Wednesday 29 February 2012

Observe Lent, THEN Celebrate Easter

[unable to retrieve full-text content]I'm not going to get into any deep Lenten theology here (because that's not my 'thing') but I am going to plead my case for holding off on Easter celebrations with your family until Lent is totally over. The season of Lent lasts 40 ... It's not a time to indulge in Cadburry Creme Eggs and fill our homes with colorful bunnies. Christ in the Wilderness, Ivan ... I do this ahead of time so you can make plans, and do your shopping for craft supplies and food. My family will not be ...

Source: http://catholicicing.com/2012/02/observe-lent-then-celebrate-easter/

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Three Tips for Successfully Working With a Temporary Staffing ...

When applying for a position through a temporary staffing company, there are several things you can do to make your experience more successful. Following these tips will help you understand the best ways to work with your staffing company to help find employment for you.

Read Full Article Here: Three Tips for Successfully Working With a Temporary Staffing Company on 28 February 2012

Start Living Your DREAM LIFE for Just $20. It really is possible to live your dreams.

Source: http://www.trueyoumarketing.com/three-tips-for-successfully-working-with-a-temporary-staffing-company.htm

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Tuesday 28 February 2012

A study of poor lung function associated with heart failure | Fitness ...

A reduced lung function and respiratory tract disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) increase the risk of heart failure, a recent study found.

In patients with heart failure, the heart can not pump enough blood to meet the needs of the organism.


For the new study, researchers analyzed data on 16,000 people in USA States. 45 to 64 years who participated in the study of atherosclerosis risk in communities and who were followed for a mean of fifteen.

The results showed that long-term risk of developing heart failure increased as decreased lung function. Lung function was determined by using a test known as forced expiratory volume (FEV1) by spirometry, which measures how much air a person can exhale in one second.

The findings did not change even after the researchers accounted for age, history of heart disease or cardiovascular disease risk due to factors such as smoking.

The results, published in the February 25 edition of the European Journal of Heart Failure, support a relationship between low lung capacity and development of heart failure, said first author Dr. Sunil Agarwal, University North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

?That risk, given a low FEV1, is of similar magnitude (or perhaps greater) than that seen with common risk factors and modifiable as diabetes or hypertension. The public health implications are immense, especially given that smoking and Air pollution adversely affect lung function, ?Agarwal said in a news release from the journal.

?So it will be important to determine whether interventions to sustain or improve the FEV1 are associated with a lower risk of heart failure,? said Agarwal.

The researchers noted that it is common for heart failure patients with COPD, and vice versa. But only recently has shown that COPD is a factor after long-term risk of heart failure.

An editorial accompanying the study said the report ?strengthens the hypothesis that pulmonary obstruction itself is an important risk factor for heart failure.?

The editorial also noted that ?thinking about heart failure as a possible cause in any patient with shortness of breath and fatigue, or an increase in these symptoms, regardless of other elements of disease such as COPD, mean that doctors should ?rethink ?clinical reasoning ?and reconsider the plan of pharmacological treatment.

Although the study found an association between poor lung function and heart failure did not demonstrate that there is a cause and effect.

Source: http://corefitnessandhealth.com/2012/02/a-study-of-poor-lung-function-associated-with-heart-failure.html

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Gulf oil disaster trial delayed

The civil trial over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster, which was due to start in New Orleans on Monday, has been delayed for a week, to allow for further talks on a settlement.

The BP-operated rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010, killing 11 workers and leaking four million barrels of oil from BP's Macondo well.

The trial is to resolve claims for damages and civil penalties.

BP has so far paid $7.5bn in clean-up costs and compensation.

In a joint statement, BP and the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee - a group of lawyers representing victims of the spill, confirmed that the trial would now start on 5 March.

"This adjournment is intended to allow BP and the PSC more time to continue settlement discussions and attempt to reach an agreement," the statement said.

"BP and the PSC are working to reach agreement to fairly compensate people and businesses affected by the Deepwater Horizon accident and oil spill. There can be no assurance that these discussions will lead to a settlement agreement," the statement added.

One lawyer close to the case told the BBC that the different parties were still far apart in negotiations over settlements.

The spill released more than four million barrels of crude oil from BP's Macondo well.

BP and its partners face the threat of tens of billions of dollars in fines and penalties if found grossly negligent in the case.

The UK firm is expected to blame its main contactor, Halliburton, which is a fellow defendant.

US President Barack Obama called the spill "the worst environmental disaster the nation has ever faced".

It took 85 days to permanently stop the release of crude oil.

Fellow contractor Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig, is also a defendant in the case.

Judge Carl Barbier, an expert in maritime law, consolidated hundreds of spill-related lawsuits into a single case.

He is tasked with determining how much of the blame rests with each party and whether punitive damages should be imposed.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/business-17171396

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Monday 27 February 2012

Edgar A. Whitfield, 85, Pensacola, Florida

Edgar was born on May 18, 1924 and passed away on Monday, February 20, 2012.

Edgar was a resident of Pensacola, Florida at the time of his passing.

Edgar graduated from Picayune High School in 1943 as salutatorian of his class. After the was Edgar graduated from Tulane University earning a Bachelors degree, after which he earned his Maters degree in Biochemistry from Mississippi State University.

He then was drafted and spent the next three years in the Army Infantry in World War II serving in the European theatre.

Visitation Date:Saturday, February 25, 2012 Time:10:00am - 11:00am Location:First Baptist Church of Picayune, Estes Chapel Services Date:Saturday, February 25, 2012 Time:11:00am Location:First Baptist Church of Picayune, Estes Chapel Officiated by:Rev. R.T. Buckley Graveside Location:New Palestine Cemetery Directed by:McDonald Funeral Home Officiated by:Rev. R.T. Buckley.

