Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/193755461?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Kingdom Hearts Element keys
Hi all this is my first time starting a group roleplay so if this fails that's why.
Based 25 years after Kingdom Hearts 2, three new Keyblade wielders leave their home to fight the on going battle with Darkness and it's own Keyblade Master.
Due to how the Keyblade masters from the games have been linked to Land, Sky and Sea, I would like to stick with this but with a twist, which wielder you pick doesn't have to have a name that relates to that word, but their keys will have abilities linked to them e.g. Land = Earth, Fire and Strength, I will go in to more detail about it below.
List of characters;
Keyblade Master -
Land Keyblade wielder -
Sky Keyblade wielder -
Sea Keyblade wielder ? Aeonin (Antoinetta)
Dark Keyblade wielder -
Their side-kick one -
Their side-kick two-
Details about the Keyblades;
Land keys ? Focuses on Strength and uses the magic spells of Earth and Fire, but is slow to attack which makes it easy for the foe to land an attack.
Sky keys ? Focuses on Speed and uses the magic spells of Wind and Thunder, but is more likely to miss if up against foes who also uses speed to attack.
Sea keys ? Focuses on Magic and uses the magic spells of Water and Ice but has low defence which makes it easy to be knocked down in battle.
Dark keys ? Focuses on Strength and Magic and uses the magic spells of Darkness, Fire and Thunder, but has a great weakness of Light.
Other then the Dark Keys, one Light spell can be learned (Of course). But this takes a lot of Magic Points (If not all) so using it recklessly is not advised.
The Master Keyblade wielder, can use a mixture of the abilities listed above (Four spells and two 'Focuses') but can't know Light spells and Dark spells at the same time.
Now if you want to join please fill this in, please add an image of how your character looks like.
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Appearance:
Keyblade type:
Home World:
Personality:
Bio:
Other:
Name: Aeonin [E-on-in]
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Appearance: Short blue hair, green eyes, small build and short. 
Keyblade type: Sea
Home World: Halloween Town
Personality: Fun loving, head strong, short tampered.
Bio: Aeonin grew up in Halloween Town, until the age of 15 when she was taken to Radiant Garden, to try as a Keyblade wielder, nine years after the last Sea Keyblade wielder picked her to take their place. Three years later she and the other two Keyblade wielder are sent to other world to prepared them for the up coming Mark of Mastery exam
Other:
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/foN8wK5wUgk/viewtopic.php
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Monday, January 30, 2012
Video: Axelrod: Romney played by rules in broken system
A Second Take on Meeting the Press: From an up-close look at Rachel Maddow's sneakers to an in-depth look at Jon Krakauer's latest book ? it's all fair game in our "Meet the Press: Take Two" web extra. Log on Sundays to see David Gregory's post-show conversations with leading newsmakers, authors and roundtable guests. Videos are available on-demand by 12 p.m. ET on Sundays.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/46181276#46181276
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Former Italian president Scalfaro dies at 93 (AP)
ROME ? Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, a past president of Italy who helped write its post-war constitution and was a founding member of the former Christian Democrats, died Sunday in Rome. He was 93.
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano paid tribute to his predecessor as "a protagonist in the democratic political life" and called him an example of "moral integrity."
No cause of death was immediately reported.
Scalfaro held numerous prestigious posts before becoming Italy's ninth postwar president, a position that is largely ceremonial but carries the significant role of moral compass for the country.
As president from 1992-1999, Scalfaro was often called upon to resolve Italy's recurrent political crises, either choosing a new premier or calling early elections. He once called Italy's volatile political situation "pathological."
The National Magistrates Association remembered Scalfaro as a "strenuous defender of constitutional values and the autonomy and independence of the magistrates."
A devout Roman Catholic with a law degree from the Catholic University of Milan, Scalfaro spent the war years working to help imprisoned anti-Fascists and their families.
Then, in 1946, he won a seat in the assembly that wrote the constitution for the Italian Republic, declared in late 1947 after a popular referendum abolished the monarchy.
Scalfaro, a native of the northern city of Novara, was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the republic's first general election in 1948 and remained a deputy until he was elected president in 1992.
He also was one of the founding figures of the former Christian Democrats, for decades Italy's most powerful party until its demise in corruption scandals in the early 1990s.
Scalfaro held junior posts at various ministries through the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1966, he gained his first Cabinet position when Premier Aldo Moro appointed him transportation minister.
In subsequent governments, Scalfaro served two more stints as transport minister and was education minister and interior minister. He was vice president of the Chamber of Deputies from 1976 to 1983.
He became a senator for life after completing his term as president.
He is survived by a daughter, Marianna.
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Sunday, January 29, 2012
Cain backs Gingrich's presidential bid (AP)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. ? Former presidential hopeful Herman Cain threw his support behind Newt Gingrich Saturday night, providing the former House speaker with a late boost just days before Florida's primary.
Cain, a tea party favorite, endorsed his fellow Georgian at a GOP fundraiser Saturday calling him "a patriot."
"Speaker Gingrich is not afraid of bold ideas," Cain said.
The former pizza executive, who left the race before the first nominating contests after facing accusations of unwanted sexual advances, suggested the two have both undergone intense scrutiny.
"I know that Speaker Gingrich is running for president and going through this sausage grinder," Cain said. "I know what this sausage grinder is all about."
Cain is set to campaign with Gingrich on Monday in an 11th hour push for support. Gingrich is in a fierce fight for Tuesday's Florida's GOP primary with Mitt Romney.
Gingrich on Saturday night said that, like Cain, he is running a campaign based on big ideas and bold solutions.
