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Economics Departments, Institutes and Research Centers in the World
Social Policy Research Centre
UNSW (Australia)Location: Sydney, Australia
Homepage: http://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/
Phone: +61 2 9385 3833
Fax: +61 2 9385 1049
Postal: Sydney 2052
Handle: RePEc:edi:spnswau
Areas or Functions: Public Policy
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text: Who would vote for an immoral, licentious and unethical lying muslim? obama in another one of his lies stated that he had an uncle that was among the first soldiers to go into Auschwitz concentration camp. See the link below for proof. ObamaNEVERhad an uncle in the US Army. The Russians were the first in Auschwitz. Obama lied 7 times in 2 minutes on film, oboma caught lying several times in just the last year alone continues to defile and stiuk up the white house. No suprise obama will lie and do anything for a vote given his history. Obama holdes the record for lies from the white house. Who would vote for this type of person, dumbocrats. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg9hIB66x9M&NR=1 IMPEACH THE ILLEGAL ALIEN LYING MUSLIM IN THE WHITE HOUSE!!!!!

subset: commoncrawl


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A Report by the People For the American Way Foundation
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- The Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) Program
- The Milwaukee Voucher Program
- Program Evaluation
- Conclusion
- Endnotes
Parents, civic leaders, educators and others throughout Wisconsin have raised serious concerns about the adequacy and equity of education funding in Governor McCallum's proposed budget for the 2001-03 biennium. Perhaps nowhere are the problems in the Governor's budget more clearly revealed than in the provisions that cut back SAGE—a popular and successful statewide class size reduction program for poor children—but continue to increase funding for the Milwaukee private school voucher program. In fact, the budget shortfall for SAGE—$31.6 million—is about the same as the increase in funding for Milwaukee's private school vouchers—at $27.5 million. In effect, the cuts to this statewide public school program help fund private school vouchers in a single district. Indeed, even eliminating extra spending for the voucher program beyond the cost of private school tuition could be more than enough to restore the cutbacks in SAGE funding.
This analysis focuses on two aspects of the Governor's budget proposal with respect to SAGE and the Milwaukee voucher program: funding and program evaluation. The budget's decreased commitment to SAGE, as opposed to fully funding the voucher program, parallels the Governor's academic evaluation plan. The quality of SAGE (along with other public school) assessments are seriously at risk as a result of the Governor's proposed creation of a politically-appointed assessment board. Even worse, the voucher program would retain its special status as a publicly-funded state program with virtually no academic accountability, no program evaluation component and no student testing requirements. Both with respect to funding and evaluation of SAGE and vouchers, the Governor's budget would seriously harm education for many Wisconsin students.
The Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) Program
SAGE is a statewide program that enjoys strong bipartisan support and has demonstrated success in improving academic performance for low-income and minority students. Started in 1996 and targeted to low-income students in grades K-3, SAGE reduces class sizes to a 15:1 ratio. K-1 classes are reduced in year one, K-2 in year two, and K-3 in years 3-5. In the program's first year, school districts possessing one school with at least a 50% student poverty rate were eligible to apply for SAGE funding for that school or any school in the district with a poverty rate of at least 30 percent. Since then, the program has expanded so that almost any school was able to apply in the 2000-01 school year.
The funding mechanism, however, remains the same: funding is calculated on the number of low-income students in the school for grades K-3. SAGE provides participating schools with $2,000 per low-income student to reduce classes to 15 pupils per teacher and requires participating schools to hold extended hours and provide community services to district residents. SAGE program guidelines also require the development of rigorous curriculum and staff development, and assessment systems. Approximately 60,000 students statewide participate in SAGE.
In a recent evaluation involving SAGE and comparison schools, 29 of the top 30 classrooms in terms of student achievement in language arts, reading and math were SAGE classrooms. The achievement gap in language arts and math between African American and white first grade students was reduced in SAGE classrooms while it increased in comparison schools. African American second and third grade students in SAGE schools scored higher on every test than did African American students in the comparison schools.
These findings are consistent with what has been learned from a comparable Tennessee class size reduction experiment, STAR. Researchers there have followed the progress of students who were in small K-3 classes in 1985-89, and then returned to regular-sized classes, compared with students in regular-sized classes all the way from K-12. Not only did those who were in small classes in K-3 outperform their peers in large classes during those years, but even afterwards they continued to outpace them in math, reading and science through 8th grade—and the gap between the small and regular-class test results increased as time went on as well. In high school, those who had been in small K-3 classes had lower retention rates and were more likely to graduate and take advanced math and English courses, even while maintaining higher GPAs. STAR project small-class students were also more likely to take college entrance exams than their regular-class peers. Consistently, too, all of these benefits are even more evident for minority and disadvantaged students. For example, the black/white gap in the probability of taking the ACT or SAT test for college entrance was cut in half for those who had been in small classes, and ACT scores themselves for blacks who had been in small classes were notably higher than for blacks who had been in large classes.
The Milwaukee Voucher Program
The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, started in 1990, is the nation's first publicly-funded voucher program. Also designed to target low-income students—originally defined as those whose family income did not exceed 175% of the poverty rate—the program provides state taxpayer funds to be used for tuition at private and religious schools in Milwaukee. Originally funded entirely through Milwaukee's portion of general school state aid, half the program is now funded by a reduction in state aid to the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), and the other half through a reduction in general state aid to Wisconsin's other 425 school districts. For the 2001-02 school year, this amounts to a $29.3 million reduction for MPS and $29.3 million reduction for Wisconsin's 425 other districts.
Unlike the SAGE program, the Milwaukee voucher program has not been evaluated since 1995, when the Legislature eliminated the academic evaluation requirement for the program. Instead, the Legislature provided only for a single audit by the Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau (WLAB) in the year 2000. In this audit, the state auditor specifically noted that "Some hopes for the program—most notably, that it would increase participating students' academic achievement—cannot be documented, largely because uniform testing is not required in participating schools." The audit also pointed out its inability to ascertain the progress of special education students in the voucher schools due to the fact that voucher schools are not required to identify and report students with special needs.
The state superintendent of education expressed similar concerns regarding the voucher program's lack of accountability in his response to the WLAB audit: "We believe there is a compelling public interest in evaluating the educational outcomes of the program and reporting those outcomes to the legislature and the parents who are considering the program for their children. Requiring participating Choice schools to administer the state's standardized tests to Choice pupils would provide the schools with a useful tool to measure individual student achievement as well as provide legislators and others with valuable comparative information about individual MPCP [voucher] schools and the Milwaukee Public Schools." Noting that Wisconsin has made a considerable investment in assessment, he stated that: "The department believes this same level of accountability should be required of private schools participating in the Choice program. I believe the legislature should address this issue in future deliberations about the program."
Prior to the legislature's elimination of the academic evaluation in 1995, the state had commissioned Professor John Witte at the University of Wisconsin at Madison to direct the evaluation of the Milwaukee voucher program. Witte found no appreciable academic gains for students in the voucher program in his five-year evaluation. Pro-voucher researcher Paul Peterson reevaluated Witte's findings and claimed to find a statistically significant gain for voucher students in the third and fourth years of the program, an assessment disputed by many in the research community, who explained that by the third year the control and experimental groups were not comparable, and that by the third year those who remained were an academically superior subset, not a random sample. A third study by Princeton researcher Cecilia Rouse corroborated Witte's findings in that she found no differences between MPS and voucher reading gains, but did find a small increase in voucher math achievement. One of her most interesting (and least discussed) findings is that, controlling for student characteristic variables, Milwaukee public schools that have small class sizes and additional state funding that serve low-income populations keep pace with voucher schools in math gains and substantially outpace them in reading.
Despite the lack of conclusive evidence about the academic value of the voucher program, and the recommendation of the state's own superintendent of education, the lack of voucher program evaluation would not change under the Governor's proposed budget. As discussed further below, the Governor would merely provide private schools with the option of participating in tests that public schools must take. If private schools choose to do so, the state would administer and grade tests.
Program Evaluation
The Governor's budget proposes major revisions with regard to academic evaluation. Under current law the Department of Public Instruction is responsible for evaluating all schools (including the SAGE program), identifying low-performing schools, and administering pupil assessments. The Governor's budget creates a new "Board on Education Evaluation and Accountability" under the Department of Administration. This removes all assessment and academic evaluation from the Department of Public Instruction. This Board would not only be responsible for evaluating the SAGE program but would also administer the pupil assessment program for the entire state.
Interestingly, the five-member board would be appointed by the Governor, and would not require Senate confirmation. Even more disturbing for a Board whose primary purpose is to evaluate academic achievement, only one member of the Board would be required to have any experience in education evaluation and assessment.
By contrast, the Board would have no evaluative authority over the voucher program. The Board would be required to provide assessments to Milwaukee's private voucher schools only if those schools choose to administer state assessments, but may not require private schools to do so. In fact, the Board is specifically prohibited from disclosing the results of any exams administered by private voucher schools except in the aggregate. In other words, the Board may not release school-level test scores for private schools, although all public school scores are a matter of public record. Given that voucher advocates tout vouchers as a market-based reform, this prohibition against the release of test scores begs the question: if a market-based reform like vouchers is based on parental satisfaction and the ability to evaluate and choose a product based on performance, doesn't the prohibition on publicizing test scores directly contradict the stated intent of the program?
As has been the case since 1995 when the Legislature eliminated the academic evaluation component of the voucher program, the Governor's budget proposal allows the voucher program to continue without any evaluation. In fact, the Board is only authorized to do a study of the voucher program if the Board receives sufficient funds from private sources to do so. Beyond the question as to whether it is appropriate for a state to base program assessment on the availability of private funding, Wisconsin's past history with privately-funded assessments should raise a red flag. When the official evaluator of the voucher program found no academic gains for voucher students from the program's inception through 1995, pro-voucher researcher Paul Peterson was contracted by voucher supporters to re-evaluate the program. His more positive findings have spurred controversy but have not served to clarify the program's progress.