Source: http://wala.tributes.com/show/Edgar-A.-Whitfield-93309336

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Sunday 26 February 2012

Saturday 25 February 2012

Your Facebook Profile May Soon Make Or Break You Job Application

New Research Adds More Reason To Using Facebook Profiles To Assess Job Candidates

It?s now common knowledge that people at the human resource offices of companies sometimes look at the social network profiles of candidates as part of the job application process. Now, new research suggests that looking at social network profiles of applicants may be an effective way to gauge their future performance. In fact, this new study reveals that this can be so effective that it even trumps standardized written personality tests.

The news comes from a research which results will be published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology. The story was first picked up by the Baltimore Sun.

The study worked this way. Two students and a university professor were asked by the researchers to take 10 minutes skimming through the Facebook profiles of college students who were currently employed. These raters were given two hours training on how to assess a Facebook page, the Sun reports.

The ?panel: was then made to answer personality-related questions about the people they just browsed the Facebook profiles of. These questions included whether they think the person was emotionally stable or dependable.

Fast forward six months and the researchers got job performance reviews for those people whose Facebook profiles were examined by the panel.

What the researchers found was that the Facebook screening was more accurate in predicting success on the job than if standardized tests were used. These standardized tests are the types of personality assessment tests companies give their prospect employees.

?I think one of the differences is that you change the frame of reference,? Donald Kluemper, one of the lead researchers of the study, told the Baltimore Sun.

?You?re asking the rater, ?Is this person a hard worker?? On a personality test, the employee would be asked, ?How hard a worker are you?? One of the criticisms of self-reporting personality testing is that it can be faked. On a Facebook page, that?s a lot harder to do,? the Northern Illinois University management professor added.

This brings us to the possibility ? which, because of this study, I?m betting has just become likely a certainty ? that your Facebook profile can make or break your job application in the future. And because of this, everyone ? those who want great jobs at least ? should be careful what they post on their social network profiles from now on.

However, I have a thought about this research and its implications. Yes, it may hasten the standardization of the use of social network profiles in the job application process. However, there is just this one thing. Prof. Kluemper said that it?s harder to fake your personality as revealed through your social network profile than it is when you?re taking a standardized written personality test. But given that this research has been carried by the media, will we see an influx of social network profiles specifically made to be gleaming specimens exalting the owner of the page so that they will get the job they want?

What do you think about this development? Tell us more in the comments below.

Source: Baltimore Sun

Images 1 & 2 from pshab & rishibando on Flickr

Source: http://www.appsplit.com/blog/2012/02/your-facebook-profile-may-soon-make-or-break-you-job-application/

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Blood mystery solved: Two new blood types identified

ScienceDaily (Feb. 23, 2012) ? You probably know your blood type: A, B, AB or O. You may even know if you're Rhesus positive or negative. But how about the Langereis blood type? Or the Junior blood type? Positive or negative? Most people have never even heard of these.

Yet this knowledge could be "a matter of life and death," says University of Vermont biologist Bryan Ballif.

While blood transfusion problems due to Langereis and Junior blood types are rare worldwide, several ethnic populations are at risk, Ballif notes. "More than 50,000 Japanese are thought to be Junior negative and may encounter blood transfusion problems or mother-fetus incompatibility," he writes.

But the molecular basis of these two blood types has remained a mystery -- until now.

In the February issue of Nature Genetics, Ballif and his colleagues report on their discovery of two proteins on red blood cells responsible for these lesser-known blood types.

Ballif identified the two molecules as specialized transport proteins named ABCB6 and ABCG2.

"Only 30 proteins have previously been identified as responsible for a basic blood type," Ballif notes, "but the count now reaches 32."

The last new blood group proteins to be discovered were nearly a decade ago, Ballif says, "so it's pretty remarkable to have two identified this year."

Both of the newly identified proteins are also associated with anticancer drug resistance, so the findings may also have implications for improved treatment of breast and other cancers.

As part of the international effort, Ballif, assistant professor in the biology department, used a mass spectrometer at UVM funded by the Vermont Genetics Network. With this machine, he analyzed proteins purified by his longtime collaborator, Lionel Arnaud at the French National Institute for Blood Transfusion in Paris, France.

Ballif and Arnaud, in turn, relied on antibodies to Langereis and Junior blood antigens developed by Yoshihiko Tani at the Japanese Red Cross Osaka Blood Center and Toru Miyasaki at the Japanese Red Cross Hokkaido Blood Center.

After the protein identification in Vermont, the work returned to France. There Arnaud and his team conducted cellular and genetic tests confirming that these proteins were responsible for the Langereis and Junior blood types. "He was able to test the gene sequence," Ballif says, "and, sure enough, we found mutations in this particular gene for all the people in our sample who have these problems."

Transfusion troubles

Beyond the ABO blood type and the Rhesus (Rh) blood type, the International Blood Transfusion Society recognizes twenty-eight additional blood types with names like Duffy, Kidd, Diego and Lutheran. But Langereis and Junior have not been on this list. Although the antigens for the Junior and Langereis (or Lan) blood types were identified decades ago in pregnant women having difficulties carrying babies with incompatible blood types, the genetic basis of these antigens has been unknown until now.

Therefore, "very few people learn if they are Langereis or Junior positive or negative," Ballif says.

"Transfusion support of individuals with an anti-Lan antibody is highly challenging," the research team wrote in Nature Genetics, "partly because of the scarcity of compatible blood donors but mainly because of the lack of reliable reagents for blood screening." And Junior-negative blood donors are extremely rare too. That may soon change.

With the findings from this new research, health care professionals will now be able to more rapidly and confidently screen for these novel blood group proteins, Ballif wrote in a recent news article. "This will leave them better prepared to have blood ready when blood transfusions or other tissue donations are required," he notes.

