Safety concerns, labor issues, bankruptcy take toll on American Airlines

19 hrs.

A. Pawlowski , NBC News contributor

When it comes to describing the state of American Airlines?these days, travelers have lots of aviation-themed metaphors to choose from --?experiencing severe turbulence; in the midst of a bumpy ride; trouble in the?skies.

But the bottom line is American is a carrier with mounting?difficulties, some that were in place well before the recent scheduling?problems and tensions with pilots.

?In terms of the large U.S. airlines, this is the one with?the highest profile problems right now,? said Robert W. Mann Jr., an airline industry analyst.

?They?ve got a serious public relations bow wave to try to?keep ahead of.?

For travelers, the troubling headlines about American?Airlines -- the?nation's third-biggest carrier -- just keep coming.

Rows of seats have come loose on planes in recent days,?which the airline is investigating. Overnight, a group of engineers, tech crew chiefs and inspectors evaluated 36 Boeing 757s and plan to look at another 11. They found the root cause is a saddle clamp improperly installed on the foot of the row leg, said Andrea Huguely, a spokeswoman for the airline. The clamps were used on 47 of American's 102 Boeing 757 airplanes.

"This issue does not seem to be tied to any one maintenance facility or one working group," Huguely said.

"American regrets the inconvenience that this maintenance issue may have caused customers on affected flights. Safety is -- and always will be -- American's top concern."

Mann called the seat track issues ?hard to?believe.??

Listen to the actual dispatch recordings from American Airlines Flight 443 (Audio courtesy:?LiveATC.net):

Then, there?s the sudden rise in flight delays and?cancellations that began last month after American imposed new cost-cutting?terms on its pilots. The carrier has blamed the scheduling problems on a surge?of maintenance requests filed by crews and by an uptick in pilots calling in?sick. The pilots' union says there is no organized sickout or work slowdown.

Fliers who?ve encountered snags on American are venting on?social media and in higher-profile venues.

?You, American Airlines, should no longer be flying across?the Atlantic,? wrote author Gary Shteyngart in an opinion published in The New?York Times over the weekend about a recent flight from Paris to New York.

?The aircraft was indeed an interesting one. One of the?overhead baggage compartments was held together with masking tape. Halfway?across the Atlantic you decided to turn Flight 121 back because your altimeter?wasn?t working.?

The dislodged rows of seats may be particularly disturbing?to fliers, creating a perception?--?whether deserved or not?--?that American?s planes?may not be in the best shape, industry observers said.

?Only a tiny percentage of flights have been canceled or?delayed, even though the numbers are much higher than normal. ?But poor?aircraft maintenance is less easily forgiven than flight irregularities,? said?George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog.com.

?Air travel is still the safest way to get from one place to?another, but perceptions can turn quickly if these problems persist.?

Fliers focusing on American?s recent problems may forget?that the airline is also trying to restructure after filing for bankruptcy last?November and facing a record fine from the government for safety and?maintenance violations. In August, the Federal Aviation Administration?announced it could seek up $162 million from American?s parent company, AMR.

The carrier is also dealing with a maturing fleet of planes?whose average age is almost 15 years.

Older airplanes are less fuel efficient and, as energy costs?have risen to the point where they are any airline?s biggest expense, they just?make American?s cost problems more acute, Mann said.

Last year, the airline placed what it called the largest?aircraft order in aviation history, which will reduce its average fleet age to?9.5 years by 2017.

Still, improvements five years from now likely have little?meaning for passengers who are weighing their present air travel options.

?For American Airlines, time is of the essence,? said Rick?Seaney, CEO of FareCompare.com. ?You?re only as good as your last flight on?airlines -- people still have choice, even after a lot of these mergers.?

But while the problems are scaring some travelers, others will?continue with flights already booked, Hobica said. Since most people still buy?based on price alone, it wouldn?t be surprising to see American have a sale or?offer bonus frequent flyer miles to entice travelers, he added.

?So far this is survivable. But when you add bankruptcy,?labor unrest, delays, and now safety concerns, of course this is going to?affect some passengers,? Hobica said.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/safety-concerns-labor-issues-bankruptcy-take-toll-american-airlines-6235203

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Longing to be thin? Blame your genes - TODAY Health

Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience

Hate your body? Society's obsession with thinness may not be to blame ? at least not entirely. A new study finds that genetics influences how much women buy into the idea that thin equals beautiful.

