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|Australasian Journal of Educational Technology
2012, 28(4), 565-579.
Distance learners: Connected, mobile and resourceful individuals
Trish Andrews
The University of Queensland
Belinda Tynan
University of Southern Queensland
In recent years the student experience of higher education in general and distance education in particular has been strongly influenced by the wide scale uptake of Internet based learning approaches and an expanding distance education market, amongst many other trends. As competition within the sector increases because of access to the WWW and other in-country socio-political influences, the push to attract and retain students is becoming a key issue for institutions. Understanding the distance student's voice in relation to these trends and developing appropriate responses to ensure a satisfactory learning experience is of critical importance. This paper reports on a recently completed study that explored the distance learners' experience at one dual-mode Australian institution. The paper outlines a rationale for investigating the student voice to meet the unique needs of the distance learner. It describes the approaches that were adopted to undertake the research and discusses some of the main themes that emerged from the study - individualness, connectedness, quality, mobility, and resourcefulness. The paper concludes with considerations for policy and practice in relation to utilising the distance learners' voice in enhancing distance leaners' experiences.
Definitions of distance education have become blurred in recent times with the widespread adoption of ICT to support a range of teaching and learning activities including distance education. As discussed by Guri-Rozenblit (2009), several terms, including online learning, eLearning, virtual learning and distance learning are used synonymously, further blurring understandings of distance education. For the purposes of this paper, distance learning is defined as all learning that takes place where there is no face to face interaction between students and between students and teachers. Any interaction between learners and between learners and teachers is mediated by technology (Keegan, 2008). However, this broad definition of distance learning, along with the interchange of terms, overlooks the particular circumstances of the distance learner. For the purposes of this paper, distance learners are defined as those learners who participate in 80% or more of their courses and programs off campus, thus having little opportunity for formal and informal face to face learning opportunities with peers and teachers (Allen & Seaman, 2008, 2010).
This paper describes aspects of a qualitative study to explore distance learners' experiences of where and how they learn, often captured under the term 'learning spaces', learners' mobility and their use of ICT for learning. The focus here is on the overarching themes that emerged from the study and how the role of the student voice can enhance the distance learner experience. More discussion of other aspects of the study including learning spaces and mobile learning are reported elsewhere. The paper concludes with some considerations for key stakeholders.
The introduction of technology has promised increased and enhanced communication and interaction for distance and online learners (Bates, 2005). Regardless of the opportunities, there is limited evidence to support that this in fact occurs in practice. Indeed, some recent studies (Lonn & Teasley, 2009; McKeogh & Fox, 2009) suggest that most lecturers make little use of the interactive features of many ICT tools. There is also some evidence that although some tools such as lecture recordings are widely utilised, the majority of lecturers make no changes to their curriculum practices to integrate these technologies (Gosper et al., 2008; Preston et al, 2010). Indeed, Conole (2007, 2008) suggests that there is a gap between rhetoric and policy in relation to the use of ICT for teaching and learning.
Distance students are recognised for their busy lives (Kirkwood, 2000) and their preference for anywhere, anytime learning (Anderson & Elloumi, 2008), and much is also made of students' ownership and use of mobile technology and its potential to create and support mobile learning through active and engaged learning activities and making more effective use of situated and contextual learning environments (Ally, 2009). Nevertheless, to date the majority of higher education institutions in Australia appear to have largely ignored this opportunity to encourage and support mobile learning on an institutional scale (ACODE, 2011). Adding to the opportunities for learners to experience learning with a range of technologies, the adoption of social networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter and SMS also continues to grow apace. Despite the opportunities offered by such tools, current research indicates that much of the focus of students' use of tools such as Facebook is social (Madge, Meek, Wellens & Hooley 2009; Selwyn, 2007). As with much of the work into the student experience with ICT for teaching and learning (Conole, 2008; Fitzgerald & Steele, 2008; Jefferies, 2009; Kennedy et al., 2009) the focus of these studies is upon first year, on campus students.
Consequently, little is understood about the perceptions of distance learners in relation to their learning experience with ICT. What is evident is that distance learners experience a high level of attrition in some online courses, up to 40% in many cases (Patterson & McFadden, 2009). This gives cause for concern about the nature of their learning experience, and impetus to develop a better understanding of the impact of ICT on distance learners.
The notion of 'digital natives' put forward by Prensky (2001) dominates much of the ongoing discussion around the students' learning experience (Jones et al., 2010). Prensky proposed that the 'net gen' students (those born between 1980 and 1995) and now entering university are computer savvy 'digital natives' with high levels of digital competency and high levels of expectation relating to the use of technology for teaching and learning activities. Other authors support this notion (Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005). These papers are highly influential but few are based on empirical research (Jones et al., 2010). The mistaken assumption in much of this work is that first year students are homogeneous groups and thus little attention may be given to the needs of mature age students within these cohorts. Recent studies investigating student experiences with ICT for both personal and learning purposes (Conole, 2008; Fitzgerald & Steele, 2008; Kennedy et al. 2009; Wood & Dodd, 2010) provide evidence to refute this notion of homogeneity, however the focus of these latter studies is still largely upon on campus first year students, with little understanding of the experience of distance learners.
Consequently, while these studies provide useful information, this approach to understanding the use of ICT for teaching and learning:
... largely neglects a genuinely learner-centred perspective: that students experience formal learning in emotional terms, that their motivation to learn is only understandable by looking at their lives holistically, and that technology is embedded in their social experience. (Mayes, 2006, p.3)It appears, then, that while much of the dissemination around the use of ICTs for teaching and learning is interesting, there is a tendency to the evaluation of 'war stories' of practice, that are from the 'teachers perspective' and few have developed methodologies for incorporating the student voice to inform and enhance the learning experience of specific cohorts of students. Further to this, while there has been considerable activity around including the student voice in quality processes and activities (Little & Williams, 2010), as Porter (2008) points out, much of this activity relates to structures and there is a need to consider how institutions can focus on the students and their individual perspectives, as well as their wider contributions.
JISC (2009) point out different cohorts of learners experience learning differently. For example, on campus students have different requirements to mature age working professionals who study primarily at a distance. However, many of the support systems in place in institutions tend to relate to the on campus learner rather than those students who might study through different modalities (Forsyth et al, 2010), and do not address the specific needs of the distance or online learner. Additionally, Jara & Mellar (2010) found that where data is collected from distance learners it is not always acted upon, even in institutions where online distance learning is a key focus of institutional activities. This would come as no surprise to many as institutional data collected across the higher education sector is quite widely known to be poorly used.
The comparative analysis showed that the main issues missing from the quality assurance documentation that were mentioned by the interviewees were those related to student participation and the support provided to the students... This failure was due to either the inappropriateness of the quality assurance procedures or the inadequate recording of their implementation (Jara & Mellar, 2010, p. 711.)
This qualitative study took a phenomenological approach to investigating the student voice as this was deemed as being the most appropriate way in which to answer the research question, "What are the experiences of distance learners' use of ICTs for teaching and learning?" The research question is framed from the perspective of the 'lived experience' of the distance learners and therefore consistent with the methodological approach. The aim of using the phenomenological approach for this study as opposed to other qualitative approaches was to:
... describe as accurately as possible the phenomenon, refraining from any pre-given framework, but remaining true to the facts (Groenworld, 2004, p.5).
