Students call on Branstad to fund higher education

U.S. students crossing the pond for college
When Adelaide Waldrop learned that she had been consigned to the wait list at each of the four universities she wanted most to attend, it was as if all the excitement had drained from her collegiate quest. Then she remembered her wild-card school: the University of St. Andrews, the medieval cobblestone campus in Scotland. Now Waldrop, of Silver Spring, is a St. Andrews sophomore, one of a growing number of American Students who enroll at top-ranked British universities, which offer the prest...

Research cash cut to universities
Newer universities have come off worst in a carve-up of public money for research in Scotland. Some senior university figures are concerned it could herald the start of a divided Higher Education system. The Scottish Funding Council said it was being more generous to institutions with a record of research breakthroughs. All universities learned last month that they were facing a sizeable cut in their total spending. The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has now published a grants letter which det...

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Student Loan Reform Puts Taxpayers On The Hook. The dramatic rise
Higher Education BUBBLE UPDATE: Student Loan Reform Puts Taxpayers On The Hook. “The dramatic rise in Student Debt—and in Student loan defaults—could leave the American taxpayer on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars. The landmark Healthcare Reform law signed by President Obama last March included a relatively little-noticed provision that overhauled the federal Student loan program.” ...

State University of New York Moves to Microsoft's Cloud
REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 21, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Corp. today announced a new universitywide agreement with the State University of New York (SUNY) to make the Microsoft Live@edu suite of online communications and collaboration tools available to its 64 campuses across the state of New York. SUNY sought to decrease costs while providing its 465,000 Students with up-to-date technology necessary for success in college and in today's Workforce. As a result, SUNY Students will have access to a...

Ex-NSU president who made Virginia history speaks at TCC graduation
NORFOLK Marie McDemmond is healthy, happy and a grandmother. Five years after stepping down as president of Norfolk State University, she was back in town as the Keynote Speaker for Friday's commencement at Tidewater Community College. The years she spent at NSU seem like a long time ago for a woman who has battled Cancer and, for the time being, won. "I am in remission, and I am doing quite well," said a vibrant-looking McDemmond, wearing an elegant black business suit trimmed in gold...

Plan bans illegals from public universities
The "DREAM Act" plan, defeated in Congress today, would have given benefits and rights to Illegal Aliens who want to go to school in the U.S., but the state of Virginia isn't prepared to depend on what Washington decides - it has its own plan to address the situation: a ban on those Students in public colleges and universities. A leading GOP legislator in the Virginia House of Delegates is poised to introduce a bill which would prohibit Illegal Aliens from attending public colleges and universi...

Academia Is Revolting!
In the Budget squeeze that every government of affluent democracies is facing, increases in Tuition are causing some of the most vocal and nasty reactions. British Students are storming offices, creating chaos, and threatening mayhem. Once, Coal Miners brought down British Governments. Now, parasitical College Students threaten to break the British government. California Students are doing much the same, although the bias in favor of in-state Illegal Alien Students and against out-of-state Ameri...

McDonnell's Dumbest Budget Move...So Far
According to the State Council for Higher Education, "State support for Virginia public higher education will be reduced by more than $400 million or 27% by FY2012 from the original FY2010 Budget, and is 33% below the FY2001 level after adjusting for Inflation...Federal stimulus spending permitted colleges and universities to limit Tuition and fee increases...in FY2011." The State Council also noted, historically "the Commonwealth restricted Tuition increases during a period of strong economic ...

Universities 'face 6% budget cut'
Universities in England are expected to face cuts of around 6% on last year's funding, as their Budget allocations for 2011-12 are unveiled. This is likely to mean a reduction of £300-400m in the total grants given to universities this year. But the settlement will not include the expected teaching Budget Cuts of up to 80% that universities hope to replace with annual fees of up to £9,000. These are not planned until the new fees regime is introduced in 2012. This year's ...

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE? Higher educations price-earnings ratio looks like Nevada housing circa 20
Higher Education BUBBLE? Higher education’s price-earnings ratio looks like Nevada housing circa 2007. “The financial data are making a College Education tougher and tougher to defend. If we were to follow the lead of college marketing departments and treat Tuition as an investment, what price-earnings ratio-or P/E-would we assign to it? Unlike a traditional stock, both the price and the earnings are fairly opaque (a warning signal in and of itself), but let’s mak...

This is so the worst thing you're going to read all day.
Even the title is awful: Assange, Morality, and Desire. The article is positively craptacular. It's from yesterday's Chronicle of Higher Education, which, for those who don't know, is the premiere journal for higher education professionals. The author, a recently tenured Professor, basically attempts to make the case that Assange shouldn't be faulted for Rape because of cultural and age differences with his Victims. Because older Australian men have different sexual ideas than young Swedish wom...

McDonnell punishes VCU for tuition increase
Gov. Bob McDonnell said Friday that he has withheld state money equal to half of Virginia Commonwealth University's 24 percent Tuition increase as a message to colleges and universities about rising Tuition rates. Noting that tuitions for Virginia Students have doubled in the past 10 years, McDonnell said, "That is unacceptable." McDonnell on Friday proposed a number of Budget amendments in remarks to the General Assembly's money committees. The room was lined with Lobbyists. VCU raised Tuition ...

Columbia News
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, kicked off a year-long series of “Conversations with the Country” at Columbia’s World Leaders Forum on April 18. In his address, he emphasized both the proper strategic role of Military power in U.S. Foreign Policy and the importance of investing in the nation’s Military Veterans through Higher Education, career opportunities and support services. “This is the beginning of an effort to connect with communi...

