Pension Benefits

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2013

Pension Benefits

Pension Benefits

11. Pension Benefits

We froze our pension plan effective March 31, 2006, pursuant to which most participants no longer earned future pension benefits.  Effective February 16, 2009, the remaining participants in the pension plan no longer earned future benefits.  The following summarizes our pension costs during the three-month and six-month periods ended June 30, 2013 and 2012 (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended June 30,						Six Months Ended June 30,
	2013			2012			2013			2012
Service cost	$	305		$	287		$	592		$	575
Interest cost	2,202			2,306			4,432			4,613
Expected return on plan assets	(3,063		)	(2,745		)	(6,132		)	(5,491		)
Amortization of net actuarial loss	186			167			388			333
Total net periodic (benefit) cost	$	(370	)	$	15		$	(720	)	$	30

Weighted-Average Assumptions Used To Determine Net Cost

	Three Months Ended June 30,				Six Months Ended June 30,
	2013		2012		2013		2012
Discount rate	3.85	%	4.30	%	3.85	%	4.30	%
Rate of compensation increase	N/A		N/A		N/A		N/A
Expected return on plan assets	7.50	%	7.50	%	7.50	%	7.50	%

Employer Contributions

During the six months ended June 30, 2013 and 2012, we made pension contributions of $3.0 million and $2.6 million, respectively.