The day experience method (DEM) was adapted from Riddle & Arnold's (2007) resource kit to meet the needs and requirements of this study. DEM is based on a combination of the Day Reconstruction Method (DRM) and the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) (Hektner et al, 2007). The DRM is designed to gather information about how people experience various activities and events in their lives (Kahneman et al, 2004). ESM involves "signaling questions at informants repeatedly throughout the sampling periods" (Khan et al, 2009, p. 15). In particular the DEM was used to capture students' learning activities over an 18-hour period. Students were sent SMS messages on their mobile phones at irregular intervals through this period and were asked to describe their activities, where they were and who they were with, the resources they were using and how they were feeling. Students were asked to provide as much detail as possible.
Unique to this study is the CWA. Devised by the researcher, the CWA was developed tp overcome perceived limitations of the DEM in capturing common patterns and routines of study not fully addressed in one 18 hour time slot. Consequently, drawing on the DRM (Hektner et al. 2007), the CWA was developed so that participants could provide a daily summary of their work over a longer time period so as to identify these learning patterns and routines. They were asked to log their learning, personal and social activities, the resources they used for teaching and learning activities and their feelings in relation to these experiences. Riddle & Howell (2008) note that using tools such as the DEM is an:
attempt to reduce recall distortion and the ideological biases of other sampling methods such as interviews, survey and focus groups (p.4).The CWA and DEM processes were complemented by asking participants to take part in a focus group where they shared their experiences and described how they went about learning with ICTs (Riddle & Howell, 2008).
Data collected from these approaches were analysed using NVIVO and an interpretative thematic approach (IPA). The data analysis followed a four step process outlined by Ganeson and Ehrich (2010) and drawing on Giorgi's (1985b, 11-18) process for IPA. To ensure the accuracy of analysis and the consequent interpretation of the data, the completed voice studies were returned to the participants for checking. All 12 participants agreed that the studies accurately reflected their experiences and required none or very minor textual adjustments. In general the students were extremely happy with the studies (student names are pseudonyms):
WOW, wow, wow....
Thank you for doing such great justice to my 'voice' both my positive experiences and comments and the negative experiences and comments. (Ingrid, email comment, 23 Feb 2011).
It doesn't always feel that our feedback is valued and actually considered and you know, the individualness of our various voices, it doesn't always feel that that's being taken into account (Ingrid, Focus group discussion, November, 2010).For the participants in this study, the opportunity to have their voice heard was a strong motivating factor for agreeing to be part of the study. This suggests that some students would like to provide input into their teaching and learning activities in ways that are not currently available to them.
While some students still make little use of informal learning communities and networks, for half the students in this study the ability to participate in informal learning communities or networks was highly valued (Anderson & Elloumi, 2008). Additionally, two students expressed an interest in participating in informal networks but were unsuccessful in establishing such networks, with no support from the institution in this regard. For one student, the preference for independent learning was more about expediency, where completing the course as quickly as possible was a higher priority than interaction with other students.
Also of interest was the reporting by three of the participants in this study that podcasting played an important role in their feeling of connectedness to the institution.
Connectedness and social networking sites
For the students in this study the institutional page serves a valuable support role. For all of the participants, being able to connect to the institution through the use of the ED UNE (student support services Facebook site) served a very useful purpose in keeping them up to date with administrative and technical aspects of their courses and programs. Additionally, some students also liked the ability provided by this 'official' Facebook site to get to know other students in their courses so that they could form informal learning communities. This ability to connect to other students is very important to some students. While residential schools are a key tool for students to get to know each other, not all students have the opportunity to participate in these activities. Further to this, as some courses and programs do not include residential schools and the ongoing inclusion of residential schools as part of distance learning offering is not necessarily guaranteed, institutional use of social networking tools such as Facebook can play a critical role in enabling students to link up with other like-minded people to create informal learning support groups.
This study provides some evidence that student-initiated social networking sites such as Facebook, MSN and Twitter provide opportunities to meet a complex range of social, academic and administrative needs, depending on individual preferences. This is similar to findings by Conole (2008) who found that students use a wide variety of social networking tools to interact with their peers. Nevertheless, this study also indicates that where the use of technology is well designed and the learning activities engaging and providing perceived value, these students appear to be very satisfied with their learning experience.
As a student studying for an undergraduate degree via the Internet, I did not feel that I missed out on social interaction due to the discussion forums, wikis, chat rooms as well as the few residential schools that I attended. I feel that I actually got to know some of the lecturers a lot better than if I sat in on their lectures in person. (Dorothy, notes, October, 2010).This is supported by Allen (2010), who suggests that engagement is the key to involving students.
For the participants in this study, non-compulsory informal student networks appear to be the most successful in terms of ongoing student participation in and benefit from participation in such groups. It may be that the ability to drop in and out of such tools at times that suit the learners might be more attractive to distance education students than tools such as Skype which require a more formal organisation. Or, it may be that different technologies support different learner needs for different circumstances.
Guri-Rozenblit (2009) expressed concerns that the careful quality processes applied to traditional distance learning materials are not necessarily applied to ICT based distance learning. Students in this study identified that consistency of presentation and accuracy of information of online content can sometimes be a problem, confirming Guri-Rozenblit's (2009) concerns.
Some students, while valuing the inclusion of podcasts in their courses and programs, found that in some cases these recordings overlooked the inclusion of distance learners as participants in these activities. This supports the contention that the majority of lecturers make little or no changes to their curriculum or teaching practice to include these technologies (Gosper et al., 2008; Preston et al, 2010).
Issues of quality also extend to online interactions:
The other thing that affects the quality of the technology and the technology learning experiences and the distance education for distance ed students is actually the enthusiasm of the lecturers to participate through the ICT that's available to them. Some lecturers and unit coordinators are enthusiastic in terms of working with students using ICT, online chat rooms, email, voice call, that sort of stuff. Some lecturers seem much more reticent to interact with students in that online forum. Some lecturers have a very relaxed and open feel to their discussion boards in their units. Some lecturers heavily regiment the discussions in their discussion boards (Ingrid, CWA, October, 2010).This comment highlights the concerns raised by Hughes (2009), amongst others, in relation to the digital divide that is becoming evident between students and teachers with respect to expectations students have about how technology might be used for teaching and learning, and the reality of how lecturers are using it.
The challenge of appropriate staff development for teaching and learning is a contentious one and one for which there is no easy answer in an higher education environment that still has a strong emphasis on research outputs. How universities respond to this could be critical to their ongoing role in providing education to students as more alternatives to participate in learning continue to emerge. As long as institutions lack the will to engage with and address these issues, as Ehlers & Schrekenberg (2010) currently suggest is the case, this will continue to be an issue. As Conole (2007, 2008) points out, more needs to be done to address the gap between rhetoric and practice.