"Now that we know these proteins, it will become a routine test," he says.

A better match

This science may be especially important to organ transplant patients. "As we get better and better at transplants, we do everything we can to make a good match," Ballif says. But sometimes a tissue or organ transplant, that looked like a good match, doesn't work -- and the donated tissue is rejected, which can lead to many problems or death.

"We don't always know why there is rejection," Ballif says, "but it may have to do with these proteins."

The rejection of donated tissue or blood is caused by the way the immune system distinguishes self from not-self. "If our own blood cells don't have these proteins, they're not familiar to our immune system," Ballif says, so the new blood doesn't "look like self" to the complex cellular defenses of the immune system. "They'll develop antibodies against it," Ballif says, and try to kill off the perceived invaders. In short, the body starts to attack itself.

"Then you may be out of luck," says Ballif, who notes that in addition to certain Japanese populations, European Gypsies are also at higher risk for not carrying the Langereis and Junior blood type proteins.

"There are people in the United States who have these challenges too," he says, "but it's more rare."

Other proteins

Ballif and his international colleagues are not done with their search. "We're following up on more unknown blood types," he says. "There are probably on the order of 10 to 15 more of these unknown blood type systems -- where we know there is a problem but we don't know what the protein is that is causing the problem."

Although these other blood systems are very rare, "if you're that one individual, and you need a transfusion," Ballif says, "there's nothing more important for you to know."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Vermont. The original article was written by Joshua E. Brown.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Virginie Helias, Carole Saison, Bryan A Ballif, Thierry Peyrard, Junko Takahashi, Hideo Takahashi, Mitsunobu Tanaka, Jean-Charles Deybach, Herv? Puy, Maude Le Gall, Camille Sureau, Bach-Nga Pham, Pierre-Yves Le Pennec, Yoshihiko Tani, Jean-Pierre Cartron, Lionel Arnaud. ABCB6 is dispensable for erythropoiesis and specifies the new blood group system Langereis. Nature Genetics, 2012; 44 (2): 170 DOI: 10.1038/ng.1069

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/y08v_lgoPhA/120223183819.htm

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Friday 24 February 2012

Putin touts nukes, urges US to be more positive (AP)

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Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (L) visits the Russian Federal Nuclear Center under The All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics in Sarov, Novgorod Region, February 24, 2012.  REUTERS/Aleksey Nikolskyi/RIA Novosti/Pool  (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTSAP - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is touting Russia's nuclear weapons, saying the country has enough strength that the U.S. should seek a more constructive approach to a dispute over European missile defense plans.


Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120224/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_putin

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Birds sing louder amidst the noise and structures of the urban jungle

ScienceDaily (Feb. 22, 2012) ? Sparrows, blackbirds and the great tit are all birds known to sing at a higher pitch (frequency) in urban environments. It was previously believed that these birds sang at higher frequencies in order to escape the lower frequencies noises of the urban environment. Now, researchers at the University of Copenhagen and the University of Aberystwyth have discovered that besides noise, the physical structure of cities also plays a role in altering the birds' songs.

Urban birds sing differently and at a higher frequency than woodland birds in an effort to penetrate the wall of constant noise produced by traffic, machines and human activity. However, architecture also has a profound affect on their songs. The study findings have recently been published in the journal PLoS One.

A new explanation

"Urban architecture is a crucial determinant of how urban birds sing." Noise amidst the urban landscape is typically composed of lower frequencies. Thus, one might jump to the conclusion that it would be smart for birds to distinguish their song by singing louder in order to drown out the competing noise. However, the recent study demonstrates that the noise explanation is incomplete, according to Professor Torben Dabelsteen of the Section for Ecology and Evolution at the University of Copenhagen's Department of Biology, one of the authors of the study.

The city's role in the song

Some researchers have never really bought into the idea that urban noise alone caused birds in the city to sing at higher frequencies. Either directly, because birds tried to sing at a higher tone and away from noise or indirectly, by the birds singing louder to drown out anthropogenic noise.

"Now, with the help of controlled sound recordings, we have shown that the higher frequencies in urban birds' songs are also transmitted across cities when there isn't any noise from traffic. This shows that the physical structure of cities must play a considerable role in the heightened frequencies," explains Torben Dabelsteen.

Structures and variations in the cityscape -- houses, streets, open spaces and alleys -- all serve to reflect and distort noise in differing ways, things that birds must take into account. Birds in the urban environment can easily spot one another, but must do what they can to reduce echoes from buildings and narrow streets in order to penetrate and communicate effectively.

High-pitched urban birds

Birds living beyond the urban landscape need not tweet away with full force. While the woodland's trees and abundant foliage also distort sound through reflection, they also serve to obstruct clear lines of sight. Therefore, rural birds may utilize these distortions to help judge distances and locate one another.

"City-dwellers can look forward to the lively song of birds in the coming spring, and even though a side effect of the urban birds' more powerful song is that they sing at a higher pitch, this is something that we are not typically able to hear," explains Dabelsteen.

Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Copenhagen.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Emily J. Mockford, Rupert C. Marshall, Torben Dabelsteen. Degradation of Rural and Urban Great Tit Song: Testing Transmission Efficiency. PLoS ONE, 2011; 6 (12): e28242 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0028242

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/SdNXk9e-DBY/120222132930.htm

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Thursday 23 February 2012

Story Time Secrets: Baby/Toddler Story Time, 2/21/12

I've been building up to this for months, but finally, this morning I actually had the courage to forgo recorded music and do all my own singing at my most crowded story time of the week. I wasn't sure what would happen, honestly, or if people would go for it,? but at the end of the day, after three amazing sessions during which hardly anyone chatted with their neighbors, texted, or just simply ignored me, I have to say it was the best decision I've ever made.

