New research finds that the earliest known bird, Archaeopteryx, is in fact a bird, not a dinosaur as some scientists had suggested. However, the line between feathered dinosaurs and birds remains fuzzy.?
By Alicia Chang,?Associated Press / May 29, 2013
This image shows the skeleton of a recently discovered dinosaur dubbed Aurornis xui that roamed China during the middle to late Jurassic period. A new study finds the discovery restores the fossil creature Archaeopteryx back to the ?bird? branch of the evolutionary family tree.
AP Photo/Thierry Hubin, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
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A raven-sized creature that lived about 150 million years ago is back on its perch, a new study says.
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The creature called Archaeopteryx (ahr-kee-AHP'-teh-rihx) was widely considered the earliest known bird. That status was called into question two years ago by Chinese scientists, who proposed yanking it off the "bird" branch of the evolutionary family tree and moving it onto a closely related lineage of birdlike?dinosaurs.
Now an international team led by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences believes Archaeopteryx should indeed be considered a bird.
The famed fossil was discovered in 1861 in Germany and quickly became an evolutionary icon. Archaeopteryx possessed part-bird, part-reptile traits. It sported broad wings and feathers like a bird, but it also had three-fingered claws, sharp teeth and a long bony tail similar to a?dinosaur.
Fossil discoveries of feathered?dinosaurs?in northeastern China over the past two decades have challenged Archaeopteryx's place in bird evolution.
The latest evidence suggesting Archaeopteryx had more in common with birds than?dinosaurs?comes from the discovery of an intact, well-preserved skeleton of a previously unknown?dinosaur?dubbed Aurornis xui. It lived during the middle to late Jurassic era in China's Liaoning province where many early birds and feathered dinosaurs?roamed.
Belgian researcher Pascal Godefroit and his team compared the anatomy of the newly discovered?dinosaur fossil to a variety of birds and?dinosaurs?to determine their relationship. The analysis, published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, classifies Archaeopteryx back into the bird category.
Lawrence Witmer, a bird evolution expert at Ohio University, called the analysis compelling. But he said it's still tough to tease apart that segment of the family tree.
"All of these little feathered species running and flapping around ... were all very similar," Witmer, who had no role in the research, said in an email.
Listen to the DoubleX Gabfest by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:
In this week?s Gabfest, DoubleX editor Hanna Rosin joins DoubleX managing editor Allison Benedikt and New Republic staff writer Noreen Malone to discuss Daniel Bergner?s new book about female desire, What Do Women Want?; how gay marriage might positively impact straight marriage; and shoes? does talking about a successful woman?s stilettos automatically undermine her?
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TRUXTON, N.Y. (AP) ? Authorities say the seven people killed in upstate New York when their minivan was hit by a trailer include four young children and three adults in their early 20s.
Cortland County Coroner Whitney Meeker tells The Associated Press Thursday morning that all seven victims, including four children under 10, were local residents.
They were killed and a man was injured when their van was hit by a trailer that broke away from a truck on Route 13 around 6 p.m. Wednesday in the rural town of Truxton, about 25 miles south of Syracuse.
Meeker says the children were from two different families, including one from Truxton.
Authorities haven't released the victims' names.
Officials say the trailer was loaded with crushed cars when it disconnected and slammed into the van.
The following is a news release from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries:
NOAA officials have announced a change to Louisiana?s federal red snapper recreational fishing season, which was originally set to run nine days, will now begin on June 1 and remain open through June 24, with a bag and possession limit of 2 fish per person at a 16-inch minimum total length.?
This week LDWF Secretary Robert Barham will officially modify Louisiana?s red snapper season to mirror the federal season. There will also be discussion of the state snapper season at the next Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission meeting set for Thursday, June 6.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is charged with managing and protecting Louisiana?s abundant resources. For more information, visit www.wlf.louisiana.gov.
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Shares in Coal India Ltd rose as much as 4.5 percent on Tuesday after its January-March earnings beat estimates and after the world's largest coal producer also announced it would raise prices.
Coal India posted a 35 percent increase in fourth-quarter net profit, beating market estimates, on the back of higher sales and lower-than-expected wage and fuel costs. The results came after the close of markets on Monday.
Separately, Coal India said it would raise prices as of Tuesday, adding the hikes would increase revenue by about 21.19 billion rupees for the rest of the fiscal 2013-14 year.
The stock ended up 3 percent at 323.40 rupees.
(Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi; Editing by Rafael Nam)
Google's Calendar app update makes those important dates easier to add and keep track of
Google has updated the "stock" Android Calendar app in Google Play this afternoon, bringing two minor, but very relevant changes. We'll start with the one most users will instantly appreciate -- setting a custom color for a calendar or event. If you subscribe to multiple shared calendars, or have several of your own, you know just how this will help. You can take the calendar your boss shares with you, and make the event labels a certain color so they stand out, or make your calendar one color and you significant other's a different color. In addition, you can mark any single calendar event with it's own custom color to help keep track of important events.
The other change is equally as important, and it shows Google is really pushing forward with the new app design language they've been showing us as of late. The new time and date picker windows look better, but also have more functionality built in. You can set up recurring events easier, and even select the time zone right from the add event window.
