and Brooklyn YMCA. The players all got a cut of the gate. New Jersey also hosted the ﬁrst ofﬁcial football game, between Rutgers and Princeton, in 1869. The ﬁrst “ofﬁcial” baseball game was supposedly played in Hoboken in 1846, but newspaper accounts of games dating back to the 1830s have since come to light.

Scott Kelly

Mark Kelly

New Jersey has put the most identical twins in space.

One set is enough for the record here. Mark and Scott Kelly grew up in West Orange. Mark, who is married to Gabby Giffords, is six minutes older. New Jersey also put a man on the moon (Buzz Aldrin, Oradell) and produced the ﬁrst American woman to walk in space (Kathyrn Sullivan, Paterson).

Courtesy of Dusso Janladde

New Jersey has the world’s tallest roller coaster.

Great Adventure’s Kingda Ka stands 456 feet tall. The ride is basically a dead drop, and is less than 30 seconds long. At a top speed of 128 mph, it’s the second-fastest on the planet. New Jersey can also claim the most insane amusement park ever: Action Park. That was actually the name of a 2013 documentary, which featured the unforgettable Cannonball Loop. If you rode it, you know what I’m talking about.

EDGE People

GPS COMES TO GREEN BROOK

The General Plumbing Supply Team at their new Green Brook Showroom is ready to help customers with all their kitchen, bath and lighting needs. GPS is one of the largest plumbing supply operations in the state, with fourteen locations — nine of which are showrooms — designed to show off the latest trends in kitchen and bath design. GPS works with contractors and homeowners alike, and they partner with all of the best-known brands, from Kohler and Moen to KraftMaid and Grohe. Thanks to Elisabeth Woomer for her help with the story on page 15.

ALWAYS ROOM FOR ONE MORE AWARD

Trinitas honorees gathered to display their awards at the 97th Meeting of the New Jersey Hospital Association. At center, Gary S. Horan, President and CEO, FACHE, displaying his 2016 Distinguished Service Award, flanked by, from left, Joe McTernan, DHSc, FACHE, Senior Director of Community and Clinical Services; Mary McTigue, VP, Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Offi-cer, Brant Maslowski, MICP, Mobile ICU Coordinator, holding the Excellence in Quality Improvement Award which recognized Trinitas’ Mobile Integrated Health Service (MIHS) program; Raffi Matossian, MD, Emergency Department; Lucy Ankrah MA, MSN, ANP-BC, Transitional Care Coordinator, and Rod Muench, Director, Pre-Hospital Services, all of whom celebrated both awards.

I AM LEGEND

Shade M. Lee, a 94-year-old Elizabeth resident who served in World War II as one of the Tuskegee Airmen, was saluted for his service by receiving a “We Honor Veterans” certificate from the VA and NHPCO program in recognition of his service and sacrifice. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American military aviators in the United States Armed Forces. They served as air fighters and bombers in World War II. Lee trained at Moton Field, the Tuskegee Army Air Field, and was educated at Tuskegee University, in Alabama. Trinitas staff members celebrated his historic place in US military history.

KUDOS FOR COMMITMENT

Carolyn Forcina, Regional Representative for the American Hospital Association in Washington, DC, presented a plaque to Gary S. Horan, President and CEO, in recognition of the decades of service Trinitas and its predecessor hospitals have offered to the residents of Elizabeth and surrounding communities.

A DEGREE ABOVE

Rutgers University School of Nursing graduate, Dr. Dawn M. Zimmerman,DNP, RNC, APN, CNE, faculty member at the Trinitas School of Nursing (right), is now among the less than 1% of nurses nationwide who hold the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. She joins Nicole A. Champagne, BS, RN, DNP (left) and Janine Graf-Kirk, DNP, RN-BC, CNE, of the School of Nursing, who hold this prestigious advanced degree.

WORD OF MOUTH

The Garden Restaurant in Union recently welcomed the acclaimed Justin Massie as its new Executive Chef. Massie, a graduate of the California Culinary Academy of San Francisco, honed his craft in prestigious 5-star kitchens, including the Ritz Carlton Dana Point in Laguna Beach and the Peninsula and SLS Hotels, both in Beverly Hills. He returned to New Jersey to work at the celebrated Heldrich in New Brunswick. “You need to love what you do to be successful in this industry, and I absolutely love what I do,” Massie says. “Even if it’s a classic dish, I look to put my own contemporary twist on it, just to show people something they’ve never seen before. I look to outdo myself on a daily basis, and that’s what gives me the drive to get to the next level with everything I do.

IMAGE IS EVERYTHING

Elegant Image in Westfield held a grand reopening recently at its more spacious quarters on South Avenue West. Owner Claudia Cruz and her husband Jon Regen (center) did the ribbon-cutting honors as Westfield business leaders Jerry Sullivan, Jeffrey Christakos, Gene Jannotti, salon manager AmyLynn Rollins, members of the Elegant Image staff, and Councilman Sam Della Fera, celebrated the relocation. The Westfield salon was previously located on West Broad Street.

Photo provided by Joe Renna, Photographer

SEEING IS BELIEVING

The Eye Care & Surgery Center hosted the Westfield Chamber of Commerce for an evening of education and engagement. From left to right: Gene Janotti, Greater Westfield Chamber Board Member; Dr. Joel Confino and Dr. Ivan Jacobs, co-founders of Eye Care & Surgery Center, and Dr. Milton Kahn, partner.

It’s A Gift!

Gifts with THE FORCE

R-TOE-D-TOE
You don’t have to be artificially intel-ligent to snag a pair of Star Wars ’Droid Socks. Available at best-wedding-anniversary-gift-ideas.com.

JUST FUR FUN
The Chewbacca Can Cooler keeps beverages cold and fuzzy. Available at thinkgeek.com.

DARK SIDE The Thermos Kylo Ren FUNtainer may make bullies think twice before demanding your kid’s lunch money. Available at toysrus.com.

LUKE WORN?
You can’t know a Jedi without first walking in her footsteps…or Skywalker Light Saber Heels. Available at fun.com.

WAY COOL
The BB-8 Mini Fridge was inspired by the skittish astromech in The Force Awakens. Available at zulily.com.

BIT OF A STRETCH
Thanks to Rebel Alliance Yoga Pants, your downward facing Babbajo never looked so good. Available at thinkgeek.com.

Gifts for the ONE You Love

DOTS BEAUTIFUL Burberry’s whimsical update on its classic Giant Check Scarf—the #1 high-end fashion item at Bloomies over the holidays—is back in stock. Available at bloomingdales.com.

CAMP TIME
Gamers can rest easy with the Xbox One Pillow by Joseph Galbraith. Available at redbubble.com.

SIMPLY AMAZIN’
Old-School Baseball Cards are making a comeback with young collectors. Available at attackofthebbcards.com.

IN THE RED
Cat in the Hat fans will want to un-box the infant/toddler Thing 1 Bodysuit as soon as it’s delivered. Available at aliexpress.com.

FETCHING FASHION
The Barkology
Alpha Dog Cap let’s your dog know who’s #1 (duh, he is, of course). Available at bissf.com.

SLICE OF LIFE
Brand your own image into every piece of toast with the Selfie Toaster. Available at hammacher.com.

The Chef Recommends

EDGE takes you inside the area’s most creative kitchens.

Paragon Tap & Table • Korean BBQ Pork

77 Central Ave. • CLARK

(732) 931-1776 • paragonnj.com

At Paragon Tap and Table we feature as many cultures of cuisine as we feature regions of craft beer. This Korean BBQ Pork is served on soba noodle cake with tempura fried scallion. It’s one of the many dishes that is featured on the spring menu. I change the menu seasonally, while keeping a strong variety of our customers’ favorites.

— Eric B. LeVine, Chef/Partner

BoulevardFive72 • Grilled “Chermoula” Organic Salmon

572 Boulevard • KENILWORTH

(908) 709-1200 • boulevardﬁve72.com

This Mediterranean-inspired, signature dish is served with ﬁngerling potatoes, roasted golden-beet puree and a whole grain mustard sauce. The Salmon is sourced from the North Atlantic’s Faroese Island Fiords by Boulevard’s own seafood company.

— Scott Snyder, Chef/Owner

Arirang Hibachi Steakhouse • Wasabi Crusted Filet Mignon

1230 Route 22 West • MOUNTAINSIDE

(908) 518-9733 • partyonthegrill.com

We prepare a crusted 8-ounce ﬁlet mignon served with gingered spinach, shitake mushrooms, and a tempura onion ring.

Daimatsu • Crab Avocado Salad

860 Mountain Ave. • MOUNTAINSIDE

(908) 233-7888 • daimatsusushibar.com

One of my favorite creations—I prepare something different every week—Crab Avocado Salad features snow crab, chipotle jelly, avocado, cilantro, lime soy dressing with yuzu citrus foam and caviar on top.

— Momo, Chef

Publick House • Publick Burger

899 Mountain Ave. • MOUNTAINSIDE

(908) 233-2355 • publickhousenj.com

A great burger is a combination of many things. It starts with the patty, our house blend of chuck, brisket, and shortrib, which is grilled to temperature. Topped with caramelized onions, crispy applewood smoked bacon, and perfectly melted white cheddar, sandwiched between a lightly charred brioche bun. Served with double fried, house cut French fries. The Publick Burger is always the perfect meal.

— Bernie Goncalves, Owner

Luciano’s Ristorante & Lounge • Handmade Cavatellini

1579 Main Street • RAHWAY

(732) 815-1200 • lucianosristorante.com

At the restaurant our main goal is to give our guest a pleasurably dining experience with fresh ingredients and personable service, in beautiful Tuscan décor accompanied with our ﬁreplaces which are available for dining and private parties of all types. Our menus are seasonal inﬂuence to what is available in the market from food, wine, and cocktails. Our handmade Cavatellini with crumbled sweet sausage, shaved broccoli rabe, and broccoli rabe and pine nut pesto is topped with fresh ricotta and shaved Parmesan.

— Joseph Mastrella, Executive Chef/Partner

Morris Tap & Grill • Shrimp Crepes

500 Route 10 West • RANDOLPH

(973) 891-1776 • morristapandgrill.com

At Morris Tap and Grill, I am always looking to share seasonal dishes that reﬂect local ﬂavor and creativity. Our Shrimp Crepes feature local vegetables blended to make this light and refreshing dish an instant favorite for our guests.

— Eric B LeVine, Chef/Partner

Boulevard Seafood Company • Yellowfin Tuna Poke

49 West Main Street • SOMERVILLE

(908) 722-0600 • boulevardseafoodcompany.com

Diced sushi-quality tuna tossed in sesame-soy chili dressing, with avocado, jicama and sugar snap peas. One example of the dishes we prepare using seafood that we bring in daily to our retail market, which is located on the restaurant premises.

— Scott Snyder, Chef/Owner

Spirit: Social Eatery and Bar • Double Cheddar Infused Burger

250 Morris Ave. • SPRINGFIELD

(973) 258-1600 • mclynns.com

It doesn’t get better then a double cheddar infused burger from the new Spirit: Social Eatery and Bar.

— Mark Houlker, Chef

Arirang Hibachi Steakhouse • Volcano Roll

23A Nelson Avenue • STATEN ISLAND, NY

(718) 966-9600 • partyonthegrill.com

Hot-out-of-the-oven, crab, avocado and cream cheese rolled up and topped with a mild spicy scallop salad.