Recorded music, for my groups, has always been the signal for the adults to stop paying attention and start just hanging out. Somehow, by eliminating the sound that drowns out their talking, I got them to stop talking at all. I will continue to promote the recordings from which I take my songs, and I'm sure I'll still throw in the occasional recorded song, but I'd really like that to become the exception rather than the rule. And since my library is not ordering anymore music, it seems like a good time to focus more on the music we can provide on our own. It's a lot easier to provide the words and tune for families to take home with them than to track down the one or two copies of a CD we have left. This also makes a good segue into when I will eventually bring my ukulele to story time - hopefully this summer.

So... here is my very first a cappella Baby/Toddler Story Time:

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: Hello, Goodbye by David Lloyd, illustrated by Louise Voce (1998)
I wanted to read some new books this week - and by new, it turns out, I meant old. This 1998 title is a simple story of a single tree, whose inhabitants and visitors say hello, and then goodbye when it starts to rain. I got everyone involved by having them buzz like bees and chirp like birds, and by the end of the story, each group was so into it, they were saying hello and goodbye unprompted.

Rhyme: Wiggle Fingers

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big

Book: Hoot, Howl, Hiss by Michelle Koch (1991)
This was a great animal sounds book. The animals are divided into categories according to habitat, and all of them have some sound associated with them. I don't really have a monkey noise that I use, but the adults did their own for me, and when it came to whistling like a marmot, we just tried to whistle. The ending was kind of abrupt and strange, but it didn't matter. This book got tons of participation and tons of applause.

Song: Shake My Sillies Out?

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Flannel Board Song: Old MacDonald Had a Farm

Book: Knick Knack Paddy Whack by Steve Songs, illustrated by Christiane Engel (2009)
It killed my voice to sing this much three sessions in a row, but this book demands to be sung! It got a little old around the number five - there's only so many times an old man should play knick knack, honestly! - but the kids seemed to like the novelty of singing instead of reading a book.

Song: If You're Happy and You Know It

  • ...clap your hands
  • ...pat your knees
  • ...stomp your feet
  • ...beep your nose
  • ...tickle your tummy
  • ...shout hooray!

Song: The Wheels on the Bus
  • ...doors...open and shut
  • ...wipers...swish swish swish
  • ...driver...move on back
  • ...horn...beep beep beep
  • ...babies...waa waa waa
  • ...grown-ups...shh shh shh
?Song: Chickadee
I said last week that the calypso beat was essential for this song, but this group did very well without the recording. I think it's all in how well I sell them on it. It also helped that most of the caregivers were regulars and could sing all the words from memory.

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Source: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/2012/02/babytoddler-story-time-22112.html

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iOS 5.1 pre-GM leaked: Better camera access, Japanese Siri (Digital Trends)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Digital Trends - As the impending release of the iPad 3 draws nearer, the Apple leaks keep coming. Portuguese website BlogdoiPhone has just obtained a copy of the iOS 5.1 pre-Gold Master update ??? for those of you unfamiliar with Apple???s beta update lingo, the Gold Master is generally the software product released to developers that will ship to consumers with very minor changes.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/japan/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20120221/tc_digitaltrends/ios51pregmleakedbettercameraaccessjapanesesiri

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Tuesday 21 February 2012

Mardi Gras revelry, parades take over New Orleans

Fleambeaux Carriers march along side the Captain's float in the Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012.(AP Photo/Bill Haber)

Fleambeaux Carriers march along side the Captain's float in the Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012.(AP Photo/Bill Haber)

Riders in the Mardi Gras parade make their way to their float in the staging area of the parade in New Orleans, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

Entertainer Cyndi Lauper throws beads while riding in the Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012.(AP Photo/Bill Haber)

Entertainer Bret Michaels holds a handful of beads while riding in the Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

(AP) ? Revelers hit the streets Tuesday to celebrate Mardi Gras, lured to the French Quarter and stately oak-lined avenues by the chance to snag beads and baubles from seemingly endless parades in the final unfettered party before the somber season of Lent.

The French Quarter was full of costumed revelers. Wearing a bright orange wig, a purple mask and green shoes, New Orleans resident Charlotte Hamrick walked along Canal Street to meet friends.

"I'll be in the French Quarter all day," Hamrick said. "I don't even go to the parades. I love to take pictures of all the costumes and just be with my friends. It's so fun."

Brittany Davies of Denver was struggling through the early morning hours. Still feeling the effects of heavy drinking from the night before, her friends had her out again early Tuesday.

"They're torturing me," Davies joked. "But I'll be OK after a bloody Mary."

At the Superdome, the predominantly African-American Zulu krewe loaded their floats with their signature decorated coconuts, a parade crowd favorite. Most were in the traditional black-face makeup and afro wigs krewe members have sported for decades.

Meanwhile in the Garden District, clarinetist Pete Fountain prepared to lead his Half-Fast Walking Club on its annual march down St. Charles Avenue, the traditional start of the daylong series of parades.

After Zulu, the parade of Rex, king of Carnival, would make the trek down the avenue and to the city's business district, with hundreds of thousands of people pleading for beads and doubloons.

Fountain, 82, gave a "thumbs up" to start off and his band launched into "When The Saints Come Marching In" as they rounded the corner onto St. Charles Avenue shortly after 7 a.m. It was the 52nd time that Fountain's group has paraded for Mardi Gras. This year, the group wore bright yellow suits and matching pork pie hats for its theme, "Follow the Yellow Brick Road."

Along St. Charles, groups of people, many in costumes, breakfasted as children played in the street. Small marching groups were already on the move. The Skeleton Krewe, 25 people dressed in black skeleton outfits, were on their way to the St. Louis Cathedral.

