TUESDAY, MARCH 21, 2006
Tuesday Edition: Renting Textbooks
Here is an indication of how expensive it is to be a student these days. Al's Morning Meeting reader Deann Alford sent me
this story from The Seattle Times about the newest trend in textbooks.
Schools are offering textbook rentals.
The story says:
[T]his summer, [Washington's Bellevue Community College] will become one of a few colleges in the state -- and in the country -- to offer a formal textbook rental program.
The rental books will probably be expensive tomes from the math, science or philosophy programs, [the school's bookstore manager, Kristen] Connely, said. A math textbook can cost $150, for example, but books in the program will rent for about $35 a term.
Connely is not the only one reacting to a growing national issue.
Gov. Christine Gregoire signed a bill this week that will require bookstores at public four-year universities to tell professors about book prices and help promote programs that allow students to sell back their books.
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, college textbook prices nearly tripled between 1986 and 2004, double the rate of inflation. Students in Washington state spend an average of $924 a year on books and supplies, according to the state Financial Aid Association.
One of the biggest reasons for the increase, say state and federal officials, is publishers are "bundling" more extra materials, such as CD-ROMs and workbooks. Also, new editions of textbooks are released more often, and many professors don't know the cost of the books they assign.
In 2003-04, first-time students at four-year public schools spent 26 percent of their college costs on books and supplies, according to the U.S. accountability office. Students at two-year schools, such as community colleges, spent 72 percent.
We've done similar stories about college students and textbooks before in Al's Morning Meeting:
And here are links to a few colleges and universities that already have textbook-rental programs in place:
The
National Association of College Stores has an
FAQ on textbook rental programs.
Tornado Season
It's spring, and while tornadoes can and do occur in any month, the spring storm season is a good time to wise up about these destructive storms. The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration now has a page that lists the severe weather outlook for the entire country.
We often refer to storms as being measured on the "F" scale, but what is that?
NOAA has a very nice information page that explains:
The most widely used method worldwide, for over three decades, was the F-scale developed by Dr. T. Theodore Fujita. In the U.S., and probably elsewhere within a few years, the new Enhanced F-scale is becoming the standard for assessing tornado damage. In Britain, there is a scale similar to the original F-scale but with more divisions; for more info, go to the TORRO scale Web site. In both original F- and TORRO-scales, the wind speeds are based on calculations of the Beaufort wind scale and have never been scientifically verified in real tornadoes. Enhanced F-scale winds are derived from engineering guidelines but still are only judgmental estimates. Because:
- Nobody knows the "true" wind speeds at ground level in most tornadoes, and
- The amount of wind needed to do similar-looking damage can vary greatly, even from block to block or building to building,
...damage rating is (at best) an exercise in educated guessing. Even experienced damage-survey meteorologists and wind engineers can and often do disagree among themselves on a tornado's strength.
The NOAA FAQ page goes on:
Who surveys tornado damage? What's the criteria for the National Weather Service to do a survey? This varies from place to place, and there is no rigid criteria. The responsibility for damage survey decisions at each NWS office usually falls on the Warning-Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) and/or the Meteorologist in Charge (MIC). Budget constraints keep every tornado path from having a direct ground survey by NWS personnel; so spotter, chaser and news accounts may be used to rate relatively weak, remote or brief tornadoes. Killer tornadoes, those striking densely populated areas, or those generating reports of exceptional damage are given highest priority for ground surveys. Most ground surveys involve the WCM and/or forecasters not having shift responsibility the day of the survey. For outbreaks and unusually destructive events -- usually only a few times a year -- the NWS may support involvement by highly experienced damage survey experts and wind engineers from elsewhere in the country. Aerial surveys are expensive and usually reserved for tornado events with multiple casualties and/or massive degrees of damage. Sometimes, local NWS offices may have a cooperative agreement with local media or police to use their helicopters during surveys.
Three Years Ago: What Pundits & Journalists Said
It may be worthwhile to revisit the optimistic tone with which news of the war was reported three years ago this week.
Iraq Resources for Journalists
As you cover the anniversary of the Iraq ground war, here are some resources to help you.
CNN keeps an extensive fatalities section on its Web site. The site says:
There have been 2,521 coalition deaths: 2,316 Americans, one Australian, 103 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, two Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Hungarian, 26 Italians, one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, two Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as of March 20, 2006, according to a CNN count. (Graphical breakdown of casualties.) The list below is the names of the soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors and Coast Guardsmen whose deaths have been reported by their country's governments. At least 17,124 U.S. troops have been wounded in action, according to the Pentagon. View casualties in the war in Afghanistan and examine U.S. war casualties dating back to the Revolutionary War.
Some of the links below are to official Department of Defense pages, and some are external pages, including some civilian generated sites that collect statistics, particularly of Iraqi civilian casualties. This is a page that explains how they come up with their data.
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Fatality Details
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Iraqis |
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Fathers' Rights in Adoption Cases
The New York Times reports:
Although one in every three American babies has unwed parents, birth fathers' rights remain an unsettled area, a delicate balancing act between the importance of biological ties and the undisrupted placement of babies whose mothers relinquish them for adoption.
While women have the right to get an abortion, or to have and raise a child, without informing the father, courts have increasingly found that when birth mothers choose adoption, fathers who have shown a desire for involvement have rights, too.
But to claim those rights most states require a father to put his name on a registry. While about 30 states now have registries, they vary widely. In some, fathers must actually claim paternity; in others, just the possibility of paternity. The deadlines may be five days after birth or 30, or any time before an adoption petition is filed.
And registries are a double-edged sword: It remains an open question whether they serve more to protect fathers' rights or to protect adoptive parents, and the babies they have bonded with, from biological fathers' claims.
But, the story says, few men register. There may be many reasons, but one reason certainly is that few have ever heard of the registry. The Times piece continues:
In many states, fewer than 100 men register each year -- not surprising, adoption experts say, because most young men have never heard of the registries. One exception is Indiana, where men are notified of the registry when a birth mother names them as the father, and 50 men register a week.
Adoption lawyers say some birth mothers refuse to identify the father to forestall interference. There are no statistics on how many unmarried fathers seek to raise babies the birth mother has relinquished.
Mary Beck, a professor at the University of Missouri School of Law, said the burden of registering should be the father's.
"There are men who complain, 'What, I have to file for every woman I've had sex with?'" Professor Beck said. "But men are on notice of possible pregnancy by virtue of having had sex, and the alternative is leaving it up to the women to chase them down."
Most States Have Not Touched the $2 Billion in Katrina Aid
Congress breathlessly rushed to pass the Katrina aid package weeks after the hurricane hit. To this day, only 12 states have asked for so much as a penny of it. Did your state ask for help? If so, what did it ask for and what has the state done with the money? If it was one of the states that did not ask -- why not?
The Center for Public Integrity found:
Any state that took in Katrina evacuees could tap into the money to offer cash to those who had at least one child and met certain income guidelines qualifying them as poor.
But more than five months after the bill was signed into law, only 12 states -- including Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama -- have taken Congress up on its offer, a Center for Public Integrity investigation has found. Most states haven't asked for a penny out of the federal fund, records show.
Some states said it was not worth the bureaucratic nightmare it would have taken to secure the money.
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.
Posted at 5:33:55 AM
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