Furthermore, the reliance on private funding opens the door to bias. One can easily imagine a scenario in which a pro-voucher governor appoints a pro-voucher Board which solicits a funder such as the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation (whose president once stated that its $10 million in contributions over the past thirteen years helped make vouchers a reality) to contract an evaluation with a pro-voucher think tank.
SAGE is a statewide program that has both a proven track record in helping low-income and minority students, as well as strong bipartisan support. In contrast, the Milwaukee voucher program has no proven track record—in part because the program itself lacks adequate accountability provisions—and is politically divisive. It takes money away from aid to public schools across the state and gives it to private schools for a small number of students.
Although SAGE is targeted to low-income students, the program has the added benefit of aiding all students in that class regardless of income by providing them with a better learning environment. In contrast, the Milwaukee private school voucher program removes individual students from their public school classrooms while doing nothing for their classmates. In fact, the voucher program not only fails to aid the majority of public school students, it actively harms them by reducing state aid to their schools and school districts.
Regardless of one's views regarding the Milwaukee voucher program, the Governor's proposed increase for voucher funding and simultaneous cutbacks to SAGE reward an unproven program and punish success. This budget substantially cuts an extremely successful program that helps low-income and minority students throughout Wisconsin and contains a rigorous evaluation component built into it. At the same time and by about the same amount of money, the Governor's budget increases taxpayer funding for a private school voucher program with no measurable track record, and in fact expands the program to include higher-income students. The voucher program would continue without required evaluation or accountability measures despite the recommendations by both the state auditor and the superintendent of public instruction to the contrary. And the budget does nothing to correct the taxpayer payments to private schools that exceed tuition. The Governor's budget for education is, in sum, bad for Wisconsin taxpayers and worse for Wisconsin's students.
- Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) –FACT SHEET—April 13, 2001, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
- Schools that elect to participate in SAGE must reduce class sizes for all students throughout the grade, not simply in those classes with low-income students since to do otherwise would result in economic segregation of students. SAGE therefore has a multiplier effect, helping all students at that grade level. Approximately 28,000 low-income students are included in the approximately 60,000 students who are in 15:1 classes through SAGE. As per the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, April 2001.
- Alex Molnar, Philip Smith, and John Zahorik, "1998-99 Results of the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) Program Evaluation," Milwaukee, WI: Center for Education Research, Analysis, and Innovation, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, December 1999; Alex Molnar, Philip Smith, and John Zahorik, "1999-2000 Evaluation Results of the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) Program," Milwaukee, WI: Center for Education Research, Analysis, and Innovation, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, December 2000.
- Debra Viadero, "Tennessee Class-size Study Finds Long-term Benefits," Education Week, May 5, 1999; "Benefits of Small Classes Pay Off at Graduation," roject STAR News, Lebanon, TN: Health and Education Research Operative Services (HEROS), Inc., April 1999.
- Helen Pate-Bain, B. DeWayne Fulton, and Jayne Boyd-Zaharias, "Effects of Class-size Reduction in the Early Grades (K-3) on High School Performance: Preliminary Results (1999) from Project STAR, Tennessee's Longitudinal Class-size Study," Lebanon, TN: Health and Education Research Operative Services (HEROS), Inc., April 1999; "Benefits of Small Classes Pay Off at Graduation," Project STAR News, Lebanon, TN: Health and Education Research Operative Services (HEROS), Inc., April 1999.
- Alan B. Krueger and Diane M. Whitmore, "Would Smaller Classes Help Close the Black-White Achievement Gap?" Princeton, NJ: Princeton University, January 2001.
- ibid. A recent report by the pro-voucher Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (WPRI), in making the case that there is no SAGE impact on student achievement beyond first grade, seeks to link this claim to what it argues are similar limitations in the results from the Tennessee STAR experiment. Charles M. Achilles, STAR Principal Investigator, has pointed out that the WPRI report ignored many important publications on STAR from the last several years and, instead, relied on the work of Erik Hanushek and his now widely-criticized methods to make the argument that class size reduction is not a cost-effective intervention. By so doing, they have discounted the overwhelming evidence that for students who spend three or four years in smaller classes the positive benefits on student achievement and educational outcomes are both immediate and long-lasting. See Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, "The costs and benefits of smaller classes in Wisconsin: A further evaluation of the SAGE program," Wisconsin Policy Research Institute Report, vol. 13, no. 6, September 2000; Charles M. Achilles, "A review of 'The costs and benefits of smaller classes in Wisconsin,'" Education Policy Project, Center for Education Research, Analysis, and Innovation, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, September, 2000.
- 2001-03 Wisconsin State Budget Summary of Governor's Budget Recommendations, Legislative Fiscal Bureau, March, 2001, p.p. 544-545.
- Letter of Transmittal for An Evaluation: Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, Janice Mueller, State Auditor to Senator Gary R. George and Representative Carol Kelso, Co-Chairpersons, Joint Legislative Audit Committee, February 2, 2000.
- Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau Audit Summary: Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. February 2000.
- Correspondence from John T. Benson, Superintendent, Department of Public Instruction to Janice Mueller, State Auditor, Legislative Audit Bureau, January 25, 2000, An Evaluation: Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, Appendix VII, February 2000.
- John Witte, et.al., Fourth Year Report: The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (Madison, WI: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, 1994), p. 2.
- Jay Greene, Paul Peterson, and Jiangtao Du, The Effectiveness of School Choice in Milwaukee: Secondary Analysis of Data from the Program's Evaluation, (University of Houston, Harvard University: John F. Kennedy School of Government) p. 3.
- Henry M. Levin , "Educational Vouchers: Effectiveness, Choice and Costs," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Vol. 17, No. 3, 373-392 (1998), p. 377; Peter Cookson, correspondence.
- Cecilia Elena Rouse, "Schools and Student Achievement: More Evidence from the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program," Economic Policy Review, March 1998, vol 4, No 1; pp 61-76.
- ibid. Recent analysis shows that academic gains made by poor, African American students who were in the Tennessee STAR experiment small classes were about double those of similar students in a three-city study of school vouchers (see Alan B. Krueger and Diane M. Whitmore, "Would Smaller Classes Help Close the Black-White Achievement Gap?" Princeton University, January 2001.)
- 2001-03 Wisconsin State Budget Summary of Governor's Budget Recommendations, Legislative Fiscal Bureau, March, 2001, p.p. 551-552.
- State of Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Memo, March 1, 2001: "SAGE Budget Update and Notice of Aid Transmittal."
- Biennial SAGE funding estimates as per the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, April 2001; 2001-03 Wisconsin State Budget Summary of Governor's Budget Recommendations, Legislative Fiscal Bureau, March, 2001, p. 537.
- Increases in funding are calculated with respect to expanding the program to include the approximately 400 new schools that joined SAGE in 2000-01 in K-3 class size reduction. This increase is added to the base funding for the program of $58.7 million. Source: The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI).
- 2001-03 Wisconsin State Budget Summary of Governor's Budget Recommendations, Legislative Fiscal Bureau, March, 2001, p. 537.
- State of Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Memo, March 1, 2001: "SAGE Budget Update and Notice of Aid Transmittal."
- 2001-03 Wisconsin State Budget Summary of Governor's Budget Recommendations, Legislative Fiscal Bureau, March, 2001, p. 544.
- 2001-03 Wisconsin State Budget Summary of Governor's Budget Recommendations, Legislative Fiscal Bureau, March, 2001, p. 545.
- Although voucher advocates argue that the voucher program aids MPS by taking students out of the public school system and that costs would increase without vouchers, this ignores the fact that many of the students in the voucher program were never in Milwaukee's public schools to begin with. For example, in this year alone, approximately 18.7% of the voucher students either did not previously attend school or went to private school in the previous year. Only 20% of the voucher students came from MPS, while 60% were already enrolled in the voucher program. Of this 60% already enrolled in the voucher program, a large percentage attended private schools without taxpayer aid in previous years. In the 1998-99 school year, more than 36% of the voucher students had attended private school in the previous year. Many of these students remain in the program, which accounts for the increase in percentage of students enrolled in the voucher program who had been in the program the year before from 20% in 1998-99 to 60% in 2000-01. Source: DPI Fact Sheets "Milwaukee Parental Choice Program," 1998-99 and 2000-01.
- The Forty Percent Surcharge: How Taxpayers Overpay for Milwaukee's Private School Voucher Program. Egen, Holmes and Mincberg, People For the American Way Foundation, August 2000.
- This calculation is based on an average of 40% surcharge that Wisconsin state taxpayers paid to the voucher program in excess of private school tuition in the 1998-99 school year. This gap between tuition and state voucher payments is due to the fact that the law pays private schools their per pupil expenditure up to a maximum level each year ($5,326 in 2000-01), which is often much higher than the tuition they charge to their students. Under this "dual payer" system, private citizens pay one tuition rate and the state's taxpayers pay another—one that is on average 40% higher. Forty percent of the voucher program's total biennial cost of $127 million comes to just over $50 million. Even if the gap between private school tuition and expenditures were to be reduced by half in the current school year, the elimination of this funding provision would still yield approximately $25 million.
- A graphic representation of the Governor's proposed funding for SAGE and the Milwaukee voucher program is as follows:
- For a detailed analysis of the capital funding formula and depreciation issue, see Nelson, Egen and Holmes, "Revenues, Expenditures and Taxpayer Subsidies In Milwaukee's Voucher Schools," p.p. 14-22. Paper Presented at the 2001 Annual Meeting of the American Education Finance Association, Cincinnati, Ohio, March 2001.
- 2001-03 Wisconsin State Budget Summary of Governor's Budget Recommendations, Legislative Fiscal Bureau, March, 2001, p.p. 549-50.
- 2001-03 Wisconsin State Budget Summary of Governor's Budget Recommendations, Legislative Fiscal Bureau, March, 2001, p. 549.
- 2001-03 Wisconsin State Budget Summary of Governor's Budget Recommendations, Legislative Fiscal Bureau, March, 2001, p.p. 551-552.
- 2001-03 Wisconsin State Budget Summary of Governor's Budget Recommendations, Legislative Fiscal Bureau, March, 2001, p. 552.
- 2001-03 Wisconsin State Budget Summary of Governor's Budget Recommendations, Legislative Fiscal Bureau, March, 2001, p. 550.
- Monthly Letter to Friends of The Center for Education Reform, Nos. 49 and 50, Center for Education Reform, December 1998-January 1999.
|Base Funding (current program cost)
|$58.7 million
|$49.7 million
|Cost above Base to Continue Program
|$53.7 million
|$27.5 million
|Governor's appropriation
|$22.1 million
|$27.5 million
|Cutback in Funding
|$31.6 million
|Download this report in PDF format [2]