Thatcher, Reagan, and Those Revolting British Students
The images of violent Protests in London coming in from across the pond are disturbing to most Americans. But if some are tempted to find comfort in the idea that what is going on over there could never happen here, they should think again. At issue in the United Kingdom is the announced policy change, more than a year under discussion and review, to subsidize less of the College Tuition of Students. In the recent past, the top amount (calculated here in dollars) a student would pay for a year'...

America's biggest rip-off: college tuition bubble and student debt escalate
The financial magazine Forbes recently blew the whistle on how skyrocketing College Tuition is ripping off the public. Thanks to some colleges’ greed, and the federal and state Financial Aid subsidies that reward Tuition increases, “Higher Education’s price-earnings ratio looks like Nevada housing circa 2007″ at the height of the Real Estate bubble. “The financial data are making a College Education tougher and tougher to defend.” And ...

Thatcher, Reagan, and Those Revolting British Students
The images of violent Protests in London coming in from across the pond are disturbing to most Americans. But if some are tempted to find comfort in the idea that what is going on over there could never happen here, they should think again. At issue in the United Kingdom is the announced policy change, more than a year under discussion and review, to subsidize less of the College Tuition of Students. In the recent past, the top amount (calculated here in dollars) a student would pay for a year'...

Is he kidding? Gov. Chris Christie wants more tax cuts for the rich
A few days after saying New Jersey is so broke it must cut medical benefits for Retirees and freeze their pensions forever, Gov. Chris Christie now says he wants to cut income taxes for the rich. Think about those priorities. Middle-class families just lost their property tax rebates. Schools lost nearly $1 billion in funding, their biggest hit ever. Thousands of working poor families were closed out of Health Care programs. And our colleges and universities were whacked hard, forcing Tuition hi...

Maritza Stanchich, Ph.D.: Police Attack Striking Students in Puerto Rico
Dec. 20, 2010, San Juan, Puerto Rico -- Day 6 of Student strikes at University of Puerto Rico turns violent after police occupied main Río Piedras campus last week, in this U.S. Territory of four million U.S. citizens. At least 15 students were reported arrested, including prominent Student leaders, some reportedly suffered broken bones and other serious injuries. The police and riot squad attacks seem to have been triggered by Student protestors interrupting classes with Smoke Bombs in the C...

Iowans give Branstad a to-do list
Council Bluffs, Ia. - Gov.-elect Terry Branstad turned to Iowans for help Monday in figuring out how to reach what he called his "very ambitious" goals for creating jobs and returning Iowa's educational system to best-in-the-nation status. The Republican former Governor gave clear signals he planned to push for some of what he heard, such as: - Repeal the state law passed last year that requires school boards to negotiate reform plans with union members. "Let's put that on the priority list," ...

Unemployed get another jobless benefit -- free yoga...
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The women snuggle into nests of pillows and blankets. A light breeze, like a mother blowing on a baby's boo-boo, falls from ceiling fans and tickles their backs. The room is dark, silent, until they crawl out of child's pose and chant, "Omm." This is free Yoga for the unemployed: a different kind of jobless benefit where former managers, laid-off limo drivers and others can turn to the grown-up version of nap time to ease the stress of being out of work. With national...

Another Benefit for the Unemployed -- Free Yoga
Tuesday, December 21, 2010 By Jeannie Nuss, Associated Press Columbus, Ohio (AP) - The women snuggle into nests of pillows and blankets. A light breeze, like a mother blowing on a baby's boo-boo, falls from ceiling fans and tickles their backs. The room is dark, silent, until they crawl out of child's pose and chant, "Omm." This is free Yoga for the unemployed: a different kind of jobless benefit where former managers, laid-off limo drivers and others can turn to the grown-up version of nap...

Who Will Prosper in 2011
The worry lines are finally starting to fade. After 18 months of a stutter-step recovery, The Economy seems to be gathering steam. Most companies that survived the Recession are lean and profitable, and there's a good chance they'll begin hiring again in 2011. Consumers who have jobs feel better about their prospects, which means they'll be more comfortable spending money. The latest stimulus and tax-cut plan out of Washington is surprisingly meaty, with the impact likely to be felt in many Am...

Go "long on women" for profits, BofA Merrill says
WASHINGTON | Tue Dec 21, 2010 10:25am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Recession wounds are healing faster for women than for men, so there is money to be made for companies that cater to women, Economists at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch said on Tuesday. The Unemployment Rate for women is almost two full percentage points lower than the rate for men, and women dominate fields such as healthcare that are expected to see the biggest job growth in the next eight years. Women also earned the majo...

Cause for Canadians to worry? You betcha
Canada’s economic rebound out of Recession has run out of steam. Canadian real GDP posted a meagre 1 per cent annualized rate of growth in the Third Quarter, The Economy recorded a record high trade and current account Deficit of 4.2 per cent of GDP, and Job Creation virtually ground to a halt in the last quarter. And this despite government efforts to stimulate The Economy through infrastructure spending – which is scheduled to soon end. For a change, the U.S. economy outpaced Canad...

Makeshift bomb found on Rome subway
Published: Dec. 21, 2010 at 11:39 AM ROME, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Authorities say a makeshift bomb found on the Rome metro subway Tuesday had no detonator and could not have been ignited. The subway driver found the device at a service yard near the city's Rebibbia station on the B line of the metro at around 10 a.m. local time, 1 a.m. EST, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. ''Controls by bomb-disposal experts showed the bomb could not explode because it was so rudimentary," Mayor Gianni Alemanno ...