The decision was not unexpected but the announcement comes at a make or break moment. .
"I had it in my heart and mind a long time ago," Cain said.
The timing is similar to a Saturday night surprise four years ago, when then-Florida Gov. Charlie Crist endorsed John McCain's presidential bid.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry also endorsed Gingrich when he bowed out of the race in South Carolina.
Since exiting the race in December, Cain appeared at a rally in South Carolina with late-night comedian Stephen Colbert.
Cain, the charismatic former head of Godfather's Pizza, briefly led in the polls in the fall. He became known for his signature 9-9-9 tax overhaul plan that would have scrapped the current tax code and replaced it with a 9 percent tax on individual income and corporate taxes as well as a new 9 percent national sales tax.
But his support plummeted after accusations that he sexually harassed women more than a decade ago when he led the National Restaurant Association. An Atlanta-area woman then stepped forward and said she had a lengthy sexual affair with Cain.
He denied the affair and any wrongdoing but withdrew from the race saying the accusations had become distracting and he needed to focus on his family.
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Dr. Phil interviews parents of missing KC baby (omg!)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) ? The family of a missing Kansas City baby has taped an appearance on the "Dr. Phil" show.
Viewers can tune in Friday to watch the interview with Lisa Irwin's parents and a private investigator who's searching for her.
Lisa was reported missing Oct. 4 when her father, Jeremy Irwin, came home from work around 4 a.m. and couldn't find her. Irwin and Deborah Bradley say they think someone broke into the house and took their daughter.
Deborah Bradley has said police have accused her of being involved in Lisa's disappearance. In tearful statements to the media early on, Bradley has repeatedly insisted she doesn't know what happened to her child.
No suspects have been named, despite an intensive search.
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Afghans blast French plan to withdraw troops early
Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, center, France's Defence and Veterans Minister Gerard Longuet, left, and French General and Paris military governor Bruno Dary, right, pay tribute to the Unknown soldier's tomb, at the Arc of Triomphe, in Paris, Friday Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Lionel Bonaventure, Pool)
Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, center, France's Defence and Veterans Minister Gerard Longuet, left, and French General and Paris military governor Bruno Dary, right, pay tribute to the Unknown soldier's tomb, at the Arc of Triomphe, in Paris, Friday Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Lionel Bonaventure, Pool)
Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai arrives prior to laying a wreath on the Unknown soldier's tomb, at the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris, Friday Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Lionel Bonaventure, Pool)
Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, second from right, France's Defence and Veterans Minister Gerard Longuet, third from right, and French General and Paris military governor Bruno Dary, fourth from right, pay tribute to the Unknown soldier's tomb, at the Arc of Triomphe, in Paris, Friday Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Lionel Bonaventure, Pool)
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, front right, and Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, second from left, sign a friendship and cooperation treaty at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Philippe Wojazer, Pool)
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? France's plans to withdraw its combat troops from Afghanistan a year early drew harsh words Saturday in the Afghan capital, with critics accusing French President Nicolas Sarkozy of putting his re-election campaign ahead of Afghans' safety.
A wider proposal by Sarkozy for NATO to hand over all security to Afghans by the end of next year also came under fire, with one Afghan lawmaker saying it would be "a big mistake" that would leave security forces unprepared to fight the Taliban insurgency and threaten a new descent into violence in the 10-year-old war.
Sarkozy's decision, which came a week after four French troops were shot dead by an Afghan army trainee suspected of being a Taliban infiltrator, raises new questions about the unity of the U.S.-led military coalition.
It also reopens the debate over whether setting a deadline for troop withdrawals will allow the Taliban to run out the clock and seize more territory once foreign forces are gone.
"Afghan forces are not self-sufficient yet. They still need more training, more equipment and they need to be stronger," said military analyst Abdul Hadi Khalid, Afghanistan's former minister of interior.
Khalid said the decision by Sarkozy was clearly political. The French president is facing a tough election this year, and the population's already deep discontent with the Afghan war only intensified when unarmed French troops were gunned down by a supposed ally Jan. 20 at a joint base in the eastern province of Kapisa.
Sarkozy announced France's new timetable on Friday alongside Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who was in Paris for a previously planned visit. He also said Karzai had agreed with him to ask for all international forces to hand security over to the Afghan army and police in 2013, a plan he would present it at a Feb. 2-3 meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels. He said he would call President Barack Obama about his plan on Saturday.
Afghan lawmaker Tahira Mujadedi said Afghan security forces will not be ready in time for any early NATO withdrawal, saying the current timetable already is rushing the training of national forces.
"That would be a big mistake by the Afghan government if they accept it," she said of Sarkozy's plan. "In my view, they should extend 2014 by more years instead of cutting it short to 2013."
She said she sympathizes in the matter of the French soldiers' deaths, but argued that they present no logical reason for France to deviate from the U.S. timetable for NATO to hand over security by 2014.
"When military forces are present in a war zone, anything can happen," Mujadedi said. The French troops "are not here for a holiday," she added.
France now has about 3,600 soldiers in the international force, which is mostly made up of American troops.
Afghan forces started taking the lead for security in certain areas of the country last year and the plan has been to add more areas, as Afghan police and soldiers were deemed ready to take over from foreign forces.
According to drawdown plans already announced by the U.S. and more than a dozen other nations, the foreign military footprint in Afghanistan will shrink by an estimated 40,000 troops at the close of this year. Washington is pulling out the most ? 33,000 by the end of the year. That's one-third of 101,000 U.S. troops that were in Afghanistan in June, the peak of the U.S. military presence in the war, Pentagon figures show.