You can grab the update from the Google Play link above.
May 27, 2013 ? An international team led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine reports that a single injection of human neural stem cells produced neuronal regeneration and improvement of function and mobility in rats impaired by an acute spinal cord injury (SCI).
The findings are published in the May 28, 2013 online issue of Stem Cell Research & Therapy.
Martin Marsala, MD, professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, with colleagues at UC San Diego and in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and The Netherlands, said grafting neural stem cells derived from a human fetal spinal cord to the rats' spinal injury site produced an array of therapeutic benefits -- from less muscle spasticity to new connections between the injected stem cells and surviving host neurons.
"The primary benefits were improvement in the positioning and control of paws during walking tests and suppression of muscle spasticity," said Marsala, a specialist in spinal cord trauma and spinal injury-related disorders. Spasticity -- exaggerated muscle tone or uncontrolled spasms -- is a serious and common complication of traumatic injury to the spinal cord.
The human stem cells, said the scientists, appeared to vigorously take root at the injury site.
"In all cell-grafted animals, there was robust engraftment, and neuronal maturation of grafted human neurons was noted," Marsala said. "Importantly, cysts or cavities that can form in or around spinal injuries were not present in any cell-treated animal. The injury-caused cavity was completely filled by grafted cells."
The rats received the pure stem cell grafts three days after injury (no other supporting materials were used) and were given drugs to suppress an immune response to the foreign stem cells. Marsala said grafting at any time after the injury appears likely to work in terms of blocking the formation of spinal injury cavities, but that more work would be required to determine how timing affects functional neurological benefit.
The grafted stem cells, according to Marsala, appear to be doing two things: stimulating host neuron regeneration and partially replacing the function of lost neurons.
"Grafted spinal stem cells are rich source of different growth factors which can have a neuroprotective effect and can promote sprouting of nerve fibers of the host neurons. We have also demonstrated that grafted neurons can develop contacts with the host neurons and, to some extent, restore the connectivity between centers, above and below the injury, which are involved in motor and sensory processing."
The scientists used a line of human embryonic stem cells recently approved for Phase 1 human trials in patients with chronic traumatic spinal injuries. Marsala said the ultimate goal is to develop neural precursor cells (capable of becoming any of the three main cell types in the nervous system) from induced pluripotent stem cells derived from patients, which would likely eliminate the need for immunosuppression treatment.
Pending approval by UC San Diego's Institutional Review Board, the next step is a small phase 1 trial to test safety and efficacy with patients who have suffered a thoracic spinal cord injury (between vertebrae T2-T12) one to two years earlier, and who have no motor or sensory function at or below the spinal injury site.
"This is exciting, especially because, historically, there has been very little to offer patients with acute spinal cord injury," said study co-author Joseph Ciacci, MD, professor of surgery and program director of the Neurosurgery Residency at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. Ciacci, who is also chief of neurosurgery for the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, will oversee the clinical trial at UC San Diego and the VA.
Ciacci said if the initial study confirms safety and efficacy, as well as the viability of the implanted cells, neural regeneration and decreased spasticity, the protocol can be expanded to other patients with other forms of severe spinal cord injury.
The fire-damaged exterior of Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas cruise ship is seen while docked in Freeport, Grand Bahama island, Monday, May 27, 2013. Royal Caribbean said the fire occurred early Monday while on route from Baltimore to the Bahamas on the mooring area of deck 3 and was quickly extinguished. All 2,224 guests and 796 crew were safe and accounted for. (AP Photo/The Freeport News, Jenneva Russell)
The fire-damaged exterior of Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas cruise ship is seen while docked in Freeport, Grand Bahama island, Monday, May 27, 2013. Royal Caribbean said the fire occurred early Monday while on route from Baltimore to the Bahamas on the mooring area of deck 3 and was quickly extinguished. All 2,224 guests and 796 crew were safe and accounted for. (AP Photo/The Freeport News, Jenneva Russell)
The fire-damaged rear of Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas cruise ship is seen while docked in Freeport, Grand Bahama island, Monday, May 27, 2013. Royal Caribbean said the fire occurred early Monday while on route from Baltimore to the Bahamas on the mooring area of deck 3 and was quickly extinguished. All 2,224 guests and 796 crew were safe and accounted for. (AP Photo/The Freeport News, Jenneva Russell)
The fire-damaged exterior of Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas cruise ship is seen while docked in Freeport, Grand Bahama island, Monday, May 27, 2013. Royal Caribbean said the fire occurred early Monday while on route from Baltimore to the Bahamas on the mooring area of deck 3 and was quickly extinguished. All 2,224 guests and 796 crew were safe and accounted for. (AP Photo/The Freeport News, Jenneva Russell)
This photo provided by Royal Caribbean shows the fire-damaged exterior of Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas cruise ship, in Freeport, Bahamas. Royal Caribbean says the fire occurred on the mooring area of Deck 3 about 2:15 a.m. Monday, May 27, 2013, and was quickly extinguished, as the ship was en route to the Bahamas. Passengers and crew members reported to evacuation stations. No injuries were reported. (AP Photo/Royal Caribbean)
The fire-damaged rear of Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas cruise ship is seen while docked in Freeport, Grand Bahama island, Monday, May 27, 2013. Royal Caribbean said the fire occurred early Monday while on route from Baltimore to the Bahamas on the mooring area of deck 3 and was quickly extinguished. All 2,224 guests and 796 crew were safe and accounted for. (AP Photo/The Freeport News, Jenneva Russell)
BALTIMORE (AP) ? For the second time this year, a fire at sea has aborted a cruise ship's voyage. This time, aboard Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas and the ship's 2,200 passengers were expected back in Baltimore on Tuesday after being flown on charter flights from the Bahamas.