Tom White, 46, clad in a pink tu-tu, bicycled down the avenue with his wife, Allison, on their way to the French Quarter. "I'm the pink fairy this year," said White. Allison White was not in costume. "He's disgraced the family enough," she said of her husband.

But Tom White was in the spirit of the day. "Costuming is the real fun of Mardi Gras. I'm not too creative but when you weigh 200 pounds and put on a tu-tu people still take your picture."

The stakeout for prime spots along the Mardi Gras parade route started Monday, with legions of Carnival die-hards jockeying for the best places to vie for beads thrown from floats on Fat Tuesday.

Stephanie Chapman and her family had set up in their usual spot on the St. Charles streetcar tracks. They'd arrive at 4 a.m. on Tuesday and would be staying for the duration. "This is a beautiful day and we'll be here until it's over. It won't rain on my parade, But if it does I won't pay any attention," she said.

Across the Gulf Coast, Mardi Gras was getting into full swing. In the Cajun country of southwest Louisiana, masked riders were preparing to go from town to town, making merry along the way in the Courir du Mardi Gras. And parades were scheduled elsewhere around Louisiana and on the Mississippi and Alabama coasts. The celebration arrived in Louisiana in 1682 when the explorer LaSalle and his party stopped at a place they called Bayou Mardi Gras south of New Orleans to celebrate. The site is now lost to history.

On Monday night, the Lundi Gras celebration culminated with the parade of the Krewe of Orpheus, led by entertainers Harry Connick Jr. and Hilary Swank. Rocker Bret Michaels and Grammy-winning singer Cyndi Lauper ushered in Mardi Gras with musical performances in the wee hours of the morning at the bash that followed the parade.

Revelers in costume danced and posed for pictures with Mardi Gras Indians wearing elaborate costumes with feathers and beads.

The end of Mardi Gras gives way to the beginning of Lent, the period of fasting and repentance before Easter Sunday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-02-21-Mardi%20Gras-New%20Orleans/id-f61fd92571fb4f1c94110f94998e0f33

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New Irish envoy: Pope consistent on stopping abuse (AP)

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Pope Benedict XVI celebrates a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012. Sounding hoarse and looking tired, Pope Benedict XVI is leading 22 new 'princes' of the church at Mass in St. Peter's Basilica a day after installing them as cardinals. Many of the men who sat before the pope Sunday in white robes will likely vote in secret conclave for Benedict's successor after his death. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)AP - Pope Benedict XVI has been "relentless and consistent" in seeking to oust child abusers from the priesthood worldwide, the pontiff's new American envoy to Ireland said Sunday in his first homily here.


Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120219/ap_on_re_eu/eu_ireland_catholic_abuse

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Monday 20 February 2012

Maher suggests Obama???s life could be threatened if he had sex with intern, blames race (Daily Caller)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Daily Caller - On his HBO show Friday, “Real Time” host Bill Maher offered his audience a theory about why President Obama is treated with less respect than others who have held his office, and how Obama might have been treated if he had acted the way other presidents had.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/dailycaller/20120218/pl_dailycaller/mahersuggestsobamaslifecouldbethreatenedifhehadsexwithinternblamesrace

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Tuesday 14 February 2012

Firefox on Windows 8: Metro build is in the works

Firefox on Windows 8: Metro build is in the works
We all know that Windows 8 will have a split personality, with a Windows 7 style "Classic" desktop environment working hand-in-hand with a finger-friendly Metro UI. Given that Firefox has a significant market share in the PC web browsing market, it's only natural for Mozilla to accommodate both parts of Microsoft's new OS. According to its 2012 Strategy & Roadmap, the company has plans for a proof-of-concept Win8 Firefox release in Q2 of this year. In that document, Mozilla reveals that a "simple evolution" of its existing browser will work with the "Classic" environment, but brand new new front-end and integration code is needed for Firefox to play nice with Metro. The plan is to build a Gecko-based browser that brings full Firefox capabilities and can handle Windows 8's unique requirements like being suspended by the OS when it's not being viewed and supporting multiple "snap" states to ensure a good browsing experience when multiple apps are open. Looks like Mozilla's crew of coders has their work cut out for them, and you can peep the full to-do list at the source link below.

Firefox on Windows 8: Metro build is in the works originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Ars Technica  |  sourceMozilla  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/13/firefox-on-windows-8-metro-build-is-in-the-works/

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Austin Peay Lady Govs Track and Field's Chantelle Grey moves ...


?

APSU Sports: Austin Peay Women?s Track and Field

Austin Peay State UniversityChantelle GreyGeneva, OH ? Junior Chantelle Grey, of the Austin Peay women?s track and field team inched closer to the 800-meter school record with a 2:08.41, and a sixth-place finish at the SPIRE Invitational.

In fact, the Missoula, Montana native actually finished second in her heat race prior to the final, leading that race down to the final 100 meters. The sixth-place time in the finals put the Lady Gov standout in the NCAA?s top-50.

?Chantelle ran a terrific race,? head coach Doug Molnar said. ?She executed her race plan perfectly and has set herself up nicely heading into the Ohio Valley Conference championships.?

At the invitation-only event with featured 18 teams from around the United States and Canada, Grey was one of handful of individuals with the opportunity to compete in select events. With nothing to lose and everything to prove, Grey moved herself atop the Ohio Valley Conference?s 800-meter list.

Becoming an OVC champion might be the next goal for the Lady Govs distance runner, but to get there she may have to challenge APSU?s school record ? 2:06.17 ? set by Austin Peay Hall of Famer Sheena Gooding in 2002.

?The important thing is, she showed that she belongs,? Molnar said. ?There?s no doubt that she?s one of the top 800-meter runners in our conference, if not the country after this race. This helps her confidence and puts her in a good place as the indoor season winds down.?