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Samsung Electronics, the world's largest maker of dynamic random access memory, has announced that it had developed the world's first 4Gb DDR3 memory chip made using 50nm process technology. The new memory chip may power 16GB or even 32GB memory modules for servers or 8GB modules for desktops or workstations.
"We have leveraged our strength in innovation to develop the first 4Gb DDR3, in leading the industry to higher DRAM densities. By designing our 4Gb DDR3 using state-of-the-art 50-nm class technology, we are setting the stage for what ultimately will result in significant cost-savings, for servers and for the overall computing market," said Kevin Lee, vice president of technical marketing at Samsung Semiconductor.
The 4Gb DDR3 DRAM from Samsung operates at 1.35V, therein improving its throughput by 20% over a 1.5V DDR3, and can achieve speeds of up to 1600MHz.
The 4Gb DDR3 can be produced in 16GB registered dual in-line memory modules (RDIMM) for servers, as well as 8GB unbuffered DIMM (UDIMM) for workstations and desktop PCs, and 8GB small outline DIMM (SODIMM) for laptops. By applying dual-die package technology, this new device can deliver modules of up to 32GB – offering twice as much capacity as memory modules based on the previous highest chip density of 2Gb.
Samsung did not reveal when it plans to be in position to start mass production of its 4Gb DDR3 devices.
In September 2008, Samsung announced its development of the world's first 50nm-class 2Gb DDR3 DRAM. Now, just five months after, it has established the industry's broadest line-up of high-performance DDR3 products using 50nm process technology (4Gb, 2Gb, 1Gb).
As forecasts have the amount of memory per server doubling every two years, the development of high-density DRAM is expected to keep pace, expanding to other applications such as notebooks and desktop PCs.
According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), a market research and analysis firm, the worldwide DDR3 DRAM market will account for 29% of the total DRAM market in 2009 and 75%in 2011. In addition, IDC estimates that 2Gb-or-higher DDR3 DRAM will make up 3% of the total DRAM market in 2009 and 33% in 2011 (units in bits).


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The Office of Alumni Affairs encourages all alumni to get involved in campus life. Your participation makes a difference!
Volunteer your time and expertise to help students and alumni by joining the Yeshiva University Ambassador Network
Through the Ambassador Network, you can:
Each May alumni gather on YU's campus to celebrate their milestone 25th, 40th, 50th reunion with their classmates and friends. Reunion planning committees play an integral role in ensuring this event is well attended and enjoyed by all. To become a part of the effort and get involved in coordinating your reunion, visit our Reunion website to learn how to join your reunion planning committee today.
To help organize social and professional networking opportunities in communities throughout the United States and beyond or to explore more ways to strengthen the YU Ambassador Network, please contact Dina Burcat, associate director of alumni affairs, at email@example.com. Locations where alumni events have been held most recently include the greater Washington, DC area; Los Angeles, CA; Boca Raton, FL and the surrounding areas; Northern and Central NJ; and Long Island, NY, among others. To speak to members of local Regional Councils in these areas, select "Alumni Around the World" on the right.
For major events for all alumni like Homecoming or smaller events targeted toward specific affinity groups like the scotch-tasting event for young alumni; lunch and tour of the YU Museum for members of our Silver and Golden Shield Society (for graduates 40+ and 50+ years ago); or Alumni Day at the Macs Basketball Game with halftime recognition of past captains, we encourage our alumni to help out with event logistics, marketing, planning or any other capacity that might be of interest. We value your help and look forward to partnering with you!
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Katherine T. RushfordMarch 23,2013
Katherine T. Rushford
CONCORD, Mass. Early on Wednesday, March 13, 2013, Katherine Theresa Rushford died. She was one of a kind.
Born Oct. 22, 1928, she was the youngest of five children born to Mary Beatrice MacDonald and James (Barney) Boyle of Saugus, Mass., and spent much time with her horses and developing what would be a lifelong love of animals.
Kathy grew up in Saugus with her siblings James Bernard, Margaret Louise, Mary Thelma, and Dorothy Marie.
After attending Colby Sawyer College, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she met Don Rushford of Burlington, Vt. They were married in 1954 and were very active participants in local religious events.
Together, living in Virginia then Vermont, Kathy and Don raised nine children. Her legacy lives on in them and their families: daughter and son-in-law Beth and Mark Fernald and grandchildren Matthew and Katie of Peterborough, N.H.; son and daughter-in-law Yetta and Janet Rushford of Potomac, Md., and grandchildren Courtney and Kyle; son and daughter- in-law Peter and Susan Rushford of Potomac, Md., and grandchildren Carly and Jack; son Tom Rushford of Falls Church, Va.; son and daughter-in-law Tim and Faith Rushford and grandchildren Connor and Ben; daughter Martha Rushford and grandchildren Sam, Emily and Brian; daughter and son-in-law Jennifer and Michael Stone and grandchildren Jamie, Nicholas and Tim; daughter and son-in-law Meg and Rich Pickering and grandchildren Alex and Gracie; son and daughter- in-law Matthew and Julieta Rushford and grandson Storm; and adopted daughter and son-in-law Christine and Neil Henricksen and grandchildren Brian and Jason.
The sheer enormity of her labor of love is not lost:
19,216 dirty diapers (the cloth kind)
49,803 pounds of laundry
46,257 meals prepared
808,566 miles of driving
1,509,361 square feet of house cleaning
$343,722 of groceries purchased
57 puppies
1,127 family birthday parties
900 Christmas gifts wrapped
1,933 field hockey games, baseball games, football games, track meets, cross country meets, ski meets, awards banquets, school plays, dance recitals, music performances, concerts, talent shows, graduations, soccer matches, weddings, bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs, thousands of visits by friends at all hours of the day and night, broken collar bones, dislocated shoulders, cuts, bruises, burns, fractured emotions and broken hearts of all degrees.
Still, sacrifice did not deplete her heart, it expanded it. In spite of the tremendous work related to raising a large family, there was always room for more. When the call for help was made, she stepped forward with open arms welcoming foster children Christine and Alan, along with Willis and others who needed a home.
Kathy worked for Planned Parenthood of Vermont (which raised more than a few eyebrows) and assisting the elderly with RSVP. Later in life, Kathy lived on Nantucket, Mass., and most recently Concord, Mass.
And so with a mixture of fondness, gratitude and sadness, we say goodbye to Mrs. R, Kathy, Kay, Grammy, Cookie Monster Grammy, Big Mama, That crazy lady with nine kids, Mom.MORE IN ObituariesPaul N. Sourdiff
BURLINGTON Paul Nelson Sourdiff, 92, passed away on Dec. Full StoryBrian Vachon
Brian Vachon, 75, of Middlesex, died after a short illness on December 9 at... Full StoryDylan Baker
Dylan Baker, 18, passed away peacefully in the early morning of December 7... Full Story
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Johnson issued a statement saying Chief Executive Alex Molinaroli will stay in his job and has the full support of the board. Mr. Molinaroli sent an email to company employees acknowledging the affair, and told them the matter was "closed" and they should focus their "energy and attention on our future." How effective were these statements in resolving the issue? Were they enough to satisfy investors and employees?Read More »
Home » Author Archives: loyd grossman
Why was Victor Laszlo so eager to get to Lisbon? Perhaps to quaff some of the world's finest ports.Read More »
Orient Express
Although it relies on modern-day techno ogy, it still retains the mystery and elegance of its 19th century fame.Read More »
Vistas Da, Food Nyet
Ivan is not so terrible. But don't go to Leningrad for the food.Read More »
The 10 Best 'Champagnes'
All lists of the best are subjective, including this one. Rather than choosing the obvious top vintages, which are either unaffordable or unavailable, CE selects 10 bubblies representing a spectrum of varieties and tastes.Read More »
A Catalonian Paris
Every European city boasts its own special artistry and charm. Spain's Barcelona gives testimony to the traditional culture that was 16th-century Catalonia.Read More »


