with him. vice president of operations. oliver is out of the south central region, and as much of his work in texas also. we have wr smallmolares. he is community relations manager for the business we do at houston independent school district. i have to tell you, my work is in community relations, and we have three account level managers, and all of them are latino. it was not planned that way, but really nice that it worked out that way. i work closely with them. is mike in the room? markets here. mark of director of business development. he is covering texas,

california, colorado, nevada and arizona. very glad we have colleagues over on this side of the country that could be here with us. we want to thank alas for giving us the opportunity to be involved with this conference. i have to tell you, he was absolutely right about windy. she is a hard sell, but i'm glad she is because of allows us to of the participation with the organization. thank you. [applause] last but not least i want to thank robert daniels. he is in charge of visual and performing arts in our school district. you will hear a lot of different performances that he set up, along with his team. last but not least, there is a ton of people that are working the counters. they're all volunteers from the san francisco unified school district. how about giving them a big

hand? thank you. it is a lot of work. do you know what time it is? it is time to party. let's have a great evening. see you tomorrow. >> sanrio famous for the designs for hello kitty.

i thought i would try to make it as cute as possible. that way people might want to read the stories. then people might be open to learn about the deities and the culture. ♪ they reached out to make about five or six years ago because of the book published. they appreciated that my work was clearly driven from my research and investigation. after i contributed my artwork, the museum was really beside themselves. they really took to it. the museum reached out to me to see if i would be interested in my own space inside the museum. i tell them that would be a dream come true. it is the classical, beautiful indian mythology through the

lens of modern design and illustration and storytelling. they're all of these great sketch as i did for the maharajah exhibition. i get a lot of feedback on my artwork and books. they complement. they say how original the work is. i am the first person to say that this is so derived from all of this great artwork and storytelling of the past. the research i put into all of my books and work is a product of how we do things that a-- at pixar. sometimes you will see him depicted monkey-like or as superman. i wanted to honor his monkey coloring. i decided to paint him white

with a darker face. it is nice to breathe new life into it in a way that is reverent and honors the past but also lets them breathe and have fun. it is almost a european notion to bring these symbols and icons from southeast asia. they decorate their deities. it was a god they interacted with every day in a human way. the most important thing has been to create work that is appealing to me. i want to see vishnu to pick did in a modern way. it dawned on me by reinterpreting the deities in a way that is modern and reverent to the history, i am building a bridge for young and old

audiences to make friends with the culture and these icons to learn their stories. ♪ >> the question when i started 11 years ago when i started doing resolution work is can anything be presented on a really low resolution device where it is potentially a digital image? can anything be presented that way? or will it feel cold and electronic? >> the imagery will change. there will be four different

sets. it is a two dimensional image. it is stretched out into three dimensions. the device is part of the experience. you cannot experience the image without the device as being part of what you are seeing. whereas with the tv you end up ignoring it. i make gallery work more self and budget and public art work where i have to drop this of indulgence and think about how people will respond. and one of the things i was interested in the work and also a little fearful of, it is not until you get to the first and second floor were the work is recognizable as an image.

it is an exploration and perception is what it is. what are you seeing when you look at this image? one of the things that happens with really low resolution images like this one is you never get the details, so it is always kind of pulling you in kind of thing. you can keep watching it. i think this work is kind of experience in a more analytical way. in other words, we look at an image and there is an alice going on. -- and there is an analysis going on. charles bennett's high school dream

was to teach in the old neighborhood. but without the money for college, all he got was the old neighborhood. support the united negro college fund. a mind is a terrible thing to waste. impossible. announcer: when you open a book, you can explore new lands... [bird screeches] meet new friends, and discover new adventures. there are amazing possibilities when you open your mind to reading. [roar] you can log onto he library of congress website and let the journey begin.

