Two Burmese survive month at sea in an ice box - Yahoo! News Two Myanmar fishermen have survived for almost a month in shark-infested waters by floating in a large ice box after their boat sank, rescue officials said.
Dave Powell, Libertarian Party Chair, stated that our priority now should be to recruit candidates for the local elections this coming November. Petitioning to get on the ballot will begin soon.
Dave Eckhardt suggested that we arrange a showing of the movie, IOUSA, for a combined meeting of the Pitt and CMU libertarian groups. He also suggested that we look into speakers for our student chapters since funding may be available from the Leadership Institute. Ron Paul would be a big draw if we could manage to engage him.
Dave Powell reported on the Pa. Ballot Access project. The Voters Choice Act will be reintroduced this session in the state Senate by Senator Fulmer, along with several other cosponsors. It is hoped that more senators can be induced to sign on as cosponsors in order to give the bill more visibility in the legislature.
Dave Eckhardt discussed the latest developments in the effort to demonstrate reliability of the electronic voting machines in Allegheny County. The failure to do so
may be good ammunition for the VCA.
There was some discussion of developing a platform for our chapter that would cover issues in Allegheny County.
Pittsburgh Schools Volunteer For Audit - Sports News Story - WTAE Pittsburgh: "But a recent investigation by the Women's Law Project of Southwestern Pennsylvania High Schools found a problem.
'It looks as though two out of three high school athletes in southwestern Pennsylvania are male. And that for every dollar spent on athletics for boys, only 69 cents is spent on athletics for girls,' said Sue Frietsche of the Women's Law Project."
City Parking Authority needs council appointee, Dowd says: "'This is hundreds of millions of dollars at question here,' Mr. Dowd said, after sending a letter to Mr. Ravenstahl urging that council be brought into the process. 'You can't make that decision without collaboration, consensus, and without a duly constituted board with clear membership.'Dowd has a clear mandate to lead the urban youth / recreation committee. We're holding out hope for collaboration and consensus with how to better play with our kids in our public facilities.
Wheeling Jesuit University freezes tuition: "'Higher learning is a critically important reality in American culture. It's also expensive,' School President the Rev. Julio Giulietti said in a statement. 'Although Wheeling Jesuit University has always tried to keep the seemingly inevitable rise of tuition at an affordable rate, the present national and international financial crisis demands a more radical response.'Too bad WJU is NOT eligible for Pittsburgh Promise scholarship money. It would be great if some went there -- from the city -- with Pittsburgh Promise funds.
Undergraduate tuition is $23,590 per year."
Pittsburgh Hoagie: All meat no filler: "Pittsburgh City Council candidate Georgia Blotzer was gracious enough to answer some questions about his campaign."
Penn Hills linebacker Mason picks Pitt: "'The main thing is that I was real comfortable with the coaches at Pitt,' he said. 'They have been recruiting me for three years and I've had a great relationship with all those guys. I took my time with this decision because I wanted to have no doubt and I have no doubt. I know that Pitt is the right place for me.'
Frick PSCC
To help with the transition to the combined schools in the Reizenstein building, Mrs. Facaros plans to invite the Frick PSCC to the Schenley PSCC meeting to be held on April 15, 2009. On April 3, which is scheduled as a half-day, the Frick teachers and staff will be invited to the Reizenstein building to view facilities. The building will be off-limits during the summer while construction/maintenance/repairs/adaptations are completed. In May, the Schenley PSCC meeting will be held at Frick.
4Sight testing has been rescheduled for Jan. 29, 2009. Senior IB students who are registered to take the IB diploma are asked to report to school by 8:00 am. The students will have an opportunity to work on programme requirements. All other seniors should report to the library to work on college aps, FAFSA forms, grad projects. If a senior is not at school by 8 am, arrival time should be 10:45 so as to not disrupt testing.
Feb. 5 -- Winter Concert and FAFSA Workshop--details for the concert will be given later. The FAFSA workshop is sponsored by NEED and is a hands-on session to complete the required financial aid forms for nearly all colleges.
Tech use -- A possible topic for future PSCC meetings is the use and/or abuse of technology at the school. The meeting would cover cyber bullying, text messaging, LOUD mp3s among other subjects.
Prom -- The prom is a privilege not a right.
CHANGE OF SCHEDULE FOR 2ND SEMESTER -- It became obvious early in the school year that the activity period as scheduled was not working. More planning and coordination was needed to provide meaningful activities for students. For the remainder of the school year, most students will report to their period 9 class and will remain there until the end of the day (84 minutes). Students will be required to have a written pass to go to another teacher/classroom for tutoring or activities. (Three classes could not be rescheduled and will continue to meet 10th period--chorus, health, and ???).
PLAY PRACTICE --A bus leaves Reizenstein at 5 pm to take the students to Peabody for play practice. Approximately 45 kids take the bus. Sorry, I didn't get the title of the play or any details but it is supposed to be Shakespeare set to music. As soon as I get more details, I will send them because the Schenley musical is ALWAYS a highlight of the school year.
PEABODY --A parent asked what the current plans are regarding Peabody and the students currently attending there. Mr. Huber who was on the site selection committee for the IB school said that Peabody was a unanimous selection of the committee. (I don't know what other sites were considered but Westinghouse, although beautiful facilities is not accessible to magnet students by bus and Reizenstein would cost too much money to adapt for continued use as a high school). The board has not yet voted on the selection. Data has shown that only 25% of students in the Peabody feeder pattern actually attend the school and the building is seriously underutilized. No plans have yet been announced for the placement of the remaining students if the school does get approved for the IB school.
WEB SITE -- The district is continuing to upgrade the website and coordinate all information. At this time each individual school is prevented from adding any information except the daily bulletin. The school calendar is controlled by the district which means there is NO useful information on the calendar, except for district wide dates.