Grey?s race was led by Michigan?s Rebecca Addison at 2:05.24, followed by Rachel Aubry (Guelph) at 2:06.22, Asia Henry (Buffalo) 2:07.06, Frances Dowd (Virginia Tech) 2:07.22 and Molly Malone (Syracuse) 2:07.81.


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Sports

Topics

APSU, APSU Athletics, APSU Hall of Fame, APSU Sports, APSU Track and Field, APSU Women's Track and Field, Asia Henry, Austin Peay State University, Canada, Chantelle Grey, Doug Molnar, Frances Dowd, Geneva OH, Michigan, Missoula MT, Molly Malone, Montana, Ohio Valley Conference, OVC, OVC Championship, Rachel Aubry, Rebecca Addison, Sheena Gooding, SPIRE Invitational, Syracuse, United States, Virginia Tech

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Source: http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2012/02/13/austin-peay-lady-govs-track-and-fields-chantelle-grey-moves-closer-to-the-austin-peay-800-meter-record-at-spire-invitational/

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Independents Abandoning Romney (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/199298497?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Monday 13 February 2012

The Blessing of Online Auto Insurance Quotes | Auto Insurance ...

Auto insurance quotes are easier than ever to obtain these days thanks to the world wide web and its wide spread use amongst auto insurance companies. Insurance quotes on the internet, make it effortless for everyone to speedily find the right auto insurance organization without having the hassle of dealing in individual with insurance company?s representatives. The best component about comparing auto insurance on-line and locating the correct 1 is that numerous auto insurance companies supply free auto insurance quotes these days.

Though, in most cases you can get an auto insurance quote in less than 60 seconds or so which basically is an instant auto insurance quote, it is still essential to do your study initial hand. Spending a few minuets prior to buying an insurance policy, can assist you get the very best item at the cheapest rate accessible. Plus, comparing auto insurance policies can save you hundreds of if not thousands of dollars on your policy by enabling you to pick the proper insurance organization.

Lets face it, just since there are hundreds of different insurance firms out there, it doesn?t mean they all offer exceptional services for their buyers. That is why it is critical to compare as many auto insurance policies as you can just before committing to one.

Of course, attempting to locate out what type of policies each diverse auto insurance company offers, the old fashion way of calling them 1 by one, can take hours if not days. Not to mention the hassle of attempting to get off the phone with the auto insurance agent who wants to make positive you get their item before you hang up the phone.

Comparing auto insurance quotes from distinct insurance businesses on the internet is a lot easier and quicker. Nonetheless, it can still be quite time consuming. Visiting each and every companies internet site and comparing their rates with other?s can extremely nicely take hours upon hours. Thankfully there are internet sites that do the job for you in as little as a few minuets. You basically enter your info once and their program will automatically search profiles of the very best auto insurance businesses and give you a clean and simple to fully grasp report that shows you which business offers the greatest policy for the lowest price.

When comparing auto insurance policies on the web, make certain you pay close attention to the premium which is a large factor in enabling you to select the greatest and most reasonably priced auto insurance.

Also, when looking for auto insurance quote online, know what kind of policies you want prior to you start your search. Do you want the cheapest auto insurance no matter what? Do you want the finest policy regardless of how a lot it might price? Or do you want the best? auto insurance policy that is affordable and low cost?

Knowing exactly what you want initial hand, makes it less complicated for you to search on the web utilizing the proper phrases and terms associated with the type of auto insurance policy you are looking for. For example, if you are looking for ?inexpensive auto insurance?, making use of the phrase ?inexpensive auto insurance? is the greatest way to make certain you discover the most relevant auto insurance quotes online.

Of course, if you are utilizing a internet site that does auto insurance comparison and offer you with free of charge auto insurance quotes from the top auto insurance companies, you don?t have to worry about any of that, you simply provide your info and it will discover you the finest auto insurance quotes.

You can save up to 50% on auto insurance!

Source: http://www.coniqq.org/the-blessing-of-online-auto-insurance-quotes.htm

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Turkish jets hit suspected rebel targets in Iraq (AP)

ANKARA, Turkey ? Turkey's military says warplanes have bombed suspected Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq.

A military statement said Sunday the jets hit caves and other shelters in Iraq's Zap and Hakurk regions, near the border with Turkey. It said the operation took place late Saturday.

The military said all planes returned to base safely but did not provide any details about damage or casualties.

The rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, are fighting for autonomy in Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast. The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives since 1984.

The PKK has long used northern Iraq as a base for attacks inside Turkey. Turkey's air force has launched dozens of air raids on suspected rebel bases in northern Iraq since August.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120212/ap_on_re_eu/eu_turkey_iraq_kurds

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Sunday 12 February 2012

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Saturday 11 February 2012

DEA: Mexican governor got millions in drug cash

(AP) ? U.S. drug agents have evidence that cartel leaders paid millions to a Mexican border state governor and other figures in Mexico's former ruling party in exchange for political influence, according to a court filing in Texas.

Confidential informants told Drug Enforcement Administration investigators that leaders of the Zetas and Gulf cartels made payments to Institutional Revolutionary Party members including Tomas Yarrington, who served as governor of Tamaulipas state in 1999-2004, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in San Antonio, Texas.

The affidavit says the DEA also has obtained ledgers documenting millions of dollars in payments to Yarrington's representatives.

Yarrington declined to comment when contacted by The Associated Press on Friday.

The U.S. investigation could have ramifications for Mexico's July 1 presidential election. The candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, has a strong lead in opinion polls and appears poised to retake the country's most powerful office 12 years after the party was unseated after seven decades of unchallenged rule.

The 13-page affidavit lays out in detail the DEA's case against Antonio Pena-Arguelles, an alleged cartel money-launderer who was arrested Wednesday in San Antonio.