Galloping Hill Caterers

Galloping Hill Road and Chestnut Street • UNION

(908) 686-2683 • gallopinghillcaterers.com

Galloping Hill Caterers has been an incredible landmark for nearly sixty years. We pride ourselves in delivering “over the top” cuisine, impeccable service and outstanding attention to detail. That is the hallmark of our success! Simply, an unforgettable experience. Pictured here is one of our crepes ﬂambé that really creates lots of excitement!

The Manor • Seared Atlantic Salmon with Almond Couscous

111 Prospect Avenue • WEST ORANGE

(973) 731-2360 • themanorrestaurant.com

Fresh and light, this seared Atlantic salmon with almond couscous, asparagus tips, and a roasted tomato beurre blanc is full of bright, rich ﬂavors. Our range of creative contemporary cuisine offered alongside classic Manor favorites ensures that every guest can ﬁnd something special on their next visit.

— Mario Russo, Chef de Cuisine

Fun Dungeon

Building the Ultimate Game Room

By Caleb MacLean

The suburban basement doesn’t get the love it deserves. Finished, unﬁnished, damp or dry—it is a launching pad for household pests and odd smells, and, in its own taunting way, a monument to unfulﬁlled potential. How one ﬁlls that yawning void is a matter of personal choice, personal taste and personal budget. The most personal solution? An all-out play space: aka the ultimate game room.

In newer (and grander old) homes, basements offer a great deal of square footage. Even after allowing for HVAC equipment, storage, water heaters and other appliances, there may still be 200 or more square feet that can be devoted to a fun dungeon. Often much, much more. The ﬁrst order of business is to ensure the space is clean, dry, well lit, ventilated and climate controlled—in other words, ﬁnished. Fortunately, most suburban homeowners already have reasonably civilized basements.

Next comes a critically important question: What will be the true nature of this space? Presumably, the overarching goal is to promote meaningful interaction with family and friends. Which requires stepping back a bit and looking at the “culture” of your family.

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Will this space be an extension or celebration of that culture, or is it a way of changing the game, so to speak?For example, if your family tends to gather around a monster ﬂatscreen, then maybe you want an even more monstrous ﬂatscreen downstairs as part of an awesome home theater array. Or maybe, just maybe, you want to change the game…and create a space that promotes some old-school interaction.

The home theater option? You can knock that out in an afternoon at Best Buy. To create a truly extraordinary fun dungeon, however, takes the kind of obsessive, time-consuming effort and ﬁnancial commitment that, by its very nature, will almost certainly be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. In a perfect, totally self-indulgent world, the menu must include most, if not all, of the following items:

Vintage Pinball Machine
Vintage Arcade Game
Vintage Jukebox
Vintage Vending Machine
Carnival Midway Game
Foosball or Air Hockey Table
Pool or Ping-Pong Table

If you happen to be an inveterate collector or borderline shopaholic, all the better, because this is going to require some legwork, both physical and virtual. If you need some starting points, read on…

FLIPPING FANTASTIC… THE PINBALL MACHINE

Having grown up in the pre-video game age, I hold that humankind has yet to invent an entertainment device that improves on the mechanical pinball machine. It combines the demanding skills of lightning-quick anticipation and hand-eye coordination with the relatively undemanding ability to stand, pull and release a spring-loaded plunger and push buttons every few seconds. Pinball ﬁrst gained popularity as a gambling device, and was actually outlawed for many years. The “modern” pinball machine, with its rolling scores and rubber bumpers came on the scene in the 1960s. A new, electronic generation of machines hit the arcades in the late 1970s. The arcades themselves went the way of the dinosaur as soon as home video game systems achieved a certain level of sophistication: Why pour quarters into a slot when you can hit the reset button for free?

But pinball machines survive—even the old ones. They were built well and built simply enough so that they could be maintained and repaired without too much expense or expertise. They are now bought and sold like vintage automobiles, only much less expensive. And “tune-up” kits are available online to keep them clicking.

When purchasing a pinball machine for home use, the ﬁrst decision to make is whether you want a vintage mechanical ’60s or ’70s model, or one with a computer that runs the show. The machines from the ’80s and ’90s have a lot more bells and whistles, and usually feature multi-ball play. Many of these are licensed after entertainment properties, such as The Addams Family movie franchise, starring Angelica Huston and Raul Julia. The Addams Family pinball machine happens to be the all-time best-selling pinball machine, with more than 20,000 units sold and many (if not most) still available. It was manufactured by Midway and designed by Larry DeMar and Pat Lawlor.

Lawlor, it’s handy to know, was regarded as the industry’s creative genius. If you go shopping for a machine and see his name attached to it, it’s probably fun to play. Interestingly, for many years the Holy Grail for video game designers was to make a virtual version of The Addams Family pinball. An Addams Family machine in good, working condition will run you around $7,500.

For a test of your ﬂipper skill without all the solid-state electronics, a machine from the 1970s may be the way to go. These were the mainstays in arcades at a time when the most sophisticated video game was Pong. Their price and popularity depends on a number of variables,including the art on the back-painted glass. A challenging machine treasured among silver-ball aﬁcionados is Gottlieb’s Target Alpha, which came out in the mid- 1970s. Its fun and challenging play ﬁeld was used in several other machines.

A well-restored example of Target Alpha can cost up to$5,000, but as with most machines of this era, prices vary based on availability and condition. With any pinball machine you purchase, it’s important to understand what’s involved in maintenance and repair. You can do most of it yourself if you have some mechanical acumen. If not, we are fortunate to live in a state where there are a number of people who both sell and service vintage machines. To get a feel for the different options take a drive down to the Silver Ball Museum in Asbury Park. It was actually featured in our Wendy Williams fashion shoot a few years ago.

HIGH SCORE… THE ARCADE VIDEO GAME

In the old days, the golden rule of video arcade games was “pay a quarter, die three times.” It cost money to get seriously good at Space Invaders or Pac-Man or Donkey Kong or whatever “your game” happened to be. Space Invaders gobbled up quarters at an astonishing rate. In its day, the game made more money than the ﬁrst Star Wars movie—by a factor of three times! Its creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, became a video game legend. He went on to create Donkey Kong and other hit arcade games for Nintendo before turning his attention to home gaming, and was the driving force behind Wii.

Going out and ﬁnding your favorite arcade console is fairly simple. You can track down a refurbished vintage model online, at auction or from a regional dealer. Or you can check out new arcade consoles that offer multiple “classic” games. Though eschewed by purists, they have become movie—by a factor of three times! Its creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, became a video game legend. He went on to create Donkey Kong and other hit arcade games for Nintendo before turning his attention to home gaming, and was the driving force behind Wii.

Among collectors, one of the most popular vintage arcade games is a maniacal attack-and-rescue space game called Defender. When it came out in 1981 it was predicted to be a ﬂop because its level of difﬁculty was so high. It required players to watch four different parts of the screen at the same time and work controls in combinations that took hundreds of quarters to master. Of course, that turned out to be the key to Defender’s success—players became obsessed with annihilating alien spacecraft and rescuing their buddies before they plunged to their deaths. Larry DeMar and fellow pinball programmer Eugene Davis designed the game for Williams, which ended up selling more than 60,000 units. They sell for about $2,500 today.

JUKEBOX HERO… MUSIC MACHINES

Your fun dungeon needs a soundtrack, of course. And what’s more fun than a vintage jukebox? These machines are not for audiophiles; what goes into them is far more important than what comes out of them. That being said, there is a burgeoning market for classic machines that have been converted to play CDs or use Bluetooth. The sound quality may be better and the maintenance simpler, but then you don’t get to track down all those favorite 45s your kid sister scratched up or your mom gave away for pennies at a garage sale.

Jukeboxes are less pieces of furniture than they are small architectural marvels. Their designs reﬂect their times. They set the tone for a game room, not just acoustically but visually, as well. Consequently, the choice of a jukebox will almost certainly be the most personal fun-dungeon choice you make. For most people, the model they choose harkens back to a special time or place in their lives. It may be a gleaming, chrome tabletop model like they used to have in truck stops and diners. Or perhaps an eye-popping Rock-Ola or Wurlitzer from the 1940s. The originals have gotten very pricey—often $10,000 and up—but the modern reproductions are quite nice and affordable.

If you must go Old School, then consider a sleek, mid-century Seeburg. What they lacked in color they made up for with functionality and simplicity of design. You can buy a fully restored Seeburg from the 1950s for $5,000 to$7,500.

ICE COLD… BEVERAGE DISPENSERS

Beverage availability is a key component in any basement re-do. You can certainly invest a couple of hundred dollars in a small fridge and be done with it. But to stay faithful to the theme of interactivity, it’s worth considering a more traditional delivery system. Soda fountains and beer taps are what most people think of ﬁrst. The home version of your basic ﬁve-ﬂavor countertop soda dispenser—like the one at your neighborhood pizzeria—runs around$1,500. There are a lot of parts to clean and maintain, so homeowners often end up cutting a maintenance deal with the same company that services the one at the pizzeria.

The less-elegant choice of a vintage vending machine might actually make more sense in the long run. There are lots of refurbished machines on the market that keep soda and beer cans (or bottles) cold until they roll out at the push of a button. They are very simple mechanically—once you buy a restored one, you’re unlikely to have a problem with the vending mechanism. How much is a restored machine?Anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000.

Another choice for beverages is the old-time refrigerated chest. Here you want a reproduction; the originals are wildly inefﬁcient. You open the lid, reach in, and grab a cold one. Big and colorful, they run between $500 and $1,000 depending on size and come emblazoned with your favorite old-time soda logo (especially if your favorite old-time soda is Coke).

STEP RIGHT UP… CARNIVAL GAMES

The most overlooked piece of the fun-dungeon puzzle has to be the tried-and-true carnival game. You know, the ones that look so easy…and $20 later you realize you’ve been had. Well, what better place to practice for your next visit to the midway than in the comfort of your own home? There are any number of options, some of which you can cobble together yourself if you’re handy. From a space-saving standpoint, however, you’d be wise to a) stick to the vertical ones and b) avoid games with sharp or high-velocity projectiles. Popping the balloons with darts and knocking over the milk bottles with baseballs are not wise choices in an enclosed space.

Actually, your best bet may be the most boring game on the midway, what the carnies call Fat Cats. You know this one: three or four rows of stained cloth felines that seem to be touching each other. But of course most of that is “fur,” which means your soft toss (the ball is usually misshapen or oddly weighted) must hit the cats perfectly to tilt them back. With a little practice in your basement, this is the most winnable game at the carnival—which is why the prizes in that booth are always the worst! A Fat Cat set up will run you $300 to $600.

HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES… TABLE GAMES

Feeling good about your hand-eye coordination? Then don’t go anywhere near a foosball or air hockey table. For some reason, the better athlete you are, the less athletic these games make you feel. The odd corollary to this rule is that, the more you drink, the better you get. (Or at least, the better you think you get). Still, what ultimate game room would be complete without at least one of these two classic contraptions?

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A bit of trivia: Although it never appeared in a single episode of Downton Abbey, the tabletop soccer game we call Foosball was very popular in England in the 1920s. It has enjoyed popularity in the colonies since the 1950s, has been a staple of frat-house culture since the 1970s, and was played avidly by Chandler, Joey and Monica in Friends in the 1990s. The Foosball table is designed so that games can be played one-on-one or two-on-two. In 2002, the International Table Soccer Federation was formed with the goal of making it an Olympic sport. There are a lot of cheaply made Foosball tables on the market, so if you feel that yours will be getting a serious workout, best to invest in the ones that start around $400.

Air hockey is one of those infuriating games where kids have just as good a chance of winning as grown-ups. It is almost impossible to “square up” the round puck with the round mallets—the result being all kinds of crazy, counterintuitive caroms. The game was invented by the good people at Brunswick in the early 1970s and was immortalized in the 1976 ﬁlm The Bad News Bears. Prices vary, but a good 8-foot table starts at about $700. By the way, there is an unwritten rule that the same fun dungeon cannot have both a foosball and air hockey table. Oops, now it’s written.