>> good evening, ladies and gentlemen. i am the secretary to the police commission. on behalf of the commission, i would like to welcome everyone to the san francisco police department's 2011 medal of valor ceremony. please stand for the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america into the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. thank you. please be seated.

mayor lee was scheduled to attend but was not able to make it. he sent his congratulations to our medal of valor recipients. we're joined by the police commissioners and the commission president, vice-president, commissioners. also on the stage this evening we have the chief of police gregory surh. we have the deputy chief of special operations and the deputy chief of the operations bureau. we have the deputy chief from the airport bureau. we have commander in the operations bureau, the commander from the sfmta, the commander in

chief of staff, and the commander from the operations bureau. this evening we are going to start with a few words from the chief of police gregory suhr. >> good evening. i want to thank everybody for being here. we are a very proud police department, rich in tradition. this week, we had a promotion ceremony on monday where we promoted sergeants, lieutenants, captains, and members of the command staff. we've recently brought back the retirement ceremony. i think for everyone in the police department, this particular ceremony stands above the rest. every day, the men and women of the san francisco police department go out and put it on

the line every single day. they leave their families and little ones -- it is so great to see the kids and parents here. every day, they go out to put themselves between the bad guys themselves without us. more than every once in awhile, the officers do something extraordinary. you will hear some stories tonight that are going to make you amazed that someone would do that for someone they have never met before. i know one of the stories myself. i could not believe in it and i was actually there. i do not want to take a lot of time. i want the little ones to listen. your moms and dads are unbelievably brave people who do the right thing every day. for the families here that raised these officers, god bless you. san francisco thanks you for loaning them to us. without further ado, i will let

the lieutenant explain the process. it is a link the one to get here. these are not awards we pass out lightly -- it is a lengthy process to get here. these are not awards we pass out lightly. >> as the chief mentioned, it is a long process. i will go over the highlights. when officers actions are such that any supervisor takes note of a store near bravery, they prepare a report along with supporting documentation and forward it to the commanding officer. the commanding officer conducts a personal investigation of the event. if they approve the nomination, they prepare a report for the chief of police. the chief of police forwards these nominations to the police commissioner's office. the office for was the nomination package to award screening committee. the committee is composed of three captains within the department. if the award screening committee approves the nomination, they

send it back so the secretary may schedule an award committee meeting. this is a meeting of all department captains and command staff. they get together to review the nominations. the nominating commanding officer presents the nomination. the nominated officers are present to answer any questions the committee may have. by secret ballot, the awards committee votes on whether to approve the medal of valor and what grade. the chief of police boards approved the nominations to the police commissioner for final approval. you can see it is a lengthy process. these awards are taken very seriously. to give a few words also this evening, we will have the commission president speak. >> ladies and gentlemen, i really want to thank you for

being here tonight to honor these officers. every police officer that enters the department enters with the goal of serving the community and helping others. these officers are getting medals of valor. valor means something extraordinary. they risk their lives for somebody they do not even know. those are very special people you are related to. your mom, your dad, your son, your daughter. you should be very proud. i am honored to be here tonight to stand in front of these four officers. they are unbelievable. i thank them for their service. ordinarily, there is one commissioner in the meeting when they vote. it is an awesome experience. i will ask commissioner slaughter who was present at the time of this note to say a few words. >> thank you. next time, and give me a little

more warning if you are going to ask me to speak. i will say this. i had a great honor to sit on the fifth floor of the hall of justice some months back as the entire command staff and captains of the san francisco police department heard the stories of this tremendous bravery and valor of these officers. it is the first time i sat through the meeting. i did not have a vote. i am glad did not. it is an awesome responsibility. i can tell you each of those members of the committee take their obligation and responsibility in considering these metals -- imedals industry seriously. these are not likely awarded. the officers in front of you have really done tremendous things in service to the city.

i was honored and proud to be able to sit and listen to these stories. i will tell you that there were other stories told that were tremendous. it goes to show how significant these awards are and how significant the actions of these officers were that there are not others sitting here before you. the officers of the police department to themselves in harm's way every day. it is much more common than we would like to think that they have to take actions that are just tremendous and that average folks in sen. cisco are tremendously indebted to them for. trust me. -- average folks in san francisco are tremendously indebted to them for. trust me. this is a tremendous honor. thank you. >> to present this evening's

first award is the commanding officer of the northern station. >> as the chief said, it is a great honor. this is the highest honor we get as commanding officers. i will recount the events that led up to this evening. i do not want to miss anything so i will read it. on the night of july 23, 2010, a woman was driving home. she noticed a group of people involved in an altercation near her home. she backed into her driveway when the subject approached the driver's side window of her car. she locked her car doors afraid for her safety. the suspect, a subject at that point, yelled at her to get out of the car. he produced a gun and finally struck the window shattering it.