Identical twins are more likely than fraternal twins to hold similar views on thinness and beauty, according to the new research, published online Oct. 3 in the International Journal of Eating Disorders. Because siblings are raised in very similar environments, the difference between fraternal twins, who share about half of their genes, and identical twins, who share all of their genes, suggests a genetic component to what researchers call "thin-ideal internalization."

"Thin-ideal internalization is the extent to which someone identifies with the ideal of thinness and attractiveness in our culture," said study researcher Jessica Suisman, a doctoral student in psychology at Michigan State University. "Someone who has high levels of thin-ideal internalization would say, 'I wish I looked more like the women I see in the media and magazines.'"

The genetics of body hatred
Media and magazines have taken the rap for much of American women's body dissatisfaction. A long list of studies have found that internalization of the Hollywood beauty ideal is linked to eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and less-severe food issues such as constant dieting.

Related: 10 Odd Facts About the Female Body

The question, Suisman told LiveScience, is why every woman in America doesn't succumb to this cultural obsession with thinness, given that everyone sees thin-is-best messages on nearly a daily basis. She and her colleagues launched a study to look, for the first time, at genetic influences on these beauty attitudes.

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To do so, the researchers used survey responses from a large study of twins in Michigan. A total of 343 female twins ages 12 to 22 filled out surveys, answering questions about how strongly they wanted to look like women they saw on television, in magazines and in advertisements. The more they aspired to those looks, the higher their thin-ideal internalization.

The researchers then compared how identical and fraternal twin pairs answered the questions. They found that the more similar the genes, the more similar the answers.

"The identical twins were more similar in their responses to those questions, more similar in their levels of thin-ideal internalization than the fraternal twins," Suisman said. That indicates that all else being equal, genetics play a role in how much women stress about their bodies, perhaps by making some women more sensitive to thinness-promoting environmental cues, Suisman said. In other words, not everyone reacts the same way to a Victoria's Secret ad or an episode of "America's Next Top Model."

Risky DNA
The twin-study method can't tell researchers which genes might be responsible for increasing a woman's internalization of the thin ideal, Suisman said. There is almost certainly no straightforward answer, as complex behaviors tend to be influenced by multiple genes. Likely culprits are genes that influence personality, Suisman said, perhaps those that increase perfectionism or the tendency to experience negative emotions.

The next step, Suisman said, is to conduct other twin studies to see how genetics influences the likelihood of developing an actual eating disorder and whether the same factors are at play as in thin-ideal internalization.

The researchers also found that, in twins, shared environmental risk factors ? such as being in the same economic class and growing up in the same household ? had little influence on thin-ideal internalization. But non-shared factors, including different friend groups or different relationships with parents, explained some of the differences between siblings' attitudes.

"The most important thing is when we're thinking about tendencies toward eating disorders or tendencies toward buying into the pressure to be thin, obviously the environment we live in is important," Suisman said. "But I think it's also important to consider genetic and non-shared environmental risk factors as well."

Related content:

Source: http://todayhealth.today.com/_news/2012/10/03/14202860-longing-to-be-thin-blame-your-genes

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Disaggregating High School Education ? Oxford Foundation-Michigan

Scope of Paper

This Paper seeks to outline the elements of changes in Michigan?s traditional public school model necessary to fully implement Governor Rick Snyder?s ?Any Time, Any Place, Any Way, Any Pace? proposals for public education.

Under this analysis, the elements of a high school diploma will be identified and disaggregated in order to explore ways the complete education process can be delivered through multiple public education providers in an effective way.

For discussion purposes, the Paper focuses only on high school and access to post secondary education. It does not deal with K-12 education.

Governor Snyder?s Vision for Public Education

This Paper seeks to execute on comments included in Gov. Snyder?s 2011 Education Reform Message (?Message?):

• Our education system must position our children to compete globally in a knowledge-based economy.
• I am proposing a new ?Any Time, Any Place, Any Way, Any Pace public school learning model.
• Michigan?s education system has revolved around a static approach to education delivery that can be at odds with individual learning styles.
• Performance-based funding rather than seat time requirements.
• Michigan?s state foundation allowance should not be exclusively tied to the school district a child attends. Instead, funding needs to follow the student.
• Eliminate barriers to true choice in education and give parents and students the flexibility to employ education programming that ensures their future success.