The fire that began at 2:50 a.m. Monday was extinguished about two hours later with no injuries reported. A cause wasn't immediately known but the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board planned to investigate.
The ship, which left Baltimore on Friday for a seven-night cruise, was headed originally to CocoCay, Bahamas. Royal Caribbean said the ship never lost power and was able to sail into port in Freeport, Bahamas, Monday afternoon. The ship launched in 1996 and was refurbished last year.
Royal Caribbean said on its website and through social media that executives met with passengers in port and that the cruise line was arranging flights for all 2,224 guests. Also, passengers will get a full refund of their fare and a certificate for a future cruise.
Aboard ship, the captain announced that passengers needed to go to their muster stations, said passenger Mark J. Ormesher in an email to The Associated Press. Immediately after, his room attendant knocked on the door and told him and his girlfriend to grab their flotation devices. The attendant said it wasn't a drill.
Ormesher, a native of England, who lives in Manassas, Va., said he and his girlfriend smelled acrid smoke as they went to their muster station, the ship's casino. The crew quickly provided instruction.
"This encouraged calm amongst the passengers," he said. Passengers were required to remain at their stations for four hours, he said, and the captain "provided us as much information as we needed to stay safe."
Ormesher, who is 25 and on his first cruise, said the air conditioner had been shut off, and as the hours passed and the ship got hot, bottled water was distributed. The crew and passengers remained calm, and helped those who needed it. Crying babies were given formula and held while their parents used the bathrooms.
Photos show a substantial area of the stern burned on several decks of the ship the length of about three football fields.
Royal Caribbean said all guests and 796 crew were safe and accounted for. Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez said in an email that the company was arranging 11 different charter flights.
The company in a statement on its website said it is "deeply sorry for this unexpected development in our guests' vacation. We understand that this may have been a very stressful time for them. We appreciate their patience and cooperation in dealing with this unfortunate situation."
Carnival Corp. also had trouble with fire aboard ship earlier this year.
The 900-foot (275-meter) Triumph was disabled during a February cruise by an engine room fire in the Gulf of Mexico, leaving thousands of passengers to endure cold food, unsanitary conditions and power outages while the ship was towed to Mobile, Ala. It remained there for repairs until early May when it headed back to sea under its own power.
On the Royal Caribbean ship, after passengers were allowed to leave their stations, Ormesher said he saw water on the outside of deck 5 and in the hallways. The mooring lines were destroyed he said; crew members brought new lines from storage.
The damage at the rear of the ship "looks bad," Ormesher said; burned out equipment was visible.
Martinez said in a news release that a cruise scheduled aboard the Grandeur of the Seas for May 31 has been canceled so the ship can be repaired.
Soda and illegal drugs cause similar damage to teethPublic release date: 28-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lauren Henderson media@agd.org 312-440-4974 Academy of General Dentistry
CHICAGO (May 28, 2013)Addicted to soda? You may be shocked to learn that drinking large quantities of your favorite carbonated soda could be as damaging to your teeth as methamphetamine and crack cocaine use. The consumption of illegal drugs and abusive intake of soda can cause similar damage to your mouth through the process of tooth erosion, according to a case study published in the March/April 2013 issue of General Dentistry, the peer-reviewed clinical journal of the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD).
Tooth erosion occurs when acid wears away tooth enamel, which is the glossy, protective outside layer of the tooth. Without the protection of enamel, teeth are more susceptible to developing cavities, as well as becoming sensitive, cracked, and discolored.
The General Dentistry case study compared the damage in three individuals' mouthsan admitted user of methamphetamine, a previous longtime user of cocaine, and an excessive diet soda drinker. Each participant admitted to having poor oral hygiene and not visiting a dentist on a regular basis. Researchers found the same type and severity of damage from tooth erosion in each participant's mouth.
"Each person experienced severe tooth erosion caused by the high acid levels present in their 'drug' of choicemeth, crack, or soda," says Mohamed A. Bassiouny, DMD, MSc, PhD, lead author of the study.
"The citric acid present in both regular and diet soda is known to have a high potential for causing tooth erosion," says Dr. Bassiouny.
Similar to citric acid, the ingredients used in preparing methamphetamine can include extremely corrosive materials, such as battery acid, lantern fuel, and drain cleaner. Crack cocaine is highly acidic in nature, as well.
The individual who abused soda consumed 2 liters of diet soda daily for three to five years. Says Dr. Bassiouny, "The striking similarities found in this study should be a wake-up call to consumers who think that sodaeven diet sodais not harmful to their oral health."