THE CLASSICS… POOL & PING-PONG

There is a similar rule about pool tables and ping-pong tables—except that you can ﬁnd models that combine the two, so it’s not quite the same rule. The differences between pool and ping-pong (aka billiards and table tennis) couldn’t be more obvious. The former rewards a pensive, mathematical approach, while the latter requires quick wrists and even quicker reﬂexes. Depositing a pool table in a basement takes Hulkish strength and determination. Ping-pong tables fold in half and have wheels. If you have young kids, ping-pong is likely to entertain them for years. Pool certainly has its appeal, but is more of an acquired taste.

Buying a pool table is not a simple process. You deﬁnitely want quality and should be willing to pay for it. The problem is, you can pay for quality and not get it. Reviews and ratings of pool tables on the ’net sound suspiciously like they were written and planted by people in the industry, so to get the best value it’s worth doing your homework.

According to Bruce Sanderson, buyer and store manager for Pelican Sport Center in Morris Plains, the best strategy is to arm yourself with a checklist of bottom-line goals. For instance, the frame, top and cabinet of a pool table should be made of solid wood, with no veneers or laminates. Also don’t settle for anything less than a one-inch slate. And avoid cheap rubber bumpers, which produce poor rebounds. “Ken-66 rubber is what you’re looking for,” he says.

There are other telltale signs of inferior quality. The diamond sites along the sides should be actual inlays, not painted on. Pockets should be leather, not vinyl. And demand felt that incorporates a Teﬂon coating, which makes spills easier to clean and resists pilling. A good quality felt, says Sanderson, should be 75% wool content and 25% nylon blend, between 19 and 20 ounces per yard.

Bottom line? Be prepared to spend $2,000 to $3,500 for a table built to last. Price points can soar into the ﬁve digits for fancy designs, but keep in mind that these tables play the same; you’re paying for looks. Brunswick and Olhausen are the big brand names in the market. However, Imperial features the same construction at a slightly lower price—and the company is located right here in New Jersey.

Online reviews and ratings for ping-pong tables feel a bit more honest, perhaps because there is relatively little money at stake. The most durable tables combine a strong frame and substantial playing surface. You can easily spend over $1,000 on a top-of-the-line Kettler, but very good ones are available for $500 to $600. If you start with a pool table and decide you want ping-pong, too, you can purchase a two-piece conversion top with padding underneath for$200 to $300, depending on the ﬁnish.

It’s A Gift!

Game On!

BANG FOR THE BUCK
Channel your inner Sheldon
(or Amy) with the Big Bang Theory version of Monopoly. Available at cbsstore.com.

A CERTAIN RING TO IT
You don’t have to be a genius to play Circular Reasoning, but
(according to MENSA) it helps. Available at mensamindgames.com.

WHITE WALKERS WELCOMEThe Game of Thrones version
of Risk elevates war and
chaos to new heights.
Available at battleaxegames.com.

PLUG & PLAY
Strategy, logic and quick thinking are the keys to winning Power Grid, where the goal is to keep your cities from going dark.
Available at boardgamegeek.com.

BUG JUICE
Each interchangeable link in the Code-A-Pillar teaches little ones the basics of coding.
Available at fisher-price.com.

Foundation People

NEVER SKIP A BEAT

The John Taylor Babbitt Foundation generously awarded Trinitas$5,171 to help support the cost of one defibrillator monitor for the new Emergency Department’s ICU Step-Up unit. At age 16, John Taylor Babbitt was a three-sport athlete, a dedicated student, and an active member of his Chatham, N.J., church youth ministry. He was “larger than life,” says his father, David. While playing basketball at church one evening in 2006, John Taylor died of sudden cardiac arrest, the result of an undiagnosed genetic disorder. Since then, David and his wife, JoAnne Taylor Babbitt, have championed greater access to automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, which can help someone’s heart re-establish an effective rhythm after a heart attack.

Pictured above: John Taylor Babbitt Foundation Board Members toured the Trinitas Emergency Department in August. Left to right: Marion Joyce, Nadine Brechner (Trinitas Health Foundation), David Babbitt, JoAnne Babbitt, and Andrew Babbitt.

ARE YOU UP TO THE CHALLENGE?

Trinitas Regional Medical Center is in the midst of a Capital Campaign to raise $18.7 million to expand our Emergency Department and dramatically improve its ability to manage extremely high patient volume and acuity levels. Our plan will nearly double the number of patient beds, provide immediate access to advanced diagnostic equipment and create environmen-tally appropriate areas for pediatric, elderly, behavioral health and non-emergent patients. With this expansion progressing on time and on budget, we are very happy to say we are on track to unveil a brand new ED in 2017.

We recently received some very exciting news about the campaign: The JC Kellogg Foundation has awarded us a $4 million challenge grant, meaning that all gifts over the next three years will be matched dollar-for-dollar until we reach $4 million! This is a wonderful time to support the patients of Trinitas and DOUBLE the value of your gift.

Please join us and make a gift today! Your gift will be matched by the JC Kellogg Foundation, and will help us create a BIGGER, BETTER, STATE-OF-THE-ART Emergency Department for all of our patients! To make a gift to the Emergency Department Capital Campaign, please contact Nadine Brechner at nbrech-ner@trinitas.org or Rob Eccles at reccles@trinitas.org or call the foundation office at (908) 994-8249.

A NIGHT OF JAZZ TO REMEMBER…

If cool jazz is your groove, join Trinitas Health Foundation’s Jazz Celebration featuring David Sanborn on Thursday, November 17th. Enjoy a light buffet supper at NJPAC followed by the concert at 8 pm. Orchestra seating, advance parking, and a memento of the evening are included. What a cool, sweet treat of an evening! Contact Ryan Hubler (908) 994-8101 or by email at rhubler@trinitas.org if you’d like to purchase a ticket(s) or discuss sponsorship opportunities.

What’s Up, Doc?

Fussy Babies

A recent study out of the University of Buffalo suggests that babies who are fussier and take longer to calm down may be at higher risk for future obesity. Infants were taught to push a button for a reward in the study. Researchers found a correlation between babies who were willing to work for a non-food reward (such as bubbles) and the ability to recover quickly from crying or distress. Likewise, there was a correlation between babies who worked for a food reward and who took longer to stop crying.

Other studies, published by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), have explored how feeding can be used as a strategy to calm or pacify infants. Association with increased carbohydrate intake and practice to calm down infants was found. Analysis indicated that fussier babies were twice as likely to be fed solids and non-milk liquids at 3 month of age. “Those infants were also more likely to be given cereal in the bottle,” points out

Yelena Samofalov, MD Trinitas Pediatric Health Center 908.994.5750

Yelena Samofalov, MD of the Trinitas Pediatric Center, “which is not consistent with current feeding recommendations. These feeding practices also can lead to infants being overweight. We suggest to our patients to follow your doctor’s advice regarding feeding your infant…and not to use food as a paciﬁer for a fussy baby.”

Parkinson’s Breakthrough

Parkinson’s researchers have long been searching for a way to get out in front of the disease before its symptoms develop. Scientists at University College in London may have made a breakthrough in this effort with a non-invasive eye test. They observed that rats exhibited changes in the back of the eye before visible symptoms occurred and before brain cells had been signiﬁcantly damaged. Parkinson’s is the second-most common neurodegenerative disease worldwide and currently there are no blood tests or brain scans that can render a deﬁnitive early diagnosis. Identifying an early biomarker would be a game-changer.

Stem-Cell Scams?

Stem cell therapies hold profound promise for a wide range of diseases, with public awareness at an all-time high. Yet only one stem-cell product has actually been approved for sale by the FDA: Hemacord, which is used for blood disorders. None of the other 300-plus therapies advertised around the country have been deemed safe or effective. They include treatments for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, arthritis, multiple sclerosis and even autism. Many of the companies offering these therapies do not even have a stem-cell expert on staff.

Nice Pick

So it was under our noses all along? Well, technically, in our noses. German scientists announced the discovery of bacteria in the human nose that produces an antibiotic that holds great promise in the ﬁght against super bugs. The human body isn’t typically fertile ground for antibiotics—most come from the soil. However Lugdunin, which is made naturally by a microbe that lives in nose hair bedding, works in ways that researchers don’t yet fully understand. “Although preliminary, this report is very exciting,” says

William Farrer, MD
Chief of Infectious Diseases
Trinitas Regional Medical Center
908.994.5455

William Farrer, MD, the Academic Chief of Infectious Disease at Trinitas. “We are running out of antibiotics as bacteria mutate to become ‘superbugs,’ resistant to most if not all antibiotics. Research on the human microbiome and its role in health and disease has exploded in recent years. This discovery may lead researchers to ﬁnd other potential antibiotics made by the bugs living in and on us.”

Bagpipe Lung: It’s a Thing

It may be time to reach out to the trumpeter in your life. Doctors in England recently diagnosed a fatal case of what they are calling “bagpipe lung”—a deadly reaction to mold and fungus that can live in the moist interior of many wind instruments. In this case, the 61-year-old victim was a bagpipe player, but scientists warn that the same conditions could exist in saxophones, trumpets and other instruments. They suggest that owners do regular cleanings to prevent the build-up of harmful pathogens, and that musicians who develop a lingering cough get themselves checked out in order to prevent permanent lung damage.

Cancer Study to Assess Gene-Editing Technology

You may be hearing about something called CRISPR–Cas9 over the next couple of years. And that would be a good thing. It’s a promising new therapy being tested against cancer at the Universities of Pennsylvania, Texas and California-San Francisco with the blessing of the National Institutes of Health. CRISPR–Cas9 involves a gene-editing technology used to alter a patient’s T cells so that they do a better job recognizing and attacking tumors. The FDA hasn’t approved CRISPR–Cas9, so the initial goal of the study is to determine whether it’s safe. The study is being funded by tech billionaire Sean Parker, and will be tested on a handful of patients who have melanoma, sarcoma and myeloma.

Benefits of Unsaturated Fats

Is the key to staying slim eating more fat? University of Minnesota researchers analyzed 56 different studies on diet and chronic disease and noticed something interesting: People who consume unsaturated fats (such as avocados, nuts and fatty ﬁsh) along with fruits, veggies and whole grains are 29% less likely to develop heart disease or suffer strokes, 30% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, and at a 57% reduction in the risk for breast cancer. Carbs and processed sugar are the real bad guys, the study suggests, adding that when it comes to monounsaturated fats like olive oil, for most people there is no such thing as “too much.”

Doctor, Fix it

Mark Preston joins the robotic team at Trinitas.

By Yolanda Navarra Fleming

Mark Preston didn’t grow up with the dream of becoming a doctor. In fact, he says, the ﬁrst time he had any inkling of entering the ﬁeld of medicine was during his senior year in college, when he was digging out a particularly deep splinter in his hand. At the time, he was at Dartmouth College majoring in government. A year later, in a remote part of China, he got sick and spent a day as a patient in an open ward of a hospital.

“As I witnessed the nurses and doctors caring for much sicker patients, I was impressed and moved by the caring manner of the staff and also taken by the vulnerability one has while being a patient,” he recalls. “That really left an impression.”

A rare moment when the da Vinci surgical robot at Trinitas is not in use.

Upon returning home to his career in ﬁnance, he became an EMT, which further opened his eyes to a career in medicine: “Finance wasn’t going to satisfy me…I succumbed to my calling and went back to school to become a doctor.”