Sarkozy also said France would hand over authority in the province of Kapisa, where the French troops were killed this month, by the end of March. Karzai's office confirmed that decision Saturday, saying it was made at the French president's request.
The NATO coalition has started to hand over security in several areas of Afghanistan, aiming to transfer about half of the country in the coming months. But Kapisa was not one of the provinces earmarked for handover, according to U.S. Navy Lt. James McCue, a coalition spokesman.
Kapisa lawmaker Mujadedi argued that Afghan forces in her province particularly are not ready to go it alone in fighting the Taliban insurgency, which is especially strong in several of the province's districts. She warned that if NATO forces do pull back from Kapisa, it could also destabilize nearby Kabul.
"We have had so many attacks, ambushes and also suicide attacks in Kapisa," Mujadedi said. "Unfortunately, our national police and army, while present in Kapisa, are unable to provide good security for people."
France's early withdrawal announcement could step up pressure on other European governments like Britain, Italy and Germany, which also have important roles in Afghanistan ? even if the U.S. has the lion's share by far.
Karzai, who praised the role of France and other NATO allies, didn't object at Friday's joint news conference when Sarkozy said the 2013 NATO withdrawal timetable was sought by both France and Afghanistan.
However, the Afghan leader appeared to suggest that it was a high-end target.
"We hope to finish the transition ... by the end of 2013 at the earliest ? or by the latest as has been agreed upon ? by the end of 2014," Karzai said.
Nick Witney, a senior policy fellow at the Paris-based European Council on Foreign Relations, said public support of the war in Europe started sliding fast after the coalition agreed to end the combat mission in 2014.
"It has become more and more difficult to justify every single casualty, since it's now clear that these are wasted lives," said Witney, a former head of the European Defense Agency.
"Most European policymakers realize that on a purely cost-benefit assessment, we would all leave Afghanistan tomorrow," Witney said.
___
Associated Press writers Kay Johnson in Kabul and Slobodan Lekic in Brussels contributed to this report.
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Jon Rubinstein Leaves HP After ?Fulfilling Commitment?
HP's had quite a 2011 and Jon Rubinstein, former Palm CEO and a top-level executive at HP after the giant acquired Palm in 2010, was along for the ride. But according to a report out of AllThingsD, Rubinstein has officially left the company.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/XHufph2YIU4/
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Detroit Symphony offering series of free webcasts (AP)
DETROIT ? The Detroit Symphony Orchestra has launched a webcast player that will allow music lovers to enjoy an upcoming performance of Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 4 and other concerts online for free in the comfort of their homes.
People in about 40 countries are expected to view Saturday's high-definition "Live from Orchestra Hall" webcast, and the orchestra expects its webcast series to surpass 30,000 views with this weekend's episode.
The orchestra said the webcast player will make online viewers feel as if they are sitting in Detroit's Orchestra Hall.
The Symphony said it is the only U.S. orchestra to offer a free series of webcasts, which are made possible through contributions from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Ford Motor Co. Fund.
The new viewing environment mimics the interior of Orchestra Hall, giving audiences across the world the same view as local music lovers.
The webcast player also features dimming controls so that viewers at home can control their own version of the house lights.
Audience members now will be able to view a full schedule of upcoming webcasts and add them their online calendars. Viewers also can tweet directly from the webcast player page and follow the feed in the same browser window, allowing audience members to interact with fellow concertgoers while watching the concert at the same time.
The piece being played at any moment will be highlighted on a live repertoire tracker, and live program notes will post below the viewing window with trivia about the piece and the artists.
The "Live From Orchestra Hall" series is one of three new digital initiatives the DSO is introducing this season. Also new to the orchestra's digital repertoire are DSO To Go, a free mobile app, and the Symphony's first downloadable, digital album produced in-house.
___
Online:
Detroit Symphony Orchestra: http://www.dso.org/
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Friday, January 27, 2012
New Vaccine Approach Gives Hope to Those Living with HIV (LiveScience.com)
Brian Brown has been taking antiretroviral drugs for five years. If he stops, the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, in his body will multiply and eventually, he'll get really sick. "You have to take them with food," Brown said. "Even if you aren't really hungry." A 39-year-old licensed practical nurse, Brown has to remember to take his drugs daily. It's a routine familiar to people with all kinds of chronic diseases, including HIV and diabetes.
Brown got a break, though. In 2010, he was part of a study of a new kind of vaccine for HIV, called Vacc-4x, from a company called Bionor. He was able to stop taking his two drugs for almost two years. The vaccine didn't cure him, but it cut down the number of HIV viral particles in his body to nearly undetectable levels, and his immune system's virus-fighting cells, called T-cells, went up.
Vacc-4x is just one HIV treatment that illustrates a new approach to HIV vaccines that has gained increasing currency in the last few years. Most people think of vaccines as a preventative measure, and early efforts to control HIV were focused on that strategy. The problem is that even though some are promising, preventing infection doesn?t do any good for the 34 million people worldwide who are already infected. To stop the spread, the key might be a post-infection vaccine like those given for rabies.
HIV, however, is a tough nut to crack. It attacks the very cells that detect and kill invading pathogens. Even when it isn't actively replicating, it can live in tissues in the nervous system or the gut for years. This is one reason HIV takes so long to manifest, and why the immune system has a tough time recognizing it and destroying infected cells. [7 Devastating Infectious Diseases]
Currently, the best way to treat HIV is with antiretroviral therapy ? drugs that aim at keeping the levels of virus in a person's blood low. These drugs have extended life spans, allowing for normal lives and reducing the chances of transmitting the virus. However, the side effects can negatively affect health, bringing liver problems and nausea.