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Faculty-student paper published (Dr. Mihai Caragiu, Lauren Sutherland and Dr. Mohammad Zaki)
Dr. Mihai Caragiu, professor of mathematics, Lauren Sutherland, BSEE'11, and Dr. Mohammad Zaki, assistant professor of mathematic, are authors of an paper "Multidimensional Greatest Prime Factor Sequences" published in JP Journal of Algebra, Number Theory and Applications 23 (2),187-195 (December 2011). In the paper they generalize several conjectures regarding the greatest prime factor sequences, proving a series of special cases. The abstract can be found here.


text:
By Freedom Newspapers
Nearly everywhere the U.S. military trains, it now finds itself fending off flanking attacks from an enemy within. These environmental extremists say they are concerned about the impacts training activities have on plants and animals, but they also undoubtedly relish the opportunity to champion two liberal causes at once, by undermining the military's ability to prepare for war.
Rare is the military facility or activity that isn't under a green siege of some sort, but for a few recent examples let's turn toward Hawaii.
On Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overruled a lower court and blocked the Army from basing a 3,800-soldier Stryker brigade on the islands. Two of three judges on the panel ruled that the Army "violated environmental laws by not properly considering all alternatives," The Associated Press reported, "including basing the new brigade someplace other than Hawaii."
The court effectively told the Army to look elsewhere. But if "elsewhere" was a strategically suitable option, we're sure the Pentagon would have done so. This Stryker brigade, which is lighter and more mobile than its heavily armored counterparts, is part of a rapid deployment force for the Pacific Rim region. Thus, it makes perfect sense to base it in Hawaii.
Judge William Fletcher, writing for the majority, said the Army failed to adequately answer the question, "Why Hawaii?" But why not Hawaii, if the Army's intent is to have forces positioned closer to potential flashpoints in the region? We don't expect federal judges to be military tacticians, but can't we expect that they'll have a little common sense — or at least enough humility to leave military deployment decisions to the professionals?
Earthjustice — whose mission is to gum up the federal court system, arguing cases on behalf of the lunatic fringe — denies it is anti-military. Its leaders say they just want the Army to abide by the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires exhaustive study and paralysis-inducing analysis before a federal agency can change a light bulb. Blame the judges if you choose, but even sensible jurists are stuck enforcing unworkable laws. NEPA is desperately in need of an overhaul — such idiotic rulings prove it.
The Army is weighing its options, but yet another legal appeal isn't the answer. Congress must act to ensure that America's military posture and readiness isn't further jeopardized by those who think protecting tree snails is more important than safeguarding national security.
The Navy also has seen its mission impaired in Hawaii, by environmentalists trying to curtail the use of certain sonars they say harm whales and dolphins, in violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. In July, greens attempted to force a halt to the use of the sonar during a major training exercise with Pacific Rim allies. A compromise was worked out that allowed the exercises to go on, but the push continues to ban the use of this critically important technology.
Protecting the environment is a worthy goal, within reason. But maintaining military readiness is more important, when push comes to shove. Not only the effectiveness but the safety of Navy personnel will be at risk if this nutty attempt to stop the use of sonar isn't nipped in the bud. We can't trust federal judges to do this — after all, the Marine Mammal Protection Act does make it illegal to harm or even "harass" a whale or a dolphin. It's time for Congress to amend or re-write applicable laws to ensure that national security comes first.


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View Rule
|View EO 12866 Meetings
|Printer-Friendly Version Download RIN Data in XML
|Publication ID: Fall 2010
|Title: Small Business Administration Timber Sale Set-Aside Program
|Abstract: The Forest Service is proposing a revision of its policy procedures in Forest Service Handbook 2409.18, Timber Sale Preparation Handbook, chapter 90, Programs With Small Business Administration, to drop structural changes in the Forest Service Directives. This proposed revision would better reflect the current timber sale program, make the recomputation process as fair as possible, and simplify the process by which market share is determined. This proposed policy change would not affect scheduled and special recomputations.
|Agency: Department of Agriculture(USDA)
|Priority: Substantive, Nonsignificant
|RIN Status: Previously published in the Unified Agenda
|Agenda Stage of Rulemaking: Final Rule Stage
|Major: No
|Unfunded Mandates: No
|CFR Citation: None (To search for a specific CFR, visit the Code of Federal Regulations.)
|Legal Authority: 36 CFR 223.118
Legal Deadline:
|Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: No
|Government Levels Affected: None
|Small Entities Affected: No
|Federalism: No
|Included in the Regulatory Plan: No
|RIN Data Printed in the FR: No
Agency Contact:
Lorrie Parker
Regulatory Analyst
Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
ATTN: ORMS, D&R Branch, 1400 Independence Avenue SW,
Washington, DC 20250-0003
Phone:202 205-6560
Fax:202 205-6539
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
President Obama and former President Bush participate in a wreath-laying ceremony to mark the 1998 Osama bin Laden-backed attacks on two U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
President Barack Obama and his predecessor George W. Bush met in an African capital Tuesday to honor the victims of Osama bin Laden's opening salvo in his war against America.
Jason Reed / Reuters
President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush attend a memorial Tuesday for the victims of the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The near-simultaneous bombings at two U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 claimed the lives of 224 people, including 12 Americans.
In the words of then President Bill Clinton, the U.S. had lost "12 proud sons and daughters who perished half a world away, but never left America behind, who carried with them … the ideals for which America stands."
A few months before the attacks in August 1998, bin Laden had warned his war would "inevitably move ... to American soil." U.S. embassies are American territory, according to international law.
The attacks prompted the FBI to put bin Laden on its "Most Wanted" list, though al-Qaeda attempts to attack American targets date back to 1992. The 1993 World Trade Center attack was masterminded by Ramzi Yousef and it is unclear if bin Laden was involved.
Nearly 15 years later, the embassy attacks brought together Obama and Bush on Tuesday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
In a brief ceremony, Obama and Bush walked over to a memorial on a large piece of rock near the embassy's entrance under a big tree. A new embassy was built in 2003.
Amr Nabil / AFP - Getty Images, file
An American soldier stands guard in front of the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on August 8, 1998, the day after a bomb blast killed 10 Tanzanians and wounded more than 85 local people and Americans.
A U.S. Marine laid the wreath as the two presidents stood for a moment of silence. They did not make any public remarks, but then spoke to survivors and relatives of those who died.
The stone is inscribed with the names of the 10 Tanzanians who died. More than 85 Americans and Tanzanians were also injured in the attack.
A memorial by the embassy community is also held every August 7, the anniversary of the attacks. Bush and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have previously visited the embassy and laid wreaths at the memorial stone.
Despite the devastation caused by the bombing, 15 Tanzanian embassy staff who survived still work there today.
And the number of American staff there has grown by 57 percent since 2009.
The attack prompted Clinton to attempt to kill bin Laden with a missile strike, Bush continued efforts to find bin Laden, who was finally slain in 2011 while Obama was in office.
Bush was in Dar es Salaam with his wife Laura for The Bush Center's two-day African First Ladies Summit in Tanzania.
At a meeting earlier Tuesday, Laura Bush shared a platform with Michelle Obama and spoke of the overriding need for freedom – freedom not only from tyranny but also in education, economics and other areas.
President Obama was warmly greeted by throngs in Tanzania, but his message of trade was overshadowed by other events around the world.
Michelle Obama stressed the importance of education in empowering women.
"I am sitting here now, as First Lady of the United States of America, because of education," she told the summit, according to The Bush Center's Twitter account.
The Obamas are on the final day of a week-long tour of the continent, visiting Senegal and South Africa.
This story was originally published on Tue Jul 2, 2013 3:35 AM EDT