Fast-forward to 2016. Dr. Preston—one of the ﬁrst doctors in the U.S. to become board certiﬁed in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (more commonly known as urogynecology)—is now on staff at Trinitas Regional Medical Center, which is among the busiest robotic surgery centers in New Jersey. As director of the Women’s Center for Incontinence and Pelvic Surgery in Waterbury, CT, Dr. Preston relied on robotic surgery as an important part of his practice for the past ﬁve years. He brings to Trinitas his expertise in robotic sacrocolpopexy, a surgical technique for repairing pelvic organ prolapse (dropped pelvic organs).

“The problems that I deal with—urinary incontinence, other bladder issues and prolapse—impact so many women,” he says. “These conditions are treatable. You don’t have to live with them. I am very excited about the fact that Trinitas has such an established and highly esteemed robotic surgery program. It’s a real bonus to be able to walk into an already established program of such high quality.”

Known for his relaxed, easygoing personality—and unﬂappable demeanor in the OR—Dr. Preston spends at least 45 minutes to an hour talking to patients upon ﬁrst meeting. The key, he says, is to listen to the patient and make sure you are addressing her desires and concerns.

“It’s really important that patients feel I understand them and that they are comfortable with me,” Dr. Preston explains. “I’ve kept that primary care attitude that I had when I ﬁrst started in medicine: I love getting to know patients and building a relationship with each person. I spend a lot of time listening, ﬁnding out what their goals are, and explaining their problems, the options available, and then ultimately what to expect from the treatment we decide on.”

After his ﬁrst year of clinical rotations at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, when it came time to choose a specialty, Dr. Preston gravitated to primary care because, he says, “it’s where one gets to know patients over many years and builds a relationship with them. Intellectually, I liked physiology and internal medicine—ﬁguring out how things work or are going wrong. But what I really liked doing was surgery.”

OB/GYN, he concluded, was the only specialty that would combine his favorite aspects of doctoring.

“Within the gynecologic surgical specialties, I found I had a knack for visualizing where things ought to be that have fallen out of place and how to put them back, and I enjoyed the creativity needed to do that,” he says.

“For instance, I see a bulge in the anterior vaginal wall,” says Dr. Preston, “and then try to ﬁgure out what’s causing the bulge—is it a weakening or tear in the middle of the vaginal wall or at the top or at the sides, or has the uterus dropped, pulling the wall with it? I have a larger-than-average surgical toolbox, which means I can tailor a surgery to the speciﬁc needs of the patient. Rather than having one surgical technique to deal with cystocele, I have four that I can use. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to complete fellowships both in pelvic reconstructive surgery and minimally invasive gynecologic surgery.“

All too often, Dr. Preston sees a patient after an unsuccessful surgical outcome. As a member of the American Urogynecologic Society’s Quality Outcomes Committee, he helps to develop national quality guidelines and measures in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery. The organization maintains surgical outcomes registries, works with national quality groups and the federal government on quality measures, and monitors the regulatory environment as it pertains to the specialty.

Although the experience of performing surgery is different for every doctor, what remains the same is the intensity and the importance of remaining laser-focused. What Dr. Preston believes sets him apart is the way he responds to the pressure. When he is on a case, there are no distractions.

“I am one hundred percent focused on the surgery,” he says. “It’s almost as if time stands still. Fatigue, pains, and other worries…they all disappear when I am in the OR.” EDGE

Mark R. Preston, MD Urogynecologist
Trinitas Regional Medical Center (908) 282-2000

Editor’s Note: Dr. Mark R. Preston did his post-graduate urogynecology training at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, Emory University Medical School and the Center for Women’s Health and Female Continence in Salinas, CA.

Comfort Zone

Dr. Adriana Suarez walks the walk…and talks the talk.

By Yolanda Navarra Fleming

When a doctor and a patient literally don’t speak the same language, building a relationship based on trust and under-standing poses a challenge that, at times, can be impossible to overcome. As a native Spanish speaker, Dr. Adriana I. Suarez-Ligon offers patients of Trinitas Regional Medical Center the most current and accurate breast health care in two languages.

“There is a large language barrier that exists between the Latino community and the healthcare system,” says Dr. Suarez, who recently joined the Surgical Department at Trinitas as a breast surgeon—and is also an Instructor of Surgery at Rutgers University–New Jersey Medical School in the Division of Surgical Oncology. “Enough is lost in translation when doctors do speak the same language as their patients. I am excited to bridge the gap between the Dr. Adriana Suarez-Ligon (left) pictured with Veronica Vasquez (right), MHA, CN-BA, Breast Patient Navigator, within the Trinitas Comprehensive Cancer Center. local Hispanic community and the healthcare system.”

Born in the Bronx to Cuban parents, Dr. Suarez received her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey–New Jersey Medical School in 2009, and completed her general surgery residency at Rutgers in 2015.

Dr. Adriana Suarez-Ligon (left) pictured with Veronica Vasquez (right), MHA, CN-BA, Breast Patient Navigator, within the Trinitas Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“Medicine and surgery are complicated,” she says. “Breast cancer is complicated. Even speaking the same language, medical terminology is a language on its own. Just think, we doctors go to medical school for four years before we even complete a specialty training program, which is oftenup to a decade of training before we go out into practice our given specialty. We have all that time to understand the disease processes that we treat and the treatments we offer. Patients generally don’t have that background and now we have to explain their disease to them in an ofﬁce visit that may not last more than one hour. At least doing so in their native language is a start.”

Dr. Suarez, who doesn’t remember a time that she didn’t want to be a doctor, has followed in the footsteps of her father and aunt, both OBGYNs. However, medical school intrigued her with the prospect of not only being able to care for patients, but also to remove their disease.

“I really loved the idea of being able to care for female patients with the perspective of being female myself,” she says. “As a breast surgeon, I am able to take care of the female patient with a surgeon’s hands.”

With every new patient a partnership is formed, Dr. Suarez explains. The human being is her top priority, not just the case. She interacts with mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, wives and husbands and oftentimes, she says, she sees herself in a patient.

“Each patient is different and at different stages in their lives,” Dr. Suarez explains. “They’ve had vastly different life experiences that make them the unique people they are. These unique experiences also shape how they respond to their diagnosis, whether benign or malignant, and how they approach the treatment plan. I very strongly believe in giving patients all the information they need to make informed decisions for themselves. That said, not all patients want all the information [these patients are rare, she maintains] and want me to make the decision for them; I am okay with this, too.”

And just as no two patients are alike, no two breast cancers are created equal. Indeed, Dr. Suarez takes a special interest in breast cancer disparities, especially among Hispanic women, young breast cancer patients, and high-risk patients.

“Each breast cancer is as unique as the patient that has the disease,” she explains. “It is very important for doctors to approach each patient with breast cancer on a very individual basis. Similarly, patients need to acknowledge that the stories that they hear and the information that they read may not apply to them. With the accessibility of the internet, there is a lot of information ﬂoating around that is not all validated. Be careful and ask a lot of questions.”

As comfortable as Dr. Suarez is interacting with patients and their families, it is in the operating room where it all comes together. The OR, she says, is a place of Zen and extreme concentration.

“Operating on my patients is a privilege,” she explains. “One I am very grateful to have. In the OR, my patients relinquish control over their body and trust me to provide them with the highest level of care. I leave everything behind when I enter the OR with a patient and focus solely on them.”

“I truly believe that my patients and I are partners in their healthcare process. I am the one trained to provide them with their surgical care, but together we make the decisions”

Adriana I. Suarez-Ligon, MD Breast Surgery
Trinitas Regional Medical Center (908) 994-8230

Editor’s Note: Dr. Adriana I. Suarez-Ligon is a frequent lecturer on a wide variety of topics related to breast cancer. She is trained in the spectrum of benign and malignant breast diseases, and is an expert in the vast spectrum of breast pathology. For benign disease, she performs excisional breast biopsies. For malignant disease, she offers breast conservation surgery, oncoplastics, skin and nipple sparing mastectomies, as well as axillary staging procedures. Earlier in 2016, Dr. Suarez completed a Society for Surgical Oncology Accredited Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. She and her husband, a coach for Nike, have two children.

Hey, Big Spender

Extreme Gifting: Home Edition

By Christine Gibbs

‘Tis the season synonymous with giving and receiving. Gifting rituals extend around the globe and back through history. Greek and Roman mythology celebrated heroic ﬁgures such as Prometheus, who stole ﬁre from the Gods and presented it to mankind, and Dionysus, who was the ﬁrst to bring a bottle of wine to an orgy. All major religions honor the tradition of gift giving, in many different ways. Christianity annually reveres the gifts of the three wise men in Bethlehem. Channukah extends the gifting ritual to eight days. Kwanzaa focuses on the seventh day. In Islam, giving gifts is one of the beneﬁcent acts recommended by the Prophet Mohammed.

Gift giving may be universal, but it tends to be culturally unique. Thank you cards are not expected in Israel, but birthday breakfast in bed is expected in Sweden, while a gift should be wrapped in red for good luck in China. Of course, here and in Western Europe, the mere mention of Christmas to children of all ages conjures up some iteration of Santa Claus—aka Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, Père Noel, or St. Nicholas, to mention a few.

While gift giving is more or less obligatory in North American culture (holiday, birthday, housewarming, wedding, baby shower, etc.), there are no hard-and-fast rules about how much to spend or, more to the point, how “personal” a gift should be. What might strike one person as being thoughtful could very well appear presumptuous to another. Then are those who take the act of giving to a whole new level…something I like to call extreme gift giving. I use that word the way millennial athletes use it when they talk about “extreme sports”—as an all or nothing, death-defying, adrenaline-pumping pastime.

We’re not talking about an expensive bottle of wine or a fancy orchid; we’re going way outside the (gift) box. In these pages are ideas, examples and how-to’s for splurging on a lifestyle-altering gift for a friend, family member or colleague. Welcome to Extreme Gifting: Home Edition.

UNDER $1,000

TABLE TOPPER

Hand-blown decanters from the cross-discipline studio of Anna Karlin add a whimsical touch to the dinner table. They’re topped with a delicate matte rose-quartz stopper. $320 at annakarlin.com.

INTO LEATHER

Elvis & Kresse uses reclaimed remnants of ﬁne leather along with recycled ﬁre hose and silk parachutes to make a unique, earth-friendly leather rug.

$300 at ahalife.com.

BE SEATED

The Dress Chair from the ThisLexik design studio applies a thermosetting technique using epoxy resin to transform a pair of recycled jeans into whimsical yet surprisingly durable furniture.$450 at thislexik.com.

$1,000 to $5,000

BUY GEORG

You might go broke collecting Georg Jensen, but as an extreme gift-giver you’ll never go wrong. The less-is-more company makes an ultra-contemporary ﬁve-piece ﬂatware service for 12 in an understated matte stainless steel ﬁnish. $1,250 at 1stdibs.com.

SHELF LIFE

Muller Van Severen’s multi-marbled shelf is perhaps the ultimate outside-the-box home décor gift. $3,165 at mullervanseveren.be.

FRONT AND CENTER

For the tech-obsessed family that stores its life in the cloud, the Richard Clarkson Studio has come up with the Smart Cloud, which mimics the look and sound of a thunderstorm whenever someone enters the room. $3,360 at richardclarkson.com.

SMELL OF SUCCESS

Marie-Helene de Tallac’s blue chalcedony incense burner is trimmed in 22k gold. It’s a tribute to ﬁnancial acumen and the ongoing pursuit of relaxation and tranquility.$3,500 at modaoperandi.com.