There is also the problem of sticking to the drug regimen. "Adherence is a challenging thing," said Frank Oldham, chief executive officer of the National Association of People With AIDS.
Enter: new HIV vaccines
There are several therapeutic vaccines in development. Approaching HIV in slightly different ways, all are designed to allow the body's immune system to at least fight the virus to a standstill, and perhaps even keep it at undetectable levels. Common to all treatments is giving the immune system some way to recognize HIV. The vaccines differ in the markers (called antigens) they use to flag HIV particles, and in how they are delivered to the body.
Vacc-4x trains a person's immune system to recognize and fight a key protein that HIV relies on, called gp24. It also stimulates the production of white blood cells, which normally are killed by the virus. Early results show patients' viral loads coming down by a factor of three.
Genetic Immunity, a U.S.-Hungarian company, is testing a vaccine called DermaVir. Rather than focusing on a single protein, DermaVir uses a tiny bit of HIV DNA (called plasmid DNA) to generate a set of 15 chemical markers that the body's T-cells can recognize. The idea is to maximize the number of ways the immune cells can "see" the virus. The vaccine is administered by rubbing the skin enough to irritate it. Cells called dendritic cells will pick up a nanoparticle containing the DNA and deliver it to the lymph nodes, where the infection-fighting T-cells are generated.
The vaccine has been tested on about 70 patients so far and showed a 70 percent reduction in viral load, according to Genetic Immunity?s president, Dr. Julianna Lisziewicz. Another set of trials on patients is currently under way. [AIDS: A 'Winnable' Public Health Battle?]
Another approach is being taken by Gaithersburg, Md.-based company VIRxSYS, which uses a genetically altered HIV virus to deliver the vaccine. The body doesn't recognize HIV easily, and thus won't mount an immune response to the very vehicle delivering the medicine, said Franck Lemiale, senior director of immunobiology at the company.
To make sure that the T-cells will "see" many strains of HIV, the VIRxSYS vaccine uses proteins called Gag, Pol and Rev, which tend to be the same in all of variations of the HIV virus.
The company said in July 2011 that a version of its vaccine tested in monkeys, called VRX1273, had not only brought the viral loads down to undetectable levels in body fluids, but in tissues as well. If that result can be duplicated in humans, it might mean that the vaccine is helping the body to eliminate the virus entirely.
Vaccine vectors
Other groups are trying different delivery modes, or vectors. Dr. Chil-Yong Kang, a virologist at the University of Western Ontario, heads up a lab whose preventative vaccine, after receiving FDA approval in December, will go into trials designed to determine the safety of the vaccine. Kang hopes his vaccine, which would ride into the body on another virus, will also enable the body to attack infected cells in the tissues where HIV likes to hide.
Perhaps the most high-tech vaccine under development is from Argos Therapeutics, called AGS-004. Monocytes, a type of white blood cell, are taken from the patient, and artificially induced to become immature dendritic cells. Those cells are then exposed to the RNA (a molecule similar to DNA) of HIV particles taken from the patient until they produce antigens, red flags of sorts, to alert the immune system of the virus. Re-introduced to the patient, they can then bring the antigens to the T-cells, which then find and kill HIV.
Of the vaccines, Vacc-4x, Argos and Dermavir are closest to being approved for general use, with Vacc-4x having just finished phase 2 trials for efficacy in humans and Argos and Dermavir in phase 2b. That means all are seen as safe to use, have been tested in small groups, and will next be tested in large populations (phase 3). The others are either still being tested in animals or in the safety phases of testing.
"Clearly this field is young enough that we don't have a product that we can say is the greatest," said Dr. David M. Asmuth, co-director of the Clinical Research Center at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center, which administered the Vacc-4x to HIV patient Brown. While the trials have shown promise, he is still cautious.
Asmuth notes the Vacc-4x trial Brown was in showed a reduction in viral load. But it is still unclear how long that would last once the patients were off ART.
He also noted that HIV-positive individuals have a "set point" ? a viral load that stabilizes after infection, and can remain stable for years. When people get sick, it is because the number of virus copies suddenly increases and the immune system is overwhelmed. The current crop of vaccines being tested may only change the set point to something lower. That is still a good thing, but it isn't a cure.
What would be ideal, Asmuth said, is a vaccine that reproduces what doctors see in people whose own bodies keep HIV under control for years, sometimes indefinitely. They are called "long-term non-progressors." Their viral loads should stay low and the CD4 count (a measure of immune health) should stay at 500-600, which is normal (a CD4 count less than 200 is often used as the diagnosis for AIDS). None of the vaccines being tested has shown they can do that ? yet.
Even so, Asmuth is optimistic. "Who would have guessed 30 years ago that we would have the degree of control over the virus that we have now?"
Oldham said the fact that such therapies are in trials at all is exciting. "This would be a monumental breakthrough," he said. "Antiretrovirals were the beginning. I think therapeutic vaccines would be the next step towards improving lives."
Brown meanwhile, said the Vacc-4x trial meant many of the small routines he built up over years won't be necessary anymore ? and small changes add up. "I didn't have to remember to take my pills," he said. "I could travel without having to think about bringing them."