AGD Spokesperson Eugene Antenucci, DDS, FAGD, recommends that his patients minimize their intake of soda and drink more water. Additionally, he advises them to either chew sugar-free gum or rinse the mouth with water following consumption of soda. "Both tactics increase saliva flow, which naturally helps to return the acidity levels in the mouth to normal," he says.
###
To see photos showing the similarities between damage caused to teeth by the soda abuser and the methamphetamine user, email media@agd.org.
To learn more about oral health, visit KnowYourTeeth.com.
About KnowYourTeeth.com
KnowYourTeeth.com is the Academy of General Dentistry's (AGD) source of consumer information on dental care and oral health. Its goal is to provide reliable information in a format that is easy to use and navigate, and to provide the tools that will help consumers of all ages to care for their teeth and with other aspects of oral care. KnowYourTeeth.com answers important dental health questions, offers the latest information on current dental treatments and tips for first-rate oral hygiene, and can help visitors find qualified dentists near where they live or work.
About the Academy of General Dentistry
The Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) is a professional association of 38,000 general dentists dedicated to providing quality dental care and oral health education to the public. AGD members stay up-to-date in their profession through a commitment to continuing education. Founded in 1952, the AGD is the second largest dental association in the United States, and it is the only association that exclusively represents the needs and interests of general dentists. A general dentist is the primary care provider for patients of all ages and is responsible for the diagnosis, treatment, management, and overall coordination of services related to patients' oral health needs. For more information about the AGD, visit http://www.agd.org. The AGD is a member of the Partnership for Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives, a first-of-its-kind national dental coalition composed of 35 leading dental health organizations. The Partnership's campaign is designed to educate parents and caregivers on how to improve their children's oral health in simple ways. The campaign offers families oral health resources through the website 2min2x.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Soda and illegal drugs cause similar damage to teethPublic release date: 28-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lauren Henderson media@agd.org 312-440-4974 Academy of General Dentistry
CHICAGO (May 28, 2013)Addicted to soda? You may be shocked to learn that drinking large quantities of your favorite carbonated soda could be as damaging to your teeth as methamphetamine and crack cocaine use. The consumption of illegal drugs and abusive intake of soda can cause similar damage to your mouth through the process of tooth erosion, according to a case study published in the March/April 2013 issue of General Dentistry, the peer-reviewed clinical journal of the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD).
Tooth erosion occurs when acid wears away tooth enamel, which is the glossy, protective outside layer of the tooth. Without the protection of enamel, teeth are more susceptible to developing cavities, as well as becoming sensitive, cracked, and discolored.
The General Dentistry case study compared the damage in three individuals' mouthsan admitted user of methamphetamine, a previous longtime user of cocaine, and an excessive diet soda drinker. Each participant admitted to having poor oral hygiene and not visiting a dentist on a regular basis. Researchers found the same type and severity of damage from tooth erosion in each participant's mouth.
"Each person experienced severe tooth erosion caused by the high acid levels present in their 'drug' of choicemeth, crack, or soda," says Mohamed A. Bassiouny, DMD, MSc, PhD, lead author of the study.
"The citric acid present in both regular and diet soda is known to have a high potential for causing tooth erosion," says Dr. Bassiouny.
Similar to citric acid, the ingredients used in preparing methamphetamine can include extremely corrosive materials, such as battery acid, lantern fuel, and drain cleaner. Crack cocaine is highly acidic in nature, as well.
The individual who abused soda consumed 2 liters of diet soda daily for three to five years. Says Dr. Bassiouny, "The striking similarities found in this study should be a wake-up call to consumers who think that sodaeven diet sodais not harmful to their oral health."
AGD Spokesperson Eugene Antenucci, DDS, FAGD, recommends that his patients minimize their intake of soda and drink more water. Additionally, he advises them to either chew sugar-free gum or rinse the mouth with water following consumption of soda. "Both tactics increase saliva flow, which naturally helps to return the acidity levels in the mouth to normal," he says.
###
To see photos showing the similarities between damage caused to teeth by the soda abuser and the methamphetamine user, email media@agd.org.
To learn more about oral health, visit KnowYourTeeth.com.
About KnowYourTeeth.com
KnowYourTeeth.com is the Academy of General Dentistry's (AGD) source of consumer information on dental care and oral health. Its goal is to provide reliable information in a format that is easy to use and navigate, and to provide the tools that will help consumers of all ages to care for their teeth and with other aspects of oral care. KnowYourTeeth.com answers important dental health questions, offers the latest information on current dental treatments and tips for first-rate oral hygiene, and can help visitors find qualified dentists near where they live or work.
About the Academy of General Dentistry
The Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) is a professional association of 38,000 general dentists dedicated to providing quality dental care and oral health education to the public. AGD members stay up-to-date in their profession through a commitment to continuing education. Founded in 1952, the AGD is the second largest dental association in the United States, and it is the only association that exclusively represents the needs and interests of general dentists. A general dentist is the primary care provider for patients of all ages and is responsible for the diagnosis, treatment, management, and overall coordination of services related to patients' oral health needs. For more information about the AGD, visit http://www.agd.org. The AGD is a member of the Partnership for Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives, a first-of-its-kind national dental coalition composed of 35 leading dental health organizations. The Partnership's campaign is designed to educate parents and caregivers on how to improve their children's oral health in simple ways. The campaign offers families oral health resources through the website 2min2x.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
LONDON (Reuters) - European stocks, bonds and the dollar traded more calmly on Monday after last week's turbulence, though another 3 percent dive in Japan's Nikkei kept investors on edge.
