Introduction

This site is developed, maintained and administered by the Metro Elder Services Association (MESA), herein after refereed to as "the Association", of the Twin Cities metro area in Minnesota.

In order for this site to operate as intended by MESA it is important that guests (visitors) to this site read and understand the terms of use. This protects the Association, its members and guests to the site.

MESA does not guarantee that all features of this site will be available at any one time.

It is assumed that you have read and understand these terms of use when you use this web site and the features within it.

The Association reserves the right to change this Terms of Use document at any time.

Twin Cities Senior Headlines

The news headlines are searched and sourced from publicly accessible content from other sites. While only reputable news sources are selected, MESA cannot and does not validate the content mentioned in the news article. The content of the news article remains the ownership of the original publisher. MESA only provides links to the news articles. It does not republish them.

The news articles are searched using our own proprietary algorithms. MESA does not allow bias nor provide immunity in determining news articles, even for MESA members.

As the news headlines are external links, the referred site may have different terms of use and privacy statements than this site. The referred site may use pop-up advertising that is not controlled by us. MESA does not use any form of pop-up advertising on it’s own site.

Some sources that are referred to by the MESA headlines may require a ‘free subscription’ before viewing the news article. This is usually a one-time sign up where the visitor is required to enter their name and e-mail address. If MESA can detect such a source, ‘(sub)’ will be shown in the source details below the headline.

The visitor can hover the cursor over each headline to get a short excerpt of the news article before committing to click the external link and view the news article in its entirety.

Twin Cities Weather

This feature is intended as a guide for MESA site visitors. While the information is derived from the National Weather Service, it is only programmed to provide a brief summary of conditions and forecast. It is NOT programmed to display weather alerts or warnings.

MESA Articles

The articles featured on the site are written by MESA members and invited authors. Authors write them on topics of which they have expertise. The comments and suggestions in the articles are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Association or other members. As the advice and suggestions in the articles are in general terms you should seek the relevant and particular medical / legal advice before acting on such suggestions. Contact the MESA member directly and explain your particular situation to find out expected costs (if any) for a one-on-one consultation.

The articles will remain in the archive as long as the author is a member of the Association. Articles submitted by invited authors will remain in the archive at the discretion of the Association members.

Community Event Calendar

MESA provides the Community Event Calendar as a service to the community. Fellow senior community participants submit the events to the calendar in two main categories: general and professional. The general category is for seniors and their caregivers. The professional category is intended specifically for professionals who work in the senior community.

To post events on the MESA calendar you must be a pre-approved event poster. You may qualify if you are either: a) a current MESA member OR b) represent a company or facility that offers services exclusively to seniors in the Twin Cities Metro area of Minnesota OR c) represent a charity organization that has a chapter in the Twin Cities Metro area of Minnesota. To apply for approval, click on the Request Submission Password link on the event calendar page. A web site administrator will then either accept your request and issue you a password or decline it. If you don't match one of the three criteria above and still would like to post events on the calendar your request will be presented to the members for consideration at an Association meeting.

Only pre-approved event-posters can post event information relating to themselves, or the organization they represent. MESA does not validate the information nor endorse any event that may appear in the event calendar. The information in the event posting remains the property of the poster.

An INAPPROPRIATE event on the event calendar is one where: a) the event is NOT specifically for seniors, caregivers or professionals in the senior community OR b) the event is for the sole purpose of directly generating income, other than for a fundraiser event for an approved charity OR c) is listed on the event calendar just to advertise a particular service rather than an event. Facilities are NOT permitted to post open house events or events such as medical screenings. Facilities are welcome to post seminars, speeches and networking events. Acceptable networking events are classified as those that have an open invitation for senior service professionals outside of the facility.

The MESA Event Calendar operates with the cooperation and good faith of the approved event posters. The individual events are not pre-approved but MESA does take the strict posting guidelines for event calendar submissions, as above, very seriously. MESA reserves the right to remove an event notification for any reason. MESA also reserves the right to remove an individual, company or an association's posting rights for any reason. If a poster posts an event that they do not represent or is deemed inappropriate by MESA, the event will be removed from the calendar as soon as possible. If repeated inappropriate posting continues the posting rights may be revoked and all other events listed on the calendar by that person/company/organization/charity may be removed.

Posters and users of the Event Calendar should not rely on the Calendar as their only means of communicating event information as the site could be subject to failures or downtime beyond the Association's control.

MESA Forum

MESA provides the Forum as a service to the community. The messages remain the property of the poster and the views opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Association or it's individual members.

Following the rules of the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) children under the age of 13 are prohibited from joining the forum.

MESA and its members will not change the content of the messages. However, MESA reserves the right to delete any messages that are defamatory or profane in nature. Participants of the Forums are encouraged to maintain a measure of professional courtesy.

If you see a message that is inappropriate or offensive please contact the site administrator and MESA will immediately review the content of the message and remove it if appropriate as soon as possible.

While users of the Forums are encouraged to discuss their work, offer recommendations, and respond to questions, direct business advertising is prohibited.

As with most forums on the Internet, the MESA forum does NOT use encryption or advanced security protocols. Do not post material of an overly sensitive nature like Social Security Numbers, credit card details and passwords. The old Internet adage applies here, “Don't post info on the Internet that you wouldn't put on the back of a postcard”.

General

If an individual attempts to, or causes, intentional damage that prevents the web site or any of the features from working correctly, they can consider to have relinquished their privacy rights and their IP address and other obtainable information will be used to prevent that individual from accessing the site and will be reported to their Internet Service Provider. Legal action will also be considered.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this document please contact us.

Last Revised 10/27/2004