Recently, the
Insurance Information Institute reported the latest trends in car theft. The report flagged these trends:
More than 75,000 air bags are stolen every year, according to estimates by the Insurance Information Institute. NICB [
National Insurance Crime Bureau] says that
air bag theft costs insurers and vehicle owners more than $50 million a year. New air bags cost about $1,000 from a car dealer; on the black market the cost is between $50 and $200.
To thwart thieves, steering-wheel covers used with a steel bar steering-wheel lock are available. New York combats air bag theft by requiring accident reports to note air bag deployment, and specifies procedures for auto repair shops to follow when replacing stolen or deployed air bags.
Xenon headlights are another component now popular with thieves. Global positioning systems may be the next component targeted, industry observers say.
Stolen Trucks End Up in MexicoIn South Florida alone, thieves stole more than 600
Ford F-Series pickup trucks last year (like the F-150 I drive!). One attraction is the old-fashioned keys that make the trucks easier to steal.
WTVJ-TV in Miami tracked pickup trucks stolen in Florida all the way to Mexico.
In fact, states all along the southern border are recording high rates of pickup-truck thefts. Six out of 10 vehicles stolen
in Texas last year were pickups or SUVs.
Are Kids Getting Smarter?High school students are doing better on advanced placement (AP) exams. The test is used to predict the likelihood that a student will do well in college. But keep in mind, only 15 percent, fewer than one out of five high school seniors, scored a 3, which is the number most used to predict college success.
Stateline reports:States have been pushing to increase access to AP tests as part of a larger drive to make high school more rigorous and better prepare students for college. Students need to score a 3 on a scale of 5 to pass the exams, which test 37 subjects ranging from history to Latin to Music Theory. Some colleges award credits for high scores.
After New York, the states of Maryland, Utah and Virginia have the highest proportion of students passing AP tests, according to a report released Feb. 6 by the College Board, which administers the AP exam as well as the college-entrance SAT exam. Maryland, Delaware and North Carolina made the biggest gains in passing scores from 2000 to 2006.
"It can be done. It's a matter of belief, it's a matter of high expectations, it's a matter of investment. And it doesn't start when you're a junior in high school. It starts much earlier,"
Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board, said at a news conference.
Minority performance also has improved on the AP tests. Since 2000, 45 states have increased the percentage of black students taking the tests, while all states have increased the percentage of Latino students taking them. Figures for Native American students have remained flat.
Thirteen states have eliminated any gap between the percentage of Hispanics taking AP tests and the group's numbers in the overall student population. Another two states with sizable Latino populations -- California and Texas -- are close to raising Hispanic students' participation enough to close the gap, the study found.
However, no state with a large black or Native American student population is close to closing its gap, according to the report.
of states leading the nation:
States with the greatest percentage of graduating public school seniors having scored 3 or higher on an AP Exam while in high school:
- New York (22.7 percent)
- Maryland (22.0 percent)
- Utah (20.8 percent)
- Virginia (20.7 percent)
- California (20.1 percent)
- Massachusetts (19.8 percent)
- Florida (19.6 percent)
- Connecticut (19.4 percent)
- North Carolina (18.0 percent)
- Colorado (17.9 percent)
States with the greatest 2005 to 2006 increase in the percentage of graduating public school seniors having scored 3 or higher on an AP Exam while in high school:
- Arkansas
- New Hampshire
- Delaware
- Nebraska
- Oklahoma
- Virginia
States with the greatest 2000 to 2006 increase percentage of graduating public school seniors having scored 3 or higher on an AP Exam while in high school:
- Maryland
- Delaware
- North Carolina
- Washington
- Florida
Eliminating Equity Gaps:
Alabama, Alaska, the District of Columbia, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia have each achieved the significant milestone of seeing Latino student representation in U.S. public schools in AP courses outpace the Latino student population.
California and Texas, states with large Latino populations in U.S. public schools, are within reach of this goal.
But not all the news is so encouraging. When you start to compare American kids with kids around the world, you see some things that might concern you. I would be interested to see any stories you write that answer why
the figures below [PDF] are what they are:
In calculus:
- U.S. students did not fare well, ranking 22 out of 23 countries.
- The exception: AP Calculus students. Even those students who earned AP Calculus grades of 1 or 2 demonstrated the same level of math achievement as students from the top-performing nation, France.
In physics:
- U.S. students fared worse than students of any other nation, ranking 23 out of 23 countries.
- The exception: AP Physics students. Even those students who earned AP Physics grades of 1 or 2 were only bested by students from the top two nations, Norway and Sweden.
The Wayward Astronaut CaseAs you might expect,
The Smoking Gun Web site has the "charging affidavit," booking pics and a lot more detail about the case than you read in the papers or see on TV.
Cosmic Log (a blog about space exploration) says maybe this case is also a byproduct of the narcissistic culture NASA built around astronauts.
Al's Morning MultimediaThink of this as a marriage of MySpace, YouTube and chat rooms.
Stickam.com is an interactive video site that allows you to enter a chat room -- only instead of chatting via text, you turn on your webcam and chat face up. I played on the site briefly yesterday -- it is very interesting and the audio/video is pristine.
The Los Angeles Times says media folks are figuring out how to tap into the site:
A number of entertainers have established outposts here, including a growing group of radio DJs seeking new exposure. "The video element lets listeners feel like they're a part of the whole process," said Hawaii reggae DJ Shaggy Jenkins, answering a question via Stickam in midshow. "It kind of breaks the mystique behind DJs and their real appearances."
Besides the silly stuff people will do with this site, it has some real potential to bring lots of people together online to talk.
The story points to possible problems:
There are potential problems, however. Stickam hits a trifecta that has made some parents nervous: It's new, it's free and it allows users to remain anonymous. So there has been some worrying in the press about whether the site is "a magnet for sexual predators." Some Web experts say there's a danger. Others say the kids are all right.
Indeed, worry about sex offenders may be causing people to overlook a more pernicious threat to users: themselves. Contacted by e-mail, a woman whose profile was No. 2 on Stickam's most-viewed list and whose image the site had used for a month on a homepage promo ad, said she had to stop using Stickam after she became "obsessed" with the attention she was receiving.
"I forgot about everything in my life," she said, identifying herself only as Laura. "My family, school, work. I wouldn't go to sleep, I'd be up at the (crack) of dawn just to be on Stickam."
In a video recorded by one Stickam user and posted elsewhere, Laura is seen undressing at fans' urging, while a toddler ambles about in the background -- a disturbing reminder that a major part of webcasting is, after all, staring at your own reflection and perhaps even becoming mesmerized by it. "After a while," Laura said, "you don't even notice the people in the room talking to you."
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's
Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story
excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as
original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly
from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided
whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the
accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and
inaccuracies found will be corrected.
NASA's role in the apotheosis of the astronaut was huge,...
