Colleges combating coronavirus turn to stinky savior: sewage

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Days after he crossed the country to start college, Ryan Schmutz received a text message from Utah State University: COVID-19 had been detected at his dorm.

Within 10 minutes, he dropped the crepes he was making and was whisked away by bus to a testing site.

“We didn’t even know they were testing,” said Schmutz, who is 18 and from Omaha, Nebraska. “It all really happened fast.”

Schmutz was one of about 300 students quarantined to their rooms last week, but not because of sickness reports or positive tests. Instead, the warning bells came from the sewage.

Colleges across the nation — from New Mexico to Tennessee, Michigan to New York — are turning tests of waste into a public health tool. The work comes as institutions hunt for ways to keep campuses open despite vulnerabilities like students’ close living arrangements and drive to socialize. The virus has already left its mark with outbreaks that have forced changes to remote learning at colleges around the country.

The tests work by detecting genetic material from the virus, which can be recovered from the stools of about half of people with COVID-19, studies indicate. The concept has also been used to look for outbreaks of the polio virus.

Sewage testing is especially valuable because it can evaluate people even if they aren’t feeling sick and can detect a few cases out of thousands of people, experts say. Another wastewater-flagged quarantine of 300 students at Arizona State University, for example, turned up two cases. Both were students who were asymptomatic, but they could potentially still have spread the virus.

“That’s just tremendously valuable information when we think about the setting of a college dorm, and how quickly this disease can spread through that population,” said Peter Grevatt, CEO of The Water Research Foundation, which promotes studies of water and wastewater to ensure water quality and service.

Wastewater tests also flagged the possible presence of the virus at University of Colorado residence halls.

Utah has used the method more widely, including to track an outbreak at a meatpacking plant. The British, Italian and Dutch governments have also announced similar monitoring programs, and the Massachusetts-based company Biobot tests wastewater from cities around the country.

The method remains imprecise, though. It can spot infection trends, but it can’t yet pinpoint how many people have the virus or the stage of infection. That means it’s not yet quite as useful on a larger scale in cities, which don’t always have a university’s scientific resources or ability to require people to get tested.

The technology is being closely studied, though, and it is evolving rapidly, Grevatt said, adding that it’s best used along with other methods like contact tracing.

It’s not a panacea for colleges either. Utah State, for example, can only closely monitor sewage from the relatively small portion of students who live on campus — not the thousands of other people who come and go every day. The university has an enrollment of about 28,000.

And this week, Utah State’s positive wastewater test could be narrowed only as far as four residence halls that share the same sewer system. The test came back positive late Aug. 29, and the quarantine started the next day. Students were required to stay in their rooms, eating meals delivered by a “COVID care” team and barred from walking more than a few steps outside the residence hall.

The buildings are laid out in apartment-style suites, and students were released from quarantine in small groups if every roommate in a suite tested negative. The tests had turned up four coronavirus cases as of Thursday.

Schmutz, who tested negative along with his roommates, didn’t miss much in-person class time during his four-day quarantine.

But he’s a little disconcerted that he and his family weren’t told about the sewage testing. “It felt like we were kind of out of the loop on everything. It’s definitely hard to process,” he said.

Utah State has heard from parents and students similarly frustrated, though many others are grateful, spokeswoman Emilie Wheeler said. “They see it as a noninvasive early detection system,” she said.

The program is relatively inexpensive, too. The school takes samples daily to monitor several living areas, and the tests are run by a team of students.

“Wastewater has a story to tell about the public health status of communities,” Grevatt said. “There’s so many folks working on this right now. It’s just remarkable to see how quickly it has moved forward.”

Associated Press

The Best Student Credit Cards of 2016

These days, if you want to be able to buy a house later or get a good deal on your insurance rates, you need good credit. One of the easiest ways to build good credit is with the help of a credit card. If you are responsible in your use of credit, making occasional purchases and paying them in full before you are charged interest, you can build a good credit history.

The best student credit cards in Canada help those who have little to no credit established themselves. You can start building a financial reputation with the right credit card. Below are the best credit cards for students.


Scotiabank SCENE VISA Card – You can build your credit and earn cool movie rewards with the SCENE VISA card. Earn one point for each dollar you spend anywhere, and redeem those points for movie admissions and concessions. You can earn extra points (five for each dollar spent) at participating Cineplex locations.

There is no annual fee with this student credit card, and you get 2,000 bonus points with your first SCENE VISA card purchase. That’s enough for up to two free movies. Buy what you normally would, pay off the balance, and then get your entertainment for free. (Full Review)


MBNA Rewards Student Awards Card – This is a very straightforward credit card that can be used to build your credit history while earning rewards. You receive one point for each dollar that you spend. The MBNA Rewards Student Awards card also provides you with 1,000 points after your first purchase, and you get 1,000 bonus points each year on your cardmember anniversary. Points are flexible, and can be redeemed for merchandise, travel, cash back, and even charitable donations.

This card comes with no annual fee. You are also not capped on how many rewards points you can earn. The interest rate is 19.99% for all transactions from purchases to balance transfers to cash advances.


Scotiabank L’earn VISA Card – Earn up to 1% back every year with the L’earn VISA Card from Scotiabank. There is a tiered rewards system, starting at 0.25% cash back and working up to 1%. If you use your card wisely, though, paying for things you would buy anyway, it’s possible for you to earn rewards quickly and get that cash back faster.