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
hello hello!
thought i would introduce myself, username is silvarak. you may call me silvey for short! I have been roleplaying since i was 14 that's about 5 years! so i have some experience under my belt. ^.=.^ i enjoy almost any kind of roleplay as long as it keeps me interested! like fantasy sci-fi or canon based(like dragonball z or megamind etc etc). also story driven!.
let the pouncing begin!( and i don't mean that in the left field either XD)
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/fNI6dWHzpho/viewtopic.php
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Study: Adolescents from unstable families lose ground in rigorous high schools
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 25-Jan-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Daniel Fowler
pubinfo@asanet.org
202-527-7885
American Sociological Association
WASHINGTON, DC, January 25, 2012 Research continues to support a connection between instability in the home and school performance in adolescents, but a new study in the January issue of Sociology of Education takes the research a step further by exploring how the relationship between family structure change and adolescent academic careers is also affected by the kinds of schools they attend.
According to study co-author Shannon Cavanagh, a professor in The University of Texas at Austin's Department of Sociology, schools vary considerably in terms of socio-demographic composition and "academic press," measured by whether the school is defined by academic, achievement-oriented values, goals, and norms and by specific standards of achievement.
"For these reasons, we were curious about whether the family instability effect on course-taking behaviors might be different (stronger or weaker) in different kinds of schools," she said.
What Cavanagh and study co-author Paula Fomby, an assistant professor in the University of Colorado Denver's Department of Sociology, found supports what is called the "mismatch hypothesis"a theory that suggests that students who have experienced repeated changes in their family structure status will be less successful academically when attending schools with higher levels of academic press.
Cavanagh and Fomby used data from a nationally representative, longitudinal study of students who were in high school in the mid-1990s. They chose to focus on math course-taking patterns, since math is among the strongest predictors of college matriculation. Academic status in mathematics at the end of high school not only represents interest and ability in the subject, but, more generally, it captures a clearer picture of a student's cumulative high school career.
Because the data from the chosen study included information on students' school records and their families as well as multiple reporter accounts of the characteristics of their schools, Cavanagh and Fomby were able to relate a specific characteristic of each studenttheir family structure historywith school characteristics such as the level of academic press and the percentage of students who were from single-parent homes.
"This interaction allowed us to determine the context in which a student's own family history had the greatest impact on their course-taking patterns," Cavanagh said.
"While students in a high-academic press school, regardless of family instability histories, are higher achieving in terms of course-taking compared to their peers overall, students who have experienced repeated family structure changes lose some part of their advantage," Cavanagh said. As such, Cavanagh and Fomby frame their results in terms of "lost gains."
Unfortunately, the results of the study complicate the work of policymakers and educators who have historically sought to mitigate social disadvantages through access to opportunities and resources found in higher-performing schools. While acknowledging that there are people specifically trained to convert academic findings into policy, Cavanagh does highlight the need for teachers and school leaders to clarify what she calls the "opaque process of college preparation" and to help parents ask the right questions about their student's college preparation.
"[School administrations] can remove some of this opacity with broad information campaigns about the expectations that colleges and employers have for student learning," Cavanagh suggested. "Local business and community leaders who join schools in an effort to prepare college-ready high school graduates may also be effective in reaching parents and adolescents."
###
About the American Sociological Association and the Sociology of Education
The American Sociological Association (www.asanet.org), founded in 1905, is a non-profit membership association dedicated to serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions to and use of sociology by society. The Sociology of Education is a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal of the ASA.
The research article described above is available by request for members of the media. For a copy of the full study, contact Daniel Fowler, ASA's Media Relations and Public Affairs Officer, at (202) 527-7885 or pubinfo@asanet.org.
For more information about the study, members of the media can also contact Michelle Bryant, Office of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin, at (512) 914-4540 or mbryant@austin.utexas.edu.
[ | 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.
Public release date: 25-Jan-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Daniel Fowler
pubinfo@asanet.org
202-527-7885
American Sociological Association
WASHINGTON, DC, January 25, 2012 Research continues to support a connection between instability in the home and school performance in adolescents, but a new study in the January issue of Sociology of Education takes the research a step further by exploring how the relationship between family structure change and adolescent academic careers is also affected by the kinds of schools they attend.
According to study co-author Shannon Cavanagh, a professor in The University of Texas at Austin's Department of Sociology, schools vary considerably in terms of socio-demographic composition and "academic press," measured by whether the school is defined by academic, achievement-oriented values, goals, and norms and by specific standards of achievement.
"For these reasons, we were curious about whether the family instability effect on course-taking behaviors might be different (stronger or weaker) in different kinds of schools," she said.
What Cavanagh and study co-author Paula Fomby, an assistant professor in the University of Colorado Denver's Department of Sociology, found supports what is called the "mismatch hypothesis"a theory that suggests that students who have experienced repeated changes in their family structure status will be less successful academically when attending schools with higher levels of academic press.
Cavanagh and Fomby used data from a nationally representative, longitudinal study of students who were in high school in the mid-1990s. They chose to focus on math course-taking patterns, since math is among the strongest predictors of college matriculation. Academic status in mathematics at the end of high school not only represents interest and ability in the subject, but, more generally, it captures a clearer picture of a student's cumulative high school career.
Because the data from the chosen study included information on students' school records and their families as well as multiple reporter accounts of the characteristics of their schools, Cavanagh and Fomby were able to relate a specific characteristic of each studenttheir family structure historywith school characteristics such as the level of academic press and the percentage of students who were from single-parent homes.
"This interaction allowed us to determine the context in which a student's own family history had the greatest impact on their course-taking patterns," Cavanagh said.