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Last spring, a committee of 10 people (including 7 faculty members) reviewed four vendors of clicker technology. After comparing the vendor demonstrations to the clicker needs criteria, the committee recommended adopting Turning Technologies' TurningPoint Clickers, which supports polling using clickers or other hand-held mobile devices, as Ferris State's new standard for Fall 2013. Representatives from Turning Technologies will conduct a series of workshops to demonstrate the use and benefits of TurningPoint Clickers for a variety of instructional situations. After each session, Turning Technologies will provide instructions on how to migrate eInstruction's CPS clicker material over to TurningPoint. If you currently use CPS clickers or are interested in using clicker technology, you will NOT want to miss this training opportunity!
Please RSVP for this training by calling 591-3826 or e-mailing us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Creating Inclusive Campus Environments for Cross-Cultural Learning and Student Engagement: A Summer Book Discussion


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SPEC SHEET: Tomato Talk Canned tomato products are a must-have staple for foodservice operators. Here's what you need to know when buying these items. Canned tomato products are ubiquitous in almost every noncommercial foodservice outlet. From diced tomatoes to tomato sauce and tomato paste, this product line cuts through nearly every daypart and every menu segment. But how much do you know about these storeroom staples? Do you know the basic criteria you should follow when buying canned ...
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On this page
Where the Money Goes
The Personal Touch
To Join
Scholarship Application
Resources & Linksfor the Auxiliary
Auxiliary Website
The BCH Foundation
Who are the Ambassadors?
The Boulder Community Health Ambassadors is a group of more than 290 men and women who use their creativity and energy to raise money to benefit patients at Boulder Community Health.Members are also advocates for BCH, building support throughout the community for our non-profit health care system.The group is self-governing. Its board meets once a month with hospital administrators to set future directions and plan activities.Serving on the board or on one of the Ambassadors' committees offers a chance to participate in an activity of interest to you. You may also gain valuable leadership skills while donating valuable service to BCH and the community.
For more information Click Here.
Boulder Community Health Ambassadors' projects improve both the quality of care and the physical environment at the Foothills Hospital and its campuses. The Ambassadors purchase life-saving equipment, provides funds for patients' medical care and rehabilitation, and acquires artwork and furniture for new hospital units and artwork that is displayed in public and patient ares of the hospital campuses.In addition, the Ambassadors have raised and donated more than $2 million to help the hospital add vital services and construct facilities such as the Cancer Care Center, the Radiation Therapy Center and the Mobile Mammography Van.The Ambassadors have also raised thousands of dollars for children needing rehabilitation; to provide medical treatment for women with breast cancer who could not otherwise afford life-saving care; rehabilitation services to cancer patients; and BCH rehabilitation programs for stroke survivors so they can reclaim productive lives.
Each year the Ambassadors awards $50,000 in scholarships to local high school graduates and hospital employees to further their education in health-related fields.Personal Touch
Ambassador members also provide a personal touch for hospital patients. Providing hand knit caps and booties for needy families, knit booties for all babies born at the hospital, knit comfort shawls for cancer patients going through chemotherapy and plush animals for surgery patients are among the many other ways the BCH Ambassadors support our patients.
If you are interested in joining the dynamic team of men and women who comprise the Boulder Community Health Ambassadors, please call 303-415-7813.Scholarship Application
The Boulder Community Health Ambassadors proudly sponsor an annual Health Care Scholarship Program. The program supports outstanding high school seniors in the community who wish to pursue an advanced degree in a health sciences related field and BCH employees who have been accepted or are furthering their health care education. Degree programs must be at Colorado educational institutions.
Scholarship amounts range from $500 to $3,000. The funds are applied toward tuition and fees and are paid directly to the college or university.
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Wordsmith Talk
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#142452 - 04/25/05 08:07 AM Jones
Registered: 04/25/05
Posts: 1
Curious as to the derivation of "jones" as in my co-worker's frequent admission that she "has a jones for shoes" -- is this drug argot from the excuses given for surreptitious meetings ("I'm going to see Mr. Jones.")?
Any help appreciated.
#142453 - 04/25/05 09:36 AM Re: Jones
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 09/15/00
Posts: 4757
Welcome, jgear!
Yes, it is drug argot in its derivation - apparently from the jag of withdrawl from heroin originally. A previous discussion is not so much illuminating as ruminating
I also half-recall a more exact answer somewhere, but am afraid I cannot find it now.
#142454 - 04/25/05 10:09 AM Re: Jones
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 09/15/00
Posts: 4757
This from the Word Origins site:
The exact origin of this word meaning an overwhelming yen or craving is unknown. It first appears in Black English in the early 1960s. The original sense is of a heroin addiction. Gradually, the meaning widened to include any desire.
#142455 - 02/01/06 10:25 AM Re: Jones
Registered: 01/23/02
Posts: 1523
Loc: Virginia, USA
I have not heard this word in a while - some years, at least. I did not hear the word as a pure noun, but more like a gerund or infinitive, as in "to jones" or "jonesing." But when I heard it , it seemed to have a different meaning. "Jonesing" seemed to mean trying to get something without paying for it, or get more than your fair share of it - begging, borrowing with no intention of paying back, finding "lost" or "misplaced" money, "liberating" money and property that were not locked down.
#142456 - 02/02/06 06:55 AM possible cross-thread violation
Registered: 10/21/03
Posts: 389
Loc: Rhode Island, USA
Basketball Jones featuring Tyrone Shoelaces
Written by Richard A. "Cheech" Marin and Thomas Chong
- parody of "Love Jones" by Brighter Side Of Darkness
- as recorded by Cheech & Chong on their 1973 album "Los Cochinos"
- all-star band included George Harrison, Carole King, Billy Preston and Tom Scott, with Darlene Love and Michelle Phillips (The Mamas & The Papas) as cheerleaders.
- single peaked at #15 in 1973
Barry White & Chris Rock did a vesion of the bouncy classic for the cartoon movie Spacejam
Basketball Jones, I got a Basketball Jones
Got a Basketball Jones, oh baby, oo-oo-ooo
Yes, I am the victim of a Basketball Jones
Ever since I was a little baby, I always be dribblin'
In fac', I was de baddest dribbler in the whole neighborhood
Then one day, my mama bought me a basketball
And I loved that basketball
I took that basketball with me everywhere I went
That basketball was like a basketball to me
I even put that basketball underneath my pillow
Maybe that's why I can't sleep at night
I need help, ladies and gentlemens
I need someone to stand beside me
I need, I need someone to set a pick for me at the free-throw line of life
Someone I can pass to
Someone to hit the open man on the give-and-go
And not end up in the popcorn machine
So cheerleaders, help me out
{cheerleaders sing repeatedly...}
(Basketball Jones, I got a Basketball Jones)
(I got a Basketball Jones, oh baby, oo-oo-ooo)
{while Tyrone Shoelaces sings/speaks...}
Oh, that sounds so sweet
Sing it out
C'mon Coach Booty, Red Blazer, sing along with me
That be bad, honky
I want everybody in the whole stadium to stand up and sing with us
Oh yeah, sing it out like you're proud
All right, everybody watchin' coast-to-coast, sing along with us
Bill Russell, sing along with us
Chick Hearn, sing along with us
Chris Schenkel, don't sing nothin'
Oh, it feels so good
Gimme the ball
I'll go one-on-one against the world, left-handed
I could stuff it from center court with my toes
I could jump on top of the backboard, take off a quarter, leave fifteen cents change I
could, I could dribble behind my back I got more moves than Ex-Lax I'm bad I could
dribble with my tongue Here I go down court, try to stop me You can't stop me 'cause I
got a Basketball Jones Here I come That's my hook shot with my eyebrow Yeah, I could
dunk it with my nose I'm, I'm bad as King Kong, gimme the ball I'm hot, I'm hot as...,
I'm hot as..., I'm hot as... uh Uh, uh, uh, uh
Basketball Jones, I got a Basketball Jones...
#142457 - 02/03/06 11:19 AM ...brought to you by:
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 03/15/00
Posts: 6511
Loc: lower upstate New York
Spencer Recovery Centers
Luxurious Private Rooms Available Call a counselor at 1-800-334-0394
Pacific Hills Treatment
Affordable sophisticated and highly successful alcohol /drug treatment.
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#142458 - 02/03/06 12:46 PM ...and by:
Registered: 10/21/03
Posts: 389
Loc: Rhode Island, USA
The Spencer looks nice. I missed these, thanks,
and when I get out -
Devon & Jones Apparel
Shop the entire catalog online. Men's & Women's. Rush Avail.
...than off to see -
Get Tom Jones Tickets
Same Tickets as Other Sites - Just Much Lower Prices - No Service Fees
Ads By Google
#142459 - 06/08/06 03:21 PM Re: Jones
Registered: 05/17/05
Posts: 456
Loc: SE US
Always thought it was OJ (Old Jive) from around 1967.
#169700 - 08/25/07 06:31 PM Re: Jones [Re: maverick]
Registered: 08/25/07
Posts: 17
So, when the artist sung "me and mistress Jones we´ve got a think going on" he was talking about drugs, and not about adultery. Was he?
#169701 - 08/26/07 11:09 AM Re: Jones [Re: Jose Gros]
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 04/03/00
Posts: 10538
Loc: this too shall pass
Me and Mrs. Jones Billy Paul had confessed to an affair with a married woman in Me and Mrs. Jones (Weve got a thing going on)(1972)
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text:
National Finish: 2 Time:17:29 Regional Finish: 1 Time:17:49
2 mile:
Hobbies: Hang with friends
Person would most like to meet: Kara Goucher or Shalane Flanagan
Hero: parents
Most influential person: parents
Personal note:
That if you believe in something and set a goal you just need to work at and you will be able to achieve it! Never give up on yourself and keep on believing. Also, thank you for all the support from my city, friends, and especially my whole family!