In addition to his Message, the Governor has also encouraged these concepts:

• The Primary objective of public education should be career readiness:? an individual is prepared to move into the career in a sustainable fashion.
• The education system must provide seamless transitions: the ability to move seamlessly between early childhood, K-12, and post-secondary education.
• For each student, the goal should be achieving competencies: recognize achievement and growth on an individual student basis.
• Recognition of results: in the process of recognition and payment to education providers.

What Does ?Any Time, Any Place, Any Way, Any Pace? Mean?

While public schools have adopted many innovative techniques in recent years, there is a basic public school model that can be used to compare a model with the ?anys:?

The 5 Elements of Public Education

As part of its project to draft a new public education finance act of 2013 to replace Michigan?s School Aid Act of 1979, the Oxford Foundation has used the following chart of the elements of public education in its meetings with education groups:

Using this model in the disaggregation analysis, it is possible to break the high school education process down into elements:

Money: Under Michigan?s system of ?free public elementary and secondary schools,? all the money for education comes from government, either state government or local property taxes or from the federal government. For post-secondary education, however, the sources of payment include more private funds and no obligation on the government to pay the full cost.

Regulations: Public education in Michigan is a highly regulated industry with most of the regulations emanating from the state. While there is a general belief in ?local control? of public schools, it is state law and state regulations, plus state control over the $1 billion+ federal funds that actually control.

Michigan?s complex education regulatory regime generally covers all education providers. Even charter schools in Michigan do not operate under any significantly reduced regulations.

Since public education is a state regulated and largely state funded process, the state has the power to disaggregate the high school education process and, as the Governor proposes, ?eliminate barriers to true choice in education and give parents and students the flexibility to employ education programming that ensures their future success.?

Government Instrumentalities

Michigan?s public K-12 education system is constitutionally mandated to be under the direction and control of government instrumentalities as authorized or established by the legislature. The Legislature has had the task of defining the form and the institutional structure through which public education is delivered in Michigan since the time Michigan became a state. Under the Parochiaid decision upholding Michigan?s charter school law, the Michigan Supreme Court only required that to be a public school, the school must be under the ?ultimate and immediate control of the state and its agents.?

For purposes of government funding through the constitutionally established and funded school aid fund, the money must be paid through entities called ?school districts,? as defined by the legislature.

Under this legal structure, there are many types of entities authorized to provide aspects of a high school education to Michigan Students, including:

• District schools
• Intermediate district schools
• Special education center programs
• Charter school corporations (public school academies, schools of excellence, urban high school academies, strict discipline academies)
• Cyber school corporations
• State-run schools such as the school for the deaf
• Prison schools
• State Public Universities
• Community Colleges
• The Michigan Virtual School, a private organization, acting through public schools
• Private education providers, acting through and under the control of public school authorities (individual teachers, education management organizations, private special education providers, etc.)

Transmitters

The concept of ?transmitter? is to use a broad term for the people, processes and material that are an essential part of the process we call ?education,? viz.:

1. The act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.
2. The act or process of imparting or acquiring particular knowledge or skills, as for a profession. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/education?s=t]

Under Michigan law, the state highly regulates and limits the people who are authorized by the state to transmit knowledge in public schools; it generally does not regulate other transmitters such as textbooks, audiovisual material or online courses.

For purposes of this analysis, the following is a partial list of transmitters:

• Certificated teachers
• Certificated administrators
• Teacher aids
• Textbooks and related classroom material
• Online course content
• Individual student research and exploration

Intellectual Content

As the definition quoted above states, education is about ?general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.?

Assuming a high school student has basic literacy, numeracy and social skills, the intellectual content of high school should be focusing on transmitting the facts, values, skills to prepare a person for adulthood, including being ready for employment or further education.