"While students in a high-academic press school, regardless of family instability histories, are higher achieving in terms of course-taking compared to their peers overall, students who have experienced repeated family structure changes lose some part of their advantage," Cavanagh said. As such, Cavanagh and Fomby frame their results in terms of "lost gains."
Unfortunately, the results of the study complicate the work of policymakers and educators who have historically sought to mitigate social disadvantages through access to opportunities and resources found in higher-performing schools. While acknowledging that there are people specifically trained to convert academic findings into policy, Cavanagh does highlight the need for teachers and school leaders to clarify what she calls the "opaque process of college preparation" and to help parents ask the right questions about their student's college preparation.
"[School administrations] can remove some of this opacity with broad information campaigns about the expectations that colleges and employers have for student learning," Cavanagh suggested. "Local business and community leaders who join schools in an effort to prepare college-ready high school graduates may also be effective in reaching parents and adolescents."
###
About the American Sociological Association and the Sociology of Education
The American Sociological Association (www.asanet.org), founded in 1905, is a non-profit membership association dedicated to serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions to and use of sociology by society. The Sociology of Education is a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal of the ASA.
The research article described above is available by request for members of the media. For a copy of the full study, contact Daniel Fowler, ASA's Media Relations and Public Affairs Officer, at (202) 527-7885 or pubinfo@asanet.org.
For more information about the study, members of the media can also contact Michelle Bryant, Office of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin, at (512) 914-4540 or mbryant@austin.utexas.edu.
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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.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/asa-saf012512.php
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Offshore quake causes panic, no tsunami in Chile (AP)
SANTIAGO, Chile ? A magnitude-6.2 earthquake has struck just off the shore of south-central Chile, the area devastated by a massive temblor two years ago. There are no immediate reports of damage and authorities say it will not cause a tsunami.
Monday's quake was centered 31 miles (50 kilometers) northwest of Concepcion, and was relatively shallow at 12 miles (20 kilometers) under sea level. But Chile's navy announced that it wasn't the kind of quake to generate a deadly tsunami of the kind that ravaged nearby coastal cities when an magnitude-8.8 quake devastated Chile in 2010.
The U.S. Geological Service says the quake struck at 1:04 p.m. local time (1604 GMT). Chile's national emergency office says there are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
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HP Mini 1104 tickles budgets, tackles on-the-go needs
HP Mini 1104 tickles budgets, tackles on-the-go needs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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HP | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/23/hp-mini-1104-tickles-budgets-tackles-on-the-go-needs/
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Tyra Banks Samples Some Exotic Cuisine!
Tyra Banks tries the food in Vietnam! Plus, check out more stars' cute, candid and crazy Twitter photos
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VMware profit beats Street view, shares rise (Reuters)
BOSTON (Reuters) ? Software maker VMware Inc (VMW.N) reported profit ahead of Wall Street expectations and released an outlook ahead of some forecasts, raising hopes that technology spending will grow this year, even as some warn that the economic outlook is grim.
The results surprised some investors who were concerned that VMware might miss forecasts after recent disappointments by rivals Oracle Corp (ORCL.O) and Salesforce.com Inc (CRM.N).
"VMware beat the numbers and they beat them in a very challenging environment," said Trip Chowdhry, analyst with Global Equities Research.
A division of storage giant EMC Corp (EMC.N), the software maker posted fourth-quarter profit, excluding items, of 62 cents per share, ahead of the 60 cent average forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue rose 27 percent from a year ago to $1.06 billion, compared with the analyst forecast of $1.05 billion.
VMware forecast that full-year revenue will rise to between $4.48 billion and $4.6 billion, compared with the average analyst estimate of $4.5 billion.
The company's shares were quoted at $90.39 in after-hours trading, up 5.1 percent from their New York Stock Exchange close of $86.
(Reporting By Jim Finkle; Editing by Bernard Orr)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/software/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/tc_nm/us_vmware
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E-Textbooks Should Be Free-Textbooks
After the Thursday announcement, I used my Twitter account to conduct an informal survey of whether teachers actually thought poor textbook quality was holding them back. They turned out to have plenty of complaints, but none were about the lack of Keynote animations. Teachers complain the books have incorrect or poorly written information?a problem Apple likely won?t fix. Much more troubling, said my teacher correspondents, are problems of cost and supply. Textbooks are very expensive, and many school districts cope with that problem by economizing on new purchases, leaving students with damaged or outdated ones. If these are the real problems we have with textbooks, digital texts could be a godsend.
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=f10e3b09d5c1929c2ae3abbe8c49e97b
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Gingrich victory in South Carolina jolts Republican race (Reuters)
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) ? Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich trounced frontrunner Mitt Romney in South Carolina on Saturday in a jarring victory that indicates the party's battle to pick a challenger to President Barack Obama may last months, not weeks.
Gingrich's come-from-behind triumph in the primary in the conservative southern state injects unexpected volatility into a Republican nominating race that until this week appeared to be a coronation for Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and private-equity chief.
Instead, voters in South Carolina rejected Romney's pitch that he is the best bet to fix a broken U.S. economy and defeat Obama, a Democrat, in the November 6 election.
Three different candidates - Gingrich, Romney and former U.S. senator Rick Santorum - now have won the first three contests in the state-by-state battle for the Republican presidential nomination to face Obama.
Gingrich's triumph may lead to a protracted battle of attrition as Republican candidates spend millions of dollars to tear each other down rather than uniting behind a standard-bearer to take back the White House.
With nearly all the votes counted, Gingrich had pulled in 40 percent of the vote, followed by Romney with 28 percent, networks reported. Santorum was in third with 17 percent and U.S. congressman Ron Paul in fourth with 13 percent.