the victim. for her life got out. the suspect fled in her car. the same suspect accompanied by another attempted an additional carjacking prior. carjacking is when a car is taken at the point of a weapon. the initial reporting officers searched for the suspects to no avail. a teletype was issued. officer hayes was working alone at night. she searched the car and suspect all night. at 5:30 in the morning, officer hayes was still actively looking for the car. at the intersection she saw the car that matched the broadcast description. it to occur several blocks to catch up to the car. she was able to confirm the license plate and suspect's description. she advised our communications center of her findings and initiated the traffic stop using

her license siren. the suspect driver failed to yield. a pursuit and sid. the officer was joined by another unit. she pursued the suspect vehicle as it began driving through red lights at a high rate of speed. the suspect vehicle driver continued through four police districts with a blatant disregard for the law. the suspect driver lost control of the car in the parking lot of the recreation center. the other suspect in the car climbed into the rear seat of a suspect vehicle. officer hayes noticed this as the car was coming to an abrupt stop after the collision. she noticed a muzzle flash. she was slowing per vehicle and broadcasting the movements. she managed to transition her gun to her weaker hand and

returned fire to the suspect. the heavily wooded area provided the suspects the ability to evade capture. the officers searched the area and found a fully loaded handgun outside of the project a vehicle. in conclusion at great risk to result in in defense of the public in general, officer hayes' vigilant pursuit of two violent felons even after being shot at is being awarded the bronze medal of valor. [applause] congratulations. >

>> to present the next award, chief gregory suhr.

>> do you have it? [inaudible] >> i want to start by thanking the captain knew -- for allowing me the honor to present this. the captain would normally read this as the captain of the station. i was there that night. i could probably tell the story. i will not get another chance to do this. here we go. on september 14, officers sl lane, august, and daugherty took

action putting themselves in harm's way. in so doing, these officers saved lives. . jordan and crime partners planned to rob someone. text messages between jordan and his inside person ms. before the robbery spoke of no one being there but him and the ho and doing it my way. it said they were the new bonnie and clyde. minutes later, injury was made by the home invasion team. after minimal discussion, dennis dickson later murdered on the floor. a woman inside undetected by the murderous team of home invasion robbers slipped into a closet and called 911 while the crime was still in progress.

the officers responded to the woman's 911 call of the shooting that just occurred not knowing the robbers might still be in the house. two officers were first to arrive ma-- made contact with the frightened neighbors. they said they sought a suspect we eastbound -- flee eastbound from the home. they said there were still subject in the house with guns. a shot had been fired immediately after hearing the murdered man say, "are you really doing this?" they also pointed out a bullet had come through their wall from next door. the next-door neighbor showed

the officers a hockey mask that was discarded. the officers could have waited. believing the violent crime was still in progress and without regard for their own personal safety, they decided to make immediate entry into the residence through the front door. they did this risking their own lives to protect the occupants of the residents and further serious injury or another death. lane and august kicked the door open and observed suspects over the son of the victim. it was later discovered he had been pistol whipped by the suspects. they moved to contact and arrest the suspects. they observed the lifeless body of dixon on the floor. a 9-year-old boy was lying awake

and alert to what was going on. the officers moved towards the pair. one suspect bolted and attempted to escape. the second suspect wrote towards the rear of the residents. lane blocked one suspect and placed him under arrest. august gave chase in the dark house. the second suspect jumped out a second story rear window into the backyard area. august advised responding units he had fled to the backyard and immediately went downstairs to give further chase. officer cavanaugh arrived on the scene and assisted lane and was still struggling with one of the murder suspects. lane immediately called for medical assistance. the deputies arrived and were quickly briefed and directed to enter the residence and locate the other outstanding suspect. the into the house without hesitation and were told by the victim's son the they were still

in there. the officers moved further into the residence risking their own lives. the officers located officer august and began a systematic search of the residence. the first searched the middle level where they located a gun on the dining room table. the officers secured the gun in his shirt. the middle level was cleared as they moved to the upper level. they saw another gun lying on the bed. they moved to the lower level. they heard movement coming from an unknown area. they identified themselves as police officers and observed a woman walking towards the with a kitchen knife in one hand and a cell phone in the other. a woman was trembling with fear and told them she was the one who called police from the closet. when she dropped the knife on when she dropped the knife on command of the officer who could