While evidence mounts that a mid-year slowdown is taking place in the world economy, UK and U.S. holidays kept European equity and bond markets quieter than usual.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares gained 0.3 percent as last week's falls tempted buyers, while demand for safe-haven 10-year German government bond futures eased and Italian and Spanish bonds strengthened.
The dollar was steadier, though it dipped to below 101 against the yen as the latest lurch in Japanese equities encouraged investors who have been unwinding their dollar hedges and heading for bonds.
The 3.2 percent drop on Tokyo's Nikkei brought its losses since Thursday to more than 10 percent, though it is still up 35 percent this year.
"Markets are currently experiencing difficulty fully and precisely understanding both the pace of global growth and the implications of central banks' activism," Credit Agricole said in a note.
"Expectations cannot remain stable for long and so investors should be prepared for periods of higher volatility in particular asset classes," they added.
In commodity markets, Brent crude slipped towards $102 per barrel, extending last week's 2 percent drop, as a weak economic outlook in a well-supplied market pressured prices.
The broader market nerves also helped gold firm to 1392.75 an ounce as it built on last week's best run in a month and growth-attuned copper fell 0.2 percent.
GROWTH FOCUS
The latest shakeout of equity, bond and currency markets has been triggered by concerns the U.S. Federal Reserve could wind in its support sooner that had been expected, weak China data and doubts over how low Japan will allow the yen to go.
The European Central Bank, however, may still have some scope to try to counter a recession triggered largely by efforts to contain sovereign debt burdens in the euro zone.
On Wednesday, the European Commission will release its review of its countries' debt-cutting policies, which will confirm that the likes of France, Spain and Slovenia are to be given more time to trim their budget deficits to target. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development will publish a review of major economies on the same day.
Three Italian government bond auctions this week will test investors' appetite after the talk of Fed stimulus withdrawal.
Italian and Spanish bonds were caught in the sell-off in risk assets last week but yields on both eased back on Monday as bond markets continued to focus on whether the ECB will cut interest rates again next month.
Policymaker Joerg Asmussen said it would remain accommodative "as long as needed" though he sounded cautious about charging banks to put money on deposit at the ECB, something that could help hold down national borrowing costs.
"One should be very cautious regarding the discussion if the ECB could introduce negative deposit rates... This can have advantages, but it can also have disadvantages," Asmussen said in a speech in Berlin.
(Additional reporting by Francesco Canepa; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
Just as markets over-built housing, mispriced mortgages and bid up prices beyond the real financial capacity of homebuyers, America's colleges and universities have over-expanded and over-priced their product. We are getting an education bubble with dynamics similar to the late housing bubble.
As more and more students find themselves with debts that exceed the salaries offered by the current job market, colleges have expanded beyond the capacity of their markets. Some kind of shakeout is coming. The question is: what kind.
During the long boom in higher education, colleges have also dramatically increased salaries and staffing levels of administrations. Some of this reflects efforts to game the rankings, which also is another aspect of the same imbalance.
For-profit universities, with high dropout rates, heavily reliant on federal Pell grants and student loans, are only the more explicit and extreme expression of a general trend of colleges and universities becoming more marketized. Colleges are doing deals to set up satellite campuses in sheikhdoms, recruiting full-tuition state-supported foreign students and creating vanity diploma mills as profit centers. The flip side is a massive disinvestment by state legislatures in America's great public universities and an under-investment in community colleges.
Despite the broad premise that the cure for America's poor economic performance is more and better colleges, resources have been skewed in exactly the wrong direction. A report by the Century Foundation released last week reveals that per-pupil spending in community colleges, where 44 percent of post-secondary students attend, most of them children of the non-rich rich, has been flat since 1999, while spending at elite private universities is up 31 percent.
There is a huge mismatch between the greatest need -- affordable public universities and community colleges -- and where the investment has gone. Basically, it has gone to overbuilding and hyper-competition in elite universities, too much money for administration and marketing, for-profits siphoning off resources and graduates being saddled with lifelong debt (except, of course, for graduates with affluent parents, who generally pay the freight, leaving their offspring debt-free.)
So now comes the shakeout. What form will it take?
One trend is a shift to the German model of one Herr Doktor Professor and lots of adjuncts. More and more courses, even at elite universities, are being taught by graduate students or permanent part-timers who barely make a living and have little time for students.
Another trend is the shift to one form or another of computer-based distance learning, as "massive open online courses" (MOOCs) become the next new thing. Despite the adjective, open, this also being seen as a profit center or a way to cut costs. Udacity, one of the for-profit MOOC vendors, has announced a partnership with Georgia Tech and AT&T that get you an MS degree for $7,000.
There are good and bad versions of the promise of online education. It forces the question: what is the function of the university? Is a university a community? Is its purpose the broad education of young adults, or is it a glorified trade school?