As well as being an issue for staff, digital literacy can also be an issue for learners. While applications vary widely between courses and programs, the use of technology for teaching and learning is common for distance learners. However, as in other studies, the level of ICT competency varies widely across cohorts (Fitzgerald & Steele, 2008; Kennedy et al, 2009; Wood & Dodd, 2010), as well as amongst the co-learners who form part of the smaller learning communities these students participate in. This can have a negative impact on learners' experiences in online forums, particularly where they feel that other learners are not adding value to the activities.
Much is made of the opportunities of mobile learning for 'anywhere, anytime' learning (Traxler, 2009, 2011; Ramaprasad, 2009) and students are actively seeking to use their mobile technologies to support their learning (van Der Werf & Sabtier, 2009). However, in this instance, little attention has been paid to supporting mobility through integrating mobile learning into online learning materials and activities in any of the programs students participating in the study are enrolled in. This finding is reflected more broadly in the Australian context in the results of a recent survey which indicated that mobile learning activities at this stage remain fairly limited in the majority of institutions (ACODE, 2011). While the lack of support for mobile learning appears to be becoming an issue for some learners, there can also be problems with the ways in which the learning activities are integrated into a course. In some cases, participants reported that the learning design can limit students' mobility making it difficult to use materials in flexible ways.
While some tools such as podcasts are well suited to mobile learning and are considered to provide pedagogical benefits (Woo et al., 2009), in the context of this study, they are often inconsistently available for students, creating frustration and disappointment through their lack of availability.
As well as considering the development and implementation of policy around technology use to support distance learners' desire to be more mobile learners, consideration also should be given to redesigning learning activities and materials to better suit mobile learning environments and platforms. While there is considerable activity at a course level in relation to mobile learning, and some institutions are beginning to offer mobile access to LMS such as Blackboard, the recent ACODE (2011) survey showed few indications that institutions are recognising or responding to a society that is generally becoming more mobile (Traxler, 2010, 2011), and to the implications this has for teaching and learning.
Drawing on the results of this study, there are indications that enabling distance students' mobility through the design and integration of mobile learning could be considered an important consideration in providing a positive learning experience for distance learners, and one that is consistent with general perception that students want more flexible anywhere, anytime learning (Ally, 2009; Williams, 2011).
Log into Facebook and Skype to see what others are doing - we have a quiz for one of the units that we decide that we'll try and do together this afternoon .... (Christine, CWA data, Wednesday 27 October, 7.00 pm).Additionally, although all the participants found the technical support provided to be of a high standard, they were adept at 'trouble shooting' when help was not available, or seeking help from family members and friends to overcome technical issues. Students are also resourceful in utilising available technology to solve what they consider are limitations in their learning experience. As Ingrid (Ingrid, CWA, 28 October 2010) pointed out:
I've had one unit where a whole bunch of us actually moved the entire unit's discussion onto Facebook because the bulletin board was so heavily moderated.
Educational designers, for example, should take note of how Web 2.0 tools are being utilised by learners and give consideration to ways in which connectedness through both formal and informal avenues can be more effectively fostered for distance learners. Consideration also needs to be given to appropriate and effective capacity building for online learning for both staff and students. As pointed out previously (Anderson & Elloumi, 2008; Bates, 2005), while there is much hype around engagement and interaction with these tools, with the notable exception of two programs the participants in this study largely do not experience these types of activities in a consistent manner across their courses.
For senior administrators, quality processes and 'closing the loop' on feedback has emerged as significant for the total learning experience and for meeting individual student needs. While in this research students were active in providing their feedback to the institution they did not necessarily feel that the feedback was then acknowledged or acted upon. The participants felt that feedback mechanisms did not address their individual needs.
It doesn't always feel that our feedback is valued and actually considered and you know the individualness of our various voices it doesn't always feel that that's being taken into account (Ingrid, focus group discussion, November, 2010).This sentiment echoes Porter's (2008) view that many of the processes that collect the student voices overlook the individualness of students' voices and experiences as well as Jara and Mellor's (2010) findings that where data on distance learners' experiences is collected, institutions often failed to act on this information. Additionally, the need to consider how institutions can appropriately acknowledge and respond to the individualness of online learners is a further consideration of administrators. These are but three significant examples of the impact this work can have.
This study also represents the start of a new approach to address the gap in knowledge about distance learners and ICT and it is hoped it will provide new methods for others to incorporate into their own development of learning experiences for their students. The approach, particularly the researcher's innovation in Charting the Week's Activities (CWA) aimed to gather information that goes beyond generalisations about homogenous cohorts and rather provide an approach that others may find useful to gathering data to inform the distance learner experience in localised and globalised contexts.
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Traxler, J. (2010). Sustaining mobile learning and its institutions. International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning, 2(4), 8-66. http://www.igi-global.com/article/international-journal-mobile-blended-learning/49679
Traxler, J. (2011). Education and the impact of mobiles and mobility. In B. Bachmair, Medienbildung in neuen Kulturräumen (Media literacy in new cultural spaces). Weisbaden: VS-Verlag für Sozialwissenschaft, pp103-113.
Van Der Werf, M. & Sabatier, G. (2009). The College of 2020: Students. Chronicle Research Services. https://www.chronicle-store.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ID=78921&WG=0
Woo, K., Gosper, M., McNeill, M., Preston, G., Green, D. & Phillips, R. (2008). Web-based lecture technologies: Blurring the boundaries between face-to-face and distance learning. ALT-J, 16(2), 81-93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09687760802315895
Wood, D. & Dodd, A. (2010). Preparing students and community organisations for effective use of ICT through a service learning initiative. In Curriculum, technology & transformation for an unknown future. Proceedings ascilite Sydney 2010. http://ascilite.org.au/conferences/sydney10/procs/Wood-full.pdf
|Authors: Dr Trish Andrews, Senior Lecturer in Higher Education
Teaching and Educational Development Institute, The University of Queensland
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Web: http://www.tedi.uq.edu.au/staff/81
Professor Belinda Tynan, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Learning, Teaching and Quality)
University of Southern Queensland. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Please cite as: Andrews, T. & Tynan, B. (2012). Distance learners: Connected, mobile and resourceful individuals. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 28(4), 565-579. http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet28/andrews.html


text:
Abril Lamarque Christmas card, Between 1920 and 1945
Physical Details: Christmas card : 1 p. ; 21 x 14 cm.
Sender: Abril Lamarque (1904-1999)
Description: Christmas card designed by Abril Lamarque featuring a magician holding several removable playing cards in hand and instructing the reader to take a card.
Message printed on card verso: Season's greetings.
Forms part of: Abril Lamarque papers, 1883-2001, bulk, 1904-1999
Rights Statement: Current copyright status is undetermined
Citation: Abril Lamarque Christmas card, Between 1920 and 1945
Digital ID: 11120
- Holidays

subset: commoncrawl


text:
|Pin It
Colette Beignet Skirt Pattern
High waisted straight skirt provides a very flattering shape with paneled styling: not too loose or too tight around the hips, with a very fitted waist. Buttons up the front, has side seam pockets, and includes a self tie belt, which can be swapped out for your own narrow belts. Skirt has a faced waist, button placket and full lining.
Please see inset photo for fabric requirements


text:
Caught driving without car insurance?
Expect to be towed, fined under new policy
Drivers caught without insurance risk having their vehicle impounded under a policy that could begin within a month.