BED TIME

Frette’s Mia throw blanket is exquisitely crafted in soft cashmere and trimmed with coordinating Rex fur for unsurpassed warmth and luxury. $3,500.00 at harrods.com.

OUT OF THIS WORLD Secondome’s hand-blown glass and gold-tone brass

Mod.Sky stellar-map globe is part of an interactive behavioral experiment called the COEXIST Project. It’s designed by Italian artist Gio Tirotto. $4,000 at barneys.com.

SKY’S (NOT) THE LIMIT

It may not be a gift that keeps giving (although it may give your ﬁnancial adviser a permanent ulcer), but if you want to take this extreme-giving exercise outdoors, a trip to the stratosphere in a Bloon is hard to top. The Bloon rises 22 miles using a non-combustible fuel for a gentle, noiseless voyage with no impact on the environment. We won’t give away the price, but if you’re curious, log onto inbloon.com.

Editor’s Note: Chris Gibbs has been EDGE’s “It’s A Gift” editor since 2009.

Year In Year Out

A Pitch for Perennials

By Sarah Rossbach

When I moved into our present home, we had no garden—and two small children. I hired a sympathetic landscaper who, seeing me juggle (not literally) my baby and toddler, designed a small, manageable garden. She planted perennial ﬂowers that reminded me of special people and places in my life: peonies for China, my area of study, camellia bushes for my Southern mother, and agapanthus for the South of France. My children are all grown and the garden has evolved. Every year, the camellias and (now prize-winning) peonies re-bloomed with no help from me, while the agapanthus, unaccustomed to cold New Jersey winters, behaved as an annual, never to reappear. Which may lead one to wonder: Why purchase and plant annual ﬂowers each year, when perennials—as their name suggests—are a “forever” investment in time, toil and money?

Sarah Rossbach

As plants die and lie fallow, fall and winter are excellent times to plan gardening improvements to make in the spring. In fact, you can start planting late into the fall. For example, deer-resistant daffodil bulbs are available at your local plant nursery or in ﬂower catalogues and, once planted, will delight you this spring and future springs with their colorful, fragrant blooms. The best way to learn about perennials is to peruse perennial books, visit your local plant nursery or locate a nearby garden club. When planning my ﬁrst front yard garden, my landscaper and I ﬁrst selected some evergreen bushes to create the bones of the garden. That way there was color all year round.

Sarah Rossbach

According to Liz Richart, the perennial expert at The Farm at Green Village in Morris County, there are several basic considerations when planning a perennial garden. How much sun does the planting area receive and is it morning, afternoon, or all-day sun? Can the area be irrigated? Are there deer in your neighborhood? How much maintenance time will you be able to devote to your garden? She recommends checking out reliable, unbiased websites for local (Zones 5 and 6) botanical gardens and research universities.

“Bulbs can extend the bloom time of the garden,” Richart says. “Snow drops bloom very early in the year and can emerge through light snow cover. Other reliable spring bulbs include squill and daffodils. Plant spring bulbs in November in clumps with the pointed end up for beautiful spring ﬂowers. They usually require well-drained soil and full sun during their growing season. The depth of the bulbs should be about three times the length of the bulb.”

I was relieved when she didn’t suggest tulips. From my tortured experience, the tulip bulbs that hungry squirrels don’t abscond with right after I plant them survive only to be early spring morsels devoured by deer just before they fully bloom. I can vouch for daffodils’ fortitude and longevity, as they re-bloom and proliferate every spring. I have ordered mine online from various catalogues.

Richart adds that perennial gardeners also should cultivate patience to fully enjoy the fruits of their labors. “Plants can take two to three years to fully reach their stride,” she maintains. “There is an old garden adage referring to establishing plants in the garden: Sleep, Creep, Leap is basically what a gardener can expect in the ﬁrst few years.” In terms of fertilizing the plants, amending the garden soil is a key to helping them mature to full capacity. Adding a planting mix of compost and peat moss will greatly improve the performance of perennials. “The roots need a good base to fully develop in order to grow a fully mature and healthy plant,” Richart explains.

Dave Williams of Williams Nursery in Westﬁeld advises using a base of established plants—such as rhododendrons, evergreen azaleas and boxwoods—as a backdrop for planting perennials. Selecting the plants then becomes all the fun.

For early interest, he recommends planting hellebores. “They bloom in February and last for months,” Williams says. “They have the huge advantage of being deer-resistant and now come in a large variety of colors—white, pink and reds.”

Thinking about easy-to-care-for perennials, Williams suggests mountain pinks phlox. “They are no-brainers,” he says. “No one ever kills them. You can plant them as three-to four-inch ground cover and they grow; you can just forget about it.”

Williams also says a recently introduced type of lavender called Phenomenal grows amazingly well with little upkeep, and you can cut the ﬂowers to provide a lovely scent and visual interest. While any nursery owner could go on forever about ﬂowers, two other perennials he mentioned as not only easy to grow, but which help pollinators (such as birds, bees and butterﬂies that help plants reproduce) were coneﬂowers and milkweed.

Williams, whose hobby is salsa dancing, recommends the Sombrero Series of coneﬂower. “Salsa Red in the Sombrero Series is a compact coneﬂower that attracts butterﬂies like crazy,” he says. “And milkweed is getting a lot of press. Before I planted milkweed, I had limited monarch butterﬂies, which are endangered. With milkweed this year, I had monarchs in the garden daily for three weeks.”

A ﬁnal note on this plug for perennials, aka the gift(s) that keep giving. I am by no means dissing annuals. A landscape designer friend, who gives an August cocktail party themed around her stunning Casa Blanca white lilies, always ﬁlls in the visual holes in her beautiful garden by planting huge pots of impatiens. Annuals such as stock, zinnias, angelonia, sunﬂowers and sweet pea create great cutting gardens that provide beautiful material for ﬂoral arrangements all summer long.

Alas, that’s a story for another day.

Wikipedia Japan

PERENNIAL PRO

While most perennial planting is (or can be) a do-it-yourself project, some things are best left to the professionals. According to Paul Martoccia of Martoccia Landscape Services in Watchung, once you get into trees and shrubs, that’s a good time to bring in a pro.

“Something that’s very important to understand when you get into more signiﬁcant plantings is the role a landscape professional can play,” he says. “A lot of people are tempted to buy cheap plants in big box stores, and are unhappy down the road with the results. We only deal with long-established wholesale nurseries that have quality material. I’ll actually hand-select the plants, especially with specimen plants, and even bring the client along with me.”

Martoccia says that people thinking about perennials often overlook shrubs with all-year interest, which extend the garden’s appeal through the winter. For instance, ornamental grasses such as miscanthus (below) grow to four feet tall and four feet wide in a season or two. Martoccia also likes red twig and yellow twig dogwood: “Their colorful stems get brighter in late winter going into spring.”

“Crepe myrtle offer exceptional bang for the buck,” he adds. “They come in many different varieties and colors, and bloom into fall. They offer a lot of winter interest and the overall structure of the plant is great to look at all year.”

Sarah Rossbach

BANG FOR THE BUCK

These perennials deliver great color and interest year in and year out:

Salvia
Coneﬂowers
Sedum
Daylilly
Shasta Daisy
Hosta
Heuchera
Coreopsis
Hellebore
Catmint
Knock Out Rose
Drift Rose

Chef Recommends

EDGE takes you inside the area’s most creative kitchens.

Paragon Tap & Table • Chicken with Wild Mushroom Ravioli

77 Central Ave. • CLARK

(732) 931-1776 • paragonnj.com

This light combination, created for the summer menu, features chicken served with wild mushroom ravioli and trufﬂed mushroom sauté, ﬁnished with a red wine demi. We always offer fun, new combinations that showcase locally sourced ingredients.

— Eric B. LeVine, Chef/Partner

BoulevardFive72 • Grilled “Chermoula” Organic Salmon

572 Boulevard • KENILWORTH

(908) 709-1200 • boulevardﬁve72.com

This Mediterranean-inspired, signature dish is served with ﬁngerling potatoes, roasted golden-beet purée and a whole grain mustard sauce. The salmon is sourced from the North Atlantic’s Faroese Island Fiords by Boulevard’s own seafood company.

— Scott Snyder, Chef/Owner

Arirang Hibachi Steakhouse • Wasabi Crusted Filet Mignon

1230 Route 22 West • MOUNTAINSIDE

(908) 518-9733 • partyonthegrill.com

We prepare a crusted 8-ounce ﬁlet mignon served with gingered spinach, shitake mushrooms, and a tempura onion ring.

Daimatsu • Crab Avocado Salad

860 Mountain Ave. • MOUNTAINSIDE

(908) 233-7888 • daimatsusushibar.com

— Momo, Chef

Publick House • Crispy French Cut Chicken

899 Mountain Ave. • MOUNTAINSIDE

(908) 233-2355 • publickhousenj.com

Our crispy french cut chicken is brined overnight, then seared to give it perfectly crisp skin. It is beautifully paired with earthy shiitakes and creamy polenta. The ﬂavor is deepened by the addition of roasted shallots, capers, and white wine. An update on a comfort food classic, the french cut chicken is perfect any night of the week.

Luciano’s Ristorante & Lounge • Warm Goat Cheese Salad

1579 Main Street • RAHWAY

(732) 815-1200 • lucianosristorante.com

The warm goat cheese salad with tender greens and a mulled cabernet dressing and toasted pine nuts is a signature appetizer at Luciano’s, where fresh ingredients and personable service in a beautiful Tuscan décor create a ﬁne dining experience. Our menus are seasonally inﬂuenced to feature the best of what’s available in the market.

— Joseph Mastrella, Executive Chef/Partner

Morris Tap & Grill • Pan Seared Sea Bass

500 Route 10 West • RANDOLPH

(973) 891-1776 • morristapandgrill.com

This light dish, which incorporates heirloom tomatoes, exempliﬁes how we showcase local produce. Pan-seared sea bass is served with tomato conﬁt and tomato broth, and served over corn and sweat pea risotto.

— Eric B LeVine, Chef/Partner

Boulevard Seafood Company • Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes

49 West Main Street • SOMERVILLE

(908) 722-0600 • boulevardseafoodcompany.com

Hand-made cakes using the freshest jumbo lump crab from our own market, seared and served atop a “succotash” featuring Jersey fresh corn, ﬁnished with a decadent caper-basil butter sauce. They can also be purchased to cook and serve at home from our retail market, open during restaurant hours!

— Scott Snyder, Chef/Owner

Spirit: Social Eatery and Bar • Double Cheddar Infused Burger

250 Morris Ave. • SPRINGFIELD

(973) 258-1600 • mclynns.com

It doesn’t get better then a double cheddar infused burger from the new Spirit: Social Eatery and Bar.

— Mark Houlker, Chef

Arirang Hibachi Steakhouse • Volcano Roll

23A Nelson Avenue • STATEN ISLAND, NY

(718) 966-9600 • partyonthegrill.com

Hot-out-of-the-oven, crab, avocado and cream cheese rolled up and topped with a mild spicy scallop salad.

Galloping Hill Caterers

Galloping Hill Road and Chestnut Street • UNION

(908) 686-2683 • gallopinghillcaterers.com

The Manor • Seared Atlantic Salmon with Almond Couscous

111 Prospect Avenue • WEST ORANGE

(973) 731-2360 • themanorrestaurant.com

— Mario Russo, Chef de Cuisine

No Longer a Game

Will your kid’s summer on the sofa translate into a six-figure salary…or college scholarship?