You can do trade school perfectly well from a distance at a computer, but at what cost to a "liberal" education? Or has a liberal education just become a fancy term for a finishing school and connections to the right people?
If you believe that there is some value-added to spending four years on a campus in a community of scholars, getting course credit for studying online with America's superstar professors can be a terrific complement to what you do locally, but not a total substitute. On the other hand, if elite education is just a four-year vacation for the children of the elite, bring on MOOCs.
Meanwhile, the risk is that a decent higher education gets further and further out of reach of the working class kids who most need it as a ladder of mobility. These are precisely the ones who are getting destroyed by student debt. They have higher dropout rates, partly because so many have to work part-time. Jason de Parle's authoritative piece on student debt and social class in the New York Times showed just how higher education increasingly reinforces class.
Clearly, our society cannot afford the current rate of expansion of higher education costs. We've reached the limits of piling these expenses onto students. But as resources become more scarce, as the consequences of over-expansion hit, the social risk is that the shoe will pinch even more intensely in the wrong places.
Everywhere you look in our new Gilded Age, public policy reinforces the lines of social class. Even in the original Gilded Age, America was also building free public universities. The Postwar boom was built on the free higher education of the G.I. Bill.
Surely, one area were we should counteract the inherited effects of class and emphasize upward mobility is the promise of higher education. But all the signs point to a shakeout in which elite universities and elite students come out fine, and others suffer.
Robert Kuttner's new book is Debtors' Prison: The Politics of Austerity Versus Possibility. He is co-editor of The American Prospect and a senior Fellow at Demos.
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It took a fat stack of cash to keep Gov. Walker in office; his 2012 recall election was the most expensive in Wisconsin history. Walker had friends in amplified places, though, which helped quite a bit. In fact, according to Media Action Center, during the recall WTMJ-AM??used its local talk radio shows to exclusively promote Republican Governor Scott Walker and his supporters, while refusing time to his Democratic opponent and his supporters.? Adding insult to injury, the station has just made the legal claim that talk radio is the same as ?bonafide?news.?
From a press release dated Friday, May 24, 2013:
Talk radio is not news ? Charlie Sykes is not Walter Cronkite ? argues a media watchdog after a talk radio station argued recently to the Federal Communications Commission that its local political talk radio shows are the same as ?bonafide news.?
Attorneys for Journal Communications? WTMJ-AM radio made that legal argument to the FCC in answer to a petition to deny the station?s broadcast license for violations of the FCC?s quasi-equal opportunity rule, or ?Zapple Doctrine,? said Sue Wilson of Media Action Center.
Media Action Center filed a petition late in 2012 with the FCC to deny the license because, during the Scott Walker recall campaign, WTMJ?s?Jeff Wagner?and?Charlie Sykes?shows?were proven to have given as much as a half a million dollars in free airtime to supporters of Republican Governor Scott Walker. The station specifically denied comparable time to supporters of his Democratic opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
The FCC?s quasi-equal opportunities rule (Zapple Doctrine) states that broadcasters must give supporters of both major party candidates comparable airtime.?? Only ?bonafide news? programs are exempt so they can cover candidates? events in real time.
Media Action Center is not?giving up without a fight:
?Bonafide news programs are specifically not allowed to politic for candidates,? says Media Action Center Director Sue Wilson.? ?Now is our one chance to make a stand for journalism. The FCC has a duty to the public to draw a clear line between news and opinion.
?If the FCC does not draw a clear line, radio talkers from Charlie Sykes to Rush Limbaugh will be equated with newsmen like Walter Cronkite, and listeners will lose any hope of ferreting out fact from fiction,? Wilson added.
Those who agree that talk radio is not ?bonafide news? and do not want to see Charlie Sykes and Rush Limbaugh equated with Walker Cronkite are encouraged to check out the petition now circulating,?Tell the FCC: Talk Radio is NOT Bonafide News!? (click here).
Help put the ?Public? back into Broadcasters? ?Public Interest Obligations.?
When a man in work clothes showed up at her door, the Monitor's Europe bureau chief let him inside. But fortunately, he didn't get a chance to pull off a well-known Parisian scam.
By Sara Miller Llana,?Staff writer / May 17, 2013
People walk in the business district of La D?fense, Paris, Wednesday. The Monitor's Europe bureau chief learns not to let strangers through the front door, even in Paris.
Christophe Ena/AP
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I let a stranger into our apartment.
Skip to next paragraph Sara Miller Llana
Europe Bureau Chief
Sara Miller Llana?moved to Paris in April 2013 to become the Monitor's Europe Bureau?Chief. Previously she was the?paper's?Latin America Bureau Chief, based in Mexico City, from 2006 to 2013.
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I suppose that in moving from Mexico City to Paris, and feeling a sudden burst of elation for not having to worry so intently about drug and gang violence and, worst of all kidnapping, I went to the extreme.
A man knocked on the door of our temporary apartment saying he needed to check on something and asked if he could come in. He must have said what he was checking but my French, only now on its way back after lying dormant for over two decades, missed the details. He was dressed in work clothes, and I let him in.