Michigan does not leave to local public officials the choice of subjects to teach. It imposes curriculum requirements on all students and teachers. This Michigan Department of Education website provides:

Michigan?s content standards are a set of learning expectations developed by parents, educators, business leaders and university professors to assist schools in the development of local district curricula. These standards and more detailed learning objectives called benchmarks are contained within the Michigan Curriculum Framework.

In addition, Michigan has recently developed nationally recognized English Language Arts and Mathematics Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCE) providing K-8 educators with meaningful tools to better align what is taught with what is tested in the classroom.

Curriculum and Standards

• Common Core State Standards Initiative
• Curriculum Review Cycle
• How Michigan Curriculum is Developed
• English Language Proficiency K-12 Standards
• Preparing Michigan Students for Work and College Success Research Fact Sheet
• High School Course/Credit Content Expectations and Guidelines
• Michigan Curriculum Framework
• Career/Employability Standards

Elements of a High School Education

Today, a high school diploma is based largely on a single school district providing courses, awarding credits and issuing a credential called a high school diploma. Under a maximum choice approach, a pupil will need a process whereby at least all of the following can occur:

• A pupil and his or her parents can select from a curated list of courses that are appropriate for the pupil and, in the aggregate, will meet the requirements for a state-authorized credential recognized by job providers and institutions of higher education.
• A pupil can access multiple public education providers and take one or more classes from a provider.
• Some public institution maintains the pupil records of mastery or proficiency and credit awards, payment of education funds and aggregates the credits to determine eligibility for credentials.

The following is a preliminary list of elements of a disaggregated 4-year high school experience leading to a recognized diploma under Michigan law:

1. High school course

a. Design

b. Selection

c. Selection of teaching materials

d. Counseling and advising

e. Delivery of course; teaching and instruction

2. Assessment

a. Testing

b. Data

3. Credits

a. Awarding or denying credit for performance, proficiency, mastery, etc.

b. Aggregating credits

4. Records

a. Collecting and aggregating credits

b. Maintaining master records for student

5. Credentials

a. Determining eligibility for credential based on credit history

b. Awarding or denying appropriate credential (high school diploma, GED)

6. Payment

a. Receipt and payment of funds to education providers

7. Facilities

a. Maintaining appropriate facilities (school buildings) or infrastructure (online system)

8. Non-teaching Elements

a. Feeding

b. Safety and security

c. Interscholastic sports

Disaggregation Elements of Present Michigan Law

Michigan?s existing School Code of 1979 (?Act?) financing model is based on the concept that a Michigan pupil must generally enroll in the district of his or her residence unless either released by the district or eligible under specific exceptions. The primary restrictions are as follows:

MCL ?388.1606. ? (4)?The amount of the foundation allowance for a pupil in membership is determined under section 20. In making the calculation of membership, all of the following, as applicable, apply to determining the membership of a district, a public school academy, the education achievement system, or an intermediate district:

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, and pursuant to subsection (6), a pupil shall be counted in membership in the pupil?s educating district or districts. An individual pupil shall not be counted for more than a total of 1.0 full-time equated membership.

(b) If a pupil is educated in a district other than the pupil?s district of residence, if the pupil is not being educated as part of a cooperative education program, if the pupil?s district of residence does not give the educating district its approval to count the pupil in membership in the educating district, and if the pupil is not covered by an exception specified in subsection (6) to the requirement that the educating district must have the approval of the pupil?s district of residence to count the pupil in membership, the pupil shall not be counted in membership in any district.

(6) ?Pupil? means a person in membership in a public school. A district must have the approval of the pupil?s district of residence to count the pupil in membership, except approval by the pupil?s district of residence is not required for any of the following?