City Council members unanimously voted during Tuesday's meeting for a resolution that gives the Corpus Christi Police Department authority to firm up a towing policy. Councilman John Marez was absent from the vote.
The resolution, which by itself does not change the department's policy, was meant to give residents advanced warning that towing will begin soon, said Assistant Police Chief Ken Bung.
The department's command staff will spend the next few weeks developing a towing policy for drivers found without proof of insurance, Bung said. The policy probably will have some latitude for officers to use discretion in towing cars, with the most leniency going to first-time offenders or drivers with insurance coverage who aren't carrying an insurance card.
"We're not going to start grabbing up uninsured drivers' cars in wholesale," Bung said. "But if you've been caught once or twice before, it's likely your car will be impounded."
Officers will be able to check a Department of Public Safety database by January to find out who has insurance coverage, Bung said.
No additional council action is needed for the policy to take effect, and law enforcement agencies already have the authority under state law to seize cars from drivers lacking proof of insurance.
Police Cmdr. J.V. Garcia said the problem is out of hand in the city, especially in certain neighborhoods.
"When someone's in an accident around here and they see the other person has insurance, you can see the relief in their eyes," Garcia said. "It's like they just won the lotto."
The brief council discussion on the resolution brought up previous concerns about capacity at the city's impound lot, which is at 2600 Holly Road. The lot is partially paved and has lower capacity when it rains.
During dry weather the lot has a capacity of 540 vehicles, Bung said. Heavy rain cuts the number of available spaces to 375.
City Manager Skip Noe said a plan to pave that lot or another piece of city-owned land will be before the council next month.
As many as one in three drivers in Nueces County is without insurance, compared with one in five drivers lacking insurance statewide, Bung said. According to police citation numbers, 12,474 drivers were cited in Corpus Christi in 2006 for driving without proof of insurance.
According to Texas Transportation Code, driving without insurance is a misdemeanor punishable by a $175 to $350 fine on the first offense and $350 to $1,000 fine after the first offense. That does not include the fine to check a vehicle out of the impound lot, which begins at $133.30.
Authorities are able to auction impounded vehicles after going unclaimed for 20 days.
But the point of the resolution and ultimate change in policy is about safety, most council members said.
"People's lives can be ruined by uninsured drivers," said Councilwoman Melody Cooper.
Corpus Christi City Council actions
In other business Tuesday, council members:
- Approved on first reading minor extensions to the no-wake zone at Packery Channel, but did not extend it the entire length of the approval as several Island residents requested. A second and final reading on the ordinance is set for Nov. 20. At a future date, (which was not set Tuesday) the council also will be presented with information about putting speed limit signs where the no-wake zone was not extended and will hear from an erosion expert.
- Approved on first reading were changes to the parks code that include a new $200-per-unit park development fee for new subdivisions.
Three homebuilders told the council the proposed $200 fee was too high, and added to other increasing costs, it could cause problems for the homebuilding industry.
They hoped to reduce the fee to $50 per unit, which was recommended by a group reviewing the proposed code.
But council members said putting money to parks is something the community deserves and those in new subdivisions should bear more of that burden than spreading it out to all the taxpayers.
"It comes back to quality of life and what we want to accept," said Councilman Larry Elizondo. "If the parks we have today are acceptable for our kids, it's a sad day. I don't believe we are and I don't believe anyone in the room believes that."
A second and final reading on the recommended changes is set for Dec. 11.
-- Beth Wilson
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text:
National Police Week is this week
Upstate law enforcement agencies are recognizing their fallen comrades this week with ceremonies, meet-and-greets and a blood drive.
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Item not found!
Some lucky fella gets some sweet-sweet lovin' on a sidewalk sofa, with a woman who may, or may not be dead
Homeless need lovin' too.
By: smyle | Comments: 162 | Views: 11739 | Votes: 6 | Shared: 15
Location: San Antonio, Texas, United States | Leaked: 2 hours ago in WTF
This guy gets all the attention but none of the women
It's not a motorcycle honey, it's a chopper.
By: plokiju | Comments: 209 | Views: 7247 | Votes: 8 | Shared: 37
Leaked: 4 hours ago in WTF, Vehicles
Food line for milk powder
Socialism in Venezuela.
By: loc0lol | Comments: 124 | Views: 2899 | Votes: 0 | Shared: 7
Location: Venezuela | Leaked: 5 hours ago in WTF
Man Crushed Under Wheels of Truck
Lost balance. Drunk may be. Heat stroke can be possibilty as well ! RIP
By: PakaluPapito | Comments: 372 | Views: 24396 | Votes: 20 | Shared: 40
Location: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada | Leaked: 8 hours ago in WTF, Vehicles
Runaway Train smashes into Railway Station
Runaway train smashes into railway station after 13-year-old child apparently got into the controls. The incident occurred around 5:30 p.m July 21. The wild scene unfolded during the Tuesday after
By: jasonandrews2014 | Comments: 162 | Views: 20062 | Votes: 14 | Shared: 37
Location: Utica, New York, United States | Leaked: 8 hours ago in Other News, WTF, Vehicles
Body-Cam Video: Firefighters fighting a blaze on a roof
Body-Cam Video: Firefighters fighting a blaze on a roof
By: 2415elcapitan | Comments: 7 | Views: 808 | Votes: 3 | Shared: 0
Location: Victorville, California, United States | Leaked: 9 hours ago in Other News
Nicolas Cage
By: woparty | Comments: 55 | Views: 3286 | Votes: 5 | Shared: 2
Location: Russia | Leaked: 10 hours ago in WTF
Amazing Tornado Footage Caught On Police Dashcam
Woonsocket, SD - Here is the patrol car video of the tornado last week (7/23/15) north of Al's Corner on SD Hwy 37. The video is about 12 minutes long but worth the watch. **Annoying sound might b
By: JThom | Comments: 201 | Views: 22418 | Votes: 37 | Shared: 44
Location: Woonsocket, South Dakota, United States | Leaked: 11 hours ago in Other News, WTF
Guy prevents drunk getting hit by train
Waiting for a train at Mitcham station last night, saw this incredibly drunk guy wobbling on the edge of the platform shouting at another guy on the other side. Beanie guy stepped in to prevent a new
By: Your Daily Video | Comments: 259 | Views: 31766 | Votes: 23 | Shared: 50
Location: United States | Leaked: 14 hours ago in WTF
Swarms of Locusts Trigger State of Emergency in Southern Russia
Jul 29, 2015; 3:50 PM ET Thousands of locusts swarming the Russian village Achikulak in Stavropol krai are destroying crops. They are covering over 222,000 acres and leading officials to declare a sta
By: plokiju | Comments: 543 | Views: 61095 | Votes: 51 | Shared: 384
Location: Stavropol'skiy kray, Russia | Leaked: 1 day ago in WTF, Nature
Woman Yells 'Don't kill him!' In Colorado Courtroom Sentencing Phase
Centennial, CO - The second phase of the Aurora theater shooting sentencing was briefly interrupted Thursday afternoon when a woman in the courtroom began shouting.The woman, later identified as Deb
By: JThom | Comments: 517 | Views: 32025 | Votes: 11 | Shared: 370
Location: Centennial, Colorado, United States | Leaked: 15 hours ago in Other News, WTF
Lifeguard beaten by three people on Los Angeles beach
Three people were arrested after they were seen on video on social media apparently attacking a Los Angeles County lifeguard Thursday night on the Venice Beach Pier, the LAPD said. The motive for t
By: Your Daily Video | Comments: 750 | Views: 47079 | Votes: 35 | Shared: 149
Location: Los Angeles, California, United States | Leaked: 15 hours ago in Other News, WTF
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A Boston-Based Lifestyle Blog
Shindig inspiration.
