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Al's Morning Meeting

Home > Al's Morning Meeting
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Al Tompkins
Story ideas that you can localize and enterprise. Posted by 7:30 a.m. Mon-Fri.
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A dozen sites
I'm diggin'


*1. For anyone looking for a year-end project, consider this one from the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, N.Y. The paper put a face on every person murdered in Rochester for the year. Stunning and simple use of multimedia.

*2. The St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times produced a fascinating story that sheds light on how easy it was to defraud the banking system during the housing boom.

*3. Watch a simple but telling video essay about how immersed children can get while playing video games.

*4. The Rural Blog discusses what failing auto companies mean to rural communities.

5. Salon investigates "Friendly Fire" incident that leads to document shredding.

6. Seven key questions about a car company bailout.

7. The Flip Cam has gone HD with a customizable cover.

8. A fun video to help you with digital conversion.

*9. In a weird way, I dig this photo essay on abandoned Christmas trees.

*10. The Atlantic sits down with China's Gao Xiqing, who oversees $200 billion of China's $2 trillion in dollar holdings. The lesson to the U.S. is "shape up."

11. You thought sub-prime lenders were gone? No way! They are making FHA loans.

12. Planet Money is a really good blog about money and finance.

All of my Diggin' sites are saved on Poynter's del.icio.us page.

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 on the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. We will correct errors and inaccuracies when we become aware of them.


States Cut University Budgets
So many of my journo friends tell me they are considering leaving the newsroom and turning to academia. They'd better think twice. At least eight states, and probably more, are already in the budget cutting mode for state-supported schools.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says
:

At least eight states have implemented or proposed cuts to public colleges and universities. For example:
  • In Florida, university budgets and community-college funding already have been cut, with further cuts expected; schools are anticipating limiting student enrollment, closing satellite campuses, and laying off staff. Florida State University, for example, is considering eliminating 218 faculty and staff positions and has instituted a freeze on hiring and travel.
  • In Alabama, the governor has proposed cuts to higher education, including zeroing out all workforce funds for community colleges that are used to train students in specific job skills such as welding, and reducing funding for adult basic education by two-thirds.
  • In Maine, the governor has proposed cuts to higher education (including both universities and community colleges) that the Chancellor of Education has said could lead to tuition hikes of 14 percent, as well as the elimination of hundreds of classes.
  • In Kentucky, the governor has cut almost all agencies — including universities — by a stunning 12 percent across the board for the current fiscal year.
  • Virginia has cut universities across the board by 5 percent.
Other states making or proposing cuts in higher education funding include New Jersey, New York, California and Rhode Island. Large tuition increases are likely in some of these states.

Posted by Al Tompkins 1:22 AM
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