text:
new Illinois Learning Standards - Math/ELA
Fact vs Myth
Common Core Standards are benchmarks developed by teachers, administrators and other education experts through a national consortium. These standards aim to bring more consistency and uniformity to what students learn at each grade level from one state to another so that all students in the United States are better prepared to compete and collaborate in the 21st Century global economy.
In 2010, the Illinois State Board of Education adopted these new, more rigorous and internationally-benchmarked Common Core Standards in English Language Arts and Math and schools across the state are at various stages of incorporating the standards into classroom curriculum.
The Common Core standards better define what students need to know and be able to do at every grade level from kindergarten through high school so that students are prepared to succeed in college and careers. The Common Core standards require more active and engaged teaching and learning in the classroom with less emphasis on scripted instruction and multiple choice tests. Students may be required to do more than they have in the past with an emphasis on applying and demonstrating their knowledge.
The Common Core Standards have been adopted by more than 45 states and the District of Columbia.
State-Led Effort
- The best understanding of what works in education comes from practice and experience. That's why the standards were developed by teachers, principals, parents and education experts with lots of feedback along the way from the general public, not politicians in Washington.
- Illinois was in the process of updating standards in English Language Arts and Math, which had not been updated since 1997 when our state joined an initiative spearheaded by governors and state education chiefs from across the nation to develop common standards.
- Saving money and time was among the driving forces of the Common Core Standards development. For years, states have developed their own standards, spending time and money to write standards, help produce aligned curriculum and assessments when the core content was the same for grade levels, whether in Montana or Maine.
- Illinoisans had the opportunity to provide feedback on the Common Core State Standards during two public comment periods, one in September 2009 and the other in March 2010. Teachers, parents, higher education representatives, and community members from Illinois offered their comments on the standards. Illinois contributed to development of the Common Core as well by having Illinois State Board of Education staff provide feedback on multiple drafts of the standards throughout the development process.
- The Illinois State Board of Education initially reviewed the standards on June 24, 2010. The standards were also published in the Illinois Register on July 9, 2010, which initiate a 45-day public comment period. The Board adopted the rulemaking on Sept. 24, 2010, and the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, a bipartisan legislative oversight committee, issued a Certification of No Objection on Oct. 19, 2010. The rulemaking incorporating the standards took effect on Oct. 28, 2010 and was published in the Illinois Register on Nov. 12, 2010.
Internationally Benchmarked
- The standards incorporate the best and highest of previous state standards in the U.S. and are internationally benchmarked to the top performing nations around the world.
- When American students have the skills and knowledge needed in today's job market, our communities will be strong and competitive in the global economy.
College, Career and Real-World Readiness
- The standards are designed to be relevant in the real world and to make sure all students graduate high school with the knowledge and skills necessary for success in college and careers.
Clear and Consistent Expectations and Goals
- The standards provide students, parents and teachers with a clear understanding of what students are expected to learn at every grade level, and as such, serve as a roadmap to quality education. Outcomes improve when students, parents and teachers are on the same page working together toward shared goals.
- The standards provide consistent learning goals for all students – regardless of where they live – so that when children move from one state to another, they will stay on track in school, making the transition of moving more seamless for both students and teachers.
Local Decision-Making on Implementation, Catered to Students
- The standards establish what students need to learn, but do not tell teachers how to teach. Teachers will continue to create lesson plans and tailor instruction to the unique needs of the students in their classroom. The best understanding of what works in the classroom comes from the teachers who are in them, which is why the standards allow each teacher in each classroom to figure out what works best.
- Implementation decisions will remain local. Teachers and school leaders will determine how the standards are to be taught and will establish the curriculum, just as they currently do, allowing for continued flexibility and creativity.
Procedural and Conceptual Understanding
- The standards stress not only procedural skills, but also conceptual understanding to make sure students are learning and absorbing the critical information they need to succeed at higher levels – rather than the current practices by which many students learn enough to get by on the next test, but forget it shortly thereafter, only to review it again the following year.
- For example, the high school standards call on students to practice applying mathematical ways of thinking to real world issues and challenges; they prepare students to think and reason mathematically. The high school standards emphasize mathematical modeling – the use of mathematics and statistics to analyze empirical situations – to help students better understand the concept and improve decision-making skills.
Combination of Informational and Literary Text Required
- The English Language Arts (ELA) Common Core Standards require a range of high quality readings through a combination of informational and literary text. This includes but is not limited to fiction, poetry, non-fiction and historical documents.
No Required Reading, Just Suggestions
- The standards contain no required reading list for teachers, just suggestions of works that encompass a diverse catalogue of informational and literary text.
- Illinois education budget proposal can be found at http://www.isbe.net/budget/
- You will note that there is not a line devoted to Common Core implementation.
- The adoption of common standards among states may, in fact, result in cost savings, given that states will be able to share curriculum materials, items on state tests, etc. The estimated cost of testing aligned to the Common Core approximates Illinois' current expenditures.
- Illinois education budget has been reduced by nearly $900 million since Fiscal Year 2009, and the state's contribution for education is ranked the lowest of all 50 states.


text:
I did my best not to watch last night, but tuned in during commercial breaks.
This is the God's honest truth.
I never lasted more than 2 possessions. That's the longest they seemed to go without someone turning the ball over, taking a stupid shot, allowing a Sonic to get an offensive rebound because all the Knicks were standing around like idiots, breaking down defensively etc....
This may be among the worst professional basketball teams I have ever seen and I'm watching the NBA since the late 60s.
At this point I am rooting for them to lose every single game. The thing that maximizes the chances of Isiah getting fired is the team losing as often as possible. Let's face it, that's a big chunk of what we need to at least start moving in the right direction. WE need to get rid of Isiah in every way shape and form.
I don't even care about the playoffs anymore. Even if we get the 8th seed, we are going out in the first round anyway. I'd rather we finish with one of the worst records, get a great draft pick, get rid of Isiah, and put this nightmare behind us as soon as possible.
With a top pick, a few moves, and a good coach, maybe next year we can start turning the corner and eventually get to the promised land before I die of old age. This is just too painful.


text:
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/155908
|Download PDF (Published version) (Adobe Acrobat PDF, -1 bytes)
- Title
- Ultrabright femtosecond source of biphotons based on a spatial mode inverter
- Author(s)
- Jarutis, Vygandas; Juodkazis, Saulius; Mizeikis, Vygantas; Sasaki, Keiji; Misawa, Hiroaki
- Abstract
- A method of enhancing the efficiency of entangled biphoton sources based on a type II femtosecond spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC) process is proposed and implemented experimentally. Enhancement is obtained by mode inversion of one of the SPDC output beams, which allows the beams to overlap completely, thus maximizing the number of SPDC photon pairs with optimum spatiotemporal overlap. By use of this method, biphoton count rates as high as 16 kHz from a single 0.5-mm-long β-barium borate crystal pumped by second-harmonic radiation from a Ti:sapphire laser were obtained.
- Publication type
- Journal article
- Source
- Optics Letters, Vol. 30, no. 3 (Feb 2005), pp. 317-319
- Publication year
- 2005
- FOR Code(s)
- 0205 Optical Physics
- Keyword(s)
- Biphotons; Cameras; Charge coupled devices; Crystalline materials; Light polarization; Nonlinear optics; Nonpolarizing beam splitters; NPBS; Optical beam splitters; Phase matching; Photons; Pumping laser; Second harmonic generation; SPDC; Spontaneous parametric downconversion; Vectors
- Publisher
- Optical Society of America
- 0146-9592
- Publisher URL
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2005 Optical Society of America. This paper was published in Optics Letters and is made available as an electronic reprint with the permission of OSA. The paper can be found at the following URL on the OSA website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/ol.30.000317. Systematic or multiple reproduction or distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means is prohibited and is subject to penalties under law.
- Full text
- Peer reviewed


text:
Outlet Bargains 10/28/11
At outlets, virtually everything is on sale every day. But are you always getting a real deal? Consumer Reports' Tod Marks wanted to know if outlet stores are worth the trip. "We surveyed almost 18,000 subscribers about their outlet shopping experiences. We asked about the key parameters: value, quality, service, and selection." Sixty percent of shoppers said outlets offered exceptional value. Readers were more likely to find great deals at stores like Coach, Haggar, Izod, and Van Heusen.
And there's more to like about outlet shopping. Tod Marks, "About three-quarters of those surveyed characterized the quality of the merchandise they bought as excellent or very good. Now those are impressive statistics." Consumer Reports also did its own quality comparison, buying two-thousand-dollars' worth of predominantly men's clothes and accessories at outlet and retail stores. These boxer shorts were 10 dollars at the Gap retail store. The shorts from the outlet were just five dollars. But they were better quality. See, the retail shorts have loose threads and stitching. This Polo Ralph Lauren oxford shirt cost 76 dollars from a retail store. The outlet version was 40 dollars. But this time the quality was comparable. However, the retail versions were often a bit better, like these Tommy Hilfiger sweat pants. The retail pants have a well-made drawstring, while the outlet's shoestring version looks cheap. Tod Marks, "The bottom line is that outlet shopping is worth the trip. The merchandise quality in most instances is fine. And in our shopping trip, we saved as much as 61 percent!" "
(Copyright 2011 by WKBT News8000.com)