Leave a comment Posted by domestikatedlife on December 6, 2012
I know that this is a major faux-paus, but while everyone is excited about decorating their tree, my mind zooms straight past Christmas and to my favorite holiday: New Years Eve. While my annual New Year's shindig may be a month away, I already have my wheels turning gathering inspiration for some fun little touches. Tinsel and drink toppers are on the DIY to-do-list, and I'm seriously eyeing those numbered rocks glasses — aren't they cute?
Sources: countdown glassware, curly-q DIY, caspari party crackers, tinsel drink stirrer, party hats
Entertaining caspari, countdown, drink stirrer, Entertaining, entertaining ideas, glassware, gold, holidays, metallic, new years, New Years Eve, NYE, party, party cracker, party hat, silver, Tinsel
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Advanced Search
Professional Development | News
Louisiana school districts have deployed performance evaluation software in response to new state requirements calling for annual observations that factor in students' academic growth.
Act 54 requires all teachers to be evaluated on an annual basis. Now, formal evaluations must be conducted every three years, and informal ones each year. Student academic growth counts for 50 percent of evaluations, with observations and peer reviews making up the other 50 percent. Previously, student growth was not considered as part of evaluations. In the 2009-2010 school year, 24 schools participated in phase one of the pilot program to gather feedback. In 2010-2011, 20 districts participated in order to refine the tools. This school year, all public schools in the state are participating in the last round of the pilot project. In 2012-2013, the evaluations begin in earnest, as the statute takes effect.
Cloud-based TalentEd Perform, developed by Netchemia, generates evaluation reports that meet Act 54 requirements. The software manages observations online, monitors the evaluation process, and tracks compliance.
Two districts that are using TalentEd Perform are St. James Parish Schools, with approximately 5,000 students, and Lafayette Parish School System, which teaches about 30,000.
"When we realized the amount of extra time that Act 54 would require of our school administrators, we knew that we would need to find a way to make the evaluation process as easy and efficient as we could for them," said Jane Kearley, Lafayette Parish director of human resources.
TalentEd Perform conforms to COMPASS, Louisiana's current evaluation model, and also offers customizable evaluation forms for use with rubrics already in use at individual districts.
Additional features include:
"Its ease of use, along with its ability to be a comprehensive online process for our administrators, is what sold us on this system," added Kearley.
For more information, visit the Netchemia Web site.
About the Author
Tim Sohn is a 10-year veteran of the news business, having served in capacities from reporter to editor-in-chief of a variety of publications including Web sites, daily and weekly newspapers, consumer and trade magazines, and wire services. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com and followed on Twitter @editortim.
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Paul VI Catholic School wanted to develop a laptop program that would equip its students and teachers with the right tools to increase classroom learning, prepare their students for college, and to develop the 21st Century skill sets required by today's employers. Download this White Paper to learn about their comprehensive selection process and how they are using their new laptops to revolutionize the learning process.
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text:
The Altman 1000Q Follow Spot is a ruggedly constructed medium-throw 1000 watt, 208-240V AC theatre fixture. The 1000Q produces a narrow, hard or soft edged beam. With easy to use controls mounted at the rear of the fixture, the beam can be adjusted from spot to flood at any distance. The beam may be further attenuated by using the integral iris for spot size adjustment and the framing shutters for top and bottom edge framing in the flood focus position. The 1000Q can be used in any application where manual control of a lighting beam is required to follow a performer and to vary beam size, quality and color.
At tightest spot (with Iris), it throws a beam of light 40 footcandles 2 feet in diameter from 100 feet.
At full flood, it throws a beam 22 footcandles 25 feet in diameter from 100 feet.
Vertical tilt of 40° up, 60° down with positive locking knob.
Pans 360° on included stand.
- Hinged top access door for easy bulb and reflector replacement.
- Front lens travels on zinc plated steel channels.
- Built-in 18 leaf stainless steel iris is controlled from rear of unit with heat resistant knob.
- Low noise fan cooled.
- 6 Frame color changer allows single or multiple colors to be inserted into beam path.
- Instantaneous blackout douser.


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Open AccessThis article is
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- freely available
- re-usable
Energies 2009, 2(4), 957-975; doi:10.3390/en20400957
Development of an Inclined Plate Extractor-Separator for Immiscible Liquids
Received: 21 September 2009 / Accepted: 20 October 2009 / Published: 27 October 2009
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biofuels: Energy and Fuels, Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology and Environmental Sciences)
Download PDF [920 KB, uploaded 17 March 2015]
AbstractA new inclined plates extractor-separator is developed for operation with immiscible liquids in which extraction and separation is achieved in one unit contrary to mixer settlers. The inclined plates extractor-separator combines turbulent jets for contacting, and an inclined plate for separation of the two phases. The inclined plates extractor-separator does not have any moving part inside the vessel. This feature makes it free from the mechanical problems associated with conventional apparatus. The proposed inclined plates extractor-separator was operated in batch mode under various operating conditions to evaluate its performance on the basis of extraction efficiency. Water (light phase) was used as solvent to extract ethyl acetate from a heavy phase pool of tetrachloroethylene and ethyl acetate. The ethyl acetate content was analysed using chromatography. A hydrodynamic study was carried out using high speed photography to understand the mechanisms occurring during mass transfer across the two phases. Furthermore, it was found that the proposed inclined plate extractor-separator reduces the overall operating time by 67% and consumes only 13% of the power in comparison to a mixer-settler. A hydraulic power consumption comparison with a mixer settler and a gullwing extractor-separator is also presented.
Keywords: extraction; separation; chromatography; hydraulic power; batch mode; hydrodynamic
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Share & Cite This Article
MDPI and ACS Style
Munir, S.; Daood, S.S.; Ul Hassan Rizvi, S.Z.; Butt, M.A. Development of an Inclined Plate Extractor-Separator for Immiscible Liquids. Energies 2009, 2, 957-975.View more citation formats
AMA Style
Munir S, Daood SS, Ul Hassan Rizvi SZ, Butt MA. Development of an Inclined Plate Extractor-Separator for Immiscible Liquids. Energies. 2009; 2(4):957-975.Chicago/Turabian Style
Munir, Shahid; Daood, Syed S.; Ul Hassan Rizvi, Syed Z.; Butt, Muhammad A. 2009. "Development of an Inclined Plate Extractor-Separator for Immiscible Liquids." Energies 2, no. 4: 957-975.
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MoSync makes it easy to scan for nearby devices and connect to them using Bluetooth. Once you have connected to your device, you will be able to send your application to it over Bluetooth.