He first said he was looking for the heater panel, then started asking all kinds of questions about who we were and how long we?d been in France. I thought this was a bit bizarre, but didn't think much of it.
Then he spotted the chimney. He opened the screen: ?Oh no, look at all of this soot.? (I had to look up the word for soot, suie, on my laptop.)
?You have a small child,? he went on. ?If she breathes this in, it could be the end. I am obligated to fix this.?
In my daze of jetlag, living out of suitcases, with a mountain of bureaucracy to tackle each day, I actually thought this man might be from the city government, and he was doing his municipal duty, for free, to make sure no Paris residents ? even foreigners, God bless France! ? breathe contaminated air.
I almost let him get to work ? until my more rational husband said, ?Let?s call the owner first.?
The owner's response was immediate: ?Get that guy out of the house now.?
I learned later that it?s a well-known scam in Paris that plumbers or electricians and other workers will come in, and tell you you need X, Y, and Z fixed. A colleague told me one man entered her house, broke a pipe, and then tried to get them to pay to fix it. I told the guardian downstairs about our visitor, and she said any communal or municipal work to be done will always be posted in the building.
Some of these scams are actually done by thieves, she said, who might rob you ? or worse. ?Don?t let anyone in your house. It could be very dangerous.?
I did learn back in elementary school not to talk to strangers, and most definitely not to let them through the front door.
But I had a momentary lapse of judgment, a good reminder that you have to be careful anywhere ? even in Paris!
Not convinced by leaks, pictures or user agent profiles? Maybe Samsung can convince you: the Galaxy S 4 mini is on the way. The phone still hasn't been officially announced, but UK users browsing the company's Content & Services app page can find the device among the catalog's sorting options. For now, the option is only appearing in the UK, matching rumors that the phone is bound for the same European markets as its predecessor. Check it out for yourself by following the source link below and clicking on the "display apps by device" tool.
It took a fat stack of cash to keep Gov. Walker in office; his 2012 recall election was the most expensive in Wisconsin history. Walker had friends in amplified places, though, which helped quite a bit. In fact, according to Media Action Center, during the recall WTMJ-AM??used its local talk radio shows to exclusively promote Republican Governor Scott Walker and his supporters, while refusing time to his Democratic opponent and his supporters.? Adding insult to injury, the station has just made the legal claim that talk radio is the same as ?bonafide?news.?
From a press release dated Friday, May 24, 2013:
Talk radio is not news ? Charlie Sykes is not Walter Cronkite ? argues a media watchdog after a talk radio station argued recently to the Federal Communications Commission that its local political talk radio shows are the same as ?bonafide news.?
Attorneys for Journal Communications? WTMJ-AM radio made that legal argument to the FCC in answer to a petition to deny the station?s broadcast license for violations of the FCC?s quasi-equal opportunity rule, or ?Zapple Doctrine,? said Sue Wilson of Media Action Center.
Media Action Center filed a petition late in 2012 with the FCC to deny the license because, during the Scott Walker recall campaign, WTMJ?s?Jeff Wagner?and?Charlie Sykes?shows?were proven to have given as much as a half a million dollars in free airtime to supporters of Republican Governor Scott Walker. The station specifically denied comparable time to supporters of his Democratic opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
The FCC?s quasi-equal opportunities rule (Zapple Doctrine) states that broadcasters must give supporters of both major party candidates comparable airtime.?? Only ?bonafide news? programs are exempt so they can cover candidates? events in real time.
Media Action Center is not?giving up without a fight:
?Bonafide news programs are specifically not allowed to politic for candidates,? says Media Action Center Director Sue Wilson.? ?Now is our one chance to make a stand for journalism. The FCC has a duty to the public to draw a clear line between news and opinion.
?If the FCC does not draw a clear line, radio talkers from Charlie Sykes to Rush Limbaugh will be equated with newsmen like Walter Cronkite, and listeners will lose any hope of ferreting out fact from fiction,? Wilson added.
Those who agree that talk radio is not ?bonafide news? and do not want to see Charlie Sykes and Rush Limbaugh equated with Walker Cronkite are encouraged to check out the petition now circulating,?Tell the FCC: Talk Radio is NOT Bonafide News!? (click here).
Help put the ?Public? back into Broadcasters? ?Public Interest Obligations.?
LONDON (AP) ? Counterterrorism police are questioning a friend of Michael Adebolajo, one of two men suspected of the savage killing of a British soldier.
Abu Nusaybah was arrested following a BBC interview in which he said Adebolajo had changed after returning from a visit to Kenya where he claimed he had been physically and sexually abused in detention.
The BBC said Nusaybah was arrested by police outside its studios Friday night immediately after recording the interview. Metropolitan Police confirmed that a 31-year-old man was arrested.
Nusaybah told the BBC that Adebolajo had been detained, questioned and abused by security forces in Kenya during a trip there last year. Nusaybah also claimed the U.K.'s security services tried to recruit Adebolajo after he returned to Britain.
Small- and medium-sized businesses are losing a staggering ?785 million per year to cybercrime, according to a joint report published by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and the Home Office and Business Departments in the United Kingdom.