There is no annual fee with this credit card, which means that you don’t have to worry about extra costs. The interest rate is 19.99% on purchases and 21.99% on cash advances and balance transfers. You can also get special discounts with various partners. Scotia bank also offers student credit tips for free so that you can learn how to best manage your credit card. You need to apply for this card at a branch, or by calling 1-888-882-8958.

source: canadianfinanceblog.com

Should You Pay Off Student Loans Before Investing?

Millennials who have been out of college for a few years are starting to wonder if they should start investing before they’ve paid off their student loans. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, but each person should be able find the best path forward.

Investment and debt-repayment are two sides of the same coin. Most people with student loan debt pay interest and annual fees totalling 4-6% of the balance of their loans. This is in addition to the premium payments made every month. This percentage is a loan’s APR, and it is an immovable object. Unless you look into student loan refinancing, this APR represents the annual cost of the money you borrowed for your graduation. This rate will stay the same for the entire term of your loan.

Investment portfolios bring in returns that vary year by year. If the economy is active and healthy, you could see returns of 7-9% or even more. Some years see investors receiving enormous returns that far exceed 10%. The thing is, these returns are unpredictable. Unlike your student loan APR which never changes, investment returns go all over the place. Some years, your portfolio may even lose money.

In years where your investment return percentage exceeds your loan APR, you will make more money than you lose, making investment a worthy pursuit, even if you haven’t paid off your student loans yet. But on years where your portfolio brings in less money than you lose in student loan interest payments, your investments won’t be “worth it” in a way that is easy to appreciate.

However, investing has one advantage that makes this decision a little more complicated than subtracting interest payments from investment returns. When people start investing at an early age, compound interest kicks in earlier, greatly amplifying the overall growth potential of your investments over your lifetime.

Most readers will already be familiar with this concept, but it’s worth a review. If you make regular payments into an investment account for your whole life without withdrawing funds, the dividends that your portfolio earns will also be added to the pot. In this way, a successful investment pays into itself. This creates a snowball effect. As time goes on, you’ve got more money, so it grows faster, so it gives off higher returns, which makes your money, which can then grow faster, etc.

With compound interest, the sooner you begin the better. Therefore, a lot of advisors consider it prudent to start investing as soon as possible, even if the return you expect from your investment is nearly equal to your student loan APR.

However, you shouldn’t begin investing if you don’t have certain financial details worked out. If you have no savings to cover you if you lost your job or experienced a personal emergency, you shouldn’t put aside money to invest. Instead, create an emergency fund. You may also have personal preferences that motivate you to pay off your student loans as soon as possible. Some people find a lot of personal comfort in being debt free, and may invest with more fervor once the debt is cancelled. Finally, explore investment acceleration options, like employer matched 401(k)s.

Hopefully this has given you a clear way of figuring out how to prioritize your investments and student loan repayment. Simply giving these concepts clever consideration indicates that you are careful about your money, a trait which will serve you well for life, long after your student loans are paid off.

Photo Source

source: modestmoney.com

Mini-skirt ban prompts underwear protest at Hungarian college

BUDAPEST - Students at a Hungarian university attended class wearing only their underwear Thursday to protest against a dress code ordered by the college head.

In a letter to students on Wednesday, the rector of Kaposvar University in southwest Hungary wrote that a conservative dress code -- dark suits and shoes for men; jacket, blouse and trousers or long skirts for women -- must be adhered to when attending classes or exams.

"From October 1, there is also no place in the university for mini-skirts, flip-flops, heavy make-up, inappropriate fashion accessories, or unkempt fingernails and hair," the letter continued.

The rector did make an allowance for lighter clothing during warm summer days, prompting some students to make the underwear protest.

"We were appropriately dressed but the class room was so warm we removed some clothing as is permitted," said one student.

The protestors included male and female students.

Students plan to wear flip-flops and beach towels at another protest on October 7.

source: interaksyon.com

Yale opens liberal arts college in conservative Singapore

SINGAPORE - Yale University formally opened a controversial liberal arts college in tightly governed Singapore on Tuesday, saying there was demand for "critical thinking" in the city-state and other Asian nations.

The Yale-NUS College, a joint project with the National University of Singapore, had been criticised by faculty members of the leading US university due to Singapore's restrictions on protests and on student political activity.

"Singaporeans, and Asians more broadly, have a greater hunger for pedagogy that truly encourages critical thinking and a model of liberal arts and science education adapted for the 21st century," Pericles Lewis, president of the college, said in a speech.

He told AFP that "we're not setting out to change any political discourse, but we're giving students the tools to be active in citizenship, to think about the issues".

"We think that a well-educated citizenry is the most important thing for any country, especially in Singapore."

The pioneer batch of 157 students from 26 countries - 97 of them Singaporeans - was selected from a pool of over 10,000 applicants and began lessons this month in temporary facilities.

The college's own purpose-built campus with residential facilities will open in 2015 and is designed to have a full capacity of 1,000 students.

The college is the first established by Yale outside its campus in New Haven, Connecticut.

"We believe that the college has the potential to serve as a model for others, particularly in Asia," said NUS president Tan Chorh Chuan.

In a resolution passed in April 2012, the Yale faculty expressed "concern regarding the history of lack of respect for civil and political rights in the state of Singapore".

It called on Yale-NUS to uphold civil liberties and political freedom on campus and in broader society.

Campaign group Human Rights Watch accused Yale of "betraying the spirit of the university as a centre of open debate and protest by giving away the rights of its students" at the new campus.