But where the exceptions apply, the Act includes, for limited purposes, elements of a disaggregated system, including:

1. The concept of ?full-time equated pupils in grades K to 12 actually enrolled?? and related provisions contemplate a pupil attending more than one school simultaneously. Presently, one FTE is based on the number of class hours used to calculate full-time equated memberships, which requires, each district to provide at least 1,098 hours.
2. ?A pupil?s participation in?an online educational program of the education achievement system or of an achievement school is considered regular daily attendance.?
3. ?A pupil shall be counted in membership in the pupil?s educating district or districts?? recognizes multiple enrollments.
4. ?An individual pupil shall not be counted for more than a total of 1.0 full-time equated membership.?
5. Proration of state aid is provided where a ?public school academy or the education achievement system provides instruction for at least 1/2 of the class hours specified?.?
6. The Act requires that the ?department shall give a uniform interpretation of full-time and part-time memberships.?
7. Where a district a district alternative or disciplinary education program provides instructional placement for a pupil apart from the general school population, it must provide that ??credit earned is awarded to the pupil and placed on the pupil?s transcript.?
8. In defining ?Pupils in grades K to 12 actually enrolled and in regular daily attendance? the Act defines ?class? as ?a period of time in 1 day when pupils and a certificated teacher or legally qualified substitute teacher are together and instruction is taking place.?
9. MCL ?388.1621b covers tuition and fee support for pupil attending post secondary institution and provides ?a district shall use funds received under section 22a or 22b to support the attendance of a district pupil at an eligible post secondary institution under the post secondary enrollment options act?or under the career and technical preparation act?.?

Designing an Unbundled High School Model

The purpose of this Paper is to propose a new model for delivering a high school education to a Michigan resident pupil that eliminate barriers to true choice in the pupil?s education and give parents and students the flexibility to employ education programming that ensures their future success.

While most students and their parents may be satisfied with the bundled education package offered by the district, charter or cyber school selected, there are some students and parents who have individual learning styles and would benefit from an ?Any Time, Any Place, Any Way, Any Pace? learning model provided by multiple providers.? Accordingly, the following discussion is not designed for all students, but to those who will benefit most from a system that allows flexibility to employ diverse education programming resources.

Constitutional Constraints

Even an unbundled education program must comply with Michigan Constitutional constraints:

• The education providers must be under the ?ultimate and immediate control of the state and its agents.?
• For purposes of government funding through the constitutionally established and funded school aid fund, the money must be paid through entities called ?school districts,? as defined by the legislature.

This means that no matter how good it may be, in order to have the government pay for a course, the course must be provided through a Michigan public school. A student or parent, of course, may use private funds for all of some of the education desired.

The Elements of An Unbundled High School Education

The following is a summary of the functions that must be provided to a student in order to achieve a high school diploma:

1. Courses of education that meet minimum state curriculum requirements.

2. A selection process for approving courses eligible for payment by school funds.

3. A government instrumentality that

a. Approves (but does not necessarily employ) Michigan certificated teachers and other instructors to teach the approved courses.

b. Maintains records of course performance for each student taking a course.

c. Processes payments of public funds to the teacher or provider.

4. A public or private education provider that develops course content (consistent with government requirements) and retains certificated teachers as required by state law.

5. An entity under the ultimate and immediate control of the state to:

a. Determine student state residency (and U.S. citizenship).

b. Aggregate course completion records to determine eligibility for a credential (diploma).

Hypothetical Student Under New Model

This outline assumes that Michigan adopts HB 5923, amending the School Code to provide new forms of schools and set forth as state policy:

Within available resources, the parent or legal guardian of each child is entitled to choose among available public or nonpublic schools for some or all of the education necessary to develop the child?s intellectual capabilities and vocational skills in a safe and positive environment.

It also assumes the present School Aid Act is replaced, in part, with an education financing system that provides seamless access to multiple education providers and between secondary and post-secondary education institutions.

Student: Valerie Gregg (?Valerie?)

• Junior in High School
• Member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (?KBIC?)
• Valerie has been identified as a Native student with unique talents and potential to achieve at the highest level
• Special Interests: Music, Math and Indian languages
• Moved to Oscoda in 2012. Freshman and Sophomore years in other school systems
• 4.0 average from other schools

Education Providers:

• School District of Residence: Oscoda Area Schools (?Oscoda?). The District is currently serving 1486 students preschool-twelfth grades in two elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. Every school in Oscoda Area Schools has met rigorous national standards for quality established by the North Central Association. Oscoda Area Schools continues to be one of a select group of school districts statewide accredited in all schools K-12.

Oscoda is where Valerie lives and takes many if her classes. She will also participate in the Oscoda School Choir and enroll in student clubs.

