26. February 2009 by student.

Florida board takes up prepaid tuition agreement

By The Associated Press

Story Created: Feb 26, 2009 at 11:57 AM EST

Story Updated: Feb 26, 2009 at 11:57 AM EST

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The Board of Governors has unanimously approved an agreement designed to protect the future financial stability of Florida’s public universities and the state’s prepaid tuition program.

The vote Thursday is a response to expected increases in tuition at the 11 universities, now among the nation’s lowest.

Five schools recently won authority to exceed base tuition set by the state. Legislation is pending to give that power to all of them.

The agreement guarantees that for contracts sold from July 1, 2007 until final approval by the Legislature the prepaid program will increase payments to the universities by at least 6 percent but no more than 6.5 percent every year, even if tuition go up more - or less - than those levels.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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26. February 2009 by student.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May on Religion in Politics: ‘We don’t do God’

Posted: February 01, 2008, 11:12 AM by Daniel Goldbloom

Elizabeth May

The last time I checked, being a practising Anglican was not evidence of mental instability, as the National Post’s editorial board recently suggested (The bizarre Ms. May, Jan 29).

Of course, misreporting my views, and omitting the context in which they were expressed, made it easier for you to portray me as some sort of fanatic. My background prior to becoming leader of Canada’s Green party (at nearly 54 years of age) includes admission to the bars of Nova Scotia and Ontario, and being honoured as an Officer of the Order of Canada. I have been studying theology part-time since 2004. Your assertion that this is an odd interest for a politician is itself rather odd, given that Tommy Douglas was a Baptist minister and at least two current Members of Parliament are ordained — one a United Church minister, one a Catholic priest.

The safe response when religion is raised in a political context is the one used by former prime minister Tony Blair’s communications team. Whenever reporters asked questions about Mr. Blair’s religious views, they were told: “We don’t do God here.”

That holds true for the Green Party. We don’t do God here, either. We are a broad and inclusive party with members from many religions — and no religion. None of that is relevant to matters of policy. The policies of the Green party are developed through a grass-roots democratic process. As a party, we do not cite scripture to defend positions. As party leader, neither do I.

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26. February 2009 by student.

There was an article posted today on the News-Press website about a
Cape Coral couple that has been scammed out of a few thousand dollars. The couple received a check in the mail for $4,875 and a letter declaring them the winners of a $1.1 million dollar lottery. In order to claim their winnings, they would have to pay the applicable taxes on them first. They were to do this by wiring $3,835 via MoneyGram to a specified location. They sent the money, and shortly after, they were notified by their bank that the check they had deposited (for $4,875) was no good. They have lost their $3,835 to a scam.

As an employee of one of the nation’s largest banks, I see this scam in particular on a regular basis. Customers come into my branch with fake checks, and letters stating conditions along the same lines as the couple reported in the newspaper. Fortunately, most of my clients realize that they, in fact, don’t even PLAY the lottery, and are able to turn the check over to me so that I can forward it to our fraud department. Unfortunately, I also have clients that fall victim to the scam, and don’t notify me until it is too late. The predators that are perpetrating this scam are taking advantage of trusting individuals that are usually experiencing a time of great financial hardship. The client receiving the letter sees this lottery win as a gift from a higher being, and as the answer to all of their prayers and wishes. It’s really sad when I have to inform them that, not only did they not win a lottery, but that they have also lost their savings as well.

I was completely unaware of this method of scamming until I started with the bank. We have to undergo extensive training upon hire, and a portion of this is dedicated to being able to notice the red flags of situations like these; we have to prevent and protect our clients’ losses. I’ve found much greater use from my training than even that, though. When attempting to sell a set of furniture on Craig’s List, I was contacted via e-mail from a potential buyer. The buyer stated that he would mail me a check, and have a moving company come to get the furniture. I was able to spot the red flag immediately. Like clockwork, I received a fake check in the mail with an explanation of the overpayment stating that it was the fee for the moving company, and that I would need to forward the different by
Western Union to their account. Let me tell you, I wrote that “potential buyer” one nasty e-mail telling him how ashamed of himself he should be!

I think that major financial institutions should more widely publicize the possibility of scams like the one in the newspaper, and offer seminars and training classes for customers on how to avoid loss. Especially in times like these, the economy is prompting people to take desperate measures.

Posted in Social Problems | 3 Comments »

26. February 2009 by student.

Throughout time, there has always been a rather simple method by which adolescents have formed and maintained friendships. They have developed relationships with the individuals they are exposed to through schooling, employment, and social networking. The friendships and romantic relationships that developed this way have traditionally taken an investment of time, a discovery of mutual interests, and a commitment of loyalty to maintain. Fast forward to today – the 21^st century: young adults are still meeting friends and love interests in these traditional situations, but now there is an added layer of communicative ability that appeals to the need for immediate gratification. Social networking websites, such as Facebook.com and MySpace.com, and cellular text-messaging have allowed adolescents to develop relationships with little investment of time and minimal effort in the form of emotional risk-taking. This has caused a ripple effect in the ability of this generation to form lasting relationships with others and to communicate effectively in cooperating with a group of their peers. Society itself is also feeling the negative side-effects of these attempts to “connect” our world community.

One of the biggest effects that social networking websites and text-messaging have on the adolescent community is the damage it is doing to the relationships being established. It is now faster to make friends and build bonds than at any other time in history. However, due to the “fast” nature of these friendships, “relationships and friendships can be formed and destroyed quickly and easily” (Smith, par.3). Little more than a click of the mouse is required to end a friendship and the necessity of problem-solving and the ability to settle disagreement is now void. Communication has been reduced to the casually written word; the ability to recognize the meaning behind a change in tone-of-voice or body language has faded into the peripheral of human interaction. Nonverbal communication has been reduced to a selection of font color and the intermittent use of capital letters. In the same article quoted above, “Facebook and MySpace generation ‘cannot form relationships’ by Rebecca Smith, the claim of “an expert” is identified as the assurance that the result of these new defects in human interaction will result in an “increased risk of behaving impulsively” (par. 1). Commitment is now a thing of the past, and with divorce rates as prominent as they already are in the older generation, the MySpace youth doesn’t stand a chance in maintaining long-term relationships; they will be too quick to pull the plug at the first sign of complication due to this increased risk of impulsive activity.

*Smith, Rebecca. “Facebook and MySpace generation ‘cannot form relationships’. 10 Nov 2008. 11 February 2009. <http://telegraph.co.uk>

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