"Instead of defending these rights, Yale buckled when faced with Singapore's draconian laws on demonstrations and policies restricting student groups."

Singapore's education ministry said at the height of the controversy that student demonstrations on campus would require approval from the Yale-NUS administration.

source: interaksyon.com

Tuition Isn't the Only College Expense on the Rise

WASHINGTON -- Despite all the grumbling about tuition increases and student loan costs, other college expenses also are going up.

The price of housing and food trumps tuition costs for students who attend two- and four-year public universities in their home states, according to a College Board survey. Even with the lower interest rates on student loans that President Barack Obama signed into law, students are eyeing bills that are growing on just about every line.

A look at typical college students' budgets last year and how they're changing:

Community Colleges

The public two-year schools charged in-state students an average $3,131 last year, up almost 6 percent from the previous year. While the tuition hike was larger than at other types of schools, students at community colleges saw the smallest increase in room and board costs -- a 1 percent increase to $7,419. Total charges for students to attend an in-state public two-year school: $10,550.

Tuition and fees at community colleges are up 24 percent beyond overall inflation over the past five years, according to the College Board.

Public Four-Year Colleges

Tuition for students attending public four-year schools in their state was an average $8,655 last year, a 5 percent jump from the previous year. They paid more than that -- $9,205 -- for housing and food. These schools, like other four-year schools, posted a 4 percent jump in housing costs. Add in books and supplies, transportation and other costs and the total reaches $17,860 to attend an in-state public school, such as a student from Tallahassee attending Florida State University. When grants and scholarships are included, the average student pays $12,110 at such schools.

For students who choose to attend state schools outside their home state, the costs increase to $30,911. They pay the same $9,205 price tag for room and board, but the tuition rates are more expensive. The typical student who crossed state lines to attend a public college in 2012 paid $21,706 in tuition and fees after grants and scholarships -- a 4 percent jump from the previous year.

Over the past five years, the tuition sticker price at public four-year colleges is up 27 percent beyond overall inflation.

Private Schools

On the surface, private four-year schools are the most costly colleges, with the average student's sticker price coming in at $39,518 for all expenses. Tuition and fees were $29,056 last year -- another 4 percent jump -- while room and board ran to $10,462. After grants and scholarships, the average student paid $23,840 to attend schools such as Yale or Stanford.

The tuition at private schools was up 13 percent beyond overall inflation over the past five years adjusted for inflation.

 source: dailyfinance.com

Good penmanship begins with the right tools

MANILA, Philippines - Selecting pencils that a beginner can easily grip and work with is more important than most parents think, according to Cristina Caraig, marketing manger of Amalgamated Specialties Corporation (Amspec), exclusive makers of T-Pencil and Crayola in the Philippines.

For many beginners, the T-Pencil with large-sized hexagonal barrels are ideal. Others find the Jumbo model with round barrel in black — the standard pencil for kinder students in the ’50s up to the ’60s — easier to work with. Still other pupils are more comfortable with the T-Pencil with triangular barrel. The same model works well for left-handed youngsters.

Each child has his own preference, point out studies by Amspec, which has been making pencils for 50 years. It used to manufacture other pencil brands until it decided to develop its own label.  “The key is to help a child experiment — beginning perhaps with the hexagonal models with larger barrels,” says Caraig.

She notes that the best time to prepare a child to write is as young as 18 months or old enough to grip a crayon. The best precursor to a good pencil is a good crayon — one that is easy for little hands to grasp and at the same time will not easily snap. More important, a crayon should be non-toxic to avoid harming youngsters who tend to put things in their mouth.

Crayola’s My First Crayons were designed especially for toddlers and meet all of the above requirements. They are also deliberately not labeled so that kids don’t have to struggle peeling them off after long hours of scribbling. Like all Crayola products, they meet the European Union’s consumer safety, health and environmental requirements. They are also registered with the Philippine Food and Drug Administration and have been deemed safe by the USA Arts and Crafts Materials Institute.

“Drawing and writing are complex tasks for growing children to master,” says Caraig. Both activities require grasping an implement, holding the paper so it stays in place, and applying just the required pressure. A crayon that glides easily on paper facilitates mastery of this skill. In lieu of a crayon, markers made intentionally for pudgy hands like Crayola’s stubby Pip-Squeaks help a child hone the skill. With the right coaching, scribbling metamorphoses to writing with a pencil.



Crayons and pencils that are easy for a toddler to use also build his confidence. “A two-or-three-year-old, says Caraig, “automatically attributes the efficiency of his writing implements to his own abilities — and vice versa. When a crayon does not register well on paper or when a pencil’s lead snaps easily, he automatically thinks it is because he has done a bad job.”

source: philstar.com

'Study now, pay later' loans proposed

A partylist representative on Monday pitched for the creation of a loaning system for indigent students that will allow them to borrow funds for tuition and other school fees that they can pay back once employed.

“A student loaning system for less fortunate students in our country could be a feasible option to consider in order to prevent another incident like that of Kristel Tejada of UP Manila," Representative Sherwin Tugna of the Citizens Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC), said.

The proposal would patterned after the loan system in the United States that give students the option of borrowing funds for tuition and then paying for it when they have jobs, Tugna said.

"We are currently studying how can that be done here. What is the limit of the loan and how long can the students' loan be spread," he said.

Under his proposal, the Commission on Higher Education will serve asthe fund administrator. The concept would be similar to Landbank’s loan provision to farmers and other members of the agricultural sector, Tugna said.