If you have been reading my emails over the past 4 years or attended any meetings with me, you know that the lack of communication has been one of my biggest gripes. This is the computer age!!!! It is absolutely ridiculous that a school district the size of Pittsburgh cannot get this right. Parent Engagement is a nice catchy phrase but it is hard to be engaged when you have such difficulty getting information. I know that there are many things that we cannot change due to money issues but this is something that would not take much money to fix and would go a long way toward making parents feel engaged. Please call the Parent Hotline and ask when the system will be fully functioning.
Parent Hotline: 412-622-7920
COLLEGE FAIR -- This was not mentioned at the meeting but the date is coming very soon. On Feb 5, 2009, from 9-1 and 6-9, and Feb 6, from 9-12 at the convention center is the NACAC College Fair. Students beginning their college search might find some useful information (http://www.nacacnet.org/EventsTraining/CollegeFairs/ncf/Spring/Pages/PittsburghNCF.aspx)
REMINDER:
Today, Jan. 22, Financial Aid Night at Reizenstein Library. 6-8 PM in the cafetorium.
Feb. 5, FAFSA Parent Night, 6-8 PM in room 144
11th Grade PSSA Preparation, Saturday sessions beginning Jan. 31. Incentives will be given to participants.
Feb 18, IB parent meeting at 5 pm., PSCC meeting at 6 pm., in the library.
Feb 25., parent meeting for current 10th grade students considering IB.
Lots of information. If you have any additions, corrections, or questions, please email, Amy Moore.
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Obama speech censored in China 'To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history,' the president said.
Once again, Xinhua included the passage in full in its English version, but the sentence was taken out of the Chinese translation.
Similar changes were made to versions of the speech that appeared on other websites based in China.
And websites were not the only media organisations that struggled to report some of the comments made by President Obama.
China Central Television, the country's main broadcaster, aired the speech live with a simultaneous Chinese translation.
But when the translator got to the part where President Obama talked about facing down communism, her voice suddenly faded away.
The programme suddenly cut back to the studio, where an off-guard presenter had to quickly ask a guest a question.
Censoring sensitive news reports is nothing new in China, where officials go to great lengths to cut critical material.
No bailout, no connector, agency says - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "unforeseen costs added $117.8 million to the North Shore Connector's $435 million price tag and threaten to shut down the project without a bailout from a proposed federal economic stimulus package.
Education: Board members waiting on CEP progress reports - News - News - Pittsburgh City Paper - Pittsburgh: "Since the start of the 2007-08 school year, Community Education Partners (CEP) -- a private, Nashville-based alternative education company -- has been in charge of educating the city district's most academically and behaviorally challenged 6-12th-grade students.Perhaps the high jumps in test scores are from the low starting point.
Dear Camper:
RootsCamp is only days away! We're going to have a great day of learning, sharing and fun. And you can make it even better if you come prepared for the unique RootsCamp experience.
* Be ready to participate. Rule #1 at RootsCamp is there are no spectators. We expect everyone to share their ideas and experiences.
* Be ready to lead. If you have an idea for a session, propose it on the Sessions page of our website http://rootscamppittsburgh2009.pbwiki.com/Session-Topics Just click on the edit tab near the top of the page, type or paste in your idea, then click save at the bottom of the page. On Saturday, post your idea on the Sessions grid and lead your group's discussion.
* Bring your own materials. We're providing the space, food and fellow travelers. You will need to bring your own pen, paper for note taking and any presentation materials if you leading a session. We will have one projector and we will probably have some flip charts. But not every meeting space will have them. So, if you absolutely need a projector, flip charts or anything else, please bring it yourself.
* RootsCamp food will be basic. We'll have coffee and donuts for a breakfast snack. We'll have sub sandwiches and water for lunch. If you need more than that, please bring your own. We'll have a vegetarian option, but if you have other dietary needs, please bring your own food and beverages. It's not that we're not sensitive to special needs. It's just that we are running this on an all-volunteer basis and charging only $10 for everything. We simply don't have the resources to do everything we would like to do.
* Bring materials about your progressive organization to share. We'll have a table for you to place your literature for other campers to read.
* Bring friends and allies. It's not too late to register. http://rootscamppittsburgh2009.pbwiki.com Invite at least 5 of your progressive activist friends to come. Send them an email today telling them why you're coming, or forward one of our previous emails. The more people at RootsCamp, the better the experience.
I'm excited to be a part of Pennsylvania's first RootsCamp. And I'm looking forward to seeing you on Saturday.
Mike
Michael Morrill, Executive Director, Keystone Progress
Follow us on Twitter at:
http://twitter.com/keystoneprogres
State board proposes no-frills colleges As college students face mounting debt, state education officials yesterday proposed a new kind of higher-education institution that would offer a 'low-cost, no frills' bachelor's degree.This is so wrong.
The schools would have no sports teams, no extracurriculars, no glittering fitness center and no plum dorm rooms."
Youngstown State U. lowers tuition for W. Pa. students: "Youngstown State University, in a bid to attract more Western Pennsylvania students, is cutting tuition by 26 percent for residents of eight counties in this region, including Allegheny.And the YSU mascot = Penguins. Feel at home there, and have some cash for beer too.
The reduction for the 2009-10 school year, to be formally announced at a news conference tomorrow, is the latest inducement in the ongoing competition for students between universities on both sides of the Ohio/Pennsylvania line. The cut of nearly $2,500 based on current tuition takes the yearly cost to within $200 of what Ohio residents pay.
Solids level declines in Mon River: "The state Department of Environmental Protection announced today that levels of total dissolved solids in the Monongahela River have dropped and remain well below state and federal guidelines."
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