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Fleet Management/Operational Excellence
5 Advantages of Fleet Management
Originally published: 04.01.14 by Robert J. Hall
The benefits of fleet ownership outweigh the costs.
3 Reasons to Organize Your Service Vehicles
Originally published: 06.01.13 by Greg McAfee
Without inventory management, it would be difficult for any company to maintain control and effectively and efficiently handle the needs of their customers. Why taking inventory and organizing service vans is important.
Methods of Decreasing Vehicle Expenses You Might Not Think About
Originally published: 06.01.13 by Ruth King
Vehicle expenses are a major component of overhead expense. Here are seven tips you may not have thought about that will help you keep these expenses as low as possible.
Top 5 Rules for Effective Fleet Wrap Design
Originally published: 06.01.13 by Dan Antonelli
These five tips will help you realize the maximum impact and return on investment for your outdoor vehicle advertising programs.
Are You Maximizing Your Fleet's Advertising Potential?
Originally published: 06.01.13 by Greg Smith
Whether they have a fleet of one, or many, smart business owners recognize their fleet's value for cost-effective advertising.
Cargo Van Styling Goes Euro
Originally published: 06.01.13 by HVACR Business Staff
Taller, boxier cargo vans will offer smaller engines and alternative fuel options.
What's Down the Road for Pickup Trucks?
Originally published: 06.01.13 by HVACR Business Staff
Fuel-efficiency sparks redesigns as competition heats up for 2014 and beyond.
How Long Until You Get Your Money Back?
Originally published: 03.26.13 by Fleet Intelligence magazine
As fleet management software becomes increasingly popular with service companies, we hear remarkable stories about how quickly owners are getting a return on their investment. Here's a look at how people are measuring ROI and what can be expected.
Advances in GPS Technology Boost Benefits of Fleet Tracking
Originally published: 06.01.11 by David Brown
Unpredictable fuel prices and increasing insurance costs for fleet vehicles continue to be challenges for HVACR contractors. Investing in technology can help.
Saving on Fleet Costs Requires a Plan
Originally published: 02.01.11 by Kenneth W. Janosick
By using three key tools, contractors can protect themselves against wasted time and money, costly repairs that could have been prevented, and one of the biggest wildcards in operating company vehicles — fuel cost.
Managing Fleet Liability Risk
Originally published: 06.01.10 by Mike Coyne
Your fleet is an indispensable part of your business. Literally, it is your means to reach customers. It also represents a significant liability risk. These are ways to manage the risk.
A Better Way for Pine State Services
Originally published: 06.01.10 by Tonya Vinas
Pine State Services, South Portland, Maine, began a vehicle-stocking-and-organization program for its fleet of 21 vehicles, 10 of which are service vehicles. Here's why and how they did it.
Size Matters
Originally published: 11.01.07 by Traci Purdum
Larger air conditioning units have contractors scrambling to purchase vehicles big enough to haul them. What are the benefits of adding these vehicles to your fleet? What do you need to consider to purchase the optimal vehicle?
Flip This Fleet
Originally published: 10.01.07 by Traci Purdum
Traci Purdum summarizes characteristics of successful branding strategies and presents insight from the winners of HVACR Business' fleet design contest.
Buy or Lease?
Originally published: 10.01.06 by Peter Strozniak
There's no right answer. The decision to buy or lease a fleet should be based on several things, including how you used your trucks and financial considerations.


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Before we get too far, let me outline what I think qualifies as a useful comment. It's something on topic, that expands on what's explained in the article and doesn't just parrot it. If I write a column about hiding cameras in Ray Romano's bedroom, a good comment might involve sharing your own tips for scraping the silver off the back of a mirror, or sharing your favorite profile of Romano when he's changing (mine's rear three quarters). And if you can be creative when doing it or even make people laugh, all the better.
Everybody LovesHow One Nut Is Much BiggerThan The Other, Ray
The Problems
So, with a good comment defined, let's look at all the ways this ideal is ignored, and itemize some of the ass nuggets routinely posted in its place.
#6: Anyone Can Comment
Obviously this is also the main appeal of comments; that everyone has a voice. To comment on a Cracked article you don't need a M.Sc in Applied Comedic Sciences - a 6 year educational odyssey which few people complete, largely thanks to the Slapstick requirement's 30% mortality rate. Airing the opinions of not just the experts, but also the great unwashed is widely thought to be a good thing, especially amongst people who have never actually met the great unwashed.
But, it turns out that a great benchmark for whether someone is worth listening to or not is whether they've convinced an editor and publisher and spell-checker that their ideas aren't dribbling birdshit. If someone hasn't broached those barriers, it's entirely likely that they're not worth listening to. The only way to tell if a comment is stool or not is to read it, making finding useful comments in a comments thread a bit like hunting for a needle in an outhouse. If there's one thing I know about readers on the Internet, it's that they don't have a lot of patience wading through crap to find the good stuff. This is the land of tl;dr, and expecting someone to shovel through three hundred misspelled racial slurs to read a good point about Ray Romano's balls is expecting a lot.
Like that they swap places every 28 days.
#5: And a Lot of Them Are Spammers
If you've spent any significant time on the Internet, you'll know what it's like reading spam. Your eyes just glide right off it, identifying and ignoring it faster than conscious thought. Small amounts of spam is easy to ignore; it's when it flares up that it becomes a problem, lowering the signal to noise ratio and scaring away legitimate users. Cracked's comments sections used to be nearly unreadable, dominated by ads for discount Nike shoes and meeting Tall Women.
This has been less and less of an issue as spam filters get better. But will that last, or our spam-amnesty's days are numbered? Surely there's an elite team of spam-programmers somewhere, draped in Gucci handbags and tall women, frantically working to defeat this.
#4: Anonymity Breeds Dicks
When cloaked by the anonymity still present on most commenting systems, people tend to act more antisocial then they might otherwise, their facelessness removing all of the negative implications of their actions. Directing dark, scatological threats towards a local weatherman is cause for arrest when done in person. On the internet, it's almost mundane; there's dozen of Tumblrs about it, I'm sure.
It's this anonymity where a lot of the really nasty stuff comes from. Harassment, racial slurs, mocking crime victims; imagine saying something that would cause someone to punch you in the throat, and it's a pretty safe bet that right now, someone is saying it on the Internet, their throat's going dangerously unpunched.
"I dare you to post your address young man, because I will come to you, and I will break you."
#3: The System, Gamed
On sites where comments are rated by users, the userbase will inevitably come up with a complicated game of grabass for manipulating said system. Look at the current system on Youtube, where about half the comments basically state: "Thumbs up if you liked this ..." Getting people watching a Whitesnake video to applaud how much Whitesnake rules is the cheapest type of populism; morons trying to collect thumbs-up from anonymous strangers like they mean something. There is no hole in your life small enough to be filled in by Youtube praise.
The more comment-prone among you will note that Cracked has recently implement a similar system, and I am mildly worried the same kind of nonsense will happen here (mildly being the most damn I can give about comments). Please, respected trolls, ass-breathers, and self-fiddlers: Do not talk about the comments system on the comments system. Those are not good comments. Talk about how much you love us, how much you hate us, or how specifically you want to cup Ray Romano's dangly bits.
"Up, down, and all around, please."
#2: Discussion Hijacking
One problem all comments systems have is that an early commenter can immediately steer the conversation off the rails. A comment like:
"I hate Chris Bucholz because he gives me gas pain."
...can cause almost every other commenter to respond with their own feelings about why that's irrelevant, or why that guy's a homosexual, or itemizing other GI tract complaints that my writing and/or presence can provoke. Any chance of a useful discussion is soon washed away on a sea of homemade flatulence remedies.
You see this type of thing happen a lot when an early commenter touches on a contentious subject, like Israel, immigration, or David Spade.
I've seen people almost come to blows arguing about whether David Spade should be allowed to be married.
#1: Even the Acceptable Comments Aren't Very Good
Even amongst the comments which aren't insulting or inflammatory or punch-threats, few are of any significant value, using the metric I established above, e.g. hilarious, insightful, or a link to nude pics. Think about how many comments are one of the following:
"I liked this."
"I hated this."
"I didn't understand this."
Obviously as an author, my opinion on feedback might be different than yours. Due to dangerously high levels of self-esteem, my doctors do often recommend regular doses of people yelling at me how much I suck. But as a reader, is there a ton of value in this? Seeing other people's opinions about whether a piece was good or not? Do you like seeing others agree with you about how much I suck?
Actually, listening to people agree with you is basically mankind's favorite hobby. Ok. We'll mark that up as a Kudos in the Comments column.
The So-Called Experts' Solutions
A few solutions have already been developed around the Internet for dealing with these issues. All of them have some problems though, which I'll snipe at safely from my chair of Not-having-to-do-anything-about-it.
Comes with zero power or responsibility, wheels.
Self Policing
There are a few variations of this system, the simplest of which is "Doing Nothing At All." In this system it's hoped that the community polices itself, using basic shunning techniques to discourage idiots from assing the place up. These systems work pretty well for smaller sites and communities, where users can get to know one another, trolls haven't found the place yet, and new users don't fly in faster than they can learn the customs of the community. For a larger site where the commenters are unlikely to know one another, no-one has a reputation to be damaged by a bad comment. Trying to shun someone who never comes back is all but impossible, and with no active deletion, the poop-drifts can easily start to pile up.
In a just world, the man who invented yelling 'First!' would live at the bottom of this, but not for long, because he couldn't breathe.
Remove Anonymity
This solution often requires commenters to login using their Facebook accounts, forcing them to post using their real name. These systems do produce less obvious trolling and hate speech than anonymous systems, but they also have less total comments. Obviously many of the comments not getting posted are of limited value, but it's not too hard to come up with interesting comments that people would justifiably want to post anonymously. A racy joke perhaps, or an insightful confession about a restraining order involving waterfowl. The end results are comment threads which are a bit tepid, as if everything was a response in a job interview.
Your resume looks very impressive, but I think what we really want to know is what is your opinion on fighting children?
Possibly the most effective solution allows still-anonymous comments that are moderated, deleted, or approved by actual human moderators. This allows for the unpredictable energy of anonymous comments, but limits the large-scale asshattery they often provoke. The biggest downside of course being cost. Community moderators could be used for free, but those only seem to show up when there's a community, e.g. on smaller single-issue sites or in forums. For a large website like a newspaper, or a site like Cracked with its audience of misanthropes and international super-criminals, the comments sections are too big and hectic to develop the needed sense of community or collective ownership.
This leaves paid, staffed moderator positions. Which certainly work, but you know that gesture you make where you rub your first two fingers together against your thumb? Or that one where you turn your pockets out and make a mopey face? Or that one you make with hands clasped, kneeling next to an angry pimp, while you sobbingly proclaim that you didn't know she was a prostitute?
"Get out of here you lousy Internet site, 'fore I break your legs!"
A lot of sites simply can't afford that. And should they? On an article which draws several hundred thousands of readers, we're likely to get a comments thread with a few hundred commenters. Notwithstanding the fact that we really love the little morons, how much should we spend to improve the experience for a few hundred people, when we could use the same resources to research pictures of men in terrifying cow costumes?
It cost us $2800 to find and publish this picture, but we'll make three times that when the dairy industry pays us to take it down.