“Whether we like it or not, this incident with Ms. Tejada is the state of our education system and is a reflection of the lack of attention the government is giving to it. We may be angry at the administration of UP now and blame them for what happened but ultimately, the core of this problem is rooted in a government and a system mired in graft and corruption," he said.

"Money swindled or embezzled by enterprising and thick-skinned government officials could have been used to allocate to the already meager and limited budget of our country’s beloved state university and also to the other state universities and colleges that are brimming with bright and promising students who are afflicted by financial constraints,” Tugna added.

In a separate statement, Makabayan senatorial candidate Teddy Casiño Makabayan senatorial filed House Resolution 3044 calling for an inquiry on the various tuition and loan policies of State Universities and Colleges (SUCs).

"Government should direct concerned agencies and bodies to immediately review existing policies and rules of state universities and colleges (SUCs) in relation to tuition, loan grants and other payment schemes," Casiño, representative of Bayan Muna partylist, said.

"While SUCs are granted relative autonomy, government should have a set of minimum guidelines prioritizing the right of students to education over the generation of revenues," he added.

Fellow Bayan Muna partylist Representative Neri Colmenares said the government must answer for the UP student's death.

“The death of the young, promising student is a result of the heartless, anti-poor policies of the government.  It is outrageous and so ironic that this tragedy happened in the supposedly premier state university of the country. This is a state-driven murder,” he said.

source: interaksyon.com

Microsoft to Offer Windows 8 Pro Upgrade to Students for $70

Microsoft has announced the details of a new special offer for students, which will be able to purchase the Windows 8 Pro upgrade edition online for $69.99.

The offer starts Feb. 1 in the U.S., and will also become available in 49 additional countries by March 19.

On Feb 21, the offer will become available in 22 new countries, including Canada, the UK, France, Germany and Spain. Eleven more countries will follow on March 7, and 16 more on March 19. See the full list of countries where this offer will be available over at Microsoft's official blog.

Microsoft will also start its Windows Campus Tour on Feb 18, visiting over 150 university campuses across the U.S. A team of experts will be showing students the advantages of Windows 8, as well as the latest Windows-touting tablets and PCs.

source: mashable.com

Official: 27 dead in Conn. school shooting

A gunman opened fire inside a Connecticut elementary school Friday, killing 26 people, including 18 children, and forcing students to cower in classrooms and then flee with the help of teachers and police.

The death toll was given to The Associated Press by an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was still under way.

The shooting appeared to be the nation's second-deadliest school shooting, exceeded only by the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007.

Parents flooded to Sandy Hook Elementary School, about 60 miles northeast of New York City, looking for their children in the wake of the shooting. Students were told to close their eyes by police as they were led from the building.

A photo taken by The Newtown Bee newspaper showed a group of young students _ some crying, others looking visibly frightened _ being escorted by adults through a parking lot in a line, hands on each other's shoulders.

Students and staff were among the victims, state police Lt. Paul Vance said a brief news conference. He also said the gunman was dead inside the school, but he refused to say how people were killed.

Another official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was still under way, said the gunman apparently had two guns.

A law enforcement official in Washington said the attacker was a 20-year-old man with ties to the school and that one of the guns was a .223-caliber rifle. The official also said that police were searching a location in New Jersey in connection with the shootings. That official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the source was not authorized to speak on the record about the developing criminal investigation.

Robert Licata said his 6-year-old son was in class when the gunman burst in and shot the teacher.

"That's when my son grabbed a bunch of his friends and ran out the door," he said. "He was very brave. He waited for his friends."

He said the shooter didn't say a word.

Stephen Delgiadice said his 8-year-old daughter heard two big bangs and teachers told her to get in a corner. His daughter was fine.

"It's alarming, especially in Newtown, Connecticut, which we always thought was the safest place in America," he said.

A dispatcher at the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps said a teacher had been shot in the foot and taken to Danbury Hospital. Andrea Rynn, a spokeswoman at the hospital, said it had three patients from the school but she did not have information on the extent or nature of their injuries.

Mergim Bajraliu, 17, heard the gunshots echo from his home and raced to check on his 9-year-old sister at the school. He said his sister, who was fine, heard a scream come over the intercom at one point. He said teachers were shaking and crying as they came out of the building.

"Everyone was just traumatized," he said.

Richard Wilford's 7-year-old son, Richie, is in the second grade at the school. His son told him that he heard a noise that "sounded like what he described as cans falling."

The boy told him a teacher went out to check on the noise, came back in, locked the door and had the kids huddle up in the corner until police arrived.

"There's no words," Wilford said. "It's sheer terror, a sense of imminent danger, to get to your child and be there to protect him."

Melissa Makris, 43, said her 10-year-old son, Philip, was in the school gym.

"He said he heard a lot of loud noises and then screaming. Then the gym teachers immediately gathered the children in a corner and kept them safe in a corner," Makris said.

The fourth-grader told his mother that the students stayed huddled until police came in the gym. He also told her that he saw what looked like a body under a blanket as he fled the school.

"He said the policeman came in and helped them get out of the building and told them to run," Makris said. "And they ran to the firehouse."

The White House said Barack Obama was notified of the shooting and his spokesman Jay Carney said the president had "enormous sympathy for families that are affected."

source: thetandd.com

In this fashion corner, the future looks bright for Slim’s graduating students

An exhibit at the gallery area of Greenbelt 5 in Makati City is proving to visitors why 23 young fashion designers can proudly say they went to the same school as Martin Bautista, Michael Cinco, Joey Samson, Ezra Santos, and Oliver Tolentino.