Despite this, just fewer than 20 percent of businesses admitted that they have taken no steps to harden their organizations against such crime while only 36 percent of businesses are regularly installing vendors? security patches. On an underwhelmingly positive note, 60 percent of businesses said they actively keep their antivirus software up-to-date.
The FSB is a small business advocacy group with 200,000 members in the UK. In its report, the FSB found that 41 percent of its members had been the victims of a cyberattack in the last year. The average cost of cybercrime-related losses was ?4,000 per business. Three out of 10 FSB members were victims of fraud, the two most common types of which were either targeting clients or card not present theft ? meaning that criminals used their payment data to make fraudulent purchases.
The most prevalent threat to these businesses was virus infection, which affected 20 percent of businesses, followed by hacking, which affected 8 percent of businesses, and security breaches, which affected 5 percent of businesses.
More broadly, the FSB expressed concerns that cybercrime is damaging the wider economy as small businesses show more reluctance towards conducting business and trading online. Furthermore, because of this trepidation, a third of businesses are conducting sales on their own websites.
In a somewhat archaic fashion, Mike Cherry, the FSB?s national policy chairman, claimed that businesses are also passing on higher revenue because of their refusal to adopt new technologies for fear that there is not adequate protection available to guard them against cybercrime.
In order to help alleviate the cost of cybercrime, the FSB made the following suggestions:
Businesses should implement a combination of security protection solutions, regularly install security updates on all software and devices, maintain a resilient password policy, secure their wireless networks, establish clear policies for email, internet and mobile devices, train staff in good security practices and consider employee background checks, create and test backup plans, information disposal and disaster recovery procedures, conduct regular security risk assessments to identify important information and systems, do regular security testing on business websites, and check provider credentials and contracts when using cloud services.
The report was based on a survey of 2,667 members of the FSB between September 20 and October 3, 2012.
Make video chatting a little easier with Glide, an app that lets you to make video calls to other users. If they're not available, you can send video messages rather than texts. Following that is SlideCar Ride, an app that helps you find a nearby car and driver when you need a ride and save on taxi services. Finally, Men's Room Mayhem is a Flight Control-like management game in which you need to direct patrons around a men's room.
Also on Android Apps
Celebrate Memorial Day and summer while reading from a list of great magazines, thanks to Zinio?s recent Guest Post.
What?s it about? Video chatting can be cool, but it's not always convenient to get both people on the same line. Glide helps with that issue with video messages that don't necessarily have to be live.
What?s cool? Glide describes itself as a ?video walkie talkie,? and that's a pretty good analogy, really. You can make live video chat calls to other users if you want to, but that's not always possible or convenient. To help, Glide gives you the ability to shoot video messages and send them, basically giving you an asynchronous video chat capability. You also don't need to save the video messages on your phone ? you stream them instantly. Just keep in mind that Glide is currently in beta, which means it might still have some bugs.
Who?s it for? Anyone interested in video chatting but finds it's not always convenient should check out Glide's video messaging features.
What?s it like? Grab Skype or Viber for more video calling and messaging.
What?s it about? SideCar is designed to help people who need a ride find someone willing to drive, making it cheaper and potentially more useful than traditional taxis.
What?s cool? You can order a taxi from your Android device, but SideCar offers a slightly different experience, matching riders with vetted drivers from the SideCar community. The result is potentially a better riding experience that would cost you less than if you booked a traditional taxi. SideCar provides a live map of where the car is that's on its way to you when you've ordered one, and it takes cash out of the equation by allowing you to conduct your transactions through the app. Its latest update improves a number of features, squashing bugs and helping you with your location data to make finding a ride easier.
Who?s it for? Users who need rides to get around and might like to save some money should try SideCar ? just be sure it's supported in your city, because it's not everywhere.
What?s it like? If you'd rather get where you're going with a taxi service, Taxi Magic makes the process extremely easy.
What?s it about? Management-slash-puzzler Men's Room Mayhem requires players to direct various men to the right urinals.
What?s cool? As men enter a restroom in Men's Room Mayhem, you need to help them get to where they need to go ? and let them ?unpack their liquids? ? without running into other patrons of the restroom. Where you send each of the patrons is important, as well, because you'll gain a bonus for good planning and for keeping a urinal's worth of separation between two people. The game gets hectic in a hurry as more and more patrons arrive in the restroom, each with different characteristics you'll have to deal with in assigning them where to go.
Who?s it for? Fans of arcade titles that require fast reflexes and situational awareness should try Men's Room Mayhem.
What?s it like? The line-controlled directions mechanics of Men's Room Mayhem are similar to Flight Control and Air Control.
Best Educational Apps, Handpicked By Experts
Appolicious is pleased to introduce appoLearning.com, where parents, teachers and students find great education apps. Check out our introduction video here!
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Public release date: 28-May-2013
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What?s it about? Video chatting can be cool, but it's not always convenient to get both people on the same line. Glide helps with that issue with video messages that don't necessarily have to be live.
What?s it about? SideCar is designed to help people who need a ride find someone willing to drive, making it cheaper and potentially more useful than traditional taxis.
What?s it about? Management-slash-puzzler Men's Room Mayhem requires players to direct various men to the right urinals.