By Mark Stewart

That’s it…no more video games! What parent of slothful teenagers hasn’t issued this threat? And yet, here we are, at the dawn of a new era, when low-energy “gamers” are increasingly on the radar of higher education. More and more colleges are assembling “eSports” teams to carry their school colors into virtual battle, in hopes of securing much-coveted championship banners—which they aim to ﬂy side-by-side with those won by traditional sports teams. A handful of schools are even offering scholarships.

Has the world gone completely mad? Have you just discovered a way to cover college tuition?

Maybe. And, again, maybe.

www.istockphoto.com

It doesn’t take much of a business mind to grasp what a huge industry video gaming has become. Rare is the young man who hasn’t gone down the rabbit hole playing some online battle game only to emerge, unshowered, hours or days later with a temporary case of PTSD. Multiply that by, oh, half a billion connected adolescents and 20-somethings worldwide, and you get a sense of how big the market and its potential is. The actual numbers are a bit foggy, but most experts agree that somewhere between 600 and 700 million people participate in online games, which equates roughly to 40 percent of the planet’s digitally connected population. More than 200 million people actually sit in front of their computers and watch others play these battle games, like an NFL fan watches the Jets or Giants. One wonders how anything in the non-online world gets done, or how dating is even possible.

On college campuses across North America, eSports teams have been representing their schools unofﬁcially for years. There are several leagues that hold competitions and tournaments for players from more than 350 colleges and universities. Most are the digital equivalent of “club” teams—sanctioned and supported, but not part of an ofﬁcial athletic program. Young men and women (but mostly men) who were slumped in dorm rooms gaming with their buddies, got good enough to compete online against their peers at other schools, and the video game industry was all too happy to create an infrastructure for them to do so.

The school that changed the game was Robert Morris University, in Chicago. In 2014, RMU ofﬁcially added eSports to its athletic program. It began recruiting the country’s best League of Legends players with the lure of partial scholarships. The move paid immediate dividends: Robert Morris was featured on a 60 Minutes segment, bringing the university unprecedented recognition. Several small schools followed suit and, in 2016, UC Irvine became the ﬁrst large Division I school to offer eSports scholarships. Irvine, a PAC-12 university, has gone all-in, doling out enough scholarships to build two 5-player League of Legends teams. And this fall, top gamers (both scholarship and non-scholarship) will be able to compete in a new 3,500 sq. ft. facility with 80 computer terminals.

Tom Parham, Irvine’s Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, says that the school’s eSports program will be built on competition, academics, entertainment and community. “We hope to attract the best gamers from around the world,” he says, adding that, “our academic programs in computer-gaming science, digital arts, computer science, engineering, anthropology, law, medicine, neuroscience and behavior create a strong foundation for research and inquiry related to gaming.”

If history tells us anything, it’s that where one PAC-12 Conference school goes for glory, the others soon follow. By the end of 2017, the conference almost certainly will have absorbed eSports teams and tournaments into its existing athletic structure, meaning that scholarships from other PAC-12 schools won’t be far behind. Those schools, by the way, include Stanford, USC, UCLA and UC Berkeley. That means you may soon be screaming at your kid to stay on the couch and keep playing—otherwise he or she won’t get into Stanford. So yes, the world has gone a little mad.

Then again, don’t get your hopes up. Your child may be a video game prodigy, but the moment top colleges begin offering full scholarships, the competition is going to get nasty. Right now, the world’s best gamers don’t even bother going to college. They are plucked out of their parents’ basements by heavily sponsored eSports teams to compete in international tournaments as professional gamers. They earn salaries and endorsement dollars that can easily get into six ﬁgures. Their team owner houses, clothes and feeds them and hires coaches and trainers to keep on top of them, and to keep them on top of their games. Typically, team members live together under one roof and practice as a team 10 to 12 hours a day, six days a week. This is called the “gaming house” model. On some teams, players live separately but meet in a common location for practice. This is called the “ofﬁce” model.

Either way, when they enter a tournament, they function like a well-oiled machine. By the time every dollar is accounted for, a sponsor’s investment (sponsors include major brands such as Monster, Hyundai and Geico, as well as various computer companies and even some venture capital groups) can top a million dollars annually.

Morgan Spurlock, who nearly killed himself eating three meals a day at McDonald’s for the ﬁlm Super Size Me, immersed himself in the eSports world for a recent episode of Inside Man on CNN. He spent time with LA-based Counter Logic Gaming (aka CLG), the 2015 North American champions, playing and training with the likes of Yiliang Peter Peng (right), a 23-year-old born-and-bred Californian who goes by the handle “Doublelift” in the eSports world; CLG’s general manager, Matthew “MaTTcom” Marikian describes him as the LeBron of gaming. Spurlock wasn’t shocked by the level of skill demonstrated by the CLG players. However, he was surprised by the contributions of the grown-ups in the room.

Courtesy of Counter Logic Gaming

“It’s incredible to see the amount of coaching Courtesy of Counter Logic Gaming that goes into being an eSports athlete,” he said during his report. “It’s just like being any other type of athlete.”

Tadayoshi “Hermit” Littleton conﬁrms the huge role management plays in the formation of a world-class team. An avid player in college during the pre-scholarship days, he became the coach for NRG eSports in 2016 after guiding Spanish-based Origen to an impressive string of ﬁrst- and second-place ﬁnishes in European League of Legends competition. NRG is the third pro team Littleton has assembled.

Courtesy of Origen

“There are two types of players we look for,” Littleton (left) explains. “One can do everything at the highest level. Their talent is really obvious. We also look for players who are very team-oriented. They can be harder to identify from their solo scores, but with my experience I am able to spot them.”

Littleton says communication is the most critical component in building a team, and considers this his specialty as a coach. Getting the players to mesh as he likes can take about a month, but sometimes the best individual players ﬁnd it difﬁcult to play a true team game, which can slow down the process.

“It depends on how much of a knowledge sponge they are,” he says.

Before college scholarships changed the game, so to speak, many eSports player turned pro, pocketed enough cash to pay for college and then went back to school—much to the relief of their parents. Top-tier gamers tend to be pretty intelligent, so for most of their lives, higher education was a foregone conclusion. Imagine the parent whose son or daughter announces that college is off the board, and that they plan to become professional game-players. Doublelift’s parents didn’t speak to him for three years, even though he may have made close to a million dollars during that time.

So what does this all mean? Probably that your parenting skills need to keep up with your child’s eSports skills. The better they are at playing their games, the more prepared you may need to be to help them make the right decision—now and come college time.

LoL

League of Legends—LoL or just plain League, for short—is the multiplayer online battle game favored by a high percentage of eSports teams. Each player controls a character called a champion, who has unique abilities that hopefully mesh with those of other champions on the same team. The goal is to destroy an opponent’s ﬁercely defended Nexus (think Capture the Flag), with each champion gaining strength he-she-it ﬁghts his-her-its way through the game. A ﬁve-player LoL team can be ﬁve friends or classmates in the same room, or complete strangers at consoles thousands of miles apart. About 30 million people play League of Legends. A day.

State of Play

John Nash, Ralph Kramden and Game Theory in New Jersey

By Luke Sacher

Sorry, Harvard and Yale. When it comes to Game Theory, you’re just safety schools. The Einsteins at Princeton basically wrote the book used by everyone from economists and multinational corporations to defense strategists and Survivor contestants. Which, for all practical purposes, makes New Jersey the birthplace of Game Theory. Most of us were introduced to the idea of Game Theory in the 2001 ﬁlm A Beautiful Mind, starring Russell Crowe as Princeton professor John Nash. Some may remember the Matthew Broderick vehicle, War Games (“Shall we play a game?”), which introduced the concept to moviegoers as far back as 1983.

Courtesy of the World Economic Forum

Whether you realize it or not, if you happen to be the parent of a college-bound teenager, Game Theory is coming into play again, this time in a much more personal way. Both the application process and admissions process involve the fundamentals of high-stakes probability that were originally hammered out by three Princetonians: John Von Neumann, Oskar Morganstern and Nash (above)—right here in the Garden State. More on these three on page 78.

In a twist that this trio would no doubt appreciate, many colleges now invite young applicants to expound on Game Theory in their essay options. So let’s just say that it’s good to know what you’re getting into.

Game Theory is the application of mathematical probability and symbolic logic to the understanding of rational human behavior in interactive situations between two or more “players.” It takes how we expect individuals to behave, or to make decisions, and then adds the element of interaction with others who are also seeking to maximize their beneﬁts by acting rationally. In other words, Game Theory is no game at all. Rather, it is a tool for analyzing situations where each player is exercising “strategic interdependence”—calculating actions and outcomes based on the decisions of others in the game.

www.istockphoto.com

THE ADVERTISER’S DILEMMA

In its most basic form, Game Theory helps to understand situations that are familiar to all of us. Take the “Advertiser’s Dilemma.” Two companies producing a similar product (let’s say Hershey and Nestlé and chocolate bars) are in competition with each other for customers. The maximum payoff for both companies happens if both do not advertise, since they are saving the expense of advertising. The minimum payoff for each company happens if it chooses not to advertise and the rival company does—thus cratering its market share. So both companies decide to advertise, dividing market share more or less evenly while squeezing out a small proﬁt.

www.istockphoto.com

Even if Hershey and Nestlé were to hammer out a gentleman’s agreement not to advertise, the two companies would likely operate in a state of sustained paranoia that the other might betray them and advertise (which is no way to run a business). The lesson Game Theory teaches us in this case is that expending resources and not getting much in return is preferable to not expending resources and risking getting even less. It’s akin to the spiraling logic employed by Ralph Kramden when he launches into one of his “You know that I know that you know that I know…” soliloquies in a Honeymooners rerun.

The difference between Ralph Kramden and John Nash (who, ironically, were contemporaries) is that Nash was able to express this idea mathematically and arrive at an elegant, logical conclusion—for which he eventually won a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, in 1994. The Nash Equilibrium, his solution concept for non-cooperative competition, is now employed in one way or another in almost every aspect of global business.

GAMING THE SYSTEM

Although all roads leading to college run through Princeton (where SATs, ACTs, Achievement and Advanced Placement exams are scored by the College Entrance Examinations Board), only 6 percent of the 30,000 or so kids applying to New Jersey’s top school will get in. That leaves a lot of smart kids looking elsewhere, and this is where a ﬁrm grasp of Game Theory can be helpful.

www.istockphoto.com

If your kids can write with imagination and authority on the topic of Game Theory in a college essay, more power to them. Not only have they managed to stand out in a crowded ﬁeld, they have made the job of the admissions ofﬁcers reading that essay easier. Which increases their chances of landing on the acceptance pile. If that sounds

like an example of Game Theory within Game Theory, then you’re getting it! The fact is that—because of the sheer volume of applications they now receive—college admissions departments are applying Game Theory to their acceptance strategies.

Let’s say that a school has 10,000 qualiﬁed applicants for 1,000 openings in the incoming freshman class. How many should it accept, given that an unknown percentage will inevitably decide to attend another college to which they have also been accepted? If the college accepts 3,000 and half show up for orientation, the extra 500 kids will overwhelm the school. But what if, of those 3,000, only 10 percent decide to attend? With 300 incoming freshmen instead of 1,000, a ﬁnancial crisis would almost certainly ensue.

www.istockphoto.com

In this game, one of the players is the college and the other is the student. Both are attempting to make decisions under conditions of uncertainty and incomplete or “hidden” information. It’s been described as a chess match, but it’s not. Poker is the game here. And in poker, you don’t always need the better hand to win—you can also win by maneuvering your opponent into a bad decision.