To use the MoSync Send to Device service:
Click the Select Target Device icon (or select Scan for Device from that icon's drop-down menu):
The transport selection dialog will appear.
Select Bluetooth. If you have correctly configured your Bluetooth stack, MoSync will start a search for all discoverable Bluetooth devices in range and display the ones that it finds:
Highlight the device that you want to send your application to and click OK.
The MoSync IDE will now check that the selected device has the OBEX service available for binary transfers (this service makes it possible for MoSync to send the application directly to the device).
When the OBEX service is detected, the Select Preferred Profile window will appear:
Select the MoSync profile you want to associate with the target device. Usually, this will be the profile for the target device, e.g., an Android profile for the HTC Wildfire S that was detected in the above screenshots. However, if there is no suitable profile for your device, you can choose another compatible profile. Click OK to associate the chosen device profile with the target device.
When the OBEX service is detected, MoSync automatically completes the device selection by associating the device profile currently selected in the project with the target device. For more about this association, including how to check its current setting and how to change it, see Sending to a Device.
MoSync does not support sending via Bluetooth on Mac OS X 10.8 or higher.
We have noted some issues with the pairing of Windows Mobile devices to Windows computers.
The first issue seems to happen if the device has been previously paired with the computer outside of MoSync. If you are having problems sending application packages files from the MoSync SDK to a Windows Mobile bluetooth device, try unpairing the device in the Windows Bluetooth Device Manager or its equivalent, and then searching for it again in the MoSync SDK.
The second issue relates to Windows Active Sync and/or HTC Active Sync. These applications can cause problems when trying to connect Windows Mobile devices to the computer via MoSync and Bluetooth. Try disabling Active Sync if you are experiencing connection or file transfer issues.


text:
Viewers: in countries Watching now:
Creating a successful newsletter means spending less time on repetitive tasks and more time creating the design. In Designing a Newsletter, graphic designer and Adobe Certified Instructor Nigel French teaches effective design and production techniques. He uses Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Bridge to create an eight-page newsletter that's eye-catching and impactful. Nigel establishes an efficient workflow using multiple programs, examines the aesthetics of integrating text with images, and teaches best practices for outputting a final document. Exercise files accompany the course.
Okay, since we last spoke, I've gone and apply the styles to the appropriate pieces of text. I also fixed a couple of things that I noticed that were problems. Let me just point those out to you. Here I had formally made this a three- column layout menu and it should be a four-column layout. So I fixed that and where we come to work on these sections, the calendar and the review section, I'm going to show you how these were done and how we can really speed up the formatting of sections like this. But what we want to do next is apply some Text Wraps to the images. If I come to my Layers panel and turn on my Pictures layer, we have several images, the review images being a case in point, that need a Text Wrap that correctly don't have them.
So here is the approach I'm going to take to make sure that they do. First of all, turn off my Guides by pressing W and I'll unlock my pictures layer and lock my text layer. Let's just zoom in on one of these. Now I can select that picture without any problem because the text layer, which is actually on top of it, is locked. And I'll then open my Text Wrap panel, which is over here as part of my workspace. If you don't have it as part of yours, then you will find it under the Window menu.
And the Text Wrap option I want for a picture like this, a rectangular image, is to wrap around the bounding box. I don't want to set the offset amount, so I would like to make that equal on all four sides. So I'm going to make sure that the chain is unbroken. But then I want the bottom offset to be a bit less. So I'm going to now break it and come and change just the bottom offset to make those 6 points. Now I have done that for one, I want that same treatment with the same offset values applied to the other images in the Review section, and some images else where as well. So I'm going to save this as an Object Style. New Object Style and I'll call this text wrap. Apply Style to Selection is checked, and Text Wrap & Other is checked so it's picking up those formats that we were applied to that one instance. I'll click OK, and now I can zoom out. I can make a selection of all of those pictures and apply the Text Wrap Object Style to them.
Now let's go and see where else do we need a Text Wrap? Well, we need one right here, on a canine friend. However, the Object style that we just made won't be appropriate here, because we need it to wrap around the object shape. So for this one, since this is the only instance of such a Text Wrap, I'm going to just do this one as a single instance. So I'll select the image, and we want wrap around object shape. And again, I'm going to start out with an offset amount of 12 points. That's going to be all the way around that path. All right, that looks good. Here is one of our text wrap objects styles, and here page 1 is another.
Now sometimes applying a Text Wrap, this being a case in point, it may create a problem as with this headline, because the Text Wrap is repelling this headline. So we don't want that to happen. So I'm going to now choose my Layers panel, so that I can unlock the text layer and select this text frame, and then go to my Object menu > Text Frame Options > Ignore Text Wrap. And we are in good shape now for the next step.
There are currently no FAQs about Designing a Newsletter.
Access exercise files from a button right under the course name.
Search within course videos and transcripts, and jump right to the results.
Remove icons showing you already watched videos if you want to start over.
Make the video wide, narrow, full-screen, or pop the player out of the page into its own window.
Click on text in the transcript to jump to that spot in the video. As the video plays, the relevant spot in the transcript will be highlighted.


text:
Memories of Mickey
O, Brave Little One, in my heart forever/
Our souls linked, never to be apart.
You were the most regal of cats, true to your heritage,
Marching to your own drummer, head and tail held high...
the essence of dignity.
But your playful side was ever on call! Always ready to tackle a play mouse...or a real one...
or leap after a dangling feather on a string.!
And, of course, you were the quintessential athlete,
With the balance and agility of a tight-rope walker,
the strength of a pole-vaulter,
and the speed of a champion sprinter.
All of this...without making a sound!
Sounds, however, you could and did make
As you talked to me, employing your extensive vocabulary,
Successfully conveying your thoughts and emotions
to my wonder and delight.
We had many conversations, you and I,
and not all of them aloud.
Perhaps the silent ones were the best ones.
You could speak volumes with your eyes...and your tail..
But most of all, with your eyes...
Those spectacular eyes...luminous, intelligent, inquisitive, changeable, mysterious...mirror of your soul.
You and I taught each other about love and trust,
and about the many ways we are alike.
Although our minds perceived the world in different ways...
I spoke only English, and you spoke only "cat".../
we understood each other perfectly.
I am sorry we could not have had more years together here on earth...
but thirteen is quite alot.
So, farewell, my Little One,
I miss your physical presence so very much, but our souls shall
be together always.
Love, Your Mom, Sally
Please also visit Jenny.
Mickey's People Parent(s), Sally, would appreciate knowing you have visited their Mickey's Memorial Residency.
Give a gift renewal of Mickey's residency
(by Credit Card, or PayPal)
|Rainbow Bridge Guardian Area
|Frequently Asked Questions About Caring for a Pet Memorial
Rainbow Bridge was inspired by and is dedicated to FiFi
Visit the Human side of Rainbow Bridge - BelovedHearts.com
Visit the Human side of Rainbow Bridge - BelovedHearts.com


text:
This workshop for schools has curriculum links suitable for students in years 3 and 4 (KS2).
Pre-visit information and curriculum links PDF (202.1 KB)
Please note that separate Cutting Edge workshops are held for family audiences.