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On September 11, 2001 life as we know it changed forever. At 9:59 EST, the unthinkable occurred when Al Qaeda-affiliated hijackers flew two jets into the World Trade Center towers. The approaching 10th anniversary of the event has stirred up a flood of memories for millions worldwide. For many of us, it has become an opportunity to work through this experience by sharing those memories with one another. Here is mine.
I lived in Santa Monica, CA at the time. At 7 a.m., there was an urgent pounding on my door. My friend and neighbor, Mark R. stood before me, visibly shaken, phone in hand, insisting that I turn on the television. As I did, Mark informed me that he was on the phone speaking to his best friend who worked in the south tower of the World Trade Center. Every morning they spoke before starting their days. On this morning, his best man and the godfather of his children was shaken.
"Something is wrong," he told Mark. "There's smoke and alarms and noise, and I have no idea what's going on." By now, Mark and I both knew that two planes had struck the towers, and he asked my advice, hand over mouthpiece. "Do I tell him what we're seeing?" he whispered as I turned the sound down on the set. I was still trying to absorb the news crawl and whispered back. "I can't advise you. I don't know what to think myself." Mark did not reveal our observations to his friend, but as the nightmare unfolded, it became more difficult not to share what his friend could not see: the gaping holes in the towers, the billowing smoke and the sheer enormity of the unfolding disaster.
"They're telling us to not panic," Mark's friend said. "Don't hang up; stay on the phone with me, please, until they tell us where to go." To us, watching the news, the reality of his plight had begun to sink in. I couldn't help but think what my own friends, some of whom worked in the district, were going through, and desperately tried to reach them, with no success. The sheer distance from my home state made it even more difficult in a way, since I felt like a useless bystander, unable to help my friends and family in any immediate sense. Meanwhile, Mark attempted to calm his buddy, telling him that there was a fire and that help was on the way. He chatted away for 56 more minutes—until the south tower collapsed before our eyes on the television. The line went dead.
At six foot four, Mark the football coach is an impressive tower of strength, but on that day, he collapsed to the floor, clutching my leg and screaming, wailing like a banshee. I held him in my arms, incoherent and inconsolable, and tears coursed down my cheek as the impact began to take hold. My phone began to ring incessantly but I let it go, not knowing what to say and unwilling to release my hold on Mark. Then he ran into the street howling and crumpled, as neighbors ran to his aid, shouting for help, calling 911, and the melee, from a distance, began.
Somehow, I reached a girlfriend, who lived and worked at what has become known as "ground zero." Part of the first responders team, she couldn't stay on the line, but quickly explained that the north tower had just collapsed as well, and that all communication was to be held by Nextel walkie-talkies from that point forward. "I saw it happen," she said, "and without even knowing the details, a voice in my head told me: this can't be fixed.
"It's like being in a big-budget Hollywood disaster flick. Everywhere I look, people are vacant-eyed, walking away like zombies. There is smoke and ash everywhere; the city is crippled," she said, before disengaging and preparing herself to help those afflicted by the tragedy—a struggle that would prove to last for years.
I called her again this morning. "As a first responder, I have studied this experience for 10 years," she said, "and the system has not been fixed. There was nothing in place then to deal with a population that had been 'vaporized' and there still isn't. Looking back, I just snapped. It happened in front of my face. If I was called upon to do it again, I couldn't. I never signed on for this. I fulfilled my obligation to the best of my ability, but even that was not good enough. I'm still trying to get it out of my head, which is why I have left the city and relocated to the Catskills. But you can't run from the horror; it's always there."
I have asked my friends to leave comments on their own memories on my Facebook page, and have received a flood of responses, including this from Lori Rubenstein: "A grand mixture of terror, bravery, camaraderie, love, respect and hate—which resulted in a renewed spirit as a U.S. citizen," and this from Mary Bakalis: "My life and attitude changed forever that day, and I can't take for granted the things I once did."
If you would like to share your own memories or comments with the community, we invite you to email them to The River Reporter (email@example.com [1]) with "9/11" in the subject line, and we will publish them as online addenda to this feature.
9/11 Happened To All Of Us
They came from over there and murdered three thousand over here. Our response was proportional. We killed three hundred thousand over there and made three million refugees, whether or not they had anything to do with it or even ever heard of 9/11. Their purpose was to cripple our economy so we could not, or would not meddle again in their history. We crippled our own economy all by ourselves, thank you very much. We spent three trillion on smart bombs and soldiers' rations, bribes and contractor corruption. Three trillion that would have saved a lot of lives with health care for all, fed many hungry, created a lot of jobs, researched a lot of sustainable energy solutions, improved our environment. None of that will happen now. All gone to war. Over there, on their own, in spite of our meddling, they decided that, even with the flaws we demonstrate, democracy is still preferable to tyranny.
On 9/11 the bridge was closed so I withdrew in fear and did not return to the wounded city until a week had passed. Then I hunched over my sushi and wondered if we would ever recover from such a terrible tragedy.
How many billionaires ran into the burning buildings to save their employees? How many died in the collapse? How many went to fight in foreign lands, or sent their children? No, they clamor for lower taxes and demand less spending on relief for first responders, injured soldiers, and victims of natural disasters. Worst of all, they control and manipulate information to convince the very classes they oppress to rally on behalf of their plutocracy.
As for Bush and Cheney, I'm surprised they were let out of prison to publish books and appear at 9-11 memorials. Oh, that's right. They haven't been made to pay for their crimes.
Allan Rubin
Cochecton, NY


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I was taking pictures during the recent snowfall on Friday morning of the Oswegatchie River, as viewed from the Riverside Cemetery in Gouverneur. Along came what I thought was a log, but upon closer inspection when I loaded the photo on to my computer, it is definitely NOT a log! I am not sure what it is but it definitely has some unique carvings etched into it. My best guess is that it is at least 3ft long and is possibly some sort of animal carcass. I zoomed in as far as I could with my lens (200mm) and this was the best I could do. So, if anyone has any ideas as to what this could be, please share because I would love to know! It's a bit creepy and very weird to look at! The reflection in the water makes it very symmetrical and nearly 3-D.
Creepy Floater in the Oswegatchie River
By: apotterSubscribe Channel: Weather Location: Gouverneur, NY
1 Comment
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says ... on Tuesday, Dec 7 at 7:47 AM
It's rotten wood, part of a tree carcass. Really exciting (not)56930294
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