It accuses him of using U.S. bank accounts to funnel millions to Yarrington from leaders of the Gulf and the Zetas. In 2004-2005 alone, it says, he and his brother received $4.5 million from the No. 2 leader of the Zetas, Miguel-Angel Trevino Morales.

The Zetas gang was started by Mexican army special forces soldiers who dropped out of the military and initially worked as the Gulf cartel's enforcers before breaking away in 2009 to become a notoriously brutal nationwide cartel of their own, responsible for thousands of kidnappings, slayings and acts of extortion.

One of the DEA's four informants told investigators that "during early 2000, Antonio Pena-Arguelles began receiving large amounts of drug proceeds on behalf of Osiel Cardenas, head of the Gulf Cartel, in exchange for political influence within the government in Tamaulipas," the complaint says.

Mauricio Fernandez, head of the DEA's San Antonio office, described the complaint as the result of a lengthy and continuing investigation.

"It's an ongoing matter right now," he said. "A lot of people are working on this."

Mexican prosecutors said late last month that they were investigating former Tamaulipas officials in connection with unspecified federal crimes, a category that includes money-laundering and drug-related crimes. Yarrington and two other former PRI governors, Manuel Cavazos and Eugenio Hernandez, publicly acknowledged that they were subjects of the probe.

In the wake of the revelations, the PRI accused the governing National Action Party, the PAN, its main opponent in the July election, of manipulating criminal justice for political ends.

The PRI's presidential candidate, Enrique Pena Nieto, appeared several days later at a rally in Tamaulipas hand-in-hand with Cavazos in a public show of support for the ex-governor, who is now running for a Senate seat.

The centerpiece of Mexican President Felipe Calderon's six-year term has been his heavy militarized fight against drug cartels, and the PAN has been increasingly attempting to paint the PRI as unable to move away from the corruption that marked the autocratic rule that ended with its presidential loss to the PAN in 2000.

Calderon's party seized on the DEA court filing as evidence that the PRI has links to organized crime.

"For months the National Action Party has expressed its concern about the evidence constantly coming to light that current and former PRI governors could be allowing organized-crime groups to operate," Gustavo Madero, chairman of the PAN's national executive committee, told reporters.

Pena Nieto did not directly address the accusations in the DEA affidavit when questioned about them Friday. Standing beside him, PRI head Joaquin Coldwell struck a softer tone than in previous party statements about the probe of the ex-governors.

"Every party member is responsible for his own conduct and behavior, and each party member must carry out his own legal defense," Coldwell said. "What we ask for in this case and others that present themselves ... is that the justice system isn't used in a partisan way, for electoral purposes, and that the constitutional rights of the people who are investigated are respected."

___

Associated Press writer Paul J. Weber in San Antonio contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-02-10-LT-Drug-War-Mexico/id-5c65c6da0c104ba9b698105d6becc079

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There's something fishy about 'mammoth' video

According to a story in The Sun newspaper, a new video has surfaced that seems to show a live woolly mammoth ? an animal the scientists say has been extinct for about four millennia.

The "jaw-dropping" footage, which shows a dark, blurry creature crossing a river, was allegedly "caught by a government-employed engineer last summer in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug region of Siberia."

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      Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Researchers have shown why champagne tastes fizzier when it's drunk from a tall, narrow glass rather than a wide, shallow bowl.

    2. There's something fishy about 'mammoth' video
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    4. Code-breaking: Why yuor barin can raed tihs

The video has stirred up plenty of interest on the Web. Most viewers have settled on one of two explanations for the mysterious video ? though neither includes a woolly mammoth.

Many believe the video is an outright hoax ? a computer-generated elephant or mammoth digitally inserted into the scene. Those who smell a hoax point to several suspicious aspects of the video, including the fact that the man who posted the piece, a paranormal enthusiast named Michael Cohen, has been involved with several other videos of UFOs and other phenomena that are of questionable authenticity.

The brevity of the video also casts suspicion on its validity. The video is less than 10 seconds long, and ends well before the animal reaches the near shore. It's hard to imagine that a nearby person wouldn't notice a woolly mammoth until it started walking across the river, and it's even more unbelievable that the anonymous cameraman would inexplicably stop filming after 10 seconds. [If You Spot Bigfoot, Should You Shoot Him?]

The second theory is that the video is real, but that the creature is just a bear with a large fish in its mouth. That would explain its relatively small size for a mammoth, the shape of the "trunk" on its head, and the color. According to this explanation, the cameraman was simply fooled by the strange shape.

There is a third explanation, which combines the two previous ones: It is both a bear and a fake; the videographer knew very well what it was, since his vision would be far better than anything we see captured on the video. He (or possibly someone else who later obtained the video) decided to present the video as a mystery for a bit of fun or publicity.

Derek Serra, a Hollywood video-effects artist who has previously analyzed faked UFO videos, told Life's Little Mysteries that the video, in his opinion, appears to have been intentionally blurred, probably to obscure the animal's true identity.

"Even low-resolution cameras can focus fairly well on something," Serra said. "But there's really nothing in this video in focus. The rocks in the foreground have a blur to them that doesn't seem natural."

Adding to the mystery, if the video was shot last summer as claimed, why is it only being seen now? Why did the Russian engineer keep such an amazing discovery quiet for half a year instead of going public with the biggest science story of the century?

Though the animal is almost certainly not a woolly mammoth, one final intriguing mystery remains: Where did the photographer find a video camera able to take such remarkably low-quality images?

Follow Life's Little Mysteries on Twitter @llmysteries, then join us on Facebook.

Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine and author of "Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How to Solve Unexplained Mysteries." His website is www.BenjaminRadford.com.?