The best graduating students of Slim’s Fashion and Arts School are putting their works on display from November 21 to 27, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. This is the first time in the institution’s 51-year history that students up for diplomas are showcasing their creations outside the school.

Viewers can look forward to the results of the students’ final exams: the terno and the wedding gown. Some designers have combined the two, while another has come up with a winter terno.

Products from a draping workshop are also unveiled, as well as the collections of two of this year’s PreviewEmerging Fashion Talents: Li-J Eleazar and Nina Gatan. Included in the latter’s presentation is the pantsuit Marian Rivera wore on this month’s Preview magazine cover.





As a nod to the maestra of couture herself, Salvacion Lim Higgins (Slim), who founded the school with sister Purificacion, reproductions of some of her masterpieces were also crafted by the students specifically for the exhibit.

The pieces took three months to create, from concept to final product.

“It’s really inspiring seeing everyone’s work and (how) they’re really talented,” said Mary Camille Veloso, who is taking up both fashion design and dressmaking courses at Slim’s. “To be able to call them peers or even friends, it makes you want to be a better designer.”

Eleazar, who is now a teaching assistant for dressmaking, is proud to show her and her students’ works to the public. And she has much to take pride in, given the striking results.

“My inspiration was my dad. I thought about the things that are connected to him. I thought about golf, but it was a bit difficult (to accomplish), so I chose the butterfly instead. Whenever I see a butterfly, it reminds me of him. But since others have already created butterfly-inspired designs, I just focused on the shape of the cocoon,” she said.

The cut-outs in her dresses represented the pieces that went missing when her father passed away, while the bright colors stood for the happy memories she shared with him. The dark ones marked the sadness left in his wake.

All elements of a collection he would have been glad to see.

source: interaksyon.com

Insurance for College Students

College kids show up at school with a lot more than a big bag full of T-shirts and jeans. They also bring a slew of electronics—computers, printers, smart phones, iPads—that can be expensive to replace. Your homeowners insurance will generally cover students’ possessions if they live in a dorm, and it may provide coverage if they’re in an off-campus apartment, as long as their primary residence is still your home. The rules vary a lot by insurer; most require your child to be a full-time student and under age 24.

Some insurers cap the coverage at college at 10% of the possessions limit on your homeowners policy. So if you have a $200,000 policy on your home with 50% of that amount, or $100,000, for contents, your kid’s coverage at college may be limited to $10,000. The liability limits are usually the same as for you (see Check Up on Your Home Insurance).

If your insurer doesn’t cover your child’s off-campus apartment, or if you’d like higher coverage limits, consider a renters insurance policy. That generally costs just $150 to $200 per year, says Melanie Loiselle-Mongeon, an independent agent in Pawtucket, R.I. If your kid has roommates (who aren’t related), each person needs to get a separate renters policy.

Car insurance. Contact your insurer if your kid goes to a college more than 100 miles away and doesn’t take a car. Your premiums can drop significantly (20% on average at Safeco, for example), but he or she will still have coverage when home for the summer or vacations. If your child takes a car to school, your insurance costs will rise or fall depending on the location.

Health coverage. Student health plans, which often cost hundreds of dollars each semester, may have exclusions and low coverage caps, or they may require you to get most health care through the student medical center. Children can usually be covered under their parents’ health insurance policy until age 26, so most families can rely on that insurance when their kid goes to college. (You may have to decline the college’s student coverage to avoid being charged.)

However, if you have insurance through a regional HMO with a small network of doctors and hospitals, coverage may be limited to emergency services if your student goes to college in another state. And even if your plan allows for out-of-network care, you’ll probably have to make much larger co-payments if the network doesn’t extend to the area where the college is located. Insurers with national plans, such as Cigna, typically have plenty of doctors and hospitals in-network around the country. “The best course of action is to request a summary of benefits for the new location,” says Kelly Brooke, of Cigna.

If no in-network providers are nearby, consider an individual health insurance policy. In most states, a healthy person in his or her early twenties can get coverage for $150 or less per month. You can get price quotes at eHealthInsurance.com or find out about local policies at HealthCare.gov.

By buying a high-deductible policy, you can keep premiums low and still have coverage for major emergencies (most plans must also provide some preventive-care benefits without co-payments or deductibles). If your child has a policy with a deductible of at least $1,200 and isn’t claimed as a dependent on your tax return, then he or she can make tax-deductible contributions to a health savings account that can grow tax-free for future medical expenses.

source: kiplinger.com

Amazon makes big Kindle push in US schools

SAN FRANCISCO — Amazon.com Inc announced an initiative on Wednesday to get its Kindle e-readers and tablet computers into schools, entering a market that has been particularly successful for rival Apple Inc and its iPad device.

Amazon said it has been testing Kindles in recent years with hundreds of kindergarten through 12th grade schools in the United States, selling the devices at bulk discounts and helping them purchase and distribute e-books to students.

On Wednesday, the company unveiled Whispercast, a service that lets schools manage fleets of Kindle devices from one online location.

Administrators and teachers can set up user accounts for each student and arrange them into one or more groups, such as a specific class or grade level. They can also set limits on what students can do with the devices, such as blocking Facebook and web browsing and disabling purchasing, Amazon said.