The college is trying to reduce uncertainty and achieve its goals by convincing the most qualiﬁed applicants to show up on their campus instead of someone else’s, even if that other school might represent a better choice. The win here for the school is ﬁlling the 1,000 spots with the most talented group of freshmen possible. The student, of course, is trying to wangle as many acceptance letters as he or she can, in order to go to the best possible college. The win for the teenager is gaining acceptance to that coveted “reach” school, ideally under the best ﬁnancial circumstances. Keep in mind, for every kid that gets into a reach school, there is probably a more qualiﬁed student who is rejected, often because the admissions department “knows” the better student is headed elsewhere anyway. Which is why no reach school is ever a slam-dunk rejection.

One aspect of Game Theory that has come into play in a big way on the admissions side is the extensive wait listing of qualiﬁed applicants. This strategy gives schools more time to understand and evaluate the pool of prospective freshmen, and to create more certainty in achieving bottom-line goals. Of course, our kids are bright enough to know the correct response: Apply to 30 schools!

It’s a solution both Kramden and Nash, in their own utterly unique and ingenious ways, would probably appreciate.

OUTSTANDING

Who has the power in the college entrance process? The more skilled player. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal offered some thoughts on gaming the admissions system:

Play the Oboe or the Harp, and play it well. The old ideal of the All-American athlete/Latin scholar/musical-comedy star is long gone. Schools today want to see a lot of talent in a speciﬁc ﬁeld, though exactly what they’re looking for varies. Colleges are looking more for a well-rounded class than well-rounded freshmen.
Spend a summer at the school of your choice. A growing number of schools, like Brandeis and Harvard, are trying to get to know potential applicants by offering summer programs. Some let high school kids take college courses and earn college credit.
Move to Idaho. Seriously. Colleges and universities want geographic diversity.
Get a life. A survey by the National Association for College Admission Counseling found that extra-curriculars now rank ninth in importance. Grades in college prep courses were #1. Colleges like to see students who take time to develop into more complete human beings, including those who take a gap year after high school to explore the world.

GAME ON

There are four core elements of all games:

1) Players (sometimes called agents)

2) Information available to each player, whether complete or incomplete, symmetric (common to all players) or asymmetric (unique to individual players)

3) Actions available to each player at each “move,” whether simultaneous or sequential, made by the players based on their information

4) Payoffs (positive or negative) available to each player for each outcome of their actions

A game theorist typically uses these elements, along with a solution concept of their choosing (such as the Nash Equilibrium), to deduce a set of equilibrium strategies for each player. These equilibrium strategies help determine a stable state in which either one outcome occurs or a set of outcomes occur with known probability. If these strategies have been correctly calculated, no player can proﬁt by unilaterally deviating from his or her strategy. However, where Game Theory falls apart is when one or more players acts irrationally. In poker, it’s not the end of the world.

In thermonuclear warfare, it is.

NEW JERSEY’S “BIG THREE”

Courtesy of the Mises Institute

Oskar Morgenstern

(1902-1977)

Morgenstern grew up in Vienna, Austria and graduated from the University of Vienna in 1925. After earning his doctorate in political science, he succeeded Nobel laureate economist Friedrich Von Hayek as director Courtesy of the Mises Instituteof the Vienna Institute for Business Cycle Research, and held the position until the Nazi annexation of Austria in 1938. Fortunately, he was visiting Princeton University at that precise moment, where he met and befriended John Von Neumann. The two began a six-year collaboration at Princeton that would result in the publication of The Theory of Games and Economic Behaviorin 1944, which is universally recognized as the ﬁrst book on Game Theory.

John Von Neumann

(1903-1957)

Von Neumann (below left, with physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer) was born on December 28, 1903, in Budapest, Hungary. By the age of 8, he was familiar with differential and integral calculus, and published his ﬁrst paper at the age of 18. He earned his ﬁrst degree at the University of Budapest in 1925, in Chemical Engineering,

books while operating his vehicle, occasioning numerous arrests, as well as accidents. Von Neumann was not only one of the fathers of Game Theory, he also worked on the mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics, made invaluable contributions to the Manhattan Project, and was involved in the development of the ﬁrst programmable digital computers.

John Forbes Nash, Jr.

(1928-2015)

Nash was born June 13, 1928 in Blueﬁeld, West Virginia, where he demonstrated his exceptional talent for mathematics as early as age 10. He was accepted to Carnegie Tech on a full Westinghouse scholarship and graduated at age 19 with a Master’s Degree in Mathematics. Nash then won a graduate studies scholarship from Princeton University in 1948. From the early 1950s to the mid-1980s, Nash suffered tortuously from extreme bouts of psychosis, and was often hospitalized and institutionalized. Forty-four years after completing his revolutionary 27-page doctoral dissertation at Princeton, he shared the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with game theorists Reinhard Selten and John Harsanyi. His theories and algorithms continue to be used today in the ﬁelds of economics, computing, politics, accounting, military strategy, and even evolutionary biology. On May 23, 2015, Nash and his wife Alicia were killed in an accident while riding in a taxi on the New Jersey Turnpike.

Editor’s Note: Luke Sacher has written for EDGE on the greatest disaster ﬁlms and Baby Boomers’ beloved dangerous toys. He spent countless hours researching this story, watching online lectures by distinguished professors and reading several graduate theses.

Luke believes that Nash’s contributions to Game Theory offer keen insights on human behavior, however he says that basing the world economy on the ideas of a paranoid schizophrenic worries him sometimes.

Foundation People

TRINITAS HEALTH FOUNDATION RECEIVES $17,500 FROM BANK OF AMERICA!

Trinitas Health Foundation received a $17,500 grant from Bank of America to support the Health Careers Exploration Program, a constructive and aspirational after school and summer initiative that mentors students on achievable career options, teaches them the importance of voluntarism and motivates them to stay in school. By offering career guidance and hands-on career exploration opportunities, the program has unlocked valuable economic opportunities for thousands of students from the greater Union County region, almost all of whom are from Elizabeth and from low-income families.

Trinitas currently employs 83 program alumni and has employed several hundred alumni throughout the program’s history. With at least 8 MDs, 67 nurses, and a number of dentists, pharmacists and successful alumni in every type of healthcare and non-healthcare program proves that having faith in inner city students and giving them the right tools will help them to rise above the obstacles that many of them face.

ARE YOU UP TO THE CHALLENGE?

Trinitas Regional Medical Center is in the midst of a Capital Campaign to raise $18.7 Million to expand our Emergency Department and dramatically improve its ability to manage extremely high patient volume and acuity levels. Our plan will nearly double the number of patient beds, provide immediate access to advanced diagnostic equipment and create environmen-tally appropriate units for pediatric, elderly, behavioral health and non-emergent patients. With this expansion progressing on time and on budget, we are very happy to say we are on track to unveil a brand new ED in 2017.

Please join us and make a gift today! Your gift will be matched by the JC Kellogg Foundation, and will help us create a BIGGER, BETTER, STATE-OF-THE-ART Emergency Department for all of our patients! To make a gift to the Emergency Department Capital Campaign, please contact Nadine Brechner at nbrechner@trinitas.org or Rob Eccles at reccles@trinitas.org or call the foundation office at (908) 994-8249.

A NIGHT OF JAZZ TO REMEMBER…

If cool jazz is your groove, join Trinitas Health Foundation’s Jazz Celebration featuring David Sanborn on Thursday, November 17th. Enjoy a light buffet supper at NJPAC followed by the concert at 8 pm. Orchestra seating, advance parking, and a memento of the evening are included. What a cool, sweet treat of an evening! Contact Nadine Brechner (908) 994-8249 or by email at nbrechner@trinitas.org if you’d like to purchase a ticket(s) or discuss sponsorship opportunities.

What’s Up, Doc?

Alzheimer’s Breakthrough

Doctors know that the main culprit in the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease is a sticky protein called beta amyloid, which accumulates in the brain as synapse-destroying plaque. How it collects there was something of a mystery until Harvard Medical researchers found evidence that this substance forms as protection against pathogens that cross the blood-brain barrier, forming a “cage” around them. The problem seems to be that the beta amyloid stays in the brain after the invading bacteria has been eliminated. The Harvard team believes that further research could reveal ways to treat or even prevent Alzheimer’s.

No Blind Mice

Whoever wrote the song “Three Blind Mice” probably never imagined that, one day, they would regain their sight. Last month, the journal Nature Neuroscience reported that Stanford University scientists reactivated the optic nerve cables of a blind mouse, reestablishing the link between eye and brain. In a functioning eye, photoreceptors in the back of the retina send information to the brain through axons, whic act like electrical wires. When axons in the brain are damaged- from injury or disease- it had been assumed that they don’t regenerate. The Stanford project proved otherwise. Researchers were able to reactivate the retinal pathway with a combination of high-contrast visual stimulation and biochemical manipulation.

Large, But In Charge

Many obese mothers-to-be are resigned to producing overweight children. A new study, funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, shows that there is something expecting moms can do during pregnancy to tilt the odds in their favor. Researchers found that adequate maternal folate appears to mitigate the effects of a mother’s obesity on her child’s health. An essential B vitamin, folate is known to reduce a fetus’s risk for malformations affecting the brain, spine and spinal cord. In this study, children of obese mothers with adequate folate levels had a 43% lower risk of obesity than children of obese moms whose folate levels were considered too low.

Do Opiods Ease Pain?

The short answer is Yes. However, the longer-term impact of painkillers such as Oxycontin and Vicodin is less clear. Neuroscientists at the University of Colorado conducted a lab study in mice that suggests that painkillers may actually prolong pain. It took mice treated with morphine up to 12 weeks to recover from chronic nerve pain, while untreated mice recovered in an average of ﬁve weeks. The researchers suspect that opioids reshape the nervous system in ways that amplify pain signals long after an injury (or illness) heals, prolonging discomfort.

Waist-Reducing Carbs?

“Pasta doesn’t make you fat,” celebrity chef Giada de Laurentiis likes to say. “How much pasta you eat makes you fat.” Well, now she’s got some science to back her up. Researchers from the Mediterranean Neurological Institute studied more than 20,000 people throughout Italy, comparing their pasta intake, body measurements and other criteria. They concluded that consuming pasta in moderation (traditionally Italians eat a small serving as an opening course) appears to contribute to a healthier body mass index and better waist-to-hip ratio. The results of the study do not prove that pasta helps you lose weight—only that the carbs it contains are not unhealthy. It probably doesn’t hurt that many in the study ate foods associated with a Mediterranean diet. They are, after all, Mediterranean.

Stand and Deliver

Abu Alam joins the Trinitas OB/GYN team.

By Erik Slagle

Dr. Abu Alam, MD, PA is contemplative, looking back on his distinguished career as he sits in the waiting room of his ofﬁce, which was once the parlor of a private home that is more than 140 years old. He’s looking ahead to the upcoming wedding in Chicago of his youngest daughter, thinking of Ramadan and also settling into his new role as Interim Chairman of Obstetrics/Gynecology at Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth. Trinitas welcomed Dr. Alam to its team in April, and he quickly made an impression on both the faculty and the hospital’s patients.

Elizabeth’s considerable Haitian population gives Dr. Alam the opportunity to relate stories from his work serving in Haitian clinics where there is often no electricity and procedures are sometimes performed by ﬂashlight. He dedicates several weeks each year to volunteering in Milot, Haiti as part of his commitment to charitable work in the impoverished island nation.

A doctor who has given much of his free time to charitable pursuits in underserved communities around the world, Dr. Alam is entering the next phase of his career, where he can serve as a teacher and mentor to the next generation of practitioners at the hospital while still working with OB/GYN patients and bringing new lives into the world.