More on msnbc.com:

? 2012 LifesLittleMysteries.com. All rights reserved. More from LifesLittleMysteries.com.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46329601/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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Friday 10 February 2012

CONVERSABLE ECONOMIST: Government Budgets: Immigration ...

This is the third of five posts on immigration policy. For the first post and an overview, start here.

A common and plausible concern about immigration is that many immigrants don't pay much in taxes, but the government faces costs for education of the children of immigrants, health care of those with low incomes, and law enforcement. Thus, it is feared that immigrants contribute to the fiscal problems of government. To be clear, this concern over the effect on government budgets is really about immigrants with low skill levels and about illegal immigrants. Everyone accepts that legal high-skilled immigrants are on average a net plus for government in terms of the taxes they pay and the government benefits they receive. Daniel Griswold tackles this question head-on in "Immigration and the Welfare State."

Griswold points out that immigrants--even illegal immigrants--do typically have taxes withheld from paychecks, as well as paying sales and property taxes. Recent legal immigrants aren't eligible for welfare benefits, and many illegal immigrants don't dare try to claim such benefits. For the federal government, immigration is almost certainly a net plus. However, certain state and local governments with high levels of immigration do face high costs of education, health care, and law enforcement related to immigration. He notes the straightforward policy fix: "If Congress wants to more equitably share the fiscal benefits of immigration, it could distribute funds to states and localities based on the impact of immigration on health and education spending. This need not, and should not, require an overall increase in government spending and taxation, but merely a transfer of resources from the federal level, where immigration represents a net fiscal gain, to state and local governments, where it often imposes a net fiscal loss."

Griswold also makes the insightful point that low-skill immigrants are not choosing to locate primarily in high-benefit states--which strongly suggests that gaining access to such benefits is not their primary motivation. (Citations and references to tables omitted from the quotation.)

"If we consider changes in the foreign born populations in individual states, for example, we can see that the largest gains have generally been in states that are relatively stingy in offering public assistance. ... The 10 states with the largest percentage increase in foreign-born population between 2000 and 2009 spent far less on public assistance per capita in 2009 compared to the 10 states with the slowest-growing foreign-born populations?$35 vs. $166 .... In the 10 states with the lowest per capita spending on public assistance, the immigrant population grew 31 percent between 2000 and 2009; in the 10 states with the highest per capita spending on public assistance, the foreign-born population grew 13 percent. If immigrants were primarily concerned with collecting welfare, they would not be flocking to such states as Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Instead, they would be drawn to such states
as Michigan, Rhode Island, and Vermont, which in fact have seen very slow growth in their immigrant populations.

Undocumented immigrants are even more likely to self-select states with below-average social spending. Between 2000 and 2009, the number of unauthorized immigrants in the low-spending states grew by a net 855,000, or 35 percent. In the high-spending states, the population grew by 385,000, or 11 percent. One possible reason why unauthorized immigrants are even less drawn to high-welfare spending states is that, unlike immigrants who have been naturalized, they are not eligible for any of the standard welfare programs. A second reason is that illegal immigrants are less likely to be well-educated and thus are not as attracted as more highly skilled immigrants to higher-income urban centers in such states as New York, Illinois,
and California. The higher-skilled immigrants gravitate to those states, not because of the higher social spending, but because of the higher rewards for skilled labor."

Source: http://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com/2012/02/government-budgets-immigration-policy-3.html

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Western Students Lack Effective Speaking Skills

Published by Robertson | February 9, 2012 | | 54

Employers expect to hire college graduates who have the skills and knowledge they need to excel in the workplace. Western graduates fell short in critical categories, according to the 2000-2003 Employer Survey Report, which ranked graduates? overall performance in the workplace.
The report found that direct supervisors ranked Western graduates? verbal skills last among all other university?s graduates surveyed in all job markets except technical jobs. While strong verbal skills are ranked as most important to employers, Western students ranked communication skills as the least important of the eight categories surveyed.
For this reason, the General Education Task Force presented a proposal at the Nov. 18 Academic Coordinating Commission meeting about ways to enhance students? speaking skills. ?We really need to do more to prepare our students in all areas of communication,? said Kris Bulcroft, vice provost for undergraduate education.

?This includes writing, speaking and critical thinking.?
Bulcroft said one option is to intertwine communication skills with pre-existing academic disciplines, which would let students incorporate communication skills in their major courses. The other option is to add more communication courses.
In both options, a sophomore writing class would be added to the existing freshman English 101 course. Communication 101 no longer would be a general university requirement but an option for students, Bulcroft said.
?First off, if any student has a choice of a writing course or a public-speaking one, most students will pick the writing one,? said Maya Tomlin, Associated Students vice-president for academic affairs. ?But once most students take Comm. 101, they are glad they did.?
Chair of the ACC Tom Downing said he agrees with Tomlin. If Western added communication skills into existing departments, it no longer would be a general requirement.
?Departments like math and computer science would be left in the cold,? Downing said. ?I am pretty sure that the professors in those majors would not eagerly include very many speaking-efficient lessons in their courses.?
Downing said he will propose adding more speech classes. He said Western needs to make speaking efficiently a priority.
Downing said the ACC is making General University Requirement changes in every category, but no matter what the new changes will be, GURs will drop approximately 12 to 13 credits from what is presently required. The policy should be in place in 2005.
Although Western also ranked low in computer skills, Joseph Trimble, director of the Institutional Access Research and Testing office, said this has drastically changed in the past year.
?High schools are now preparing students with computer skills, making our front end of students that we receive every year more knowledgeable,? Trimble said. ?Computer skills are increasing rapidly due to programs like Blackboard, e-mail contacts and the fact that more computer labs are available to students.?

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Source: http://www.1directory.net/writing-speaking/western-students-lack-effective-speaking-skills-2258.html

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