• Home District: Bay Mills Charter School (?BMCS?), a Michigan public school academy chartered by the Bay Mills Community College, an accredited tribally controlled community college.

BMCS is the ?home district? for Valerie. It assumes responsibility for maintaining all records of her public school education. As a charter school that focuses on Native American matter, BMCS provides counseling and assistance to assure that Valerie enrolls in courses where she can succeed and which reflect her plans for her future.

• Michigan Advanced Math Academy is a ?globally competitive school? is a highly selective public school with an ?innovative, specialized learning environment for highly motivated pupils who have a genuine interest in the curriculum of the school.? BMCS counselors have worked with the Math Academy to facilitate Valerie?s enrollment as a part-time, online student. The Math Academy is also a residential public school and, through special scholarships, Valerie will be able to attend intensive math programs and live in Academy housing.

• Bay Mills Community College (?BMCC?). BMCC has a unique Native language instructional program that provides Valerie the opportunity to learn Native languages while in high school and receive college credit for the successful completion of the course.
  

• Alpena Community College (?Alpena CC?), Huron Shores Campus, Oscoda. In her senior year, Valerie plans to take a self study course in anthropology, focusing on Great Lakes Indian culture, under the direction of an Alpena Community College adjunct faculty member.? She will receive both high school credit and college credit for the course.

How the Public School Authorities Serve Valerie?s Education Objectives and Guarantee Her a Free Public Education

1. As a resident of Oscoda, she is eligible to receive some of her courses from her district of residence and is eligible to benefit from both the state funding and the local property taxes that support Oscoda Schools. She is also eligible to enroll in Alpena CC.
2. As a resident of Michigan, she is eligible to enroll in the BMCS, the Math Academy and BMCC for the courses for which she is eligible, with having to receive the approval of Oscoda Schools. Charter schools are funded by state funds. The school funding laws will provide that school aid funds are used to pay the tuition at the BMCC.
3. As a highly selective school, the Math Academy has established agreements with state public universities to recognize successful mastery of Academy mathematics courses for college credit. Valerie will benefit when she enrolls in college by having received credits for the both the math classes and for her Native language courses at BMCC.
4. BMCS, as Valerie?s home district, will be the repository of all school records and will provide those records to state authorities, her parents and other schools. Because BMCS is providing a service to comply with state and federal record keeping requirements, it will receive state funding for the service.
5. Because Valerie?s high school education is unbundled, BMCS will provide a curating and counseling role to assure that Valerie and her parents enroll in courses that are both eligible for state funding and meet state and school requirements for credit and credentials.
6. Valerie?s education providers are diverse in her last two years of high school. But Michigan?s new Any Time, Any Place, Any Way, Any Pace Data System easily handles the process for enrollment, assessment, records and payment that are required. Valerie, her parents, state officials, and school officials in each school where she is enrolled have online access at any time through the Michigan EduCard App and database stored in a secure cloud based, state controlled system.
7. When Valerie enrolls in a Michigan state public university, she will have earned college credits equivalent to a full year of college and will be able to advance her higher education at a faster pace than many of her fellow college freshmen. Valerie will be on her way to an education that will allow her to compete globally in a knowledge-based economy.

HB 5923 will add new forms of schools to the extensive diversity of public schools already operating in Michigan.

There are 80 IB schools in MI. [1] These schools are internationally recognized, the program is universal which makes it easy for parents with children who travel a lot.? The programs are more comprehensive.

There are 19 early/middle colleges in Michigan. [2] These schools are 5-year high schools located at a university or community college.? It is an agreement between community college and a high school to provide college course access to high school student with a convenient location.? Eastern University offers this program, and it is located on their campus.? Middle/early college programs are coordinated through the ISD?s and universities.

These schools center around technology focused curricula.? There is a New Tech High in Ypsilanti/Washtenaw, and Saginaw.

STEM(Science Technology Engineering Math)/STEAM(Science Technology Engineering Arts Math) Schools:

These schools focus their curricula based on their acronyms, respectively.

Schools can be categorized as offering online courses within districts. Schools are allowed to offer up to 2 online courses per student per the seat time waiver.

Strive are project based schools.

Blended schools provide work-study and/or online opportunities while students also attend classes at the school.