Amazon’s education push is part of a broader effort by the world’s largest Internet retailer to get Kindles into as many hands as possible. The company sells Kindles at cost and hopes to make money selling e-books and other content such as apps, games, music and video through the devices.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for everyone to own a Kindle device. Any time we can make that easier, we do that,” said Jay Marine, vice president of Kindle product management. “And we have a particular mission to increase reading, especially among kids.”

Education is a potentially huge market for tablets and e-readers, partly because they are easier for administrators to manage than personal computers and laptops, according to Carl Howe of consulting firm Yankee Group.

Apple’s iPad has been a big hit with educational institutions in the United States. In the second quarter of 2012, the company said sales of iPads in the U.S. education market almost doubled year-over-year to just under 1 million units.

Amazon’s Marine said Kindles are easier to carry for students than lots of physical books. Students who are learning to read may also be less intimidated by big books, because the content is housed in small, thin devices, he added.

Amazon has been offering discounts on the hardware for bulk purchases by schools. The company does not currently offer bulk discounts on e-books, but Marine said that may come in the future.

Whispercast will also work in coming months with apps that run on Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets, he added.

Clearwater High School in Florida and St Rose of Lima School in Texas are among schools that have been testing Kindles with students.

Clearwater High has been using about 2,000 Kindles for more than two years and recently the test was expanded to more than 122 schools in the same district, according to Principal Keith Mastroides.

The devices make students more enthusiastic about reading and studying in general, he said.

Still, Yankee Group’s Howe said there are limitations on how useful e-books can be in education. Physical books can be re-sold easily, unlike digital versions, he noted.

It is also more difficult for a student to study from multiple e-books at the same time, Howe explained.

“Imagine a student in a library with 10 books with book marks in each one,” he said. “Try doing that with an e-reader. It’s pretty hard and kind of a mess.”

Whispercast is also designed to make it easier for businesses and non-profit organizations to use Kindle devices.

Companies can use the service to centrally distribute documents and other items such as conference agendas or training materials to employees or customers, Amazon said.

source: interaksyon.com

HEIs, GFIs, Central Bank support loan facility for college students

MANILA, Philippines -The country’s private higher education institutions, government financial institutions and even the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas have expressed their support to a proposed bill that would establish a loan facility for college and university students.

During a hearing on the proposed Senate Bill 3285 authored by Senator Edgardo Angara Tuesday, it was made clear that the country is way behind many countries including its Asian neighbors, in terms of providing financial support for higher education students.

Dr. Vincent Fabella, president of the Jose Rizal University, representing the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA), noted that the cost of higher education continues to rise in the country and across the globe.

“We’re part of that trend. But around the world, government and banks help finance it. So the idea is the students study first, when they get the jobs and the money, then they repay their loans. That’s what we’re trying to push with the proposed bill,” Fabella said.

According to Fabella, the estimated cost for all higher education students in the country, including the tuition and miscellaneous fees, would amount to P145 billion.

Based on the models of Hong Kong, which provides student loans of up to 50 percent of the total cost, and South Korea at 30 percent, Fabella said that the government would have to shell out between P36 billion and P72 billion for the loan facility.

At present, Angara noted that the only loan facility available to higher education students in the country involves the Social Security System (SSS) and Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

The total amount made available by the national government and the two pension systems for its members and dependents for education loans was pegged at P12.5 billion a year.





For the SSS, loans program management head Miriam Milan said that a member could get a maximum of P15,000 per semester for degree courses while vocational courses would get only P7,500 per semester.

The GSIS, on the other hand, provides a maximum of P25,000 per semester.

Fabella pointed out that the average tuition for private schools is somewhere between P40,000 to P50,000 per semester, so what the two pension system provide for student loans is still far from what is needed.

Angara explained that the approval of the bill would allow the students and parents to tap the new loan facility through the private banks to cover the balance after SSS or GSIS loans.

He said that the interest rates on the loans under the new facility would be lower than market rates.

What makes the proposed loan facility different from the existing products is that the loans do not have to be paid right away.

“Education is the only activity that parents pay in advance. At the beginning of the semester you have to pay for the (cost of) full semester,” Angara said.

“Most of the student loans now, the difference is, when you take (out) the loan you have to start paying right away, which is unfair because students don’t have the money now, they have money when they graduate. That’s how it’s done in other countries,” he said.

source: philstar.com

US teen drunk driving rate cut in half in 20 years

ATLANTA - The percentage of U.S. high school students who drink and drive has dropped by more than half in two decades, in part due to tougher laws against driving under the influence of alcohol, federal health officials said on Tuesday.

 

In 2011, 10.3 percent of high school students 16 and older reported drinking and driving in the previous 30 days, compared to 22.3 percent in 1991, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.

 

The CDC credited the nearly 54 percent decline to stricter laws against drunken driving and restrictions on teen driving privileges, such as limits on the hours teenagers may legally drive at night.

 

"We've seen really good progress," CDC Director Thomas Frieden told reporters. "We're moving in the right direction, but we need to keep up the momentum."

 

Despite the decrease, nearly 1 million high school students consumed alcohol before driving last year, the report showed.

 

Drinking and driving among teens is a factor in more than 800 deaths annually, and car crashes remain the leading cause of death among teens aged 16-19, the CDC said.

 

For the report, the CDC analyzed risk behavior data collected from thousands of high school students through national surveys and from 41 states.

 

In 2011, the percentage of students who reported drinking and driving in the previous 30 days ranged from a low of 4.6 percent in Utah to a high of 14.5 percent in North Dakota.

