February 21, 2008 Get your student loans now!

I read an article today that could affect all of us. Apparently the housing market is not going to be the only lenders that are having problems. Issues have now spread to the education market as well. Issues are stemming from a spike in default from students borrowing more than they could afford and not being abnle to pay the amount back. The largest lender, Sallie May, reported a $1.6 billion loss last year. What does this mean for student borrowers..... Higher Loan costs, fewer lenders willing to take the risk, and more strict standards for borrowers. Better rush to get that paper work started!

February 21, 2008 Teachers making poor decisions

I'm not sure if it is a trend right now, or if children and the media are blowing things out of proportion, but it seems a lot of professional teachers are making poor decisions in the conduct with their students. Recently, a Moon Phys Ed teacher resigned and then accused of sexual misconduct with a student, of which there was proof. Now I open up the newspaper this morning to find a SV instructor accused of the same thing. Is this a trend? Or has this kind of thing been going on forever, but never being talked about? Yikes!

February 15, 2008 MS Walk

Hi Everyone!
I am doing the MS Walk on April 20, 2008 in support of my father who has this disease. Once I get my website up and running, I will put updates about the walk, history of my father's life with the disease and updates on his progress/regression.
If you are interested in donating to support my fundraising efforts...


Dear Friend and Colleagues ,The National MS Society is kicking off our annual Walk MS. I am planning to be a part of that event and I am asking you to join me in the fight against MS by making a contribution to support my effort. I am walking to support my father who has been stricken with this disease since 1969 when he returned from Vietnam. He has been successfully fighting the disease until recently. Now the pain, physical tremors, and loss of brain function has kept him from not only working, but also enjoying the activities he enjoys most, like playing with his grandchildren. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is dedicated to ending the devastating effects of MS. They simultaneously fund research for a cure while also helping people who currently live with MS lead more fulfilling lives. More than 400,000 Americans live with MS, and your support can and will make changes in their lives and my father's life.
Please help by making a donation - large or small - to fight MS. Or, why not join me on the day of the event? Become a participant and side by side, as teammates, we can work together to raise the funds to make a difference.Whatever you can give will help! I greatly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress.
Sincerely,
Kristin Coates
Click here to get to my personal page and make a secure, online donation.To send a donation: Make all checks payable to: National MS Society Mail to: Kristin Coates 219 Stark Ave Imperial, PA 15126-1140 . Or... if you have extra change in your pocket, you can drop it in the vase on my desk. Thanks again!
National Multiple Sclerosis Society 1-800-344-4867© 2007 The National Multiple Sclerosis Society. All rights reserved.

February 11, 2008 Arizona's Anderson trying to save PE

In Arizona, officials are looking to fix the budget problems of the state. Rep. Mark Anderson R-Mesa is amaking sure that "vital programs" are not ermoved from schools, like physical education, art and music. Some other issues they will be looking at are, higher education and healthcare. Anderson's focus is primarily on those areas of education. His main fear is that when the other legislators focus on what they want to accomplish, they may forget about such crucial programs in the schools. He is planning to introduce legislation to help save those programs. If interested, you can watch the preceedings on www.azleg.gov.

February 5, 2008 - Fitness a Sin?

While we complain about the lack of machines in a busy gym and there never being any towels in the sauna, Saudi Arabian women are being kicked out of gyms. In Saudi Arabia, it is actually considered a sin to particiapte in fitness classes. The major concern is that the women will become attracted to each other after seeing their classmates in leotards.
According to Saudi press reports, about 66% of women there are overweight or obese. Health officials are trying to blame the newly aquired lavish lifestyle that is very different from the way it used to be. Similar to Americans, they have become more rich, which has them abandoning their nutritional meals for fast food. They are also moving and working less, as they have brought in Asian workers to do their manual jobs. Furthermore, it seems as though they are participating in sedentary activities related to technology. It would be wise then to offer activities to combat this issue with their women, but the belief is that they will entice men and ruin their morals.

February 5, 2008 - 1 in 3 sex ed teachers don't cover all the basics

According to msnbc.com, a study was done of 201 schools in Illinois. The study concluded that "one-third of teachers did not give comprehensive instruction — defined as covering the four basic topics of abstinence, birth control, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases." It also found that 30% were not given any special training to teach such topics, and therefore would shy away from it. The most frequently taught topics included HIV and STD's, while the least covered were homosexuality, abortion and the use of contraception.
Now, I never had the "Birds and Bees" talk when I was growing up, but the world today is pretty different. I think it is critical to educate children in all topics of health, especially sex education.

February 1, 2008 Microsoft makes offer to Yahoo

So, today I saw that Microsoft wants to purchase Yahoo. They made an offer to them of $44.6 Billion. I can't even fathom that number. If that happens, they would far surpass Google as the leading advertiser on the internet. Yahoo is saying that they will review the proposal, but did not give any inidcation whether or not that would happen. That would change a lot of how you search the internet for information. If this buyout does happen, I would hope that Microsoft begins making so muh money that they won't charge so much for their software...... There's my wishful thinking for the day : )