The next contest is the Florida primary on January 31.
Riding a series of feisty debate performances, the former speaker of the House of Representatives captured the lingering unease of conservative voters in South Carolina who view Romney's moderate past and shifting policy stances with suspicion. Gingrich argued that he would be able to better articulate the party's conservative ideals.
South Carolina was a stunning turnaround for Gingrich, whose campaign barely survived after top staff quit last June and stumbled to a disappointing finish just three weeks ago in Iowa, the first Republican nominating contest. He finished fourth in both Iowa and New Hampshire a week later as conservatives split their votes among several candidates.
Gingrich contrasted his sometimes-chaotic management style with Romney's buttoned-down approach, arguing that his campaign was powered by ideas rather than logistics. Romney is one of the wealthiest candidates ever to run for president and his campaign is well financed.
"We don't have the kind of money that at least one of the candidates have. But we do have ideas and we do have people," Gingrich told supporters in a 22-minute tirade against Obama, the news media, judges and other "elites."
Romney acknowledged that there will be a long primary season. He said he would continue to run on his business record and paint Gingrich as a creature of Washington in the weeks ahead.
"I don't shrink from competition, I embrace it," Romney told supporters. "I believe competition makes us all better. I know it's making our campaign stronger."
Obama, who does not face a primary challenger, will have his turn in the spotlight on Tuesday with his State of the Union address. In a message to supporters on Saturday, he said the speech would focus on "building an economy that works for everybody, not just a wealthy few."
ON TO FLORIDA
Heading into Florida, Romney starts off with a wide lead in the polls and a distinct edge in logistics and fund-raising, which will be crucial in a state with 10 separate media markets.
Campaigns must spend at least $1 million each week to reach voters in the sprawling southern state, according to local political officials. Romney's allies have already spent $5 million, mostly on ads attacking Gingrich. No other candidate has a significant presence in the state.
Animosity between Gingrich and Romney has been festering since December, when a group supporting Romney launched a blitz of negative TV ads in Iowa that ruined Gingrich's campaign there. In South Carolina, a state with a reputation for rough and tumble politics, the gloves came off.
Gingrich attacked Romney's business record at private equity firm Bain Capital and his reluctance to release personal tax information, while Romney pointed to Gingrich's past ethics lapses and alluded to his messy personal life.
South Carolina Republican voters said they were focused on fixing the sluggish economy and finding the strongest candidate to defeat Obama. Some 78 percent said they were "very worried" about the economy and 45 percent said that the most important trait in a candidate was the ability to beat Obama, according to exit polls released by CNN.
Those issues are the twin pillars of Romney's candidacy.
But Gingrich's wide-ranging stump speeches and red-meat attacks against Obama convinced many voters that he had the fire in the belly to take on the incumbent.
"A vote for Newt was a vote against Obama," said Charleston photographer Kim Woods, who voted for Gingrich.
Romney saw his aura of inevitability erode in South Carolina after leading opinion polls by 10 percentage points a week ago. He suffered a setback on Thursday when Iowa officials declared in a recount that he had actually come in second place in that state, instead of winning narrowly as initially announced.
Romney took a swipe at Gingrich for criticizing his conduct at Bain Capital, calling it an "assault on free enterprise."
"Those who pick up the weapons of the left today will find them turned against us tomorrow," Romney told supporters.
Voters said they viewed Romney's business background as an asset. But he waffled this week when asked whether he would release his tax records, and acknowledged that he pays a much lower tax rate than many Americans, around 15 percent.
In his speech, Gingrich took aim at Obama, painting him as a weak president, "truly a danger to the country" with his energy policies and "out of touch with reality." He also lashed the news media and condemned what he called "the growing anti-religious bigotry of the elites" in America.
'PUNCH IN THE MOUTH'
"This is the punch in the mouth/wake up call Romney needed if he wanted to be a strong general election candidate," Republican strategist Ford O'Connell said in a Twitter message, referring to the South Carolina results.
Romney has attacked Gingrich's ties to mortgage giant Freddie Mac and criticized his time in the nation's capital. His campaign also highlighted Gingrich's $300,000 fine due to ethics lapses while serving as House speaker 15 years ago.
The thrice-married Gingrich has fended off publicity about his turbulent marital history. On Thursday, he rejected his second wife's accusation that he had asked her for an "open marriage" while he was having an affair with another woman in the 1990s.
South Carolina has been a tough state for Romney's presidential ambitions. In his previous run for the White House in 2008, Romney finished a poor fourth, with just 15 percent of the vote, behind winner and eventual Republican nominee John McCain. McCain endorsed Romney in the current campaign.
The winner of South Carolina's Republican presidential primary has gone on to win the party's nomination in every presidential election since 1980.
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Monday, January 23, 2012
LA detective in Simpson-Goldman murders dies at 70 (AP)
LOS ANGELES ? Philip Vannatter, the Los Angeles police detective who served as a lead investigator in the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, has died.
His brother, Joe, says Vannatter died Friday in Southern California of complications from cancer. He was 70.
Vannatter spent 28 years with the LAPD, mostly as a homicide detective. He later consulted on cold-case murders.
He was among the first detectives on the scene at former football star O.J. Simpson's mansion in June 1994, following the stabbing deaths of Simpson's wife Nicole and her friend, Ron Goldman. Vannatter testified at the murder trial, at which Simpson was acquitted.
In 1977, Vannatter conducted the investigation that led to the arrest of film director Roman Polanski on charges of having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.