 

Male students aged 18 and older were the most likely to drink and drive and 16-year-old female students were the least likely, the CDC said. Eighty-five percent of high school students who reported drinking and driving in the prior month also admitted binge drinking, defined as having five or more drinks during a short time period.

 

The CDC said another factor in the decline of teen drinking and driving was that high school students increasingly were driving less, possibly because of higher gasoline prices and a slowdown in the economy.

 

From 2000-2010, the percentage of high school seniors who did not drive during an average week jumped by almost a third from 15 percent to 22 percent, the health agency said.

 

Frieden said parents were vital in ensuring that rates of teen drinking and driving continue to decrease.

  

"Children see how their parents drive from a young age and model that behavior," he said. "Parents are a key part of the equation here." - Reuters

 

source: gmanetwork.com

 

Facebook, Gates Foundation Team Up to Create Apps For Future College Students

Facebook hosted a hackathon in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Thursday, kicking off the foundation’s College Knowledge Challenge — a $2.5 million investment fund to encourage developers to make apps that meliorate the college process.

Thursday’s Hackathon, “HackEd,” aimed to mesh the digital Facebook crowd with the Gates’ altruistic mission in hopes of creating apps that are useful to students (and their parents) nearing college years. At the end of the hack, a panel of judges will announce winners and give out prizes.

Stacey Childress, deputy director for the foundation’s College Ready Challenge, tells Mashable the app developers will focus on one or more of these problems facing future college students: the application process, admissions and financial aid.

The reason the Foundation’s partnership with Facebook is so important, she said, is because teens will best be reached through the use of the social networking site. Childress said today’s teens rely on social networking to pick the college they’ll attend.

Adding other useful and easy-to-find apps on Facebook such as how to find financial aid, will be essential in encouraging young people to attend college. The apps will be platform agnostic, not tied to Facebook.
So how many apps does $2.5 million fund? Each finalist will get $50,000-$100,000 in funding to develop their app — so about 25-50.

Hackathons are a common occurance at Facebook. Usually fun and voluntary events for employees that occur after work, they allow tech-savvy minds at the company to develop projects of their own.
The goal: build something that either impacts the site (Timeline sprung from an idea at a Facebook Hackathon) or simply something interesting and useful.

Typically, hacks at Facebook begin after work hours and go until the early morning hours. This hack, though, is a day-long event starting at 9 a.m. and ending around 7 p.m. PT.

The Gates Foundation wants to encourage more developers, particularly women and minorities, to create these new tools. The request for proposals is open to anyone, and people who participated in the hack — whether they won or not — will be eligible to apply.

The contest goes through January, with the development challenge running through Nov. 16.

source: mashable.com

The Lows of Higher Ed

Welcome back, college students! Always nice to see you.

Although we are sort of worried by those bleak stories about student debt, which suggest a lot of you may graduate owing a ton of money and unqualified to do anything more remunerative than selling socks.

This year, Newsweek cheerfully welcomed the Class of 2016 by asking, “Is College a Lousy Investment?” And in The Times, Andrew Martin reported that the Department of Education is paying more than $1.4 billion per annum to folks whose job it is to collect on $76 billion in defaulted student loans. “If you wait long enough, you catch people when their guard’s down,” one debt collector told Martin after garnishing the savings of a disabled carpenter.

Look on the bright side, students. Perhaps when you graduate, some of you will be able to qualify for a good job in the booming accounts receivable management industry.

Higher education is still the key to most good jobs, but the nation is starting to ask some questions about the way we finance it. Shouldn’t there be more of a match between the cost of school and the potential earning power of the graduates? Who speaks for the art history majors? And why is tuition so high, anyway? (Parents, if your kid is planning to take out student loans, you might want to avoid any college where the dorm rooms are nicer than your house.)

“People don’t believe much any more about the altruistic motives of colleges and universities,” sadly noted Pat Callan of the Higher Education Policy Institute.

Not without some reason. In his reporting, Martin uncovered a newsletter aimed at college admissions officers that advised them to avoid using “bad words” such as “cost” or “pay” in their admissions materials. Instead, it suggested: “And you get all this for ...”

In Washington, Congress is holding hearings! The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is considering a bill — co-sponsored by Democrat Al Franken and Republican Charles Grassley — that would require all schools to fill out the same form telling the student loan applicants useful facts like exactly how much per month they’ll be forking over when they start paying.

That would be the superminimum, right? How amazed are you that this isn’t happening already?

“Some of the packages don’t delineate what’s a grant, what’s a scholarship, what’s a loan,” said Franken. “And the information all comes in an award letter, so you’re thinking: Award!”

The Obama administration, which can’t do much about this without Congress, has been working to get the schools to voluntarily adopt a “shopping sheet” that would provide clear basic information so students could compare different schools’ financing before making a choice. “We’ve been encouraged by the feedback from the higher-ed sector,” one of the experts working on the program said. “I think we have 100 individual colleges and universities.”

The good news is that controlling college costs really does seem to be an administration priority. The bad news is that there are more than 4,000 colleges and universities.

People, don’t you think young adults should get the clearest, most easy-to-compare information conceivable before they sign a huge, life-changing loan deal? Don’t you think there should be somebody in charge of calling them up once a week and yelling: “Eight hundred dollars a month until you’re 51 years old!”

Maybe I’m underestimating the ability of teenagers to make serious, well-thought-out decisions about their higher education. All I can tell you is that when I was 21 years old, I signed up to go to graduate school at the University of Massachusetts because I had always wanted to live in Boston. I had no idea the main campus was on the other side of the state until I got there.