There are 57 ISD?s in MI. [3] They provide services to school districts, such as assistance with vocational programs

A selective school is a school that admits students on the basis of some sort of selection criteria, usually academic. The term may have different connotations in different systems. The opposite is a comprehensive school, which accepts all students, regardless of aptitude. The split between selective and comprehensive education is mainly seen at secondary level; primary education is rarely selective.

IBSOM has formed to support schools in Michigan through the application process, through sharing expertise as member schools and through creating an environment conducive to the continued growth of our students.

~ to offer symposia and information sessions on a variety of topics concerning the Primary Years Program, the Middle Years Program as well as the Diploma Program

The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programs of international education and rigorous assessment.

These programs encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

Many states now offer tuition-free online schools for resident students under a certain age (often 21). Most virtual schools are charter schools; they receive government funding and are run by a private organization. Online charter schools are subject to fewer restrictions than traditional schools. However, they are reviewed regularly and must continue to meet state standards.

Some states also offer their own online public schools. These virtual programs generally operate from a state office or a school district. Statewide public school programs vary. Some online public schools offer a limited number of remedial or advanced courses not available in brick-and-mortar public school campuses. Others offer full online diploma programs.

A few states choose to fund ?seats? for students in private online schools. The number of available seats may be limited and students are usually asked to apply through their public school guidance counselor. (See also: 4 Types of Online High Schools).

The Michigan Virtual School is an online resource that enables Michigan high schools and middle schools to provide courses (all taught by certified teachers) and other learning tools those students wouldn?t otherwise have access to. The Michigan Legislature funded it in July 2000 to be operated by the Michigan Virtual University, a private, not-for-profit Michigan corporation. MVS works in cooperation with individual school districts to grant course credit and diplomas.

Through MVS, Michigan high school and middle school students can take a variety of courses and learn any place there is a computer and an Internet connection. We?re here to help prepare our children for a lifetime of integrating technology into their work and their lives.

Middle College High Schools are designed to meet the needs of students who may do better in a non-traditional high school setting or are interested in being challenged. These programs provide students with both a high school diploma and up to 60 college credits, which are transferable to most state colleges and universities. Middle College High School programs may be career focused and usually are located on a college campus. These programs are created through community collaboration between an intermediate or local school district and a community college. Enrollment in these schools can begin as early as ninth grade with college classes beginning as early as tenth grade. Early/Middle College High Schools have several locations in Michigan.

Source: http://oxfordfoundationmi.com/2012/10/02/disaggregating-high-school-education/

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Liverpool seeks events partner for international business festival

The organisation ? which is Liverpool City Council?s economic development company ? is searching for an events agency that will design, develop, market and commercialise the festival.

The International Business Festival is expected to run over four weeks in June and July 2014, using events space at the Echo Arena and BT Convention Centre, the yet-to-be completed International Trade Centre in Wirral, and temporary structures in north Liverpool.

Up to 500,000 delegates could attend the ?15m event, which is being partly funded by ?5m from government as part of its City Deal programme.

However, Liverpool wants to create a concessionary contract with the event supplier, partnering on the risk, and potential returns, of the festival.

In March this year, Liverpool delivered the four-day Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC), which brought 3,500 delegates from 125 countries to the city, and featured speakers Sir Terry Leahy, Lord Heseltine and Sir Richard Branson.

It is hoped the new International Business Festival will support the Government?s aim to double annual UK exports by 2020, and the winning supplier?s role will be to ensure the event is unmissable for local, national and international business delegates.

The deadline for events agencies to request to participate is 22 October, and the contract will be for 20 months in total.

Source: http://www.citmagazine.com/news/1152917/Liverpool-seeks-events-partner-international-business-festival/

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Western Digital My Passport Edge

The Western Digital My Passport Edge ($99.99 list) fulfills a niche: ready-to-go pocket hard drives. As such, it comes in one flavor: a 500GB drive with a USB 3.0 interface. The line is built on a simpler premise: This hard drive is meant to be a convenience item to be purchased with very little effort. And that concept pretty much works. Instead of having to agonize over color choices and capacities, it's the hard drive to recommend to your friends or relatives when they "just need a hard drive."