Find out about the Cutting Edge workshop for families
Investigate how teeth are related to diet in this interactive workshop.
Pupils will:
Learning themes: teeth and eating, using observations to draw conclusions, using scientific knowledge and understanding to explain observations; making comparisons and identifying associations.
Duration: 50 minutes
Capacity: 32 students
Go to the events calendar to find forthcoming dates
Booking: book in advance by calling the Museum booking team on +44 (0)20 7942 5555.
Book all school activities in advance on +44 (0)20 7942 5555. Lines are open Monday-Friday from 8.30-16.00 during term time and 10.00-13.00 in the holidays.


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FYI 2/3 full is not "just short" of sold out. By my math, that means 500+ empty seats. Unfortunate, because Mr. Sedaris is immensely talented. Of course there is a recession on and theater tickets don't necessarily fit into tight budgets these days.
Yep. Apparently people who are end-time predictors don't read the same Bible they claim to follow. (It took me less than 10 seconds to find the following passages.)
"But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." --Matthew 24:35-37 NIV
"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour." --Matthew 25:13 NIV
"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come." --Mark 13:31-33 NIV
Rapture and second-coming predictions are as old as Christianity itself. This latest version doesn't deserve the effort it took for Ms. Hart to type this piece up.
An article about something like jack-o-lantern carving techniques would have been more worth her time, effort, and the Mlive space.
Gruel? That's a bit Dickensian, don't you think?
While cash assistance should never be used as a lifestyle, I question the decision to kick people off now when there are no jobs for these people to work. I can't imagine any of the heads of these families--mainly single mothers, according to your piece, Megan--are well-educated and have a good resume.
The same people who want to kick single mothers off welfare are often the folks who want to ban abortion for any of these women should they have another unwanted pregnancy (am I the only one who sees the hypocrisy in that?) and who believe that cutting the tax rate of the rich will magically create enough jobs for these people to be self-supporting.
Sure, the "kick them off" folks can stand there and beat their breasts and say that these women should never have had children, but it's a little too late now for that, isn't it? Educated, well-employed women are the ones who delay child-bearing, so the window of opportunity to prevent these poor, single-mother families is past.
Better k-12 education, easy access to free or very cheap birth control (including abortion) and accompanying education, and more available tuition assistance BEFORE a young women goes down the road of single motherhood would reduce this problem, but of course we don't want to spend money on that. Better to attempt to lock the barn door long after the horse has run away by shaking fingers and tsk-tsking that these women are not celibate.
If there were more education for young MEN they would be in a position to properly support their children, too. You can't be on welfare without the father of your children being in the Friend of the Court payer system. If the fathers could pay, welfare wouldn't be. Child support is deducted from state payments.
Our choice in this society is to properly subsidize education now or welfare later, except now we are going to be doing neither.
Good luck to the children. They're going to need it. How they're going to grow up and magically break out of is lifestyle without a lot of financial help is beyond me.
There is no reason to expect a different result with the same management who has been losing money for years. There are only two possibilities here: either Mr. Austin is not the person to lead the organization or Summer Cel has reached the end of its normal life-cycle and needs to be re-invented or scrapped.
If the solution is re-invention, we are back to the potential solution of replacing the leadership.
Mob mentality is in play here, meaning a lot, if not most, of the rioters are doing it simply because others are doing it and they decide to join in for no reason other than to not be left out. "They're all taking stuff out of that store, I want some stuff too and since everyone else is doing it, it's OK!"
I bet you're not going to find any rioters who are doing it out of some kind of activism.
Jesus was not anti-woman, but of course Jesus gets conveniently ignored when his actual teachings depart from the policies of a church or male-dominated societal norms.
There are many instances of the teachings of Jesus being contradictory to the Old Testament practices. The story where the disciples are gathering grain on a sabbath explains that Jesus had a different way of looking at things than the Jewish law.
One of the most illustrative stories about what Jesus believed was his encounter with the woman at the well. In asking her for water, he validated her worth in both her ethnicity and her sex. Jesus is portrayed as regularly accepting all of society's "lesser" or "outcasts" as equals. He was not about gender discrimination.
I'm sure you understand how people pick and choose Bible passages to suit their own wishes, desires, and sensibilities. After Jesus, patriarchal church leaders twisted his message of equality to suit their male-dominated sensibilities. Women went from equal to subordinate, and Paul was no help here. Whatever he saw on the road to Damascus, I can guarantee you that it wasn't a Jesus who wanted women to be subordinate, regardless of what he may have written later.
My belief is that the Bible was written by fallible men, not by the infallible hand of God, and needs to be viewed as such. Every word of it is not literally true.
I believe that the stories about the inclusiveness and acceptance of all people by Jesus may or may not have happened as later described, but are so consistent and so opposite of the prevailing attitudes of his day that they give you a window into what he was about. And what he was about was the same regardless of if you believe he was the immortal Son of God, a prophet, or a plain, human, travelling preacher who had amazing understanding and insight.
Quibbling over the meanings of Old Testament passages is like arguing over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.
At first I thought Tony Tague was going after drunk chickens, or something. ROFL! Dude! Spell-check is no substitute for knowledge of the English language if you want to write professionally.
"It seems we are forever being punished because of Eve."
I had to check my calendar when I read this. Yep, it's 2011. There is no rule, written or otherwise, which decrees that household chores are the exclusive domain of women. That strikes me as 1950s thinking.
If you have the means, you can hire help to do these chores. There are also ways to "downsize" this sort of work with lifestyle changes. You can buy a bench that's already painted. You can get rid of a long-haired dog and get a short haired one or none at all--eliminate the "accidents!" Hamsters and fish are much easier to care for. You can buy clothes that don't need ironing or take dress shirts to the cleaners to be cleaned and pressed.
You can also simply be content with leaving the fridge grunge until after summer is over.
And it's nice to volunteer to do a booklet for your husband, but if you don't have the time you can certainly bounce the ball back to him and let him do his own booklet, or let the class not have one if an actual class member can't do it.
If you voluntarily choose to do these many chores, they'll always be there. You always have a choice. These things are not imposed on you from the outside because you are a woman. You CHOOSE to do them by the way you choose to configure your life, which you can always change if it doesn't suit you.
The founders were Enlightment guys. Deists, mostly. (Suggestion: study the Enlightment period. It will put the founding of the US into context for you.)
Lucky for us they were NOT fundamentalist Christians of any stripe.
She shoots... she scores!
Really good one today, Megan. :)
PLEASE stop printing rumors. Rumors are not news. They are rumors. Rumors are often not true. You realize how bad the Chronicle looks for doing that, yes? What ever happened to fact-checking? If the Chronicle could not confirm it, it should never have gone up as a news story in the first place.
This isn't any kind of news. Does the Chronicle seriously want to write a story about a rumor? And even if this rumor were true and you had some kid of proof that Kid Rock was in a bar, it's still not any kind of news. When entertainers want press coverage, they arrange it. If they just want to go to a bar, they go to a bar, the same as plumbers and lawyers and teachers and construction workers. ANYONE privately sitting in a bar and not otherwise doing something newsworthy is not news.
OK, fine, there would be an exception for Elvis.
