Birthdays Jamila Banks - August 3

Melissa Lacount - August 3Ava Encarnacion - August 12Carolee Corbitt - August 14Lindsay Zasada - August 16Maisha Drayton - August 22

Jillian Nowak - August 23Patrick Hildenbrandt - August 28

AnniversariesCord Stone – 1 year

Jessica Lehsten – 2 yearsCecil Sutton - 2 years

Lizzie Vazquez – 4 yearsMurray Wire - 4 years

Kate Gallivan – 6 yearsCathy Alvarez – 8 years

Maisha Drayton – 8 yearsPatricia Hopkins – 8 yearsRichard Smiley – 12 years

Your Continued Dedication and HardWork Are Noticed and Appreciated!

– The Management Team

CONNECTIONS CONTRIBUTORS

PUBLISHER/LAYOUT JOHN CAROCCIEDITOR KIMBERLY HARDING

CONTRIBUTORS SHEILA MARCHESON

HAVE AN IDEA FOR CONNECTIONS?E-MAIL SUBMISSIONS FOR FUTURE ISSUESTO KIMBERLY HARDING OR JOHN CAROCCI

CONGRATULATIONS TO THIS MONTH’SGIFT CARD WINNER LINDSAY ZASADA!

When thinking about the greatest inventions of human history, a lot of diff erent things come to mind. Paper gives us the ability to transcribe ideas for distribution; light bulbs give us a safe way to see in our homes and outside past dusk; cars and airplanes make our world smaller, allowing us to travel great distances in short periods of time; antibiotics allow us to live longer lives… the list goes on and on. However, one invention has become a part of the fabric of being human – language. I know, it’s a litt le out of the box. When most people think of inventions, they think of something physical; something made with tools. But in my opinion, language is the number one innovation of humanity for a very good reason: it is in many ways the defi nition of humanity. Our ability to communicate, whether via voice or writing, lets us join our minds

together so as to go from bands of individuals to become a true culture. All animals communicate somehow, and some are quite sophisticated, but humanity is the king of communication. No one knows how old true language is, but it is old enough that our brains have developed around it and become specialized in its use. It trumps other inventions because no other technology would be able to develop reliably without language to teach it to the next generation. Th e ripple-eff ect of humans’ creation of language can be seen in everything we do/everything we are. Best yet, this invention process is not over. Aside from just the spoken word, humans continue to consciously and deliberately invent languages. Examples of this can be found in math and music, computer languages and hypertext markup language, etc. More importantly, I fi nd that

considering how language may have been invented off ers insights into invention and creativity. Th e direct and indirect benefi ts our culture has seen due to our ability to communicate makes language the most important step in our species’ evolution. For that reason, in my opinion, language is easily the greatest invention of all time.

~ Patrick Butler

Th e greatest invention of all time is the teleporter. I’m told it hasn’t been invented yet, but I know this to be nonsense.

~ Susanna Cardoso

Th e Bend and Snap…(thank you Legally Blonde) it really has made the world a bett er place.

~ Bennett Everett , Jr.

Antiseptics extended our average lifespan but I think transistors have had a huge eff ect on our lives. Computers used to be the size of large warehouses and we can now carry them around in our pockets all because of transistors.

~ Brendan Orrange

Condoms are the greatest invention of all time. Aft er discarding the myth that babies were brought home by a stork, mankind decided to prevent pregnancy and other infections related with sex by using diverse materials such as linen, animal tissues and even tortoise shells or horns. Th e time, place and person who invented the condom is unknown, but whoever invented them, a monument should be erected in his/her name.

~ Johnny Mora

1. I have been on several scuba dives, including one with over 30 10-foot grey sharks.

2. I have a dog named Ginger who sometimes thinks she is a cat.

3. I used to work at Yahoo! in Burbank, California and lived in West Hollywood for 4 years.

4. I love music from the 60s and 70s including the Grateful Dead, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Van Morrisson and more.

5. I bought my first Mac in the 90s and have been an avid Apple nerd ever since.

6. I have won several New York State gold medals and a national bronze medal for crew (rowing).

7. I think that cats can be jerks sometimes.8. I am a season ticket holder with the Bills and try to

go to as many Sabres games as possible during the season.

9. I can’t whistle even though I’ve been trying to learn since the age of 5.

10. I performed the “Bye Bye Birdie” dance with 3 other guys at my high school prom. My “girlfriend” said we did an awesome job.