Design and Features
The My Passport Edge is a compact, pocket-sized drive measuring about 0.5 by 3.25 by 4.5 inches (HWD), which makes it a little shorter than an iPhone 4S, a smidge wider, and almost as thin. It's thinner, but otherwise about the same size as other recent My Passport drives like the Western Digital My Passport Studio (2TB) ($299.99 list, 4 stars) and Western Digital My Passport (2TB) ($249.99 list, 3.5 stars). The drive is made mostly of matte black polycarbonate plastic, with a thin metal lid with the drive's name and a dot-based design printed on it. One edge houses the drive's USB 3.0 micro-b connector. The drive comes with a USB 3.0 cable, so it's ready to use right out of the box. There's a three-year warranty, which is better than some competitors like the Editor's Choice Seagate Backup Plus , which makes do with a two-year warranty. Both warranties are better than more basic drives that come with a one-year warranty.

The drive comes formatted for NTFS, to work with Windows systems. You can reformat the drive as HFS+ for use with a Mac, plus the drive comes with a set of Mac and Windows utilities. The drive comes with WD's SmartWare (an easy to use backup utility), WD Security (simple hardware encryption), and WD Drive Utilities (diagnostics and sleep timer). Really, if you're not planning on setting up automatic backup on Windows, you don't have to use any of the included utilities. The drive is also ready to go (after a reformat) as a Time Machine backup disk for Macs. The drive's 500GB capacity is certainly enough to backup most laptops and ultrabooks. The drive can also be used as a quick way to transfer large multi-GB files between computers.

Performance
The My Passport Edge is a speedy drive, par for the course. It took a scant 16 seconds to copy our standard 1.2GB test folder over USB 3.0. We also gained good scores on the PCMark 5 (6,158 points) and PCMark 7 (1,536 points) hard drive tests. This compared well to the current Editor's Choice for portable hard drives, the Seagate Backup Plus (which scored 6,463 on PCMark 05 and 1,498 on PCMark 7). The larger capacity My Passport (2TB) was also in the same ballpark (6,106 on PCMark 05). Essentially, if you have a USB 3.0 equipped laptop or desktop, all three choices will be speedy, much speedier than USB 2.0, which takes over forty seconds to copy the same folder on all three drives.

The Western Digital My Passport Edge is a good hard drive, and will serve you well if you get one. It's fast, and it has a good warranty. However, the Seagate Backup Plus has an interchangeable interface, which is a better choice for techie users who need to use other interface like FireWire or Thunderbolt. The Seagate also has a better dollar per GB ratio: the My Passport costs 20 cents a GB, while the Seagate is about 14 cents per GB. It's even better when you realize that some online merchants are selling the Seagate for the same $99.99 price as the My Passport Edge. Though the My Passport Edge has a better warranty, the Seagate Backup Plus still holds on to its portable hard drive Editors' Choice award due to its better bang for the buck. That said, if you're a tech savvy person who needs to convince her tech brain-dead relative to backup their files, the My Passport Edge is a stress-free recommendation you can give without hesitation.

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt (HD-PA1.0TU3) with several other hard drive side by side.

More hard drive reviews:
??? Western Digital My Passport Edge
??? Western Digital VelociRaptor (1TB)
??? Western Digital My Book VelociRaptor Duo
??? LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt (120GB SSD)
??? Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt Portable HDD (HD-PA1.0TU3)
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/peM57AqgQMw/0,2817,2410382,00.asp

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21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: Coffee Meets Bagel Is Online ...

21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: Coffee Meets Bagel Is Online Dating Meets Groupon. ?Online dating has come a long way from simple text-based Yahoo Personals, but we still can?t seem to get away from the vaguely creepy strangers who lurk around most online dating sites. So rather than filling out lengthy online applications and trusting to the algorithm, Coffee Meets Bagel figures, why not just leverage your Facebook friends to find you a non-threatening mate? And since you need a place to have that awkward first meeting, here?s a deal at local restaurants and cafes. It?s Groupon meets Match.com, complete with the daily e-mails.?

Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 8:08 pm

Source: http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/152171/

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The Real Housewives of New Jersey Reunion Recap: Part One

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/10/the-real-housewives-of-new-jersey-reunion-part-one/

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