Franken is hoping the Senate might take up his proposal next year. I presume you weren’t expecting anything sooner. Congress can’t even get it together to keep the Postal Service from defaulting. And the Senate leaders admitted the other day that they’re not going to be able to pass a bipartisan bill to legalize Internet gambling on poker, which seems to be a really high priority for some important people. If they can’t do poker, they are not going to get to student loan transparency.

The House is planning hearings on student loans, too. The chairwoman of the subcommittee assigned to this task is Representative Virginia Foxx, a North Carolina Republican who once said that she worked her own way through college and had “little tolerance” for people who complain about their huge student loan debts.

“New ideas to advocate for financial aid transparency are always welcome in this discussion,” Foxx said in an e-mail on Friday. “But we have to question whether the federal government’s dictating the terms of every college and university’s financial aid communications will actually achieve the desired results.”

So maybe a little less sense of urgency there.

source: nytimes.com

Professor Suggests Dumping Algebra From Curriculum Entirely

A number of high school students and even college students have trouble with math. Specifically, these students have trouble with algebra and its offspring. This level of math can lead to significant roadblocks in the development of students’ education. According to Andrew Hacker, one in four ninth graders fail to finish high school and algebra is often to blame. So, logically, we should get rid of algebra.

Removing algebra from the list of required courses would allow more students to finish high school with the tools they need. Hacker argues that the kind of math being taught by algebra isn’t necessary in the daily lives of millions of people and therefore we should not hold ourselves to its standards. Math, itself, is important but should be more focused on things like arithmetic and balancing checkbooks. The focus should be on the kinds of things everyone is required to do at some point.

Hacker continues by stating that 57 percent of the City University of New York students didn’t pass its mandated algebra course. Another figure used to support his conclusion is that only 9 percent of men and 4 percent of women received a 700 or better on the math section of their SAT in 2009. Even with all of this evidence, one can’t help but wonder if the emphasis is being placed in the wrong place.

All of these numbers and percentages only proves that the United States is failing at mathematics — and specifically algebra and its offshoots. The struggle here shouldn’t be whether we need to drop algebra but how we can improve our ability. In a lot of ways, logic and math go hand in hand. What is algebra if not logic?

To say that we are failing and need to do something about it is absolutely correct. To say we need to remove it from our path as a hindrance rather than overcoming it with improved teaching methods, enhanced mathematics programs, and funding in general is a mistake.

source: geekosystem.com

Food poisoning downs over 100 Ateneo de Davao students, officials

DAVAO CITY, Philippines - More than a hundred students of the Ateneo de Davao University (ADDU) were rushed to the hospital two hours after taking spoiled lunch on Sunday.

The students were attending the student leaders gathering—called Sui Generis—with ADDU President Fr. Joel Tabora.

Mureene Ann Villamor, chair of the student council Samahan, said the participants started to get sick around 3 p.m., a couple of hours after taking a pack of chicken adobo, pancit (noodles) and buco salad.

Villamor, who herself was rushed to the hospital after feeling nauseated and vomiting several times, said the chicken adobo “smelled terrible.”

“It did not smell good,” Villamor told Interaksyon.com in a phone interview. She was still confined at the hospital as of this writing.

“At around 3 p.m., may mga lumabas na sa session hall. Kasi nagsuka suka na. They were not feeling well already. I felt sick as I was facilitating at the open forum. I went to the toilet and found out that many students were indeed sick. They called 911 na,” Villamor said.

Father Tabora was reportedly sick himself and was brought to the hospital, Villamor said.

More than 50 students were brought to the Davao Doctors Hospital while almost the same number were also rushed to San Pedro Hospital.

Atenews, the official students publication of ADDU, posted a photo of the reported spoiled chicken adobo served to the students. Student Ricky Zonio said he was among those who felt ill after taking lunch.

“It was really shocking. Until now, throat still hurts because of vomiting. I nearly passed out,” Zonio said in the vernacular.

Edward Lactaoen, associate editor of Atenews, said he was able to talk to one of the doctors who told him that the “symptoms indeed point to food poisoning.” He, too, said a school official has told him that “they're awaiting lab tests on the food served during the event to identify what specifically it was that caused it.”

“Some of our staffers are at the hospitals,” he said.

source: interaksyon.com

Bill proposes meatless Mondays in school canteens

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño wants to make sure your children are getting enough roughage. He filed House Bill 6311 which seeks to require canteens in public and private schools to serve only vegetable dishes on Mondays.

The “Luntiang Lunes” bill aims to encourage the consumption of vegetables among elementary and high school students.

“Dietary patterns are established and consolidated in childhood and adolescence,” the lawmaker said in the measure.

The concept of “Meatless Monday” originated in the United States during World War I, when the U.S. Food Administration urged families to eat more greens every Monday to contribute to the war effort. The campaign was revived in 2003 by a civil society group to address health issues among Americans.

Under Casiño’s bill, the Department of Education is directed to order cafeterias in both public and private elementary and high schools to serve only plant-based meals, particularly indigenous vegetables, every Monday.

The measure, however, still allows students to bring their own packed lunch, and does not require them to buy the vegetable dishes served in the canteens.

Casiño said that aside from health benefits, the bill will also lessen greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change and environment degradation.

The bill is currently pending before the House committee on basic education and culture. It must get a majority vote from all the panel’s members for it to be sent to the plenary for debate. — DVM, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com