“I believe I’m destined to do certain things in life,” Dr. Alam

says as he looks out the window onto Springﬁeld Avenue. “I’ve delivered more than eight thousand babies, sometimes close to three hundred a year. When I go to bed at night, I know that I’ve given my patients the best care I can, whether that’s here in New Jersey, or in Haiti. My ﬁrst priority has always been to my patients. Money was never the goal.”

Return to His Roots

Dr. Alam has also made it his mission to provide medical services to residents of his home country, Bangladesh. His work in Haiti inspired him to gather a team of like-minded medical professionals and open Nandina General Hospital, the only medical care for miles around its village. The village is about four hours by car from where Dr. Alam was born.

“I know that in many parts of Bangladesh malnutrition and childbirth are areas where not enough attention can be paid by the limited number of doctors available,” he says. “The patients who we treat at Nandina General Hospital might otherwise not have any treatment options available to them. We work with equipment donated by New Jersey medical centers to bring current, modern medical practices to people who truly need them.”

For his philanthropy and service, Dr. Alam was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2006; presented annually to immigrants who have made signiﬁcant contributions to America’s heritage. Dr. Alam also serves as Chairman of the Teddy Bear Foundation, which provides support for patients stricken with achondroplasia—commonly known as dwarﬁsm—for the past 20 years. These children often require multiple surgeries and painful recovery periods to help alleviate the condition, and the Teddy Bear Foundation raises funds to help provide the treatment and after-care needed.

Vanessa Loefﬂer, who is a long-time member of the staff at Dr. Alam’s Summit ofﬁce, established the Teddy Bear Foundation more than 20 years ago after her daughter Theodora was born with the condition. Loefﬂer credits Dr. Alam with playing a key role in helping further the Foundation’s mission.

“Dr. Alam has been instrumental in helping us grow the Teddy Bear Foundation,” she says. “His work on behalf of children like Theodora has made such an incredible impact on our ability to help families who are caring for people with this condition.”

Productive Partnership

Throughout his life, Dr. Alam has believed fate has led him to his accomplishments on professional and personal planes. As he sets out on his next professional endeavor as a member of the Trinitas team, the communities the medical center serves are fortunate to be coming under his care and compassion.

“For many years I’ve heard about Trinitas’ reputation for outstanding outcomes and patient satisfaction,” Dr. Alam says. “I look forward to being a part of this wonderful team and to working closely with the residents and students. I expect I can learn as much from them as they may hopefully learn from me.”

It is one thing to have practiced medicine for almost ﬁve decades without losing your ardor and drive to serve patients. It’s another to give so selﬂessly of your time and energy to help those in need around the world. To be able to balance both of those while also raising four children—and maintaining a perspective on the things in life that are truly important—is something else altogether. It’s a rare amalgam to ﬁnd in a person who has seen and done as much as Dr. Alam.

And it’s a great victory for Trinitas Regional Medical Center to welcome him to their team.

Abu Alam, MD, PA
240 Williamson St., Suite #304 Elizabeth, NJ
908.282.2000
128 S. Euclid Avenue Westﬁeld, NJ
908.928.1234

A Day at the Beach

No matter the challenges, Holly Charleton loves everything about emergency medicine.

Dr. Holly Charleton, a specialist in Emergency Medicine, is part of the Trinitas ER’s late shift. When Dr. Charlton is not dedicating her thoughts and energy to the patients who walk through the door of the Emergency Department, she’s likely to be thinking about the doctors and nurses she teams with on her annual trips to Jamaica.

EDGE: When did you become afﬁliated with the American West Indian Medical Association?

HC: While I was in training at the Brooklyn Hospital Center. After my residency, I volunteered to participate. Jamaica needs help. Diabetes and high blood pressure are rampant.

There is no Medicaid and there are few private insurance programs to cover healthcare needs.

EDGE: How are they able to afford basic medical care?

HC: Some of the patients I see have saved up for years just to pay for an ultrasound. Others opt to feed their children instead of buying their meds. I remember one female patient who came in with severe knee pain from her years of ﬁeld work. When I removed the dirty ace bandage wrapped around the injury, I saw that it was covered with repulsive beige paste and pink sprinkles. Upon closer examination, I realized that the paste was made up of mashed fruit and the sprinkles were mashed up pain pills she had been prescribed. That taught me how much education the Jamaican population needs today and tomorrow.

EDGE: What appeals to you most about emergency medicine, both in Jamaica and here at Trinitas?

HC: That’s easy…saving lives. People come in who are at the brink of a life-or-death situation. It feels good to bring someone back from that brink. I recently had the pleasure to see a cardiac arrest patient I had saved who was back in with a minor injury. He thanked me all over again. It’s rewarding to see a patient leave and live.

EDGE: How have you personally fared through all of Phase I expansion activity?

HC: I’ve been through worse. The construction team was really good at minimizing our inconvenience. We actually managed to function relatively normally throughout.

EDGE: What are some of the logistical and technical components of a top-notch Emergency Room?

HC: Design is really important when you’re dealing with critical patients. They need to be readily visible at all times. All tech equipment should be state-of-the-art, accurate and functioning—especially when it relates to patients’ vital signs.

EDGE: What led you to specialize in ER medicine?

HC: My mother was a pediatric nurse. She often took me to work with her, so I was always interested in medicine, but the Emergency Room appealed to me even before I went to med school. In the ER, you face a variety of medical challenges involving all possible bodily parts on a daily—or, in my case, nightly—basis. As a result, an ER practitioner needs to develop acuity in order to respond to all those challenges that come up fast and furiously.

Editor’s Note: Dr. Charleton spoke with editor Chris Gibbs. She told Chris that ER doctors need to know how to decompress during their time off. Dr. Charleton loves to travel and does so often. At home, she hangs out with family and friends. The key is to achieve a complete break from the work environment: “Everyone on staff at Trinitas knows that when you’re off, you’re off-limits.”

Expanding Horizons

Phases II and III of the hospital’s ER project are driven by emergency care…and emergency caring.

By Christine Gibbs

By this time next year, the ambitious $18.7 million expansion project for the Emergency Department at Trinitas Regional Medical Center will be long done. Phase I began in July of 2015 and ended in May of this year. Phase II is already nearing completion and the third and ﬁnal phase is targeted for early 2017. Unlike most suburban hospitals, Trinitas is “land-locked” so there was not much real estate available for expansion. Even so, the architects and general contractor still managed to add 24,000 square feet, which will house 45 private spaces designed to accommodate emergency patients as soon as possible after coming through the front door.

The expansion itself was an absolute necessity. In the last few years, the number of patients seen annually in the Emergency Department was double the 35,000 it was originally designed for.

The Phase I improvements have already made a huge difference. They include three new treatment areas that provide 27 beds. The Fast Track area now has seven newly constructed treatment bays, the Behavioral Health area has six, and the Geriatric Unit has ﬁve new private rooms. There will also be an ICU accommodation comprised of three new rooms, as well as one renovated room. Once expansion is completed, 18 more treatment spaces will be added to the current 27 beds, which get the ﬁnal number up to the aforementioned 45 spaces.

As with all projects of this nature, there have been some tweaks along the way. For example, the original plans for Phase II called for a two-story atrium waiting lounge. However, it was decided that the space would be more efﬁciently utilized by creating a second ﬂoor for the department’s administrative ofﬁces. The waiting room is now a single story, but with an entire wall of glass to bring some of the outside in. Additional improvements include a Radiology Suite, an Ultrasound Suite, and an Emergency Services Lounge for the staff.

What do the people who run the Emergency Department have to say about its progress? We sat down with Dr. John D’Angelo, Chairman of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Abie Li, Assistant Medical Director of Emergency Medicine and Mercy Mallari, RN, MSN ER Director…

What is the most valuable resource added as a result of the expansion program?

Dr. Li: The new CT scanner, for sure, since it beneﬁts doctors and patients alike.

Dr. D’Angelo: I agree about the value of the scanner. Of course, the most valuable ER resource is the dedicated staff—those strong people who work to save lives every day are our most precious resource.

Were there any issues that gave you some sleepless nights during Phase I?

Dr. D’Angelo: Absolutely none [laughs]. The main issue during construction has revolved around spatial challenges—that is, how to keep the patient ﬂow unhampered despite ongoing major construction activities.

Nurse Mallari: The ER never shuts down…the show must always go on!

Dr. D’Angelo: We actually experienced volume growth during Phase I, yet the “walk-out” rate went down. It was amazing that we were able to maintain the same level of performance and deliver the same quality of services despite some unavoidable inconveniences.

What can we expect from Phase III?

Nurse Mallari: Phase III will provide an ambitious “face lift” for all existing spaces with the goal of transforming the entire ER into a harmonious and homogenous environment.

Dr. D’Angelo: The effort to achieve this has involved careful planning and execution to make the ER as comfortable, healthy, and safe as possible for patients and visitors alike. This requires the full-blown expertise of both the design consultant ﬁrm we hired for the entire project, Ewing Cole, as well as the main construction company, Barr & Barr.

Once everything is done, how will Trinitas rate as an ER facility?

Dr. D’Angelo: To be fair, we should compare our ER with similar sized facilities in comparable urban areas that process at least 70,000 patients per year. In this group, Trinitas’ ER is ranked among the best. Our metrics—from time of arrival, to point of contact with provider, to ﬁnal discharge—place us at the top of the industry. We also have a very low rate of patients who leave without being seen [see “Trinitas by the Numbers”]. Of course, the greater the volume, the greater the challenge to service all patients. I am determined as the Emergency Medicine Chairman to right-size the department so that we can handle the daily projected volume of patients.

When Phase III is done, how will you feel?

Dr. Li: Proud!

Nurse Mallari: Excited to serve the community…to show them that we are here to serve them.

Dr. D’Angelo: I feel especially proud of the geriatric area, which is becoming more important with the aging of the Baby Boomers. Geriatric care is a very resource-intense operation. Speciﬁc treatment is dependent upon the complexity of care needed by an older patient. Also, a lot of consideration must be given to proper aftercare. The majority of elderly patients are going to need to take advantage of our advanced technology, such as our new CT scanner and hand-held point-of-care bloodwork equipment that delivers lab results in 20 minutes, instead of 90. All architectural and construction planning for the project will reﬂect the latest advances to assure the physical safety of geriatrics while in our care. With the growing number of memory care patients, training will be given to staff on up-to-date testing procedures to assess levels of Alzheimer’s and dementia impairment in order to recommend the best ﬁnal disposition of each patient from the ER.

Why did each of you choose Emergency Medicine as your specialty?

Dr. Li: I wanted to help as many of the sick as possible. The ER provides a “Spice of Life” environment with a constant ﬂow of a wide variety of people who are in need of all kinds of help. I promised my parents I would try to help as many people as possible. In the ER, I can do that.

Nurse Mallari: Nursing has a wide array of specialties. During the rotation phase of my career, I felt an immediate calling during the ER training. The adrenaline surge from seeing a gunshot wound being treated right before my eyes to save a life was amazing. I felt, “This is home!”

Dr. D’Angelo: My reason for selecting Emergency Medicine has evolved over time. Somehow, I relate to how frenetic the energy in the Emergency Department can be. It takes a special breed of ER providers to be able to react quickly enough to resuscitate and save a sick child, or a parent, or a grandparent. We’re glad to be here and we’re looking forward to building an even stronger relationship with the entire community. We care for those who often times are marginalized in society and have no choice about where and who should provide them with healthcare. We are here for them. Our doors are always open.

John D’Angelo, DO Chairman/Emergency Medicine Trinitas Regional Medical Center

Abie Li, MD
Assistant Medical Director, Emergency Medicine
Trinitas Regional Medical Center

Mercy Mallari, RN, MSN ER Director
Trinitas Regional Medical Center