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State higher education spending sees big decline
MIAMI (AP) ? State funding for higher education has declined because of a slow recovery from the recession and the end of federal stimulus money, according to a study released Monday.
Overall, spending declined by some $6 billion, or nearly 8 percent, over the past year, according to the annual Grapevine study by the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University. The reduction was slightly lower, at 4 percent, when money lost from the end of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act was not taken into account.
The funding reductions, seen across nearly every state, have resulted in larger class sizes and fewer course offerings at many universities and come as enrollment continues to rise.
A report released by the National Science Board last week found similar reductions in state higher education spending, with nearly three-quarters of the nation's 101 top public research universities experiencing cuts in state funding between 2002 and 2010.
"It's quite severe," said Jose-Marie Griffiths, chairwoman of the National Science Board committee that produced the report and vice president for academic affairs at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island. "The question is, are they ever going to recover to the level they were before? I think all of us are somewhat concerned because the future is a little bit uncertain."
Only nine states reported increases in total state higher education spending, including the federal stimulus money. In the 41 states where there were funding reductions, declines varied drastically, from about 1 percent in North Carolina to 41 percent in New Hampshire. The hardest-hit states include Arizona, Wisconsin and Louisiana, where spending reductions were nearly 20 percent or higher as federal stimulus money dried up.
James Palmer, editor of the Grapevine survey, said state capacity to finance higher education had also been reduced by diminished tax revenues.
In a statement, the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association said states with the largest declines will likely see higher tuition rates and more pressure to recruit out-of-state students. That raises concerns about access to higher education, particularly for those students who need financial aid, another area where state support has declined.
Educating more students from out of state and less access will have "implications for the availability of an adequately trained workforce in those states," the organization said.
The group specifically highlighted California, where a $1.5 billion spending reduction, including stimulus funds, over the past two years represents 26 percent of the national decline.
Florida is another state that has seen sustained spending cuts. Over the past five years, state support for higher education has declined 17.5 percent, according to the study. As the state proportion of funding has declined, universities have relied more on tuition, now nearly 50 percent of their operating budget.
Overall state funding appropriations in Florida are about the same as they were 10 years ago, after having risen leading up to 2007-2008. Meanwhile, enrollment has increased by more than 24 percent.
To compensate for the loss, Florida universities have merged departments, instituted hiring freezes and used more adjunct professors, among other actions.
"Each university has been diligent in developing cost-saving strategies to help offset ? but not fully replace ? the budget shortfalls," according to a brief from the Board of Governors, which oversees Florida's State University System.
The National Science Board noted the funding decline could have implications for how well the United States is able to educate its workforce and be competitive in a globalized, knowledge-based economy.
Already, the United States has been trailing Asia in science and engineering degrees. Fifty-six percent of all engineering degrees were awarded in Asia in 2008, compared with 4 percent in the U.S. The United States produced 248,000 graduates in the fields of natural science and engineering, while China produced 1 million, a dramatic increase from 2000, when they awarded 280,000. South Korea, Taiwan and Japan produced 330,000 natural science and engineering graduates in 2008 ? again, a larger number than the U.S., even though their population is smaller.
"Right now our aspirations for higher education I think far exceed the vitality of our economy," Palmer said, referring to the push to increase access to college and degree completion. "In other words, we can't depend on that state funding as the way we're going to meet those goals."
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Snow, sleet target Midwest and Northeast
Chicago is bracing for eight inches of snow, and airports around the region are experiencing massive delays. The Weather Channel's Mike Seidel reports.
By msnbc.com staff and news services
Updated at 5:30 p.m. ET: Airlines at O'Hare and Midway airports are now reporting significant delays. At O'Hare airlines are reporting delays averaging 45 minutes for all flights in and out of the airport. The number of canceled flights now totals more than 600.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, the Transit Authority has rerouted buses off of Lake Shore Drive, affecting a total?of 15 routes. Buses are being rerouted to nearby streets and will continue to make all local stops, according to the Chicago Transit Authority.
?Updated at 3:30 p.m. ET: Snow was falling heavily by midafternoon in Chicago as a winter storm spread east, NBCChicago.com reported.
Though no significant delays were reported, airlines at O'Hare Airport canceled more than 300 flights, NBCChicago.com said. At Midway Airport, Southwest Airlines canceled all 70 of its flights scheduled between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Friday.?
The Chicago Department of Aviation urged passengers to check airline websites for status updates.
The Milwaukee area?was seeing light snow at midday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Original story: Snow is forecast for Chicago, Milwaukee and other Midwestern cities Friday as a winter system travels toward the Northeast, according to The Weather Channel.
Snowfall accumulation may exceed 6 inches across the Chicago metropolitan area.
Late Friday into Friday night, the snow system will move across northern Indiana, northern Ohio and Michigan on its way to the Northeast.
A mixture of freezing rain and sleet is possible as far south as Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, according to weather reports.
Snow changing to rain or sleet is projected for Philadelphia and New York City, and Boston will likely see 1 to 3 inches of snow.
Toppled trees
This winter weather system comes two days after a major?storm covered the Pacific Northwest in snow. An ice storm in the Seattle area shut down the airport and toppled trees --?cutting power to some 200,000 homes and businesses, cutting off roads and taking the life of a man on his ATV.
Temperatures are now slowly rising in the Pacific Northwest, the National Weather Service reports, but more wet weather is anticipated on Friday. A warm front over the Oregon and Washington coast will allow for rain showers to persist.
Up to 2 inches of rain may be expected across these areas.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/20/10199193-snow-sleet-target-midwest-and-northeast
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