A now-former resident of Tiffany Woods told me a couple of days ago that one reason for leaving was that they are now taking Section 8 residents and the complex has started to visibly deteriorate as a result. I've also heard that Lakecrest is accepting former prisoners in transition. If these facts are true, Roosevelt Park is in trouble and is going to need to greatly increase their police force. When people don't pay their own rent, they mistreat property and behave accordingly. I don't even have to comment on the prisoners.
Lakecrest has already been put on notice once by Roosevelt Park because they don't perform proper maintenance. The city should conduct regular, rigorous inspections of the property AND Tiffany Woods and not play games about it. If they're in code violation, shut them down. When a property deteriorates to the point where working, paying residents won't live there, Section 8 and transitioning prisoners becomes a way to keep the income stream.
Churches have a finite set of resources. They often find themselves struggling to pay the utility bills and maintain their facilities. Most families headed by married parents have two parents who work, and married couples are not a majority of households. Money is tight for many folks, especially the single parents, and time available for volunteering is nearly nonexistent.
Having said that, there is much church-supported good being done in Muskegon. (Mission For Area People comes to mind instantly, as does the Family Promise program.) But Megan, how much time and money is left over for secular giving and doing?
One of your colleagues (I forget which) once suggested that churches should pick up the slack for affordable local daycare. My reply was to bring up the mountain of resources needed to staff a licensed daycare and meet the legal requirements, and ask why the assumption was that churches had that much money and that many resources sitting unused?
I don't know which church you attend, but you might like to schedule a meeting with the person who handles the finances and ask them just how tight the budget actually is, and how many active volunteers are available. I bet it's not enough in either case to take on secular projects.
Oh, and my favorite religious bumper sticker? "My Karma Ran Over Your Dogma"
I could really use a newer car. I'd be happy to take one from someone who is expecting to be raptured. I'm good at maintenance, and I promise to regularly take it over to Van's for an oil change during the Tribulation. If you've got a Prius you'd like to pass on, I'd especially be happy to properly care for that in your absence. I do need to have the title signed over to me PRIOR to R-day, however.
Thanks, LSG
Megan, the trouble with expecting abstinence before marriage is that in today's society marriage takes place at 25-30 years of age when puberty happens at 12. Throughout most of human history, marriage took place much earlier.
The abstinence-only crowd is fighting the fact of human biology. Regardless of your belief in God, it's a fact that we are physically formed to have a sex drive that kicks in at puberty. If God made us, then God made us this way. Certainly it's an individual decision to engage in sex, but as you stated, teenagers aren't always good at decision making and human biology is hard-wired to reproduce itself.
What parents can do is acknowledge reality, and have a close, open relationship with children beginning at a young age. Often teens engage in sex with rebellion as a factor in that decision. Rebellion is often a response to parenting that is too authoritarian.
You can't stop older teens from having sex if they want to. You can't pretend they won't be temped to have sex. What you can do is acknowledge that sex is one of the greatest things there is, but there are risks and reasons to delay for a bit. Respect that the decision to have sex is fully theirs. Really, it is. If you have a close relationship with your teen they will listen to you. Try tossing the ball of decision into their court, where it already is, but perhaps have them view some clinical photos of STDs. If you think or know the teen is already having sex, make sure they know how to properly use a condom. Yes, squeamish parents need to get over themselves for the purpose of keeping their kids safe.
Parents are often in such denial about teens and sex simply because they don't want to face the truth. The denial serves no one.
This is a well-written explanation of some reasons why traditional Christian churches do not meet the spiritual needs of everyone. If C3 is meeting the spiritual and community needs of its members, it doesn't matter who outside their congregation approves or disapproves of their beliefs, teachings, or approach to worship.
HOWEVER... the writer above calls Ian Lawton a "prophet." I've been to services at C3. Mr. (Rev? Pastor?) Lawton is a spiritually insightful guy, but the word "prophet" is misused here. The word generally means someone who has supernatural true visions of the future and/or special spiritual messages from a divine power beyond that of "regular" people. If one starts tossing around words like "prophet" without disclaimer, it might discredit the rest of the message because it's such an extreme thing to say.
Pastor Lawton is a regular guy trying a different (in ways refreshing) approach to leading a religious congregation. Anyone ready to follow him into the desert for 40 days of fasting needs to get a reality check just as much as those who proclaim that he's functioning out of the 7th level of Hell.
If you think you'd like inclusiveness, go to C3. If you want traditional Christianity, don't go. Either way, this is not a spiritual war between good and evil. It's just an earthly personal choice.


text:
Ford Motor is notorious for its executive infighting and jealous fiefdoms. My former Forbes colleague, Jerry Flint, who died Aug. 7, once compared Ford with Renaissance Italy, saying it was run by feudal lords like the Duke of Styling and the Duke of Marketing. "And, as with Renaissance Italy," he wrote, "corporate politics are swift-paced and lethal."
All true, of course. But in the last few years, chief executive Alan Mulally, an outsider, somehow managed to tamp down the usual backbiting and get everybody at Ford rowing in the same direction. Thus, Ford avoided going over the same waterfall that claimed General Motors and Chrysler in 2009.
The best example of this new attitude is the way Ford has been tackling its enormous debt problem (the downside of not going bankrupt). While GM is nearly debt-free, Ford is in hock up to its ears: $27 billion in debt, and interest payments of nearly $2 billion a year—twice as much as GM.
For decades, Ford, like most companies, viewed managing the balance sheet as the chief financial officer's responsibility and certainly not a concern of those who ran engineering, manufacturing or sales. "It was a bit of a black box to everybody," admits Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas.
But along came Lewis Booth, who was named chief financial officer in 2008, after 30 years running Ford operations in Europe and Asia. An unsung hero in Ford's turnaround, Booth not only preserved Ford's liquidity through the crisis and kept the debt collectors at bay, he convinced turf-conscious executives to accept responsibility for fixing the balance sheet. "People could have thought that taking on more debt was our salvation," said Booth. "But we tried to show that there's only so much debt that's sustainable."
The secret to winning his colleagues' cooperation was giving them a tangible goal to rally around: returning Ford's junk-level credit rating to investment grade. He explained the different ratings that credit agencies use, and the metrics for achieving each rating, and then overlaid those metrics with Ford's business plan to show how the two were linked. A better credit rating would reduce the cost of borrowing for Ford and its credit arm, Ford Motor Credit, making it less expensive for dealers and consumers to finance their cars. Booth also showed how Ford's huge interest payments—equal to $400 per car—put the company's vehicles at a cost disadvantage. "It was a wonderful eye opener," said Fields. "Ah, OK, we get it. We understand how the things we do every day to improve our operation are related to the corporate good."
Booth's unprecedented transparency about the company's finances inspired Fields and the other operating executives to find $1 billion in extra cost cuts, beyond the $4 billion already planned. "As long as they can continue improving the business, I can pay off the debt," Booth said. "But if the business isn't making money, and generating positive cash flow, there isn't much the finance team can do."
Last quarter, Ford paid down $7 billion in debt, reducing its annualized interest by more than $470 million.
Next, they'll be calling the Liverpool-born Booth the Duke of Profit.